Friday, January 23, 2015

Make a Resolution to Make More "Me Time" This January with Harlequin's New Romance Titles







A fiery romance novel deserves a flaming cocktail to accompany it and USA Today bestselling author Abby Green’s new tale, FONSECA’S FURY, is no exception. The book has the perfect ingredients for a steamy love story—a Brazilian stud who happens to be a billionaire, a sweet and charitable heroine and a passionate anger that ignites them both. This cocktail is FONSECA’S FURY in liquid form.


The Flaming Fonseca

1 oz. Dark Rum
2 oz. Pineapple Juice
2 oz. Apple Juice
½ oz. Bacardi 151
Gold Cocktail Rim Sugar
Lime



Run a lime along the rim of a highball glass and dip into gold cocktail rim sugar to coat. Pour dark rum, pineapple juice and apple juice into the glass and float Bacardi 151 on top and carefully light the top layer using a long match.









Q&A with Kathleen Eagle
author of
NEVER TRUST A COWBOY


1.     What about cowboys inspired you to write this romance?

Like most of the girls I knew growing up, I fell in love with Hollywood cowboys.  I loved the way they dressed, the way they lived, really loved their horses, and I loved their stories.  Fast forward a dozen or more years to the summer I spent in a volunteer program in South Dakota when I met a real working cowboy.  He dressed the part, rode the horse, talked the talk and walked the walk.  After I finished college I returned to South Dakota and married that cowboy.  He inspired me to write Romance.

2.     You’ve published more than 40 books. How do you continue to come up with such original plotlines and characters?

We live in Minnesota now, but with family, horses, and land in North and South Dakota, we make lots of trips there.  I’m all about writing what you know, especially the setting.  Real people inspire characters for me, too.  Those Hollywood characters I loved when I was a kid were created by somebody else.  I have to come up with my own characters, draw from my own experience.  As for a situation or setups for plot building, a news story might spark my imagination—the all-important what if?  Sometimes my husband will show me something that caught his eye.  He’s the one who spotted a story about 21st century cattle rustling.  The first seed he planted in my brain for NEVER TRUST A COWBOY was a picture of a tricked-out horse trailer used by thieves.

3.     What are the three ingredients for the perfect hero in a romance novel? 

A hero has to be skilled, confident and committed to something—a goal, an ideal, a person or people—and he has to be honorable.  But he’s never perfect.  You see him on the flip side of those qualities as well.  He’s made at least one serious mistake.  He’s human, which makes him flawed.  He’s a warrior, protective of women, children, animals—you want to see him in that role—but he’s also vulnerable.  His gentle side melts your heart.

4.     If you could make any literary hunk in history come to life, who would it be and why? 

Since the Starz channel truly brought Jamie Frasier to life in the movie version of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, I’ll wish for Christian Langland from Laura Kinsale’s Flowers From the Storm to come walking up my driveway.  His journey from arrogant rake to admirable, caring hero makes him a man to sigh for.

5.     How did you come up with the personalities in the book? Are they inspired by real people?

I started with a basic story setup.  I wanted the heroine to live on a ranch and the hero to be involved somehow with cattle rustling.  But how?  Can he be a thief?  Del Fox had to be a man who’d worked through some tough times, learned some hard lessons, and reached a point where he can be putting his experience to use.  He just can’t tell anyone who he really is.  His match would be a woman who’s living in a shell of her own making.  Circumstances have shaken her confidence, but she’s trying to rebuild herself and her life. They both have to be hard on the outside and hungry on the inside. Trust is the heart of the matter with these two loners.

6.     What’s on your reading list right now?

I’m enjoying a beautifully written non-fiction book—Buffalo For the Broken Heart: Restoring Life To a Black Hills Ranch. By Dan O’Brien.  Next up is Windigo Island, a mystery by William Kent Kruger.  

7.     Do you have any writing rituals or quirks?

I write on a laptop, but when I get stuck, it’s back to pencil and paper.  Pencil because I have to be able to erase.

8.     What is the first book you remember reading by yourself as a child? 

The Real Mother Goose.  I knew most of the rhymes, and I remember following the printed words with my finger and saying them aloud.  I said I was reading, and pretty soon I really was.

9.     What are three things about you that might surprise your readers?

I can do the Texas Two-Step, but I’ve got a Rock ‘n Roll heart.  I’ve finally, finally, finally stopped biting my fingernails.  And while they might have a tastte for me, vampires or zombies aren’t my cup of tea.

10.                         What are you working on for your next book?

A woman buys a South Dakota town in an internet auction.  A whole town.  It’s nearly dead, and its few residents have put it up for sale.  It’s going to be a four-book series.






