Silhouette Desire Author Blog

I’ve heard a lot of people, readers and writers, laugh at the idea of a contemporary romance with a virginal heroine. I discussed the issue in the Dear Reader letter for my newest book:

Is it the Happily Ever After ending? The irresistibly hunky hero? The smart, brave heroine? The sparkling dialogue between the two? The funny banter? The sizzling attraction? The breathless passion?

Is it the woman's journey? Is it the thrill of seeing the hero overcoming all odds to rescue his one true love? Is it the courageous heroine rescuing him right back?

 What can I say?  I'm a girl who loooooves a bargain? 

It's so cool that I write books that I consider a huge bargain.

Silhouette Desires are cheaper than a movie ticket.  Far less expensive than a live show or a concert, and I can read them again and again and again...  I love knowing that I'm not breaking somebody's bank with my books.  Since I buy Silhouette Desires too, I appreciate the value for myself as well.

This made me start thinking about all my bargains.  I tried to explain bargain shopping to my husband.  "It's like hunting is for a man.  Bagging the deer with the huge rack with one shot."

So what are some of my best bargains? 
 

Congrats Vicky B!  You're the winner from the What have you learned lately blog!  Yikes I've been swamped with deadlines, so I'm running late with my contest winners and prizes.  I'll get them out this week.  I haven't forgotten you Laney 4!!!

xo

Leanne Banks 

Have you seen Gilles on Brothers and Sisters lately?   Just asking ....

Enjoy your Tuesday everyone!!

Sorry I'm a litte late with this, but April and Laney - send your snail mail addresses to me at sandra @ sandrahyatt dot com and I'll post out a copy of my next book, The Magnate's Pregnancy Proposal as soon as I get my copies.  

Last night was Halloween here in the States (and I'm feeling very ignorant, because I'm not sure where else in the world Halloween is celebrated). My kiddos came home loaded down with candy and we didn't even go to that many houses. But we live on a street with only four kids on it, so all the neighbors buy huge bags of candy and then give fistfuls to each kid. 

The random winner of Rachel's blog on shoes is:

Nicolerko!

Nicolerko, email your snail mail address to me at rachel at rachelbailey dot com and I'll send you a copy of Claiming His Bought Bride as soon as I get my author copies.

Hearty congratulations to KAELEE for being the winner of my little kiwi key ring and one of my books of your choice (personal stock permitting.)

FROM THE HEROES AND HEROINES AT DESIRE!

Recently, I received the cover of my first Desire, Claiming His Bought Bride. And I LOVE it. Really, really love it.

The scene is from the book, just after Damon and Lily get married. The fabulous production department at Harlequin have used so many details from the story: from Damon's dark, wavy hair to him carrying Lily through the door to their hotel room.

Lily is tall and has long blonde hair and is carrying a small bouquet of Lily-of-the-Valley, just as the scene is written. She’s also wearing a white cotton summer dress as she is in the book.

But one thing I didn’t describe in the book, and the production department has had to improvise, is Lily’s shoes.

But first - check out my new cover, it's for my second Desire book, due out in January, and I'm still pathetically excited about it. I love it. (And before I posted it here, he even had the top of his head - don't quite know what I've done).

Carrying on with Laura's movie theme, I saw the movie SPEED last night on TV. Don't know about you, but there's something about a buff Keanu Reeves with short cropped hair and a mission, that keeps me riveted to the screen.

It's inevitable.  Whenever I finish reading a great romance novel, I always say, "They should turn this into a MOVIE!"  Does anyone else do that?  Anyone?

**crickets**

Lol... Then I put together a cast list:-) It's an odd mix, but it's just who think of while I'm reading ...

AND THE WINNER OF MY RANDOM DRAWING OF "SMILES" AND A COPY OF ONE OF MY AVAILABLE BACKLIST OF BOOKS IS .... MEGALON22 

The other day I was walking out of a little café with my hubby as the sun beamed bright, after two days of much needed California rain and a Frank Sinatra song flowed out of speakers as we strode along the sidewalk.  The combination of a breezy, sky blue day, my hubby by my side and FRANK, brought a big smile to my face. 

 So here’s my list of the TOP 10 SPONTANEOUS THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE … but be prepared to share yours!  I’m posting for Day Leclaire today but I’ll be sending one random commenter a book from my backlist! 

Sorry I'm late announcing my winner....

My last Desire (from July this year) is titled Magnate's Make-Believe Mistress although I tend to think of it as The Maid and the Millionaire. That's a subtle nod to the story's Cinderella elements and to one level of conflict between the hero and the heroine.

I've been musing about the various pairings we see (and love) in romance and those which are popular in Desire.

The Boss and the Secretary.

The Prince and the Commoner.

The Cowboy and the Lady.

The Rake and the Virgin.

Beauty and the Beast.

