Latest blog entries - Discover A New Love Book Club

Winners from our March Chat with Romance Author Kathryne Kennedy

info@discoveranewlove.com (webmaster) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:41:56 +0000

Last night with had our first author chat in March with award-winning author Kathryne Kennedy. We loved hearing more about were able to get more details about what is coming next from Kathryne. If you missed the chat, you can read it online.

And now on to the winners from the prizes!

One winner will receive a stunning diamond and garnet heart necklace (pictured on the right) courtesy of Kathryne Kennedy (Lisa M. Borbeck)
Two winners will receive a paperback copy of this month’s featured selection Double Enchantment (Tandi R. Card and Cathie Morton)
Two winners will receive a paperback copy of Enchanting the Lady (Kristina Haecker and DebsBookNook)
One winner will receive a complete paperback set of The Elven Lords Series (The Fire Lord’s Lover, The Lady of the Storm, The Lord of Illusion) (Mary Jo Burke)

Congratulations to all of the winners! You have one week to claim your prize. Please email us at prizes@discoveranewlove.com with your name, street address, email, and phone number so that we can get your prizes out to you.

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Please join us on Wednesday, March 20 at 7pm CST/8pm EST for our chat bestselling romance authors Grace Burrowes and Joanna Bourne.

Never A Lady

info@discoveranewlove.com (CTeditor) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 08:00:00 +0000

by Shana Galen

From Chapter 3, If You Give a Rake a Ruby:

She shook her head. “That is no way to treat a lady.”

“That’s because most ladies are skittish ninnies who faint if a man utters the word damn in their presence. You should hope I don’t treat you like a lady. I have no use for ladies.”

I have written many, many books about ladies who lived during the Regency period in England. I love writing about these ladies, but sometimes it’s as fun to write about the bad girls, the dangerous girls, as it is to write about the bad boys.

Fallon, otherwise known as the Marchioness of Mystery, is a courtesan. A courtesan is indeed a woman who accepts money for sexual favors, but she is not a prostitute. A courtesan chooses her patrons, and she is extremely selective. And while her protectors pay dearly, and often exorbitantly, for her attentions, she has chosen them, as well, for her own pleasure. In the above quote from If You Give a Rake a Ruby, Warrick Fitzhugh’s statement proves not every man is searching for a proper lady.

The courtesan may have inspired that oft-repeated statement that well-behaved women rarely make history. Several courtesans are quite famous, and I researched each of these when I was writing the character of Fallon.

From left: Grace Dalrymple Elliot, Cora Pearl and Veronica Franco

Veronica Franco (featured in the film Dangerous Beauty), Sophia Baddeley, Elizabeth Armistead, Harriette Wilson, and Cora Pearl are among the most notorious. Several of these courtesans published their memoirs. My favorite courtesan has always been Grace Dalrymple Elliott. She was a courtesan and a spy. For an author of adventurous historical romances, what combination could be better?

Do you have a favorite ill-behaved woman?

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Chat with Romance Author Kathryne Kennedy

info@discoveranewlove.com (webmaster) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 22:08:19 +0000

Join us on Wednesday, March 13 at 7 p.m. CST / 8 p.m. EST as we chat with award-winning romance author Kathryne Kennedy. We will be talking about her featured selection Double Enchantment, and getting to know more about what is coming next from Kathryne.

In addition to chat, we will be giving away some great prizes including:

One winner will receive a stunning diamond and garnet heart necklace (pictured on the right) courtesy of Kathryne Kennedy
Two winners will receive a paperback copy of this month’s featured selection Double Enchantment
Two winners will receive a paperback copy of Enchanting the Lady
One winner will receive a complete paperback set of The Elven Lords Series (The Fire Lord’s Lover, The Lady of the Storm, The Lord of Illusion)

Everyone who attends and participates in the chat will be entered to win! Winners will be randomly selected from those attending and commenting during the chat and the winners will be posted to our blog on Thursday, March 14. Make sure you check back to see if you are a winner.

About Kathryne Kennedy

Kathryne Kennedy always knew she wanted to be a fantasy writer. She started with a short story about witches published in her school newspaper when she was in second grade. As she grew up, she fell in love with romance novels, possibly influenced by her mother’s career as a romance writer before she retired. Once Kathryne had a short story accepted for an anthology, she figured she would try out a full-length novel. As her work was evaluated by editors, she took their feedback and learned from it to make her work better.

