Hi everyone, or maybe I should be saying ‘Gidday, Mate’ to show I’m an Australian author. I write historical romance, from sexy to erotic, and mainly set in or around London in the late Regency to very early Victorian eras. ‘Love’ was the only choice for my writing name as, apart from sounding romantic, Love is my Scottish family name.
It’s a little late, but I’m still in the spirit of Thanksgiving. This year I’m thankful for Jennifer Lawler and Crimson Romance for taking a chance on Winter Fairy. I’ve learned a tremendous amount about both the editing process and what it takes to get a book to consumers. My unpublished manuscripts are becoming better as I apply the lessons learned to their rough-hewn words.
I’m thankful for being part of the Crimson Sisterhood. Writers are a strange bunch in that we don’t view each other as competitors but tend to serve as each other’s cheerleaders. My fellow Crimson Romance authors have become dear friends and I can’t wait to see us all on the best seller lists.
I’m thankful for my readers. Your kind words for Winter Fairy envelop me in a warm embrace. I’ll offer you a virtual one now (hugs). More than one reader has asked for more of Penelope, Carson and Eloise, saying they weren’t ready to say goodbye to them. That is the highest praise an author can receive. You’ve inspired me to write a second book featuring another member of the Glazier family.
If you haven’t discovered Winter Fairy yet, now is the perfect time to grab a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake and your preferred reader. But before you do, I’d love to know what characters have stuck with you after you finished the book?
Recuperating ballerina Penelope Glazier can enchant the young girls in her Fairy Dreams class, but will her winter magic work on Carson Langley, the sexy but straight-laced single father of her most talented student?
I really root for the tough girls, the ones that can and do make it on their own every day through their personal brand of grit and smarts. So, when I wrote Bring It On, I wanted to portray that type of woman. One that never really needed or desired a man to control her life, and was determined to steer clear of the ones that wanted to.
Kathryn Delroy is smart, and strong, in many ways. A former track star, she isn’t interested or concerned with her looks, though she’s blessed with them anyway.
So what do tough girls like her do for thrills? Ha, well that’s the thing –there’s not a lot she can’t do. She grew up the little sister of a guy that was into sports, hunting, and lake life. She learned to wake board, snow board, and run like the wind; which is why she ended up a track star in High School and College. She could keep up with the boys and did. Nothing irritated her more than to be listed as one of ESPN’s hottest athletes – because they’d recognized her for the wrong reasons.
Okay, well one thing irritated her more –running into her brother’s best friend after ten years of silence and finding him just as frustratingly irresistible. To top it all off, she gets thrown into being his partner for all the team building exercises at a remote company seminar in Alaska. She finds herself literally thigh to thigh with him, then other parts get involved and well, things get carried away in the wilderness.
She learns what toughness really means when she and Thomas, the friend turned –something more, end up hunted by a hired killer because they decided to give in to fifteen years of pent up lust for each other.
How do you save yourself from someone that’s a professional at getting his man (or in this case woman)? And what do you do about the guy you tried to steer clear of and couldn’t when things get life threatening?
See how Kathryn handles it, in Bring It On.
I’ve got a thing for big guys. “Big” as in tall and a bit broad. I’m pretty shrimpy, so I’m sure I’m compensating. My husband is 6’5″, 6’6″, 6’7″ (depending on which form of identification you look at) so it all balances out.
There’s just something really sexy about being physically picked up and carried off for some fun. When I was in college, I briefly dated a guy who was about my height, and I suppose not much heavier than me. I’m 5’2″. I just…well. I don’t know. He was cute. He was really cute, but the cavewoman in me had to throw him back. I think I saw him years later and he was working as a police officer. So, he was certainly fit enough, but jut didn’t ring my bells.
When I see a big guy, I think “VERILE!” and I get all giggly. That’s why most of my male protagonists tend to be tall and athletic even if American men tend to average 5’10”.
Nora, in My Nora (coming Monday), is a small-framed woman with an attitude that makes up for her size. Her love interest, Matt, is a big dude: around six and a half feet tall and over two hundred pounds. He’s powerful, but, uh…flexible. He’s not the typical oaf.
What can I say? I like what I like. Blame it on the estrogen. Here’s a bit of Matt in action.
Matt looked down into her piercing gaze and ground his teeth to fight off the smirk that was his longtime nervous tic. It wouldn’t do for her to think he was off his rocker during their first encounter. He didn’t even know her name and she’d lived on that property for several weeks.
“Mr. Vogel, did you hear anything I just said?”
Matt nodded slowly. “Yep. I heard you. No guns.”
“Good. I’m glad we understand each other.”
