Hello romance readers! And thank you for hosting me today, Delilah. 🙂 I am here to spotlight some fabulous trivia about my Lost Colony Series.

• Fun fact one: This is a historical romance series based on a group of very real Lost Colonists from Roanoke Island.
• Fun fact two: Most of the names, places, and dates in my novels are based on the real deal.
• Fun fact three: But don’t worry. These novels don’t read at all like a history book. The Lost Colony Series is brimming with action, suspense, and unexpected romance in all the right places with plenty of steam – promise!
• Fun fact four: I am seeking some awesome, creative suggestions FROM YOU for the title of book three in the Lost Colony Series.

NAME THAT BOOK CONTEST

Here are some quick and dirty facts to get your creative juices flowing.

1. BOOK ONE: BREAKING TIES

BLURB: An ancient conspiracy plagues a trans-Atlantic voyage from day one. ROSE PAYNE the ship clerk is simply trying to outrun a broken heart. Instead, she runs straight into danger – pirates, plundering, and unexpected love with the most unlikely man.

YouTube book trailer: https://youtu.be/nBB8_qcG-9I

2. BOOK TWO: TRAIL OF CROSSES

BLURB: Following a brutal ambush by hostile Natives, a sharp-tongued spinster JANE MANNERING plots the escape of her fellow English colonists by following a carved trail of crosses, never dreaming her actions will draw the attention of the most feared tribal leader in Virginia.

YouTube book trailer: https://youtu.be/XTkQBFMrk3c

3. BOOK THREE: It’s Your Turn! NAME THIS BOOK

BLURB: AGNES WOOD, a skilled apothecary, crosses the ocean to keep one big, dark, terrible secret. Alas, one dashing gentleman from her past discretely pursues her. Will he expose her past sins and destroy the life she has fought so hard to build in the New World, or will he risk his own future to protect hers?

NAME THIS BOOK in the comments section below for a chance to win a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card (winner’s choice)! Don’t forget to give me a way to reach you. (Email address, twitter handle, FB, etc. OR you may email your contest entry directly to me at Jo@JoGrafford.com .)

Happy historical romance reading and best wishes on winning!

–Jo

Jo@JoGrafford.com

Breaking Ties

Breaking Ties
Lost Colony Series
Book One
Jo Grafford

Genre: historical romance
Publisher: Astraea Press
Date of Publication: October 16, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-62135-219-8
ASIN: B00FYIYM7A
Number of pages: 404
Word Count: 121,390
Cover Artist: Mande Matthews

Intelligent and well ahead of her times, ROSE PAYNE’S world is shattered after a secret betrothal to the duke’s son costs her job as a clerk in his father’s household. Without a letter of recommendation, she becomes an easy target for recruiters to the Colonies. Desperate for work, she signs up for a risky overseas venture and sails for the New World, vowing never again fall for a wealthy gentleman.

Returning from a diplomatic tour in London, CHIEF MANTEO is bewitched by the elusive, fiery-haired ship clerk and determined to overcome her distrust. He contrives a daring plan to win her heart – a plan he prays will protect her from a chilling conspiracy involving murder, blood money, and a betrayal of their fledgling colony so terrifying it can only be revealed in BREAKING TIES.

Special Note: BREAKING TIES is the never-before-told rest of the story of the Lost Colony.

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/nBB8_qcG-9I

Available at Amazon  BN  Smashwords  Kobo  Astraea Press  iTunes

Excerpt:

“You want my help.” ‘Twas an accusation.

“Aye.”

His eyes darkened. “I save your life. I give gifts. I offer marriage.” He closed the remaining distance between us, his eyes burning into mine.

I stumbled back.

“You give nothing in return,” he snarled. “You only ask for more.”

“I would had I something to offer,” I whispered. “But I have nothing. I am nothing.”

“Then what use are you to me?” He wheeled away.

I sagged against the door, eyes stinging. I blinked rapidly and pressed a hand to my stomach. Nausea rolled at the thought of informing the others of my failure.

Manteo circled the cabin like a hawk stalking its prey. ‘Twas a fine room with ornately carved shelves lining one wall. Bunks were built into the next wall. A generous desk jutted from the third, overflowing with maps and navigational devices. I recognized the compass and hourglass but could not identify the other instruments. I jerked in surprise when Manteo swooped down upon me.

“I know our location.” His arms shot out and slapped the wall on either side of me, hemming me to the door. “I could swim ashore from here.”

“Then why do ye stay if ye can leave and save yourself?” Read the rest of this entry »

Laila’s Lies, the next taste of the Members Only Series, is now available for your reading pleasure!! Yea!!

