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Kate Malone makes her living reading Tarot cards and fleecing society’s elite. With no prospect of independence, her own fate looks bleak. But Kate’s fortunes change when she steals a magnificent emerald—and is confronted by a mysterious stranger.


Description:

Cover Artist – Rebecca Poole, Dreams2Media
Release Date: September 15th, 2015

Bestselling author Susan Squires brings you a shadowy world of seduction and betrayal, vengeance and desire…

TEMPTATION BEGINS IN DARKNESS
Kate Malone makes her living reading Tarot cards and fleecing society’s elite. With no prospect of independence, her own fate looks bleak. But Kate’s fortunes change when she steals a magnificent emerald—and is confronted by a mysterious stranger. Kate is sure the striking gentleman’s attention is a ruse to retrieve the gem. But his presence awakens her to a passion she never dreamed of… and to powers she never knew she possessed. 

AND LASTS FOR ETERNITY
Gian Urbano is bound by honor to retrieve the mystical stone that can drain a vampire’s power—and drive them to madness. The willful, stunning Kate has no idea of the emerald’s dark magic, or the lengths Gian’s enemies will go to possess it. But soon Gian discovers for Kate a desire more compelling than duty—one that could save them both or lead them to their downfall…

EXCERPT

Everyone else in the room hung on her words, the men wanting something they could use to jibe him, the women hoping for something that said he would be theirs. But she couldn’t make out the story the cards told. She didn’t have any words, only an ache in her head and a feeling of... dislocation, as though she were looking at herself from far away. 

Yet words came.

“You have seen blood, rivers of it, in a desert.” She blinked. The room began to swirl, the colors of the crowd melting together. “Blood you brought forth through extraordinary heroism in a cause you believed was just.” She stood. The table toppled. Surprised, she glanced down to see the cards scattering very slowly to the floor. But the crowd behind them was spinning faster. “It has left you wandering in your soul, impotent. Evil is around you even now, and may still win out.” Her voice did not seem to be her own. “Many trials are ahead. Thievery will be involved. I see a stone, an emerald. Your arrogance can still be tempered into wisdom by your trials.” She had a sensation of falling, and yet she knew she stood, looking up at him. He too stood, staring in fascinated horror. “Love can transform you.” She gazed up into those green eyes and the room receded entirely. 

The green of his eyes turned into the green of a stone.

It was an emerald, as big as half her fist. It glowed in darkness. A woman’s hand with long nails held it with a pair of silver tongs. The glow of the emerald cast refracted green light on the rough stone walls and floor of a cramped room. He was there: the arrogant, beautiful one. He was naked and chained to the wall. His pale skin stood out against the dark stone on which he lay. “You are mine,” the woman said “The jewel will give you to me.” Fear shone in the man’s eyes. The woman came closer, touched the flesh of his chest with the stone. He arched and groaned. The glow brightened until it lit the cell with a blinding green light. The woman’s laughter echoed crazily back from the rock walls.

And then nothing. The stone cell vanished. Kate took one breath, and collapsed.

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About the author:
Susan Squires is a New York Times bestselling author known for breaking the rules of romance writing. Whatever her time period, or subject, some element of the paranormal always creeps in. Susan’s work has won multiple contests including the Holt Medallion, the Golden Heart and the Book Buyer’s Best Award and reviewer's choice awards from RT BookReviews. Publisher's Weekly named Body Electric one of the most influential mass market books of 2003 and One with the Shadows, the fifth in her vampire Companion Series, a Best book of 2007. Time for Eternity, the first in the DaVinci time travel series, received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly.
Susan has a Masters in English literature from UCLA and once toiled as an executive for a Fortune 500 company. Now she lives at the beach in Southern California with her husband, Harry, a writer of supernatural thrillers, and three very active Belgian Sheepdogs, who like to help her write by putting their chins on the keyboarddddddddddddddddddddddd.

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Kate Malone makes her living reading Tarot cards and fleecing society’s elite. With no prospect of independence, her own fate looks bleak. But Kate’s fortunes change when she steals a magnificent emerald—and is confronted by a mysterious stranger.


Description:

Cover Artist – Rebecca Poole, Dreams2Media
Release Date: September 15th, 2015

Bestselling author Susan Squires brings you a shadowy world of seduction and betrayal, vengeance and desire…

TEMPTATION BEGINS IN DARKNESS
Kate Malone makes her living reading Tarot cards and fleecing society’s elite. With no prospect of independence, her own fate looks bleak. But Kate’s fortunes change when she steals a magnificent emerald—and is confronted by a mysterious stranger. Kate is sure the striking gentleman’s attention is a ruse to retrieve the gem. But his presence awakens her to a passion she never dreamed of… and to powers she never knew she possessed. 

