In conjunction with Hope’s guest blog post (http://www.wewriteromance.com/blog/guest-blogger/hope-tarr-guest-blogger-second-chances-a-rogues-pleasure), she’s offering a copy of Vanquished. All you have to do is post a comment and by the end of her stay, Hope will tell us who has one!

In case you haven’t heard of Vanquished, here’s a bit to tease you with:

A devil’s bargain.

"The photograph must be damning, indisputably so. I mean to see Caledonia Rivers not only ruined but vanquished. Vanquished, St. Claire, I’ll settle for nothing less."

Known as The Maid of Mayfair for her unassailable virtue, unwavering resolve, and quiet dignity, suffragette leader, Caledonia — Callie — Rivers is the perfect counter for detractors’ portrayal of the women a rabble rousers, lunatics, even whores. But a high-ranking enemy within the government will stop at nothing to ensure that the Parliamentary bill to grant the vote to females dies in the Commons — including ruining the reputation of the Movement’s chief spokeswoman.

After a streak of disastrous luck at the gaming tables threatens to land him at the bottom of the Thames, photographer Hadrian St. Claire reluctantly agrees to seduce the beautiful suffragist leader and then use his camera to capture her fall from grace. Posing as the photographer commissioned to make her portrait for the upcoming march on Parliament, Hadrian infiltrates Callie’s inner circle. But lovely, soft-spoken Callie hardly fits his mental image of a dowdy, man-hating spinster. And as the passion between them flares from spark to full-on flame, Hadrian is the one in danger of being vanquished.

Second chances at love, don’t you just…love them?

A ROGUE’S PLEASURE, my romance debut novel originally published in print with Berkley/Jove, is getting its own second chance at love as an e-book release with Carina Press, Harlequin’s digital-first imprint and like any proud mama I couldn’t be more pleased. The reissue, which sports gorgeous new cover art and an editing facelift, went live on August 16^th, two weeks short of what would be the book’s tenth anniversary. How cool is that!?!

A ROGUE’S PLEASURE is a Regency romp that I’m thrilled to be able to share with a new generation of romance readers. To get the soiree started, close your eyes—okay, don’t close them since you need them open to read this—or better yet open your mind to the clip-clop of horses hooves instead of sirens and honking cars.

It is Regency England, 1812. Napoleon is wreaking havoc in Europe, including Spain and Portugal where ousting the rightful royals and setting his sibling, Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne has catalyzed a sweeping grassroots national resistance supported by Britain and its Allies. On the home front, private coaches traveling between the countryside and London are prime targets for the rogues of the road: highwaymen.

Put yourself in the shoes, or rather the Wellingtons, of my hero, Lord Anthony Grenville. You are in your private coach en route to London for The Season. To drown out the droning of your soon-to-be mother-in-law, you think not great thoughts but rather mundane ones. Will the inn’s beef be soured again? Sigh. Might there be a decent claret to be had in lieu of the usual ale. Must I really marry this very pretty but very dull girl? You are not only thinking such thoughts but lost to them when a shout of “Halt! Stand and deliver!” freezes the blood in your veins.

In A ROGUE’S PLEASURE, Anthony is a war hero newly returned from The Peninsular Campaign and traveling to London with his fiancée, Lady Phoebe Tremont, and her mother. As you may have supposed, pretty but dull Lady Phoebe is not the heroine.

The heroine is Read more… »

For some reason when I was young and daydreaming about falling in love, the fantasy of wealth never entered the picture. I didn’t relate to Cinderella’s story at all. I wondered how in the world she would fit into the prince’s elite family life. Who would she talk to? Who could possibly understand her?

In many romance stories, money magically falls into the hands of the protagonists. One or both of them get rich through no fault of their own, and everyone is happy. Well, sure. Who wouldn’t be happy? The only problem is that it never feels quite real to me. Sometimes I want a fantasy story like that, a kind of dream fulfillment. But sometimes I want to hear a real story that could happen – that should happen – in any woman’s life.

Since that is the story I most wanted to hear, that is the story I decided to write.

