Hi All! I’m giving away a stack of books with one book by each of the Dangerous Women:
FORBIDDEN HIGHLANDER by Donna Grant
THE LEGEND OF MICHAEL by Lisa Renee Jones
NEVER CRY WOLF by Cynthia Eden
A SEASON OF SEDUCTION by Jennifer Haymore
SINS OF THE FLESH by Caridad Pineiro
To enter, just sign up for freebies here on my site (if you don’t want freebies sent to you, just say so in the address fields of the form–I’ll enter you in the contest but won’t send the freebies).
For more about the Dangerous Women, please visit us at www.dangerwomenwriting.com or sign up for our readers group by clicking on the graphic below:
One person who signs up for Freebies from now through December 26 will be randomly selected to win the books!
Happy Holidays, Everyone!
***Update December 26: Thanks to all who entered! I hope you enjoy your freebies! Congrats to Ashley B., Who won the 5 Dangerous Women Books! Merry Christmas!
Here we gooooo! Only four weeks left until the release of Confessions of an Improper Bride, the first book in my three-book series, The Donovan Sisters! I am so excited, but I’m also nail-bitingly nervous. I hope people enjoy this series as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please keep stopping by, because in the next few weeks, I’m going to be offering some great prizes here and over at Dangerous Women to celebrate this release! I’m looking forward to having some fun with everyone!
Ooh, one more thing! I did an interview over at The James Gang, talking about my first series (The James Family series) and the new series as well. Come check it out!
Confessions of an Improper Bride is releasing in a little under two months. It’s the start of a brand-new series for me, which is significant, I realized, because I’ve just started a new phase of my life. It’s been a year since I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and being given that diagnosis is definitely a life-changing experience. They say things will never be the same for a person after being told she has cancer, but that people eventually find a “new normal.” The year has been traumatic and busy (between treatments, 3 active children, and book deadlines)…and definitely “abnormal.” But now that it’s all over (except for the constant check-ups), I feel like things are finally settling down. Things aren’t exactly the same as they were before, but they’re pretty good, in a new way. 2011 has definitely started in a much more positive way than 2010 did, and I’m starting to understand what everyone means by a “new normal.”
So between my eldest son starting Jr. High next year (and he’s almost as tall as me–how did that happen!?), my new series, and my “new normal,” I feel like I’m embarking on a new beginning and a new journey. One that I definitely hope my friends, family, and readers will join me on.
Check out my new contest! For the month of June, I’m giving away a copy of my first trilogy: A Hint of Wicked, A Touch of Scandal, and A Season of Seduction!
Win a 3-chapter critique of your manuscript from my fantastic literary agent, Barbara Poelle!
Here’s how it works: Anytime from December 1st through the 7th (at 11:59 p.m., Pacific Time), tweet me a pic of your SEASON OF SEDUCTION book/receipt/ebook screen, and I’ll enter you to win.
The winner will be chosen randomly on December 10th. The winner’s Twitter handle will be posted on this site and on Twitter. One entry per person, please!
If you’re a reader and not a writer, I’ll enter you in my reader’s contest for an advance copy of my next book, CONFESSIONS OF AN IMPROPER BRIDE due out in 2011!
I love Christmas and I love romance, so I consider myself so lucky to be able to write about both of them. When my editor asked me to have my characters offer seduction tips to readers, though, I was lost… Seduction tips? I’ve known my husband since I was sixteen! I haven’t consciously thought about seduction…ever, maybe.
So it meant research. And it meant thinking about the characters from A HINT OF WICKED, A TOUCH OF SCANDAL, and A SEASON OF SEDUCTION and thinking about how they would think of seduction. Ultimately, I was able to find enough seduction tips for the 12 days prior to the release of A SEASON OF SEDUCTION, as well as a few more, besides! Some of it is common sense (and I realize I’ve been doing it all along with my husband, blush!) and some of it was brand new for me, but here are the 12 days of seduction:
Do you have any seduction tips of your own to share? Post one here, and I’ll be giving away a copy of A SEASON OF SEDUCTION, plus an extra seductive bonus from Slumber Parties: Body Dew Strawberry Champagne After Bath Oil to one poster on October 10!
Enjoy…here’s wishing for lots of love and wonderful holidays for all of us!
(Oh, and P.S., don’t forget to check out my contest and freebies pages for even more goodies!)
I know, I’ve been gone for a while. I wanted to let everyone know I’ve been through the hard part (chemo) and am almost done with radiation. Probably at some point in the next month I’ll have a scan, and after such aggressive treatment, I’m sure it’s going to show that I’m cancer-free!
