The Prince's Bride

Help me celebrate the June 2 release of my erotic novella The Prince's Bride, from Loose ID. Sexy young knight Sir Geoffrey’s holy vision of the True Cross sends him questing after a virgin, a unicorn, a sacred scroll, and a cursed island. Rita is a plump, poor peasant who speaks with the finder of lost things, St. Anthony. She hasn’t been a virgin for quite a while, so she’s thrilled to win the hand of Sir Geoffrey, and moreso since Geoff delights in introducing her to his sexual peccadilloes, including a generous night of brotherly sharing. It comes as a shock to learn that Geoff’s vision includes his own martyrdom! Is Geoffrey’s vision the result of insanity, or is St. Anthony leading him to something priceless? Only Rita has the power to save her husband, with some help from her heavenly friends.

Enter to win one of four copies of my JERR gold star winner, The Biggest Kahuna or my erotic fantasy The Wizard of Time. PLUS, one winner gets a gift certificate to Fictionwise and a signed copy of any of my print books! That's five chances to win. Just post your name here! Now how easy does that get? Contest ends June 5, midnight EST.

In the first novel we met the Andrews brothers Gabriel, the oldest and the alpha, and his younger twin brothers Cole and Michael. We read about Cole's happily ever after with his human mate Marin and got a look at how the other brothers Gabriel and Michael who are both feeling like they are in need of finding their mates as well. Now alpha werewolf Gabriel Andrews is stunned when his mate comes bursting through the door of his garage one day. Running from a ravenous vampire, Kiera is happy to see the hot mechanic and this confrontation between the couple and the vampire forces Gabriel to announce Kiera as his mate. Which is a surprise for the vampire, Kiera and Gabriel because neither of the three was expecting that when they woke up that morning. Then when the vampire throws down the gauntlet, demanding that Gabriel and Kiera marry each other in order to prove that she's really the alpha's mate, Gabriel is only too happy to agree.

Kiera on the other hand has her doubts because coming from a small town in Tennessee where werewolves do not assocaiae with other shifters, the little werefox can't believe that Gabriel could really want her in his life. But Gabriel is unlike all those werewolves she grew up with because he is more open minded about it and knows that no matter what Keira changes into that she is his mate and the only woman for him. It was such a pleasure reading about Gabriel and Kiera's happily ever after story because after reading about Cole and Marin's I wanted to read how his other brother's Michael and Gabriel would end up with their mates. Keira is such a timid woman but I think that she really changed since meeting Gabriel because he really gives her that extra boost that pushes her to be more independent, strong and able to her own person. Now I got to know a bit about Gabriel in the first book and reading his love story I got to know him better. Gabriel is such a wonderful, strong and charming man who really is good for Keira since they may not seem like a likely couple but in fact make a great for each other.

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Yesterday I had special guest Kathye Quick interviewed on my blog as part of her Virtual Book Tour with the online company Pump Up Your Book Promotion. Well today I'm going to be reviewing her historical romance novel Cynthia and Constantine which you can find out more about how she came to write it by checking out her author guest blog being posted tomorrow. I've read a couple of historical romances that have to do with the Knights of King Arthur and they're all told so differently it's always a pleasure reading how each author interprets the tale and makes a world of their own. The heroine of the novel, Lady Cynthia of Abertaine, is trapped and not only has her fiancé, Sir William Leyborne, not been back to the castle for over ten years, but she's also not a titled Lady. From the start I felt that Lady Cynthia would have to go through a tough journey in order to find her true love so that she would finally have her happily ever after.Now Lord Simon of Cowell, a renegade warlord aligned with Mordred against Arthur and his Knights, has declared himself sovereign over Leyborne Castle and everything that once belonged to Sir William—including Cynthia. Which isn't good at all because Cynthia's life is now been turned upside down which can only change if someone would stand up to Lord Simon.

