Carole Mortimer: Dangerous Dukes

Hi Everyone,

My Dangerous Dukes six book Regency series is about to begin, and the good news is that very first duke, ‘Marcus Wilding; Duke of Pleasure’, an ebook only, is a FREE download from 1^st August – 30^th November!

The second book, ‘Zachary Black; Duke of Debauchery, will be available in ebook and paperback on the 1^st October.  Followed by the third book, ‘Darian Hunter; Duke of Desire’, in ebook and paperback on the 1^st November. 

Books 4,5,6 of the Dangerous Dukes series, will be published in July, August, and September 2015.  So don’t forget to look out for Rufus Drake, Griffin Stone, and Christian Seaton!

The Dangerous Dukes are exactly that, dukes by day and agents for the Crown by night, and each and every one of them has their adventures between the pages of these six books.  The women they fall in love with are feisty and daring, and a perfect match for their dangerous dukes.    

I’ve been writing Regency romance for the Harlequin Historical series for five years or so now, alongside my Harlequin Presents, and I am so enjoying writing for these two distinctly different genres. 

I love the emotional intensity of writing for Presents, and always will, and I have a Presents duo out in the New Year, featuring the billionaire Sterne brothers, Darius and Xander.  Later in the year I will also have a Presents trilogy published, but it isn’t written yet, only twirling around in my head at the moment.  I’m one of those seat-of-my-pants writers, in that I only ever have the sketchiest outline for my books before I write them, prefer to just sit down at my laptop and start writing.  It works for me!

The Regency books are longer, just as emotionally intense, and I even manage to include the odd murder or two in the storyline!

Yes, there will be murder and mayhem, kidnapping and deception in the six Dangerous Dukes books.

Enjoy!

Much love to all of you,

Carole Mortimer

contact@carolemortimer.co.uk

www.carolemortimer.co.uk

Michelle Styles: Using raw emotion and GIVEAWAY

At the moment, watching the news about the dreadful humanitarian crisis in Iraq, I keep wondering about what I would do if I faced something like that. Being given a few hours to collect belongings and then travel over difficult country trying to find a safe haven.

Unfortunately situations like this are not unique to our time. It has happened time and again. Around 1000, Christainty was v much in the join or die mode with the Vikings. People who chose to cling to old religions were often cast out if the ruler decided to go for a new one. The Eddas were written in part as a response to this forced Christianisation.  Thankfully today, it would be abhorrent for most main stream religions to behave in this manner and for the most part (outside the Middle East), religious wars are a thing of the past.

 Such times  brings out the best in people and the worst. It is one of the reasons why I like writing historicals — emotions are timeless. People have always lived and loved. They have loyalities and strongly held beliefs. They have always had to confront such evil and loss. In many ways, in by-gone eras it was worse because of the lack of communication and the loss of immediacy.  There again ,perhaps that was not altogether a bad thing.

I find the raw emotion very hard to watch and the way I deal with it a bit is to write. It is one of the lovely parts about being an author when I confront something that is horrible, I can use it to create something, rather than sitting and letting my imagination run wild. For example, the first part of TAKEN BY THE VIKING was written just after my youngest son was nearly snatched off the street of Reykjavik by a drunk. I was so angry that I could really understand how my heorine could kill someone.

I sincerely hope the situation improves for the people whose lives have been turned upside down. I don't know what the answer is. Toleration for others' beliefs might be too much to hope for...but in the longer I have to.

Giveaway

SAVED BY THE VIKING WARRIOR is published on 19 August in print in North America and I September as an ebook. It is available in the UK as an ebook from 1 September and print from 5 September.

"THERE IS NO ONE. I TRAVEL ALONE. I LIVE ALONE. ALWAYS."
Battle-scarred Thrand the Destroyer has only one thing on his mind: settling old scores. But with the beautiful Lady of Lingfold as his prisoner, the unyielding warrior starts to dream of a loving wife and a home to call  his own.
Cwen is also seeking justice, but she knows the fragile alliance she’s built with Thrand will only last as long as they share a common enemy. Unless they can find a way to leave revenge to the gods to forge a new life together

I am giving away one signed copy to Tote Bag readers. To enter please email me (contest@michellestyles.co.uk) with Tote Bags contest in the subject line with the answer to the following question: Where does SAVED BY THE VIKING WARRIOR take place? (hint  read the excerpt)

I will do the draw on 19 August 2014 and will ship all over the world.

Void where prohibited.

Christina Hollis: One Day, One Hundred Years and Seven Thousand, Seven Hundred Names.

"Our" Colours, By Nilfanion

On Sunday, 3rd August, it was my privilege to attend a ceremony at Gloucester Cathedral to commemorate the start of World War One (or the Great War, as it was known before 1939). That war started one hundred years ago last week. I was one of more than three hundred people, one from each parish in the diocese of Gloucester, who took a small but important part in a service to mark the beginning of what was supposed to be "The War To End All Wars".

