Welcome to My World of Historical Hilarity!

Welcome to My World of Historical Hilarity!

I like comedy and I like Regency. So, when I decided to write a romance, naturally I wrote regencies, and comedy became an integral part of each tale.

And my comedy is not the type for wan smiles, but has some pretty wacky stuff.

There’s An Inheritance for the Birds, where the hero must compete with his late great-aunt’s companion in order to inherit her estate. Their task: make the deceased lady’s pet ducks happy. Are you kidding? How do you make ducks happy? Quack at them? Well, my hero and heroine must figure out how to make waterfowl happy, waterfowl that have names like Obadiah, Ulrick, Urania and Felizarda, to name a few.

Or how about Gifts Gone Astray, where the heroine gives the hero a gift--a book on a subject in which they share an interest. The hero is flattered beyond words--until he opens the book. Hell and the devil, how could such a demure lady have an interest in this?

Then there’s Mistletoe Everywhere, a Christmas story in which the hero sees mistletoe over the lady who jilted him, or whom he jilted (who’s right?), and no one else can see the plant. Is the hero insane or making everything up? Why would he? If nothing else, he becomes the butt of mistletoe jokes.

In Pumpkinnapper, someone’s stealing the heroine’s pumpkins and the hero, Henry, decides to catch the culprit. Trouble is, the heroine’s large, mean pet goose, also named Henry, is very attached to his mistress and takes umbrage. Henry the man has no choice but to compete with Henry the goose for the heroine’s affections. Quite a comedown for a young, rich, handsome nobleman, especially since the goose usually gets the upper hand.

Lady of the Stars is my time travel, and sparks as well as comedy fly when the twenty-first century heroine goes back to the Regency to meet the hero. The humor  comes from the juxtaposition of incongruities. The hero has trouble understanding her speech. The heroine can’t figure out why everyone has to wear hats. And is that a chamber pot under her bed?

Then there's my self-published book, A Similar Taste in Books (Book 1 of Love and the Library),  wherein the hero and heroine meet at the library over a copy of Pride and Prejudice. At the time, novels were considered the lowest form of literature, in part because women liked them, in many ways like the romances of today. The hero covers his preference for Pride and Prejudice by saying he's taking the book out for his sister, while the heroine despairs because she thought she had met her very own Mr. Darcy.

You can find humor in some of the most unexpected places.

Blurbs and excerpts are available on my website, http://www.lindabanche.com

My books are available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon,  Smashwords, and other places ebooks are sold.

To give you an idea of my writing, here's the blurb and excerpt for An Inheritance for the Birds.

BLURB:
Make the ducks happy and win an estate!

Mr. Christopher "Kit" Winnington can't believe the letter from his late great-aunt's solicitor. In order to inherit her estate, he must win a contest against her companion, Miss Angela Stratton. Whoever makes his great-aunt's pet ducks happy wins.

A contest: What a cork-brained idea. This Miss Stratton is probably a sly spinster who camouflaged her grasping nature from his good-natured relative. There is no way he will let the estate go to a usurper.

Angela never expected her former employer to name her in her will. Most likely, this Mr. Winnington is a trumped-up jackanapes who expects her to give up without a fight. Well, she is made of sterner stuff.

The ducks quack in avian bliss as Kit and Angela do their utmost to make the ducks--and themselves--happy.

A sweet, traditional Regency romance.


EXCERPT:
Yawning, he shut the door behind him. Enough ducks and prickly ladies for one day. After dropping his satchel by the bed, he dragged off his clothes and draped them over the chair back. He dug a nightshirt from the valise and donned the garment before he blew out both candles.

Bates had already drawn back the bedclothes. The counterpane was soft under Kit's palm, and covered a featherbed. He grinned. By any chance, had they used the down from the pet ducks to stuff the mattress and pillows?

After tying the bed curtains back, he settled into the soft cocoon and laced his fingers behind his head. Tomorrow, he would have it out with Miss Stratton about the steward's residence, but that was tomorrow. He fluffed up his pillow and turned onto his side…

"QUACK!"

A bundle of flapping, squawking feathers exploded from the depths of the covers and attacked him. Throwing his arms over his head for protection, Kit fell out of bed. He scrambled to his feet and bolted for the door, the thrashing, quacking explosion battering him. A serrated knife edge scraped over his upper arm. "Ow!" Batting at the avian attacker with one hand, he groped for the latch with the other.

The door swung open. Miss Stratton, her candle flame flickering, dashed into the chamber. "Esmeralda, you stop that right now!"

The feathered windstorm quacked once more and, in a graceful arc, fluttered to the floor.

Kit lowered his arms and gave a mental groan. A duck. He should have known.

Have fun.

Thank you all,

Linda

Linda Banche

Welcome to My World of Historical Hilarity!

http://www.lindabanche.com
http://lindabanche.blogspot.com