Enjoy the Dark Seduction . . . with Cynthia Cooke

Cynthia Cooke is an award-winning, multi-published author who has published 11 books and short stories for Harlequin/Silhouette and Steeple Hill. Her latest book, Deadly Secrets, Loving Lies will be one of the launch books for Entangled Publishing‘s new Dead Sexy Romantic Suspense line. Cynthia is best known for writing page-turners that will keep you up at night.  So if you choose to take that ride, over the edge and into the dark, don’t forget to turn on the lights. Cynthia’s books aren’t sweet and they aren’t for the faint of heart.  Enjoy the Dark Seduction. 

To read more, please visit us over at Kiss and Thrill or click here:

Anne Bradstreet: Puritan Poetess and America’s First Published Author

TO MY DEAR AND LOVING HUSBAND

(Anne Bradstreet 1612-1672)

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye woman, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the east doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor aught but love from thee, give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let’s so perservere
That when we live no more, we may live ever.

Even though Valentine’s Day has passed, I wanted to share this love poem written by my favorite poet Anne Bradstreet.

Painting by Ladonna Gulley Warrick

Anne Dudley Bradstreet was born in Northampton, England in 1612, the daughter of a Puritan estate manager and an educated noble woman. At the age of sixteen Anne, also well-educated, married her father’s Puritan clerk Simon Bradstreet. She went on to have eight children.

By 1620, the political position of the Puritans in England had weakened and many fled to Holland, then to the New World. In 1630, Anne and her husband Simon, along with her parents, joined John Winthrop, John Mather, and other well-known Puritan figures on the Arabella bound for the city which would become Boston. Anne was only eighteen. To read more, come visit me at the Dashing Duchesses or click here:

Prayer for a Friend

A few weeks ago, my dear friend and critique partner Karen slurred her words.After many appointments and possible diagnoses, the doctors discovered a brain mass in the back of her head, attached to the upper brain stem. It is inoperable. But there is hope.

Today, surrounded by friends, her husband, and three teenage sons, she is undergoing a biopsy to determine exactly what the mass is so they can decide on a treatment.

 Unfortunately, the biopsy carries its own risks. But I’m confident in her team of doctors that the surgery will be successful and they will bring her back to us.

 So I humbly ask, for all those who read this today, please offer a prayer for my friend Karen.

It would be much appreciated.

Big Boys Don’t Spy

Today at Blame it on the Muse, I’m pleased to introduce Karen E. M. Johnston.

Karen, an award-winning British author, was born in Gibraltar, studied Business and International Marketing in the UK, and worked in advertising and marketing in London’s Covent Garden before moving to the US. She is widely published in children’s, parent, and business magazines. Karen also writes Women’s Fiction and Young Adult novels. She lives in Chantilly, Virginia, on the outskirts of Washington D.C. with her British husband and three American sons who have not the slightest trace of a British accent.

Karen’s debut children’s middle grade novel THE WITNESS TREE AND THE SHADOW OF THE NOOSE, a Civil War ghost mystery, came out in 2009.

The story is about Jake Salmon, whose family has moved to a creepy, cramped house in historic Manassas, on the outskirts of the famous Civil War battlefield. Outside his bedroom window stands an old oak tree where, by night, a street  lamp throws a shadow from the tree onto his closet door in the appearance of a hang-man’s noose. Late one night, Jake hears footsteps in the basement and is convinced there’s a killer hiding in his house. But when the previous homeowner confirms dangerous encounters with the ghost of Confederate soldier, Thomas Garnet, Jake, along with his friend Raj, and his younger brother Danny, sets out to uncover the mystery.

THE WITNESS TREE received fabulous reviews and well-deserved rewards. Her second children’s novel BIG BOYS DON’T SPY hit the shelves November 2010 with much acclaim, and her third novel THE PHANTOM ARMY will be released October 2012. 

