Winners of A PIRATE FOR CHRISTMAS!

I'm absolutely thrilled to announce the lucky winners of Anna Campbell's A PIRATE FOR CHRISTMAS!   


So... :::: DRUMROLL PLEASE :::::


Congratulations to 


Louise Jackson

and 

Iris Mattioli



Could you please contact Anna with your email addresses so she can organise your free downloads of the Kindle editions?  Her email address is anna (at) annacampbell (dot) info.

.

A Pirate to the Manor Born - with Anna Campbell

I'm so delighted to have lovely Anna Campbell to visit us on the LoveCats DownUnder!  She has a rollicking good Christmas story, A Pirate for Christmas, just released and she's generously giving away a Kindle download to one luck commenter!

Over to you, Anna!

Hi Love Cats! Thank you for having me as your guest today. I hope you won’t mind if I have a brief meander down Memory Lane before I get to my latest release, A Pirate for Christmas: A Regency Novella. 

Although my family was staunchly Australian, there was one part of the house was forever England.
 
The TV set.
 
I grew up on a steady diet of classic UK TV shows. Period drama like Upstairs Downstairs; The Pallisers; Raffles; I, Claudius; literary adaptations like Pride and Prejudice and Anna Karenina.
 
And British comedy. Lots and lots of British comedy.
 
Family conversation was littered with references and jokes from shows like The Two Ronnies (Piggy Malone featured strongly), Yes Minister, The Vicar of Dibley, The Good Life, Open All Hours, and Fawlty Towers. Personally I had a liking for the slightly more surreal stuff like the Goon Show and Monty Python, but they weren’t part of the mainstream family diet.
 

One of our all-time favourites was To the Manor Born, starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, which was originally broadcast between 1979 and 1981, and which is still playing on Pay TV. Clearly everybody else loved this show too. By the way, if you’d like some background on the program, there’s a nice Wikipedia article here.
 
Audrey fforbes-Hamilton’s family has lived in the manor for 400 years, but unfortunately the money has run out and after her husband’s death, she’s forced to sell to nouveau riche supermarket millionaire Richard DeVere. Worse, DeVere is actually Czechoslovakian so this bastion of English heritage has fallen into foreign, and as far as Audrey’s concerned, completely inadequate hands.
 

A romance reader can tell right now where this story is going – and 20 episodes later, that’s just where it did go, with Audrey and Richard in love, marrying, and moving into the manor together. On the way, there are some beautifully observed characters, some lovely comedy, and a very nicely done romance. It’s lovely seeing Audrey gradually overcoming her blind prejudice and even lovelier to see Richard teasing her along the way – he knows pretty much from the start that she’s the one for him. Sigh.
 
Years ago, I saw an interview with the writer Peter Spence, and when he was asked why the show had such universal appeal, he said, “It’s a romance.” And you know, he absolutely nailed it.
 

Why am I spending so much time talking about old-fashioned sitcoms? There is Manor in my Madness. I’ve always wanted to write something inspired by TTMB and this year’s Christmas novella is it. My heroine Bess Farrar, the vicar’s daughter who is the de facto head of the village of Penton Wyck, is considerably younger and less managing than Audrey, but she shares a managing manner with her inspiration. Scottish Rory Beaton, the new Earl of Channing, is a cuckoo in the nest in this sleepy Northumberland village – and like Richard, he is subject to much wild and unfounded gossip about his past.
 
Just to clear something up straightaway, he’s NOT a pirate, but everybody thinks he is and nothing he does shifts the public perception. And to be honest, he has quite a bit of fun teasing Bess about his supposedly lawless background before he fesses up to being a gallant naval captain.
 
I hope you’ll have fun with this story too.
 
Here’s the blurb:
 
Pursued by the pirate…
 
Bess Farrar might be an innocent village miss, but she knows enough about the world to doubt Lord Channing’s motives when he kisses her the very day they meet. After all, local gossip insists that before this dashing rake became an earl, he sailed the Seven Seas as a ruthless pirate.
 
