Mar 10, 2015 | Blog, March 2015, Suzanne Ferrell
This book was recently released last week – check it out.
Another must read from Suzanne Ferrell.
I look forward to discovering Micah and Claudia!
**Please note that the book description was written by the Author.**
An American Historical Romance
His visions of the future brought them together…
Micah Turner’s visions have brought him down from his Colorado mountain refuge to the nation’s capital in search of his lost sister. Her disappearance may have something to do with the murder of a senator and a beautiful woman who is also haunting his visions.
Claudia Davis spent most of her life in fear. Now she has the chance to put her past behind her and help discover who is behind the senator’s murder. When a giant man approaches her one night with a letter from her friend who’d witnessed the murder she must decide if she can put her fears aside and trust the stranger.
As the pair work together to solve the murder they discover a deeper plot, one that has its roots buried in Micah’s past. Can they fight for justice and their love? Or will Micah’s visions of blood and death be fulfilled?
BIO:
Suzanne discovered romance novels in her aunt’s hidden stash one summer as a teenager. From that moment on she knew two things: she loved romance stories and someday she’d be writing her own. Her love for romances has only grown over the years. It took her a number of years and a secondary career as a nurse to finally start writing her own stories.
Currently there are two main series she’s actively writing in: The Westen Series, a contemporary small town series based in a fictional Ohio town where “things aren’t always what they seem”, and features Close To Home, Close To The Edge and Close To The Fire. The second series is the Romantic Suspense books KIDNAPPED, HUNTED, SEIZED and VANISHED, featuring the Edgars family as they fight for justice, even if it means stepping slightly outside the rulebook.
KIDNAPPED and HUNTED were both Golden Heart finalist, and SEIZED, book #3 in the Edgars Family Novels, was a finalist in the novella category of the OKRWA’s National Reader’s Choice Awards contest.
Suzanne’s sexy stories, whether they be her on the edge of your seat romantic suspense or the small town romantic suspense stories they’ll keep you thinking about her characters long after their Happy Ever After is achieved.
www.suzanneferrell.com
www.RomanceBandits.com
Mar 9, 2015 | Blog, Grace Burrowes, March 2015
Kiss Me Hello (Book Three in the Sweetest Kisses Series) by Grace Burrowes, is a contemporary romance full of small town goodness, sexy men, strong women and a captivating story that entwines them all.
Sidonie Lindstrom is a foster mom who is trying to settle in to her new farm house while transitioning her foster son into a new school. Moving out to rural Damson County from Baltimore was supposed to help give them a better foundation. Luis, her current foster son, seems to find himself on the receiving end of a roadblock or two that always starts and ends with “don’t know” and “we’ll call you” responses. Past events and recent family tragedy have scarred her when it comes to her perception of the criminal justice system.
Mackenzie Knightly is a criminal trial attorney in his family practice, but don’t tell Sidonie. There’s a love hate relationship with lawyers and no one seems to know why just yet. Just what is it that has Mac so attracted to her and their new house? Will he reveal the reason he’s so attached to her farm? They soon find their paths crossing and must now figure out how to interact. It’s obvious to everyone else that they seem to have a desire to make it a bit more carnal. Unfortunately, they both have a handful of secrets. Both Sid and Mac assume it will destroy a chance at commitment. Perhaps it isn’t as traumatic as they fear?
When a series of unfortunate events threatens to destroy everything Sid’s worked so hard to build, Mac is determined to find out the truth. But, will he risk it all to uncover and expose everything by helping her? Will she shut him out or finally let him in? Perhaps moving to Dawson County is exactly what Sid needs to face her past and finally find peace.
As a long time fan of Grace Burrowes, I had not read any of her contemporary romance books. I have previously read The Windham series (or more accurately I would say inhaled them), The Lonely Lords – now there are a few men you could spend hours with, and the MacGregor series is in my TBR pile. So, when I saw the Sweetest Kisses series I eagerly awaited its arrival. Ok, I LOVED Grace before… but now I LOVE her SOOOOOO much more! Not only can she magically transport us back in time with her sinful historical romance stories, she makes rural Maryland look fantastic and sexy!
This series has it all, fabulous writing, rich characters, and an amazing story. Since I’m a bit late to the dance I read the third book in the series first and now intend to read the previous books. I’ve fallen in love with the Knightly brothers and I hope you will too!
I received this ARC for a fair and honest review. I look forward to buying more contemporary books from Grace soon!
