1. Robyn Carr’s Bring Me Home for Christmas contest

Yesterday Robyn Carr stopped by the blog to talk about her latest Virgin River novel, Bring Me Home for Christmas, and mentioned her new homecoming themed contest. Countless military families experience reunion stories on a daily basis—sometimes joyous, sometimes painful, and sometimes bittersweet. From November 1 – December 15, 2011 we want to hear your story. One family of four has the chance to win a grand prize featuring the following:

• A family vacation (up to 4 people) to anywhere within North America or the Caribbean
• $500 Gift Card to Walmart to grant your Christmas wishlist
• A family photo session and portraits
• A signed copy of Robyn Carr’s Bring Me Home for Christmas

Five secondary prizes of signed copies of Bring Me Home for Christmas will be awarded as well. Share your stories today! Visit HoldOutForAHero.com

2. The Iron Knight photo contest

Are you a big Julie Kagawa fan? Have you ever been to New York City? Why not kill two birds with one stone and meet Julie Kagawa in NYC! Here’s how you do it: Between Oct. 24 and Nov. 18 grab one of the 4 Iron Fey novels (print or ebook), cover your entire face with it and create a FEY-TASTIC scene then take a photo and submit it to the contest. Then you can vote and vote and vote–get your friends to vote too! Still not sure what we mean? The Harlequin digital team has been getting into the spirit of the contest.

Visit the Harlequin TEEN facebook page to submit your entry, vote and view entries. Good luck, Fey fans!

3. So You Think You Can Write starts on Monday!

Last year’s So You Think You Can Write conference was such a big success we’re doing it all over again this year! Visit soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com between Monday, Nov. 7 to Friday, Nov. 11 for advice, tips and tricks from Harlequin authors and editors on how to get your own story published. We’ll also be running daily challenges for opportunities to have your work read by our editors! Follow @HarlequinSYTYCW on Twitter for the latest news as well.

4. Angela Henry’s The Paris Secret from Carina Press now in print!

I mentioned Angela Henry’s The Paris Secret in my last covers I love blog post, but I have to mention it again: each time a Carina Press title makes it’s debut in print, it feels like an angel just got their wings (Christmas on the brain much? Maybe!) Click here to purchase a copy today!

And if you’re looking for other Carina Press titles in print, Marie Force’s Fatal Affair is still available!

5. Harlequin app available for Android now!

Good news, Android users–the Harlequin App is now available for you as well! You can find it in the Android Market for FREE. You can browse our new releases, keep track of what’s coming up in the next month, create a wishlist, and even read free online reads! There’s loads more to do on the app, so pick it up in the market today and join in on the fun! Here: http://bit.ly/uJAd3S

6. Kristan Higgins’ Until There Was You book trailer

Yesterday we debuted the trailer for New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Kristan Higgins’ new novel Until There Was You.

Posey Osterhagen can’t complain. She owns a successful architectural salvaging company, she’s surrounded by her loveable, if off-center, family and she has a boyfriend—sort of. Still, something’s missing. Something tall, brooding and criminally good-looking…something like Liam Murphy.

Have a look below!

Oh well, maybe she should just get on with the news round up for today? Yeah…maybe.

Harlequin at NY Comic Con
Speaking of Wonder Woman, Harlequin’s going to New York Comic Con (Oct. 13 – 16, 2011)! This is our first time at the illustrious comic book and sci-fi convention and we couldn’t be more thrilled about it. There are definitely some self-described nerds on the Internet and Digital team and they’ll be presenting the finest of Harlequin and Carina Press’s series to delight the fans. Stop by booth #2021 and enter to win a Kobo eReader Touch Edition and a library of 50 free eBooks from Carina Press! We’ve got loads of things happening throughout the weekend, too. In homage to Sophie Littlefield’s Aftertime series, Friday is zombie day. Come by the booth and be “zombified” by makeup artist Edward O’Rourke. Come back on Saturday to meet author C.E. Murphy who will be signing in the booth from 11-12. And don’t miss Julie Kagawa who will be signing from 2-4 pm. Follow @HarlequinBooks and @CarinaPress for news. See you there!

The Iron Knight Launch Party
Oct. 24, 2011 is The Iron Knight Facebook launch party! There will be giveaways, a chance to chat with author Julie Kagawa, and a very special announcement. The book will be available the following day, Oct. 25! Follow @HarlequinTeen for more news.

Paranormal Romance sale
In Harlequin.com news, we’ve got a great sale going on right now for paranormal romance fans! When you spend $16 you’ll save $4! Check the sales books here. Titles from Gena Showalter, Maggie Shayne, and Heather Graham are all at reduced prices. Stock up for some spooky and tantalizing reading.

Attention authors! Carina Press is seeking submissions!
For the first time, Carina Press is seeking submissions for their 2012 holiday collections. This is an excellent opportunity to be published in a normally by-invitation-only Carina Press collection. Check the Carina Press blog for full details and start brushing up your manuscript now!

And Carina Press fans, if you’re not following Carina Press on Facebook, you’re missing out on the cover debuts we do each week. Here’s a peek at what was just released this morning. You’ll have to Like Carina Press on Facebook to get more, though!

Check out our latest book trailer for The Children of Kingdom by Rebecca Coleman. I debuted the cover of her novel a few weeks ago in my last Covers I Love blog post. Check out the trailer below for a peek at the book.

1. We have a winner!

Cowboy Appreciation Week was fab! We’ve given away books for each author’s individual blog post and now we’re giving away a prize pack with ALL of the books to…

Deborah Rudd, who commented on Donna Alward’s blog post. Congrats Deborah! We’ll send out the books to you this week.

2. Congratulations on entering the New York Times bestseller list, Shannon Stacey!

Shannon Stacey’s YOURS TO KEEP, part of the Kowalskis series from Carina Press debuted this week on the New York Times bestseller list at #33. This is a milestone as it is the first Carina Press title to enter the list. Congratulations to everyone involved in this milestone! We hope this is a first of many, many more.

3. Julie Kagawa’s Big Announcement

If you missed Julie Kagawa, author of the Iron Fey series, livestream on Facebook last week, never fear, we’ve got a blog post coming this Friday with all of the details, including a behind the scenes look at the Iron Knight cover shoot AND an excerpt from the book. That’s right, an excerpt from the book. For now, I’m going to tide over your eager little hearts with the back cover copy:

My name—my True Name—is Ashallayn’darkmyr Tallyn.

I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court.

And I am dead to her.

My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl…

To cold faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought.

Then Meghan Chase—a half human, half fey slip of a girl—smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive.

With the unwelcome company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end—a quest to find a way to honor his vow to stand by Meghan’s side.

To survive in the Iron Realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. And along the way Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

4. Royal House of Shadows – Nocturne Quartet Book Trailer

Once upon a time there were four royal siblings, lost…cursed… Except that’s not where this story begins. Introducing a new Harlequin Nocturne series from Gena Showalter, Jill Monroe, Jessica Anderson and Nalini Singh. You’ll want to learn all about these fairy tales after you see the trailer below. Hope over to the Paranormal Romance Blog afterwards.

Exciting news! This Saturday, Harlie successfully fledged and took her first flight.

Baby Harlequin takes off.

Mom transfers food to Harlequin.

As if the drama of egg vs ledge wasn’t significant enough, nothing quite compares to the heart pounding terror of watching baby Harlequin lift off and fly for the very first time, which officially changes her status from hatchling to fledgling.  We’re becoming SO proficient in bird talk here at the Romance Mothership!

By nightfall, the newly air born Harlie rested on the upper ledge of the adjacent building quite obviously exhausted after having made seven short flights from building to building in the corridors of air space around the Harlequin offices, with only a few mainly minor mishaps.  She first took flight on Saturday July 9^th and has been increasing in speed and skill since.

Wrong way, Harlie!

Mama and Papa Quest and Kendal were like falcon training wheels, guiding her progress as she soared, albeit wobbly at first from ledge to ledge and eventually to the roof of her nesting site.  They flew alongside in almost military precision, directly above and below her!  What is particularly remarkable is the parenting skill displayed by these newbie parents, as in at least one instance their quick intervention deterred a potentially lethal outcome from Harley’s inadvertent topple from the 6^th floor ledge.  Which more than a few startled birders witnessed live and via our webcam feed!

As Mark Nash of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation says, “She is doing very well indeed, and obviously benefiting from not having any siblings to compete with for her parent’s attention. Quest and Kendal are outstanding parents and are staying tight to Baby Harlequin.”

