Kieran Kramer's Blog, page 7

Sweet Deception: 5 Fun Facts with Heather Snow

Heather Snow knows the science of love. With a degree in chemistry, she’s the brilliant, highly creative author of the popular Veiled Seduction novels, in which mystery, danger, spies, headstrong heroines, dark heroes and sexual tension sizzle off the pages! Heather’s also a really sweet, fun person–I can’t wait to see her in Kansas City, where she lives, when we both attend the 2013 RT Book Lovers’ Convention!

I think what Heather said about writing historical romance on her website is so clever, I’m going to cut and paste it right here for you to enjoy:

One of Heather’s favorite quotes is from Carl Jung, who said, “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”  Her background in chemistry prepared her for writing romance better than one might think: There are rules to follow, and some you can break when you want to experiment.  Historical romance, like science, requires careful research.  Most chemical reactions require a catalyst to drive them, just like characters require motivation to drive the story forward.  And finally, both chemistry and writing, if done well, involve a precise mixture of elements and careful manipulation to achieve that perfect reaction that makes you want to sigh with satisfaction.

Isn’t that cool? Heather’s 5 Fun Facts are all so fascinating, too. And the excerpt from Sweet Deception rocks! Welcome, Heather. We’re so glad you’re here! And don’t forget, awesome readers, to leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of Heather’s book, Sweet Enemy!

SWEET DECEPTION

A Veiled Seduction Novel

Book 2

Signet

August 7, 2012

In the dark, the greatest lover can become the most dangerous conspirator…

Lady criminologist, Miss Emma Wallingford, unknowingly finds herself tangled in the dangerous final mission of Lord Derick Aveline, a spy who also happens to be her long lost first love. But when deception, however sweet, is the name of the game, no one can be trusted. And every love—and every life—is at risk.

 

 

5 Fun Facts About SWEET DECEPTION:

1. My heroine, Emma Wallingford, was inspired by the characters of Professor Charlie Epps, from the crime show, NUMB3RS and Professor Temperance Brennan, from the crime show, Bones. (Is it any surprise, then, that throughout most of Sweet Deception, Emma is hunting a killer?) In the first draft of Sweet Deception, Emma was a little more emotionally closed off, approaching mild Asperger’s (which I found terribly interesting!), but my publisher asked me to warm her up a bit. Luckily, I still found her terribly interesting when I was done. I hope you do, too!

 

2. I put a bit of my real life in the scene where Emma lures Derick out to the creek by the caves for a picnic. My husband notoriously filches food from my plate when I’m not looking, claiming ill-gotten gains taste all the sweeter (which Derick does). Also, I spent hours and hours playing the game Emma forced Derick to play as children at the lake where I spent my summers growing up—oh, and I can be a bit imperious while I’m playing it.

3. The original idea for this story centered around a missing maid that led to the discovery of other missing women. It did feature the crude geographical profiling that Emma does in the book, but it had her hunting a serial killer instead of a traitor. However, as characters are sometimes wont to do, Derick showed up on the page and insisted this was his story as much as it was Emma’s, and that he was a traitor hunter, thank you very much. He hadn’t spent 14 years behind enemy lines to just show up at his family home and get drawn into someone else’s murder investigation. He wanted to be there for his own reasons. He was all fine and good with letting Emma work out most of the crime, but he fully intended on bringing his expertise to bear, as well. Therefore, they would be hunting a traitor—end of story. Pesky characters. Still, I was able to put most of the research I had already done to use…I just had to come up with a different set of bodies for them to find—rather than missing women, they were now looking for missing couriers and War Department agents, etc.

4. The geographical profiling methods Emma attempts to catch the killer with are ones she could have devised at the time and also ones that could have worked. In fact, simple as they are, police forces still use the methods depicted in Sweet Deception, though their accuracy leaves something to be desired. Nowadays, of course, we have much more sophisticated equations—the most famous being the Rossmo formula, which you may have seen employed to catch killers in a couple of episodes of the television series, NUMB3RS. This incredibly complex equation, run by computers, takes in account everything we know about how killers operate, derived from nearly two centuries of crime analysis.

5. Derick’s title is Viscount Scarsdale, a name I chose for him in the previous book, Sweet Enemy (in which he plays a small part), simply because I liked the sound of it. I knew nothing else about him at the time, not where his family home was, etc. When it came time to write Sweet Deception, I chose the Peak District and Derbyshire for reasons important to the story. Only later did I learn that there really was a Viscount Scarsdale in the County of Derby, only his title wasn’t created until 1911.

