Special Guest Dara Young ~ author of The Cancan Dancer and the Duke

“Toot, toot” that’s me blowing a party horn, because today I have a special guest. Dara Young is here with me today talking about her novella The Cancan Dancer and the Duke. What a title! I love it. So sit back and let Dara tell you…

The Long and the Short of It

I was talking to my mom the other day, and she was complaining about how short the majority of books are these days in romance. First off, yes my mother reads everything I write. She really got me started reading romance as a young adult. My first adult romances came right off her bookshelf. She had titles by authors Mary Renault, Judith McNaught, and Johanna Lindsay. So, I totally blame her for my addiction. J

As I was saying, she asked me about book lengths. She is an old school romance reader from the days of 3-400 page books. That is what she prefers. Me, I like both. It depends on the story. Some tales just don’t need 400 pages. Others need all of that to be able to show the characters growth and development until they fall in love.

The Cancan Dancer and the Duke was originally intended to be a full length novel. But, then I realized that it just didn’t need all those pages. It occurred to me that I would simply be adding stupid plot elements to string the journey out and that did not sit well with me. The truth is, Charise and Ethan’s story is one of a quick, intense fall.

I suppose I could have stretched out the discovery of her secret, but really why? Some relationships are a slow simmering burn, others are a quick, intense conflagration. And, there are a  million options in between. Short of having external plot devices keeping the lovers apart, a conflagration generally winds up a novella for me.

How about you? Do you have a preference for story length? How do you feel about short stories under 15K words?

Thanks for stopping by to celebrate with me and remember to comment on each post during the blog tour for more chances to win! (Not sure what I’m talking about? Click here.)

 

The Cancan Dancer and The Duke
The Wild Rose Press

Can a lady on the lam and a duke on the make find love at the Moulin Rouge?

Cathedrals and museums are not Lady Charise Colton’s idea of European adventure. Turn-of-the-century Paris beckons, and she wants to grab it while she can…or rather, cancan. Flirting with fate and half of Paris, Charise eludes her chaperones and joins the cancan revue at the Moulin Rouge.

Ethan Greer, Duke of Lofton, is in Paris to settle some estate business. Chafing under his responsibilities, he discovers an enchanting distraction at the Moulin Rouge, a flirtatious dancer who stirs his lust and something more. He must have her—even if it means offering carte blanche.

Terrified of discovery, Charise tries to hold her persistent suitor at bay, though her heart has already surrendered. Will she lose him if he learns the truth, or is love enough to bind the cancan dancer and the duke?

Excerpt:

The singular sound was a soft whisper at first. The audience strained forward to catch even a note of the eerie melody carried on the fetid air of the cafe. As the song picked up, her voice grew stronger, the words more clear. Ethan relaxed into his seat and let the warm rich alto caress him. His body grew warm with the promises carried by the witch’s husky tones.

He remained unaware of anything in the room except the siren walking toward him. Each steady, unhurried step she took further drew him in. His gaze feasted on the curve of her hip, the swell of her breast. Ethan rode the knife’s edge between lust and propriety.

The song described, in lurid detail, two lovers in the throes of passion. Upon reaching him, the dancer propped the toe of her boot onto the edge of his seat—square between his thighs. The luscious creature presented impossibly sheer bloomers which hid everything and yet nothing, causing him to let out the breath he, until now, unknowingly held. His cock grew rigid, the uncomfortable throbbing causing him to shift. The desire to haul her into his arms and demonstrate every action she described with the most sensuous mouth he’d ever seen rode him hard. Her full lower lip begged for his kiss. Ethan wanted to see it slick and glowing pink from his attentions.

The wanton dancer continued to taunt him, but his good breeding won out. Forcing himself to stay seated, his fists balled and his jaw grew rigid with frustration, but his raging lusts remained leashed. The song ended, sending her into the nether regions of the cafe in a swirl of skirts.

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Thanks so much, Dara for being my guest today! This one’s definitely going on my TBR list. And thanks to everyone for stopping by. Don’t forget to leave a comment in order to be included in the giveaway. How do I feel about short romantic fiction? I love romances of any length! :)

Lots of <3–Amie

Top 10 ~ Love Potion Me, Baby

Time for Tuesday’s Top 10!! Here’s a listing of the Top 10 things I love about Love Potion Me, Baby (my latest release.)

