Vicky Dreiling's Blog, page 6

Exciting News!

I just wanted to share that WHAT A WICKED EARL WANTS is  a Romantic Times Top Pick and received a 4 1/2 star review. So now I just can’t wait for the release date – May 28th! Stay tuned for more great book giveaways. Hope you’re all doing well and reading good books. Cheers!

When She Was Wicked by Anne Barton Giveaway

This week I bring you WHEN SHE WAS WICKED by Anne Barton, a wonderful debut and winner of the 2011 Golden Heart for the Regency Historical category.

WHEN SHE WAS WICKED

Forever | January 29, 2013

SOME RULES SIMPLY BEG TO BE BROKEN

A dressmaker in London’s busiest shop, Miss Anabelle Honeycote overhears the ton’s steamiest secrets—and (occasionally) uses them to her advantage. It isn’t something she’s proud of, but the reluctant blackmailer needs the money to care for her gravely ill mother. To make up for her misdeeds, Anabelle keeps to a firm set of rules:

Never request payment from someone who cannot afford it.
Never reveal the secrets of a paying client.
Never enter into any form of social interaction with a client.

Her list keeps her (somewhat) honest—until she encounters Owen Sherbourne, the Duke of Huntford. Not only does Owen nip Anabelle’s extortion plans in the bud, the devilishly handsome Duke soon has the sexy seamstress dreaming of more than silks and satins. With Owen, Anabelle enjoys pleasures she never imagined. . . until a scandal from the past resurfaces. Now her rules could mean his family’s ruin. Owen’s searing kisses carry the promise of passion, but how will he react when Anabelle’s most devastating secret is finally revealed?

 

I am giving away a signed copy of WHEN SHE WAS WICKED by Anne Barton. Leave a comment sharing your favorite romances featuring dressmakers, dukes or any historical romance that should be added to my teetering TBR pile. Giveaway open to US readers. Ends 4/12.

If you have found this blog post on Vicky’s Goodreads site, please visit her blog to leave a comment.

Anne Barton started swiping romances from her mom’s bookshelf as a teenager and decided historicals (with their balls, dukes, and gowns) were the best. So, when she had the chance to spend a semester in London she packed her bags—and promptly fell in love with the city, its history, and its pubs. She dreamed of writing romance, but somehow ended up a software analyst instead.

Fortunately, a few years and a few careers later, Anne found her way back to writing the stories she loves and won the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® for Regency Historical Romance. She lives in Maryland with her husband and three children, who try valiantly not to roll their eyes whenever she quotes Jane Austen. Her weaknesses include reality TV, cute-but-impractical shoes, and coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

 

Find Anne:

Author Site | Facebook | Twitter

Dual Book Giveaway: What A Wicked Earl Wants + The Earl Is Mine

Hi all! Before you head off into the weekend, leave a comment for a chance to win an ARC of my May release, WHAT A WICKED EARL WANTS, and my fellow street team author Kieran Kramer’s THE EARL IS MINE. Happy Easter!

 

WILL A RAKE’S WICKED WAYS

Andrew Carrington, Earl of Bellingham, believes in being a gentleman, whether it’s fishing a soggy stranger out of the Thames or assisting a fetching lady into his bed. If the stranger becomes a friend and the lady a mistress, all the better. He certainly welcomes the opportunity to help Laura Davenport, a dazzling young widow with a rebellious stepson. Her gratitude, he hopes, will take an amorous form. But from the moment he sets foot in her drawing room, he gets far more than he bargained for …

LEAD THE LADY ASTRAY?

It was a moment of desperation. On the brink of losing her stepson, Laura turned to the notorious Lord Bellingham for help. Suddenly she, a vicar’s daughter, is in the precarious position of resisting his tantalizing advances. How Bell earned his wicked reputation is clear; the surprise is how much more there is to him than the gossip sheets could possibly reveal. Now every moment with this dangerously desirable man puts Laura’s good name at risk-and promises pleasure unlike any she has ever known …

 

 

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER

Handsome, charismatic, and on the verge of becoming a successful architect, Gregory Sherwood, Lord Westdale, could have just about any woman he wants. So why rush to marry? So far there’s been only one woman he’s considered his ideal match. But that was before she had a secret affair with his best friend…with the help of an unwitting accomplice named Lady Pippa Harrington.