Thank you so much for having me, Kieran! I’d be happy to give away a copy of my debut, Sweet Enemy, today!

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Leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of  SWEET ENEMY by Heather Snow and a signed copy of IF YOU GIVE A GIRL A VISCOUNT. Giveaway open to US/CA. Ends 12/21.

If you’ve found this post on Kieran’s Goodreads page, click here to leave a comment.

Heather Snow is a historical romance author with a degree in Chemistry who discovered she much preferred creating chemistry on the page, rather than in the lab. She lives in the Midwest with her husband, two rambunctious boys and one very put upon cat.

 

Connect with Heather:

Author Site | Facebook | Twitter

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Claiming your prize: Winner will be contacted via email and will have 7 days to reply, or a new winner will be chosen.

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Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet: 5 Fun Facts with Darynda Jones

How does she do it? How does Rita-award winning and NYT bestselling author Darynda Jones make me laugh on every single page she writes? Even when there’s extreme tension, death, wild sex, you name it, Darynda makes you giggle out loud through it all. In case you’ve somehow missed this dynamic writer’s debut, she burst onto the paranormal scene with her Charley Davidson series, which is about a Grim Reaper who investigates the unsavory deaths of the people she leads into the light. Charley has a swagger mixed with a vulnerability that makes her totally endearing as a character. You will love her! You’ll love her love life, too–and all the secondary characters!

Just go read ~***~

A LADY BY MIDNIGHT: 5 Fun Facts with Tessa Dare

Y’all, whose star is soaring high in the world of Regency romance?  I mean, this author is hopping right over the moon, zooming past all the planets, and just about going out of our solar system with her tremendous success! And it’s no wonder: she writes funny, sexy, witty, enchanting novels. We all love her characters; we adore her plot lines. We can’t wait until her next book!

I’m talking about Tessa Dare, of course, the hugely talented author and lovely person who recently won a RITA award for her second Spindle Cove novel, A Night to Surrender. Besides being a part-time librarian, full-time mommy, and writer, Tessa is a hostess at The Ballroom Blog and the creator of fun book trailers using toys from her children’s room (she charmingly calls her kids the Darelings).

You’ll love her excerpt and Five Fun Facts! I read A Lady by Midnight straight through without stopping. “OMG, this woman has talent!” is what I said out loud after I finished it. Of course, I say that after every Tessa Dare book (grin).

There’s nothing I like better than a fabulous Regency in my Christmas stocking, so if you want to win this one, please leave a comment and maybe you’ll win it yourself. Meanwhile, I hope all of you, my wonderful reader friends, are enjoying getting ready for the holidays. Whatever you celebrate this month–Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa–I hope your days will be merry and bright.  XOXO

A Lady By Midnight

Spindle Cove

Book #3

Avon

August 28, 2012

A temporary engagement, a lifetime in the making…

After years of fending for herself, Kate Taylor found friendship and acceptance in Spindle Cove–but she never stopped yearning for love. The very last place she’d look for it is in the arms of Corporal Thorne. The militia commander is as stone cold as he is brutally handsome. But when mysterious strangers come searching for Kate, Thorne steps forward as her fiance. He claims to have only Kate’s safety in mind. So why is there smoldering passion in his kiss?

Long ago, Samuel Thorne devoted his life to guarding Kate’s happiness. He wants what’s best for her, and he knows it’s not marriage to a man like him. To outlast their temporary engagement, he must keep his hands off her tempting body and lock her warm smiles out of his withered heart. It’s the toughest battle of this hardened warrior’s life…and the first he seems destined to lose.

5 Fun facts About A LADY BY MIDNIGHT:

1. In the book, Thorne saves Kate from being hit with a melon, launched from a medieval catapult called a trebuchet.  I got the idea for this scene after watching a similar melon launch demonstration at Bodiam Castle in England.

2. I owe my inspiration for Badger, the lurcher puppy that Thorne gives Kate, to fellow author and friend Courtney Milan.  She knows so much more about dogs than I do, and when I asked her what kind of dog Thorne would want—she immediately said he’d want a lurcher.  And she was so right!

3. My favorite scene in the book is the scene where Thorne is bitten by a snake and confesses his secret attraction to Kate while delirious—and then the way she deviously extracts the full truth from him once he wakes up.

4. There’s a scene in the book where the characters visit the Long Man of Wilmington—an actual hillside carving in Sussex.  It’s a bit of a cheat, because history is unclear on how visible the carving was during the Regency period.  But I saw it from a train while traveling and just felt I had to use it in a book!

