Gearing Up for the Historical Hearts Launch Party

Oh yes, doesn't the sight of the delicious Henry in Immortals warm the cockles of your heart? And now I have your attention with a bit of gratuitous gorgeousness I'm going to announce some exciting news!

A group of Australian and New Zealand authors who write historical romance have got together, and we're launching a new blog next week - Historical Hearts We write across the spectrum, from ancient Roman times (that would me!), through to Scottish Highlanders, Regency, Victorian and up to World War II. Sizzling, sweet, fantasy and paranormal, there's something for everyone! There's going to be lots of fabulous giveaways throughout next week, so don't forget to pop on over and say hello!

Cathryn Hein - Promises

Huge congratulations to my good friend Cathryn Hein, whose debut with Penguin Australia hits the shelves today! Isn't that a beautiful cover? I've known Cathryn for a few years but we only met for real at the RWA conference last year. Fingers crossed we'll get to meet up again next year!

And here's the enticing blurb:

A father with something to hide, a jockey with a taste for blackmail, a man with an agonising secret... and a young woman in love, defying them all.

Sophie Dixon is determined to leave her tragic past behind and forge a bright future on her beloved farm. While looking to buy a new horse, she is drawn into her neighbour Aaron Laidlaw’s orbit, despite the bad blood between their families. As the racing season unfolds, Sophie and Aaron’s feelings for each other deepen. But Aaron is torn, haunted by a dark secret he fears can never be forgiven – especially by Sophie.

Sophie believes herself strong, but the truth behind her mother’s death will test her strength, and her love, to the limit. She’s been broken once. No one wants to see her broken again. Least of all the man who has grown to love her.

Captive - 20 Years of Romance Covers

I haven't forgotten today is Friday, but am going to put off the LOL kitty until after the weekend because today I received my certificate from the Romance Writers of Australia for the 20 Years of Romance Covers. Isn't it completely gorgeous! I've put the frame up in the dining room so everyone can admire it!!!

Huge thank you to the organizers of the contest and to everyone who voted and I'm just really sorry that I wasn't there at the conference to collect this in person.

If you love the Captive cover then you might want to check out other work by the artist, Tony Mauro. Totally awesome!

LOL-Oops

Yes, I managed to forget the Friday LOLcats after only three weeks. Oops! I only remembered last night so without further flaffing about, here is this week's adorable kitty (with thanks as always to the talented Eleni!!)

OMG how cute is this? Look at that little face!

Captive Ties 1st Place in the Romance Writers of Australia's 20 Years of Romance Covers!

On Saturday night I logged into Twitter so I could follow the award ceremony for the Romance Writers of Australia's 20th conference. And nearly fell off my chair when I saw that the cover of Captive tied for first place in the Historical Section along with my lovely writing friend Tamara Gill's A Captain's Order, A Duke's Command! Thank you to everyone who voted :-)

Stunning covers!! The full line up of finalists can be found here and details of the winners of the RWA 2011 Awards Night can be found here along with a couple of pics.

LOLCATS Friday #3

It's the 20th annual Romance Writers of Australia's conference this weekend, being held in Melbourne - and I'm not there!! I feel like Cinderella only this time there's no glass slipper or fairy godmother. *sigh* However, I have to say HM&B author Nikki Logan is doing an amazing job over at Twitter giving us the highlights and sound bites of Bob Mayer's Warrior Writer workshop, so big thanks Nikki!

And here is the adorable kitty for today. What a very lovely dream!!!

Doctor Who?

 I'm a bit of a David Tennant as Doctor Who fan, so had to post this YouTube of him with Catherine Tate. It's for Comic Relief Red Nose Day and is a few years old now, but I've only just discovered it and it's hilarious!

Enjoy!

Writerly Update

It's been a while since I did an update-on-my-writing post, so here goes!!

I heard back from my agent over the weekend and she loves the last book I handed in *phew* what a relief. It's like a weight off my mind. Now everything's crossed that my editor likes the revised version too :-)

I'm 15k into my next book, and the hero and heroine can hardly keep their hands off each other. I've already split them up once just as they were enjoying themselves, so I guess I'd better let them have some fun soon before I tear their world apart!

Boomerang Bride

Very excited for my good friend Fiona Lowe, multi-pubbed Mills and Boon author in their Medical line, who's celebrating the release of her debut single title from Carina Press today - Boomerang Bride! Huge congrats, Fiona :-)

And here's the tantalizing blurb!

Matilda Geoffrey risked it all for love. She left Australia to be with Barry—the man who had swept her off her virtual feet. Now, wearing a wedding dress, she's alone on Main Street in small-town Wisconsin, and things aren't working out exactly as planned...

In town for his annual family visit, Marc Olsen had never seen a bride quite like Matilda—staring into a storefront window, holding a tottering wedding cake, and looking desperately in need of a groom. He may not have any warm feelings for his hometown,but meeting Matilda just as she discovers she's been scammed by her online "fiancé" stirs something in him.

