Romance Novels

With The Roots of Betrayal, James Forrester has once again delivered a thrilling historical fiction adventure. It’s been a hectic month with the end of the semester, but this book transported me to another world. It was hard to put it down and get some sleep!The Roots of Betrayal is the second novel in a trilogy about the William Harley, Clarenceux King of Arms. Clarenceux is a secret Catholic during a time that it was very dangerous to be a known Catholic. In the first novel, Clarenceux worked with Rebecca Machyn to solve a mystery and discovered a document that could bring down Elizabeth I as the legitimate ruler of England. Fearing that this would create a religious Civil War, Clarenceux has concealed the document in his home with the blessing of the Queen’s advisor, Sir William Cecil.In The Roots of Betrayal, Clarenceux discovers that the document has been stolen from his home and that he has been betrayed by Rebecca Machyn. Clarenceux goes on a perilous voyage to discover the forces behind the betrayal and robbery and also above all, to protect his country from religious warfare. Along the way he meets pirate Raw Carew. Carew was at first seeking the “Catholic Treasure,” but then puts himself on the path of revenge against an individual that harmed the people he loved. Carew and Clarenceux become unlikely allies and work together to solve a perilous mystery.The Roots of Betrayal was a unique story with a great twist for the ending – I did not see it coming. I love books that lead me on a great adventure and have me guessing until the very end. I loved the setting in 1564 in Elizabethan England. It has always been a fascinating period of history for me. I also enjoyed the characters. I loved the introduction of Raw Carew. He was a “Robin Hood” of the seven seas. He was an interesting character that followed his own moral code. He did some dastardly deeds and was fascinating overall.Overall, I highly recommend The Roots of Betrayal and Sacred Treason for anyone looking for a fascinating historical fiction thriller or just a great read overall.Book Source – Review copy from Sourcebooks. Thank-you!

Thank-you to all that entered the April Audiobook Giveaway courtesy of Penguin Audio. I apologize in the delay for announcing the winners. It is the end of the school year for me, so things have been very hectic around here! I am also behind on posting reviews by quite a few books, so look for reviews to be posted in the next week or two as I work to catch up.All winners were selected using random.org and are as follows: Dear Chandler, Dear Scarlett by Mike Huckabee - Suko of Suko's NotebookMad River by John Sandford - Judy of Love2ListenDark Storm by Christine Feehan - Laura L.The Tombs by Clive Cussler - bn100Unintended Consequences by Stuart Woods - travelerPoseidon's Arrow by Clive Cussler - PetiteCollateral Damage by Stuart Woods - EricaSevere Clear by Stuart Woods - Donated to the Kewaunee Public LibraryThank-you to all who entered and especially to Penguin Audiobooks for providing the great audiobooks for this giveaway.Please stay stunned for another audiobook giveaway soon . . .