Historical Hotties

info@discoveranewlove.com (CTeditor) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 08:00:00 +0000

by Megan Mulry

Growing up, I was more or less a tomboy who rarely paid attention to boys' looks. As I've grown older, I seem to have turned a bit pervy. I look at pictures of men. There. I said it. I even swoon a bit.

When I first got the idea for Bound to Be a Bride, I was looking at pictures of men researching and weighing the pros and cons of writing a historical romance. The pros were endless: marriages of convenience, no modern communication, ball gowns, routs, horseback riding, sea travel, pirates! I mean, duh. The cons were one big one: abject fear. I was really afraid of writing my first historical.

I was so worried it would sound like Life of Brian with all those Monty Python characters running around Jerusalem saying, “Don't you want to haggle?!” I'm pretty persnickety about language, and mine tends to be very grounded in the present. I love words, but it turns out a lot of my faves were not in common usage in the early 1800s. I knew it was going to be hard to find the tone for the characters of that time period and make it ring true.

I knew I wanted the story to take place in Napoleonic Spain because I believe Spain is inherently sexy, and if I wanted my characters to bump into Wellington at some point, they could. So I started narrowing my pictures of men research to focus on Spain. And—LA!—there amidst all of the really interesting history about the Peninsular War and Lady Smith and so on, I happened upon these two guys! (What a surprise.)

First, I give you the modern day Duke of Feria, shown here on horseback a few years ago:

(You're speechless, right? Because this guy is real and roams the earth? I know the feeling.)

Second, I give you Francisco Javier Mina, shown here as a young man in 1808:

Maybe it was the snug buckskin breeches on both of them (and whatever it is that seems to be happening along Francisco's inner thigh); maybe it was the adventurous spirit of the two images. I don't know how ideas come, but those two inspired me to write a dashing Spanish hero in Bound to Be a Bride.

Then, just through sheer happenstance, at three in the morning, while meandering around the Internet looking at the history of Japanese rope bondage (more research, I tell you!), I came upon this crazily coincidental historical fact. Turns out a group of samurais ended up moving to this little town in Spain in the early 1600s. Apparently there are still families in that town with the last name Japon, who are descended from those original samurais. And samurais practiced the art of rope bondage, right? So the art form probably got secretly passed down with the family paella recipe, right? I'm going with right. After that it was a small matter of adding in a willful heroine and a case of mistaken identity and—snap—Bound to Be a Bride was born.

Where do you get inspired? Have you ever had a crush on a historical figure or fictional character? (Please tell me it's not just me!)

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Megan Mulry was born in New York, attending school on Long Island and in New York City before going to boarding school and university. She lost her third-grade spelling bee for misspelling minute (m-i-n-u-t), despite spelling San Francisco perfectly fine moments before. After school, she waited tables in Nantucket before traveling the world: Thailand, India, Nepal, China, the UK, and Greece. She got married, and they lived together in London for four years, then moved to Chicago, and now have settled in Florida.

Making A Leap

info@discoveranewlove.com (CTeditor) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 08:50:00 +0000

by M. L. Buchman

One of my favorite quotes is by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, the eighteenth century German writer: Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.

I have looked at this quote nearly daily for years. I find it especially encouraging at the moment, as I have just this month taken the leap from full-time project management into full-time writing.

I’ve spent the better part of three decades leading projects. I’ve built theater sets and sound systems, designed and installed computer systems, and consulted on that in the Fortune 100. I’ve led communications for a national tourist map franchise and redeveloped how a company built roof trusses. I’ve led international litigation settlements and performed departmental rescues. Did I know how to do these when I started them? Absolutely not! But I knew where to start, and I took the leap.

As the satirist, writer, and generally funny lady Cynthia Heimel said: When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap.

Did I mention that somewhere along the way I started writing novels? It happened while I was having a mid-life crisis on wheels, a solo bicycle journey around the world (yet another of my many leaps). I’ve since run into so many people who are filled with wonder: “You write novels?! I could never do that.” And my favorite Henry Ford quote comes to mind: If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right. I have found this to be endlessly true.

