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Author Laura Kaye Reads an Excerpt of North of Need (Video Post)

Guest Blogger — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:00:22 +0000

Video Guest Post by Laura Kaye, author of North of Need

Thanks for listening!

Laura Kaye

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Here’s the blurb:

Her tears called a powerful snow god to life, but only her love can grant the humanity he craves...

Desperate to escape agonizing memories of Christmas past, twenty-nine-year-old widow Megan Snow builds a snow family outside the mountain cabin she once shared with her husband, realizing too late that she's recreated the very thing she'll never have.

Called to life by Megan's tears, snow god Owen Winters appears unconscious on her doorstep in the midst of a raging blizzard. As she nurses him to health, Owen finds unexpected solace in her company and unimagined pleasure in the warmth of her body, and vows to win her heart for a chance at humanity.

Megan is drawn to Owen's mismatched eyes, otherworldly masculinity, and enthusiasm for the littlest things. But this Christmas miracle comes with an expiration--before the snow melts and the temperature rises, Megan must let go of her widow's grief and learn to trust love again, or she'll lose Owen forever.

Buy: North of Need (Hearts of the Anemoi, Book 1)

Bio:

A multi-published author of paranormal, contemporary and erotic romance, Laura Kaye’s hot, heartfelt stories are all about the universal desire for a place to belong. Laura is the author of the bestselling contemporary romance and award-nominated HEARTS IN DARKNESS and the bestselling and award-winning paranormal romance FOREVER FREED (NJRW Golden Leaf Award for Best Paranormal of 2011), as well as an erotic romance novella, JUST GOTTA SAY. Her fourth book, contemporary fantasy romance NORTH OF NEED, is the first in the 4-book Hearts of the Anemoi series. Laura lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

GIVEAWAY: I have on offer an e-book of North of Need up for grabs. The contest is open internationally. Enter by leaving a comment! Five extra entries if you answer the question Laura Kaye asks in her video! Last day to enter: November 4, 2011.

WANT TO WIN NORTH OF NEED? The North of Need Book Launch Blog Tour runs October 25 – November 20. A giveaway everyday!

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Review: Defining Twilight by Brian Leaf, M.A.

Keira — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:30:22 +0000

I’ve said before about how romance novels will improve your vocabulary and that they were responsible for my high SAT scores. Now it's time to show how that's possible...

Brian Leaf is brilliant. He takes Twilight and pulls from it the words most likely to be seen on a standardized test. The book is very simple to use and was so engaging some middle school girls that I know took turns quizzing each other from it for hours purely for fun. Think about that. If that isn't an endorsement right there I don't know what is.

There are 40 groups of vocab words – 8 words in each group. That’s 320 words (directly from Twilight) plus synonyms, antonyms, and word parts for a staggering 600 words. Each word is isolated in the text so students can look it up in context. A glossary is provided in the back of the book as well as after each page of words.

Brian Leaf has obviously read Twilight and writes engagingly in his explanations pulling from the novel to enlighten readers. The book teaches how to find synonyms, make analogies, fill in sentences, and figure out meaning from word parts. Each section and quiz builds on itself for repetition and memorization purposes. After every five groups there’s a quiz for practice.

I love the group titles: Tousled Hair, Enigmatic Answers, His Topaz Eyes, and Vampire Etiquette. You can picture where they come from in the novel.

If literacy parts of an exam scare you to pieces, nothing makes learning more fun and less scary than a sparkly vampire or two.

Rating: 5 Stars

Buy: Defining Twilight: Vocabulary Workbook for Unlocking the SAT, ACT, GED, and SSAT

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Review: Garden of Apples by M. Nova

Sandra Scholes — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 09:54:35 +0000

by Sandra Scholes, guest reviewer

M. Nova reaches deep into our hearts to bring us this tale we all know about from the Bible, the tale of Adam and Eve and how they came to be regarded in a mixed way by all of us. The truth is we have never really known the true story of their life, and what happened when they did the ultimate sin and got a mind of their own, and Eve ate the apple the serpent showed her. The premise for the story is to find out whether it really was the act of Eve eating the apple from the tree of knowledge that made Adam sin in the same way, or were they supposed to know what they wanted in the first place. Were they supposed to know more than God wanted them to, and indulge in sexual acts that were frowned upon by him?

