Today's Special - - Marilyn Baron

It's always a pleasure to host award-winning novelist Marilyn Baron here at The Romance Dish.  I've had the pleasure of getting to know Marilyn at conferences over the years.  She's a lovely lady who just happens to write wonderful books!  A native of Miami, Florida and a graduate of the University of Florida, Marilyn currently lives in the Atlanta, Georgia area.  You can find more information about Marilyn and her books at her website and connect online at the following locations. 

Web site at www.marilynbaron.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marilyn-Baron/286807714666748?fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/favorites

Blog: www.petitfoursandhottamales.com

Thank you for joining us today, Marilyn.  The floor is yours!

Write “Where” You Know

By Marilyn Baron

We’ve all heard the expression, “Write what you know.” But how many authors write “where” they know? If you’re writing fantasy or historical you’re most likely using your imagination because your “real” world doesn’t exist or it existed centuries earlier. Chances are the same is true if you’re writing paranormal.  I went back and reviewed my books to see where I stood on the “Write Where You Know-O-Meter.”

Turns out that in every one of my eight books, my setting was a place I’d either lived or had visited. That wasn’t intentional. It just worked out that way. Am I the type who likes to stick close to home? Not really. I love to travel and I tend to set my novels in places where I’ve been.  

The only exception was my WW II historical, Under the Moon Gate, where the story was set in contemporary and WW II Bermuda. I have been to Bermuda 10 times but never to 1940s Bermuda, so I had to do research for that part of the novel. However, it still counts, since I am pretty familiar with the setting. The prequel, Destiny: A Bermuda Love Story, was set at the time of Bermuda’s discovery in the 17^th century, so I had to do research on that book, but it was still a location I had been to, even if at a much later date.

The Edger, the humorous women’s fiction I wrote with my artist sister, was set in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, her hometown. Murder at the Outlet Mall, a shopping suspense tale, was set in St. Augustine, Florida, a place I’m very familiar with. Memory Lane, the musical about Alzheimer’s I co-wrote with my sister, is set in South Beach and since I’m from Miami, I’m also familiar with that location.

Significant Others, a humorous women’s fiction set in a retirement community in Boca Raton Florida, was really patterned after a retirement community where my mother lives in Pembroke Pines, Florida, so, other than interview some of her contemporaries about finding love a second time around, I didn’t have to do much research.

Sixth Sense, Book One in my Psychic Crystal Mystery series, takes place in Atlanta, Sydney, Australia, and a fictional seaside community called Casa Spirito. However, it was patterned after a real psychic community in Florida, which I’ve visited. I live in Atlanta, and I got the idea for this book when I sat next to a psychic on the long plane ride to Sydney.

Book Two in the series, Homecoming Homicides, my latest book, a dark romantic suspense with a humorous twist,  is set in a small college town in North Florida I called Graysville, but it was patterned after the city where I went to college—Gainesville, Florida.

Book Three in the series, Murder on the Repositioning Cruise, will take place on a cruise ship on a transatlantic voyage. I’ve been on many cruises. In fact, last year when my husband and I took a Mediterranean cruise, I took a behind-the-scenes tour of the ship specifically to do research for the book.

The book I just sold to The Wild Rose Press, Stones, perhaps most exemplifies the “Write Where You Know,” axiom.  It starts out in Atlanta and goes to Palm Coast, Florida, where I own a beach condo; alternates to Miami and Coral Gables; and flashes back to Florence, Italy, where I studied for six months in my junior year of college.

Another book I’m working on, a humorous women’s fiction, also starts on a cruise ship and is set in a small island community in Florida, much like Palm Coast.

One anthology to which I contributed a short story, was called Aspen Exposé. At the time I wrote the story, I had never been to Aspen, but because I had a story in that anthology, and I had researched Aspen, I decided to visit and really enjoyed it.   

I’ve also written four short stories (about angels and demons) for TWB Press, and although I did have to use my imagination when crafting the paranormal elements of the story, they were all set in places I’d either lived or visited: the Atlanta area; Palm Coast, Florida, and New York City; Las Vegas and Roswell, Georgia. 

So I guess I’m a hometown girl at heart. I’m going to have to think about where I set my next book. Maybe I should break tradition and set it somewhere I’ve never been.

What about you? If you’re a writer, do you set your books in familiar locations? If you’re a reader, do you like to read about places you’ve been or travel to new worlds?

Marilyn is giving away one PDF copy of her new book, Homecoming Homicides, to a randomly chosen person who leaves a comment on today’s post.