5. The way publishing works, the cover art is often finished before the actual book is done.  That was the case with A Lady by Midnight, which is why there’s now a scene toward the end of the book where Kate wears a midnight-blue dress and is ravished on the floor.  Whenever possible, I tweak the book to match the cover – and then I smile when readers say, “I love how the cover artist paid so much attention to the book!”

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Leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of  A LADY BY MIDNIGHT by Tessa Dare and a signed copy of IF YOU GIVE A GIRL A VISCOUNT. Giveaway open to US/CA. Ends 12/7.

If you’ve found this post on Kieran’s Goodreads page, click here to leave a comment.

Tessa Dare is the USA Today bestselling author of eight historical romance novels and two novellas. She has twice been awarded the RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award, and has twice been a finalist for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® award. Her books have been contracted for translation in ten languages. Booklist magazine named her one of the “new stars of historical romance.”

Mixing wit, sensuality, and emotion, Tessa strives to write Regency-set romance novels that feel relatable to modern readers. With her new “Spindle Cove” series, she’s had great fun creating a fictional seaside community populated by women who defy the conventions of their time—engaging in such unladylike pursuits as medicine, geology, and artillery. And she’s had even more fun dreaming up the strong-willed, unsuspecting men who’ll find their hearts ensnared by these unlikely heroines.

The first Spindle Cove book, A Night to Surrender, received critical acclaim, including starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist. It also won a RITA® award for Regency Historical Romance. The digital-only release Once Upon a Winter’s Eve: A Spindle Cove Novella spent four weeks on the USA Today bestseller list. The next Spindle Cove installment, Any Duchess Will Do, will be available May 28, 2013 from Avon Books.

A librarian by training and a booklover at heart, Tessa takes great pride and pleasure in continuing to work part-part-time at her local public library. She makes her home in Southern California, where she shares a cozy, cluttered bungalow with her husband, their two children, and a big brown dog.

Connect with Tessa:

Author Site | Facebook | Twitter

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Claiming your prize: Winner will be contacted via email and will have 7 days to reply, or a new winner will be chosen.

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FALL INTO YOU: 5 Fun Facts with Roni Loren

Roni Loren‘s an amazing woman and writer of erotic romance. Oh, boy, you’re going to love her Five Fun Facts!  I was so intrigued by what she said about the cover of her new book, for one (which you’ll scroll down and see). And I’m crazy about the guy she uses for inspiration for her hero. There’s other good stuff in those facts, too, so hold on–they’re coming up!

A former Peanut Butter on the Keyboard mom and national bestselling author, Roni’s debut erotic romance novel was CRASH INTO YOU, which surprised and delighted readers. And her Loving On the Edge series continues to gain a following as new fans discover the characters and world of The Ranch, a BDSM resort in Texas.

Move over, Fifty Shades!!!

Roni makes time for her readers via Twitter and Facebook. Whether she’s posting about her latest book or blogging informative articles about the publishing world, as seen through her own experiences, she does it all with a smile and a sense of humor.

Welcome, Roni! We’re thrilled to have you here! Readers, please leave a comment to be entered to win a signed copy of Crash Into You.

Fall Into You

Loving on the Edge series

Book 3

Berkley Heat

January 2013 

He’ll do anything for you. But you’d better say please.

When tomboy sports reporter Charli Beaumonde loses a dream TV job because she’s not girly enough for primetime, she’s determined to land a big scoop and prove her boss made a mistake. But when she gets too close to a football scandal and finds her life threatened, Charli accepts an offer from family friend Grant Waters to hide out at his place—even if Grant predicts nothing but trouble from his buddy’s hard-headed, uncompromising, irrepressible, younger sister. There’s one more problem…

Grant’s “place” is The Ranch, a BDSM resort in Texas, and he’s used to being in charge —even if that means trying to keep Charli in line. But much to Grant’s surprise, she’s intrigued—even envious—of his trainees. They’re the epitome of what she’s never been: sexy, beguiling, and totally irresistible to a man. Still, Grant doesn’t believe for a minute that the sharp-tongued Charli has it in her to be anyone’s submissive. But Charli’s already on her knees vying for the chance to prove that even the Master can be wrong sometimes.

 

First, I want to thank Kieran for inviting me over here for such a fantastic event. It’s so fun to learn all these facts about everyone’s books. Hearing the behind the scenes stuff, especially where different authors get their inspiration from, is always so fascinating to me.

So today I’m going to give you a little peek behind the curtain of my upcoming release, FALL INTO YOU (out Jan. 1). This is part of my Loving on the Edge series, an erotic romance series centered around The Ranch, a BDSM resort in Texas. Hope you enjoy!

5 Fun Facts About FALL INTO YOU

1. The heroine: I got the idea for the heroine, Charli, when I was in the crowd at ESPN’s College Game Day at the SEC Championship game and saw Erin Andrews reporting. It made me wonder if a girl who loved sports but was more tomboy than supermodel could get that job. Plus, I was a tomboy growing up, so I channeled a little bit of that. : )

2. The hero: Grant, my cowboy hero, is the owner of The Ranch and former CIA. I needed a tall, sexy, southern man to base his look on, so I used country singer Blake Shelton as visual inspiration. I know, I have a tough job, right?

photo credit: cmt.com

3. The plot: I’m a huge college football fan. So I watch lots of documentaries about the sport. (Yes, I’m a nerd.) So, the football scandal that Charli is investigating in the story is loosely inspired by the Southern Methodist University football cheating scandal in 1987. It rocked college football and landed the university with the “death penalty”–a cancelled season, no scholarships, no bowl games. If people ever doubted that football was a BIG deal in Texas, this proved how serious it could get. So I figured it wasn’t a far stretch to believe that Charli’s life could be in danger if she revealed a similar scandal.

4. The soundtrack: I love music and often use it for inspiration (if you can’t tell from my book titles.) And I listen to a wide variety of stuff while I’m writing. But for this book I put my normal rock music aside and went on a total old school country kick. Favorite song that reminds me of Grant is “The Cowboy Rides Away” by George Strait (Because Grant is always backing away when things get too intense with the heroine.) If you like knowing the music behind the books, I now have a whole page with the “soundtrack” for my series.

5. The cover: The cover for Fall Into You was changed at the very last minute because of the big shift in erotic romance covers post-50 Shades. It originally looked liked this. So there wasn’t any time to really play around and find something that matched specifically to the story. However, when I saw the new cover, I realized that black, water-covered wall actually worked. There’s a smexy shower scene early in the story, and I had mentioned the shower was slate tile. So by pure happenstance, it actually fit. : )

So those are my fun facts for the day. I’m also giving away a copy of CRASH INTO YOU, book one of my series, so you can get caught up in time for Grant’s story! : )

Thanks for having me over, Kieran!

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Leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of  CRASH INTO YOU by Roni Loren and a signed copy of IF YOU GIVE A GIRL A VISCOUNT. Giveaway open to US/CA. Ends 11/30.

If you’ve found this post on Kieran’s Goodreads page, click here to leave a comment.

 

Roni wrote her first romance novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but she likes to think her storytelling ability has. Though she’ll forever be a New Orleans girl at heart, she now lives in Dallas with her husband and son.

If she’s not working on her latest sexy story, you can find her reading, watching reality television, or indulging in her unhealthy addiction to rockstars, er, rock concerts. Yeah, that’s it. She is the National Bestselling Author of The Loving on the Edge series from Berkley Heat.

Connect with Roni:

Author Site | Facebook | Twitter

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Claiming your prize: Winner will be contacted via email and will have 7 days to reply, or a new winner will be chosen.

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SILENCED: 5 Fun Facts with Allison Brennan

Overwhelming fact: Romantic thriller readers adore Allison Brennan. There’s a reason she’s a New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist. Just check out the excerpt below from SILENCED, Book 5 in Allison’d Lucy Kincaid series. You’ll get shivers reading it! The killer’s banal approach to murder is simply stunning in its evil.

The irony is that the author of these compelling, suspenseful, downright scary novels is one of the nicest, most generous authors I know.  Allison is also extremely down-to-earth. Somehow she manages her big career–three books a year!–while being mom to five children.

Wow. Just wow.

I hope you’ll join me in welcoming Allison to the blog. It’s a real honor for me to have her here. Her Five Fun Facts are truly fun (I also loved the sixth one she threw in). And it’s always a wonderful pleasure to see all of you, my reader friends, support my visiting authors in the comments. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, and remember that if you leave a comment, you just might win a signed copy of SILENCED!

SILENCED

Lucy Kincaid series

Book #5

St. Martin’s Press

April 24, 2012

A WASHINGTON SEX SCANDAL

It has been seven years since Lucy was attacked—and almost killed—by an online predator. Today, she is well on her way toward a new life. While waiting to begin her training at the FBI Academy, Lucy’s is tireless in her fight against cyber sex crime. Her current mission: to find out who killed a high-priced call girl linked to a powerful Congressman.

