trueromance

Setting:Moscow in the near-future (a very dark, dystopian Moscow)
Subgenre: Paranormal romance
Hero: Bad boy fallen angel Brends Duranov
Heroine: Always-in-control good girl Mischka Baran

One sentence summary: Mischka Baran temporarily sells her soul to fallen angel Brends Duranov in exchange for his help finding her missing cousin—only to get more than she bargained for when Brends decides he’s playing for keeps and Mischka is his pre-destined soul mate.

Scene you like most and would never cut:
When my editor and I were discussing Bond with Me, she suggested giving Mischka Baran’s missing cousin her own romance with a fallen angel. Mischka’s cousin, Pell, has a very naughty side and her angel stages a very wicked seduction. The Fallen can make wishes come true. All a woman has to do is accept the Fallen’s dark offer: bond with him, swear to serve his every desire, and receive one favor. Whatever she names, he’ll deliver. All she has to do is serve him, in bed and out, letting him drink of her soul through their bond. Of course, the greater the favor, the longer the bond will last. Name too large a request and you’ll serve forever. Pell and Dathan bond in a bathhouse—in a very steamy, very sensual seduction that sets the stage for their growing relationship.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying:
Whatever you say, dear. Mischka is a strong, independent woman—she’s not used to handing over control and letting someone else drive her life. She has her hands full dealing with an alpha male like Brends.

What celebrity is your hero like:
Ah… the dreaded compare-your-hero-to-a-movie-star question. Honestly, I don’t watch too many movies that aren’t animated children’s movies (I have an incredibly low tolerance for bloodshed and violence in my movies) and Mr. Incredible just isn’t my idea of sexy. Large. Dark. Predatory. The vampire king in Underworld, perhaps.

What celebrity is your heorine like:
When I was searching for a face for Mischka, I wanted her outward appearance to be beautiful and serene. Outwardly, she’s a classic dark-haired Russian beauty like Oxana Federova. She’s a self-composed woman—who hates to lose control. Secretly, however, she’s always wanted to give up that control and to explore some of her darker sexual fantasies. She’s looking for a bad boy who can tempt her to turn over the reigns to him temporarily—and Brends Duranov is more than up to the challenge. The first time he sees her walking towards him, he wants to unwrap her and all of her secrets.

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing: Mischka is a restaurant hostess. When Brends shows up and demands to be seated, sparks fly between them. She’s torn between doing the responsible thing—her job—and giving in to her feelings and demanding he hit the road.

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing: Brends Duranov is one of the Fallen, an elite band of former warrior angels. When he’s not defending his sire and hunting down fallen angels gone bad, he runs an extremely popular club. The human residents of Moscow love G2’s—it’s a damn sexy club, the sort of place you visit when you’re in the money and feeling very, very lucky. Put on your best dancing clothes, flash your cash, and get ready to bargain very, very hard—because only the select few are allowed inside.

What you think readers will like best about this book: The fantasies. Mischka is a very sensual woman and, like many of us, she has a number of secret fantasies. When she decides to give herself permission to explore those fantasies, watch out! Brends wants to make all of those fantasies come true for her—so there are plenty of extremely sexy scenes in the book.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
Two names have been popping to the top of the list: Zer and the archangel Michael. I’d love to write Michael’s story, but next up is Zer.

What’s next:
Next up for me is Zer’s story. The leader of the Fallen, Zer believes he’s way past redemption—so, when he meets a woman who is a potential soul mate, he believes she must be a match for one of his brothers. He doesn’t deserve her and he’s going to run far and fast from his forbidden attraction to her. Zer’s story, His Dark Bond, will be published by Kensington Brava in early 2012.

Do you enjoy stories about fallen angels? Recommend a great fallen angel story for me to add to my To Be Read pile and one commentator will win a $20 Borders gift card.

Do you know about Borders Rewards Plus?

