strong heroines, adorable heroes
Remember the academic covers meme from a couple years ago?
Well, I made a new one for True Pretenses and I’m unveiling it today at History Hoydens. Plus, I’m taking requests! Comment on the post with a romance you love (or hate, I guess) and I’ll make alternative scholarly covers for my favorite five suggestions.
True Pretenses releases exactly one week from today! In honor of that, here’s a very special excerpt: the lead-in to Ash and Lydia’s first kiss.
Remember, you can read the complete first chapter and pre-order the book here.
I kick off the blog tour with an interview over at Smexy Books. Mandi asks me about writing a shleppy hero, writing cross-class and cross-cultural romances, and more. Plus, I’m giving away a book!
ETA: The blog tour is complete! All links are below.
Tomorrow kicks off my blog tour for True Pretenses! I’m really excited for this one, guys. Follow along for fun discussions, giveaways, &c. This post will be updated with links as guest posts go live.
1/6/15 – Smexy Books – Interview with Mandi about writing a shleppy hero, cross-class and cross-cultural romance, and more.
1/7 – History Hoydens – Unveiling the academic cover for True Pretenses and taking requests from commenters.
1/8 – Happy Ever After – Zoe Archer, Elizabeth Boyle, Louisa Edwards and I share our favorite con artist romances of page and screen.
1/9 – Theresa Romain and I did a two-part chat/mutual interview in which we talk about everything from character casting to mall singers to “manflirting” as an aristocratic cultural marker – part 1 at her blog – part 2 at mine.
1/12 – Romance at Random – the inspiration for True Pretenses and the difference between a romance and a tragedy.
1/13 – Heroes & Heartbreakers – con artist myth vs. reality. SPOILER: You CAN con an honest man.
1/14 – Angieville – Q&A – favorite fictional heroes, the word association game, and more.
1/15 – Smitten by Books – my favorite marriage of convenience romances.
1/16 – The Romance Dish – Q&A – conflict, time travel bodyswap, lucky New Year’s foods and more.
1/18 – Risky Regencies – Q&A – research, TV, the etymology of “swindler” and more.
1/19 – All About Romance – anti-Semitism and intermarriage in the Regency.
1/20 – bookworm2bookworm – how romance novels model breaking out of entrenched emotional patterns.
Hi everyone! This is a spoiler-friendly discussion and questions post for True Pretenses. I’d love to hear anything you have to say about the book! And if there’s anything you want to ask me (about the book, about writing the book, about characters in the book, about what happens next, anything really), go for it.
Time for another teaser excerpt from True Pretenses! Remember, you can read the first chapter and pre-order the book here.
In this scene, Lydia takes Ash to see their greenhouse.
Hi guys! I thought I had already posted about this but I guess I haven’t, and I’ve been getting some questions about it:
Paperbacks.
Samhain used to put all full-length novels out in paperback one year after their e-release. They’re switching to a new model at the moment so things are moving around. To the best of my knowledge, my books will release in trade paperback as follows:
Sweet Disorder – Jan. 13th, 2015. It is already available for pre-order in Samhain’s store—and it’s currently 30% off ($11.20)!
True Pretenses – March 3, 2015.
In for a Penny – June 2015.
A Lily Among Thorns – September 2015.
And don’t forget, the Sweet Disorder e-book is currently on sale for 99¢ at all retailers!
I’m on the Smart Bitches/Dear Author podcast this week, interviewed by Sarah Wendell!
ETA: This contest is closed. Mary D. is the winner of the basket. The e-book winers are S2, Anita H., Lozza, Nancy Gilliland, and Taffygrrl. Congratulations, everyone!
True Pretenses comes out in just a few weeks! To celebrate, I’m giving away 5 e-books and a lovely gift basket of items, and this time, the basket is included. Only it’s not a literal basket…
Yes, the True Pretenses gift basket operates in a long con artist–fiction tradition of briefcases full of cash!
Continue reading “New contest: TRUE PRETENSES e-books, and a gift basket!”
To celebrate the imminent release of True Pretenses (about a philanthropist heiress who agrees to a marriage of convenience with a Jewish con artist to get her hands on her dowry), here is the traditional free short story about the characters of my last book, Sweet Disorder.
For bn100, who asked for “Nick is a vampire and Phoebe is a dragon.”
“And there he saw, concealed from Heaven’s rays—
Long banished from Albion’s dreary shore,
Nor suited to her cold and bloodless ways,
Tho’ thrived among us once in lustier days—
Or should I say, in lustier nights—vampiri…”
Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage