Waking Up in Your Favorite Romance Novel

We all have that one special romance novel that we read over and over again. A part of us fantasizes about waking up in the arms of the hero who’s stolen our heart.

Gabby Stone’s romance novel is Devlin’s Destiny. Who is Gabby, you ask.

Why the heroine in my upcoming release. I am self-publishing a novella tentatively titled, Between the Pages, very soon. Sorry, don’t have a blurb or cover yet, but thought I’d take an opportunity to talk about the story.

You see, Gabby has been obsessed with the Devlin’s Destiny for months. She doesn’t understand why. It’s definitely not because of the crappy romance or the twit for a heroine. But the hero? Man, what she wouldn’t give to have ten minutes alone with the Scottish warrior.

She gets her wish when she wakes up inside Devlin’s keep and takes over the role of the heroine. But granted wishes aren’t always a blessing. With each turn of the page, obstacles are thrown in her path. A war between love and written words ensue. Can Gabby overcome Devlin’s Destiny and win him for her very own?

Here’s a quick excerpt from the first chapter:


“Gabrielle, my bonny lass, how ye taste, ye smell.”

She stilled beneath him, a creepy sense of déjà vu hitting her. “How do you know my name?”

“Ye jest,” he said, jerking back. The desire evaporated from his eyes as a muscle jumped in his jaw.

Gabby blinked as he jumped off her, cursing. “How could ye lie with me when ye doona know me?”

The déjà vu increased and a rock formed in her stomach. Why would she dream this?

Dream, my ass. She was having a nightmare. Only a nightmare would leave her body throbbing the way it was with no relief in sight.

Wake up, fool.

But she was firmly planted, even with knowing exactly where she was now and how this would end.

Her. Unsated.

Lord Devlin McCalister paced the room. The hurt and confusion she’d read over and over again in her favorite romance novel etched on his face, causing her heart to constrict as it did every time she read this scene. Gabby looked away. She guessed it was possible to read a book one too many times and she was a little too obsessed with Devlin’s story, as she’d been told by her co-worker on countless occasions.

How many times had she imagined herself in this very scene, in Devlin’s arms, knowing how relieved he was to finally have the woman he loved show some sort of emotion toward him--that was until he realized she had no clue who he was. She watched him pace, knowing exactly what he was thinking. Calling himself a fool for believing Gabrielle had finally come to her senses.

As expected, Devlin stopped and gave her one more searching glance, sadness exuding off his powerful frame. “Ye doona know me?” he asked, barely above a whisper.

She could have recited the words with him.

Unsure of what to say, she stuck with the book. “Nay, milord. I doonae.”


I got the idea for this story a few years ago as I have my own hero obsession. Anyone know the name Grimm Roderick?

He’s the hero of Karen Marie Moning’s To Tame a Highland Warrior. Yes, sirree. That man totally does it for me. I’ve read that book over and over again. Unlike Gabby, I liked Jillian, the heroine, and believe their love story. Too bad really. LOL.

Since this idea formed, I’ve taken on one more hero obsession, one who has usurped Grimm as my number one hero. Jericho Barrons. Ring any bells?

He’s also a creation of Mrs. Moning. (She really does write some freaking hawt men). Barrons, as he is referred to through most of the Fae series, is the hero. I use that word loosely too, because he even states he’s not the hero, lol.

So those are my two favorite heroes. I’d gladly trade places with the heroines, for a short time, most preferably a love scene, if given the opportunity.

Who is yours?

Esme
www.esmereldabishop.com

What's on the Cowboy's Mind?

For most of the years I’ve been reading romance fiction, rugged heroes have always been my favorites. Those men who fight hard, live with purpose, and love with every bit of energy in their hard-to-resist bodies. Whether on the rodeo circuit or ranching, these guys face challenges head on and refuse defeat. Dirt and sweat help define them and their working ways.

Recently I found this handsome cowboy’s picture and pondered what might be on his mind. Here’s what I’m thinking he’s thinking. Tires churn the packed earth leading to the farmhouse. He turns and is nearly blinded as sunlight blares off the lipstick-red hood of the convertible. But it doesn’t prevent him from noticing the woman sitting behind the wheel, her black hair teased by the wind. She smiles and he shifts the saddle on his shoulder. He swipes a free hand over his sweat-slick chest. Her amber-lens sunglasses come off. They make eye contact and he swaggers closer. The sexy stranger licks her lips. No better time to cool off in Cassady’s Pond. Won’t take long to saddle up and head her down there. Business can wait. He runs his thumb under the waistband of his jeans. The fire inside of him can’t.

