Guest Blog: An Invite, A Sale, and An Excerpt—Oh My! by Renee Vincent

Hello romance fans! I'm glad you're here because I have some great news I'd like to share.

#1 — I finally started my very own Street Team, and I'm looking for a handful of avid readers who'd like to join up. 

• Do you love hunky Alpha males and unforgettable love stories?
• Do you enjoy promoting your favorite authors?
• Are you a romance fan who’s eager to post an honest review?

Then sign up today, and get access to excerpts not found on the web, free swag, Advanced Review Copies, and so much more—just for posting reviews, and helping me spread the word about my books! Click HERE to join!

#2 — I want to tell you about a "March Madness Sale" my fellow InkHeart Authors and I are having. Between now and March 27th, you can grab eleven contemporary romance books for only 99¢ each! Click HERE for all the direct buy links, or click the image above.

Here's a list of the books on sale:

• YOURS TO TAKE by Cathryn Fox
• TWISTED by Cari Quinn and Taryn Elliott
• MADE FOR McKINLEY by (yours truly) RENEE VINCENT
• GRIF AND THE PURRFECT STRANGER by Bianca D'Arc
• LAGUNA NIGHTS by Kaira Rouda
• THE OFFICE SLAVE by Opal Carew
• OUT OF BOUNDS by Erin Nicholas
• SHIFTERS: An Anthology by Suzanne Rock
• HIS TO PROTECT by Elena Aitken
• FREE AGENT by Mari Carr
• BEYOND LOVE AND HATE by Zoe York

#3 — The last thing I want to share is a teaser excerpt from my upcoming release, FALLING FOR FORESTER. It's book 2 of my Mavericks of Meeteetse Series, with the prequel and book 1 already available at your favorite vendor in both print and ebook formats. I hope you enjoy.

Excerpt:

Nothing says damsel in distress like smoke billowing from the hood of a full-sized pick-up truck on the side of the road. And nothing wills a man to pull over like a nice curvy butt in a tight pair of jeans.

Cole Forester shot a quick glance in his rear-view mirror before he made the decision to stop and help, taking in the length of the woman’s blonde hair falling down her back. Much to his surprise, her beautiful golden locks almost reached her succulent ass, stopping short of her low-rise denim belt loops. He tamped down a smile, pulled over, and threw the shifter in Park.

Looks like my shitty day is finally perking up.

★         ★       ★       ★       ★       ★ 

Other books in the series:

LONGING FOR LANGSTON: Prequel Novella (Brody & Liv) — Available now!

MADE FOR McKINLEY: Book 1 (Jonas & Ava) — Available now!

FALLING FOR FORESTER: Book 2 (Cole & Crys) — Coming in March!

WILD FOR WALLACE: Book 3 (Sawyer & Charlotte) — Coming 2016!

Connect With Renee Vincent:

RENEE VINCENT is a USA Today bestselling author who also pens humorous, sweet contemporary romance (with a smidgen of spunk) under the name GRACIE LEE ROSE. From the daunting, charismatic Vikings, to the charming, brazen Alpha male heroes of modern day (which now include cowboys) readers will be whisked away to a world filled with fast-paced adventure, unforgettable romance, and undying love. NEWSLETTER SIGN UP Join Renee Vincent's newsletter and reap the benefits of being a loyal follower! (One lucky winner is drawn each month)

Guest Blog by Renee Vincent: When You Say Emerald, I Say....

Ireland!

Of course, that comes to no surprise to anyone who knows me. I have a huge fascination with the place and all its natural beauty. Just one look at its rolling hills, lush green meadows, and wind-swept rocky cliffs, and I'm moved to tears. Literally!

If you don't believe me, ask my husband. When I watched PS I LOVE YOU, I cried more over the fact that the movie took me to Ireland than when the guy (Gerry, played by my favorite actor, Gerard Butler) died. I kid you not!

And then while watching the movie LEAP YEAR, I bawled like baby when the couple stood on the cliffs of Inis Mor because that's where my very own hero and heroine (from Ræliksen) stood, amid a gorgeous sunset (just like in that movie) professing their love to each other.

Yes, I'm a total sucker for the Emerald Isle. But I digress....

Despite the fact that I'm of German decent from both sides of my family, I can't help but be drawn to Ireland and its forty shades of green. This revelation came to me in the years I spent researching the Vikings and all their exploits onto foreign soil, particularly those who landed on Ireland's shores.

