Promo Article on Chris the Story Reading Ape's Blog

Meet Guest Author Marie Lavender

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Chris Graham

 

I am a romance author.  About four or five years ago, despite my having published a couple of stories in a university publication, I would have only called myself a writer.  But, fate (and a lot of hard work!) blessed me with being published so I must call myself an author now.  To date, I have published nineteen books under various pen names.  You may ask, “Why so many in such a short amount of time?” It certainly wasn’t planned.  In 2010, I decided to venture into self-publishing.  I had a collection of stories and poems I wanted to publish, and I figured I’d try it.  It was catching on as quite the craze then, but I mainly just wanted to see my name in print.  Well, after a long process of figuring out how it worked, I did it using both Lulu Publishing and the Amazon Kindle Direct Program.  After I published the first book, I waited a year before the next and so on.  In 2012, the self-publishing thing got ahold of me.  I realized I had so many other stories to tell the world. 

That same year, a manuscript was accepted by a traditional publisher.  I had gone through many rejections by agents and publishers alike so it was wonderful news to see that someone had seen its merit.  In 2013, Upon Your Return, my first historical romance, was published through Summer Solstice.  Since then, I have published three more books, Leather and Lace through Lulu, Magick & Moonlight through Solstice Shadows and Upon Your Honor, the sequel to Upon Your Return, through Summer Solstice.

Upon Your Return is about a young woman, Fara Bellamont, who finds herself in a lot of trouble one night.  She is attacked and a man rescues her.  She finds him to be very compelling, however, which gets her into other kinds of trouble. The book sprouted from a piece of dialogue between the characters that was playing in my head on the way to a doctor’s appointment.  Sometimes my ideas come to me that way. 

Leather and Lace came from the title.  I automatically started thinking of how fascinating it would be to write about the life of a stripper or exotic dancer. It is a romantic suspense.  

Angie is sort of in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she witnesses a crime.  She flees the scene only to be noticed by a detective.  The detective discovers who she is, but even after they settle things, he suspects there is a lot more she is not telling him.  Not to mention he’s very attracted to her.  As you can imagine, quite a lot of interesting things happen. 

Magick & Moonlight also originated from the title first, but then the scene of Ethan walking along the shore kicking rocks in Yachats, Oregon came into my head, resulting in a paranormal romance about a man who stumbles across a woman practicing witchcraft in the forest.  He is pretty sure she’s lost her mind, but she claims to be a witch.  Our heroine, Jessie, can’t believe she’s told him the truth so she casts a spell on the man.  But, you have to read it to find out what happens next.

 

After publishing Upon Your Return, the first book in the Heiresses in Love series, I was a bit reluctant to let go of the characters completely.  It felt right to see how they were down the road and maybe find out what their children were like. 

So Upon Your Honor just seemed like a natural progression to continue the series.

It is my newest release and just came out on April 21^st.  The book starts with a young woman stowing away on a ship to escape the danger at home.  When a strange man finds her, she feels she must protect herself so she lies to him, giving him a different story for her presence aboard the ship.  He swears he will protect her, but he knows nothing of the peril that is coming for the both of them.  The novel is not only full of history and passion, but also quite a bit of suspense.

I have far too many books to go into too much detail, but I have given an overview of a few.

Besides writing, I am a voracious reader.  I love reading historical romances, contemporary romances and paranormal romance/urban fantasy.  I also love shopping, both online and at stores.  Keep me away from a credit card or I’ll get into trouble.

Thank you for reading about me and my books.  It was fun dropping by!

My Website


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Book trailers

Promo and Excerpt for UPON YOUR HONOR on V.L. Locey's blog!

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Marie Lavender Joins Us Today

Please welcome the talented Marie Lavender to our corner of the interwebz! She`s here to share some information about her new historical romance, Upon Your Honor.

Deception is a dangerous path…

New York City, August, 1891 – Orphaned after the death of her father, Chloe Waverly stows away on La Voyageur to escape the clutches of her cruel fiancé, Lamonte Beckett. Gabriel Hill, a strange and compelling gentleman, comes upon Chloe and promises to protect her without knowing the true circumstances of why she is running away. During their journey, Gabriel doesn’t bargain on being distracted by her fair beauty or succumbing to her many charms. As their attraction to each other grows, so does the danger and Gabriel suspects things are not as they should be.

