by Courtney Milan, author of Proof by Seduction (HQN January 2010)

Historical romances are all about the fairytale. They are set in a time when carriages were pulled by a team of eight spotless white horses, when servants did all the dishes, and when gowns were personally made to fit you and accentuate your glowing inner beauty.

This is in sharp contrast to the way things are for me today: the car is making a weird grinding noise, I’m doing the dishes, and fashions are designed to make my butt look big. Naturally, I love the escape that historical romances provide (and I always hope that if I look busy enough when I’m reading one, my husband will do the dishes instead).

But when I set out to write one, I found that I couldn’t just write about the fairytale. I can never fully escape into a heroine’s life if she’s never known deprivation. If someone has already done the heroine’s dishes, if her personal maids can cinch her into a corset that makes her appear to have a sixteen-inch waist, and if every time someone threatens to make her life difficult, she can snap her fingers and order a servant to solve the problem… well, what does she have that I can relate to?

The heroine of my debut novel, Proof By Seduction, was very much my answer to this conundrum. Nobody has ever snapped their fingers for her. She’s faced economic deprivation. She’s won, because she’s now telling fortunes to the wealthy as a way of making a living. She’s not wealthy herself, but she is comfortable.

When my wealthy hero enters the picture, he doesn’t offer her a carriage pulled by eight spotless horses. Instead, he threatens her comfort by telling her he will expose her as a fraud. And in order to prevail, my heroine is going to have to take him–and all his servants–on, all while wearing a dress that might make her butt look big.

And that’s a fairytale I can relate to.

Courtney Milan

by J.T. Ellison, author of The Cold Room from MIRA books

It’s that time again.

The release of the fourth book in my Taylor Jackson series is upon us, and I forget just how exciting the debut of a novel can be. As I write this, there’s only one week to go. Tour plans are in place, television and radio spots scheduled, blogs and interviews being written. It’s that moment experienced writers warned me about several years ago, as I was preparing for my actual debut. Enjoy this time, they said, because once the book is out, things change.

Boy, do they change.

One of the biggest challenges I face as a writer is the balance between promotion and creative time. What I didn’t realize until I had a second book coming out was the fact that regardless of release timing, I would be promoting a book, editing a book, and writing a book, all at the same time, for the rest of my natural born writing life. I think this is what the more experienced writers were warning me about, this juggling act we must do.

Writing a series means I’m in constant contact with my characters. I live their hopes, dreams, joys, tragedies and horrors on a daily basis. But I’m always thinking two books ahead of the book I’m promoting, because that’s the book I’m writing. Wrenching my head out of that book to talk about the releasing novel is incredibly hard for me.

But I’ve done it, and here we are.

I’ve always been fascinated by the psychology behind relationships. In The Cold Room, I wanted to throw a few curve balls to my characters, just to see how they would react.

Taylor Jackson is a woman of convictions, of morality, of a code. She’s a hero, flawed but with incalculable focus. She enjoys a challenge, isn’t afraid of much, and has a badge and gun to back her up when times get tough. She’s also very stubborn and enjoys intrigue, and her current case presents a puzzle she’s not seen before. The fact that her fiancée John Baldwin already has a foot in the case is a help too – she has an excuse to work with him again, something she always enjoys.

Taylor also has a few new people in her life, from Detective Renn McKenzie, her new partner she doesn’t entirely trust, to the handsome, moneyed New Scotland Yard detective, James “Memphis” Highsmythe, who also happens to be the Viscount Dulsie. He and Taylor share a background – both drawn to law enforcement despite their privileged upbringing, both searching for something. Plus Taylor’s been unfairly busted back to detective after a run in with the Office of Professional Accountability and is at her most vulnerable…. It’s a hard place for a strong woman to be, and a goldmine for a writer looking to develop her characters.

I hope you enjoy reading The Cold Room as much as I enjoyed creating it. It’s a different book from the previous three, both darker and lighter, with truly frightening serial killers that spooked ME when I was writing them. But it’s more than a story about a killer. It’s an exploration into the ultimate betrayal.

