Anh Leod's Blog

It's my birthday weekend and I'm celebrating by making my contemporary romance novel FREE on Amazon from Friday to Sunday! Download the book and enjoy...

DOWNLOAD ON AMAZON

And don't forget, Amazon still has my sexy anthology Bring on the Heat on sale for $.99. It's a steal!

BUY BRING ON THE HEAT

One Taste of Scandal has never been on sale before, so be sure to snatch up your copy at $2.99. Marquess of Cake is also on sale for $2.99 (or even less!)

$2.51
http://www.amazon.com/Marquess-Cake-Redcakes-Heather-Hiestand-ebook/dp/B00BNKMFGS


$2.99
http://www.amazon.com/Taste-Scandal-Redcakes-Heather-Hiestand-ebook/dp/B00DV1ISWC
$2.99
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-marquess-of-cake-heather-hiestand/1114794300?ean=9781601831118

$2.99
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-taste-of-scandal-heather-hiestand/1116110218?ean=9781601831125
$2.99
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-marquess-of-cake/id611523268?mt=11
$2.99
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/one-taste-of-scandal/id672375745?mt=11

My November 10th Redcakes release has just gone up for preorder!

Amazon
Barnes and Noble

blurb:

The sweetest gift is the hardest to unwrap…

Lady
Victoria Allen-Hill never dreamed she’d be a widow at twenty-one—let
alone a virgin. Her father insists that she attend a matchmaking house
party in the snow-covered seaside town of Pevensey in hopes she’ll find a
suitable husband. But for Victoria, it’s an opportunity to indulge in a
passionate affair—and the handsome inventor she meets at the Christmas
Eve masquerade ball may be just the man for the job…

Lewis Noble
is the cousin of London’s famed Redcake sisters, so it almost stands to
reason that he’s just as irresistible as one of their sugar-iced
pastries. Lewis catches the eye of every woman at the party—but Victoria
is the only one who catches his. He won’t be tied down in her father’s
business, but watching other men court her amid a flurry of engagements
ignites a jealousy he’s never felt before. A dose of honesty may be just
the thing to mend their broken hearts—for many holidays to come...

See on Amazon

I have fretted a lot about whether or not my new Anh Leod novel, Tempting Josie, fits into a couple of the categories it is listed for sale in. It's easy to call the book a contemporary romance - it's set now, and it's a sexy reunion romance between two characters who fall in love for the second time. But is it romantic suspense, or straight contemporary?

Editors have wondered the same thing. I had one editor suggest I cut back the sex scenes to focus on the suspense elements. But I like my sex scenes - I felt they suited the characters! Others said the fact that the hero was an FBI agent meant the book couldn't be targeted as "new adult" because that FBI agent hero kind of locks it into the romantic suspense category, no matter what kind of lifestyle the heroine was living. Or something like that. FBI character = romantic suspense. And I will say, I tried hard to get the FBI parts of the book correct.

I felt a little better when I saw this quote from Lisa Gardner:
 "Personally, I consider a romantic suspense novel to be a book that
focuses on developing key relationships as well as advancing some kind of
intrigue (whether that’s mystery,thriller, action/adventure,
on-the-run, or woman-in-jeopardy—see, even suspense has alot of faces)."

In that regard, Tempting Josie is certainly romantic suspense. Because there is definitely a mystery that my hero has to solve. And to the heroine, the hero is a mystery she has to solve as well. He's undercover and she doesn't know that. What the novel doesn't have are car chases, guns, kidnappings, etc. I wonder if readers expect that kind of excitement and danger in the book if I called it romance suspense.

What do you think? Romantic suspense or straight contemporary romance?

Come visit me at one or more of the three Facebook parties I'll be at this Sunday/Monday, celebrating the recent releases of my two new books! There will be lots of other authors and prizes, too.





