Posts Tagged ‘historical romance’

Guest Post

Guest Post: 5 Tips for Getting Lucky in Love from Amy Sandas

Luck is No Lady Amy Sandas

With this year’s RT Convention taking place in beautiful Las Vegas and the fact that my latest historical romance, Luck is No Lady, is set at an exclusive gambling hell in regency London, it seems like a perfect time to talk about getting lucky.

Lucky in love, that is.

The internet is flooded with tips and tricks for winning big at the casinos, but some would say love is the greatest gamble of all. There is certainly a lot of risk involved in matters of the heart and the pay-out can be hugely rewarding or equally devastating. So, I thought I would share my tips for getting lucky in love.

#1 – There Are No Rules

In gambling, you must know the rules of the game if you expect to develop a strategy and play with any success. When it comes to love, however, there are no rules. Many readers may recall a book that came out some years ago that detailed the rules of dating and finding love. In my opinion, no one else can decide what is right and how love should proceed. The only rules associated with love are those that are meant to be broken.

In Luck is No Lady, Emma Chadwick is a woman who always plays by the rules of English regency society. Anything less than a strict adherence to social decorum could result in a loss of reputation and ruin her younger sisters settled into proper marriages. It isn’t until Emma starts breaking those unwritten rules that she has a chance at love.

#2 – Know Where to Go

This little gambling tip suggests that going off-strip in Vegas gives you better odds than remaining amongst the crowds in the posh casinos along the main drag. This could be true in love, as well. You never know where you might encounter someone who makes your heart skip a beat. Take a chance every now and then and do something out of the ordinary, go somewhere new.

Often, love will find you where you least expect it. As Emma discovers, maybe even in the halls of a notorious gambling hell.

#3 – Learn to Read Others

This is vital in poker where winning relies on being able to read the other players as much as it relies on the cards you are dealt. Learning the habits and tells of the others at the table assist in seeing through bluffs and deceptions.

Whereas poker is about deception, love is about truth. But it can require just as much attention to discovering what lies behind the façade someone else presents to the rest of the world. Taking time to get to know a person’s true self provides a much better chance at winning their heart.

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Essential Beginnings Kennedy Layne
Guest Post

Guest Post: “The Gay 90s” by Kate McMurray

Ten Days In August Kate McMurray

Last time I was here, I talked a little about what it was like to be gay in the 1920s. My new novel, Ten Days in August, is set in 1896. So what kind of difference does going back in time thirty years make?

The 1890s were a rough time for LGBT people. There was new scholarship on homosexuality and an increased recognition of it in some medical circles, but in the U.S. and Europe, prosecution for sodomy was on the rise. “Gay” as we think of it now wasn’t really a thing yet; men who we’d call gay or bisexual now often married women but hooked up with men on the side. In New York, men could go to find other men in dance halls and clubs, particularly those in what is now the East Village, along the Bowery or tucked into Bleecker Street. Men of the 1890s had their own version of the hankie code, too—men seeking men could identify each other by certain markers: a red ascot, dyed blond hair, a certain way of dressing.

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Cover Reveals

Cover Reveal: Rosanne Bittner’s LOVE’S SWEET REVENGE

Guys, we are so thrilled to host the smokey cover reveal for the legendary Rosanne Bittner’s Love’s Sweet Revenge, out September 6th! Take a peek below:

It’s cover reveal time at last! My fans have been waiting to see the cover for my third “Outlaw” story involving Jake and Randy Harkner for ages. The image for this cover was created by the wonderful Jon Paul, whose covers are tasteful, gorgeous, spot-on to the story and always glamorous. I wish he could design all my book covers because after three books in a row with covers from Jon Paul I am becoming very spoiled!

Love’s Sweet Revenge is the third book in the continuing story of wanted man Jake Harkner (Outlaw Hearts). The second book in the trilogy, Do Not Forsake Me was a finalist for the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award for Best Historical Novel of the Year for 2015! If you loved Jake and Randy in the first two books, you will truly enjoy their continuing story as the settle into a more peaceful life on a ranch in Colorado. That is until, once again, Jake’s past comes back to haunt all of them. The outcome leads to Love’s Sweet Revenge!

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Sisters in Love Melissa Foster
Steals & Deals

Deal Alert: Jen Wylie, Julia Quinn, and Kae Elle Wheeler

Looking for a weekend escape? We’ve got something for everyone with these steals for books by Jen Wylie, Julia Quinn, and Kae Elle Wheeler!