Editor’s Note: Thanks, J.T.! Best of luck juggling all those tasks. I’ve also got great news—Karen, our Digital Marketing Maven, has just told me that the first book in the series, All the Pretty Girls is available for free on our eHarlequin eBooks store until March 31st! It’s a great way to introduce yourself to a spinetingling new (to you!) series.

And looking for more info on J.T.? Check out her Web site where she has tour info or hop over to Murderati where she recently wrote about The Cold Room as well.

by Meg Lewis, Assistant Editor of Harlequin Romance and Cara Colter, author of Rescued in a Wedding Dress.

He’s bending down on one knee, looking into your eyes and taking a gorgeous little box from his jacket pocket….

It could only mean one thing! That moment you’ve been waiting for—he’s going to propose! Most of us girls have imagined our perfect ‘proposal scene’ at some point…

Well last February, we on the Harlequin Romance team launched a competition where the prize was not only a diamond necklace but also the opportunity to see their ultimate proposal come to life… in the pages of a Harlequin Romance story! The contest was part of our celebrations for Harlequin’s 60th anniversary. We also published a special collection of books that month: Diamond Brides. Every story featured some of those beautiful, sparking gems we all love! Read about the stunning collection here.

The competition generated much excitement and we were flooded with wonderful ideas. Our readers really are a romantic and imaginative bunch and it was a pleasure to read all your entries!

The winning idea really stood out to the judges because it was highly romantic, special and creative, and featured a beautiful setting. What was it? Well, to find out you’ll just have to read the fantastic Rescued in a Wedding Dress by Cara Colter—out this month!  (There may be a hint on the cover, though!)

And now over to Cara Colter, who’s going to share her experience of including the winning proposal idea in her story, Rescued in a Wedding Dress:
Read the rest of this entry

by Brenda Jackson, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Hot Westmoreland Nights

Anyone who has read my books knows I have this thing for family series.  And when I was told that one of my family series book was Silhouette Desire’s 2000th book, I could not contain my excitement.

From the time I first began reading romances, Silhouette Desires were my favorite.  It was small enough to toss in my purse and pull out for a good and relaxing read just about anywhere.  Especially when I got a break during those busy management meetings at the well-known insurance company where I worked.  Once I decided I wanted to be an author, my choice was to be a Silhouette Desire author.  After a number of rejections letters—a few telling me what to do to improve my craft—I joined a writers group where I received not only good feedback on what I needed to do to improve my writing, but I became friends with a bunch of lovely ladies, who like me wanted to write love stories.

I never gave up the belief that one day I would do it, even after one of my bosses at work who found out about my dream, basically told me that he would win the lotto before I published a book.  Not a lot of encouragement there, right?  Wrong.  His words encouraged me to prove him wrong and I did.  I have written over 70 books and he’s yet to win the lotto.  Of course I couldn’t pass up the chance to send him a copy of my first book with a card asking, “How many millions did you win playing lotto?”

Hot Westmoreland Nights becoming Silhouette Desire’s 2000th book is special because it’s about the Westmoreland Family.  I wrote my first Westmoreland Book in 2002 and now Hot Westmoreland Nights is my 17th novel in the series.  The Westmorelands continue to be a special family because my readers have made them so, and each time I pen a story about them, I can’t forget just how special they are.

I have plenty more Westmoreland stories to share and if you missed out on the Westmoreland series, my first book in the series, Wrapped in Pleasure, has been reissued.

Congratulations to Silhouette Desire for reaching such a wonderful milestone, and I appreciate being a part of your growth and success from day one as a reader, and now as one of your happy and dedicated writers.

Happy Reading to all!

Celebrate 2000 titles! Get 3 Desire books for $9.99 at eHarlequin.com!

Still reeling from all of the love? Or perhaps it was a quiet long weekend with not much to-do? Whatever your sentiments about the big V day, we know you’re a romantic at heart, so you’ll still appreciate all of the great editorial we have for this month. Here’s Jayne, our Community Manager, with a look at what’s really hot for the month of February (and beyond!)

by Jayne Hoogenberk, eHarlequin Community Manager

You gotta know that Cupid’s in the house, or at least knocking at the door of the Blaze series with a title like Her Sexy Valentine.  And reader-favorite Stephanie Bond proves that love comes when and how you least expect it in this sizzling story of coworkers turned lovers, and if you’re wanting even more sugar and spice, follow it up with ManHunting, a sultry Blaze anthology by New York Times bestselling authors Betina Krahn, Joanne rock and Lori Borril.