Perhaps, but with this novel, the reader can find out the truth about Adam and Eve's emotional and physical journey on the way. It is a voyage of self discovery as far as the two are concerned, and it is more a case of who knows what they will find out along the way more than anything else.

From the title you might think it is a more old fashioned story, but it is actually very different from what anyone was expecting, especially me. Garden of Apples is an interesting and fun story that takes place in the present day.

One of the things I liked about this story more than normal was the way in which the novel was written. It had plenty of twists in it that were not expected. It kept me hooked in many ways, but more than anything I liked the original way this book was handled by the writer.

Rather than it just being a novel about love and the way in which relationships evolve, there are some pieces of poetry, puzzles for you to do as well as some rather crafty hidden messages thrown in for good measure. This is partly what kept the interest with me, as I am a big fan of quizzes and puzzles in general, and if readers out there are too, then this will be a very fun read for all concerned.

Rating:

Buy: Garden of Apples, Garden of Apples (UK)

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Only Mr. Darcy Will Do and the Treasure Hunt

Guest Blogger — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 09:10:37 +0000

by Kara Louise, guest blogger and author of Only Mr. Darcy Will Do

Keira invited me here today and gave me a very interesting suggestion for for my guest blog. She asked me to prepare a treasure hunt similar to what Darcy did in my newest book, Only Mr. Darcy Will Do.

In this variation of “Pride and Prejudice,” Elizabeth is forced to become a governess when her father dies. She is governess to a six year-old girl named Emily Willstone and is treated well in this position.

Elizabeth soon discovers that Mrs. Willstone has a long-time acquaintance with Mr. Darcy. Her sister, Rosalyn Matthews, has had a secret affection for him for a long time. Elizabeth can only hope that they will not discover that he once proposed to her, or worse yet, that she turned him down. She feels particularly awkward when he extends an invitation to the family to Pemberley and cannot fathom that he would even want her there.

As she spends time at Pemberley and in Mr. Darcy’s presence, she begins to see a side of him that she had not seen before. He is kind, caring, compassionate, and he loves his sister dearly. She is surprised by his actions on many occasions and the treasure hunt he plans is one of those. I have included below a portion of the book that takes place in the library following the treasure hunt. Elizabeth and Emily had been in there looking for a book on birds that Darcy recommended. When he finds it, Emily hurries off with the book to show her mother, leaving Elizabeth alone with him.

*~*~*

“I would like to thank you, Mr. Darcy, for a very enjoyable afternoon.” The smile on Elizabeth’s face conveyed a hope that she could be in his presence with a degree of equanimity.

“I am pleased you enjoyed it.”

Elizabeth let out a breathy chuckle. “I would not have supposed you interested in planning such a thing as a treasure hunt.”

He raised an eyebrow and he allowed a very slight smile to grace his face. “My father often used a treasure hunt to help me in my studies. The enticement of finding a treasure prompted me on more than one occasion to learn my lessons well. Truth be told, many of the clues we used today were ones that my father used.”

“I believe your father must have been very wise.” Elizabeth let out a genial laugh.

Darcy’s eyes met hers. “Yes, he was. I can only hope to be half as wise as he was.”

Emily suddenly appeared at the door. “Miss Bennet, may we go for a walk and take this book? I want to see if I can find some of these birds.”

Darcy raised an eyebrow at Elizabeth. “It sounds as if someone desires your presence.”

“Hmm, yes. Duty calls.” She turned to her charge. “Emily, that sounds like a splendid idea!”

They walked toward the door, Emily holding protectively onto the book, and Elizabeth hearing Darcy let out a sharp breath.

*~*~*

In Only Mr. Darcy Will Do Elizabeth realizes that as a governess she is now much more decidedly beneath him. When she discovers that she is falling in love with him, she must prepare herself for the fact that he will never renew his offer, and even worse, that he possibility invited the Willstones to Pemberley so he could further his acquaintance with Rosalyn, as Rosalyn hopes and the Willstones suspect.

I have actually made up a real treasure hunt for you all to enjoy, but instead of walking about the grounds of Pemberley (I know you are disappointed), you will have to use the internet. I have prepared several questions about Jane Austen and “Pride and Prejudice” and if you know the answer, you only need to put the answer at the end of the URL I will give you below. If you get the answer right, you will go to the correct page, and there you will find the next clue. If you get it wrong, you will more than likely get an error page.

Good luck!

