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Tag Archives: 99 cent ebook sale

Hi!  I haven’t been around for a while, due to life challenges and some health issues—I’ve had a serious problem with my right eye, which is still a bit wonky. I also haven’t been working on romance recently, though I have been working on other things.

Since people may be in more need of books to read right now, I’ve decided to put all my ebooks on sale for the next few months. Most are 99 cents, and my novella, The Wedding Wager, is free. So this is a good time to check out my books if you haven’t already, and if you enjoy my books, let others know. All my titles are listed on the Book List on my website.

I also promise you that I hope to return to romance writing. I still believe in romance. Even though I was saddened by the recent turmoil in the Romance Writers of America (you can Google it if you don’t know what happened) I am now hopeful that the organization is refocusing and moving again towards greater inclusivity. Everyone deserves love, and everyone deserves to be able to read stories with characters they relate to.

I believe in love, and in people working through problems and becoming stronger together. The best romance novels don’t do this by the characters compromising, which to me means having to give up something important to them. The way I see it, and the way I try to write it, lovers figure out solutions that are a win/win, where no one has to give up their health or happiness or change who they are just to fit in with the other’s needs. They might learn that what they thought they wanted at the beginning of the story isn’t what they really need. They might have to let go of old ways of thinking and doing things. They grow in ways that might be uncomfortable, but they become more who they were meant to be.

I also believe that at the end of a good romance novel, things don’t settle down and go back to where they were. Things get better. The love between the characters benefits everyone around them: their friends and family and their communities.

I believe this is true in our lives. There’s a lot of division and strife in our world, but we’re not going to solve it if we believe there are winners and losers. We’re not going to solve it by compromises with ideas like racism or homophobia that mean some people have to suffer so others can benefit. We’re going to solve things by understanding and working toward answers that don’t leave anyone out. I believe that in the Biblical story of the loaves and the fishes, Jesus taught people that if we share, there will be enough. This is the sort of world I want to work for, where love rules rather than fear.

Please take good care of yourselves, and keep on loving.

Elena

www.elenagreene.com

One Grey Seal looking. Located Newquay, Cornwall, UK.

A lot of my favorite romance authors include animals in their romances. In Regencies, we often have horses, but other animals, usually pets, can add fun to a story. Laura Kinsale usually (always?) includes some sort of “mascot animal” in her books, including a horse, a gyrfalcon, a shark, and a pig. Mary Jo Putney is a cat lover and many of her books include cats.

There are almost always named horses in my books, and some of my characters have had pets. I included goldfinches, a hedgehog, and a pony in Lady Dearing’s Masquerade, since there were so many children in that story who would enjoy them. In Saving Lord Verwood, the hero gives the heroine a kitten as a wedding present and later gives her the more practical gift of a mare to ride. Later, he also lets her talk him into rescuing an orphaned seal pup, which they later release back into the wild.

I got the idea for that story element after a visit to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, a fun place to visit and learn about wildlife rescue. People at the center helped me figure out plausible ways for my characters to care for the baby seal.

Saving Lord Verwood by Elena GreeneThis month, I’m running a 99 cent ebook sale of Saving Lord Verwood, with my share of the proceeds going to the Sea Life Trust which runs the Cornish Seal Sanctuary and other sea life centers.

Saving Lord Verwood is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble,
Apple, and Kobo.

If you’d like to donate directly, just visit the Sea Life Trust website.

Do you enjoy animal characters in Regency romance? What are some of your favorites?

Elena

This month, I’m continuing my series of ebook sales for good causes. The Redwyck Charm is currently on sale for just 99 cents.

Here’s the blurb:

Marcus Redwyck, Earl of Amberley, reluctantly agrees to wed an heiress in order to save his estate. But his equally reluctant bride, Juliana Hutton, runs away and masquerades as an opera dancer. When they meet, passion leads them to the edge of scandal. Even when all is revealed, it will take all of Marcus’s resolution and the fabled Redwyck charm to win the spirited Juliana’s heart.