 

You might want to check out A Valentine’s Wish by Betsy St. Amant. One of the first Valentine’s stories by Love Inspired AND by an up and coming new author. This is a story of friends who come to realize that they’re really in love with each other. Set in atmospheric New Orleans, it’s a sure pleaser!

For a different kind of Valentine read you’ll want to pick up The Man from Nowhere by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Lee.  This is a very moving page-turner about a “man from nowhere” who watches the heroine from afar to protect her because he “sees” her murder.  Now that’s a Valentine who’s got your back!

May I just say, Ladies ‘Start Your Engines’ with this great NASCAR anthology by Vicki Lewis Thompson and Nancy Warren and Dorien Kelly called Racing Hearts.  As Vicki Lewis Thompson says “I’m a NASCAR convert. I confess that until diving into this story, I knew very little about NASCAR. But as the proud owner of a hot little two-seater sports car, I was more than willing to learn about fast cars and the daredevils who drive them.”  She’s got MY vote and I can’t wait to dive into the stories either!

If you’re hunting for out-of-this-world romance, Silhouette Nocturne will have you howling for more with a scrumptious and unearthly bonus story in two full-length titles from the Wolf Moons miniseries where werewolves fights against evil and fight for love. Check out Red Wolf and Wolf Trap for two stories for the price of one,  just in time for Valentine’s Day

And rounding out the highlights, I’d be totally remiss not to mention something we haven’t seen in a while with The Fun Factor – a new Romantic Comedy miniseries launching in Harlequin Romance in March with Oh-So-Sensible Secretary by Jessica Hart. It might be a March title, but you can get books a month in advance on eHarlequin.com, just one of the benefits of being an online shopper! Now our editors say they’re really excited about this miniseries, and that it has a real feel good guarantee and that’s good enough for me! The next book is Tipping the Waitress with Diamonds by Nina Harrington (May)

So I hope I’ve given you room for thought if not a passel full of recommendations for Valentine’s reading, enjoy!

by Staness Jonekos, author of The Menopause Makeover from Harlequin Nonfiction

I have a confession – menopause is the best thing that ever happened to me!  Except for marrying my Prince Charming!

Ready for the shocking news?  Menopause and marrying the man of my dreams happened at the same time!

After 30 years of dating in Los Angeles, I was finally engaged for the first time.  My wedding day was about to be ruined by hourly hot flashes, itchy skin, crankiness, fuzzy thinking and monthly weight gain.  My poor fiancé proposed to one girl and was about to marry Bridezilla.

Depressed that everything normal in my life was changing, I focused on planning my wedding day.  Using a wedding planner book filled with checklists, calendars and to-do lists, I was able to plan the perfect wedding.

Then, something incredible happened during my wedding dress fitting.   The tailor was letting out the seams to accommodate my new fat, menopausal body, as I was chatting about how easy it was to plan the perfect wedding using a planner book. Then I asked myself, “Why isn’t there a planner for menopause?”  I just wanted someone to tell me what to do so I would feel and look good again.

There were no menopause planner books online or in bookstores.  It was months to my wedding day, so I created my own 12-week program.  It was during this process that I realized menopause was a gift.

Being angry that my uninvited wedding guest, menopause, had kidnapped my dream wedding, I discovered something that changed my life.  Menopause was more than fluctuating hormones, it was an opportunity to reinvent myself.  Once I navigated the confusing hormone options, I had to address my overall health and happiness.

Redefining how I ate and exercised improved my health.  Updating my beauty regimen boosted my self-esteem.  Addressing my emotions and relationships gave me the opportunity to find balance.  Embracing my spirituality held the key that opened the door to happiness.  This combination of changes resulted in the ultimate mid-life makeover.

Staness’s “before” and “after” shots! Doesn’t she look amazing?

Years ago when my only monthly concerns were PMS and an occasional pimple, I would hear people joke about hot flashes and women going through “the change.”   I have news for them – those women are busy making changes that will make their life and YOUR life better.

Menopause was a wake up call to ME.  I wrote The Menopause Makeover so YOU would have a map to find and celebrate the new you!

