Six Sentence Sunday - Taken Hostage

Hands trembling, she opened her register and began to stuff the pillowcase with cash as quickly as she could. She seemed to notice everything at once, even as panic bubbled inside her. The pillowcase, for instance – a faint musky scent was rising from it. Could it be the scent of the man who held her at gunpoint – could this be an actual pillowcase from his bed? The thought left her feeling strangely giddy, a sensation that didn’t go over well with her tight knot of a stomach.

The gunman followed her with his weapon as she moved over to Alicia’s register, and then Cindy’s, stripping each of them of their contents.



Available now on Amazon & Smashwords.



Taken Hostage Virtual Release Party & Giveaway

Taken Hostage has officially been published! To celebrate I'm giving away some free ebook copies. See the bottom of this post for info on how to enter the drawing by simply leaving a comment on this blog or via e-mail, plus how to get bonus entries.

The winners of today's drawing are: D Scandal, Angela Stone and Jessica Subject. Congrats, you three - I'll be contacting you shortly to get you your copies of Taken Hostage.

The winner from Sunday's drawing is: Sarah Grimm. Congrats Sarah, you have an e-mail waiting in your inbox. :)

Tiffany isn’t the type to waste time daydreaming about men, but when a hot stranger smoking – in more ways than one – on the steps of the bank she works at takes her breath away, she can’t help it. He catches her attention as she exits the building on her way to lunch break, and she leaves fantasizing about helping the bank’s newest customer-to-be with much more than just his finances. When he finally approaches the counter, it’s not to open a new account, but to demand that Tiffany fill a pillowcase to the brim with cash – at gunpoint. The gorgeous gunman takes Tiffany on the run as his hostage, and her fear can't stand up to her attraction. When he offers to let her return to safety unharmed she realizes that there are many things she wants to do to him, but that walking away isn't one of them.

WARNING: This book is smokin' HOT and may inspire or encourage a love of bad boys. Consider yourself warned! ; )

Download a free extended excerpt via Amazon or Smashwords.

Taken Hostage on Amazon US

Taken Hostage on Amazon UK

Taken Hostage on Amazon DE

Taken Hostage on Smashwords

The drawing is now closed, and the winners have been announced.

Thank you for stopping by to celebrate! :)

Six Sentence Sunday - Taken Hostage - Plus Book Giveaway!

What he was saying was crazy. But it was also true. She didn’t have to go back to her mundane life as a bank-teller in rural New York. She didn’t have to fill out another deposit ticket or listen to Alicia and Cindy’s incessant, shallow chatter ever again. She could leave all that behind and go with him, the impossibly handsome man she’d been fantasizing about since first seeing him on the bank steps. It wasn’t practical, but it was tempting.

Want to win a free copy of Taken Hostage? Just leave a comment on this blog saying so. One random commenter will receive a free Taken Hostage eBook. If you're unable to leave a comment on this blog for some reason, just send an e-mail to contact at ranaerose dot com saying you'd like to be entered in the contest. The winner will be announced tomorrow (Monday) here on my blog during the Taken Hostage Virtual Release Party, during which I'll also be giving several more copies away to commenters! Please include in your comment your e-mail address or another easy link to contact you. I can't send you the book if I can't get in touch. And don't worry - e-mail addresses will absolutely not be collected or added to any sort of list. Please note though: this book is HOT and may inspire or encourage a love of bad boys. Consider yourself warned!

BIG NEWS on Taken Hostage - New cover, new release date and new publisher!

Taken Hostage is now hotter than ever, and finally releasing in just a few days!


In light of the resignation of the senior editor and the possible closing  of the publishing imprint I'd contracted Taken Hostage to, I've opted for the dissolution of the publishing contract. What does this mean? It means I'll be releasing Taken Hostage on Monday, July 25th. Releasing it myself comes with a lot of advantages, including an irresistably low price for readers (hey, I know what's it's like to be a reader with little pocket change to spare!), contests and giveaways galore and last but not least, this smokin' hot new cover!

I designed the cover myself (I do photoshop as a hobby). What do you think?

Be sure to check back here on Monday, when I'll be giving away free copies of Taken Hostage to some lucky commenters. You don't want to miss a chance to win this novella, which Lucy Felthouse calls 'A totally gripping, sexy thrill ride... The perfect combination of adventure and eroticism.'