A COLD-BLOODED KILLER

A number of known prostitutes—with scores of high profile clients—are turning up dead all over D.C. Is this the work of a depraved killer? Or the result of an inside job? Lucy’s investigation will take her into an underground network of prostitutes, the chambers of the country’s most powerful players, and her own dark past to confront an unknown enemy who’s always one step ahead of her. With the help of her P.I. boyfriend Sean Rogan, Lucy must find and protect the only witness who can identify the killer and end the conspiracy, but can the witness be trusted? Lucy will risk everything to expose the truth and ensure justice is served, even if that means putting herself in the line of fire.

5 Fun Facts About SILENCED:

1. Writing the book nearly killed me–first book for a new publisher and new editor after 17 books with the same editor. But I poured my suffering into a blog post that yielded me the highest number of comments and hits ever.

2. In the middle of writing SILENCED, I participated in an FBI-SWAT training exercise on hostage rescue and used part of what I learned in writing two of the scenes.

photo credit: Allison Brennan

3. One of the characters, Cathy Hummel, is named after a woman who won the right to have her name in my book through an American Heart Association fundraiser. And small world–she’s also the wife of my mailman!

4. I didn’t know how SILENCED was going to end when I turned in the first draft to my editor. I wrote a bland two-page summary of how I THOUGHT it would end, but knew that it wouldn’t work. After her notes, I wrote a completely new ending.

5. The first victim SILENCED has an orange and white cat. Lucy takes him home with her, and I planned to name him Nemo after my own orange and white cat. But Sean named him Chip–and you’ll have to read the book to find out why

photo credit: Allison Brennan

And one more “fun fact” that doesn’t relate to SILENCED, but does relate to my hostess … when I was a teenager, I LOVED the name Kieran. I don’t know where I read it or heard about it, but every book I started to write had a protagonist named Kieran. Hmmm … I might have to write a new character and bring back my old favorite name!

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Leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of  SILENCED by Allison Brennan and a signed copy of IF YOU GIVE A GIRL A VISCOUNT. Giveaway open to US/CA. Ends 11/23.

If you’ve found this post on Kieran’s Goodreads page, click here to leave a comment.

photo credit:
Jessica Hills Photography

Allison Brennan is the New York Times bestselling author of 19 romantic thrillers. The fifth book in the Lucy Kincaid series, STALKED, is currently available wherever books are sold. She has a self-published romantic suspense novella, MURDER IN THE RIVER CITY, also available.For more information about her or her books, check out her website allisonbrennan.com

 

Connect with Allison:

Author Site | Facebook | Twitter

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Claiming your prize: Winner will be contacted via email and will have 7 days to reply, or a new winner will be chosen.

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WICKED NIGHTS WITH A PROPER LADY: 5 Fun Facts with Tiffany Clare

Hot Victorian romance author ~***~

IMMORTALLY YOURS: 5 Fun Facts with Angie Fox

“Dangerously hilarious” New York Times bestselling author of urban fantasy Angie Fox is a sweetheart and a dynamo! If you ever find yourself on a sinking ship, you want to be standing next to Angie. She’s super creative–she’ll find a way to save everyone, and she’ll do it with aplomb.

I love romantic stories with strong, mythological heroes and smart, sassy heroines like the M*A*S*H unit surgeon in Immortally Yours–she gets to repair the wounds of larger-than-life demi-gods! How cool is that? You’ll love both the excerpt and Angie’s Five Fun Facts about this compelling, fun read.

Wonderful readers, please welcome this absolutely lovely author who I’m proud to say writes for St. Martin’s Press, also!

Oh, and don’t forget to find your Biker Witch name to go along with reading Angie’s awesome Accidental Demon Slayer series! It’s so fun! Why don’t you share your Biker Witch name with us in your comment? And don’t forget, when you leave a comment you’re eligible to win a signed copy of Immortally Yours and one of my books, as well!