#1 ~  Brice accidentally drinks blue shampoo.

#2 ~ Suzanne throws fruit at him.

#3 ~ Melvin and Claire Greely are hard of hearing.

#4 ~ Aunt Petie’s crazy cooking

#5 ~ Jancy Carmichael Van Sant, Brice’s mother, hangs by her knees everyday to reverse the effects of gravity.

#6 ~ Suzanne is forced to play golf with Brice, even though she’s never played before.

# 7 ~ The maid only knows one word of English–yes.

#8 ~ Brice’s addiction to coffee

#9 ~ There’s a dog, but no one knows how it came to be at the mansion.

#10 ~ the love scene (hubba hubba)

Want a little more? Go to Amie’s BOOKS –Love Potion Me, Baby–Excerpt and Blurb. There you’ll find…well, an excerpt and a blurb!

Happy reading! Lots of <3 to you! Amie

Release Day!!!!!!

If you haven’t guessed I’m a little excited about the release of my latest comedic romance, Love Potion Me, Baby. Mainly because I LOVE this story.  But I can’t keep it all to myself. Gotta spread that love. Here’s a listing of places I’ll be visiting over the next few weeks. There’ll be interviews and posts, and even a letter of two from the characters. Hope you can stop by and see me on one of these dates!

Lots of <3–Amie

Release Day! March 28th Sarah Grimm

Meet Brice Van Sant

www.authorsarahgrimm.blogspot.com

April 4th AJ Nuest

Letter from Suzanne Rose

www.ajbooks.blogspot.com

 April 9th Kellie Kamryn

Interview

www.kelliekamyrn.blogspot.com

April 11th Claire Croxton

What’s In A Name?– guest post

www.clairecroxtonromanceauthor.wordpress.com

and Alana Lorens

Interview

http://alanalorens.com

April 18th Babette James

Interview

http://babettejames.com/posts/

April 25th Rebecca J Clark

Interview

http://shywriters.blogspot.com

April 27th Vonnie Davis

The Millionaire’s Club–Guest Post

www.vintagevonnie.blogspot.com

May 2 Katherine Grey

Interview with Jancy Carmichael Van Sant

katherinegrey.blogspot.com

May 9 CoffeeTime Romance and More

Writing Comedy–Guest Post

http://coffeetimeromance.com/CoffeeThoughts/

May 16 Calisa Rhose

Odd facts about Love Potion Me, Baby–Guest Post

www.calisarhose.wordpress.com

After Midnight by Sarah Grimm ~ A Review

♥♥♥♥♥ YOU GOTTA READ THIS BOOK ♥♥♥♥♥

Thirteen years—that’s how long Isabeau Montgomery has been living a lie. After an automobile accident took her mother’s life, Izzy hid herself away, surviving the only way she knew how. Now she is happy in her carefully reconstructed life. That is until he walks through the door of her bar…

Black Phoenix singer/front man Noah Clark came to Long Island City with a goal—one that doesn’t include an instant, electric attraction to the dark-haired beauty behind the bar. Coaxing her into his bed won’t be easy, but he can’t get her pale, haunted eyes nor her skill on the piano out of his head.

Can Noah help Isabeau overcome the past? Or will her need to protect her secret force her back into hiding and destroy their chance at happiness?

~*~*~*~*~*~ The Review ~*~*~*~*~

I have read several books with singers and piano players, even one with a karkoake bar. But I have never read a book where I could *hear* the music. Sarah Grimm does just that. She allows the reader to experience the music through the pages of her newest release, After Midnight. That itself is a great feat, but the sound she weaves through her words is only an accompaniment to the characters she has created. Noah Clark…mature rock star and caring soul, seeking a second chance at the one thing he loves–music. He’s going about his career differently in this “comeback” tour, and he’s not up for any unexpected bumps. And then he meets her, Isabeau Montgomery. Izzy is a now-grown child prodigy who abandoned music as a too painful part in her past. But once she meets Noah, the music she’s drowned out of her head for so many years demands to be heard once again.