Members Only, Book Seven (and no book six isn’t out yet – seriously epic fail that they’re publishing out of order but it couldn’t be helped unfortunately)

Laila Harris was a fake, a phony, a fraud.

Being sent to dig up proof The Library was actually a private BDSM club was her ticket to a promotion. Simple. Easy. But it wasn’t.

Not when she would have to betray the three men who captured her heart from the very first heated stare. Not when she would have to turn her back on the women who saw who she’d kept hidden from everyone. A submissive.

Choosing between her past and future will rock the foundation of everything she holds true. Until she understands the power she holds when she’s on her knees.

A Romantica® ménage erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

Would you like to win a copy of Laila’s Lies to keep and cuddle of your very own?

Yea!! I’d hoped you would!

All you have to do is go sign up for an amazingly awesome blog I’m on with 6 other authors!

The Decadent Divas!

Just click on the I understand and wish to continue button that says you’re an adult and your heart can stand epic levels of decadence! Then on the right under followers click on follow this site and just follow the instructions. Super easy. Then come back here and tell me what you think is Decadent in romance books!

Happy posting! And please include your email address in the post so I can contact you with the shiny new copy of Laila’s Lies!

Decadently Yours,

Jennifer Kacey

The books in the Members Only Series can be found here…
Together In Cyn
Haleigh’s Ink
A Very Ménage Christmas
Duke’s Valentine
Orgasm University
Accidental Voyeur
Roman’s To-Do List
Laila’s Lies

Stand Alone
Buried Permission
Beneath the Pages

Jennifer Kacey is a wife, mother, and business owner living with her family in Texas. She sings in the shower, plays piano in her dreams, and has to have a different color of nail polish every week. The best advice she’s ever been given? Find the real you and never settle for anything less.

Website – https://www.jenniferkacey.com/
Blog – The Decadent Divas – https://www.thedecadentdivas.blogspot.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.kacey.7
Facebook Author Page – https://www.facebook.com/jenniferkaceyauthor
Twitter – https://twitter.com/JenniferKacey
Amazon Page – https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Kacey/e/B00GXHUB30/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d9_al1?_encoding=UTF8&refinementId=618073011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0G8ZPDQJVKJPKXNBRY10&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6941549.Jennifer_Kacey
Pinterest – https://pinterest.com/jenniferkacey/

Today is my birthday. No, don’t start singing that song–I’m sure I’ll hear it often enough at work when the kids come to lunch. If I could, I’d simply forget my birthday all together, but singing to mz *lizzie makes the kids happy. And I can’t resist that.

Much like Birdie, the heroine in Birds Do It! can’t resist helping a desperate single father facing what he considers to be a dangerous hyacinth macaw and a birthday celebration for his nine year old daughter. First she calms the bird, then offers to decorate the birthday cake.

A Birthday excerpt for you.

Smoothing the surface with a deft flick of her wrist, she spoke. “I need to know how your daughter spells her name.”

“The French way.”

“And that is?” Birdie held up a hand. “Wait a sec.” She reached for a second decorating bag filled with bright blue icing. After testing the flow from the tip over a bowl, she paused with the tip close to the cake. “Okay, shoot.”

“R.” Garr swallowed heavily. This woman, a stranger, came into his house, magically quieted a maniacal bird, and created the most beautiful cake for his daughter. Her hand moved smoothly, putting a final, flowery flourish to the large letter.

“A.” She arched her shoulders forward as if easing tight muscles. Garr’s fingers twitched, and he longed to soothe, to comfort, to relax her tension. That longing curled into heated tension low in his belly.

“C.” Pausing, Birdie held the top of the decorating bag in one hand, wrapped the fingers of her other hand around it, and gently forced the icing toward the tip. Then, she wrapped her fingers more tightly around the bag and adjusted her grip slightly. Garr bit back a low groan.

“H.” How the letter got past the lump in his throat was a miracle. Unbidden, unwanted, the vision of her fingers wrapped around him… stroking… caressing… squeezing…

His body responded painfully.

“E.” A deep intake of breath filled him with her scent; spice and warm vanilla. As casually as he could, he moved to the other side of the island to hide his physical reaction. Perhaps the distance would help.

“Two L’s.” How long had it really been since he’d been attracted to a woman, drawn to someone so intimately? The tip of her pink tongue peeked between her lips as she concentrated, moving slowly along her full lower lip as if it traced the letters as well.

“E.” By God, if she didn’t stop caressing that damn bag…

“There, finished.” Birdie looked up at him. A triumphant smile made her face bright and beautiful. She sucked an icing covered finger into her mouth. “What do you think?”