BIO:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes’ bestsellers include The Heir, The Soldier, Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal, Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish and Lady Eve’s Indiscretion. The Heir was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2010, The Soldier was a PW Best Spring Romance of 2011, Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish won Best Historical Romance of the Year in 2011 from RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards, Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight was a Library Journal Best Book of 2012, and The Bridegroom Wore Plaid was a PW Best Book of 2012. Her Regency romances have received extensive praise, including starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Grace is branching out into short stories and Scotland-set Victorian romance with Sourcebooks. She is a practicing family law attorney and lives in rural Maryland.
Social Networking Links
Website: https://www.graceburrowes.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4152482.Grace_Burrowes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-Burrowes/115039058572197
Mar 8, 2015 | Blog, Blog Blitz, March 2015
Q&A With Authors
What can you tell us about the small town setting of your new romance?
Samantha Chase (author of RETURN TO YOU): The south shore of Long Island had always been my heroine Selena’s home. Born and raised minutes from the beach, she always dreamed that it would be where she’d find love, raise a family and live happily ever after. The small coastal town really hadn’t been part of James Montgomery’s plan for his own life, after meeting Selena, it’s suddenly a very appealing part of his future.
Grace Burrowes (author of KISS ME HELLO): Damson Valley lies in rural Maryland, about an hour away from both Washington, DC, and Baltimore. The Appalachian Mountains give the town a protected, bucolic feel, despite the proximity of big city lights. My hero attorney MacKenzie Knightley loved growing up with his brothers on a farm right outside Damson Valley, and was all too happy to go into practice with both James and Trent. The Knightley farm is now owned by foster mom Sidonie Lindstrom, who has moved away from Baltimore to give her foster son a better start in life. Sid has no patience for small town life, though before too long, the scenery does catch her interest…
Andrea Laurence (author of FEEDING THE FIRE): If you’re willing to turn your car off the highway and venture from the beaten path, you might be lucky enough to run across a town like Rosewood, Alabama. Steeped in southern charm and the traditional values of God, Family and Football (although not always in that order), Rosewood is like a time capsule preserving everything modern cities have lost. Here, you’ll find homemade pies, perfectly brewed sweet tea, and beauty parlors filled with lively gossip. It’s the kind of town where everybody knows everybody – and everybody knows your business whether you like it or not! Thanks for stopping by. Sit a spell and tell us what you know.
Small towns are known for their gossip. What is some hot news going around about your couple?
Samantha Chase: Ooo…the hot news around James and Selena is that James isn’t who she always thought him to be. He’s from a wealthy family – something she never knew – and the cat’s about to be let out of the bag!
When your hero and his friends go on a ‘boys night out’, where do they go?
Grace Burrowes: Because Mac’s best friends are his two younger brothers, and because Trent, the middle brother is a single dad to a seven-year-old girl, the guys go to Trent’s house to play poker on a beer and brownies night. (Sometimes, they end up watching a princess movie though, or playing a round of Go Fish instead poker.)
What’s the best part of dating in a small town? The worst?
Andrea Laurence: The best part of dating in a town like Rosewood is that everyone is a known commodity. Sure, new blood moves into town occasionally, but most people are folks you’ve known your whole life. While that can be intimidating, it’s also nice that everyone is a known quantity. There’s very little chance for a guy you’re dating to have a criminal past or a crazy ex-wife that no one knows about. The worst part of dating in a small town is dealing with the aftermath of a failed relationship. Not only will you have to see the person all the time, you’ll have to see him date other people. You’ll have to listen to everyone’s opinion on what went wrong and even face the gentle encouragement of folks to give it another try with someone you’ve broken up with.
About the Authors
Samantha Chase
New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan’s Return, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her 40’s to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as well.
When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.
RETURN TO YOU released March 3, 2015. You can order the title here: https://amzn.to/1EV1EpC
Grace Burrowes
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes’ bestsellers include The Heir, The Soldier, Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal, Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish and Lady Eve’s Indiscretion. The Heir was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2010, The Soldier was a PW Best Spring Romance of 2011, Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish won Best Historical Romance of the Year in 2011 from RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards, Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight was a Library Journal Best Book of 2012, and The Bridegroom Wore Plaid was a PW Best Book of 2012. Her Regency romances have received extensive praise, including starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Grace is branching out into short stories and Scotland-set Victorian romance with Sourcebooks. She is a practicing family law attorney and lives in rural Maryland.
KISS ME HELLO released on March 3, 2015. You can order the title here: https://amzn.to/1GzO387
Andrea Laurence
Andrea Laurence has been a lover of reading and writing stories since she learned to read at a young age. She always dreamed of seeing her work in print and is thrilled to finally be able to share her special blend of sensuality and dry, sarcastic humor with the world. A dedicated West Coast girl transplanted into the Deep South, she’s working on her own “happily ever after” with her boyfriend and their collection of animals including a Siberian Husky that sheds like nobody’s business.