Setting: Bordertown, Arizona (a fictional town based very loosely on Douglas, Arizona)
Subgenre: Romantic Suspense
Hero: Hot, hot, hot Roderick Guerrero!
Heroine: Up to her eyeballs in deep shit Sophia St. Claire (LOL!)

Short (Ha! Changed this!) summary: Police Chief Sophia St. Claire finds herself out of her investigative league when someone starts shooting people at pointblank range and leaving them to rot in the desert sun just outside her small town. Help arrives in the form of California’s Department 6 Roderick Guerrero, but as far as Sophia’s concerned that only makes things worse. As the half-breed bastard of a wealthy local rancher, he has a history he can’t get past–a history that includes her.

Scene you like most and would never cut:
I don’t want to give too much away, but the scene I love most is where Sophia and Rod first meet up (after having known each other in high school years before). I love that the power has shifted from Sophia to Rod and watching her grapple with the change (and what Rod has become) is a lot of fun. The humor in this scene makes me smile every time I read it.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: That she loves her stepfather. LOL Their relationship forms some of the conflict in the story. She can’t stand him—and for good reason.

What celebrity is your hero like: Oh boy. I’m notoriously bad at this because I don’t watch TV and don’t remember the names of the stars I see in movies. He’s taller than Tom Cruise and not as stocky as Gerard Butler. I guess he sort of resembles Ricky Martin but his personality is very different.

What celebrity is your heroine like: Another tough one. If I had to cast someone to play Sophia, it would be someone closer to an Angelina Jolie than a Jennifer Aniston.

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing: Sophia is chief of police, but she’s new and the way she got the position was rather political. She has a lot to prove.

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing: Rod works for a security contractor called Department 6 that specializes in undercover ops inside the U.S.

What you think readers will like best about this book: The chemistry between the hero and heroine! It’s my favorite of the HEAT books for just that reason. The hero and heroine came to me so clearly when I was writing and are so perfect for each other—without knowing it, of course. I loved seeing them work through their conflicts and find what the reader believes almost from the start—they need to be together.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
I probably get the most requests for a sequel to my second Superromance—SNOW BABY. I just got one today! The heroine’s sister, Stacy, meets a guy at the end of the story. I did this to show that things were hopeful for her, too, and that was my only intention. But readers really want me to write that romance so they can see Stacy become happy. Next would probably be a sequel to the Stillwater Trilogy. I’ve had a lot of people email me to see if I’m going to write the last sister’s story (even though the mystery is solved after Book 3 and there really isn’t anywhere to go).

What’s next: KILLER HEAT comes out September 28th and will complete the Department 6 trilogy. In KILLER HEAT, the remains of seven women have been discovered in Skull Valley, Arizona. It’s up to Jonah Young, from Department 6, to assist the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department in solving these murders. But he doesn’t anticipate the complications that arise when he’s forced to work with an old flame. Then everything grows more complicated—and far too personal. They quickly zero in on the most likely suspect, but betting on the wrong man might be the last thing they ever do….

I received a note from one of my fans that she was “disappointed” that I was writing a book about the illegal immigration problem (she hadn’t read it yet—just the excerpt on my web site, which only gives the first chapter). This book is definitely NOT about illegal immigration. It doesn’t get involved in the politics of it or try to sway people one way or another, but it does use the tension and problems along the border as a backdrop for a juicy murder case. Do you find yourself biased against books you perceive as incorporating problems that are currently in the media? Or do you find such stories more intriguing because they feel so real and show characters dealing with today’s problems?

Giveaway - Brenda Novak tote filled with autographed copies of WHITE HEAT, BODY HEAT & KILLER HEAT - Good luck!

Yours for Eternity

Alexandra Ivy:

Setting: London, England
Subgenre: Historical Paranormal
Hero: Victor, Marquis DeRosa
Heroine: Juliet Lawrence

One sentence summary:

Victor is a vampire who is accustomed to getting what he wants, and what he wants is Juliet in his bed, and ruling at his side, if only he can convince the stubborn female she’s his destined mate.

