Fresh Pick | THE CHIEFTAIN by Margaret Mallory Return of the Highlanders #4 March 2013 On Sale: February 26, 2013 Featuring: Ilysa; Connor 448 pages ISBN: 0446583111 EAN: 9780446583114 Kindle: B009GAITTE Paperback / e-Book $7.99 Romance HistoricalBuy at Amazon.com A favorite of reviewers continues her Scots adventures The Chieftain by Margaret Mallory Connor, chieftain of the MacDonalds of Sleat, holds the fate of his people in his hands. Rival clans are plotting to take over his lands, and duty determines whom he will fight, trust . . . even marry. Seeking guidance, Connor turns to Ilysa, a young lass with the gift of foresight, who reveals an approaching danger-and a passion that burns only for him. But the warrior must make a powerful marriage alliance, and Ilysa\’s bloodline is far too humble. With her powers to heal and see evil where others cannot, beautiful Ilysa dresses plainly, speaks softly, and loves her chieftain from afar. Yet when Connor finally stokes the embers of desire that have so long burned within her, Ilysa feels bliss unlike any she\’s ever known. Now as he is forced to place duty before happiness, Ilysa senses Connor is in grave peril. Can she find a…

I used to be afraid of playing truth and dare. Partly because I was so horribly clueless that I wouldn’t have a good truth and partly because I was terrified of what kind of dare I’d find myself facing. Now, with the friends I have and the changes my life has taken, I find myself equally leery of the game. However, when I am dared to do something in my writing, I will often find a way to work it in. Once, after discovering “Love Game” by Lady Gaga, I was dared to use the term disco stick in a book. It has since made it into two of my books. Guess that’s a great thing about recurring characters in a series. 🙂 Most recently, and less naughty but no less fun, I was dared to put a line in from a movie. Did you see Letters to Juliet? You know the scene where he falls and she asks if he can move and he says “Only my lips.”? That cracks me up every time I see it, so when the dare came in for me to use that line I couldn’t resist. I don’t think it came off quite…

Take a walk on the secret side of Las Vegas and witness a battle between good and evil, Light and Shadow, in Vicki Pettersson’s dark urban fantasy series, The Signs of the Zodiac. Each e-Book in the Signs of the Zodiac series only 99¢ Before you plan your next trip to Vegas, you might want to answer… Are you Light? Or are you Shadow? Because there’s another world behind the bright lights and nonstop action of Sin city … one where Light and Shadow wage an immortal war for supremacy. But the eternal battle has reached the tipping point, and only one person can change the future – casino heiress, photographer, and vigilante: Joanna Archer. And no one knows the darkness within better than she does. The $0.99 deal is only one more week, through 3/13 — that’s the entire Signs of the Zodiac series for less than the price of one book. Don’t miss Vicki’s new series: Celestial Blues The Scent of Shadows Signs of the Zodiac #1 BN.com Kindle The Taste of Night Signs of the Zodiac #2 BN.com Kindle The Touch of Twilight Signs of the Zodiac #3 BN.com Kindle City Of Souls Signs of the Zodiac…

March 2013 On Sale: February 26, 2013 Featuring: Daphne Dale 384 pages ISBN: 0062089080 EAN: 9780062089083 Kindle: B008CGYTXI Mass Market Paperback / e-Book $7.99 Add to Wish List Romance HistoricalBuy at Amazon.com A fun historical romance And The Miss Ran Away With The Rake by Elizabeth Boyle Miss Daphne Dale is a practical young lady with no illusions of romance––until she answers an advertisement by a “sensible gentleman looking for a sensible lady.” Convinced she fits the bill, she begins a romantic exchange with “Mr. Dishforth.” Meanwhile, as she helps her best friend, Tabitha Timmons prepare for her wedding to the Duke of Preston, she is constantly thrown into the company of Lord Henry Seldon, the duke’s uncle. The two of them clash constantly, all the while discovering a passionate connection that makes no sense. Lord Henry Seldon is not amused when Preston put a joke of an advertisement in the paper calling for a sensible wife for Henry. And when letters start pouring in, he is furious. That is, until one note catches his eye–a chiding scold from a “Miss Spooner.” But when Henry discovers that his correspondence is with none other than Miss Daphne Dale, he doesn’t know…

