trueromance

“The Amoveo Legacy”

Setting: Present day on the misty summer shores of Rhode Island.
Subgenre: Paranormal Romance
Hero: Malcolm Drew
Heroine: Samantha Logan

One sentence summary: The Amoveo People an ancient race of dream-walking, telepathic, shape shifters, made up of ten different animal clans, whose very existence depends on finding their one true soul-mate.

Scene you like most and would never cut: My absolute favorite scene is when Samantha and Malcolm come face to face for the first time. She’s spinning around in her new art studio with pure, childlike joy. Although the freedom of the moment is fleeting, it’s a crucial experience for both of them.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: Samantha would never be caught dead belonging to a Country Club. She’s a no nonsense woman who has no interest in social climbing. It’s the complete opposite of everything she believes in.

What celebrity is your hero like: Alexander Skarsgaard—from “True Blood”. He’d be absolutely perfect to portray Malcolm. His hair would have to be a deeper auburn but the build is spot on. Yummy.

What celebrity is your heroine like: I’d have to say a younger Jennifer Aniston.

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing: She is an artist but like most artists makes her living as a waitress.

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing: He runs the family Import/Export business—trading primarily between the USA and Italy.

What you think readers will like best about this book: I think Samantha is a heroine that most women can relate to. She’s a beautifully flawed woman with a familiar set of insecurities.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet: I dropped a few crumbs about Dante and Kerry in Book 1. I’ve been getting emails about a possible romance between the two of them. I hope readers will hang on until Book 2 comes out…I don’t think they’ll be disappointed.

What’s next: What’s next? Ah…that is the Million Dollar Question. Book 2: Amoveo Heart is finished and I am currently working on Book 3 in the series. I hope that readers will hang in there and check back to my website—from time to time– so they can find out what’s going on with this unique species of shifters.

Additionally, my favorite charity to support is ASMBA-STAR—a great charity for Vets and their families. Each year I donate a portion of my book proceeds to ASMBA-STAR. As a matter of fact, I have unique contest running all summer long for US Military Families.
How do you enter?

Send an email to sarataneyhumphreys@hotmail.com with a picture of you and your family member in uniform. Tell us a bit about what branch he/she serves in, where you’ve been stationed, challenges you’ve faced, experiences you cherish, and so forth.

2nd Annual Military Families Contest:

Once a week, beginning Memorial Day weekend, Sara will choose one entrant to be highlighted on her blog. These weekly entrants are contest semi-finalists. Three winners will be selected over the Labor Day weekend, with prizes awarded as follows:

Second Prize: A $25 Amazon Gift Card, a signed copy of “The Amoveo Legacy” and a Team Amoveo T-Shirt.

First Prize: A $50 Amazon Gift Card, a signed copy of “The Amoveo Legacy” and a Team Amoveo T-Shirt.

Grand Prize: A book signing event at their local bookstore with the winner as Sara’s special guest of honor; FIVE free signed copies of “The Amoveo Legacy” (1 for them and 4 of their friends); a $100 Amazon Gift card and a Team Amoveo T-Shirt.

Spread the word about this contest. You can support our veterans and their families by purchasing a copy of “The Amoveo Legacy” or by donating directly to the ASMBA STAR Foundation.

Thank you for your support and for your service to our country!
Read my article about in contest in The Huffington Post

You can go to http://sarataneyhumphreys.com and click on CONTESTS to find out more! Do you have a family member who serves in our Military? If so…tell me about them! I’d love to hear their story.

RUNNING SCARED

RUNNING SCARED was a lot of fun to write. Why? Because of the characters, and, oh, yeah the plot. Though the love story is between Daegan O’Rourke (one of my favorite heroes!)and Kate Summers, the plot spins off Kate’s son, Jon, and his birth about fifteen years ago.

Have you ever had a secret you couldn’t share with a soul? Not even your best friend? That’s what’s going on here; it’s the secret of Jon’s birth. You see, Kate was given this baby, a child she needed to mend an open hole in her heart from the loss of her own daughter, but she had to keep his birth quiet. And she did. For fifteen years and now, her boy, unique in his own right, sees his own death, at the hands of a stranger.