Scene you like most and would never cut:

The scene where they’re battling the Jinn beneath the London docks. It reveals the depth of emotion between the two and how much they’re willing to sacrifice for one another.

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

Staring into the mirror to see how pretty she looks.

What celebrity is your hero like:

Darcy in Pride and Prejudice…only with fangs.

What celebrity is your heroine like:

Sandra Bullock

What is your heroines occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing:

She is half-fey, half-witch with the unique ability to sense magical objects.

What is your heroes occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing:

Clan Chief of England.

What you think readers will like best about this book:

The combination of action, horror, and humor.

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

Levet, the tiny gargoyle who makes life hell for my vampires 

What’s next:
Tane’s story in Devoured by Darkness. This is the seventh book in my Guardian of Eternity series.

If you could have any book made into a movie, which would it be?

I’ll be happy to give away a book of the winner’s choice.

***************

Hannah Howell:

Setting: Medieval Scotland
Subgenre:Paranormal/Vampire romance
Hero: Adeline Dunbar
Heroine: Lachann MacNachton

One sentence summary:Lahcann MacNachton is hunting for the lost members of his clan when he finds Adeline Dunbar and the child, Osgar, a MacNachton, and together they fight to get the child to the safety of Cambrun, the MacNachton fortress, as Lachann overcomes his mistrust of human women and falls for Adeline.

Scene you like most and would never cut: The prologue. It was one of those scenes that just came to me when I was struggling to come up with a better beginning than I had. The beginning was good but I felt it didn’t have the snap I wanted and then, suddenly, I wrote the prologue and it fit. It’s the satisfaction I felt that also makes me like it the best.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: She’d never say - ”You can just leave me here.” And she would never, never leave Osgar.

What celebrity is your hero like: Maybe like Clive Owen in Child of Man where he does so much to save the child and the woman. In truth, I never think of celebrities when I draw my characters, although I will give them some bits of actors or actresses that I like, such as one’s eyes, or another’s mouth.

What celebrity is your heroine like: Here comes that problem of never thinking of a celebrity when devising my characters. Maybe a little like the Sarah Connor character in the Terminator movies where she does all she can to save her son. Adeline might not be able to kick butt like that, but she has the spirit to do anything she can to save those she loves.

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing: She’s a healer/midwife, an expert with herbal remedies. She does what her mother did and that gets her marked as a witch.

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing: He is a soldier for his clan and one of the ones hunting down the Lost Ones, people with MacNachton blood. They are the descendents of the clans’ forefathers that the clan has only recently learned about and the ones who have survived are now being hunted so the clan is working hard to gather them all together.

What you think readers will like best about this book: I hope they like the way these two completely different people come together to save the child Osgar and both learn to trust despite pasts that have taught them not to.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
There’s a character in my late-Georgian psychic tales(If He’s Wicked, …Sinful, …Wild) that people have already said they want me to write about – Modred, the head of the Vaughn and Wherlocke families, who has telepathic powers and an empathy that’s so strong he has become a complete recluse. Unfortunately, he needs to be a lot older than he is now to get his own story but I have a few ideas. I do know that he will get his story if the series continues long enough for he just won’t stay tucked away in his castle on the border of Wales like a good little duke and constantly gets mentioned or appears in the stories of his family. So he is definitely demanding one.

What’s next: I just turned in the manuscript for the next Murray tale – HIGHLAND PROTECTOR – that is Sir Simon Innes’ story. I found the perfect Murray lass for him. And now I’m working on another tale of the Wherlockes and Vaughns. Sir Argus is in trouble and he’s going to get help from an unexpected source, a lovely young woman his ‘gift’ has no effect on. Such an arrogant fellow deserves a strong woman who can look him in the eye and say – Hah, I don’t think so, sir.

