Excerpt Monday: Kiss of Scandal

The last day of February already? Didn't I just say this about January? Sheesh. This week I'll be talking about unusual settings for romances. We talk about that over on the Unusual Historicals site, which is a fantastic gathering for different romantic settings. You should check it out. :)

Tsarist Russia: the cold winters, the scathing heat of palace gossip. It's a wonderful setting for a romance.

Kiss of Scandal excerpt:

“Who else knows of this?” she asked her brother. “What did Father tell you?”

“The papers found with Peter indicated he may have been involved in sensitive financial matters within the Turkish borders. As far as I know,” Constantine admitted, “that information is staying between Father, me, Lazarenko, Terenov, and now you two.”

Frowning, Katria moved closer to Nikolai. “Financial matters? They could have been in place before the war. What exactly do they indicate?”

“I haven’t seen the papers myself,” Constantine admitted, and Nikolai dreaded what came next. “However, they may associate Peter with. . .questionable dealings.”

“Questionable?” Katria snorted in relief. “Constantine, there are few things in Russia that aren’t questionable. Politics are our life, we’re raised on intrigue. Every courtier in this Palace has something questionable about him.”

“On the surface, Father said, the papers aren’t proof of treason but they do raise questions.” Constantine approached him. “Peter’s dead. I’ve convinced Father that it makes no further difference. I agree with you; Peter was no traitor. But the best course of action now is to conceal it and all else you may find associated with these matters.”

Numb, Nikolai nodded. In his darkest nightmares, he hadn’t thought something this destructive could happen. The Orlovs had a pristine reputation with the Tsar. Katria’s voice brought him back to the matter at hand.

“Constantine,” he heard her say, “can you give us a moment?”

The door closed, and they were once again alone. Focusing, Nikolai saw her standing before him. Her warm hand cupped his cheek. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He took her hand, holding it for a heartbeat. In a move too swift to give her time to protest, he pulled her into his arms. Laying his cheek against the top of her head, he tried to think. His chest tightened with grief, but he ruthlessly tamped it down. Anger overrode grief, and he embraced it.

“Treason—it’s a lie against Peter.”

She matched his gaze. “I know.”

Katria’s utter acceptance snapped something in Nikolai. Crushing her to him, he sought her lips. She eagerly kissed him back, meeting his grief-fueled passion. With a growl, he picked her up, walking until her back hit the wall.

Looking down at her bright eyes, he retook her lips, needing to feel something—her—needing to claim her. Part of his life was ripped away with Peter’s death. She wanted to fill the void with her. He didn’t want to let her go, wanted to take her home. It was too soon.

Restraining himself, Nikolai managed, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right,” she said. Then, before he could walk away, she wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

Read Kiss of Scandal reviews

This week's Friday guest is Robyn Bachar. She'll talk about the thrill of publication & the stress of marketing. Blood, Smoke and Mirrors available from Amazon, B&N, and Samhain Publishing.

Saturday Excerpt

This week's Saturday excerpt is by Caroline Clemmons as she talks her Civil War story, Long Way Home. Nominated for the EPPI awards, the anthology Northern Roses and Southern Belles covers a different locale and time during the war.

In a country torn asunder--from the Canadian border to Texas, from Maryland to Arkansas, from the battlefield of Antietam to the Red River Campaign--brave men and loyal women see their lives turned upside down.
Peril lurks behind every tree and near every homestead, but the hard-fought love of a man and a woman surpasses all.

Six talented writers provide stories of romance and danger centering on Union and Confederate soldiers, spies, blockade runners, renegades, and battlefield nurses during a period of corsets, hoopskirts, and gentlemen callers.

In e-book and paperback! (Also available from Amazon and B&N)

Friday Guests: Wendi Zwaduk

Act Naturally

I wanted to thank Isabel for having me here today. I love stopping by the blog and seeing the cool things you’re talking about. So the question you’ve posed to me is, what television show I’d guest on. Whew...what a tough question. First thing that came to mind was that old Beatles song “Act Naturally”.

I know there were others that put the song out and I know the Beatles weren’t the first, but that’s the version I know. And yes, I think if I were on a Hollywood set, they’d say something like “the biggest fool to ever hit the big time and all I’ve gotta do is act naturally”. They just might be right.

So now I’m thinking, there are a lot of shows I’d love to be on if given the chance. I’ll list my top three and why.

1. I’d love to be on Ghost Adventures because they do go to some really cool places to gather evidence of the paranormal. It would be a lot of fun and scary as heck to go walking or wandering through an abandoned prison. Not sure I’d have the gumption to go through with it, but, hey, I’d love to collect my own proof ghosts and spirits really exist.

2. I’m a huge fan of the CSI franchise, CSI: Miami in particular. First of all, I’m in the land of snow and ice right now. Anywhere that’s a little warmer would be good for me. Second of all, I’m smitten with Jon Togo a.k.a. CSI Wolfe. The guy has some issues—gambling, temper, and his style is odd (I love Converse, but on a cop? While on duty?) I’m not sure what kind of part I’d like, but hey, it’s warm and there are hot bods around. A girl can’t ask for much more.

3. Criminal Minds is another can’t miss show. I’d love to be able to write characters as complex as the criminals they profile. Maybe one day. I also love that they show the story from both angles – the criminals and the profilers. In some ways, it’s like the head-hopping we’re all told not to do, but I still like it. I like knowing what both sides are thinking.

It’s kind of funny. The types of shows I’d pick to guest on are somewhat in line with the books I write and yet they aren’t. I love the paranormal, but I think a real vampire would scare me witless. I know people very close to me who have some proof of ghosts—did you know ghosts swear? I didn’t until I heard the recordings. Also, I have a thing for cops apparently, and I’ve written them in more than one book, but I’m still working on the level of complexity of those characters.