Bewitched by the vicar’s daughter…
Until he unexpectedly inherits a title, staunchly honourable Scotsman Rory Beaton has devoted his adventurous life to the Royal Navy. But he sets his course for tempestuous new waters when he meets lovely, sparkling Bess Farrar. Now this daring mariner will do whatever it takes to convince the spirited lassie to launch herself into his arms and set sail into the sunset.
 
A Christmas marked by mayhem.
 
Wooing his vivacious lady, the new Earl of Channing finds himself embroiled with matchmaking villagers, an eccentric vicar, mistaken identities, a snowstorm, scandal, and a rascally donkey. Life at sea was never this exciting. The gallant naval captain’s first landlocked Christmas promises hijinks, danger, and passion – and a breathtaking chance to win the love of a lifetime.
 
You can read an excerpt of A Pirate for Christmas on my website here. 

You can buy A Pirate for Christmas at a bargain price from:
 
Amazon
Smashwords
Barnes and Noble

So do you have a favourite British comedy? There’s plenty of great ones to pick from! 

I’ve got a Kindle download of A Pirate for Christmas (international) for one person who comments today. Good luck!

Winner From Anna Campbell's Visit!

Woohoo!  It's my very great privilege to announce the winner from Anna Campbell's visit to the LoveCats DownUnder...

... it's.... (drumroll)

Lyn Williams!

Lyn, could you please email Anna Campbell on anna (at) annacampbell (dot) info to arrange to collect your download of The Seduction of Lord Stone!  Please include which download you'd prefer - Smashwords or Kindle

"With a Song in My Heart!" Anna Campbell visits the LoveCats!

I've got lovely Anna Campbell to visit today to talk about her new e-book:

• The Seduction of Lord Stone: The Dashing Widows Book 1.  

I've been lucky enough to read an advance copy of this marvellous story and I'm absolutely thrilled to say that Anna's giving away a download of this book to one lucky commenter!

Blurb:

For this reckless widow, love is the most dangerous game of all.

Caroline, Lady Beaumont, arrives in London seeking excitement after ten dreary years of marriage and an even drearier year of mourning. That means conquering society, dancing like there’s no tomorrow, and taking a lover to provide passion without promises. Promises, in this dashing widow’s dictionary, equal prison. So what is an adventurous lady to do when she loses her heart to a notorious rake who, for the first time in his life, wants forever?

Devilish Silas Nash, Viscount Stone is in love at last—with a beautiful, headstrong widow bent on playing the field. Worse, she’s enlisted his help to set her up with his disreputable best friend. No red-blooded man takes such a challenge lying down, and Silas schemes to seduce his darling into his arms, warm, willing and besotted. But will his passionate plots come undone against a woman determined to act the mistress, but never the wife?

Over to Anna...

Hi Love Cats! Hi in particular to my hostess today, the fabulous Sharon Archer! Thank you for having me as your guest today to talk about my new digital novella The Seduction of Lord Stone: The Dashing Widows Book 1. 

I know a lot of authors put together soundtracks for their books, with inspirational songs to get them into the writing mood. I don’t do that, although I do like to work with instrumental music playing – words put me off my game. 

But every so often a song pops up that acts as a theme for a character and I can’t get it out of my head. 

To give you an example, in Midnight’s Wild Passion (Avon 2011), the song that fitted the action was Muse’s Undisclosed Desires. If you’ve read that book, you’ll know that both the hero and heroine are living a lie in many ways. Only when they fall in love and give in to their “undisclosed desires” can they get their happy ending. 

The song fitting the story thing happened again recently while I was writing my new digital novella, The Seduction of Lord Stone. This is the first in my Dashing Widows series and it’s out 1^st September from all good e-tailers at the bargain price of 99 cents.

Except, in TSOLS’s case, it was two songs. 

So here in musical terms is a description of what my hero and heroine need to resolve before they can walk off into the sunset together.

Beautiful, wayward, reckless Caroline, Lady Beaumont, in London for the season after a very dull year of mourning for a husband she didn’t love:

All I Wanna Do Is Have Some Fun – Sheryl Crow

Dashing, rakish, clever Silas Nash, Viscount Stone (yeah, he might find himself seduced somewhere in this story – hate to include spoilers!), patiently conducting a subtle courtship of his skittish beloved: 

When I Fall in Love, It Will Be Forever – Nat King Cole

You can see why Houston, we have a problem, can’t you? 

