Defending #Superstition, #Giveaway, #Indian Mounds and #Ostriches

I have a busy two days this week.

Today, Monday, I'm posting my first blog at Embracing Romance. 

It's St. Patrick's Day, which reminded me of my visit to Ireland, so I've got pics from my visit to the land of the fairy folk.

 (And there will be a giveaway.)



Also, the kind and generous Eileen Dandashi is continuing to feature me with an interview today on Indian Mounds, which were significant in my inspiration for Heart of Constantine.

Tomorrow, Eileen will post her review of Heart of Constantine and I'll tell you about ostriches in Swaziland. (And there will be another giveaway!)

Barbara

Five Nominations! And a #giveaway...

Imagine my astonishment when I learned I had received five nominations for Reviewer's Choice at the Paranormal Romance Guild! I'm in three categories, so in two of them I'm competing with myself.

Paranormal Romantic Suspense -- Heart of Constantine and Tastes of Love & Evil

Romance Novella -- The Magic of His Touch and Under a New Year's Enchantment

Romance Series -- Bayou Gavotte

I would love some votes from anyone who has the time and inclination. Voting ends on Sunday January 12th at 5 pm. EST.

http://www.paranormalromanceguild.com/2013reviewerschoice.htm

Thanks!

Also, today I'm blogging at the Harlequin Paranormal Romance blog about my new novella, Under a New Year's Enchantment. I'm giving away a copy to a lucky commenter. Please stop by!
http://paranormalromanceblog.com/2014/01/10/who-doesnt-like-a-good-sex-dream-by-barbara-monajem-giveaway/(This post is now up!)

Indian Mounds and Giveaway at Beth Trissel's blog today

The title of this blog says it all. For a chance to win a copy of Heart of Constantine, go to Beth Trissel's blog, where I posted pics of my visit to the Cahokia Mounds in Illinois. I've visited many of these mounds during the years I've lived in the south, and I couldn't resist putting one in a book -- and then leaving a drugged, unconscious woman on top of it for Constantine to find.

http://bethtrissel.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/new-mystery-romance-the-heart-of-constantine-with-barbara-monajem/

Goodreads Giveaways! Heart of Constantine & A Scandalous Regency Christmas

I'm surfacing from revisions of a Bayou Gavotte novella to say:


1) There are 15 copies of Heart of Constantine up for grabs right now on Goodreads. Go here to enter. The giveaway ends on October 10th.

2) There are also 3 copies of A Scandalous Regency Christmas up for grabs. This is an anthology of Christmas stories by Annie Burrows, Marguerite Kaye, Christine Merrill, Linda Skye, and me. These stories were previously available only in e-book form. (My story is A Lady's Lesson in Seduction.)  Annie Burrows is sponsoring the giveaway. To enter, go here. The giveaway ends on October 4th.

Home and Another Bayou Gavotte Giveaway

Got back home from Europe last night -- just in time for a guest post at Collette Cameron's blog, including an international giveaway of one of the Bayou Gavotte books (winner's choice). Hop on over if you'd like a chance to win. I'm celebrating the release of Heart of Constantine and will be for the rest of the week. There will be an interview with Constantine Dufray's spirit guide on Thursday at Suzanne Johnson's Preternatura, and a post on my Native American hero on Lois Winston's blog on Friday.  (Also, there are a few hours left to enter the giveaway at GraveTells.)

I adore the owl on the cover of Heart of Constantine. He's both beautiful and menacing -- just like Constantine, although the owl is a character in his own right.


I'm no photographer -- most of the time I forget to take pictures -- but there are some of Roman artifacts in my dh's camera which I will try to post here soon. Why Roman artifacts? Because they play a part in my next two novellas, which come out in November (Under a Christmas Spell) and January (Under a New Year's Enchantment). They're mostly in the second story, where the hero has dug up a hoard of Roman coins. I will get the covers and blurbs up soon!

I wish I'd had time to visit some Roman ruins while in Britain -- maybe next time! I would love to write a romantic story about Roman Britain one day... After I write one that takes place right after the Norman Conquest... Right after finishing the Regency fantasy I'm working on now... and the Bayou Gavotte novella I'm revising.. and...and...and.... So many stories, so little time. :)

HEART OF CONSTANTINE - Release Day!