Editor’s Note: Still not convinced by Staness? Check out the book trailer for The Menopause Makeover below then head over to the Harlequin Community to follow Community Manager Jayne and community members as they go through their own 12 week count down to Fit and Fabulous!

by Julie Kagawa, author of The Iron King from Harlequin TEEN

I’ll be honest: writing guest posts for me is hard.  I think I started and erased the beginning of this post a dozen times before something finally stuck to the page.  I don’t know why it’s so difficult to talk about myself.  It would be easier if I was a world traveler or big game hunter or once ran with the bulls in Spain.  Then I could say something like: “I’ve wanted to hunt lions ever since I was two and rescued my doll from a rogue cougar in the backyard,” and everyone would ooh and ahh and hang on every word I said.

And I’ve gone off on a bit of a tangent, haven’t I?  Right, back to what I’m supposed to be talking about.  My name is Julie Kagawa, and my first YA novel The Iron King will be debuting with Harlequin TEEN this February.  It’s about a girl named Meghan Chase who, on her sixteenth birthday, discovers her little brother has been stolen by faeries, and she must venture into Faeryland to get him back.  Along the way, she discovers her own faery heritage, falls in love with an enemy prince, and must face down an ancient evil to rescue her brother.  It’s a fun story, with goblins and phouka and faery princes and danger and romance.  And Grimalkin of course.  Can’t forget Grimalkin.

A lot of people have asked me where the idea for The Iron King came from.  It all started with a single character, Meghan, and the story sort of evolved around her.  Meghan is a normal teen who is pulled into this dangerous, fantastic world, and how she reacts drives the story forward.  The other important element of the book is the Iron fey—the faeries of progress, technology, and the modern world, and how they clash with the ancient, traditional fey like Oberon and Titania.  It was a lot of fun to write, albeit a bit frantic, since I finished it as part of NaNoWrimo, where you must write 50,000 words in 30 days.

You know, I’d imagine NaNo is almost as frantic as running with the bulls in Spain.  If you fall behind, you’ll get trampled, either by hooves or an accumulating word quota.  And NaNo lasts for a month, whereas bull running only lasts a few minutes, depending on how soon you fall down.  Okay, I’m reaching.  Check out The Iron King in February, if you like.  Meghan’s adventures are much more exciting. 

by Deanna Raybourn, author of the Lady Julia Grey series and the upcoming The Dead Travel Fast.

One of the great pleasures in having books brought out electronically is the chance to write enriched content. This is usually an assignment I get months—sometimes years!—after the book was first written, and I adore getting to revisit my favorite characters. When I write a book, I have maps and family trees and backstory anecdotes that may never find their way into the novel itself, but enriched content offers me a chance to share those juicy little morsels with readers. I love to include mentions of food in my books, and the enriched content often includes actual recipes so readers can create the same foods my characters are eating and munch along as they read.

Another favorite bit of enriched content are the letters I write between characters. There might be an occasional note in a book, but the letters I create for the ebooks are special. They are much more detailed, and often they give a much fuller picture of the relationship between characters. In the enhanced ebook edition of Silent in the Grave, there is a letter from the main character, Lady Julia Grey, to her sister, Portia, years before the main action of the novel opens. But it sets up that action, even foreshadowing a few events that did not unfold for my characters for several years and giving readers a little peek at what is yet to come.

As the first in the series, Silent in the Grave lent itself particularly well to enriched content. Due to the vagaries of publishing, I had actually written the extra material for the second and third books in the series before I tackled the first! But writing that additional material for those novels made me all the more eager to contribute to the ebook of the first. For me, every book I write has something I wanted to explore further but had to leave out for reasons of space or time. Enriched content is the perfect place to bring those treasures out to play!

Editor’s note: to thank Deanna for writing us a great post, we’re rewarding you, our readers! Let us know if you’ve ever bought an enriched ebook edition in the comments by midnight EST January 25th and we’ll send you a real book: an advanced reader copy of Deanna’s upcoming The Dead Travel Fast. That is, when we get a copy of it! Contest only open to residents of the US and Canada. Full contest details here.

