More than a Mistress

September 4, 2000
In her assured hardcover debut, Balogh (One Night for Love) serves up two Regency-era characters determined not to fall in love with each other, despite their shared aesthetic sensibilities, uncontrollable physical attraction and increasingly intimate friendship. The predictability of their predicament--they come from different social classes--is compensated for by an authentic London high society setting and the smart, sexy dialogue between Jocelyn Dudley, duke of Tresham, and Jane Ingleby, the two attractive, headstrong protagonists. Jocelyn is an avowed bachelor, rake and accomplished duelist. While preparing to fire his pistol during a duel, he is interrupted by a woman's scream urging him to stop. Jocelyn hesitates and is shot in the leg. Furious, he confronts the disruptive woman, milliner's assistant Jane, who is impudent beyond her station in accusing him of foolishly risking his life. As punishment, he insists she be his nurse for the three weeks he is recuperating. Jane is proud and feisty because, actually, she's not really a common serving girl. She's the orphan Lady Sara Illingsworth, who mistakenly believes she killed a man who was attempting to rape her. She fled her home in Cornwall for London, but without money or protection, her future seems bleak. When Tresham recovers his health, Jane agrees to stay on as his mistress, partly in order to remain hidden, but also because she is falling in love with him. Although some intrigue surfaces when Tresham's previous romantic entanglements make him the target of a husband's vengeance, the real story is the dynamic love-hate relationship between Jane and Tresham, their many obstacles to happiness parried with fiery wit and spirit.

August 29, 2011
When his duel is interrupted by the shriek of a maidservant, Jocelyn Dudley, duke of Tresham, is shot in the leg. As punishment for her disruptive outburst, Jane Ingleby is forced to nurse the ill-tempered Tresham back to health. But impudent and strong-willed Jane is not what she claims. And after making her his mistress—and then falling in love—Dudley learns that Jane is really a missing Cornish heiress, a murderess and thief, and the talk of the town. Rosalyn Landor gives a winning performance, bringing her rich, sonorous voice to the book’s aristocratic, Regency-era characters and providing narration that is crisp, well paced, and highly entertaining. Landor produces a host of distinct and believable voices—including a nasally cockney accent for the lower classes—for the many characters that populate Balogh’s bestselling romance. A Piatkus Books paperback.