On the subject of feedback, a few readers have commented that they’d like to get to know some of the secondary characters better. I’ve tried to keep this book quite focused to maintain the pace, but rest assured there’ll be plenty of time to get to know various of Vice’s pirate friends (and foes) in the future books. (And perhaps even in spin-off series …)

If you simply can’t wait until then, you can meet Perry, Saba, Lizzy, and Fitz in Across Dark Seas, the short prequel novel to this series. (When I say ‘short novel’, it’s about half the length of BBS, to give you an idea.)

Everyone who’s read BBS is united on one thing, though: they love Barnacle. I mean, she’s a cat, what’s not to love? She’s quite special to me, too, as she’s a combination of two of our pets. Her personality is based on our cat Deedee (who’s currently lying in the sun in the living room), and her appearance matches Ghost, the cat we had when I was a child. If you keep an eye on my Instagram feed (@claresager), you’ll see photos of Deedee and her brother Dash.

Then we have Knigh. Ah, dear, cunning, damaged Knigh. Just like Vice, he’s struggling with his own traumas and emotional wounds, but I’m looking forward to sharing his journey to wholeness with you.

Did you enjoy them both discovering their past connection? That’s another scene that had me laughing wickedly as I wrote.

I knew from the start that I wanted Vice to butt heads with a man who was, in so many ways, her opposite. And I loved the delicious irony of him being her former betrothed, whom she was quite adamant she hated and would never marry.

As I wrote BBS, I was wondering what it is I love so much about enemies to lovers and opposite sides of the tracks/opposites attract pairings (the Counterfeit Contessa books are about a low-born thief who poses as an aristocrat in order to rob from the rich … She, of course, meets her match in one of her aristocratic targets. ;) ).

Yes, the banter and arguments are fun, and the disagreements are a great source of tension and conflict. But, deep down, I think it’s because of this central idea that is hugely important to me: what connects us is greater that what divides us.

I love it when characters look at each other, judging by what they see and think they know about X (pirates and pirate hunters in Vice and Knigh’s case), and think ‘We have nothing in common.’ Then as they get to know each other, they discover the other one’s positive traits, surprising deviations from their picture of what an X should be, and, finally, some common ground.