Kathleen is a devoted student of the great humorists: O’Henry, Wodehouse, Twain, in particular, Oscar Wilde and Jane Austen.  Brilliant writers, like these, serve up prickly truths about society.  We digest these harsh observations more readily because they are tucked inside the delectable sweetmeats of humor.  
   Jane Austen was a comic genius--her books are the forerunners of the modern romantic comedy.  If Austen made a mistake, it was in labeling her stories “Comedies of Manners.”  Manners certainly played a part, but Austen’s stories were humorous on all levels; the witty dialogue, the situations, and the comedic characters.

MISTAKEN KISS
Regency Romantic Comedy, Zebra, Kensington, January 2005
2006 HOLT MEDALLION Finalist!

Willa is nearly blind, but she knows trouble when she trips over it.
(Aunt Honore is back...)
   The vicar’s little sister knows full well that her prospects are bleak. When Willa accidentally kisses Alexander Braeburn, her dull predictable world turns upside down.  Logic dictates that she should stay away from the handsome Corinthian. He’s the black sheep of their village. But how can she resist? She yearns for one more taste of the most tantalizing excitement she has ever experienced? Just one more, before Willa settles back into her dreary life forever.
   Alex is intrigued by the refreshingly forthright Willa. Her genuine character warms his jaded heart and makes him smile. When she naïvely marches into trouble, Alex feels duty bound to rescue her. Is it duty? Or something else that compels him to watch over the vicar’s little sister?

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CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH
Regency Romantic Comedy, Zebra, Kensington, March 2005

“a charming book, with the lightness and freshness of a sunny day in the park.”    --Yvonne Choi, Rakehell Reviews

(Aunt Honore meddles in her mysterious nephew's life...)
   Why does the powerfully built, golden-haired, Lord St. Cleve dress like an overdone Dandy? His outlandish wardrobe belies the hard unyielding lines of his face. Whoever he is, he’s ruining Elizabeth Hampton’s desperate scheme to secure a rich husband.
   Terribly vexing, to arrive at the most fashionable Breakfast Party of the Season wearing a perfectly stunning Chinese silk gown, only to discover Lord St. Cleve is clad in unmentionables cut from identical cloth. Humiliating. Insufferable! Why, the devil, must he show up in fabrics Elizabeth searched so diligently to procure? To say nothing of the long hours she spent secretly stitching her creations together. He must be stopped. She is determined to spy out his perplexing game, and put an end to his interference.
   St. Cleve despises pretension of any kind. He cannot abide the self-important airs put on by some members of the Ton and takes pleasure in making a mockery of Brummell’s fashion strictures. Conceited frauds! Hadn’t his grandfather’s snobbery made his mother’s life a misery? All the more maddening to discover the one woman who captures his interest is the biggest pretender of all. He vows to teach Miss Elizabeth Hampton a lesson she won’t soon forget.

Free Epilogue
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WALTZ WITH A ROGUE ... Anthology
The Highwayman Came Waltzing
Novella, Zebra Regency, Kensington, March 2005

   When Elizabeth Claegburn learns that her childhood sweetheart Lord Ryerton will be investigating a string of robberies in the village, she doesn't expect a shared waltz to rekindle their attachment. As romantic as the dance is, she knows cannot give in to a foolish tendre. For if the dashing nobleman learns her secret, more than her heart will be at stake...