So, here I’ve been dreaming, literally for years, about becoming a full-time writer. But you can’t simply make the leap with no basis. I was an experienced computer specialist before I became a consultant. I had done a number of shorter cycle tours (a few days, a week or two) before I spent eighteen months on the road. And I’d written over a dozen novels before I set off to be a full-time novelist. It was my February release of Wait Until Dark that finally tipped the scales. I had reached a time where I could imagine doing nothing else. I’ve always thought I could do the thing; thank you, Henry. Recently my wife and I decided it was time to follow my passion, make the leap, and trust in the magic; thank you, Goethe and Cynthia.

As to why I can’t imagine doing anything else, I’ll offer my favorite quote of all time from one of the greatest thinkers the planet has ever known:

There was this huge world out there, independent of us human beings and standing before us like a great, eternal riddle, at least partly accessible to our inspection and thought. The contemplation of that world beckoned like a liberation. —Albert Einstein.

That is why I write, to capture that sense of wonder. Thank you for coming on the journey with me.

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M. L. Buchman has worked in fast food, theater, computers, publishing, and light manufacturing. It's amazing what you can do with a degree in geophysics. At one point he sold everything and spent eighteen months riding a bicycle around the world. In 11,000 miles, he touched fifteen countries and hundreds of amazing people. Since then, he has acquired a loving lady, the coolest kid on the planet, and lives in Portland, Oregon. For more information, please visit www.mlbuchman.com.

The Tough Challenge

info@discoveranewlove.com (CTeditor) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 05:04:00 +0000

by Grace Burrowes

The Duke and His Duchess is my first attempt to write a romance about a married couple. I took it on with some trepidation when Madam Editor pointed out that I’d left a lot of questions unanswered about Percival and Esther Windham, Duke and Duchess of Moreland, even though I’d written about their early romance in The Courtship.

Those answers lay in a rough patch of ground Percy and Esther endure about five years into their marriage, and nothing would do but I write that story. Complicating matters considerably is the fact that marriage in the Georgian period evolved from a largely practical, dynastic undertaking among the British upper classes, into a sentimental attachment by the time of the Regency—and Percival and Esther are on the cusp of those changes.

Add in the fact that my readers will have come across many scenes in the various Windham stories depicting Their Graces as loving spouses, devoted friends, and gleeful co-conspirators when it comes to getting their children married off. How was I to make this couple’s trials and tribulations convincing?

Well, to begin their marriage they have four boys in a little more than five years. Surely that counts for two trials and two tribulations right there?

The old duke is also losing his buttons, and nobody quite knows how to deal with this—another tribulation, and one all too many readers can identify with. Money is really tight, as a function of the two factors already mentioned.

Oh, and Percival has a couple of old girlfriends sniffing about, at least one of whom thinks it’s time—now that the succession is secure—that Percival revert to the older, more laissez-faire version of holy matrimony.

And then a couple of more children come wandering along…

Given that The Duke and His Duchess is a novella, that’s probably 35,000 words worth of havoc right there, for any young couple, in any age. The icing on the marital cake, though, came when I realized that Percy and Esther were at that dangerous point in their relationship when they knew each other very well—almost too well.

Percy knows how Esther takes her tea, Esther knows which paths Percival prefers to ride in the park. As tired, stressed, bewildered and lonely as they each are, husband and wife very nearly stop seeing each other, and try to rely on old knowledge in new situations. Fortunately, their trials and tribulations have the effect of restoring to them the determination to see and appreciate each other, and the end of their story finds them more married than ever, and happier than ever, too.

Which reassures me as an author of historical romance. Fashions change, social norms change, but love remains the same.

Was there a time when trouble brought you closer to someone? When a relationship came out stronger for enduring some tribulation?

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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes' bestsellers include The Heir, The Soldier, Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal, Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish and Lady Eve's Indiscretion. Her books have won numerous awards including two Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year, a Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and Best Historical Romance from RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards. Grace is also now writing Scotland-set Victorian romance, as well as short stories. She is a practicing family law attorney and lives in rural Maryland.

