Month of Love Guest Blog & Giveaway: Fall Back in Love with Valentine’s Day by Kate Moore
Everyone please welcome historical romance author Kate Moore to Paperback Dolls! Kate’s celebrating her second release in her Sons of Sin Trilogy, TO SAVE THE DEVIL, and at the end of her post you’ll have a chance to win a signed copy!
When your local Safeway looks as if Barbie’s living room exploded, Valentine’s Day can give romance a bad name—like sentimental, mawkish, mushy,
cheesy—and we can end up feeling like the little boy listening to his grandfather in The Princess Bride, wanting to skip the mushy stuff. But one good romance can restore our faith that Romance itself is alive and well on our planet. Here are five reasons to grab a romance and fall in love with Valentine’s Day again:
1. The sexual tension—there probably isn’t a more heightened state of consciousness than that niggling awareness of another person’s person.
2. The vocabulary of gesture–all those raised brows, hands half-extended, lowered eyes, pulses leaping, and quick glances that reveal characters’ emotional states.
3. The dark moment—yes, the moment when you reach for the tissue box and when the people you’ve been rooting for seem to have lost their connection.
4. The alert consciousness of people in love–We experience novels through the alert consciousness of the main characters, and in a romance those characters are falling in love, so we are invited to fall in love again, to have both that kind of awareness of ourselves and others and that confusion that falling in love creates. It’s a great ride. One would stand in line a long time at an amusement park just to experience it once, and then dash to the end of the line immediately to experience it again.
5. The blinding moment of discovery of love that changes the world—this moment may be the most difficult for the writer to pull off successfully, but when he or she does, the reader feels it like a gut punch and a fist pump in the air simultaneously. Yes, the world is renewed! Life is beautiful and good!
So maybe, you’re done with sappy cards, over-priced roses, and too much dark chocolate, but I hope you won’t skip the “mushy stuff” entirely. Let there be at least one kiss in your Valentine plans. On the page or in the world. Make it a good one–a peck in the kitchen in passing or at the door, or a torrid, lingering prelude to passion, a memory that brings a smile, or a promise of things to come.
Today, Kate is givingaway the first TWO novels in her Sons of Sin Trilogy, TO TEMPT A SAINT and TO SAVE THE DEVIL, to ONE lucky international commenter.
In Book One, To Tempt a Saint, Xander Jones saves the life of the Prince Regent when a mob attacks his carriage at night in 1816. Though Xander is knighted for saving the prince, his youngest brother is kidnapped in the confusion. In 1819 after three years of unsuccessful searching, Xander conceives a bold plan to light one of the darkest streets in London where his brother, if still alive, may be concealed. He needs money, and an encounter in his bank with an heiress whose funds are restricted until she marries leads him to propose a marriage of convenience. As two strong and wary partners come to know each other, they discover sinister threads of connection between them that lead inevitably to London’s darkest street, a test of their love, and the miraculous discovery that Xander’s brother is alive. The brothers are still divided, however, by the youngest brother’s fear of a powerful enemy.
In Book Two, To Save the Devil, love and duty conflict for two unlikely lovers. Will Jones, the middle brother takes on his enemies directly. An ex-spy and ex-Bow Street Runner, Will is a master of disguises. In disguise he enters the discreet brothel run by the family’s enemy and rescues a virgin being auctioned off as “Helen of Troy.” Helen is no swooning maiden, but a woman of wit and determination with a mission of her own. She must retrieve dangerous letters of her mother’s from a blackmailer. Disguised as a youth, Helen is determined to escape Will until she realizes he may be her only hope of getting her mother’s letters back. In the bleak winter days after mad old King George’s death, London is more dangerous than ever, and as Will and Helen search for her mother’s letters and his brother, they stumble on a plot to assassinate the English cabinet, which divides them in a moment of stunning betrayal.
More ways to win:
+1 for each place you post about today’s contest on your blog, social network, or anywhere you can. Digg it, stumble it, twit it, share it with the world. Wherever you share it, make sure you add a link to it along with your comment.
Giveaway ends March 7th and the winner will be chosen by random.org on March 8th. We ask the winners to post a review of the novel someplace. Whether it is on their own blog, Amazon, GoodReads, LibraryThing or wherever, it doesn’t matter. Just help get the word out. Also, we will try to contact the winners, but we ask that you check back to see if you’ve won.
Hi, I’m Kate Moore. Whether you’re visiting this site as a reader, fellow writer, scholar, or friend, welcome. I’d love to hear from you about books, writing, or teaching at .
When I’m not reading, writing, teaching, or brainstorming, I walk in the redwoods; feed birds; collect books, apples and leaves; watch the tele-novellas on Spanish-language TV; and immerse myself in all things English. My favorite food groups are butter, brown sugar, dark chocolate, and red wine. My early literary influences were The Little Engine That Could, The Little Red Hen, and Winnie the Pooh. Austen, Heyer, Chaucer, and Homer came later and inspired me to put that first plot on paper.
Look for TO SEDUCE AN ANGEL in September 2011.
Kelly M said…
This post has been removed by the author.
February 8, 2011 10:22 AM
Kelly M said…
Okay… Lets try this again…
Take 2
These books look really good.. Can’t wait to read…
RT
Will post a link on my Blog
Thanks for sharing…
The crazy girl who can’t read the word March..
Kelly M
February 8, 2011 10:39 AM
BLHmistress said…
I agree with your 5 reasons and is why I jump for the nearest romance I can get lol.
tweeted
vampiremistress2010(at)gmail(dot)com
February 8, 2011 11:25 AM
June M. said…
These books sound great. I love historical romances and am always looking for new authors. I will have to look at this series.