Book Five in the Maiden Lane series: LORD OF DARKNESS by Elizabeth Hoyt WHEN STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT He lives in the shadows. As the mysterious masked avenger known as the Ghost of St. Giles, Godric St. John’s only goal is to protect the innocent of London. Until the night he confronts a fearless young lady pointing a pistol at his head-and realizes she is his wife . . . BECOME LOVERS . . . Lady Margaret Reading has vowed to kill the Ghost of St. Giles-the man who murdered her one true love. Returning to London, and to the man she hasn’t seen since their wedding day, Margaret does not recognize the man behind the mask. Fierce, commanding, and dangerous, the notorious Ghost of St. Giles is everything she feared he would be-and so much more . . . DESIRE IS THE ULTIMATE DANGER When passion flares, these two intimate strangers can’t keep from revealing more of themselves than they had ever planned. But when Margaret learns the truth-that the Ghost is her husband-the game is up and the players must surrender . . . to the temptation that could destroy them both Excerpt of LORD OF DARKNESS “I…

When you have to meet someone at an airport or have a doctor’s appointment, do you take a book with you?  I do.  It’s a habit, one so ingrained that my husband teases me about never being without a book. Sometimes when I leave town, I pack several, maybe in different genres, because I don’t know what I’m going to be in the mood to read on a given evening.  I want a choice, and now that we have e-readers, I can take a small library along in very little space. Reading can offer a great escape from a day that was stressful or tedious or just didn’t go very well.  I have favorite books I read over and over, and I like having the option to relax with one that’s like an old friend. I don’t have to figure out who the people are or, if the book is a romance, how the hero and heroine will win their happy ending.  I can just enjoy the trip, as I do when driving through places I’ve lived before. Of course, I can also explore new territory with books I’ve never read before.  That’s always more of an adventure, something to…

I write books set in the past. Life for them is definitely more inconvenient and dangerous. If they get sick, they may well die from a simple infection because there are no antibiotics. If they want to contact somebody they write a letter, then wait a few days for a reply. For entertainment they read or are read to. There is none of the instant gratification that we expect today. But at the theater the other night I began to wonder whether progress is always good. I was in the front row of the balcony. Down below me a sea of little lights twinkled. Special effects? Not at all. It was the whole of the ground floor of the theater on their mobile phones. I find this trend hard to understand. Here these people were in a beautiful old theater with carved pillars, painted murals, a gorgeous ceiling and they are waiting for the moment when the curtain goes up….and all they want to do is check their messages. How many of them would actually have gotten messages saying anything important? Buffett agrees to your offer to buy Walmart? President Obama wants you in Pakistan first thing tomorrow? Or even…

The catch phrase for Las Vegas is so well known you can find it in most television series or films about the fabled Sin City with its casinos and homage to the vices of mankind. Las Vegas is an adult party town where you can gamble, go to shows, see sparkling showgirls and never see the sun—despite the desert location. In every way, it was perfect location for a paranormal romance.  When I wrote SOULGIRLS I knew the Vegas destination was ideal for the Arcana Royale. My First Trip to Las Vegas This may make you laugh, but the very first time I “went” to Las Vegas, I went via Charlie’s Angels’ episode Angels in Vegas. It had my three favorite Angels: Sabrina, Kelly, and Kris working together, fabulous outfits and danger. Yes, it was 1978 and I fell in love with the city. After that came the series Vegas with Robert Urich. He was so hawt, dangerous, and great to know. Every show that took a trip to Vegas had me glued to the screen. When I was nineteen, I got to go to Las Vegas for the first time and it was everything I thought it would be….

Inspiration–and love–can strike in the most unusual places.  The authors of the newly released AN ENCOUNTER AT THE MUSEUM–Claudia Dain, Deb Marlowe, Michelle Marcos, and Ava Stone–share what inspired them to write unforgettable tales of romance blossoming amid the treasures of the British Museum. Deb Marlowe How easy is it to be inspired by the British Museum? There is a story in every book, piece of art, and artifact. Actually there is a story for every person who gazes upon every book, art and artifact, isn’t there, because we all have such personal reactions to such pieces. In writing “An Unexpected Encounter,” I chose the Grand Staircase as the location for my Encounter. I’d done some research and found some lovely period pictures of the museum, but I was struck not only by the grandeur of the wide main Staircase, with its painted ceiling and changing exhibits along the walls and on the landing (hello, have you seen the pictures of the stuffed giraffes?!) but by the thought of the anticipation and pleasure that so many people must have felt in climbing those stairs. And then my writer brain went “What If?” What if the anticipation faded and the pleasure…