Homecoming Homicides: Psycho Meets Miss Congeniality

Professional crisis manager Philippa Tannenbaum is spokesperson for the law enforcement task force charged with solving a high-profile case. She never dreams her position as Homecoming Pageant Director and her second-place finish in the previous year’s competition has placed her on a serial killer’s hit list. Always a runner-up in life, she wants to finally come in first at finding the killer targeting the current crop of beauties.

Her friend Luke Slaughter, a Graysville city cop, shows up at Philippa’s office, assigned to partner with her in solving the case and to protect her 24/7 for the duration. Unfortunately, he’s also the man she hooked up with for a one-night stand when she broke up with her fiancé. Working with her is going to be less than easy, for a number of reasons...

http://amzn.com/B00I27AS2I

Guest Review - - All You Need is Love

All You Need Is Love

By Marie Force

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: February 4, 2014

Cameron Murphy is the only child of an immensely wealthy businessman, but she is determined to succeed on her own. She is very proud of what she and her friend, business partner, and fellow-ADD sufferer have accomplished in building their web development business without depending on her father’s money or influence. Still, Cameron is grateful when Lincoln Abbot, an old friend of her father’s from their days at Yale, approaches her about developing a web site for his family business, the Green Mountain Country Store, which has been in his wife’s family for four generations. Cameron prepares a proposal, buys her first car (a new, cherry red Mini Cooper), and with Manhattan in her rear view mirror, sets out for Butler, Vermont, hopeful that the Abbot family will like her ideas and channel some desperately needed cash into her business. Her hopes dim when she has an encounter with Fred, the town moose, that leaves her car a wreck and Cam with a face so battered and bruised she frightens herself. Hope grows even fainter when the first citizen of Butler she meets is the grumpy Will Abbot, second son of the aforementioned Lincoln, who tells her that he and his nine brothers and sisters are adamantly opposed to their father’s plan to bring their business into the twenty-first century.

Will is convinced that the last thing the Abbots need is a city girl coming in and trying to change things that don’t need changing. He and his siblings are happy with the way things are and agree to do their best to overrule what they believe is just another of their father’s wild ideas. Will has a particular bias against city girls since his college girlfriend whom he expected to make his wife rejected him and small-town Vermont to return to the greater excitement of city life. He’s not about to allow himself to develop an interest in another girl from the city, no matter how attractive he finds her even with her battered face.  He keeps telling himself that she is not for him even as he buys her the right kind of boots for Vermont’s mud season and a coat with sleeves that will keep her warm and please her sense of style and invites her to breakfast and dinner and changes his mind about the web site.

It doesn’t take long for the city girl and the country boy to fall head over heels. Cameron also finds herself falling for the entire Abbot family from Grandpa Elmer, an expert in giving advice, to the youngest Abbot, college student Max who is having a crisis of his own, and the Abbots return her affection. But Cameron’s business is in New York. So are her father and her friends who have become her family. She loves bar hopping and Broadway plays and retail therapy, and the lack of a cell phone signal in Butler drives her crazy. Will’s life is in Butler. So is his family, immediate and extended. He loves winter sports and family dinners and his labs Trevor and Tanner, and he doesn’t even own a cell phone. Heartbreak seems likelier than an HEA for two people from such different worlds.

All You Need Is Love introduces a new series from Marie Force, and based on this beginning, I predict that it is going to be a smashing success. I fell in love with Will, the Abbott family, the country store, and Butler, Vermont, right along with Cameron. Will really is an irresistible hero—gorgeous, athletic, charming, and sensitive. And he loves his mom and his dogs and takes care of his kid brother. Cameron is smart, fiercely independent, and loyal with an openness and warmth that allow her to see the charms of a world very different from the one she knows best. There is also something a bit sad about her. Her privileged background didn’t shield her from the loneliness of growing up with no mother, no siblings, and a father who was rarely there. I not only liked these characters; I also believed in them and in Butler so strongly that I felt I could drive to Vermont and find them.

While Cameron and Will’s story is the heart of the novel, Force gives her readers enough information about the other Abbot siblings to know that each has a story.  I’m hoping that Force writes all of these stories. She has said that next up is I Want to Hold Your Hand (June 3, 2014), the story of the oldest Abbott daughter, Hannah, an Iraqi war widow, and Nolan, an old friend whose interest in Hannah is clear in the first book. That will be followed by I Saw Her Standing There, the story of Colton Abbott, a mountain man who lives primitively and runs the family's sugaring facility. That leaves seven more Abbotts plus their cousins and Cameron’s New York friends. This series could rival Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series in length. And, as with the Virgin River books, I’m ready to sign up for the duration of the series.