Oh, he understood her. “So, crossbows are okay? I’m not such a great shot with bow and arrow but my little sister has crackerjack aim.”
She just blinked those big brown eyes at him.
“Okay, so that’s ‘no,’ I’m guessin’.” He let a broad smile soften his face, hoping it’d put her at ease.
The very corners of her luscious lips twitched. That smile always worked on the ladies, but she was fighting hard.She squinted at him and crossed her arms over her chest. “You guess right.”
“Okay, Miss … well, you have me at the disadvantage here. I don’t even know your name.”
“Fredrickson.”
He waited for her to offer her first name, but when she just stood there glaring up at him with her lips pressed tightly together, he gave up on it. “Miss Fredrickson —”
“Ms.”
Matt looked down at her ring finger and found it empty. “Okay. Ms. Fredrickson, our parcel of land abuts yours on the back border. We can try to stay on our side of the property line, but sometimes when you’re stalking a buck you lose track of where are. If you could just give us permission to hunt over here, we’ll try not to abuse it.”
“You’d better do more than just try to stay off my property, Mr. Vogel,” she hissed, eyes going to narrow slits and voice dropping about half an octave.
Matt thought the woman seemed extremely uptight and that he could probably fix that little problem for her with a couple of hours and a soft bed. Hell, he could probably do without the bed. It’d been a long time. He was a big guy. They could probably do it standing with no sweat off his back. He thought she looked like a screamer and chuckled at the thought.
“Mr. Vogel?” she pressed, looking annoyed now.
“Hmm?”
“Do we have an understanding?”
“Oh. Sure thing,” he said, smiling wider so his dimples showed.
She didn’t look convinced, but unclenched her jaw and unfolded her arms all the same. “I imagine I don’t need to show you the way out, then.”
“No, ma’am. I can find my way to the road plenty by myself.”
“Have at it then.”
“All right,” Matt said in a singsong voice, crossing through the open doors into the late-day sunshine and clasping his large hands behind his back. “Just holler if you fall again and need some help getting up,” he called back, chuckling while his new quarry fumed.
So how ’bout you? Do you like your heroes to fit a certain physical archetype? Does they match your real-life preferences?
Barb Carico’s life is all about business. Now that her best friend has tied the knot with her high school sweetheart and Barb’s new partner, she’s busier than ever. Managing Jesse Sullivan’s career and public persona can be a handful. Add in an aging mother who goes through home health nurses like candy, Barb’s hanging on the edge.
Her one salvation? Hunter Martin, prodigal son of Martin Family Dairy and, hopefully, Jesse’s next sponsor. A promise his father had already made before Hunter took over the public relations department. After his brother’s death, Hunter’s become an instant dad to his seven year old niece. More responsibility. For Hunter, the rodeo weekend with Barb is the perfect excuse to relax.
When their dinner turns into drinks and then a quick trip to a Vegas wedding chapel, both Barb and Hunter agree their nuptials were a mistake. A mistake they consummated the next evening. As soon as they’re home, the marriage will be annulled. That’s what they both want. Or at least what they tell themselves.
Upon their return, Hunter finds that distant relatives are suing him for custody of his niece. The only way for him to keep custody is to design a life that matches the promise of a perfect family. For that, he needs
Barb to stay married to him. Hunter would give her anything to go along with the charade.
Barb doesn’t know anything about being a wife or mother but she needs one favor. A favor she’ll trade her lifestyle, independence, and even risk her heart to make come true.
***
What have you risked for love?
Lynn
Introduce yourself, please. Is this a pen or personal name? Why did you make the choice to write under that name?
Hi ladies, I’m Micah Persell! This is both a pen name and a personal name. I didn’t want to write under my married name because I also teach high school. I sometimes have nightmares about the kids finding out my pen name, reading one of my steamy books, and asking me about it in class. So, I decided to publish under my maiden name. I’ll still answer to it in a crowded room if someone calls it, but I don’t have to worry about impressionable young students stumbling across what I write in the romance genre.
Let’s get the details out of the way: Single, married, divorced, widowed? Parent? Living where? Doing what, other than writing?
I am married, and I love it. Cameron, my husband, is absolutely wonderful (Except for the times he’s horrible, but, eh, that’s the life of a wife, am I right? You cannot train a man to make the bed, put his dirty socks in the laundry basket, or his dinner plates in the dishwasher. And if you have, you need to e-mail me and let me know the details!). I’m not a parent yet, unless you count the two pups and two cats that are running around my house. I live in Southern California where I teach freshman English classes at a local high school.
What one thing from your books do you take from personal experience?