Mar 6, 2015 | Blog, March 2015, Samantha Chase
Return to You (Montgomery Brothers Book4), by Samantha Chase, is fresh and fabulous must read! Selena Ainsley has spent the past ten years wondering why James Montgomery left town while she was in a coma after a horrific car accident. Everything fell apart – her relationship with James and her parents was destroyed that fateful day. In order to survive she decided to move on and that meant leaving town.
When Selena’s best friend Jen phones asking for help to organize a ten year high school reunion, she hesitates. If she agrees to help out then that means she has to return home. Returning meant dealing with unpleasant memories and family, not a priority on her to-do list. If Selena was going to return home it would take something big. When a mysterious donor funds the entire reunion with a sizeable budget Selena still hesitates. What will it take to get her to return? Can she return to town and avoid the past? Nothing prepared Selena for the moment they came face to face, it happened when she wasn’t expecting to see him.
Both Selena and James have their own set of secrets, will the truth finally come out? Is there room for forgiveness? Will they move forward once and for all? They need to figure out if there’s still a connection? Communication and honesty are essential now. Do they have what it takes to relive the past and face a future, whatever that may be?
This story has it all, surprises, meddling family members, unfulfilled dreams and chemistry that keeps you in suspense and connected. This book is chock full of heart-stopping and sweet events that made me consume this in one sitting. I had to know what happened and you will want to know too, do they get back together?
I received this ARC for a fair and honest review but will happily purchase any future books by Samantha Chase! I absolutely loved this story and look forward to catching up on all the Montgomery Brother’s.
BIO:
New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan’s Return, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her 40’s to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as well.
When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.
Mar 5, 2015 | Blog, Coffee With, March 2015
Today I’m enjoying a mocha latte (a yummy treat!) with my family, a warm and toasty fire, and a TON of great reads in my e-reader. How about you?
While I didn’t have a coffee date scheduled today, they will resume next week! 🙂
I’m also hoping to free up some Tuesdays so that I can participate in more release day events.
Thank you so much understanding 🙂
Happy Writing and Happy Reading!
Mar 3, 2015 | Blog, Coffee With, Erica Ridley, March 2015
First, if we were meeting at a Coffee shop I’d be drinking a Latte 🙂 What would you be drinking? Either a steamy hot caffe mocha or an iced caramel macchiato, depending on the weather. 😉
Thank you so much for taking time to sit down and answer a few questions. Congrats on the release of The Captain’s Bluestocking Mistress yesterday! If anyone missed my review for your fabulous new book they can check out my review that was posted earlier this week: https://booksilovealatte.wordpress.com/2015/03/01/a-soldier-who-has-returned-from-war-and-the-woman-who-desires-him/
What was the inspiration for your Duke’s of War series and how many books can we expect?
A lot of people (including me!) love military heroes. As a historical romance writer, I especially loved the idea of soldier coming home from war and doing his best to return to normal, when normal in his case means Regency England.
I asked myself: After years of marching and living in tents and killing enemy soldiers, do you care about the color of Beau Brummel’s waistcoat or whether the patronesses of Almack’s will grant you permission to waltz? How do you reconcile these two very different forms of survival?
With this series, I’m trying to show all sides of what it means to be soldier—the ones who feel they did the right thing, the ones who don’t, the ones who didn’t make it home with all their pieces intact (physically or emotionally), the ones who do make it home whole only to find out home is no longer how they left it.
There are a total of six planned books in this series. But readers’ favorite secondary characters will probably find their way into a future series!
What can we expect next?
Next in the series is The Major’s Faux Fiancée, which releases in June. Major Blackpool returns home to play pretend beau to the girl next door to save her from an unwanted betrothal. But once they’ve announced their faux engagement, neither one can cry off without doing damage to the other’s social status.
Daphne intends to remain a spinster, so she plots to make the major jilt her first—without realizing he’s busy plotting the same thing! With both of them on their worst behavior, neither expects their fake betrothal to lead to love… 😉
What inspired you to write in this genre and how do you research and prepare for your books?
I love writing historical romance because it gives me the freedom to put complex characters in impossible situations and help them find love anyway. The hardest part is keeping to the constraints of historical accuracy. I have dozens of physical research books, dozens of research e-books, hundreds of bookmarked links, reams of handwritten notes from visits to period cities and houses, and a well-tagged Evernote database for everything else.
I research what my characters are wearing, what they’re eating, what’s happening in the world during the dates of the story, money, travel, legalities, and whether the words I use existed in the time period. It’s impossible to catch everything, but I easily spend hours poring over every page. My critique partners and my editor are fabulous, too. I couldn’t do it without them.
