New Medieval Coming!

What's that, you say, a new release from Kris?? With an Irish hero? And sexytimes??


That's a big "yes!"


THE KING'S OUTLAW is up for pre-order as we speak.  It's a long novella, first in my new series of über-sexy, adventure-laden historical romances, CONQUERORS AND OUTLAWS.


You know you want those bad medieval boys. :)


THE KING'S OUTLAW will be available initially as part of a Celtic Heroes anthology, CAPTURED BY A CELTIC WARRIOR, with three fabulous historical romance authors, Jennifer Haymore, Eliza Knight, and Vonda Sinclair.


Four fierce warriors.  Four women in peril.  One legendary dagger steeped in the blood and treachery of kings.  What more is there??


The stories span hundreds of years (mine kicks things off during King Richard's reign, 1193), all have a 'captive' trope, and all feature Gaelic heroes. Three Scotsmen and one lone Irishman, but oh, what an Irishman...


It's up for pre-order now, at a special price of only 99 cents! Here are some links:

Amazon (Kindle & print)

iBooks/iTunes

Kobo
B&N

I promise to bring you more updates as we go. And in the meantime....here's the yummy cover!  What do you think??

12 Lords A'Leaping!

A holiday gift for you!

A blog hop featuring great prizes and medieval heroes because...medieval heroes!

UPDATED:
The winner of a copy of DEFIANT goes to MsAwesome!  Yay, and please email me so I can send you the ebook!  

I'm happy to be part of this blog hop because:

1. The prize is terrific and quite different from the usual--a calendar featuring different heroes from our medieval romances each month;
2. It forces me back to the blog to say hi to you, because, yes, I know, it's been awhile, and;
3. Medieval heroes!

The hero from my books who's featured in the hop (and the calendar!) is Jamie Lost from Defiant. 

Who remembers Jamie?? 

He's one of my favorite heroes, properly tortured in all the best ways. He's a ruthless, focused knight who serves King John and will do just about anything to just about anyone.  Not much bothers him, and nothing much gets in his way.  Until he meets the small, immovable object of Eva.

She thwarts him, upends him, and reduces his best laid plans to naught time and time again, until he finally simply hunts her down and ties her up to get her out of his way.  

But Eva knows more than she's letting on, and Jamie's smart enough to know it. 

Forced into an uneasy alliance, they join forces.  As civil war erupts around them, they embark on an epic journey that reveals no one is what they seem, and that everyone has something to hide.  Soon, their simmering passion erupts, leaving not only their fates, but the fate of England itself, in the balance. 

See?  She's perfect for him!

Check out Defiant, and all my other romances, at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and all other booksellers! 

And be sure to sign up for my newsletter to get all the news!

Visit all the authors' sites to find out about some great heroes and a chance to win prizes.  

The other fab medieval authors in the hop are:

1) Elizabeth Rose
2) Laurel O’Donnell
3) Kathryn Le Veque             
4) Tanya Anne Crosby
5) Anna Markland                        
6) Elysa Hendricks
7) Suzan Tisdale 
8) Amy Jarecki
9) Eliza Knight 
10) Denise Domning
11) Kris Kennedy (you're already here, lucky you)                
12) Lana Williams  

And to add to the fun...

I'm giving away a copy of Defiant to one US or Canadian commenter!  Just let me know this:

Who's your favorite all-time historical romance hero?

(And I do apologize that I have to limit it to US/Canada--postage outside this area is so steep.)

Details of the hop:

DECEPTION Selected as Romantic Times Magazine's Historical Hero of the Year!

I'm very, very honored that Kier, the hero of Deception, has been selected as RT Book Reviews Magazine's K.I.S.S. Hero of the Year award winner!

This is an award given to the "knight in shining silver" hero in an historical romance, and I'm not only honored, I'm also surprised.  I truly didn't expect it.

First of all, Kier is a con man to the marrow of his bones.  Since he's been thirteen years old he's been scamming and scheming, at first by necessity, then because he's so very good at it.  And he doesn't stop just because our story begins--he's working the long con in Deception (as are several others), and nothing will stop him, not even the woman he used to love.

He's not typical hero material.

But then, Deception isn't a typical medieval romance.  It's more suspense-y, or thriller-y.  Less about knights and chases across the countryside, more about dirty money and corruption.

And so, the RT Magazine nod is a highly rewarding one.  I'm very grateful.   I'm sure Kier is too.  Confused, but grateful.  Sophia, I know, will be shaking her head, lifting her eyebrows gently at Kier, as if to say, "You fooled even them, you fool."

And as if they wanted to help celebrate, Amazon has DECEPTION on sale right now!  Print copies are almost 20% off.

Enjoy!

PRINT: http://www.amazon.com/Deception-Kris-Kennedy/dp/1439195919/
KINDLE: http://www.amazon.com/Deception-ebook/dp/B0061O0XCO/

Heartbreakers Blog Hop

[UPDATE: The winners of a print copy of one of my backlist books are K. April Holgate and Mary @ SweepingMe.  I'll be emailing the winners with instructions, and thanks to all for stopping by!  Remember, you can sign up for the newsletter to get book release news.] 

Today I'm part of Carrie Ryan's Heartbreaker's blog hop, where literally hundreds of romance authors and bloggers are talking about heartbreakers in their favorite romances.  You can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win.  Yep, you can enter over 200 times. 

And there are THREE grand prizes, plus the one I'm offering here: your choice of a signed print copy of any of my backlist books, all of them hot, sexy medieval adventures!

So start hopping, and have some fun! (Grand prizes listed below)

The Anti-Resumé 

Why are so many heartthrobs also heartbreakers?  

I think it's because when you throw your lot in with a confident, powerful man on a mission, you'd better be ready for the ride of your life.  Prepared or not, you have no choice but to throw yourself, heart and head, right over the cliff.   Be ready for anything.

But that doesn't make it a fun ride, right?  (Well, for us readers, yes, but the characters must suffer.  A lot.  In other words, heartbreak.)

The heroes in my historicals can be truly brutal in their heartbreaking potential.  I don't think these guys could actually ever land a job as a hero, if there were, you know, an application process somewhere.

I mean, with resumés like this, who would be crazy enough to trust any of these guys to save a desperate woman, a breaking heart, a barren life, a war-torn country?  I mean, who?

Oh, right.  Readers do.  :)


THE CONQUEROR

Hero: Griffyn 'Pagan' Sauvage

•  Sneaks into England to foment rebellion against a king;
•  Leaves a bedraggled woman at a muddy hut with Saxon villagers so he doesn't have to take her with him on his Super Secret Spy Mission.  After kissing her silly (Note: she catches up with him later);
•  Lies to the daughter of the enemy he's vowed to destroy.  Then takes things further than either of them ever meant to go.  In an abandoned fortress.  Leaves her the next day.  Oh, sure, he promises to come back.   But first there's a stint in prison, then a country to reclaim and castles to conquer...including hers....

The Irish Warrior

Hero: Finian O'Melaghlin

•  Plans inventive ways to kill a member of the English peerage (okay, yes, he was being held in chains in the man's prison...);
•  Flees across the Irish countryside with the English woman who helped him escape from prison--some might say "kidnapped" her.  Wait. Some DO say that.
•  Hesitates barely a second before indulging in overt sensual advances from the woman who saved him;
•  Shows no compunctions about having hot, reckless sex on their flight across a war-torn countryside, teaching the heroine things no proper Englishwoman should know;
• When it comes to a choice between his people and his woman, he...well, you’ll have to read.

Defiant

Hero: Jamie Lost

•  Favored lieutenant of King John of England.  Yes that King John.  What more do you need more on an anti-resumé?  But just in case;
•  Ruthlessly determined;
• Capable of disabling people who get in his way with minimum fuss and maximum effectiveness, violently or otherwise, such as when he;
•  Binds a woman in ropes and throws her on the back of his horse (true, it's to prevent her from lying or tricking him again.  Also, since she knows a lot more than she’s saying, she poses a grave threat to his mission, but still, he tied her up, so it goes on the anti-resume.  I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.  Oh.  Wait... )

Deception

Hero: Kier

•   Irish con man;
•   Former ‘piper’ for a powerful criminal lord, drawing in rich new partners to engage in dirty deals;
•   Stole money as a youth to impersonate a knight (Note: did exceptionally well in tournaments);
•   Falls head-over-heels in love with daughter of a corrupt judge who's on the take;
•   Abandons her;
•   Returns five years later to wreck revenge on the men who betrayed him;
•   Takes her into his schemes  (Note: Bad idea.)

So, tell me: if you were on the search committee, which anti-resumé above would tempt you the most?  And how much would you pay him?  (Kidding!)  :)

Any other romance heroes with anti-resumés you just can't resist?  
Spill.

Two commentors win their choice of one of the above print books (Sorry--US/Canada only.)

Sign up for my Book Release Newsletter (sent 1-2 x's/yr) 

 and double your chances to win!

(Please, please remember to leave your email addy in your comment.)

Oh, and about those GRAND PRIZES, given to 3 randomly selected commenters across the entire Heartbreakers blog hop?

• 1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
• 2nd Grand Prize: A $100 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
• 3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!  (Sorry, swag pack is for US/Canada only)

Have fun hopping! (click to see other participants)

Naming Characters

Naming characters is so much fun!  Except when it's not!  

Sometimes names just appear on the page, as if by magic.  They're perfect.  And by 'perfect' I mean they're appropriately lyrical and hopefully flush with meaning, and also good in bed.  You know, for shouting out while in bed.  

You'd be surprised how many names this eliminates. 

Or heck, I don't know you. Maybe you wouldn't be surprised at all.  That's good with me.

First names are most important, first names and nicknames.  Last names matter less, especially in the middle ages.   For me, last names are like a frame for a picture.  They can do good work--enhance and and highlight and, well, frame--but they're not the work.


One thing I sometimes do when the perfect name doesn't magically appear on the page, is come up with words that are "flush with meaning," but would sound silly in English--like liar or sexy or magic or shapeshifter--then find translations of those words in different languages. 


This can be especially lucrative for last names and nicknames.  Yep, 'lucrative,' because the right name is wealth, isn't it?  As a reader you know that.  The perfect name is worth its weight in gold.

Can you guess which names in any of my books that appeared like magic, and which I had to work at?    

What names of fictional characters have you loved?  Any you hated?