When Daegan O’Rourke slips into Hopewell, Oregon, all of Kate’s fears congeal. She knows her sexy neighbor has a few secrets of his own and that Jon is at the heart of them. She’s frantic that all hell about to break out and she’ll lose her child!

RUNNING SCARED is a book I’ve rewritten. (It was originally titled WISHES.) My publisher wanted me to “ramp up the suspense” in the book and give it more of an edge. I was more than willing and, boy, did I have a great time reworking the book. (This is every author’s secret dream.)

I had to reacquaint myself with the characters and found myself falling in love with Daegan O’Rourke all over again. Though he grew up in Boston, he fell out of favor with his family–that can happen when you’re an unwanted son born to a beautiful mistress-and he headed west to put on his western gear. He’s had more than his share of hard knocks in his life, has skirted the law and, in my opinion, become a real heartbreaker with his killer good looks, sexy smile and wicked sense of humor.

As I reworked the book, I realized that I’d forgotten how much I’d enjoyed all the scenes with Jon and that he had a touch of ESP. Man, it was fun to meet and play with him again. And Kate, talk about a mother-bear, a woman who would lay down her life for her child and, of course, lie and hold secrets for him. An interesting woman; one I’d like to meet in real life.

This is one of the books that taught me that characters really make the story. The better and deeper the character -the more layered he/she is- the better the book. I learned that black and white often merge into gray and that good vs evil is often a state of mind.

People ask me if my characters resemble myself and my answer is always the same: “NO WAY!” In a situation of fight or flight, trust me, it’s flight every time for moi. (Well, truthfully I would die and probably kill to save my children–but that’s about it and please, God, that I never be put to that test! However, Daegan, Kate and Jon are in it for the battle. Trust me.

Also, people ask me if my characters are based on real people, again the answer is “No.” Aside from a few cameos of friends who got a real kick out of being a peripheral character, all of the people in my book live on the pages and in my head exclusively. Well, until they’re in yours!

If you’re curious (well, and even if you’re not) I just wrapped up my next project which is DEVIOUS, another New Orleans book featuring Detectives Montoya and Bentz and I got the word today that my editor loves it. (Yays all around! DEVIOUS will be out at the end of March 2011.) I’m now writing the next “wicked” book with my sister, author Nancy Bush. WICKED LIES, the sequel to WICKED GAME will be available in June of 2011. (I’d better get crackin’ on that one, eh? Remember Justice, the killer in WICKED GAME. Hate to tell ya, but he’s BaAck!)

For now, I guess the question I think is provocative for RUNNING SCARED is just how far would you, as a person, go for love. Not only the romantic love of your life, but for your children as well. Did Kate do the right thing when she accepted an infant, some cash, and disappeared? What do ya think?

2 randomly chosen commenters will receive a new book from Kensington — Good Luck!

If you want to learn more about my books, go to www.lisajackson.com or my fan page on facebook!

Confessions of A Category Addict – Part 4

This week, we bring the series to a close with the last three imprints.

I’m going to start off with Silhouette Special Edition (by the way, my first one was 1988, Summer Shadows by Pat Warren). I really enjoy this line. It is a straight forward contemporary romance that is longer than the shorter ones we talked about last week (Desire, Presents, Blaze) but there isn’t any fluff added to it to increase the word count. The stories in this line are romantic, emotional, rich and memorable. Some past Special Edition authors include Nora Roberts, Lisa Jackson, Susan Mallery, Debbie Macomber (The Navy series) and Lindsay McKenna.

Special Edition is all about the romance but because the story is told on a bit bigger of a canvas, there is more room to really explore the characters and see where their place in life is – with their job, their family and their community. I asked Senior Editor Gail Chasan the “which television show or movie is a Special Edition” question, and here is her response.

“Brothers and Sisters is one I always list, in terms of tv shows. I would love to add Modern Family, in that perhaps it doesn’t have the plot of a typical Special Edition inherent in it but it does have the family focus—with a very contemporary spin—at its core. In terms of movies I used to list Dan in Real Life, which is a couple of years old. There is a new one, Life As We Know It, with Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel where they inherit a baby together which struck me as the perfect Special Edition.”