There is a sensuality between Noah and Izzy that defies description. More mature than sexy, more beautiful than mere chemistry, it is a source of envy to all those around them. Noah understands Izzy on a base level. All the qualities she hates about herself, he admires. At Noah’s hands, she learns to see herself through his eyes, find her beauty though she never thought it existed. Who wouldn’t want a hero like Noah–rich, handsome, and able to see you (and love you) as you really are instead of how you think you should be? The perfect hero deserves the perfect soul mate, and Sarah provides. Izzy is smart, resourceful, and beautiful in her own way. She’s survived more than the average person, walked down paths most of us will never glimpse. And yet we feel her pain, we understand her hiding, and we admire her strength. Add them to the beautiful prose of music, a touch of suspense, and extremely lovable secondary characters, and you have one fabulous read. You have After Midnight.

After Midnight is available now from the Wild Rose Press

~*~*~*~*~About Sarah Grimm ~*~*~*~*~

As a young girl, Sarah Grimm always had a story to tell. At times they were funny, other times scary, but they always ended with a happily-ever-after.

Sarah spent years scribbling in notebooks, filling the pages with partial chapters and the margins with titles and story ideas. She told friends the characters spoke to her, and that she was compelled to get their stories on paper. Eventually, she sat down at a computer and wrote her first tale of dangerously sexy suspense. That book, Not Without Risk, is a 2011 Readers Favorite Award Winner.

Her second release and the first in her Midnight Heat Series,  After Midnight, recently garnered a Finalist position in the 2012 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence contest.

Sarah lives in West Michigan with her husband, two sons and three miniature schnauzers. Between mom’s taxi service, parts runs, and answering the phone for the family marine repair business, Sarah can be found curled in her favorite chair, crafting her next novel.

Sarah loves to hear from her readers. Feel free to contact her sarah@sarahgrimm.com

~*~*~*~*~ Excerpt ~*~*~*~*~

“I’m not the type of woman men fall for.”

“I’ve fallen for you.”

Heat flooded her system. She forced herself to breathe, to keep her eyes locked with his. “No you haven’t. You …”

He pushed off the mantel and stepped in her direction. “I—what?”

“Never mind.”

“Finish the sentence, Isabeau.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then let me.” He closed the distance between them. “You were going to say I haven’t fallen for you, weren’t you? You actually believe him? That you’re nothing more to me than convenient?”

Her pulse throbbed thick and hard. Heat radiated off his body. The scent of him filled her head. She wanted, more than anything, to press herself against him and relive the pleasure of his mouth against hers. Instead, she lifted her chin.

“Maybe.”

He leaned in close. So close his breath brushed across her lips. “You believe him, but not me?”

“You are here only temporarily.”

“Yes.”

“And I am just down the street.”

“I suppose.”

She ran her tongue over her dry lips. “So the whole thing does seem rather—”

“Don’t say it.”

“—convenient.”

Something dangerous came and went in his eyes. “Now I’m getting angry.”

His hands skimmed down her sides, slipped under her shirt and settled on her lace-covered bottom. Her breath went uneven. Searing need swarmed her.

“You want something to believe, believe this.” He pulled her into the solid ridge of his erection. She lost her concentration. “There is nothing convenient about the way I feel about you.”

“I…no?”

“You think you’re not the type to draw a man’s attention, think again. I can’t stand in the same room as you without wanting to taste you. I can’t taste you without wanting to taste all of you.”

Oh, God. Her knees turned to jelly. A hot, wet pulse came to life between her legs.

“If you can’t see in yourself what it is that I see, feel what you do to me.” Taking hold of her wrist, he placed her hand in the center of his chest.

His heart was racing. She tipped her head back and looked into his eyes. Her bones began to liquefy.

“The way you’re looking at me,” she whispered.

“How am I looking at you?”

“Like I’m important.”

“You are.”

She swallowed hard, wanting to believe him. “Like I’m beautiful.”

His lips brushed across her temple and her eyes drifted shut. “I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. Then you would know how beautiful you are.”

Her eyes snapped open as he spun her in his arms. His hands settled on her shoulders, drawing her back against his chest. She gasped at their image reflected in the trio of mirrors that hung on her wall. When had this become a seduction?

