Blog Party 6 - guest author

Todays guest is the wonderful Janet Mullany who writes incredibly funny and briiliant Regency romance with a twist with fab dialogue.

Hello everyone. Thanks for inviting me to the party, Nell, and congratulations on the release of Animal Instincts!


I'm Janet Mullany Janet Mullany and I write funny Regencies for Little Black Dress. I want to introduce you to the heroine, Caroline, of my next release (August, 2009), A Most Lamentable Comedy, who makes a brief but memorable appearance in my first LBD book, The Rules of Gentility. The narrator is Philomena Wellesley-Clegg, the heroine of The Rules, who is having various adventures while trying to repair a ripped dress:


A couple reel into the room, tightly clasped together.


To my horror, it is Mr. Inigo Linsley and Lady Caroline Bludge. She shoves--there is no delicate way to say this, either--him up against the wall, her hands clasping his coat. I am most impressed that they manage to do all this with their mouths locked together.


'D--n, we can't do this,' Mr. Linsley says when his mouth is free for a moment, for I imagine they must have to breathe. 'I offered to take you into supper. You're engaged.'


'One last time. Elmhurst won't mind. He won't know.' She is breathless, and her bosom rises and falls so dramatically I wonder how it stays in her gown. 'Why were you in the country so long? I have been mad for you. And you've been in town a week and not called on me.'


'Caro, don't be foolish. I don't want Elmhurst to kill me.' I notice that although he protests, he does not attempt to escape or let her go, and his voice lacks the conviction I would have thought appropriate. So he and Lady Caroline had a liaison! It is a pity Aylesworth is not with me, for he would appreciate this greatly, loving gossip as he does.


To my surprise, Lady Caroline drops to her knees in front of Inigo. Oh, poor woman, is she about to beg for his favors? I cannot countenance this!


'Sir!' I emerge from behind the screen. 'You should be ashamed of yourself!'


Mr. Linsley says some rather interesting words--to be sure, my vocabulary is greatly expanded tonight--and Lady Caroline, whose hand is at the, well, in the vicinity of Mr. Linsley's breeches, utters a shriek, and leaps to her feet.


'Oh! Miss Wellesley-Clegg! I was, er, looking for an earring!'


What sort of fool does she take me to be? Unless she has a hidden, third ear, there is no earring she could possibly have lost.


Mr. Linsley leans against the wall, arms folded, and regards us both with a smirk.


Lady Caroline hisses at me, 'If you tell anyone of this I shall ruin you. You should not even be in society, for you are from trade and your family is excessively ill-bred for no lady would spy on another so--'


'Hold your tongue, Caroline!'


I think Mr. Linsley's response startles Lady Caroline almost as much as it does me, for she slaps his face, wrenches the door open, and leaves, slamming it behind her.


Mr. Linsley straightens his disordered neckcloth and bows.


Under the circumstances it is a ludicrous action and I cannot help giggling.


'I regret you were, ah, exposed to such a scene,' he says. 'And Lady Caroline was inexcusably rude.'


'It is no matter, sir.' Well, what can I say? That my maidenly modesty is outraged? It was, in fact, rather interesting, and I am now not convinced that she was about to beg him for anything, as I first thought.

(C) Janet Mullany
A Most Lamentable Comedy is available for Preorder on Amazon and other sites and will be released in August. I must admit I can't wait.