I and my fellow Presenters each had a document printed with the name of every person from our respective parishes who died during the war. Although the village where I live is very small, mine had twenty-three names on it. Other people from larger parishes had dozens of names. The main part of the service consisted of the Presenters filing up to the altar, where each in turn handed their document to the Lord Lieutenant of  Gloucestershire, who is the Queen's representative in the county. 

It's the kind of ceremony England does brilliantly, and this was no exception.The invitation said "uniforms and decorations to be worn". Sun shining through the stained glass windows bounced off so many medals, braid and even spurs the effect was amazing but I didn't take any photos. It would have been disrespectful. As all the regimental banners were paraded up to the altar, I thought how moved both my grandfathers would have been to know we still remember that terrible time. Both men were decorated in World War One, one on the Western Front, the other in Mesopotamia (an area covering much of the Middle East).

Before the service began, I worried I'd cry when they played the music used for Remembrance Day. It always has that effect on me, but it didn't happen this time. Once I'd delivered my list of names I turned to go back to my seat, glad I'd managed to stay dry-eyed. Then I saw the stream of people behind me, still heading toward the altar. It went on, and on, and on. Each person held a document representing many deaths, and all walked in stunned silence. That was unbearably poignant.

What is really tragic is that one hundred years later, people are still dying all over the world, because human nature won't let us all live in peace together.

The following day, the collected list of 7,700 names was read aloud in the cathedral. The ceremony began at 9:00am, and the continuous recitation took seven hours and twenty-five minutes.

Christina Hollis writes both contemporary and historical fiction - when she isn't cooking, gardening or beekeeping. You can catch up with her at http://www.christinahollis.blogspot.com, on Twitter and Facebook, and see a full list of her published books at http://www.christinahollis.com

#omgHollyJacobs

I was at Romance Writers of America's conference in San Antonio at the end of July.  I did two book signing for Just One Thing, met with my editors and other publishing people.  And I met up with friends…old friends and new friends.

I met some of those new friends when they were waiting in line for the signing.  And I'll confess, I was a bit shameless.  You see for years, I've bribed people to come over to me at book signings and pretend they were as excited to meet me as they might be to meet…let's say, Nora Roberts.  I  bribed…er, encouraged my new friends to do the same thing.  And that resurrection of my old ways led to this video.

You see...shameless.  It gets worse.  After that, I encouraged people to #omgHollyJacobs on Twitter.   I went around the rest of the conference telling people I was trending.  I mean, ten people hash-tagging you is a trend, right??

Now, I'll confess, I don't think Spielberg is worried about my new foray into movies.  But I'll confess, I had a good time.  And I've already got an idea for a new video to showcase my October book, Christmas in Cupid Falls.  Hey, maybe Spielberg is getting nervous.  I mean, if ten people can be a trend, then a one minute clip might have him worrying that next time I'll try for…two minutes!

There might be an #omgHollyJacobs2 soon.  A bunch of friends (two or three people can be a bunch, right?  I mean, if ten people can be a trend, I think that's about right!) asked if they could send a clip.  I'll keep you posted! LOL

Holly

PS I also brought an extra book home from conference, Queen of Your Own Life.  I'm giving that away, along with a new rerelease of mine, The Baby Gift (that contains Unexpected Gifts).  Just like my Facebook Page/Post.

A Change in the Weather by Kate Walker

We’ve had a lovely warm summer – at times it has been a really hot summer. The sun has shone, the sky

was clear bright blue, rarely a cloud in view. When I was teaching in Wales last month – and travelling on my way to get there – it was hot and humid, and being in a workroom, even talking about writing romance, was hard work at times.  We went through jugs of water and had all the windows open.  The slight breeze from the sea helped.

It’s been warm since we got back – which was just as well, because I had all the washing to do – and get dried – after we unpacked and before we  repacked set off again. This time on a special trip for my husband’s birthday treat to the old spa town of Harrogate in North Yorkshire. We had sunshine  almost all the time we were away. One rainstorm and that was it.

But this week has been so very different.  Apparently we’ve been hit by the tail end of   Hurricane Bertha and – well, I’m glad it was only the ‘tail end’. My heart goes out to everyone who has to endure the real thing – we had huge thunderstorms, lashing winds, torrential downpours, flash floods. . .

And then today is just beautiful. The day is calm, the sun, shining, the sky is back to that wonderful clear blue – and all the heavy, humid heat that had built up has cleared. We have warmth, but it’s  fresh and enjoyable, not  heavy and close and almost unbearable.