Matilda is not the kind of woman Marc imagined himself with, and Marc is anything but the romantic hero that Matilda has always dreamed of. But as unlikely circumstances throw them together, can they let go of their misconceptions and risk their hearts for love?

LOLPUPPY Friday

Here's the second LOLCATS Friday. But because we're all about equal opportunity here, we can't leave out the adorable puppies! So with thanks to Eleni, here's the first LOLPUPPY (hope you enjoy this one, Cathryn!!)

The answer to this question is... ummm, no not yet...

DarkSiders Unleashed

 Check out these sizzling covers on fellow DarkSide Down Under authors whose books are releasing this week! Super hotness guaranteed!!!

Enter the fierce, fantastical world of the Shadowfae, where blood is a drug, magic is a crime, and love is the most dangerous weapon of all...

 
To a vampire, nothing is sweeter than bloodfairy essence -- and Ember is the most sought-after fairy on the underworld circuit. Selling her blood to the highest bidder -- and robbing her clients in the process -- Ember has unwittingly become a target of dark and dangerous forces. Her enemies are everywhere. And if she hopes to survive, she needs protection...

Diamond is a glassfairy who, for better or worse, knows his way around the vampire underworld. Smooth as silk and tougher than trolls, Diamond is Ember’s only chance to keep her magical blood inside her body, where it belongs. But he also poses a threat to Ember, a strange kind of danger she’s never experienced before: She’s falling in love with him... 

Michael’s bad, bad, bad—all the way to the bone. A single heated encounter with the master thief and level-headed Liseriel the Gray has never been so furious—so intrigued—in her life. Neither has Michael. Danger’s always been his drug of choice.   

With his huge bronze wings and sweet, serious smile, Daxariel the Burnished is everything the thief is not—a generous shining spirit, an honest loving soul—and a virgin.

   It's going to take two Aetherii to catch a thief. Lise and Dax are both so godsbedamned good, Michael can’t wait to debauch and defile, to make his Aetherii beg for dark erotic pleasures. It’s the only way he knows to win—and win he must, because there’s something about wings and tails and trust freely given that has him reeling.

   Exquisitely trapped between Michael’s intoxicating wickedness and Dax’s steadfast love, everything Lise believes about duty is dust on the wind. How can she crave both these men, different as night and day?

Every fairy tale has to have some basis in fact, right? That's what Eliza thought as she made a desperate plea to the legendary Goblin King. If he could grant her wish, she'd finally be safe. He would protect her. But what would he ask in return...?

Enjoy this short prequel and a sneak peek of The Goblin King, the first of a highly imaginative new paranormal series by Shona Husk.

Kat Meyer sleepwalks–buck naked sleepwalking, just to make it even more humiliating–and she goes to great lengths to lock herself in her house at night so she doesn’t inadvertently entertain the neighbors. She’s been there, done that, and she’s never quite gotten over it! Adding to the stress, her lazy cat, Cupcake, seems bound and determined to be a cat-burglar extraordinaire. But instead of just leaving “gifts” like house keys and trinkets on her pillow, Kat’s pet has now gravitated to stealing rings. Specifically, Jace Burton’s ring. And Jace just happens to be the big-shot architect she’s vying with the other designers to work with.

When Jace wakes in the middle of the night to find a naked and highly distraught Kat in his living room, he’s inclined to believe her bizarre tale of sleepwalking and cat-burglars-of-the-feline-persuasion. He is a red-blooded male, after all. And did he mention she was gorgeous? And naked? As an added bonus, he’s beyond grateful to learn that Kat’s found his grandfather’s missing ring.

Jace is appalled to think of what harm might have befallen Kat while she prowled the streets naked at night. She’s gotten right under his skin and all his protective instincts kick in with a vengeance. It’s sure no hardship to escort her safely home–nor to offer to help her find out how’n the heck she’s getting out of her deadlocked house at night. But Kat’s the unwitting victim of a zodiac curse, and when the unbelievable truth smacks him right between the eyes, Jace doesn’t know what the hell to think. Should he hide what he’s seen from the woman he’s fallen head over heels in love with? Or should he tell her the truth and risk losing her forever?

LOLCATS Friday

When I was a member of the editorial team for the Romance Writers of Australia's monthly newsletter, the very wonderful Eleni Konstantine use to send me the best lolcats to add to my page of writerly snippets. I loved those pics so much! I really miss not using them. And since I have a few spare I thought I'd post them over the next few Fridays. Just so everyone can see how clever Eleni is!!!

RWAus Top 15 Favourite Covers

This year is the 20th anniversary of the Romance Writers of Australia. To help celebrate, the RWA held a 20 Years of Romance Covers contest, where authors submitted their fave book cover from the last 20 years. There were so many gorgeous covers! The results have just come through and I'm delighted that Captive made the top 15!! The full list of finalists can be found here. The winner will be announced at the RWA conference in August.

Go Bren and Morwyn!!

Hot Doctors & Fever Cure

All this week my good friend Phillipa Ashley has been chatting about hot doctors over on her blog to help celebrate the release of Fever Cure from Samhain. Today I'm partying with Phillipa and sharing one of my fave movie doctors - can you guess who I chose?! Pop on over and join in the fun, we even have photos!!!