I like to write about strong women who do what’s needed in extraordinary circumstances and don’t let the hero walk all over them. Is there a strong woman in your life that you admire?

I have contests on my web page: www.hannahhowell.com where I give away signed copies of my books and other goodies. Come and try your luck at the various ways my webmistress comes up with to test you.

***************************

YOURS FOR ETERNITY, Immortal Dreams

KAITLIN O’RILEY

Setting: Victorian London
Subgenre: Paranormal Romance/vampire novella
Hero: Lord Radcliffe
Heroine: Grace Sutton

One sentence summary: What’s more romantic than finding the man who has been in love with you for over a century?

Scene you like most and would never cut: That’s tricky to answer without spoiling the plot, but there’s a sexy dream sequence that I love. Dreams play a big part in this story.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: Grace is independent and strong-willed at heart, but she would never kick-box anyone who got in her way.

What celebrity is your hero like: Lord Radcliffe is very handsome, intense, secretive, and has a dark past, so I’d say he’s a little like a Victorian version of Jon Hamm’s Don Draper character, just without all the drinking and smoking and cheating!

What celebrity is your heroine like: Grace is beautiful with auburn hair and probably physically resembles Rachel MacAdams.

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing: Of course a Victorian lady did not work, but if she had a career, I think Grace would be a writer because she keeps a journal.

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing: He’s a sexy vampire and has amassed a fortune over the years. He doesn’t need a job.

What you think readers will like best about this book: This was my first venture into the paranormal genre and Immortal Dreams is a very haunting and romantic story. A love that endures the physical realm is what everyone longs for.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet: Readers are waiting for the next in my Hamilton sisters series. Lisette’s story will be out in October 2011. And yes, the younger sisters will get their stories told too!

What’s next: I’ve a steamy novella coming out in February in An Invitation to Sin, along with Jo Beverley, Sally MacKenzie and Vanessa Kelly.

Who do you think is the sexiest vampire out there in TV or movies?

Hope you all enjoyed our ROMCON Winners week - many of you have won various giveaways & to make sure you get your prize please email SueG at sgrimsha@bordersgroupinc.com — Now, for the winners:

Sunday’s Winners with Sophia are AnneF; Virginia C; MinnChica

Monday with Sandra - MarleneB
Sue’s Stash is for domestic winner only

Tuesday with Jory - Ladytink; JacquelineC

Wednesday with Cindy Gerard - SusanT

Thursday with Jennifer Ashley -Heather

Friday - Robyn’s winners - TracyD

Saturday w/Mary Sullivan - LaurieG; TamsynT

Congrats!

Now for this week — Romcon winners + MORE!

Sunday with Carly Phillips

Monday with Livia Dare

Tuesday with Sheri WhiteFeather

Wednesday is SJ Day

Thursday - Abby Gaines

Friday with Hannah Howell, Alexandra Ivy & Kaitlin O’Reilly!

Saturday is with The Book Faery!

Another line up of fun — hope to C U this week & bring your friends

Happy Romance -
SueG

I was thrilled when I learned that my historical romance, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie, won RomCon’s Reader’s Crown in historical. I was very surprised (I saw that list of finalists!), but happy!

I asked readers what they’d like to hear me talk about on this blog, and hands’ down, they requested I talk about Ian Mackenzie and why he is so loved.

When I conceived the series, I wanted to write about the most dark and dangerous men I could think of—rich, powerful, and decadent, they love the best in art, women, whiskey, horses, you name it. They go anywhere they want, and do anything they want. They break all the rules, and no one stops them.

Each brother is a bit obsessed with what interests them, and that obsession manifests itself fully in Ian. I was thinking about autism and started to wonder how even a mildly autistic person, perhaps someone with Asperger’s, had fared before anyone had put a name or diagnosis to the syndrome. In the Victorian age, such a person would be considered eccentric, different, mad, maybe even dangerous.