A PASSION TOO GOOD TO DENY

Pippa may not have acted in her old friend Gregory’s best interests, but she’s always believed that the heart sets its own rules. This is why Pippa must escape her arranged marriage–fast–by fleeing to Paris, where she hopes to pursue her artistic passions. To do so, Pippa will need all the help she can get–from Gregory, the one man she isn’t sure she can trust…or resist….

 

 

Double Rita®-finalist and USA Today bestseller Kieran Kramer writes Regency historical romances for St. Martin’s Press. THE EARL IS MINE, the second in her House of Brady series, is her latest release. SAY YES TO THE DUKE premiers in August 2013. A former CIA employee, journalist, and English teacher, Kieran’s also a game show veteran, karaoke enthusiast, and general adventurer. She lives where she grew up–in the Lowcountry of South Carolina–with her Naval Reserve commander husband and their three children.

Find Kieran: Author Site | Facebook | Twitter

 

 

I am giving away an ARC of WHAT A WICKED EARL WANTS and THE EARL IS MINE by Kieran. Open internationally. Share your favorite authors who write light-hearted romances or books that made you laugh out loud. 

If you have found this blog post on Vicky’s Goodreads site, please visit her blog to leave a comment.

Follow The Yellow Brick Road: The Day I Got “The Call” by Kimberly Kincaid

photo credit: Robin Gansle

Anyone who knows me can tell you I am all about the shoes. So when I started out on the journey toward publication a little over four years ago, it was a bit like slipping on those ruby slippers and taking the very first step on the yellow brick road. Only (and anyone who’s been on this road can tell you!) the shoes weren’t always so sparkly, and the road didn’t always glow with promise. And those inevitable rejections? Flying monkeys if I ever saw any! In fact, I was up to my eye teeth in them when I packed my bags for the Romance Writers of America’s annual conference last year. Maybe it just wasn’t going to happen, I thought. Maybe I’ve had enough.

And then my phone rang.

Now this was twelve hours before I got on my flight to go to LA, and I was scheduled to pitch to two different editors. I figured my agent was calling to wish me good luck, or maybe offer some last-minute advice. I felt eerily calm as I picked up the phone. After all, editors never make an offer right before a huge national conference, right? But then my agent uttered the phrase I’d been waiting (and dreaming and hoping and pleading and dreaming some more) to hear for three long years: “We have a three-book deal on the table.”

I know for a fact that I screamed. I’m pretty sure I said “Oh my God!” about a thousand times. I know I asked “Are you sure?!” (because my agent laughed and said, “Yes. I’m sure.”) So after we worked out the logistics (during which I kept asking, “Are you sure?!”), I had a brief chat with my editor where everything was finalized, and I hung up the phone a published author.

Then the real fun began.

The first people I told were my three daughters, ages 10, 7 and 5 at the time, and they promptly flung themselves at my various limbs for the biggest, best pile-on group hug ever. Then I called my husband, who actually thought I was messing with him (and as soon as he realized I wasn’t, he left work to come home early, bless his hero heart!) I told my critique partners, who squealed as loudly as I did. And then I got on that plane to LA.

There is something truly magical about being able to tell your chaptermates, your friends, and your mentors that you’ve achieved your dreams face-to-face. As writers, so much of our communicating is done online, since we’re literally all over the globe. But being able to have an impromptu champagne toast with friends (cough *in Vicky’s hotel room* cough) and meet my editor in person a mere day after selling made it priceless. My yellow brick road to publication took three years, four manuscripts (six if you count the two under my bed that will never see the light of day!) seven online writing courses, countless agent queries, and even more countless submissions…but it only takes one yes to reach the Emerald City.

