Spanish Serenade (52 page)

I’VE NEVER BEEN TO Havana; let me confess that at once. I'd have gone willingly, if I could — there are few places I wouldn't go at the drop of anybody's hat — but political realities being what they are, it didn't seem too smart to carry research that far. I did visit Spain and San Antonio, and New Orleans, of course, prior to sitting down to write Spanish Serenade. The truth is, the story grew out of a fascination with things Spanish that began on a trip to Spain in 1985. It would never have come into being without the time spent prowling around the patios and cathedrals and country inns of Spain, or the missions, museums, and Tex-Mex restaurants of San Antonio. I hereby express my public gratitude to my close friend Sue Anderson for luring me away from my past preoccupation with French history and culture and encouraging me, and joining me, in my sampling of the flavors and glories that are derived from Old Spain.

There never was, to my knowledge, a noble outlaw known in Spain as the Lion of the Andalusian hills, nor was there a woman called the Venus de la Torre. All other characters in the story are fictional also, with the exception of King Carlos III of Spain, Governor Miro and Treasurer Nuñez of New Orleans, and Governor Pacheco of San Antonio.

The Great Fire of 1788 that nearly destroyed New Orleans occurred much as described. It began when lace curtains near the altar in the private chapel of the house of Treasurer Nuñez caught fire, and was spread by a fierce wind from the south and the explosion of caches of gunpowder. Damage was much greater than it need have been, due to the failure to sound the church bells in alarm because of the religious holiday of Good Friday. All other events in the story are imaginary.

A number of sources were consulted for background in each of the story locales. Spain, the Root and the Flower by John A. Crow was particularly valuable for its colorful and concise historical overview, as well as its insights into Spanish character, both regional and national. More character-types, plus wonderful samples of atmosphere, were gleaned from the old Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving. The section on Havana sent me to the Britannica and an atlas and old travel books. Then this summer, in one of those coincidences that happen so often to writers they almost take them for granted, National Geographic did a special article on Old Havana, complete with pictures of ancient buildings and a map of the old city. This new information confirmed images I had conjured up from dry, printed descriptions.

So many of my stories are set in New Orleans that I sometimes feel as if I spend half my days perched on top of a ladder in front of the Louisiana section in my own library/study. I pull books out and put them back, read a little here, a little there — some of it actually having a bearing on the work in progress — but it's all so haphazard that I can never recall all of the books consulted for any particular story. Still, two of the most helpful for this book were the wonderfully detailed Louisiana, a Narrative History by Edwin Adams Davis, and Leonard Huber's New Orleans, a Pictorial History.

The list of books gathered together for the San Antonio section include New Spain's Far Northern Frontier, Essays on Spain in the American West, 1540-1821 by David J. Weber; Mercedes Reales, Hispanic Land Grants of the Upper Rio Grande Region by Victor Westphall; Cycles of Conquest by Edward H. Spicer; Lone Star, a History of Texas and the Texan by T. R. Fehrenbach; A Place in Time, A Pictorial View of San Antonio's Past by David McLemore; The San Antonio River by Mary Ann Noonan Guerra; and The Indian Wars by Robert M. Utley and Wilcomb E. Washburn. I am also grateful to Houston-based researcher Linda Hard-castle for her efforts in tracing down the name and circumstances of the governor of New Spain in the summer of 1788, as well as one or two other questions.

Finally, a special thanks to Lynne Murphy of Edmond, Oklahoma, better known as western romance writer Georgina Gentry, for supplying me with the Spanish name of the wildflower known today as Texas Bluebonnet, for an informative and hilarious telephone conversation concerning Plains Indian habits, but most of all for being there in the best tradition of writers' camaraderie.

Jennifer Blake

Sweet Brier

Quitman, Louisiana

Since publishing her first book at age twenty-seven,
New York Times
bestselling and award-winning author Jennifer Blake has gone on to write over sixty-five historical and contemporary novels in multiple genres. She brings the story-telling power and seductive passion of the South to her stories, reflecting her eighth-generation Louisiana heritage. Jennifer lives with her husband in northern Louisiana.

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To find out more about Jennifer’s books and to purchase direct from your favorite outlet, see the Steel Magnolia Press website at
www.steelmagnoliapress.com
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If you enjoyed this work, please leave a review to help other readers decide if it’s a story they too would like to read! A couple of sentences are all you need to write. Thank you!

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Much of Jennifer’s backlist is still available in print and/or digital format. In the latter half of 2012, thirty-six novels are being re-released in new-edition ebooks.

Out Now

3 More eBooks In

THE LOUISIANA HISTORY COLLECTION

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Fierce Eden

What has he done with his devil’s bargain…?

Reynaud, of both French and Natchez Indian blood, endures a deadly slur from the lovely widow, Elise Laffont. Because of it, he demands she become his bedmate in return for saving her and her friends during a dangerous uprising. How was he to know she dreaded a man’s possession?

Elise expects the same brutal treatment from the half-breed brother of the ruler of the Natchez that she received from her dead husband. Instead, she is presented with a dubious bargain: Reynaud will not touch her — as long as she explores his magnificent body each night instead.

Their sensual pact turns to fiery desire, forging a bond as tender as it is strong. But the war between French and Natchez escalates, forcing desperate choices between honor and duty, loyalty and love.

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Louisiana Dawn

Life would be perfect if she could be rid of her tiresome virginity…

While living with her guardians, the Breton brothers, on their Mississippi flatboat, Cyrene saves an infamous rake and womanizer from drowning. It’s an accident: she thought him dead and meant to rescue the valuable silver lace on his coat. Yet there is something René Lemonnier can do to repay her. He can relieve her of her innocence so she may escape the Breton’s kindly interference.

René may play the part of a rogue, but he isn’t without principles. The lovely Cyrene will surely become prey to every lowlife in New Orleans once he does as she asks — unless he appoints himself her protector.

Intrigue, corruption and betrayal are rife in the brilliant court kept by Louisiana’s French colonial governor, and no one is immune to their threat. In this dangerous hot-house atmosphere, love is a fool’s game that few can win — no matter how exquisite the passion of the moment...

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Embrace and Conquer

The handsome mercenary demands her surrender…

Félicité despises the Spanish and their mercenaries who march into New Orleans to subdue the French Creoles revolting against Louisiana’s transfer to Spain. Still, she is not foolish enough to insult them. It’s her adoptive brother Valcour who does that, though she gets the blame. Because of it, and in a desperate bid to prevent the execution of her father for treason, she becomes the mistress of ruthless Irish privateer and Spanish officer, Lt. Colonel Morgan McCormack.

Morgan regrets his misjudgment of Félicité but cannot let her go, not even after her father faces a firing squad. When she flees New Orleans to join brother following the tragedy, he sails in her wake aboard his vessel, the
Black Stallion.

Félicité lands on a tropical island that’s a pirate haven where desperate men vie to have her. Though claimed once more by the Irish privateer, she must rescue him in her turn, for someone will stop at nothing to see them both dead. Can courage and desperate desire ever lead to trust and love?

(Note: contains scenes of forced seduction)