Ian Mackenzie was born. He’s a tall, handsome hunk of a man, and he knows all about sensuality—in fact he learns it as an art and focuses on getting it just right. His heroine, Beth, doesn’t know what she’s in for. She only knows that Ian is the most intriguing man she’s ever meet, and his determination to have her, even though he claims he doesn’t understand what love it, is both exciting and heartbreaking.

I had to do much research both on Asperger’s Syndrome and how the “mad” were treated in the Victorian age. In Ian’s case, his father gets him locked away in an asylum when he’s ten, both because Ian doesn’t fit into his father’s controlled world, plus Ian knows secrets that his blunt speeches might reveal.

Ian’s brothers, especially the two middle brothers, Mac and Cameron, could do nothing to get him out of the asylum, but they tried to make his time there bearable. The paid him visits and smuggled him cigars, whiskey, and erotic books, trying to make certain that their little brother would grow into a well-rounded man. The day that Ian’s father dies, Hart, the oldest brother, goes to the asylum to bring Ian home.

I did not model Ian from any one person I know; he grew from my research on people with AS. Not all AS people have the same traits, so Ian will not have every single trait associated with AS. I tried to make him as unique and realistic as possible.

Ian has trouble meeting people’s eyes (therefore I couldn’t simply write “His gaze met hers…” No, it didn’t!”). He wanders off conversations or doesn’t respond at all, especially if the topic doesn’t interest him, but he’s very focused on what does interest him. For instance, he collects Ming bowls and can tell a real one from a forgery in a heartbeat. But he collects only *bowls*, not vases, and only of the Ming period. Any other ceramics, he has no clue about.

Ian has trouble with emotions, especially spontaneous ones. For example, he’s not sure why people clap after a performance, but he’s learned to do it when everyone else does. It doesn’t mean he didn’t enjoy the performance; he simply doesn’t equate the response of applause to what he feels.

Likewise, he does not believe he is able to fall in love, but because this is a romance, I and Beth set out to prove him wrong! The entire book is about Ian’s growth, and learning what it is to love another person.

Since the release of Madness of Lord Ian, I’ve received so many letters from readers telling me that Ian reminds me of their own sons, brothers, husbands, friends, children of friends, or students. The outpouring has surprised me—I was fascinated by Ian and wanted him to have a HEA, and it looks like many of my readers did too!

I truly appreciate the response to Lord Ian, and I hope his brothers (who are as obsessed in their own way as Ian), are equally pleasing. Mac’s story came out in July 2010 (Lady Isabella’s Scandalous Marriage), and Cameron and Hart will follow, in that order. (I’m writing the brothers youngest to
oldest.)

To celebrate Madness of Lord Ian’s win, I’m offering a signed copy of the book here to a commenter—and if you’ve already read it, feel free to choose anything else from the books I have out (including Lady Isabella). Simply say hello or talk about why you like heroes who are a little bit different (or why you don’t!)

Thank you so much for loving Ian!

Jennifer Ashley

Setting: Southern Mississippi

Heroine: Monica Davenport. When it comes to profiling killers, she’s the best in the business. But when it comes to her personal life, Monica doesn’t allow many people to get too close to her. She puts all of her energy into her job. Then Luke comes around and starts to push right through her defenses…

One sentence summary:
When a killer begins turning his victims’ worst fears into reality, FBI agents Monica Davenport and Luke Dante must face the darkness from their past if they hope to stop the Watchman.

Scene you like most and would never cut:
At the beginning of DEADLY FEAR, a team of FBI agents slowly advance on a cabin nestled deep in the woods. The mood is tense and dark. During this prologue, the tone of the book is set for the readers. Actually, the prologue sets up the all three of my Deadly books. Keith Hyde, the man who creates the Serial Services Division in the FBI, is shown as he chases after a serial killer. Without this scene, the book just wouldn’t be the same!

