Romancing the Blog Hop

I'm in love with love and that's why I enjoy reading and writing romance. There is nothing like that feeling... that surge of adrenaline mingled with nerves when you see two characters fall in love and battle for their HEA.  

I'm not quite sure when I started liking romance... It might have been with Little Women (although, I must admit I was never too happy with Jo's treatment to Teddy). However, what marked me for life was the day I picked up Gone with the wind from my school library. I was in fifth grade and I read all 1052 pages in 3 days. I would read with a flashlight snuck underneath my bed covers, pretending to be asleep every time I heard a noise, worried that my mom would catch me awake so late on a school night. It was worth it. Margaret Mitchell's novel became a permanent favorite. I continued reading romance on and off, sometimes even making up my own stories. Years later, when I was around 14 or 15 a neighbor let me borrow two steamy romance novels. One, of them was Outlander. I was hooked!

Throughout the years, my reading catalogue expanded: mysteries, tragedies, fantasy (my second favorite genre)…I love reading all sort of books, but I realized that no matter what I did my love for romance eclipsed it all. I was in love with  words that caused my heart to beat as fast as the heroine’s; words that made my body tingle and left me grinning like a fool when love finally conquered all.  

I especially enjoy historical romance. There just is something special about imagining other moments in time. What could the people back then have gone through? What customs did they have to fight against?  What was it like for a woman forced to marriage? How about a gay man? Perhaps, that's why my first novel turned out to be a regency and why right now I'm immersed in The Mercenary Tales, a series of stories that take place in an invented medieval period.  

Book 1 of The Mercenary Tales

Book2 of The Mercenary Tales

 With every romance I read and write I fall in love with love, time and time again. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of that warm fuzzy feeling.  

 How about you, what do you love about romance? Leave a comment with your email address at the bottom to enter the draw for any of the three major prizes:

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $130 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: A Large Swag Pack*

*Sorry folks but I'm afraid the swag pack is only for USA residents

Plus, I’ll also be giving out to one commenter a $10 Gift Card for Amazon.Com!

I'm always happy to hear from readers, so do keep in touch! You can find me here at the blog and at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElyzabethMVaLey/info

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ElyzabethVaLey

 www.elyzabethmvaley.weebly.com

Hop on to the next blog:

T n'T's Confidential: Tali Spencer Part 2 (Giveaway)

Happy Thursday readers! Today author Tali Spencer is back but this time to tell us a little about her male/female romance and All Romance Ebook best seller,  Captive Heart. 

Tali is giving away a copy to a commenter, so don't doubt it and leave a comment at the bottom to win! 

Homely Sexy Heroes

Blurb:

Gaspar bent a frown upon her. “I didn’t reject your sister because of her looks. She’s beautiful. All of you are so beautiful, it’s an offense to the gods that you have so much beauty and the rest of us have so little. I rejected her because I heard what she said—what all of you said—about my looks.”

“Oh.” Julissa could have winced, recalling.

“Your sister said I have a most unattractive visage and she would only enjoy herself in bed by imagining my cock as large as my nose.”

She flushed, because Ilona had said those very words. “Well, I never said anything like that!”

“Yes, you did.” He studied her unhappily. “My emissaries tell me, you know, what people say in reaction to my appearance. You said, ‘It is rather large.’ And you weren’t referring to my cock.”