My only quibble, and it is a minor point, is that Will’s ex-girlfriend is “not good enough for him” because she chooses city life over him. Since I am barely willing to concede that Cameron is good enough for him, I’ll buy that the absent Lisa didn’t deserve Will, but I don’t think preferring city life to small-town life makes her morally inferior. I don’t think it’s unusual for college affairs to end because the people involved move in different directions. This is a hot-button issue for me, despite my abiding affection for small-town romances, but it is not enough to spoil my appreciation of these characters.

If you are a fan of small-town romances with a sweet and sexy love story that is also rich in family dynamics with a strong sense of place and a cast of characters who will linger in your memory and in your heart, I highly recommend this book.  If it’s not already on your have-read or to-be-read list, I suggest you add it today.  

~Janga

http://justjanga.blogspot.com

Review - - Watch Your Back

PJ here.  I'm delighted to welcome Manda Collins today, not in her role as a published author but as a book reviewer. Manda will be joining us from time to time to share her thoughts about books in one of her favorite romance sub-genres:  romantic suspense. Today, Manda is reviewing the newly-released Watch Your Back by Karen Rose. Welcome, Manda!




Watch Your Back
By Karen Rose
Publisher:  Signet
Release Date: February 4, 2014

                I've had mad love for Karen Rose ever since she happily autographed her entire backlist for me at a RWA conference some years back. It's rare that an author even gets her most recent book, let alone her entire backlist to sign at the RWA publisher signings—so her publisher must have known just how good she was!

                But what really tipped me over the edge to fangirl was her writing, and her latest WATCH YOUR BACK is easily one of her best.

                On medical leave from being shot in the previous book, Baltimore cop Stevie (Stefania) Mazzetti  has been going through her former partner's cases with a fine toothed comb in her down time, looking for anything untoward. You see, her former partner was in the pay of a very powerful man who paid to see to it that his enemies were punished while his friends got off scot free.  And Stevie wants to right the wrongs he committed, in part because she feels responsible for not having realized he was dirty. 

                          But Stevie has more issues than just a gunshot wound to deal with. She's also still recovering emotionally from the seemingly random shooting deaths of her husband and small son some years ago. And that has left her terrified to fall in love again. So much so that when former Marine turned Private Investigator Clay Maynard tries to turn their sizzling attraction into a relationship she turns him down flat. But when a sniper takes a shot at her on the anniversary of her husband and son's deaths, then tries again later at her house, she'll have to deal with Clay's presence in her life whether she wants him there or not. He's in protective mode and it will take more than Stevie's protests to keep him from doing what needs to be done to keep her safe.

                What follows is a twisting, turning tale of betrayal, sins of the past, and an arch villain who will stop at nothing to see to it that no one discovers he is the mastermind behind years of terror. As is her usual MO, Karen Rose has created a world in this Baltimore setting that seems so real you want to visit there. There are several threads of plot that carry over from the previous books in the series, and though I think it could be read as a standalone, to get the full effect it would be best to read those first.     

          

                One thing that is especially fun in any Karen Rose book is playing spot the walk-ons from other series and books. In this case, it's Stevie's friend and self-help guru, Emma , and her husband Christopher, who were the stars of Rose's novella "Dirty Secrets" from the anthology Hot Pursuit. And of course we get to see the couples from the previous books in the series, and various other secondary characters that populate her Baltimore world.

                Overall, I think this is one of Rose's strongest books, and I hope this won't end her time in Baltimore. I've grown to love these people and their friendships and loves and I will be sorry if we don't get to see more relationships develop among them. But knowing Karen Rose, even if she does decide to move the main action of her books somewhere else, we'll see these characters again someday as walk-ons in someone else's romance.

~Manda Collins

http://mandacollins.com

Manda Collins writes smart, sexy historical romance laced with a touch of mystery.  Manda still lives in her native coastal Alabama where she works as an academic librarian at a small liberal arts college.  Her most recent book, Why Earls Fall in Love, the second in her Wicked Widows trilogy, was released by St. Martin's on January 28, 2014.  You can find more information about Manda and her books at her website and connect with her online at Facebook and Twitter.