Both are determined to get to New Orleans, where she can start a new life. But, once they reach their destination, events spin out of their control and Chloe is captured by the fiancé she escaped. Gabriel is left wondering if he can overlook her betrayal. Soon he finds himself in a race against time, to reach her before Beckett can exact revenge.

 

Excerpt:

Chloe’s eyes grew very heavy in the dim lighting of the room. And images began to swarm in her mind.

She was dressed in a red gown, and her blonde hair was pulled into a half updo, where part of it spilled down her back in ringlets. She was at a ball of some kind. Gabriel had her in his arms. They were waltzing. Soon, the dance made her dizzy and as the room spun, people began to disappear. The room went black, except for where she could see the man who held her. A lock of his dark red hair fell over one eye as he leaned down. His face blotted out the light as his lips took hers in a kiss so tempting that her fingernails clenched on his overcoat. His mouth was gentle like a whisper over her lips, teasing her until she trembled beneath his onslaught. She parted her lips, and their tongues danced.

The band of his arm around her back tightened, and he drew her closer against him until her senses only absorbed him. The world seemed to fall away. Suddenly, they were on a bed made of feathers and she was naked before him. His mouth traced her skin with a reverence she found heartbreaking. The contrast of his dark red hair against her pale skin was somehow appealing. And as her back arched and she moaned with pleasure, her eyes closed. When she opened them again, he was leaning over her. No, something else was happening. She couldn’t tell what it was, but she liked it. And then, her body nearly screamed with ecstasy. She cried out, unable to keep quiet.

There was a strange knocking sound that interrupted the intimacy of the moment.

Chloe jerked awake, her breaths labored. She put a hand over her racing heart. She gasped, trying to get her breath under control. Her skin felt incredibly warm, and she could hardly believe how fanciful her mind had become.

The knocking came again. She blinked and looked at the door dully for a moment. Then she realized someone was there. Chloe smoothed her hair and dress, and went to answer the door on legs that were leaden.

The man who stood on the other side took her breath away. She blinked a bit, taken back for a second to the dream. She shook it off though, and tried to compose herself. “Yes?” she asked hoarsely.

Gabriel frowned. “I came to fetch you for dinner. We’ll dine with my father, if you would like, this evening.”

“Oh. Yes, that is fine.”

He lifted a brow. “I thought I heard something just now. Did you fall?”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You were yelling.”

A hand covered her mouth. Had she been vocal with her dream? How embarrassing. “Oh, I did not realize so much time had passed. Truly, I did not. I was resting.”

“Oui, but I heard—”

“It was nothing. A dream.”

He frowned. “A nightmare? Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. “I barely remember it.” That wasn’t likely to happen. She could hardly get those images out of her head as he stood before her. His presence made it impossible.

“Well, I only want...I hope you are well.”

“I am. I promise.” As he stood there with the lights from the passageway playing like highlights over his red hair, she wanted to step forward into his arms, to continue all of those wonderful things that had happened in that dream. It was not to be. Reality was a cruel reminder.

Author Bio:  

Bestselling author of UPON YOUR RETURN and 18 other books. Finalist and Runner-up in the MARSocial's Author of the Year Competition. Honorable mention in the January 2014 Reader's Choice Award. Liebster Blogger Award for 2013. Top 50 Authors on AuthorsDB.com. Winner of the Great One Liners Contest on the Directory of Published Authors.

Marie Lavender lives in the Midwest with her family and three cats. She has been writing for over twenty years. She has more works in progress than she can count on two hands.

At the tender age of nine, she began writing stories. Her imagination fueled a lot of her early child's play. Even growing up, she entered writing contests and received a certificate for achieving the second round in one. She majored in Creative Writing in college because that was all she ever wanted - to be a writer. While there, she published two works in a university publication, and was a copy editor on the staff of an online student journal. After graduating from college, she sought out her dream to publish a book.