I’m glad I got to think about the shows. It was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun. So I ask the readers, what show would you be on?

Thanks, Isabel! Can’t wait to come back.


He’s her kinkiest desire, if she’s willing to open her heart and believe in him.

Blurb:
The dead don’t always rest in peace. Some stick around to make the lives of the living hell on Earth. Ryan Black knows the frustration of dealing with the dead. He’s a Ghost Explorer. He’s conquered houses filled with apparitions, abandoned school buildings that house angry vermin, and managed to woo the female population of Snake Falls, Ohio. But he’s about to face his toughest challenge, convincing sceptical Samara Jacobs she not only shares his gift, but holds his heart.

Women fall at Ryan Black’s feet and Samara’s determined not to be one of the many—that is until she’s forced to work with him. He’s certain ghosts exist and willing to prove it. The more she gets to know the man behind the television persona, she decides the handsome klutz who chases things that go bump in the night isn’t so silly after all. But is he worthy of her love?

Excerpt (PG):


“Look around at the scenery. Ohio girls are the stuff of legend. For example, Meredith has those legs a man fantasizes having wrapped around his waist.”

“Engaged.”

“Well, then there’s Caren. She’s got a nice rack and she’s single.”

“Implants.”

“Pick nits.” Eddie snorted and shook his head. “You’ll shoot down all my ideas just to be right.” He scoped the cafeteria room once more. “What about Samara? She’s cute in a girl-next-door kinda way. All peaches and cream. I’ve caught her checking you out once or twice—a day for the last year.” He pointed to Ryan. “She’d make a perfect forever girl.”

“I had my forever girl. But I could be wrong.” Samara checked him out? Hmm... Kinda nice to know the attraction wasn’t a figment of his undersexed imagination. He’d spent many a night fantasizing about her, holding her, making love to her, waking up in the morning and seeing her smile.

At her table across the room, Samara curled up in her chair, paperback book propped in one hand and concentration written on her face. From his position, he couldn’t read the title, but he’d passed her desk enough times to know she liked romance novels. In the two years he’d worked in the same building with her, he’d heard her speak a total of three times but he knew her voice like his own.

“Ryan?”

“What? I’m checking out the scenery. It’s—” he drew a breath, feeling more than the oxygen stirring something within his body. His sex drive? He shifted in his seat. Yeah, there was a definite tingle below the belt. “It’s intriguing.”

Thursday Progress

Some days writing is harder than others. Those days it's better to walk away than continually bang your head against the keyboard.

Lately, life has not been that way. OK, to clarify, WRITING has not been that way. Writing has been flowing rather smoothly. Dark Inheritance is going along very well, I adore the plot and the characters, but mostly right at this moment I'm loving the way it's all flowing! Not just meshing together, not just the way it's all coming out, but the pace of it.

These are the days I love writing, the ones I brag about, the ones I'll look fondly back on in another couple of months and wonder what happened.

And this Friday, my guest will be Wendi Zwaduk who's talking about how to act naturally and her new release, Careless Whisper.

Wednesday Review: In the Shadow of Freedom

I'm not big on biographies. I don't care about other people's lives, who slept with whom, why X became a chef and Y became an actor, or how Z didn't let alcoholism affect the rest of his/her life. I am not fascinated with the minutia of everyday celebrity living, nor do I care beyond the head-shaking headlines of the latest politician to disgrace him/herself.

In the Shadow of Freedom first came to my attention through Twitter; I follow Tchicaya Missamou's agent and when it was first released, she (naturally and as a good agent) announced it.

My internal debate raged. But I was in a non-fiction mood, first with The Tiger: a True story of Vengeance and Survival then the thinly veiled fictionalized version of Every Man Dies Alone.

Read the blurb, a couple reviews on Amazon and B&N, and decided why not? Not normally my kind of read, but Tchicaya's story (no idea how to properly pronounce his name) not only tells of his country, the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and its tragic story of war, but his own involvement in it from a VERY young age.

A child soldier who knew what he was doing but did it anyway to a young man who changed his ways and eventually made it to America. Here he lived in poverty and joined the Marine Corp where he rose in the ranks.

Tchicaya's story is a true American Dream story. I loved it.

And this Friday, my guest will be Wendi Zwaduk who's talking about how to act naturally and her new release, Careless Whisper.

Pictures to Smile at

Thanks to Mary Ann who forwarded them!

Soccer Grandmom! I love it.

This one is just too cute.

And this Friday, my guest will be Wendi Zwaduk who's talking about how to act naturally and her new release, Careless Whisper.

Curiosities and reviews

Without fail, my post on Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife is the most popular thing on this blog. Over 400 views since March 31, 2010.

Is it because of the material-Jane Austen? Is it because I was less than polite in my review?

• Yes I could have sugar coated it, and as I already admitted, I adored it the first time I read the book. Could have been because I was enamored with the first P&P variation I'd read, I don't know but the back story info dump was too much.

Because I changed my review between the two readings?

• My original review stands on Amazon and I won't change it. There are over 500 reviews posted there now with a average of 3 stars. (Polarized almost evenly between 5 stars ad 1 star, with a smattering in the middle) All in all, I suppose my second review falls more in line with the majority, though I've never really cared about that.

Does anyone like the review? Hate it? Agree or disagree with it? Even read it or are they directed to my blog from elsewhere because of the topic and don't bother?

I'm so curious, I wish someone would tell me!!

And this Friday, my guest will be Wendi Zwaduk who's talking about how to act naturally and her new release, Careless Whisper.