Lots of winners today!
Katharine Ashe’s book, Captive Bride – Dawn T
Alpha Male Blog Hop – Tammy T
Brenda Jernigan’s Christmas in Camelot – Belinda
Congratulations, ladies! I’ll be in touch. Thanks to everyone for stopping by the blog.
And just a friendly, shameless reminder that my new VK Sykes book, Bigger Than Beckham, is now available in e-book.
You can find it on Kindle, Kobo, or at Smashwords in a variety of formats. To read an excerpt, check out my VK Sykes website.
Have a great day!
I’m SO excited to have historical romance author Katharine Ashe visiting my blog today. Katharine writes the most gorgeous books, and she’s got the readers, the awards and the accolades to prove it. On top of that she’s a truly lovely lady – I’m a huge fan, as you can probably tell!
Like many traditionally published authors, Katharine is also venturing into the world of indie publishing. She’s got a new book out and she’s here to tell us all about it in a truly delightful blog post.
Ghosts
I love romance. Like many of you, I am a romance addict. But there’s something else I must admit to adoring too.
Ghost stories.
Let me be clear: I am not a big fan of monster horror. With a few notable exceptions, I steer clear of stories that are designed to scare the tuna salad out of me. In fact, that’s an allusion to one of my favorite monster stories ever, Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by the brilliant Mo Willems, which is a children’s book. See my point? I’ve a far too nervous soul to welcome truly frightful creatures into my imagination.
The adult monster stories that I do love are always stories of deep emotion and even sometimes a degree of tragedy, for instance, the love story between Joss Whedon’s Buffy and Angel, or Mary Shelley’s gorgeously profound Frankenstein. I adore those tales not for the terror and violence, but for the pathos — the deep, powerfully human experiences the monsters have, and their achingly real desire to be human themselves.
Why do they long to be human when as monsters they have such immense power over mere humans? It’s simple.
They want to be human so that they won’t be alone in the world.
I love to be alone, to spend solitary days writing or taking long walks on the beach or in the woods, pondering, dreaming, you name it. But being alone is different from true loneliness. And true loneliness breaks my heart each time I encounter it. We humans are social creatures. Loving creatures. Most of us need other people because in order to live we need to love and be loved.
Which is why when it comes to spooky, I am very fond of ghost stories. There’s just something about that impossibly intimate yet uncrossable boundary between the living and the once-living that tears at my heart and makes it ache.
I don’t think I’m alone in this. Take Ghost, the smash hit movie from 1990. Why was it so popular? Well, it’s a romance (of a sort) starring a very famous trio of actors (one of them with really, really nice abs and pecs, and I’m not talking about Demi). But it’s also the story of her grief and loneliness, and of his pain for her. Their love is simply too powerful to release so swiftly, especially when she is still in danger.
That’s why I love ghost stories. A story of danger combined with deep emotion and the sheer tragedy of that profound divide between those who love each other but can’t do anything about it grips me like nothing else. Every time I read or see that kind of story, I can’t stop thinking about it. I want to fix it! I write romance, for gosh sakes. I need happy endings! I want love to triumph over tragedy EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Which is why I wrote Captive Bride, my Regency ghost novel.
Miss Beatrice Sinclaire and Lord Peter Cheriot, the man she has hopelessly loved in secret for years, fight against time to save Bea from a terrible curse. A ghost with a tortured soul has trapped them in a haunted castle, and he is demanding that Bea marry him by All Hallows’ Eve. But dashing Lord Cheriot knows a thing or two about heartache, too, and he’s not about to let Bea come to harm.
Spooky? A bit.
Nail biting? One or two.
Romantic? You betcha.
Sexy? Delectably.
A great big happily-ever-after at the end? Ohh, YES.
Award-winning author Katharine Ashe is the author of six novels and one novella set in the Regency era and a professor of medieval history. This is her first (and possibly only) ghost novel (she only has ten nails to bite off, after all).
What is your favorite way to be spooked? Ghosts? Goblins? Vampires? Werewolves? The grocery bill? Katharine will send a copy of Captive Bride in e-book format to one randomly chosen commenter.
Happy Halloween!
