I hope you've enjoyed reading Lily and Aidan's tale as much as I enjoyed writing it! I've always loved reading about the “dollar princesses,” and how they fared in a life very different from the ones they knew in America. Some flourished, and some failed miserably, but sadly not many found true love as Lily did!
A definition of “dollar princess” I found says—“A Dollar Princess referred to an American heiress, often from newly wealthy families, who married a title-rich but cash-poor British nobleman” (ancestry.com). These girls and their ambitious mothers, often cut off from New York high society (even more strict and exclusive than in Europe!) often used the help of well-connected but poor English ladies such as Lady Heath (who is based on real-life Lady Paget) to make their way in London Society. There were also books like Titled Americans: The Real Heiress's Guide to Marrying an Aristocrat (1890) to assist. In 1895 alone, nine British noblemen (including a duke, an earl, and several barons) married Americans.
Some of the most famous were Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill (mother of Winston); Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough; Frances Woke, Lady Fermoy (ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales); Mary Leiter, Lady Curzon; Consuelo Yznaga, Duchess of Manchester; Nancy, Lady Astor; and Kathleen Kennedy, Marchioness of Hartington.
Be sure and look for Violet's story next! She is a very reluctant noblewomen indeed. And visit me anytime at http://ammandamccabe.com
Some sources I enjoyed if you'd like to know more about the lives of these extraordinary women:
--Julie Ferry, The Million Dollar Duchesses: How American Heiresses Seduced the Aristocracy (2017)
The Transatlantic Marriage Bureau (2017)
--Cecilia Tichi, What Would Mrs. Astor Do? The Essential Guide to the Manners and Mores of the Gilded Age (2018)
--Anne de Courcy, The Husband Hunters: American Heiresses Who Married Into the British Aristocracy (2017)
--Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, The Glitter and the Gold (1953)
--Ruth Brandon, The Dollar Princesses (1980)
--The House of Worth: Portrait of an Archive (2014)
--Jane Gabin, American Women in Gilded Age London (2006)
--Pamela Horn, High Society: The English Social Elite 1880-1914 (1992)
--Amelia Stuart Mackenzie, Consuelo and Alva (2005)
--Gail McColl, To Marry an English Lord (2012_
--Jane Ridley, The Heir Apparent: A Life of Edward VII (2013)
--Anne Sebba, American Jennie: The Remarkable Life of Lady Randolph Churchill (2010)
His Unlikely Duchess by Amanda McCabe
But will it lead to love?
Miss Lily Wilkins hopes her American money will compensate for her lack of etiquette, as she needs a prestigious marriage to save her sisters’ prospects. Raised to believe wealth was her greatest attribute, she’s stunned when her unconventional ways catch the eye of the notorious Duke of Lennox. He’s far from the safe, sensible match she’d planned on—but Lily might just discover he’s the one she needs!
Amanda wrote her first romance at the age of sixteen--a vast historical epic starring all her friends as the characters, written secretly during algebra class (and her parents wondered why math was not her strongest subject...)
She's never since used algebra, but her books have been nominated for many awards, including the RITA Award, the Romantic Times BOOKReviews Reviewers' Choice Award, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers Choice Award, and the Holt Medallion. She lives in Santa Fe with a Poodle, a cat, a wonderful husband, and a very and far too many books and royal memorabilia collections.
When not writing or reading, she loves taking dance classes, collecting cheesy travel souvenirs, and watching the Food Network--even though she doesn't cook.
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