AND LASTS FOR ETERNITY
Gian Urbano is bound by honor to retrieve the mystical stone that can drain a vampire’s power—and drive them to madness. The willful, stunning Kate has no idea of the emerald’s dark magic, or the lengths Gian’s enemies will go to possess it. But soon Gian discovers for Kate a desire more compelling than duty—one that could save them both or lead them to their downfall…

“Squires writes a darkly compelling vampire romance.”—Affaire de Coeur

"Full of colorful characters, romantic locales and vivid details of 1820’s life [One with the Shadows] has a delicious pace and plenty of thrills, and her vampire myths is both mannered—almost Victorian—and intriguingly offbeat. Bound to net a wide audience of paranormal fans, this one may even convert devotees of traditional historical.” - Publisher’s Weekly (A Best Book of the Year)

Goodreads ** Smashwords ** Amazon ** Barnes&Noble ** iTunes
About the author:
Susan Squires is a New York Times bestselling author known for breaking the rules of romance writing. Whatever her time period, or subject, some element of the paranormal always creeps in. Susan’s work has won multiple contests including the Holt Medallion, the Golden Heart and the Book Buyer’s Best Award and reviewer's choice awards from RT BookReviews. Publisher's Weekly named Body Electric one of the most influential mass market books of 2003 and One with the Shadows, the fifth in her vampire Companion Series, a Best book of 2007. Time for Eternity, the first in the DaVinci time travel series, received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly.
Susan has a Masters in English literature from UCLA and once toiled as an executive for a Fortune 500 company. Now she lives at the beach in Southern California with her husband, Harry, a writer of supernatural thrillers, and three very active Belgian Sheepdogs, who like to help her write by putting their chins on the keyboarddddddddddddddddddddddd.

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"Celia looked at his hands and noticed that they trembled. On impulse she placed her hand over his. The connection was instant. She felt rays of pleasure stealing up her arms clear up to her brain, stunning her with a swirl of pleasure she had never felt before."

Description:

Published – May 14th, 2015
Cover Artist – Killion Group

When Celia Meade’s uncle impulsively offers Celia and her family a chance at a better life by inviting them to live at his estate near Bath, he is surprised by his daughter Caroline’s animosity against the Meades. 

Caroline’s hatred of Celia began when Celia attended her aunt’s funeral and Caroline noted the immediate attraction between Celia and Caroline’s choice for a husband, Lord Robert Merrick. 

Running into each other again in the woods that adjoin Lord Merrick’s property the attraction between Lord Merrick and Celia blossoms into love in the warm days of summer. 

Enraged that Lord Robert’s sister encourages her brother by planning trips and picnics with Celia, Caroline calls a meeting with her father and Celia, and extracts a promise from Celia to not see Lord Merrick again with the threat that she will force the Meades to leave her house. 

To ease the tension, Celia accepts a month-long stay at a friend’s home but while Celia is away Caroline plans the downfall of Celia’s family.

EXCERPT





She sighed as she saw him busy filling the kettle with water from a keg and measuring tea leaves. He then took two blue and white mugs from a shelf, set them on the table and smiled at Celia. Celia smiled back. It was so easy to smile at Robert.

He seemed at home in the place and knew where everything was kept. Celia had never seen a man engaged in such domestic occupations and he seemed even more endearing to her, if such a thing were possible, as he went about in his preparations.

If there was such a thing as paradise, thought Celia, this was it in essence: a blissful, forbidden paradise. She would never again be as happy as she was at this moment, with the warmth that was beginning to give forth from the fire warming her to a delicious shiver, the scent of pinecones and fir in the air and the woodsy feel of the cabin.

All that was left now for Robert to do was to wait for the water to boil and he came and sat in the sofa near Celia. He seemed at a loss for words, and stood up quickly. He fetched spoons and napkins from a drawer in the table from a cupboard. Celia gazed at him as he did this and when their glances met Robert smiled again at her.

“Have you enjoyed your walk,” he asked and his voice was strained. When she nodded he said, “I hope you will walk here often and I hope…”

Celia waited for him to go on and realized he must have been embarrassed that he had said the word ‘hope’ several times, for a blush was stealing up his neck and cheek and he turned away.

Celia looked at his hands and noticed that they trembled. On impulse she placed her hand over his. The connection was instant. She felt rays of pleasure stealing up her arms clear up to her brain, stunning her with a swirl of pleasure she had never felt before.

Robert took one of her hands and kissed it, slowly and as slowly he pulled her up with him and they embraced. His lips on her neck gave her a floating feeling and as he pressed her closer to him an explosion of feeling coursed in skipping waves along her skin and nerves.