Getting Down and Dirty Like a Historical Romance Heroine

I really like to read and write historical romance. Especially adventurous stories where the characters often have to rough it out in the pre-modern countryside or wilderness. In fact, I've put not a few characters through this, sending them speeding across the country on horseback with nothing but a crappy little tent and/or a blanket and a saddle for a pillow. Sleeping in the heather beneath the stars, or camped out at the edge of a forest...it sounds cool and adventurous when you read about it. And even thought it's 2011, I figure I should be able to do the same sort of thing I make my characters do. So last night, I put myself in the shoes of an adventure-bound historical heroine.


Kind of. I went camping. I opted to take my car instead of any of my horses, but I did sleep on the ground, which was rock, so I think that might make up for my transportation indulgence. Plus, my horses' knees might have buckled beneath the incredible weight of my camping equipment (which also isn't very historically accurate).


Anyway, I had pretty realistic expectations. I'm a very jaded camper, thanks to a sort of family curse that has turned just about every camping trip of my life in a disaster so ridiculous it's comical. So I sort of just lay back on the God-forsaken rocky ground and indulge in mildly hysterical laughter when everything goes wrong. But between driving my husband crazy by laughing at our bad luck, I realized some stuff.


Historical romance heroes and heroines (and of course the real people who lived back then) were a lot tougher than me, and roughing it isn't very romance inducing. I've read many a historical romance where the hero and heroine have their first sensual encounter in a body of water (like the just happen to be swimming at the same time). This is more of a necessity than a cliche, I think. Because the only time you're going to be clean is in the water. If you're out of it you're going to be hot, dirty sweaty and lying on ground that nearly breaks your spine in half under just your own weight, let alone that of another person. Plus, there's something lurking through the woods near where you're sleeping, and it may or may not be Bigfoot, and you can't stop thinking of how freakin' terrifying it would be if it was.


And as sucky as I thought it all was, I did it with fresh changes of clothes and many little modern conveniences. The thought of being that hot and sweaty and surrounded by bugs all the time is just too much for my modern mind. It would take some serious getting used to! At least during the summer months.


So I wish I could give some of my more outdoorsy historical characters a break, but that's not very easy to do when air conditioning doesn't exist yet. I guess I can avoid writing them in the American South, which is probably not the best part of the world to camp in during July. Although I think there were many cool aspects of the past that've been all but lost, overall I'm glad I live in modern times, so I can enjoy the best of modern technology and escape to the past via my favorite historical novels.


What about you? If you enjoy historical fiction, do you think you'd actually like living back during those times? Or do you prefer the comforts of modern living and a bit of reading to keep things interesting?

Six Sentence Sunday - Eternity and a Year

The network of neurons and synapses in her brain might as well have snapped and been sparking like broken power lines for all the good her powers of reasoning were doing her. Her heart stepped up in their place and assumed control. Yes, it cried to her, yes, God yes!

“Brendan,” she whispered, as the shadow revealed himself.

“Carrie.”

Carrie trembled and fell, swallowed by the blackness and quiet of unconsciousness before her body could even hit the sidewalk.

Want to know what happens next? You can read the extended excerpt right here on Eternity and a Year's pre-order page. ;)

You can also read past Six Sunday excerpts from Eternity and a Year here, here, and here.

Now available for pre-order.

 Releasing August 22nd from Total E-Bound.

As always, thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed this Sunday's six! :)

Top Three Most Kick-Ass Heroes of All Time

Here it is, a fictional trinity of kick-assery. These are, in my opinion, the top three most hardcore heroes ever, pulled from a variety of media.

#3

Eric Draven - The Crow (Movie)

Why he kicks ass: Because he rose from the dead a year after his own and his fiance's murder to exact glorious justice, proving that love is stronger than death. He may be a tragic hero, but he refuses to accept it. The entire movie is filled with sweet revenge, and in the end, love conquers all. (The orginal Crow movie, anyways. The sequels they made after Brandon Lee's death are all utter crap.)

#2

Leon Kennedy - Resident Evil 4 (Game)

Why he kicks ass: Because he single-handedly faces a village, wilderness and more full of zombies. He's pretty much fearless! Even when I'm freaking out on the controls, Leon keeps his cool. I really love Leon. In fact, I wanted to name my son after him. But my husband really hates his name, so I caved and chose something else. But never let it be said that I didn't try!

