Penny Watson Reviews Crocodile On The Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

Dark and Stormy is thrilled to have best selling author Penny Watson visiting us from Penelope’s Reviews to share her review for Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters.

Long before I became helplessly addicted to romance novels, I was helplessly addicted to mysteries. Back in the good old days when mysteries were sometimes fun and witty and not filled with gratuitous violence and gore. The Amelia Peabody Series by Elizabeth Peters manages to encompass both of these genres quite successfully. Peters' books are a brilliant combination of archaeology and history, well developed characters and plot, and a well-crafted and well-written story line. There is drama, wit and suspense galore.

It comes as no surprise that Elizabeth Peters actually has a doctorate in Egyptology from the University of Chicago. The larger than life setting for her mystery series (19th century Egypt) practically pops off the pages.

"On the east, the undulating yellow Mokattam hills formed a frame for a picture whose nearer charms included the vivid green strip of cultivated land next to the river, and, in the distance, shining like the towers of fairyland, the domes and minarets of Cairo. To the west and south the desert stretched away in a haze of gold."

The year I discovered this series (which currently includes 18 titles) was one of the greatest reading years of my life. I became so enamored with the Emerson family that I quickly devoured every book, in chronological order of course. I even dreamt about the characters!

Crocodile on the Sandbank, originally published in 1975, is an excellent introduction to the series. The story is narrated in the first person by Amelia Peabody, the pragmatic, intelligent, and exceedingly determined English heroine. Over the course of this first book, Amelia establishes her well-earned reputation as Sitt Hakim (Lady Doctor) and an amateur Egyptologist. The self-confirmed spinster meets her match with Radcliffe Emerson, an academic explorer with a fierce temper and a penchant for swearing (ergo his nickname "Father of Curses"). The chemistry between these two characters is as good as it gets in romantic fiction. They spar, they snap, they complement each other perfectly.

This book has everything I love--suspense, romance and a great sense of humor! There is mystery and intrigue surrounding the exploration of an Egyptian tomb and unexplained hauntings by a mummy. There are two wonderful romances that unfold in this story, involving Amelia and Emerson, and Evelyn (her companion) and Emerson's younger brother Walter. There is fabulous dialogue and banter between the characters. And there is a wonderful immersion into the world of ancient Egypt, which is highly addictive.

I am thrilled that a new installment of this series will be released in April. A River In The Sky is the 19th addition to the Amelia Peabody Series. For anyone looking for a highly satisfying and addictive series, I cannot recommend these books highly enough.

Grade: A

Penelope

And be sure to check out Penny’s best selling debut novel, Sweet Inspiration!

Lucky winner of Jax Cassidy Brush Strokes

The lucky winner of a copy of Jax Cassidy's ebook, Brush Strokes, is Beth Trissel.
Congratulations Beth and thanks for posting on Dark and Stormy!

True Love Can Be Super Rough -- Phenomenal Girl 5 by A. J. Menden

Lainey Livingston (Phenomenal Girl 5) has just been made a member of the Elite Hands of Justice, the world's premier cadre of superheroes. Her work with the Red Knights and the Power Squad was impressive; all her senses are extraordinary and her great strength and her ability to fly are equally remarkable. But no one gets a free pass to active duty, and Lainey's next test is going to be her hardest. She's to train with the Reincarnist.

Robert Elliot, the Reincarnist, is a magician who has lived multiple lifetimes, and he's the smartest man in the world and Lainey's last obstacle to a goal that has lived within her since her earliest childhood. He was personally responsible for seeing Pushstar wash out. But his eyes are the softest, kindest that Lainey has ever seen, and he's just the sort to knock her for a loop. Her first lesson: to realize that romantic entanglements among crime fighters are super exploitable, and falling in love with a man who can't die is like waving a red flag at a bull. Especially when the most fiendish plot ever is about to break over Megalopolis like a wave of fire.

What a fun book!! It was reminescent of reading Wonder Woman while I was growing up, and I mean that in the best possible way! Lainey Livingston is a young woman who is as phenomenal as her name but is one who is never going to allow another human being to force her to think less of herself, even while going through her "rookie" training. She has wanted to be a part of the Elite Hands of Justice for as long as she can remember, and that goal is the factor by which she measures her opportunities and which guides her choices. She is mouthy and forthright, qualities which could be chalked up to her youth, but are more likely to be inspired by the underlying male chauvenism that exists even in a society with superheroes. She has also been a orphan for many years and has had to "make her way in the world" all on her own. Robert Elliot is a reserved, quiet, somewhat outspoken person who seems to respond positively to Lainey's penchant for "telling it like it is." In fact, before long, he is responding to her beauty and powerful sensual aura as much as any other man. Their desire grows into love but that love is short-lived. Enter Wesley, Robert's new persona. Lainey's promotion, her struggle with Wesley while grieving over Robert's "death" are all sources of conflict besides the obvious one caused by the overwhelming evil that is discovered by the Reincarnist and faced by the EHJ.