The hero of the novel, Sir Constantine, Knight of the Round Table, has come to the shire to give Cynthia the news that her fiancé has fallen in battle. With him is William's oral will giving all he owns to Cynthia as though they had been wed which is both sad and exciting news for her. But when he finds Cynthia and discovers that the shire is under the control of an evil warlord, he knows he cannot leave without first driving Simon and his soldiers from the land. Drawn together by an attraction older than time, Cynthia and Constantine soon discover that though a vow made by a knight's honor has brought them together, it may just also cost them their lives. This is one well written novel that I had so much fun reading that I had a hard time putting it down for too long because I wanted to know what would happen next for Cynthia and Constantine. Kathye Quicke has written a wonderful story filled with one adventure after another that will leaving you breathless and wanting more even after the novel ends. After reading this novel I'm anxious to see if Kathye continues writing about other Knights of the Round table since they are such fascinating characters to read about. I give this book 4 Open Books:

Here is the description of the book from Kathye Quick's website and picture:

CYNTHIA AND CONSTANTINE by Kathye Quick $ 4.50 (Book 1)(185 Pages)

Lady Cynthia of Abertaine is trapped. Not only has her fiancé, Sir William Leyborne, not been back to the castle for over ten years, but she's also not a titled Lady. Lord Simon of Cowell, a renegade warlord aligned with Mordred against Arthur and his Knights, has declared himself sovereign over Leyborne Castle and everything that once belonged to Sir William—including Cynthia. Sir Constantine, Knight of the Round Table, has come to the shire to give Cynthia the news that her fiancé has fallen in battle. With him is William's oral will giving all he owns to Cynthia as though they had been wed. But when he finds Cynthia and discovers that the shire is under the control of an evil warlord, he knows he cannot leave without first driving Simon and his soldiers from the land. Drawn together by an attraction older than time, Cynthia and Constantine soon discover that though a vow made by a knight's honor has brought them together, it may just also cost them their lives.

Today I am interviewing Kathye Quick who is on a blog tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion. You can read the interview below and at the end of the interview you can read her bio and the book summary of her current release.

Phoebe Jordan: When did you know that writing romance was going to be the thing that you would do with your life? Which author inspired you to start writing romance?

Kathye Quick: I began to write in 1988 after reading a cajillion romances and thinking “I could do this.” Turns out I really couldn’t. I had an awful lot to learn about writing. Mainly reading romances is not the same as writing romances. There wasn’t one author that inspired me as much as there was one author who helped me. Barbara Breton, a New York Times Bestselling Author was getting started herself back then. She was a Harlequin author who I met at a bank one day. We began talking and she encouraged me to come to a local writer’s group that weekend. I did and that’s when I began to find out just how much I didn’t know about writing romances.

Phoebe: Did you know what type of romance you wanted to write about or did you experiment with different genres before you chose the one that you felt was for you?

Kathye: I wrote a contemporary romance I thought was the bomb. It was. Literally. I couldn’t PAY to have it published back then. As I said, I had a lot to learn. Now I’m comfortable writing anything and I do!

Phoebe: What was the first fiction you ever wrote? And do you still have it with you?

Kathye: WINCH!! The contemporary romance I wrote was called DUTY OR DESIRE. I actually still like the name. It was about a Police Officer and the women he left many years ago. Can you tell he ultimately had to choose between duty or desire? Needless to say it was awful. I had it on disk, but I lost it when I lost my house to the flooding of Hurricane Floyd back in 1999. Maybe that was someone’s way of telling my just how bad it was!

Phoebe: How much research do you have to do for your novels and does it take you a long time to gather that research?

Kathye: This is probably not the right way to do it, but I research as I go. So far it’s been working. If I find that I’ve written myself somewhere I know nothing about, I get on the Internet and Google.

Phoebe: How did you come up with the concept for your novel Cynthia and Constantine, which is part of your Beyond Camelot, Brother Knights series?