While I've been out here in Seattle visiting my son and his family, I saw a commercial for a perfume that was one of the most romantic I think I've ever seen.  The woman (French actress Audrey Tautou)boards a train--obviously the Orient Express--and keeps running into this handsome man everywhere she goes on the train.  They never speak, but he keeps giving her these long smoldering glances.  When they reach Istanbul, she goes one way and he goes another.  End of story, right?  Wrong. 

As she's sightseeing, she takes a picture of a passing ferry and when she checks her digital camera to see if the shot was worth keeping, the man is standing at the rail of the ferry, watching her.  The ferry steams on and you think that's it, they are destined never to speak or see each other again.  But as the woman re-enters the train station to catch another train, he walks through the doorway, walks up behind her and wraps her in a steamy embrace.

Sorry to say that you're stuck with me again only a week after my last blog. The lovely Kate Carlisle kindly agreed to swap dates since I'll be on holiday for my next scheduled blog. Thanks, Kate!

Sorry to be so tardy. I chose three random contributors to my blog on October 7th to each win a copy of my October release, His Vienna Christmas Bride.

Caira

seriousreader (Linda Henderson)

Yenastone (Tammy)

Here he is!  Rafe Medici, hero from FROM PLAYBOY TO PAPA!   Coming in January!  I love how our clever Yvonne Lindsay describes this cover  "The Body".  As gorgeous and successful as Rafe is, when he finds out he has a son, he needs to learn how to be a Dad.

This made me think about how much I like to learn new things.  I'm sure I've learned several things during the last few months, but I'm thinking about two in particular.

Do you have any favorite authors that always bring out the deepest emotion in you?  I’ve always said it was easier to make a reader cry than to laugh, but that doesn’t diminish the author.  Some of us just don’t have the funny bone that we might hope to have in our writing.  I love to laugh and have often with Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ books and Janet Evanovich’s, Stefanie Plum series.

I've been thinking about heroes a lot lately.

Not the romance novel guys that we all adore, but the everyday heroes. Husbands, brothers, sons, friends. The men who day in and day out, do the right thing.

And the winner of my World Post Day blog is..... April! Congratulations!!! April, if you'd like to email me via maxine@maxinesullivan.com and tell me which book you'd like from my backlist, I'll pop it in the mail along with the koala keychain.

Emmanuelle, Anju, and WillWorkForBooks

Please email me at jen@jenlewis.com and let me know where to send your copy of "The Maverick's Virgin Mistress."

Jen 

Did you know that on October 9th every year it’s World Post Day? That’s the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874, when a structure was created for the free flow of international mail around the world.

People have been dreaming up heroes since the beginning of human history and writing, singing or just telling stories about them. The characteristics we enjoy in a hero haven't changed much over time: strength, intelligence, loyalty, courage, a well-toned physique... Certain things just never seem to go out of style. What do you look for in a hero?

It's been a long time since I've watched TV in the evenings, except for (gag) Coronation St and Criminal Minds, neither of which could be termed romantic. I have had a bit more time lately and have become queen of the remote. But I'm finding it all so depressing! 

Thanks to everyone who voted in our poll. The results were very interesting (and will possibly make an appearance in my future books!).

I've used a very sophisticated method for tallying this time: if you only voted for one option, it gets a full point. If you voted for more than one, they get half a point (no matter how many you voted for). I can see my uni statistics lecturer hanging his head now...

The winner for my Friday blog is Pat Cochran.

Pat email me at EmilyBMckay at gmail.com with your snail mail and I'll send you your fabulous prize.

The rest of you, check out my blog next month because I've got another fabulous bag from the Green Apple bag company to give away! 

Congratulations Laney 4!  You are the winner of EVER BEEN DUMPED!  So, hey, one more plus from getting dumped, yes?:)  Please send your snail mail address to leannebbb @ aol.com   without the spaces.  YAAAAAAYYYYY  YOUUUUU!!!:)  xo, Leanne 

The three winners, randomly drawn by my totally unbiased youngest child, are:

APRIL, LYN NZ and LINDA HENDERSON!!!

Yesterday when I was starting this blog, my kiddos were watching Sesame Street. I was in the other room, trying to minimize the muppet distraction, when I heard the muppets chanting. From half a house away, it sounded like they were saying “Borat! Borat! Borat!”

I've always loved a cowboy—I think the love affair must have started way back when I first read My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead and Green Grass of Wyoming—I've always had a yen to visit Cheyenne. Then I discovered Diana Palmer…Anne McAllister…and all the other fabulous Desire cowboys.  

So, what do you think is the most romantic place to snuggle down with someone special?

Some friends who helped with the preliminary voting on the Top Outfits for Men poll were very generous and helped me come up with another preliminary list - this time for the most romantic places to steal a kiss.

And in the interests of helping everyone keep the passion alive in their own kiss-stealing, I bring that list to you for further voting. It's like a public service announcement really. We aim to help.

Here we go. Top 10 Places To Steal A Kiss with a special someone:

1. under the stars, maybe on the beach with a campfire, maybe on a grassy hill on a picnic blanket

It can definitely be a bad thing - but do we want our heroes and heroines a tiny bit obsessed with each other?