This is a delightful book full of interesting superheroes who are subject to the foibles of all human beings, their jeolousies, their ego games, their need to excell and be first among equals. Sometimes they sounded like a room full of kindergarten children. There are curious relationships here--a man who cannot die, and having to deal with his "children" born from past relationship during past reincarnations is strange and stretches the credibility of the reader in a nice way. There is a threesome among this elite group, a centuries-old loe goddess, a homosexual superhero, and so forth. It is heartwarming to see Lainey's desire to be true to herself and to her desire to be a force for good while having to be subordinate to superheroes who, for the most part, are more concerned with publicity and celebrity status than in doing what they were asked to do as the champions for good. This book is full of power and magic, love and loss, joy and grieving, good and evil. It is not heavy-duty historical romance, but it is full of romance--the best kind of romance that embraces genuine desire and true, life-long commitment and love. Amy Mendenhall has written a very readable novel which will be a joy to read for any romance fan. I give this book a rating of 4 out of 5.

Dirty Little Secret by Judi Fennell

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Dirty Little Secret by Judi Fennell

Tammie, thanks so much for having me back!

The third book in my Mer series, Catch of a Lifetime, is out in stores now, and I'm loving the feedback from readers. So many have enjoyed the world-building and I have to say, I didn't know I could create a world like this.

Why? Well, here's my dirty little secret: I hate descriptive scenes, and to me, that was always the world building part. Sad, but true.

I remember, in the "old days" (AKA the 70s), reading pages and pages of description. I would skim over them. Oh, trust me, I do know all the research that went into those descriptions and, at times, I would read through them, but for the most part, I didn't want to read them. I wanted the action and the passion! The romance!

So when it came time to write about my world, I remembered that I didn't like to read gobs of description and tried to focus on the immediacy of what the characters would be seeing, all the while cognizant of making sure to show the world to the reader.

With Catch of a Lifetime, I had an easier time of scene-setting and world-building than I did with the first book in the series, In Over Her Head, mainly because most of it is set on land which is a common reference for my readers, and I'd already figured out the world in my head. Let me tell you, it's much easier to add on than to start new.

But I didn't want to rehash the same old-same old. We've been to Atlantis in In Over Her Head, so the underwater scenes in Catch of a Lifetime had to be different.

That's the great part about writing paranormal - I could make up whatever I wanted. And since we'd already been to Ceto's palace in the first book, I got to give her a new palace in Catch. New fish, new construction, a whole new look. And it was fun.

I hope people don't skim over those passages, but I've realized that if they do, they must still be "getting" the world. Still seeing the scene. If they weren't, they'd be devouring each and every word to see what I wanted them to. At least, that's my theory; you'll have to tell me if it's true or not.

Here's a passage from Ceto's second palace. What do you think?

****

Harry followed him down a long, domed tunnel decorated in abalone and oyster. Chandelier squid mantles, lit by hatchetfish and strung with pearls, dangled from the ceiling, making the whole place sparkly and girly. Ceto had invested heavily in her palace—taking the I-am-goddess-hear-me-roar thing a bit too seriously, in his opinion.

The tunnel opened into an amphitheater—which it had once been. Ceto floated—of course—on a raised dais made of glass, beneath which the most colorful of the local tropicals swam. Ionic columns held a canopy of sailcloth above her head. Probably stolen from one of her victims—she did love to live up to her Queen of the Bermuda Triangle reputation. Her chair was a sea sponge she’d bewitched into a throne for that very purpose. Ceto liked true creature comforts.

“Ah, Harry. To what do I owe the pleasure?” She swept a taloned—that is, manicured—hand before her, indicating the kowtowing area of the orchestra pit in front of her.

When the previous dynasty had ruled Atlantis, this building had been the in place. Full of hedonism and free spirits, it’d been their final corruption. The gods had reclaimed the throne for Poseidon’s heirs and moved Atlantis under Bermuda, giving Ceto, he’d heard, the opportunity to get this place for a song. Literally.

Harry tried to keep the smile off his face. The orchestra pit. She was really overdoing it. But Harry went along with it. Sometimes playing to her vanity was the best offense.

“Good day, Ceto. You’re looking lovely, as usual.” Her malachite hair squirmed around her head, also as usual, and her twin tails shifted through the full spectrum of colors. The false image of relaxation didn’t fool Harry for a second.

No one showed up at any of Ceto’s palaces without reason. This wasn’t a swim-by visit and they both knew it.

Harry settled himself in the pit as best he could while still managing to writhe enough to keep water moving over his gills. It was the one thing he hated about being a shark. Other fish could remain still, but sharks, for whatever reason, weren’t granted swim bladders. If he stopped moving, he’d drown. Rumor had it that some ancestor had annoyed a god so severely that the god had forced this on the shark’s descendants. Probably a Great White.

“Ah, Harry, such a charmer.” Ceto motioned for one of her Serving Nautiluses to offer him a snack.

Harry didn’t have as much luck keeping the smile off his face this time. The cephalopod acted as if Harry was going to take a bite of him. A little too self-important was that Nautilus. They were even worse tasting than Bipeds.

Harry shook his head, and the Nautilus left as fast as his gaseous escape mechanism—very appropriate term in Harry’s opinion—would allow.

“Thank you for your hospitality, Ceto, but I’m here on an urgent matter.”

“Oh?” The sea monster leaned forward, her shell-fillers almost spilling out of the Human top she wore.

He didn’t get the fascination she had with their clothing. It tasted awful, was a pain in the tail to pick out of his teeth, and ruined the presentation as far as he was concerned. Still, whatever floated her boat.