Tales of Ever by Jen Wylie

A few months ago, I was a normal girl. Life sucked, and just like everyone else, I took the simple things for granted. At least until I got this new power, a “gift” my mom called it. Apparently, I’m a firestarter. I didn’t want to be. I didn’t ask to be. It would be cool if it wasn’t so dangerous and I knew how to control it. When an uncle I’d never heard of showed up to take care of me after my mom died, I should have been grateful. As it turned out, my whole family isn’t normal and more than a little bit crazy. I thought things couldn’t get any worse. I was wrong. They banished me to Ever.

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Autumn Thorns Yasmine Galenorn
Guest Post

Guest Post: “The Origin of the Spare Heirs” by Elizabeth Michels

A long time ago, in a galaxy not so far, far away…I wrote a blog post.

Alright…it was only 5 years ago, and I was sitting at my kitchen table, but that doesn’t sound nearly as dramatic. At the time I ran a blog with a writer friend. We would blog about the journey to publication and our lives. But occasionally, just for fun, we would write a scene unrelated to anything we were working on. I wrote a scene about 4 young ladies who snuck away from a house party to see a gypsy fortune teller that was camped on the edge of the estate. The ladies in that scene were Sue Green, Evangeline Green, Isabelle Fairlyn, and Victoria Fairlyn. Little did I know that four books would grow out of that blog post. Sue’s book is already on shelves as Desperately Seeking Suzanna, but I still wanted to write about these other 3 ladies. And then there was the younger sister of the duke from my first book…

Basically I had 4 single ladies in need of some gentlemen.

If I began with the heroines, how did this 4 book series become the Spare Heirs? Let me explain.

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Steals & Deals

Deal Alert: Pamela DuMond, Keary Taylor, and Sara Ramsey

Need a mid-week pick-me-up? We’ve got you covered with these amazing titles from Pamela DuMond, Keary Taylor, and Sara Ramsey.

Part-Time Princess by Pamela DuMond

USA Today Bestselling author, Pamela DuMond, pitched the real life Erin Brockovich story to ‘Hollywood,’ where it became the smash hit movie.

Now she brings readers Part-Time Princess a LOL Romantic Comedy, the first book in the hilarious LADIES-in-WAITING Series!

Two Princes are in love with Lucy. Too bad she’s an imposter… Lucy’s a down-on-her luck cocktail waitress desperate to find a job to keep her beloved uncle at Assisted Living. Lady Elizabeth hires Lucy to impersonate her for “ten days tops”, while she completes her pressing personal business in the States. The goal: keep Prince Cristoph of Fredonia’s wandering eye in check until the real Elizabeth can return.

In the mother of all makeovers, Elizabeth’s people transform Lucy into a reluctant ‘Lady’, and she travels to Fredonia for her top-secret job. What could possibly go wrong?

Sexy, bad-boy Prince Nicholas of Fredonia, Cristoph’s younger brother — that’s what goes wrong!

Nick has a romantic history with the real Elizabeth and wants to pick up the action with her impersonator, Lucy. She’s wildly attracted to him, but must resist—she can’t lose this paycheck!

Elizabeth’s wild, party hard, well-intentioned Ladies-in-Waiting take Lucy under their wing, and get her in more trouble. Dreamy Nick’s courting her hot and heavy, but Prince Cristoph proposes marriage.

What’s an imposter girl to do?

A modern day, sexy tale with romance, twists and turns, laughter, a few tears, and a Happily-Ever-After ending (just not the way you expected it!)

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Exclusive Excerpt

Exclusive Excerpt: NOTES OF TEMPTATION by Rebecca Halsey

We are positively thrilled to bring you this exclusive excerpt of Rebecca Halsey’s Notes of Temptation, out today!

 

“My name is Oswald Dean.” He offered his hand, and she shook it. “People call me Oz.”

“Carrie Cooper,” she said. “I sing at the Hardyville Methodist—well, sang there until I came here.”

His brief good humor deflated a fraction. Of course she would be a choirgirl. He waited for her to ask about his venue and potential auditions. Girls like this came into the city by the busloads each day—daughters of farmers and migrants escaping the countryside, yearning to brush up against fame or make it big themselves. These girls were as shiny as new pennies and just as easily spent by hucksters eager to take advantage of their innocence. If she had done her homework on industry magazines, she would drop names and pump him for details.

But Carrie Cooper did not brag or beg. She took a sip of the coffee and winced at the bitterness. Not a regular drinker of the cheap swill, he noted. He assumed she drank it to be polite since he refused her effort to repay him. A country girl’s values. He could understand that. He didn’t want to be beholden to anyone either.

“You got good pipes, then?” Oz said. He couldn’t help himself.

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Steals & Deals

Deal Alert: A GENTLEMAN FOR ALL SEASONS by Kate Noble, Shana Galen, Theresa Romain, and Vanessa Kelly

Deal Alert: An all-in-one collection of historical romance, only for $.99? It’s too good not to pass on!

