Tag Archives: Monica Burns

Exciting News & Some Winners!!

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On Thursday, I was gobsmacked and absolutely thrilled to find out that my VK Sykes contemporary romance anthology, The Philadelphia Patriots, cracked the USA Today Bestsellers list at #128.  Woot!  These books are the sports romances that I write with hubby under the VK Sykes pen name.  This is the first time I cracked the list under any name, so I’m pretty chuffed about it.  The anthology has also been in the Top 100 in the Kindle Store for twelve days, which is also cool.  I’m VERY grateful to our readers for all their support.

For a short time, this anthology is on sale for only 99 cents – that’s three full-length books for less than a buck, one of which won the Kindle Book Review Best Indie Books of 2012 Contest in the romance category (Hardball).  So, if you haven’t yet downloaded The Patriots, what are you waiting for?  The anthology is currently available on Amazon, B & N, Kobo, Apple, and Smashwords.  And you can find out about our other VK Sykes books on our website.

And now to those winners!  The winner of Sally MacKenzie’s book is Sheila M.  And the winner of the Monica Burns giveaway is May.  Congratulations, ladies!  I’ll be in touch.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by the blog.  My guests next week will be historical romance authors Ashlyn Macnamara and Meredith Bond.  Be sure to stop by!

Guest Author: Monica Burns & Giveaway!!

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One of my favorite people on the planet – yes, the planet – is visiting with us today.  She’s  Monica Burns, and she writes award-winning, bestselling historical and paranormal romance.  Monica has won the RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Award and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence.  In addition to writing great – and spicy! – romance, she’s also a wonderful person.

I’m going to turn things over to Monica, who has a lovely blog about friendship and the romance community.

Do you have any idea how many times I’ve started this blog post now? Seven. Seven different openings and now that I’m on the eighth effort, I’m feeling desperate. Well that resonates, because as an author I *am* desperate. You might ask why? Well, like all creative types, we just want to be loved. Seriously, we want people to love our books and love us for writing those books. Any author who disagrees with me, well I’m not gonna believe them.

Whether you’re a fan of Star Trek, Star Wars, NASCAR, football,  or whatever, you’re going to meet people you connect with because you both like the same thing. The romance community is the same, and yet I firmly believe we have a fundamental difference. We love to read about love, and we all know that love is the most powerful emotion of all. As a result of that binding love, friendships develop among readers who might have met only one time in person, but communicate almost daily with online.

For instance, I consider Vanessa a close friend even though our friendship is a long distance one. I honestly don’t know why she chose me to be her friend, but she did (Vanessa, here.  Because Monica has a huge heart and she’s funny!). She listens to me whine, gives advice, offers emotional support, and makes me laugh. All of the things a friend is supposed to do. I reciprocate when she needs me, although that’s hardly ever.

Vanessa rarely rants, but I’m always there to support her when she does. Vanessa is one of four people in my most intimate inner circle of friends. You know the kind; they’re the friends who will call you on something you know better than to say. The friends who empathize, are ready to storm the castle with you and have your back.

Friendship is one of the strongest threads running through the romance reading community. A few years back, on a now defunct blog, I talked about the friendships I’ve built over the years. Friendships I wouldn’t have if it weren’t for the Internet and the romance community. I can tell you right now that I would never have met Vanessa, Becke, Keri or Rosie if it weren’t for the romance community and the Internet.

So, have you met another lover of romance books via the Internet? Have you met in person? Do you chat daily? Weekly?

Vanessa, here.  Thank you so much for that wonderful post, my friend!  And you know what else is wonderful?  Monica’s new historical, Love’s Revenge.  Take a look at this awesome cover!

Love’s Revenge

All her life, Sophie’s tried to earn her father’s love to no avail. Even her one chance for happiness was crushed beneath his tyrannical thumb, leaving her firmly on the shelf at forty-one. Sophie accepts her fate until she impulsively uses her father’s criminal activities to escape a life of servitude and right a wrong at the same time. She never really expected the Devil of Devlyn to actually accept her rash proposal, and she certainly hadn’t planned on falling in love with a younger man.

