Contract Bride

Ayn Amoreli/Contract Bride/Black Velvet Seductions/ebook/337 pages
This very sensual book starts off in a way that is guaranteed to provoke a reaction from women. If you are female you will either laugh and say go girl! Or you might hate the hero's attitude. Bob McKnight needs a bride and a baby by the end of the year if he is going to inherit a huge fortune from his aunt. Kayla is down to her last few dollars and definitely needs a bit of luck and when Bob offers her two million dollars to marry him and have his child, she agrees. But when Bob seems to think he can treat her like a whore she wishes she had never agreed. She decides to leave him, but Bob is the man of her dreams and she can't help falling into bed with him. Can she tame him and make him realise what he could lose?
Is it possible that what began as a contract marriage can turn into something worthwhile? Look out for some twists and turns! This is a book for over eighteens and is a strong, pacy read with a satisfactory ending. 4.5 red roses, but only for those who like strong sexual scenes. Roxy

An Interview with Michelle Styles

An Interview with Michelle Styles. This is an author I met through the Internet and in person at the RNA awards luncheon. We were both up for the Romance Award, which neither of us won – but we have become friends through it and I think that is possible worth more to us both. Anne
Tell us a little about yourself
I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. I spent my third year of university in England where I met my husband. Four years later, we married and I moved over to England permanently, much to my family’s dismay. After nearly twenty years, I think I am very well settled in Northumberland, a few miles south of Hadrian’s Wall. In addition to a large rather over grown garden, we have three children, two cats, two dogs, hens, a multitude of ducks and two beehives.

What do you write? I write historical romance. Okay, good old fashioned bodice rippers with accurate history and a high degree of sensuality. Torn togas if you will for my Romans. I am still trying to come up with a good name for my Vikings as the women did not wear bodices. Sometimes, I think that people fear historical novels will be hard to follow or demand too much because they didn’t like history at school. I want to make history accessible, to show that history is interesting and a thumping good read. It is the type of novel I love and why shouldn’t I write what I love to read?

Why do you write?
I write because I am a far nicer person when I am pouring drama into my novels, rather than pouring into my life. I write basically because it comes as naturally as breathing to me.

What are you writing now?
Right now I am writing an early Victorian. It is a linked book to my December release –A Christmas Wedding Wager, because my daughter fell in love with a secondary character – Lottie and demanded that she have her own Happily Ever After.

What kind of clothes do you like to wear?
One of the great things about being a writer is that you can work in really comfortable clothes – jeans and a sweat shirt. But every now and then, you are given a chance to dress up – an awards ceremony or going to meet your editors and then I like to take the opportunity to look nice.

Are you in love? Have you ever been?
I love my husband dearly. What is great about having a long term relationship is the nature of love changes. This was really crystallised for me when I read Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s brilliant series of essay in Gifts from the Sea. She likened romantic love to the two halves of a perfect shell – beautiful but fragile, but married love was a knobbly whelk with many chambers – not necessarily pretty to look at but useful, durable. I love exploring the theme of love in its many forms.


What kind of comfort food do you like best?
An English fried breakfast – eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, baked beans – the works. My husband introduced me to them in the early days of our courtship and I remain addicted! Unfortunately, I don’t get to eat it very often as I had my gall bladder removed in 2002 and have to limited my fat intake, but whenever I need comfort food...

What makes you laugh? Cry?
Lots of things. I am easily amused. Hopefully I don’t take my self too seriously. Equally, I cry very easily. Apparently when I was little, I used to practice crying in front of a mirror. My parents thought I might grow up to be an actress. Tears have never bothered me, but I understand that they bother some.

What do you do to amuse yourself when not working?
I garden and take long walks. I love doing needlework and of course reading remains a top priority. I also enjoy cooking.

What do you hate about life?
I hate injustice and hypocrisy.
What do you hope to achieve in life and when will you know that you have been a success?
I hope to raise my children into honourable adulthood and will be well satisfied if I live a life well lived. If my writing touches one person, then I have been a success. I think success is measured in small precious moments in time. In 2002 when I had gall stones, and nearly died, I realised that it was important to take pleasure in life’s blessings. The fact that my writing is published and people enjoy it means a lot.
What are you going to write next?
After I finish the early Victorian, I think I am going to write the final part of my Viking trilogy, but it depends slightly on what my editors think. Luckily I love many different historical eras and I love doing research. But whatever I write, I hope it will be a thoroughly enthralling read for anyone who chances to pick it up.