I realize that it’s a bit of a stretch for a properly raised young woman to impersonate an opera-dancer. I work around that a bit by not having her dance that well! But also I did have some historical justification. In The Mirror of Graces (by a “Lady of Distinction, 1811) I read that young ladies sometimes took ballet-lessons to improve their ballroom performance.

“Extraordinary as it may seem, at a period when dancing is so entirely neglected by men in general, women appear to be taking the most pains to acquire the art. Our female youth are now not satisfied with what used to be considered a good dancing-master; that is, one who made teaching his sole profession; but now our girls must be taught by the leading dancers at the Opera-house.

“The consequence is, when a young lady rises to dance, we no longer see the graceful, easy step of the gentlewoman, but the laboured, and often indelicate exhibitions of the posture-mistress. Dances from ballets are introduced; and instead of the jocund and beautifully-organized movements of hilarity in concord, we are shocked by the most extravagant theatrical imitations. The chaste minuet is banished; and, in place of dignity and ease, we behold strange wheelings on one leg; stretching out the other till our eye meets the garter; and a variety of endless contortions, fitter for the zenana of an eastern satrap, or the gardens of Mahomet, than the ball-room of an Englishwoman of quality and virtue.

“These ballet dances are, we now see, generally attempted. I say attempted, for not one young woman in five hundred can, from the very nature of the thing, after all her study, perform them better than could be done any day by the commonest figurante on the stage. We all know, that, to be a fine opera-dancer, requires unremitting practice, and a certain disciplining of the limbs, which hardly any private gentlewoman would consent to undergo. Hence, ladies can never hope to arrive at any comparison with even the poorest public professor of the art; and therefore, to attempt the extravagancies of it, is as absurd as it is indelicate.”

The picture above is a waltzing scene from La Belle Assemblee, February 1, 1817 which I think clearly shows the influence of opera-dancing on social dances.

This was a fun book to write, definitely in the category of “romp”. It was also a stretch for me to write a heroine like Juliana, who did things I’d never have dared. One reader did complain that Juliana is spoiled. But the way I look at it, even now a woman can be born to wealth and material advantages but still have to fight to determine her own destiny.

When Juliana is faced with the prospect of a marriage of convenience with Marcus, she is finally swayed by the fact that he needs her money to save his estate from falling into the hands of a man who would neglect his tenants for a quick profit. Juliana’s compassion surpasses her personal desires (at the time at least—once she realizes she’s in love with Marcus, it’s all good).

So I think it is fitting to donate the proceeds of this sale to the Flint Child Health and Development Fund, dedicated to the “long term health and development needs of Flint children exposed to lead”. If you are not familiar, here is some background on the Flint water crisis and a more recent update.

The ebook version of The Redwyck Charm is on sale at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks and Kobo.

If you’d like to donate directly, go to Flint Kids and just use the “Donate” button.

Do you like “heiress” stories? Do you have any favorites?

Elena

The Lady from Spain by Gail EastwoodSpy, innocent, or something else?

Posing as a Spanish widow for safety’s sake, Falcarrah Colburne returns to England on a dangerous personal mission. Lord Danebridge, the handsome lord she meets upon her arrival, makes certain that she will need his help, for the government has assigned him to learn if the lady is a spy. Falling in love is not part of his plan for unraveling her secrets. After he has lied to, stolen from, and spied upon her, can he hope to win her trust or divert her from her dangerous path? Can she give up the road to revenge for the risky road of love?

* A Holt Medallion Finalist *

“A sparkling jewel of a Regency romance…another wonderful love story full of cleverly plotted intrigue…topped off with an intensely powerful resolution.” — (4 1/2 stars) Romantic Times

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

Gail EastwoodGail Eastwood started writing her own “books” as a hobby at age seven. Through a variety of careers including reporter, rare books dealer, and freelance journalist, she never gave up the dream of becoming a novelist. She lives in her native state of Rhode Island with her husband, two adult sons, and one lazy cat, where she also teaches writing classes and workshops. She holds a degree in Humanities/Comparative Drama and Sociology from Case Western Reserve University. Spending time with her family, indulging in Renaissance and English Country dance, and pursuing her interests in historic costuming, reading, theater, and the beach infringe on her writing time. Her favorite travel destination is, no surprise, England.

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

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

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.