A Romance Caper:  Sun 5/18 5-11 pm EST, I'm on from 5:30-6 EST (so 2:30 PST)

https://www.facebook.com/events/753671371352447/

Pickle Barrel Bookathon:  Sun 5/18, 11-6 PST, I'm on from around 5-6 PST

https://www.facebook.com/events/624097997682954/


Victoria Day Party:  Mon, 5/19, 9-6 EST
https://www.facebook.com/events/1445396492374298

His Wicked Smile is the 3rd in what is currently a 5-story long historical romance series. If you are starting in the middle of my series, I thought a character list of the main players might help you get up to speed!

Gawain Redcake:  hero of His Wicked Smile. Once a soldier, now in business importing tea and herbs from India

Ann Haldene:  heroine of His Wicked Smile. A widowed, half-Indian innkeeper

Alys Redcake Shield, Lady Hatbrook:  Gawain's twin sister, heroine of The Marquess of Redcake, owner of Redcake's Tea Shop and Emporium

Michael Shield, Lord Hatbrook:  hero of The Marquess of Redcake, hails from Sussex

Lord Judah Shield:  brother of Lord Hatbrook, hero of One Taste of Scandal

Lady Judah (Magdelene Cross):  heroine of One Taste of Scandal

Lady Elizabeth Shield:  sister of Michael and Judah, heroine of The Kidnapped Bride (Redcakes #4)

Matilda and Rose Redcake:  Alys and Gawain's younger sisters

Sir Bartley Redcake, Lady Redcake:  Alys/Gawain/Matilda/Rose's parents

Lewis Noble:  cousin to the Redcake clan, hero of Christmas Delights (Redcakes #5)

Manfred Cross:  Magdalene's younger brother

I hope this list helps! Please let me know if any additional information, or characters, would be of help.

Contest:  Sign up at Goodreads for a chance to win a paperback copy of His Wicked Smile through May 20TH!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18691944-his-wicked-smile

BUY LINK

http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Smile-Redcakes-Heather-Hiestand-ebook/dp/B00GYLVVS4

 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/his-wicked-smile-heather-hiestand/1117556136?ean=9781601831132

 https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/his-wicked-smile/id767947962?mt=11

 http://prod-www.kobobooks.com/ebook/His-Wicked-Smile/book-n246Kxl-AUq9Kp_RRr4QwQ/page1.html

Buy or Borrow on Amazon

Excerpt:

When the song ended, he didn’t let go. She looked up when the fast beat of a song exploded from the loudspeakers. He must have mistaken her expression for something else, because instead of releasing her, he bent down for a kiss.

Shocked, she jumped back, stumbling into another couple. The boy swore as his partner stumbled.

“I’m so sorry,” Josie cried, taking the girl’s arm. Some chaperone she was. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s okay, Josie.”

Josie recognized the girl as a senior whose mother was a frequent shopper at the scrapbook store. “Okay, sorry again.”

She backed away, nearly bumping into another boy, before she whirled and dashed toward the punch table.

She grabbed a paper cup and poured punch into it. When she lifted it to her lips she slopped a little of the red liquid on her dress. It figured. The dress had survived the end of her high school relationship with Miguel but not the beginning of phase two.

She grabbed a handful of the napkins meant for cookies and wiped the bodice of her dress. Someone took her cup from her other hand.

“What happened?”

Of course it was Miguel. “I spilled.”

“I can see that. Why did you run off the dance floor?”

“This is a high school dance. Chaperones don’t make out.”

“Oh, right.” He paused. “Wait, don’t you remember? The science teacher was having an affair with the Spanish teacher and the principal caught them in the kitchen at prom?”

“No.”

“Huh. I could have sworn I wasn’t making that up.” He grinned at her.

She remembered he had been a very good storyteller, bordering on liar. “I’m going to see if there’s any club soda in the kitchen. I hear that can fix anything.”

She dashed toward the kitchen. The lights were off, since all the reinforcements were already out on the table. She supposed the kids had been ravenous after the football game, since the concessions at the stadium were so awful and overpriced that people tended to avoid them. The refrigerator light came on when she opened the door, but all she found inside was a carton of orange juice.

“No luck?” Miguel had followed her into the kitchen.

“No.”

“Will you talk to me now?”