Of course, being a writer, I’ve been looking at the weather and thinking how closely it reassembled one of my books.  There was the long , hot build up, the way that things grew stronger and stronger.  Then there was the  way the heat got  heavier and  close to unbearable, the way that we knew something had to break  - it could almost be felt coming closer and closer.  The dark clouds gathered, got darker . . .blacker. Until with a crash of thunder and a flash of lightning  everything seemed to explode around us. The heavens opened and the  rain  bucketed down, drenching everything in its path.  It’s  a real image of the way I try to build the tension in a story , cranking it up higher and higher until that ‘black moment’ when everything comes to a head  and all  the tension blows up right in my characters’ faces.

And then there is the calm after the storm .  The time when with a fresh new day, a clearer, calmer way of looking at things, they can resolve the problems that caused so much trouble and go into a future together, and hopefully to that happy ever after.

So it’s interesting that that’s exactly what I’ve been writing over the past few days. The weather outside has almost mirrored the scenes and the ‘emotional storms’ between my characters. It’s been fun watching that happen . . . and now I have to give them their happy ending and the bright sunny day.  I’ll enjoy that too.  And I was wondering if it’s the stormy  moments that readers enjoy reading in  my books – or is it that ‘calm after the storm ‘ that you’re looking for and enjoy reading most?

What do you think?

I hope you’re having peaceful weather right now – whether hot or cold -  and that the sun  keeps shining for the rest of the school holidays so that everyone can enjoy them.  And if a bit of rain is falling – I hope it will pass quickly .

My  latest title A Question of  Honor  is on sale in Harlequin Presents.

You can find out more details about it on my web site   and read all my more up to date news about my books and what I'm doing on my blog   or my Facebook page.

My Favorite Writing Books!

by Anna Campbell

In the second half of 2014, I'm running a course called Express Year of the Novel for the Queensland Writers Centre down in Brisbane, the capital city of the state in Australia where I live.  For five full days between now and December, I'm working with a bunch of enthusiastic aspiring novelists to help them develop the skills to write a saleable longer piece of fiction.

Putting together the course has had its challenges - five full days is a longish time, but not when you're covering everything a person needs to learn for writing a novel! One of the things I realized as I was designing the program was that I should brush up on some of my writing textbooks, especially when it came to complex subjects like the hero's journey.

Among the resources I've put together for the group is a list of recommended writing books. I'm a bit of a how-to book fan so I've read lots and lots of writing books. Looking at the list, it was apparent to me that a couple of books have given me help and advice that has stayed with me over a long time. In preparation for running the Express YOTN course, I've re-read some of them and they're still as useful as they ever were.

So here are my four favorite writing books.

The first is an absolute classic. Dorothea Brande's BECOMING A WRITER has been in print since 1934. I've read it a few times - it's quite short and you can knock it over in a couple of hours. And it never fails to help me with my writing life. It's not a book about the nuts and bolts of writing, it's about how to find motivation and inspiration and how to persist in this odd occupation we've set ourselves to mastering.

The second book is a more recent classic - Anne Lamott's BIRD BY BIRD: SOME INSTRUCTIONS ON WRITING AND LIFE. This one is great when it comes to needing that push to get words down on the page and when you have to overcome the fear factor. The title comes from a story Lamott tells about her brother doing a school project about the birds of America. Like a lot of kids, he left it to the last minute and then floundered around in a panic. Lamott's father sat down with him calmly and said, "The only way we can do this is bird by bird." When you write a book, it's word by word. I've heard this approach also called 'baby steps' and it's amazingly wise. My critique partner and I often just say "bird by bird" to each other when we're starting to get into a flap and those three words alone settle us down.

The third book is New York agent Donald Maass's WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL: WINNING ADVICE FROM A TOP AGENT AND HIS BESTSELLING CLIENT. I was lucky enough a few years ago to attend a full day workshop with Donald Maass and I still use a lot of the tips that he gave to the room full of aspiring writers. This book is wonderful for turning a good manuscript into a great manuscript. He's fantastic on how to lift tension and pacing and how taking risks can pay off when you write. If you're not sure why your story isn't hitting the high points, I highly recommend this book.

The last of my great quartet is Christopher Vogler's THE WRITER'S JOURNEY: MYTHIC STRUCTURE FOR WRITERS. This is a great introduction to how the work of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung can help strengthen the structure of your novel and give your story a universal appeal. And there are fascinating analyses of popular films like THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS and THE WIZARD OF OZ, drawing on the mythic superstructure that has made these movies into timeless classics.

There are some wonderful books on writing on that list of resources I gave the YOTN class, but if the crunch came, these are the four I'd save from the burning building. If you haven't read them and you're interested in writing either as a writer yourself or as a dedicated reader, give them a go!

If you're a writer, do you have any favorite books that have helped you with your craft? If you're a reader, do you ever read books about writing to give you an insight into the writing process?

