Maggie Blackbird

Today, author Kathleen Buckley is guesting. She’s talking about her latest release Hidden Treasures, a sweet historical romance. Be sure to read my review. And don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.

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I’m not sure it was intentional. There was no moment when I thought, “I’m going to become a published author.” It certainly wasn’t a plunge. More like an accidental slow slide down a gentle slope, slippery in places and with level patches in others, and once in a while an obstacle to trip over.

From the time I was six, reading was my favorite pastime. Wanting to write followed from that. Writing assignments were my favorite things throughout school, whether they were essays, book reports, essay questions, or term papers.

By my early teen years I was trying to write stories for my own amusement and reading a writers’ magazine. I spent a summer tapping out a long story on my mother’s manual Smith Corona typewriter. Almost twenty years passed before I got a word processor and the mechanics of writing a story became easy. No longer was it necessary to re-type the whole thing after cutting up the draft and taping or stapling it back together in a different order or with new chunks added.

In my twenties I had the good luck to meet another aspiring author who was farther along in the process than I, and she introduced me to a critique group. Those were pre-Internet days so I’d never have known there was such a thing otherwise, and wouldn’t have had the courage to go if I had known. I continued to crank away at two novels of my own. Both stalled and I didn’t have enough experience to know how to get past the block.

Occasionally I received some encouragement. I won a short story contest at the Westercon science fiction convention in 1977. The finalists received the benefit of a critique before a live audience by actual, famous, published authors. I think all of us were puddles of nerves and/or angst by the end.

I also ghost wrote two science fiction novels (my friend’s agent couldn’t find anyone else who wanted to do it), about which the less said, the better. Looking back, it must have been around this time that being published someday began to seem like a possibility.

In my thirties, I sold two stories to Robert Bloch (author of Psycho) for anthologies, which gave me an immense ego boost, which was more important than the money.

Then I hit a long dry spell when my career as a paralegal was too demanding to leave time for writing. How demanding? The attorney I worked for was a litigator so while our usual day was ten hours, it could also run to sixteen or more. Finding time to sleep, do laundry and grocery shop was a challenge.

I left the dizzying whirl of fun that was life in a busy law firm to be more available for my mother, and took a job working security on Seattle’s waterfront.

I didn’t really start writing again until I moved to Albuquerque. Art is in the air and water of New Mexico, judging by the number of people who move here and take up some form of art. Our freeway overpasses are pretty. I’ve seen art for sale in coffee shops and craft bazaars. After a while, it seems natural.

A year later, I wrote a coming-of-age novel which I set aside after being unable to find an agent. I sold a short story based on my waterfront security experience to an online magazine. Then after re-reading my favorite Georgette Heyer historical romances and regretting she could never write another, I wondered if I could write one like her amusing, well-researched books.

Between doing the research and finally learning how to write a novel, it took me three years to complete. Then I wondered what to do with it. I found an independent publisher that accepted queries from authors and thought I’d roll the dice. My submission of An Unsuitable Duchess was accepted. By the time it came out in 2017, I had almost completed my second novel. There has seldom been a day since when I haven’t been working on a book or at least thinking about it whether I’m brushing my teeth or on vacation.

So I didn’t exactly “take the plunge”. I tiptoed into the water, backed up a time or two, ventured a little farther out, paused there, and finally slipped all the way in. While I wish I’d gotten an earlier start, those years were not wasted. Every job and experience has contributed something to my writing: a deeper understanding of people, love and loss, and greater confidence in myself.

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Title: Hidden Treasures
Series: N/A
Genre: Sweet Historical Romance
Author: Kathleen Buckley
Length: 317 pages
Release Date: September 16, 2024
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Blurb: Allan Everard, an earl’s illegitimate son, is dismissed from his employment at his father’s death but inherits a former coaching inn. Needing to make a new life in London, he begins by leasing the inn to a charity.

Unexpectedly orphaned, Rosabel Stanbury and her younger sister are made wards of a distant, unknown cousin. Fearing his secretive ways and his intentions for them, Rosabel and Oriana flee to London where they are taken in by a women’s charity.

