Jill Piscitello

Author Interview with Ruth A. Casie, author of The Lady and the Barrister

Please join me in welcoming Ruth A. Casie, author of The Lady and the Barrister. This gorgeous cover and blurb is sure to appeal to romance readers. .Take a look at the inspiration behind Ruth’s writing, her upcoming project, and an excellent definition of success.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Title: The Lady and the Barrister

Author: Ruth A. Casie

Genre: Historical Romance

BLURB:

She swore she’d help him find his soul mate.
Will she realize he has met his match?

After two failed London Seasons the fussy heiress doesn’t have a suitor. Her close friend, a newly minted duke cannot keep the mothers with single daughters away. They make a pact to pretend to court while they find each other the perfect mate. When will they realize, they don’t have to look very far.

Lady Anna Ravencroft, a shy but much-admired organizer and hostess, has accepted that marriage might not be in her future after two failed seasons. Lord Fraser Castleton, a London barrister and her long-time friend, confides in her about being the target of every mother with an unmarried daughter. Together, they decide to find a mate for each other. Meanwhile, Richard Younge, a political aspirant, wants to marry a wealthy woman, and he sees an opportunity in Lady Anna. As two men vie for her affection, Lady Anna must decide who she truly wants.

INTERVIEW:

Where do you get your ideas?

Some of my story ideas come from my family or things I’ve experienced. For instance, The Lady and the Quill. It’s the story of a Regency female author who gets a bad review and thinks her career is over. I took the idea from the first review I ever received. I even used some of the phrases in my story. Nearly 25 books later, it was my revenge!

What has been your biggest challenge?

My biggest challenge is conflict. I know. A story is all about conflict and conflict resolution. Parts of my first draft has everyone cooperative, likable, and it’s all boring! I go through and ask “what is the worse that can happen to [fill in the character’s name].

When I wrote the sequel to my time travel romance and the hero said he would never leave the heroine. I made him return to his time. I cried when I wrote him realizing he had to leave. I cried when she tried to stop him and couldn’t. I rooted for her when she was determined to find a way to him. I love that story… Knight of Rapture.

What does literary success mean to you?

My biggest thrill is to sit somewhere public, the NY subway, a park, an airport and see someone reading my book. So far, the best thing that made me feel successful happened at a recent book signing. A reader hurried over to me and said her sister sent with a list of my books to buy. I was thrilled. As she pulled the list out of her wallet, I hope it was really my name on the top. It was!

What I’m saying is, success isn’t always money. I would love to make lots of money. But I want to make lots of readers happy with my stories. I want readers to interact with me. Play my Facebook games, ask me questions, and really hope we have a great time together.

What project are you currently working on?

I am currently working on book 3 in the series The Return of the Ladies of Sommer-by-the-Sea, The Lady and the Rogue.

Lady Euphemia Brandt fights off an English nobleman who mistakes her for a “lady of the night,” and borrows money from him to hire a carriage home. Later, she sees the same man, Lord Cayden Palmer, at a country house party and tries to avoid him. Palmer is actually searching for the woman who knocked him out and robbed him of information about a plot against the Prime Minister. He presents himself as a suitor to Euphemia and falls in love with her, but when she is abducted, he must risk everything to rescue her.

Upcoming books, events, appearances, giveaways:

The next release in The Return of the Ladies of Sommer-by-the-Sea series is The Lady and the Earl. Currently on pre-order, The Lady and the Earl release is scheduled for June 6.

AUTHOR BIO:

RUTH A. CASIE is a USA Today bestselling author. She writes historical adventures from the shores of medieval Scotland to the cobblestone streets of Regency London. Within the pages you’ll discover ‘edge-of-your-seat’ suspense, mind boggling drama, and heart melting emotions featuring strong women and the men who deserve them. She currently has four historical series, The Druid Knight, The Stelton Legacy, The Ladies of Sommer-by-the-Sea, and The Return of the Ladies of Sommer-by-the-Sea.

Ruth lives in New Jersey with her hero, three empty bedrooms and a growing number of incomplete counted cross-stitch projects. Before she found her voice, she was a speech therapist (pun intended), client liaison for a corrugated manufacturer, and vice president at a major international bank where she was a product/ marketing manager, but her favorite job is the one she’s doing now—writing romance. Grab your favorite cup of tea, or an ale if you prefer, and join her heroes and heroines as they race across the pages to find their happily ever after. Ruth hopes her stories are your next favorite adventures!