The next imprint is Harlequin’s newest – Nocturne. This imprint is the paranormal line. The types of stories are the same as in mass market paranormal – vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, angels, etc. The heroes are dark and mysterious and uber sexy. The pages sizzle when he and the heroine get together and there’s an element of danger involved. There’s world building and mythology.

For television shows, I think True Blood. For movies, I think Dracula, adult Twilight and The Lost Boys.

I am ending this series on category/series romance with the “Mother of Series Romance,” Harlequin Romance. This imprint is the oldest, with Harlequin Romance #1 being published back in 1949 – The Manatee by Nancy Bruff (source: Romance Wiki). As a point of reference, the July 2010 Harlequin Romances end in #4182 — that’s a lot of romance!

What can I say about Harlequin Romance that you wouldn’t know about this line? This line is about love and romance and happily ever after. I picked them up because I knew they had the same feel for them as Presents, except when the hero and heroine entered the bedroom, there was a “fade to black” moment. They are sweet books with the focus on the emotions. These books take place anywhere from a cattle station in the Outback to the ballroom of a palace to the boardroom.

What was always special about Harlequin Romance is their authors were in it for the long haul, writing for the line for 30 + years and producing three to four books per year. Picking up a Betty Neels or Jessica Steele book was like catching up with an old friend.

When I tried to put a movie to this series, immediately, I thought of Sabrina. Other movies would be The Wedding Date (if the hero was a billionaire and not a gigolo) and The Holiday. A lot of those old movies where it was about the courtship and romance come to mind – The Philadelphia Story, High Society and Roman Holiday.

Harlequin Romance is Romance.

Thank you for taking a journey down series romance lane with me.

What series romance lines/imprints are you interesting in trying? Does associating each imprint with a movie or television show help you to get a better picture of what each imprint is about?

3 lucky commenter’s will be randomly chosen to win a free book! Happy Romance!

& don’t miss Friends & Family 7/16-19/10:

Three Nights With a Scoundrel

Meant to be?

This may be a shocking thing for a romance author to admit, but I have trouble believing in romantic destiny and “meant to be.” Okay, maybe it’s not that I don’t believe in destiny…it’s just that I have a hard time believing young girls are any good at predicting it.

When I wrote my first romance novel, Goddess of the Hunt, it was partly a reaction to many romance novels I’d read where the heroine has known since childhood that she was “meant to be” with the hero…and then she is eventually proven right. In Goddess, Lucy is fixated on Sir Toby, one of her older brother’s friends, having adored him since she was eleven years old. She’s dead-set on the idea that they’re made for one another—and in the end, she’s dead wrong. She ends up with hero Jeremy instead, who is much better suited to her womanly self, even if he wasn’t the object of her girlhood dreams. In general, I guess I just had a hard time buying the idea that eleven-year-old girls are good judges of prospective husbands. Thank goodness, or that Bieber kid would be headed for epic polygamy!

But my new release is Twice Tempted by a Rogue—a book where the heroine, Meredith, has had a crush on the hero, Rhys, from a very young age. And lo and behold, they actually do end up together! But were they “meant to be”? That depends on who you ask.

Rhys would say yes. After an abusive childhood and several years of battle, he’s developed a chronic case of fatalism. He’s a hard-core believer in destiny and has given up on trying to change the world. It’s infatuated Meredith who, after many years of hard work and sacrifice, isn’t inclined to rely on blind faith. She’s made her own fate, and she wants Rhys to believe he can choose his destiny, too.

Of course by the end, Rhys and Meredith come to a loving compromise, realizing they’ll need both faith and persistence to get by in the world. That pretty much reflects my own belief. There’s no denying that people can find each other through the strangest of coincidences—Mr. Dare and I are a case in point! But even if two people are destined to cross paths and fall in love, they often have to work for the happily-ever-after.

How about you? When it comes to romance, are you a believer in destiny, or are you mistress of your universe? How about in romances? Do you like a good “fated mate” romance, or do you prefer a couple who fall in love against all odds?

Comment below & you may be randomly chosen for Sue’s Stash — one winner — Good Luck!

ROMCON Book Store by Borders (Jeffrey & Wanda ROCKED!)

Hey there — thought I’d show you all the Romcon pictures from last weekend to energize you all for 2011!

Congrats to all winners — email SueG - sgrimsha@bordersgroupinc.com to claim your prize!

