Guest Post with Author Shana Galen and Giveaway

Meet Shana Galen, author of Sapphires Are an Earl’s Best Friend.

Shana Galen is the bestselling author of fast-paced adventurous Regency historicals, including the RT Reviewers’ Choice The Making of a Gentleman. Booklist says “Galen expertly entwines espionage-flavored intrigue with sizzling passion,” and RT Bookreviews calls her “a grand mistress of the action/adventure subgenre.” She taught English at the middle and high school level off and on for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston's inner city. Now she writes full time. She’s happily married and has a daughter who is most definitely a romance heroine in the making.

Places to find Shana:

| Site | The Jaunty Quills | Facebook | Twitter |

The Courtesan’s Guide to Good Spying

One of the best things about being a writer is when your characters surprise you. I know this sounds crazy to those of you who don’t write. How could a character surprise the author, who is creating the story? But toward the end of If You Give a Rake a Ruby, Fallon and Warrick were in quite a spot of trouble, and guess who stepped in to help them? Lily. Apparently, she had skills I was unaware of. Apparently, she was not only a courtesan—although that’s questionable—she was also a spy for the Crown.

Now, not to worry if you haven’t read If You Give a Rake a Ruby. Lily’s story stands completely on its own. In fact, I didn’t have much planned in the way of plot for Sapphires Are an Earl’s Best Friend, Lily’s book, but I certainly hadn’t anticipated Lily being a spy. I knew she was in love with Andrew, the Earl of Darlington, and had been for some time. But little did I know her extracurricular spying activities would put her and Darlington at odds. How deliciously fun when that’s exactly what happened!

Today I thought I’d give you a few tips and tricks Lily learns in Sapphires Are an Earl’s Best Friend.

10. Always keep your eye on the target.
When Lily learns the man she’s investigating is none other than the Duke of Ravenscroft, Andrew’s father, she has to put aside her infatuation with Andrew and focus on Ravenscroft. It’s not easy for Lily, considering how long she’s loved Andrew. But she has to be professional.

9. Do not allow a pair of tight breeches to weaken your resolve.
The more Lily encounters Andrew, the more difficult it becomes for her to remember his father is the one she’s after. It’s those damned tight breeches Andrew is so fond of wearing. They’re just so distracting!

8. Make friends with the family.
The duke has a young daughter who looks up to Lily. Lily likes the girl enough to warn Andrew to send her away. And just in time to save the girl too!

7. Always carry a pistol with you.
When Lily is abducted on her way to the theater, she conveniently has her pistol with its sapphire-encrusted handle at the ready. And she’s not afraid to use it.

6. Don’t allow your past to interfere.
Lily should have followed her own advice. The duke’s castle is quite close to a cottage with personal meaning to Lily. She makes the mistake of visiting it and spots a redheaded child.

5. Do not allow yourself to be cornered in the butler’s pantry.
It’s those tight breeches again. Lily and Andrew have a brief and rather heated moment in the servants’ quarters.

4.If the weather looks like rain, stay indoors.
Lily and Andrew are caught in a cold, wet rainstorm. It’s typical English weather, and when they need to make a quick escape, the rising river, makes it especially treacherous.

3. Stay away from house parties with your competition.
When Lily arrives at the duke’s castle, she finds several other courtesans in attendance. They are none too pleased to see her.

2. An opera singer is a great distraction.
Lily tries to use Andrew’s well-known preference for opera singers to her advantage, but it doesn’t work as planned.

1. Never, never, never fall in love.
Lily, unfortunately, cannot avoid this mistake.

It was a lot of fun taking this story from the ballrooms of London to a house party in the country. What settings do you most enjoy when you read novels?

Send your proof of preorder before February 28^th!

Follow along on the Jewels of the Ton Pre-Publication Tour—with chances to win books and jewelry at each stop!

2/17 Cocktails and Books – Diamond

2/18 SOS Aloha – Amethyst

2/19 Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance – Citrine

2/20 Romance Bandits – Rose Quartz

2/21 Reading Between the Wines – Ruby

2/24 Ramblings From This Chick – Pink Sapphire

2/25 Stich-Read-Cook – Garnet

2/26 Dashing Duchesses – Blue Topaz

2/27 Romancing the Book – Smoky Quartz

2/28 Books-N-Kisses – Sapphire 

SAPPHIRES ARE AN EARL’S BEST FRIEND BY SHANA GALEN – IN STORES MARCH 2014

What better disguise for a secret agent than that of a courtesan?

Lily Dawson, dubbed the Countess of Charm, is a spy working for the Crown to uncover a traitor.

Andrew Booth-Payne, Earl of Darlington, wants to hate Lily for taking up with his father, but something about Lily intrigues him.

When he discovers there is more to her flirtation than greed, he knows he must help her uncover a traitor. Even if that traitor is his own father…

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository |

Check out the Jewels of the Ton series:

 

Check out what's up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:

• 1 copy of When You Give a Duke a Diamond and If You Give a Rake a Ruby + a Pink Sapphire Necklace

To Enter: 

• Please answer Shana's question: What settings do you most enjoy when you read novels?
• US/Canada shipping ONLY.
• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

Good Luck! 

Special thanks to Shana Galen & Sourcebooks for sponsoring this giveaway.

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