In all of your books, but especially the Dukes of War Series, you always write from an atypical female heroine perspective. Your heroines don't usually "need" a man, they "want" them. Is there a reason why your heroines are such strong-willed women when you write novels from a time period when women were usually much more meek?

Erica Ridley Hi Jennifer! What a great question!! You're absolutely right—I love writing about strong heroines who "want" men, rather than "need" them.

While most women in many historical time periods were submissive and/or subservient to men, I don't think there has ever been a time period in which *all* women were exactly the same. There are always a few who are not afraid to stand out from the crowd, to be different or unpopular, to take risks, to make mistakes. Sometimes they win. Sometimes they don't.

For me, it is precisely those kinds of women who often make the best stories. They're not sitting around waiting for life to happen—they're forging their own futures the best they can, given the constraints of the world they live in. Those are the heroines I love to write.

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