               

                

Today's Special - - Barbara Devlin

I recently "met" Barbara Devlin when author Jeanne Adams hosted her at the Romance Bandits blog.  I found both Barbara and her books fascinating and am excited to introduce her to our readers here at TRD. Many thanks to Jeanne for hooking us up!  

A Texan, Barbara has been a lover of books and storytelling for most of her life.  Following university, she tried out a couple careers until an injury sidelined her.  After she recovered, Barbara went back to school, earned an MA in English, began work on a Doctorate and started writing historical fiction.  

You can learn more about Barbara and her books at her website and connect with her online at Facebook and Twitter.

Welcome to the Romance Dish, Barbara.  Congratulations on the release of the first three books in your The Brethren of the Coast series.  Please tell our readers what they can expect from each of these books and from the series.

Well, romance is at the heart of each book, but the stories, themselves, are quite different.  For instance, Enter The Brethren is what I like to think of as a good old-fashioned romance, with a little high seas adventure, some pirates, and a damaged hero and heroine seeking acceptance from the world and each other.  My Lady, The Spy is best described as Romantic Suspense.  Lady Rebecca Wentworth, aka L’araignee (The Spider), is loosely based on the Spanish women employed by Wellington during the Peninsular Wars.  It is a dark book, in some respects, given the torture, but it has the requisite HEA.  After writing Spy, I needed something a little light-hearted, which is how The Most Unlikely Lady became a character-driven Romantic Comedy.  As for the series, expect to revisit the main characters and the world I’ve constructed, whenever one of my Brethren women or my Nautionnier Knights throw caution to the wind and take a chance on love.

Should these books be read in order or do the stories stand on their own?

I’d say it’s a matter of preference.  Each book is written to stand alone, so they can be read out of order.

This series is set in England during the early 19^th century.  

What is it about this place and period of time that inspires you?

The primary lure for my focus is the British Navy and the Peninsular Wars.  I completed part of my undergraduate studies at the University of London.  Of course, while living in the UK, I enjoyed some great sightseeing.  One of my first adventures, given that I was only nineteen when I arrived, was a day jaunt to Greenwich and a tour of the Naval Academy.  What struck me was the odd mix of unutterable elegance amid a military installation.  The early 19^th Century was, in so many ways, very refined in terms of culture, fashion, and manners.  Yet war was very brutal and, compared to today, rudimentary.  It offers me the chance to create my alpha military men with unique vulnerabilities.  As for my ladies, I enjoy constructing strong characters that struggle to fulfill societal expectations, while exercising their independence in private.  It’s the opportunity to compose a duality in the human condition during that era that I love.

The covers for these books are stunning and perfectly set the mood for the stories within.  Who is responsible for the artwork?  What cover last caused you to pick up a book?

My very talented cover artist is Lyndsey Lewellen.  I had a very distinct vision for my books, as well as the badge of the order, and Lyndsey listened to everything and brought my vision to life.  My primary goal was not only to set the tone for my books but also to brand my body of work, as a whole.  I want readers to recognize a Barbara Devlin novel with the slightest glance.  Interestingly enough, the description of the badge preceded the actual creation of the image.  I sent Lyndsey an excerpt of Enter The Brethren, in which the badge is described, and she worked her magic from a paragraph of details.  The design evolved, based on stylistic decisions, and I eventually omitted a few items from the original description so that everything matched.

The last cover that caused me to pick up a book is Adulthood Rites: Book Two of the Xenogenesis Series, by Octavia E. Butler.  The cover features the silhouette of a naked man with some sort of solar system in the background.  It’s very provocative.  I’ve since read the entire series.

Lyndsey does beautiful work.  

Okay, so with that cover description you know I had to go check out Adulthood Rites.  Sounds like a fascinating science fiction series.  

Where can readers find your books, Barbara?  In what formats are they available?

I opted to publish exclusively with Amazon, as it is the largest online retailer.  My works are available in the Kindle format, but anyone can purchase a book on Amazon and use the free software Calibre to reformat for just about every eReader in existence.

What’s next for The Brethren of the Coast?

So much is on the horizon for my Nautionnier Knights and their ladies.  Book 4, One-Knight Stand, featuring Cara Douglas and Lance Prescott, should be live for purchase by the end of February.  Book 5, Captain Of Her Heart, will premiere Summer 2014.  My critique partners and I recently gathered at my home in Texas, and we plotted Book 6, which features Dalton Randolph, and a novella for a Christmas anthology, which details the romancing of Lady Amanda Gascoigne-Lake by a young Lieutenant Mark Douglas.  I’ve had so many readers ask for the story of Admiral Mark and Lady Amanda Douglas, so they’ll get their HEA.  And, due to reader requests, I’ve decided to write the stories of the five original Templar Knights, whose 14^th Century vignettes serve as the prologues for each book.

Sounds like we've got lots of great stories ahead!  

We’ve talked about your characters, Barbara.  Now let’s talk about you for a bit.

Many readers have what we call comfort reads, those favorite books that never fail to lift our spirits no matter how many times we read them.  To what books or authors do you turn when your spirits need a boost?

Oh, boy, that’s a tough one, because I’ve collected the classics since I was in middle school.  I’d have to say my go-to authors depend on my mood.  Usually, I love anything by Henry James, Willa Cather, and Kate Chopin.  For contemporary reads, I’m a Tom Clancy fanatic, and I’m going to miss him.  From my days in London, I developed a love for the intrigues of Jeffrey Archer.  But, not a week goes by that I don’t have something by Dean R. Koontz or John Saul in my purse or on my iPad.

That's quite a diverse list of authors!  I share your sadness over the loss of Tom Clancy.  I'm a huge fan.  

What would readers be surprised to learn about you?

That I am a disabled in-the-line-of-duty, retired police officer—but I prefer cop, turned exceedingly eccentric, and more than a little insane, English professor.

If you could insert yourself into the life of any fictional character, who would you choose and why?

Oh, that’s easy.  For so many reasons, I’d love to be Scarlett O’Hara, if only to kiss Rhett—Ashley, not so much.  But I’d really enjoy the opportunity to deliver the line, “I want everyone who’s ever been mean to me to be pea green with envy.”

I'm sure many Gone With the Wind fans would share that wish.

Where can readers connect with you online?

I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and I can always be reached viabarbaradevlin.com.

Barbara, thank you so much for visiting with us today.  Would you like to ask our readers a question?

So many questions, so little time…  Okay, in the spirit of the Winter Olympics, which I absolutely love, if you could be a winter Olympian, which sport would you pick and why?  

For myself, I’d love to try the new slopestyle event, because it looks absolutely crazy and well nigh impossible.  I think Bob Costas insulted every slopestyle athlete when he compared the new event to the MTV show “Jackass.”  What an asinine comment.  Johnny Knoxville’s antics are nothing more than clumsy stunts designed to inflict pain and incite a response from the audience.  Slopestyle requires unimaginable skill, strength, and sheer guts, and I can only envy the athlete’s talent and fortitude.  And thank you for hosting me.

Readers, Barbara is giving away two e-copies of My Lady, the Spy today so let's get those comments going!  

Eloisa James ARC Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who dropped by and left comments yesterday.  I think it's safe to say there are a lot of excited Eloisa James fans out there!  Andrea and I appreciate you stopping by and hope you'll visit again. We have a lot of fun here at The Romance Dish and give away a lot of books.  Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter or by email (sign up in sidebar) 

to keep up to date with what's going on here at TRD.  

And now, without further delay...

The randomly chosen winner of an Advanced Reader Copy of Three Weeks With Lady X is:

Carol L

(February 15, 2014 @ 3:51am)

Congratulations, Carol!  

To claim your book, please send your full name and mailing address no later than 

Friday, February 21st to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Hope Tarr "Scribbling Women" Winners

The winner of a copy of Tempting by Hope Tarr is:

Janga

The winners of a digital copy of Scribbling Women and the Real-Life Heroes Who Love Them are:

Jennifer Essad

Santa

Connie

Please send your email address and choice of Nook or Kindle format to us at:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Manda Collins Winners

The U.S. winner of a copy of Why Earls Fall in Love by Manda Collins is:

Marcy Shuler

The international winner of a copy of Why Earls Fall in Love is:

Mary Preston

Congratulations!  Please send your full name and mailing address to us at:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Kandy Shepherd Winners

The winners of a copy of The Summer They Never Forgot by Kandy Shepherd are:

Pam Westfall

and

Kim in Baltimore

Congratulations!  To claim your book, please send your full name and mailing address to us at:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Sharon Sala Winner

The winner of a copy of The Curl Up & Dye by Sharon Sala is

librarypat

Congratulations!  