KirkusReviews.com calls Sourcebooks Casablanca “the big player in new voices for historical romances”

info@discoveranewlove.com (shenry) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 21:48:51 +0000

Very exciting news for Sourcebooks Casabalnca—KirkusReviews.com has called Sourcebooks romance imprint “the big player in new voices for historical romances.” SaraReyes, the founder of popular romance review site FreshFiction.com, regularly blogs about romance for Kirkus, and is a big Sourcebooks Casa fan!

In addition to this fabulous accolade, Sara also mentions two of our authors she considers overlooked: Jayne Fresina and Samantha Grace, giving both of their Spring 2013 titles shout outs as books historical romance fans should check out: Lady Mercy Danforth Flirts with Scandal (June 2013) and Lady Vivian Defies a Duke (May 2013)! You can read the article below.

Fresh Fiction: Overlooked Authors and Books
by Sara Reyes on February 21, 2013 | Posted in Romance

One of the questions I’m asked several times a month is, “Who’s a new author I’ve missed?” Or, “What’s everyone reading?” Those questions go hand-in-hand and this past weekend I was asked by two specific organizations to give them suggestions: one to use in a panel and one in a post. So, I thought this week I’d share with you what our Fresh Fiction reviewers are very eager to get their hands and eyes on! You would be surprised, as I was, to find they are not necessarily from the BIG name author who has a track record, but instead are books with buzz building from romance readers. Trust me when I say it was a surprising conversation with our reviews editor.

First off, if you’re a historical romance reader, you’ll be ecstatic to learn publishers are coming out with historical romances that are NOT run-of-the-mill formulaic books. Maybe the backlash against historicals is finally ending. There has been a drought of great new voices in the past five or six years in romantic historical fiction. I won’t say it’s been completely dry, but the new ones had to have a twist that wasn’t always personally totally satisfactory, and I’ve been reading historical romances since you were all born. Thankfully, I have a library of old books that I can re-visit as I want and need. But for new readers or ones dependent on bookstores and e-readers, great historicals have been slim pickings. The hot news is that Entangled, the up-and-coming publisher, has a historical line in 2013. I’ll be watching for it. But right now, the big player in new voices for historical romances seems to be Sourcebooks Casablanca.

Read the full article

The Romance of Timeless Photographs

info@discoveranewlove.com (CTeditor) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:29:00 +0000

by Victoria Roberts

Nothing makes this historical romance author appreciate the past more than finding old family photographs that are generations/worlds apart. How many times have you looked at an old photograph and wondered what they were thinking? Where were they? How old were they? I especially love to see pictures of a then-budding romance.

The picture below is one of my favorites of my husband’s grandmother and grandfather. She was so sassy! I loved it the first time I saw it. Look at her hand on her waist as she posed for the camera, the other arm draped over her man.

I can’t tell you the countless hours I’ve spent rummaging through old family albums. Amazed and awe-inspired, I gazed upon their faces as their untold stories called out to me. They were so young, so full of life. The picture below is another favorite. I can still remember the day my husband’s grandmother gave it to me.

I sat on the floor in her living room, and there it was.

"This is a beautiful photograph of you," I said, pulling the picture out of the binder.

She sat back in her chair and sighed. Her eyes drifted back to some faraway place. "Walter and I were just dating. That was taken at the waterfall at my Uncle Jerry’s... so long ago."

Although my husband’s grandfather had passed away several years earlier, I will never forget the look upon the kind woman’s face. The love those two held for each other was quite evident. And every time I gaze upon this lovely photo, I think back fondly of my husband’s grandparents.

Of course there are other pictures that just down right make me laugh. The picture below is of my great-grandmother, Rosalia (my inspiration behind Temptation in a Kilt), and my grandmother, Ann. And no, this horse was nothing like Noonie.

Growing up, we heard the same story countless times. My grandmother was in the barn, and that darned horse kicked her in the arse, embedding two hoof prints in her hindquarters. My grandmother ran out of the barn in tears, and my great-grandfather chased the horse around the farm with a pitchfork. I can only imagine!

Do you enjoy old family photographs? What do you do to preserve the past? One lucky commenter will win a copy of X Marks the Scot.