Sunday - Winner is Lisabet& Froggyprize is Kensington books!

Monday - Winner post is Sharon - you get WATERBOUND! Email me!

&
Eileen’s winner are Ellanabeth; Raelena; Estella

Tuesday & Dee’s winners Kylie; HeatherS; JaneC

Wednesday with Amanda - Lilmissmolly; Linda Henderson; Barbara Elness

Thursday & Jeaniene’s winner: Brittanyweeks

Friday with Shannon get Harlequin bks - Minnchica; Carole Fiore

Saturday with Cynthia -Caitie

What a week of winners! Come back this week so you can win too & bring friends to www.bordersblog.com/trueromance:

Monday - Sheila’s recap of Thriller Fest

Tuesday - Brownwyn Scott

Wednesday - Tessa Dare

Thursday - Sandy & All About Romance

Friday & Shannon

Saturday is Lisa Jackson!

Prizes galore so stop on by! Thx for blogging,

SueG

HAPPY ROMANCE!!

Elizabeth Hoyt & Carolyn Jewel

Elizabeth Boyle (what a sweetie!)

My apologies for the late winner’s post — I thought I had everything up & ready to roll for late Sunday release however, that was obviously not the case However, you’re going to get more than you bargained for because now you are not only going to find out who last weeks winners were . . . but . . . I’m going to tell you about ROMCON! & anyone, who comments today will be included in a random drawing for one copy of WATERBOUND by Christine Feehan! Thanks for your patience - you know the program, email SueG, sgrimsha@bordersgroupinc.com with your snail mail so we can get you your winnings!

&, the winners R . . . .

Sunday - Kate’s Winner is Mary

Monday- Jennifer Ashley’s winner - Stacy Smith

Tuesday - Shiloh’s winners - LindaH; SueA; SaraC; BarbaraE; TheresaN

Wednesday - Patricia’s winners - EllannaBeth

Thursday - JoAnn’s winners - Janet; KarenH; Ranearia

Friday - Shannon - Harlequin Series - Beth; MaryK; MelK

Saturday - Sharon’s winner - Sue Brandes

Congratulations everyone!

Don’t miss this weeks Blogger Line Up:

* Monday:Eileen Dryer
* Tuesday: Dee Davis
* Wednesday: Amanda Scott
* Thursday: Jeaniene Frost
* Friday: Shannon
* Saturday: Cynthia Roberts

Now, ROMCON recap:

ROMCON Rocked! We stayed at the beautiful Crowne Plaza in Denver just down the road from the airport. The rooms were great, service fine but the WIFI sucked & that is why my Winners post is late That is my story & I’m sticking to it.

The entire trip was a whirlwind — flew in late Thursday, had dinner & went to bed! Friday AM we started filming Borders True Romance Blog & that went very well — our film crew consisted of Keith, Pat & Kristen, our rockin’ producer — these people are seasoned professionals. The authors were great — Christine Feehan is the most gracious woman I know — I love her books as much as her! Don’t miss WATER BOUND, in stores 7/27; Elizabeth Hoyt stopped by, Elizabeth Boyle & Julia Quinn too. Brenda Novak made an appearance; Susan Mallery & more — can’t wait to get the video’s up for you to view! After all of the interviews I checked in with our fabulous bookstore, Jeff, Wanda & team & they had everything you’d want to buy & more! Dinner was fab with keynote speaker, Lori Foster!

The Readers Crown Awards were then announced . . . & the winners are:

Sophia Nash- Four Dukes and a Devil
Sandra Hill - VIKING HEAT
Jory Strong - Ghostland
Jennifer Ashley- The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie
Robyn DeHart - Seduce Me
Mary Sullivan - No Ordinary Cowboy
Abby Gaines - The Groom Came Back
Carly Phillips - Lucky Break
Livia Dare - In The Flesh
Cindy Gerard - Whisper No Lies
Sheri WhiteFeather - Protecting Their Baby
S. J. Day - Eve of Darkness

Congrats to all these lucky ladies!

