Hannah Linder writes Regency romantic suspense novels filled with passion, secrets, and danger. She is a four-time Selah Award winner, a 2023 Carol Award semi-finalist, a 2023 Angel Book Award third place winner, and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. Hannah is also an international and multi-award-winning graphic designer who specializes in professional book cover design. She designs for both traditional publishing houses and individual authors, including New York Times, USA Today, and international bestsellers. She is also a self-portrait photographer of historical fashion. When Hannah is not writing, she enjoys playing her instruments—piano, guitar, ukulele, and banjolele—songwriting, painting still life, walking in the rain, square dancing, and sitting on the front porch of her 1800s farmhouse.
In this interview, Hannah discusses her latest novel, Never Forgotten.
FF: What inspired the story in your book?
Most Regency Era novels are peppered with handsome, witty, well-versed gentlemen. They know their way about a library, avoid match-making mammas with skill, and dance to swoon-worthy perfection. Ahhh, are they not wonderful? And though most of the heroes in my books fall gracefully under that description, for this story I wanted something different.
I wanted a hero with callouses on his palms.
With scars.
Someone who knew the grit of gunpowder more than the stains of ink.
So, in plotting this book, I devised a plan to ship young, privileged Simon Fancourt off to rugged America for twelve years. Thus, we have our hero—and the inspiration for this book.
FF: What can you tell us about the main characters in your book?
Simon Fancourt is passionate, determined, and hungry for a life with meaning. He prefers leather breaches to well-tailored pantaloons. He paints what he cannot speak. And though he does not love easily, he loves with vigor when he does.
Georgina Whitmore is quiet. She has secrets that throb—unseen—beneath all her blushing smiles and pretty ways. And though she fears abandonment from those she loves, it has never once stopped her from giving away her heart.
FF: Which character surprised you the most?
The killer! Funnily enough, I didn’t know myself which character he or she would be until over halfway through the book. So, it was as much a surprise to me as I hope it will be to you.
FF: Why do you think storytelling is such a powerful way to share truth?
Because even though our stories aren’t real, the emotions are. We pull from imagined scenarios to explore real-life struggles—betrayal, heartbreak, faithlessness, desperation, fear. And then we show our readers the power in overcoming those obstacles. It’s a subtle, beautiful way to proclaim truth and hope.
FF: What can you tell us about your next book?
Another gothic Regency full of romance, danger, and secrets!
Here’s the back cover copy:
She forgot she loved him. He would die to make her remember.
Meg Foxcroft never minded the tattling village gossip. Or her uncle’s ill-tempered rebukes. Or the raised eye brows, as she took off her shoes and scampered the streets barefoot. Because she had Tom—and one day, they would build their own cottage, paint it red, and forfeit their nonsense to live a settled, wonderful life.
Until the unthinkable happens. Meg is attacked, her uncle’s apothecary shop goes up in flames, and when she wakes up in the arms of an eloquent lord, she remembers nothing. Not even her own name. Who abandoned her at the magnificent Penrose Abbey? How long will the secretive Lord Cunningham keep her protected—and from what?
Tom McGwen never told Meg the truth. She knew everything about him. That raspberries made him sick. That he rearranged her uncle’s medical vials to be a nuisance. But she didn’t know what he’d done. Now, it’s too late to tell her, because Tom McGwen is nothing more than a stranger. One she doesn’t trust. Or need. Or love.
In a frantic race against time, Tom plunges into dangerous water, bent on sheltering her from harm and uncovering who wants her dead. Even if she despises him. Even if it’s now the handsome lord she casts her smile upon.
As danger swells and truth comes crashing around them, Meg must confront the past and decide who it is she trusts—and loves—before the enemy makes his final strike.
FF: What kind of research did you do for this book?
Although there weren’t any “big” topics of research I needed to undertake for this book, I enjoyed discovering neat tidbits of history as I went. From the horrors of Newgate, to life in an American settlement, to the scandal still attached to Regency waltzing…it was a fun time.
FF: What do you want readers to take away after reading your book?
If you had asked Simon Fancourt, at seventeen years old, if he knew Georgina Whitmore, he would have been earnest in his answer. “Yes.” Lovely. Soft. Teasing. Ridiculous. Shallow. All attributes he professed to know only by their brief, passionless courtship.
She was more than he had ever noticed.
Deeper than he had imagined.
Perhaps if he had looked longer, prodded harder, he might have seen a glimpse of what dwelled in the heart of the woman he was betrothed to marry. That she was sincere. Genuine. That she was quiet and sweet and shy—not superficial.
If you walk away from Never Forgotten with nothing else, I hope you feel challenged to look deeper. As you’re brushing hands, laughing, telling stories—I hope you stare into people’s eyes and search for a bit of their soul.
We’re all more than what we seem.
We all have secrets.
Like Simon, you may discover the people around you are more beloved, dear, and wonderful than you ever imagined.
FF: What are the biggest challenges for you as an author writing in your specific genre?
Although there are endless articles and books and blog posts on life in the Regency Era, sometimes certain questions are hard to find answers for. You can’t interview someone who’s lived on an 1800s packet ship. You can’t walk into a linen-draper shop and browse the prices. So, I think the biggest challenge is finding random answers to minuscule questions that sometimes pop up while I’m writing a scene.
FF: What authors or books have inspired you as an author?
Jane Austen. My literary hero.
How has your faith or world view impacted the way you tell stories?
As a Christian, we look at life differently. We don’t believe in chance. We know that if we’re walking with God and in His will, everything that enters into our world has purpose—that it’s for our good and His glory.
In many ways, I view plotting books through that same lens. Nothing happens by accident. And though yes, the characters endure hardship, their world turns dark, their dreams get crushed—as the author, I know in the end everything will be resolved. The pain is for their growth. To get them to their happy ending. To make their story better.
I think the element of faith—the sense that everything is part of a bigger plan—allows me to write fiction with hope, purpose, and a beautiful touch of joy.
Never Forgotten
Hannah Linder
Barbour Fiction
Genres: Historical Romance, Regency Romantic Suspense
Release Date: November 1, 2024
ISBN-10: 1636098371
ISBN-13: 978-1636098371
Book Summary:
All He Wanted was Justice. All She Wanted was His Heart.
Georgina Whitmore, not accustomed to any man being unaffected by her charms, is plagued with the disappearance and rejection of Simon Fancourt. Twelve years later, Mr. Fancourt returns to British society with two children and a mad hunger for justice.
Racing against time, Simon works to uncover the men responsible for his wife’s horrific murder, protect his children, and fulfill his father’s unexpected will by marrying Georgina—the last thing in the world he wants to do.
Though her heart throbs to accept, she would rather lose him again than have his name without his love. She denies his proposal of matrimony, knowing it will cost them both. But as tragedies unravel and secret enemies narrow their sights on Simon, Georgina risks her life—and her reputation—to protect him and the children. Will the danger scorch them alive? Or will it, for the first time, open his heart to her?
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