Category Archives: 10 ways

When I started writing for Avon, I would call my sister, who is largely responsible for my love of romance novels, and squee whenever I met one of our favorite writers.

When I met Lorraine Heath, there was much squeeing.  Much. Much. Squeeing.  She’s fabulous. Her books are fabulous (In Bed With The Devil and Between the Devil and Desire have permanent places on my keeper shelf and my bedside table). And I still pinch myself every time I see my name near hers on Avon lists or, say the RT Historical Romance of the Year List!

This month, I’m so excited, because Avon is releasing not one but two Lorraine Heath novels!  The first, Passions of a Wicked Earl is out now, and the next, Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman is out at the end of the month and I. Can’t. Wait!

Passions of a Wicked Earl is the story of a young bride who makes a mistake, and ultimately has to do everything she can to win back her husband.

Lorraine has given us a little taste of the awesome inside this book with the following Ten Ways to Woo Your Husband!

1. Don’t remain at the country estate where he has exiled you. 

2. When having your portrait done with him, wear something provocative so he can’t take his eyes off you. 

3. Constantly rearrange the furniture in the middle of the night, when the servants are already abed, so he is forced to assist you if wishes to find any peace so he can sleep. 

4. At the ball, dance with a handsome duke to make your husband jealous. (Make sure, however, that the duke is your ally and wants to taunt his brother into claiming you as his wife.) 

5. Hint that you have a ticklish spot, then dash away with a laugh that dares him to try to find it. 

6. Toss whiskey on him. When he returns the insult, invite him to sip the whiskey from your skin. 

7. Brazenly ask him to kiss you. 

8. Don’t be afraid to let him know that you yearn for his touch. 

9. Get him a dog. 

10. Fill his boring, staid life with laughter and love.

*sigh*

I love. These rules.

I have one copy of Passions of a Wicked Earl to give away! Tell us the way you wooed your love or, if you haven’t wooed a love yet, tell us the trick you’ve got up your sleeve to woo him when he shows up! We’ll choose a winner on Friday… **Don’t forget to share your email address with us so we can reach you if you win!

Stay tuned all this and next month for fabulous prizes and awesome Ten Ways posts from an incredible range of authors! And don’t forget to read more Authors Rule(s)!

My favorite thing about writing romance is the incredible support that a newbie writer like me gets from the other members of the romance community. Take this year’s RWA National Conference in Orlando, for example.  I was *terrified.* Surrounded by authors I love, all of whom were immensely talented and seemed to know *everyone!*

Thank goodness for the fabulous Anne Mallory, who took pity on me and invited me to dinner with the amazing ladies of the San Francisco chapter of RWA…where I met the equally fabulous Veronica Wolff.  Veronica writes Highland Romances (and we all know how much I love me some kilted hotties) and on top of that, she is fabulously funny and interesting and yes…I have a total girl crush on her.

So obviously, when I decided to celebrate the release of Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord, I invited Veronica to come over and blog on her most recent release, Devil’s Highlander!

Ten Ways to Level a Highland Devil
If wanting to knock a braw Highland warrior off his feet, a lass would do well to heed the following:

1. It pays to eavesdrop. You never know what might happen.
2. Act saucy at every turn.
3. If he calls you willful, ignore him—trust me, this will secretly drive him wild.
4. Disguise yourself in men’s clothing (trew-clad legs are exceeding naughty).
5. He will protest vociferously, but still you must secure his services as a lady’s maid, just once.
6. Beware fermented drinks of the West Indies.
7. Your Highlander isn’t very keen on the sight of you talking with other men. You would do well to disregard this.
8. Be a brave lass and see what you can do about getting him up off that deuced pallet already.
9. Why yes, that is a sword in his kilt.
10. Don’t ever give up. He’s really quite smitten, you know.

For the record, #9 is my favorite.  Thanks so much for coming over to play, Veronica!

Contest!

One of the things I like best about Veronica’s list is that these rules easily translate into wooing the infuriating, wonderful Alpha of your choice–kilt or no. Tell me the best thing about romances with alpha heroes in comments! One commenter will win a copy of Veronica’s book on Friday! **Don’t forget to share your email address with us so we can reach you if you win!

Stay tuned all this and next month for fabulous prizes and awesome Ten Ways posts from an incredible range of authors! And don’t forget to read more Authors Rule(s)!

When I hear the first whispers about Tiffany Clare‘s The Surrender of a Lady, I got really excited. See, I spent much of the early years of my romance novel obsessions reading Harem Romances.  The Skye O’Malley books, Johanna Lindsey’s Silver Angel, …when Loretta Chase tackled the Harem theme with her Don’t Tempt Me last year, I was in heaven.

And then Tiffany burst onto the scene with a debut harem romance that , and all was right with the world.  I don’t know if it’s because of the setting (far from the ton and its well-known rules) or the mysterious, intriguing, danger of the Harem world, but I was ready for a new writer who would take a big risk and give me a harem romance that I could really sink my teeth into. And omg does Tiffany deliver!

I’m so happy to host Tiffany as part of the release month celebration of Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord!Let’s face it, everyone has to surrender at one point or another…and sometimes the surrender is the fun part! Have trouble with this idea? Tiffany is here to help!

Tiffany Clare’s Ten Ways to Surrender 

1. Surrender to the Brazilian Wax (or Rusma scraping), you will love it after the initial sting,  I totally promise;-) And if you don’t, your man totally will :) 

2. Surrender to new customs to live life more freely and differently. You might as well try something new if you are going to enjoy life to the fullest. 

3. Surrender to the Harem life. Forget corsets and waltzes and London ballrooms. Instead imagine sexy, sheer harem garb with jewelery galore and bangles and bells for you ankles and wrists. 