When I began working on I’ll Become the Sea, I was teaching in a struggling public school in New York City. When we practiced fire drills, I’d have to navigate my lines of students around the clusters of hypodermic needles lying on the sidewalk. I was inspired to write the story of a teacher – one with a complicated past of her own to work through. Trying to imagine who would come along and “take her away from all this,” I decided I didn’t want her to be taken away. The world is full of people who fight like hell to run away from difficult things. I wanted a hero who would help my heroine learn to live strongly in the place where she was, and be happy there.

And so David was born. David – sigh! – a beautiful, loving, powerful, strong-hearted hero. And importantly, a working class hero. He works with kids too. He runs an afterschool center for at-risk children, and he is happy doing it. He lives in a simple house by the ocean and he plays guitar in a local band. When he and my heroine come together, neither of them gets rich. Money doesn’t solve their problems. They just miraculously, intensely, deeply and fully fall in love. And live happily ever after.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the novel:

Jane Elliot is a success story. A survivor of childhood abuse, she has dedicated her life to teaching. But something is missing. Teaching at an urban school and maintaining a relationship with her absentee fiancé, Ben, Jane can’t seem to feel much of anything at all. Then she meets David, a musician who runs an afterschool program for at-risk kids. Jane tries to deny her attraction to David and convince herself they are just good friends. But an accident, a death, a grim family obligation and her own intense desire force Jane to overcome the past, rethink the present — and take a risk on genuine love.

I’ll Become the Sea is available at CarinaPress.com. Thanks for reading! You can follow me online at www.RebeccaRogersMaher.com, www.twitter.com/RebeccaRMaher and www.facebook.com/AuthorRebeccaRogersMaher.

True confessions, first. V.K. Sykes is not one person, but two. We’re Vanessa and Randy, a husband and wife writing team. As you can imagine, writing as a male/female team has a real impact on our work. One of the most obvious is subject matter, and who we cast as our heroes and heroines. Randy is what you might call a regular guy. Like most regular guys he’s a bit of a sports nut, and his favorite sport is golf. Fortunately, Vanessa likes golf too, or she’d probably take a driver to the flat-screen TV, because Randy tunes into golf just about every darn weekend during the summer.

Naturally, this golf obsession found its way into our writing. CaddyGirls, our current Carina Press release, is about an aspiring pro golfer—but one with a twist. It’s our heroine, Torrey Green, who is the character swinging the clubs. Torrey works for a company that arranges for pretty girls to caddy for rich businessmen on the golf courses of Las Vegas. Sound far-fetched? Not so much, since there are several real-life companies that do just that. When Randy stumbled upon that little tidbit while surfing the web, he immediately came up with the idea to create a heroine modelled after these caddies.

And those girls are not just pretty faces, we can tell you, as they haul heavy bags of golf clubs around Vegas courses under the broiling hot sun. They are truly the girls of summer!

About the book:

Aspiring pro golfer Torrey Green works for CaddyGirls, an internet-based company that provides sexy female caddies to guys who can afford the stiff fee. But after months of carrying clubs for butt-pinching businessmen, Torrey is ready to pack it in. Her golfing prospects are dimming because she has no time or money to hone her game—she needs a rich sponsor, and fast. When she receives an email from electronics mogul, Julian Grant, asking her to caddy for him for an entire week, she’s desperate to grab her last chance for sponsorship.

Julian is the president of OverTheEdge Games, the wildly successful video game company he founded with three university friends. Although work always comes first for Julian, he and his partners play hard too, competing both on the golf course and in the bedroom. Their latest competition involves a bet: each partner will pick a female rent-a-caddie for a week’s worth of golf in Vegas. The partner who gets his caddy into bed first wins the bet. But there’s one cardinal rule: promises or incentives to the caddies are forbidden.

About the writers:

VK Sykes is the pen name for a husband and wife writing team who write sexy contemporary romance, set in steamy locales. Vanessa also writes Regency-set historical romance under the name of Vanessa Kelly. You can find VK on the web at: http://www.vksykes.com

A warm thank-you to the hostesses for having me here today.

