With temperatures that reach higher than 120 degrees, Saudi Arabia would definitely not be one of them!

Personally, I hate hot weather. Among my personal favorite places, would be the ski slopes of Aspen on a sunny day, or up on the top of the hill at Mammoth Mountain in California. Yummy days of cold and sunshine and crystal clear blue skies.

We usually travel in the spring. A favorite sunny day happened to me in Rome in April a few years ago, when we stood in the warm rays next to the beautiful Trevi Fountain. And of course you can’t beat walking in the sun on the Left Bank in Paris.

Closer to home, Montana has some great sunny days. Today I’m working in my office, looking at the lush green pastures outside my windows toward the snow-capped mountains in the distance. Big sky country is a major winner when the sun is shining and the clear blue sky seems to go on forever.

A day on the ocean off the coast of Santa Barbara is hard to beat when the sun is shining. Sailboat or powerboat, just being out on the water makes me feel completely carefree.

In AGAINST THE SUN, the sheik, his daughter A’lia and his son Roshan aren’t bothered by the brutal Houston heat. And Sage is more concerned about learning the protocols she must know in order to negotiate the three hundred million dollar deal that will make or break her career. Customs like not showing the bottom of her foot, which is considered an insult, or making the okay sign, which would be giving them the evil eye.

AGAINST THE SUN was one of the most difficult books I’ve ever tackled because of the research involved in getting the customs, the clothing, the attitudes of the Saudi visitors correct. I hope you’ll try AGAINST THE SUN and that you enjoy it.



I’d love to hear some of your favorite places in the sun and why you love them?? Warm wishes for a great summer, Kat. Just a reminder that every week on Romance at Random we randomly giveaway 5 books to commenters, winners noted on Sunday – good luck!


About Kat:
Currently living in Missoula, Montana, Kat is the New York Times bestselling author of over fifty Historical and Contemporary Romance Suspense novels. Before she started writing in 1985, Kat was a real estate broker. During that time, she met her husband, Larry Jay Martin, author of more than twenty books, both westerns and mysteries. Kat is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History.

Visit Kat at her Website | Facebook | Join her mail list


AGAINST THE SUN - buy here And congratulations to Kat on her RT Top Pick!! Don’t miss this series – Happy Romance!


Links to chapter excerpts from Kat – enjoy!

Excerpt #1 http://www.katbooks.com/AgainsttheSunExcertp1.htm
Excerpt #2 http://www.katbooks.com/AgainstheSunExcerpt2.htm
Excerpt #3 http://www.katbooks.com/AgainstheSunExcerpt3.htm
Excerpt #4 http://www.katbooks.com/AgainstheSunExcerpt4.htm
Excerpt #5 http://www.katbooks.com/AgainstheSunExcerpt5.htm

Fact is, we (not just writers, but humans in general) need stress. Stress can save lives. It energizes and motivates. It moves our bodies. Even gravity is considered a stressor. Stress grounds us and enables us to appreciate the lighter moments in our lives.

Like anything—marriage, motherhood, school, friendship, etc—writing comes with ups and downs. One of my current ups? I’m celebrating the launch of my Special Investigations Group series with HQN. The series follows a group of DOJ special agents that is the state equivalent of the FBI. The first book, Shades Of Desire, releases May 22, 2012. I hope you’ll give it a try!


Book Blurb:

Special Agent Liam “Mac” McKenzie has scars of his own. But despite his efforts to ignore the attraction that simmers between him and Natalie, he needs her help to catch a predator. Soon, they will forge a tentative alliance—charged with desire. Through a soft-focus lens, Natalie dares to envision a future with Mac beyond the investigation…never guessing that the clues hidden within her photographs are drawing them into an explosive confrontation with a madman.