Editor’s Note: We finish our series about eBook Blogger Bundles with Wendy, the Super Librarian whose bundle is Blogger Bundle Volume III: Super Librarian Selects the Harvey Girls (containing The Doctor’s Wife, The Lawman’s Bride and The Preacher’s Daughter.)

by Wendy Crutcher, the Super Librarian.

I rediscovered the romance genre over ten years ago when I took my first professional library job, and I quickly developed an insatiable appetite for historical romances. Joining various e-mail loops, doing some reviewing, and starting my own blog in 2003, led to the accumulation of a TBR pile that can be seen from space and a reputation for being a champion of historical western romances.

So it’s really no surprise that I’m hopelessly devoted to the Harlequin Historical line. While the western once ran amok in the romance genre, the number of titles has dwindled in recent years. Harlequin Historical is one of the few places where I can routinely get my western fix, and I’ve discovered many wonderful writers through them.

Cheryl St.John is easily my favorite of the bunch. She really has a knack for making her characters sing. These are people with pasts, and typically a fair amount of emotional baggage, but who don’t wallow or throw pity parties for themselves. She routinely writes determined, yet vulnerable heroines, and pairs them with strong heroes. The best part, is that being romance novels, the reader knows that no matter the odds, no matter the terrible things that may have happened in their pasts, the author is going to make everything alright in the end. Nobody really does this better than Cheryl St.John, whose stories exemplify the term “comfort read” for me.

When Harlequin asked me to propose an eBook bundle from their expansive backlist, I knew I had to include a bundle of nothing but Cheryl St.John Harlequin Historical titles. She’s written many wonderful books over the years, but I think a good place to start is with her loosely-connected Harvey Girls trilogy. They are textbook examples of why I enjoy her stories so much. I hope you enjoy them as well.

Editor’s note: we continue our series on Blogger eBook Bundles with Heather Reed, writer for WeWriteRomance.com, whose bundle is Blogger Bundle Volume II: WeWriteRomance.com Selects Presents.

by Heather Reed, blogger for WeWriteRomance.com

Let me start by saying again how honored I am to be asked by Harlequin to participate in their Blogger Bundles. WeWriteRomance.com is about all things romantic fiction, so when Harlequin asked us to put together our picks for an eBook bundle we were definitely over the moon. Then came what we thought would be the easy part—picking the books! But it was a lot harder than we’d thought—as Harlequin publishes so many exciting and wonderful stories! But in the end, we agreed on the strongest of the lines: Harlequin Presents.

Presents stories have it all. They have what women want most: excitement, an escape from reality, and most of all romance that ends with enduring promises. They are well-written and just the right size. They are, in a word, fabulous.

And what better way to showcase the line but to select a few of the authors who have, over time, shaped the line into what it is today. While there were quite a few, we finally narrowed it down to Kate Walker (who is celebrating her 25th anniversary this year!), Anne McAllister (who is also celebrating her 25th anniversary this year!), Margaret Mayo (who celebrated the publication of her 75th book last year) and Michelle Reid (who is on her way to her 25th anniversary at 22 years).

The first book we chose to showcase from this line was Kate Walker’s The Twelve-Month Mistress. Ms. Walker allows you a glimpse into the life of Spanish aristocrat, Joaquin, who has a stead-fast rule to only keep his mistresses for twelve months…but when an accident claims his memory, he forgets all about his latest mistress Cassie breaking up with him! Up next you’ll find Margaret Mayo’s Surrender to the Millionaire where a life changing decision could lead Kristie down the path to revealing a devastating truth to Radford, one that doesn’t only affect their lives. To be followed by Anne McAllister’s Lessons from a Latin Lover which allows us—and Molly McGillivray!—to learn the art of seduction from super-sexy Joaquin. And to round out our super Presents package is Michelle Reid’s The Brazilian’s Backmailed Bride that takes us through the art of seductive revenge…Anton only thinks he’s got Cristina where he wants her: blackmailed and in bed!

So we hope you’ll download your copy of these fabulous books all in the one neat little ebook bundle, WeWriteRomance.com Selects Presents.

And don’t miss out reading each of the author’s blog posts on WeWriteRomance.com’s blog this month (as well as posts by other Presents authors) as each one shares a little about their book in the bundle and more about where they are today.