I’ve also just completed revisions on my 4th book, Confessions of an Improper Bride, and about ten minutes ago I sent in my synopsis for book #5. Confessions of an Improper Bride will release in 2011 and will be the start of the Donovan Series, a series about five impoverished sisters who were raised in the West Indies and come “home” to England as young women. I’m so excited about this series!
Some news I’m super thrilled about – A Season of Seduction releases in just a couple of weeks on October 1! I’m so excited and nervous about this book release – I think this is my most romantic book yet. I just picked up my copy of RT book reviews today and here’s what they said about it:
4.5 Stars:
“Haymore uses the Christmas season as an enhancing backdrop for a mystery/romance that is both original and fulfilling. Her fresh voice and ability to build sensual tension into lively love stories peopled by delicious characters makes this tale shine.”
I’m researching the winter holidays in England today. Don’t ask me how this came up when I did a search for winter holidays, but it did. Quotes like this are so grouch-inducing for me!
Gentlemen’s fashions are a touch more difficult for me than the ladies’ fashions. It’s a real challenge to find pictures and corresponding descriptions. Even more important, I want my heroes wearing…well, for lack of a better word, manly clothes. Look at these descriptions of some of the men’s fashions of 1829:
Light blue embroidered gloves:
some young men have appeared at balls with blue dress gloves embroidered with white…
and silk cloaks:
…cloaks of the gentlemen lined with plush silk of celestial blue…
and hankies with embroidered corners:
…at balls our young exquisites sport pocket handkerchiefs of fine lawn with a hem as broad as their thumbs the corners only are embroidered.
and flowery shoes:
…shoes tied with a small rosette.
and stylishly curled coiffures:
…a young gentleman now suffers his hair to grow has it curled and parted on the left side of the forehead.
Worst of all, corsets were in style for men. Here’s a caricature of the styles for 1827. Look how tightly those poor men are cinched up! (Also look at the poor ladies’ hats–but that’s a whole ‘nother post!)
…they say that a tall, thin man with his waist pinched in, and if he is withal very full, looks like grasshopper in an asthma.
Sigh. Maybe I should stop researching and go directly to the Pride and Prejudice movies. Of course, these movies represented a time several years earlier than the settings of my books… Nevertheless, with some variations the basic idea is there: shirts, cravats, tailcoats…
I’m always on the search for examples of fashions during the time in which I write. Women’s fashions are easy enough to find, though they can be challenging to decipher. (For me, anyway…even today’s fashions befuddle me, so going back two hundred years definitely makes my brain spin!) Read this description from fashions for December, 1827:
CARRIAGE DRESS: A pelisse of rich gros de Naples of a beautiful stone colour with a deep border of the same on the bias headed by narrow vandykes. -From the Lady’s Monthly Museum, Vol. 26
Hmm…it takes some sleuthing, but I can ultimately figure it out. The above is the beginning of the description of the carriage dress shown here on the left.
I might just put Lady Rebecca in this dress at some point in A SEASON OF SEDUCTION… Though I really love the evening dress on the right…sigh. I wonder how it would be received at my husband’s company Christmas party if I wore it…
On Thursday, I’m going to be talking about my continuing challenge to find interesting (and masculine!) variations in men’s fashions of the time!
The winner of my holiday contest was Denise Y! She’s getting a copy of A HINT OF WICKED, a copy of A HIGHLANDER CHRISTMAS, and lots of yummy-smelling holiday bath and body goodies. Congrats to Denise!
I lied about that being my last contest of the year, lol. I have another one up–you can enter to win a copy of Elizabeth Hoyt’s amazing Prince Trilogy. Go on over to my Bonus Features pages and check it out!
I’m heading off to City Hall right now. We’re in escrow both to sell our house and buy a new one, and it just came to our attention that the new house lot might be entirely in a flood zone (which means we can’t build or make improvements–very frustrating). So I’m off to the city to clarify the situation. I tell you, it’s one thing after another when you’re in a real estate transaction. My husband and I were completely crazy to start this process during the holidays.
Come check out my blog over at Popculture Divas, where I’m talking about tattoos, piercings, and elf ears today.
I’m also working on edits for A SEASON OF SEDUCTION–this is the story of the young sister, Becky, from A HINT OF WICKED. I’m loving this story…Becky has learned a lot since her naivety during A HINT OF WICKED, and she has lots of surprises in store for her hero, Jack. I can’t wait until it comes out next October!
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