When he finds out what she really is, they’re both in mortal danger…

For Logan Hardington, finding a beautiful woman on his boat is surely not a problem—until he discovers she’s a mermaid, and suddenly his life is on the line…

The third novel in Judi Fennell's mermaid series, a fresh, exciting, and different entry in romance fiction!

About the Author

Judi Fennell is an award-winning author. Her romance novels have been finalists in Gather.com's First Chapters and First Chapters Romance contests, as well as the third American Title contest. She spends family vacations at the Jersey Shore, the setting for some of her paranormal romance series. She lives in suburban Philadelphia, PA. For More information, and a chance to win a romantic ocean getaway, visit www.judifennell.com.

Romance Novel Award Season

I read a romance novel a day so I’m constantly looking for new-to-me authors. That is why I love, love, love award season. This is the time of year (right around now) that review sites and magazines are announcing their Best Of’s for 2009. In these lists of nominees (and later winners), there are authors I’ve never, ever heard of yet someone out there in romance reader land (the happiest place on the planet) thinks they’re the best.

What a gift!

I immediately add these authors and titles to my to be bought list. Because I read so many romance novels, I prefer to look at the nominee lists. After reading them all, I’ll decide the winner for myself. One of my buddies reads a romance novel a week. She reads the winners. Another buddy is perverse (that’s perverse, not perverted). She refuses to read any book up for an award. She leans toward quirky romances not representative of the genre.

There are certain categories I drift to. I like to support new authors so I’ll always pick up Best Debut Book. Historical Romance is another one of my fave’s. Give me a Duke and I’m happy. Give me a scarred Duke and I’m ecstatic. There are also categories that I WISH awards had like Angstiest Vampire or Most Creative Use Of The Word Feisty. Romances are fun. We should have fun with the awards.

Devils on Horseback -- Nate's Story

Oh my, oh my, oh my! Hunks, hunks, and more hunks!! Beth Williamson keeps filling up the pages of her books with delightful and colorful characters that are rooted in the historical development of the Old West. Nate Marchand is a former lieutenant in the Confederate Army who, like thousands of others after the American Civil War, returned to homes and properties in the South that had been torn down, burned down, or otherwise made uninhabitable as well as finding that members of their families left behind in 1860 had died or been killed as "collateral damage" of that armed conflict. Together with four other Confederate soldiers who he fought with for four years, Nate finds himself on the road, searching for employment, finances, and most importantly, roots. Hired as D. H. Enterprises to remove a recalcitrant family from property that had supposedly been sold during the Civil War, the Devils on Horseback (as they call themselves) find themselves embroiled in a situation that involves greed, murder, political and governmental shenanigans as well as a beautiful young woman who rides like one who was born on a horse, shoots to kill and has the moxy which far exceeds some men of her times.

Of course you have the romance between Nate and Elisa, and since this is a romance, that is to be expected. But I found that the author developed all the characters in the Devils in bold strokes of her pen and with a great deal of detail. Those five men really live in these pages. I was also struck with Beth Williamson's sensitive characterizations of the pain of the Civil War, the anger and torment, revenge and grief, external wounds and internal damage that lived on long after 1865. One catches intriguing glimpses of the smells of battle, the horror of the prison camps, the starvation and disease that continued on after the war. There were no Americans whose lives were not changed irrevocably by that conflict. Not only were these five characters comrades in arms but they were "family" and because of that bond, they are always present in varying degrees and in various circumstances. Nate is not related to anyone of the other four except they have become his "brothers" and together they attempt to find healing and a new direction as people who have lived through Hell and survived.

The Old West was never portrayed with better word pictures, an engaging story line, balanced conflict and resolution within the plot, and, of course, the sizzle of romance that seems to creep up on people who not only aren't looking for it (at least knowlingly) but who are surprised by the holes in their souls it fills. I really enjoyed this book and loved the characterization of the Southern gentleman that seemed to have survived the awfulness of way -- a true tribute to those Southern belles who raised their men to be the "iron fist in the velvet glove." Their absolute adherence to the Southern traditions concerning justice, care for others, respect for women, and desire to be productive citizens is awesome and is a critical ingredient in who Nate really is. Williamson tells an awesome story. I hope she keeps right on giving us more glimpses in the hearts and souls of the Devils on Horseback! I give this book a rating of 5 out of 5.

Love Heals All Pain by Melissa Miller

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Love Heals All Pain by Melissa Miller

Thanks for having me here today to talk about my latest book “Love Heals All Pain.” I've been writing for about four years. I have written six books to date. “Love Heals All Pain” is published with Hearts On Fire Books.


I am married with two boys. They are 6 and 9 and growing faster than you can keep up with. Both of my boys suffer from asthma. If any of you have children with asthma then you know what they have gone through. It's a scary thing when you sit up all night long listening to your child breath because it just didn't sound right when you put them to bed. They both get bronchitis a lot and take breathing treatments at home on top of the regular medications to prevent attacks, but they are both getting older and I hope that they grow out of it as time goes by.


I love writing. I sit down at my computer and just get away for a few hours. I don't have any set schedule or set any limits. I do it for the fun of it. That would be my advice to anyone just starting out. Keep it fun. Don't stress out about it and the story will just write itself.

Love Heals All Pain

A strong woman, Rachel Connors, faces the possibility of breast Cancer. Scared and alone she keeps her fears to herself. Going home to Tennessee for the holidays, she meets Kyle Landers.