Available for pre-order on Amazon| B&N| Powell’s| and Indie Bound


Now, to give you a small idea of the ups and downs in a romance writer’s life, here are 15 ways to know that you might be a romance writer:

• People often ask when you’re going to write a “real” book.
• You walk around muttering, “the same but different.”
• Your office is a Starbucks.
• Your Internet History would horrify your neighbors.
• You scour magazines for pictures of your “ideal” man, pin them to your bulletin board, and don’t even feel guilty when your husband sees them.
• You find yourself wondering how you can make a “zombie” story sexy.
• You know the difference between a WIP, an MS, and an HEA.
• You pay people to reject you (contests).
• People reject you for free (queries).
• You’re surprised when people don’t reject you.
• You want people all over the world to recognize your name while at the same time you want to fade into the background.
• Your kids ask you whether you love your computer more than you love them.
• You bring an extra suitcase with you to your annual conference.
• You consistently wonder if your scenes are “hot yet tasteful.”
• You believe that rather than misleading people about what they can have, you are empowering them to demand what they deserve.


Got stress? Need some? The key is balance. Moderation. Keep your focus on what makes you happy and what doesn’t. And if all else fails…read a good book or rent Love Actually. Always works for me!


Question:
Are you balancing the stress in your life? What’s your favorite stress reliever?


About Virna DePaul – visit her website here|TWITTER|FACEBOOK|Goodreads

I’ve had a crush on Queen Victoria’s own Prince Charming, Prince Albert, for years. Even before I saw the movie The Young Victoria. Rupert Friend’s portrayal just made Albert even more adorable to me. Their courtship was one of true romance despite being engineered by Albert and Victoria’s uncle, King Leopold of Belgium. (We’re going to skip over the fact that Albert and Victoria were first cousins!) Victoria wrote that he was “extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful.” (Weintraub, Stanley (1997). Albert: Uncrowned King. London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-5756-9)

(Queen Victoria’s match-making Uncle Leopold was something of a hottie in his younger days as well!) King Leopold hoped by marrying his niece to his nephew he could ensure England’s support for his small, newly-formed kingdom of Belgium. But Albert defied his uncle and encouraged Victoria to put England’s interests first. He was a progressive thinker, and while he did not share equal power with the queen, he was a supporter of social and industrial reform during her reign.

In The Katerina Trilogy, Grand Duke George Alexandrovich is willing to defy his imperial parents to be with Katerina and encourages her to pursue her own dreams. The real George Alexandrovich was related to Prince Albert indirectly. Albert’s son Edward grew up to marry George’s aunt, Princess Alexandra of Denmark. However, in all of the tangled family trees of European royalty, I could not find a common ancestor of the two gentlemen. (If someone can find an ancestor they shared in common, I’ll send you a Katerina Trilogy swag package with bookmarks and stickers from both THE GATHERING STORM and THE UNFAILING LIGHT!)

By day, Robin Bridges is a mild-mannered writer of fantasy and paranormal fiction for young adults. By night, she’s a pediatric nurse. Robin lives on the Gulf Coast with her husband, one soon-to-be teenager, and two slobbery Mastiffs. She likes playing video games and watching Jane Austen movies. (Alas, if only there was a Jane Austen video game!) THE GATHERING STORM is her first novel. Visit her website at RobinBridges.com.

Visit the Love Is Timeless Facebook Page to learn more about Robin Bridges and other Historical Romance Authors. The Gathering Storm is on sale now, wherever books are sold.

I thought about this blog while drooling over Jaci Burton’s amazing, sexy, sexy covers. Those covers say it all, don’t they? Athletes make good heroes because they are hot! But the more I thought about it, obviously, the reason they make great heroes is deeper than that. The reason I made Luc Baker—my hero in Can’t Buy Me Love—a hockey player, wasn’t just about his abs (which are lovely). But was more about creating a character that was driven, disciplined and committed. And successful. And rich. Let’s not forget that part. All of those things feed a really potent fantasy.

So, because I love lists almost as much as I love athlete heroes, here is my list of my top three reasons I love professional athletes as heroes.