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Book in the Spotlight: Death by Surfboard, by Susie Black

It gives me great pleasure to welcome back author, Susie Black. Today, I am featuring the latest in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series: Death by Surfboard. This series is beyond fun, and I never tire of the book covers. Be sure to check out Susie’s complimentary swimsuit fit guide.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Title: Death by Surfboard

Author: Susie Black

Genre: Cozy Mystery

BLURB:

Set in the competitive Los Angeles apparel industry, Death by Surfboard is the story of how one man’s life of lies, delivered by smoke and mirrors, cost him everything. No one is more stunned than Mermaid Swimwear sales exec Holly Schlivnik when a fisherman hooks her unscrupulous colleague’s battered corpse attached to a surfboard and hauls it onto the Washington Street Pier. The ME ruled Jack Tyne drowned, but “had help dying”, and Holly’s boss is wrongly arrested for the crime. To save the big cheese from a life behind bars, the wise-cracking, irreverent amateur detective dons her sleuthing hat to find Jack’s real killer. But the trail has more twists and turns than a pretzel, and nothing turns out the way Holly thinks it will as she tangles with a clever killer hellbent for revenge.

SWIMSUIT FIT GUIDE

AUTHOR BIO:

Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries. She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect.

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Book in the Spotlight: Rescue Road, by Gayle M. Irwin

Please join me in welcoming author Gayle M. Irwin. It is my pleasure to spotlight Rescue Road. The path to mending broken hearts is set against a backdrop of land disputes over what should become an animal sanctuary are found in this sweet romance novel.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Title: Rescue Road

Author: Gayle M. Irwin

Genre: Sweet, contemporary romance, pet rescue romance

BLURB:

Broken hearts and coveted lands divide them – can fences and lives be mended?

Freelance writer Rhiann Kelly gave up on romance years ago. Her dream of starting an animal sanctuary takes deep roots when she finds the perfect location in southwestern Montana, land once owned by her grandmother’s family that she purchases for back taxes.

Levi Butler, Colter Montana’s beloved EMS supervisor, knows his elderly friend, George, left the property to him in his will. Levi anxiously awaits the finalized probate so he can plan his retirement and begin his dream of raising and selling horses.

When Rhiann and Levi find each other at the ranch, sparks fly – and not the romantic kind. Yet their mutual attraction deepens as they spend more time together, especially when unscrupulous land developer Dallas Patterson sets his sights on obtaining the ranch.

Can Rhiann and Levi find a solution in which neither needs to give up their dream? Will their broken paths, and broken hearts, allow them to travel the rescue road together?

AUTHOR BIO:

Gayle M. Irwinis an award-winning Wyoming author and freelance writer who has been recognized by Wyoming Writers, Inc. and the Wyoming Press Association for several of her works. She is a contributing writer in eight Chicken Soup for the Soul books, including the January release “Lessons Learned From My Dog.” Gayle is the author of many inspirational pet books for children and adults, including sweet, contemporary romance stories set in western states called Pet Rescue Romance. Her children’s books about dogs weaves life lessons such as friendship, courage, and perseverance. She volunteers with various animal rescue organizations and donates a percentage of book sales to such groups.

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St. Patrick’s Day Shenanigans, by Linda Carroll-Bradd

Thank you to Linda Carroll=Bradd for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

BLURB

The new Butte Chamber of Commerce manager, Mitzi Lambrecht, has to organize the board of directors’ entry for the St. Patrick’s Day float. Her suggested frontier theme is opposed by a handsome but infuriating jokester.

Proud of his Irish roots, charmer Declan Rourke views softening the uptight manager a challenge he can’t resist.

When elements of their float disappear, Declan and Mitzi must work together to discover who is sabotaging their efforts. Can they work together as a team, or will Mitzi fail at her first big assignment?

BUY LINKS

Amazon

REVIEW SUMMARY

Growing up. I enjoyed many St. Patrick’s Day parades, so the mere mention of the holiday gave me incentive to read. But the mingle of romance, mystery, and a charming cast of characters kept me reading.

After a broken engagement, Mitzi is embarking on a fresh start in Butte, Montana. As the new manager of the Butte Chamber of Commerce, she’s planning a float for the parade. Enter Declan, who has his own ideas for a theme. I enjoyed following the pair as they navigated differences of opinion, a no business and pleasure rule, and office politics. With theft and sabotage at play, readers will comb through a series of potential suspects.

This is a wonderful story that fans of sweet romance are sure to enjoy.

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Guest Post with J. Arlene Culiner

Please join me in welcoming author J. Arlene Culiner. Today she is sharing the inspiration behind the setting for Desert Rose, the third book in her Blake Folly Romance series. J. Arlene sets readers up for an intriguing read with secretive characters. Be sure to scroll to the end and check out the trailer.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Title: Desert Rose (A Blake’s Folly Romance, Book 3)

Author: J. Arlene Culiner

Genre: Contemporary Romance

BLURB:

Secrets are the best protection against love

Rose Badger is the local flirt, and if the other inhabitants of backwoods Blake’s Folly, Nevada, don’t approve, she couldn’t care less. With a disastrous marriage and a dead-end career far behind her, settling down is the last thing she intends to do. Newcomer Jonah Livingstone is intriguing, but with his complicated life, he’s off limits for anything other than friendship. Besides, Rose has a secret world of her own—one she won’t give up for any man.