Going Home Again :: Anne McAllister

Every once in a while I go back home – the home that the author Tom Wolfe says you can’t go to again, the one I left forty odd years ago – and I’m always amazed at how things have changed, and in my head I have a sort of visual timeline going on where I see what is in front of me now, and then beneath it I have the memories of all the changes in that place that I recall. 

But this past week I’ve done the same thing in the town I’ve lived in since I left the old home town.  This has been my home for most of my life now.  I raised my kids here, wrote my first book here (and most all the rest since), and I would say that I pretty much know it like I know the back of my hand.

Except this week we’ve had a son and his family here visiting. He hadn’t been back in seven years. And a lot has happened in seven years even in a place that moves as slowly as the midwest.  I know that intellectually, but it took visiting the ballpark and the swimming pool, taking my grandkids to the aquarium and museum, going out on the Mississippi and seeing all the riverfront development from a whole new angle, doing all those “tourist” things I never ordinarily do – to appreciate my town all over again.

The first time I visited Vienna, some thirty years ago now, we stayed with friends who spent a couple of weeks showing us all the sights – touristy and not-so-touristy – and near the end of our visit, one of our friends said how much she’d enjoyed seeing Vienna through a newcomer’s eyes, showing off her city because she ordinarily took it for granted. 

I realized what she meant again this week.  I’m not usually a visual person. I like sounds as much as I do sights.  When I write, I often have to call upon my husband or a friend who has been in the same place to remind me of the visual details of what I’ve seen because I don’t register them at first.  That’s also true of where I live. 

But this week, showing my town – and the place my son grew up – to his five and seven year old children, I found that, like my friend, I was enchanted with all the things I saw, as if I were really seeing some of them for the first time (knowing me, maybe I was!). 

I felt the same way when I finished writing Last Year’s Bride for Tule Publishing’s Montana Born series in the spring.  It had been a dozen years since I’d written a cowboy hero.  Prior to that I’d written close to twenty.  They were there, in the back of my mind, ever since. But I didn’t get to see them again – up close and personal – until this year.  And it felt like coming home, seeing the past and the present through wide-open eyes.  Makes me eager to do another one.

Have you “gone home” again?  Or looked at your own environment as a newcomer might?  Or showed to it someone you wanted to love it as much as you do? 

Cruising the conferences - Kandy Shepherd

I love going to writers conferences. They inspire me, invigorate my writing muscles and embrace me as part of a greater community of people who spend a lot of time with the “imaginary friends” who become the characters in our books. Some people think we're a bit weird - other writers know we're just creative!

Ten days ago I was at the Romance Writers of America national conference in the beautiful city of San Antonio, Texas. 

The conference was attended by more than two thousand writers from all around the United States and other parts of the world.

Luring readers to the book signing at RWA San Antonio with M & Ms - I ate way too many myself!

 Meeting other writers, editors and agents as well as bloggers and readers is such a buzz. Attending workshops presented by the best in the romance business is invaluable.

There’s the fun of signing books at the mass book-signing in aid of adult literacy that is an important part of the conference.

I was in very good company at the Harlequin book signing!

And of course there are the fan-girl moments of seeing romance icons like Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jayne Anne Krentz wandering around the conference or lining up for coffee!

Still suffering from jet-lag, right now I’m at the Romance Writers of Australia annual conference in Sydney for another dose of wonderful romance-writing inspiration—and a hefty dose of partying!

Then it will be back to writing!

Kandy Shepherd is an award-winning author of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She lives on a small farm in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her family and a menagerie of four-legged friends.

Kandy’s second Dolphin Bay story for Harlequin Romance, The Tycoon and The Wedding Planner is on sale now.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

Connect with Kandy on Facebook and Twitter

Katherine Garbera: The Power of Family

My family is the source for everything I write.  My parents were strong believers in the power of family and we have always been a strong unit.  Growing up we did everything together.  We watched t.v. (for a very limited 30 minutes a day), we grew our own food in a large garden, and we listened to country music and sang along with the radio.

It’s this last bit that inspired me to write HER SUMMER COWBOY.  The country songs I heard on the radio were my companions through many long summer days.  And I knew their stories as well as my own.  I knew that George Jones had lived fast and wild. And that Johnny had finally been tamed by June.  And I fell in love for the first time to Waylon Jennings voice. 

When the Big Marietta Fair was being talked about all I could remember were summers at the fair and concerts that my family always went to.  They were, of course, country artists and we’d sit there all day to get a good seat and then listen to the concert.  It was one of the highlights of my childhood.  And I wanted to bring a little of that to my readers in HER SUMMER COWBOY.

Emma Jean Wells is the daughter of a famous country music singer loosely inspired by Keith Whitley and the granddaughter of a country legend that is an amalgam of George Jones, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. 