Not the love scenes! I always feel it necessary to get that out of the way when a friend reads my books, looks at me askance, and says, “Sooo….” No, the thing that comes from my personal experience is the retelling of classic biblical mythology. I had a pretty conservative upbringing—my dad is a pastor—and I cut my teeth on Bible stories. These stories have everything: war, famine, love, hate, sex, murder. They’re some of the best stories ever written. You know that saying, “write what you know”? Well, that’s what I know (though my sexy twist on the Garden of Eden shocked my poor parents something fierce!).
The best part about my writing life is:
That feeling I get when I write a scene and know I absolutely nailed it!
The worst part about my writing life is:
Finding the time to write. Between the day job, being a wife, and playing in the symphony, there are weeks at a time where I can’t seem to find five minutes to myself!
Tell us what’s happening in your writing world.
Of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, book two in the Operation: Middle of the Garden series, just came out yesterday, so check it out! Jericho is dying to meet you.
You can order Of the Knowledge of Good and Evil now at Amazon or iTunes!
Catch up with Micah on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, or check out her website for a special sneak peak of both Of Eternal Life and Of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The second book in my reality TV romance series—STUCK ON YOU—is coming soon! And by soon, I mean next Feb. 11th, 2013! 🙂 So it’s not actually soon, soon, but more like sooner rather than later at least! I thought it might be fun to give you a sneak peek at the heroine of the book, Paige. Paige and Cassidy quickly become fast friends in Falling for You and provide a source of comfort for each other during the show. We don’t really get to learn a lot about Paige. We learn she’s shy and unconfident and we know she’s one of the girls who actually went on the dating show with the hope of finding true love. Here’s an excerpt between Cassidy and Paige as a little sneak peak into who our heroine is for Stuck on You:
***
Paige stood beside Spencer in the bottom three again, already looking crushed. Cassidy knew all the girls had their own reasons for being here and that everyone deserved to stay, but she couldn’t help wishing that this time it would be Holly and Lauren who went home instead of Paige.
“I’m sorry, Paige.”
“Thanks,” Paige said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “I hope they send me home this time and put me out of my misery. I can’t take hanging out for another week just to be in the bottom three again. I mean, it’s obvious he doesn’t like me.”
“I don’t know what he’s thinking.” Cassidy wrapped her arm around Paige. “Let’s get you a drink and we’ll drown your ‘bottom three’ sorrows until you’ve forgotten them.”
“Sounds good. Anything to dull the humiliation of being in the bottom three—again.”
Cassidy and Paige walked into the kitchen. As Paige got comfortable on the stools beside the kitchen island, Cassidy found a bottle of champagne in the fridge and a couple of glasses. She filled them and handed one to Paige.
“Champagne? Does my humiliation make you feel like celebrating?”
“Don’t be silly, Paige. We’re going to celebrate this experience and our friendship, which we wouldn’t have had without coming here and sacrificing our dignity for the betterment of American television.”
Cassidy and Paige clinked their glasses and polished off the champagne in one shot. “How ’bout another?”
“You certainly know how to put a positive spin on things.”
“I know this is hard, Paige, but coming here was about more than just meeting Brad, right? It’s about the experience, too. Just because Brad is too stupid to see what an awesome girl you are, doesn’t mean the whole thing was a waste.”
“I guess you’re right. I just really wanted to fall in love, ya know?”
“I know. But you can’t fall in love unless it’s the right guy, and maybe Brad isn’t him. I bet Mr. Right is out there now, shaking his head at the TV, wondering how Brad could be so stupid to let you go and thanking his lucky stars he’ll get a chance with you.”
“I hope you’re right,” Paige said, emptying her second glass in one last gulp of champagne. “Maybe I’ll take a refill up to my room to help me pack.”
“Who said anything about packing? You don’t know you’re going home.”
“Call it a hunch or intuition or whatever. But I feel like I’m definitely going home.” Paige sighed and put her head in her hands. “Honestly, I’m ready to go home. I don’t think my ego can stand another round in the bottom three.”
“You want help packing?”
“Sure, if you don’t have anything better to do.” Spending quality time kissing Evan was out of the question since he was still acting pissy toward her. Hanging out with Paige sounded exactly like what she needed right now. Cassidy grabbed the bottle of champagne. “It could be a long night of packing. We might need refreshments.”
“Good thinking.” Paige grabbed it from her hand and took a drink right from the bottle before leaving the kitchen and heading up to her room.
***
Want to read more about Cassidy, Paige and the dating show The One before second book in the series comes out? Grab your copy in digital or PAPERBACK at the places below!
