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Category: Risky Book Talk

Posts in which we talk about our own books

Fly with a Rogue by Elena Greene

A village schoolmistress’s life takes a turn when a Waterloo veteran turned aeronaut crashes his balloon near her cottage. Passion sweeps them along, taking them on a scandalous flight across the English countryside. They must marry, but can they make a life together?

“This book does not disappoint and took Regency romance to a whole new level (pun intended).”
— (5 stars) Amazon reader review

“I enjoyed the interaction of these two characters. It was many things…humorous, serious, caring, annoyance and of course, romantic. You never knew quite what to expect next from them.”
— (5 stars) Amazon reader review

Buy at: Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Apple ~ Kobo ~ Smashwords

Elena Greene portraitElena Greene grew up reading her mother’s Georgette Heyer novels, but it wasn’t until she went on an international assignment to the United Kingdom that she was inspired to start writing her own. Her first Regency romance was published in 2000 and was followed by five more Regencies and a novella. Her books have won the Desert Rose Golden Quill and Colorado Romance Writers’ Award of Excellence. Her Super Regency, Lady Dearing’s Masquerade, won RT Book Club’s award for Best Regency Romance of 2005. Elena lives in upstate New York with her stroke survivor husband and two daughters.

Learn more and connect with Elena at:
Elena’s website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Elena’s newsletter

For a complete listing of titles offered in this sale, please visit the Risky Regencies 99 Cent Sale Page.

The Sergeant's Lady by Susanna Fraser

Highborn Anna Arrington has been following the drum, obeying the wishes of her cold, controlling cavalry officer husband. When he dies, all she wants is to leave life with Wellington’s army in Spain behind her and go home to her family’s castle in Scotland.

Sergeant Will Atkins ran away from home to join the army in a fit of boyish enthusiasm. He is a natural born soldier, popular with officers and men alike, uncommonly brave and chivalrous, and educated and well-read despite his common birth.

As Anna journeys home with a convoy of wounded soldiers, she forms an unlikely friendship with Will. When the convoy is ambushed and their fellow soldiers captured, they become fugitives together. The attraction between them is strong, but even if they can escape the threat of death at the hands of the French, is love strong enough to bridge the gap between a viscount’s daughter and an innkeeper’s son?

“The idea of an officer’s wealthy widow falling in love with a heroic common solider is beautifully romantic and heats up the pages right from the beginning.” — The Season for Romance

“historical fiction with a can’t-tear-your-eyes-away-from-it love story at the center” — Julia Spencer-Fleming

Buy at: Carina Press ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Apple ~ Kobo

Susanna Fraser PortraitSusanna Fraser wrote her first novel in fourth grade. It starred a family of talking horses who ruled a magical land. In high school she started, but never finished, a succession of tales of girls who were just like her, only with long, naturally curly hair, who, perhaps because of the hair, had much greater success with boys than she ever did.

Along the way she read her hometown library’s entire collection of Regency romance, fell in love with the works of Jane Austen, and discovered in Patrick O’Brian’s and Bernard Cornwell’s novels another side of the opening decades of the 19th century. When she started to write again as an adult, she knew exactly where she wanted to set her books. Her writing has come a long way from her youthful efforts, but she still likes to give her heroines great hair.

Susanna was born and raised in Alabama and never lost her love for barbecue and SEC football or stopped saying “y’all,” “fixin’ to” and “might could” as her adult life took her to Philadelphia, England, and at last to Seattle, where she now lives with her husband and daughter.

Learn more and connect with Susanna at:
Susanna’s website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Blog

For a complete listing of titles offered in this sale, please visit the Risky Regencies 99 Cent Sale Page.

A Certain Latitude by Janet Mullany
1800—Allan Pendale, lawyer and the youngest son of the Earl of Frensham, is bound by ship for the West Indies, to impart the news to his estranged father that his mother has died. But he also has another mission—to find out the truth of his origins.

Miss Clarissa Onslowe is also on board, traveling to take up the role of governess to the daughter of the wealthy planter Mr. Lemarchand. There is nothing to keep her in England. An indiscretion five years before led to her reputation being ruined; her abolitionist family has disowned her and no gentleman would marry her now. But now she seeks redemption with her family by revealing the truth about the miserable lives of the slaves who work on the sugar plantations.

