Romance Novels

Please welcome 16-year-old YA author Jordan Link to the blog today chatting about her new fantasy romance The Sacrificed from Entranced Publishing. But first, meet Jordan… Jordan Link is currently contracted with Entranced Publishing for her novel “The Sacrificed”, which will be released on May 6, 2013. She won first place in Jack L. Chalker’s Young Writers Contest of 2012 for her short story “The Bubble”, and attended Balticon 46 last year. She earned an honorable mention on December 3rd for the Young Voices Foundation Short Story Contest and will be published in their anthology “Oh, the Stories They Tell!” which will be available on Amazon. Her early love of reading inspired an equivalent passion towards writing, and she plans to continue doing so. Facebook    Author Blog    Goodreads    Twitter Writing from Experience by Jordan Link The Sacrificed has undertones of romance, which are evident when Dusk is introduced to Emerald. Dusk is a winged, a boy from the upper level of Centsia. Emerald is practically his polar opposite. She resides on the disease-ridden streets of the lower level, shackled by harsh laws and even harsher punishments. As soon as the council becomes wary of the relationship between Emerald and Dusk, Dusk vows to protect Emerald from circumstances that may be beyond his control. Whatever happens, he will not let her blood be drawn. He will not let her fall onto the sacrificial carpet, lifeless. I was perusing through a blog a few days ago, and a certain article caught my attention. It stated, quite bluntly, that romance authors should write from experience, and experience alone. At first, I was a bit shocked. It seemed ridiculous to me that a blogger could tell authors to write from experience, especially since I write YA fantasy. Hey, if I could really go to worlds of green glass, Gods, and winged people, I definitely would! But then I considered the subject more carefully. Romance is quite possible, a reality for most people. Writers who’ve experienced love don’t have to convey the budding affection between two characters using overdone clichés, and what they’ve read from other novels and sources in the past. I have to conclude that fiction is fiction. It’s using your imagination to design a world, a scene, and even the relationships between two characters. If all novels were based solely on reality, how boring and tedious would they be? People read novels as an escape, not a wake-up call, a burden. No matter what an author writes; if they use their dreams, their creativity, or their talent, a good book will result. Be sure to check out The Sacrificed. Emerald Hayden lives in the City of Centsia, a half-winged among the other walkers. She has no family, friends, or food: only a grim future filled with tiresome labor in the upper level’s factories.  But everything changes when she meets Dusk, a winged from the place that she previously scorned. He opens her eyes to a new possibility: the possibility of the unity of winged and walkers, of freedom, and of love.  Together, they decide to challenge the upper level’s supreme, winged council. But when a friend betrays them, they must choose whether to sacrifice their beliefs and save their own lives, or to remain along the thin line that divides the city in two. Success could mean liberty; failure, death. B&N     Amazon    Kobo   a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thoughtful Ramblings is where we discuss bookish topics. Ones that have us all hot and bothered and we need a good rant to air our grievances or topics that have us all thoughtful and we just need to have a bit of a ramble… Are You a Fan of the Anti-Hero/Heroine? For me, the short answer is yes. I love anti-heroes and heroines. I also like more traditional leads but I get more satisfaction from a book when the lead character could be considered morally grey and has to overcome more than just external hurdles. There is a trend in television for anti-heroes/heroines. For instance, I’m an avid watcher of Nurse Jackie, Dexter, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, all of which contain characters who are capable of doing bad things for selfish reasons. I like these characters because I feel they are more realistic. There are very few people in the world who are completely good or completely evil, I like the fluidity of a moral scale. Now in books I think my favourite recent anti-hero was Costain from Paul Cornell’s London Falling. Costain is an undercover policeman who seems to like his role as villian a little bit too much. I like the fact he is conflicted, you are never sure whether he is going to turn his back on his unit, or come through for them. I like that kind of uncertainty. Likewise, author Raven Dane has a talent for writing really engaging bad boy characters. Cyrus Darian, her Steampunk hedonistic necromancer, is only out for himself but he wins you over even as he is picking your pocket. But what about the anti-heroine? They seen to be few and far between. I realised this as I made a list of all the anti-heroes I liked. The list for female leads with flaws seems to be rather shorter. The only one who sprang to mind was Chess from the Downside Ghosts series. Chess is a Witch who works for the church, but is also a drug addict and is involve with the local drug dealers and their gangs. I heard Stacia Kane speak on a panel at a recent convention I attended and she revealed that she gets a lot of flack because her lead female character is a drug addict and isn’t a straight forward heroine. Flaws that we celebrate, or at least take at face value, in a male character are not accepted so readily in a female character – or at least it seems that way. For instance one of my favourite anti-heroes of the moment is Jaime Lannister from George R R Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice series. He is the Kingslayer, tries to murder a child and has an incestuous relationship with his twin sister. Yet he has a very strong, albeit warped, moral compass which makes his character interesting. Cersei, his twin, is conniving and a much more political animal, her main motivation is gaining power and will stop at nothing to  protect her children and her position. But a lot of readers find her repellent, and I’m not sure if it is because we don’t expect female characters to behave in such a calculating way. So, can we have more anti-heroines please? I think we as readers are being short-changed with the  lack of female leads who are trying to overcome their flaws. We see heroines who are survivors and those that are tough, but there seems to be fewer female characters who are fighting flaws as well as bad guys. We need to see more of these type of characters because they challenge us as readers and, in my case, I enjoy reading about the internal struggles as well as the external ones. So are you a fan of the anti-hero/heroine? And, maybe more importantly, can you recommend a few more anti-heroines?

