BARON OF BLACKWOOD: Book Three (The Feud)

So excited to announce the release of the third and final book in the best-selling medieval romance series, THE FEUD. Look for BARON OF BLACKWOOD on July 31st--just three more days!

THE FEUD

England, 1308. Boursier, De Arell, Verdun—three noblemen who secretly gather to ally against their treacherous lord. Though each is elevated to a baron in his own right and given a portion of his lord’s lands, jealousy and reprisal lead to a twenty-five-year feud, pitting family against family, passing father to son.

THE PRIZE

England, 1333. When Lady Quintin Boursier leads an army against the Baron of Blackwood to demand the release of her abducted brother, she finds the same fate awaits her. Now she must free herself and discover where Griffin de Arell holds her brother before her family’s lands are forfeited. But as the long winter nights unfold and those prowling the black wood move the feud nearer its deadly end, Quintin realizes she may have wronged her captor. And he is as much a captive to her—she whose secret will spoil the prize others seek to make of a woman no man should want.

THE VICTOR 

Baron Griffin de Arell protects those who belong to him, and now that the tempest who dared put a blade to his throat is his, he intends to protect her—if only from herself. However, Quintin Boursier yet has games to play. Though Griffin resists her wiles, when it appears her family’s lands are forfeited, a glimpse of her woman’s heart tempts him to make the lady his in truth. Now with the enemy responsible for inciting the feud determined to claim her as his prize, Griffin must join his grudging allies in bringing peace to their lands and protecting the woman who first set herself at his walls—then his warrior’s heart.

Join Griffin and Quintin in the third and final book in this best-selling medieval romance series as the Boursiers, De Arells, and Verduns seek the light at the end of their long, dark feud.

To read an excerpt, visit: www.tamaraleigh.com

Story Ideas

by Patricia Bradley

What do you suppose is the one comment from readers most fiction writers do not want to hear? If you said: You ought to write a book about my life, you would be right. At least you would be right about me. 

Why do you suppose a writer wouldn't want to be given a ready-made plot with a really interesting character? That's what I had to explain to a friend just this week. 

The friend in question had led a very interesting life--I'm sure of that because she's a very nice person and some very interesting things have happened to her. But...

Unfortunately, for this writer anyway, that question makes me quake in my boots. I mean, how do you tell someone who is very serious about their life being perfect for the plot of a book that you can't take their life story and fictionalize it. Especially when this is someone you are really fond of.

I tried to explain that I write fiction and that while I might use something that had happened in her life as an obstacle in my heroine's life, I couldn't take her whole life story and write it. I can't even write a story based on my life. 

My story ideas usually come from nowhere. An example is my first book, Shadows of the Past (which is free as a digital download until August 31). I was sitting on my sofa, reading my devotion for the day when a woman popped into my head and said that someone was trying to kill her. Of course, I had to know more, and that's when I wrote the book. 

So, for the authors out there, what do you say when someone tells you they'd like for you to write their life story? And that it would be a New York Times Best Seller?

From the Reading Pile of MaryLu Tyndall - Book and author recommendation!

Hi Everyone!  I must introduce you all to one of my favorite authors. Her name is Michelle Griep. Remember that name because you will begin to hear it a lot.  I've been following her for years and have loved everything she's written.  And believe me, she keeps getting better and better.  Her last release was Brentwood's Ward and I list it among my favorite all time reads. 

There’s none better than NICHOLAS BRENTWOOD at catching the felons who ravage London’s streets, and there’s nothing he loves more than seeing justice carried out—but this time he’s met his match.

Beautiful and beguiling EMILY PAYNE is more treacherous than a city full of miscreants and thugs, for she’s a thief of the highest order . . . she’s stolen his heart.

Place an unpolished lawman named Nicholas Brentwood as guardian over a spoiled, pompous beauty named Emily Payne and what do you get? More trouble than Brentwood bargains for. She is determined to find a husband this season. He just wants the large fee her father will pay him to help his ailing sister. After a series of dire mishaps, both their desires are thwarted, but each discovers that no matter what, God is in charge.

Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, CBD (Christian Book Distributors) and other fine booksellers.



You can get to know Michelle on her website and blog.  She's really smart, quirky and just plain fun.

By the way, she has a new book coming out in October that I had the privilege to read for an endorsement. I'm posting the cover below. Honestly, it's one of the best books I've read.  Click the link and check it out. If it sounds interesting, you can pre-order it.



The Captive Heart is available for pre-order at Amazon. Here’s a blurb . . .

