Dear Faithful Reader,

Happy endings must always come in pretty boxes with silk ribbons.  One cannot leave those ribbons untied.  Thus it is with great pleasure that I present The Courteous Cad. This long-promised tale features many of the high society Londoners you met in The Affectionate Adversary and The Bachelor’s Bargain.

Those stories, you may recall, left some unanswered questions. What is to become of our darling Prudence?  Will she find real love?  Or is she to live the remainder of her days alone, unwed, and interminably silly?

Then there was the matter of several dashing and eligible gents.  Among them are Prudence’s great passion, Mr. Walker, the handsome American, along with Lord Delacroix, whose seafaring days must surely come to an end in the arms of a loving wife.

Allow me to remind you, esteemed reader, of a certain young man among the landed gentry. You read about him in English Ivy, Wild Heather, and Sweet Violet.  William Sherbourne is quite at sixes and sevens.  An elder brother, Edmund – despite all expectations to the contrary – has wed his perfect complement in life.  The eldest brother, Randolph, also has found true love.  William is a Royal Navy officer with a distinguished record, a gentleman so charming he is welcomed at every society assembly, and a businessman whose worsted mill shows astonishing profits.  But the poor man has botched the one thing he desires most in life – true and faithful love. 

Do you suppose, my constant friend, that our London haute ton might meet our landed gentry?  Might the populace of the English Ivy series link arms with those in The Affectionate Adversary series?  Might every loose ribbon finally be tied into a pretty bow?
                      
You will only learn the truth, dear one, when you read The Courteous Cad.  I am happy to inform you that it is indeed to debut in bookstores everywhere in January, 2010.

Yours sincerely,

Catherine Palmer