When Quentin Blackwell, Earl of Devlyn, discovered the woman he loved was carrying another man’s child, he refused to marry her. In retaliation, her father ruined Devlyn. When Sophie Hamilton, the man’s eldest daughter, comes to him with an unexpected offer, Devlyn seizes the chance for vengeance. What he doesn’t bargain on is how revenge could cost him the one thing he wants the most. Sophie’s love.

Sounds enticing, doesn’t it?  For my readers today, Monica is giving away a copy of the book.  And I’m giving away a copy of one of my historical romances, too.  Just answer Monica’s question about friendship for a chance to win Love’s Revenge and my first book, Mastering The Marquess!

Love’s Revenge:

Amazon      Kobo     Smashwords    Barnes & Noble

Twitter — @MonicaBurns

Pinterest — https://pinterest.com/monicaburns/

Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMonicaBurns

Website – http://www.monicaburns.com

 

Great weekend reads & a giveaway!!

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What are you folks reading this weekend?  I’ve got three great books to recommend:  one a historical romance and the other two, romantic suspense.  First up is a luscious historical by the talented Monica Burns.  Monica writes award-winning, sensual romance, often with a bit of a twist.  She has a new book out–Loves Revenge, and you can see at the top of the post that she’s got a gorgeous cover, too!  If you like lush, sensual historical romance, I can heartily recommend Monica’s new book.  Blurbs, info, and buy links are on her website.

I can also recommend Cynthia Eden’s new book, Guardian Ranger, which is the second book in her Harlequin Intrigue series, Shadow Agents.  Cynthia is a master of dark and sexy romantic suspense–I simply love her books!

Check out Cynthia’s website for all the info on Guardian Ranger and her other fab romantic suspense and paranormal romances.

And, finally, I can recommend another great book from Harlequin’s Intrigue line, this one from the talented Lena Diaz.  Lena’s a rising star in romantic suspense, with the emotional thrillers she writes for both Harlequin and Avon.  Her latest book is The Marshall’s Witness, and you can get all the details on her website.

And just for fun, I’m giving away a copy of The Marshall’s Witness.  Just tell me what you’re reading this weekend for a chance to win Lena’s book!

Happy Holidays from Rock*It Reads!!

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Some of you know that I belong to Rock*It Reads.  We’re a group of traditionally published authors who are also self-publishing, and committed to bringing the same quality to our indie books as we do to our traditional books.  It’s an incredibly talented and diverse group and includes authors like Colleen Gleason, Elisabeth Naughton, Monica Burns, Pamela Clare, and Erin Kellison.

We’ve put together a video greeting card for the holidays, to wish you a Merry Christmas and to give you a quick look at our latest and upcoming books.  Enjoy!

The Next Big Thing!

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My good pal Marilyn Bryant, author of A Summer in Europe, tagged me to take part in this blogging hop-along, and I thought it sounded like fun.  I’ll answer some questions about my current work in progress (WIP), and then tag five other authors to do the same thing on their blogs next week.

So, here goes on my Next Big Thing:

What is your working title of your book?  A Royal Seduction.

Where did the idea come from for the book?  From reading histories and biographies about the British Royals during the Regency period.

What genre does your book fall under?  Regency-set historical romance.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?  I’ve already got them picked out.  Hugh Jackman would play my hero, and the heroine would be played by Piper Perabo.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?  The illegitimate son of the Prince Regent, who is also a spy for the British Crown, must protect a young noblewoman (a beautiful and brilliant cardsharp) from kidnapping and forced marriage to a Russian prince.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?  This is the first book in my new series, The Renegade Royals, for Kensington Publishing.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?  Four months, which included the beginning of revisions.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?  It’s a sexy Regency historical, with some adventure and a spy for a hero, so I’d say it’s similar to what Shana Galen writes.  But I also have quite a bit of humor and Regency social settings in my book too, so I think readers who like books by Katharine Ashe will like it, too.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?  I read a wonderful biography of the Prince Regent, the eldest son and heir of George III.  Like most of his brothers – who were a pretty scandalous lot – he had at least one or two illegitimate children.  All told, the brothers probably had close to twenty illegitimate offspring, some of whom were never identified.  I thought it would be pretty cool to write a series about those children who never emerged from the shadows of history.  They were the sons of princes, and yet had such murky backgrounds.  This WIP is my story of Aden, the Prince Regent’s bastard son.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?  I really love the heroine and think she’s a very interesting character.  She’s funny and sweet, and a total math genius.  Her family is a nightmare, always spending themselves into massive debt, and Vivien has to use her math skills at the gambling tables of the ton to keep her family afloat.  She was a lot of fun to write.