SW: Thanks so much, Karen, for spending time with us today. I’ve read your first book, THE WITNESS TREE AND THE SHADOW OF THE NOOSE, and absolutely loved it. Now I’d love to hear about your current release BIG BOYS DON’T SPY.

To read more, come visit us at Blame it on the Muse or click here: 

Roxanne St. Claire

Today we’re excited to welcome Roxanne St. Claire to Kiss and Thrill.

Roxanne St. Claire is a New York Times bestselling author of twenty-seven novels of suspense and romance, including her most recent release, Space In His Heart.  The author of two popular romantic suspense series (The Bullet Catchers and The Guardian Angelinos), Roxanne is launching a brand new contemporary romance series in 2012, called “Barefoot Bay” and set on a fictional island off the Gulf coast of Florida.  In addition, her first young adult novel, Don’t You Wish, will release in July, 2012.

In addition to being a five-time RITA nominee and one-time RITA winner, Roxanne’s novels have won the National Reader’s Choice Award for best romantic suspense for two consecutive years, as well as the Daphne du Maurier Award, the HOLT Medallion, the Maggie, Booksellers Best, Book Buyers Best, and many others.  Her books have been translated into dozens of languages and are routinely included as a Doubleday/Rhapsody Book Club Selection of the Month.

Roxanne lives in Florida with her husband and two teenagers (and one adorable Australian Terrier) and can be reached via her website, www.roxannestclaire.com, Twitter @roxannestclaire, or on her Facebook Reader page, www.facebook.com/roxannestclaire.

Thank you so much for having me today!  I love to stop by blogs like this, chat with the readers, and talk about books.  Fire the questions away and feel free to ask more in the comments!  I’ll answer anything!

To read more, come on over to Kiss and Thrill or click here:

Jessica Scott: Spotlight on the Author and Soldier

 Adding to our wonderful line-up of author interviews, today we are excited to welcome Jessica Scott to Kiss and Thrill.

A career soldier with 16 years in the Army, Jessica is a Company Commander in charge of 130 soldiers, a mom with two young kids who never sit still, and an Army wife, whose husband is back in Iraq. Blogging from Iraq landed her a spot on PBS Point of View, tackling tough issues involving women and war.

Her novels are all pulled from her experiences as an soldier who has lived through both being deployed and being the spouse left at home with the kids.

Her first release, Because of You, is a Loveswept eBook original which has garnered rave reviews from press, peers, and public alike.

To read more, please visit us at Kiss and Thrill, or click here:

Eragon: A Man and His Friends

Last week, my children and I drove home from my mother’s wedding in Savannah, Georgia. It was the third long distance driving trip I’d made in under three weeks, and I was sick of the highway. In less than a month, my family and I attended three weddings on the East Coast. I logged almost two thousand miles on my car from Fairfax, VA, down to Charleston, SC then Savannah, GA, and back up to Bucks County, PA (north of Philadelphia), and back home.

A few days later, after walking through historic Savannah and attending multiple wedding events, we left on a Sunday morning at 5:30 am and headed home. I knew it would take ten hours because I was driving by myself. My husband had left a day early to attend yet another wedding in Annapolis, MD. As soon as I had my coffee and we hit the highway, I put on our current audio book. Since the newestChristopher Paolini book Inheritance (the fourth–and long awaited–book in the Eragon series) had just been released, we’d decided to re-read (in this case  re-listen to) the first three books before reading the fourth.

Eight hours later, my children and I were halfway through Eldest  (book 2) and I started complaining. I was tired, had hit a ton of traffic in Virginia, and was sick of Eragon (the hero dragonrider) and his friends. No matter what was happening–backstory, action, narrative–all the reader/listener heard was introductions to Eragon’s buddies. For pages (minutes) upon pages (minutes), we met mentors, dragons, dragon riders, a love interest, a lover lost, an elf queen, dwarves and even farmers. Besides the constant getting to know each other, everyone had a strange name that was impossible to remember while driving.

Finally, I blurted out “I can’t believe Eragon has so many friends!”

To which my daughter replied, “Mommy, you can never have too many friends.

Whatever.

As I sulked, the traffic around Richmond got heavier and heavier. I decided to bail off I-95 and get onto the I-295 beltway. I was two and a half hours from home, and I couldn’t wait to get out of the car. As I rounded the city, Eragon met yet another three people and I wanted to scream–until I heard a horrible POP. My right rear tire had blown. Luckily, I was in the right lane and pulled off immediately.

Kiss and Thrill

I am proud to announce the blog debut of Kiss and Thrill! And thank you Rachel Grant for your wonderful introduction!

Kiss and Thrill is a joint effort by nine writers, published and unpublished, and we’re here to celebrate the books we love the most. If you love mysteries, suspense, and thrillers with strong romantic plots, then visit often and enjoy as we write about our favorite genre and bring you interviews from top writers in the field.

You can expect to find new content and often a book-related giveaway on Tuesdays, with a follow-up blog announcing winners on Thursdays.  We have a great line up of guest authors planned, starting with tomorrow’s first guest, Allison Brennan!

For our inaugural blog, we decided to answer the question: If you were stranded on a desert island, what three romantic suspense books would you want with you?

Get ready to add to your to-be-read pile, because there are some fabulous book recommendations on the Kiss and Thrill website, or click below.

If You Give a Girl a Viscount

you find USA Today best-selling author Kieran Kramer.

Kieran writes Regency Historicals for St. Martin’s Press, and her November 1^st release If You Give A Girl A Viscount is the fourth in her Impossible Bachelors Series. In the interest of full disclosure, Kieran is also my sister-in-law (I’m married to her brother). But that just makes for a more interesting interview!

And listen to the lovely highland song featured in the book, as sung by Kieran’s brother Patrick (also my husband) who’s an Irish Tenor just like his grandfather. “Will Ye Go, Lassie”

To read more, come visit us over at Blame it on the Muse, or click here.

Moonlight, Magnolias, and The Maggies

Last weekend I attended the Moonlight and Magnolias Conference sponsored by the Georgia Romance Writers in Decatur, Georgia. Besides the amazing line-up of authors offering advice and teaching classes, GRW sponsored a charitable booksigning which included Eloisa James, Karen White, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Leigh Michaels, among many others. There were also two days worth of editor and agent appointments for authors to pitch their ideas.

M&M, as it’s affectionately known, is a wonderful place to catch up with writing friends and online critique partners I don’t see often–including Christine Glover, Pam Mantovani, Mary Freeman, Florina Romoser, and Kim Brock (just to name a few!).

But the highlight of the weekend was the annual Maggie awards for both published and unpublished writers to win the prestigious Maggie Medallion. (Here is a wonderful article about the Maggie contest by Tanya Michna)

And this year, I was chosen as one of six unpublished Maggie Finalists in the Single Title category-an honor I appreciate and am grateful for. Although the competition was tough, I still wrote a speech which I slipped back into my purse after I received my third-place certificate. At the risk of seeming presumptuous (again!), I’ve posted my speech below. Despite the fact I didn’t win, the sentiment remains true.

“I want to thank the Georgia Romance Writers and the Maggie judges for this wonderful honor. Special thanks to my CPs Christine Glover, Mary Lenaburg, Karen Johnston, and Juliette Sobanet, as well as Pam Mantovani and Mary Freeman for making room for me in the sold-out hotel, despite the fact the hotel was closing and nearly out of towels, toilet paper, and wine. I also want to thank Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency for taking a chance on me and offering the opportunity of a lifetime. I’m excited to work with such a wonderful agency. And finally, I want to thank my husband who reminds me daily that happily ever afters do exist. Without his love and support, I wouldn’t be standing here tonight.”

Thank you again GRW for a memorable weekend. I’m already counting down to next year’s conference.