“I don’t want to kiss you.” Okay, that was a lie, but a kiss was risky.

He folded his arms. “Is that what this is about?”

“You had no right. You left me and anyway, we’re supposed to be a good example.” She had always been the girl who liked public displays of affection. Funny how time had turned her into a woman who didn’t want to be kissed. At least under these circumstances.

She saw his grimace in the refrigerator’s light. “I said I was sorry.”

“I don’t think you are. I get the feeling you’re hoping to pick up right where we left off!”

“Are you single?” he asked.

Wasn’t that supposed to be her line? “Yes.”

“So am I. We obviously still have great chemistry. All you need to do is forgive me and then we can have a great time.” His tone was reasonable.

How could she forgive him for something that happened so long ago that it had actually formed her adult character? “You have got to be kidding me.”

“You have any better prospects?”

“Maybe. There are men who are interested in me, men who are settled.” She wasn’t interested in them, but that wasn’t the issue. “We should get back out there.”

Miguel’s grin didn’t falter. He ignored her faint protest. “I don’t remember you being so interested in material things.”

“I’m not a teenager anymore.”

“Neither am I. I would have thought, teenager or not, you’d still know how to prize sexual chemistry.”

Josie shut the refrigerator door.

“We still have chemistry,” he repeated. “How long has it been for you?”

“How long for you?” she countered, her voice sounding embarrassingly weak and somehow needy in the dark.

“Longer than you can imagine.”

She laughed. This was the boyfriend who had gone down on his knees begging her for sex after she’d shut him down for a ten-day family vacation.

“Three weeks?” she guessed, giving him credit for maturity.

“No, sweetheart, it’s been a lot longer than that.”

“Then you have changed.”

“I have workaholic tendencies.”

“So what did you do, work your way out of your last job?”

“You could say that. Now, you didn’t answer my question. How long has it been?”

“You aren’t my one and only, if that’s what you’re asking,” Josie told him.

“And?”

“That’s all you need to know. I’m no Sleeping Beauty waiting for your touch to reawaken me, but I do live in a small town.”

“You didn’t like any of the local boys.”

“Yeah, but I drive now.”

He chuckled and leaned against the refrigerator. “What do you say, Josie? We’re adult, single. I have a queen-sized bed and my own place, unlike last time. You probably have the same.”

“You’ll leave,” Josie told him, the words spilling from her lips like ash. “I’m not going to let you break my heart again.”

“Who said anything about hearts?” Miguel countered. “You know you can’t trust me, so you’re smart enough to understand that this time, it’s all about sex.”

Sex. She really did miss it, even if it had really been good only with him. He was the only one who exactly fit her. Her body softened and she felt herself start to sway toward him, then caught herself.

“It’s all about sex,” he repeated softly. “I won’t make you cry this time.”

She shook her head. He’d lost none of his self-confidence, that was for sure. How had he ended up an auto mechanic instead of, well, whatever she had imagined he’d be? A movie star? He had the looks and charisma. An extreme sports star? Or maybe some kind of cutthroat courtroom lawyer, grandstanding and winning cases. A success, certainly. She was interested enough to stick around and learn more. But did she really want to sleep with him again?

As soon as she asked herself the question, she knew the answer was yes. “You haven’t developed any criminal tendencies?”

He put out his hand, found her chin in the dark and pulled her toward him. “I still steal kisses.”

This time when he bent his head she didn’t pull away, but parted her lips and waited for him to come to her. His mouth still had the warm intensity she remembered. Her lips tingled at the contact. Why was it that some guys just instinctively knew how to kiss?

His skin rubbed against her, his mouth smooth, his breath tasting of chocolate from a brownie he must have sneaked earlier.

His tongue toyed with the edges of her mouth, teasing her into opening further. He took possession slowly, but so thoroughly. She found herself gripping his forearms as he claimed her. Her body went liquid and she found herself right back in slow dance position.