1. Being physical, knowing and living in their bodies the way they do, makes them comfortable in their skin. Which is delicious in all sorts of ways. Of course, there’s the sex part of it. The shirtless part. But also, for me, in Can’t Buy Me Love, it allowed me to create a great conflict with my heroine, Tara Jean Sweet, who isn’t comfortable in her skin at all.

2. Athletes are men of action. There’s something powerful about men who work with their bodies and hands and don’t use words to express how they feel. It’s the appeal of cowboys, too. And soldiers. Men of few words, but great loyalty and purpose. Heroic is practically in the job description. But, as a romance author, it’s fun to take these silent men of purpose and drive and force them to feel something outside their comfort zone. And then, even more fun is to give them the right words to say, when the moment really matters.

3. Becoming a professional athlete takes a lot of discipline and a lot of sacrifice. Which is all pretty amazing, but the flipside of all that positive stuff, is a gold mine of darker delight. What did their success cost them? What were their missed opportunities? Do they regret anything? If they could do it all again what would they do differently? Answering those questions for Luc helped me put a little substance behind those beautiful abs.

So, what about you? Do you love athletes as heroes? Why? Who have been some of your favorites?

Visit Molly-OKeefe.com | Find Molly on Facebook & Twitter | Add Can’t Buy Me Love to your Goodreads bookshelf

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PLAYING WITH FIRE
Beloved and bestselling author Debra Dixon takes romance readers down to the bayou, where there’s a hot blaze simmering—and an arsonist on the loose.

For a woman who’s not looking for trouble, Maggie St. John sure is finding a lot of it these days—especially after she discovers a fire in a utility closet at the hospital where she works as a nurse. Now there’s an arson investigation, and she’s at the center of it. Maggie can’t tell which is worse: the sudden flashbacks to a terrible memory buried deep in her subconscious or the incredible tension that is building with the infuriatingly cocky and undeniably attractive arson investigator.

Beau Grayson thinks the hospital fire investigation will be an open-and-shut case. But that’s before he set eyes on the prime suspect. Maggie St. John is hiding something behind that sultry smile, and he needs to uncover her secret before he gives in to the body that could ignite a four-alarm inferno. Just how much heat can Beau take without getting burned?
BUY NOW

PLUS

MOUNTAIN MYSTIC
Bestselling author Debra Dixon ventures deep into the heart of the rural Appalachian Mountains for an unexpected romance that sizzles with friction and fire.

Joshua Logan has come back to the lush, green mountains of East Tennessee to get away from the world. After years in the spotlight as a renowned archaeologist and author, Joshua wants nothing more than to reconnect with the hills where he grew up—where the psychic abilities that made him famous can’t continue to torture him. The last thing he needs now is a gorgeous woman looking for a guide through the mountains—or the tantalizing lure of a mind whose emotions he cannot read.

Victoria Bennett is determined to help the women of Appalachia, far away from her old, privileged life in Connecticut. With a degree in midwifery and a divorce under her belt, Victoria is not looking for any entanglements; she simply wants to do some good. But the tension between her and Joshua is instant. He is everything she’s never had—ruggedly handsome, strong, physical . . . and flirty as all get-out. Can she risk reliving her past mistakes for even one night with a man who flusters her mind and sets her heart ablaze?

BUY NOW

PLUS
SLOW HANDS
Sparring has never been so sweetly seductive as in this delicious romance from Debra Dixon, who entangles a sassy workaholic with a formerly buttoned-down and bottled-up hero determined to show her how to seize the day.

Sam Tucker isn’t the kind of man to wait for an invitation, not when his mission is to help business executive Clare McGuire learn the joys of losing control. He’s a man who truly appreciates living in the moment. Can he tempt his beautiful apprentice into doing the same?

Convinced Sam only wants to change her, Clare insists she likes her life just as it is. Until, that is, the free-spirited, hold-your-breath-handsome professor kisses her with a fiery need that echoes her own. Loving Sam means having fun, living life to the fullest, and putting old sorrows to rest—if she dares to take a chance.

Buy NOW

PLUS
HOT AS SIN
Bestselling author Debra Dixon takes readers on a tense and taut ride in this thrilling romance that’s both sensual and edge-of-your-seat suspenseful.

