by Laura K. Curtis | Nov 23, 2013 | Books, Romance |
If you follow me on Twitter, you probably also know @meganf and @isobelcarr. What you may not know is that both of these wonderful ladies write historical romances! You may also not have known that historical gentlemen ran around bare-chested. But hey, if they look like these guys… no, just kidding.
What Not to Bare:
- Lady Charlotte Jepstow certainly knows how to make an impression—a terrible one. Each one of her ball gowns is more ostentatiously ugly than the one before. Even she has been forced to wonder: Is she unmarried because of her abysmal wardrobe, or does she wear clashing clothing because she doesn’t want to be pursued in the first place? But when Charlotte meets Lord David Marchston, suddenly a little courtship doesn’t sound so bad after all.
- David will be the first to admit he’s made some mistakes. But when he gets yanked from his post by his superiors, he is ordered to do the unthinkable to win back his position: woo his commander’s niece. If David wants his life back, he must use his skills as a negotiator to persuade society that Charlotte is a woman worth pursuing, despite her rather unusual “flair” for color. But David does such a terrific job that he develops an unexpected problem, one that violates both his rakish mentality and his marching orders: He’s starting to fall in love.
Ripe for Seduction:
- A secret society of younger sons, sworn to aid and abet each other, no matter the scandal or cost . . .
- After the scandalous demise of her marriage, Lady Olivia Carlow knows the rakes of the ton will think her fair game. So when a letter arrives bearing an indecent offer from the incorrigible Roland Devere, she seizes the opportunity. Turning the tables on the notorious rogue, she blackmails him into playing her betrothed for the season. But no matter how broad his shoulders or chiseled his features, she will never fall prey to his suave charm.
- When Roland boasted he’d be the first into Lady Olivia’s bed, he couldn’t have imagined that behind those brilliant blue eyes lurked a vixen with a scheme of her own. Still, Roland is not about to abandon his original wager. If anything, learning that the lovely Olivia is as bold as she is beautiful makes him more determined to seduce her into never saying “never” again.
I’m giving away both of these hot historicals in ebook form to take you on a trip back to the past.
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by Laura K. Curtis | Nov 21, 2013 | Books, Freebies & Giveaways |
If you know me, you know I don’t read YA. In fact, I even wrote a rant more than two years ago about how I am tired of people telling me “oh, you have to read this great YA.” But here’s the thing. Two years ago, my nieces were kids. Now they’re the market for YA fiction. So while it’s still not my thing, I have been trying to read more so that I know what to buy for them. Mostly, the books they read fall into a couple of categories: dystopian and “daily life.” So today I am giving away two YA books by a friend of mine, Bria Quinlan, that fall into the “daily life” category. (And the “romance” category because, face it, I love romance!) Because I am assuming you’ll want to give these to someone else, I’ll be sending the physical books unless you specifically tell me you want ebooks.
So if you, or some young person you know likes to read, this is one not to miss! Don’t forget that to enter the giveaway, you have to click the “+1” buttons on the Rafflecopter, not just comment, get mailing list, etc.
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by Laura K. Curtis | Nov 18, 2013 | Books, Crafts, Freebies & Giveaways |
Today we have a guest post (and guest giveaway!) from Deb Lacy of the fabulous Mystery Playground blog. Deb has great posts (I’m particularly fond of her speakeasy-themed ones). If you’re looking for vintage mystery covers, speakeasies around the nation, reviews, or just an all-around good time, I highly recommend checking it out.
I love books of all kinds so a few crafty friends and set out to make little book earrings. They are pretty easy to make and all of the directions are below. They make a great activity for a book club (if your book club is crafty) or fun and different holiday gifts. But if you don’t want to make them yourself, I’m giving away the pair at left to one lucky winner!
What you need:
1) Miniature books (I got mine from Hobby Lobby online)
2) Glue
3) Gold marker
4) Print outs of pulp covers (you can use the Mystery Playground Pinterest board for mystery covers, just shrink them to 25% when you print them in color.
5) Earring hooks. You need two hooks for each book earring for a total of four per pair. (You need one to glue inside the book to attach it and one for the actual earring.)
6) Wire cutters
7) Scissors to cut out the book covers from the Pinterest page
Step One:
Print your color covers from Pinterest and then cut them out. I used my pulp fiction cover Pinterest board and printed them out at 25% of normal size. Some of the covers weren’t the right size, so we just used the ones that were.
Step Two:
Glue the book covers onto the little books.
Step Three:
Take the gold marker and cover the page ends of the books so it looks like an old book with gold leaf.
Step Four:
Snip an earring hook with wire cutters and glue it into the book.
Step Five:
Assemble the earrings: this just involves connecting the earring hook in the book. I like to add a few beads using a wire wrapping technique.
And your book earrings are all done.
But, as I said, just in case you’re too busy to do these yourself, Deb’s kindly agreed to give a pair to one lucky winner! The perfect thing to wear to your next book night or conference!
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by Laura K. Curtis | Nov 16, 2013 | Books, Freebies & Giveaways |
2013 is almost over and I have to say that one of my favorite books of the whole year was one I read in January! Actually, I think I read it BEFORE January, but it was released in January. The cover copy of Crazy Thing Called Love reads:
Dallas TV morning show host Madelyn Cornish is poised, perfect, and unflappable, from her glossy smile to her sleek professionalism. No one knows that her iron will guards a shattered heart and memories of a man she’s determined to lock out. Until that man shows up at a morning meeting like a bad dream: Billy Wilkins, sexy hockey superstar in a tailspin—still skating, still fighting, and still her ex-husband.
Now the producers want this poster child for bad behavior to undergo an on-air makeover, and Billy, who has nothing to lose, agrees to the project. It’s his only chance to get near Maddy again, and to fight for the right things this time around. He believes in the fire in Maddy’s whiskey eyes and the passion that ignites the air between them. This bad-boy heartbreaker wants a last shot to be redeemed by the only thing that matters: Maddy’s love.
I loved, loved, loved this book despite the fact that I am not much for reunion romances in general. (I’ve often said that about O’Keefe, actually — I’ll read whatever she writes because even when she uses dusty old tropes she makes them sparkle like new.)
And today, I am doing a two-fer. The winner of today’s giveaway will also get the Going All In hockey romance anthology by Cassandra Carr, Isabo Kelly, and Stacey Agdern. I own this one, but haven’t read it yet. (Yes, I am behind on my reading as usual.)
Cover copy for this anthology sounds perfect, though…
HEDGING HIS BET: Cassandra Carr
Marcus Mitchell never thought he’d find the love of his life with champagne dripping from her shirt, but you can’t always plan these things. Annalise Alonso isn’t going to make it easy for him, though—he’s going to have to work for her love. Now, Marcus is taking a shot and hedging his bet on love.
CASTING THE DIE: Isabo Kelly
After she sees his murder in a vision, Nathalie Mendez knows she has to warn star hockey goalie Alexander Semenov of the danger. To keep him alive, she risks exposing her many secrets. But once the die is cast, her biggest gamble could be her heart.
PLAYING HER GAME: Stacey Agdern
Melanie Gould writes about passionate relationships, but keeps people at a distance…except when she’s promoting her books. Of course, she’s never gone head to head with a guy like Chris Emerson. Unfortunately, Chris is trying to behave, and someone like Melanie would destroy his plans to stay under the radar. So what happens when the woman the media has dubbed the ‘Girl in the Lace Corset’ and the NHL’s most infamous bad boy go one on one? Will they play her game? Will they play his? Or will they both end up in the penalty box?
‘Tis the season to stay warm with hot hockey players!
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by Laura K. Curtis | Nov 13, 2013 | Books, Freebies & Giveaways |
Do you miss the days when you could pick up a lighthearted “chick-lit” type romance? Back before the powers that be deemed Chick Lit dead and swore never to publish it again? I do. I liked those books. And now, author Dee Davis, best known for her romantic suspense novels, is bringing back some of her lighter titles, A Match Made on Madison and Setup in Soho in digital form and at a reasonable price. So if you’re like me and looking for something to take your mind off the serious troubles in the world at large or in your own, private world, why not enter for your chance to win a copy of A Match Made on Madison (Kindle or physical book–not available yet on other digital platforms).
Here’s the cover copy:
Manhattan glitterati with a desire to find the perfect mate have a new champion in matchmaker Vanessa Carlson. With her fledgling business giving her biggest rival – friend and mentor Althea Sevalas – a run for her money, Vanessa’s services are definitely a hot commodity. To prove once and for all who’s the best matchmaker in town, Vanessa and Althea enter into a competition to see who can score downtown playboy Mark Grayson as her client and send him walking down the aisle. Once a winner is crowned in this very public endeavor, there will be no question as to who rules Manhattan’s matrimonial mergers. But emotions often have a will of their own, and Vanessa learns that her rules don’t always apply.
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by Laura K. Curtis | Nov 11, 2013 | Books, Freebies & Giveaways |
Today it’s my pleasure to introduce Thomas Pluck, a good friend and great writer. He combines the dark and the funny in a most entertaining way. So grab your salty-sweet snacks and have a listen and, when he’s done, sign up to win the omnibus version of Blade of Dishonor in kindle or paperback! (ePub not yet available.)
Everyone knows that peanut butter and chocolate go great together. But when you dip a chocolate covered potato chip into peanut butter, something magical happens. First, your heart explodes and you gain thirty-eight pounds. But after that, your taste buds relish the incongruity of the flavors, and your brain’s pleasure centers admit that this is the perfect trifecta of decadence.
This works with stories, too. Let’s take a look at the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. They took something awesome, pirates, which we will call the potato chip, and mixed them with another fantastic idea, zombies, which will be chocolate. But that wasn’t enough. We can argue over whether Johnny Depp’s flamboyance was the peanut butter (I try not to think of Johnny Depp covered in peanut butter, but it is difficult, isn’t it?) or if it was the monkey, but needless to say the trifecta made the movie and spawned an enormous franchise that has never captured the same simplicity, perhaps because guys with a conch shell for a head aren’t the “chocolate” of zombies, or because “fun” movies shouldn’t be 3 hours long, but I’ll leave that for the historians to decide.
When David Cranmer of Beat to a Pulp approached me with the idea of a story about an MMA fighter named Reeves duking it out with ninjas over a stolen sword, I thought that was a great idea. I’ve trained in mixed martial arts (Kachin Bando, Burmese boxing and grappling, for the record) for eight years now, and the people I’ve met because of it are as colorful and entertaining as a whole boatful of Johnny Depps in sorta-drag, if not more so. I traveled to Japan to support my friend Peter during his first fight, and the Japanese Shooto fighters I met form a crazy brotherhood. I didn’t meet any ninja, but I loved the ’80s ninja craze and have watched enough Japanese action movies and samurai films to absorb all I needed to know.
But when I sat down to write this, it wasn’t enough. I had potato chips and chocolate, which are pretty damn good together. I knew something was missing, and that was World War II.
When I researched Japanese swords, I learned that the most famous of all, the Honjo Masamune that was passed down among the shoguns during the Tokugawa period, went missing during the Second World War. It was said to have been given to an American soldier for protection, but has never resurfaced.
I had found my peanut butter.
Blade of Dishonor has been described as an intelligent ’80s action movie mixed with a World War II epic with a heart-pounding romance weaved in between. It begins with Reeves coming home from Afghanistan to see his grandpa Butch, a World War II vet, when he finds him embroiled in a centuries-old battle between ninja and samurai over a stolen sword. Butch’s story, from a young park ranger drafted into the war, where he falls in love with a stoic Montana cowgirl during his training, was the final element the story needed. I dived so deeply into the World War II elements that I dedicated the book to my 92 and 94 year old great-uncles Dominic and Jimmy, who served in the war and inspired much of the tone of those chapters. (Uncle Dominic still goes dancing with his young 70-year old girlfriend. We can learn a lot from him).
So is Blade of Dishonor as good as chocolate covered potato chips dipped in peanut butter? That’s for you to decide. I won’t mind if you get peanut butter on the pages while reading it.
I don’t judge.
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