Question 1) According to “Pride and Prejudice,” which of the Bennet daughters claims that she is the tallest?

Directions:

Put the correct answer to the above question at the end of this URL into your web browser: http://www.ahhhs.net/ You can copy and paste it or type it in manually. Then you must add your answer after the forward slash. For example if your correct answer is answer, you will have ahhhs.net/answer.
Then hit ‘go’ or ‘return.’ I have not used any capital letters. (For example the answer to a question is Darcy, you would have ahhhs.net/darcy.)
When you have finished the treasure hunt, email me at 2karalouise@gmail.com with the correct answer to the final question of the treasure hunt that you were able to guess. Everyone who emails me (no matter how far you get) will be entered in the giveaway. Everyone who completes it will get an extra chance in the giveaway. The first person to email me with the final answer will get 2 entries, and everyone who gets the extra question at the end gets an additional chance. Hope this makes sense! This makes for a lot of chances to win!

Thanks for letting me stop by and I hope you have fun!

Prize - A copy of Only Mr. Darcy Will Do

Additional details - Open to US and CANADIAN readers. Last Day to Enter is April 1, 2011.

PS: For an additional entry - Leave a comment here on LRP about treasure hunts, but do not give away the answers to any of Kara Louise's questions! If you do I will delete your comment.

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I’m German, but I Write in English

Guest Blogger — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 09:13:36 +0000

by Beate Boeker, guest blogger and author of A Little Bit of Passion

When I wrote "A Little Bit of Passion", it felt like a fever. I had to get the story down, and I dreamed myself into this world until it felt more real than my normal life. "A Little Bit of Passion" was the third book I have ever written in English. I know that because I number the folders where I save my stories - one folder for every novel. There's something very satisfying about numbered folders, I think. I'm currently on book number ten - but how did it all start?

It started with a failure. I wrote my very first novel in German (which isn't surprising, as I'm German). When my master piece was done, I realized that in some tiny places, it might have to be even more masterful, so I looked around for help - - and didn't find anything. No writer's conferences, no writer's groups, no workshops for beginning writers - nothing to be found in Germany. As I searched the Internet, I realized that things are dramatically different in the US - and that most of the necessary information is online, as Americans are used to communicating across vast distances. Perfect. I decided to write in English (something my mother hasn't understood to this day).

So I composed my second masterpiece, and when I had written "The End", I decided I needed a book doctor because even I, the loving author, could tell that in some places, my beautiful text sounded kind of odd. However, I didn't know how to change that; I had not yet learned to use the tools of the trade. So I did a very scientific research in the Internet: I googled for about ten minutes and found one address that had the name "International" in the title. Perfect, I thought - if it's international, the book doctor will know how to call me in case there are questions. I was luckier than I deserved. I hit upon Elizabeth Lyon who worked on my manuscript until it started to resemble a book. Then she recommended me to Avalon Books, a New York publishing house that launches sixty beautiful hardcovers with family-friendly romances, mysteries and westerns every year. I promptly sent in my manuscript - and the rest is history, as they say - well, after having waited fifteen months or so, because as an author, there's nothing you need more than patience.

So by the time my first book came out, I had finished two other novels. One of them was "A Little Bit of Passion". In the meantime, I had found something most precious, a writer friend. Margaret Elam is a retired English teacher, who taught me how to make words sing, how to polish every single word, and how to turn a sentence around and around until the rhythm is right, until you know in your bones that this is it. I owe a lot to Maggi. We sent each other e-mails all the time, and maybe that inspired me to write "A Little Bit of Passion" entirely in the form of e-mails. It's the only novel I have ever written in first tense - maybe that's why it feels so close to my heart. Below you can read an excerpt - and if you can hear the snow crunch underneath your skis while reading, then you're right where I want you to be. Have fun!

You can order A Little Bit of Passion here ...Amazon and at Avalon Books

Read a free short story on Beate's website www.happybooks.de

Once a month, Beate blogs at the Avalon Authors blog: http://avalonauthors.blogspot.com

Excerpt - A Little Bit of Passion
by Beate Boeker
Avalon Books
April 2011

Chapter 1
Teton Mountain Range

Dear Leslie,

Do you remember the guy who made me think for the first time that I’m too old to teach skiing? I was so glad when he finished his course last year and took his turtle-y head elsewhere.
Well, he’s back.