Kyle has decided from the beginning not to like Rachel. Her absence has been hard on her family-two loving people who took Kyle under their wing when he had no one. But is his anger misplaced? Is there more to Rachel Connors than he first thought?

Overcoming a rocky beginning, Rachel and Kyle fall in love. But will it last? Can love prevail against the trials they will face?

SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE: A MALE AUTHOR’S VIEW

Win a ecopy of a book by Robert Appleton! One lucky commenter will be selected. Just comment on this post to be entered! This is a cross blog post with the SFF Insider blog. One winner between the two blogs comments.


Include the first part of your email address with your comment. You need to be a NOR newsletter subscriber to enter. That's how we get your full email address...so you don't have to post it all on the comment. You must be 18 or over to enter. No Purchase Necessary. Contest Ends: 3/5/2010
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SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE: A MALE AUTHOR’S VIEW by Robert Appleton

A soccer-mad friend of mine told me about a book he’d read recently, the first book he’d ever read cover to cover. We were in a boisterous pub, but I managed to pick out the words “tragic”, “stars”, and “an action-packed ride”. My eyes lit up. Had he…could he possibly have read…science fiction? It was the last thing I expected, and I’d had no intention of telling him about my latest project. A space opera romance. I mean seriously—it’s dodgy to even mutter the words “science-fiction” in a pub on a Saturday afternoon, let alone tie a pink ribbon round them with “romance.” That’s worse than running in stark naked, waving a scarf for the wrong team, shouting “Drinks are on me!” and expecting not to take an instant beer bath.

Yep, it’s a tricky thing for a thirty-year-old guy to explain—why I write romantic science fiction.

And yes, my friend wholeheartedly recommended his book. Tragic, an action-packed ride, stars. He said it was a great autobiography of a professional wrestler.

So here I am (online), to tell you of my newest passion. Sci-fi romance.

The Mythmakers marks my first real foray into space opera, a sub-genre of science fiction characterized by a predominance of space flight, cliffhangers, and romance. Think Firefly, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica. And though I’ve written science fiction from a female POV before—my Eleven Hour Fall trilogy featured a feisty female survivalist, Kate Borrowdale—this is the first time I’ve put romance front and centre, on an equal footing with the action and the “science”.

Here’s the blurb:

For Captain Steffi Savannah and her crew of deep space smugglers, life has become little more than a dogged exercise in mere survival. Their latest disastrous heist ended with another dead crew member—and no place left to hide. She’s even finding it hard to dredge up any excitement over the giant, crippled ship that appears on their radar, even though it’s the salvage opportunity of a lifetime.


They find that it’s no ordinary alien vessel. It’s a ship of dreams, populated with the last remnants of Earth’s mythical creatures. Including the blond, built, mysterious Arne, one of a race blessed with extraordinary beauty—and few inhibitions. Though he won’t tell her exactly what he is, in his arms Steffi rediscovers something she thought she’d never feel again. Wonder, love…and hope.


It isn’t long, though, before the Royal guard tracks them down, and Steffi and her crew are faced with a terrible decision. Cut and run. Or risk everything to tow the Albatross and her precious cargo to safety.

Sci-fi romance is a genre almost exclusively written by women, about women, and for women. So why do I like it? Well for one thing, it’s a refreshing change from the hero-centric sci-fi books I was brought up with. Don’t get me wrong, John Carter of Mars, H.G. Wells and Jules Verne will always take pride of place on my bookshelf. But the women in those are ornamental at best, not to mention tied to the past.

To me, it’s fascinating to see how women view themselves in situations that call for the type of heroism traditionally expected of male heroes. Take today’s archetypal sf romance heroine—independent, resourceful, good in a fight, aggressively sexual, but also wounded, conflicted, lonely. I look at the book covers and see a woman’s idea of the perfect woman. Sexy, take charge, equal to any man of the future. These books aren’t marketed to men, but the cover models are still hot. The heroine’s sexuality is a potent draw for female readers. Just as the muscular, impossibly handsome Conan and John Carter are to boys and men. This kind of fantasy wish-fulfilment, or hero worship, traditionally a crucial part of male-centric science fiction and fantasy, now has its flipside in science fiction romance.

Unfortunately, most male readers don’t want to read a story told from a woman’s POV. And even less want any truck with the romance label, in any genre. Yet, romance has always been an integral part of pulp sf and fantasy. Every single Edgar Rice Burroughs novel features a man and a woman falling in love. From Flash Gordon to Avatar, romance has helped define the genre.

So why do male readers shy away from modern sf romance? Is it because they’re written by women? Is it because we feel threatened on some level by the tough female protagonists who can beat the snot out of us? Is there too much emphasis on romance, whereas those pulp sci-fi tales of the past, though romantic, never bore the “romance” label?

Sales demographics answer all those questions. Most publishers won’t even consider a sf romance, or any type of romance, unless it’s told from a woman’s POV. It just won’t sell. Women are every bit as protective of their own genres as men. But I wonder how many male readers have given sci-fi romance a real chance? I’ll bet hardly any. They might be surprised, as I was, to find just how brilliant a lot of these female space authors can be. Lois McMaster Bujold, Isabo Kelly, Sherrilyn Kenyon, etc. create fascinating universes and people them with heroines and heroes to rival the top male sf authors. The action is great, the science intriguing, the stories fast-paced and unpredictable. What’s not to like?

