MEET ME AT THE BEACH BLOG TOUR ROLLS ON!!

Meet-Me-At-the-Beach-Release-Week-Blitz

More stops today on my VK Sykes blog tour for MEET ME AT THE BEACH, the new contemporary romance that I wrote with hubby. That means more fun details about the book, more excerpts, and more chances to win a copy! Here are some of today’s stops:

Manga Manica Cafe

Romancing Rakes For The Love Of Romance

Smitten By Books

I’m also blogging at The Jaunty Quills today and giving away a copy of the book.

And in Vanessa Kelly news, today is also Round 2 of the Kensington Publishing Ultimate Hero competition. Griffin Steele, from CONFESSIONS OF A ROYAL BRIDEGROOM, is still in the running, but he’s facing some stiff competition. To vote for my guy in this fun but very silly competition, please visit the Kensington website. You can vote as many times as you like, so vote early and vote often!

Even more important, CONFESSIONS OF A ROYAL BRIDEGROOM is on sale in digital for only $2.99 until the end of the month, on Kindle and Nook. Now THAT is a good deal!

VKelly-RoyalBridegroomSale

 


Regency Thunderdome!!

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Kensington Publishing is running a fun #Ultimate Heroes competition on their website and Tumblr page. My book, CONFESSIONS OF A ROYAL BRIDEGROOM, is pitted against Theresa Romain’s SEASON FOR SURRENDER. Since Theresa and I are good pals and love each other’s books, we’ve decided to engage in an epically lame battle of Regency-themed trash talk. You can follow along on Twitter, if you like, under the hashtag of #UltimateHero. We’re having a great time!

You can vote for the heroes here. The best part? You can vote for either hero as many times as you like! *snort*

PS. Both CONFESSIONS and SEASON are on sale on Kindle and Nook for only $2.99 for the month of Feb!

And I’ve got another stop on my VK Sykes MEET ME AT THE BEACH blog tour today. Just click here to read an excerpt, review, and for another chance to enter my fabulous contest.

Meet-Me-at-the-Beach-VK-Skyes

Have a great day!


Guest Author: Katherine Garbera & Giveaway!

Katherine Garbera

I’m so pleased to welcome my fellow Jaunty Quills sister Katherine Garbera to the blog.  Katherine is a USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author of contemporary romance.  She’s written for Kensington and numerous Harlequin imprints, and her books have been featured in magazines like Redbook and excerpted in Cosmo.  Wow!

And did I mention that she’s written more than 50 books?  Pretty accomplished, I’d say!

Katherine has a new book out called His Instant Heir.  It’s a secret baby story, which is one of my FAVORITE romance tropes.  Plus, the hero is a billionaire, and who doesn’t love that?

His Instant Heir

There is nothing sexier than a good looking guy with a baby, I always say!  Here’s the blurb:

It was only one night…

Cari Chandler can’t forget Declan Montrose. Their baby is a living reminder. The baby she hasn’t told him about. The no-commitment billionaire—and her family’s sworn enemy—walked out of her life the morning after. But now he’s back…with a vengeance!

Taking over her company is the last step to victory in their families’ long feud. But Cari’s more than collateral damage to Dec. He wants—needs—to seduce her again and again. Until he finds out she’s hidden something more precious than her company. His son. And Dec intends to claim him…no matter the cost.

And it’s a revenge story, too – I’m in book heaven!  Be sure to stop by Katherine’s website to read an excerpt.

For my readers today, Katherine is giving away three copies of her book.  Just tell us what some of your favorite romance themes are:  marriage of convenience, friends to lovers, or lovers on the run?  Three people who comment will win a copy of An Instant Heir.

 


Guest Author: Diana Cosby

Diana Cosby

I’m so happy to welcome fellow Kensington author Diana Cosby on the blog today. Diana is an internationally bestselling author who writes Scottish medieval romantic suspense. She’s also a very interesting person with a very interesting life, as you’re about to find out.

You had a distinguished career in the Navy and travelled all over the world. What made you pick Scotland as the setting for your novels?

Hi Vanessa, my sincere thanks for having me on your blog today.  After writing a viking trilogy, I watched Braveheart, and was intrigued by Scotland’s fight for freedom, so I decided to research and write in this era.

What’s the basis for your bestselling MacGruder series?

The tie in for the best-selling MacGruder brother’s series is the halved stones in the grandmother’s chamber, which they believes hold magic.  I’ve had a blast figuring out new and fun ways for the heroine to ‘leave’ the grandmother’s chamber with the matching half of the respective hero’s gemstone. 🙂

What can you tell us about your new book?