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying:
In horror movies, you always see the heroine running out into the night—minus any sort of weapon—as a killer stalks her. Well, this would NEVER happen with Monica. Monica always keeps her gun close, and she’s also not the type to run away from anything or anyone. The killers are the ones who run—from her.

What celebrity is your hero like:
Bradley Cooper. (Though this may be due to the fact that Bradley Cooper is my favorite actor right now.)

What celebrity is your heroine like:
I think of Monica as a dark-haired Gillian Anderson. Reserved, but intense. (And, yes, I still am a total fan of The X-Files.)

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing:
Special Agent Monica Davenport is a profiler for the FBI. She works for my fictional Serial Services Division (the SSD), and she spends her days and nights tracking killers. It’s certainly not an easy job (and definitely not one I could ever do), but it is one that she feels compelled to perform.

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing:
FBI Special Agent Luke Dante is the newest member of the SSD. For Luke, the victims always come first. He’s an FBI agent because he wants to save lives. He’s a bit of a risk-taker, so he has to be careful and reign in his wilder side as he works cases with the SSD.

What you think readers will like best about this book:
I hope that readers will enjoy the chemistry between Monica and Luke. Though my hero and heroine are opposites in many ways, these two characters have been drawn to one another for years. Luke let Monica get away from him once, and he’s determined not to make the same mistake again.

I also hope readers find themselves drawn deeply into the suspense plot. It’s a dark story, one that explores the fears that humans try to hide. Sometimes we succeed in hiding them, but other times, our fears become too apparent to others.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
I have been very busy writing for the last year—so I can happily say that I have written most of the stories that readers were requesting. (I love being able to say that!) However, there is one FBI agent that I am hoping to write more about. Jon Ramirez is an ex-sniper who appears in DEADLY FEAR. The guy has a troubled past, and he’s spent too many years lining up kill shots. I think it may be time for him to get a happy ending.

What’s next:
In February of 2011, the second book in my DEADLY series will release. DEADLY HEAT is the story of Special Agent Kenton Lake. I loved writing DEADLY HEAT because my heroine, Lora Spade, is a firefighter. Just doing the research was a thrill for me! She is an incredibly strong heroine, and I had such a great time incorporating her firefighting skills into the story.

Since my book focuses so much on fear, I’d love to know which books or movies scare the commenters. Have you read a book that made you leave all the lights on at your house? Did you see a movie that had you nervously looking over your shoulder for days? Share with me, and one commenter will win an autographed copy of DEADLY FEAR.

It’s been a pleasure answering these questions—thank you!

Cynthia Eden
www.cynthiaeden.com
www.twitter.com/cynthiaeden

Deadly Fear, Cynthia Eden

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:

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!

Vonna’s Last Release, TAMING THE COUGAR
Grandfather Lost

By
Vonna Harper

As a published writer, I’m sometimes given interview questions. The one that goes, “If you could talk to any person who has passed on, who would it be?” is simple to answer: my grandfather Homer Eon Flindt. He died at 38 when my mother was only six so why do I care about a man she barely remembers?

Reason number one is so I can thank him for passing his writing genes onto me. He too had been bitten and bitten hard by the bug, and I imagine the two of us talking for hours about the mysterious forces inside our minds that somehow wind up on the printed page. We’d shrug, shake our heads, and laugh because we accept that the muse dances to its own tune and is a strong-willed beast.

He’ll never read anything of mine which makes me sad because I believe Grandpa, a man from another century, would understand why I now write erotica. Yes, the genre intrigues me, but as he did to help support his wife and three small children, I also write what I do these days to pay bills. For grandfather and granddaughter, writing isn’t an art. Its a career, a job.
Self-taught like he was, I cut my teeth on the confession magazines, then moved onto category romance in a classic case of being in the right place at the right time. Later I became a research junkie while writing eight Native American historicals for Tor. My books haven’t caught the publishing world on fire, but its long been what the IRS sees me as and fulfills me as I can’t imagine anything except motherhood doing.