How long does it take to write each book? It generally takes me 3-6 months to write a book. I already had two complete books ready to go before the series prequel launched. I try to start working on the next one while the previous one is out for editing or critique, in order to help minimize the downtime between books.
Your covers are fantastic and I love the dresses the girls are wearing. Do you design your own covers? Thank you!! And yes, I do! It often takes three times as long to find the right starting image as it does to create the initial mockups. I’m so glad you like the covers!
Thank you again!
8 Tantalizing Tidbits:
1. A must read book and why? It’s not a romance, but a book I read recently that’s really stuck with me is The Girl With All The Gifts, by M. R. Carey. It’s hard to explain everything I loved about it without giving away the best plot twists, but at its heart, it’s about what humanity really means, literally and figuratively, in a post-apocalyptic world. Nothing is black-and-white, and often the good guys and the bad guys turn out to be precisely the opposite, depending on your perspective. I loved that. I really enjoy books that turn stereotypes upside down. Bonus points if they can make me laugh, make me cry, and make me gasp in surprise.
2. What is one place that I should see if I visit your hometown? I live in Nuevo Arenal, Costa Rica, a stone’s throw from Lake Arenal, the biggest and prettiest lake in the country. So definitely you should come see it! If it’s a clear day, there will be windsurfers on the lake, and you may even be able to see one or two of the closest volcanos!
3. When you plot out your book do you know how it will end or do you figure it out as you go?
I definitely know how it will end, although I might not always know exactly how I’ll get there. I use the writing software Scrivener to organize my ideas and keep plot threads and character details consistent across each series.
For me, knowing ahead of time what is supposed to happen helps me to sit down and make it happen. Without a roadmap, I find myself spending too much time staring helplessly at a blank page.
I love knowing how a story will end because it gives me something to layer toward. The ending to The Captain’s Bluestocking Mistress is precisely what the heroine needs, and the ending to The Major’s Faux Fiancée is exactly what the hero needs. But even I get surprised sometimes by the pages in-between!
4. Do you watch a TV show weekly or binge watch? Binge watch! Since I live in the rainforest, Netflix is pretty much my only option when it comes to TV. I’m sooo sad that I can’t stream Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime from outside of the U.S. Especially now that Amazon has some great looking original programming! (I’ve read all the Bosch books, so I’m particularly bitter about being denied that one, lol.)
5. What is the craziest souvenir you picked up while traveling? Do you collect things when you travel?
I am not much for knick-knacks, so I promised myself that if I ever collected travel souvenirs, it would need to be something small, inexpensive, and eminently practical. Thus: shot glasses!! LOL. It seemed like a good idea before there were three or four dozen of them…
I have two wall-mounted shot glass cabinets (this is a real thing!! You should’ve seen how excited I was to learn shot glass cabinets existed) and on exactly one occasion–my last birthday party in Florida–every single shot glass was used in a birthday toast. See?? I told you shot glasses were practical! 😉
6. Castles or Beaches? Castles! I love beaches, and they’re perfect for relaxing, but there’s just nothing like a good castle. My youngest brother and I went on a road trip around Ireland and the UK a few years ago, and we explored every single castle we came across. They are all vastly different! It was such a wonderful, eye-opening experience.
7. Favorite sports and team? Chicago Bears were my #1, but I lived in Tampa for almost twelve years, so it’s impossible not to have a soft spot for the Buccaneers (NFL), Storm (AFL), Rays (MLB), and Lightning (NHL). Of course, now that I live in Latin America, there’s only one sport that matters: soccer!
8. When you are traveling do you road trip it or fly it?
Depends! If I’m crossing an ocean or the entire United States diagonally, I fly. But I’ve road-tripped it between Florida and the Midwest states on multiple occasions–once, it took me three weeks to get from Chicago to Tampa because there were so many great places to see on the way down.
Here in Costa Rica, I drive almost everywhere. When I cross the border into Nicaragua, it’s either on foot or on a boat, depending on whether there’s a river in the way!
BIO:
Erica Ridley learned to read when she was three, which was about the same time she decided to be a writer when she grew up.
Now, Erica is a USA Today best-selling author of historical romance novels. Her latest series, The Dukes of War, features roguish peers and dashing war heroes who return from battle only to be thrust into the splendor and madness of Regency England.
When not reading or writing romances, Erica can be found riding camels in Africa, ziplining through rainforests in Costa Rica, or getting hopelessly lost in the middle ofBudapest.
Website: https://www.EricaRidley.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EricaRidley
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/EricaRidley
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/EricaRidley
