Author’s Note

The history of many of my characters, despite being in a paranormal-fantasy contemporary series, are in fact real.

Part of my inspiration comes from making legendary figures in ancient and more recent history take on new lives and personas. While taking copious liberty with the facts, of course.

Devlin’s history is based partly on the life of a real spy in Wellington’s army during the Peninsula Wars. The Duke of Devonshire is a real duke, and Devonshire House sat right on Piccadilly and was famous for hosting elaborate social events and for being the center of London’s political life. Unfortunately, after the 8th duke’s death in 1908, Devonshire House passed to his nephew, who abandoned his expensive, unnecessary London mansion and consigned it for demolition.

So I moved my fictional Devonshire House into another currently standing grand mansion—the Apsley House, which belonged to the Duke of Wellington, who purchased it in 1817 and took over a decade to renovate it. Apsley House is open for visitors as an English Heritage Museum.