I’ve read almost everything Grandpa wrote thanks first to his widow (my Nana) and later his children. They kept the stacks of pulp magazines containing his stories and I know the names by heart: Lord of Death, Queen of Life, The Money Miler, The Devolutionist, the Emancipatrix, etc. His stories don’t make for light reading as they tackle social and political issues, a number of them under the science fiction umbrella. A letter he wrote his father about engineering and science when still in his twenties awes me. What an intellect! He co-authored one book The Blind Spot which has been republished at least a dozen times. Unfortunately nothing remains of the eight movie treatments he wrote for the then fledgling movie industry except for the titles: When Chemistry Counted, The Footprint Clue, With The Crooks’ Trick, Fast Fright 3205, A Six Shot Hero, The Cipher Telegrams, and To Save The Road.

The mostly short stories that paid family bills aren’t my only treasure. Nana also held onto his letters to various editors and those from them to him. Lets just say certain things about the publishing industry haven’t changed.
During the last year of his life, financial circumstances separated him from his family, and he and Nana wrote hundreds of letters to each other which are now in my possession. Those are unbelievably dear to me, his oldest grandchild. Here is his heart and soul, a pragmatic man living in San Jose California with his sister and working in his brother’s shoe repair shop while writing fiction evenings and weekends. Each letter ends with hugs and kisses for his wife, son, and two daughters. Sometimes the pain of being apart breaks through practical discussions and gossip.

Nana and the children had moved to an isolated Northern California mining town so she could she fulfill her contract to teach all eight grades in a one room schoolhouse—the same town my sister, and mother (also a teacher) lived in many years later. Shortly before Grandpa’s death, things had fallen into place for a reunion of sorts. A daily stage filled with mail, groceries, and supplies traveled between the little town and the county seat eighteen miles away. Grandpa had been hired to drive the stage. Although he’d have to live in the county seat, he’d see his family every day.
But it wasn’t to be. Two days before the anticipated move, he died at the bottom of a San Jose area canyon in a wrecked taxi. Nana, who never remarried, raised her children alone and helped raise me.

I said there were two reasons I’d love to talk to him. I need to ask him a question. “As I suspect, were you murdered?”

Is there anyone who has passed close to you that you would love to ask a question? What would that question be?

1 randomly chosen will win 3 FREE Kensington books!

Happy Romance!

Vonna’s July Release - FALCON’S CAPTIVE

I was reading a book by one of my favorite authors and was struck by how much less romance there was compared to her earlier works. It got me to thinking about some of my other favorite authors and how as they progress in their careers, the romance seems to lessen.

No, I’m not going to point fingers, nor will I speculate as to why their books start to veer away from the heavily romantic, feel good, heart squeezing books that made me fall in love with them in the first place. Maybe it’s just me who feels this way.

But in talking to other readers and listening to my mom and other women her age, I’ve often wondered if we outgrow romance. Even typing this made my eyes widen and I flinched. Do we become less tolerant of really romantic, awwww, “sigh” books as we age? Or do we become more cynical?

I’ll be the first to admit, I love romance. I mean not just a light smattering here and there. I want it pouring off the pages. I want to feel the emotion between the characters. I don’t want it glossed over and mentioned in passing. Basically, I don’t like being TOLD the characters are in love and will live happily ever after. I want to be shown. And lately…well, I’m not being shown much by some of my favorite authors that I’ve loved for years.

This makes me sad.

I’m pushing 40, and I can honestly say that I love romance every bit as much as I did when I was sixteen. But I wonder if I’ll feel that way at 60? I like to think so. I don’t want to become intolerant and roll my eyes at the notion of romance and happily ever after.

Romance novels…make me happy. What else could I ask for in a book?

What are your thoughts? Do you find that some of your long time favorite authors ease up on the romance the longer they’re in the game? And do you find as you grow older that you become more cynical of heavily romantic books?

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