Thank you all for a great time yesterday!  Here are the winners, as chosen by Random.org:

Copies of A Lady of Persuasion:

82 – Barbara Elness

12 – Trish D

60 – Cheryl

Goddess of the Hunt:

43 – Donna Stratton

Surrender of a Siren:

2 – Jane

Heart of Christmas:

83 – Scott Romanski

33 – Tammy D

Congratulations to all!  Remember, the prizes are all for you and a friend.  If you’re a winner, please use the contact form to send me your mailing address, plus the name and address of the friend you’d like me to send a copy to (don’t worry, I promise not to use that address for anything else).  It will probably be next week before I get them in the mail, due to my deadline crunch.

Speaking of writing and deadlines, today is the last day of the Unleash Your Story campaign to benefit cystic fibrosis research. I have been a total slacker about reporting my progress and soliciting donations, but I have made my 30K word goal and then some.  Hooray!  The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a great organization, and the money goes toward research and education as they work toward finding a cure for this genetic disease.  If you can find even $5 or $10 to spare, please click here to donate.  I’ll be making my own contribution today, too.  Thank you!… Read More »

Assuming you don’t have other plans. 🙂

If you haven’t already read Goddess of the Hunt and Surrender of a Siren, this would be a good time to catch up. Because the third book of the trilogy, A Lady of Persuasion, hits shelves next Tuesday, September 29th! And you don’t want to be that one person who isn’t caught up and can’t dish immediately about all the yumminess that it is Sir Toby Aldridge, do you?

Trust me on this. You do not.

(Is it weird to say I adore Toby? Absolutely had the time of my life writing him. Thus far, he is the only one of my heroes to inspire a t-shirt. That alone has to say something, right?)

However, chances are if you’re reading this blog, you’ve already read Goddess and Siren, and therefore need something else to tide you over. A novella might be just the thing! And I know it’s not even October, but it’s never too early to be getting into the Christmas spirit, is it? (Just go with me here.)

My absolutely brilliant friend and critique partner, Courtney Milan, has her print debut novella coming out in an anthology. The Heart of Christmas has an official release date of October 1st, but copies have been found in stores all over and are already flying off the shelves. Courtney’s novella, “This Wicked Gift” is touching, funny, sexy, and smart. You don’t want to miss it. So buy your copy now, … Read More »

In more ways than one!

It’s just two weeks until the release of book three in my trilogy, A Lady of Persuasion. I’m so, so excited for readers to gets their hands on Toby and Bel’s romance. In some ways, it’s more than just their story–it’s a happy ending for their entire circle of friends, both old and new. On release day, September 29th, I’ll be inviting all of my friends (yes, this means you!) to join me right here for a big release-day party, with lots of fun and prizes.

The other countdown is the dwindling number of days until my deadline for turning in book two of the 2010 trilogy. The days are few, and my unfinished scenes are many. As a result, I’m getting very behind on the blogging and email, and I apologize…

I had a wonderful (and busy) weekend with my RWA chapter events. My own presentation seemed to go well–at least, I didn’t run over time! And Linda Howard was an inspiration and a joy.

Hey, it’s never too late for a few more glowing reviews of Goddess of the Hunt:
The Romance Reader gives it 5 hearts!
and
Night Owl Romance names it a Reviewer Top Pick!

Hope you’re all having a splendid week!… Read More »

Virtually, I’m guestblogging over at Romance B(u)y The Book — the topic is Gray, the scoundrely delicious hero of SURRENDER OF A SIREN, and bad-boy heroes in general.

In person, I’ll be joining the book club at Sunshine Books in Cypress, CA (4931 Lincoln Ave.) at 1ish, to talk about and sign both GODDESS and SIREN. Should be a great time!

Hope you have a great weekend!… Read More »

Thank you so much to everyone who left congratulatory wishes yesterday for the release of Surrender of a Siren!

If you haven’t yet bought it and want to know more about it than the excerpt and blurb here will tell you, here are some ways to learn more, starting with a very cool widget from Random House that will let you browse the first scene and the first page of each chapter.

new InsightBookReader('preview', '9780345506870', 'Surrender%20of%20a%20Siren', 'Tessa%20Dare', '0', '', 'https://www.randomhouse.com/cgi-bin/buy_landing.php?isbn=9780345506870');

Some blogger reviews have started appearing online, at:

Could it be…Seton?
The Book Smugglers
Babbling About Books
Mala’s Bad Necklace

And finally, I’m guestblogging today at Yankee Romance Reviewers about SOAS’s flawless beauty heroine with the slightly flawed personality. Come comment anytime in the next few days, and you could win a signed copy! … Read More »

In just a few days, Surrender of a Siren, book two in my trilogy, will be hitting the shelves everywhere!