“Well, it’s true!” Julissa refused to be cowed for her comment. “You have a large nose, Gaspar. It’s strong and bold and handsome. Why wouldn’t anyone admire it? From the moment I saw you, I thought it fine. But Gaspar, that portrait is hideous! Have you looked at it? It makes you look like a horse. I will not be held accountable for anything I said upon seeing that horrible likeness.”

~~~~~~~~~

Thanks, Elyzabeth, for having me stop by today. Again. I was just here the other day to talk about my other new release, Sorcerer’s Knot. This time, I’m giving away a copy of my M/F romance, Captive Heart, and talking about the joys of having a less than perfectly handsome hero.

Notice I didn’t say the hero is ugly. He’s just… not perfect. Gaspar, the hero of Captive Heart, has a big nose. It’s not grotesque, but it is certainly big and there’s no getting around it. He’s still an attractive man. He’s active and fit. He has beautiful eyes and good teeth and wonderfully kissable lips. And he’s not one of those standoffish, snarly, have-to-break through his armor heroes. Heroes only get away with that when they’re super handsome, or have a scar but would be handsome without it. 

Gaspar’s nose, in fact, appears in the story before he does. The heroine, Julissa, and her sister talk about it because they’ve recently seen Gaspar’s courtship portrait. Like true spoiled princesses, the girls dismiss him based on his appearance. 

When Julissa meets Gaspar, she realizes his nose isn’t that big. And as a captive in his tent, she’s in a position to assess his other, more attractive qualities. A woman is truly ready for romance when she sees past a man’s good looks—or lack of them—and can focus on his character… or his really nice backside. It isn’t long before Julissa begins to appreciate what a sexy and intelligent man the emperor who captured her country really is. 

The other interesting thing about having a hero who isn’t handsome is he can be adorably vulnerable. Gaspar knows he’s not handsome… but he wishes he were. As shown in the blurb above, he resents how often people judge him by his looks. Julissa rises even higher in his estimation by telling—and showing—him that she thinks his nose is just fine the way it is. That he’s fine. We all want the one we love and desire to tell us they think we’re sexy.

~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you enjoy my books. If you do, you can find longer excerpts and updates on my blog. You can also follow me on Twitter or Facebook. I’m on Goodreads as well, so you can say hi there.

I’m doing a giveaway of Captive Heart to celebrate this release so leave a comment at the bottom to win!

Links and stuff:

Blog: http://talismania-brilliantdisguise.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tali.spencer

Twitter: @tali_spencer

Resplendence Publishing buy link: http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/m8/490-201-103-501-1--captive-heart-pride-of-uttor-series-book-one.html

All Romance buy link: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-captiveheart-910905-143.html

Amazon buy link:

T n'T's Confidential: Tali Spencer! (Giveaway!)

Hey everyone and welcome! This week we've got a double date with lovely author Tali Spencer. *applause* Tali has just released two novels:   Sorcerer's Knot and Captive Heart (which is already an All Romance Ebook best seller) and she's going to tell us all about both of them today and on Thursday. 

Tuesday is all about her male-male novel Sorcerer's Knot. Read on and leave a comment at the bottom because Tali is giving away a copy to one lucky commentator!!!

The Language of Dragons

Thanks for letting me stop by, Elyzabeth, to talk about my new M/M fantasy novella, Sorcerer’s Knot. I’ll also be giving away a copy of the book to one of the people who leave a comment below. 

I’ve been asked what the title, Sorcerer’s Knot, means, and the best answer is that it becomes clear upon reading the book. But there’s no reason I can’t mention that it refers to a spell bestowed by a dragon. 

 

Though no dragon actually appears in Sorcerer’s Knot, dragons nonetheless exist in that world. The genesis myth for the world where Sorcerer’s Knot takes place talks about a sundering of the Deep, when the dragons rebelled against the Old Ones and created land. The land rose above the waves and the dragon’s ruled it. They created every variety of land and sky life and consider humankind to be one of their more elegant creations. Being very ancient and generally disinterested in our society, they avoid humans unless one of them is summoned by a wizard powerful enough to speak their tongue. Dragon language is close to that of the elements from which dragons were originally spawned.

Once summoned, a dragon can be persuaded to bestow upon the summoner a single word, created at that moment. The word is tucked under the wizard’s skin, available to be used at any time. The spell it enables is the most powerful of all. Here’s a short blurb that describes it well:

Muir held his gaze. As moonlight flickered through the shutters, he asked, “Why seek magic you can never turn to your advantage? You will never leave here. I placed a sorcerer’s knot upon this island, a spell that can never be broken. Anything that comes to this island, whether it be living or dead, animal, plant, or mineral, can never leave.”

Cian’s breath caught. If what Muir said was true, he was trapped here forever. A sorcerer’s knot, though difficult to work, could not be unmade unless the world was unmade. It held at its heart a single word granted by dragons to a mage who had successfully summoned one of their kind. A single word that, once used, ceased to exist and could not be recreated, removing all hope of breaking the spell.

That’s not the only gift given by a dragon in the story. Cian didn’t just summon his dragon, he seduced the great beast and enjoyed a little extra… attention. In return, the dragon rewarded him—or rather, his ass. Dragons, as Muir says at one point, are unusually intuitive.

So there you have it! A sorcerer’s knot is a spell to be reckoned with.

Links and Stuff:

Blog: http://talismania-brilliantdisguise.blogspot.com/

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tali.spencer 

Twitter: @tali_spencer

Dreamspinner Press buy link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3183

Amazon Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Sorcerers-Knot-ebook/dp/B009138YDW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345664285&sr=8-1&keywords=sorcerer%27s+knot

All Romance buy link: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sorcerer039sknot-918294-140.html

Romacing the Hop! Blog Hop starts next Friday ;-)

What is your favorite thing about Romance? Well, we authors are ready to share our romantic tips and favorite romance reads! Starting on Friday and ending on August 31st, over 100 Authors and Bloggers will share their favorite things about romance, reading romance, and dating.

And while we do that, we are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 100 giveaways on each blog hosted by that Author or Blogger.

But that's not all....

We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 100 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $130 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: The following Swag Pack!

Yep. ALL of that! Whoot! Be sure to come back here on Friday and over the weekend to enjoy some stories and facts about our favorite Romance events and reads and enter to win!

Six Sentence Sunday

Why does the weekend always happen so fast? I can't believe it's Sunday already! Hope you guys have been having a good day ;-)

Today's Six Sentence belong to my current WIP, book 3 of The Mercenary Tales. I'm hoping to finish this baby this week *fingers crossed*.

In this short snippet the group of travelers have just been attacked by some strangers, for the second time.Gregorii no longer believes Emmeline's tale and confronts her.

Book 2 of The Mercenary Tales (click here for more info)

A firm hand grasped her shoulder and spun her around with force. Gregorii stared at her with a mask of barely controlled fury. Behind him, Magnus and Wolf stood in a menacing posture, their arms crossed at their chests and their feet wide apart.

“You’re going to tell me what’s happening, right now.” 

“Speak up, wench,” he growled, tightening his hold on her shoulder.

“I have nothing to say, my lord,” Emmeline murmured through clenched teeth. 

As usual, don't hesitate to visit the rest of the participating authors! Click Here to be redirected to the list.