~My Books~ Heartless is Now Available

That's right, after OVER ONE YEAR off the shelves, Lord Heartless is finally back in all his glory. Whew. What an undertaking it was to revamp this bad boy. 

The blurb: 

A dark stranger....
Finding herself abandoned after the death of her father, Leandra Harcourt takes the greatest risk of her life. She accepts the marriage proposal of a complete stranger, the Duke of Derringer—a man the world calls Lord Heartless.

A heartless proposal....
A desperate girl with no prospects seems the perfect solution to Derringer's most recent problem: marry before his 30th birthday to gain his rightful inheritance, though marriage is the last thing he needs. The need to find his missing cousin takes priority over any silly marriage and he quickly abandons his new bride in the wreck of his family estate.

A perfect love.... 
Two people were never more suited for each other than the duke and his wife, but will they discover it before it's too late? With an assassin dogging his heels and a suitor wooing his wife, love will not have the luxury of time.

Get it only in the Kindle Store at this time. 

Coming to all major eBook retailers in February 2013.  

Wondering how this book is connected to my others?

Betrayal:
Adam and Bri, Betrayal's hero and heroine, show up in Heartless.
Deception:
Levi, Deception's hero, is Derringer's best friend; Levi and his wife show up in Heartless.

~Guest Post~ Author Linda Weaver Clarke: Romance VS Mystery!

Today's post is by historical romance author Linda Weaver Clarke. She is here to talk about her new mystery series, The Adventures of John and Julia Evans and to celebrate the release of her newest mystery, Mayan Intrigue. Take it away, Linda! 

Romance VS Mystery! 

I have written five historical romance novels but have changed to mystery. The writing process between romance and mystery is quite a change with a completely different mind set. It’s so different from telling a love story. With romance, you plan out the plot around the meeting of a couple. As you write, you develop some sort of charisma between the characters, making the reader feel excited that one day they're going to hit it off and fall in love. You, as the reader, know what the outcome will be. But with a mystery, the reader is in the dark. The author has to come up with a plot that no one knows about until towards the end of the story and hope they haven’t figured it out. In a mystery, you may or may not allow your reader to know who the bad guys are, according to whether it’s just a mystery or mystery suspense. Do you know the difference between a mystery and a mystery suspense novel? In a mystery, when a knock is heard at the door, the reader doesn't know who's behind it. With mystery suspense, the reader knows who's behind the door and yells to the heroine, "Don't open the door!"

Anasazi Intrigue is the first book in a mystery adventure series called “The Adventures of John and Julia Evans.” It’s about a devastating flood that takes out several homes in a small town, the importance of preserving ancient artifacts, and a few puzzling and mysterious events. Julia is a reporter, and when she finds out about a possible poison spill that kills some fish and neighbor's pets, she has a feeling that something isn’t quite right. Before she realizes what is happening, Julia finds out that this incident is much bigger and more dangerous than she thought. With dead fish, a devastating flood, and miscreants chasing John and Julia, they have their hands full.

Artifact theft is a very intriguing subject. That’s why I call it the Intrigue series. In my research, I found that archaeological thievery is becoming more and more of a problem every year. Did you know that looting is only second to selling illegal drugs? While researching the second book in this series, Mayan Intrigue, my eyes were opened to the problems they have in southern Mexico. When an ancient ruin is discovered, it doesn’t take long for thieves to take it apart. The reason why is because the Mayas used astrological alignments when planning their city. Looters have learned the layout of the Mayan cities so they know where to dig. With this knowledge, they can loot a sacred temple in a few days. I also found that artifact theft in Mexico has been taken over by drug dealers from Columbia. In other words, since organized crime has taken over, there is also an increase of violence.

Mayan Intrigue will be released on August 30th and I’m having a week long celebration with a book give-away at my Blog at http://lindaweaverclarke.blogspot.com. Mayan Intrigue is about the discovery of a priceless artifact that puts Julia’s life in great danger. While on assignment for the newspaper, John and Julia try to enjoy a romantic vacation among the Mayan ruins, but when Julia accidentally comes upon a couple suspicious men exchanging an item, she quickly turns and leaves but it’s too late. Before John and Julia realize what's going on, they find themselves running for their lives through the jungles of the Yucatan. To read an excerpt from each of my books, you can visit www.lindaweaverclarke.com.

Where Did the Month Go?

Wow. I can't believe it's been a month since I lasted posted here. How very lazy of me, to be sure. Well, I 'm here now, to catch you all up on what's been keeping me busy. :o) 

Many of you follow my author blog or know me from various social networking sites. You KNOW what I'm going to say. For those of you who only follow this blog, here's the "secret." My newest Regency romance, Deception, is slated for release from TreasureLine Publishing July 15. To celebrate, my publisher is hosting a contest on the TreasureLine blog, from which one reader will walk away with a hold-in-your-hands copy of Deception. (Look at that cover. Isn't it gorgeous?) 

I started a new blog a few weeks ago, just for Deception. I invite you to follow if you are so inclined. I post historical tidbits specific to the novel, news of events and giveaways, coupons, and anything else Deception related. 

Also coming soon to an e-book site near you is a young adult anthology called Unlocked. Ten stories by nine talented authors and the only thing that ties them together is a key. It is due for release in August as a free download. 

Two of my short stories (Assassin's Keeper and Survival) appear in this book. In fact, Assassin's Keeper opens the whole, leaving it up to me to capture the interest of the YA reader (or the young-at-heart reader). 

I cannot tell you how nervous I am about both of these releases. And so excited! Both books are listed on Goodreads, if you are interested in adding them to your wishlist. 

Happy reading, everyone!!