And lest you think the journey ends with that yes, let me be the first to say that landing that publishing deal is really only the next road what I hope will be a lifelong journey for me. It’s a good thing, too. Because honestly—I love the ruby slippers!

 

###

Amazon

Love on the Line

e-novella

Curtis Brown Digital

February 24, 2013

Violet Morgan puts the personal in personal chef, catering to clients who want the full cooking experience rather than a culinary drop-and-dash. But when her brother’s police detective partner is injured in the line of duty and needs help during recovery, she makes an exception. Violet lost her father to the job seven years ago, and worries for her brother’s safety every day. The last thing she wants is to get up-close with her brother’s career-cop partner…again.

For Noah Blackwell, being a detective isn’t just a lifestyle, it’s a legacy. So when he’s forced to take mandatory leave and deal with the trauma amnesia keeping him from identifying his shooter, it’s a literal case of adding insult to injury— and now he’s got to deal with an unwanted culinary caregiver on top of it. Never mind that he and Violet shared a steamy, secret kiss last New Year’s Eve. She rejects everything related to the job, and Noah’s not about to be distracted from recovering his memory and getting back to what he does best. No matter how pretty Violet is.

Despite their differences, Violet and Noah share a surprising bond in the kitchen that grows into something neither of them expect. But as Noah heals and their feelings for each other extend from the kitchen to the bedroom, Violet knows she must make an impossible choice. She may wear her heart on her sleeve when it comes to food, but can she risk it all to put love on the line?

 

 

Kimberly is giving away an e-book copy of LOVE ON THE LINE to one random commenter.  Share your favorite foods, foodie romances or ask Kimberly a question.

If you have found this blog post on Vicky’s Goodreads site, please visit her blog to leave a comment.

Kimberly Kincaid writes contemporary romance novels that split the difference between sexy and sweet, taking the traditional idea of boy-meets-girl and infusing it with a sassy magic all her own. She believes in fiery yet flawed characters destined for a crash-course in falling in love– usually the hard way– and injects her trademark humor as well as poignant touches into her writing to create her stories.

Kimberly’s writing journey has led down some bumpy roads (that first manuscript is under the bed, where it is very likely to stay), but there has been some fresh pavement too (her second manuscript earned her very first contest final, and landed the fantastic Maureen Walters at the Curtis Brown Literary Agency). One thing is certain — the wild ride of being a writer is a lot richer in both its ups and downs because of friends and readers along the path.

When Kimberly’s not sitting cross-legged in an ancient desk chair known as “The Pleather Bomber”, she can be found practicing obscene amounts of yoga, whipping up anything from enchiladas to eclairs in her kitchen, or curled up with her nose in a book. She resides in northern Virginia with her wildly patient husband and their three daughters.

Find Kimberly:

Author Site | Facebook | Twitter

 

If You Give A Rake A Ruby Giveaway

Hello all! This week I am giving away a signed copy of Shana Galen’s latest book in the Jewels of the Ton series, IF YOU GIVE A RAKE A RUBY.

 

If You Give A Rake A Ruby

Jewels of the Ton #2

March 6, 2012

Sourcebooks Casablanca

HER MYSTERIOUS PAST IS THE BEST REVENGE . . .

Fallon, the Marchioness of Mystery, is a celebrated courtesan with her finger on the pulse of high society. She’s adored by men, hated by their wives. No one knows anything about her past, and she plans to keep it that way.

ONLY HE CAN OFFER HER A DAZZLING FUTURE . . .

Warrick Fitzhugh will do anything to protect his compatriots in the Foreign Office, including seduce Fallon, who he thinks can lead him to the deadliest crime lord in London. He knows he’s putting his life on the line . . .

To Warrick’s shock, Fallon is not who he thinks she is, and the secrets she’s keeping are exactly what make her his heart’s desire . . .

 

 

Leave a comment sharing your favorite courtesan stories. Giveaway is open to US/CA and ends 3/16.

