My lovely writing friend, Susanne Bellamy, has a new book out this month called Engaging The Enemy. It’s set in Melbourne, and it’s doing great things on the book charts. I’m very pleased to invite Susanne to my blog to talk about her new book, but first, a little education from the Lady Of The Rings.
“Marry me.”
“Will you do me the honour of being my wife?”
“Let’s get hitched.”
No matter the form of the question, it’s a signal that life is about to change for two people. Usually. What is so important about an engagement ring, aside from the evidence of a promise to wed?
It began as braided grass around a woman’s wrist/ankle/waist as a means of ‘marking’ her as her mate’s property. Early Roman women wore an iron ring in the home to denote the wife’s legal acceptance of being owned. Asian sheiks used puzzle rings to track their wives.
Diamond rings appeared in 1477 when Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave one to Mary of Burgundy, flat pieces of diamond in the shape of an ‘M’. But it was the discovery of diamonds in the Cape Colony in South Africa that led directly to the booming industry today.
In 1886, Tiffany & Co. introduced the “Tiffany setting,” a six-prong ring designed to maximize a diamond’s brilliance by raising it up from the band.
My favourite piece of trivia though, involves Cartier who created the Trinity Ring—intertwined hoops in pink gold (love), white gold (friendship), and yellow gold (fidelity)—for Jean Cocteau to give to his lover, poet Raymond Radiguet. It is still a traditional wedding ring in France. Love, friendship and fidelity—these are the cornerstones of marriage symbolised by the three gold types. Who could ask for anything more?
In the case of my latest release, Engaging the Enemy, the proposal doesn’t happen quite as expected. Matt Mahoney needs Andrea de Villiers to agree to a fake engagement. To give credibility to their ‘engagement’, Matt gives Andie an emerald ring. Reluctantly, she wears it—sometimes. Unable to tell a lie to save herself, Andie finds living this lie more challenging than even she expected. They are enemies but Matt brings out a side of her she never knew existed.
Here’s more about Susanne’s new book, published by Escape Publishing, called Engaging The Enemy.
One building, two would-be owners and a family feud that spans several generations: all relationships have their problems.
Andrea de Villiers can’t lie to save herself. But when developer, Matt Mahoney, buys the building she and a friend have established as a safe house in the Melbourne CBD, she decides that protecting The Shelter is more important than her aching heart. She will confront Mr Mahoney, and she will emerge victorious. There are no other options.
But Matt has other plans for Andie, and she soon finds herself ensnared in a web of well-meaning lies and benevolent deceit. To protect the building and the families that depend on her, Andie agrees to play the part of Matt’s fiancée, and play it convincingly.
But lies soon bleed into truth, and what was once a deception starts to feel all too real. Can Andie accomplish her goals and protect The Shelter, without losing her heart to the charming Irish developer?
For further reading, try: http://www.rd.com/advice/relationships/the-history-of-engagement-rings/
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Lily Malone - Author 