Guest Author: Alexandra Hawkins & Giveaway!

I love featuring historical romance authors, so I’m really happy that Alexandra Hawkins is on the blog today.  Alexandra is a USA Today bestselling author, whose Lords of Vice books have received much justified acclaim.  Here’s what RT Book Reviews had to say about the series:

“Those sexy Lords of Vice return as another member is caught in a maze of love and danger. Hawkins’ talent for perfectly merging gothic elements into a sexually charged romance are showcased along with the marvelous cast of characters taking readers on a thrill ride.”

Alexandra writes smart, sophisticated and very sexy books, so it’s always an occasion to cheer when she has a new one coming out.  And she does this week, with the release of All Afternoon with a Scandalous Marquess, which hits the shelves tomorrow.  Hooray! Here’s what RT Books Reviews had to say about this latest book in the Lords of Vice series:

“Desire in disguise was never so sweet or passionate, and Hawkins hooks readers and draws them in all the way to the perfect ending.”

Beautiful cover, isn’t it?  And here’s the blurb:

Simon Jefferes, the Marquess of Sainthill, has done the unthinkable—he’s fallen in love. The so-called “Saint” has spent his life gambling, dallying with women, and satisfying his every whim. And he fully intended to continue his wicked ways, until he met the mysterious, exotic, and irresistible Madame Venna—the one woman he can’t have…and the only one he’s ever wanted for more than an evening.

The proprietress of the Golden Pearl, one of London’s most exclusive brothels, Madame Venna takes pride in the lush, decadent club she’s created. With a half-mask to conceal her identity, she’s careful to safeguard something even more valuable—her heart. But Saint is determined to tear down the walls she’s built around herself, and to finally expose the truth—that Madame Venna is a woman very much in love…with him.

Sounds scrumptious, doesn’t it?  I love a little mystery with my romance!  Check out Alexandra’s website for all the details and to read an excerpt from All Afternoon with a Scandalous Marquess.  And don’t forget to view her beautiful book trailer!

For my readers, Alexandra is graciously giving away a copy of All Afternoon with a Scandalous Marquess.  Let’s talk about heroes–specifically, rakes.  Do you love the historical bad boy?  Are you willing to forgive him all his rakish ways, especially if he falls hard for his lady?  Or do you prefer a hero who’s always been a knight in shining armor?

And don’t forget that there’s still one more day to join A Hero’s Blog Hop, a really fun hop featured over 100 bloggers and authors.  You can start with my part of the hop right here.


Welcome To A Hero’s Blog Hop!!

Welcome to A Hero’s Blog Hop!  We’re here to celebrate all the wonderful heroes in the romance novels we love, and to have a great time hopping from one blog to another.  And when you do, you have the chance to win some wonderful prizes from the over 100 bloggers and authors who are participating in the hop.

Even better, there are THREE grand prizes. You can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 100 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: The following Swag Pack!

Pretty awesome, eh?  All you have to do to win either on my blog, the other blogs, or one of the grand prizes, is to leave a comment on the blogs you drop by, which includes your email address.  That’s particularly important if you want to be eligible to win one of the grand prizes.

Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, let’s talk about the man candy, er, romance heroes.  As a romance writer, I have to confess that I love ALL my heroes.  If I didn’t love them I don’t think I could write them – makes sense, right?  So, what do I find so attractive about them?  Let’s take two heroes from the sexy contemporary romances I write with my husband under the pen name of VK Sykes.  That’s Jake Miller from Fastball and Nate Carter from Hardball, the first two books in our sports romance series about the fictional baseball team, the Philadelphia Patriots.

Jake and Nate are best friends but, on the surface, they’re really  not much alike.  Oh, sure, they’re both incredibly hot, good-looking dudes with great bodies–after all, they are professional athletes–but Jake is an all-around good guy while Nate is the classic bad boy.  While Jake plays his cards close to his chest, keeps his personal life to himself and stays out of the limelight as much as he can, Nate is pretty much the opposite.  He dates supermodels, drives fast cars, and lives life as hard as he pitches those curve balls over home plate.  Really, when you think about it, it’s almost a miracle that Jake and Nate are such good friends.

But they do share some really important qualities, ones which are necessary to every good hero:  they are loyal, decent men, they treat women with respect, and they will do whatever is required to protect the women they love from whatever threatens–even if that threat is nothing more than a big old nasty spider crawling up the wall.

Now, in both Jake and Nate’s stories, the women they love are strong and resilient and well able to take care of themselves.  But Holly and Maddie, my heroines, both run into some serious trouble, and when they do their heroes are willing to move heaven and earth to help them–even if it means breaking the rules.

Handsome, sexy, loyal, respectful, great in bed–oh, did I forget to mention that quality?  And willing to put their lives on the line for the women they love…what more could anyone ask for?  You can check out my VK Sykes website to read excerpts from both books, and to get a taste of what my two uber-sexy heroes are like.  I’m hoping you won’t be disappointed!

And now for the question!  What qualities do you think are essential to any romance hero, be it a paranormal, historical, or contemporary romance kind of guy?  Tell me one or two qualities that really work for you.  One person who comments will win a $10 Amazon gift card. 

Once you comment on my blog, just follow the link below to continue on with your hop:

Carrie Anne’s Blog Hop List

The hop will run through July 31st.  Have fun, everyone!

 

 


Winners & Blog Hops

Are you ready to hear what your favorite romance heroes have to say? Well, we authors are ready to share our hunky heroes! Starting on Friday and ending on July 31st, over 100 Authors and Bloggers will share their favorite things about romance heroes, a character post from them, and what we love about romance and men in general.

And while we do that, we are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 100 giveaways on each blog hosted by that Author or Blogger.

But that’s not all….

We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 100 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: The following Swag Pack!

 

Yep. ALL of that! Whoot! Be sure to come back here on Friday and over the weekend to enjoy some stories and facts about our favorite Romance Heroes and enter to win!

I also have a winner today, too.  Winnie has won a copy of Cynthia Eden’s latest book, Angel BetrayedCongratulations!  I’ll be in touch.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by the blog.  My guest author tomorrow is contemporary and romantic suspense author Stacey Joy Netzel.  And don’t forget to stop back Friday for the Hero’s Blog Hop!


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