The wild American wilderness is no place for an elegant English governess
On the run from a brute of an aristocratic employer, Eleanor Morgan escapes from England to America, the land of the free, for the opportunity to serve an upstanding Charles Town family. But freedom is hard to come by as an indentured servant, and downright impossible when she’s forced to agree to an even harsher contract—marriage to a man she’s never met.

Backwoodsman Samuel Heath doesn’t care what others think of him—but his young daughter’s upbringing matters very much. The life of a trapper in the Carolina backcountry is no life for a small girl, but neither is abandoning his child to another family. He decides it’s time to marry again, but that proves to be an impossible task. Who wants to wed a murderer?

Both Samuel and Eleanor are survivors, facing down the threat of war, betrayal, and divided loyalties that could cost them everything, but this time they must face their biggest challenge ever . . .Love.


 Enjoy!!

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LADY EVER AFTER: A Medieval Time Travel Romance by Tamara Leigh

WIN 1 of 10 EBOOKS

Pleased to announce LADY EVER AFTER, a medieval time travel romance, releases Fall 2016. Until then, for a peek at my cover designer’s gorgeous new creation, click my Jigsaw Planet link below and assemble the 24-piece puzzle.

For a chance to win 1 of 10 ebooks, email the following to me at tamaraleightenn@gmail.com and you'll be entered in the drawing:

1) Screenshot of completed puzzle
2) Your email address to receive a LADY EVER AFTER eBook should your name be drawn

Jigsaw Planet: LADY EVER AFTER Puzzle

The End

by Patricia Bradley

The End

Pre-order Amazon

Have you ever wondered what an author does after they write The End? I wrote those words this week and I can tell you.

First, even though I wrote The End, I wasn't through. No, I went through it with grammar and spellcheck, which missed 90% of the errors, but wanted to change my fragments to whole sentences. Then I took three sheets of paper full of errors a friend found (Thank you, Delores Topliff!!) and made those corrections. 

Next, I read the story of the umpteenth time. Then ran spell check again because I made changes. This morning I attached it to an email to my editor and hit send.

Whew. And thank you, Lord!

So, what will I do today to celebrate? Take a vacation? Party? Go to the beach? 

No, I have a list of undone chores that I'm starting on. Like cleaning out my closets, and entering my checks into the computer so I can reconcile my bank statements. All seven months. And then there are those books on my TBR pile that I want to write reviews for. And oh, yeah. Start on the next book in the series which I think will be set at Graceland and will involve an Elvis impersonator. 

Of course, my editor will come back with edits, and then another editor will send me edits...

So, if you're an author, what do you do to celebrate finishing a book? And if you're not an author, what do you do to celebrate finishing a big project? 

Oh, and the book cover at the beginning? It's the first book in my new series. Don't have a cover for the one I just turned in. It's working title is Justice Buried because there's a body that's been buried for 28 years and somehow ends up at the Pink Palace Museum.

Two years ago, Bailey Adams broke off her engagement to Danny Maxwell and fled Logan Point for the mission field in Chihuahua, Mexico. Now she's about to return home to the States, but there's just one problem. After Bailey meets with the uncle of one of the mission children in the city, she barely escapes a sudden danger. Now she's on the run--she just doesn't know from whom. To make matters worse, people who help her along the way find themselves in danger too--including Danny. Who is after her? Will they ever let up? And in the midst of the chaos, can Bailey keep herself from falling in love with her rescuer all over again?

Link to purchase:

Amazon

The twisted view of "romance" in our culture

As a writer of historical romances, I find the display of so called romance on TV shows, movies, and some books a complete perversion of the true meaning and value of the way God intended romance to be.

This is how the story usually goes:

• Boy meets girl.
• Boy thinks girl is totally hot
• Girl thinks boy is totally hot
• They jump in the sack and have passionate sex
• Something happens that puts a rift between them (no wonder, they barely know each other)
• They separate. Miss each other.
• Problem gets fixed and they jump back in the sack
• They live happily ever after

But do they live happily ever after?
The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41%; the divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60%; the divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%

Wow, you would think that by your third marriage, you'd have a clue what you were doing wrong!

There is a reason God asks us to reserve sex for after marriage. It's not because He's some kind of meany or kill-joy! After all, He created sex. And since He created it, He knows that the thrill of the physical act fades, along with the physical beauty of your partner, over the years.   If that's all your relationship is based on, you're in big trouble.

We live in a world where everything revolves around physical beauty. The beautiful, sexy people are the ones who get all the attention, have the fame, the money, have the hot boyfriends or girlfriends.  No attention is paid to the far more important aspect of a person. Their character. Kindness, Gentleness, Charity, Selflessness, Honor, Honesty, Patience... you get my drift.