Eye of The Tigerlily

The Tigerlily/Annie Holloway/Triskelion Publishing/Ebook/115pgs
Molly Whitecloud is part Native American and works tirelessly for the people of the Blackbird Indian Reservation, but when she visits a fertility clinic in Boston it is for her own private dream. Molly happens to know that the man she loved still has some of his sperm in the bank there and, as he gave his permission for it to be used for others, she uses her inside knowledge to take advantage. They had once been lovers but she miscarried his child after marrying a man of her tribe. Cameron Outlaw has never forgiven her for breaking off their relationship, but he does not know that her father made it clear she was not suitable as a wife for him.
Now, years later, Molly needs something to fill her life. Cameron has a child from his first marriage – a marriage to a woman he never loved – and is now planning to marry again for all the wrong reasons. But fate is about to get in the way. Molly and Cameron are flung together as they try to stop the mobsters from taking all the profits from a project that was supposed to bring benefits for the Reservation.
Being so close together brings all the old feelings flooding back and it is inevitable that they should make love. Molly is battling with her feelings of guilt at what she did, and her hurt that he still intends to marry Sharon. Cameron meanwhile has always hated the man she married when she should have been his, and though they were divorced some years previously, his jealous makes difficulties between them. However, the danger that nearly robs Cameron of his beloved daughter and Molly of her life finally brings them to a realisation of the truth.
For me this was an unusual love story, telling part of the problems posed for Native American people in their struggle to find a place in the modern world. Tender, sometimes sad, but always compelling, this is an appealing book. Award 4.5 red roses. Morna

The Gallant Lord Ives

Emily Hendrickson/The Gallant Lord Ives/Robert Hale/ISBN 9780-70090-8222-4/HB £18.99

This tender love story about an earl and an invalid girl, despised or neglected by most of her family, tugs at the heartstrings. Lord Ives comes calling on the ffolkes family to talk about sheep with Alissa's father. He first sees the shy young woman flying her hawk with her horse and dog. She is disturbed when they meet, because during her ill fated season this handsome man never noticed her though she noticed him! On her ride home she has an accident, which leaves her unable to walk temporarily.

When Lord Ives returns to stay for the sheep fair a month later he is dismayed to hear that Alissa is confined to her room. He defies convention to carry her from her bed to the chaise longue and forces her to face life again. It is Lord Ives who stands by her as she struggles against her sister Henrietta's spite, while appearing to favour the younger girl. Her youngest sister Elizabeth is also a good friend and deservedly finds happiness with Lord Ives' friend, but can Alissa overcome all her problems to find her own true love? This is a book you will want to keep and read again. Award five red roses. Anne

Secret Intentions

Leslie Dicken/Secret Intentions/TriskelionPublishing/ebook/187 pgs

This book set in Victorian times is an entertaining tale of a proud nobleman who is forced into taking the rebellious Lizzie Parker to London for the season. Her father is the Rector at Abingdon and under a misguided idea of securing her fortune he has blackmailed Lord Markham into courting and marrying her.

Lizzie is furious at being taken away from her home and her father. She thinks she wants to marry the curate but despite Lord Markham's arrogance and her anger, she finds herself falling in love with him. She is then devastated to learn the truth. Can love find a way through this tangle of secrets and deception?

This is enjoyable, sensual , fast paced and good fun. Award 4.5 red roses, Morna

www.triskelionpublishing.com

Interview Lynda K. Scott

Lynda K. Scott
Lynda is an American writer. Her book Heartstone has just been reviewed on Red Roses For Authors. I admired her for her book already, but I admire her more now that I've read her answers. Anne
Tell us a little about yourself
I’m a computer operator/programmer for a Building Automation System and a bit of a geek; love technology and love to figure out how it works. I also love science (even if a good deal of it’s over my head, I love to read Scientific American) and history though not recent history. I’m a wife and a mom and I’ve done all the mom things like make costumes for Halloween and dance classes, bake sales, chauffeuring, etc. I’ve done the Girl Scout Troop Leader thing (which was a LOT of fun!) I’ve got so many interests that it’s hard to catalogue them all and I often refer to myself as a Jack-of-all-trades.

