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Category: Giveaways

Posts in which we or our guests offer a giveaway.

OK, so it’s not really early (not according to Target, which was setting out their Christmas displays next to the Halloween stuff!  Really, people….one holiday at a time, please), but I do have a new Christmas-theme novella out this month!  A Very Tudor Christmas is now available….

 

TudorChristmas A Very Tudor Christmas was such a fun story to write.  It takes place against the backdrop of a real historical event, the enormous dynastic marriage of Anne Cecil, the teenaged daughter of William Cecil, Lord Burghley (Elizabeth I’s chief advisor) to the Earl of Oxford, one of the most eligible young courtiers.  The wedding (which took place at Westminster Abbey, with the queen herself in attendance, followed by a lavish banquet at Cecil House in Covent Garden) was on December 19, 1571 and was the event of the holiday season.  Alas for poor Anne, she died young in 1588, after a very unhappy marriage, but her wedding seemed like the perfect backdrop for a winter romance for my own characters, Rob and Meg, who were parted when they were young and had to learn to find their way back to each other.

England, 1571

A brief but passionate flirtation with the dashing Sir Robert Erroll had Margaret Clifford dreaming they would be wed—until Robert left for the continent without a word, breaking her heart.

Robert never forgot Meg, or gave up hope that she would wait for him to make his fortune. But after three years abroad, he has returned to court to discover a cold, distant woman in place of the innocent maiden he left behind.

Yet Robert can sense the desire that still burns within her. And when a snowstorm forces them to take refuge for the night, he is determined, come Christmas morn, to have melted the ice that has built up around Meg’s heart….

(Another inspiration for this story was Much Ado About Nothing!  Meg and Rob’s younger cousins have to help the stubborn lovers along a bit…)

Are you feeling in the Christmas spirit yet???  Hopefully a holiday story can help!  I will give away a copy to one commenter on todays post.  Meanwhile, you can see more about it here at Amazon or at eHarlequin, or at my website

acertainlatitude200x300In all the delightful chaos of my life (but not as delightful as Ms. Jewel’s–all those dongles! It sounds rude) I have naturally dithered about promoting my new book A Certain Latitude which is now available on Kindle. Huzzah! And here’s the blurb:

1800—Allan Pendale, lawyer and the youngest son of the Earl of Frensham, is bound by ship for the West Indies, to impart the news to his estranged father that his mother has died.  But he also has another mission—to find out the truth of his origins.

Miss Clarissa Onslowe is also on board, traveling to take up the role of governess to the daughter of the wealthy planter Mr. Lemarchand. There is nothing to keep her in England. An indiscretion five years before led to her reputation being ruined; her abolitionist family has disowned her and no gentleman would marry her now. But now she seeks redemption with her family by revealing the truth about the miserable lives of the slaves who work on the sugar plantations.

Clarissa’s previous encounter with love has left her aroused and restless, and Allan is a man for whom lust is a daily pastime; thrown together belowdecks during the long sea voyage, they embark on a sensual odyssey where no desire is left untested. But if they thought their exploration and ecstasy could not be bettered, then there are more pleasures to be taken and boundaries to be broken at their island destination—where “March” Lemarchand, sugar king and master of seduction, awaits them both…

You can read an excerpt here.

Now if all this sounds familiar, there was another book, six years ago (that’s about six centuries in the age of digital publishing and mass market fiction) called Forbidden Shores, by one Jane Lockwood, a name the publisher insisted I adopt to protect those who didn’t know my natural tendency to produce total filth finely crafted erotica. I got the rights back, rewrote, got a new cover, woohoo, we’re in business. (My first selfpubbing experience. It was educational.)

It’s delightful to be able to reinvent oneself and get the chance to spruce up a book that never quite worked. I just hope it works now. But hear for yourself. If you’re in the Greater Washington DC area, I’m reading at our new Lady Jane Salon this Saturday in Rockville along with Eliza Knight and Meredith Bond. Check it out. And enter the contest–I’m giving away five copies of A Certain Latitude.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to the following winners of the Lady Dearing’s Masquerade audiobook!

Robin Greene, Lesley A, bn100, Julie, Jane A, Sheila C, Melody May, Cassie P, Billie Jo M, and Stacy

I will email you your download codes this evening, when I get back from the New Jersey Romance Writers conference. If you don’t get an email by Monday, please contact me at elena @ elenagreene.com (no spaces) and I’ll send it again.

ladydaudioI didn’t know much about audiobooks until this summer, when I had the pleasure of working with Robin Rowan, who narrated the audiobook version of Lady Dearing’s Masquerade.

I learned a lot and was incredibly impressed by what the narrators can do to make a book come alive in audio. There were a number of good auditions, but I ended up picking Robin because she did the best job at handling the full range of voices, from the heroine, Lady Dearing, to the many male characters including the hero, Sir Jeremy, and very importantly, the four children Lady Dearing “adopts” from the Foundling Hospital.

Robin was kind enough to answer some questions about the process of narrating this book.

What is it like to narrate a romance novel? How do you prepare to handle all the different characters’ voices?

I find one character (usually the heroine) that I can completely relate to, and then put myself in her situation, in her life, for the duration of the book. It isn’t always a woman, though. I think I especially enjoy the historical aspect of some of the romances I voice. I get to live in another time for a while. I hope the listeners are also transported to another time and can really feel that. I can visualize the characters so well—how they’re dressed, the setting they are in, the particular social mores they have to deal with in the book.

Was there anything particularly challenging about narrating this book?

I have honestly never done a complete book where all the characters and the narrator were British! I’ve done characters before, but I had to “become British” for this book. Did I drive my husband crazy staying in character all the time? Oh, yeah. And how do I prepare to narrate such a book? Why, watch all the Harry Potter movies, of course!

What did you most enjoy about narrating this book?

I could really sink my teeth into this story because of all the different stories and lives that finally merged at the end. And how much fun was it to get to be pompous Sir Digby Pettleworth and the wretched nephew Adolphus? I LIVE for these moments! Keep writing those awful and completely fun characters, Elena!

Thanks, Robin!

I’ll be giving away 10 free download codes from Audible for Lady Dearing’s Masquerade. Comment on this post between now and next Saturday, Oct 19th. I’ll announce the winners on Sunday, Oct 20th.

And check out the Youtube video below which includes a sample from the audiobook!

Elena
www.elenagreene.com
www.facebook.com/ElenaGreene

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