A CHRISTMAS WALTZ Winner!

We have a winner for Jane Goodger's A CHRISTMAS WALTZ guest blog. A free copy goes to:

JOHANNA JOCHUM!

Contact Carrie to provide your mailing address. The book must be claimed by next Sunday or another winner will be drawn. Please stop back later to let us know what you thought! Congratulations!

Weekly Announcements - 13 Sept 2010

Veteran's Day was this past Thursday in the United States, and it was Remembrance Day and Armistice Day in other nations. My own parents both served in the US Marine Corps during Vietnam, which has always provided a reminder of the risks involved in becoming a service man or woman. Our heartfelt thanks to all of those who have risked their lives.

In keeping with that theme, reader Kim Adams reflected on Veteran's Day in a post that mentioned author Margaret Mallory's father, Norman Brown, among others. Check it out!

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Lorelie Brown has sold her latest historical romance--a western set in the Arizona Territories in 1882 titled CATCH ME--to Carina Press for a July release. Congratulations! Here's the blurb:

Desperation has driven Maggie Bullock to rob a bank. Her father's stomach ailment treatments at the expensive sanatorium must be paid for somehow, and Maggie absolutely refuses to watch the last member of her family die. But the daughter of a sheriff should have known that there are consequences to lawbreaking.
 
Dean Collier is the gun-toting embodiment of consequences. A bounty hunter, he's shed enough blood to know every kill takes a little shard of his soul with it. So when he's offered a sheriff's post, just for bringing a slip of a woman like Maggie to justice, he's on her trail in no time.
 
But catching Maggie is the easy part. It turns out to be much harder to get back to Fresh Springs without falling in love with the little hellcat who rides, shoots and shows a determined spirit that disproves everything Dean knew about women. Meanwhile, Maggie does her best to escape from the dangerously broken bounty hunter...

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Join us Sunday when Kristi Astor will be here to chat about her first Edwardian-set romance, A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, set in England in 1909. She'll also be giving away a copy to one lucky commenter! Be sure to join us then.

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We'll also draw the winner of Jane Goodger's latest "Christmas" romance, A CHRISTMAS WALTZ, from her guest appearance on Sunday. You still have time to leave a comment or question for your chance to win.

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Stay with us through the coming weeks when we'll be featuring the best unusual historical authors! Kate Allan, Zoe Archer, Michelle Styles, and our fourth anniversary bash will be coming up. Join us!

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Have a good weekend! Remember, you don't have to be an Unusual Historicals contributor to submit good news to the weekend announcements. If it has to do with unusual historicals, we'd love to shout it out to the world! Send announcements to Carrie. See you next week...

Guest Author: Jane Goodger

This week on Unusual Historicals we're welcoming Zebra author Jane Goodger as she celebrates the release of her latest "Christmas" romance, A CHRISTMAS WALTZ, which is set in England and Texas in 1894. Here's the blurb:

To Lady Amelia Wellesley, it seems utterly romantic to surprise her dashing fiancé at his home in Texas so the two can marry by Christmas. But Amelia's surprise goes awry when Carson Kitteridge calls off their wedding as soon as she arrives, leaving Amelia in disgrace...

With nowhere to turn, Amelia finds an unlikely savior in Carson's brother, Dr. Boone Kitteridge. Boone offers to marry Amelia, sparing her the shame of returning to England unwed. But Boone isn't just protecting Amelia's honor; secretly, he finds her irresistible, and the thought of indulging his desire for her is too tempting to ignore. As Boone and Amelia forge a fragile bond, something goes terribly wrong--and it will take nothing less than a Christmas miracle for Amelia to discover who she is destined to love...

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"The next in Goodger's Christmas series is a touching, compassionate, passion-filled romance peopled with complex characters. The deeply emotional story is sure to win readers' hearts." ~ RT Book Reviews

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All three of your Christmas historicals are set partially in the United States, but also in England. Why is that?