~*~*~*~*~ Buy the Book  ~*~*~*~*~

Ebook or  Print

May you always have…Lots of <3–Amie

Victoria Gray ~ Surrender to Your Touch

Now y’all know that I love having guests over to blog, but here lately I haven’t had as many visitors as usual. So I was thrilled when Victoria Gray agreed to come on today and talk about her newest novel, Surrender to Your Touch. And to give very sound advice on writing historical fiction.  How much research is too much? Keep on reading and find out. Take it away, Victoria~

Why do I love reading and writing historical romance?  The answer is actually quite simple.  Historical romances transport me to another time and place and immerse me in a love story.  Before I started writing historical romance, I never considered the skillful balance between facts and emotion in these stories, the delicate weave of details within a love story that creates a sense of time and place and brings the plot and the characters to life.  Now, as a writer of historical romance, I know firsthand the challenge of blending facts into a story without creating information overload.

While the developing emotional relationship between the heroine and her hero is the central focus of historical romance, historical details serve to sweep the reader away to another time and place.  Infusing facts throughout the story without sounding like a travel guide is a writer’s challenge.  Research, layering details through multiple revisions, and a willingness to cut facts that don’t enhance the story are my keys to achieving balance between historical detail, story flow, and emotional intensity.

Of course, thorough research is a given.  Historical inaccuracies pull a reader out of a story, while details about historical events, clothing, food, transportation, communication, occupations, and social structure—the list could go on and on— provide scaffolding for a believable story.

After I become familiar with the essential characteristics of an era, I map out the plot and research specific aspects of the time period that may factor into the story.  What weapons were available?  What historical events, landmarks, and people might have impacted the characters’ lives? What literary and artistic works were prominent during that era?  In my new release, Surrender to Your Touch, the Union occupation of Norfolk, Virginia during the Civil War creates additional danger for the hero, outcast Rebel officer Will Reed, while the Union’s use of his family’s historical home, a James River plantation, adds to Will’s profound sense of loss.  Angel in My Arms features Union spy Amanda Emerson’s visit to Confederate first lady Varina Davis and her mission to Richmond’s Libby Prison to rescue a double agent,  while Destiny factors the heroine’s love of tragic romances into the character’s development.  Research to identify popular authors of the heroine’s time provided details that fleshed out Emma Davenport’s actions and dialogue.  These historical details add to the tapestry of the story.

How much historical detail brings a story to life without bogging it down?  That depends on the story.  Are historical events plot elements, or does the historical setting provide a context for the story?  Surrender to Your Touch,  Angel in My Armsand Destiny are set against the background of the Civil War, but the key plot events are entirely fictional.  Historical details woven throughout the story create a sense of time and place, and references to historical figures can add to a character’s development, but historical name-dropping can result in detail overload.  Your characters shouldn’t sound like Joan Rivers on a time travel adventure.

Every author develops a method that works best for him or her.  To me, research, layering details, and revision are the keys to crafting a love story that transports the reader to another time and place.

Here’s a little about Surrender to Your Touch:

Will Reed is out to settle a brutal score. The disgraced Rebel officer’s own men want him hanged, and an enemy has ordered him killed. Intent on clearing his name and evening the score with those who betrayed him, he begins with the woman he once loved—Union spy Kate Sinclair.

For years, Kate used seduction as a lure. She knew better than to let her heart get involved–until she fell in love with Will. Grieving his death, Kate’s joy at discovering him alive shatters when she is confronted by a bitter, vengeful man—a man who’ll stop at nothing to learn the truth of her betrayal. As danger pursues them, Kate fights to tear down the barriers Will has erected around his heart, but her most powerful weapon may ultimately destroy her—surrender.

Surrender to Your Touch is available from Amazon.com: E-book or Print,

and

The Wild Rose Press:  E-book and Print

I hope readers will stop by my website and my blog, www.victoriagrayromance.com ; www.victoriagrayromance.blogspot.com.

I’d love for you to friend me on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1819636616

and follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/VictoriaGray115

CONTEST:   Based on the story blurb, who would you like to see portray Kate and Will if this were a movie? One lucky commenter will win a pdf of Surrender to Your Touch. Winner will be announced on Monday, January 9.

Also by Victoria Gray–

 Destiny

Buy it now

   

 

 Angel in my Arms

Buy it now

And a big thank you to Victoria for sharing her newest release with us! I don’t know about the rest of you, but my TBR list is growing–by threes!!

Lots of <3–Amie