Saturday was just as eventful with workshops, filming & fun! Borders awards were given out at dinner Saturday evening, & our winners are:

Bestselling Historical Romance - Mary Balogh

Bestselling Contemporary Romance - Susan Mallery

Bestselling Multicultural Romance - Brenda Jackson

Bestselling Paranormal Romance - Gena Showalter

Bestselling Romantic Suspense - Jayne Ann Krentz

Greatest Sales Growth Achievement - Robyn Carr

I had a wonderful time, met lots of wonderful authors & hope to see you all in Denver for ROMCON 2011!

Pictures from Dear Author:
Anna Campbell & Nalini Singh (love their accents!)

Elizabeth Boyle (what a sweetie!)

Elizabeth Hoyt & Carolyn Jewel

ROMCON Book Store by Borders (Jeffrey & Wanda ROCKED!)

Barely A Lady by Eileen Dreyer

Setting: Brussels, London
Subgenre: Historical Romance
Hero: Jack Wyndham, Earl of Gracechurch
Heroine: Olivia Grace; formerly Olivia Wyndham, Countess of Gracechurch

One Sentence Summary: What would you do if you found the man who divorced and disgraced you injured on a battlefield wearing an enemy uniform and convinced he’s still married and in love with you?

Thing your heroine would never be caught doing/saying: “I just can’t.”

Scene you most like and wouldn’t cut: It’s the scene in which Jack finally learns all of Olivia’s secrets. Not only is it what we call the black moment of the book, and the most emotional, but I love Olivia’s reaction, which actually wasn’t at all how I’d envisioned it before I wrote the scene.

What celebrity is your hero most like? Hugh Jackman, a bit Wolverine, a bit Drover in Australia (especially in that dinner jacket)

What celebrity is your heroine most like? Emma Thompson from Sense and Sensibility (not Harry Potter).

What is your heroine’s occupation? Paid companion

What is your hero’s occupation: Heir to Marquess of Dourne (also unpaid spy)

What do you think your readers will like about this book? I hope they’ll like the adventure coupled with an intensely emotional love story. I love Jack and Livvie and hope my readers will, too.

The person that readers are asking you to write about that you haven’t yet: Lady Kate Gilbey, Dowager Duchess of Murther. But don’t worry. Kate gets her own book in Always the Temptress, which will be out in 2011.

What’s next? Next is the story of Livvie’s friend Grace Fairchild, a painfully plain general’s daughter who finds herself forced to marry the epitome of ton elegance, Diccan Hilliard, in an attempt to bring down a spy ring.

Olivia risks her life to protect the man who betrayed her. What would convince you that such a man was worth protecting? (And looking like Hugh Jackman doesn’t count). How likely would you be to forgive him without exacting at least a bit of revenge? Should Olivia forgive Jack?

I’ll be giving out a signed copy of BARELY A LADY to three random commenters. I’d love you to stop by www.eileendreyer.com for more information and to sign up for my newsletter. And if you get a chance, stop by my blog, www.eileendreyer.blogspot.com (I know. I haven’t come up with a catchy title yet), where I discuss writing and the traveling that inspires it. The travel for BARELY A LADY was fairly tame, London and the Cotswolds. But for Never a Gentleman, I went to India.

Setting: Modern day Fairview, a small, coastal city in the Pacific Northwest.

Subgenre: Paranormal romance/urban fantasy

Hero: Captain Reynard, younger son of family of landed gentry from the 1700s. He is an immortal guardsman of the Castle, a prison for the supernatural. After two and a half centuries trapped in the dungeon, he’s more than ready for a vacation.

Heroine: Ashe Carver, witch, kick-butt monster slayer, and librarian. As a single mother of a ten-year-old daughter, Ashe is also desperate for a holiday. But, instead of getting some R&R, she’s being stalked by vampires, demons, lawyers, and a killer rabbit.

One Two sentence summary (c’mon, I can’t do anything under 100,000 words!): Faced with a custody battle, Ashe Carver has hung up her stakes and taken a job at the public library, determined to show the courts and her ten-year-old daughter that she’s as good a mother as she is a hunter… but after centuries guarding a supernatural prison, Captain Reynard strides into her world like a hero from the library’s Must Reads. Smokingly gorgeous, passionate and courageous to a fault, he has only weeks to live unless Ashe finds the thief who took his soul.

