Extra-Special Summer Sale Savings

Say THAT 5 times fast!

For 2 days, Aug 23 and 24, you can pick up 5 recent releases you may have missed -- at bargain prices.

Fresh Leaves Newsletter subscribers knew to wait till today to pick up Louisiana Dawn for just 99¢ and save almost $3. Be sure to subscribe so you're "in the know" too.

Remember, all books in the Louisiana History Collection - Part 1 go back to their regular price of $3.98 on Saturday, Aug 25. Look for 3 new digital editions in the Louisiana History Collection - Part 2 debuting next month.

LOUISIANA DAWN
by Jennifer Blake

99¢
(Reg. $3.98) 

Historical Romance Novel

Life would be perfect - once rid of her tiresome virginity...

FIERCE EDEN
by Jennifer Blake

$1.99
(Reg. $3.98)

Historical Romance Novel

What has he done with his devil's bargain?

MIDNIGHT WALTZ
By Jennifer Blake  

$2.99
(Reg. $3.98)  

Historical Romance Novel 

He came to her in the dark of the moon...

NIKO'S STOLEN BRIDE
by Lindy Corbin 

99¢
(Reg. $2.99)
 
Contemporary Romance - Category Length 

Is the Greek captain who saved her from pirates the greater threat?

DEADLY IMAGE
By Tamelia Tumlin

99¢
(Reg. $2.99)

Inspirational Romantic Suspense - Long Novella

Did Lexi abduct her own child? Can evidence lie?







 

6 New Releases - 3 Free on July 12 Only! Plus, How to Win a Kindle Fire!

While others may be slowing down for those lazy days of summer, we're just gearing up. It's no secret Jennifer Blake will be re-releasing 36 of her bestselling novels in digital format through Steel Magnolia Press over the next few months. This week saw the first 4 of them published to Amazon. For the next 2 weeks, we'll be offering them at a very special discount -- one of them for FREE today only! After July 24, all titles will be $3.98 or more.

Two other Magnolias also released their new romances. Act fast to pick them up today for FREE.

And remember, if you don't have a Kindle, you can still read Kindle books on just about any device, even your phone or computer, with a free app from Amazon.

 The Louisiana Plantation Collection

Jennifer Blake's Louisiana Plantation Collection features 4 unrelated, stand-alone, long and lush historical romance novels all set in antebellum Louisiana's aristocratic plantation society.

ARROW TO THE HEART
By Jennifer Blake

FREE July 12 - or

$2.99 Before July 24

Temptation too powerful to resist...

In steamy nineteenth century Louisiana, a Southern version of the medieval court of love flourishes. It's Katrine's creation, her refuge from an arranged marriage that has left her untouched in heart and body. But her husband is using it to gain the child he can never sire.

Rowan de Blanc seeks out Katrine to unmask a heartless siren, but discovers instead a gallant and beleaguered lady. Caught up in the tournament arranged by her husband, he becomes the champion -- and wins Katrine as his prize.

Katrine and Rowan refuse to couple at her husband's command, and yet love and desire are strong beyond imagining, and time is running out...

SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL
By Jennifer Blake

$1.99 Before July 24

After a steamboat disaster, Angelica wakes in the bed of a man she doesn't know, tied to him in a wedding she can't remember. Yet his kiss is sweetly familiar...

Renold took Angelica in a moment of madness, and kept her for the sake of her dowry - the plantation stolen from his family. Yet living with her is daily, and nightly, torment.

What began as an act of vengeance becomes searing desire and heedless love. But what redemption, what possible sacrifice, can lead to forgiveness and the possibility of forever?

MIDNIGHT WALTZ
By Jennifer Blake

$2.99 Before July 24

He came to her in the dark of the moon...

Arranged marriages are common among Louisiana's aristocratic Creoles, but Amalie's new husband shows little interest in his bride. That is, until his handsome cousin Robert arrives at Bonheur Plantation. How can the man she married remain so cool and aloof during the day, while approaching her with such tender passion at midnight?

Robert declines the outrageous favor asked of him -- yet some sins are impossible to resist...

As mystery, deception and murderous danger stalk the sultry land, Amalie and Robert must choose between love and duty, between desire's sweet rhapsody and the painful truth.

TENDER BETRAYAL

By Jennifer Blake

$2.99 Before July 24

She married him for revenge alone...

It was Melanie's mistake and Roland's drunken ardor that brought them together in illicit passion. If she hated him before for causing her beloved grandfather's death, Melanie had even more reason after Roland seduces her and drives away the man she was to wed. She accepts his duty proposal, then, swearing to use it to destroy him.

The passionate intimacy of the bedchamber is no place for vengeance, however, and pride and anger melt in desire's white-hot heat. A final act of treachery will surely end it. Yet betraying Roland may well break her hungry heart... 

More New Releases

NIKO'S STOLEN BRIDE
by Lindy Corbin

Contemporary Romance
Category-Length Novel

FREE on July 12

Reg. $2.99

Faced with the fiasco of her cancelled wedding, Kara wants to hide from the world while her heart heals. A day trip aboard the yacht leased for the honeymoon cruise sounds like the perfect escape. If only the captain hadn’t turned out to be the man she’d practically begged to kiss her after her failed bachelorette party. A rebound relationship with the handsome Greek should be the furthest thing from her mind, shouldn’t it?