“I love you, Celia,” he whispered in her ear and Celia turned her face so that his lips found hers quickly and the kiss was unlike anything Celia had felt in her life. “I have loved you since the first day I saw you in that awful black gown,” he whispered in her ear, making her smile widely. It was as if she became part of him. He kissed her again and his tongue sent waves of erotic pleasure throughout her body. His hand softly on her breast made her gasp and quietly he led her up to a bed in the loft.

Like a sleepwalker led by a force she was unable to resist, Celia walked up the wooden stairs to the loft with Robert behind her, and when they reached the wide bed and Robert nodded toward it, she lay down on it. She noted vaguely that Robert was taking off her boots and then her bonnet. She floated in a soft cloud as she heard Robert take off his boots and coat, then his cravat.

She knew she would never be alone with Robert again. And she also knew she could not turn away from the swirl of almost unbearable tremors that shook her body with unfamiliar pleasure. He did not insist she take her clothes off as he lay beside her after having taken off his boots. He put his arm under her head and pressed her close to him and Celia felt that she would never in her life feel as sheltered and loved as she was at this moment as she looked deep into Robert’s eyes…



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About the author:
Writing and painting have been Gloria’s main obsessions ever since she can remember. She and her husband consider themselves very lucky to be living in a beautiful place like San Diego, California, but most of all to have their children and grandchildren living nearby.

Enchanted Summer is Gloria’s seventh Regency romance and she has recently published her first time travel romance, A Bridge Through Time. Her other Regencies include the recently published Lovely Little Liar and Scandal at Almack’s, both with Boroughs Publishing Group, as well as Love In A Dangerous Season and Kissed In The Dark which she self-published with Kindle Books.

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Busy trying to untangle the web of deceit surrounding the Earl of Windor’s disappearance, Crown spy Gray Masterson also has to ensure Lily Drummond, the gangly, awkward child who was his constant shadow growing up, doesn’t get herself ruined at her London debut. But the girl with scraped knees and elbows has evolved into a lush, sensual beauty surrounded by a bevy of suitors.

Description:

Release Date: August 25th, 2015 

Keeping her safe is difficult, keeping a proper distance from her is downright impossible.

Lady Lily Drummond understands only too well the danger of spy work. Her father, a preeminent master spy, has been missing for months, and her brother barely survived his final mission for the Crown. Lily is still determined to help find her father, no matter how hard her brother and his best friend try to keep her in the dark.

Busy trying to untangle the web of deceit surrounding the Earl of Windor’s disappearance, Crown spy Gray Masterson also has to ensure Lily Drummond, the gangly, awkward child who was his constant shadow growing up, doesn’t get herself ruined at her London debut. But the girl with scraped knees and elbows has evolved into a lush, sensual beauty surrounded by a bevy of suitors.

Realizing Lily is going to investigate on her own if he doesn’t let her join the hunt for her missing father, Gray assumes he can give Lily a few minor tasks to pacify her, but he quickly learns she is a valuable asset. Moreover, she fairly crackles with life and warmth—things he craves after his dark years in service.

Warning: This book contains spies, scandals, naughty liaisons in houses of ill repute, men who think they know everything and women who know they do not. 


GUEST POST
Rules of the Historical Romance

Are there rules to historical romance? I need that manual! Lol:)

Actually, a lot of research goes into writing a historical romance. Of course, before I started writing, I was an avid reader of historical romances. My favorites are Regency and Scottish-set historicals. I realized quickly that I needed to delve deeper into research in order to actually write, so I’ve read many articles and reference books, even one on Regency houses so I could understand the exterior and interior of townhouses and the grand estates, because my characters travel back and forth from London to the country.

There’s a delicate balance of not getting so enthusiastic about the facts and research that it throws the reader out of the story. I find it fascinating that a woman named Eleanor Coade developed an artificial stone that was used widely as keystones and decorative ‘stonework’ over doors in the late 1700s. (Go Eleanor!) It’s composition remained a secret and is now lost to the ages. Now...does the reader need all that information as the hero is approaching the heroine’s doorway? Certainly not.

To me, the only hard and fast rule for historical romances is to remember it is first and foremost a ROMANCE. The relationship between the hero and heroine should take center stage and the historical facts should offer support and enrich the experience. In many Regency novels, the Napoleonic Wars act as the backdrop to deepen the suspense and drama of the primary love story.

AN INDECENT INVITATION uses the real-life inception of British intelligence during this time period to provide my hero, and heroine for that matter, with some unique and unusual skills. Wellington, the general who led British troops and was eventually made a duke, was ahead of his time. After landing on the Peninsula and discovering he didn’t have any idea what was over the next hill, he spearheaded the formation of a new division called exploring officers.

