Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award–winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. She pens her novels beneath her Betsy Ross flag, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling, editing and designing, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of numerous novels, ranging from biblical fiction to American-set romances to Edwardian British series. Roseanna lives with her family in West Virginia.
In this interview, Roseanna talks about book number two in her Imposters Series, A Noble Scheme.
FF: A Noble Scheme is book two in your current series, The Imposters. Can you share a little about the book and where the inspiration for the series name comes from?
Of course! The idea for this series actually came to me in a dream—the only book I can claim that for. And in that dream, there was an “aha” reveal about Gemma and Graham that had me rushing to my computer in the morning to write it all down. Of course, that was just a kernel. It combined in my mind with an idea for a heroine who hides behind her outrageous fashions (courtesy of the stack of hats I have sitting in my bedroom), and I decided the two ideas could become a series—costume queen for book one, and that “aha” story for book two.
FF: For readers who are just learning of this book and series, can you explain where this series started, where we are now with book two, and where you plan to go with the rest of the series?
Book one, A Beautiful Disguise, introduces us to aristocratic siblings Lord Yates and Lady Marigold Fairfax, who have a secret they can never let society know: they’re absolutely broke, thanks to their father’s effusive spending on any and all entertainments. It made for an enchanting childhood, full of circuses and acrobats and theater troupes, but it forced them into a situation no noble would ever admit to being in—needing to work for their bread. Their solution is to open a private investigation firm catering to the elite . . . because they have access to places no normal investigator ever would. Working together with their distant cousin, Graham, a talented architect, and the daughter of their former steward, Gemma, who’s now a society columnist, they’re able to solve mysteries without anyone suspecting that The Imposters, Ltd are in fact their own peers.
Book one followed Marigold as she tried to keep her heart from becoming engaged with a client who hired them to help him investigate the father of her own best friend. The second installment follows Gemma and Graham as they have to work through their own history and save a kidnapped boy. And book three will focus on Marigold’s little brother, Yates, as a new interim Imposter helps him uncover the treachery that nearly killed a beautiful new client as she came to them for help.
FF: If you had to choose five words to describe this series in particular to readers, what would they be?
Aristocratic sleuths, hijinks, Edwardian circus
FF: Your books are full of historical elements, romance, and intrigue to keep readers on their toes. What historical context do your characters find themselves in during the era in which this novel takes place? How does that context infuse the storyline?
This story doesn’t rely on a particular historical development, other than two winters in a row where England saw heavy snows, and then summers of extreme heat. It relies more on the general things in society happening in the era—factories incorporating new technology, the rise of automobiles, and the ever-widening gap between rich and poor.
FF: Can you give us a brief introduction to the characters of Gemma Parks and Graham Wharton? What should readers know about these two?
Oh, they were such fun! Gemma is a woman of words, and she uses them to help the Imposters not only through her society column, in which she can report them being anywhere they need to be seen for an alibi, but also through her mastery of shorthand; the others will memorize entire conversations they overhear and then report them to her for recording. But at the point we meet her in A Noble Scheme, she’s battling a frozen heart—all caused by Graham Wharton. Graham is a distant cousin of the Fairfaxes, but his superpower, and how he helps the Imposters, is through his skill as an architect. He especially excels at using blueprints and schematics stored in the National Archives to recreate or understand historical buildings . . . which in the case of the Imposters means finding his cousins entrances and exits and hiding places as they go about their clandestine works. He’s also uncovered more than one secret passage in his day, based on his knowledge of structure and design. And in this story, he and Gemma may just find themselves in a long-buried monastery, with tunnels built to evade Viking invaders. Can you say, “Yes, please!”?
FF: Why did you think these high society tales still draw in hordes of readers?
It’s the dream, right? Most of us live very average lives…but we like to dream of castles and mansions, balls and soirees. We may in fact wince at the thought of a corset, but the gowns are so pretty…and who wouldn’t like a maid or two to help keep everything in order? We know that, for us, it’s just a fantasy. But that’s part of the fun. Escaping for a few hours into a world of glitz and glamour—and then seeing how that glitz and glamour covers a world not so unlike our own, full of deceit and scheming and expectations—helps us to better value our own lives. Traveling a spiritual and emotional journey with them helps us travel our own. Let’s face it, I’m never gonna own a Rolls-Royce—or a retired circus lion, in the case of the Fairfaxes—but my heart isn’t so different from a titled lady’s…and so, I know that I’m a lady at heart, no matter my circumstances.
FF: What fun elements and what challenges did this series concept present while you were writing?
I have SO enjoyed learning more about the Edwardian circus, the state of the English espionage game (or lack thereof) at the time, how novels of the era actually created a spy mania that led to the formation of better intelligence, and so much more! The challenge has really been in finding believable ways for my PIs to remain anonymous, but that’s been fun too. Costumes and hidden passages and acrobatic feats—so much fun!
FF: What lessons can we learn from the characters in A Noble Scheme and their struggles?
This one actually deals with some pretty intense themes of forgiveness, grief, and healing. My prayer is that through Gemma and Graham’s story, readers will see what they have to come to learn: Sometimes are hearts feel so frozen that we can’t receive God’s love. But when we let those healing waters thaw us, we’ll find that they flow through us and back out—we may not have the strength to forgive, but we can let His forgiveness heal us and then flow out to others.
FF: What are you most excited for readers to experience as they pick up this entertaining story?
Definitely to learn what has come between Gemma and Graham! And also to meet my precocious 10-year-old boys, Horace and Sidney, who play a key role in the story.
FF: What are you working on next?
The next Imposters book, of course! An Honorable Deception releases November 2024 and will sum up the series, drawing back favorite characters from book one and giving Yates quite a dilemma he has to solve…not just the case, but what his own heart wants.
A Noble Scheme
The Imposters Series #2
Roseanna M. White
Bethany House
Genres: Historical Romance
Release Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN-10: 0764240935
ISBN-13: 978-0764240935
Book Summary:
In Edwardian London, not all that glitters is gold as a lady and an intelligence officer’s secret mission take them from the city’s dazzling ballrooms to its covert intelligence offices.
Gemma Parks is known to the London elite as G. M. Parker, a columnist renowned for her commentary on the cream of society. Behind the scenes, she uses her talents to aid the Imposters in their investigations by gathering intel at events and providing alibis for the firm’s members through her columns. Yet her clandestine work would be more exhilarating if it weren’t for the constant presence of the gentleman who broke her heart.
Graham Wharton has never had eyes for anyone but Gemma, and she left his heart in tatters when she walked away from him. When the Imposters take on a new job to recover a kidnapped boy mistaken for his aristocratic cousin, Graham is determined to use the time with Gemma to not only restore the missing boy, but to also win back the only woman he’s ever loved.
As they trace the clues laid out before them, Graham and Gemma must devise a noble scheme to save the boy’s life and heal their hearts.
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