And now I get to tag a few awesome author friends too, who’ll be posting about their latest projects on their blogs next Wednesday, Dec. 5th. Can’t wait to hear what they’re working on!!

Cynthia Eden, author of Angel in Chains

Monica Burns, author of A Bluestocking Christmas

Kris Kennedy, author of Deception

Manda Collins, author of How To Romance A Rake

Theresa Romain, author of Season For Surrender

Readers, be sure to check out these talented ladies next week and find out what they’re working on!

 

 

 

Rock*It Reads: Heating Up The Holidays Blog Hop!!

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Welcome to the Rock*It Reads Heating Up the Holidays Blog Hop. There are 15 stops on the blog tour. The more blogs you visit and comment on, the greater your chances of winning the grand prize, a $75 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble or Amazon, and a huge collection of books from the authors of Rock*It Reads. Smaller prizes will be available at each stop along the way.

Good luck, and have fun!

As you can tell from that luscious header, the theme of our blog hop is Heating Up The Holidays.  And how are we going to heat up our holidays, you might ask?  I’ll tell you–with sexy men!

It so happens that I have a holiday-themed historical romance that came out in October.  The hero of His Mistletoe Bride, Lucas Stanton, the Earl of Merritt, is definitely one sexy dude.  And it was easy to create him that way because I used a very inspiring template for his character–the drop-dead gorgeous actor, Henry Cavill.

Nice, eh?  My heroine, Phoebe Linville, thinks so too.  Phoebe isn’t very experienced when it comes to men.  After all, she was raised in a small Quaker village in America.  But when she lays eyes on Lucas for the first time she feels a tingle in places that she didn’t even know could tingle!  Lucas certainly heats up her holidays, and if I ever ran into Henry Cavill while Christmas shopping…well, I better stop there or I’ll get in trouble with my husband.

To read an excerpt of His Mistletoe Bride and to get a peek at my hero, Lucas, visit my books page.

I also have another new book out with a hero who heats things up in a big way.  Bigger Than Beckham is my latest sexy contemporary romance, co-written with my husband under the pen name of VK Sykes. We will neither confirm nor deny that a certain soccer player perhaps served as a wee bit of inspiration, but our hero, Tony Branch, is definitely his own man.  And our fabulous cover artist certainly gave us a model to inspire any red-blooded woman, don’t you agree?  Just click on the cover photo for a bigger image of hunky goodness.

Whew!  I’m fanning myself here, but that cover is my idea of heating things up!  Bigger Than Beckham will heat you up for the holidays, too.  Trust me when I say that this is one steamy book.  To read an excerpt from Bigger Than Beckham, book three in our Philadelphia Patriots series of sports romances, please check out our website.  I think you’ll enjoy meeting the sexy Mr. Branch!

Readers, who would be your dream man for heating up the holidays?  Would you like to take a sleigh ride with Henry Cavill, go ice skating with David Beckham, or is snuggling with your honey by the fireside more your speed?  I’ll be giving away two prizes:

One person who comments will win a print copy of His Mistletoe Bride  and a lovely Christmas ornament.

One person who comments will win a digital copy of Bigger Than Beckham and a $10 Amazon gift card.

Leave a comment below to enter for your chance to win!

Don’t forget to visit the other authors on the Blog Hop for more chances to win!

Kris Kennedy Bonnie Vanak Erin Kellison
Sharon Page Lila DiPasqua Elisabeth Naughton
Norah Wilson Jennifer Lyon Monica Burns
Vanessa Kelly Mia Marlowe
Pamela Clare Margo Maguire Rock*It Reads

Rock*It Reads Guest Author: Monica Burns & Giveaway!

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Readers today are flooded with reading choices, both in digital and in print.  That’s fantastic, but how do you find the really good books in such a tidal wave of words?  Well, I have an answer for you.

Rock*It Reads.

RIR is an author collective I belong to which includes writers like Pamela Clare, Elisabeth Naughton, Joan Swan, and Erin Kellison.  We’re traditionally published authors who are also self-publishing.  We bring the same level of care to these works as we do to our traditional, New York published books, and when you see the RIR logo on our covers you can be assured that you’re getting a great read.