Although I don’t address this directly in the book, my hero, Gray Masterson, is modelled after those brave men. They had to be excellent horsemen, very fit, intelligent, a master of languages, and possess more than their fair share of courage. Sounds like perfect hero material, am I right, ladies?

In contrast, my heroine, Lily Drummond, possesses skills atypical of a debutante. However, her brother (and our hero’s best friend) was also an exploring officer, although he’s been wounded and is home recuperating. When he gets bored and with his sister is a more-than-willing pupil, he teaches her a few tricks of the trade:) Those skills end up getting her into and out of several fixes in the search for her father.

I hope everyone enjoys my debut Regency, AN INDECENT INVITATION. It’s a sexy, suspenseful race for survival and love. Look for A BRAZEN BARGAIN, Book 2 in the Spies and Lovers Series, to hit shelves January 11th, 2016.

EXCERPT





Lily slyly watched Gray confront Montbatton and then execute a courtly bow to Lady Abbott. How long before her reckoning? Only a few minutes had passed. Not nearly long enough for her heart to slow. He approached—not with angry mincing steps or even hurried anxious ones, but in a casual loose-limbed saunter.

Did he know?

Gray had been lanky in his youth, but he’d always possessed an unusual agility and grace. Seemingly never feeling awkward in his body, he moved with a compelling confidence that had only grown more telling over the years. A broad, deep chest and narrow, lean hips complemented indecently muscled legs. Not that she had made a close examination, heavens no, but she could hardly miss them flexing during their dance.

Perhaps he wasn’t the tallest or the most handsome man in attendance, but there was something about him. In fact, several ladies’ heads turned when he passed them by. Not that he noticed, because his gaze pinned her like an insect on display.

Not smiling nor frowning, his face revealed not a single clue to his mood. He stopped directly in front of her, cocked one foot in front of the other and clasped his hands behind his back. A purely masculine stance that, along with his silence, set her nerves jangling.

She tucked several escaped tendrils back into pins and then opened and closed her fan a few times. Unable to tolerate another second of the increasing tension, she yielded, feeling somehow as if she’d lost the first skirmish of a war. “We meet again, Mr. Masterson. Mayhap did you learn anything interesting?”

His eyes, vibrantly green and arresting even partially shielded behind his spectacles, shimmered with an emotion she couldn’t interpret. “I learned Montbatton is indeed in pursuit, and you should expect an offer. He informed me most vehemently to pass that information on. Lady Abbott thought it highly amusing I didn’t know your name. And lastly, I discovered Lady Lily should be in the corner with her chaperone.”

“Very impressive, but did anyone reveal my name?”

“Absolutely no one.” A single eyebrow arched above the rim of his spectacles.

Her shoulders, which at some point had bunched toward her ears, relaxed, and she tapped her fan against her lips to stem a victorious smile. “And I was so looking forward to another dance. Mayhap I’ll help you find your wayward friend instead. Over here did you say?”

A dark-haired matron in a red dress occupied the corner in question. She sat upright in a chair next to a ficus and, at first glance, appeared to be serenely observing the tableau of couples on the dance floor. The only indications she was soundly asleep were her closed eyes and slightly agape mouth. Her Aunt Edie was quite possibly the most worthless chaperone in all of England, which suited Lily perfectly. She’d no desire to relinquish the relative freedom she enjoyed in the country.

“That’s certainly not your debutante,” Lily said. “Come, let’s stroll while we look.”

“God’s teeth, that’s most likely her chaperone. Sound asleep while Lily runs wild.” Gray sounded truly aghast.

“Yes, your friend might be in the company of the worst sort of rogue who inappropriately whisked her away.” A cough covered her spate of giggles.

“Indeed.” His tone turned solemn. “She’s a highly impulsive chit not used to male attention. No doubt, she’d be easily lured into an indiscretion by a charming smile or prestigious title.” He tutted. “They’d only be after her dowry, poor thing.”

She sucked in a huge breath, ready to unleash her tongue, but his next words ripped the air from her lungs.

“Would you care to take a turn in the gardens as I haven’t earned a dance?”

“What about your friend? Shouldn’t you find her? What if she waits for you?” Her words spilled out too quickly. How many times had Rafe told her to never enter the gardens with a gentleman? At least a hundred. Although it was only Gray. If any man could be trusted, it would be him. Wouldn’t it?

“I was to surprise her tonight. She doesn’t even know I’m attending. We won’t be long, just a breath of fresh air. It’s rather stuffy, isn’t it?”