Immortally Yours

St. Martin’s Press

August 28, 2012

IN THE WAR BETWEEN THE GODS…

No one patches up the incoming wounded like Dr. Petra Robichaud. Recruited by the gods for her uncanny medical skills, she’s the best M*A*S*H surgeon in the army. Along with a nosy guard sphinx, vegetarian werewolf, and other paranormal paramedics, she bandages soldiers who are built like Greek gods (literally.) But when one sexy immortal ends up on her operating table—half dead and totally to-die-for—Petra’s afraid she’ll lose her patient and her heart…

NOTHING IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN LOVE

Commander Galen of Delphi is one gorgeous but stubborn demi-god. When his spirit tries to slip out of his fatally wounded body, Dr. Petra has to slip it back in—unwittingly revealing her ability to see ghosts. Now that Galen knows her secret, he’s convinced she’s part of an ancient prophesy. If the oracles are right, Petra could lead Galen’s army to peace. And if he seduces her on the way to hell and back? Heaven knows—all’s fair in love and war…

 

5 Fun Facts About IMMORTALLY YOURS:

1. Immortally Yours was originally titled The Monster M*A*S*H not only because I love campy 1960’s monster songs, but because the story takes place in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) unit.

2. While researching the book, I had a lot of fun talking to emergency room doctors and to US special forces officers. They had great insights and I used some of their stories in the book.

3. And then I made up the parts about vampires, werewolves and a particularly fastidious talking guard sphinx.

4. My college roommates introduced me to paranormal books. There were six of us living in this tiny place and between all six of my roommates, they had the entire Anne Rice Interview with the Vampire series. They talked me into reading the first one and wow, I was hooked. I was always a good student, but I skipped class for the next week and read Anne Rice’s vampir series straight through.

5. After a friend and I hiked through Red Rock Canyon in Nevada, I was amazed at how otherworldly and brutally gorgeous it was. The setting for Immortally Yours, and the entire Monster MASH trilogy, is based on Red Rock Canyon.

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Leave a comment to be entered to win a signed copy of  IMMORTALLY YOURS by Angie Fox and a signed copy of DUKES TO THE LEFT OF ME, PRINCES TO THE RIGHT. Giveaway open to US/CA. Ends 11/9.

If you’ve found this post on Kieran’s Goodreads page, click here to leave a comment.

Angie Fox is the New York Times bestselling author of several books about vampires, werewolves and things that go bump in the night. She claims that researching her stories can be just as much fun as writing them. In the name of fact-finding, Angie has ridden with Harley biker gangs, explored the tunnels underneath Hoover Dam and found an interesting recipe for Mamma Coalpot’s Southern Skunk Surprise (she’s still trying to get her courage up to try it).

Angie earned a Journalism degree from the University of Missouri. She worked in television news and then in advertising before beginning her career as an author. Visit Angie at www.angiefox.com.

Connect with Angie:

Author Site | Facebook | Twitter

ABOUT THAT NIGHT: 5 Fun Facts with Julie James

I met Julie James at an RWA conference a couple of years ago, and she’s such a gracious, easy-going person. I’m so happy for her tremendous success. Every time I read about Julie, the words are always good, and the praise is well-deserved. The romance community so needed Julie James when she arrived. I remember people saying contemporaries weren’t being given the attention they deserve, and Julie helped change that. With her amazing stories of really smart, modern women and their sexy counterparts, Julie gave a boost to the world of contemporary romance that it needed, putting it in the spotlight again when her excerpts started showing up in magazines like Cosmopolitan.

Quite simply, romance readers can’t get enough of Julie James.

You’ll love her, too, wonderful readers. Julie’s Five Fun Facts are awesome, and her excerpt will leave you wanting more!  So be sure to leave a comment, and let’s have a wonderful week celebrating About That Night with Julie James!

About That Night

FBI/US Attorney

Book 3

Berkley

April 3, 2012

HE’S PLAYING GAMES.

Though Rylann Pierce tried to fight the sparks she felt for billionaire heir Kyle Rhodes the night they met, their sizzling chemistry was undeniable. But after being stood up on their first date, Rylann never expected to see him again. So when she finds herself face-to-face with Kyle in a courthouse nine years later, she’s stunned. More troubling to the beautiful assistant U.S. attorney is that she’s still wildly attracted to him.

BUT SHE’S MAKING THE RULES.

Just released from prison, Kyle Rhodes isn’t thrilled to be the star witness in a high-profile criminal case—but when Rylann comes knocking at his door, he finds she may be the one lawyer he can’t say no to. Still as gorgeous and sharp-tongued as ever, she lays down the law: she doesn’t mix business with pleasure. But Kyle won’t give up on something he wants—and what he wants is the one woman he’s never forgotten. . .