Scene you like most and would never cut: Ashe and Reynard’s first love scene. They’ve both got huge emotional barriers and even bigger challenges at a survival level, but they finally connect and surrender to each other. They’re both looking for a shot at life before it’s too late—and for Reynard, every second counts. The fact that they can find joy in the face of such odds is incredibly affirming.

The scene gave me a chance to go deeper into the characters than I had before. This moment really moved me. I wanted so badly for everything to work out for Ashe and Reynard, and at times I had serious doubts.

Never mind that the fate of an author’s characters is completely at your own whimsy. I have these oddball fantasies like: what would happen to my characters if I were hit by a bus before I finished the book? Would they be stuck in limbo forever? The thought is utterly horrible to me. Yeah, writers are very weird people. But at least I watch for speeding cars.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: Ashe is a tough girl—she’s had to be—but there’s a softer, feminine side buried under the motorcycle gear and bad attitude. However, she would never willingly wear anything baby aspirin pink. She’d fall on her own stake first.

Your hero, is he a boxer or brief kind of guy: Given that Reynard is used to historical dress, I would assume boxers, if anything.

Ancillary character you had the most fun with: I love the character of Errata Jones, the radio announcer of 101.5 FM CSUP, “the radio station denies and defies the normal in paranormal.” Writing her spots is often a highlight for me, because I can be totally loopy and serious at the same time.

Your heroine’s favorite hobby: Ashe enjoys any sort of extreme sports. Rock-climbing, wind-surfing, vampire origami.

Your hero’s favorite hobby: Reynard didn’t get much hobby-time as a Castle guard, but travel fascinates him—not a bad thing, since he ended up a time traveller of sorts. He’s also an avid horseman.

What you think readers will like best about this book: Non-stop action, hot sex, and killer rabbits.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet: Ashe and Holly Carver (Ashe’s sister and the heroine of Ravenous) have a half-brother, Brendan, on their dad’s side. He’s actually only mentioned in the Monsterpedia on my web site—he doesn’t have anything to do with the witchy side of the family—but a number of readers have picked up on his existence and started asking me when he’ll get a book. Soon, I hope—I’m planning some new Dark Forgotten stories right now!

What’s next: The next book after Unchained will be out in the spring of 2011. The title is still up in the air. It is about the young hellhound Alpha, Lore, and some very nasty, evil enemies that show up in Fairview.

**

Ashe is a slayer not only of vampires, but also any supernatural creature that threatens humans. What do you think would be the most dangerous monster to face? Vampires? Werewolves? Demons? The cable guy? How would you get rid of them? Give us your opinion, and somebody will win signed copies of the first two books in the Dark Forgotten series: Ravenous and Scorched.

And if you’re looking for inspiration in dealing with monsters, check out Ashe’s advice for shooing the undead and the fanged from your life by clicking on the following:

Setting: Regency England
Subgenre: historical romance
Hero: John Fitzhugh Wyckerly, newly styled seventh Earl of Danecroft, a charming ne’er-do-well in possession of a genius for numbers—he’s just inherited a bankrupt estate and been saddled with a six-year-old hellion whom he accidently begot in his foolish years, when he thought love would save him
Heroine: Abigail Merriweather, a quiet country spinster who has never been to London but who will fight dragons if it would return her four half-siblings to her care, except the law requires men, not ladies or dragons. She is quite pragmatic about her limited chances of finding a husband willing to accept a ready-made family—even the vicar fled when faced with the prospect.

One sentence summary: After inheriting a bankrupt earldom, a charming gambler searching for a wealthy wife falls for an adorably proper spinster who would make a perfect mother for his hoydenish daughter, except her need for wealth is even more desperate than his.

Scene you like most and would never cut: Wow, by the time I’m finished cutting, I’ve left large chunks of my hide upon the floor. The scenes remaining are my heart, so to cut any of them would kill me. But I suppose the “meet” scene is the real core of the story—when Penny escapes Fitz, shouting ribald curses, and shocking poor Abby, who promptly goes after the new earl with a hoe. Sophisticated, self-assured Fitz is truly out of his element in rural environs, and we get our first glimpse of the wild ride one small woman will lead him on.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying:
Abby eventually learns to call Fitz a heap of dragon dung, but she will probably never learn to call anyone a beetle-brained catch-fart!