To claim your book, please send your full name and mailing address to us at:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Sneak Peek & Giveaway: Three Weeks With Lady X

PJ here.  I discovered the books of Eloisa James in 2006 and it didn't take long for her to secure a place on my auto-buy list.  In the intervening years I've read everything Ms. James has published. Many of her books have been 5-star reads for me but a few have surpassed that rating to achieve a rare Top Dish designation. Three Weeks With Lady X, a March 25, 2014 release is one of those special Top Dish books.  This story takes me on an emotional roller coaster ride from beginning to end, introducing me to characters who fascinate me, infuriate me, elicit both tears and cheers and leave me thinking about them long after their story reaches its very satisfying conclusion.  This one is a Top Dish keeper.

I have a very special treat for you today.  Not only do we have a sneak peek excerpt from Three Weeks With Lady X  but one randomly chosen reader who leaves a comment on today's blog will have the opportunity to read this story a full month before it's published! Eloisa James has graciously offered one print ARC of Three Weeks With Lady X for today's giveaway. To be eligible for the giveaway, tell me which Eloisa James book is your favorite and why.  Or, if you haven't read any of her books yet, tell me why you'd like to read this one.  (Giveaway is limited to U.S. mailing addresses)

For more exclusive information about Three Weeks With Lady X throughout the month of March, be sure to subscribe to the Eloisa James newsletter.  

For more information about  Eloisa James and her other books, visit her website and connect with her online at the following places:

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Three Weeks With Lady X
by Eloisa James

Chapter One

June 14, 1799
Number 22, Charles Street
London residence of the Dibbleshires

 “Lady Xenobia, I adore you!”

Lord Dibbleshire’s brow was beaded with sweat and his hands were trembling. “In vain have I struggled, but I can no longer contain my ardent feelings; I must reveal to you, no, enlighten you about the depths of my emotion!”

India managed not to step back, but it took an effort. She tried to summon up a perfect smile, kind but not encouraging. Though she wasn’t positive that smile even existed.

Whatever she came up with, would be better than an utterly inappropriate shriek of Bloody hell, not again! Daughters of marquesses—even deceased and arguably mad marquesses—did not shriek. More’s the pity.

The smile didn’t seem to work, so she trotted out her standard answer: “You do me too much honor, Lord Dibbleshire, but—”

“I know,” he responded, rather unexpectedly. Then he frowned. “I mean, no!No honor is too great for you. I have fought against my better judgment and while I realize that there are those who consider your reputation to be sullied by your profession, I know the truth. The truth shall prevail!”

Well, that was something. But before India could comment on the truth (or lack thereof), he toppled onto his knees. “I will marry you, Lady Xenobia India St. Clair,” he bellowed, widening his eyes to indicate his own shock at this declaration. “I, Baron Dibbleshire, will marry you.”

“Please do get up,” she said, resisting the urge to groan.

“I know that you will refuse me, owing to your inestimable modesty. But I have made up my mind, Lady Xenobia. The protection of my title—and, of course, yours as well—will overcome the ill effects of your unfortunate occupation. A plight to which you were driven, a point I shall make early and often. The ton will accept us … they will accept you, once you have the benefit of becoming Baroness Dibbleshire.”

Aggravation marched up her spine like a troop of perfectly dressed soldiers. True, her reputation was tarnished by the fact that she refused to stay home practicing her needlework. But as she was the daughter of a marquess, technically a Dibbleshire would be lucky to dance with her. Not that she cared about such things. Still, her godmother accompanied her everywhere—even now Lady Adelaide Swift was likely within earshot—and if nothing else, Adelaide’s chaperonage had ensured that India remain as pure as the driven snow despite her unfortunate occupation.

Who would have guessed that taking on the task of ordering people’s lives would have tarnished her lily-white wings?

At that moment, the door to the sitting room opened and her suitor’s mother appeared. India’s head began to pound. She never should have agreed to Lady Dibbleshire’s plea that India refurbish her drawing room, no matter how interesting a challenge it was to strip the room of its Egyptian furnishings.

“Howard, what in heaven’s name are you doing?” the lady demanded, making the whole situation even more farcical than it already was.

Dibbleshire sprang to his feet with surprising ease, inasmuch as his center of gravity was quite low slung and hung over his breeches. “I have just informed Lady Xenobia that I love her, and she has agreed to become my wife!”

India’s eyes were met—thankfully—by a gleam of sympathy in Lady Dibbleshire’s. “His lordship has misunderstood,” India told her.

“Alas, I have no doubt of that. Child,” Howard’s mother said, “every time I think that you have demonstrated the depths of your similarity to your father, you astonish me yet again.”

Dibbleshire scowled and looked, spaniel-like, back to India. “I will not allow you to refuse me. I haven’t slept for two nights, unable to think of anything but you. I have made up my mind to rescue you from your life of drudgery!”

