Yay! Today is the official release date for The Devil’s Temptation, the second book in the Daventry Sisters series, and it should now be occupying space on a bookstore shelf near you. I am so excited, I’m doing the Snoopy dance. Okay, maybe not literally, since I am sitting at my computer, but I am picturing it in my mind. And now that I am picturing it, maybe it’s a good thing that I’m not actually doing it. I am a terrible, terrible dancer.

But I digress. I thought I would celebrate the occasion by sharing a bit of top secret, behind the scenes info on the book. So, without further ado, here are just a few tid-bits to whet your appetite:

Here is the original, never-before-seen blurb I wrote for my editor when I first started work on my proposal for the book: The Devil’s Temptation is the story of Lady Maura Daventry, the second born of the Daventry sisters. Ever since the murder of her scandalous mother, the Marchioness of Albright, Maura has been forced to endure the condemnation and whispered speculation of the ton. But when she inadvertantly stumbles upon the marchioness’s old diary, she discovers to her shock that her mother was not the villainess she has been portrayed as. Not only that, but the wrong person may have been held responsible for her murder! Full of guilt and remorse at having believed the worst of her mother, Maura sets out to find answers, only to have her search complicated by the one man who could prove to be a threat to her vulnerable heart: Gabriel Sutcliffe, the Earl of Hawksley–the handsome and dangerously seductive son of the very man once accused of her mother’s death!

If that brief summary has left you intrigued, you can check out an excerpt from the book and some early review quotes here. And here are a few little-known secrets about the writing of the book:

1. In my original plans for the series, Maura was supposed to be paired up with the stepson of their mother’s good friend, the Dowager Duchess of Maitland. But halfway through the writing of Sins of Midnight, Gabriel made a sudden appearance and things changed. Those of you who have read the book will know the scene I am referring to. It takes place at a ball, where Gabriel comes to Maura’s rescue when she is being accosted by a rather arrogant young lordling who is being overly aggressive in his attentions. Gabriel told me in no uncertain terms that he was the one for Maura, not Maitland. So I didn’t argue. I went back and wrote in a son for the late Earl of Hawksley, and the rest is history.

2. Maura was the most difficult of the sisters for me to pin down as a writer. In the beginning of Sins of Midnight, she came across as very haughty and cold and far too concerned with appearances. But once I realized that she had a very good reason for behaving the way she did, I came to understand her better. Her character definitely changed and softened, and now she is my favorite of the three. I hope you will find her a heroine to root for.

3. Readers will get a sneak peak of Aimee Daventry’s hero within the first few chapters of the book.

4. I am not normally the sort of writer who visualizes a particular actor in my mind whenever I am creating one of my heroes. Usually they are an amalgam of several different people that slowly comes together as I write. But I must admit that I definitely saw Gabriel as an older, blonder, green-eyed James Franco of Tristan and Isolde and Spiderman fame. Just picture him with a head of golden-blond curls. He’s got the wicked angel look down pat.

5. And the killer is…Nah, just kidding. You’ll have to buy the book to find out the answer to that.

So there you have it. At least for now. I plan on sharing a bit more with you in the coming days. And in the meantime, if you pick up Devil’s Temptation this week, please do let me know what you think!