The first book in the trilogy, MARRY CHRISTMAS, started off in Newport, RI, and is based on the life of Consuela Vanderbilt, who was forced to marry the Duke of Marlborough. It was an unhappy marriage that ended in divorce. I love writing about Newport. For one thing, it's about fifteen minutes away! For another, I absolutely love the idea that the moguls of the day built huge mansions, then called them summer "cottages." In the last book of the trilogy, A CHRISTMAS WALTZ, I had so much fun putting an English heroine in Texas in the middle of nowhere! Poor Amelia is definitely a fish out of water there.

Which is your favorite book in the trilogy?

Whenever I read historicals (I read a lot) I always judge a book on how much I love the hero. Sure, I have to like the heroine and relate to her, but for me it's all about the hero. That's why, as much as I liked the first two books (I wrote them, after all), my favorite of the three has to be A CHRISTMAS WALTZ. I absolutely adore Boone. To me, he's the perfect man: strong, quiet, loving, devoted, and courageous in an endearing way. I still think about him!

It must be easy to research when your locations are in your own backyard.

It is. I can tour the homes where my hero and heroine live, read the same newspapers they read, see what products they were using and when. I love doing research. Lately, I've been setting more books in England and find that a bit more challenging because I've never been there. Thankfully, the Internet and libraries have plenty of good information for me to use.

Nearly all of your books are set during the Victorian and Edwardian timeframe, rather than Regency. Why is that?

For some reason, I completely connect to those time periods. Women were questioning the way the world ran. New inventions made for an exciting world. This was the beginning of gaslight and electricity, indoor plumbing, of phonographs and automobiles. Women were riding astride and riding bicycles, showing an independence not seen before--politically and personally. To me, it is one of the most exciting times in history. I particularly love writing about the 1880s and 1890s. From the music to the clothes, I love nearly every aspect of this time period.

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Thanks for stopping by today, Jane!

Readers, would you like to experience the best of England and Texas? What do you enjoy about books set in multiple locales? Let us know! I'll draw a winner at random next Sunday from all the comments we receive. Void where prohibited. Best of luck!

Excerpt Thursday: Jane Goodger

This week on Excerpt Thursday we're welcoming Zebra author Jane Goodger as she celebrates the October release of her latest "Christmas" romance, A CHRISTMAS WALTZ, which is set in England and Texas in 1894. Join us Sunday when Jane will be here to answer questions and give away a signed copy. Here's the blurb:

To Lady Amelia Wellesley, it seems utterly romantic to surprise her dashing fiancé at his home in Texas so the two can marry by Christmas. But Amelia's surprise goes awry when Carson Kitteridge calls off their wedding as soon as she arrives, leaving Amelia in disgrace...

With nowhere to turn, Amelia finds an unlikely savior in Carson's brother, Dr. Boone Kitteridge. Boone offers to marry Amelia, sparing her the shame of returning to England unwed. But Boone isn't just protecting Amelia's honor; secretly, he finds her irresistible, and the thought of indulging his desire for her is too tempting to ignore. As Boone and Amelia forge a fragile bond, something goes terribly wrong--and it will take nothing less than a Christmas miracle for Amelia to discover who she is destined to love...

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He looked down at her, his gray eyes intense with an expression she could hardly read. "Miss Amelia, I'm going to kiss you."

A little thrill went through her and she lifted her chin. "You may."

And he did, bringing his mouth against hers, a slow, wonderful kiss that made her knees instantly weak. Carson's kissed had been full of blatant lust, but Boone's was more like warm, dark chocolate spreading slowly throughout her. Delicious and beyond divine. He didn't touch her, didn't draw her against him, though she would have willingly gone if he had, but touched only her lips with his.

He pulled back after only a few seconds, an oddly happy expression on his handsome face. "That's better," he said.

"Better than what?" she said, her brain quite foggy, her lips still tingling from what was nothing more than an innocent kiss. Except it didn't feel innocent.

"Better than I imagined," he said.