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DEFIANT 

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Coming May 25!

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New Release!

Warriors and Celts and sexytimes, oh my!

It's out!

CAPTURED BY A CELTIC WARRIOR

An anthology from four bestselling & award-winning authors, with four completely new stories of sweeping adventure and reckless romance that span the ages from 1193 to 1817.   And for a little extra special fun, a jeweled dagger runs through all the stories!

Only $0.99 for a limited time.

Let me unpack the perhaps hidden tropes in the anthology:

• There are warriors.
• There are Celts. Three Scotsman and an Irishman. But wait, there's more!
• There are abductions.
• There is an abundance of sexytimes. Let me repeat: abundance.
• Things are said like: 

“Lass, you do not want what I have.” As if to prove it, he overturned his hand and dragged a calloused thumb roughly across her bottom lip.

All the breath came out of her in a hot rush. “Oh.”

From The King's Outlaw, my story in the antho, a scorching hot novella of last hopes and second chances.

He has one last hope...

Outlawed and on the run, Irishman Tadhg O’Malley has a single mission: escape with the valuable dagger of Jerusalem before a brutal nobleman hunts him down.   Trapped and almost cornered, his plan is simple: kidnap the innocent merchant with the long hair and complicated eyes and use her as camoflague to sneak through the guarded gates.  

She's given up on hope...

Once winsome and reckless, Magdalena the Tailor has had pragmatism thrust upon her.  Widowed now and barely scraping by, she pays her bills--and the extortions of corrupt officials--with reluctant goodwill, telling herself she is grateful just to be alive.  

One night, she fights back, and that changes everything.   A handsome, dangerous stranger saves her, then seduces her, then abducts her, shaking her belief about who she is, and who she can be.

Can love give them a second chance at everything? 

When a snowstorm traps them in a secluded hut, their undeniable passion flares, and their connection becomes far deeper that either ever thought possible.  As the hunters close in and danger mounts, Tadhg will have to choose between the mission he's pledged his life to, and the woman who's stolen his heart.

So...yes, right??

THE KING'S OUTLAW
by Kris Kennedy
TAKEN BY THE HIGHLANDER
by Eliza Knight
STOLEN BY A HIGHLAND ROGUE
by Vonda Sinclair
HER WICKED HIGHLANDER
by Jennifer Haymore

Go get yourself some warrior fun!!

Amazon
iBooks/iTunes
BN/Nook
Kobo

Day Four...First Kisses for the First of the Year

Day Four of our launch into the new year with Celtic heroes and scorching sexytimes.

All week long, to celebrate the first of the year, I'm sharing all the first kiss scenes from all four stories in my upcoming anthology CAPTURED BY A CELTIC WARRIOR.

 

All the heroes (three Scotsmen and an Irishman) do something pretty bad for (generally) pretty good reasons: they kidnap the heroine.  

That can’t be good…. Except it is, very good! 

Did I mention there’s a legendary dagger that runs through all the stories? 

Here, today, is the intro to the first kiss from Jennifer Haymore’s story:

HER WICKED HIGHLANDER.

Enjoy!

 

….“Having no family…” She looked away from him. “It can be lonely sometimes.”

“And your parents are gone… Died two years ago from plague, was it?”

“How do you ken so much about me?” she asked, stiffening.

“We needed to learn all we could about you once we knew Sutherland was after you.”

She frowned. She didn’t like that. Didn’t like people she didn’t know digging into her past, learning about her parents.

“Do you miss them?” he asked softly. He cupped her cheek in his palm, turning her to face him.

His palm was warm and strong and soft, and she couldn’t help herself. She leaned into it and closed her eyes. “Yes. I miss them. I miss them terribly.”

His mouth touched hers, soft and warm, and she sighed against him.

“Aila,” he murmured, his lips moving against hers. “You’re so bonny. I havena…” He pulled back and dropped his hand, and she opened her eyes. He stared at her with a look that made tingles shudder under her skin. She grabbed onto his shirt, fisting the fabric in her hands, and he made a low noise in his throat. “Dinna test my control, lass.”

A thrill of fear rushed through her, but it wasn’t the kind of fear she’d experienced when she’d thought he was going to hurt her. This was a different animal altogether.

“What if,” she asked softly, “I want to test it?”

 

You can pre-order right now at the special price of 99 cents; it releases Feb 16^th.

Celtic heroes…scorching sexytimes…what are you waiting for??

Day Two...First Kisses For the First of the Year

Day Two of our launch into the new year with Celtic heroes and sexytimes!

All week long, I'm sharing excerpts from the first kiss scenes in CAPTURED BY A CELTIC WARRIOR, the upcoming anthology with Eliza Knight, Vonda Sinclair, Jennifer Haymore, and me!

All are alpha heroes (three Scotsmen and an Irishman), all are on a mission, and all do something pretty bad for (hopefully) good reasons: they abduct the heroine. 

That can’t be good…. Except it is, very good! 

Did I mention there’s a legendary dagger that runs through all the stories? 

Here, today, is the first kiss from Eliza Knight’s story:

TAKEN BY THE HIGHLANDER.

Enjoy!

…“Ye have my word, that is enough,” the brute warrior said.

Frustration streaked an angry red path through Rose’s veins. “Your word means nothing.” She stood, hands fisted at her sides.

Montgomery, too, stood, anger slicing over his features. “My word means everything.”

She didn’t back down. Even with the warrior standing nearly a foot taller than her, easily twice as broad, she wasn’t going to show her fear. “It means nothing to me.”

He grimaced, his teeth flashing in the moonlight. “Then ye’re a fool.”

“I am no more a fool than the man who abducts a woman and thinks she should trust him,” she retorted.

He cocked his head, eyes narrowing as he studied her. “Ye have a point.”

That startled her. He agreed? She faltered, words getting caught in her throat. Not the reaction she was expecting. At all. “I want to see my son. Now.”

He swiped a frustrated hand over his face. “I cannot comply with your wish.”

“Where is he? How far is he? Take me to him.”

Montgomery shook his head. “’Tis impossible. For safety, we must keep the two of ye separate until we reach Kildrummy.”

“Safety from whom?” Her voice was growing in octaves. She’d be raving mad in a moment; she could feel the anger burning through her chest.

“There is much ye dinna understand. And I dinna expect ye to understand everything, being a woman.”

What? Her mouth fell agape. Thoroughly insulted, even if she hadn’t anticipated anything less from the man.

Nevertheless, that was the last straw. Rose’s patience had a limit and her temper broke free from its bonds. She flew forward, hands balled and raised. She wailed at him, but he caught each of her fisted palms, wrapping his arms around her, pinning her elbows to her ribs, and when she tried to kick him, he pinned her legs between his thick, muscled thighs.

“Stop this!” he hissed.

Rose shook and heaved, glaring up at him. She spewed venom; called him names she’d heard her men shout while practicing in the fields. One of which, she knew was particularly vulgar. And then, suddenly, his lips were crushed against hers. Silencing her with warm, firm, velvet. She was not prepared for the strength of her own body’s reaction. The shivers that raced over her flesh. The pounding of her heart. The tightening of her wayward nipples. The trembling of her hands and the shaking of her knees. The intensity in which she pressed her lips back.

Montgomery’s hands slid to her shoulders, her arms no longer pinned. He cupped her cheeks, dipped his head to the side and kissed her deeper.

What was happening? Why was he kissing her?

Frissons of unexpected pleasure fired along her nerves. Her entire body trembled with both fear and excitement.

Why did she like his kiss? This was wrong. Incredibly so.

He was her captor. Had stolen her, and her son, away from the safety of their castle, and she was letting him kiss her?

Nay. She could not.

Rose jerked back and slapped him hard on the cheek, her teeth bared. “Dinna do that ever again, ye jackanapes.”

Montgomery touched the place she’d struck him and cleared his throat. “’Twas the only way to get ye to shut up.”

With that, the blasted warrior lifted her up and tossed her over his shoulder.

Uh-oh, right??? Or rather….yay!!!

You can pre-order right now at the special price of 99 cents; it releases Feb 16^th

Celtic heroes…scorching sexytimes…what are you waiting for??

All The Firsts....First Kisses for the First of the Year

Happy New Year to all my readers and the hardy souls who continue read this horribly-intermittent blog.  I know you're out there, and appreciate your hopeful spirit.  It's about to pay off. :)

It's the first of the year and to celebrate, I'm going to share with you the first kisses from all four stories in my first, upcoming anthology CAPTURED BY A CELTIC WARRIOR.

The discerning reader may detect a theme in that title. She would be correct.  Several themes, in fact. All the heroes are alphas (although not all are what you'd call 'bad boys.' Some are very nice alphas.)

All are Celtic--three Scots and one Irishman, but oh, what an Irishman... (Guess who wrote the Irishman?? :))

And all these dangerous men do something pretty bad for (one hopes) pretty good reasons: they abduct the heroine.

Sometimes it's for her sake.  Sometimes it's for theirs.  Sometimes, well...it gets complicated.

And did I mention there’s a legendary dagger that runs through all the stories?

Every day this week through Thursday, I'll be posting excerpts from the first kiss scenes in each story, to help launch your new year with alpha heroes and sexytimes.

Here, today, is the first kiss from my story in the anthology:

THE KING'S OUTLAW.

Enjoy!

 

….Voices broke out from the other end of the quay.  They turned.  The reeve’s assistant and a few other men were coming up the quay, one looking even more officious than he. Following were several armed men.

Goddammit.

“Mother Mary,” she whispered.  “What more can go awry?”

Tadhg shared the query.

There was nothing for it; he made his decision in a heartbeat.  

Sliding his hands up her arms, he spun her and almost flung her up against the side of the nearest building, then reached up and tore off her headdress.

“Good Heaven's,” she cried, her hands flying up to capture the silky veil, but he already had it off and was tugging off her distinctive cloak next.

“Mon Dieu,” she gasped, grappling for the cloak, but he fisted it and the silky veil together in his hand, down by his hip.  He stretched out an arm and planted his palm on the wall, blocking her face from the visitors now hurrying down the quay.

“Kiss me,” he ordered.

Her shocked face stared up at him.  “I b-beg your pardon?”

“Kiss me, then run.”

“What?”

“If you kiss me, you’re a whore.  If you stand there staring, you’re a merchant with a pouch of stolen seals in her hand.”

A second’s pause, then she pushed up on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

Dizziness and heat swooped in like hunting birds for Magdalena, dispelling sense and reason and anything else that might have been of use to her at the moment.  She had barely touched her lips to his when he descended without mercy, his mouth hard and slanting.  There was no prelude, no warning, no kindness or care, no quarter given.  She was a whore and he was having her.

He played the ruse exceptionally well.

He plowed her open with teeth and tongue, explored the depths of her wet mouth with sinful abandon.  She could do nothing but cling to him, her hands around his neck, her head forced back, her spine cupped, her body…thrilling.

Madness. Madness, all.

The hand not holding her cloak and wimple closed around her hip and began to tug up her skirts.  She made a feeble attempt to stop him, but his grip grew fierce, and he yanked the gown up, dragged it up the side of her leg until she felt cool air on her shin and calf.

Her head spun as if she’d been twirled like a top.  Picked up by a bird and sent flying.

Her knees grew weak, but she did not break that kiss.  She could not.  He’d become a field of energy, the way metal filings pulled toward iron, or one drop of water clings to another.  She was affixed to his kiss, to his chest, which she’d somehow pressed up against, to his shoulders, which she’d somehow wrapped her arms around, to his tongue, which was tangled with hers, his hot male breath, his cunning male hand, his hard knee now making all manner of incursions between her thighs, and she, she, reveling in it. 

 

Uh-oh, right??? Or wait….yay!!!

You can pre-order right now at the special price of 99 cents; it releases on Feb 16th to much hoopla. 

  

Hoopla...Celtic heroes…scorching sexytimes…what are you waiting for???

Tourney!

Okay, who loves a tourney?  I mean, besides me.

Pennants fluttering off the host's castle ramparts, villagers and nobles mingling in the busy grounds all around, merchants hawking their wares, performers juggling and wrestling.  While up in the lists, knights in shining armour preen and perform for ladies in the stands, who bestow their favors--a sleeve, a scrap of silk, and a smile--on their favorites. 




Originally, though, tournaments didn't much resemble our romantic notion of them.  The 'joust'--two men squaring off and taking a run at each other with lances--yeah, that was a latter addition, and even when the joust came to be part of the tourney, it was a prelude to the main event, the mêlée, a pitched battle with, well, pretty much no rules. 

Occasionally the type of weaponry was predetermined for the mêlée, but other than that, it was basically no-holds-barred fighting.  Lords came with their retinues, often comprised largely of men hired for the sole purpose of helping Lord Such-and-So kick Lord Whos-And-Whats knightly arse.  They came to fight, and to win. 

Oh, and to make a lot of money.  

The big money didn't come from official prizes, though, although those could be quite rich.  But the real prize was...ransom.

First came the cavalry rush with lowered lances, which quickly devolved into hand-to-hand combat, on foot, between the two opposing sides.  Death happened, although combatants were not (usually) killed intentionally.   Why kill a guy, when you can bankrupt him, and enrich yourself in the process?  Capture was a much better business plan. 

The loser had to 'yield,' then he and the victor agreed to the terms of the surrender.  Usually horse & armour were taken, and a price agreed-upon to buy them back.  Remember these horses were worth more money than a villager could make in a dozen lifetimes.  The same for armour.  Terms of the agreement were set down in a contract (yes, they signed a contract, right there on the battlefield, in a section called the 'refuge'.  Recognize it?? Cool, huh?) It was all very official and well-run. 

Except when it wasn't.

Tourneys were a dicey proposition for kings and counts. On one hand, tourneys were good training for war, could be useful for raising money, and for channeling the aggressive tendencies of all those young, male, armed citizens, who were so necessary in times of war, and so...unpredictable at all other times.

But they also wrecked destruction on the countryside and any unlucky villagers caught in the crossfire as the battle raged across the land, including farmland (!!)  Often, two villages were designated as the outer boundaries of the battleground, essentially assuring that armed knights in the heat of battle were going to come roaring through the town and across their tended fields.  Note: No village is on record as ever having requested such a dubious privilege. 

The larger concern for a medieval king was this: tourneys were a breeding ground for petty feuds, vengeance, and, at the top of any medieval lord's mind, rebellion.  

Perfect for romance fiction!  I can feel my brain cells firing up, ready to play with the ceremony and drama of a medieval tournament.  I see a dark-haired, hard-hearted hero, and the conceited, intelligent, alluring daughter of his worst enemy....  

Have you read any books with great tourney scenes??  Spill!

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)