For me, there’s nothing hotter than a medieval Scottish warrior. Maybe because of the turbulent history of Scotland were lairds tended to act like mini-kings within their small domains and were often left to go about their wayward way without the obvious subservience that the English barons paid their king. Or maybe it’s just the thought of all those kilts swirling high in battle

As a writer, medieval Scotland is a clear blue sky through which my imagination can soar, suspending reality without suspending belief. When I was researching Betrayed, I was amused and pleased to find that for every outlandish scheme I plotted, there was a documented occurrence of a border laird doing just that.

Two Feuding Families

Amber Jardin has no taste for the bitter feud started before her father’s banishment. But now that he’s passed, she’s had to return to  Scotland and his barbaric people. After her bloodthirsty uncle kidnaps one of the family’s rivals, Amber is in turn captured by Krayne Johnstone, the enemy laird. Despite their enmity, their attraction is immediate—and unfortunate, as Amber has sworn to escape.

One Lusty Temptation

Krayne is amazed at the wildcat’s repeated attempts to flee. He should steel himself against her beguiling ways—yet with time, he is driven more witless with lust. When the ransom exchange fails and Krayne is left with Amber, he finds he cannot tolerate the thought of her with another man—and she cannot tolerate the thought of returning to her uncle’s home.

Will passion and love win out over mistrust and betrayal in time to prevent an all-out war?

And now, a little about my wayward Scottish laird and his English lady…

Krayne Johnstone became laird of Wamphray at the age of 12. He’s a man shaped by the harsh land. He has no clue that a heart is good for anything other than pumping blood to his sword arm. Before he could even start to fall in love with Amber, I had to teach the poor man what love is. But he is honourable and noble, and he has excellent reasons for distrusting scheming women.

Amber Jardin has led a pampered life in England and is totally unprepared for the barbaric realities of Scotland. But she’s not one to simper and bemoan her fate. She’s determined to shape her future and use whatever means on hand to do it. In this case, it’s her body. Amber is not perfect, far from it, but then I’ve never liked my heroines flawless. I don’t necessarily approve of everything she does, but I admire her courage and determination.

Here’s a small snippet that, I think, defines the characters of the hero and heroine, and how they interact with each other in this story. These two have such different views on life (and a woman’s place) and they were never going to have an easy time…

Her gaze slid down the length of this mighty warrior, missing no detail along the way, and she had to take a step back for fear of punching that expression from his face. “You will stand there, all muscle and brawn, and attack my only means of defence?”

Krayne growled at the argument, refusing to admit she made a valid point. “God himself surely had a reason for blessing man with strength and ours is not ta question.”

Her hands settled on the flare of her hips as a spark lit her eyes. “And God surely had a reason for giving women pretty curves and the intellect to use them.”

You can read a longer excerpt at http://www.clairerobyns.com/Betrayed.html

Betrayed is available at http://carinapress.com

Well, it’s been fun and I’m delighted to have this opportunity to share a little about my new release. I’d love to hear from everyone about your favourite type of hero. Alpha or Beta? Scottish Warrior, Latino Lover or Easy Loving Guy? And is this the same guy you’d go skinny dipping with on a balmy summer eve? Is your fantasy dream guy at all like the type of men you’re drawn to in real life?

You can connect with Claire Robyns on

Website: http://www.clairerobyns.com/

Blog: http://www.clairerobyns.blogspot.com/

What do country girls do in the summer? Why they go to the rodeo. More than likely the rodeo is the showcase of the county fair where neighbors get together and get caught up on the local gossip, single women lust after the cowboys waiting to pick up some extra pocket change for the summer by proving their worth as a rider, and young kids run around half-wild kickin’ up dust storms in the dirt beside the bleachers. Romance thickens the air, and everyone is looking for that special someone to share those long, hot summer nights with.

In my book erotic contemporary, Consent to the Cowboy, the story starts out exactly that way, with Daphne Norris admiring one of the bronc riders. You can read the first chapter here.

I’m excited to be a part of Carina Press. The whole journey from acceptance of my story, to editing with my wonderful editor Melissa, and finding out I was one of the launch authors has been a wonderful and exciting experience. If you haven’t checked out Carina Press yet, feel fre e to go on over and pick out one, two, or maybe more great books for your summer reading. You might not be able to go to the county fair or lust over those cowboys as they give their best ride in real life, but you can slip into the pages of Consent to the Cowboy and feel like you are there.