 

 

5 Fun Facts About ABOUT THAT NIGHT:

1. The hero of the book, Kyle Rhodes, is a billionaire ex-con and, yep, he actually committed the crime. He’s a computer genius whose nickname is the “Twitter Terrorist” because he hacked into Twitter and shut down the site for forty-eight hours after his supermodel ex-girlfriend broke up with him via a tweet and posted a video of her cheating on him with a Hollywood actor. (Bonus fun fact: the Hollywood actor she cheats with is the “villain” character in my first book, Just the Sexiest Man Alive.)

2. Kyle first appears in A Lot Like Love, in which his sister, Jordan, agrees to work with the FBI in exchange for Kyle’s early release from federal prison. In the very early stages of outlining A Lot Like Love, I’d thought Kyle would be younger than Jordan, maybe 20 years old, and that he’d be socially awkward, sort of a stereotypical “computer geek,” who was getting bullied in prison. But then I thought, “Why stereotype?” So instead I made Kyle older (in his 30′s), and Jordan’s twin brother, and I also made him, well, hot.

The problem, however, was that all of Kyle’s scenes in A Lot Like Love were told through his sister’s point of view–and she’s certainly not going to think or say, “My brother is so hot.” In fact, she refers to Kyle as a “computer geek” numerous times in the book. So to cue the readers that, hey, this is a hot computer geek, I had the other prisoners and prison guards give Kyle the nickname “Sawyer” because of his striking resemblance to Josh Holloway’s character on the TV show Lost. (And, really, didn’t we all love Sawyer on that show?)

photo credit: IMDB

3. The song that got stuck in my head while writing the book was Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. I think that’s because Kyle and the heroine of the book, Rylann, first meet when they’re in grad school (not exactly teenagers, but still) and they share this great kiss on graduation night. But then circumstances separate them for nine years. When they meet again, she’s an Assistant U.S. Attorney and he’s a convicted felon–not exactly a match made in heaven–but they both have never forgotten that night (or the kiss) and the attraction to each other is still there, simmering big-time underneath the surface.

4. Several scenes in the book take place on the University of Illinois campus in Champaign-Urbana, where I went to school for seven years (undergrad and law school). The bar where the hero and heroine meet is one where Mr. James and I hung out often with our law school friends.

5. At one point in the book, the heroine tells the hero that she’s going to see the Hunger Games movie with a friend. I needed a movie that came out in the spring of 2012, so I figured I might as well use that one since I’m a big fan of the Hunger Games trilogy.

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Leave a comment to be entered to win a signed copy of  ABOUT THAT NIGHT by Julie James and a signed copy of IF YOU GIVE A GIRL A VISCOUNT. Giveaway open to US/CA. Ends 11/2.

If you’ve found this post on Kieran’s Goodreads page, click here to leave a comment.

After graduating from law school, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julie James clerked for the United States Court of Appeals in Jacksonville, Florida. She then practiced law with one of the nation’s largest firms for several years until she began writing screenplays. After Hollywood producers optioned two of her scripts, she decided to leave the practice of law to write full-time.

In 2011, Julie was named “Romance’s New It Girl” by RT Book Reviews magazine and listed on the American Library Association’s Reading List for Top Genre Novels. She is the author of a Booklist Top 10 Romance of the Year and one of Cosmopolitan magazine’s Red Hot Reads. Julie’s novels also were chosen as the Best Contemporary Romances in the 2011 and 2012 All About Romance Readers’ Poll.  Her books have been translated into thirteen languages and Julie’s most recent novel, ABOUT THAT NIGHT, is now available.

Julie James lives with her husband and two children in Chicago, where she is currently working on her next novel.

 

Connect with Julie:

Author Site | Facebook | Twitter

UNDONE: 5 Fun Facts with Lila DiPasqua

I love Lila. She’s smart, she’s funny, and she’s good to other writers and to her readers. You can tell from her Five Fun Facts alone that she’s an amazing romance writer, too. This woman is romantic to her core. She’s passionate.

I am so jealous, by the way, about how Lila’s become a part of history and also part of the present and future of a gorgeous mansion in France! I won’t tell you what she did–you’ll have to read it for yourself. I literally gasped when I read it. It’s so cool.

It’s so Lila!

And to this wonderful guest author who celebrates fairy tales both in real life with her awesome husband Mr. DiPasqua [see his picture below] and in her sexy, compelling books…congratulations on your latest Fiery Tale, Twitter

THE GOOD WOMAN: 5 Fun Facts with Jane Porter

Wow! We have a very good woman visiting our blog today: Jane Porter, the beloved, bestselling author whose stories make us really think about all the various roles and challenges we take on as women. But Jane goes a step further. Her books celebrate those roles and challenges. I always finish a Jane Porter story with a fresh insight, with new hope that I can do what I want to do and be who I want to be, which is why I love Jane’s books–and her–so much!

