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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Romance Book Casting Call with Aislynn from Stitch-Read-Cook and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome to the celebration blogger Aislynn from Stich - Read - Cook. I am so happy to have Aislynn here today. She is made of awesome and I love her blog. She has a wonderful feature each week where different authors/bloggers share what it's like a day in their life.

I'm Aislynn!

I'm a 30 something book lover, born and raised on a small family farm. After living in the big city and finishing college, I returned to my hometown.

Hubby and I share our small apartment with our 3 loveable dogs in small town in Northern Ontario, not far from where I was raised.

By day I'm a mild mannered house designer, by night I'm a romance reader.. My book collection is filled with historical, paranormal, contemporary and everything in between.

Places to find Aislynn:

Friday, April 20, 2012

Interview with Author Stefanie Sloane and Giveaway

Today I am super excited to welcome to the blog author Stefanie Sloane. Stefanie is currently on tour promoting her upcoming release The Saint Who Stole My Heart, (which is so good). Stefanie took the time to let me ask her some questions but before we get to the interview, lets learn the basics about Stefanie.

A native Northwesterner with the pale skin to prove it, Stefanie Sloane credits her parents’ eclectic reading habits—not to mention their decision to live in the middle of nowhere—for her love of books. A childhood spent lost in the pages of countless novels led Stefanie to college where she majored in English. No one was more surprised than Stefanie when she actually put her degree to use and landed a job in Amazon.com’s Books editorial department. She spent over five years reading for a living before retiring to concentrate on her own stories. Stefanie currently resides with her family in Seattle.

Places to find Stefanie: 

Romance Book Casting Call with Lila DiPasqua and Giveaway


Today I would like to welcome to the Casting Call Lila DiPasqua. Lila is absolutely one of my favorite people. She is so kind and charming, plus absolutely adore her books. I love that she takes fairy tales and puts an erotic twist to them. Seriously, her books rock!

At age fourteen, Lila’s best friend sneaked a romance novel out of her grandmother’s house. After devouring it, Lila was hooked on romance novels for life. Today she lives with her real-life hero husband and three children and is a firm believer in the happily-ever-after. She loves history and enjoys traveling. She has been to four continents so far. Weaving in interesting historical facts she discovers during her travels, Lila writes stories about historical alpha-heroes and the heroines who make them lose their hearts. Lila DiPasqua writes wicked & witty historical romance for Penguin/Berkley as well as self-published novels.

Places to find Lila:

Thursday, April 19, 2012

ARC Review: The Saint Who Stole My Heart by Stefanie Sloane

I adored this book from beginning to end. I can't believe I've waited until Stefanie's fourth book to pick her up. Believe me, I will definitely be reading the rest of Stefanie's books and quite soon. I loved her characters and the world she has created. I admit that I have a fondness for spy story-lines and Stefanie executed to perfection.

Dashiell Matthews, Viscount Carrington is an important member of the Young Corinthians, a spy league that he works for. He is brilliant at breaking codes and solving puzzles. Since Dash is an extremely attractive man, he uses his looks as a facade to hide his brilliance. Only the people closest to him know he is truly intelligent, thus allowing him to keep of his facade. For the last several years he has been on the hunt for The Bishop, a murder who was responsible for the death of his closest friends mother years before. Ever since Lady Afton's death, he and his friends have thought of nothing but the revenge that they would one day have against Bishop.

Elena Barnes lives a quiet life at home in the country with her father. She is very intelligent and very well read. She believes anything can be learned from a book and when a missive from London arrives informing her and her father that he has been left a rare collection of books from the late Viscount Carrington she immediately though reluctantly, sets off for London to retrieve them. Elena has been to London before and had a rather unsuccessful season and she is not looking forward to encountering the vipers of the ton again. She plans to quickly pack up the books and return home. What she doesn't expect to find is Dash Matthews.

When Elena first sees Dash, she can hardly believe her eyes. She has never seen a man so beautiful in her life. The image is quickly ruined when he opens his mouth and begins to act like the addled-brained Adonis that he is known for. But the more and more time that begin to spend together, Elena starts to see whats beneath the facade, a truly intelligent man.