I think I want to know you better. Much better.

Birds Do It!

A search for truth, switched babies, and a threat from the past all conspire to destroy the love Birdie found with Garr and his daughter, Rachelle.

Macaws as lovebirds?

An avian expert, Birdie Simons is called to help control a cantankerous hyacinth macaw during a young girl’s birthday party. Inexorably drawn to each other, she and single father Garr Logan share an afternoon of joy and bittersweet memories, for Garr’s wife died the same day as Birdie’s newborn child.

Something about Rachelle makes Birdie wonder if the golden-haired girl is her daughter, switched at birth. Then her child’s father returns, dogging her search for understanding and throwing her deeper into fear and confusion.

Ready to move on after his wife’s death, Garr wants the intriguing woman, but Birdie keeps the search, threats and hidden relationships to herself, driving a wedge between them.

Will discovering the truth from nine years ago bring them closer, or forever tear them apart?

Birds Do It! can be found at the following eretailers: Amazon,   Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords, All Romance eBooks

I even have a trailer. View the trailer here!

About *lizzie:

*lizzie always made up games and stories to keep her company. So, a cunning witch lived in Grampa’s weather research station and was only held at bay by waving a certain weed. An ancient road grader morphed into a boat carrying wild adventurers to islands filled with fierce lions and dangerous cannibals, which really looked a lot like sheep. Now, filled with fantasy, love, and romance with a sparkling twist, the stories of her imagination swirl their way into the mundane world. When *lizzie must return to a more routine life, she’s *the Lunch Lady* at a private school. Author and lunch lady~~what a combination!

www.lizziestarr.com
https://starrwords.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/lizziestarr
www.facebook.com/lizzie-starr
amazon author page
google+
Goodreads
Newsletter

Note: Thought I’d misplaced Jennha’s blog, but found it. The contest I posted earlier this AM, just below this blog, is still a go! Be sure to enter! ~DD

* * * * *

Fall hit hard this week. Which I both love and hate. Love because I get to pull out the hoodies! Hate because it means winter is coming—not my favorite time of year. 🙂

But there are other great things about fall (one of my favorite seasons). Perfect days of mild weather, clear skies, and fresh air. The colors of the trees as they turn from green to gold, orange and red.

Halloween. So much fun dressing up and taking my kiddo trick or treating. Sports! Football. Hockey.

And school. As much as I love spending the summer with my kiddo, it’s nice to have some free time when she goes back to school. And she loves it as well.

As summer fades to fall and the temperatures drop, schedules pick up, and we prepare for winter I like to pull out some books that heat things up!  What do you do when the temperatures turn chilly? What is your favorite season?

Leave a comment and your email and I’ll pick one winner to win an ebook of Finding Her Dream. The giveaway ends September 26^th. I’ll post the winner’s name in the comments.

Title: Finding Her Dream (Midwest Kisses #2)
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Western Romance
Published: March 27, 2014

Add to Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21400442-finding-her-dream

It wasn’t until she watched her best friend find the man of her dreams that RayAnne Hill realizes there’s a part of her missing. She knows the empty space can only be filled by finding her own true love, complete with kids and the white picket fence. Fear of letting someone in stops her cold, and it’s much bigger than just finding Mr. Right.

James Shaw moved away from Kentucky and the family business to chase his own goals, settling in the small town of Kimmswick, Missouri. His business is succeeding, now he’s ready to complete his life with a wife and kids. One night, one look and he’s found her. RayAnne is everything he’s been searching for.

As hard as James has fallen for RayAnne, can he be enough to help her overcome her worst nightmare? Or will he decide he can’t wait forever, and walk away to find happiness?

Buy Links:
All Romance:
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-findingherdream-1461203-147.html
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JCAZTX2
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/finding-her-dream-jennah-scott/1119020767?ean=2940149369669
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/finding-her-dream-midwest-kisses-2

Author Bio:

Born and raised in Texas, Jennah is a transplant to Missouri long enough ago she should probably consider that her hometown. But she will forever be a Texan. She loves to write any story that will make a reader smile, laugh, and maybe even cry (although you won’t ever hear her admit that she cries). Whether the next story she writes is contemporary, urban fantasy, LGBT, or whatever other crazy idea she comes up with, there will always be love and romance in the midst of trials and turmoil.

Contact:
Email: Jennah.scott01@gmail.com
Website: https://www.jennahscott.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Jennah_scott
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjennahscott
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jennahscott
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jennahscott

Teaser:

“I’m sorry, Ray.”

What? She whipped around to face him. “Why?” she squeaked.