First of all, don't you just love, love, LOVE my December cover. Go on, admit it! It's gorgeous! Okay, I'm in total adoration of the amazing job the art department at Harlequin have done on the treatment for my December release. You'll have to excuse me for being so effusive.

So, anyway, back to business, and my heading. Opposites attract...or do they?

And the two lucky winners of Charlene's Hunky Cowboy blog are:

 EMMANUELLE - I'll be sending you a copy of The Heart of Cowboy

NICOLERKO - I'll be sending you a copy of Bunking Down with the Boss

If you're thinking, "Hey didn't she blog nearly a month ago?" ... Um, yeah. This month completely got away from me. But Elaine was nice enough to send me a gentle reminder that I had not yet picked a winner from my September 3rd blog.  Which is especially remiss of me since I got so many wonderful responses.

I love to cook.  I love to read about cooking.  And I LOVE when there are recipes or cooking involved in the plot of a romance novel.  In my Desires, I've always written cooking scenes as a way to bring my characters together, whether it's laughing, crying or something totally unexpected.  There is something so wonderful, so intimate, and yet so straightforward about cooking for someone.  It can be a sexy gesture, or a gesture of forgiveness, or for some, the only safe way to say, 'I love you.'

Are you a Linda Lael Miller and Diana Palmer fan? Do you like modern day cowboys?  Do you miss them in Desires? 

As a writer of the old west, at times I bring those stories forward in heroes who are smart businessmen, but cowboys at heart.  They are one-time rodeo champions who’ve made millions, like Reese Parker in Fortune’s Vengeful Groom or millionaire exclusive dude ranch owners, like Trent Tyler in Five-Star Cowboy or millionaire CEO pretending to be a cowboy, like Sam Beaumont in Bunking Down with the Boss.  

In Desire our lead characters' conflict is often compounded by the behaviour of family members, friends, competitors. I love to include an interfering family member or two. They're such fun characters to write and who better to influence our hero or heroine's actions than a manipulative parent, a charming but flawed sibling, a bitchy ex or a conniving nemesis.

Sometimes these characters’ actions are forced on them by circumstances; they're not truly bad people, they’re just caught up in something gone haywire. Other times they are the complete villain with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Mostly they fall somewhere in between.

I've tried to write the villainous kind and failed. I think I'm too kind to my characters. I don't want their families to be THAT horrendous if they're still part of their lives, so I try to motivate their horrid behaviour or to counter it with some sympathetic do-gooding.

Yesterday, while I sat at my desk wondering what I could blog about today, I noticed the leaves on the black walnut tree outside my office had turned to a pretty yellow and were beginning to gracefully drift to the ground.  Then, a few hours later when my dog took me for a walk—yes, at 120 pounds, he walks me—I realized the breeze was a little cooler than it had been a few days ago and I couldn’t help but smile.  Some call it Autumn, while others call it Fall.  I call it my favorite time of year and it’s almost here. 

...is Caira! 

Please email me with your snail mail address and I'll be happy to send you a copy of one of my older releases, my current release, or my upcoming Christmas anthology (The Christmas Baby, part of The Night Before Christmas).  I probably won't receive my author copies until the end of October, so there might be a short delay if that's your choice.  But it's up to you!  And thank you all for taking the time to respond to my blog.

Well, I’m just back from a wonderful event, the New York City Chapter of Romance Writers of America’s annual Golden Apple Awards.  This year, we feted Harlequin as Publisher of the Year, in honor of its 60th anniversary.  Yeah!  A bunch of Harlequin/Silhouette executives and editors attended, from Donna Hayes to Brenda Chin (who received Editor of the Year) to Desire’s very own Senior Editor, Krista Stroever.

Sixty years is a long time…which begs the question, do you remember your first Harlequin romance?  When did you start reading Harlequin/Silhouette books and what were your favorite lines/authors? 

I love eating out in restaurants. Doesn't everybody? It's such a treat. But the real reason I love it is because ... I really hate to cook.

In my case, I'm afraid it's a matter of imagination-or lack thereof. My imagination, my energy and my thoughts all go into my writing and there's simply nothing left when it comes time to prepare dinner for my DH and me. That's my story, anyway.  No, seriously, at the end of the day, I walk into the kitchen, look around ... and I'm stymied! Everything looks unfamiliar. I think that dark lump wrapped in the ziplock freezer bag is ... meat. And there's something green in the vegetable bin. But ... what do I do with them? Do they go together? Should I cook rice with that? Oh, I never know what to make. It's just sad.

Ever been dumped?  It occurred to me that a lot of dumping goes on in romance novels.  And there are so many ways to be dumped.  By a boyfriend, by a friend, by an employer.  I remember the first time I was dumped by a boy.  I was seventeen.  He moved to California.  I was desolate.  We had the kind of relationship where I stood by the phone waiting... I knew I would never get over him...