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Victoria Roberts writes sexy, Scottish historical romances about kilted heroes and warriors from the past. Prior to ever picking up a single romance novel, she penned her first young adult novella at 16 years old. Who knew her leather-studded motorcycle hero would trade in his ride and emerge as a kilt wearing Highlander wielding a broadsword? Victoria lives with her husband and their two beautiful children in western Pennsylvania.

Visit her website at www.victoriarobertsauthor.com.

Chocolate or Flowers?

info@discoveranewlove.com (CTeditor) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 05:57:00 +0000

by Terry Spear

I had fun with the Mating Game blog recently where the questions arose:

Would your hero/heroine prefer chocolate or flowers?
Would they like leather or lace better?

When creating an unreal world within a real world, the fun is in getting to know your characters. Since mine are werewolves, some of these choices wouldn’t work for them. Some might be the same as we’d make; others…something much more wolfish. They are like us…but different.

So in the case of Duncan MacNeill and Shelley Campbell in A Howl for a Highlander, which would they prefer—chocolate or flowers?

Steak, on the rarer side. They’re wolves.

What about leather or lace?

Fur. For the same reason.

Real wolves don’t date, but they do court. So while my werewolves are getting to know each other, they enjoy the best of both worlds. They go on some honest-to-goodness humanlike dates. And participate in much more wolfish pursuits as part of their wolf courtships.

They do their own thing, preferring nature to noisy human establishments. In A Howl for a Highlander, having Duncan and Shelley do dinner and a movie like any couple romancing each other doesn’t quite work for them. Instead of a meal at a noisy restaurant, they prefer a barbecue on the beach on Grand Cayman Island.

Or a run in the woods.

Since Duncan is a Highlander of old, he also ends up showing a trio of pirates a thing or two about swordsmanship.

Shelley Campbell is a botanist, and for her, running through the forest as wolves when the moon is lighting the night is just about the best date ever. For Valentine’s Day, Shelley would definitely love a trip to some exotic place, just like Grand Cayman Island, where she can explore the native flora in person. Flowers in a vase wouldn’t appeal.

Duncan MacNeill doesn’t need anything for Valentine’s Day, except one hot she-wolf to spend it with. Whether it’s swimming in the surf with Shelley as a wolf or a human, or feeding the rays at Sting Ray City, or taking a catamaran dinner/sunset cruise—okay, so that’s human, but it’s also being one with nature, the water, the sunset, and snuggling, at its best.

Wouldn’t you love to have a Valentine’s Day like that?

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Bestselling and award-winning author Terry Spear has written a couple dozen paranormal romance novels and two medieval Highland historical romances. Her first werewolf romance, Heart of the Wolf, was named a 2008 Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, and her subsequent titles have garnered high praise and hit the USA Today bestseller list. A retired officer of the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry lives in Crawford, Texas, where she is working on her next werewolf romance and continuing her new series about shapeshifting jaguars.

For more information, please visit www.terryspear.com or follow her on Twitter @TerrySpear. She is also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/terry.spear.

Bestselling and award-winning author Terry Spear has written a couple dozen paranormal romance novels and two medieval Highland historical romances. Her first werewolf romance, Heart of the Wolf, was named a 2008 Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, and her subsequent titles have garnered high praise and hit the USA Today bestseller list. A retired officer of the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry lives in Crawford, Texas, where she is working on her next werewolf romance and continuing her new series about shapeshifting jaguars. For more information, please visit www.terryspear.com or follow her on Twitter @TerrySpear. She is also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/terry.spear .

Winners From Our Valentines and Vixens Chat

info@discoveranewlove.com (shenry) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:23:42 +0000

Last week was our sexy Valentines and Vixens chat with Olivia Cunning and model Lee Dahlberg. We were able to get the details about deleted scenes from Olivia's steamy books and also got an inside look into a model's life. If you missed the chat, you can read it online.

And now on to the winners from the prizes!

Two lucky winners will receive a $25 gift card (the winner can choose from Amazon, BN, iTunes or Kobo) (Kimberly Tremblay and Tess Halim)
A complete paperback set of the first four books from The Sinners on Tour. (Ana Hook)

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Please join us on Wednesday, February 13 at 7pm CST/8pm EST for our For the Love of Cats and Dogs chat with paranormal romance authors Terry Spear and Cheryl Brooks along with cover model Derek Zugic.