“For that night. For being late. For letting you down. All of it. I hated not getting to spend some time with you.” James clasped his hands in front of him. Her gaze lingered a little below his belt. He cleared his throat and she jerked her head up. At seeing his smirk Ray’s cheeks warmed. She’d been caught.

“I should be apologizing to you, James. It was wrong of me to ignore you. I was being selfish, too worried about myself and how much I wanted to have dinner with you. Everything ended up okay, right? I mean I know it’s been a while, but…” she trailed off. Rambling would get her nowhere.

James grinned. The cooling fire inside ignited once again. “Yeah, sugar. Everything’s good. Shadow was perfect and her foal, Levee, is a beauty.”

“Levee? That’s an odd name for a horse isn’t it?”

“Maybe. I don’t care. She’s named after the Levee Apple Pie at the Owl.”

“Why would you name your horse after an apple pie?” Ray didn’t know much about horses, but she figured an odd name like that had to have a story.

“It’s not the apple pie. Once upon a time I met this girl and I screwed up. So this was my way of reminding myself what can happen if I don’t pay attention.”

Need a smile? Wish I could have been a fly on the wall. They look like they had the best time! ~DD

Jimmy Fallon, Meghan Trainor & The Roots Sing “All About That Bass”
(w/ Classroom Instruments)

There’s been a lot of talk in recent years about the importance of “strong female characters.” As a woman, and a mother, and a writer, I wholeheartedly agree. I want my daughter to grow up surrounded by stories of people she can identify with who go out and accomplish great things.

And as a reader, there’s nothing I find more annoying than a female character who does nothing but sit around fretting, waiting to be rescued!

But when I dig a little deeper into this idea of “strong female characters” I’m left with more questions than answers. What makes a female character strong? Is there a difference between feminine strength and masculine strength? Should there be a difference?

In my own reading, I’ve come across a few strong female character types that didn’t ring true for me:

• Rambo-in-a-Skirt – The character who acts and talks like a guy, but who happens to wear (very little) female clothing and answer to a feminine name. Pretty much every female superhero ever.
• Hillary – A variation on Rambo-in-a-Skirt. She’s wealthy and powerful and she’ll crush her enemies under 4-inch heels.
• Velma – The know-it-all who can never be wrong. About anything. Ever.

All of these types bother me because they’re caricatures that don’t really capture the complexity of a strong, intelligent, successful woman. The fact is, we’re far more interesting than that.

It’s not difficult to see where the caricatures came from:

Somewhere along the line, humans came up with the crazy idea that men are supposed to be strong and women are somehow the “weaker sex.” And this assumption is rooted in the idea that women are inherently weak and stupid. So when women finally stood up and laughed at this nonsense, the answer was obvious: if you want to be considered strong, you have to act like a man. Be tough like a man. Be aggressive like a man. Be smart like a man.

I guess it’s better than nothing, but….we’re not men. And this assumption is rooted in the idea that women are inherently weak and stupid. If we want to be considered strong and intelligent, we have to act like something we’re not. We have to fake it.

Really?

I like to believe that most of us have moved beyond this simplistic interpretation in real life, but it seems to persist in literature and movies. And when it comes down to it, our stories reflect our deepest truths.

I got tired of reading about female characters who didn’t ring true, so I did what any self-respecting writer would do: I made one up. Brianna, the title character in my first Faelands novel, Daughter of Oreveille, doesn’t have all the answers. She isn’t enough of a warrior to wade through a dozen monsters with nary a scratch. And yet, I’d hold her up as a truly strong female character. She knows what she believes in, and what she’s willing to fight for. She does what she has to do to create a life of her own choosing.

To me, those are the hallmarks of a truly strong character – male or female.

What do you think? What are some of your favorite – or most cringe-worthy! – characters? 

Tricia Ballad is the author of Daughter of Oreveille and Lady of Gaia, as well as the upcoming Defender of Oreveille. She never really grew out of playing pretend or sitting cross-legged on the rug for story time. And she drinks absurd amounts of coffee.

Her books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and on her website at www.TriciaBallad.com.

As romance readers we talk about our “book boyfriends”. These tend to be Alpha Heroes: ruthless, implacable, protective, possessive men who attract with their charisma and buffed-out good looks, who keep us yearning with their potency and skill. I readily admit that my favorite book boyfriend would quite possibly be the very worst actual boyfriend ever. He is Lord Odo Wraxall, the heroic villain of Lord Wraxall’s Fancy, an erotic romance (heavy on the erotic, light on the romance) first issued by the old Black Lace imprint circa 1996. With Odo, the sexy fun and adventure never stop.

