1. Regency Romance: To Dare the Duke of Dangerfield - Book #1 Wicked Wagers Trilogy (Top 5 Finalist in the Kindle Book Review Indie Romance Book of the Year 2012)
Blurb:
Let the Wicked Wagers Begin…
Lady Caitlin Southall’s temper has finally got the better of her. She’s challenged Harlow Telford, the Duke of Dangerfield, the most notorious rake in all of England, to a wager. She wants her house back. The one her destitute father lost to Dangerfield in a card game. But if she doesn’t win their bet, she not only loses her home, she loses her dignity and pride and damn it all, maybe her heart... For the handsome Duke has decreed, when he wins, she must spend the night in his bed.
Harlow Telford is amused by his hellion neighbor, Caitlin, or Cate to her friends, who seem to encompass everyone on earth except him. When she bursts into one of his private gatherings, he mistakes her for the entertainment. Her slap across his face sets him straight and raises the absurd desire to seduce the unconventional beauty into his bed. When she issues her daft challenge to win back her father’s pile of rubble, the terms are set. And he’ll do anything to win—except fall in love...
Log Line: Spirited heroine, rakish duke, and three wagers that will change their lives…
In 1758 the Pennsylvania frontier is wild, primitive and dangerous, where safety often lies at the end of a gun. Mara Dupre's life crumbles when a French and Indian war party attacks her cabin, kills her husband, and takes her captive. Marching through the wilderness strengthens her resolve to flee, but she doesn't count on her captor teaching her the meaning of courage and the tempting call of desire.
Her destiny ...
French lieutenant Jacques Corbeau's desire for his captive threatens what little honor he has left. But when Mara desperately offers herself to him in exchange for her freedom, he finds the strength to refuse and reclaims his lost self-respect. As the shadows of his past catch up to him, Jacques realizes that Mara, despite the odds, is the one true key to reclaiming his soul and banishing his past misdeeds forever.
Log-line:
His hostage. Her destiny. In the midst of a war that threatens the fabric of her life, Mara finds herself torn between love and loyalty.
3. Tame a Wild Wind by Cynthia Woolf Western Romance
Amazon Bestselling Western Author
Blurb:
Former Texas Ranger Sam Colter isn't looking for love. Neither is pretty widow Cassie O'Malley. But when a man stalking Sam for killing his brother kidnaps Cassie, Sam discovers it's more than duty that sends him racing to her rescue. Will Cassie realize the truth about her own feelings before it's too late?
The Book Lovers Buffet $.99 cent sale presents Wear Black. Eilis Flynn and Heather Hiestand have released their first collaboration, Wear Black, a Victorian England-set paranormal historical with a romance subplot.
Death did not end his service to the British Empire
Beneath Windsor Castle, a shadow network of immortals keeps the British Empire safe. Army captain Lucas Fitzrobbins becomes one of them when the cure for his mortal wound turns out to be a vampirism potion. He is abruptly inducted into the secret St. George Protector Society…and it’s not long before the Society’s newest recruit discovers it has dark mysteries as well…
Marked as a target
Hampering Lucas’s efforts to adjust to his after-life is An Tighearn operative Nellie Clifton, a beautiful and enigmatic assassin, who has marked Lucas as her latest quarry. But then…
Secrets are threatened to be revealed
A brutal killer stalks the seamy underside of London. Protectors and assassins alike must leave the shadows to find the fiend before their existence is revealed to the world. Tasked with the job of tracking down the murderer, Lucas discovers that the crazed butcher may have connections that go to the heart of the British Empire. One thing is certain:
The Queen must never know
Excerpt:
“We meet again, Mr. Dudley,” the black-haired stunner called out, her faint Irish accent
more pronounced now. “Sorry about your companion, but business is business. My name is
Nellie Clifton, in case you hadn’t been told. Pleased to meet you.”
Her tone was downright languid, the Irish clear in her words, even as she nearly twirled
her sword. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to die. It would be more sportin’ if I let you learn how to
use your sword first, but I see no point in delayin’ the inevitable, don’t you think?” She grabbed
the tabbed cord at the edge of her helmet and yanked it off, shaking her head to loosen her curls.
She slipped the goggles down her face until they rested around her throat.
“You indicated last time that you preferred to fight one-on-one, and yet here you are with
your allies,” Lucas shot back, keeping an eye on the flying archer and the other woman. “Afraid
of me, Miss Clifton?”