The last person geologist Jonah Livingstone expected to meet in a semi-ghost town is the sparkling and lovely Rose Badger. But Rose, always surrounded by many admirers, doesn’t seem inclined to choose a favorite. So why fret? Jonah keeps his personal life well hidden…and that’s the best way to avoid disappointment.

GUEST POST:

Once upon a time, I found myself in a clapboard, rusty trailer, semi-ghost town in Nevada, where an ever-buffeting wind dragged dust across the frozen ground, rattled grasses, and set the doors of abandoned shacks tapping. The hotel I stayed in was a rundown has-been: ceilings soared high, and the lumpy, almost colorless wallpaper was surely a century old.

In the hotel’s bar, a talentless band whined out bad country music, and eccentric locals dished up tall tales, wry humor, and suspicion. It was a singular community, quite magical, and I’ve recreated it as Blake’s Folly, the setting for my three romances: A Room in Blake’s Folly, All About Charming Alice, and Desert Rose.

In the late 1800s, Blake’s Folly was a silver boomtown that boasted three mining companies, a railway line to Reno, a lot of cash, many saloons, and quite a few brothels, but the glory didn’t last. When the silver ran out, those sane enough to do so, pulled up stakes.

Today, it’s a backwoods community of shacks, wooden sidewalks, and one saloon set in an unrelenting flatland. Who would live in such a place? Odd independent characters and rebels, people who would never fit into neat houses with tidy gardens.

In Desert Rose, my half-Paiute hero, geologist Jonah Livingstone, takes great pleasure in sighting the other inhabitants of this territory: mule deer, bobcats, desert tortoises, sidewinders, rattlers, and little gray lizards. There’s another attraction, too: the lovely Rose Badger. How does Rose feel about Jonah?

Well… that’s the problem. Both Jonah and Rose are secretive people, and that makes them mysterious as well as intriguing. Secretive folks are very disciplined, and they often have a wealth of knowledge and experience that they keep hidden (Rose has a very complicated secret life). It’s hard to know what they’re thinking, or feeling, so forming close, trusting relationships is a definite challenge for them—even though the dazzle, the zip, and all the necessary magic is right there, just waiting to be discovered!

EXCERPT:

Rose approached the little group slowly, still peeking carefully into the shadows of booths lining the wall.

Jonah was watching her every movement. “You’re looking strangely furtive.”

“I’m avoiding my mother.”

Lance laughed; Jonah chuckled.

She scrunched up her face with mock pain. “Okay, okay. I know how infantile that sounds, but I just got rid of the woman. She staggered over to the shop about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Staggered?”

“Four sheets to the wind, as usual. She does make a habit of it.” Rose wrinkled her nose. “Now, she wants to drive into Reno with me on Saturday.”

“On Saturday? I thought you didn’t do Saturdays,” said Lance laconically.

“Really?” Jonah raised one quizzical eyebrow and turned to Lance. “What do you mean, she doesn’t do them? She wipes them off the calendar? Crams everything into a six-day, Sunday to Friday, week?”

“It’s her secret day. No one knows what she gets up to on Saturdays. Only that she isn’t
available. Ever.”

“Aha. I was about to ask her to meet me this Saturday evening.”

“She’ll say no. She always does.”

Exasperated, Rose threw both men the dirtiest look she could manage. “I’m not unavailable every Saturday. I intend to be here, in Blake’s Folly, for the Get-Together, and that’s two Saturdays away. Now, would you both please stop talking about me in the third person? I’m here, right in front of you. You can address me directly, and I can speak for myself.”

“Except you don’t. Not when it comes to Saturdays.” Lance’s voice was calm.

AUTHOR BIO:

Writer, photographer, social critical artist, and impenitent teller of tall tales, J. Arlene Culiner, was born in New York and raised in Toronto. She has crossed much of Europe on foot, has lived in a mud house on the Great Hungarian Plain, a Bavarian castle, a Turkish cave dwelling, a haunted house on the English moors, and on a Dutch canal. She now resides in a 400-year-old former inn in a French village of no interest where, much to local dismay, she protects spiders, snakes, and all weeds. She particularly enjoys incorporating into mysteries, non-fiction, and romances, her experiences in out-of-the-way communities, and her conversations with very odd characters.

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