Whatever the case for my bewildered hero and heroine, the writer had some fun with this story, anyway. Silas is one of those heroes who just seems to get more and more entangled in disasters as he pursues Caroline, while she keeps dancing one step ahead of him. 

It was mean to laugh at his dilemmas – but I DID! 

Until, of course, he turns the tables on Caroline and catches her. Which is when I can promise you that Silas and Caroline BOTH have some fun! And yanno, there might just be some falling in love forever going on there too. So the two songs end up playing in perfect harmony! 

Anna and Sharon

Let’s talk favourite songs. Do you have one? Does it have any particular associations for you? I’ve got a download of The Seduction of Lord Stone (international) for one lucky commenter. 

You can read an excerpt from The Seduction of Lord Stone here: 

Buy links: 

• Amazon
• Smashwords

You can visit Anna on social media:

• at her Website:

• on Facebook:

• and on Twitter: @AnnaCampbellOz

Anna Campbell talks about Best Laid Plans!

I'm so thrilled to have lovely Anna Campbell to visit to talk about her latest novella!

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley.
 

Robert Burns, To a Mouse

Hiya LoveCats! Lovely to be back here. Thank you. 

Isn’t that a classy way to start a blog? Except I’m not sure if I’m allowed to mention mice here on a love cats blog. It might (mice?) cause trouble. 

Today I’d like to talk about my new Sons of Sin novella, THREE PROPOSALS AND A SCANDAL, and how it wasn’t part of my best-laid plans at all. 

As many of you know, since 2011, I’ve been writing a series based around three men who were friends at Eton and who all suffered in various ways because of the scandals shadowing their births. 

The Sons of Sin series started with a proposal for a stand-alone book, SEVEN NIGHTS IN A ROGUE’S BED, Jonas’s story (2012). 

My editor at Grand Central Forever liked it so much, she wanted more in a similar vein. So my best-laid plan of writing another stand-alone historical romance (until then, I hadn’t attempted a series) became a trilogy. Cue A RAKE’S MIDNIGHT KISS (2013) and WHAT A DUKE DARES (2014). Oh, and a novella called DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES (2013) which was a prequel. 

You can already see those plans for a trilogy were going a bit wonky. 

They went even wonkier when the trilogy turned into a quartet with the release this year of A SCOUNDREL BY MOONLIGHT, the Marquess of Leath’s story. 

Leath wasn’t part of the original trio of sons of sin, but he was a dynamic character in WHAT A DUKE DARES and was screaming out for his own love story. By this stage, too, I was hooked on going back to see how my characters were managing. So when I had the chance to write another full-length book, I leaped at it like a cane toad after a blowfly.

But still, the series didn’t feel finished to me. In WHAT A DUKE DARES, Cam the hero is courting the perfect wife when he falls madly in love with Penelope Thorne, who is anything BUT the perfect wife. Which means Lady Marianne Seaton, Cam’s first choice, was left to keep a stiff upper lip through all the gossip about the duke jilting her. I felt then that she got the raw end of the prawn – after all, she’d done nothing wrong – and that feeling continued right through writing Scoundrel. So I decided that she needed her own happy ending.

And what do you know? I had a lovely hero just waiting in the wings for her. Odd how the subconscious works. Penelope’s brother Elias was another intriguing character and it turned out he was just right for Marianne. 

So the story for THREE PROPOSALS AND A SCANDAL was born. The original plan of a trilogy had definitely gone a-gley. We’re now up to four full lengthers and two longish novellas. And I’ve got ideas for more stories set in this world that has such a grip on my imagination. 

In 3 Proposals, Marianne faces a choice between three very different suitors – and on paper, Elias Thorne is the least eligible of all of them. Then everybody goes to the country, as happens! Marianne, her autocratic father, her suitors, plus a fair assortment of characters from the earlier SoS books converge on the year’s most glamorous house party. Dramatic events and revelations, not to mention forbidden passion, ensure that everything is sorted out in the wash. 

Actually there is literally a wash – bad weather traps all the players in Jonas and Sidonie’s luxurious country house. In such close quarters, the characters can’t escape the consequences of their actions. 