4. Surrender to your master/owner. A sex slave has but one thing to barter with, and politics can be played with those assets. 

5. Surrender to your desires. 

6. There is a time when you have to surrender to the man you love. 

7. Surrender when the battle is lost, kismet has a way of making things work in the end. 

8. I might caution that there are some things you should not surrender to. Do not surrender your child. Ever. 

9. Do not surrender when drugged and abducted – refer back to (8) 

10. When you find love, hold on to it with all your might and tell your master/owner to go to hell. You have to be your own woman at some point.

Thanks so much for coming over to play, Tiffany, and congrats on the fabulous debut!

Contest!

I’ve confessed my weakness for Harem Romances…what’s your pop culture weakness? Reality TV? Shoot-em-up movies? Secret Baby romances? (Or maybe these are all my weaknesses, too?) Confess in comments, and one commenter will win a copy of Tiffany’s book! Winner will be chosen on Monday! **Don’t forget to share your email address with us so we can reach you if you win!

Stay tuned all this and next month for fabulous prizes and awesome Ten Ways posts from an incredible range of authors! And don’t forget to read more Authors Rule(s)!

Rachael Herron is the best.

We started our time at Avon Books together, she writing her fabulous Cypress Hollow contemporaries that mix knitting and hot heroes and me writing my historicals, and I’m pretty sure we were destined to be friends. Her first book, How To Knit A Love Song, was released to critical praise and my own excitement…and I’m so so happy to host her on the blog as part of my celebration of Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord!

Rachael was just here in New York City for a bit, meeting and exploring and, unfortunately, I had a terrible cold and couldn’t make our scheduled lunch, which made me very very sad…until she sent me the following list for the blog.  Now I’m not so sad, because I’m imagining that she did at least one or two of these things during the time when we were supposed to meet up!

Without further ado…

Ten Things to Do When Alone in a New City

1. Wander. Get lost. Do NOT buy a map. Remember that we are finally living in the future and you have a map in your pocket if you really need one, or–gasp–you could ask directions of someone (but you won’t — wherever you end up is where you’re meant to be).

2. Drink coffee. Even if you normally never drink caffeine (like me), there is something wonderful about an espresso sipped at a table as you watch the world go by.

3. When you pass a local bookstore, pop in and go through the Local section. You’ll find books you never would have dreamed of, and they’ll be good.

4. Flirt inappropriately with someone you’ll never see again, and then disappear, never even having given him your name.

5. Drink alcohol. Even if you normally never drink spirits (unlike me), unless there is a good reason not to (recovery is a good reason), there is something wonderful about 18-year Scotch imbibed while laughing in a town you don’t know.

6. Don’t pack an umbrella — they’re three dollars and readily available.

7. Walk in the rain.

8. Ask the names of the people you meet, and use them, even if you only use them to say goodbye.

9. Buy new shoes that will remind you of the city you’re in every time you put them on. Make them more frivolous than you normally wear: heels if you wear flats, boots instead of pumps.

10. Buy a map as you leave town, and write all over it, marking the places you’ve been and what you did there. Then, mark the places you want to go the next time you come back.

I love these tips! I think they should be printed on little cards and handed out at visitors’ centers across the globe.  Seriously.  Especially number eight.  You never know who you might meet.

Contest!

Tell Rachael and me one tip you have for traveling in a new city…and we’ll choose one commenter on Monday evening to win a copy of How to Knit a Love Song! **Don’t forget to share your email address with us so we can reach you if you win!

Stay tuned all this and next month for fabulous prizes and awesome Ten Ways posts from an incredible range of authors! And don’t forget to read more Authors Rule(s)! (And don’t forget to read Rachael’s Nine Rules for Knitting in the Dark for more fun!)

It’s unofficial Scotland week here at MacLeanSpace… completely unplanned, I scheduled Donna Fletcher and the fabulous Karen Ranney within days of each other…which is a gift to you, and all others who love their men brawny and kilted!

It seems appropriate, though, as the weather is just turning cool here in New York, and a warm man–*a-hem*–by which I mean, of course, a warm plaid would be more than welcome. And Karen’s most recent book, A Highland Duchess is exactly the kind of romance that keeps you warm on an autumn night!

I’m so thrilled to have Karen on the blog to celebrate the release of Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord…I’ve been reading her books since she started writing–there’s just something about that rollicking Scottish Romance that makes me all warm and fuzzy…and Karen must feel the same way (after all, her blog is called Warm Fuzzies)!

Ten Ways to Tell You’re in Scotland

1. You see lot and lots of tartan (especially in shops that cater to tourists).
2. You hear bagpipes and drums a lot.
3. People want you to try haggis.
4. You’re in Glasgow, but you can’t understand a word anyone says.
5. You have an incredible urge to go salmon fishing or play golf.
6. You look for a kilted man on every corner and when – thank your lucky stars! – you see one, you just stop and stare in appreciation.
7. You want to weep whenever you see a castle.
8. You have the curious urge to start talking brogue because you’re beginning to feel a little Scottish yourself.
9. You find yourself smiling often.
10. You really don’t want to leave – or you count the days until you can return.

Contest time!

One lucky commenter will win a copy of Karen’s A Highland Duchess! This post has put me in the mood for traveling and romance…It’s been ten years since I was in Scotland last, and I must say “When are we going to Scotland?” to my husband at least once a week!

So…how about this? In comments, tell us the place in the world you’d love to go (or return to) with your sweetheart…and we’ll choose one winner on Friday evening! **Don’t forget to share your email address with us so we can reach you if you win!

Stay tuned all this and next month for fabulous prizes and awesome Ten Ways posts from an incredible range of authors! And don’t forget to read more Authors Rule(s)!