GraveTells is helping me celebrate! There's a giveaway, and I get to talk about how having synesthesia inspired me to write about a heroine who sees auras - and into the heart of the troubled vigilante rock star of Bayou Gavotte, Constantine Dufray.

To go to the GraveTells site, click here.

To purchase from Amazon.com (Kindle or paper), click here.

To purchase from Amazon.co.uk (Kindle or paper), click here.

To purchase from Barnes and Noble (paper only), click here

Sunrise and Panera Bread!

I'm thrilled to announce that SUNRISE IN A GARDEN OF LOVE & EVIL, the first in the Bayou Gavotte series, is a romance pick for Panera Bread's summer reads. (I am such a fan of Panera Bread! I buy bread and pastries there. I heart their Greek salad and asiago roast beef sandwich. Panera is my first choice for lunches when traveling. It was my first choice for lunches at home, too, when I worked in an office close to one. I was so, so sad when a Panera in a nearby mall was closed...sniff.)

Anyway -- Amazon Kindle and Panera Bread are offering Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil for only $1.99 for the month of July. Here's the link to get there:  http://mypanera.panerabread.com/community/bookclub/

Dark secrets abound in the town of Bayou Gavotte, Louisiana , from blackmail to fetish clubs to murder, and when blood-and-love starved vampire Ophelia Beliveau calls in the police to scare away whoever is desecrating her garden, Detective Gideon O'Toole unearths more than he ever dreamed...

In other great news the cover, blurb, and buy links for Heart of Constantine in both Kindle and paperback are up now at Amazon.com. The Kindle version is only $2.99 and the paperback is on special for $7.77 right now. The release date is September 10th.

This is the third book in the Bayou Gavotte series and the closest I come to a book of my heart -- mostly because I started it eons ago and wrote so many different versions that when revising it a few months ago, I had no idea which scenes I had chucked and which I had kept. It was like rediscovering an old, much-loved story. I wrote the first versions of it before writing Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil and Tastes of Love & Evil, and the character and story of Constantine changed gradually over the years.

Vigilante Native American rock star Constantine Dufray has hit rock bottom. His telepathic abilities have spun out of control, harming fans at his shows and destroying his marriage. Destructive rumors about the star run rampant—some true, some painfully false. Now he's being pursued by an unknown enemy trying to frame him for rape and murder. 

Aura reader Marguerite McHugh finally gets a close encounter with the mysterious star, but not quite the way she expected. When Constantine finds her after she's been drugged at one of his shows, she’s pulled into his quest for the truth. He won’t risk getting too close, and she’s desperate to stay out of the limelight, but as dangers mount and murders pile up, they are forced into an ever more intimate relationship. Only by facing their fears and working together can they unmask the killer before more innocent people die.

Heart of Constantine

HEART OF CONSTANTINE, the long-awaited third book in the Bayou Gavotte series, will be out September 10th!

Tentative Cover (which I love -- isn't the owl awesome??):

Tentative Blurb:

Vigilante Native American rock star Constantine Dufray has hit rock bottom. His telepathic abilities have spun out of control, and destructive rumors about him run rampant. Some are true—he caused a violent cop’s suicide, and telepathy destroyed his marriage—but he didn’t poison his wife, and he couldn’t have caused riots at his concerts, killing his fans…or could he? Now an unknown enemy is trying to frame him for rape and murder. 

Aura reader Marguerite McHugh finally gets a close encounter with the mysterious star, but it’s nothing like she expected. When Constantine finds her after she’s been drugged at one of his shows, she’s pulled into his quest for the truth. As dangers mount and murders pile up, Constantine and Marguerite are forced into an ever more intimate relationship. Only by facing their fears and working together can they unmask the killer before more innocent people die. 

Heart of Constantine is available for pre-order here.

Giveaway!

Today I'm visiting Cynthia Woolf's blog, where she very kindly interviewed me. Drop by for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate from Amazon or Barnes & Noble, winner's choice. (http://cynthiawoolf.com/blog/)

In other news... I'm waiting with bated breath for the cover of Heart of Constantine. I will post it here as soon as I have it.

Swans in Le Teich nature reserve, near Bordeaux, France. Are they the descendants of swans seen by Eleanor of Aquitaine almost 900 hundred years ago? It's a nice thought. (I like thinking about that sort of thing.)