I greeted my new ten o’clock group this morning, and the instant I finished presenting myself, he sidled out from behind someone else’s back and stared at me with his half closed eyes. A shiver ran down my spine, and I’m sure I looked as if I had discovered a huge spider amongst the Easter eggs. He must have hidden at the guest-house this morning, or I would have been on my guard.

I turned my back on him as soon as I could, but I knew he continued watching me, his head swiveling from left to right like a hundred year old turtle. That image really fits, right down to the wrinkles all over the face and the folds in the neck. You can’t imagine how stiffly I moved all at once, like a wooden doll, waiting for his first filthy comment.

I didn’t have to wait long. Just as I showed them how to swing into an arc, he muttered in that penetrating voice of his, “Show me again how to swing that hip, baby. It’s so inspiring.”

I ignored him with clenched teeth.

But of course he didn’t let go. He lifted his voice and repeated: “Baby, I said show me again how to swing that hip. I’m here to learn, and you’re here to teach.”

The group stared a him.

A woman called Minnie started to giggle.

I fixed the turtle with a stare as hard as I could. “My name is Karen.”

“Oh, my, baby, I’m so sorry. I forgot. I thought you’d given me leave to call you some other names.”

What could I say? The management has made it clear to me that I have to keep the customers happy no matter what. Every time I complain about the turtle or other types, they say I should “endeavor to be a little bit more skilled in the art of flirting”. After all, the other instructors don’t complain, so it must be me, right? Why, oh why, do so many men think the skiing teacher is part of the package tour?

I closed my eyes and tried to remember why I love my job. The purple mountains. The air like chilled white wine. The joy of flying across the snow. Meeting many wonderful people, teaching them how to ski better. And the nasty ones don’t stay long, so it’s easy to bear. Usually.

I knew I had to put a stop to it right away; he would only make it worse if I laid down now. “I can’t remember giving you leave to call me anything but Karen,” I said and swished around to show them the arc once again.

Without giving them time for comment, I made them go through the motions. It’s a mixed group, aged from thirteen to fifty, I would say. I’ll separate them into beginners and advanced tomorrow, but unfortunately, I have promised Steve to take the advanced group this time, and the turtle is advanced, there’s no denying that.

When I asked the turtle to take his turn, he managed to brush by me and yelled, “Oh, my, I’m so sorry, Kare-een, I lost my footing.”
My face burnt so much, it’s a wonder I didn’t melt a hole into the snow, but I clenched my teeth and didn’t comment.

Next came the youngest of the group. He made a very creditable arc, and when he pushed past me on his way back, I said “Well done”.
The youngster cast me a glance and said in a low voice “Don’t mind that jerk.”

Underneath his red cap two gray eyes fixed me earnestly. He has lashes every female will envy, thick and long and straight. But what floored me was the spattering of freckles across his nose.

I swallowed and promised myself to dispatch the turtle somehow, to avoid spoiling that kid’s Easter holiday.

So if you read about the murder of a turtle in the Teton Mountain Range, make sure you get a good attorney, because it’ll be hard to wriggle out of this one.

Love,
Karen

AUTHOR BIO:
Beate Boeker is a product manager by day and a writer by night. She's also married and the mother of an energetic kid who loves snow as much as she does. If you mix Latin and German, Beate Boeker literally translates as Happy Books . . . and with a name like that, what else could she do but write romances? Beate would love to hear from you. You can get in touch via her website, www.happybooks.de

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My Not-So-Secret Crush on Junior’s Cheesecake

Guest Blogger — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:05:13 +0000

by Elisa Lorello, guest blogger and author of Faking It

I am frequently asked how much, if any, of myself is in Andi, the protagonist of Faking It. My answer is always the same: the surface stuff—things like her being a native Long Islander, her profession and education, etc. She also shares a fear of flying with me, and most importantly, her eternal devotion to a cheesecake. Junior’s cheesecake, to be exact.

Believe it or not, the first time I heard the name “Junior’s” in reference to cheesecake was in a movie some twenty years ago. Since then, I had learned that it had become a landmark and an icon of Brooklyn, dare I say right up there with the Brooklyn Bridge and the long-gone Ebbet’s Field (at least to Brooklynites). I didn’t actually taste the cheesecake until 2007, when I visited a friend. By then, I had already written the scene of Andi meeting Devin in Junior’s for the first time. But following my visit, I rewrote the scene. It turned out the actual cheesecake was as delectable as I’d imagined for Andi, if not better. I knew then that Andi was in love—not with Devin (although that was inevitable), but with Junior’s.

I self-published Faking It in 2009, and that year, when I visited my grandmother for Christmas, she instructed me to go to the refrigerator. Ever see those commercials where someone opens the fridge, and a blinding light emanates from it, as if deified? Yeah, that’s what seeing the bright, classic, orange-and-white-striped box was like. “I told everyone to keep away from it until you’ve had a piece,” said my grandmother. She’d read my book. To my surprise, it turned out that my uncle had work connections to the Rosens, the family who owned and operated Junior’s for generations. Following that day, my uncle told them about my novel, and Andi’s love for their signature dessert. For my 40^th birthday, I received a complimentary Junior’s cheesecake, delivered to me in North Carolina.

Wow. Best. Birthday. Ever.

My permanent attachment to Junior’s thanks to Andi and Faking It is only one of many pleasant surprises to come from having written this novel. This past Christmas, a dear friend of mine gave me the ultimate gift—Welcome to Junior's! Part history, part cookbook of select Junior’s recipes ranging from meatloaf to strawberry sauce, the book really tells the story of what it was like to live in Brooklyn, beginning in the 1930s when Junior’s first opened, to the 1990s. It even contains the classic cheesecake recipe, although I wouldn’t dare make it. Ever. Some things you just don’t mess with.

About the Book: In FAKING IT we meet Andi Cutrone, a 30-something writing professor whose personal life is in flux after she breaks off her engagement. Deciding to yield New England to her ex, Andi moves home to Long Island and new teaching position at Brooklyn University, eager to get a fresh start on her career and herself. Things seem to be going according to plan, Andi’s classes are invigorating and she’s enjoying the company of her best friend and colleague, Maggie.

Then, just when Andi seems to be finding her footing, she meets Devin, a male escort whose client list seems to include at least half of the accomplished women she knows. Devin, totally handsome and charming (and decidedly out of her league), has something else underneath his sexy exterior that piques Andi’s interest. So she proposes a “teaching” arrangement: each of them will educate the other in what they know best. Devin will teach Andi to be a better lover, and she’ll teach him to be a writer.

What starts out as a clear-cut contract slowly develops into a deeper, unexpected relationship. In the midst of lessons in rhetorical theory and foreplay, Andi and Devin delve into profound questions about everything from art to love to politics, stripping away the emotional walls each has built up, and ultimately opening themselves up to each other and the rest of the world.

Buy: Faking It

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Cowboys: Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

Guest Blogger — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:25:11 +0000

by C.H. Admirand, guest blogger and author of Tyler

It was a trip to a ladies’ club that actually had the wheels turning in my brain. I was distinctly uncomfortable there and wondered what it would be like to be the object of all the attention on the stage and being totally out of your element, equally uncomfortable. In keeping with the theme of the ladies’ club in Houston, one of the strippers wore black spandex briefs, chaps, boots, and a black Stetson. The crowd loved him and cheered for him, while I sat there wondering if the floor would swallow me up to relieve my embarrassment—now if I’d been at a Rodeo—then look out people, I’d be on my feet stomping and hollering with the best of them!

It was never a question in my mind that the hero would be a cowboy in real life, it seemed natural, we were in Texas and that was where I’d set my book. Times have been tough for the last few years for my own family with all three of my siblings out of work, and just last week my employer cut my work hours by 25%. But in tough times, people still have families to provide for. I pictured my hero coming to the proverbial wall: he either had to try something drastic to create an influx of cash, or the 150 years of the sweat, blood, and tears of the Garahan family would be for nothing. He has two younger brothers and together they run the Circle G ranch—their legacy.

I wanted the reader to root for Tyler as he was finding his way in a world that was totally foreign to him, to get a glimpse of what it would be for someone used to working on his ranch to be confronted with the decision to have to take on a night job only to find that he wasn’t qualified to do much else besides the manual work and bookkeeping skills required to keep the ranch running. It’s a blow to anyone at any age to have to realize that your years of hard work don’t count if you’re applying for a job outside the realm of your experience, education, and capabilities.