He reached out his hand, and India nimbly stepped back. “Lord Dibbleshire—”

“You move from house to house, ceaselessly working.” His pale blue eyes gazed at her with devotion.

“Dear Lord, Howard,” Lady Dibbleshire exclaimed, “if our estate is ever lost, I am happy to think that you will be able to support us by making a living on the stage. However, it is my duty as a mother to point out that you are being rather vulgar.”

Apparently, his lordship had confused vulgarity with honor; he gave his mother a ferocious glare.

“Lady Xenobia is our dear and valued guest,” her ladyship continued, “who has been kind enough to aid me with restoration of the drawing room, as well as persuading the inestimable Mrs. Flushing to be our cook. For which”—she turned to India—“I shall be eternallygrateful.”

India had the knack of moving excellent servants into households where they would be appreciated and well paid. Mrs. Flushing had been languishing in the employ of a dyspeptic general and was far happier cooking for Dibbleshire and his mother.

“And Howard,” Lady Dibbleshire continued, “clearly you too are enjoying Mrs. Flushing’s menus, given your expanding middle.”

He scowled again and pulled at his waistcoat.

India opened her mouth to say something soothing, but at that moment her godmother  bustled into the room, accompanied by a stream of words. “Darlings,” Lady Adelaide cried, “that lovely Mr. Sheraton has sent a delectable small mahogany table. Jane, you will adore it, simply adore it!” She and Lady Dibbleshire had been school friends; indeed, nearly all of India’s clients were her godmother’s near and dear acquaintances.

“How splendid,” Lady Dibbleshire said. “Where will you place it, Lady Xenobia?”

India had become famous for designing rooms in which furniture was scattered in unstudied, asymmetrical seating arrangements. “I shall have to see it to be sure, but in the grouping under the south window, I think.”

“Perfect!” Adelaide exclaimed, clapping her hands. “Your drawing room will be the talk of London, Jane, mark my words.”

“We shall come take a look,” Lady Dibbleshire replied, “just as soon as I’ve persuaded my feckless son that your goddaughter has far better things to do than marry one such as he.”

“Oh my dear, you mustn’t be harsh to sweet Howard.” Adelaide moved over to Dibbleshire and took his hand. “I’m certain that India would be ecstaticto marry you, if only the circumstances were different.”

“I would never burden your name with the social opprobrium resulting from the path my life has taken,” India told him, following up with a smile and a gaze that indicated clear-eyed courage and self-sacrifice. “Besides, I saw Miss Winifred Landel watching you last night, though you were tactful enough to overlook her obvious infatuation. Who am I to stand in the way of such an advantageous match?”

Lord Dibbleshire blinked at India and said, uncertainly, “Because I love you?”

“You merely think you love me,” she assured him, “due to your charitable heart. I assure you that you need not worry about my plight. As a matter of fact, I have made up my mind to withdraw from my profession.”

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three Weeks With Lady X

By Eloisa James

Publisher:  Avon

Release Date:  March 25, 2014

Having made a fortune, Thorn Dautry, the powerful bastard son of a duke, decides that he needs a wife. But to marry a lady, Thorn must acquire a gleaming, civilized façade, the specialty of Lady Xenobia India.

Exquisite, headstrong, and independent, India vows to make Thorn marriageable in just three weeks.  But neither Thorn nor India anticipate the forbidden passion that explodes between them.

Thorn will stop at nothing to make India his. Failure is not an option.  But there is only one thing that will make India his. 
The one thing Thorn can't afford to lose--his fierce and lawless heart.

PURCHASE LINKS 

PRINT FORMAT:

Amazon.com

Barnes & Noble.com

Books-a-Million.com

HarperCollins.com

E-BOOK FORMAT:

Amazon Kindle

Barnes & Noble Nook

iBooks

Today's Special - - Hope Tarr and the Scribbling Women

I'm so delighted to welcome the wonderful Hope Tarr to The Romance Dish today.  Hope is much more than an award-winning author of more than twenty-five published novels.  She holds a Master's degree in psychology, a Ph.D in Education and spent several years as a research consultant for the federal government.  Many of you have probably heard of Lady Jane's Salon®, a monthly reading series devoted to romance fiction. What you may not know is that Hope Tarr co-created the original Lady Jane's Salon® in New York City and the concept of using the salons to "give back" to organizations that benefit women.  Each Lady Jane's Salon® (there are now six satellite salons across the U.S.) donates its proceeds to a 501(c)3 charity with the hope of bringing about more happily ever afters in their communities.  