#1

Jamie Fraser - Outlander (novel & series)

Why he kicks ass: Here's an entirely human hero that has faced just about everything that could kill a man and survived, without undead powers or automatic weaponry. Because he appears in the first book as a ghost, I must accept that he can indeed be killed, but no one's succeeded so far. War, torture, heartbreak, betrayal, injury, infection, illness - he's faced it all, and what doesn't kill him only makes him stronger. And even though he's really tough he still has a very soft side that makes him a great husband and father. Plus, bonus points for daring to be a red-haired hero (there aren't enough of them)! Jamie Fraser is the ultimate hero.

Ok, so those are my top three most kick-ass heroes of all time. Who would be on your list?

Six Sentence Sunday - Eternity and a Year

“This past summer,” he replied. “I’d come to watch you sleep. You were sweating, and your hair was all damp from it. I thought it was just because it had been so hot that day, but then I saw you were moving under the sheets.”

Heat flooded her cheeks.

“You were touching yourself,” he said, a hard edge of arousal in his voice.

Coming August 22nd from Total E-Bound. Now available for pre-order.

Having already lost her fiancé once, Carrie is determined to love him for the eternity that he's promised her this time - even if he is a vampire, and being hunted by another who's already proven that she'll kill for him. 

Want more where that came from? Read past Six Sunday excerpts from Eternity and a Year here and here.

As always, hope you enjoyed this Sunday's six. Thanks for stopping by. ;)

Not Quite Love

Want to torture me (or presumably any other romance writer or reader)? Tell me a story of Not Quite Love. And by that I mean one of those tales where two characters who are obviously meant for each other miss out on realizing the relationship they're meant to have by some stupid fluke.

The movie 'Teenage Dirtbag' is a perfect example. I actually love that movie, because I've got a bad case of cinematic masochism (powerless to resist a sad, sad movie). Plus, the story is really engaging and the acting is fantastic. Anyway, the movie is about two very different teens, delinquent Thayer and cheerleader Amber. Thayer has a depressing, physically abusive home life and Amber has (emotionally and often physically) unavailable parents. During the movie they bond during a creative writing class and I think they actually become closer to each other than they've ever been to anyone else. But you know what?

They never even freakin' kiss (although they come really close at one point when they reconnect after high school), and the smoldering energy and attraction between them is wasted. And to be fair to Thayer, it's mostly because Amber is a bitch to him. Still, she can't get him off her mind, and a world of romantic potential is thrown away in order to maintain a petty highschool reputation.



Wasn't sure if I wanted to cry or punch something after they got to this point and didn't kiss.

 *Spoiler Alert* As you'd imagine, she of course regrets her teenage behavior later in life. Years later, married (apparently not that happily) to someone else and in the late stages of pregnancy, she searches for Thayer. But he's dissapeared, along with any chance for her to reconcile the crappy, crappy note their almost-love ended on.

 The movie ends with her naming her newborn son after him, destined to a lifetime of wondering what would have been.

  If you ask me, that smacks too much of real-life missed opportunity. After watching this you totally get why romance publishers require a happily ever after ending, or at least a happily for now. Watching or reading something like that and becoming so invested in the characters only to see them throw all their potential away is a type of torture. I've never written any sort of fanfiction before, but a part of me wants to sit down and write another ending -- the one that should have been.

 And you know what makes it all worse? The movie is based on true events. So, telling myself it's 'just a movie' doesn't do much good (not that it ever really does).

What about you? Have you watched or read any stories of Not Quite Love? Do you enjoy them, or is a happy ending a must for you in a book or a movie?

Six Sentence Sunday - Taken Hostage

She made to step past him, toward the car, but he grabbed her wrist. She turned to face him. They were so close that she had to tilt her head back to look up at him. His blue eyes met hers, locking them in a hold that seemed more real than the grip he had on her arm. ‘Want to go for a hike?’ he asked. Her heart skipped a beat, and then sped up dramatically, as if to make up for the lost time.



Coming soon this summer from Embrace Books!



Couldn't resist sharing six from Taken Hostage this Sunday, since I just recently got the cover. : )

 Want to read more from Taken Hostage? Past Six Sunday excerpts here and here.