With his last breath, the man who took a bullet to protect her sent Emily Quinn on the run. Armed with only a name and an address, Emily makes her way to a small town in Washington State, where an ex–Navy SEAL just might be able to help her disappear—forever. As the bad guys and the Feds close in, Emily will have to put all her faith in this stranger, a man who makes her pulse race faster than any man ever has. She knows she’ll be damned if she trusts him—and dead if she doesn’t.

When Christian “Gabe” Gabriel first sets eyes on Emily, she’s dressed as a nun. But he can see right through that habit to the frightened, beautiful woman underneath. His time in the military has honed his reflexes and dampened his emotions—or so he thinks. Because Emily has tapped something deep inside Gabe—and it’s a temptation that may cost them both their lives. But what a sweet, sinful indulgence it will be.
BUY NOW

Loveswept: Love stories you’ll never forget by authors you’ll always remember.


Which one of the four Debra Dixon titles intrigues you? The MOUNTAIN MYSTIC is my fav, you? Love to hear your choice –

Thanks again for blogging with us this week — winners are below & if you are one, please send your snail mail to: romanceatrandom@randomhouse.com so we can get you your book! International commenters please provide us your email addy so we may prepare your preview book in Net Galley. Authors that may have offered a giveaway during the week will post their winners on those posts in the comment section — so take a look to see if you’re included!

Congratulations to these ladies!

Nina

Nerissa

BrooklynShoeBabe

Cupcake

CarolM

Join us next week – for lots of fun & giveaways, meet new authors and learn about their books – Happy Romance!

COMING SOON - please join us 5/21 for our Diamond Jubilee Hop – check out the list of prizes, click on the image for details:

It is always fun to read a contemporary romance book where the setting is a place that you are familiar with. Cait London has written a series of romance stories that are set in the vineyards of Michigan . . . yes, they make wine in Michigan


The city of Chicago was a popular back drop for romance author Susan Elizabeth Phillips.


One of Lori Handeland‘s first paranormal romance books took place in Wisconsin!


Of course, New York is a popular location for books; Jodi Thomas did well with her Texas series; Nora Roberts goes for variety writing about various cities and towns across the county . . .

The setting and the location of the story is very important to the story but is it as important to the reader too?



Are there some areas, cities or settings that are not favorite locales for romance stories? Do readers always want to read about New York or California?


Curious as to your thoughts – does location of the story matter to you? Thanks for your comments & for joining us on Romance At Random today!

Visit R@R on Twitter| Facebook| Random House

Proud, iron-willed Tennessee widow Tamsin MacGreggor is wanted—dead or alive—for a crime she didn’t commit. But out West the law is shoot first, ask questions later. So she’s running for her life—with notoriously handsome bounty hunter Ash Morgan in hot pursuit.

Tamsin is Morgan’s match, shrewd and strong enough to escape capture. Twice. But catching her now is more than Morgan’s duty—it’s personal. For somehow she has slipped past his defenses and stolen his well-guarded heart. A passionate affair erupts in the wilds of a harsh, unforgiving land where a bounty hunter must finish his job—and an innocent woman will do whatever it takes to save herself from a hangman’s noose.


Loveswept: Love stories you’ll never forget by authors you’ll always remember.


Morgan’s Woman, on sale 5/14 – Buy here.

Love those Western romances, don’t you? Historical or Contemporary, if it is set in the West I’ll read it — what about you? Which do you prefer, Historical or Contemporary Western romances?

It didn’t hurt that his review of my debut novel, Ride with Me, completely cracked me up. It’s not every day that a girl gets the backhanded compliment along the lines of, “I really wanted to hate your book, and I read it with every intention of mocking it publicly, but then it was so good, I had to write a good review.”

Still makes me smile just thinking about it.

So when Sue asked The Romance Man and I to do a post together to talk about my June release, About Last Night, I jumped at the chance to discuss the male point of view with a male who always has a point of view on everything. Usually a loud one.


