JQ's first three novels, with her signature wit and warmth.
The Splendid Trilogy
About the Splendid Trilogy
The Splendid Trilogy is a bit of a misnomer. The “splendid” part is accurate (in honor of my debut novel), but it’s not exactly a trilogy. Or at least it hasn’t been since 2003, when my novella “A Tale of Two Sisters” was published in the Where’s My Hero? anthology. Here’s the lowdown:
Splendid (set in 1816) is about American Emma Dunster, who is visiting her British cousins and falls in love with the Duke of Ashbourne. Dancing at Midnight is about Emma’s cousin Belle, and Minx is about the duke’s best friend, both of whom played a big role in Splendid. Belle had a brother, Ned, but I moved on to a new set of books before I got around to writing anything for him.
Fast-forward seven years, and I was invited to take part in an anthology with Lisa Kleypas and Kinley MacGregor. Each author was supposed to write about the hero about whom her readers had been clamoring for a story. I immediately thought of Ned, and the Splendid Trilogy became more of a 3.333 sort of thing.
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Reader Questions about the Splendid Trilogy
- How old were you when you sold your first book?
- In Minx (published 1996), William Dunford falls in love with Henrietta Barrett and marries her, but in How To Marry A Marquis (published 1999) he’s a bachelor again. What gives?
- Is Ned Blydon (from the Splendid trilogy) ever going to get his own story?

Splendid Trilogy Extras