And I have to get used to the lack of bird dives and swooping in my peripheral vision when at my desk as Harlie, Quest and Kendal move on.  Can’t WAIT until next spring when we hope this happens all over again!

Photos © Ann Brokelman

Speaking of hot, I’m going to Vegas this weekend! To celebrate, I’ll be posting a special list of recommended reads to get me–and you–in the mood for Sin City. This will be my first time. Where should I go?

While you ponder that question, I’ve got another news round-up of Harlequin and Carina Press news. Starting with:

Carina Press‘s First Year Anniversary!
*Throws confetti in the air* Congratulations, Angela James, Malle Vallik and the entire Harlequin Digital Team for the amazing success of their little digital press that could. Hope you didn’t miss the celebrations. The Carina Press team gave away a first gen Kobo ereader on the blog and went on a whirlwind blog tour, giving away Carina Press downloads to commenters.

Save the Contemporary: Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey
Continuing on with Carina Press news, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and Dear Author have chosen a new feature title for Save the Contemporary and it’s Carina Press’s Shannon Stacey’s Yours to Keep, the third novel in the Kowalski series. If you haven’t read this series, you should give it a try. REALLY great contemporary romance, by a REALLY great author! And if you’re not a digital reader yet, the series will be hitting physical bookshelves starting in 2012. Read the details here. But seriously, go pick up Yours to Keep!

The Iron Knight Cover Reveal
Last week on the Iron Fey Facebook page the cover for Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Knight was revealed. Remember when you had to vote for your choice of model to grace the cover back in December? Yeah, so now it’s ready! Join the Facebook page to see. I’d show it here, but Grim might catch wind and cause some havoc. Don’t want to mess with that guy. And on top of that, Summer’s Crossing, the second Iron Fey e-novella is out right now. You can download it from EnterTheFaeryWorld.com

Finally, let’s end this news round-up again with a book trailer. Check out Peas and Thank You: Simple Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love from blogger Sarah Methany and Harlequin Nonfiction. Adorable little girls ten seconds in to the video!

Falcom Cam Update: July 27, 2011
While Baby Harlequin, Kendall and Quest are still frequently seen around the Harlequin building, they no longer make use of the nesting box. For sighting updates, please visit the Canadian Peregrine Foundation website.

Check back next spring when, fingers crossed, we’ll have more hatchlings on the webcam!

The peregrines’ cross-border romance of that started off with high-altitude flirting has had a happy result – a baby! After challenges with the first two eggs, the peregrines have hatched their third egg.

“We are thrilled with the hatch of baby Harlequin,” said Ms. Hayes. “Quest and Kendal have become part of the Harlequin family and we are looking forward to getting a closer look at baby Harlequin at the banding ceremony that will take place in a couple of weeks.”

The mating pair, identified by the Canadian Peregrine Foundation as Quest, a peregrine falcon born across Lake Ontario in Rochester, New York and her mate, Kendal, a peregrine born at 18 King St. East in Toronto in 2009, have successfully mated for the first time. This is the first-ever satellite tagged bird (Quest) to produce young. In fact, the first two eggs that were laid were rejected by Quest, making it even more crucial for the third and final egg to have a successful outcome.

The Harlequin Peregrine Webcam allows people around the world to get an up-close view of Quest, Kendal and their little hatchling.

Harlequin encourages anyone who wishes to learn more about peregrines, pledge support or discover what they can do to help this threatened species to visit the Canadian Peregrine Foundation at www.peregrine-foundation.ca.

Every year Harlequin releases the Romance Report, where we detail the comings and goings of romance from the past twelve months. Last year’s report was called Tempted. Boy, did we find out a lot about temptation! Well, this year we’ve decided to do something a little different. We’ve opened the doors to the Harlequin Office for the Preservation of the Kiss (HOPK for short) to spread the word and we’re patenting the kiss (Seriously! Check out our application here).

Check it out here: www.PatentYourKiss.com

The HOPK’s interactive website has a unique kiss creation tool to help lovers all over the world create and share their kisses. We want to find a kiss bigger than the Butterfly, even bigger than the French! Check out the kiss that I’m busy working on right now. I’m a fan of puns, so this one’s called…wait for it: The Seine-tillating Kiss!