Read an excerpt from Captive Bride: http://www.katharineashe.com/books_ghost.html
Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cpukwcz
Nook: http://tinyurl.com/clgvsva
Most other e-book formats (including iPad/iBooks) and PDF: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/245099
Vanessa, here. Doesn’t Katharine’s new book sound wonderful? I have it downloaded onto my Kindle, all ready to go. It is definitely at the top of my TBR list! So you lucky readers, give Katharine’s question a whirl for a chance to win a copy of Captive Bride!
And there’s one more day left for the Alpha Male Blog Hop. Just click here for my post and to enter the contest!
I’m thrilled to announce that my latest contemporary romance, Bigger Than Beckham, is now in e-book stores. Woot! These are the sexy books that I write with my husband under the pen name of V.K Sykes. Bigger Than Beckham is the third book in our Philadelphia Patriots Series, following Fastball and Hardball. If you like sports romances, I think you’re going to love this book – we sure do!
Here’s the blurb:
Sports journalist Martha Winston loves her career, but her life goes sideways when she inherits a pro soccer team from her father. The team is almost bankrupt and on the skids, but Martha has vowed to save her beloved father’s legacy. But she needs to get a financial infusion fast, or else lose the team to the wolves baying at her door.
Former British soccer hero Tony Branch wants to add Martha’s team to his growing sports empire. But he wants it strictly on his terms. When Martha turns him down flat, he’s determined to change her mind by any means necessary. If that includes using the sexual heat flaring between them, Tony is more than willing to play a game of seduction.
Our heroine, Martha Winston, appeared in earlier previous books in the Patriots Series and she’s a bit of a firecracker. She and Tony really do heat things up! To read an excerpt from the book, stop by our website.
Bigger Than Beckham is available in e-book from Amazon, Kobo, and in various formats on Smashwords. It should also be up on Barnes & Noble and in the iBook store very soon. Stay tuned for details!
And don’t forget that today is Day Three of the Alpha Male Blog Hop. Over 200 bloggers and authors are chatting about all the things we love about alpha male heroes. We’re giving away great prizes too – like a Kindle Fire or a Nook Tablet. On my blog, I’m giving away a copy of Bigger Than Beckham and an Amazon gift card. Just click here to start hopping!
Have a great Sunday, everyone!
Yes, the Alpha Male Blog Hop is here! Over 200 bloggers and authors celebrating all the wonderful things about those hot alpha male heroes. No gammas or betas allowed, at least not today!
So, what’s involved? Lots of fun and prizes, that’s what. There will be over 200 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 200 times!
Now what are those prizes?
1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand Prize: A $130 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand Prize: The following Swag Pack:
Zounds! That’s a pretty fantastic collection of prizes, I’d say.
What’s my favorite thing about the alpha male hero? I love that once he sets his sights on one particular woman, there’s no turning back. He’s determined to woo her, protect her, and get her into his bed, no matter what. You’ve got to love the idea of all that formidable energy and will focused on one woman.
The hero of my latest VK Sykes contemporary romance, Bigger Than Beckham, is that kind of alpha guy. Tony Branch is a British soccer star who’s intent on building a sports empire of successful soccer teams. He determined to buy a U.S. team owned by sports writer Martha Winston, and he’s not letting anything stand in his way of acquiring it–including Martha, who’s just as determined to hold onto her team.
But Tony is alpha all the way. When he decides he wants Martha as much as he wants her team–watch out! Nothing is going to stand in the way of this tough, sexy man and his relentless, seductive pursuit of Martha.
Here’s the blurb:
Sports journalist Martha Winston loves her career, but her life goes sideways when she inherits a pro soccer team from her father. The team is almost bankrupt and on the skids, but Martha has vowed to save her beloved father’s legacy. But she needs to get a financial infusion fast, or else lose the team to the wolves baying at her door.
Former British soccer hero Tony Branch wants to add Martha’s team to his growing sports empire. But he wants it strictly on his terms—full control, not a partnership. When Martha turns him down flat, he’s determined to change her mind by any means necessary. If that includes using the sexual heat flaring between them, Tony is more than willing to play a game of seduction.
And you know what’s really fun? How hard Tony falls for Martha. When he sets his sights on her…well, let’s just say it gets pretty steamy!
So, readers, tell me your favorite thing about alpha male heroes? Is it their determination to win what they want, their protective instincts, or how hard they fall for the women they love? One person who comments will win a $10 Amazon gift card and a copy of Bigger Than Beckham. And once you leave your comment here, click on this link and start hopping to the other blogs. The hop ends on the 22nd.
Have fun!