Please tell us a little bit about your current projects? Christine: Thanks for having me here today! I’m excited to share with your readers the completion of my Charmed Trilogy with the third and final installment in the series, The Charmed Fates. Everything that has been building for two books comes to a head in this final showdown. I hope readers truly enjoy seeing how it all ends and get caught up in the love Olivia and Caleb have for one another. When was the moment that you knew you had to be a writer? The moment I pictured the final scene for The Charmed. It sort of came out of nowhere, but once I had a clear image of it there was no turning back. I went out and bought a writing laptop the next day and haven’t stopped since. Every writer dreams of getting “the call”. What were you doing when yours came? Who got to hear the good news first? Christine: Mine came in the form of getting the call from an editor who believed in my work. It was a small step, but such an important one. It made me believe again after hitting my head against the proverbial wall for so long. I celebrated by immediately getting together with a group of five women who have been my sounding board since the first book. They have supported me at every step so they deserved to be the first to hear the good news. Who gave you the one piece of writing advice that sticks with you to this day? Christine: Author Robin Ryan. We were having dinner with a mutual friend and I asked her to validate if my concept for the first book was good. She answered (and I’m paraphrasing a bit because it was a while ago), “It doesn’t matter what I think. I shouldn’t have to tell you that your idea is good. You should know it’s good. If you don’t believe in your own work, how do you expect anyone else to?” She’s so right! The biggest fan of your work has to be youself, because there are too many other things along the way that can derail you. Describe the “perfect” hero. What about the “perfect” hero for you? Christine: I’m rather fond of Caleb. You can tell right away that he is intelligent. You can see he is handsome and physically strong, but it’s the dark side of himself that he battles with everyday just to be good and worthy of our heroine that makes him the perfect romance hero. That displays an inner strength. And that is sexy! For me personally, though, I’d lean towards Kane who you meet in The Charmed Souls. Kane is a flawed and very naughty shape-shifter, which to some may start him at a disadvantage. But he has two things going for him that are irresistible to just about any woman: confidence and a wicked sense of humor. Humor is one of the most important things for me because there is too much unfunny stuff in life. You need something to balance it with. What are some of your favorite pastimes? Do you have any hobbies or collections? Christine: Outdoor stuff like camping and Fantasy Football. I am very proud of the fact that I won our Fantasy league two years in a row, and I make sure all of the guys know it. Humble I am not. What has been your biggest adventure to date? Probably skydiving with my brother-in-law and his friends. What a rush! If your fairy godmother waved her wand and whisked you away to the location of your choice, which place would you choose, and why? Christine: I’m pretty simple on this kind of stuff. I’d just want to be whisked away to my favorite spot on the Oregon coast so I could write. The smell of the ocean breeze, the sound of waves crashing, the warmth of sand on your feet—it’s all a great escape to let your mind come up with something new. When it comes to food, are you the adventurous type who will try anything once, or do you prefer to stick to tried and true foods and recipes? Christine: I’m not adventurous in that I try to eat healthy, whole foods and keep things simple. But I absolutely love sushi, Thai and Indian foods every once in a while, as well as a great steak. What is your favorite season? What do you love about

I have a title: FAINT. I have a cover in mind that includes a coffin (a motif you'll see in the covers below). I have fully developed characters from FADEOUT and SWOON. Heck, I've got readers who enjoyed FADEOUT and SWOON and are clamoring to read FAINT. Yet, instead of writing FAINT, I've spent the last several months polishing two other books not connected to the series. I'm the diver afraid to take the plunge, the golfer fearful of pitching a ball to the green over a water hazard. Why do I resist writing that third book in the series? So I turn to you, dear writers. Anyone else out there hit this wall? What did you use to inspire you to write the third book? How did you start? What kept you going? Here are my covers and blurbs. Thanks for your tips! Rolynn http://www.rolynnanderson.com Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Cambria;} Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Cambria;} Jan Solvang has spent her life avoiding conflict and commitment. Six months ago, she left a marriage proposal and a job in Seattle to care for her dying mother. Now she's stuck with her mother's California house and her mother's dog, filling her mother's shoes as a memorial planner with her estranged father.Roman Keller thrives on conflict, writing documentaries that reveal the flaws of the famous. Jan’s challenge is to help him write a positive eulogy for a grandfather he disliked, but Roman is more interested in her other client: a powerful attorney with a dark past his family wants buried with him. If Jan stands behind the family and Roman goes for the exposé, who’s in danger and who wins?The tension between them pulls tighter as each discovers the other is keeping secrets. But if they tell the truth, will they destroy any chance for love? Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan;