Over the next few months I’m going to introduce you to the writers in this group, some of whom you already probably know.  And I’m starting off with one of my favorite historical romance authors, the fabulous Monica Burns.

Monica is an award-winning author of spicy historical and paranormal romance.  Her historical book awards include the 2011 RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Award and the 2012 Gayle Wilson Heart of Excellence Award for Pleasure Me. She is also the recipient of the prestigious paranormal romance award, the 2011 PRISM Best of the Best award for Assassin’s Heart.

Monica’s latest RIR book is Obsession, a sexy historical romance which got wonderful reviews.

“…a fresh spin on a damsel in distress and… a hero who not only does the rescuing, but needs to be rescued from some demons of his own.” — Romance Reader at Heart

Here’s the blurb for Obsession:

A woman on the edge of sin…

Helen Rivenall is willing to do anything to escape the brutality of her uncle’s home. But a promise of honest employment is a ruse. Drugged and auctioned off in a notorious London brothel, she finds herself won by a man who wants nothing from her except her participation in a harmless charade. Left with no choice, she reluctantly agrees, but as their web of lies grows, so does temptation and the realization that pleasure and sin are often one and the same.

A man about to lose all control…

Sebastian Rockwood, Earl of Melton is haunted by a dark secret in his past. One that taught him control is a personal trait to be valued above all others. He also learned never to give his heart to anyone. The risk is too great. Yet where Helen is concerned, his prized control is slowly giving way to temptation, and all too quickly he discovers nothing can protect him from the ultimate obsession–love.

Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?  And that is one gorgeous cover, if I do say so myself.  If you like your historical romance on the steamy side and with lots of emotion, then Monica’s books are perfect for you.  To read the first three chapter of Obsession and to watch the beautiful book trailer, visit Monica’s website.

For my readers today, Monica is giving away a copy of Obsession.  And I’m also giving away a copy of my latest VK Sykes contemporary romance, Bigger Than Beckham.  For a chance to win both books, just tell me something that you’re obsessed with – books, chocolate, a TV show – I want to know what really turns your crank!

And don’t forget to visit the RIR website to find out more about our authors and to sign up for our newsletter!

 

Where I’ve Been

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I’ve been a bit quiet here on the blog, for a very good reason.  Hubby and I were away at a writer’s conference and visiting friends in New York.  In fact, we had planned to spend yesterday in Manhattan.  Yeah, those plans changed pretty darn quickly and we high-tailed it out of there first thing Sunday morning, well in advance of Hurricane Sandy.  My thoughts and best wishes are with everyone affected by Sandy–hopefully that demon storm will blow itself out soon!

I do have lots of good things planned for the blog over the next few months.  In addition to my regular guests, I’ll be doing a weekly highlight of the fabulous authors of Rock*It Reads.  Rock*It Reads is the author collective I’m part of–we’re a group of traditionally published authors also branching out into indie publishing.  We’re committed to producing quality, exciting books and our authors include Pamela Clare, Bonnie Vanak, Monica Burns, and Mia Marlowe.  Stay turned to learn more about this talented group of women.

I’m also still celebrating the recent release of my holiday-themed historical romance, His Mistletoe Bride.  To carry on with that celebration well into the holiday season, I’ve banded together with three other historical romance authors.  Along with the fabulous Victoria Alexander, Theresa Romain, and Grace Burrowes, I’ll be hosting an all-day festive gala, Romancing the Holidays, on the romance blog The Romance Dish. We’ll be giving away prizes every hour, from 9 am to 9 pm ET. All four of us will be blogging throughout the day, talking about our books, the holiday season, and chatting with our readers. We’ll also be giving away some spectacular prizes throughout the day, including a grand prize basket featuring an ereader. Zounds! You do not want to miss that.  Dash on over to the Romancing the Holidays website for all the details and to sign up.

Sounds like crazy fun, doesn’t it?  But what’s even cooler is that we’ve included a fundraising component to the event.  We’ll be giving away baskets of books to a women’s shelter and a library, and we’re also encouraging our readers to make donations too.  Be sure to check out the Romancing the Holidays website for details and to sign up to participate.

See you back here on the blog!