Phillipa will be popping over here some time next week but to whet your appetite here's the blurb for FC!

The road to heartbreak is paved with honorable intentions…

After a year dealing with her mum’s health scare and the end of a bad relationship, Keira Grayson was looking forward to kicking up her heels at her best friend’s wedding. Until she kicks off her (spare) knickers in front of the trifecta of perfection. Tom Carew. Son of an earl, honorable doctor and possibly the hottest man on the planet.

One look at Keira’s delightful embarrassment, and Tom’s hormone meter spins off the charts. Trouble is, his bags are already packed to return to the jungles of Papua New Guinea. He has patients waiting—and amends to make for a terrible choice that left devastation in its wake.

They both reason that indulging in a one-time dinner date won’t hurt…until their inhibitions melt away in the heat of their lethal sexual chemistry. Leaving Keira wondering if a sizzling fling is just what the doctor ordered, or another prescription for relationship disaster. And Tom fighting a battle against inner demons that could shatter both their hearts.

A Cucumber Break

I made the deadline for my latest book and sent it to my lovely editor at 5 pm last Wednesday (deadline day!). Talk about cutting it fine. That's the one good thing about the 12 hour time difference between here and New York!! It's just as well I had no choice but to hit Send since otherwise I would've gone through the entire book yet again.

So, after crashing for a couple of days and using up an entire cucumber on my poor sore eyes, I thought I'd have a week or so to tidy up the house and clear my desk. But by Friday afternoon I started getting that twitchy feeling. The one that's a prelude to me sliding into a grumpy, cantankerous witch (because in real life I'm not like that at all!!) It's like a mild anxiety attack hovering beneath the surface and it always hits me when I'm not in the middle of writing something.

Despite not having the faintest clue last Wednesday on what I should write next, by Sunday a heroine had taken up residence in my mind and refused to leave. Unfortunately, considering the hero who's her perfect match, it's impossible for her to be in the next book. Not that this fact shut her up, incidentally. So I've spent the last few days frantically trying to coax my next hero's soul mate into revealing herself. I hope she doesn't take too long because I'm itching to start writing again!

I never did get around to clearing off my desk either!!!

Ancient Historical Summer Beach Reads

My lovely writing friend, Alli Sinclair, has listed her top ancient historical Summer Beach Reads over at her blog, Novel Adventurers and I'm completely thrilled that she's included both Forbidden and Captive! If you love ancient historicals then pop on over and check out her fabulous list!

Galactic Burn

Congratulations to my good writing buddy Mel Teshco on the release of Galactic Burn today! Can't wait to read it :-) Check out this scorching blurb:

Humans have been almost wiped out. Only a few females are recovering from the devastation. The same deadly virus annihilated the female population of a mighty alien nation and their three kings—Dar, Ezra and Maddox—are looking for one special female, Lillian, to capture and seduce.

 

Though Lillian survived, she has no memory and struggles with the fact that three alien men have become her lovers. One by one, they take her, make her burn for release and satisfy her every sexual need. She craves their touches, their kisses, their comforting embraces while forming strong emotional bonds with each. Lillian is falling for her sexy aliens and agrees to become their life mate in a special ceremony—her three males will make love to Lillian as all the surviving alien males watch.

But, as the ceremony nears, Lillian begins to remember. The aliens lied and covered up the horrible truth. Their happy, new life together might not be possible after all.

Forbidden at Sizzling Summer Reads

The contest to win a copy of Forbidden is up on The Romance Review site now if you want to join in - you have to scroll down a little way to get to my question. The answer is up on my website in the excerpt for Forbidden - and here's an additional hint, it can be found on the second page of the excerpt!

Still love this cover to bits!!!

Two Wonderful Little Words: The End!

Today, about five minutes ago in fact, I type THE END on my current book. Hooray! what a relief. I feel like I've been writing this book all year! (probably because I have, more or less!!) Now it just needs a good polish and as it came in at almost 103,500 words I need to cut back to 100k, so that should be fun. Ha ha, or not!

But although it feels like I've been writing this book forever, when I checked my diary I realised it's been five months and two weeks. Considering this includes a complete rewrite of 70k I guess this isn't too bad after all. On the downside I suppose this also means I have no more excuses not to clear the mess that is my desk!

Sizzling Summer Reads!

Here in Australia we're in the depths of winter (it's cold and wet as I write this!!!) but happily I'm joining in a sizzling summer party over at The Romance Reviews during the month of July!

All month there's going to be fab contests with awesome prizes and the chance to chat with amazing authors. I'm over there on 11th July with an easy-peasy question to be in with the chance of winning a copy of Forbidden. The answer to the question (you'll have to pop over to TRR on 11th to discover what it is!!!) can be found by reading the excerpt of Forbidden on my website (told you it was easy!)

All you need to do to join in the summer fun is register at TRR and that's it! I hope to see you over there on Monday 11th July!!