Author Katherine Bone’s Upcoming Release + #RomanticIdea for Summer 2016

Summer #RomanticIdea

Katherine Bone’s #RomanticIdea for Summer 2016!

There’s nothing more romantic than watching the sun rise with the one you love. Add a stout cup of coffee for added benefit. It’s never too early or too late for rum! (Pirate!)

Pirate’s Coffee

1 Shot (Special Dark) Kahlua
1 Shot Rum, spiced
8 oz. Coffee

Mix together in glass and top off with ground cinnamon and/or whipped cream.

Daytona Beach Sunrise

Daytona Beach Sunrise

Rogue's Surrender coverBlurb:

The Rogue’s Surrender, Nelson’s Tea Book #3, Available July 12, 2016

He’d become a beast only she could tame.

Marked for death! Señorita Mercedes Vasquez has been betrayed by a member of Nelson’s Tea. Now her life is in the hands of the man she couldn’t save, a beast forged by Spanish hatred.

Lord Garrick Seaton, aka Captain Blade, is the only one who has a chance of pulling off a lifesaving mission. To do so, he must go to Spain and face memories of captivity and torture. But the fiery Spanish lady he seeks to rescue proves to be the greater threat. Can he protect his heart, or will she demand his complete surrender?

Preorder at Amazon.

~ Excerpt ~

Mercy’s gaze narrowed on the screened doorway with nerve-wracking precision.

The screen door handle jiggled slightly but stopped when it met grinding resistance. Muffled curses followed then a key grated in the lock.

She smothered a moment’s panic as the lock disengaged.

“Eddie?”

No response.

No. No. No, it isn’t him. Something is horribly wrong!

Her instincts sprang to life, and her senses climbed to extraordinary heights. She quickly retrieved her reticule, reaching inside to grab the small pistol she carried there. When her fingers grasped the gun, she exhaled in relief, and then aimed the weapon’s barrel at the cabin door.

Her heart thumped in her ears as the seconds dragged by.

She straightened her spine and cocked the trigger, widening her stance. No one enjoyed being backed into a corner, especially a spy. She’d shoot, if needed, with no regard as to who this man was. Too many lives depended on what she’d stored in her brain. If she wanted to make it to St. Mary’s in time to meet the vicar, she had to live.

The door squeaked on the hinge, opening with agonizing slowness like an ominous fog sweeping over a riverbank.

Que Dios le ayude. It was as if the invader wanted to increase her agony, making her anticipate the intrusion with paralyzing dread.

Her nerve endings shrieked like struggling, cornered rats as the door widened and a man’s long muscular leg prepared to step across the threshold. She held the gun steady, biting her lip in anticipation. Her trespasser wasn’t like anyone she’d ever seen before. His tall black boots and black breeches matched a fine woven linen shirt, over which he wore a dark draping broad-shouldered maroon jacket with intricate gold embroidery at the shoulders and sleeves. His shoulder-length black hair accentuated the distinguished lines of his high cheekbones and an aquiline nose. A black patch prevented her from looking into a pair of earth-shattering blue eyes.

Dios mio, he is formidably handsome. She was in true danger now. Her knees threatened to buckle. An impending swoon clouded her peripheral vision. She wasn’t afraid, per se, but paralyzed by an all-compassing innate awareness that awakened her body. This had never happened before.

She gasped.

He cocked his brow oddly in response, skin tugging cruelly above the left side of his mouth.

She immediately froze. Was the expression painful? Who had scarred the man?

Alarms sounded in her head. Lethal calm resonated from him as his stare left her to search the room with an odd familiarity. Her heart twinged. Was this Captain Blade, the notorious Lord Garrick Seaton? His comfortable stance, the way his gaze stroked the room like a loving caress, filled her with strange misgivings. It was as if he belonged here — not Eddie — not her.

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

The devilish man moved his left hand across his chest and took a humble bow. “Señorita.”

Katherine BoneBio:

National best-selling historical romance author Katherine Bone has been passionate about history since she had the opportunity to travel to various Army bases, castles, battlegrounds, and cathedrals as an Army brat turned officer’s wife. Who knew that an Army wife’s passion for romance novels would lead to pirates? Certainly not her rogue, whose Alma Mater’s adage is “Go Army. Beat Navy!” Now enjoying the best of both worlds, Katherine lives with her rogue in the south where she writes about rogues, rebels, and rakes—aka pirates, lords, captains, duty, honor, and country—and the happily-ever-afters that every alpha male and damsel deserve.

Book Review Club: Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase #historical #romance

Original paperback cover

Original paperback cover

My choice for June’s Book Review Club is Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase, a historical romance set in 1828 Paris and England.

Loretta Chase has long been one of my favorite Regency/historical romance authors. This book balances her trademark humor with the hero’s emotional trauma.

The hero is Sebastian Ballister, the Marquis of Dane, known as the “bane and blight of the Ballisters”, a rake with a terrible reputation. The book starts with a chapter on Dane’s childhood, which is kind of a no-no in romance, but in this case was absolutely necessary. Without understand his miserable childhood, the adult Dane would have been complete unlikable, but knowing that there was a hurt, damaged child inside made a big difference. Still, there were times when I wanted to shake some sense into him.

The heroine, Jessica Trent, is the twenty-five-year-old spinster sister of one of Dane’s friends, Bertie Trent. Bertie isn’t the brightest candle in the room, so he’s easily led astray by Dane, whom Bertie tries to emulate. Unfortunately, Bertie can’t afford to lose money gambling, so Jessica and her grandmother Genevieve go to Paris to rescue Bertie from the clutches of the despicable Marquis of Dane.

Jess got all the brains in the Trent family, so she is more than a match for Dane. The clash between them is quite delicious, full of biting barbs and sexual tension. Jess is a marvelous heroine: smart, wise for her years, and Dane’s worst nightmare: a respectable woman who drives him mad with lust. Theirs is a volatile relationship, but really fun for the readers. Highly recommended for lovers of historical romance.

audiobook cover

audiobook cover

If you enjoy audiobooks, Kate Reading’s narration is brilliant. She does a fabulous job with all the different voices, accents and foreign languages, in this case French and Italian. (Dane’s mother was Italian.) Kate Reading is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators.

Dear FCC: I bought this with an Audible credit and listened in the car.

Linda

As always, click on the graphic below for more great reviews in the Barrie Summy Book Review Club.

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@Barrie Summy