Blurb:

Webcomic artist Josie Manheim never expected to reunite with her sinfully gorgeous high school ex on a blind date. But one look at him has her remembering their sexy exploits and wanting more. He’s changed, though, darker and more mysterious than in the old days. Each encounter ratchets the intensity of their connection…and begs the question of who he’s become.

Miguel Barrino, now an undercover FBI agent, has trailed a priceless piece of stolen art to his former home town. Can he keep his ex out of trouble and still heat things up with her under the covers? With criminals on the loose, falling in love could lead to more than hearts in danger.

Buy link:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JZ6GW6G

 Blurb:

During an oppressive Iowa summer of drought and farm foreclosures, widowed Maggie Anderson makes a bold decision: She’ll merge her love of horses and her family’s three hundred and twenty acres into a horse farm and try her hand at nearby Prairie Meadows Race Track, where racing purses have just been augmented by the recently added casino gambling.

 

Down on his luck after being falsely accused in a racing scandal and banned from training, former Arlington Race Track trainer Ed Harrington has skulked home to Des Moines to drown his sorrows and wait for the dust to clear. He’s unprepared for the piercing robin’s-egg-blue eyes of pint-sized Maggie Anderson, who finds him at a flophouse and offers him a job. Can he pull himself together and meet the challenge?

 

As the two forge a tumultuous working partnership, they soon discover someone is out to get Maggie’s farm and will stop at almost nothing to force her off the land. Can they find and stop the culprit before someone is killed? Can they survive the far greater danger unleashed by the raw passion simmering just beneath the surface of their relationship?

It's Research, You Know

We're celebrating the release of Heat Wave, Book Two in our romantic suspense series set in the horseracing industry, Riders Up.

We thought we'd share a little about researching for this series. Naturally, events in authors' lives often serve as inspiration for the stories they write. With this series, we really can't tell the difference between "research" and just living our lives.

Both of us have always loved horses and always hoped someday we'd have time, space and resources to own at least one, never dreaming it might actually happen. Some years back, my husband came into a small inheritance, and all the right ingredients coalesced. We lived out west at the time and had a friend who trained and raced horses at nearby Wyoming Downs. It wasn't long before we'd worked out an arrangement with him, and he and my husband were able to attend the Barretts sale in California, where they came home with two promising thoroughbred fillies.

One of them did quite well for a brief time, even winning an allowance race at Los Alamitos. The other one sustained an early injury, but went on to become an excellent broodmare. We traded our interest in her to our friend for a promising quarter horse, who ran for a while at Wyoming Downs, but never took to racing. We then brought him off the track, stabled him closer to home, and my husband did his transitional ground training. We ultimately sold him to a rancher who trained him as a cutting horse.

So when we write the details of managing race horses, watching pre-dawn workouts, hanging out on shed row, checking for hot or swollen joints, cooling a horse on a hot-walker, picking hooves, mucking stalls - all of the above, we're writing things we know and love. We hope you do, too!

ADRIANA KRAFT ON THE WEB

 

Website: http://adrianakraft.com

Blog: http://adrianakraft.com/blog

Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adriana-Kraft/182846025133440

Twitter http://twitter.com/AdrianaKraft

Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/adrianakraft5/boards/

It's May Day and release day for #3 in the Redcakes series!

BLURB

 

Some temptations are impossible to resist, even for a bakery heir…

Ann Haldene is the most beautiful woman Gawain Redcake has ever seen. A gifted healer who soothes his battle-scarred body like never before, the widow’s touch has a powerful effect on him. It’s no wonder the rugged Redcake heir forgets his quest for a society bride during one passionate night in Ann’s arms. But once he learns she is pregnant with his child, he searches for her, intent on giving her his name, if not his heart….

Ann is shocked by Gawain’s proposal, mostly because he has not uttered a word of love. For the sake of their baby, she accepts, even knowing that Gawain dreamed of marrying to secure a title and all she has is a severed royal Indian bloodline. Now the new bride faces her greatest challenge: showing her husband that their union is more powerful than pedigree—and love is the ultimate reward….

