A Lady of Persuasion is in stores now!  At long last, all three books of the trilogy are released and available in bookstores everywhere. Thank you to all the readers who’ve made this a wonderful three months.   I’m hard at work on next year’s trilogy, which kicks off with One Dance with a Duke on May 25, 2010.  Get a sneak peek at the covers here!  Also, check out my new contest!… Read More »

(That’s a quote from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.  Ah, Lumiere.)

Hooray!  Twice Tempted by a Rogue is turned in to my editor! (And not a moment too soon, since it has just shown up on the Random House site! Release date June 22, 2010.)

This means I have emerged from the Deadline Cave.  I am blinking at the bright rays of the sun, and slowly catching up with email, snail mail, grocery shopping, reading, sleeping, and the like.

I’ve posted a new contest for October and November.  In honor of Isabel Grayson, heroine of A Lady of Persuasion and indefatigable advocate of social justice, and in recognition of the fact that October is Fair Trade Month, I’m giving away gift certificates to GlobalExchange, a nifty online store that specializes in fair trade products.

So, now that all my books are released and I’ve met this deadline, I should theoretically have more time to blog, hm?  And I realize that my blog audience has changed a bit in the past few months, so I’m not sure what all to blog about.  This year’s books?  Next year’s books? What’s new with the darelings? My writing process? Does anyone out there have a burning question…?

What should I blog about?  Any ideas welcome!  All (okay, most) questions answered!… Read More »

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 »

A Lady of Persuasion is in stores today!  This is the final installment of the trilogy, and I’m so excited to send Toby and Bel’s romance out into the world.  RT Book Reviews named it a Top Pick, citing “wry wit, endearing characters, laugh-out-loud moments, sensual interludes and poignancy.”  Please do stop by my blog today for a release-day party with friends, old and new.  You could win autographed books for yourself and a friend!… Read More »

A Lady of Persuasion is in stores today! This is the third and final installment in the trilogy that began with Goddess of the Hunt and continued in Surrender of a Siren.  It’s the story of Toby and Isabel’s romance, but it’s also a happy ending for an entire group of friends, both old and new.  And who better to celebrate that with than you–my friends, both old and new?

You see, when I started writing Goddess of the Hunt, I had this thought that it should feel a bit like the TV show Friends, only set in the Regency.  A group of…well, friends…who are at that time in their lives where they’re figuring out their futures and pairing off, who know each other well enough to throw around a lot of witty set-downs and the occasional incisive remark.  A group of people who genuinely care about one another, even though they’d sometimes rather not admit it.  And it was just so much fun, to write Henry, Toby, Felix, and Jeremy giving each other sh*t in the way guys do.

There are several sections of A Lady of Persuasion where the main characters from all three books are together–sometimes for pleasant reasons, and sometimes not.  Don’t get me wrong–I adored Toby and Bel as a couple, and their journey to love was a pure joy to write.  But those ensemble scenes were a unique pleasure, because I really believed each of the three (… 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 »

Well, this is going to be a mighty exciting weekend for yours truly. Not only do I have the honor of speaking and signing books at my local RWA chapter, I get to share that honor with the amazing Linda Howard. Seriously, Linda Howard. The topic of my craft presentation in the morning is pacing. It wasn’t until I started seriously preparing my talk that I realized I’d set myself a real challenge. Nothing could be worse than a talk on pacing that dragged or ran over time! Talk about pressure! But my chaptermates are very friendly and forgiving, so I will just do my best. 🙂

A little roundup of links:

Two more review sites recently gave high marks to Surrender of a Siren!
Review at All About Romance
Review at The Romance Reader

And if you click here, you can read an in-depth interview about writing Siren that I did for Rhapsody Book Club.

Don’t forget – the release of book three, A Lady of Persuasion, is coming up September 29! I’ve got plans in the works for a great big launch party right here on the blog, with prizes galore. Stay tuned for more details!… Read More »

Hope you all enjoyed a great Labor Day weekend! Mine was mostly spent laboring (heh) on book two of my 2010 trilogy, since I’m nearing deadline in a little over three weeks. Also happening in three weeks? The release of A Lady of Persuasion on September 29th! I can’t wait for readers to read Toby and Bel’s story.

And if you’d like to be among the first to read it, click on over to the Borders TrueRomance blogthis morning. There’s a little video that book buyer extraordinaire Sue Grimshaw taped with me during the RWA conference in DC. And I’m blogging about the writing of Surrender of a Siren. Best of all, if you comment, you could win a full set of the trilogy!

More links from the Department of Random Awesomeness:

Can you believe mega-bestselling author Vicki Lewis Thompson took my little book on her summer vacation? Yes, she read Goddess of the Hunt and liked it and added to the Book Club portion of her website! How cool is that? I was completely stunned and so honored. (There’s a little blurb there by Vicki–if you use a browser other than IE, you might have trouble viewing it because it’s light on a light background. You can highlight the text, and then it should show up.)

And Rakehell.com posted a great review of Surrender of a Siren the other day.

It’s just a few weeks until the release of Courtney Milan‘s fantabulous debut novella, This Wicked Gift… Read More »

Surrender of a Siren is in stores now! Sophia and Gray’s tale of passion and adventure on the high seas is an RT Book Reviews Top Pick! RT says, “Dare’s second novel cements her place as a “not to be missed” author.” This month, I’m participating in the Unleash Your Story event to benefit Cystic Fibrosis research. Don’t forget – Goddess of the Hunt is still available in stores, and A Lady of Persuasion, the final book in the trilogy, releases September 29th.… Read More »