Kathye: Believe it or not, the concept for Cynthia and Constantine, my new release from the Wild Rose press, sprang up during a season of American Idol. (To find out more about how Kathy came to write Cynthia and Constantine come back on Wednesday, May 20th to read her author guest blog about it.)

Phoebe: How did you come up with the concept for your Beyond Camelot, Brother Knights series and how many more books do you think will you be writing for that series?

Kathye: If I like something I want to know more. I love the Arthurian Era and mythology, so I knew that just one book was not going to be enough. There will be a sequel to this book called Jane and Braeden because in the course of fleshing out the story so it would be long enough for a book, Jane’s character became an integral part of the story and now we need to hear her story also.

Phoebe: How do you come up with each of your characters for your novels? How do you choose their names out of so many names out there?

Kathye: My characters are a mix of people I know and my fantasies. My hero, Sir Constantine is the perfect knight—honorable, brave, kind and gallant. He’s also based on my husband who’s darn cute. Lady Cynthia is definitely based on one of my friends, Cynthia. She’s blond, beautiful, independent and true to what she believes. While the names of my characters in Cynthia and Constantine came from American Idol, believe it or not I Googled to find names. Try it. For my fantasy series I’m writing for example, I Googled “Ancient Greek Names” and then read them until I found one I liked. Then I adapted it to a more modern sounding name. You can also Google “baby names” or something to fit the timeline or genre in which you are writing such as “western names” or “native American names.”

Phoebe: Do you have a favorite character that you really enjoyed writing about in your novel Cynthia and Constantine? Did you have a character that you felt you could really relate to in your Cynthia and Constantine?

Kathye: I like the feistiness of Lady Cynthia, the mystery of Jane, the honor of Constantine and the loyalty of Sir Braeden. Lord Simon is a necessary evil and of course, he can’t work alone, so we needed someone to be a catalyst to get the action started in the form of Ranaulf, a townsman who found there was money to be made by getting certain information to his lordship.

Phoebe: Do you have a process of how you start to write your novels?

Kathye: Start with the blood on the floor, I was always told. That means, start your novels with something happening. Then the reader will need to find out why it happened or who the action is going to affect.

Phoebe: Which do you like best, writing a series or writing stand alone novels? How is writing each different for you?

Kathye: BRADEN AND JANE will be the second book in this series but I actually have a three-book contemporary series done and coming out at the end of this year/beginning of 2010 for Avalon Books. That series, grandmother’s ring, follows the Archer family siblings, 2 girls 1 boy, in their quest to find their soul mates. I named the books after my family’s birthstones, Amethyst, Sapphire and Citrine. What is fun about a series is that you know the characters from one book to the next. But I also enjoy writing stand-alone books. For me it depends on how involved the plot is and if my secondary characters develop a life of their own.

Phoebe: What process did you have to go through to get your first book published and did it take you long?

Kathye: As I mentioned before, I began writing in 1988 and had a lot to learn. Finally, when I was ready to submit, I wrote about a hero and heroine who met during a Hurricane and submitted it around. The rejection letters came, but some of them were actually encouraging. Then Hurricane Floyd hit the east coast. The foundation of my house collapsed and I lost just about everything I owned up to four feet on the first floor. But I also got a call from an eBook publisher—Starlight Writers—who said they wanted to publish my book. I think that call helped me through the next eight months of rebuilding. Starlight Writers does not exist any longer, but the book was then placed with Wings ePress that is going strong today. I will be forever grateful for that call. It helped me through some pretty dismal times. But if I thought my first book would have been so prophetic, I would have written about a lottery winner instead of a Hurricane!

Phoebe: Do you ever get writers block? What do you do to get rid of it so you can get back to writing your novels?

Kathye: I live in writer’s block some days. When I hit that wall, it’s normally because I didn’t think through the story enough and I have no idea where it’s going. That’s when I pull out a book and read or pop in a video. That gets me thinking and I can usually restart. It may mean tossing out the last ten pages, but sometimes that’s OK too.