Clarissa’s previous encounter with love has left her aroused and restless, and Allan is a man for whom lust is a daily pastime; thrown together belowdecks during the long sea voyage, they embark on a sensual odyssey where no desire is left untested. But if they thought their exploration and ecstasy could not be bettered, then there are more pleasures to be taken and boundaries to be broken at their island destination—where “March” Lemarchand, sugar king and master of seduction, awaits them both…

“A marvel of sex, smarts, and wit” — Pam Rosenthal/Molly Weatherfield

“Unabashedly wicked…titillating, witty, and very, very sexy” — Colette Gale

Buy at: Amazon

Janet Mullany portraitJanet Mullany grew up in England and has worked as an archaeologist, performing arts administrator, classical music radio announcer, bookseller, and editor, and unexpectedly became a writer over a decade ago. She speaks on such diverse topics as Georgian servants, the English abolitionist movement, the black and Jewish populations of Regency London, how to incorporate humor into romance, and how to write hot historicals. She lives outside Washington, DC where she reads voraciously and teaches a cat manners.

Learn more and connect with Janet at:
Janet’s website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

For a complete listing of titles offered in this sale, please visit the Risky Regencies 99 Cent Sale Page.

Lord Ruin by Carolyn Jewel
The Duke of Sin

The Duke of Cynssyr didn’t believe in love. He planned to marry for beauty. But a night of unforgettable passion left him a changed man — a man tied to a bespectacled spinster. Anne Sinclair’s long legs drove him wild with desire, and her quick wit challenged his mind. Ruined for any other, the notorious rake had only one choice; to court his wife. To win her condfidence, however, nothing less than his love would do.

The Old Maid of Bartley Green

Anne Sinclair had sworn to protect her sister from the infamous Lord Ruin. Yet she never expected to sacrifice her own virtue. Forced to give the rogue her hand in marriage, she vowed never to relinquish her heart. But Ruan worshipped her body and valued her intelligence, making Anne long to succumb to the ultimate temptation: falling for her husband.

Lord Ruin is full of engaging, loveable characters, a wonderful, interesting storyline, and true, realistic romance. — Carla Hesom, Romance and Friends

“With a captivating, innocent young woman and a handsome virile rake of a man, Ms. Jewel’s sensual and powerful love story keeps to the classic lines of the Regency Historical and while adding a fresh voice.” — (4 stars) Joan Hammond, Romantic Times

Buy at: Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Apple ~ Kobo

Carolyn Jewel portrait

Carolyn Jewel

Carolyn Jewel was born on a moonless night. That darkness was seared into her soul and she became an award-winning author of historical and paranormal romance. She has a very dusty car and a Master’s degree in English that proves useful at the oddest times. An avid fan of fine chocolate, finer heroines, Bollywood films, and heroism in all forms, she has three cats and two dogs. Also a son. One of the cats is his.

Learn more and connect with Carolyn at:
Carolyn’s website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads ~ Carolyn’s newsletter

For a complete listing of titles offered in this sale, please visit the Risky Regencies 99 Cent Sale Page.

Lady Em's Indiscretion Original CoverThis is the original cover for my sexy novella, Lady Em’s Indiscretion. I think it’s lovely, as are all my covers from Kim Killion. However, it turns out to have been an error in branding.

After publishing it, I learned that some readers do not read book descriptions before buying. There were complaints that it was too short and too sexy. My guess is the cover and title were too much like the cover and title of Lady Dearing’s Masquerade and misled some people into thinking Lady Em’s Indiscretion would be another long historical, sexy but with many other story elements. This, even though the description included the words “sexy” and “novella”. 

Lady Em's Indiscretion - New Cover
Anyway, there’s no point in blaming readers. So after a while, I asked Kim Killion to do a different cover, one that would make the heat level more obvious. Here’s what she came up with. Although I’m sad the folly had to go, since the switch reviews have been consistently positive. I only wish I’d done it sooner. Live and learn.

What readers are saying now:

“What a great story. A sweet romance of hope everlasting and the power of physical attraction. I really enjoyed the read, quick and very fun.”

“I don’t think the bad reviewers were really paying attention to what they were buying. This is a SHORT and sensual story, well worth the 99 cents I paid for it. It is well-written and sexy, and the author has a good sense of the time period.”

Lady Em’s Indiscretion is free on Amazon today through February 4. Just please do NOT download if you are looking for a sweet traditional Regency!

Which cover do you like best? What sorts of covers signal sexy to you?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com