Q&A with Andrea Laurence
author of
SNOWED IN WITH HER EX


1.     Do you think it’s possible to have a rekindled romance with an ex be successful the second time around?

I absolutely do believe in second chance romances. It’s actually one of my favorite stories to write because there’s all that history together and suppressed emotions under the surface. I think they key in its success is that both characters have grown since the last time and don’t make the same mistakes over again. I know I’ve made plenty of dumb choices in previous relationships that I regret, or would never make a second time.

2.     What drew you to set this romance in a remote mountain cabin in a blizzard?

It was actually inspired by my editor. She really loves those natural disaster books where the couple is stranded together, so I promised her that I would do a blizzard book. I even named the storm after her. Since the series was set in Nashville and I’ve spent a lot of time at a Gatlinburg cabin in the winter, it was easy for me to set it there.

3.     What are the three ingredients for the perfect hero in a romance novel?

For me, the perfect hero always has to have a vulnerability, especially where the heroine is concerned, a sense of humor and a great smile. It doesn’t matter whether he’s a cop or a billionaire, if he can laugh at himself and show a tender side, I’m hooked.

4.     If you could make any literary hunk in history come to life, who would it be and why?

Wow. I have read so many different types of heroes over the years. If I had to choose one that really stuck with me... Jamie Fraser. The Starz series has certainly brought that character to life. Why Jamie? Because he has that vulnerability, yet he’s tough as nails when he has to be. He’d do anything for the woman he loved, including calling her on her crap. He was a bit of a smart-ass. And, well, he was tall. As a tall woman, it takes a really tall man to make me feel dainty and feminine and I think Jamie would do it, easily.

5.     How did you come up with the personalities in the book? Are they inspired by real people?

For the four main females in the series, I started off by giving them their roles at the chapel — the photographer, the caterer, the decorator and the wedding planner — and then let them sort of develop into unique people with their own quirks. Part of that comes as their stories evolve and you develop their conflicts and backstory. My characters are always part fiction, part mix of different people I know. They’re never 100% anyone in particular. Bree, for example, ended up being anti-technology, a trait I modeled after my editor, but it fit her character to want to lose herself in her art without cellphones, etc., interfering. Ian’s musical career ending was inspired by a speech I heard by JT Ellison. Her college advisor had told her she didn’t have what it took to be a writer, so she quit for years before returning to it. The coffee shop musician in Ian was made up a little of a guy I knew in college named Ben. With that acoustic guitar, all the girls swooned after him.

6.     What’s on your reading list right now?

I recently devoured Gone Girl. I was intrigued by all the hype surrounding the movie. I certainly got more than I’d expected out of that story, including a three-day mental funk when it was over. I’m anticipating a big box of RITA books to judge soon, but if I get a chance before they arrive, I’m excited to read Nerds are From Mars by Vicki Lewis Thompson. I love nerdy heroes.

7.     Do you have any writing rituals or quirks?

Not any interesting ones that I can think of. I’ve been given magic mojo beads and salt lamps to stir creativity and my office is filled with fun, creative things, but more often than not, I end up writing in bed with my dogs. No magic there, sorry. I try to work consistently to keep myself in a story. I always read over the last scene I wrote to refresh my brain, then pick up where I left off.


8.     What is the first book you remember reading by yourself as a child?

When I was little, my mom bought me all those Disney books and Golden books that came with the little record in the back. I would play the records on my little record player and follow along in the books until I actually learned to read. Earliest would probably have to be The Pokey Little Puppy. Maybe that’s where I developed my love for dogs!

9.     What are three things about you that might surprise your readers?

This one is hard. Three things that would surprise my readers... I’m painfully shy. It actually comes off as quite stuck-up or snobby in person. I’m much better interacting with readers online. I’m just extremely introverted. So be kind if you ever meet me and I look either bored or mildly terrified! Number two — even though I live in the south, I grew up in Las Vegas and had my senior prom at Liberace’s Mansion. Three, I’m excessively educated and use almost none of it for writing. I have an associate’s degree in computer programing and web design, a bachelor’s of science in political science, a master’s in human resources management, an engineering certificate in systems engineering, and I’m both a qualified Myers-Briggs Personality Type instructor and a CMMI assessor. (Note: it might sound interesting, but it’s all incredibly boring.)

10.                         What are you working on for your next book?

I just finished book three in the Brides and Belles series — Gretchen’s story. It doesn’t have a title yet, but it will be out in November. With that turned in, I’m starting to plot the final book, Natalie’s story, which will be out in December of this year.

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