Tonya has been writing all of her life. At the age of 13, on Christmas break she snuck one of her mom’s romances from a box brought over by her grandma. The novel she read was ‘Montana Sky’ by Nora Roberts. Once she finished reading that book she knew someday she would to be a published romance author. She has been writing every since. Now a single mom she balances her time between her 10 month old son, Mason, writing, work, and the Internet! Tonya loves to help support some of her favorite authors and is very involved in several street teams and posts book reviews over at her blog! Her first novel was published in January 2010, Night Promises, the first book in her Night Pleasures series! After a long wait her second book from MuseItUp Publishing, Claimed will be coming out Spring 2013! With hopefully, more releases this year as well. My Links: Author FB: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Author-Tonya-Callihan/155567004477447 Website: http://www.tonyacallihan.weebly.com/ Blog http://www.tonyasramblings.blogspot.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/tonyacallihan Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/11898212-tonya Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/masonsmomma12/ Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/104988658514193732252#104988658514193732252/posts Book Reviews: http://www.tonyasbookreviews.blogspot.com When I was 13 I snuck my first romance novel from my mom’s secret stash of books and hid it in my backpack. I would stay up late at night reading it, while everyone in the house was sleeping. I read ‘Montana Sky’ by Nora Roberts. It took me a total of three days to finish that novel. Would have been sooner if I didn’t have to hide it. As soon as I finished that book I remember a sense of joy and relief washing over me. I was a writer…I was going to be a romance writer. I knew from that day what I wanted to be. I just wasn’t sure how to make it happen. I read more books and I wrote down several ideas. At 16 I penned my first novel and soon typed it on my computer. I was so proud of myself. Now I look back at that novel and shake my head. What in the world was I thinking? The story doesn’t make sense, the characters are realistic or memorable and the plot has so many holes in it it’s ridiculous. My point is I wrote and I didn’t stop. No matter how horrible the story was I continued to write more and more stories. Nora Roberts says it best. “I can’t fix a blank page.” I also read. I had a new love of reading, it was a great escape as a teenager and now as an adult from the real world. Reading helped improve my writing skills. I honestly believe that. I learned more about making characters realistic and planning a story from beginning to end. I have to have a solid plan in front of me before I start a story. I’m not a punster. I’ve tried to be a punster, but half way in I realize so many mistakes and plot holes, I have to re-write the entire story. It’s a waste of my time. So I sit down and plan. My mom knew I wrote, but she was unaware of what I wrote until I was in my twenties. Then she was somewhat surprised by my choice. I will never forget out conversation that day. She told me if I wanted to be a writer then I should be a writer. She also told me I had to think about finances and if writing would pay the bills. My mom is smart and very realistic. So, yes, I do have a day job to pay my bills and support my family. I still find time to write and interact with readers and the rest of the writing world. In fact, I’m addicted to social media sites, below are my links be sure to connect with me because right now I am running a couple of contests! Contest 1: When I reach 500 likes on my Facebook Page I will be giving away a gift basket which includes: 3 books, lip gloss, nail polish, makeup bag, and fun author swag from several authors. https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Author-Tonya-Callihan/155567004477447 Contest 2: I am honored to have my blog featured during Lisa Renee Jones’

THE AUTHOR Elle Field is a twenty-something writer who lives in North London with her boyfriend. A social media consultant by day, she enjoys exploring and photographing Blighty’s capital, seeing far too many musicals, and eating her away around London’s culinary delights. Kept is her first novel, which will be followed by Geli Voyante’s Hot or Not later this year. THE BOOK RELEASE DATE: 22nd April 2013 | PUBLISHER: Self-Published GENRE: Contemporary Romance Life hasn’t quite worked out how Arielle Lockley planned. Becoming the next Coco Chanel, not shopping at Chanel, was always her childhood dream but somehow she’s ended up as a kept woman, living the jet set lifestyle with boyfriend Piers. When the recession hits, it’s not just the economy that takes a tumble. Broke and homeless with zero job prospects, can Arielle find her way again in time or will she always have to be a kept woman? THE INTERVIEW What is KEPT about? Kept is about twenty-something Arielle Lockley who always wanted to be the next Coco Chanel, but who has instead spent the past four years living a dizzying whirl of glitzy parties, luxurious holidays and daily shopping sprees – all paid for by boyfriend Piers – and not doing anything to make her Coco dreams happen. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, except when the recession hits, it’s not just the economy that takes a tumble… Arielle finds herself living back with her parents, on bad terms with Piers, and having a CV that’s as welcome as a pair of knock-off Jimmy Choos. She’s also finding unwelcome thoughts of her childhood sweetheart popping into her head because of where she’s now living, and that’s causing all sorts of further confusion in her head. Arielle needs to not only figure out what it is she now wants to do with her life but she also needs to figure out who she is, and who she wants to be with. Kept is about the fantasy we’ve all dreamed of – living the jet-set lifestyle – with the reality of what it’s actually like to give up your real dreams and be a kept woman. Tell us a bit more about the hero/heroine in KEPT Arielle is quite typical of most of us, I’d say. As a child she had big dreams and wanted to be the next Coco Chanel but never did anything to make that happen, instead choosing to study Economics at university because it was more “safe” and made her parents happy. Struggling to find a job after graduating and falling in love with wealthy Piers meant that she gets to put off the career because all Piers cared about was making her happy. Arielle goes along with living the trophy girlfriend lifestyle, not thinking much about it until things go wrong… This is when Arielle realises that there is more to her than this, that she has opinions on topics that extend beyond which trendy restaurants she should dine at that week. She’s flawed, but she’s courageous as she realises that whilst she could just become another kept woman, she’d rather make something of her life and try to make that happen, even if failure is the most likely outcome. How did you research KEPT? Some of it is drawn from my own experiences but, I have to confess, that my fashion knowledge is not as extensive as Arielle’s – reading glossy magazines and wandering down Sloane Avenue and New Bond Street helped me to make the fashion side of the book as authentic as possible! Is KEPT the first in a series or a stand alone novel? It’s the first in a series – the sequel to Kept will be out next year, and the verdict is still out whether there will be a third book! When and where is your favourite time to write? As I fit in my writing around a full-time job, I can’t have set writing hours so snatch time when I can. I’ll quite often spend my lunch hour tucked away writing somewhere in the office or in a café. I always find that I’m mo