Shana Galen is the bestselling author of fast-paced adventurous Regency historicals, including the RT Reviewers’ Choice The Making of a Gentleman. Her books are published all over the world and have been featured in the Rhapsody and Doubleday Book Clubs. She taught English at the middle and high school level off and on for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston’s inner city. Now she writes full time. She’s happily married and has a daughter who is most definitely a romance heroine in the making. Shana loves to hear from readers: visit her website at www.shanagalen.com or see what she’s up to daily on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT A WICKED EARL WANTS GIVEAWAY

 I’m in the mood to give away a book – actually an Advance Reader Copy of WHAT A WICKED EARL WANTS.    Leave a comment telling me something wicked. US & International.

While you’e here, you might want to sign up for my newsletter: bit.ly/XlyNYm and check out my printable booklist: www.vickydreiling.com/booklist.pdf

Cheers!

Vicky

P.S. You can still get the e-novella A SEASON FOR SIN at all major retailers – it’s a prequel to the series THE SINFUL SCOUNDRELS. FYI: A SEASON FOR SIN ends on a hook because the happily ever after happens in WHAT A WICKED EARL WANTS. Just so you’re aware ahead of time, but it’s a fun short story and introduces how the guys become friends.

Blogging with Swedish Friends on Monday, February 17th!

Hi everyone,

I met two wonderful Swedish bloggers Cecilia and Sandra after getting a lovely review from them for A SEASON FOR SIN. They asked me if I would be willing to do a Q&A so of course, I said yes. Wow, they asked a lot of great questions.

I’ll be giving away a signed copy of HOW TO RAVISH A RAKE, so be sure to stop by their blog:

http://ratherbarefoot.blogspot.com

 

 

Hope to see you there. Cheers everyone!

Vicky

10 Copies of WHAT A WICKED EARL WANTS UP FOR GRABS!

 My publisher Forever Romance is sponsoring a giveaway of 10 Advance Reader copies of WHAT A WICKED   EARL WANTS, the first book in my new SINFUL SCOUNDREL series. Here’s a link: http://bit.ly/12raTOf

Enter ASAP - Giveaway ends February 28th!!!

 

The Call with Kristen Ethridge + Giveaway

You’ve probably heard tales of “The Call” described in over-the-top terms:

Unbelievable!

Incredible!

Happy dancing!

But because I find my life is always different than everyone else’s, well, the word that would most accurately sum up getting “The Call” for me would be…frustrating.

I’d already gotten one improbable call last year, telling me I’d finaled in the Golden Heart. I took that call at about 75 miles an hour, scrambling across the 121 Tollway in Dallas, taking my daughter to a long-scheduled doctor’s appointment. I started bawling on the phone and had to explain that yes, I was okay…I was just being a textbook pregnant woman, crying at the drop of a hat.

A few weeks later, I was having a bad day. Like an Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day-style day. So, I took myself out to Chick Fil A for lunch—annoyed pregnant women are always cheered up by nuggets. As I sat in the booth and checked my email on my phone, I noticed a name I recognized in my inbox. I mean, I knew the name Melissa Endlich…but I didn’t actually know Melissa Endlich. I figured it was some random spam mail or something, except getting spam from a senior editor at Harlequin seemed almost as unlikely as actually getting an email actually meant for me from a senior editor at Harlequin.

As it turned out, Melissa received my manuscript not through the Golden Heart, but Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest and wanted to know if it was still available. Well, yes, as a matter of fact, it was. Between editors and agents, I think I’d received upwards of 35 rejections on “Language of Love.” I’d only entered it in the Golden Heart and So You Think You Can Write as one last hurrah. I’d told my husband that after those two, I was done with this manuscript and would have to move on to something else.

First a Golden Heart final and now this? I read the email over and over and over again, completely dumbfounded.

And then I ordered a brownie.