Hudson Scott is a mixture of the badboy who walked through Jesse’s Dream and Tim McCraw’s Indian Outlaw.  He’s tough and sexy and doesn’t really take anything from anyone except for Emma who seems to get under his skin without him even realizing it. 

I hope you enjoy reading HER SUMMER COWBOY. 

August...

Harlequin are continuing their re-release of my backlist with three new books on sale in July and August.

In the UK they've started using pretty new covers to give the books a fresh new look and I'm absolutely delighted with what they've done with The Three Year Itch and All She Wants for Christmas  Don't be fooled by the title which was changed by Marketing from Trouble in Paradise when a December slot opened up.

This book is set on a Caribbean island made for two and has nothing to with Christmas. At all.

In the US, Harlequin have taken the opposite tack and are using original covers and Dating Her Boss is, happily, one of my favourite covers. A real classic.

Interestingly, catching up on these books, I've realised how much the Romance line has changed since I started writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon.

The heroes in these books are much more like Presents/Modern heroes - alpha, arrogant, tortured men.

For me, the men changed when I began writing scenes from their point of view. My first dual vp book was Eloping With Emmy (which is, incidentally available at the moment as an ebook for 99c) in which the hero took the lead vp role and we saw him falling in love - and knowing that it was all going to end in tears


Which do you prefer - the old or the new covers? And do you still enjoy those old books where the hero is darkly enigmatic - or do you want to know what is going on in that handsome head?


Leave a comment and I'll give away a copy of any one of my available backlist books for whoever's name comes out of the hat!

Addison Fox: The Sunday of Summer

I read a comment the other day – “August is like the Sunday of summer” – and it’s stuck with me all week. I read the quote on Twitter so unfortunately don’t know recall the author of the tweet, but a quick Google search has the line credited to a blogger named Lon Horwedel. My thanks to Mr. Horwedel because in that small sentence he hit on a world of imagery that made my writers brain light up in happiness.

And I love when that happens.

The words in and of themselves make little sense, yet when you read it, you know exactly what the author meant. We all know that Sunday feeling. The one that makes you hang on a little tighter, even as you know the time is slipping away. There’s a sense of urgency, yet there’s a sense of relaxation. For now – today – the time is yours.

To the point above, the sentence by itself makes little sense when you parse it apart. August is a month. Sunday is a day. Summer is a season. Yet in the sentence, the author evokes something very real and tangible in the mind of the reader.

I’m amazed how often the writing process is exactly like that. Telling a story is vastly different from writing an English paper. And while the mechanics of putting words on a page to convey information remains the same, the process of telling a story gives a degree of leeway to how you use those words to construct images in the mind of another.

Yes, sentences should be spelled correctly. And yes, grammar is important. And yes, even basics of conveying information should be adhered to. But the rest is up to the storyteller.

In storytelling, a single word can make up a sentence with considerable punch and feeling. Sentences that begin with conjunctions – a strict school no-no - may be just what the story needs. Even characters who speak incorrectly might be exactly what’s needed for the words to mix uncomfortably on the page.

For all these reasons, the art of storytelling is a lot like those Sundays of summer. At the end of the day, my job as a writer is to draw my reader in, making them feel any number of emotions and I only have my words to do that. It’s important that I use each and every one of them to maximum advantage.

So what do you think? What are some of your favorite authors? (I’m always on a hunt to add some great books to my TBR pile). What are some of the ways a good story draws you in and makes you feel something extraordinary?

Thanks for joining me today!

XOXO,

Addison

Despite early ambitions of being a diver, a drummer or a doctor, Addison Fox happily discovered she was more suited to life as a writer. She lives in Dallas and - thankfully - doesn't have to operate on anyone. You can find her at her home on the web at www.addisonfox.com. Her latest book, THE MANHATTAN ENCOUNTER, is currently out from Harlequin Romantic Suspense. You can visit her at her website at www.addisonfox.com

Yvonne Lindsay: For Love of a Cowboy

What happens when a superstitious Kiwi hippie chick locks horns with a taciturn Montana cowboy? Sparks fly, that’s what!

As a reader, I’d thoroughly enjoyed the previous Montana Born books—the rodeo series and the brides series—and it wasn’t hard to imagine characters living in the town of Marietta. When I was asked to contribute to a new series I leaped at the opportunity and I loved working on my novella, FOR LOVE OF A COWBOY, from the moment the story idea popped in my head and I especially enjoyed having the opportunity to work with the great team at Tule Publishing as well as the other talented Montana Born Books authors. Set in the fictional Montana town of Marietta, FOR LOVE OFA COWBOY hinges around the big Marietta Fair and is one of six fabulous stories being sold in Montana Born Book’s summer fair series.