Blood Song by Rhiannon Hart (Lharmell #1) Random House Australia (Sept 2011) Paperback, 290 pages YA Fantasy I love vampire books so when Blood Song came up for review, described as Game of Thrones crossed with Twilight, I jumped at the chance to read it. What I found was a new twist on vampires in a dark fantasy world, but I don’t think it can be compared to either book. Blood Song opened in a typical fairy story fashion: widowed mother, Queen Renata, who had used up the family fortune, desired that her two daughters, Lillith and Fina, married well, enabling her to keep their estate and position in life. The grounds of the Amentine palace were once the most magnificent in all southern Brivora. Now, they have fallen into repair. As the wealth of the house of Amentia trickled away over many generations, so too did the magnificence of the palace. The book is written from main protagonist Fina’s point of view. Fina is the youngest daughter, and something happened to her when she was a baby, saving her life. This caused Fina to change and now looks quite different from her mother and older sister - whereas they have fair colouring, Fina is dark with striking ice blue eyes. Fina also keeps a secret, she dreams about blood! Not knowing what has caused these differences gives the basis of the plot, as Fina has feelings and desires that she doesn’t understand, knowing that her mother is keeping secrets about what happened while she was a baby, and she seeks to find the answers and find out who she is. When Lillith, Fina’s older sister, receives the devastating news that her fiancé has died, Renata needs to find a replacement rich husband for her daughter quickly. The pickings are quite slim and the family travel north to meet with a royal family in Pergamia. Fina is inexplicably drawn north and feels a connection there that she doesn’t understand. She feels the pull of the blood song, and this is where the plot became interesting and where she discovers more about herself. Fina is quite a feisty girl, and her mother is underhand at times but always seems to get her way. The clash of these two characters was enjoyable and we see Fina grow in strength as she stands up to her mother. There is also another whom Fina seems to get into some banter with, and I liked the development of this relationship between her and Rodden. Rodden is an important person within Pergamia, although not royalty and definitely someone of whom Renata disapproves of. He becomes someone whom Fina can trust, and he also knows some answers to help her understand who she is. With his help Fina discovers the truth and when things get tough they strengthen each other, especially as they find themselves in enemy territory. As the story unfolded, I found myself more engrossed. I liked the little twists, the romance, the different type of vampire creature and the dark fantasy world, which came across a little medieval and was rounded off nicely with action, gore and violence. A simple, easy read that was enjoyable and just what I needed to get me out of a little reading slump. VERDICT: Blood Song is a light, quick, yet enjoyable read with a new twist on vampires, some gore and a brewing romance. The writing is simple and flows well, making it easy to turn the pages. It’s not a book that will stay with you though, as I found recalling it to write a review difficult. However, it is a good book to get you out of a reading slump, as not a lot of thought is required, yet I still found it entertaining. I would recommend this one for under 16’s, especially as Fina’s experience reflects that age and maturity. RATING:  RHIANNON HART ONLINE Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads BOOKS IN SERIES ORDER Blood Song Blood Storm Blood Queen BUY YOUR COPY

Every writer out there knows what keeps readers turning pages is conflict and tension. But what exactly is sexual tension and what are some effective ways to make it work?Sexual tension is the unwanted sexual attraction between the hero and heroine. Even if the hero and heroine are in a sexual relationship, sexual tension can still play an important part in building that ever-important page-turning conflict. Examples are: He’s thinking of stripping her when he should be focusing on his job. Or they are in a crowded room and the only thing she can think of is getting him naked.But how does a writer put sexual tension on the page? I believe this is something a writer has to do without trying too hard. If the tension is forced, it comes off unnatural and more awkward than sexy. However, that being said, I’m going to offer some things I do to make sure the pages sizzle.First of all, your hero and heroine’s goals, motivations and conflicts have to be clearly recognized. What do they want? Why do they want it? And what will keep them from it? If the last thing a hero wants is to settle down and get married for whatever his reasons (a bad breakup, a new job that doesn’t have room for a woman, a past run-in with the heroine), ideas of riding off in the sunset with the heroine because he’s never been this attracted to a woman before will drive his internal conflict. This in itself is great tension in the making. He wants her (not just sexually), but he’s afraid of what will happen when he has her (might admit he loves her). So, the last thing he wants is to be near her, but he can’t stay away from her for whatever plot reason the writer throws at them.Now, if the heroine’s goals are the complete opposite of the hero’s… Ah, you see where this is going, especially if the commitment-phobic hero and the husband-hunting