June M. in KY
*posted to fb
February 8, 2011 11:32 AM
Reading mind said…
what a great choice of books! Thanks dolls for givin us lots of great authors!
i do love historical romances and is always good to find new books
aliasgirl at libero dot it
February 8, 2011 2:38 PM
sheila said…
These look great, love the covers too, love new authors
February 8, 2011 3:17 PM
Di said…
Romance & Suspense – can’t beat that! Fabulous descriptions. I’m not tech savvy enough to get more entries, but I’ll cross my fingers & hope!
sallans d at yahoo dot com
February 8, 2011 3:47 PM
Shannon said…
Thank you for including me. =)
tiredwkids at live dot com
February 8, 2011 3:49 PM
Robin K said…
Sound fantastic! Please count me in too.
robin [at] intensewhisper [dot] com
February 8, 2011 4:28 PM
Barbara E. said…
Although I won’t be doing anything romantic on Valentine’s Day, that won’t stop me from reading about it.
I haven’t had a chance to read any of the Sons of Sin Trilogy yet, but I’m looking forward to getting started on it.
Barbed1951(at)aol(dot)com
February 8, 2011 4:52 PM
Melissa (Books and Things) said…
Great set of books! Thanks for the giveaway!
tweeted:
books (dot) things (at) yahoo (dot) com
February 8, 2011 4:54 PM
Pat Cochran said…
Those Jones Boys aren’t just the boys next door, are they? Adventure seems to be their middle name! And
they seem to have found the perfect ladies for themselves. Must find
the youngest brother and see what
he is up to!!
February 8, 2011 5:35 PM
Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said…
to save the devil sounds really interesting, i hadn’t heard of it before. thank you for the contest!!
inthehammockblog at gmail dot com
February 8, 2011 6:10 PM
throuthehaze said…
This sounds like a great series! I would love to read it :)
throuthehaze at gmail dot com
February 8, 2011 8:39 PM
June M. said…
I would love to win these books. I have not read her books yet but am always looking for new authors.
June in KY
hmanning at bellsouth dot net
February 8, 2011 9:39 PM
June M. said…
posted on fb
June in KY
hmanning at bellsouth dot net
February 8, 2011 9:40 PM
Sara said…
These books sound great, I would love to read them! Please count me in for the contest. I shared the contest info on my facebook at the following link:
+1 Thank you!
I’m at sweetbrier at shaw dot ca
February 8, 2011 11:46 PM
Christy and Danielle said…
Congradulations!! I want to pass this wonderful little Award on to you and your awesome blog!!
February 9, 2011 9:18 AM
Johanna R Jochum said…
Wow, these books look awesome! I would love a chance to win. I have not read Kate Moore yet and would love to give her a try! Thanks for sharing with us today!
evjochum[AT]aol[DOT]com
February 9, 2011 1:52 PM
buddyt said…
You make the books sound very interesting and I can’t remember if I have read the author before or not.
And hurrah, its International so I can enter.
Thanks very much.
Carol T
buddytho {at} gmail DOT com
I am a Follower via GFC
February 9, 2011 10:58 PM
Sheree said…
Nicely put! And I will kiss my boyfriend more for Valentine’s Day!
ironss[at]gmail.com
February 10, 2011 12:17 AM
Meredith said…
Not skipping the mushy stuff! In fact, it’s a priority this year!
meredithfl at gmail dot com
February 10, 2011 8:18 PM
Danielle Gorman said…
These books look so good and I totally agree with your list.
blog follower
February 12, 2011 4:37 PM
Tore said…
Thanks for the giveaway. Please enter me in contest. I would love to read these book.
February 15, 2011 9:51 AM
Asylumgirl said…
Unfortunately, this is one of the things that my husband and I forget to do nowadays. We stay so busy and we’re always together but it’s the little things like a kiss here and there that can make all the difference in the world.
Deidre
February 17, 2011 9:47 AM
mbreakfield said…
Would love to read these. Please enter me in the giveaway.
marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com
February 22, 2011 7:55 AM
ChrisS said…
I love historicals and am always looking for new authors to read. I haven’t read Kate’s books as of yet, but would love the opportunity.
rjofus(at)gmail(dot)com /NJ
February 24, 2011 6:02 AM
-petit said…
Hummm! Hot and yummy covers! :9 Loved it! XD
I tweeted () and Shared on Facebook ()
Thanks for the giveaway! :D
February 24, 2011 4:09 PM
Amy said…
Would love to read these books!
And I definitely want to fall in love again :)
angeldream3[at]gmail[dot]com
February 24, 2011 9:09 PM
Lady K said…
I really would love to read these books … and covers are gorgeous !
anais.styling AT orange.fr
February 28, 2011 7:03 AM
Stella (Ex Libris) said…
I have to confess Kate Moore is a completely new author to me, so thanks for drawing my attention to her novels, I will definitely add them to my wishlist :-)
Thank you for the wonderful giveaway!
stella.exlibris (at) gmail (dot) com
+1 tweeted:
+1 posted on Facebook:
March 2, 2011 8:17 AM
Aanchal @ Book Flame said…
I would love to get my hands on these please enter me.
March 3, 2011 3:30 PM
Anonymous said…
These books look really good.
Shared on facebook https://paperbackdolls.com/2011/02/month-of-love-two-doll-series-review.html
March 4, 2011 6:27 AM
winnie said…
These sound like my kinda read! Thanks for the opportunity to win a copy! :)
chibipooh(at)gmail(dot)com
March 7, 2011 1:49 PM