I loved both Dash and Elena. I loved their characters and I especially loved they way they both interacted with one another. There were instant sparks between them and I love the way everything progressed with them. It felt just right and not rushed at all.

As soon as Dash appeared I was instantly transfixed. He is everything I love in a hero. Not only is he sexy but he is very witty and extremely intelligent. I love me a smart hero! I truly loved him and Nicholas together. I found myself giggling a quite a few of their scenes together. I did enjoy watching Dash struggle with his feelings with Elena. On the one hand he wanted to push her away because he wants nothing more than to keep her safe from Bishop, but on the other hand he can't let her go.

I also had a great fondness for Elena. Not only is she smart, but she is also brave and willing to help others. I also liked that she is willing to ask for help if she needed it. Sometimes when authors are writing bluestocking heroines, they tend to be very stubborn and won't rely on anyone else's help. That was definitely not the case with Elena. I also enjoyed her relationship with Bessie.

My only complaint with this book and honestly it's not really a complaint is that towards the second half of the book things seem to slow down relationship wise between Dash and Elena. But honestly, it didn't really bug me. I was so caught up with everything else that was going on I didn't even miss it.

I highly recommend this book. I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of this series, including Stefanie Sloane's next book The Scoundrel Takes a Bride. After reading this book I honestly can't wait to get my hands on that one. I just know it's going to be good.

**ARC copy provided by NetGalley**

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

RATING:

Feature and Giveaway: Sex, Lies & Mistletoe by Tawny Weber

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Tawny was unable to cast her books. But fear not, we still want to feature her books because they are made of awesome and we want to share them with everyone.

I love romance. Happily ever after, hot love scenes… all the good things in life.

For a long time, I was content to explore this enticing world through books. Then, wow – I found out it can happen in real life. I met my husband, who showed me that all those wonderful, magical feelings described in the books are real. Hey, what d’ya know, fiction really IS based in reality.

Once that particular dream came true, it was like Pandora’s Box opened… if I could have that dream – why not the one I’d hidden away in that quiet corner of my mind… the one about putting those stories dancing around in my head onto paper (or computer screen) and writing my own romances?

It took awhile. Workshops and classes, voraciously devouring every how-to book I could buy, studying the market and finding my niche – to say nothing of my voice. Throw in those little distractions like life, children and such… but the dream started taking life.

Once I joined RWA I found another form of magic. Camaraderie, support and friendships that have touched my heart. The dream is blooming. In the last few years, I have served two terms as Secretary for my online chapter, as well as Publicity Chair, Mentorship Chair, Critique Chair and moderated a few other programs. I was the 2008 President of the Black Diamonds Romance Writers and VP of Administration of the SFA-RWA — and loved the challenge. All of this gives strength to that dream, and keeps it grounded.

2010 will see my seventh, eight and ninth Harlequin Blaze novels in the shelves, with three more scheduled for 2011.

I do have other dreams that I’m happily tending: my own real-life hero husband and our two children. Our Northern California home, an ode to ideas and obsessive redecorating/remodeling. Good thing my hero is handy with a saw. Gardening, scrapbooking, crafting and an incredibly supportive family round things out. Along with homeschooling our children and writing, I work from home with my Intuitive Consulting business.

Places to find Tawny:

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Romance Book Casting Call with Carolyn Brown and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome to the Casting Call Carolyn Brown. Carolyn is super nice and her books are awesome. Who doesn't love a sexy cowboy?

New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance author and RITA® Finalist, Carolyn Brown, has published more than fifty books.

Brown's books have been translated into eleven foreign languages and fourteen have been reprinted in large print format. Her books have been reviewed in Library Journal, Booklist, Romantic Times, Romance Reviews Today, Publisher's Weekly, Cataromance, USA Today and Romance Reader At Heart. Two of her romances have been published as Japanese Manga books.

Brown writes cowboy romance for Sourcebooks: The Lucky Trilogy, the Honky Tonk Series and now the Spikes & Spurs Series.