heroine are thrown together and can’t keep either their thoughts or hands or both off each other.So, what happens while they are together? No matter what the plot pertains, whether they are running for their lives from the bad guys, forced into an arranged marriage, or just trying to babysit his precocious nephew, the hero and heroine have to be building toward their happy-ever-after. Their attraction and desire to be more than just what they are now (even if they don’t know it or won’t admit it themselves), has to be on the page.I use all five senses to do this. How do they look at each other? What does she/he smell like? Taste like? What happens when they touch? What are their emotions when they are together and when they are apart? Now use the answers to build that tension by having them experiencing these things when it’s the most inappropriate (external conflict) or when they don’t want them because of their internal conflict. For example, in my contemporary western romance Heartstrings, my hero, Seth Kendall, and heroine, Abby Ritter, meet in Chapter 1 at his father’s funeral, but despite being at a somber event and surrounded by people, Seth remembers exactly what Abby looked, tasted and smelled like the first time he’d made love to her—fifteen years before. This emotional response wars with his internal conflict when he thinks of her marriage to his best friend and the daughter he has never met.I do have one warning, however. Be careful of falling into using clichés to describe what the characters are experiencing. The hardest part of building sexual tension for me is coming up with new ways of saying old things—like the over-used “electric spark”, “butterflies in the tummy”, etc. You know the ones. They usually make you roll your eyes every time you read them.HeartstringsHe’s determined to set things right, no matter the cost.The last person Abby Crawford wants to face down is country music superstar Seth Kendall. Last time she did, she flat-out lied so he’d go to Nashville without her. She’s never understood why their mutual best friend proposed, but she went with it so her baby wouldn’t be fatherless. Now she’s a

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE 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-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Please tell us a little bit about your current projects? Kelley: I’m currently writing The Descendant Vampire Series.  The Descendant (book 1) was published May 2012 and The Search (book 2) will be published later this year.  Dubbed a vampire tale of biblical proportions, The Descendant reveals the origin of the vampire through the experiences of a woman who discovers that she’s a descendant of the first vampire.  The search is on for answers in book 2 as Allison’s journey picks up where it left off in book 1. When was the moment that you knew you had to be a writer? Kelley: It was in 2009.  I call that period in my life my career midlife crisis.  I was unhappy with my day job and felt that there had to be something more for me out there. At that same time, I had just finished reading a book, the premise of which was so simple that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it myself. Later that night, I declared to my husband that I was going to write a book.  To this day, I think that he thought I was nuts, but he never questioned me and I’ve been writing ever since. Every writer dreams of getting “the call”. What were you doing when yours came? Who got to hear the good news first?  Kelley: I never got the call from a literary agent. I found the process of querying agents in order to find a publisher quite tedious and time consuming. I did it for awhile, but after attending a writer’s conference and learning that my chances of landing an agent were essentially equivalent to finding the proverbial needle in the haystack, I decided to independently publish. I guess my version of “the call” is the first time I received a proof of my paperback. I was home alone and certainly knew what the package was. I opened it, held the book in my hand, then set it on the kitchen counter. After staring at it for a few moments, I said aloud “I did that.  I did that,” and pointed at the book.  Then I proceeded to jump up and down and scream before taking pictures and posting it on Facebook. Who gave you the one piece of writing advice that sticks with you to this day?  Kelley: It’s not so much writing advice as it is just plain good advice on this writing adventure and I don’t really recall where I heard it. The saying is, if you don’t ask, the answer will always be no.  For me, this really hit home as I don’t like to ask for things. But in this industry, if you don’t ask, you’re not going to get anything. I’m now asking for book reviews and donations for events and asking for my book to be carried in book stores, and surprisingly – most people say YES! Describe the “perfect” hero. What about the “perfect” hero for you? Kelley: I think the perfect hero is imperfect.  No one is perfect in the real world so why should a literary character be perfect?  I prefer bad boys with long hair and tattoos, a chip on his shoulder but a soft spot for the people he loves (think Jax from Sons of Anarchy). What are some of your favorite pastimes? Do you have any hobbies or collections?  Kelley: I love to ride my Harley Davidson. My husband taught me how to ride