Oh, I forgot, they have love scenes. Okay, no way round that then. How about if male authors started getting in on the act? Sci-fi romances with slightly less lovin’, slightly more blowin’ shit up? Then again, male readers don’t like stories written from the heroine’s POV. So I guess we’re basically stuck in the good ol’ days of John Carter saving the planet on his own.

It’s funny, though, that female sf readers aren’t averse to sf with a male POV.

So what kind of protagonist is popular in sci-fi romance?

Personally, I’d rather end up with one of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ princesses—Dejah Thoris, oh yeah!—than a butt-kicking, gun-toting space babe who knows more about warp drives than me. But I’d much rather read about the latter, learn who she is, where she comes from, what she wants from the universe. Women in science fiction romances are much harder to fathom. They’re all the things guys don’t get about women, only twisted around and shoved back in our faces, at light speed.

They’re also funny. They act like pirates and train like GI Jane and fly a ship better than all the blokes. And they’re not always funny intentionally. How many women do you know could trade blows with a man, an average sized man, and beat ten bells out of him? I don’t know a single one. Well in the future, guys have lost their edge, see? Sci-fi romance babes are the next generation badasses. We don’t stand a chance. I’ve always loved Ripley in the Alien films because she’s a survivor first and a woman second. She was kind of revolutionary in the sci-fi genre (at least in movies), but now that character, or elements of her, are everywhere in popular SFF culture. She was a springboard for the tough, larger-than-life space heroines of today, such as Starbuck in BSG.

Steffi Savannah in The Mythmakers falls under that category, though she’s more feminine than either Ripley or Starbuck. She started life on her home world as an optimistic farmer’s daughter, steeped in tradition, and she’d accepted her role in life—to marry, raise a family. But disaster struck, leaving her homeless, an off-world drifter. To make ends meet, she turned to smuggling, and eventually made enough to buy her own ship, the Albatross, and hand-pick its crew. Her love life is confined to one-night stands in space ports and a no-strings sexual relationship with Bo, her loyal-but-not-too-bright cargo chief.

I wanted to strike a balance in Steffi between toughness—to captain her own smuggling ship, she has to be—and vulnerability. She gives orders and listens to advice. She can be cynical, but she also longs to be that wide-eyed girl on the farm again. When she discovers a crippled alien ship in deep space, she’s at her lowest ebb. What she finds on board, however, and who she finds on board, gradually reopens doors in her heart she’d long-since closed.

Some might see it as unusual for a male author to dabble in a female-oriented market, but for me, the best ideas have always come from unusual endeavours. I enjoy the challenge of writing a female POV. And to prove it, I have several more sf romances in the works, including one steampunk mystery I’ve almost completed. Just don’t tell anyone down at the pub, okay?

The Mythmakers is available Feb 23 at Samhain Publishing, priced $3.50 (ebook). Later in the year, it will appear in paperback as part of Samhain’s Impulse Power space opera anthology.

Warriors with Heart by by Cornelia Amiri

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February is the month of love. Since I write Celtic/Romances about long swords, hot heroes, and warrior women, I think about the importance of love to the ancient Celts. They had more types of recognized marriages than any other culture, which tells me they were very big on romance. Under the Brehon (Brehoon) laws of Ireland, there were not one, but 10 types of marriage. I’ll list them.


#1. The man and wife contributed an equal amount of property or finances.


#2. A woman moved to the man's property and contributed little or nothing financially but managed the housekeeping.


#3. A man moved to the woman’s property and contributed little or nothing financially but managed her cattle and her fields.


#4. The husband and wife both had property and managed their own individually, but the children's rights were still safeguarded.


#5. By mutual consent the man and woman shared their bodies, but lived under separate roofs. I call that the have your cake and eat it too marriage.


#6. A man abducted the wife of a defeated enemy. So the woman came to that marriage as a spoil of war.


#7. The man and woman got together only for one night of sex. In modern times we have a slang expression for this relationship, we call it a one night stand. The Celts had an expression as well, they called it a soldier's marriage.


#8. A man seduced a woman by lying to her or by taking advantage of her while she was drunk.


#9. A union by forcible rape. The ancient tale of Camma and Sinorix detail what Celtic women felt about this marriage. After Sinorix killed her husband and forced her to wed him, Camma put poison in the ceremonial wedding cup which they both drank from together. Vengeance against Sinorix was more important than her own life. She used the marriage to get revenge.


#10. Both the man and woman were either feeble-minded or insane.


The Welsh, under the laws of Hywell (whowell) the Good, had the same types of marriages as the Irish, except for # 10.


All types of banter must have occurred regarding these marriages. Going by the way I numbered the marriages, instead of Yo Mama, they might have said something like, “Oh, you must have been born from a number 10 marriage.” And they could have more than one spouse, so an ancient Celtic man or woman could have several combinations of marriages. Can you imagine meeting someone and asking not “are you married?” But “what number marriage do you currently have?” They might reply, “Oh, I have a #1 and a #5 and of course a couple of # 7’s.” . . . And I thought modern day dating was complicated.


To modern man, it seems silly or even cruel to refer to some of these unions as marriages. But it isn’t, because these marriages were not for the benefit of the man or woman, they were for the protection of the children. By recognizing all these unions as legal marriages, the Celts insured there were no illegitimate children. A child born of any of the 10 unions would inherit like any of their parents’ other children. Also the land did not go to the eldest son. The estate was split between all children including the daughters.