What celebrity is your hero like:
Okay, let me admit right here and now that I’m not only face blind (http://www.faceblind.org/research/), but I have no memory for names. My whole family is this way, so I suppose it’s genetic, but it really makes me sound like a cawker when I can’t discuss who my characters look like, much less the names of the actors or the movies they played in. I KNOW what Fitz looks like, but I can’t tell you who else he looks like.
But Fitz is a gambler, so he behaves a lot like Maverick. I recognize professions really well.

What celebrity is your heroine like:
Aren’t all Regency heroines supposed to look like Keira Knightley? (did I get that name right?) But if you know a pocket Venus with strawberry-blond hair, that’s Abby. If you can reduce (wait a minute, let me go look up this name…) Katharine Hepburn to pocket size, I’d bet she could do a good Abby imitation. Humor, pragmatism, and the ability to take no prisoners…

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing:
LOL! Abby should be running the State Department of Education. Unfortunately, that’s a little after her time, and she’s too busy chasing after four younger siblings, Fitz’s hellion, and attempting to squeeze coins out of mangelwurzels to look for work. She’ll make a good countess someday, when she gets over her social awkwardness. She’s already worked out that noble aristocrats aren’t much different from country bumpkins in fancy dress.

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing:
Until he inherits an earldom, Fitz has been a gambler. He’s a mathematical genius reduced to counting cards since the sons of earls really can’t indulge in trade. If he had any education, he probably could have been a math professor, but now that he’s an earl, he’ll have to apply his genius to pounds of mangelwurzels per acre. Or rutabagas. He’s not clear on the difference yet.

What you think readers will like best about this book:
Oh, unfair question! Readers who like dashing gamblers will love Fitz. Readers who like heroines who stand up for themselves, even when they don’t stand very tall, will adore Abby. Readers who like Regency romps should have a great time. Readers who like zombies—not so much.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
Are you prepared to duck the rotten tomatoes that are about to be flung? Michael O’Toole from THE MARQUESS is the one character I still hear about after all these years. And actually, I did write about him. The book was on the copyeditor’s desk when the publisher decided to quit selling romance. One of these days… I keep promising to resurrect him, but I fear he’s a victim of the 150k word count days.

What’s next:
THE DEVILISH MONTAGUE! The Rebellious Son novels are about the younger sons of aristocracy who have to make their own way in the world. You’ll meet Blake Montague in THE WICKED WYCKERLY. He’s too dark and dangerous for a romp, but wait until you meet his heroine…and her parrots. I think he learns to lighten up.

I read romance for escape and like my stories to have laughter as well as tears. I’ve noticed a growing tendency toward dark, angsty romances lately. Which do you prefer and why?
I don’t have copies of WYCKERLY yet, but I’ll be happy to send an ARC (advance review copy) to a randomly chosen commenter. And if you follow my Facebook or Twitter, or stop in at www.wordwenches.com, I’ll be notifying readers where my blog tour will travel next so you’ll have a chance to win free copies of the real book later.
Fire away!

By, Susan Meier:

When I think of summer, a couple of things immediately pop into my head. First, the Wednesday morning breakfasts with my mom and sisters. (Food, of course.) Second, reading on the swing in my back yard. Third, reading at the beach.

It’s no surprise to me that reading factors in two of my three favorite things about summer. That’s why I wrote two summer books this year. MAID FOR THE MILLIONAIRE AND MAID FOR THE SINGLE DAD. I thought of afternoons on my swing and the week I spend laying in the sun listening to the ocean…and I remembered what I want in a summer book.

A handsome hero with substances, a guy who’s more than wealthy, more than gorgeous. A guy with a heart.

A fairytale. My heroine’s don’t need swept off their feet, my readers do. So I give them an opportunity to steps into the shoes of a heroine they want to be for a few hours.

A sense that the world is a good place. Why not? Do you really want to think of sad things on your back porch or on the beach? Heck no!

The books are set in beautiful Miami. The hero of book one, Cain Nestor, a successful businessman, lives in a fantastic beach house. But the heroine, Liz Harper, a successful business woman, spends a lot of her time in the blue collar neighborhoods, helping abused women find homes away from their abusers for themselves and their children. It’s a nice mix of neighborhoods and people!