Since then, Marie has published nineteen books. Marie Lavender's real love is writing romances, but she has also written mysteries, literary fiction and dabbled a little in paranormal stories. Most of her works have a romantic element involved in them. She just released Magick & Moonlight, a paranormal romance, in March. Upon Your Honor is her second historical romance. Feel free to visit her website at http://marielavender.webs.com/ for further information about her books and her life. Marie is also on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

A list of her books and pen names are as follows:

Marie Lavender: Upon Your Return; Magick & Moonlight; Upon Your Honor

Erica Sutherhome: Hard to Get; Memories; A Hint of Scandal; Without You; Strange Heat; Terror in the Night; Haunted; Pursuit; Perfect Game; A Touch of Dawn;Ransom; Leather and Lace

Kathryn Layne: A Misplaced Life

Heather Crouse: Express Café and Other Ramblings; Ramblings, Musings and Other Things; Soulful Ramblings and Other Worldly Things

Author Links:

http://www.marielavender.webs.com/
http://marielavenderbooks.blogspot.com/
http://marielavender.blogspot.com/
http://iloveromanceblog.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/marie.lavender.58
https://www.facebook.com/MarieAnnLavender
https://twitter.com/marielavender1
https://plus.google.com/u/0/104926404745289477307/posts
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/marie-lavender/27/187/10a
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6938764.Marie_Lavender

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http://authorsdb.com/authors-directory/1578-marie-lavenderhttp://www.amazon.com/Marie-Lavender/e/B00C10Q94I/

​http://youtu.be/dLOteuscV04​

New 5 Star Review for UPON YOUR HONOR!

I just found this on Amazon!  Yay!

How can they be so clueless????, May 3, 2014

By 

The Kindle Book Review

This review is from: Upon Your Honor (Kindle Edition)

The year is 1891. Gabriel has completed his studies ad is sailing on board his father’s ship, La Voyageur. Several days after leaving New York, he discovers a stowaway hiding in one of the store rooms. Chloe’s father has died. She is fleeing the prospect of an unhappy arranged marriage, and has boarded the ship, hoping to eventually reach her grandmother in New Orleans. Gabriel’s father agrees to provide passage at and Gabriel signs on to be her protector. The two fall in love.

Well, the reader, at least, knows that the two fall in love─ long before Chloe admits it to herself or Gabriel admits it to himself, very long before either admits it to the other. This seems to be the logic of a Victorian romance─ the reader sees what is happening even though the customs of the times, the crisis of the moment, and the insecurities of the people involved blind the characters to their feelings. It makes the story entertaining, and I found myself wanting to shake them both to wake them up!

I fell in love with Chloe, of course. She was beautiful, brave, assertive, willing to accept almost any challenge that life presented to her in order to be happy. I found Gabriel to be puzzling. He, too, was brave and strong-willed, and he so obviously cared for Chloe, but social convention seemed to prevent him from making his feelings known.

The story is entertaining. The ship sails from New York by way of Baltimore, Charleston, and Nassau. We witness Chloe’s and Gabriel’s adventures both on and off of the ship. We see their arrival in New Orleans and their confession of love for each other.
Upon Your Honor continues the story that began in an earlier book, Upon Your Return, but it is not at all necessary for one to have read the first book in order to enjoy this one. Upon Your Honor picks up the story that began when Fara Bellamont and Grant Hill fell in love, and it pushes ahead almost twenty years to tell the story of their son, Gabriel. This is the kind of sequel that I really like.

Upon Your Return was a very enjoyable book. I found Upon Your Honor to be even better. If you read Victorian romances, you will love this book.

David Burnett for The Kindle Book Review
I received a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

 

 

"Your Kisses" - new love poem

Your Kisses

I love your kisses. 

I could write sonnets about your mouth,

the bow of your lips,

the power of those lips on mine, on my body.

I could write on and on because you have so many different kisses.

 You have a hello kiss,

the one you greet me with.

You have a goodbye kiss;

it’s not a real goodbye kiss,

just a “hey, I’ll see you in a few days but I really don’t want to go” kiss.

You have a loving kiss;

I can feel your tenderness,

your affection for me in spades. 

I close my eyes as your lips press to my brow or my cheek.

You have a gentleman kiss (I’ve always thought you were one). 

With that kiss, I feel like the lady you’ve always said I was. 

You kiss my hand or make a gesture that cements what I know about you,

a man of honor to the core.

You have a patient kiss too,

the kind where we feel unhurried. 

I could drown in that kiss forever. 

It is undemanding, yet still passionate somehow.

 

 Then there is your sexy kiss,

the one that makes me breathless and hungry,

the one that amazes me as my body floods with feelings. 

I can never get tired of it and yet it is novel each time,

as if a new facet of our love is added to the passion there. 

Your sexy kiss drives me wild;

it makes me feel liberated too.

I can’t name all the kisses in one sitting;

there are too many,

so many to count. 

So, I’ll say you bless me with a different kind of kiss every day.

Oh, love,

I love you so very much.

And I love all of your kisses too.