trueromance

THE MASTER AND THE MUSES
By Amanda McIntyre
Harlequin Spice June 2010
ISBN: 13: 978—0-373-60544-6
Trade paperback, audio, e-book formats

Setting: Victorian England
Subgenre: erotic historical romance
Hero: Thomas Rodin
Heroine/s: Helen, Sara, Grace

One sentence summary: They are his inspiration. He is their obsession

Scene you like most and would never cut: The prologue, from Thomas’s POV, this gives the greatest depth of his character, the eccentricities and creative genius of his persona. A verbal self-portrait as it were. And in his own way, gratitude for a life well lived and the muses that made it so.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying:
Since I effectively have three heroines in a unique format that features the personal stories of each woman, I will make note of what each “muse” would never be caught dead doing /saying:

Helen: Helen would never be caught settling.” Though shy, she has from her upbringing determined definite ideas about what she doesn’t want in a relationship. She wants a partner, someone who will give, take, and see her as equal in all things. Someone who will love her with as much passion as she is ready to give.

Sara: “I’m content to be a kept woman.” Not Sara’s idea of a passionate relationship. She wants adventure. Driven by a need to embrace life, she needs a man who will fight to show her how he feels about her. Passion saved her from a life of servitude and she would never return to her former life.

Grace: Grace would never compromise her integrity or give up on what she believes in. Once she makes a decision, she lives with the consequences. Her life has been hard and it has given her a thick skin, but her heart, her insight to others and to herself lays a rigid foundation of right and wrong. As worldly as she is, Grace has her own code of ethics that she upholds and in truth, has a heart of gold and a spirit of tenacity in the face of adversity.

What celebrity is your hero like: My original visual inspiration was Henry Cavill, who plays the Duke of Norfolk in the Showtime ™ series The Tudors. However, personality-wise, I would have to liken him to the rock stars of present day. Creative, a little wild, eccentric, a bit self-absorbed, totally involved in his work and willing to do whatever is necessary to get his work out there to be appreciated. I was once told that women love creative types, and I admit I have a soft spot in my heart for them. Limited only by their imagination, they live in a world different from most, where few rules matter, where passion reigns supreme and is celebrated in every aspect of their lives. After writing about Thomas, his image was transformed-less conventional and almost like Heart’s “Magic Man” (which I listened to a lot in writing this story) image formed in my mind, though I could not find anyone that truly matched it until I saw the model for the cover art of the MASTER & THE MUSES. The mesmerizing brilliance of his electric blue eyes was spot on to Thomas’s magical charisma. It was as though Thomas Rodin had come to life before my eyes. They really couldn’t have done any better pegging him exactly as he was in my mind.

What celebrity is your heroine like: When I write I always begin with pictures of my characters and flesh out a profile for them. So in my mind, Helen looked like Kate Winslet with her creamy complexion and that sort of red-haired innocence and eyes that portray what she is thinking. Sara, in my mind was portrayed by singer Sarah Brightman, with her long, dark hair and gorgeous, regal and determined features. Grace, in my mind, was Scarlett Johansson, fair, blonde-haired and sensual, she was every man’s fantasy, yet carries her beauty with silence and…well, grace when you might think she could be totally obnoxious about it!

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing:
Helen: a milliner’s apprentice, working in French hat shop
Sarah: about to become a governess to a well-to-do large family
Grace: a prostitute

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing:
An artist and out-spoken activist on freedom of expression

What you think readers will like best about this book:
Thomas Rodin. Thomas goes through a metamorphosis throughout the book. We see him as almost womanizing at first and with each experience, life and age, begin to–as it usually does all of us—change his view of life and his purpose in it. That and the powerful influence his muses had on not only his professional life, but his personal life as well.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet: Actually that would have been Torin, my heroine’s younger brother in my medieval story, TORTURED. But his story has just been contracted as a longer version Spice Brief, FORBIDDEN PLEASURES, due out in fall 2010 from Harlequin Spice Briefs.