BY JEANNIE LIN I *heart* nerds. It’s no wonder that so many of my heroes are scholars. My bad boy heroes are failed scholars. You dark and dangerous rebel you. I don’t know if most romance readers just think I’m off my rocker, or do they also get it?  Nerds are sexy. I mean, scholars

Like Carolyn and Diane, I’ve been following with interest the discussion on the state of historical romances in general and Regencies in particular that’s been prominent on the romance blogosphere since Jane at Dear Author’s provocatively titled post, We Should Let the Historical Genre Die. I’m never sure where I fit in during discussions of the State of the Regency, because I never can decide just how much of a Regency writer I am. Back when the Golden Heart and Ritas had two separate categories for Regencies and other historicals, I used to angst endlessly about where to enter my books. What if I entered them in Regency and got marked down for not having enough ballrooms and dukes? Or what if I entered them in historical, only to have some judge see the “1811″ dateline at the top of the first chapter and think, “Hey! This is a Regency. I’m sick of Regencies. If I wanted to judge one, I would’ve signed up for that category.” In the end, I entered The Sergeant’s Lady as a historical and its prequel, A Marriage of Inconvenience, as a Regency. Why? Well, The Sergeant’s Lady is set almost entirely in Spain during the Peninsular War with, as the title makes clear, a common sergeant as a hero. Despite its 1811-12 setting and British protagonists, it just doesn’t feel Regency. A Marriage of Inconvenience, on the other hand, is a house party story set in Gloucestershire, with a wealthy viscount for a hero and a poor relation cousin of a baronet for a heroine. Regency tropes everywhere you look. My third book, An Infamous Marriage, is maybe a half-Regency. The hero and heroine are of the gentry rather than the nobility, and though they move in exalted circles in Brussels in the run-up to Waterloo because of the hero’s rank as a major-general, that’s not what their story is about. And my fourth book, A Dream Defiant, despite its 1813 setting is another non-Regency–it takes place in Spain in the aftermath of the Battle of Vittoria, the hero is a black soldier (the son of Virginian slaves who ran away to the British army and freedom during the American Revolution) and the heroine is another soldier’s widow, an ordinary village girl whose ambition in life is to take over her home village’s posting inn and make it famous for serving the best meals on the Great North Road. I don’t want the Regency to die because I have such an insatiable passion for the opening 15 years or so of the 19th century. I mean, what would I do with all my research books if i couldn’t base my novels upon their contents? But when I write my Regencies (or Regencies in year only, as the case may be), I’m trying my best to ground them in a specific place and time–and that’s what I’d like to see more of in the genre as a whole. I know a lot of writers and readers love historicals for the “Once Upon a Time” feeling, and the last thing I want to do is deny anyone the pleasure of the stories they like best. But for myself I don’t want once upon a time. I want 1812 at the Battle of Salamanca, or Seattle in the 1850′s, or Philadelphia in 1776. And I don’t want the only alternatives to Regency to be Victorian, Western, and Medieval. I want Colonial American historicals. I want more stories set on the West Coast, like Bonnie Dee’s lovely Captive Bride. I want a Civil War romance from the Union side. Given the role of women at the time it’d be tricky to pull off, but I’d love to see an ancient Greek romance set sometime around the Greco-Persian wars. And so many more. I want more history–in my Regencies and across the genre. What about you? What unexplored corners of the Regency world would you like to see more of? And what other periods of history strike your fancy?