Niko Maragos has spent more time in meetings than on the decks of his family’s ships in recent years, but after he dances with Kara, he’s eager to captain the yacht to Key West. To ensure that she can’t return to her ex-fiancé, he steals her away. His plan to get Kara in his bed seems fail-proof, until pirates attack…

DEADLY IMAGE
By Tamelia Tumlin

Inspirational Romance - Suspense
Long Novella

FREE on July 12

Reg. $2.99

Gone without a trace ...

Lexi Yates knows she hasn’t harmed her three-year old daughter, yet the Louisiana town of Gator Bayou seems to think she’s guilty. With her daughter missing, the evidence stacking up against her and her faith in God tested to the limit, Lexi must find a way to convince FBI agent Ace Valdez she’s innocent before she becomes the next target.

Ace Valdez doesn’t trust easily, and he certainly knows better than to fall for a case, yet there’s something about the widowed mother that makes him want to believe she’s innocent, but evidence doesn’t lie. Or does it?

Win a Kindle Fire

Steel Magnolia Press is delighted to be sponsoring the Kindle Fire Giveaway this month at the FREE KINDLE BOOKS AND TIPS and KINDLE BOOKS FOR A BUCK blogs. There are several ways to be entered to win, along with ways to earn more chances for winning. Stop by, enter, and subscribe to the blog either through your blog reader or email (free) or via your Kindle ($0.99 for a subscription or get a free app for your Android or Fire) to receive daily announcements about free and/or 99 cent Kindle books. We'll resume our regular SMP giveaways in August.

http://www.fkbooksandtips.com/2012/07/09/kindle-fire-giveaway-enter-now/

Contest Ends July 22!

The Peacocks Are Meowing Again

Florida is known for many things: warm winter weather, miles of beaches, Disneyworld and the cosmopolitan city of Miami. There’s also a dark side: wildfires, hurricanes and swamps teeming with alligators and boa constrictors. Not to steal the spotlight from fellow Steel Magnolia Press writer, Phoenix Sullivan and her Vet Tech Tales: The Early Years, but living in Florida, I’ve encountered all manner of wild beasts.

Parrots, escaped from their owners, flocked to the mango tree in my back yard every morning at dawn, feasting and fighting over the fruit with their raucous cries. One year, my children weren’t allowed to play outside until a female cougar and her cubs had moved to a new hunting ground. An importer of tropical plants brought in Madagascar Day Geckos along with the pots of flowers. My family named the pair of lizards who lived in the downspout of the gutters on the house Spot and Dot. As they called to each other in the night with an echoing moan, I wondered who had ironically named them day geckos.

Recently, I moved to Orlando where the wildest creature I expected to encounter was a squirrel. As I lay in bed listening to the whistle of the train that passes through the city center and the whine of jets from the executive airport nearby, I heard what I thought was the yowl of a stray cat, reverberating across the lake, or perhaps a parrot, mimicking a cat. Night after night, the sound kept me awake while I wavered between feeding the poor cat, requesting Animal Control to pick it up or, if it was a parrot, demanding that the owner take its cage indoors for the night.

On a foggy morning, when a young peacock streaked across the road in front of me, I had a Eureka! moment. Searching the internet for videos, I found one with two peacocks facing off at a zoo. In the background, as if they were noisy spectators wagering on the fight, birds shrieked the plaintive cry that had caused my insomnia.

Sometimes, the peacocks take an evening stroll down the street, pecking the ground like hens in a barnyard. While it amuses me to see drivers stop their cars to take photos, not everyone shares my enthusiasm for the birds. Once, as my daughter and I said good-bye on the front steps of my house, she rolled her eyes and grumbled, “Mom, the peacocks are meowing again.”

As a writer, I believe that truth is stranger than fiction. If my upcoming novel, Niko’s Stolen Bride, wasn’t set on a yacht in the Gulf of Mexico, I’d find a place for the neighborhood peacocks in the story. It’s possible the birds will be the catalyst for my next work, set in Central Florida. A select few people will know they’re not a figment of my imagination. I’m glad you’re in on the secret.

______________________________

Lindy Corbin published her first novel in 1988 with Pageant Books. Babies and bills intervened, but she is finally weaving words together again. She lives in the lush oasis of South Florida, a sizzling backdrop for her contemporary stories.

______________________________

Spring Fling Freebies!

That's right! We're giving away 7 of our Kindle titles today only!

Why? Because we'll be at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention later this week giving away ebooks and we want to be sure everyone gets to go home with swag -- even if you're not at the con.

Click the titles and download your copies direct from Amazon with our compliments and hopes that you're enjoying spring as much as we are!

And remember, if you don't have a Kindle, you can still read Kindle books on just about any device, even your computer, with a free app from Amazon.

THE RENT-A-GROOM
By Jennifer Blake

Contemporary Romance
Novella

An extravagant honeymoon suite, a rented groom and an ex-fiance one room over. Gina booked the suite, but the groom and the ex? Not her doing. So why is she spending the night with a man she doesn't know?