We romance readers swoon for our Alpha Hero book boyfriends. Yet, these men are compelling for the very same reasons they can be repelling. Ruthless possessiveness can border on stalkerism. Too much charisma can be creepy or, if spread too thin, impersonal. This is probably why, as a famous romance author once said (please, please someone tell me in the Comments who said this!), while we desire the Alpha, in reality we marry the Beta.

Well, at least, that’s what I did. Eighteen years ago. Today is the anniversary of my wedding to my very own Beta Hero.

My husband is perceptive, understanding, feminist, aesthetically astute, and quite clever, using brains before brawn to tackle a problem. I love all of that about him. It’s what made me fall in love with him and what keeps me in love with him.

And I want all of my heroines to fall in love with someone just like him! A considerate, caring listener with a spark of creativity and intellect and just a bit befuddled that a cute gal likes him—a lot. So I write the Beta Hero.

Of course I also write the Alpha Hero. In fact, my beefy, dominating Roman knight in Delilah Devlin’s upcoming anthology Hot Highlanders and Wild Warriors is pure Alpha! But usually I give my Alphas some Beta tendencies, even if just a touch. In my latest historical erotic romance, Disobedience by Design, I have three heroes: Joseph, a brawny former stevedore, is the most Alpha of the three; Arthur, a gallant earl, has just a touch of Alpha; and Geoffrey, the lanky solicitor, is pure Beta. I love them all! I hope readers will too and will want to claim them as book boyfriends.

Who is your book boyfriend? Is he an Alpha?
A Beta? A bit of both?

*********
Regina Kammer is a best-selling, multi-published writer of erotica and historical erotic romance. She has been published by Cleis Press, Go Deeper Press, Ellora’s Cave, House of Erotica, and her own imprint, Viridium Press. She began writing historical fiction with romantic elements during National Novel Writing Month 2006, switching to erotica when all her characters suddenly demanded to have sex.

Her latest release, Disobedience By Design, a Victorian-set erotic romance published by Ellora’s Cave, is Book 2 of her Harwell Heirs series.

In 1860, the railways of Victorian England transport American stevedore Joseph Phillips to the lush countryside of Lincolnshire…and into the arms of Lady Sophia Harwell. But Sophia is betrothed to a violent villain who wants only two things: her virginity and her dowry. Can Joseph save his beloved without scandalizing upper-class British society?

Excerpt:
Joseph looked up, his concentration on the aim of the cue broken by a melodic, breathy sound at the door. A spark of surprise shot through him at the sight of an angelic vision in white, a spectacularly beautiful young woman who slowly entered the room as he pulled himself up from his bent position over the billiard table. Her auburn hair framed a perfect face, radiating a glow of youthful innocence only slightly marred—or perhaps enhanced—by an obvious inquisitiveness bordering on deviousness reflected in her mossy eyes.

She seemed stunned into silence by his presence so he broke the spell.

“Hullo.” He took a puff of his cigar to calm his body’s growing interest in the girl.

“Are you Arthur’s American?”

God , her accent was utterly charming.

He chuckled. “I suppose I am. You look like you were just at that shindig.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Party,” he explained, giving her the once-over. “I guess it was a formal affair.”

The bodice of her ball gown fit perfectly on her shapely form, a row of pale-pink silk roses demarcating the low-cut neckline from the ivory flesh of her steadily heaving bosom. A damn distracting sight. He ripped his gaze away unwillingly.

She walked farther into the room. “Yes I was at that ‘shindig’,” she said, pronouncing the word with an exaggerated and clumsy American accent.

She drew her finger along the polished edge of the billiard table, awakening his brain to fantasies of her finger stroking a part of him in need of attention at that very moment.

“I found it rather boring,” she added.

“Boring?” A room full of women as beautiful as she couldn’t possibly be boring. “How so?”

“For one, there were not very many attractive men.” She bit her lip, her apparent abashment profoundly provocative.

Aha! So he had a chance. Sort of. She was clearly far above his laboring-class background. Still, a man should always try his luck where women were concerned. “How might the presence of attractive men have made the party more interesting?”

She cocked her head. “I would have had far more distractions.” She drew out the last word as if implying something indecent.

His unruly prick stirred. “And how would you like a man to distract you?”

Purchase links:
Ellora’s Cave (best price!)
Amazon USA
Amazon UK
Amazon Canada
Kobo
Barnes & Noble Nook
Google Play
BookStrand
, All Romance eBooks

Keep up with Regina on her website
Follow her on Twitter @Kammerotica
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See what’s new on her Amazon Author Page