Life is simple for Booth Lange–work hard, save hard, stay out of trouble–until Willow Phillips arrives in Marietta and turns his entire world upside down. The superstitious hippie is everything he can’t stand—transient, careless, and trouble with a capital T. He wants her out of town before she can upset more than his equilibrium, and yet, he can’t seem to stay away or keep his hands off her.

Willow, retracing her late mother’s journey through Montana twenty-seven years ago, has one goal. To meet Willow’s father. Maybe then she can face the life-altering decision that awaits her. But meeting her father proves more elusive than she anticipated, and just why is Booth Lange so determined to drive her out of town?

To celebrate the release of this novella, I’m giving away a Tule Publishing Tote bag with some Tule goodies, including a couple of books from my Harlequin Desire backlist, to one lucky commenter.  So tell me, do you love a cowboy?

A typical Piscean, USA Today! best-selling author, Yvonne Lindsay, has always preferred the stories in her head to the real world. It makes perfect sense that she was born and bred in Middle Earth, um, New Zealand. Yvonne has published over twenty-five titles with Harlequin and is a three-time Romance Writers of Australia R*BY nominee and a finalist in the Romance Writers of New Zealand Koru Award of Excellence. A former law office manager she now spends her days crafting the stories of her heart and in her spare time she can be found with her nose firmly in a book, reliving the power of love in all walks of life, or knitting socks and daydreaming.

***Yvonne's winner is dstoutholcomb!  Please email totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your mailing details!***

CJ Carmichael: The joys of summer

August already—someone please stop winding that clock! Summer is special in Canada and Montana (the two places where I spend most of my time). Since we have such a long, cold winter, we cherish these long, warm days. Work slows down as we focus on enjoying the great outdoors, our friends, and our favorite outdoor activities.

This month I’ve had the pleasure of hosting four of my favorite writing friends at our Montana Cottage. From left to right we have: Megan Crane, Jane Porter, Lilian Darcy and Kelly Hunter. We took this time to unwind from the Romance Writers of American conference, and also to plan the stories we want to write in the coming year. The best talks and visits were held here on the dock, or on the deck off the house.

I also include reading as a favorite outdoor activity when it’s summer. What can be better than sipping a cool drink and enjoying a good book while you relax on your favorite lounge chair or hammock? Well, maybe if the book was free? And you had a man servant preparing you iced beverages of your choice?

Afraid I can’t offer you that man servant, but I do have a free book. J

Family Matters is a trilogy of stories about women and their children…and the men who love them. In the first story, for the sake of her child a single mother must face the father who disowned her, the ex-boyfriend who hurt her and the neighbor she’s always loved as she finds A Daughter’s Place. And you can download this book right now…for FREE. It’s available on Kindle, Nook, iBook and Kobo.

Get Your Free Download Here:

Kindle: http://amzn.to/1nPgmd1

iBooks: http://bit.ly/1mrwtLz

Nook: http://bit.ly/1r3lid1

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1n88LV3

May I suggest a delicious huckleberry smoothie to go with your book? Just blend ½ cup coconut water, ½ cup frozen or fresh huckleberries, ½ banana along with some ice cubes. Yum!

Enjoy August friends…Free Time & Free Reads!

CJ Carmichael

http://cjcarmichael.com

Maisey Yates: More Than Friends

August 5th is a big day for me! Not only will I be in Sydney, Australia attending the Romance Writers of Australia conference, but my FIRST print single title book will be on shelves!

Unbroken is being released with Berkley Sensation, and I’m absolutely thrilled to have the chance to introduce this series and these characters to a broader readership.

If you’ve read the first two books (Unexpected and Untouched) in the series, you’ll have already met Cade and his best friend, Amber.

Cade has spent much of the series hanging out in the background making smart remarks, but now it’s his turn to get the spotlight. I knew from book one that Amber was the woman for him (and fortunately a lot of readers did too since I was threatened with bodily harm if I did not put them together!) but the journey to their HEA was still one that was filled with surprises for me.

Friends to lovers books are my favorites to write and not just because that’s my OWN romance. But…partly!

I met my now husband years ago, but didn’t really get to know him until we started working together at our church coffee shop. Eventually he was promoted to manager. We were a very tight staff, and spent a lot of our time away from work together. Which basically meant Haven and I spent every day together, with other friends or just with each other.

He’s about eight years older than I am, so especially at first I thought of him as only a friend. (Though, a very handsome one. At work all the girls all used to watch him move chairs so we could stare at his arms…)

But things changed when out of the blue someone called him to confess her love for him, because she couldn’t accept the marriage proposal she’d just received until she knew whether or not she had a chance with him. (My life is a romance novel, I swear.)