Two weeks later, I had to take my daughter to the follow-up appointment for the one we were headed to on the morning of the Golden Heart call. We were sitting in the waiting room for one of the specialty pediatric clinics deep in the heart of Children’s Hospital of Dallas. While she was assembling puzzles (and probably picking up a bunch of germs) my phone rang. It was a 212 area code, and I didn’t know anyone in New York. But I answered anyway.

And couldn’t hear a darned thing.

The call disconnected and then the phone rang again.

The hospital decided to garble the call again, but I caught “Is this Kristen? This is Melissa Endlich…”

YES! YES IT’S KRISTEN! I tried to scream into the phone as professionally as possible, but it was of no use. The hospital had again disconnected my call. Once again, the phone rang. By now, I was absolutely dying (good thing there was an ER nearby). Here was a real, live, New York editor trying to call me and the phone call WOULDN’T. GO. THROUGH.

Melissa very quickly said that the call wasn’t working and she’d try and call me back in the morning. And then yes, the call cut off again. Since I knew editors generally didn’t call to reject manuscripts, I was in a total panic. I needed to concentrate on my kid’s appointment…but that might have been THE CALL, or a nice revise and resubmit discussion, or anything… But whatever it was, I MISSED IT.

Let’s just say it was a long night.

Thankfully, the next morning, the drive through line at the bank did not disable my cell phone like the hospital, and as I pulled up to the stop light around the corner, Melissa offered me a contract with Love Inspired. Within a few weeks, we’d changed the book’s name to Saving Gracie, I signed with my rockstar agent, Elaine Spencer, at the Knight Agency, and a February 2013 publication date was set.

I’m happy to report that my daughter hasn’t had any more doctor’s appointments since then…but I’m thinking of scheduling one soon. I’ve got another manuscript I’d like to sell.

 

Love is a Universal Language

Running an ESL school is hard work, but helping immigrants has always been a dream of Gracie Garcia’s. When her school is threatened by real-estate developer Jake Peoples, Gracie hopes that getting him to attend a class will change his mind. But a lesson in love was something neither one signed up for. Learning about Gracie’s work reminds Jake what family is really about. But just as he’s starting to come around, a revelation about his past threatens his future with Gracie. When things look their bleakest, can Jake save her dream…and his place in her heart?

 

 

 

Leave a comment for Kristen for a chance to win a copy of SAVING GRACIE. Giveaway open to US readers and ends 2/8.

Kristen Ethridge is an author with Love Inspired books, the inspirational imprint of Harlequin Books. I am represented by Elaine Spencer at the Knight Agency and my publicist is Jeane Wynn of Wynn-Wynn Media. You may email me at conversationswithkristen (at) gmail (dot) com.  I’m on Facebook and on Twitter at @kristenethridge. Please note that as the mom of young children, I don’t accept friend requests on my personal Facebook page other than friends and family–I thank you in advance for your understanding of my desire to protect my kids’ privacy (and trust me, you’re not missing anything other than dance mom rants and observations on baby spit-up). I look forward to getting to know you through my author page and Twitter! And it should go without saying, but sometimes people forget out in cyberspace…keep comments here/Facebook/Twitter clean. Thanks!

Cover Love with Alison Atlee + Giveaway

I interviewed Vicky for Dear Author after she was nominated for all those RITAs last year, and I found her delightful–she truly has a way of making people feel special. Putting together that interview was the first time I used a signature line in my emails–you know, one of those hyperlinked postscripts that let people know I was the author of a soon-to-be-published book.

And Vicky was the first person I didn’t personally know who clicked the link and came back to tell me, “That is a gorgeous cover!” So, as a nod to that bit of kindness, I’d thought I’d talk covers on my visit here.

First, there’s Betsey Dobson, the typewriter girl of the book’s title. Except I didn’t know that she was a typewriter girl at first. I just knew she’d be leaving London to start a new life in a Victorian-era seaside resort. So, how did she get there? Initially, I thought this image answered that question:

It depicts a common practice of the time, that of treating a group of disadvantaged children to a day in the country. Okay, I thought, Betsey can be a chaperone, and I put her in a scene where she distributed sandwiches to the children.