What do you write?
I mostly write cross-genre futuristic romance with a good strong adventure though I’ve written some erotic paranormal and I have a historical that’s been begging for attention for the last few years. So many ideas, so little time to actually write them!
Why do you write?
The classic answer? The voices tell me to The real answer? I’ve been writing stories since I learned to hold a pencil. It’s what I do.
What are you writing now?
I’m working on a futuristic set in the far future that I’ve tentatively titled Rider’s Luck. It involves a trader with a criminal past who’s pursued by a lawman who wants to bring her and her old friends to justice. But he finds that the criminal charges against her are bogus and as his feelings for her develop, he wants to find a way to exonerate her.
What kind of clothes do you like to wear?
I’m into comfortable clothes, nothing tight or restrictive. I prefer jeans and T-shirts but I can get fancied up when I have to. Then I really like sparkly stuff.

Are you in love? Have you ever been?
Yes, I still love the man I married even though he drives me to distraction sometimes. I’m sure he feels the same way so I guess that’s fair

Do you have a dream lover – and what does he look like?
Each time I start a new book, I get a new dream lover He’s tall, well built and has a heart-melting smile. Right now, he’s got dark auburn hair, hazel eyes, one dimple in his cheek and a soft brogue.

What kind of comfort food do you like best?
I’m a country girl so I like fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans cooked with a little bacon or salt pork. Dessert is almost always chocolate.

What makes you laugh? Cry?
There’s a lot that makes me laugh. People. Animals. The really weird stuff I see in every day life. I laugh at my cat, Wookie Baby, who is a sweet, if slightly neurotic feline who is currently obsessing about the new ceiling fan in my dining area. And I laugh at my dog, Zuzu, who watches Wookie obsess about the ceiling fan with a perplexed expression that’s almost human.
Cruelty to children and animals makes me cry. It also makes me very, very angry.

What do you do to amuse yourself when not working?
I write. Wait. Writing is supposed to be work, isn’t it? Okay, I play computer games or watch TV or read one of the kazillion books I own. Occasionally I work in my garden but all that fresh air and sunshine can send me reeling back into the house when my allergies start up.

What is it in a man or woman that turns you on? The clean version please!
I like men who show in their words, expressions and actions how they feel about a woman. I like fidelity and honesty and gentleness and strength. That turns me on faster than anything.
Women don’t turn me on but if I had to describe the perfect friend, it would be one who accepts me, would stand by me, and who wouldn’t play the little games some people resort to. Luckily I have several very good friends who fit the bill.
What do you hate about life?
That it’s too short and sometimes it isn’t very fair.

What do you hope to achieve in life and when will you know that you have been a success?
I’d like to sell enough books to quit my day job. Or to keep a roof over my head and food on the table if my husband loses his job. But really, I’d be head over heels if a reader came up and asked for an autograph. I’d know I had ‘made’ it then.
What are you going to write next?
If Rider’s Luck is a success, I’d like to write a sequel or turn it into a series. There are at least two characters in there that would like their own books. They’re getting pretty insistent about it too.

www.triskelionpublishing.com

The Heartstone

Lynda K. Scott /Heartstone/Triskelion Publishing/ebook/160 pages
MS Scott takes your mind and holds it in thrall with this mesmerising book. Science fiction it may be, but written with such power and honesty that you cannot stop reading and believing.
Keriam is human or so she has always thought, but strange things begin to happen after her mother's death, which she fears may be a form of madness. She befriends a dog she calls Wolfgang little knowing that he is in one of his other forms and is actually the Antari Defender. Eric has come looking for the Stonebearer, because she is the only one who can find the Heartstone and save his planet – and the universe – from the Gawan.
The Gawan is an evil being who infests other beings and forces them to become a part of it, trapped in the web of its mind. Only Keriam and Eric can defeat this evil, but they must do it together. They can only become powerful enough by bonding in a special marriage called Ga'ja. Eric knows the old legend but even he does not understand the truth at its core.
Before they can discover the Heartstone they must journey a long way and face many dangers and monsters, of which the most terrifying is Gawan spawn. It is during their journey that their feelings become love and it is through that love that their quest will succeed.
A highly sensual love affair shines through this breathtaking adventure, holding the reader fast in tentacles of suspense to the end. Five red roses, Anne

www.triskelionpublishing.com