Phoebe: Which aspects of writing do you enjoy the most and why? And what is your biggest writing pet peeve? (overuse of exclamation points, adverbs, bad guys named Wayne, etc.), if you have any?

Kathye: I love bringing the characters to life. They become real people to me over the course of the book. I get kind of sad when it’s time to say goodbye and miss them when they are gone. I detest bandwagons. Let me explain. Once something gets popular in a certain genre, everyone jumps on the bandwagon and the market gets saturated. Like now and vampires. The market is saturated. There are some very talented vampire writers, of course, but there is also a lot of testing the water type writers. Out of respect to the really good ones, I won’t have any of my characters bite anyone.

Phoebe: What is the one writing tool can you not live without?

Kathye: Actually there are two—Undelete and Google.

Phoebe: How do you handle your writing schedule and your personal life without going insane?

Kathye: A lot of my friends and all of my family say it’s too late already for me to worry about my sanity. Since I work full time until I win a Pulitzer or two, I found it difficult to write and get enough sleep to be coherent in the morning until I met Janet Evanovich one day at one of her books signings. She told me that (at that time at least) she writes 3–5 pages a day and that’s it. That translates to 90-150 pages a month. So realistically your book could get done in 3 months. I gave it a shot. It works. I try to average 75 pages a month, with the first frat done in about 5 months. So far, so good. Thank you, Janet.

Phoebe: What do you do to relax after having spent a long while writing? Do you have any hobbies?

Kathye: Relax? There’s no relaxing in writing!!!! But after I finish a book, I take off two weeks before starting another. At least I try to only take off 2 weeks once that turned into 6 months. Not good. Not only was it hard to get started again, but I was totally clueless on what was happening in the industry. Now I say 3 pages. 3 pages and you can be like Janet Evanovich. (See sanity is not present in me!) But I love gardening, shopping with my BFF, Judy, and watching reality TV.

Phoebe: Is there any advice that you would give to an aspiring romance writer that you wish someone had given you?

Kathye: Advice and insight. Writing is hard! But if you keep at it, keep your dream in front of you, you can do it. It may take 10 years like it took me, but never give up. Failure is simply not knowing how close you were to success before you quit! (I didn’t make that up, but I don’t remember who did).

Phoebe: Is there any writing tips, research tips, promotion and marketing tips that you would give to an aspiring romance writer that you wish someone had given you?

Kathye: When in doubt—Google. Seriously, it’s a great tool. You can get enough information on anything to be able to get through your scene. I just found a great article on what it felt like to ride in a Black Hawk helicopter that I needed to finish the last book in my grandmother’s ring series, the hero is in the military and flies evac missions in Iraq.

Phoebe: Do you have a favorite genre you like to read? Who is your favorite author(s)?

Kathye: I love historicals and sci-fi or paranormal. I started out reading the Native American historical romance by Cassie Edwards and branched out from there. I like Maggie Shayne for paranormals. Yes, I know she writes about vampires, but she’s one of the good ones just like Caridad Piñeiro, who I adore.

Phoebe: What are you reading now? And what do you plan to read after that?

Kathye: I’m reading Nina Bangs, ETERNAL PLEASURE now. It’s a paranormal. Not sure what I’ll read next. It’s time to begin another book soon. Thanks for having me. If so inclined, come by my website at and check out what I do write!

AUTHOR BIO:

Kathye Quick has been writing since the sisters in Catholic School gave her a #2 pencil and some paper with ruled lines. From stories about her family for Writing Week in fifth grade, to becoming editor-in-Chief of her high school newspaper, The Blueprint, to 1999 when she realized her dream of being published, Kathye’s love of the written word span numerous genres. She writes contemporary and career romances for Avalon Books, romantic comedy and historicals for Wings Press, urban fantasy for Cerridwen Press, and most recently medieval historical romances for Wild Rose Press. Kathye is one of the founders of Liberty States Fiction Writers, a group launched in January 2009 to help writers of all fiction genres in their journey to publication. She had been a member of New Jersey Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America since 1988 and considered it an honor to have been NJRW President in 1992 and 2001. Kathye’s fifth hardcover romance for Avalon books, ‘Tis the Season, a holiday romance complete with Santa Claus, a sleigh ride and a New England snowfall earned a 2006 HOLT Medallion nomination.