A bit about the novel Talking Dirty with the CEO: Gadget journalist Christie St. John is more geek than chic. But when research for an article she has to write on online dating leads to the bed of the hottest guy she’s ever met, she knows that if the geek is to keep the hottie CEO, she’s going to have to come out of her digital shell. Tech mogul Joseph Ashton never expected an Internet blind date to end in the best sex of his life. Yet as the chemistry between him and Christie burns out of control, he can’t help but think this woman is out for his money like all the rest. She claims she wants his heart instead – but that’s the one thing he can never give. Top Ten Places to Get It On With An Alpha Hero You may have heard writers complain about how their characters do stuff that the writers themselves didn’t make them do. You may think that sounds nuts.  Okay, it IS nuts. But it’s also true. My characters are ALWAYS doing stuff I don’t approve of. Take the sexy times for example. Sometimes they get it on when I don’t think they’re ready. Sometimes they DON’T get it on when they ARE ready. Sometimes they get it on in TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE places and I’m thinking ‘My God, people! Have you no shame??’ Or – more often – ‘how on earth am I supposed to choreograph that??’  Because once they get into it, you can’t move them. It kills the mood, man! Talking Dirty with the CEO, and in fact my Talking Dirty series as a whole, has sexy times in places that I was not expecting nor approve of (hear that Christie and Joseph???).  Most of them are not in beds. So, to give you a taster, here’s my top ten places where my heroines get it on with their heroes. A bathroom vanity. Hey, they were in the bathroom. Joseph decided to make his move and baby, it was all on. They did not want to stop to find somewhere more comfortable. The fools! Against a wall – rather tame but at least they had the decency to be inside the apartment at the time. On a couch in a photographic studio. I guess I should be grateful the hero didn’t take photos…then… On a Ferrari. Honestly, dude, did you not think of the paintwork?? In an office supply room. Yes, it’s a cliché. I told the hero that but he didn’t care, the idiot. On a couch in the heroine’s apartment. That’s when the hero started taking photos (honestly, that was all his own decision, nothing to do with me). In a rugby locker room. It was empty – thank God – and interestingly it was the hero who decided not to go all the way. To my surprise! A shower. Well, at least it’s warm and there aren’t any jockstraps (see above). Okay, so that’s only eight because the other sexy times are in beds. So I’ll include another couple from some of the books I’m working on now. On a plane. I know, it’s virtually impossible to do this on a plane these days but still. Thank you very much, hero! Not. In an elevator. At least I think they’re going to do it in an elevator. I haven’t finished the scene yet so who knows?  They may decide to stop and wait till they find somewhere more comfortable. Anything’s possible! So what about you guys? What’s the most unusual sexy times location you’ve read about? a Rafflecopter giveaway A bit about Jackie: Jackie has been writing fiction since she was eleven years old. Mild mannered fantasy/SF/pseudo-literary writer by day, obsessive romance writer by night, she used to balance her writing with the more serious job of librarianship until a chance meeting with another romance writer prompted her to throw off the shackles of her day job and devote herself to the true love of her heart – writing romance. She particularly likes to write emotional stories with alpha heroes who’ve just got the world to their liking only to have it blown wide apart by their kick

by Amy Wilkins, Harlequin Digital Your local public health wants you to know the dangers of Red Lung! What is Red Lung you ask? In Julie Kagawa‘s Blood of Eden series (The Immortal Rules and The Eternity Cure), the Red Lung virus has killed most of the earth’s population, and the survivors now live in a walled city — and under the control of vampires. MTV’s Hollywood Crush blog got an exclusive look at the New Covington Public Heath Dept.’s posters about Red Lung and other dangers of the post-apocalyptic world of Blood of Eden (hint: the virus is just one thing that could kill you–or worse!). Here’s a peak at one of them! See all four posters here. Which one is YOUR favorite? To learn more about the Blood of Eden series and get free downloads, visit www.bloodofeden.com.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. "With her signature heart and humor, Julie Halpern explores a strained friendship strengthened by one girl’s battle with cancer. Alex’s father recently died in a car accident. And on the night of his funeral, her best friend Becca slept with Alex’s boyfriend. So things aren’t great. Alex steps away from her friendship with Becca and focuses on her family. But when Alex finally decides to forgive Becca, she finds out something that will change her world again--Becca has cancer. So what do you do when your best friend has cancer? You help her shave her head. And then you take her bucket list and try to fulfill it on her behalf. Because if that’s all you can do to help your ailing friend--you do it."Why I Can't Wait: First of all, the cover? Love it! I originally saw this book in Macmillan's winter catalog and immediately wanted to read it. It's a book about friendship and loss, two subjects I personally hold dear. I'm also curious to see what's on this "F-it list" and how both Alex and Becca deal with everything going on in their lives. This doesn't seem like an easy read but definitely sounds like a good one! Expected publication: November 12th 2013 by Feiwel & FriendsAdd it on Goodreads.

