Goodreads asked Lara Temple:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Lara Temple Like many of my books The Duke’s Unexpected Bride started with the opening scene – I had this image of a quirky young woman trying to take a very reluctant and pudgy pug on a walk in Grosvenor Square. Sophie, the heroine was very clear to me - a misfit in a large family, with a love of painting and a big heart but always a sense of being out of place. The key line in this scene was when she tries to capture the escaping pug (called Marmaduke) and yells out ‘Heel, Duke!’ and though the pug doesn’t heed her, a real duke does. The Hero, the Duke of Harcourt, takes his title and its responsibilities very seriously and after a tragic past engagement he is determined that his wife will everything that is proper. Neither he nor Sophie considered each other as partners, despite the undeniable attraction between then, but when circumstance and an old rival force them into an engagement they struggle to come to terms with their new circumstances. There’s a light side to The Duke’s Unexpected Bride, but it is also a story about guilt and feeling helpless and realizing what you can, luckily, be very wrong about what you really need in life.

flag