 

 

Guest Author: Mia Marlowe & Giveaway!

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Mia Marlowe writes absolutely gorgeous historical romance, and she’s got the phenomenal reviews to back it up.  Her last book, Touch of a Rogue, was named by Publishers Weekly as one of the Top Ten Romances for Spring 2012.  Pretty cool, eh?

Mia has a new book out, and she’s here to tell us all about it.

Can you tell us a bit about your Touch of Seduction series? What’s the premise behind it?

First of all, thanks for having me here today, Vanessa. My Touch of Seduction series is near and dear to my heart and I hope readers will find it great fun, too.  In each of the stories, my hero or heroine has the “gift of touch”—a psychometric gift that allows them to glean information by touching certain objects. It’s an occupational hazard for my jewel thief heroine in TOUCH OF A THIEF. It’s a help sometimes to my enquiry agent hero in TOUCH OF A ROGUE. And in TOUCH OF A SCOUNDREL, my hero sees it as a curse because in his case, he sees the future but cannot do anything to change it.

Your lovely historicals contain a touch of the paranormal. What do you like about combining historical romance with the paranormal?

I adore both sub-genres. Nothing takes me away quite so well as a historical hero in glossy Hessians with a sword at his hip. My paranormal elements are pretty tame compared to some. I don’t have any vampires or shifters. My characters are ordinary people with extraordinary gifts. I like to think my magical elements are things that might actually happen.

The heroine in Touch of a Scoundrel is a bit different from the average historical miss or seductive courtesan. Can you tell us a bit about her?

Ah, yes. Emmaline Farnsworth, adventurer, dutiful daughter and con artist. She and her foster father have bounced around Europe hocking fake reliquaries. Now they’re in possession of an unusual Egyptian artifact which they hope to parlay into a big score. They’ve convinced Theodore Nash to fund a bogus expedition, but unfortunately, it’s his older brother, Griffin, the Earl of Devonwood who holds the purse strings. And Griffin is no one’s fool. Emma has never run such a trying long con. She’s fending off the offers of marriage from the younger brother while fighting the wild attraction she feels for the elder.

Like so many authors, you’ve been venturing into the realm of indie publishing. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

I’m very excited to be writing for both Kensington and Sourcebooks, but indie publishing is opening up some new opportunities as well. I’ve self-published 4 novels and 3 novellas since last fall and readers have been writing to let me know they love it. I’ve been fortunate to be able to partner up with a group of talented traditionally published authors who are also self-publishing to form a self-published brand called Rock*It Reads. My partners in crime are: my lovely host today—Vanessa Kelly, Pamela Clare, Elisabeth Naughton, Monica Burns, Kris Kennedy, Margo Maguire, Lila DiPasqua, Sharon Page and Joan Swan. Check out my Books page for my Rock*It Reads titles.

GIVEAWAY: Leave Mia a comment or question today and you’ll be entered in the random drawing. One lucky person will win a copy of  TOUCH OF A ROGUE, Book 2 in the Touch of Seduction series and one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Top 10 Romances for Spring 2012! Another winner will receive TOUCH OF A LADY, my enovella prequel to the series in your choice of Kindle or Nook format.

Here’s a question to get the conversation going: If you could have any special paranormal ability, what would it be?

Vanessa, here.  Thanks for joining us today, Mia!  Folks, be sure to visit Mia’s website for all her book news (she has lots), and to read an excerpt of her latest book!  And be sure to check the blurb for Touch of a Scoundrel:

Griffin Nash, Earl of Devonwood, wants to believe that he’s seducing Miss Emmaline Farnsworth out of protectiveness for his young brother. After all, if his brother is convinced that the tantalizing professor’s daughter is unworthy of his trust, perhaps Teddy will lose all interest in such an inappropriate choice for his station.

But in truth, something else motivates Devonwood: a scintillating vision he’s had of a future tryst with the lovely Emmaline. A vision too realistic to be doubted–and too scaldingly passionate to be denied.

Yet Emmaline is not as easily tempted as Devonwood might have hoped–nor is she actually in pursuit of a wealthy husband. No, the real reason for her visit to the manor is something much more shocking… though being enticed by a dashing earl may prove to be a most welcome by-product of her schemes…

And don’t forget to answer Mia’s question for a chance to win her books!