Here’s the blurb for Consent to the Cowboy

Blurb

Surrounded by beer-swilling, skirt-chasing cowboys her whole life, barmaid Daphne Norris has no intention of ever settling for any of the men in her Podunk hometown. So when bronc rider Will Hanson sends shock waves to her core with just one glance from his striking green eyes, no one is more surprised than her.

But Will is no ordinary cowboy, and he can see that Daphne is no ordinary small-town girl. He can sense in Daphne the quiet strength and devotion needed to satisfy a man like him, a man who needs to be on top, in every aspect of his life.

Daphne hasn’t ever succumbed to her submissive desires before, and Will awakens her in ways she never imagined. While she’s not prepared to give him her heart, she agrees to Will’s offer of three days of intense pleasure, and then she’s walking. But Daphne falls hard and fast, and now she has a decision: return to a normal life, or give up everything for Will…

Buy Link for Consent to the Cowboy by Abby Wood

Abby Wood’s Bio

Multipublished author Abby Wood lives in the Pacific Northwest. A huge animal lover, she enjoys the many animals on her farm and the wild ones that roam the forest. In her free time, she loves to ride motorcycles, garden, go fishing and play tennis. She loves to write stories that allow readers to escape into a brand-new world.

You can find out more about Abby at her website, visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AbbyWoodFanPage and follow her on Twitter at @MsAbbyWood.

Technology is a wonderful thing. It enables surgeons to build up 3-D models of complex operations they have to perform. It peers into the depths of the universe to bring back images of stunning beauty. And, more practically, it enables me to write from halfway around the world.

It wasn’t too long ago that every publisher and their four-legged pet required that you mail in your promising manuscript. There were rules about that: white bond paper, double-spaced, name and page number up the top, not bound in any way except with a large rubber band. Remember those movies you’d occasionally catch where a publisher would heft a cardboard box to his desk and declare that it contained the  (finally!) finished manuscript of Writer So-and-So? That model was tough for writers outside North America to emulate. (It still is; I can’t find International Reply Coupons in my part of the world for love nor money. In fact, I have to travel to another country — across international boundaries! — to buy one! Okay, it’s Singapore and it’s only ten kilometres away but still, it’s an international boundary.)

Then publishers and agents discovered email. Okay, not all of them have stepped over to the Electronic Side but, unless you live outside the United States, you cannot know what a huge leap of accessibility that represented to us. It put us almost on par with US writers. It was, in a word, liberating.

And so here I am, a Carina Press author writing these words for you to read from the tropical depths of Malaysia. If it had been only ten years ago, maybe even five years ago, you wouldn’t be reading this because I wouldn’t be published. It’s because of the trend-setting of people and companies that look ahead, rather than wallowing behind, that enables me to do what I love and maybe even try to make a living out of it. I love the way technology can bring us closer, writer and reader. Long live the information revolution!

About the book:

IN ENEMY HANDS is a science-fiction romance about character, betrayal, ambition and justice.

The Republic had taken everything from Moon–her research partner, her privacy, her illusions. They thought they had her under control. They were wrong.

Srin Flerovs, Moon’s new research partner, is a chemically enhanced maths genius whose memory is erased every two days.

While he and Moon work on a method of bringing dead stars back to life, attraction between them flares, but that poses its own problem. How can their love survive when Srin forgets Moon every two days?

When she discovers the lethal applications her research can be put to, Moon knows she and Srin are nothing more than pawns in a much larger game. Together, they must escape the clutches of the Republic before they become its scapegoats. But there are too many walls around them, too many eyes watching. They want to run, but they’re trapped on a military vessel in the depths of space, and time is running out….

About the writer:

Kaz Augustin is a Malaysian-born writer of science-fiction, romance, and permutations of the two. Her website is at http://www.ksaugustin.com She blogs about writing and life in general at http://blog.ksaugustin.com and about food at http://food.ksaugustin.com You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter; just look for “ksaugustin”.

If it hadn’t been for my sister Mary, my historical romance novel CAPTIVE SPIRIT might never have been finished. Every time she read a new chapter, she kept asking me, “What happens next?”