What about you, readers? What do you think is on this hunk’s mind?

Wishing you all many happy reading moments,

Shawna Moore
ROUGHRIDER – Ellora’s Cave
HELLE IN HEELS – Ellora’s Cave
TORMENTED – Coming soon to Ellora’s Cave
Shawna’s Myspace
Helle’s Myspace

Alice Gaines talks about Master Of The Elements

Hi, Today I'm pleased we have as a guest here author Alice Gaines. She's had several novellas out in Red Sage Secrets anthologies and they chose hers as one of the stories for the launch of eRed Sage (http://www.eredsage.com/).

Alice Gaines loves the fantastic and the ultra-sensual. Writing gives her the opportunity to combine these two pleasures. Besides spinning tales in her head, Alice’s passions include vegetable gardening, the San Francisco 49ers, and America’s Test Kitchen. Alice has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and lives in Oakland, California with her two pet corn snakes, Casper and Sheikh Yerbouti. Feel free to e-mail Alice at algaines@pacbell.net.


NN: Welcome, Alice!! Please tell us about your story out now with eRed Sage, Master of the Elements.

Alice Gaines: As Elsbeth says goodbye to her father at the foot of the forbidden mountain, he places a bride’s garland on her head and then refuses to let her go.

“I won’t leave you,” he insists. “Not to what lives up there.”

But Elsbeth has always known that her fate can only be found at the crest of the forbidden mountain in the master’s castle, a place shrouded in legend and kissed by the clouds.

Every hundred years, on the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of the new century, a virgin from the town is led to the foot of the mountain and sent up to her destiny at the master’s hands. None of the virgins are ever heard from again.

As the time for the sacrifice grows near, the master’s protection against the elements begins to falter. Drought, wind, cold. Crops fail. The people are suffering, and only Elsbeth can put a stop to it.

But at what cost? Is Elsbeth a blood sacrifice? Or a companion to ease the master’s isolation?

NN: What a great premise!! Please tell us about your favorite character in the book and why is this the case?

AG: The story only has two important characters -- Elsbeth and Lord Raelen, the Master of the Elements. Although I love and admire Elsbeth, Raelen is the one who totally captured my imagination. He's mysterious and frightening and yet gentle and adept at giving his virgin companion great pleasure. As the story progresses, he becomes more human, more vulnerable, and more precious. I want that man!

NN: He sounds like a hero I would easily fall in love with! Do you have any advice for unpublished authors?

AG: Never give up! Never surrender!

Okay, that's Commander Peter Quincy Taggart of the NSEA Protector (Questarians know what I'm talking about), but it's the best advice to writers at every point in their careers. It's never easy, and it never gets easier. The rejections hurt more after you're published. Take it from someone who knows.

Ultimately, the only thing you can count on is the joy of writing itself. Publishers will reject or neglect you. Editors will fail to recognize your brilliance and insist you throw out your best stuff. Reviewers will write descriptions of your books that prove beyond a doubt that they never read your stories but someone else's. Blogs? Don't even get me started on blogs. Your nearest and dearest may not understand why you HAVE to tell stories. They may even try to sabotage you.

In the end, all you have is your characters and the beauty of the worlds you've created for them. Cling to them and protect them. They -- and you -- deserve no less.

NN: This is so true! What’s next for you?

AG: I'm in the process of finishing a full-length book set in an alternate universe where a mutation has created a sub-species ultra-sexual human beings called Novuses. My heroine is cast into that universe where she has to learn how to fix her own world so she can save her child. In that alternate universe, she meets her soul mate -- a powerful Novus leader. When the time comes to return to her world, will she be able to bring her lover back with her? Will she have to chose between her child and the man she loves?

After that, I have a few short things I need to write before I can move on to my next obsession. I recently succumbed to the Timothy Dalton version of Jane Eyre. Oh, la la! that tortured, beautiful, passionate man! To exorcise that demon I want to write my own story about the redemption of a man who believes he was born without a heart. Only, my Jane will be a force for sensuality rather than a force for morality.

NN: Sounds fantastic! Thanks so much for being here today, Alice!! Please visit Alice's website at: Alice Gaines To join her yahoogroup send an e-mail to AliceGainesChambers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

To blog readers, who is your all time favorite romance hero and why did you fall in love with him so quickly and completely?