A DRAGON'S SEDUCTION- NEW!
by Tamelia Tumlin

Contemporary Fantasy Romance
Novella

A rogue dragon terrorizes New Orleans and firefighter cum dragonshifter Brayden is hot on its tail. But other Magik's at play too, and his sworn enemy, a sorceress battling her past, will need to help quench the fires burning his city – along with the one she's started in his heart.

CATERING TO THE ITALIAN PLAYBOY
By Tamelia Tumlin

Contemporary Romance
Category-Length Novel

Showing up at the Italian tycoon's hotel 6 years after that one unbelievable night with him is humiliating enough. But wearing only a G-string and a smile? Still, Sophie's secret might just turn her sexy playboy's life upside down.

GYPSY BOND
by Lindy Corbin

Regency Romance
Novella

The palm reader spoke of two paths. Would one lead Juliet to her gypsy husband?

SECTOR C
by Phoenix Sullivan

#2 Medical Thriller on Amazon in January!

10,000 years ago a pandemic wiped out much of the world. It's back. "Contagion" meets the science of "Jurassic Park" in this near-future medical thriller for fans of Michael Crichton and Robin Cook.



 

VET TECH TALES: THE EARLY YEARS

by Phoenix Sullivan

#1 in Veterinary Medicine and a Top 10 in Pet Essays on Amazon

A charming and insightful coming-of-age story for anyone who's ever had a pet or a dream.

EXTINCT DOESN'T MEAN FOREVER

edited by Phoenix Sullivan

Echoes of yesterday touch the lives of ordinary people in extraordinary ways in 18 provocative stories by 18 of the best up-and-coming authors of mainstream and speculative fiction around the world.

Enjoy!

Heroes: The Heart of Romance Novels

Romance novels can vary from story to story and from genre to genre, but there are three things every romance MUST have:

1) A strong heroine
2) A sexy but redeemable hero
3) A happily ever after.

Although as a reader we live vicariously through our heroine, the hero is the one who holds our attention and our heart. So that means he must be gorgeous, rich and absolutely perfect, right? Not at all. Heroes come from all walks of life, various economic backgrounds and should be flawed enough to seem real (to the the reader that is).

So what traits should a romantic hero possess? 

Honor. The hero in a romance novel should be honorable and trustworthy (after all he's going to win the heroine's heart, so he must be worthy of such a treasure). Some of his actions in the story may be questionable, but he should a very good reason for them.

Exciting. You want the hero to stand out from the crowd. His very essence must be something the heroine can't live without.

Redeemable. Even though at first he may seem a bit rough around the edges and he may have several flaws, he must be redeemable. He should also have an Achilles heel that only the heroine can save him from.

Only has eyes for the heroine. Though he may fight the attraction thoughout the novel, his only romantic interest must be the heroine. No other woman will do. She is his soulmate and no matter how much he tries to resist, in the end the heroine is the only woman who can make him complete. Even if it takes him a while to realize it.

So what does this honorable, exciting, redeemable hero look like?

Romance novels have lovely cover art portraying the characters, but as an author we draw inspiration from several images we deem "hero material" to help us create the perfect hero for our story. However, in the end it's the reader's imagination that actually creates the hero. Each of us has our own version of the hero firmly planted in our imagination. That is what makes every story so exciting!

So who is your "hero material"?

Ah ... (swoon) ... I can think of a few. George Clooney, Anotonio Banderos, Pierce Brosnan, and an oldie but goodie ... Clark Gable.

______________________________

Tamelia Tumlin has worked with several online publishers, but is now writing exclusively for Steel Magnolia Press. Juggling motherhood, teaching and writing is a challenge, but one she welcomes to pursue her passion. Her romance novels range from sweet and sassy to dark and dangerous.

______________________________

Free Books - Today Only!

What better way to close out a banner month than offering our readers FREE books!

Today only (January 31), you can get 4 Steel Magnolia Press ebooks absolutely free from Amazon. We hope you enjoy them.

GYPSY BOND
by Lindy Corbin

Regency Romance
Novella

The palm reader spoke of two paths. Would one lead Juliet to her gypsy husband?

SECTOR C
by Phoenix Sullivan

#2 Medical Thriller on Amazon for 2 weeks this past month!

10,000 years ago a pandemic wiped out much of the world. It's back. "Contagion" meets the science of "Jurassic Park" in this near-future medical thriller for fans of Michael Crichton and Robin Cook.

VET TECH TALES: THE EARLY YEARS

by Phoenix Sullivan

#1 in Veterinary Medicine and a Top 10 in Pet Essays on Amazon

A charming and insightful coming-of-age story for anyone who's ever had a pet or a dream.

EXTINCT DOESN'T MEAN FOREVER
edited by Phoenix Sullivan

Echoes of yesterday touch the lives of ordinary people in extraordinary ways in 18 provocative stories by 18 of the best up-and-coming authors of mainstream and speculative fiction around the world.

Remember, if you don't have a Kindle, you can still read Kindle books on just about any device, even your computer, with a a free app from Amazon.