Music to a writer’s ears.

You see, I was kind of in a blue funk when I started this book. A young adult novel that I had written and loved was continuing to get rejected, beat up, and generally abused by probably every editor in New York City. An agent gave me great advice, though. She said, “Keep writing.”

And so I did.

I decided to write something completely different and CAPTIVE SPIRIT was born. It contained all of the things I love: Native American characters, epic themes, suspense, an American Southwestern setting and, of course, a love story. I loved writing this novel, almost as much as I enjoyed doing the research behind it. It gave me a chance to learn about the Hohokam Indians, who happened to be the original inhabitants of Phoenix, Arizona, my adopted state. (I’m originally from Illinois.) The Hohokam have a fascinating history in that they lived in the Sonoran Desert from 300 BC to roughly 1500 AD when they vanished for reasons unknown. Cool, eh? This was the piece of little-known history that inspired me to write my novel.

***

About CAPTIVE SPIRIT:

CAPTIVE SPIRIT is the story of a young Hohokam Indian woman named Aiyana who isn’t like the other girls of the White Ant Clan. Instead of keeping house, she longs to compete on the Ball Court with her best friend Honovi and the other boys. Instead of marriage, she daydreams of traveling beyond the mountains that surround her small village. Only Honovi knows and shares her forbidden wish, though Aiyana doesn’t realize her friend has a secret wish of his own…

When Aiyana’s father arranges her marriage to a man she hardly knows, she takes the advice of a tribal elder: Run! In fleeing, she falls into the hands of Spanish raiders and finds herself being taken over the mountains against her will. Now Aiyana’s on a quest to return to the very place she once dreamed of escaping. And she’ll do whatever it takes to survive and find her way back to the people she loves.

I keep the first chapter and book trailer on my web site.

***

Last January, I sent CAPTIVE SPIRIT to Angela James at Carina Press, after seeing a tweet where she asked writers to “Send us your historicals!” Then two months later, Carina Press offered to buy my novel and my life has been on a roller-coaster e-ticket ride ever since.

Today is the release date for CAPTIVE SPIRIT, and I’m so glad that I kept writing even when it would have been easier to give up. I’m also thankful for my fab sister, too! The whole experience made me realize that sometimes in publishing when the front door doesn’t open, you’ve got to kick in a window!

Liz Fichera

http://www.lizfichera.com/

***

About Liz:

Liz Fichera is an author from the American Southwest by way of Chicago. She likes to write stories about ordinary people who do extraordinary things, oftentimes against the backdrop of Native American legends. When she’s not plotting her next novel, you can find her on Facebook or her blog, discussing writing, books, hunks du jour, LOST reruns or the best brands of chocolate.

Liz is offering a free digital copy of CAPTIVE SPIRIT to one person who makes a comment or asks a question on today’s blog.

I’m going to tell you a secret. Are you ready? I don’t own an e-reader, and I have no plans at the moment  to buy one. But am I a fan of e-books? You bet! I love the get-what-I-want-when-I-want-it aspect of e-books, and yes, I do believe e-books are eventually going to take over the world. Okay, maybe not the whole world, but definitely the publishing world.

If I believe this to be true why haven’t I yet invested in an e-reader? More than anything, I just haven’t gotten around to it. I’ve been writing my face off for the last few years and spend most of every waking hour with my eyes on a screen, whether for book writing or work. So when I have some time at the end of the day to relax I want to step away from the screen and pick up a book. I’ve actually read quite a large number of e-books, but I read them on my computer, not on a special device.

I expect that will soon change because I want it to be even easier than it is now. The iPad came out to much fanfare, and as a long-time Apple girl, I’m intrigued. But I felt no burning need to go out and get one right away, mostly because I needed a new laptop more than I needed an iPad. I got the new laptop earlier this month so can the iPad be far behind? Or perhaps the Kindle? Or maybe the Nook? So many choices!