Even though the Northmen traveled and raided all around the globe, I became immensely interested in the interactions they had with the Irish, whether peacefully or otherwise, during the 10th Century. Because of this, I decided to write a love story between an Irish princess and a Viking warrior in a time when most of the kings were in an uproar about the "blond foreigners" taking control of their ports. That's how my first Viking romance, Ræliksen, came to be.

Fast forward ten years later, and I have a whole series of Viking romances set around the Emerald Isle. So, when someone mentions the word emerald to me, I think Emerald Isle Trilogy!

And did you know that it's on sale right now for only 99¢? Again, I kid you not! It was supposed to go on sale for the month of June (as that's my birthday month) but I think my publisher made a mistake. Shhh...don't tell her.

Because the month of May's gemstone is a vividly colored emerald, I give to you an equally colorful—if not tantalizing—scene from one of the books in the EMERALD ISLE TRILOGY. This excerpt is one of my favorites, as it takes place in the bathhouse of a Viking settlement on the Aran Islands. I hope you enjoy it!

Excerpt from RÆLIKSEN, Book 1 (of the Emerald Isle Trilogy Boxed Set):

The door of the bathhouse flung open and the two staggered in from under Dægan’s cloak, locked in each other’s arms. Once inside, Dægan kicked the door closed while still delving into her eager kiss and fumbling to find the cursed lock on the door.

Mara already started feeling the warmth of the wood and stone room soak through her, grateful for the oddity of the Norse’s bathing habits as they had put a stagnant, sweltering atmosphere to good use.

Unable to leave her kiss, Dægan whipped his sodden cloak across the room and removed his boots and kirtle, heavy, too, with rain, dropping them carelessly on the bench behind him. The slapping collapse of his wet garment seemed to slow his wild spontaneity to an attentive act of seduction. The glow of the amber flame, in the corner of the room softened the rigid bones of his face, but it did nothing to ease the callousness of his smile as he circled her.

Her braid, he moved to the side and breathed in carefully the smell of her body, the way the oils from yesterday’s bath harmoniously mixed with the nostalgia of the Erin rain. His breath came soft and hot behind her ear, while his hands snaked tenderly around her throat and down below her chin to undo the two brooches at her chest.

Without her realizing, he had released the jeweled clasp and chain, and let the drenched fine cloak fall heavily to the ground. Then he went to work, undoing the laces of her dress. He was talented with his hands, being able to trace the thin vertical line of her spine that connected her slender neck to her finely widened hips with one, while stripping her from her gown with the other, letting it, too, fall to the floor.

He slowly turned her around to face him, not shy in dropping his eyes to her glistening chest. There was another smile on his face, one of kinder birth than before, as he intimately seemed to memorize each curve of her blushing body.

Likewise, Mara let her eyes plummet to his waist, seeing his arousal as visible as a winter moon. But her innocent glance must have become an inseparable stare, for he stepped closer, asking, “Do I frighten you?”

Mara lugged her eyes from his midriff to his face. “Nay, Dægan…”

Her voice trailed as he slowly neared her face, eye to eye, mouth to mouth, until suddenly his lips pressed so gingerly against hers, endearing at first, then greedily as the kiss lengthened. He coiled his arm around her back as his other hand slid over the silken skin of her buttocks, pulling her close enough to nestle his hardened body against the soft of hers.

Dægan fell away from her lips. “May I?”

Mara lifted her brows in wonder. “May you what?”

Without taking his eyes from her, he dragged a bucket of water across the floor with his foot. “May I show you how sufficient a few buckets of water can be?”

Mara hesitated at the thought of him bathing her. It was quite a personal thing to bathe another, more so between lovers, and how difficult it would be to stand there and let it happen. “Dægan…”

He dropped to his knees, sliding his hands down the back of her legs, tarrying around her thighs. “Please?”

A nervous smile crept in slowly. “You make it very hard for me to forbid you of anything.”

***An Amazon Bestseller for Viking Romance***

EMERALD ISLE TRILOGY Boxed Set

By Renee Vincent

Read now at:

Amazon | B&N | KOBO | iBooks | Smashwords | ARe

One man risks his life to save her.

Another risks his heart to love her.

Who will be the victor?