Many of you know that Jane wrote Flirting With Forty, the amazing love story that was made into a wonderful TV movie starring Heather Locklear. Yes, Heather was great in the role, but I think the film should have starred Jane herself, who has movie-star good looks and the charisma to match–not to mention a surfer of her own to love and cherish! I’m an avid follower of Jane’s blog, where you can read more not only about her own personal love story but about all the challenges she faces as a writer who’s also a mom, wife, sister, daughter, and friend.

Meanwhile, we’ve got to be thankful Jane’s remained focused on being a novelist because she’s written so many wonderful books, including her latest, The Good Woman, which I’m so proud to feature here today. Reading through Jane’s Five Fun Facts about this novel, which is the first in a three-book series about four Irish-American sisters, I was particularly struck by the fact that she has a place in her heart for Galway. My family has a farm in Galway. My grandparents were born there, and we still have property near Ballinasloe! So I’m extra excited Jane feels an affinity for that part of Ireland.

As always, I know you’ll help our guest feel at home this week, so readers, enjoy Jane’s excerpt from The Good Woman and her Five Fun Facts. And I know Jane would love to hear from you in the comments! One lucky reader will win a copy of The Good Woman and one of my own books!

The Good Woman

A Brennan Sisters Novel

Book 1

Berkley Trade

September 4,2012

Meg Brennan Roberts is a successful publicist, faithful wife, and doting mother who prides herself on always making the right decisions. But years of being “the good woman” have taken a toll and Meg feels burned out and empty, more disconnected than ever from her increasingly distant husband. Lonely and disheartened, she attends the London Wine Fair with her boss, ruggedly handsome vintner, Chad Hallahan. It’s here, alone together in an exotic city, far from “real” life, that Chad confesses his long-standing desire for Meg. Overwhelmed, flattered, and desperately confused, Meg returns home, only to suddenly question every choice she’s ever made. Fleeing her responsibilities—with consequences as reckless and irreversible as they are liberating—Meg must decide whether being the person everyone needs is worth losing the woman she was meant to be.

 

 

5 Fun Facts About THE GOOD WOMAN:

1)  The Good Woman is the first in a 3 book series about The Brennans, a large Irish-American family in San Francisco with four sisters.

2)  The Brennan family is headed up by a 5th generation San Francisco fire fighter, which was inspired by my younger brother Rob’s father-in-law, a 4th generation SF fire fighter named Tom Callen.

3)  When creating the series I originally only planned on 3 sisters, but a 4th sister insisted on becoming part of the book and I’m glad she did.  Brianna is a firecracker and winds everyone up in the family and keeps this family from being too sweet!

4)  I’m not Irish-American, or Catholic, but I’ve been a fan of all things Irish since I was a little girl and met the McIntyres at our church.  They were Anglican, not Catholic, and had just moved from Northern Ireland to California, but I loved their accents, their warmth, their humor, and kindness.

5)  I love Ireland so much I’ve studied there during college at University College Galway (took classes in Gaelic, Anglo-Irish literature, and History of Ireland), and have returned another 6 times just because I can’t stay away.

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Leave a comment to be entered to win some fun swag from Jane and a signed copy of  THE GOOD WOMAN and a signed copy of  DUKES TO THE LEFT OF ME, PRINCES TO THE RIGHT. Giveaway open to US/CA. Ends 10/19.

If you’ve found this post on Kieran’s Goodreads page, click here to leave a comment.

 

Jane Porter, a native of Visalia, California, graduated from UCLA with a degree in American Studies and worked in sales and marketing before returning to school to earn a teaching credential and an MA in Writing from the University of San Francisco. Since publishing her first romance novel in 2001, Jane has written and sold 39 novels, including her latest release, The Good Woman, the first book in her Brennan Sisters trilogy. A bestselling author, Jane has also been a finalist for the prestigious RITA award in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2010 from Romance Writers of America, and her ’06 release, Flirting With Forty, picked by Redbook as its Red Hot Summer Read, went back for seven printings in six weeks before being made into a December 08 Lifetime movie starring Heather Locklear. Jane, her surfer husband, and three sons make their home today in San Clemente, CA where she’s currently working on her next novel.

Connect with Jane:

Author Site | Facebook | Twitter