For more information about Hope, visit her website.  Find out more about the anthology at: 
www.Scribbling-Women.com
www.Facebook.com/ScribblingWomen  
www.Twitter.com/ScribblingWomen

 Please give Hope a warm welcome!

Scribbling Women & the Real-Life Romance Heroes Who Love Them:

Romance Authors Celebrate Valentine’s by Sharing the Hope of Happily Ever with 

Homeless Women and Children

By Hope Tarr

The romance fiction community includes some of the most generous and socially conscious people I’ve ever had the privilege to meet—and that’s just a fact. Brenda Novak’s annual auction on behalf of The Diabetes Research Institute, Lori Foster’s Animal Attraction on behalf of shelter pets, and The Nora Roberts Foundation in support of literacy are but a sprinkling of the many instances of writers sharing the hope of Happily Ever After not only between the covers of their wonderful novels but also in real life.

            And now a group of us, twenty-eight to be precise, are carrying on that proud legacy by launching SCRIBBLING WOMEN & THE REAL-LIFE ROMANCE HEROES WHO LOVE THEM, a Valentine’s anthology to benefit Win (formerly Women in Need).

Styled along the lines of  the bestselling “Chocolate for a Woman’s Soul” anthology series, SCRIBBLING WOMEN & THE REAL-LIFE ROMANCE HEROES WHO LOVE THEM is a collection of twenty-eight nonfiction essays by popular romance authors, one for each day of February 2014, on how they met, wed, and love their real-life spouses and significant others. Contributors include Lisa Renee Jones, Deanna Raybourn, Jacquie D’Alessandro, Julie Kenner, and Nikoo and Jim McGoldrick (w/a May McGoldrick and Jan Coffey) as well as fresh voices such as Suzan Colón, Kat Simons, and Cindy Nord.

As the anthology’s editor, by now I’ve read the collection straight through—and line by line—easily a half dozen times, and yet each of the twenty-eight true love stories never fails to make me smile, laugh out loud—and sometimes tear up—every time. Some authors’ journeys to True Love involved overseas travel and sometimes relocation (  Mary B. Rodgers, Sonali Dev, Kat Simons) or military service (Carlene Love Flores, Carole Bellacera); others such as Jen McLaughlin’s took place in writers’ own backyards. Some couples met as college sweethearts (Katana Collins, Delilah Marvelle), others as seasoned second-chance lovers (Leslie Carroll, Suzan Colón). Some of the essays are tongue in cheek, even laugh-out-loud funny (Patience Bloom), while others are poignant, even bittersweet (Katharine Ashe, Elf Ahearn). All affirm that Happily Ever After isn’t only the stuff of fairy tales and romance novels.

It is every woman’s birthright.

In that spirit, all twenty-eight authors contributed their essays pro bono, waiving any royalties or advance so that we could raise the maximum monies for charity. Because of their generosity, we are able to donate ALL net proceeds from sales of the anthology to Win (formerly Women in Need).

Since its February 14, 1983 launch—yes, Valentine’s Day!—Win has worked tirelessly to bring the hope of Happily Ever After to disadvantaged women and their children in New York City. Win has been the official charity of NYC’s Lady Jane’s Salon® since our 2009 founding for good reason—the work they do empowering families to build positive, independent lives and forge forward into brighter futures is beyond “good.” It’s transformative.

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, now through 12 midnight EST we are dropping our digital anthology price to just 99 cents. That’s less than one dollar to give a homeless woman and her child access to clean, safe housing, critical services—and a serious shot at Happily Ever After.

SCRIBBLING WOMEN is available as both a digital and print release on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Happy Valentine’s Day—and Happily Ever After.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for visiting with us today, Hope and for bringing this wonderful anthology and organization to our attention.

Readers, we have some giveaways today!  Tell us about the heroes in your life (spouse, boyfriend, relative, friend, someone in your town, etc.).  What makes them special?  Or tell us how you make a difference in someone's life.  Do you volunteer?  Support a cause?  Help a friend?  Let's dish! 

Hope is offering one randomly chosen person who leaves a comment on today's blog a digital copy of her Kindle Top 100 Victorian-set historical romance, TEMPTING.

The Dishes are adding their support to this initiative by offering three randomly chosen people who leave a comment a digital copy (Kindle or Nook) of Scribbling Women & the Real-Life Romance Heroes Who Love Them.