Her debut historical romance, Daughters of the Moon, from Wings e-Press has been heralded as a flawless glimpse into the world of the ancient Greeks. Writing as P. K. Eden with writing partner, Patt Mihailoff, Firebrand, an urban fantasy based on the fall of the Garden of Eden, has won two Reviews Choice Awards and many five-star ratings. In August 2009, Avalon Books will publish her three-book contemporary romance series entitled Grandmother's Rings. The books, Amethyst (August 2009), Sapphire (December 2009) and Citrine (early 2010) follow the Archer family siblings in their quest to find their soul mates using rings given to them by their Grandmother. Kathye used the birthstones from her family for her inspiration for this series. While writing romances has been her dream for many years, the book of Kathye’s heart, is a non-fiction work entitled, Hi Mom, How Are Things in Heaven, a book that developed after the death of her mother and deals with coping with grief though humor. She is currently still working on the concept for this book. In her “other” life, Kathye works for Somerset County government. She is married with three sons. You can visit her website or her blog.

BOOK SUMMARY:

Lady Cynthia of Abertaine is trapped. Not only has her fiancé, Sir William Leyborne, not been back to the castle for over ten years, but she’s also not a titled Lady. Lord Simon of Cowell, a renegade warlord aligned with Mordred against Arthur and his Knights, has declared himself sovereign over Leybourne Castle and everything that once belonged to Sir William—including Cynthia. Sir Constantine, Knight of the Round Table, has come to the shire to give Cynthia the news that her fiancé has fallen in battle. With him is William’s oral will giving all he owns to Cynthia as though they had been wed. But when he finds Cynthia and discovers the shire under the control of an evil warlord, he knows he cannot leave without first driving Simon and his soldiers from the land. Drawn together by an attraction older than time, Cynthia and Constantine soon discover that though a vow made by a knight’s honor has brought them together, it may just also cost them their lives. You can buy this book at Wild Rose Press, Amazon.com and Barnes & Nobles.

So I decided that after reviewing Julie James novel, Practice Makes Perfect, I would give her debut novel a read. I really enjoyed reading this novel since it's about a lawyer and a movie start getting together, which I knew had to be a fun read. Taylor Donovan is a lawyer who is assigned to coach People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” movie star Jason Andrews with his role in his next big legal thriller. I laughed so much while reading this novel since I think Taylor and Jason clashed with one another many times because there was so much sexual tension going on between them. I liked that I laughed about the antics that these two characters would get into since it makes reading the novel so much more enjoyable. You can tell that Taylor and Jason can't believe that they are attracted to one another so intensely and they are trying to work through them working with each other while making their budding relationshiop work. One of the draw backs with this novel which I find is one of the things that I don't much care for in Julie's books is that it's a sweet romance with no actual love scenes just a prelude to a love scene. So I guess in the end I give this book 3.5 Open Books:

Nothing fazes Taylor Donovan. In the courtroom she never lets the opposition see her sweat. In her personal life, she never lets any man rattle her–not even her cheating ex-fiancé. So when she’s assigned to coach People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” for his role in his next big legal thriller, she refuses to fall for the Hollywood heartthrob’s charms. Even if he is the Jason Andrews.

Jason Andrews is used to having women fall at his feet. When Taylor Donovan gives him the cold shoulder, he’s thrown for a loop. She’s unlike any other woman he’s ever met: uninterested in the limelight, seemingly immune to his advances, and shockingly capable of saying no to him. She’s the perfect challenge. And the more she rejects him, the more he begins to realize that she may just be his perfect match...