Now, if you’re still looking for a little data to go with your kiss, never fear: you’ll find the Romance Report in the office. For the first time ever, we’ve decided to make the report digital-only. Check out the facts right here. Here’s a sneak preview of just some of the data we’ve collected:

We hope you’ll stop by the office and help us patent the kiss. There’s even a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas to ring in the new year if you submit your kiss. I hear 2012 is going to be a good one! Keep tabs on the patent on Facebook and Twitter (@PatentYourKiss). You just never know who might drop by to patent a kiss. 

Manish Singh, country manager for Harlequin Mills & Boon India Pvt Ltd, told Mumbai Mirror, “While there are certain universal traits in our heroes, which resonate across our readership base of 16 to 60 years, Imran Khan obviously has tremendous appeal amongst the younger generation.”

Earlier this month, Harlequin officially opened its 19th office in Istanbul, Turkey, and I was lucky enough to have been there for the launch.

It was my second visit to Istanbul—the first was in the summer of 2008, when Adam Kapusta (Managing Director of Eastern Europe) and I were visiting to assess the market potential.  We liked what we saw—from a business perspective, Turkey is a large country with a stable economy, a high literacy rate, and a growing urban population—lots of potential women to buy our books. There is also a well established publishing industry, lots of bookstores, books for sale in many different kinds of stores, and a high proportion of translated fiction. If you name a bestselling fiction author, I’ll bet you’ll find his or her books on the shelves in Istanbul. 

Our recommendation after this visit was that we should be in Turkey—about a year and a half later, we saw this recommendation turn into reality.

Fast forward to the launch of Harlequin Turkey (or Harlequin Türkiye, as it is known in the local language). On February 2, we held a luncheon for a small group of about a dozen local media at an absolutely gorgeous hotel right on the Bosphorus. Have a look at the room—stunning!

Speeches, interviews, questions & answers, and a great meal kicked off the day’s events. Here we are just before the event kicked off.

(From left to right: Arda Gedik, our local partner, Steve Miles, EVP of Overseas for Harlequin, me, Adam Kapusta, MD, Eastern Europe & Turkey)

We are working with a local company, Ekip, who looks after translation & editing, coordinates local printing, and helps us with marketing & distribution. Combining their local knowledge with Harlequin’s global knowledge feels like a recipe for success.

After the luncheon our PR agency sent a kit out to about 100 more media and we were thrilled with the results—the story of Harlequin Turkey’s launch has been picked up by news agencies, newspapers, internet and television channels across the country, and we are expecting further coverage in the March issues of many women’s magazines. A great way to get the word out to the women of Turkey!

Right now, we are selling 8 stories per month in Turkey, but we plan to expand our program during this year. Here’s a look at our Turkish books:

I managed to sneak in a little bit of free time to see some of the sites around Istanbul—it is such an interesting city with so much history. I would love to go back and spend more time there, though maybe next time I’ll go when it won’t be snowing!

The Blue Mosque

How far would you go to be “in the know”? According to the Harlequin Romance Report 2010: Tempted, a whopping 48% of North Americans reveal that they have peeked at a colleagues’ pay stub, admitting that they have given in to temptation and crossed the line to satisfy their curiosity.

At Harlequin, Romance is our business and we know it better than anyone. The Romance Report, now in its 21st year, is examining the topic of Temptations. We explored the notion that temptations are really about recognizing a want or need and deciding whether or not the risk of pursuing it is worth the reward.

Last year the world witnessed the downside of giving into greed, indulgence and ultimately, temptation. The current economic situation has forced us all to think hard about where we spend our money. We asked survey respondents to tell us what one temptation they could not give up, even when money was tight.  Seventy-five percent of respondents said books were the number one temptation they couldn’t live without! Instead, fancy dinners, shopping and vacations were sacrificed.

Our survey also found that over 60% of men and women agreed that when it comes to relationships, they want a partner who is honest with them about temptations.

Looking at a few years ago when we focused on confessions, it seems men and women have come full circle. Rather than dealing with a confession that happens after a transgression, men and women want to know about temptations before they happen.

So whether it’s looking at a colleague’s paystub or snooping through your partner’s personal belongings, we want the truth, even if it hurts. Today it seems ignorance is no longer bliss, information is.

Tempted to know more? Have a look at the video below!