His Seduction high resolution

His Seduction is Griffin’s story, who is an English lord ‘supposedly’ loyal to King Edward I, but is secretly working for the Scottish rebels known as Wulfe.  Griffin has appeared throughout the series, and I was thrilled to write his story.  He’s known for his quick thinking, skill, and always being in control, so I knew I had to toss him out of his comfort zone – enter Rois. 🙂  A woman who loves her father and would do anything to protect him, when she believes Griffin is a threat to her father’s life, she risks it all in a brazen confrontation with Griffin, and so the story begins.  For a fun excerpt:

http://www.dianacosby.com/hisseduction.html#excerpt

*I LOVED WRITING HIS SEDUCTION!

You’re involved in a great project with Habitat for Humanity? Can you give us some info on that?

My sincere thanks for asking.  For several years I’ve volunteered for Habitat For Humanity.  What a fabulous cause and best, you work alongside potential home owners in helping make their dream of owning a home come true.  Also, as the community comes together to help build the home, the family is blessed by a sincere welcome from their neighbors.

One of my dreams is to sponsor the build of an entire Habitat For Humanity home, and with both romance readers and Habitat For Humanity amazing, I thought, why not pair the two.  Hence, Diana Cosby’s Romance Readers Build A Habitat For Humanity Home was born.

How it works: 

As readers send contributions to Habitat for Humanity of Grayson County, the bookshelf will fill with every donation. [http://graysonhabitat.org/]  The goal is to fund an entire home – $55,000.  Send your donation via PayPal using the Donate link in the menu bar or donate funds the old-fashioned way—a check works just fine!

Habitat for Humanity of Grayson County
901 N. Grand Avenue
P.O. Box 2725
Sherman, TX 75091

*Total as of 8/31/2013:  $2050.

Finally, what’s up next in Diana’s writing life?

I’m excited to share that Born To Bite, an anthology with Hannah Howell and Erica Ridley, will be released via paperback on September 3rd!  http://www.dianacosby.com/borntobite.html

Born to Bite

Also, I’m thrilled to pass on that book #6 in the MacGruder brother’s series, His Enchantment, will be released December 19th!  Here’s an excerpt:

http://www.dianacosby.com/hisenchantment.html#excerpt

Thanks so much for joining us on the blog today, Diana!


Guest Author: Lea Wait & Giveway!!


Do you love mysteries?  I do, so I’m very pleased to welcome Lea Wait to the blog today.  Lea writes the Agatha-finalist Shadows Antique Print Mystery series for adults featuring protagonist Maggie Summer, and also historical novels for ages 8-14.

You live in Maine and you run an antique print business. How has your background influenced your writing?

Although I haven’t lived in Maine all of my life, it’s where my heart has been. Of the ten books I’ve had published so far, and the five under contract, all but four are set in Maine. Luckily, my readers seem to love Maine, too! And I grew up in the antiques business – my great-grandfather, my grandmother and my mother were all dealers – and I’ve never lived in a house built after 1920.  The one I live in now was built in 1774. So even when my stories take place today, antiques, and history are part of who I am, and parts of the stories I write.

Your new book is called Shadows on a Cape Cod Wedding. What’s it about?

This is one of my mysteries that clearly doesn’t take place in Maine! My protagonist, antique print dealer Maggie Summer, is on Cape Cod to help her best friend with pre-wedding preparations. Of course every wedding has its last minute challenges … this one includes the murder of someone whose daughter thought he’d died two years before, a feisty prospective mother-in-law, a strange woman with an unusual hobby, and a town full of private New Englanders with secrets to uncover.  And then Maggie’s own beau decides he’s had enough of her crime solving, a hurricane hits, bullets start flying … and Maggie herself becomes a target. But, of course, the wedding must go on!

You also write novels for young people. What can you tell us about them?

I’m writing a group of novels for ages 8-14 all set in the same town (Wiscasset, Maine) in the 19th century. The main characters are fictional, but the minor characters are the real people who lived in the town then, and the events in the books really happened. My goal is to show how life changed in small town American over the years. I’m thrilled that the four books published so far (Stopping to Home, Seaward Born, Wintering Well, and Finest Kind,) have been honored by being put on reading lists throughout the country.

What’s up next in Lea’s writing world?

Uncertain Glory, the next of my books for young people, set during the first two weeks of the Civil War, will be published in April of 2014. Then in the fall of 2014 the next in the Shadows series, Shadows on a Maine Christmas will be published, and, I’m excited to announce, Kensington will also be publishing the first in my new mystery series, set in (where else?) Haven Harbor, Maine. Its title will be Time’s Twisted Threads. I invite everyone to check my website and friend me on Facebook for more about my books. Thank you for having me here!

Lea, thanks so much for joining us today!  Readers, Lea is graciously giving away a copy of Shadows on a Cape Cod Weddings.  Just tell us who your favorite sleuth is–literary or on film or TV–for a chance to win.


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