I was VERY disgruntled to say the least. Who was this woman? I spent every day with him! He was MY friend and she couldn’t have him. He felt honor bound to consider it and give her an answer, I felt honor bound to punch her in the teeth. I didn’t want things to change. I wanted him to stay my friend forever, but also not let anyone else have him!

I’ll never forget the moment I asked him if he had an answer for her yet. He said, not yet, but mainly because he was afraid of hurting her. I took a deep breath and said: No matter which answer you give, you’ll hurt someone.

That was apparently all the hint he needed. He gave her a firm no, and then as far as we go…things progressed from there!

When you have a comfortable relationship with someone, you often need that outside force to upset things so that you can see the other person in a new light.

That’s what happens with Amber and Cade. When Jim Davis comes to town stirring up trouble, Cade rushes to the rescue, pretending to be her boyfriend and moving in with her to protect her.

And that little shift causes a whole lot of changes neither of them feel ready for!

I hope you enjoy my friends to lovers romance as much as I enjoyed writing it! (And I hope you enjoy Cade’s abs!)

Friends to lovers is one of my favorite romance themes…what’s yours? Leave a comment for a chance to win the first two books in the Silver Creek series. (US only, Kindle or Nook)

***Maisey's winner is Michelle H!  Please email totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your mailing details!***

Bec McMaster: Of Silk and Steam

Edits have just arrived on Of Silk And Steam, the fifth book in my London steampunk series, and I can't wait to dive back into this story!

Though it's not the end of the series, it's the final book in this story arc, and there was so much to wrap up in terms of plot. Add to that a complicated hero, a heroine with a heart of ice and a cast of secondary characters who threatened to steal the show (Blade, the hero of my first book, Kiss of Steel), and it was probably the toughest book I've written - though definitely the most fun.

One of the problems I have with editing is when the story sucks you back in. I deliberately set aside the book once I've written it and don't dive back in until edits arrive, but the other day I couldn't help myself... and found myself reading all the way through when I knew I should be writing!

I know that's probably a good sign - or maybe it's just that I enjoy this romance so much. Frigid ice princess? An alpha hero? Enemies? Just a few of my favorite romance tropes.

Here's an excerpt:

The first time Leo Barrons saw her, she’d just run a man through with her sword.

Peter Duvall gave a little gasp. Bluish blood dripped down his chest; the color that gave the blue bloods of the Echelon their name.

The young woman stepped back, jerking the tip of her rapier from Duvall’s chest. It had gone straight through the heart, the only way to kill a blue blood. The duel had been serious then, or else they’d have used pistols, far less lethal in these circumstances. A blue blood could only be killed by decapitation or severe damage to the heart; a shot had to be true.

Leo Barrons clapped a little as Duvall fell, echoing the rest of the crowd of young bucks, though he could barely take his eyes off her. He’d arrived late at the Field of Blood in Hyde Park, near Constitution Hill, evening caressing the skyline of London. Just in time to catch the end of the matter.

Who was she?

Tall and slender, the woman had the proud bearing of a queen, but that wasn’t what stirred the blood in his veins. The head-to-toe black of her tight velvet coat, the steel manica protecting her sword arm, and long leather leggings only highlighted the shining garnet red of her hair. Caught in a chignon at the nape of her neck, wisps of it clung to her serious face. The setting sun caught it on fire. Thick dark lashes shuttered her eyes as she plucked a handkerchief from her second - a young lad, more boy than man - and with considerable aplomb wiped the blood from her blade.

She might have been standing alone in that clearing, deftly ignoring the excited chatter of the assorted young men congratulating her. There was a sense of aloofness to her, as if she existed outside this world and could never be touched.

 And she’d just managed to defeat a blue blood in a duel, which was a talent in itself. Blue bloods were faster and stronger than humans, the craving virus that afflicted them giving them exceptional capabilities. How the devil had she managed it? Duvall was... had been no slouch with a blade, though he was hardly a master.

One look. That was all it took. Leo wanted her.

“Who is she?” Leo murmured to the Duke of Malloryn’s heir, Auvry Cavill, without taking his eyes off her.

The faintest of smiles touched Auvry’s mouth. They’d been friends since Eton. “Why don’t you ask her? I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

A dare. “So I shall.”

He strode through the crowd, ignoring the young bucks of the aristocratic Echelon as much as she did. They were unimportant. She was all that mattered, all that he could see.

Some sense of wariness must have alerted her to him, for she looked up, brandy-brown eyes locking on him and piercing him straight through the chest. Or lower.

Handing her second the bloodied rag, she dismissed Leo with a glance and vanished into the grove of trees behind the field of grass.

If she thought that was the end of it, she was wrong. His steps accelerated and he knew she heard autumn leaves crackling beneath his heels as he followed her. A glance over her shoulder and she stilled, as if realizing he had no intentions of giving up.