Drawn into Rosabel’s problems, with his inn under surveillance by criminals, Allan has only a handful of unlikely allies, including an elderly general, a burglar, and an old lady who knows criminal slang.

A traditional romance.

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“Sir, we came to London to live with our grandfather, but he is ill, and we couldn’t see him, and our uncle’s wife didn’t believe we are his grandchildren, and now we have no place to go.”

Rosabel wished whoever he was might be able to aid them, knowing she dare not trust him, not after their encounter with the woman at the inn. He was probably a rakehell. Gentlemen did not otherwise concern themselves with females of the servant class, as they must appear to be, clad in their dusty, countrified clothing.

Blinking away her last tears, she was tempted to revise her opinion. His plain black suit, slight body, and untidy hair suggested quite another sort of man. His eyes twinkled when she met his gaze. “May I introduce myself, ma’am? Wilfred Simmons, curate, St. Giles-without-Cripplegate. If you and your sister have nowhere to stay, your situation is serious. London is a hard place even for men if they have no work and no money. A female without resources risks danger to both body and soul. Please let me assist you.”

She bit her lip. Mr. Simmons appeared to be respectable. He had a gentleman’s voice and was no more than four-and-twenty, she guessed. Beside her, Ory sniffed dolefully.

“You are wise not to be too trusting. I have friends who will vouch for me inside.” He smiled at her expression. “Ma’am, no one has ever been abducted from St. George’s Church, Hanover Square.”

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This author is new to me, but I found the blurb intriguing so I signed up to read and review the book.  I love historical romances, and this one takes place during the Georgian period in London.  I don’t often run into novels that take place during this time, so I could hardly wait to read and the author did not disappoint.

As stated in the blurb, Rose and her younger sister are in dire need of help.  They do not trust their distant cousin who is their new guardian, and find themselves at the charity inn owned by the hero, Allan.  As for Allan, he has resigned himself to a poor reputation since he is the illegitimate son of an earl.

Creating a place of charity for the inn he inherited more than shows what kind of man Allan is.  He could have done anything with the property, but he chose to help those in dire need.  Rose could have also found a way out since she comes of age in six months, but she won’t abandon her younger sister.  These two truly care about others.

The author did a great job with her research.  Everything in the novel is to the time period.  Social stance.  Culture.  Dialogue.  Law.  And it doesn’t overtake the novel but is used to breathe life into the pages.  Well done.  Speaking of dialogue, the author keeps characters true to form in their manner of speech from the gentry to the poor.  The setting is also well-established, giving the reader a view of London during this era.

The plotting is excellent.  Each page leads you to a new answer as Allan fights to reveal the true nature of Rose’s distant cousin.  There is mystery and suspense.

Although the novel is light on romance, it’s still enjoyable.  Allan and Rose come together through trust.  She must trust him to help her, and he in turn won’t let her down.  They form a bond, but there is a problem on Allan’s part because of his parentage.

The author is an excellent writer, creating a subtle romance with elements of mystery and suspense.  Do yourself a favour and get a copy.

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Kathleen Buckley writes traditional historical romance (i.e. no explicit sex). There are fewer ballrooms and aristocratic courting rituals in her books and more problems than does-he-love-me/does-he-not. Sometimes there’s humor. Kathleen wanted to write from the time she learned to read and pursued this passion through a Master’s Degree in English, followed by the kind of jobs one might expect: light bookkeeping, security officer, paralegal. She did sell two stories to the late Robert Bloch, author of Psycho. And no, he wasn’t late at the time.

After moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico, she wrote her first historical romance, striving for Georgette Heyer’s style, followed by nine more.   

In Kathleen’s gentle romances, the characters tend to slide into love rather than fall in lust. Their stories are often set against the background of family relationships, crime, and legal issues, probably because of her work in a law firm.

When she’s not writing or reading, she enjoys cooking dishes from eighteenth century cookbooks. Those dishes and more appear in her stories. Udder and root vegetables, anyone?

Kathleen Buckley’s current work in progress is her first historical mystery, tentatively titled A Murder of Convenience.

Follow Kathleen: Website | Instagram | Link-Tree | Amazon

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