Without further ado…


RK: As a romance writer, I’m really interested to hear the male point of view on reading romance heroes. You loved the hero of Ride with Me, Tom, but you admit in your review of About Last Night that you wanted to punch its hero, Nev. Tell me why.

RM: It’s not really that I didn’t like Nev. Nev is a good character with great qualities and is perfect for the heroine. It’s more that I don’t like art. [RK: Nev is a banker, but he paints portraits on the weekends, and that’s clearly where his heart is.] And I have always had a problem with people who have a good job and a good life and wish for something lesser. And there is always this undertone that art is some kind of noble field, and I don’t see it that way, especially modern art. So it wasn’t really that I didn’t like Nev as much as I wished he wanted to be something else, like a boxer.

RK: Boxers are hot. I’m not supposed to think that, but I do.

Now I’m all distracted, sorry.

To get back to your point, it wasn’t my intention in the book to make art seem any more noble than any other field — except to the extent that it was what Nev enjoyed. I think there’s heroism in figuring out how to be happy. And I mean that not in a really hippy-dippy, Everyone be happy! sense, but more in the sense that we only have a limited number of years to be alive, and I can’t admire a character — or a person — who spends them being miserable by choice. To me, a lot of what romance is about is characters figuring out how to be authentic people — whatever that means for them.

But it sounds like you have a different sense of what heroism (or heroine-ism?) is all about. Do you?

RM: Yes, I have a much different definition of heroism. I believe heroism is sacrifice for other people. I would sacrifice my own happiness for someone I loved. I believe part of being a man (you’re gonna hate this) is doing things you don’t necessarily want to do for the good of those you care about. The fact that life is short only makes sacrifice more heroic.

And I agree about romance novels to a certain extent, but to me it is very sexy to sacrifice for someone else, which is something you never see in romance. They both get what they want. I would like to see a hero give up what he loves for the woman he loves. I know that is chivalrous and you will hate it, but it is how I feel.

RK: How is it even possible that you like my books?

No, no, I hear you. Sacrifice is admirable, and I think the willingness to sacrifice is really attractive in a partner. But at the same time, living with someone whose day-to-day life is unpleasant, but he’s bearing it, because he’s doing it for you? That would make me want to scratch my own eyeballs out.

RM: First of all, why would I not like your books?

RK: Kidding, I was kidding!

RM: You write strong men and strong women, and I like that. Just because romance novels don’t always end the way I want doesn’t mean I don’t like them. And I see the sacrifice differently. A man who is more interested in the happiness of his woman is heroic to me. If I have to dig ditches all day to make my wife happy, I will do that, because inevitably her happiness is what makes me happy. I think the difference between the way we think is that you focus on occupational happiness, and I focus on relationship happiness. You always wind up with both in a romance novel, and I just wish there was more sacrifice. And I love your books because books are more than just an ending.

All I’m trying to say is to me there is something very romantic about sacrificing for someone else. You never see it in romance, because everyone gets what they want, but I would like to see it.

RK: I think you do see it, but it has to be a sacrifice that both people can live with. That is, it has to be a sacrifice that solves the problem but also opens up a mutually acceptable solution.

I’ve heard romance conflict described before as a situation where both characters want something, but neither one can get what they want without giving something up. But to my mind, they have to give something up in a way that opens up a new opportunity.

I think, too, that romance is meant to be cathartic — that for the reader, it should be an emotional experience that leaves them feeling settled, because a problem has been raised and solved. And if, at the end, the hero has to sacrifice in a way that leaves him in the same unpleasant situation he was in at the beginning, then the problem persists, for me. There’s no sense of closure.

RM: I agree with everything you said except the end. The hero isn’t in an unpleasant situation because he got what he most wants, the heroine. To me, it is cathartic to witness someone who loves someone else more than he loves himself.

RK: You’re such a romantic!