I even mention one of these types of marriages in my Celtic/Paranormal/Romance Queen of Kings, which is about one of the great Celtic warrior women, Macha Mong Ruad. She is the only woman listed among the high Kings of Ireland.

Speaking of warrior women, my February 20th release, Timeless Voyage, is about Anwen, a fictitious Celtic warrior woman who pirates Roman ships off the coast of Ireland in the first century AD. It’s one of All Romance Ebooks 28 Days of Heart books. I’m calling all warriors at heart to join the battle against heart disease by reading Timeless Voyage or any of the romances from All Romance Ebooks 28 days of Heart Campaign. One will be released each day of February so you can read all 28. Show your true warrior woman spirit just like Macha Mong Ruad and Anwen to fight heart disease. Just by reading a good book you can help a good cause.


I am drawing two winners from the comments below so please post a comment. One will win a Paige O’Day Irish Year 2010 calendar of Ireland and one will win a PDF download of Queen of Kings so please include your emails so I can reach the two winners.


Blurbs and links are posted below.
King of Queens – Blurb:


Macha of the Red Braids exudes the essence of female power. Defying and fighting two kings, she takes her father’s place on the throne. With one goal in mind, she uses magic, battles, disguises, and skills of seduction to take the crown as sole ruler, the only woman listed as a High King of Ireland. She builds the famed kingdom of Emain Macha, marking off the borders with the pin of her cloak brooch. Yet a Champion, from the wilds of Connaught, throws the powerful battle queen off-guard when he comes to claim her heart. Has Macha met her match with Nath of Connaught? Will he pass the three trials she has set before him?
Timeless Voyage –Blurb:
Love isn’t bound by the limits of time…
Off the mist shrouded coast of Ireland, a pagan lady-pirate, Anwen, captures the enemy, a Roman, Titus Rufius Kaeso. The Celtic warrior woman presses her hard iron dagger against Kaeso’s throat, but her arm does not obey the will to slay him. From time out of mind, memories of fated lovers, druids, and sacrifice, stay her hand. Kaeso is also captivated by dreams of the woman he loved in a previous life, the mirror image of Anwen. But in this lifetime they are foes, Roman and Celt. Can Anwen and Kaeso steer their timeless voyage to a happy destiny or will they be robbed of love once more?
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-timelessvoyage-402751-157.html

Devils on Horseback -- Jake's Story

The post-Civil War soldiers of the Devils on Horseback continue on with their search for a new life after the horror and hell of war. Now reduced to a group of four -- Nate was married and starting a new life in a small Texas community -- and searching for employment as D. H. Enterprises, Jake and his companions find themselves in a small community that has been nearly destroyed by the deaths of their sons and husbands in the Civil War as well as other difficulties with night raids from a mysterious band of criminals who are sweeping the town and kidnapping any woman they can find under the age of 35. The mayor of the town sends word to the Devils on Horseback that their muscle, their savvy as soldiers and their need for employment would be useful to this small struggling community.

Jake is a former corporal in the Confederate Army and is also being sought by a Union Army captain who was commandant of a Union prison camp. These "devils" were the only Confederate soldiers ever to escape from his "hell-hole" and he has become obsessed with revenge for his "failure" to keep them imprisioned. Jake is also a former thief -- a child who stole in order to feed siblings and himself after being abandoned by his mother and who took the last name of one of the whores in a brothel where he was living. All in all, a very troubled person when he went into the war and who found a "family" of sorts when he found these comrades who have become the only people he trusts. Now the Devils are hoping that their current "assignment" is located far enough off the beaten path that the Union captain will have difficulty finding Jake.

In the midst of trying to solve the mystery of the night raids -- who is behind them, where are the women, how to prevent future raids, etc, Jake meets Gabriella Rinaldi, the daughter of the mill owner who had been beaten almost to death during one of the previous raids. She must now run the mill as well as try to bring some common sense into the town thinking on how to protect themselves. Needless to say, Jake and Gabriella are attracted to one another, but they are also both needing to find that "someone" who will believe in them and will accept them for who they are. Jake struggles with his past, his sense of being a nobody from nowhere and worthless to anyone other than his Civil War buddies. The friendship and love they find together begins to rebuild what fear and hopelessness have destroyed in the past.

Again Beth Williamson has populated this book with personalities that are strong, varied, interesting, authentic, and the kind of people-at least in some cases-one would like to have known in real life. Underlying this story is the continuing loyalty and friendship of these men for one another, for respect and value they have given one another because they were soldiers of honor and who sought to be true to their ideals even when war and life in general did everything to destroy their sense of themselves. I still love to read of their Southern charm and the respect they show women -- they all love women in any shape or form, but no matter how disagreeable one of the female characters may be, they are unwaveringly polite and respectful. Oh to have some men in our modern times like that!

I also appreciate the way that the author has not backed away from the debris that war creates in lives and communities, especially as Jake faces himself and his past, as he deals with his need to love and be loved, and as he faces his the reoccurring terror of dark, small places born in the Union Army prison camp. War is indeed hell, but out of that conflict came five men who learned that there were people upon whom they could depend. Gabriella's love and the acceptance of the community are the "medicines" Jake needs and grabs for his hurting soul. This book is a great read and will not disappoint. I give it a rating of 5 out of 5.