I’ve always loved classic movies and TV Westerns. Heroes like John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry—strong and silent, the type of man who will grit his teeth and forge ahead—no matter what. I’ve added to that some of my real-life hero’s best qualities, his honesty, his integrity, his compassion for those in need, and his killer broad shoulders.

Tyler needed a heroine who was equally strong, but one that he would still feel drawn to after that initial physical attraction, one that would go soul deep and pull at him. My hero has a soft spot for DIDs (damsels in distress), unfortunately for Tyler, it takes him a little time to realize that while Emily may have been a DID, she didn’t act like one or think she was!

Emily’s not sure she can trust someone as good looking as Tyler having been burned in the past, but there’s something different about him from the start, an innate kindness in him that calls to her. Add to that the fact that he really seems to need this job, her curiosity, and combine it with the overwhelming desire that she can’t seem to keep a lid on whenever he’s around, and you have one volatile combination that just sizzles on the pages.

The sparks just fly whenever they are together, but they’ll have to dig deep for compassion and understanding in order to come to the realization that their love for one another is stronger than their image of what the other should be.

TYLER BY C.H. ADMIRAND – IN STORES MARCH 2011

Desperate times call for desperate measures…
When Tyler Garahan said he’d do anything to save his family’s ranch, he never thought that would include taking a job as a stripper at a local ladies’ club. But the club’s fiery redheaded bookkeeper captures Tyler’s attention, and for her, he’ll swallow his pride…

And one good turn deserves another…
Emily Langley feels for the gorgeous cowboy. It’s obvious that he’s the real deal and wouldn’t be caught dead in a ladies’ revue if he wasn’t in big trouble. And when he looks at her like that, she’ll do anything to help…

Working days on the ranch and nights at the ladies’ club, Tyler is plumb exhausted. But could it be that his beautiful boss needs him just as much as he needs her...

Buy: Tyler

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C.H. Admirand was born in Aiken, South Carolina. She has published 9 bestselling novels for the library market. Tyler is her tenth book and her first mass market release. She lives with her husband, who is the inspiration for all of her heroes’ very best traits, in northern New Jersey. For more information, please visit http://www.chadmirand.com/.

GIVEAWAY: I have 2 copies of Tyler up for grabs. Open to US and Canadian addresses only. One entry per relevant comment; multiple entries allowed. Last Day to Enter: March 21, 2011.

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Sushi – The Food of Love?

Guest Blogger — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 11:56:00 +0000

by Christina Courtenay, guest blogger and author of The Scarlet Kimono

Hello Keira and thank you so much for inviting me onto your lovely blog to tell you a bit about my new novel The Scarlet Kimono.

From the heading of this post and the title of the book you’ve probably already guessed that it’s set in Japan, a country I absolutely love. I was lucky enough to live there for a while during my teens and had the best time of my life, so it seemed natural to set a novel there. Since I also love history, I decided to combine the two.

The Scarlet Kimono is the story of Hannah, a young English girl in the 17^th century who envies her brother’s adventurous life. She decides to stow away on his merchant ship and ends up in Japan, but once there, she is abducted by a warlord, Taro, to whom she’s instantly attracted. He, in his turn, is fascinated by her, but there’s a clash of both cultures and wills and that of course stops them from admitting the attraction. With Hannah’s brother desperate to find her and a jealous rival equally desperate to kill her, she faces the greatest adventure of her life. And Taro has to choose between love and honour …

Like many other westerners, Hannah has a tough time getting used to Japanese food at first. She finds raw fish slimy and, well, fishy (!) and she misses bread, butter and big roasts of meat. Although there is meat in Japanese cuisine, it doesn’t form the main part of their diet the way it did in many parts of Europe, so poor Hannah can only dream of the dishes she’s used to. Most of the time though, she has other things to worry about!

I have to admit that although I didn’t hate it, I wasn’t massively keen on sushi when I first tried it. It’s definitely an acquired taste, but once you get it, there’s no going back. During a holiday in Japan a couple of years ago, my family and I visited the famous fish market at Tsukiji in Tokyo and the sushi served in the little restaurants there was so fresh it almost melted on your tongue. And some of the other traditional dishes, like tempura (deep fried king prawns) and yakisoba (fried noodles) are delicious as well, so I imagined that my heroine adapted quite easily to her new circumstances. Besides, surely it’s worth giving up bread to find the love of your life?