However, the more I wrote, the less this scenario worked. Betsey begins the story living with a man out of wedlock. She curses. There was no way any Victorian charity was going to put her in charge of a bunch of impressionable minds.

The other problem: a woman had to have leisure time in order to take children on a picnic, and working-class Betsey had precious little of that.

Revise, revise, and now Betsey gets the offer to come to Idensea while she’s on the typewriting job in London. By this time, I’d already found a guiding image for Betsey:

I love this woman. Her rolled-up sleeves, the worn boots, that purposeful gaze. Betsey worked in an office, not on a dock, but I knew the strength and grit of the woman in the picture was Betsey’s, too.

Cue the “time passes” music. Book bought, publication process begins to churn. My editor mentions an idea for the cover–Betsey at her desk with her typewriter, looking out the window to the pleasure pier that’s the town’s landmark. I love the idea of depicting Betsey at work and send this photo along to my editor:

There’s no typewriter or pier, but this woman was a manager at a hotel like the one where Betsey goes to work, doing a job many of the time would have considered better suited to a man.

More music. An attachment arrives from my editor. The finished cover:

Gorgeous. Absolutely. I felt lucky, because it was beautiful, and because it said important things about my story, and because if I saw a book with that cover, I would pick it up.

The one thing that mystified me was the girl.

Listen, I didn’t have a lot of illusions regarding the cover, despite being a new author. Most authors have little to no say on that, and book covers have one main job–attract people to the book, not illustrate the story.

But when you compare the image that had lived for so long inside my head with the cover girl…

…you might appreciate how I was thrown off. Betsey works, and this girl is out for a stroll. Betsey wears tweed and military-style jackets, not lace. So while I loved my cover, I didn’t believe I’d ever come to think of Cover Girl as Betsey.

Yet, over time I did. Those pictures side-by-side, I realize it is Cover Betsey who is looking forward. The girl gazing out from under the parasol is someone dreaming, and dreaming is something Betsey learns to do over the course of The Typewriter Girl. At the beginning of the story, she’s not one to permit herself the luxury of an idle stroll or a difficult-to-clean dress, but she learns to cut herself some slack.

Okay, so the difficult-to-clean dress she wears in the story gets ruined beyond rescue within a few hours of putting it on. I still like Cover Betsey. She reminds me that we all have much to look forward to.

Kati and Vicky, a thousand thanks for hosting me today. Readers, why don’t you let me know what you are looking forward to? We’ll choose a winner from the comments, and send you a copy of The Typewriter Girl.

 

ALL BETSEY DOBSON HAS EVER ASKED IS THE CHANCE TO BE VIEWED ON HER OWN MERITS, BUT IN A MAN’S WORLD, THAT IS THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN

When Betsey disembarks from the London train in the seaside resort of Idensea, all she owns is a small valise and a canary in a cage. After attempting to forge a letter of reference she knew would be denied her, Betsey has been fired from the typing pool of her previous employer. Her vigorous protest left one man wounded, another jilted, and her character permanently besmirched. Now, without money or a reference for her promised job, the future looks even bleaker than the debacle behind her. But her life is about to change . . . because a young Welshman on the railroad quay, waiting for another woman, is the one man willing to believe in her.

Mr. Jones is inept in matters of love, but a genius at things mechanical. In Idensea, he has constructed a glittering pier that astounds the wealthy tourists. And in Betsey, he recognizes the ideal tour manager for the Idensea Pier & Pleasure Building Company. After a lifetime of guarding her secrets and breaking the rules, Betsey becomes a force to be reckoned with. Now she faces a challenge of another sort: not only to outrun her sins, but also to surrender to the reckless tides of love. . . .

 

Alison Atlee spent her childhood re-enacting “Little Women” and trying to fashion 19th century wardrobes for her Barbie dolls. Happily, these activities turned out to be good preparation for writing historical novels.

Find Alison:

Author Site | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads