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?

Unnecessary Research

I have way too much unnecessary research going on.  And I love it.  Sadly.

I'm working on a couple contemporary novellas, which are a blast, but somehow, I keep finding myself on websites for medieval spice trade, or with a book open that discusses smuggling in the 17th century.

These are not useful research topics for a contemporary story, not unless a character in the books happens to be studying the spice trade or the history of smuggling.  Which my hero and heroine are not.  Although. . . .

Today, I've been researching Elizabethan inventions.   Right?  What am I doing, you ask, wasting precious writing time researching topics for a story I'm not even actively working on right now?  What is wrong with me??

Sadly, I'll know what's wrong with me--I love this stuff.  :)

Stoneware bottle 1830s-1840 antique-bottles.net

Did you know bottled beer was already used by the late 16th century?  They even used expensive glass to do so, although stoneware was also used, and of course, got better and better at the craft.   By the early 1600's century, the practice of bottling beer was already well-established, and the debate was on: which is better, bottled beer of beer from a keg?

Me, I'll drink it all.  

Replica of German pocket watch, 1580

Also, pocket watches.  Need I say more?  Okay, I will.

Sweet, gorgeous, etched and carved pocket watches--with alarms!  The hero in CLAIMING HER so has a pocket watch, and impresses the heroine with it. 

Katarina has been stuck out in her lonely castle beyond The Pale, and did not expect this barbaric Irishman to upend her world, to bring her etched silver and bottles of beer and news from men he called friends, who spoke of reflecting glasses that could see miles away, and the terrifying, exciting notion that God's stars are not fixed in the sky.

So, I guess this is why I waste my time.  Because it lights my fire.

Which maybe doesn't count as wasted time after all.  

Do you have interests that make you "waste your time"?  Spill!

(Note: the pocket watch image above is from: http://www.pewterreplicas.co.uk/)

Excerpt - Deception

As I mention on the website, my most recent release, Deception, isn't what you might expect going into a medieval romance.  It's more suspense-y and thriller-y (I hope!)

It's less about knights and chases across the countryside, and more about cons.  And dirty money.  And the powerful men who want it, and the lengths they'll go to get it.

And of course, the person who will risk everything to stop them.

I thought you might enjoy a little excerpt!

Set-Up

The hero, Kier, has returned to his lodgings after a meeting that set his plans of revenge in motion, a sword fight with a brigand who stole an important piece of documentation, and an unexpected, heart-stopping encounter with Sophia, the woman he once loved, then abandoned, many years ago.  She was not happy to see him. 

 Suffice it to say, he's had a bad day. 

He's back in his rooms, about to undress and fall into bed, when he realizes Sophia is here, in the shadows of his bedroom. 

She's got a blade in her hand and the devil in her eye, and she wants something Kier has no intention of giving: into his schemes.



 

Excerpt (c)

"...let us be clear, Kier," she added in a low voice.  "You did not find the ledger. I did."

            He leaned back and interlaced his fingers, considering her. "Now that is indeed a thing of note, Sophia.  You went directly to the coffer where [your father's old] ledger was housed.  The question is: how?

            She leaned forward, the yellow silk pressing atop the dark wood [of the table.]  "How badly do you want to know?"

            He shifted his gaze away, to the dark night outside the window.  Still, from the corner of his eye, she glowed at him, yellow silk and burnished hair. 

            "Are you offering me something Sophia?" he asked in a slow drawl, but his body was hardening, readying.  For a battle, for trickery, for passion, it hardly mattered; Sophia was all those things.  He was readying for her.

            "I am offering to help, Kieran," she replied, rounding his name as no one else in England did, as no one had for years--Ciarán--and in it he heard wild, sea-sprayed lands he'd not seen for half his life. He pushed it away with an almost physical shove.

            "No."  He shook his head.  "Sophia, even if you once had some useful knowledge about the [Darnly] ledger, you no longer do."

            "And thus, I am of no use to you," she said, her voice cold and brittle.

            "None at all," he agreed, ignoring the way he had to force his mouth to form the words.  It was like chewing sap.

            They stared at each other down the length of the table.

            "That is unfortunate, Kier, for I am not leaving."  She made an impatient gesture.  The blade tip swiped through the air. He watched its wild arc.  She was getting careless.  Reckless. Angry.

            "Perhaps you should set down the blade, Sophia."

            She narrowed her eyes.  "No."

            He pushed to his feet.  She scrambled up too, so quickly she sent the bench skidding backward.  He started down the length of the table toward her.  She skirted around the far end.

            "We are finished here, Sophia," he announced, coming after her.

            "But Kier, you have not considered--"

            "I have considered everything."  She slid up the length of the other side of the table, staying exactly opposite him.  "You do not have the ledger.  You have no money, no useful information, and furthermore, you have been seen."

            "As have you."

            He stopped short. "Pardon?"

            "I have seen you."

            He blinked at the veiled...threat?  Was she threatening him?

            He flushed cheeks reflected candlelight but her fierce eyes did not waver.  "I have seen you, Kier," she repeated softly.  "How much do you think such knowledge would be worth to the men who you betrayed?  To the king?"

            “You would not,” he said slowly.

            She nodded, just as slowly.  “I most certainly would.”

            They stared across the table at each other.  He waited.  And waited.  Waited until her arm wavered, lowered the slightest inch.  Then he leapt atop the table, grabbed hold of her wrist and yanked the blade, with her arm attached, halfway across the table to him.           

            She lay there, chest across the polished tabletop, hair scattered in sprays of dark fire, their mouth inches apart.

            “Ever were you my sinking ship, Sophia,” he growled.

            Her green eyes were fierce and bright.  “And ever were you the rocks upon which we crashed.”

            A knock hammered at the door..........

 

Hope you enjoyed!

Want to see who was at the door?   You can buy the book via your favorite bookstore's website--see Buy links: http://kriskennedy.net/deception      

Or link directly to seller sites here!    

Ebook:

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Print:  
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Amazon
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Books A Million
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The Next Big Thing

My friend Vanessa Kelly, author of several popular Regency historical romances including her current release His Mistletoe Bride, tagged me to take part in this blog hop-along.  

I’ll answer some questions about my current work in progress (WIP), then tag a couple other romance authors to do the same on their blogs next week.

So, here goes my Next Big Thing:

What is the working title of your book?

I'm actively working on two stories right now, so I’ll give you both!  Lucky you.  :) Claiming Her is an Irish-set Elizabethan, and Spin is an erotic contemporary.  Both are novellas.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

The crux of Claiming Her is a familiar one: the man comes to conquer and is undone by the apparently less powerful feminine force.  The beast is tamed.  

But more specifically, I feel like I’m not done with this emotional set-up.  I have a lot to explore, and this idea, being a relatively simple plot (unlike some of my other stories!) seemed perfect for a novella.

I'm also not done with Ireland yet.  :)  Claiming Her takes place in Northern Ireland in 1588, about 300 years after The Irish Warrior, and uses the same fictional barony of Rardove.   

Spin, on the other hand, came entirely out of the blue, on the heels of a small camping injury.  Who knew falling into cold firepits in the dark could be so fruitful? 

What genre does your book fall under?

Claiming Her is an historical, super-hot.  Spin is a contemporary almost-erotic romance novella.  Or maybe it is erotic romance.  I don't know those invisible lines.  We'll just say it's hot.  Very hot.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Gah.  I can never answer this kind of question.  I’m terrible with names and faces, and I don’t know enough actors.  I fail.

What is a one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Claiming Her: Aodh Mac Con Rardove has come home to Ireland a rebel.  He intends to conqueror everything, the castle, the lands, the lady.  The lady, of course, has no intention of being conquered.   But then, things don’t always turn out as planned....

Spin:   Evie has everything under control.  Her life and her job--which is her life--is scripted and turning out just as planned.  Perfectly.  Until she meets Finn.  Until her perfect job starts looking less perfect.  Until the man who isn't perfect at all starts looking exactly right.  Because even with the best of intentions, being in control is not always an option. 

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Both of these will be self-pubbed.  

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Ha!  Let’s look away from that situation.  I don’t write fast.  I write slow.  We'll leave it at that.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Hmmm...this is another thing I’m not good at. :)  My life is littered by such inadequacies. Bear with me.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

It's pretty simple: I love writing hot stories about strong people falling head over heels in love,  upended by the experience.  I love the tension that comes from desire and love, especially when the lovers shouldn't (or think they shouldn't) succumb. 

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

You mean aside from Sexy Times?  :)  

These are full-on stories, so while the sensual quotient is high, if you’re looking for a ‘big’ story in a little (i.e. novella-length) package, these might fit the bill.  

And now . . . I get to tag a couple author friends who will post next Wed, December 12th, about their work in progress!   Since I'm branching out of the middle ages, I thought I'd branch out here too, and tag a couple authors who aren't writing medieval romance.  These authors write paranormal romances, and if you haven't read them, you might just be missing you're next new love. 

Elisabeth Naughton, author of Enslaved, a USA Today bestseller

Laurie London, author of Assassin's Touch



Be sure to stop by Laurie & Elisabeth's blogs next Wednesday to find out what they’re working on!

And if you want to hear what Vanessa Kelly is working on (teaser: its working title is A Royal Seduction), here's a link to her Next Big Thing post.

Have you read any books/authors you thought were going to be (or should be!) the Next Big Thing? 

 

Heating Up The Holidays, Compliments of Rock*It Reads

Welcome to the Rock*It Reads Heating Up the Holidays Blog Hop. There are 15 stops on the blog tour. The more blogs you visit and comment on, the greater your chances of winning the grand prize, a $75 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble or Amazon, and a huge collection of books from the authors of Rock*It Reads. Smaller prizes will be available at each stop along the way.

Good luck, and have fun!

Winter is coming and for a lot of us, that means cold, gloomy days and long, dark nights. Chilly, damp, blah. Which is why I'm so glad to be helping heat up your holidays with these Rock*It Reads authors' musings on sexy heat. Our little gift to you.

One of the most fun parts of doing self-published works is the chance to be intimately involved in designing the covers. I love how great covers tell a story, it doesn't just show you a picture.

I commissioned a photo shoot from Jenn Le Blanc and her talented crew at Smexy Studio for my upcoming super sexy Irish-set Elizabethan novella, CLAIMING HER (available 2013).

Their first meeting involves the hero taking over her castle and, when she's not happy about it, and attacks him, he kind-of pins her against the wall. Okay, he totally pins her against the wall.



"Her breath was coming too fast, her heart hammering too hard, her hand—the one she’d punched him with—was throbbing as if she’d hit a wall, not a man. Steel before and stone behind, she was, most literally, between a rock and a very hard place.

He was all wild thing, untethered and unafraid. His hair had been shaved close on the sides and grew long in the back and front, so he looked familiar and yet utterly foreign. His face was all cut planes of male fury, hard cheekbones, dark brows above the ice-blue eyes pinned on her. She felt like she was staring at a flame burning inside a shard of ice."



But much as Katarina sees nothing but Irish warlord, there's a lot more to Aodh Mac Con than conquest of castles. There's his conquest of Katarina.

Here's the model, James, getting painted with tattoos:

And here is James after being painted:

Yes. Wow, right?


And here's the final cover for CLAIMING HER, also done by Jenn LeBlanc:

That story occurs in the winter but I'm also working on one that happens in the summer. The hot, hot summer. So, of course, my trek needs to involve hot guys and hot summer. Things like:

And

At which point, of course, they need a way to cool off:

Oh wait, I mean:

Wait, wait. I mean:

Okay, basically, what I'm saying is it's important to have a way to cool off. I just don't know that I've actually offered one here.

Your turn! Leave me a comment and let me know what books you're planning to help keep you warm this winter. Don't forget to include your name and email address!

TWO commentors will win a copy of their choice, either a print copy of any one of my current releases, OR if you want to wait, an e-copy of one of my self-pubbed releases when they become available.

Also? Comments here double your chances of winning the grand RiR prize--check out our blog!

And signing up for my newsletter? Doubles your chances here. ;)



Be sure to stop by the other Rock*It Reads authors' blogs for more fun. Fourteen authors, a slew of sexy pictures, maybe a hot excerpt here and there, and some incredible romance books to check out--you can't beat it!

Leave a comment below to enter for your chance to win!

Don't forget to visit the other authors on the Blog Hop for more chances to win!

Kris Kennedy	Bonnie Vanak	Erin Kellison
Sharon Page	Lila DiPasqua	Elisabeth Naughton
Norah Wilson	Jennifer Lyon	Monica Burns
Vanessa Kelly	Mia Marlowe	Joan Swan
Pamela Clare	Margo Maguire	Rock*It Reads

Deception is a Reviewers' Choice Award Nominee!

Wonderful news this morning.  Deception has been selected by RT Book Reviews (formerly Romantic Times Magazine) as one of the nominees in their 2012 RT Reviewers Choice Awards!
 
It’s been nominated for a K.I.S.S. Award (Knight in Shining Silver), their award for the hottest, sexiest, shining-silver-est hero.   That means Kier, our con man, bad boy hero, has been nominated as a knight in shining armor.   Oh yeah. 

I can't tell you how much this tickles me.  Why?  Because in the book, Keir is an extremely reluctant hero.  His only brush with chivalry was when he lied and cheated his way into jousting tournaments as a youth, where he’d been “good, quite good, to the extent it mattered, which was naught.   Kier knew he could never be good enough.

He never wanted to be."

Which isn’t quite the truth.   Kier wants a lot of things he think he can never have.  He's a con man, an outlaw, a mercenary, and a very dangerous man, and he's honed in like an archer on a single target: venegance.  

Until Sophia shows up.

So for Kier to be nominated for such an award is quite an honor.  Proving redemption is possible.  Even for mercenary con men outlaws with hearts made of stone.

Want to read more?  Here's an excerpt!

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