Click here for the tour stops!Entangled Publishing's newest category line, Covet, is all about contemporary paranormals with a strong, romantic trope at the core, hot alpha heroes, and deliciously satisfying relationships developed between hero and heroine. I'm thrilled to be part of Covet's official launch, and I think lovers of paranormal will be thrilled with the Covet releases.To learn more about me, please visit any of my Bad Mouth Official Blog Tour stops. Each blog stop will give you a chance to win a free ebook of Bad Mouth. There's lots of opportunity to hear from me on the blogs hosting me so I decided to offer you something different this time, a teaser excerpt from Bad Mouth. You can read the first chapter right here, but for The Romance Studio audience, I'm offering a scene you won't find anywhere else. In this scene, Val first meets Kade (I was sorely tempted to show the next scene after this which is Kade's POV, but I worried the content wasn't suitable for general audiences. It's not titled Bad Mouth for nothing, lol). You'll definitely want to stay tuned following the excerpt for TWO great giveaways!She turned away to focus on the horizon and calm her nerves and her rising anger. Alice had set this meeting up personally, so the useless desk-jockey vampire had known damn well to expect them. Rollins was playing with them already, but she refused to be intimidated by his lack of attendance.Val heard nothing, not even a hint of sound, but a heavy awareness swept through her. Her muscles tensed with a fight-or-flight burst of adrenaline. A charge of energy whispered along her nerves, causing her skin to tingle and raising goose bumps on her arms that had nothing to do with the frigid room. A ticklish sensation brushed at her nape, as if someone stood a hairsbreadth away. Though she tried for nonchalance as she turned, the movement was too fast and jerky to fool a vampire.She drew a sharp breath when she saw Rollins. He wasn’t right behind her but at least ten feet away. Lord, if he had that much presence at ten feet, he would overwhelm up close and in full contact. Before she could examine the thought further, he made a slow approach like a predator stalking his prey.She had to remind herself to breathe. The man was devastating. The top of her head barely made it to his shoulders, and he was nearly twice as wide as her, those broad shoulders straining the white fabric of his T-shirt. His denim jeans were dark but faded in the area snug around his strong, thick thighs.Where Graham had the soft features of an angel, this man was all solid, firm angles, his jaw a determined square, cheekbones high, and nose perfectly straight and proportioned, like Olen’s. His lean cheeks gave him a harsh aspect. His hair was shiny and black, but cut military-short in the back and slightly longer in the front. He wasn’t GQ pretty, but raw and wickedly handsome, so ruggedly sexy the sight of him made her inner muscles clench. The sensual being that had slumbered for too long inside of her unfurled and sat up at attention.Those seductive, kiss-you-senseless lips moved up into a humorless curve. Then his eyes registered through her daze. They were colder than the room, the deep bloodred of them reminding her just what he was and what he liked to do to humans. No matter how handsome his appearance, animosity hardened his face. It didn’t take a genius to figure out how he felt about the VLO’s investigation.“Mr. Rollins?” Her voice came out more like a whisper. She knew she must look like a deer in the headlights, and she would swear she’d tried to make her words into a statement, not a question. So much for appearing nonchalant. Despite the chill in the room, heat shot straight down to her core.“Valerie.” His voice fed dark chocolate to her senses, rich and decadent. The vampire was a hot, enticing male, and she was a healthy female in the midst of a sexual dry spell, so her attraction made perfect sense. It made her want to heave. Her bo