“I suppose a very brief turn in the garden wouldn’t hurt. It is awfully close in here.” Lily snapped her fan open and cooled herself with frenzied flicks of her wrist. Was it the crush of people or his suggestion making her feel so heated?


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About the author:
I was born and raised in a small town in Northwest Tennessee. Although, I loved English and reading in high school, I was convinced an English degree equated to starvation! So, I chose the next most logical major - Chemical Engineering- and worked in a hard hat and steel toed boots for several years. Now I live in South Carolina with my husband and two children. In between school and homework and soccer practices, I love to get lost in another world, whether its Regency England or small town Alabama.

Books One and Two of my Falcon Football Series are available from St. Martin’s Press (Slow and Steady Rush; Caught Up in the Touch). Book Three, Melting Into You, is available for preorder.

Book Two of my Spies and Lovers Series, A Brazen Bargain, will release January 2016.

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It is 1821 and all who know the beautiful, mysterious Ann Van Helsing believe she is insane. Yet Ann’s curse is the deep psychic ability that shows her everything about another human being—their history, thoughts and desires—simply by touching them. Overwhelmed by a power she can barely control, Ann roams the quiet woods and caves near her estate, searching for an elusive peace. Here she encounters the man who will change everything…

Description:

Release Date: July 21st, 2015
Cover Artist: Rebecca Poole, Dreams2Media

Award-winning, bestselling author Susan Squires brings you into a world of erotic temptation that comes alive at night and thrives on our darkest secrets and longings. Take the journey to an unforgettable place in the heart of darkness and desire…

A FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION…
It is 1821 and all who know the beautiful, mysterious Ann Van Helsing believe she is insane. Yet Ann’s curse is the deep psychic ability that shows her everything about another human being—their history, thoughts and desires—simply by touching them. Overwhelmed by a power she can barely control, Ann roams the quiet woods and caves near her estate, searching for an elusive peace. Here she encounters the man who will change everything…

LEAVES HER YEARNING…
To atone for an unforgivable transgression against his own kind, vampire Stephan Sincai has become a vigilante who must hunt and kill those whom other vampires have made. When Ann discovers Stephen bleeding in her cave, she reaches tries to help him. The moment she touches him she knows every fiber of Stephens being—and the knowledge is at once frightening and irresistible…

FOR ETERNAL FULFILLMENT…
Ann and Stephen are drawn together by a powerful force. As they fight against the evil surrounding them, an enemy bent on destroying them will make them choose between what they love and what they fear the most….

”GRIPPING AND UNFORGETTABLE.” - Romantic Times (4 ½ star review) on The Companion

EXCERPT

Stephan flung Miss Austen’s novel to the floor. Not that it was not entertaining. It was, even skilled and insightful. But the book he wanted to read was laid out before him in a coma, unreadable. He thrust his hands in his pockets and slumped in his chair.

Her situation irked him, to say the least. What awaited her if she wakened from her coma? She had no parents living, else her uncle would not be her trustee. Now her guardian lay downstairs with a weak heart and a tenuous grip on life. What would happen when even this one person who cared for her was denied her? Van Helsing would return tomorrow. He could keep Van Helsing out of her room, for a while. But if she recovered? With a lout like that in the house, was she safe? And then there was the fact that she was suspected, however stupidly, of murder. Stephan chewed his lips.

Only his sharp hearing would have detected the low moan. His eyes widened in shock. Her eyelids fluttered. He dove from his chair to his knees beside her bed and began to chafe her hand. She moaned a little louder. She was waking! Thank whatever gods you choose, he commanded himself. He would not be spared damnation, but at least his crime against her, whatever it was, might not be irrevocable. She was about to come to consciousness.

He jerked his hands away from hers. She would not like to wake to being touched. A stranger by her side? Not reassuring. Especially one whom she had last seen covered in blood and whirling darkness. But there was no one else. And he could not let her wake alone.

He mustered what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

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About the author:
Susan Squires is a New York Times bestselling author known for breaking the rules of romance writing. Whatever her time period, or subject, some element of the paranormal always creeps in. She has won multiple contests for published novels and reviewer's choice awards. Publisher's Weekly named Body Electric one of the most influential mass market books of 2003 and One with the Shadows, the fifth in her vampire Companion Series, a Best book of 2007. Time for Eternity, the first in the DaVinci time travel series, received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly. 

Susan has a Masters in English literature from UCLA and once toiled as an executive for a Fortune 500 company. Now she lives at the beach in Southern California with her husband, Harry, a writer of supernatural thrillers, and three very active Belgian Sheepdogs, who like to help her write by putting their chins on the keyboarddddddddddddddddddddddd.

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