Can’t wait to find out more about Paige’s story? Here’s a sneak peek at the blurb for STUCK ON YOU, coming Feb 11th, 2013!
Paige Anderson agrees to be on a new reality show called Treasure Trekkers, a show where contestants use handheld GPS units to find hidden caches filled with prizes, with her good friend Cassidy. But when Cassidy is unable to compete, Chip Cormack, the show’s producer, steps in with a last-minute replacement to be Paige’s partner—Zoe Oliver, reality TV’s favorite bad girl.
Jack Miles (aka Miles) is a mountain climber with the body to prove it. Miles convinced his climbing partner Ben to come on the show with him for one reason—to prove to Ben that they can still hike together, regardless of the fact that Ben lost his foot in a tragic accident. Miles isn’t about to let anything get in his way of winning—not even beautiful Paige.
But when Miles and Paige are thrown into an alliance with their teammates, working closely together leads to more than just good strategy. Can Paige steal Miles’ heart while surviving Zoe long enough to win the game?
It’s release day for book #2 in my Second Chances series! “Loving Again” is the story of Sam Richardson and Amanda St. Claire and their not-quite-average-boy-meets-girl relationship. He’s a Portland police detective; she’s a glass artist. They meet when she’s accused of murdering her boyfriend. One recent reviewer summed up the story this way: “steam, suspense and a hot cop.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Here’s a short excerpt and the cover.
When they got to the front door, he held her and made her promise she’d be in touch as soon as she got to Seattle. After he released her from his embrace, she picked up a large, cardboard box from the table in the entryway and handed it to him.
“I was going to have this delivered to you. Not that it’s close to paying you back for what you’ve done for me—I’ll never be able to do that—but I want you to have it.”
He opened the box. Inside was a bubble-wrapped package with a metal stand taped to it. “Is this what I think it is?”
“If you think it’s a piece of my work, it is. It’s the first piece you ever saw, the night we met.”
“I don’t know what to say. Except thank you.” He looked inside the box. “Does it have the title anyplace on it? I don’t remember what you called it.”
“It’s called ‘Hope’, the piece is called ‘Hope’. Which is exactly what you gave me at the worst time in my life.”
Holley Trent
I’m a married mother of two currently residing in Colorado. I’m a Carolina girl at heart, however, and have roots going back a hundreds of years on my maternal side in The Tarheel State. I’m a full-time writer, full-time mom, and full-time cat box-scooper.
If you ever meet me in person, you’ll find that one of my most prominent features is my hair. The way it looks in that picture up there is actually atypical for me. I fought with it for twenty-five years and decided my energy was better spent doing other things than straightening the hell out of it. My hair is really curly—it’s so curly that when it’s wet it can shrink about eighty percent. So, I can basically go from having flat, body-less hair down my back to having hair that looks like a fuzzy microphone cover with one small squirt of shampoo. Self-acceptance was slow for me, but now my big frizzy halo is just a part of me (even when the halo has a hair elastic holding it down).
The female main character in my upcoming 11/26 release My Nora inherited some of my hair grief, and I think she’ll always be sensitive about the way her hair looks (I’m obviously pretending Nora is a real person.). Society says there’s this “ideal woman” and being outside that norm can cripple self-confidence, especially when a woman is still growing into herself. I think I’m past that point, but creating Nora’s character was still rather cathartic for me.
I write romance novels because I love reading the last sentence of the last page of a book and feeling like, “Gosh, love is beautiful.” I’ve never read a romance novel that’s put me in a bad mood, and that’s why I write them.
After My Nora, my next Crimson title will be an April release called Sold As Is. Like My Nora, it’s set in rural Chowan County, North Carolina, but is a bit campier. It’s a hot, sassy story about a hapless used car saleswoman who’s unlucky in love…that is until the governor’s son literally runs smack dab into her on her stepfather’s car lot. Writing that book was a lot of fun. It has a few laugh-out-loud moments. Some of the characters may or may not be based on real people. (Ahem.)
If you hang out on Twitter, I’m there all the livelong day as @holleytrent. I also blog at holleytrent.com/blog and sometimes I update my Facebook fan page. (Having “fans” is a weird phenomenon.)
As a native Northeast New Jerseyan, I had a single thought in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy: Charge. The. Kindle. If I remembered to do that, (and, for those who are wondering, I did), I had no fears. Of course, the physical needs would be met – I had water, canned soup, batteries, etc. and so on. But more than that, I had what I needed to take me away from the cold and the darkness. I had my stories. I would be fine.
Upon the unexpected death of her parents, Rhianna Braden finds the enigmatic 
Ladies in Red 