Three of Renee Vincent’s bestselling and critically acclaimed historical Viking romance novels are now available in one spellbinding bundle!

Full of fast-paced adventure, unforeseen plot twists, and courageous, to-die-for heroes like you’ve never read before, this extraordinary boxed set is sure to satisfy every readers’ craving for the ultimate in historical Viking romance.

* * * *

RENEE VINCENT is a bestselling Contemporary & Historical Romance author who also pens humorous, sweet contemporary romance (with a smidgen of spunk) under the name GRACIE LEE ROSE.

From the daunting, charismatic Vikings, to the charming, brazen Alpha male heroes of modern day, readers will be whisked away to a world filled with fast-paced adventure, unforgettable romance, and undying love.

Her books have earned numerous accolades, including #1 Amazon Bestseller for Viking Romance, countless 5 Star TOP PICKS by Night Owl Reviews, a "5 Hheart Sweetheart" Award by The Romance Studio, a "Best Book of the Year 2011" nomination from Long And Short Reviews, and a Readers Choice Award for "Best of TMP 2012."

Connect with Renee Vincent:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Pinterest

Leap Year

In February I don't have to write a blog for Romance Books Or Us because my turn is always the 29th of every month.  This year is leap year so February has 29 days in it, and it's my turn to blog.

A leap year (or intercalary or bissextile year) is a year containing one additional day (or, in the case of lunisolar calendars, a month) in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year. Because seasons and astronomical events do not repeat in a whole number of days, a calendar that had the same number of days in each year would, over time, drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. A year that is not a leap year is called a common year.

 February 29 is a date that usually occurs every four years, and is called leap day. This day is added to the calendar in leap years as a corrective measure, because the earth does not orbit around the sun in precisely 365 days.

Here are some traditions for leap day.  In the British Isles, it is a tradition that women may propose marriage only on leap years. While it has been claimed that the tradition was initiated by Saint Patrick or Brigid of Kildare in 5th century Ireland, this is dubious, as the tradition has not been attested before the 19th century. Supposedly, a 1288 law by Queen Margaret of Scotland (then age five and living in Norway), required that fines be levied if a marriage proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to £1 to a silk gown, in order to soften the blow In some places the tradition was tightened to restricting female proposals to the modern leap year day, February 29, or to the medieval (bissextile) leap year day, February 24.

According to Felten: "A play from the turn of the 17th century, 'The Maydes Metamorphosis,' has it that 'this is leape year/women wear breeches.' A few hundred years later, breeches wouldn't do at all: Women looking to take advantage of their opportunity to pitch woo were expected to wear a scarlet petticoat—fair warning, if you will."

In Denmark, the tradition is that women may propose on the bissextile leap year day, February 24, and that refusal must be compensated with 12 pairs of gloves.

In Finland, the tradition is that if a man refuses a woman's proposal on leap year day, he should buy her the fabrics for a skirt

In Greece, marriage in a leap year is considered unlucky. One in five engaged couples in Greece will plan to avoid getting married in a leap year.

A person born on February 29 may be called a "leapling" or a "leaper". In common years they usually celebrate their birthdays on February 28 or March 1. In some situations, March 1 is used as the birthday in a non-leap year since it is the day following February 28.

Technically, a leapling will have fewer birthday anniversaries than their age in years. This phenomenon is exploited when a person claims to be only a quarter of their actual age, by counting their leap-year birthday anniversaries only. In Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, Frederic the pirate apprentice discovers that he is bound to serve the pirates until his 21st birthday rather than until his 21st year.

For legal purposes, legal birthdays depend on how local laws count time intervals.

For additional information you can go to Wikipedia. 

Contest News: Romance Books Or Us will be having contests for the next few months.  The first will be a St. Patrick's Day contest.  Be sure to visit Romance Books Or Us website at http://www.romancebooksrus.com.

Also, this is last for the sale of all of Eirelander Publishing's catalog is 30% off at the Coffee Time Romance Store!  My books can be found there. 
http://www.facebook.com/l/jAQG5ejlSAQEYYOCpkn86ElhnRnU4Nv7CnQ-CUd9T2HZMrA/www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookStore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=116

Have a Happy Leap Year!

Sandra K. Marshall, author of The Odyssey Mysteries Trilogy
http://www.skaymarshall.com