Welcome to another Weekend Read blog. Today’s featured book is the historical romance novel, A Most Unsuitable Suitor, by Emma Orchard.

Blurb

It was a quirk of nature, he supposed, that she should affect him so when others more obviously and conventionally appealing did not. She was a passably attractive female with no particular accomplishments – he didn’t give a fig for accomplishments, but he’d heard her play on the pianoforte and had no desire to repeat the experience – no fortune, and a large and inconvenient family. He must admit, she had an appealing figure, but so did many another. Most people would consider her brows far too heavy for beauty, and her mouth, the whole set of her countenance, unforgivably ill-tempered. Nobody would write poetry to her, and if they did they wouldn’t be comparing her eyes to limpid pools, or any fustian of that sort. They were dark and stormy and all too often flashing with indignation at some poor fool or other who’d offended her. And yet it delighted him beyond reason to see her so often furious and so entirely unable to conceal it.

Buy link: https://mybook.to/AMostUnsuitableSuitor

Welcome to my blog, Emma. Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always told myself stories in my head, for as long as I can remember; it’s only fairly recently that I realised not everyone does this, and most of the people who DO are authors. When I first read Georgette Heyer as an eleven-year-old, I started making up stories of my own about my favourite characters from her books, but it was only many, many years later that I began writing them down, and uploaded them to the fan fiction site AO3 during lockdown. I had a fantastic response from readers there, which inspired me to write my first original novel, THE SECOND LADY SILVERWOOD. I don’t agree with people who are dismissive of fan fiction – much of it is wonderfully inventive, and from my own point of view, posting it really gave me the confidence to see myself as someone who could produce stories that people would enjoy reading.

Has any author inspired you?

It’s impossible to overstate how much Georgette Heyer means to me. It’s no exaggeration to say that reading her books completely changed my life. I got my first job after university, at publishers Mills & Boon, because I wrote a compelling application letter referencing my love of romance in general and Heyer in particular. While working there I met my husband, who was an editor – we’ve been married for 32 years this year, built a business together, and have two wonderful grown-up children. And because my love of Heyer never left me, I eventually ended up writing my own Regency romances, which have been described as “Heyer with spice” and (I love this) “as though Georgette Heyer has been resurrected and forced to write smut at gunpoint”.

What inspired you to write this book?

A MOST UNSUITABLE SUITOR is a little bit different from my previous books, because I do like to try new things. It’s still a Regency romance, full of passion and scandal, with the familiar setting of the London Season and the Marriage Mart, but it’s more closely tied to real history than anything I’ve ever attempted before. It’s a “what if” story, which brings together two people who, for various reasons, don’t feel at all comfortable in the world they move in. It’s also my second novel about the Constantine sisters, and I’m exploring their background, and the family secrets that have been kept from them till now. I had a lot of fun writing some unusual characters and comic scenes, as well as moving and poignant ones.

What advice would you give to other writers?

I would say that jealousy is poison, and that you’ll have a much more fulfilling life as a writer if you realise that other authors aren’t your competition, they’re your allies – it’s people who don’t read at all, or who produce books with AI, that you should be worried about. One of the best things about my writing journey has been the friendships I’ve made with other authors, both in my own genre and beyond it. We support and encourage each other, and it’s great.

I totally agree, Emma. Thanks so much for dropping by to talk to us today. Wishing you lots of writing success.

About Emma

A brief Author bio.

Emma Orchard grew up in Salford and studied English Literature at the Universities of Edinburgh and York. She worked as a copy-editor at Mills & Boon, then behind the scenes in television for many years, and later as a literary agent. But Regency romance has always been her passion, and her first book was published in 2023, to be followed by many more, most recently with Boldwood Books, regular topping the Amazon Regency charts. She also lectures on creative writing, and her main message is: it’s never too late to achieve your writing dreams.

Contact links

Emma’s Instagram handle is @emmaorchardbooks – this also links to Threads and Facebook.

More of Emma’s books