What’s next: I am currently finishing my novella for a second anthology in the Celtic Harlequin Spice mini-series that celebrates the ancient Celtic festivals of Winters Solstice, Beltane and Samhain. And I’ve already begun the research into my next full-length title called THE DARK SEDUCTION OF MISS JANE, an erotic historical Book for Spice with suspense elements, set in Whitechapel London just prior to the mysterious and unsolved Ripper case.

Something I am always interested in hearing about is what your idea of a perfect hero is. Is he the in-charge, in control alpha-male? Is he the tortured, tormented alpha brooding in his private hell? Is he alpha with a softhearted beta core? Is he beta with an alpha core? Would love to hear your thoughts and for two comments on this topic, I will give away two signed copies of my upcoming release-THE MASTER & THE MUSES--called “irresistible, unique…a very special reading experience! 4.5 stars” by RT BOOKreviews.

Thanks to Sue and Borders for allowing me to visit the True Romance blog!

Amanda McIntyre
Follow me at TWITTER! http://twitter.com/amandamcintyre1
www.amandamcintyre.net

Giveaway! 2 books given to 2 random commenters! GOOD LUCK!

Title: Tease Me by Tracy Wolff

Setting: New Orleans in the summertime

Sub-Genre: Erotic Suspense

Heroine: Lacey Richards

Hero: Byron Hawthorne

One Sentence Summary: True-crime novelist Lacey Richards is investigating an infamous human trafficking ring in New Orleans, but as one source after another dries up she finds herself in deeper than she ever imagined—with both her investigation and her red-hot neighbor, Byron.

Scene You Like the Most and Would Never Cut: There’s a scene about halfway through the book where Byron tries his best to open up the emotionally closed off Lacey. When all subtleties fail, he suggests a game of 7 questions—one for each article of clothing/jewelry that they are wearing.

What Your Heroine Would Never Be Caught Dead Doing/Saying: Lacey would never give in to intimidation. No matter how hot the investigation gets, she’s determined to find the truth—for the girls involved in the trafficking ring, and for their families.

What Celebrity is Your Hero Like: I think he’s a lot like Matt Damon—sexy, smart, with a great sense of humor and a secret soft side that not many people get close enough to see.

What Celebrity is Your Heroine Like: Gwyneth Paltrow, because she always plays smart, guarded characters who see deeper than what’s on the surface.

What is your hero’s occupation: He’s a stockbroker-turned-carpenter. When the stress of working twenty hour days got to be too much for Byron, he pulled up stakes and moved to New Orleans to follow his dream of creating beautiful furniture.

What is your heroine’s occupation: True crime novelist, who runs a sexy blog on the side.

What do you think readers will like best about the book? The out-of-control chemistry between Byron and Lacey—it starts on page one and continues to build right up until the end.

Is there anything you’re concerned readers won’t like as much?: I’ve created a pretty heinous villain in this book. While I’ve gotten some interesting feedback about him so far, I still worry how readers will react to him. I dislike him intensely, but then that’s pretty much what the villain’s for …
The person readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet: A character from my first novel, Full Exposure. His name is Michael LaFleur and he is the brother of one of the villains in the book. He’s also the strong, silent type with a heart of gold.

What’s Next: Next for me is the July launch of Dragon’s Heat, my brand new dragon shapeshifter series. I’m writing it as Tessa Adams and the first book, Dark Embers, launches in July. It’s the love story of the dark and tortured dragon king Dylan MacLeod and Phoebe Quillum, the Harvard bio-chemist he enlists to help him find a cure for the virus that is ravaging his clan.

My next Tracy Wolff book is actually a July Harlequin Superromance, called Beginning With Their Baby. It is a sequel to my June 2009 book, From Friend to Father, and follows capricious Camille Arraby, the girl voted most likely to sail around the world by her high school class, as she falls for—and gets pregnant by– Matt Jenkins, the smart, sexy architect who always has a plan … and a back-up plan.

Giveaway:

Tease Me, like my previous erotic suspenses, takes place in New Orleans. I went to graduate school at Tulane in the late 90s and spent four of the most wonderful years of my life in the Big Easy. It’s one of my favorite cities and one I try to go back to as often as I can. How about you? What’s your favorite city to visit—or to live? One commenter will be randomly chosen to win a copy of Full Exposure, my first Romantic Times 4 ½ star, Top Pick. It’s also my first book set in and around New Orleans and the Louisiana bayou.