You could say Marianne’s best-laid plans gang a-gley too. Which is where the fun comes in! 

*          *          *

Anna's got two downloads of THREE PROPOSALS AND A SCANDAL up for grabs today (international)!

Just tell her the last time your best-laid plans went awry – and whether the results were good or bad. 

Good luck!

Blurb:
 
Whose hot kisses will melt the ice princess? All London is agog to know!

As the season reaches its brilliant climax, three very different men pursue beautiful Lady Marianne Seaton. She’s the marriage mart’s greatest prize – even if cruel and unjust gossip paints her as a woman cold and glittering as any diamond.

Lord Desborough is her father’s choice – rich, powerful, safe. Lord Tranter is society’s darling – handsome, dashing, charming.
Then there’s the dangerous, compelling man nobody in their right mind calls eligible. Elias Thorne, son of scandal, reputed deceiver, possessing a rakish fascination no woman can resist. A lady might choose Elias as a lover, but as a husband, he’s too risky a bet. Even if Marianne’s forbidden yearning for him threatens her future and her reputation.

When Marianne’s suitors pursue her to the year’s most glamorous house party, there will be proposals and passion, rivals and revelations, secrets and scandals.

Let battle commence – but will the best man win?

You can read an excerpt from THREE PROPOSALS AND A SCANDAL:  here
 

You can get your very own copy on:
Amazon
Smashwords 

And you can find Anna:
on Facebook
on Twitter - @AnnaCampbellOz
and on her website!

Tέλος, Fin, نهاية, The End- and a giveaway to celebrate!

Oh, the joy, the sweet, perfect joy of writing 'the end' of a book. I have literally, only minutes ago finished the second book in my Weddings in Westchester series and I couldn't be happier.

(Actually, I was probably at my happiest when my husband's cousin arrived with this little beauty to celebrate - thanks, Maria!).

It's not that I didn't love the story or my characters, it's more that I was so anxious to give my characters Erin and Nick their happily ever after that I was racing to make sure they got it.

If you slide your gaze right you'll see the first in this series The Bouquet List which has been out on the shelves for a couple of weeks. Some of you will know that my husband is Greek and we've spent quite a bit of time in Greece. Added to that, one of my favourite movies of all time is "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," so I guess it wasn't a surprise that the Katsalos family who run a wedding business in upstate New York paid me a visit.

Here's a little run down of the characters in first two books of the Weddings in Westchester series to get you acquainted:

Pia Katsalos - wife to Mano and mother to Nick, Ari and Yasmin. She's had enough of her life at the        Aegean Palace, the wedding hall she's run with Mano for the past 40 years. She's gone back to Greece until either the Palace starts making money, or Mano agrees to sell.

Mano Katsalos - horrified that his wife has left home, he leaves their three children to run things until he brings their mother back. First to look after the Palace is:

Yasmin Katsalos - mushroom expert with purple hair and a diamond stud in her nose, and survivor of dengue fever. Yasmin's back home to work on her "bouquet list" (the list you make when you realise you're not going to die) and number five on her list is having a fling with a guy who is a tall, dark, handsome guy who is totally out of her league. The person who fits that bill just happens to be:

Lane Griffiths - restaurant renovation expert who's been charged with turning "the Palace" around. He couldn't possibly fall for Yasmin becuase he's the best friend of:

Nick Katsalos - brother to Yasmin, mathematician and general heart breaker who will have his very own story in book Two! (I know that to be true because I've just written his story!!) Nick is challenged to take the success of the Palace to a whole new level when he enters a wager with the daughter of his family's greatest rival. That person is:

Erin O'Malley- eldest daughter of the O'Malley family, Erin needs to prove that she has what it takes to run her father's business and that involves beating the confident and calculating Nick.

To celebrate endings, and the release of The Bouquet List.  I have two e copies to give away for commenters who can tell me something they can't wait for.

Sunday Smooch - Back in the Italian's Bed - Annie West

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from  Annie West but first 


... the two winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Tammy Yenalovitch.


Can you please contact lsmackay(at)ts(dot)co(dot)nz  to receive your copy of  A Father For Her Baby.



And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Annie's 'Back in the Italian's Bed':

It’s love at first sight for Jenna when charismatic hotelier Fabrizio Armati sweeps her off her feet in Venice. That chance encounter sparks a sizzling affair that lasts until she discovers Fabrizio sees her as no more than a convenient, expendable mistress. Then her world falls apart.

Six months later Jenna tells herself she’s moved on. Until Fabrizio walks into a meeting to find her working for his greatest rival. She’s about to discover just how far he’ll go to get her back in his bed.

When revenge turns to passion, will surrender be on his terms, or hers?

Scene set-up

Six months ago Jenna walked out on Fabrizio, the man she adored, when she discovered he could never return her feelings. Now working for his rival, Jenna is showing Fabrizio around the luxury boutique hotel he's negotiating to take over. She has just discovered that far from accepting her earlier decision to leave, Fabrizio searched Rome for her when she walked out on him.

Smooch  

     Jenna pressed the heel of her hand to her thumping heart, trying to take in the enormity of what Fabrizio had revealed.

He’d searched, actually combed Rome for her?  

She felt light-headed, trying to grapple with such a foreign concept. It didn’t make sense. None of it did.

‘But why? Why go to so much bother?’ Wonderingly she met his gaze and caught a flash of something unfamiliar in those dark pewter depths.

‘Why?’ His lips twisted cruelly on the word. ‘You have to ask why?’ He shook his head, staring down at her as if he’d never seen her before.

A sudden jerk of his arm tugged her off balance. She fell against him, breast against hard, male heat, her hand splayed over superfine wool and powerful muscle.

‘Because of this.’ His head swooped down like a bird of prey on its target. The action was so swift she just had time to register shock before his mouth crashed into hers, forcing her head back. He gathered her in, one broad hand cradling the back of her skull. Dimly she realised he surrounded her, his legs planted around hers, shoulders blotting out the evening light, his body, his hands and mouth all she could feel.

Joy rose. Scalding, sudden, incandescent joy, at being within Fabrizio’s embrace again.

Her body reacted instinctively, her lips parting hungrily under the pressure of his, her body softening against his taut frame. Her hand crept up to plunge in the crisp hair at the back of his head.

Yet somewhere amidst the overload of sensation, her brain tried to assert itself.

‘No,’ she gasped against his mouth. ‘I don’t—’

‘But you do, don’t you, tesoro?’ His whispered, fervent words tracked a line across her cheek, to her ear and down her throat, making her shudder and her nipples peak with erotic pleasure. ‘You do want this. You want me, just as I want you. It’s always been like that between us. You can’t hide it.’

She was melting, the core of her liquefying under the double assault of his words and his magic touch. Any minute now and her legs would give way completely. She grabbed his shoulders and hung on.

‘Jenna!’ His voice was sharp and demanding, dragging her heavy eyes open. ‘You want me, don’t you?’

He looked so fierce, so war-like, her insides gave a little quiver of fear, even though she knew he’d never physically hurt her. He looked like a man goaded almost beyond the limit of his control.

She shook her head, dazed by the impressions bombarding her, and his hold tightened. He crushed her against him.

‘Say it, Jenna.’ His lips found the secret place below and behind her ear and she shuddered with need. A moment later she caught the sound of fabric tearing and his hand was on her breast, hot and delicious through the fragile lace of her bra. ‘Say it.’

Lust and longing. Curiosity and almost…fear at his harsh expression. That wasn’t anger or simple lust in those crystalline depths but something unfamiliar.

She thought of him searching for her, worrying for her, and her anger melted. Recklessness fired her blood at the realisation this would probably be the last time she felt this vibrant passion. With a sigh of defeat, she gave in to the inevitable.

She’d run from him but she’d never truly escaped.

Fisting her hands in his hair, Jenna pulled his head down and nipped him on the earlobe. His start of reaction was like a bolt of lightning zapping through all her erogenous zones. Always it had been like that. His pleasure was hers.

‘I want you, Fabrizio.’ The words emerged strong and true. ‘Just like you want me.’

