Archive for the ‘Harlequin’ Category

Age difference in romance

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

by Kat Latham

Back in the early 90s, when I first started reading romance, I remember reading a few books where there was a big age difference between the hero and heroine. Of course, the hero was always the older one.

In one book, the hero was in his late 30s and ended up with a 19-year-old woman. At the time, that didn’t gross me out because I was barely a teenager…37 and 19 seemed equally elderly to me.  But now that I’m older, that age difference isn’t romantic—it’s grooming.

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Giveaway: Win an ereader & enjoy the ebook sale!

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

You know what I love about digital books? Not just the convenience of being able to store about 6 billion books in my pocket. And no, not that my book clutter has been vastly reduced or that with my iPad and iPhone, I don’t even need light to read. Oh, and did I fail to mention that I definitely read more books than ever since I got an ereader.  And did I fail to mention I can sort my books by the click of a button and that they are displayed so nicely on the lovely virtual book shelf. Gosh, if all that wasn’t enough reason to love those digital books then I have to say the plethora of sales surely would push me right over the edge. When I can snag a much loved, much wanted ebook for under $5, I’m pretty much in heaven. And it would appear, so is the rest of the read buying public. :)

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An author to watch – Jeannie Lin

Friday, September 16th, 2011

Today I won a copy of Jeannie Lin’snovella from Harlequin Historical Undone THE LADY’S SCANDALOUS NIGHT on Twitter. I didn’t mean to win it as I receive Harlequin books to review but I forget to let her know I was retweeting for my followers. But as I won it, I decided one of my blog visitors really deserved to win it…so here I am giving it away.

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Authors flying under the radar

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

I’d like to do a monthly post on under appreciated authors–you know the ones who fly under the general reader’s radar. Lately, when I’ve discovered a ‘new-to-me’ author, they’ve well and truly been discovered–as in New York Times bestselling author. Actually, when I think about it I did recently discover Mira Lyn Kelly. She writes for Harlequin Presents and I found her on Twitter. I think the deal was she had a book coming out so I requested a copy from Harlequin to review (like to support my Twitter followers as much and whenever I can). The book was FRONT PAGE AFFAIR and I absolutely loved it so I went back and found her debut, which was WILD FLING OR A WEDDING RING. Loved that one too.

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Keeping it in the family: when a heroine dates brothers

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

by Kat Latham

My husband’s the youngest of four boys. If I were a romance novel heroine, that would mean I’d have plenty of dating opportunities if anything awful happened to my husband.

As a real woman, that thought fills me with the ickies.

Dating two people in one family is a common theme in contemporary romance. Kristin Higgins’s The Next Best Thing, for example, is about a woman who starts sleeping with her dead husband’s brother while she’s grieving, but eventually learns he’s more than a way to forget her pain for a while.

One Good Reason by Sarah Mayberry—released this month by Harlequin Superromance—tells the story of Gabby, who falls in love with her ex-boyfriend’s brother. She’s only recently met Jon, who lived in Canada when she was dating his younger brother Tyler. And she dumped Tyler three years ago. Perhaps these details ease the ick-factor those of us with real-life brothers-in-law feel.

Jon himself is not immune to feeling uncomfortable that the woman he’s having sex with also used to practically live with his younger brother. And the sexual side of their relationship is what he focuses on.

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5 reasons I wish I were a romance heroine

Friday, August 12th, 2011

by Kat Latham

Many of us romance readers wish we had the same things the heroines we read about get: a beautiful man who adores us, a close community of friends, fantastic sex, and a guaranteed happy ending.

But a tweet from Lauren Plude, editorial assistant at Grand Central Publishing, got me thinking. Lauren wrote: “One of the many reasons I sometimes wish I was a romance heroine–they never seem to have to wait for AM laundry delivery.”

Since I read that while working on a really annoying project, I started thinking about all the little blessings romance heroines have in their lives.

Forget the hot heroes; these are the real reasons I wish I were a romance heroine:

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Nicola Cornick is NOTORIOUS

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Hello everybody, it’s a great pleasure to be here today, and thank you to Beverley for inviting me. Many congratulations to The Season on the upcoming second anniversary!