Setting: Contemporary Lafayette, Louisiana
Subgenre: Contemporary erotic suspense
Hero: Luc Traverson
Heroine: Alyssa Devereaux
One sentence summary: He can’t control his desire…and that’s just the way she wants it.

Scene you like most and would never cut:
There’s a scene late in the book where Alyssa bares her past and her soul to Luc. I cried writing the whole thing.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying:
It’s okay if you don’t pursue your dreams.

What celebrity is your hero like:
A much sexier Emeril Lagasse. He cooks like a dream and has a lot of charisma.

What celebrity is your heroine like:
With the face and body of Jesse Jane, she’s got the unsinkable spirit of Molly Brown. She’s not quite accepted and yet she still presses on, refusing to let anything or anyone make her quit.

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing:
Currently, Alyssa is the owner of Sexy Sirens, a notorious strip club in Lafayette, but she’s opening Bonheur, an upscale restaurant.

What is your heroes occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing:
Luc is a celebrity chef. After publishing many cookbooks, he’ll soon be appearing on his own cable cooking show.

What you think readers will like best about this book:
I hope it’s the characters’ growth and their road to happily-ever-after they take by becoming more honest, open, and evolved people.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
Since Delicious released on March 2, I’ve had a lot of requests for Tyler. He’s definitely on my mind. I’m also receiving mail about another upcoming hero in this series, Hunter Edgington. His book, SURRENDER TO ME, will release next March.

What’s next:
This fall I’ll be releasing 3 books I’m super excited about.
October 5, FOUR PLAY anthology (with Maya Banks)
October 26, HAUNTED BY YOUR TOUCH anthology (with Jeaniene Frost and Shari Kohler)
October 26, ENTICE ME AT TWILIGHT, Doomsday Brethren 4

I love to write about imperfect people learning their way so they can deserve their happy ending. I don’t know anyone who’s perfect, and I’m certainly not perfect myself. I tend to think reading about perfect people would be dull. I like seeing characters falter, learn, and change. Would you rather read people who are always heroic or flawed people who become better for their experiences? A random commenter will be chosen to win a copy of DELICIOUS.

Erotic Romance - is it alive & well?

Today’s topic of discussion is focused on Erotic Romance books. Are people still reading our favorite erotic storytellers? Robin Schone wrote some of my favorites: Gabriel’s Woman; Lady’s Tutor. Lora Leigh has stayed sexy but gone mainstream with Nauti Boy; Heat Seeker; Bengal’s Heart. Opal Carew is heating up the pages with recent novel Secret Ties; Diane Whiteside certainly is a front runner with Captive Desires; Southern Devil & so many more, but overall, are readers buying these books?

The reason I thought this would make for a good discussion is overall the Erotic Romance sales are steady but not growing. My question to you, is it because readers are choosing to purchase their selections from .com? Buying their favorites on digital downloads? Or, are we getting our fix through many of the mainstream authors? . . . haven’t mainstream books sexuality been elevated? Aren’t our romance books sexier? Authors seem to be pushing the envelope even more? Haven’t they increased the sexual tension between their characters?

Both Lora Leigh & Angela Knight have brought their steamy liaisons to mainstream publishing: Nauti Boy; Heat Seeker; Guardian; Captive Dreams, to name a few. I just finished reading Naked Edge by Pamela Clare & some of those scenes were definitely steamier than those days of old . . . & not that I’m complaining or anything

Other mainstream writers that have spiced up their stories include: Sherrilyn Kenyon; JR Ward; Yasmine Gaelenorn; Shelly Laurenston; G A Aiken; Kresley Cole; Anna Campbell & so on.

So my question to you is, are we buying less Erotic Romance? If so, what are we buying instead? & lastly, are mainstream romances sexy enough?

Thanks for blogging today! Your views will be shared with the publishing industry so we really want to hear from YOU!

Happy Romance!

GIVEAWAY! 3 randomly chosen comments below will receive a book from Kensington’s Aphrodisia line - good luck!