Devils on Horseback -- Zeke's Story

Ezekiel (Zeke) Blackwood, his brother Cornelius (Lee) and their cousin Gideon Blackwood are the three remaining members of the Devils on Horseback. In the little community of Tanger, Texas, together with their buddy Jake Sheridan, they have found a welcome and very possibly, a home. They have been successful in ridding the town of the marauders who were kidnapping women and selling them as sex slaves in Mexico. The town's mayor has been found out to be an embezzler and along with Gabriella's mother, have escaped the penalties for their crimes by running away to parts unknown. However, there is trouble in paradise. Zeke has been forming an attachment for the preacher's daughter and during the last raid, this lovely and demure creature has been killed right in front of him as he struggled to save her from capture. His failure to do so and her resulting death have thrown him into a world composed of an alcoholic haze that is now months' long. Zeke's brother Lee is himself a casualty of the War having lost one of his arms to a battlefield surgeon. His continuing anger at this eventuality and his rage over having to live as a partial man (as he sees it) are a part of the background of these two brothers.

In a strange series of events, the town council of Tanger comes to Zeke asking him if he would be the new sheriff--initially on a month's probation -- providing he stayed sober and didn't cavort with whores (another activity in which he indulged repeatedly during his drunken stupors). He agrees and makes a serious attempt to fulfill their expectations as he has come to realize the the drink and the resulting craziness are not how he wants to live. He is hoping that this new job and responsibility to the people of the town will help fill that emptiness he no longer knows how to combat.

Enter Lucy Michaelson -- a young woman who is herself a survivor of the War and who is seeking a job in the local saloon. She is not a prostitute and makes it clear that she does not plan to earn any of her money "on her back" as is often the case with saloon girls. She is a hard worker and an honest person, but because she works in the saloon, she is branded a "fallen woman" -- guilt by association. Even after being put in jail as the instigator of a bar fight--a charge she successfully repudiates--she is treated with respect and kindness by the new sheriff who is attracted to her strength, her obvious survivor skills, and her honesty.

Beth Williamson continues the saga of this little town while telling Zeke's story. She draws a picture of a 19th century community that is populated by good people and not-so-good, people who are anxious to judge others before knowing the facts -- persons who seem to inhabit every town and city in the world--and characters who are normal, troubled, kind, generous, stingy, and who are all wanting to be accepted and nurtured within the context of this town and its dynamic. Zeke struggles with his own demons while trying to correct situations in the town, some immediate like the drunks in the saloon on a Saturday night, as well as problems of long-standing and which could change the course of history for the entire community. He is a character that is very real, and in a world that had no Alcoholics Anonymous, he tries to find the solution to his own problem. His heart is slowly healed by Lucy--a brave, gutsy, brassy, pushy broad of a woman who is not herself whole but who is willing to confront both her own neediness and Zeke's pain in order to bring them both to wholeness.

What is there not to like about this story? Williamson has written brilliantly of the personal story of the main characters while also telling the story of the community and its rehabilitation in a difficult post-war world that will not be fully healed for over a hundred years in the future. This is a warm and winsome story set in the heart of the Texas of old, yet it brings the reader face to face with issues that are as current as tomorrow. Reading this and the other Devils on Horseback stories will never be a waste of time. I hope Williamson plans to tell us Lee and Gideon's story in the future. I give this book a rating of 5 out of 5.

Musical Marketing Muse by Sara Taney Humphreys

Win a package of author goodies from Night Owl Reviews. Just comment on this blog post. This is a cross blog post / contest between Night Owl Reviews and Night Owl Romance.

One lucky winner will be chosen from all the entries

Include the first part of your email address with your comment. You need to be a NOR newsletter subscriber to enter. That's how we get your full email address...so you don't have to post it all on the comment. You must be 18 or over to enter. Entry open to USA citizens only - USA Postage Only. No Purchase Necessary. Contest Ends: 3/5/2010
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Musical Marketing Muse by Sara Taney Humphreys

The song that sparked my creative juices and woke up my muse is called "Honey on the Skin". You can find Amy Petty and her spectacular music on her website http://www.amypetty.com/ John connected me with another awesome musical muse. The Strike Nineteens. TSN are a band of adorable guys from Scotland. Ladies...think William Wallace/Braveheart accent....yummy.

Their music is gritty and intense. These darlings actually wrote me two songs! One of which will be on their new album "Screams for Denver" which will be released this Spring. I look forward to checking them out LIVE when they come to the USA later this year.

You can check out their music at http://www.myspace.com/thestrikenineteens Cross marketing with music is fun and a little outside the box...just the way I like it.

Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife--Pride & Prejudice Continues, by Linda Berdoll

Every woman wants to be Elizabeth Bennet Darcy -- beautiful, gracious, universally admired, strong, daring and outspoken -- a thoroughly modern woman in crinolines. And every woman will fall madly in love with Mr. Darcy -- tall, dark and handsome, a nobleman and hearthrob whose virility is matched only by his utter devotion to his wife.

Their passion is consuming and idyllic--essentially, they can't keep their hands off each other--through a sweeping tale of adventure and misadventure, human folly and numerous mysteries of parentage.

Hold on to your bonnets!! This sexy, epic, hilarious, poignant and romantic sequel to Pride & Prejudice goes far beyond Jane Austen.

