Guest Post from Loretta Chase, author of Last Night's Scandal

Today I'm excited to welcome Loretta Chase to talk about her newest book Last Night's Scandal and what an unmarried young woman of the 19th century has in common with a young woman of today!

Dear Alea,

I was thinking a lot about what an unmarried 19th century young woman would have in common with a young woman today. I know they’d be asking some of the same questions, “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?” “Why are men like that?” But—

Ow! Olivia, this is my—

No, it isn’t. I’m the 19th century girl. You can just go back to your smelly old Books, Miss My-Name-Is-Research Loretta Chase. I can take it from here.

I may have been born in 1809, but of course I know what a Blog is. It is a collection of Opinions, Essays, Divertissements, and such. Over the Topic of How I Mastered Computing Devices, let us draw a Veil of Discretion. If my Parents find out, I promise you they Will Not Understand, and I shall be Exiled Again—to the Country, which is like being sent to Outer Mongolia or the Gobi Desert. IOW, it is a Great Wasteland where there is NO DANCING and NO SHOPPING, and the MEN talk of nothing but Sports or, worse, Pigs.

At present, I have Troubles enough. Due to my slightly higher-than-normal rate of Broken Engagements and a few Minor Indiscretions (I do not see what is so Dreadful about challenging Lord Bentwhistle to a Duel—and there is a Reasonable Explanation for the Gambling Incident—and I have no idea where those Naughty Books came from), my family have decided it is time for me to get Married. Unlike You, I am not to think of having a Career (how Thrilling that sounds!) Instead, I shall spend the rest of my life being Somebody’s Wife and Somebody’s Mother and I shall never have the Great Adventures I’d always believed were my Destiny.

Meanwhile, my dear, dear friend the Earl of Lisle has his own Family Troubles, though he is a Male, and, as we all know, Men can do as they please, and no one sends Them out to die of Boredom with cows and pigs. But Lisle is not like other Gentlemen. He lives and breathes for Egypt. Let him catch sight of a smelly, crumbling Mummy or a ragged bit of Papyrus or even one of those little Wooden People he sends me from time to time—then, even Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love herself could not obtain his Undivided Attention, even if she appeared Naked on a large Shell.

Not that I personally have tried this Experiment with him. In the first place, you would not believe how many Layers of Clothing a fashionable 19th Century Girl needs to remove. In the second place, it is quite unnecessary, since I know him as well as I know myself. He is like a brother to me—sometimes an extremely annoying brother, but a brother all the same. I assure you, there is no foolish Romantic attachment of any kind, whatever Madam Authoress chooses to Imply.

However, I cannot stand idly by while his Demented Parents embark on a Scheme I know will destroy his happiness, with possibly FATAL RESULTS. It is my Duty as his Friend to SAVE HIM. Yes, I know he doesn’t want to be saved, but that doesn’t Signify. Men never know what’s Good for them. He doesn’t know it, but we are going to Scotland—along with two slightly deranged friends of my dear Great-Grandmama, and an army of servants—to a HAUNTED CASTLE. I shall have one last Great Adventure, and rescue Lisle at the same time. Then I shall try to be content with my lot. Either that or I shall run away.

Yours sincerely,
Olivia Carsington


I also have the opportunity to giveaway a copy of Last Night's Scandal to one of you!

Here is how to enter!

Fill out the giveaway entry form here.

The giveaway is open to addresses within the US only.

The giveaway will end October 7th at 6:59 pm Central Time.

Entries left in the comments of this blog post will not be counted, please fill out the giveaway entry form.

**Prize provided by the publisher**