A Gentleman for All Seasons by Kate Noble, Shana Galen, Theresa Romain, and Vanessa Kelly

The tiny village of Hemshawe is the sort of place where nothing ever happens…until a handsome ex-soldier and his matchmaking sister let the imposing manor house at the edge of town. The friendly Londoners shake up the staid people of Hemshawe, and villagers see each other in a new and oh-so-appealing light.

Suddenly long-sparring enemies become lovers, a town festival heralds a new start for a fallen woman and a dandy, and a man who has given up on love gets a second chance with the woman he never forgot. And the matchmaker herself? She won’t rest until she finds her own happily-ever-after…

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Guest Post

Guest Post: “If You Bake a Rake a Cookie on Valentine’s Day” by Sally Orr

Valentine’s day is the perfect time to do something special for loved ones.

It is also a great time to cook with friends. So I invited three of my friends over and we baked three batches of cookies to use as Valentine’s Day gifts. This is a great way of doing it for many reasons. Two of the reasons are that you can enjoy the hilarity of three different ways of doing everything in the kitchen. You can also admire the expertise and hidden talents of your friends. Believe me, they are an amazing group of ladies.

Who are the cookies for?

In two cases, the sugar discs were mainly for the little ones. The toddlers that fail at being articulate, but know what those little round things are. It’s neat watching their faces light up, right before the automatic grabbing responses kick in. Another lady cooked for friends visiting town for a couple of days. What’s nicer than have a bunch of homemade cookies in the hotel room rather than a six-dollar snicker bar?

What flavor of cookies did we choose?

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Steals & Deals

Deal Alert: Julianne MacLean, Kathleen Baldwin, and Loreth Anne White

Rogues and romance. What more could you want on a lazy Sunday? Get these steals from Julianne MacLean, Kathleen Baldwin, and Loreth Anne White!

Married by Midnight by Julianne MacLean

AN UNATTAINABLE ROGUE…
For seven years, Lord Garrett Sinclair- the ruggedly handsome illegitimate son of the Duke of Pembroke-has been traveling abroad with no intention of ever returning home to Pembroke Palace… until his father commands that he must marry by Christmas in order to thwart a family curse or lose his inheritance forever. Haunted by a tragic accident that has hardened his soul, Garrett entrusts his brothers to seek out a bride who will agree to a marriage in name only. Her reward? A sizable share of his inheritance-payable immediately after the wedding night….
A BEAUTIFUL TEMPTRESS…
Lady Anne Douglas has been ruined by scandal and disowned by her father. Facing a life of poverty and spinsterhood, she leaps at the generous terms of the marriage contract to ensure her independence. But the charade of a two-week engagement proves more of a challenge than either anticipated when they cannot resist the intoxicating lure of the marriage bed. Anne knows they will part ways after the wedding. Will she dare risk her heart for two weeks of pleasure in the arms of an irresistible rogue? Or will her surrender become her undoing after a most unexpected turn of events mere hours before the wedding?

Lady Fiasco by Kathleen Baldwin

Can a lady with a reputation for disaster, stumble into love?

An unusual heroine, Fiona Hawthorn grew up running free. Without a mother to restrain her, she spends her days riding her horse neck or nothing across her father’s fields and swimming like a sea nymph. But inside a prim and proper Regency sitting room Fiona is bound to overturn the teapot or accidentally trip the footman. Her illustrious Aunt Honore decides to take the hoyden in hand, but amidst the strictures of the Beau Monde, Fiona is a fish out of water.

When she was younger, Lord Wesmont was her hero. Sadly, he came home from fighting Napoleon a hardened man. Nothing can breathe life back into his cold heart, nothing except, perhaps, the love of an unusual young woman who regularly turns his life upside-down.

A Dark Lure by Loreth Anne White

Twelve years ago, Sarah Baker was abducted by the Watt Lake Killer and sexually assaulted for months before managing to escape. The killer was caught, but Sarah lost everything: her marriage, her child, and the life she loved.

Struggling with PTSD, Sarah changes her name to Olivia West and finds sanctuary working on Broken Bar Ranch. But as her scars finally begin to heal, a cop involved with her horrific case remains convinced the Watt Lake Killer is still out there. He sets a lure for the murderer, and a fresh body is discovered. Now Olivia must face the impossible—could the butcher be back, this time to finish the job?

As a frigid winter isolates the ranch, only one person can help Olivia: Cole McDonough, a writer, adventurer, and ranch heir who stirs long-dormant feelings in her. But this time, Olivia’s determination to shut out her past may destroy more than her chance at love. It could cost her her life