So could sushi be the food of love? It doesn’t sound as romantic as a box of chocolates for instance (my absolute favourite – I’m a complete chocoholic!), but just imagine feeding your man little bits of sushi with your chopsticks while gazing into his eyes … Well, I guess it could work. Maybe. What do you think?

GIVEAWAY: If you’d like to win a signed copy of The Scarlet Kimono, please leave a comment below and tell me what you consider to be the food of love – I’d love to know! Last Day to Enter: February 25, 2011.

Thank you again for having me!

The Scarlet Kimono is published by Choc Lit on 1^st March (ISBN 978-1-906931-29-2)

(For more details and an extract please go to www.choc-lit.co.uk and if anyone would like to know more about me, my website and blog are at www.christinacourtenay.com and I also regularly blog in the Choc Lit Authors’ Corner at www.blog.choc-lit.co.uk

About the Author

Christina Courtenay writes historical novels with a hint of the Far East and loves history and all things Oriental. Her first novel Trade Winds was based on the Swedish East India Company’s first journey to China in 1732 and featured a Scottish hero and Swedish heroine. This novel has just been shortlisted for the RNA’s Pure Passion Historical Novel Prize 2011. Christina is half Swedish/half English and lives in London with her husband, two daughters and three mad (but adorable) dogs.

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Saving the Soul of Love

Guest Blogger — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:11:15 +0000

by Mari Ruti, author of The Case for Falling in Love

Saving the soul of love is, in a nutshell, the goal of my book. Our pragmatic culture tells us that there are ways to control and manipulate love to our satisfaction. Women in particular are conditioned to think that to make romance work, they need to make a superhuman effort: learn to read the male psyche, figure out a game plan, play hard to get, show just the right amount of vulnerability, etc. And we tend to believe that when things don’t work out, it’s our fault – that somehow we destroyed our relationship by taking the wrong step somewhere along the line. Did we come on too strong? Did we reveal too much of ourselves? Did we seem too desperate? Did we step on the fragile male ego? Did we return his call too quickly? Should we have let him drive around aimlessly rather than insist on asking for directions?

I wrote The Case for Falling in Love because I want us to stop torturing ourselves with these kinds of questions. When love doesn’t thrive, it’s not because we did something wrong. It’s definitely not because we left our toothbrush in his bathroom. Love is inherently fickle and volatile. A lot of times it’s not meant to last. We are used to thinking that its job is to make us happy, and often it can; it can make us happier than pretty much anything else. But this is not its only mission: it may be trying to teach us a lesson that we can only learn through its failure.

This, of course, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t aim to have fulfilling relationships. It’s just that there is no clear correlation between effort and happiness, and that the more we try to force love into a mold, the more we stifle what is most alive, magical, and interesting about it. Take the Mars/Venus mentality that permeates our romantic culture. This causes us to focus on the most superficial aspects of love (what men are “supposed” to be like, what women are “supposed” to do) so that we no longer see our partner for who he actually is: we fail to respect what is distinctive about him, and instead reduce him to a “category” (the male ego, the male psyche, etc.) that has been handed to us by our culture.

I think that love isn’t in the least bit interested in such categories. It couldn’t care less about our gendered games. And it doesn’t have much patience with our poker-face. It aims at the very core of our being – at the spirit that makes each of us a unique and irreplaceable creature. What’s so sad is that the more we let stereotypes rule our romantic behavior, the less likely we are to release this spirit. And why, for heaven’s sake, would any woman want to date a guy who falls into the stereotype – who thinks that women are “prey” to be conquered, or who claims that it’s in men’s “nature” to stray, fear commitment, forget your birthday, or fail to understand emotions. Why are so many self-help gurus trying to sell us a guy like this? My advice would be to run in the other direction.

I think that most quality men – that is, men worth dating in the first place – share a lot of the same romantic confusions and insecurities as women do. And a lot of them are looking for a strong woman with whom to build an emotionally complex relationship. When we replace the soul of love with stale gender formulas, we can’t recognize this. And we give men a convenient excuse to treat us badly. So let’s toss those self-help guides in the recycling bin and focus instead on saving what is most mysterious, least formulaic, about love. And let’s have faith that a guy who genuinely likes us is not going to walk away just because we know how to parallel park, change a light bulb, or read a map. A guy worth our attention would never be that dumb!