“I have me orders. I’m not a cruel person, you understand,” the woman explained, tossing
the helmet to the side. “But I have other errands to run, so I decided, let’s dispatch this matter as
Death did not end his service to the British Empire
Beneath Windsor Castle, a shadow network of immortals keeps the British Empire safe. Army captain Lucas Fitzrobbins becomes one of them when the cure for his mortal wound turns out to be a vampirism potion. He is abruptly inducted into the secret St. George Protector Society…and it’s not long before the Society’s newest recruit discovers it has dark mysteries as well…
Marked as a target
Hampering Lucas’s efforts to adjust to his after-life is An Tighearn operative Nellie Clifton, a beautiful and enigmatic assassin, who has marked Lucas as her latest quarry. But then…
Secrets are threatened to be revealed
A brutal killer stalks the seamy underside of London. Protectors and assassins alike must leave the shadows to find the fiend before their existence is revealed to the world. Tasked with the job of tracking down the murderer, Lucas discovers that the crazed butcher may have connections that go to the heart of the British Empire. One thing is certain:
Can a long-term relationship regain its sizzle? Claudia and her boyfriend Sam have been together since high school. Real life is setting in as they reach their mid-twenties. She loves him, but the sex isn’t what it used to be. Even worse, her gaze is straying to a handsome actor and a gorgeous architect. Los Angeles is full of man-candy ready to share her bed.Is Sam going to be enough for her, even if he’s willing to try anything to get them back on track?
Reader Advisory: Includes an M/M/F/M ménage a quatre with mild M/M interaction.
Just released this week and already a writing bestseller on Amazon! But you can get this collection of essays free as well...
Successful Self-Publishing: How We Do It (And How You Can Too) is an inspiring anthology of fifteen indie authors' paths to success in publishing, edited by #1 Amazon Authorship Bestseller Shoshanna Evers. Get ready to take your career to the next level!
Featuring the following essays by amazingly successful authors:
How I Make $20,000 or More a Month with my Self-Published Books by Kallypso Masters We Can by Gia Blue Th e Cover: Make it Professional! by H.P. Mallory Th e Business of Publishing, an interview of Shoshanna Evers by author Cara Bristol I Did It My Way by Liz Matis Respect Your Readers by Katriena Knights 10, no 11 Successful Self-publishing Tips I Wish I’d Known by Heather Thurmeier A Dog, A New Genre, and a Charity by Jennifer Probst A Tale of Two Novellas by Skye Warren Th e Sky Is Not Falling, or Why 99-Cent Books (Probably) Won’t Take Over the World by Jackie Barbosa Why I Love My Crazy Indie Life by Donna McDonald How I Sold 17,000 books in Four Months by Debra Holland David Kazzie, Before & After by David Kazzie Twitter 101: Five Th ings about Twitter Authors Should Know (and Five you Don’t Know) by Valerie Bowman Marketing by the eBook by K. Rowe Th e World of a Steampunk Indie by Heather Hiestand/Anh Leod . Getting Published by Shoshanna Evers Plus Helpful Links and Resources!
Please note, this book is also available as a FREE pdf download at www.SelfPubBookCovers.com
Come celebrate with The Romance Studio. Many authors including me will be there chatting and doing giveaways!
I'm offering the first story in my Steampunk Smugglers series. Maybe I'll even do a tease of my July Victorian historical release, Marquess of Cake, since I'm working on the copyedits right now...
Heather Hiestand's Series Writing: A Family Forest
I'm currently re-editing book 2 of my upcoming Cake series for Kensington Books post beta-reads, while writing the first/second draft of book 3. I've hit that common conundrum with series efforts--how much do you explain about reoccuring story characters?
I just read a blog by someone saying that she's revising book 12 in a series to make the first 3 chapters much more than a static retelling of the first 11 books. That I understand.
But it never crossed my mind to blatantly explain that the hero of the first book is the brother of the hero of the second, for instance. How often do you retell a minor character is a main character's sister or brother? Every time? Most times? Does it depend on how many times they are mentioned? Probably.
I think I need to set a hard limit on how many characters can even be IN a chapter 1. I've written about admiring authors who handle that well. Chapter 1s are such a challenge. They may all but write themselves in the first draft, but they come back to haunt you. And haunt you. Each and every time the story is read by someone you know.
Maybe this is why long established series (like Laurens's Cynsters) have a family tree at the front of the books. I need one of those! Such an elegant shorthand solution for this problem. Of course, I would need a family tree for three different families...
Holiday Delights Holiday Cookie and Holiday Story Blog Hop
Welcome to National Cookie Day! Here is a favorite I enjoy making during the holidays.
Chocolate-Mint Layer Cookies
350 degree oven
2 oz unsweetened chocolate 1/2 cup butter 2 eggs 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup sliced almonds
Melt chocolate and butter together. Beat eggs and sugar together. Mix all ingredients into the egg/sugar mixture. Pour into greased and floured 8x8 pan. Bake 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool.
I love writing Christmas stories. My most recent Christmas release is my novella, "Captain Andrew's Flying Christmas."
Blurb:
Housemaid Linet Fenna would rather be an air pirate than a servant. When she finds the ladder to an airship dangling outside her garret window on Christmas Eve, 1892, she ascends to the skies above London on her late father’s flagship dirigible, the Christmas. The new captain is someone she never expected to see again, a dangerous, sexy foe. Is the Fenna family nemesis offering Linet her heart’s desire or a dastardly trap?
Captain Andrew’s motivations are as foggy as the coal-soaked sky. Prime Minister Gladstone’s Blockaders, a horde of automen and a teenage girl named Hatchet want Linet to fail in her quest to discover what happened to her missing family, but she is determined to have a happy Christmas.