“You’ve come to congratulate me?” A mocking tilt of her perfectly defined brow. She wore disdain almost as well as she did aloofness. No doubt she was well-used to men’s flattery. With that face and figure, she’d have to be.

“Congratulate you?” he asked. “Perhaps. You were lucky to win that with your form.”

Those eyes flashed fire, and shock pierced her expression. Just for a moment. “Lucky?”

He smiled on the inside. If he wanted to capture her attention he had to be different than all the others who, no doubt, fawned at her feet. “You drop your shoulder too low on the lunge,” he said, gesturing to the offending body part, his gloved fingers brushing the puffed velvet sleeve of her coat. “It creates an opening, if your opponent is aware of it.”

She stared at him, then looked down to where his fingers stirred against her sleeve. “Fair warning. I shall take it into consideration if you’re ever my opponent.”

“I doubt we’ll be opponents.”

“Do you?” A slight challenge to the soft words.

This was not quite going the way he’d planned. “Perhaps I should introduce myself. Leo Barrons, the Duke of Caine’s heir.”

“I know who you are.” Cool, expressionless eyes. “Your arrogance precedes you. If you’ll excuse me?”

The moment she brushed past him, he turned. “Have I done something to insult you?”

That slim figure froze, her spine stiffening. She glanced over her shoulder at him, one hand resting lightly on the sword at her hip. “You have no idea who I am, do you?”

Evidently. Leo frowned. He rarely paid attention to the young women that formed society. As a man of nineteen, he’d been gifted with two thralls for his eighteenth birthday; he didn’t need any others. Their blood sustained him and he had not the keeping for more. And then, of course: “I’ve only recently returned from my Grand Tour of the Continent. And I doubt I would have forgotten you.”

“I shall take mercy on you this once, my lord,” she said, stepping closer and staring him in the eye with a defiance that stirred his blood. “Your father killed mine. You are the last man alive I would ever wish to converse with, let alone...whatever puts that gleam in your eye.”

“My father’s killed a lot of men.” Caine was utterly ruthless when he wished to be. Especially to his wife's bastard son, though few people knew the truth of Leo’s birth. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

The woman leaned forward on her toes, her breath whispering against his skin. “Perhaps this will help?” The irises of her eyes bled to black, heated anger gleaming in their depths.

She was a blue blood. “That’s impossible.”

Only the sons of certain blue bloods were allowed the Blood Rites when they turned fifteen. The Council of Dukes would never allow a female to be considered, which made her a rogue blue blood, infected by chance.

“I assure you it’s not.” She leaned away from him again, smiling. There was no warmth in that smile. “My name is Aramina Duvall.”

Another blow; a fist to the abdomen this time. Auvry had known exactly who she was, the bastard.

“I see you know it,” she murmured.

The Duke of Casavian’s only daughter. The man had died but a month ago, leaving his affairs in disarray. Leo’s gaze shot to Peter Duvall’s bloodied form, through the slender trunks of the beech trees. No doubt this had been a duel to settle, once and for all, who was heir to the duchy.

“That makes me the Duchess of Casavian,” she said. “Your father’s mortal enemy.”

Boldness stole over him. Leo caught her fingers as she turned to leave. “I don’t care.” Lifting them to his own, he pressed his lips against the inside of her wrist, a shockingly bold deed, signaling his interest in her as a potential thrall.

“You should.” She tugged her hand free, furious heat stealing into her cheeks. Her eyes were black again, revealing the depths of her emotions. She must have been newly made a blue blood; it took years to master one’s emotions and control the depth of the predator within. “After all, I’m going to destroy you and your father. And if you ever touch me again, I shall remove the offending digit.”

Then she turned on her heel and strode away. Leaving him slightly breathless, but no less determined.

So what are your favourite romance tropes? Enemies-to-lovers? Friends-to-lovers? Something else?

OF SILK AND STEAM (Available March 2015)

When her father was assassinated, Lady Aramina swore revenge against the Duke of Caine. Leo Barrons, the Duke's heir, has long been her nemesis, and when she discovers he's illegitimate, she finally has leverage against the one man who troubles her heart and tempts her body.

Sentenced to death for his duplicity, Leo escapes by holding Aramina captive. A woman of mystery, she's long driven him crazy with glimpses of a fiery passion that lurks beneath her icy veneer. He knows she's hiding something; he doesn't know it's the key to saving his life.

Award-winning author Bec McMaster lives in a small town in Australia and grew up with her nose in a book. A member of RWA, she writes sexy, dark paranormals and steampunk romance. When not writing, reading, or poring over travel brochures, she loves spending time with her very own hero or daydreaming about new worlds. Read more about her at www.becmcmaster.com or follow her on Twitter, @BecMcMaster.