Okay, let’s change the subject. You liked Lexie, the heroine of Ride with Me, so much that you named your wife after her. (That’s my understanding of the situation, anyway. It may lack nuance.) But you liked Cath, too, even though you called her “as flawed as beef jerky salad.” Who did you like more, and why?

RM: I am not really romantic as far as flowers and things that are considered romantic gestures. I believe romance is putting your partner first, which is something I fail at quite often.

As for your question — wow, that is so hard to answer, because they are so much different, and I think you did it on purpose. Lexie was always in control and perfect in so many ways Cath never is. Plus, the story is so different. I did name my wife after Lexie because I love Lexie — seriously, I absolutely love that character, because she is everything I like a woman to be. Smart, tough, adventurous. If you are asking me which one I would choose in a real-life situation, it would be Lexie because, well, I love her, and Cath may have a little too much baggage for me. That’s all I can say so I don’t give away any spoilers. And when I read, I like to put myself in the spot of the hero, and because of that I would choose Lexie. However, I loved Cath, because I love redemption stories and I love flawed characters, and she is very flawed and her redemption is very sweet. So I would say that if I wasn’t happily married I would like to be married to Lexie with Cath as my best friend.

Is that what you meant?

RK: Yep! That’s funny, because I feel the same way about Tom (the hero of Ride with Me) and Nev (the hero of About Last Night). Tom is great, and super-hot, and I think he’d make an awesome neighbor, but hoo boy, the baggage! I’d take Nev. He’s much more straightforward.

(This is the part where readers tell me I’m insane, and then they divide into Team Tom and Team Nev and start shooting at each other. Then there’s panic in the streets, and we require intervention by The Romance Man.)

RM: RM will intervene on the side of Tom.

RK: Naturally.

RM: That really surprises me that you chose Nev.

RK: Well, Tom turned out all right in the end, but for most of Ride with Me he was basically a human emotional weather system. I think in real life he’d wear me out. Nev is more easy-going, accepting, and laid-back. And both of them have big…hearts, so there’s no real competition there.

RM: They all have big hearts. I wish someone would write a hero with a little heart that was good at other things. It would make me feel better.

RK: I’ll get right on that. Pending my editor’s approval.

RM: Who do you consider yourself most similar to, Cath or Lexie?

RK: I’m sure I’ve got elements of both Cath and Lexie in me, or I wouldn’t have been able to write them. I think personality-wise, I’m pretty evenly split between the two. I have Lexie’s confidence and optimism, but I’m not nearly as outgoing as she is, and I’m not a control freak, either. Though I may have certain tendencies…

And while I don’t have Cath’s checkered past, I have made mistakes — some of them with my eyes open. So I can sympathize with the feeling that Cath has, from the very beginning of the novel, that she’s doing something stupid, and she knows it, and she wishes she were a strong enough person not to do it. But she’s not.

Hmm, I seem to have dodged the question. Okay, let’s say I’m 65% Lexie and 35% Cath.

RM: Any chance you can write a book with a heroine like Lexie who falls for a middle-aged man who is a nice guy with an average-sized heart who writes a romance blog?

RK: Can he have washboard abs?

RM: Uh, no.

RK: Then no. Sorry. But thanks for chatting with me today.


Readers, what do you think makes a hero? What kind of endings satisfy you, and which ones leave you cold?

About the author:
After graduating from Grinnell College with an English and history double major, she earned a Ph.D. in modern British history that she’s put to remarkably little use. These days, she writes contemporary romance in which witty, down-to-earth characters find each other irresistible in their pajamas, though she freely admits this has yet to happen to her. Perhaps she needs more exciting pajamas. Ruthie abhors an epilogue and insists a decent romance requires at least three good sex scenes.
You can find Ruthie on her website|Twitter|Facebook|Gooreads|Subscribe to her mailing list


What would make Ruthie really happy is if you’d like to pre-order ABOUT LAST NIGHT here | or, her debut novel, RIDE WITH ME here | both retail at just $2.99 each!

The Romance Man can be found on most social media, follow at your own risk — however, he’s pretty mild on Twitter (he is a guy after all).