Now that I have brought an e-book into the world, I’m even more convinced that they are the wave of the future. We all want what we want when we want it. Authors are no different. Carina Press, the new all-digital arm of Harlequin, bought Fatal Affair on Feb. 18. It was released to the reading public on June 21. Four months. That’s about 14 months fewer than the usual publication cycle. I got the same editing, proofing, marketing, and publisher attention as I get on my print books. It just took a third of the time. I have to say, I really like that! And I know readers do, too. Working with the wonderful professionals at Carina has made a true digital believer out of me. I did have one reader ask me earlier this week when Fatal Affair would be out as a “real” book. I refrained from mentioning that I already consider it a “real” book. :) I realize this format won’t please all the people, but it will please many people.

So what are your thoughts about e-books? Here to stay? Do you own an e-reader? If so, which one and why did you choose that one? Do you think e-books will ever replace printed books? I’ll give a copy of Fatal Affair to one respondent.

About Fatal Affair

On the morning of the most important vote of Senator John O’Connor’s career he is late—again. His best friend and chief of staff, Nick Cappuano sets off to O’Connor’s apartment expecting to roust him from bed and hoping he is alone. But what Nick finds is that O’Connor, the handsome, amiable Senator from Virginia, has been brutally murdered, and Nick’s world comes crashing down around him. Complicating the disaster, the detective assigned to the case is none other than Sam Holland, Nick’s one-night stand from six years earlier, the woman who broke his heart and haunts his dreams. With six years worth of unfinished business hanging between them and more than a few scores to settle personally and professionally, Nick and Sam set out to find the senator’s killer while trying—and failing—to resist the overwhelming attraction between them that seems to have only grown over the years.

It soon becomes clear that the senator’s past holds secrets that not only led to his death but now endanger Nick and Sam as well. Working together to find a killer and to rediscover the love they thought they lost long ago, they must put the past behind them and build a future that offers a world of new opportunities for both of them—including an offer from the Virginia Democrats for Nick to finish the last year of John’s term.

And about me:

Marie Force’s first romantic suspense, FATAL AFFAIR, will be out June 21, 2010 from Carina Press. Book 2 in the Fatal Series, FATAL JUSTICE, is coming soon from Carina. She is also the author of LINE OF SCRIMMAGE and LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT. Of LINE OF SCRIMMAGE, Booklist said, “With its humor and endearing characters, Force’s charming novel will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers, reaching far beyond sports fans.” Wild on Books said, “LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT by Marie Force is most definitely a keeper. It is an astounding book. I loved every single word!” A third contemporary, EVERYBODY LOVES A HERO, is due out Feb. 1, 2011. Since 1996, Marie has been the communications director for a national organization similar to the Romance Writers of America. She is a member of RWA’s New England, From the Heart and Published Author Special Interest Chapters. While her husband was in the Navy, Marie lived in Spain, Maryland and Florida, and is now settled in her home state of Rhode Island. She is the mother of two children and a feisty dog named Brandy. Find her at www.mariesullivanforce.com, on her blog at http://mariesullivanforce.blogspot.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Marie-Force/248130827909 and on Twitter at twitter.com/MarieForce. Marie loves to hear from readers. Contact her at marie@marieforce.com.

Thanks to the hostesses at We Write Romance for having me visit today! For those who don’t know me, my name is Cindy. I’m a voracious reader of paranormal romance as well as an author, and I loaded Motor City Fae, my Carina Press launch title with lots of the things I love. Humor, fantasy, mystery, action, a strong heroine and a gorgeous hero who wants to protect her anyway. A few steamy scenes, and a few that are downright tender. Elves, werewolves, witches, and wizards—all coexisting in modern Detroit. Oh—and don’t forget characters strong enough to have books of their own in the future. I’m having a ball with this world, and I hope readers will enjoy it too.

Also, as part of my blog tour promoting Motor City Fae, I’m running a contest. All you have to do is pop over to my website, go to the “contact Cindy” page, and tell me which blog you saw me on and answer the question of the day. At the end of June, I’ll be giving away a $20.00 gift card to your choice of Borders, B&N, or Amazon. You can enter once for each blog stop.

Today’s question is: What is Meagan’s career in Motor City Fae?

You can read the complete first chapter online here, and click here to find out more about how to purchase the book. You can find me on the web at:

Website: http://www.cindyspencerpape.com
Blog: http://cindyspencerpape.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/CindySPape
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000270304390