A Masked Earl
Eight years ago, Aurelia sparked a duel and refused both offers of marriage which might have saved her reputation. Ruined, she is resigned to spinsterhood, knowing she will have to leave her family’s home when her brother inherits. He has never forgiven her for the humiliation of the scandal. When, at the request of its solicitor, she helps to determine the true heir to a neighboring estate, one of the claimants presents a challenge to her mind—and heart.
The search for the late Earl of Barlyon’s surviving son rips away John Barlicorn’s life in London’s underworld. If he ignores it, his mother and sister may be cast upon the charity of the next heir, a distant relative. Returning to Barlyon, he faces a rival claimant, the risk of being revealed as a criminal, and the fascinating Aurelia. But how can he marry any lady, given his own discreditable past?
There is no explicit sex in A Masked Earl, though there is mild bad language.
About Kathleen Buckley (Albuquerque, New Mexico Author)
As soon as I learned to read, I wanted to write. It’s been a long, long road. In the 1990s, I sold two stories to Robert Bloch (of Psycho movie fame) for Psycho Paths and Monsters in Our Midst. In 2013 I self-published a coming-of-age novel, Getting By. As far as I can tell, nobody’s ever read it—not even the free sample—certainly no one’s bought it. You would think this might be depressing, and there have been years-long stretches when I wrote nothing but chatty letters and an occasional letter to the editor (the kind beginning, “I view with alarm …”). But the writing fits always re-surfaced, rather like malaria.
An Unsuitable Duchess germinated after I’d been re-reading Georgette Heyer’s delightful romances and contemplating the fact that there would never be any more, Ms. Heyer having died in the 1970s. I wondered if I could write a similar novel—accurate background, humor, romance, interesting characters. While An Unsuitable Duchess didn’t really resemble Heyer’s books, I thought it was worth trying to find a publisher. And here we are.
I worked the assortment of jobs typical of writers (customer service in a hospital billing department, light bookkeeping in a commercial print shop, paralegal, security officer). In 2008, I moved from Seattle, Washington to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