I found out about Katie Alender through the amazing website/blog called Free Book Friday Teens edition, which branches of the main website Free Book Friday, that is both founded by author Jessica Brody. I'm so glad that I read and even heard the wonderful podcast interview of Jessica and Katie talking about her young adult debut novel Bad Girls Don't Die, which is about a young girl whose younger sister starts to act funny and then things get really scary after she tells a ghost story. I also recommend that you all listen to it also so you can decide for yourselves if you agree with me about Katie Alender's experience in writing her young adult debut novel.

Then one night, to help take Kasey’s mind off a vicious family argument, Alexis makes up a story—the first thing that comes to mind, really, just a harmless fairytale about a little girl with no friends. But Kasey seems to take the whole thing a little too seriously because Alexis feels that there might be truth to the story that just popped up into her head out of no where and gave her a vibe that didn't go away. Before long, she’s actually bringing parts of the story to life—and people are getting hurt but Alexis knows she has to find a way to stop her sister before something really terrible happens that can't be fixed and could get way too serious. But with no friends and no help from her parents, she’s basically on her own—until help turns up in the unlikeliest form—Alexis’ archnemesis Megan Wiley, who happens to be the captain of the cheerleading squad. And she starts to fall in love with a boy named Carter who she never thought would notice her and who she never thought she would ending up liking way too much.

Here is the description from the cover flap of the book and picture:

BAD GIRLS DON'T DIE by Katie Alender $ 15.99 (346 Pages)

Kerrelyn Spark is an author that I stumbled upon on my trip to search for new books to buy at Barnes & Noble. I first picked up her second book in the series and I loved it so much that when I found out that there was a book before it I knew I had to get it. Since I first picked up the first two novels in this series I have been following this series very closely because Kerrelyn Sparks spins a wonderful love story about vampires, humans and shapeshifters. I actually had to search two bookstores to find the first book but I finally got it. There are a couple of new characters that are introduced in this novel that we may see pop-up in future novels and they may even have a novel all to themselves. I was so excited when I finally got my hands on the this novel because I was anxiously waiting for it after reading Ian's novel which left me wanting more and more.

Pump Up Your Book Promotion “We take books to the virtual level!”

Rie McGaha was born and raised in northern California along the shores of Humboldt County where her grandmother often took her to search for seashells and watch the humpback whales migration. Though her father was a bit of a gypsy and moved his family all over, Rie always enjoyed the trips back to Eureka, California where many of her 12 children and 23 grandchildren still live. As a dreamer of dreams and being born with a gypsy soul, Rie has lived all over the United States. Settling in SE Oklahoma with husband, Nathan, she enjoys a quiet life in the Kiamichi Wilderness where she takes in abused and neglected animals, nurses them back to health and tries to find them new homes. The ones that don't find new homes remain with Rie and she currently has 18 dogs and 1 cat. Between her husband, children, grandchildren and all of the animals, Rie tries to find a few moments to write. She is currently working on Ancient Blood, the sequel to Blood Line, and Caleb and Arion the second and third installments of the My Soul To Keep Trilogy. She also writes reviews for Romance Writers United. For more information, visit Rie at website or read her review blog or even check her out on YouTube. BOOK SUMMARY: Truck driver, Joshua Kaine and his wife, Jessie, enjoy the freedom of the open road until one night on a lonely country road Josh is attacked by a rabid dog. After killing the animal, Joshua becomes very ill, but quickly recovers. Weeks later, when the full moon rises and Josh begins howling, the trouble has just begun. Drawn by an unknown force, Joshua finds himself in a remote mountain area at The Gathering where he meets Garan, a gray wolf who has walked the earth for thousands of years, and Joshua learns the rabid dog was actually a werewolf and his clan is now after Josh. On the run, hunted by a clan of werewolves, and searching to undo his plight, Josh ventures into the swamps of Louisiana in search of an old, black woman who holds the key to his existence. Josh is pushed to the limits, and when the merciless werewolves kill his wife, the hunted becomes the hunter.