If you want to read the rest of Fabrizio and Jenna's story, 'Back in the Italian's Bed' is available now for just 99c. Here are links to buy it from Amazon and Barnes and Noble. If you haven't yet bought a Mothers' Day gift, this might be just the thing!

If you were reuniting with your lover, where would you choose for your reunion? A five star hotel? A secluded cabin in the mountains? Maybe a yacht in the Bahamas or a trekking holiday to Kathmandu?

Leave a comment and go in the draw to win a copy of Annie's BACK IN THE ITALIAN'S BED.

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Ella Carey will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver



Sunday Smooch with Jenny Brigalow.....

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!


Today we have a smooch from Jenny Brigalow, but first ...

the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway will be announced next week.





And now for today's Sunday Smooch from A Man For All Seasons by Jenny Brigalow........

When rodeo rider, Chad Cherub, steps off the plane at Heathrow, love is the last thing on his mind. He's travelled from Australia to do a business deal with wealthy Walter Driscoll. However, he is distracted by Wally's gorgeous daughter Seraphim.

Sweet, spoiled Seraphim, a gifted dressage rider, is troubled. Engaged to the eminently suitable Barry Wellington-Worth, Chad's arrival forces her to acknowledge the truth. She does not love her fiancé.

When Chad's cook is injured Seraphim jumps at the chance to fly south to Oz. In the great dust bowl of the Australian outback they discover they have more in common than horses.  But the secrets of the past and the prejudices of the present threaten to tear them apart. Can love bloom in the Outback?

Scene set-up: [ A clear, cold English night in the stable yard at Seraphim's family home. Seraphim is delighted to be going to Oz with Chad, but distressed by the distance that is developing between them. Unsure as to the reason, Seraphim longs to find a way to show Chad the depth of her feeling. And realises that, this time, there is only one way. She must show him...]


    Between them they dug the last of the carrots out of the bag, then she gained several more precious moments as the big stallion and Chad played tug of war with the empty bag. She watched, entranced and touched by the pair's youthful exuberance.

    For a moment she could imagine that it was her playfully fighting with the tall, handsome man. She could just see it. For a while he'd tease, let her think she was winning. Then he'd pull her down and pin her gently to the ground. He'd laugh down into her face and then…

    “Penny for them?”

    She startled, and then blushed when she realised his remarkable amber eyes were fixed upon her. What must he think?

    He'd relinquished the bag and Trick had retreated into his stable with his prize.

    Forcing a small smile, she lied. “I was just wondering how Trick would enjoy his flight.”

    “He'll be fine. Flying doesn't seem to faze them much.” Then two crease marks formed between his eyes.

    She jumped a little as he reached out one brown hand and ran his thumb softly down her cheek. She could barely breathe.

    “You're absolutely frozen,” he said.

    She stared at him blankly for a minute until she realised he was quite right. Her toes were numb and the marrow in her leg bones seemed to throb in protest. Small spasms coursed through her body and she shivered like a sapling in the wind. But how could he know that it was nothing to do with the cold? How could he know that desire fizzed through her like a Catherine wheel? How could he know that her lips wanted to part to ask for a kiss? How could he know? The answer of course, was that she had to tell him.

    She caught his wrist in her hand and looked at him. Her breath came in jagged bursts and she felt as if she would implode with need. “Warm me,” she whispered.

    For an agonising eternity he remained frozen, his eyes locked on hers. And then his hand slid over the fall of her jaw and slowly encircled her throat. “I can feel your pulse,” he whispered. “It feels like a butterfly in a net.” Then he dropped his head and his mouth met hers, softly catching up her lower lip.

    She tipped back her head, a small moan of ecstasy filtering through their union. Instinctively she moved into the unfamiliar realms of his body and her mouth began to explore. Heat flared in her core as his hands slid around her and pulled her close.

    Tentatively at first, and then with growing confidence, she began to explore the iron hard muscles of his shoulders and back. Her legs felt so hollow that she believed she would fall without his hold upon her. Surrender beckoned with her mysterious smile.

Leave a comment to go into the draw to win an eCopy of A Man For All Seasons.

  Come back next Sunday when the winner will be announced and a smooch from Driving Her Crazy by Amy Andrews will be posted.