Anyone who has loved Pride & Prejudice in its many forms has probably wanted the story to go on! Ending with the double wedding of Jane and Elizabeth Bennet, the original Austen story is beautiful as far as it goes. But as we all know, especially those of us who delight in romance novel series, we need the story to go on.

There are a number of authors who have attempted to continue the story of Elizabeth and Darcy and some have done OK and others have not done well at all. Linda Berdoll has done, in my opinion, a magnificent job of telling the continuing story. We must all realize that Jane Austen was herself a maiden, unmarried lady, who included married couples in the original story -- Mr. & Mrs. Bennet, the Gardeners who were aunt and uncle to Elizabeth, and Mr. Collins and his bride, Charlotte--there is limited information about the inner characteristics of the marriages of that time. It would have been almost impossible for Ms Austen to continue on with the Darcy story without simply making it "more of the same" as that was all she had experienced. Suffice it to say that Jane Austen told such a story of depth and color that it is possible for a talented writer like Berdoll to take the saga to the next level.

Ms Berdoll has not only related a story that is, in many ways, equally as fascinating as the original, but she has successfully adapted her writing style to very closely reflect that of Ms Austen. The terminology, vocabulary, and sentence structure are reminiscent of Austen's style of writing. That not only tells the story with greater authenticity, but also helps the reader to feel that they have continued on with the Bennet/Darcy story in a very real way.

Ms Berdoll has also continued the stories of Mr. Bingley & Jane, Lydia, as well as the Bennets. She again acquaints us with the acidic Lady Catherine, and tells us more about Mr. & Mrs. Collins. So be of good cheer, Pride & Prejudice fans: not only do we learn more of the Bennet/Darcy marriage, we continue on with all of these colorful and much-loved characters. There are some who are classic in their reading tastes who are offended that anyone would try to continue Ms Austen's stories. I think that is narrow thinking and as one who loves a good romance, I applaud Ms Berdoll's efforts to give us a great extension to the story and more of those wonderful people of Merry Ole England. I give this book a rating of 5 out of 5.

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The Edge of Desire -- by Stephanie Laurens

"Christian, I need your help. There is no one else I can turn to . . . L" When Christian Allardyce, 6th Marquess of Dearne, reads those words, his world turns upside down. Lady Letitia Randall is a woman like no other, and the day he left her behind to fight for king and country was the most difficult of his life. He never forgot the feel of her lips against his, but never expects to see her again. Yet now she seeks his help, and Christian knows he will not resist her plea.

Letitia believes that Christian abandoned her when she needed him most, and she hates to call on his aid. But to clear her brother's name, she has sworn to use every weapon at her command, even if it means seducing her ex-lover. Yet all the while, Christian is waging a war of his own--a campaign of pure pleasure and sweet revenge that will take them both beyond the edge of desire.

Loveless marriages were not uncommon, in fact, they were more common than most modern individuals realize. It was not only royalty who married to continue an aristocratic line. Often the future of any title was held in the tenuous hands of a man and woman who wedded and bedded in order to continue on their way of life. There were also marriages of convenience which passed wealth (in the form of fat dowries) from eligible maidens to high-living aristocrats as well as poor but gently born maidens who sought to bring wealth into their families through marriage. However, Lady Letitia Randall did not fit into either of these categories. Her husband was a secretive, possessive, common man who simply set out to add the beautiful Lady Letitia to his museum collections and to wile his way into the salons of the haut ton. She knew the basis of her marriage was never going to be true affection, and in her hour or need, when she needed the man to whom she had given her heart, she received nothing but silence in response to her desperate calls for rescue. Little did she know that her lover, Christian Allardyce, was actually an undercover agent for the British Secret Service, or at least the early 19th century version of that agency. He was, in fact, so deeply undercover that he never received Lady Letitia's letters or her calls for rescue.

Now, many years later, with her husband having been found murdered and the authorities having set themselves to arrest her brother as the murderer, Lady Letitia knows of only one person she can trust to put matters to rights and to clear her brother from all guilt or perception of guilt. In spite of her resentment at his cavalier treatment of her in her hour of need, she knows that Christian has the contacts and the skills to uncover the true murderer.

This novel is a part of the Bastion Club series and as such brings in some of the characters from other stories in this series. Yet they are not an overwhelming presence but make the reader curious about those characters. I know it made me want to read more of their particular situations and relationships. As is the case in so many historical romances, there is a conflict between the main characters that is supposed to give "spice" to their repartee and to create tension which is resolved when they fall into each other's arms. There is some of that in this book. But the underlying story of the murder, the hint of espionage, the mysterious identity of Christian's former boss, the secret room, and so on, give a unique flavor to this romance that lifts it out of the usual to become somewhat unique. There are some surprises which also add to the ornamentation of the story. I really liked that.

As with all historicals, I like the descriptive passages, the clothes, the palatial dwellings, the ups and downs of the narrow English society, the struggles that many women had to be truly themselves within the constraints of a society who saw them only as decorative breeders. Lady Letitia is a strong and courageous character who has done what she had to do and come out on the other side better, more mature, more beautiful and multi-dimensional as a person and as one who can attract and keep the attention and affections of someone like Christian.

If you like really good historical romance, you'll like this story. I give this novel a rating of 4.5 out of 5.

Valentine's Contest - the entire month of February!

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’m giving away a signed copy of Moonlight on Diamonds. Post a comment below with the name of your favorite romantic suspense novel, or author, to be entered in the contest.