Buy: The Case for Falling in Love

GIVEAWAY: I have a copy of The Case for Falling in Love. Open to US readers/addresses. Enter by leaving a relevant comment - perhaps something along the lines of what rules you usually set in place, if you do so, or one you've heard of from your friends. Multiple comments/entries allowed. Last day to enter: February 14, 2011.

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My Muse and I: A Complicated Relationship

Guest Blogger — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 09:30:50 +0000

by Marie Force, guest blogger and author of Everyone Loves a Hero

My muse chooses the damndest times to show up. For instance, I’m sitting in an airport bar with my husband a couple of years ago, killing some time before our flight home. Out on the concourse I watch a striking blonde woman rush into the arms of an arriving pilot. Riveted by their reunion, I watch them walk arm-in-arm into the same restaurant we were in and find a table. From there, I found my eyes darting repeatedly to them, wishing I had the nerve to go over, pull up a chair and ask for their story.

That’s where the idea for Everyone Loves a Hero originated. See how my muse shows up out of the blue? One minute I’m minding my own business, and the next minute I’m, well, not… Some people might use the word “nosy” to describe this character trait. I prefer the word “observant.” I’m asked all the time about where the ideas for books come from. I find that when you’re looking for them, ideas are everywhere. It then becomes a matter of figuring out which ones make for viable story ideas, which ones can support a full-length book and which ones are interesting enough to hold my attention for the two or three months it will take me to write the book.

In this case the muse gave me an idea that led to this:

“Everyone loves a hero. That's the problem.

Hero pilot Cole Langston is learning to live with—and enjoy—his newfound fame and the rabid female attention that comes with it until a lucky punch knocks some sense into him and opens his eyes to true love.

When his copilot suffers a heart attack in flight, Cole lands the jetliner in a blizzard and revives the stricken captain. Catapulted to national hero status, Cole has more women vying for his attention than he knows what to do with. They all have one thing in common: they try without success to bring this happy-go-lucky pilot down to earth. Then comes an airport altercation, a punch to the face, and the lovely Olivia—a shy, timid artist who does what no other woman has ever managed to do: steal Cole's well-protected heart. With women coming on to him everywhere they go, Olivia struggles to believe that Cole is ready for a committed relationship. His biggest problem is getting rid of all his extra ladies before the only one he wants figures out that she's one of many.”

I was immediately intrigued by the idea of a pilot connecting in some way to a woman who works in the airport. I’ve done the long-distance romance thing myself, so that part interested me as well. The “national hero” part of the story came later. I wrote Cole and Olivia’s romance, but it needed something extra, something more. Enter Captain Sullenburger. I watched a news conference in which the “Hero on the Hudson” announced he was returning to work, and that gave me the idea to give Cole the national hero back story that’s included in Everyone Loves a Hero. The muse came to me in stages with this book. She’s fickle that way!

To the writers out there, where do you find your story ideas and is your muse as fickle as mine? To the readers, do you ever wonder where your favorite authors get their story ideas? Do you have an idea that you think would make for a good book? I’d love to hear it!

EVERYONE LOVES A HERO BY MARIE FORCE – IN STORES FEBRUARY 2011

Fame has its perks…

Reluctantly famous, First Officer Cole Langston finds being in the spotlight has its advantages—until he meets Olivia. Having women throw themselves at him everywhere he goes becomes a serious problem when he's trying to convince her she's the one…

And its price…

Olivia has trouble trusting a guy like Cole, and everywhere she turns she sees reasons to run. But he's the only man who's ever seemed to understand her as an artist and as a woman…

Cole is working overtime to prove to Olivia that he's serious, but her deep seated mistrust and his entourage of unwelcomed fans may be more than they can overcome…

Buy: Everyone Loves a Hero

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marie Force is a communications director and editor-in-chief as well as the author of Line of Scrimmage, Love at First Flight, Fatal Affair and Fatal Justice, as well as True North and The Fall (available as ebooks through Amazon.com). She is a member of RWA’s New England, From the Heart and Published Authors Special Interest Chapters. Marie lives in Portsmouth, Rhode Island with her husband, two children and their feisty dog named Brandy. To find out more information about Marie’s upcoming releases, please visit www.mariesullivanforce.com.

GIVEAWAY: I have 2 copies of Everyone Loves a Hero. Open to US and Canada only. Enter by leaving Marie a relevant comment. Multiple entries allowed! Last day to Enter: February 11, 2011.

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