by Amy Wilkins, Harlequin Digital Oath Bound, the final book in Rachel Vincent‘s Unbound series, is finally here! The Unbound trilogy features three women with special powers, known as Skilled: Liv in Blood Bound is a tracker who follows the scent of blood; Kori in Shadow Bound can travel from shadow to shadow; and Sera in Oath Bound…well, you’ll have to read the book to find out If you’d like to find out what Sera’s secret Skill is, we have three copies of Oath Bound available to be won! To enter the giveaway, leave a comment telling us if you had a special Skill, what would it be? Contest will close 11:59pm EST on May 23. One winner will be selected by random number draw and announced on May 24. Open to residents of the United States and Canada only. For full official rules, click here. Good luck! About Oath Bound: The Tower Syndicate will fall… The secret daughter of the head of an infamous Skilled crime family, Sera Brandt has hidden her past, her potential and especially her powers. But when a tragedy strikes her other family, Sera needs justice. And the only way to get it is to reveal her heritage- including a rare Skill-and take the reins of the TowerSyndicate from her cunning and malicious aunt. If he can figure out how… Kristopher Daniels might have the answer. He’s fought the syndicate to protect his sisters, but he’d never realized just how close to the new heir he needed to get.… And if they can survive Neither is used to trusting. But there’s something between them that can’t be ignored. And so Sera is on the run with a man she can’t figure out, a target on her back and the new knowledge of just how powerful she really is….

Nicola here, fresh back from a trip to North Devon and the National Carriage Museum at Arlington Court. I’ve always wanted to visit the carriage museum because although I have read a lot about 18th and 19th century carriages, and seen lots of pictures, nothing compares with the experience of seeing a carriage or riding in one. The other reason I wanted to go to Arlington is because of the connection to Ashdown House, as the Craven State Chariot is one of the stars of their collection. So here, for those of you who also have a love of elegant carriages (and fast cars!) is a quick run down of the main types of early to mid 19th century carriage in the collection and how they compare to today’s vehicles, with thanks to the National Trust at Arlington for providing me with extra information and photos. If you want to see larger versions of the pictures you can click on them for a bigger image. The state coach or state chariot At the top of the pile as far as carriages were concerned was the state coach or state chariot. This was used only by the nobility. Frank Huggett in Carriages at Eight comments that in the 19th century, wealthy aristocrats needed seven or eight carriages to preserve their distinction from the rising middle class and provide a suitable carriage for every aspect of their social life. The state coach was used for important occasions such as the state opening of parliament or society weddings and grand occasions. This is the equivalent of the Rolls Royce with chauffeur. The state coach could carry four passengers in the body, the chariot two. These coaches would be pulled by a pair of horses and driven by a coachman. Two footmen would stand on the footman’s cushion, the padded platform behind the body of the coach. A state coach or chariot would have exceptionally fine decoration. The Craven chariot (pictured), for example, has silver-plated axle caps, asilver plated family crest and other carriage “furniture.” It also has a sumptuous blue damask interior. For formal occasions the coachman wore full livery with powdered wig, tricorn hat, braided livery coat, white plush breeches, white silk stockings and silver-buckled shoes. The footmen wore similar livery except that they wore bicorn or cocked hats. The Cravens also had the ultimate carriage decoration of “matching footmen,” identical twins who rode on the back. The footmen carried silver topped staves known as wands, which were used to keep the crowds at bay. They were expected to keep completely motionless except when needed for crowd control! The Craven state chariot was absolutely gorgeous inside, the last word in elegance and comfort. That said it was also very cosy. I had imagined that there would be more space. However if one wanted an intimate chat on the way to the state opening of parliament then it would be just the thing! The Barouche The barouche was the equivalent of the family car, albeit a very plush family car. The barouche could hold four passengers and it is mentioned a number of times in the writing of Jane Austen as the type of vehicle owned by a rich family – the Bertrams of Mansfield Park, for example. It was something to aspire to. Mrs John Dashwood hankered after one in Sense and Sensibility. Originally known as German Wagons because they were first made in Germany, the early barouches were heavy vehicles. They were also the ultimate in elegance and the chosen vehicle in which to show off in the park. On a more practical note, though, a travelling barouche was very comfortable for those long journeys between your country estates or even abroad. The travelling barouches needed to be sturdier than the town ones. It could be coachman or postillion-driven and required four horses, with the horses and postillions hired at the inns en route. The team would be changed every ten to twelve miles. If you used postillions they would ride the two nearside horses and a footman rode on the hind boot – the rumble sea