Subgenre: MAID FOR THE MILLIONAIRE is a category romance for Harlequin Romance.

Hero: Cain Nestor is a driven, determined man who realizes three years after his divorce that he drove away the best thing that ever happened to him, the heroine Liz Harper.

Heroine: Liz Harper is a runaway. She and her mom and sisters ran from their abusive father. With her new identity, she attended college and had a great career when she met Cain, who swept her off her feet and moved her to Miami. But she never told him about her past or the true reason she left him.

One sentence summary:

Their marriage fell apart, but they never fell out of love. Now, Liz’s secrets threaten any possibility of the reconciliation they both want so badly. (Sorry. Two sentences! LOL)

Scene you like most and would never cut:

The charity Liz supports has a fundraiser ball every year. Throughout the book, she’s told Cain about her abusive father and her difficult past, but she can’t find the courage to tell him she had a miscarriage while they were married. She knows it’s a deal breaker. That everything between them will die if she admits she kept such an important secret from him. At the ball, Cain asks her to dance and in his arms she experiences such a sense of what could be if only she’d had the courage to tell him about their miscarriage rather than leave their marriage, that it’s heartbreaking. It’s a dramatic Cinderella moment, where she realizes how desperately she wants the prince and at the same time realizes the futility of her situation. She didn’t tell him because he was dealing with the death of his brother and their marriage was already in ruins because Cain couldn’t open up to her. At the time she believed not making his life worse by telling him of another tragedy was the right thing. But that one choice now dictates her life. It haunts her and taunts her, as she’s in the arms of the man she loves, realizing she can never really have him.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying:

That’s actually one of her problems in the story. There are a lot of things this heroine wouldn’t be caught doing. Having grown up in an abusive home, she’s so pragmatic that she almost doesn’t know how to have fun. Even her downtime is spent working for others. The hero teaches her to relax and have fun.

What celebrity is your hero like:

He’s definitely a Brad Pitt! LOL

What celebrity is your heroine like:

I hate to say this but she’s sort of Jennifer Aniston.

I didn’t intentionally set out to do it, but the book has that kind of tension, where formerly married people are suddenly forced to work together again, and resolve the unresolved issues of their marriage that remained because it ended so abruptly.

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing:

My heroine owns a maid service. She loves this job because it gives her a chance to employ many of the women who come to her charity for help finding housing when they leave their abusive situations.

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing:

My hero is an entrepreneur. He’s smart, savvy, sharp. In the book, he finds he also has a big heart.

What you think readers will like best about this book:

There’s so much hope in this book because the hero is such a great guy. He’s not just good looking and rich; he has a real heart. As he begins to understand the heroine more, he bends to accommodate her, to understand her circumstances, because he loves her and wants a second chance. He’s really a great guy, the kind of guy most of us want to love!

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:

Readers love to read about rugged men like cowboys and it had been difficult for me to get someone like that into a story.

But…

I just started a trilogy of half-brothers who have the same father but different mothers and Cade Andreas was born. A wealthy heir who prefers to work his ranch in Texas than be a part of the corporate world like his two older brothers.

So Cade’s book is going to be a real departure for me … and for my readers. I think we’ll all have fun with it!

What’s next:

Next up is the companion book to MAID FOR THE MILLIONAIRE. In MAID FOR THE SINGLE DAD, Liz’s assistant Ellie “Magic” Swanson meets her match when she takes over Liz’s business while Liz and Cain are on their honeymoon. The story is lots of fun as Ellie takes over the housekeeping and nanny duties for Mac Carmichael and his adorable six-year-old daughter Lacy and baby Henry.

I love to hear from readers, though, about what stories they’d like to see. I got a great idea from a forum I did recently where some readers and I began a discussion about a hero who is the principal of the school where the heroine’s son is the scourge of the teachers! That one will definitely find a home in my book list in the very near future.

So I’d love to hear what the Borders readers would like to see from Harlequin Romance! Who knows? We might just plot a book together that could be my Rita winner!

Also, anyone who comments will be entered in a drawing for a copy of MAID FOR THE MILLIONAIRE and an advance copy of MAID FOR THE SINGLE DAD.

Any thoughts?