 

REVIEWS

 

“This fast-paced read is both sweet and fun. It’s rare to find historical romances that feature couples who are of anything but Anglo-Saxon decent, and this one does a solid job of addressing some of these difficulties. At its heart, though, this is a standard romance and not a hard-hitting literary novel on the class and racial system of historical London—and that is just fine.
Verdict A fast read with a different view point than many novels in the genre.”—Library Journal

 

“One for the keeper shelf…” Historical Romance Lover

 

“A delightful, sexy glimpse into Victorian life and loving with two wonderfully non-traditional lovers.” --Jessa Slade, author of Dark Prince's Desire and the Steel Born series

 

“Heather Hiestand once again pleased me beyond measure with this book. I love the characters all of them…”—Hannah’s Words

 

At Goodreads: This book was a very sweet and spicy romance. Sylvia, Netgalley reviewer.

 

5 Stars:  It was a wonderful story of romance, love and mystery. I cannot wait to read more from this author. Jennischell, Netgalley reviewer

 

 

BUY LINK

http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Smile-Redcakes-Heather-Hiestand-ebook/dp/B00GYLVVS4

 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/his-wicked-smile-heather-hiestand/1117556136?ean=9781601831132

 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/his-wicked-smile/id767947962?mt=11

 

http://prod-www.kobobooks.com/ebook/His-Wicked-Smile/book-n246Kxl-AUq9Kp_RRr4QwQ/page1.html

 

 

EXCERPT

His lips curved. “And how long should I continue my program with you?”

“What do you mean?” She put her back to the fire and faced him.

“How often should I ask you to marry me? How often should I demand you move to my family home? I have been looking for houses for us in Enfield.”

“You haven’t asked me today.” She thought about the few pounds she had left, the need to eat good food so that she could feed Noel. Clothes for a growing baby. Coal for the fire. The censure she would face back in Leeds for having an illegitimate child.

His gaze left the box she was holding and moved to her face. “You are correct. I have not been following my own program. Ann, will you marry me?”

She shivered. Could she tolerate a loveless marriage? Or to phrase it better, could she bring a husband who didn’t love her to love? Gawain had not yet had a chance to love her, but at least he had come looking for her. He had come twice, to Leeds and then to London. He loved Noel already. Thankfully, he had no doubts there. She was lucky the baby took after the Redcakes and not her family.

Going back to Leeds felt wrong. She had to move forward for Noel’s sake. Clasping her hands around her upper arms, she whispered, “Yes.”

“Yes?” he said doubtfully.

She swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes. It will be best for all of us. You caught me by surprise last week, but yes.”

He moved his head back and forth as if beating time. “Would you like a civil or religious marriage? We can be married a bit sooner with a civil marriage.”

The unromantic nature of the moment deflated her further. “Will you not kiss me to celebrate?” she asked. “And worry about details some other time?”

He let his cane drop to the ground next to the armchair. With a wolfish grin, he reached for her arm and pulled her down to him. He sighed and set his head against her shoulder. “I should not remember the feel of you, Ann, but I do.”

“My body is completely different since Noel. And I don’t even smell the same.”

“You smell like cake and wind now,” he said. “It’s not a bad thing. But there is still a spicy under-layer that will never leave you.”

She wriggled. “I am glad to hear it.”

He held her firm. “Don’t do that, not with Fern here.”

She allowed him to wrap his arms around her and kiss her neck. Closing her eyes, she wondered what he would think of her if he knew why she said yes.

I will be out and about during the month of May, celebrating the May 1st release of His Wicked Smile. Here are some of the stops where I'll be posting blogs about the world of the Redcakes and His Wicked Smile. There will be prizes! I hope you can follow along on the tour.

XO

Heather Hiestand

April 28th: Historical Romance Lover
April 29th:  Buried Under Romance
April 30th:  Delighted Reader
May 1st:  Children of Yden
May 2nd:  Foreword Literary
May 3rd:  Rookie Romance
May 3rd:  http://coffeetimeromance.com/CoffeeThoughts/
May 5th:  Adriana Kraft
May 13-18 TRS Staying Home Party
May 20th:  Harlequin Junkie