This week we're welcoming Kensington Brava author Beth Williamson as she celebrates her latest western romance, THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH. You can read the blurb and an excerpt here.
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Welcome Beth! We're glad you were able to stop by Unusual Historicals. You write historical westerns, ones with heat, sexy men, plenty of emotion and grit. What would you say makes your westerns different than other authors?
Oh, my sense of humor maybe. Or wait, no it's my amazing prose. Perhaps my hero's ability to do what I tell him to. Or maybe all of those things. LOL. I think that my books are different than other western historicals for more than one reason. The most prominent would have to be the characters. I don't have cookie cutter men with a swagger and a gun, lean-hipped and tight-lipped. My heroes and heroines have real-life problems like depression, alcoholism, emotional baggage, or even physical disabilities.
What does that kind of uniqueness give to your readers?
I think giving my heroes and heroines real life problems makes them much more real to the reader. Personally when I read an historical with the perfect blonde, blue-eyed beautiful girl, I am much less engaged than if the heroine wears glasses, has big hips and is clumsy. I want the reader to be a part of the story, not an outsider looking in.
What would you say is your most unusual heroine and hero?
Hm, good question. My most unusual heroine has to be Rosalyn Benedict from THE LEGACY. She's homeless, lived on the streets since she was a girl. She's not only dirty and distrustful, she refuses help from the gallant hero, Noah. I loved writing Rosalyn's story. As for unusual hero, I'd say it's Jack Malloy from THE PRIZE. He's a man who's suffered in his childhood and it's brought him nothing but pain as an adult. He's also a virgin hero. Oh yeah, I went there. Jack is the kind of hero you just want to hug and comfort.
So your new release, THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH--tell us what makes it different? I mean, amnesia's been done before hasn't it?
Yes, it definitely has. Honestly there isn't a story out there that hasn't been told. THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH is different because the heroine awakens from a three year coma to discover she doesn't remember who she is and she has apparently given birth to a child while in that coma. Eppie is a mulatto who fell in love with a white southern man, a forbidden love that was meant to be. Micah, meanwhile, has struggled with alcoholism and his own person demons. Together they have to find the love they used to share.
Any little bits of trivia you want to share about yourself?
THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH is my 12th full-length historical western! The sexy dozen rather than the dirty dozen. LOL. Really though, although I absolutely adore horses, I have trouble riding them because I have a birth defect in my knees. How's that for unusual?
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This makes two weeks in a row of delicious western romances! If you'd like a shot at winning a copy of THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH, leave a comment or question for Beth. I'll draw a random winner in one week. Good luck!
Michelle Styles has received the back cover copy for her upcoming release, THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE PRINCESS, which will be released in the US in December. Here it is:
"No one touches my woman. She bears my mark. I claim her."
Dangerous warrior Ivar Gunnarson is a man of deeds, not words. With little time for the ideals of love, Ivar seizes what he wants--and Princess Thyre will not become the exception to his rule!
Mysterious and enchanting, Thyre rouses Ivar's desire the moment he lays eyes on her. With Viking factions engaged in a bloody feud, Thyre is yet another captive this hardened warrior conquers--but to be king of Thyre's heart will entail a battle he has never engaged in before...
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Carrie Lofty has received the cover for her January 2010 Kensington Zebra release, SCOUNDREL'S KISS, which is the sequel to her debut, WHAT A SCOUNDREL WANTS.
WHEN IT COMES TO TEMPTATION...
Turning his back on his old life as a rogue, Gavriel de Marqueda has joined a monastic order in Spain and taken a vow of chastity. Before he becomes a monk, he must pass one final test: help a woman who has lost her way. But when he lays eyes on Ada of Keyworth, he is tempted beyond measure by her sultry beauty and dangerous curves...
RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN...
Far from her home in England, Ada has been battling inner demons for more than a year. When she discovers that her only friend has abandoned her, she has no choice but to grudgingly accept Gavriel's help. But Ada is not fooled. Though Gavriel wears the robes of a monk, Ada sees that he is a virile man who looks at her with a hunger that matches her own--one that begs to be satisfied again and again...
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Join us Sunday when Kensington Brava author Beth Williamson will be here to talk about her latest western, THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH, set in 1875 Colorado!
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We'll also draw the winner of Stacey Kayne's MOUNTAIN WILD. There's still time to leave a comment for your shot at winning!
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Have a great weekend! If you have an announcement to make for next week, email Carrie. See you next week...
We're up for a double dose of westerns here on Unusual Historicals, this week featuring Kensington Brava author Beth Williamson. For Excerpt Thursday we're posting a taste of her latest release, THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH, and she'll be stopping by on Sunday for a Q&A. Here's the blurb:
Once Upon a Time, They Loved Each Other...
Nothing about the room that Eppie awakens in feels like home--not the furnishings, the ill-fitting clothes, or the Colorado sunlight streaming in through the windows. And certainly not the stranger with long dark hair and silver eyes who claims to have been waiting for her for three long years.
Micah Spalding has spent each day hoping that Eppie would open her eyes and return to him. Yet the Eppie he loved was spirited and outspoken--utterly different to this reserved, aloof woman. Since her injury, Eppie has no memory of Micah or their daughter, or of a passion that was powerful enough to defy every convention. And though his scent and touch trigger something deep within her, Eppie can't bring herself to believe in him.
