Giveaway - When Passion Rules by Johanna Lindsey

Johanna Lindsey's newest book comes out June 14, 2011.

Assassin Leonard Kastner agrees to commit an abhorrent crime for an astronomical sum - kill the infant heir to the European kingdom of Lubinia. Just as he is about to carry out the heinous deed, the baby awakens.and smiles at him. Losing his heart to tiny Alana Stindal, Leonard sweeps her out of their homeland to safety in England where he conceals her true identity from her and gives her an education fit for a queen. Eighteen years later, when the king of Lubinia faces a revolt because he has not produced another legitimate heir, Leonard knows he must take Alana home to prevent a civil war. But at the Lubinian palace no one believes Alana is the missing princess. Christoph Becker, the captain of the palace guards, arrests Alana because he suspects she is a pretender or a seductive assassin. When the king recognizes Alana as his long-lost daughter he proudly betroths her to the one man he believes is capable of protecting her and eliminating the shadowy figures who are determined to destroy his dynasty - Christoph Becker.

Want a chance to win a copy of When Passion Rules?  It's simple just:

1) Leave a comment on this post with your email address

2) Follow this blog

For extra entries:

1) Subscribe to this blog = 1 entry

2) Share on Facebook = 1 entry

3) Tweet this contest = 1 entry per tweet

4) List Romance Notebook on your blog = 1 entry
5) Return daily and comment on any post = 1 entry/day

Contest will end on June 17, 2011.  One winner will be picked at random and announced on June 18, 2011.  This contest is open to international readers. Good Luck!!

Disclaimer: This prize is being provided for free, I am not being compensated for this giveaway.

Friday Book Trailer

I seem to be in the mood for historical romances lately, especially Viking novels.  Anyone have any recommendations for Vikings?  I've read and enjoyed books by Lindsey (of course), Diana Groe and Josie Litton.  Anyway, here is the book trailer for Johanna Lindsey's Fires of Winter. 

30 Days of Books - Day 30

Your Favourite Book Of All Time

I think my favourite book of all time has to be one of the first books I loved to read over and over again - Cinderella.  Is it any wonder that I would become a romance novel lover as an adult?  I actually had three copies of the book; the Disney edition, a Little Golden book edition, and the Ladybird edition.   Of the three, the Ladybird edition was my favourite.  In this rendition of the fairy tale, the ball at the palace is actually three nights long.  And each night Cinderella wears a different dress.  The detail of the illustrations is magnificent, I could spend hours pouring over each page and still miss some detail.  I could never decide which of the three dresses were my favourite.  Check out some of the illustrations at the Ladybird website. 

30 Days of Books - Day 29

A Book Everyone Hated But You Liked

A Pirate's Love by Johanna Lindsey.  This book was written in the time of forced seduction and rape being romantic.  I first read it when I was about 14, I still like to read it, but cringe at the "love" scenes.  More than likely if this had been any other author or if I read it for the first time in the last 15 years it would have been a wall-banger.

30 Days of Books - Day 28

Favourite Title

Once a Princess by Johanna Lindsey is my favourite title for two reasons.  One, because I love this book, Stefan is hot, hot, hot, and Tatiana is feisty enough without being too over-bearing or bratty.  And two, because I am a princess!  Alright, not really, I have to work for a living, and I have no servants, tiaras, or castles.  But I want to be a princess dammit!

Once Upon A Time...

In a rustic Missiissippi tavern, a beautiful exiled princess was forced to dance for the pleasure of others--unaware of her regal birthright...and infuriated by a magnificent golden-eyed devil who crossed an ocean to possess her.

 

From A Far Off Land...

A bold and brazen prince came to America to claim his promised bride. But the spirited vixen spurned his affections while inflaming his royal blood with passion's fire...impelling virile Stefan Barany to take in sensuous and searing conquest the love Tatiana vowed never to yield.

30 Days of Books - Days 26 and 27

A Book That Changed Your Opinion About Something

I tried, I really did, to come up with a book for day 26.  But I've got nothing, even though I procrastinated and waited a day before posting.  My luck, I will  immediately think of a book in another day or two.

The Most Surprising Plot Twist Or Ending

When I first started the 30 days of books, I looked over the list to try and plan what books I would talk about.  For today, Sandra Brown's Where There's Smoke immediately came to mind.  I first read this book when I was about twenty.  I remember being stunned (jaw-dropping and gasping) by two plot twists in this book.  I'm not sure if it was because I was just starting to get into contemporary romance and didn't see it coming, or if I was too naive.  But, over 15 years later I still enjoy reading this book and think it holds up well.  It has the feel of an epic novel because it does not just focus on the hero and heroine, but a cast of characters living in the same town.

No one knows why Dr. Lara Mallory came back home to Eden Pass, Texas to open up her medical practice after all these years. But everyone remembers her role in the well-publicized scandal that caused the downfall of White House hopeful Senator Clark Tackett. So when the iron-fisted matriarch of Tackett Oil uses every weapon in her arsenal to drive her out of town, Lara refuses to go quietly. Yet in this corruption-riddled town, nothing is as it seems. An explosive secret lurks beneath the surface, threatening Lara at every turn. Her unlikely ally: Key, the hell-raising youngest Tackett son. Thrown together, they're on a dangerous quest to expose the one secret that can destroy the Tackett empire-and anyone who dares to challenge its power.

If you love melodramatic books featuring family empires, secrets, and ill-fated love, you will love this book!  Spoiler alert - below I have written the two plot twists that completely took me by surprise.  Highlight the words to read them.

After Lara is accused to having an affair with Clark Tackett, she and her husband, Randall, are banished to the Carribean nation of Montesangre.  There, the ambassador Randal and their daughter are murdered.  A couple of years later, Lara ends up in Eden Pass with one mission - to get Key to fly her back to Montesangre for her daughter's body.  The first plot twist is that Randall is not dead but has been living in Montesangre all these years.  The second twist is that it wasn't Lara who was having an affair with Clark, but Randall.

30 Days of Books - Day 25

A Character Who You Can Relate To The Most

The character that immediately came to mind was Naomi Brightstone from Nora Roberts' The MacGregor Grooms.  Naomi is a bookstore owner who is enlisted by Ian MacGregor to help him furnish his home library.  She is somewhat shy and still feels like the nerdy, overweight girl from high school.  

30 Days of Books - Day 24

A Book That You Wish More People Would’ve Read

I really wish more people would read or get their children to read the Trixie Belden series.  There is still time before these books are gone for good.  And if enough people start reading them again, then the whole series could be reprinted.