She has also written more than forty sweet romances for Avalon which include several historical series as well as contemporary stand alone romance novels.

Places to find Carolyn:
| Site | Facebook

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Romance Book Casting Call with Bella Andre and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome to the Casting Call Bella Andre. Bella was one of the very first authors I read when I jumped from YA to adult romance. I love her books. She just has a way with creating sexy heroes that I just want to gobble up.

Welcome to the Casting Call Bella Andre!

Bella Andre has always been a writer. Songs came first, and then non-fiction books, but as soon as she started writing her first romance novel, she knew she'd found her perfect career. Known for "sensual, empowered stories enveloped in heady romance" (Publisher's Weekly) about sizzling alpha heroes and the strong women they'll love forever, many of her 20+ titles have appeared on Top 50 bestseller lists, including THE LOOK OF LOVE (Sullivans #1), FROM THIS MOMENT ON (Sullivans #2), GAME FOR LOVE, ECSTASY, CANDY STORE and LOVE ME.

Her books have been Cosmopolitan Magazine Red Hot Reads twice (GAME FOR ANYTHING and WILD HEAT) and have been translated into German, Thai, Japanese and Ukrainian. NEVER TOO HOT won the Award of Excellence in 2011. The Washington Post has called her, “One of the top digital writers in America."

If not behind her computer, you can find her reading her favorite authors, hiking, knitting, or laughing. Married with two children, Bella splits her time between the Northern California wine country and a 100 year old log cabin in the Adirondacks.

Places to find Bella:

Monday, April 16, 2012

Winners

Congratulations to

Jennifer K
Diane P
Linda H
on winning a copy of How To Ravish a Rake by Vicky Dreiling courtesy of Forever Romance


All winners have been contacted via email. Thank you to everyone that stopped by and entered. =)

Romance Book Casting Call with Nicola Marsh and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome to the Casting Call Nicola Marsh. Nicola is super awesome and so are her books.

USA TODAY bestselling author Nicola Marsh writes flirty fiction with flair.

She’s had 31 books published with Harlequin Romance and Presents series and sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Her first mainstream contemporary romance, Busted in Bollywood, ‘Sex & the City’ meets ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ released with Entangled Publishing December 2011 and is due for mass market release June 2012.

She’s also a Waldenbooks and Bookscan bestseller, has finalled in several awards including the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, HOLT, Booksellers’ Best, Golden Quill, Laurel Wreath, More than Magic and has won several CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Awards.

A physiotherapist for thirteen years, she now adores writing full time, raising her two little heroes, sharing fine food with family and friends, and her favourite, curling up with a good book!

She also loves interacting with readers.

Places to find Nicola:

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Book Bundle Feature: A Midnight Dance by Lila DiPasqua and Giveaway

So another week in the Romance Casting Call has passed, I hope you are all enjoying all of the posts. I'm having so much fun with everyone. This week for the book bundle grand prize giveaway I wanted to giveaway a copy of A Midnight Dance by Lila DiPasqua. I'm a sucker for Cinderella stories and this one is so good plus way hot.

Weekly Winners-Paranormal

Below is a list of all of the winners from last weeks Paranormal author and blogger castings. 

Juliana Stone
Sally M-His Darkest Embrace
The_Book_Queen-His Darkest Salvation

Laurie London
Sally M-Bonded by Blood 
Linda H-Tempted by Blood

Dianne Duvall
Miriam-Darkness Dawns 
Savannah-Night Reigns 

Darynda Jones
Carol L-Second Grave On The Left
Betty K-Third Grave Dead Ahead

Virna DePaul
Barbara E-Shades of Desire
Savannah-Chosen by Sin

Mandi @Smexy Books
Marika W-Show No Mercy
Melanie F-A Lot Like Love


All winners have been notified via email. Thank you to everyone that stopped by. If you didn't win, don't worry! We still have plenty of giveaways happening everyday including our Grand Prize giveaway that includes a Kindle and lots of books.