The Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction is a series of Regency romances. In each story, a marriage in dire straits is rescued by the lady’s consultation of Miss Esmeralda Ballantyne’s incomparable volume of amorous advice. Over the course of the series, Esmeralda matches wits (and more) with the resolute Duke of Haynesdale, who is determined to stop her endeavor, no matter the price.
The series begins with a short novel (not quite a novella!) then the subsequent books are longer novels.
These books will be published individually in ebooks, then the collections will be available in both ebook and trade paperback editions. They are set in the same fictional world as The Brides of North Barrows.
There are two blog posts about the creation of this series:
Miss Esmeralda Ballantyne calls
Everything Old is New Again
I wrote one blog post when The Masquerade of the Marchioness was published:
There are a few more blog posts written to coincide with the publication of The Widow’s Wager:
Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies
Horwood’s Plan – a Map of Regency London
Character list for the series
(a work in progress)
New hardcover editions of The Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction are coming to Kickstarter in 2026! The Daughter’s Deception will be available first to campaign backers, and there will be lots of other campaign goodies.
Follow the campaign here to be notified at launch!
Claire Delacroix 