Trouble is, determining a person's character takes time, perhaps even years. Romance in God's eyes is far too slow for our fast-paced society.  God wants us to wait. To get to know a person before we hop into bed with them. Believe me, you don't get to know a person that way. Sex is a very powerful force that will consume a couple and steal their focus off of what's truly important in their relationship. It glosses over all the possible problems that will surface later. It covers up a person's true character and replaces it with the allure of "having a good time."

When a relationship is based purely on physical attraction, it is doomed to end tragically, leaving behind heartache and a feeling of dirtiness and unworthy.  The worst part about it is, the same promiscuity that is found in the world is also found among Christians. Why? Because somewhere we bought the lie that the rules laid down by the Being who Created us, rules meant for our happiness, are archaic and need to be adjusted for our contemporary culture. Somehow we believe that God couldn't have possibly predicted that someday it would be accepted and normal to have sex with whomever we wanted, whenever we wanted.

Might I suggest that in His wisdom and foreknowledge, that's exactly why He gave us His Word in the first place. He knew that in the middle of the darkness, we would a compass to point toward the light.

Thoughts?


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Feeling a little nostalgic over the holidays

Hi Everyone, Danica Favorite here, and the holiday has me feeling a bit nostalgic. We spent the Fourth in a nearby mountain community, and I loved how they had a parade with floats and a lot of family-oriented fun. They also did fireworks over the lake, which was nice. We also took the long road home, and meandered through some small towns, did a little shopping, and soaked in the slower pace of life.

My daughter and I have been reading Nancy Drew books together at night before bed, and as much as I love some of the things we have in modern times, even just fifty years ago, life seems like it was simpler. Maybe that's why I love writing historicals. Even though we don't have the modern conveniences, I love how they lived such simpler lives. Over the holiday, our family toured a couple of historical museums, and even the wealthy people didn't have as much stuff as the middle class of today has. We're cleaning out my daughter's room, and I made a deal with her: If she could get rid of 50-100 things (to donate, not throw away), we'd give her the rest of the money she needs for the iPod she's been saving up for. Hubby thought it would be hard to find that many things, and that I was being unreasonable, but guess what? We found that many things, and we're still not all the way through her stuff!

Kind of a rambling post today, but it all fits into the nostalgia that I'm feeling right now. Loving the life I have, but hoping to simplify. Because I think I will end up loving it more.

What do you think? Does the fast pace of today drive you crazy? Have you found ways of slowing down and simplifying?

About Danica:

A self-professed crazy chicken lady, Danica Favorite loves the adventure of living a creative life. She and her family recently moved in to their dream home in the mountains above Denver, Colorado.  Danica loves to explore the depths of human nature and follow people on the journey to happily ever after. Though the journey is often bumpy, those bumps are what refine imperfect characters as they live the life God created them for. Oops, that just spoiled the ending of all of Danica’s stories. Then again, getting there is all the fun.

You can connect with Danica at the following places:

Website: http://www.danicafavorite.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/danicafavorite
Instagram: https://instagram.com/danicafavorite/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanicaFavoriteAuthor

What Camy's reading: Library Wars

I’ve been into manga lately, maybe because there’s so much emotion and storytelling that can be conveyed in a visual medium. Some of my favorite manga authors (called mangaka) are like great movie directors, setting up the scenes visually for greatest emotional impact while also writing powerful dialogue.

I recently finished reading the series, Library Wars by Kiiro Yumi (mangaka) and based off of the Japanese novels by Hiro Arikawa. I really enjoyed the series—it has action, humor, and lots of romance. The setting is slightly science fiction—it’s an alternate present day Japan—but it wasn’t futuristic or anything like that. Here’s the blurb for volume 1 in the 15 book series:

In the near future, the federal government creates a committee to rid society of books it deems unsuitable. The libraries vow to protect their collections, and with the help of local governments, form a military group to defend themselves---the Library Forces! Iku Kasahara has dreamed of joining the Library Defense Force ever since one of its soldiers stepped in to protect her favorite book from being confiscated in a bookstore when she was younger. But now that she’s finally a recruit, she’s finding her dream job to be a bit of a nightmare. Especially since her hard-hearted drill instructor seems to have it out for her!

As someone who loves books and reading, the series really struck a chord with me, and for people who love their local libraries, this series will also make them appreciate them even more. As a romance reader, this series had plenty of that with a lot of great romantic tension.

You can borrow Library Wars from you local library :) or buy it from Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, or Barnes and Noble.

Happy Fourth of July to all blessed by this beautiful country. And those are too many to number :) ~ Tamara Leigh