Once, when war between his countrymen had almost broken him, Eppie brought Micah back to life. Now he must find a way to reach through the distance between them and remind her of everything they once shared, and prove that he has belief enough for both of them...
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Plum Creek, Colorado
1875
He smiled and reached out to touch her cheek with the back of his hand. "The sunlight makes your skin glow. You know this is our spot?"
Eppie couldn't help but be startled. "Our spot?"
"Where we met every week for almost a year." He looked to the left to a group of aspen trees. "I'd bring that big blue blanket and we'd lie out under the stars. When I saw you came here, I can tell you my heart started beating a mile a minute. Maybe somewhere you do remember deep down."
Eppie's heart joined in and beat right along with his. Was he right? Could she remember things by instinct? She had no idea they'd met for a year before she was injured, but the fact that they were so different should have given her a clue their relationship wasn't the normal type.
"Why did we meet here?"
He jerked a thumb towards the house. "You didn't want Madeline to know. I always hoped it was because you weren't embarrassed by me, but rather that you didn't want to marry me since I'm a crazy hermit from the mountains."
She shook her head in disbelief. "You're a crazy hermit and you asked me to marry you and I said no?"
"Oh, you sure did. Let me see if I can remember your exact words. 'I might love you, you crazy fool, but that don't mean I am crazy enough to marry you. I ain't got to this point in my life to marry the first man to ask me.'" He shrugged. "I've thought about that night for the last three years. It was the last time we, well, were together. I think it was the night Miracle was made."
Eppie's throat tightened and she knew a moment of panic. Had she spoken like that to him? Who was she to throw away a chance at happiness with a man who obviously loved her? She was already intimate with him, that couldn't be debated, so why didn't she want to marry him?
"I'm sorry if I hurt you."
Micah chuckled, sounding like half-pain, half-amused. "Ah, Eppie, love can bring a mountain of hurt and an ocean of happiness. I accepted one and embraced the other."
The silence between them stretched into an uncomfortable one. Eppie didn't know what to say so she let the quiet continue until he finally spoke.
"What else did the doctor say?"
A safe topic, thank God. "He said I was in good health, but underweight and needed lots of fresh air and exercise. My muscles hurt because I haven't used them in so long, but he also said someone had been caring for me by stretching them regularly. Was that you?"
"I did everything he told me too. I wanted to make sure you came back to me." Micah's simple explanation told her a great deal about his motivations, which were selfless and selfish at the same time.
"He's going to consult with a few other doctors in New York and Chicago, then do some reading in a journal for doctors. I don't know how much Madeline is paying him, but to be a doctor's single patient is a bit odd. I told him I didn't want to become an experiment." She already felt as if she were on display and it would only get worse if he used her to study on.
"I won't let that happen. I've kept you safe for three years, please let me continue." His silver eyes glittered in the dappled sunlight and Eppie felt odd for a moment, as if the world tilted beneath her.
An image flashed through her mind of a younger Micah, with fuller cheeks and longer hair, smiling and tickling her nose with a feather. She yelped and scampered backwards, scared and unsettled.
"What is it? What happened?" Micah looked as worried as she felt.
"I think I just remembered you."
If she had given him the keys to a golden city, he couldn't have looked more thrilled as his eyes danced with joy. "Really?"
"I think so. It was here, only you were younger and you were tickling me." She tried to swallow but her throat was so dry, she couldn't.
"With a white feather?"
Eppie stared at him in astonishment. He'd confirmed what she had suspected. She'd remembered.
With a squeal she threw herself into his arms and lost herself in a tight embrace as they celebrated the minute taste of her previous life. Her heart beat so hard, it knocked against her ribs, and she felt the answering throb of his.
When she pulled back, she was close enough to count his eyelashes. His pupils had dilated and felt an answering arousal growing within her, whether or not she wanted it. Her body felt as if she'd been hit by lightening.
"Please." He didn't beg or take, just asked politely.
Eppie couldn't refuse him, her body wouldn't let her. She nodded and closed her eyes as his head lowered. This time the kiss was more intense because their bodies were touching. Her nipples pressed against his hard chest at the same time his hands roamed up and down her back. Sweet, sweet heavens, kissing Micah was like nibbling on the most decadent dessert.
She forgot where she was and what was around her. Diving into Micah was like diving into a pond on a hot day. It felt wonderful, exhilarating and exactly what she needed.
He leaned back and touched her cheek, rubbing his thumb along her cheek bone. She stared up at him, waiting and wanting, what she wasn't sure. It could've been sex, it could've been confirmation she was desirable.
Of course, judging by the stick of wood in his pants currently pressing against her hip, Eppie was definitely desirable.
"I don't want to rush you."
She shook her head. "You're not. This is my choice." She swallowed the lump of fear and uncertainty. "Show me."
He smiled then, a sweet, beautiful smile that lit up his whole face and Eppie knew then what he looked like when he wasn't wallowing in the depths of misery. Micah was exceptionally handsome and for some reason, God decided to give him to her.
For the first time since she'd woken, Eppie took a chance on something other than what to wear or eat. She took a chance on Micah.
