#7 It’s Here!

There’s no end to the dilemmas facing Avery, Lord Hammond as he stubbornly insists on waiting to propose to his beloved in my latest romance, The Duke’s Dilemma.

Lord Hammond is very sure that he wants to marry Miss Linea Braddock, but he stubbornly refuses to “pop the question” until he can put the family engagement ring on her finger.

Unfortunately for them both, the family ring is at his family’s country home. “I want us to have the blessing associated with the ring,” Avery tells Linney, “and I want my father’s blessing as well. But both are at Terra Bella.”

Silly, silly man. Don’t you know what can happen while you’re off fetching the family betrothal ring?

I had such a fun time writing Linney and Avery’s story. And because the Easton family betrothal ring played such an important part (it was almost a character by itself), I spent quite a bit of time thinking about the ring and sketching what I thought it might look like—I even found a picture of a real ring that was similar. Do you like it?

In my mind, the center stone is the rose quartz found on Easton lands by the first duke and the two large side stones are the diamonds that represent the engaged couple.

Well, here. Avery describes it better:

“It’s a beautiful ring—the center stone is rose quartz, a stone that stands for never-ending love and happiness. On both sides of the center stone are two diamonds representing the engaged couple. The larger stones are surrounded by smaller, perfectly matched diamonds that represent each generation. After our first son is born, I will add another diamond to the ring so it will be ready for him to give to his bride.”

I hope you enjoy the duke and his dilemma.