I’m here today to talk about NOTORIOUS, the fourth book in my Scandalous Women on the Ton series. All the books in the Scandalous Women series are linked, both by the characters and by the theme of Regency women doing unusual and sometimes outrageous things.

I loved exploring the idea of what would outrage Regency society. Because women’s lives were considerably more circumscribed than in the modern world I took as my inspiration those exceptional ladies who travelled or set up their own businesses or became involved in the politics of the day in order to improve the lives of women or to help the poor. Once I started to research the topic I found many unusual, strong and determined women who had done amazing things. Then there were scandalous romantic entanglements to draw on as well; elopements, affairs, divorce and in NOTORIOUS, annulment. The two different threads of scandal come together in each book.

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Hook Me ~ Excerpt Friday

Friday, April 1st, 2011

A day late but not a dollar short in this case.  Instead of Excerpt Thursday, I’m giving you a special Excerpt Friday, which means it’s time to ‘Get Hooked’. Today, we have the talented Jackie Barbosa, who is giving us a peek from brand new release–as in todayGRACE UNDER FIRE. Let me know if you were hooked.

 

Click to purchase

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London, 1795

While most of Society views Lady Grace Hannington as a clumsy laughingstock, Atticus Stilwell and Viscount Colin Fitzgerald see their perfect partner—a woman who is more than enough for not just one man, but two. She is well-bred enough to be the wife Colin needs, with a blossoming sensuality both men cannot wait to taste.

But Grace will also need strength to withstand the ton’s scrutiny if she agrees to their scandalous arrangement. Can Atticus and Colin show her enough wicked pleasure to convince her to become theirs forever?

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GRACE UNDER FIRE by Jackie Barbosa
Available April 1, 2011 from Harlequin Spice Briefs

“Here you are, my lady,” Mr. Dimpled Cheek said, turning the knob and swinging inward the door to the retiring room.

“Thank you, s-sir,” she acknowledged, stepping inside the small chamber furnished with a dressing table and chair, a settee, and a privy screen. Unfortunately, she saw nothing to aid her in her current plight. Perhaps she would just hide for the remainder of the night. No one would miss her anyway, least of all Aunt Georgie, whose snores were likely loud enough by now to be heard over the music.

She turned to close the door and found her rescuer had followed her inside. Along with his friend.

Alarm and something else—was it excitement?—tingled along her skin. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I invited you to join me.” How she got all those words out without a single stutter was beyond her, but the exultation curling through her veins made her bold.

“I know,” Mr. Dimpled Cheek said, “but we have a matter of some importance to discuss with you. Privately.”

Oh dear. Her stomach flip-flopped at the way his eyes went dreamy and his voice dropped low when he said the word “privately.”

This was bad. Very bad.

So why wasn’t she afraid?

Sir Blue Eyes shut the door and locked it before leaning against it.

Her eyes widened a fraction, and her heart lurched irregularly. She was trapped. About to be ravished. But instead of finding the prospect horrifying, she burned with anticipation…and curiosity.

She didn’t know precisely what it meant to be ravished—except that no respectable gentleman would ever marry her afterward, but it wasn’t as if she’d been getting any interest from respectable gentlemen up to now, was it?—but she suddenly wished she did. Wished she knew what they would do to her in the privacy of this room that would ruin her for life. Because the dark, intense look in these men’s eyes didn’t make her feel threatened. And for once, she wasn’t too tall, too buxom, too red-haired, too clumsy Grace, but a woman worthy of the desire of not one, but two, of the handsomest men she had ever seen.

And the winners are…

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

Congratulations, ladies! Please email your snail mail address to me at contests at theseasonforromance dot com and don’t forget to include the title(s) of the book(s) you won. You have one week to claim your prize.

Giveaway: Sunday’s Offering

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

Comment to enter to win a copy of Amanda McCabe’s THE SHY DUCHESS and Kieran Kramer’s DUKES TO THE LEFT OF ME, PRINCES TO THE RIGHT

Click for review and book details

Click for review and book details