I know I’ve blogged about this book’s sentimental title–amongst friends, it’s known as “Goats on a Boat”. Why, you may ask? Well, because much of the story takes place on a boat. And because there are goats on that boat–in addition to a runaway heiress, a band of sketchy sailors, and one devilish-hot former privateer. 8)

Why goats? That has to do with shipboard provisions. An early 19th-century ocean crossing was no luxury cruise. The diet consisted of hardtack (also known as ship’s biscuit), salted meat (that often went rancid as the voyage progressed), and perhaps a few root vegetables–potatoes, onions, carrots–for the first few weeks out from land. Goats were a portable source of fresh milk, which was a welcome addition to the menu.

Here’s a link to a template and directions for making your own paper goat, should you wish to do so! (Thanks to the ever-crafty, beadazzling Sara Lindsey!)

Don’t worry–the goats don’t take over the boat, or the romance. But if you’ve been wondering what the “Goats on a Boat” references are about…now you’re in on the joke. 🙂

Here’s a little excerpt, starring said goats, the book’s hero, Gray, and one of my very favorite secondary characters, Davy Linnet.

A pale-faced youth trotted across the deck, a thick coil of rope threaded over his arm.

“What’s your name, again?”

“Davy Linnet, sir.”

“How

Sorry…tried to post this this morning, and just now realized it didn’t go through! Better late than never, right?

It’s been a fun and fabulous release week – thank you all SO much. Today, I’m wrapping up a week of blogs and interviews over at Romance B(u)y The Book, where I’m blogging about Jeremy Trescott, the hero of Goddess of the Hunt, and posting an exclusive excerpt! And as always, there’s a signed copy up for grabs… 🙂… Read More »

Today’s stops on the Tessa Dare magical whirlwind online tour:

Goddess of the Hunt is today’s “Fresh Pick” at Fresh Fiction!

Among other very nice things, their review says:

Debut author Tessa Dare bursts upon the scene with a high-energy and high-drama romance. She tells the story with provocative words and feverish action. Her cast of secondary characters is unforgettable and set the stage for the next book in this back-to-back series.

Thank you so much, Fresh Fiction!

And I’ve been interviewed at The Good, The Bad, and The Unread, where…you guessed it…another signed copy is up for grabs. Hie thee over and comment! The TGTBTU ladies asked me all sorts of questions, but I’m also on hand to answer any new ones! Come on, I know you’re dying to know whether I prefer smooth or chunky peanut butter, or what my least-favorite word is, in love scenes. 🙂… Read More »

Oh, man. Today I woke up with a post-release-day hangover! Yesterday was a blur. I did manage to drag the darelings to a few local stores to sign stock. The wonderful Mr. Dare brought me roses and champagne to celebrate, and we took the family out for enchiladas. All in all, it was terrific! Thank you so much to everyone who helped make it such a fun and exciting release day, on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and the like.

Today I’m guestblogging at Yankee Romance Reviewers about the heroine of GODDESS OF THE HUNT, Lucy Waltham. She’s a fierce, flawed, and hopefully funny heroine — drop by to find out a bit more about her and chat. And of course, there’s a signed copy up for grabs!… Read More »

“Well, is it working?”

Since I first launched my TessaDare.com website, I’ve had pretty much the same excerpt of Goddess of the Hunt available. It ends with this line from Lucy to Jeremy, where she’s asking him if her seduction efforts are having any, erm, measurable effect. That question has hung unanswered in cyberspace for almost two and a half years.

Until now.

Of course, starting Tuesday anyone might buy Goddess of the Hunt at her nearest bookstore and read the entire thing from cover to cover in one sitting (recommended). 🙂 But if you can’t wait that long to read Jeremy’s answer to Lucy’s question, you can download The Dangerous Book of Excerpts today! This is an excerpt booklet the brilliant Courtney Milan designed, and it features lengthy excerpts of GOTH, Surrender of a Siren, and Courtney’s two upcoming releases, This Wicked Gift (in the anthology The Heart of Christmas) and Proof by Seduction. We printed 400 of these booklets to take to RWA National Conference and came home with 30. They were a hot, hot item. The tagline? “Read with caution! You might get sucked in…”

So download if you dare. It’s yours free at this link.… Read More »