Wednesday 30 May 2012

Scorching! Up in Flames by Rosanna Leo is out!

Hi friends;

I am too excited to not share the news that my newest romance is out.  Up In Flames, my sizzling firefighter romance, is now available from Liquid Silver Books and other fine outlets.  It's currently a featured item at All Romance Ebooks!

Want a taste?


Jules Baker swore she’d never fall for another firefighter.  When she saw Shane Gaskill, that promise went up in flames.



Blurb:     Juliet Baker is not looking forward to coming home after six months. Yes, the fiery brunette wants to make a go of turning her parents' farmhouse into a B&B. She’s just not looking forward to seeing the place where they died. To make things worse, she knows she'll finally have to face her cheating, firefighter ex-boyfriend.
     Luckily, her sister has found Jules a boarder. Easy money, right? Not when she realizes the boarder is Captain Shane Gaskill.  Not only is Shane a firefighter, he’s the town's hot new fire captain.
     Jules is determined to hate all firefighters. After all, the men of that precious brotherhood protected her cheating ex. Shane, however, proves he’s different from the start. He's protective and kind, and she can't stop looking at his smoking, Viking-hot body. She learns, though, that Shane isn't so willing to love again either. He's been hurt, too. They both fight the sexual chemistry, and resulting tenderness, between them. But when a stalker begins to target Jules, they realize they can't fight their desire forever.
     As the threats escalate, Shane and Jules are thrown together.  The resulting passion overwhelms them.  But are they willing to trust each other and surrender to the flames of love?





Sunday 27 May 2012

I see Donna Del Oro and The Delphi Bloodline!

Hello everyone!
I am so pleased to host Donna Del Oro on Rosanna's Room today!  Donna has written an intriguing new book called The Delphi Bloodline, a paranormal involving psychics, ancient bloodlines and kidnapping!  Please help me welcome Donna to the blog as she tells us about her exciting work!



The Delphi Bloodline by Donna Del Oro
Musa Publishing
Horror/Paranormal
Available Now!
More information at http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=273

Website: http://www.donnadeloro.com/

Present day descendants of the ancient, psychically powerful Delphi bloodline face the threat of extinction when an evil tycoon hunts them for his own nefarious intent, a global spy network.
When artist Athena Butler, the modern-day descendant of a powerful, ancient bloodline of psychic women, realizes she’s the target of mysterious and dangerous kidnappers, she gets help from strange sources—the spirit of an ancient ancestor and a handsome man who claims to be one of her bloodline’s Guardians. Her mental powers and his brawny skills keep them one step ahead of the mastermind behind these kidnappers. Until the time when an FBI task force decides to use Athena as bait.


Teaser Excerpt:

Pyramid Valley, Nevada
Thursday AM

Athena Butler’s eyes blinked open and she sat up.
Coming back from The Flow was always jolting. Emerging from the stream of spirits was like a water skier lurching out of the water, pulled by a strong, invisible force. The mind caught up later to the body as if it required a rough snap to break free.
Likewise, to go there was like jumping out of a plane and feeling the air rush to your face, your limbs weightless and wobbly. Most of the time, it was a joy to enter this world of unseen spirits. Athena welcomed her visits, especially at night when she found herself invariably alone.
When she was a child, she’d often emerge from The Flow with a fearful whimper and a cry. She’d wept and wanted to stay in The Flow. Now, at twenty-six, Athena had grown accustomed to her mental flights. They were no longer fear-inducing for she understood their purpose. But her exits were still mind-wrenching and she often lay in bed afterwards, disoriented.
This morning, fear clutched her heart and she could barely breathe. With a trembling hand, she reached for her phone.
Breathless, she raked her other hand through her hair and kicked her legs over the side of the bed.  Six AM, Nevada time. She punched her mother’s mobile numbers. It was nine o’clock in D.C.
“Thank God, Mama! Where are you?”
“I’m in Baltimore, near the—.”
“Mama, I had a dream about you. A Flow Dream. The spirits—they want me to warn you! Whatever you’re doing right now, get off the streets.  Go home and lock the door. Call the police!”
Her heart felt like a ticking bomb in her chest.  Athena could barely speak. But her mother knew her and understood her Flow dreams. They were seldom wrong though sometimes a little off in timing. Today, a threat was imminent. She knew it.



Behind THE DELPHI BLOODLINE: My Personal Research into ESP Phenomena

                                    By Donna Del Oro


            It started with my cousin. She was a full-time, practicing psychic. People came from all over California for her “readings”, at which she claimed an approximately 85% accuracy. One day, while in my 40’s, I decided to get a reading from her.  Extremely skeptical—although I’d known her all my life and knew she wasn’t a con artist—I arrived, fully expecting a lot of lucky guesses on her part.  An hour later, I left dazed and confused. How did she know that my husband and I were deliberating over which of two investment opportunities to take. We hadn’t mentioned this to anyone, not even anyone in my family or my husband’s.   The one my cousin advised against—and which we didn’t take, fortunately—ended up in bankruptcy a year later. There were other revelations that day that proved true in the months to come.

            And so, I became intrigued by this strange phenomena known as ESP, or sometimes psi. Whatever you called it, it was known as “extrasensory perception”. My cousin claimed to be a “clairvoyant”, or able to “see” what most humans cannot see. Her insights into people, their health, and other personal facts were amazing to me. People in my family both welcomed and dreaded her phone calls. It was often: “You’ve got diabetes,” “You have a cancerous tumor in your bladder. See a doctor immediately”, “Your appendix is infected. Get yourself to a hospital now!” One close friend of the family received one of her calls. She told her that her brother was dying of cancer and that this friend should call him as soon as possible. The friend insisted that her thirty-five year-old brother was perfectly healthy and they’d just spoken days before. However, my cousin persisted and prevailed, even over objections of the friend’s brother. Two weeks later, the friend’s brother called back. He’d seen a doctor, had gotten a series of tests, and his prognosis was grim. He died a year later after a valiant battle against cancer.

            When I probed my cousin, she explained the genesis of her visions and revelations. As a child of eight, she began having dreams. Some occurred at night while she slept, while others happened as daytime visions.  A recurring vision puzzled her but one day it suddenly made sense. Her parents—my aunt and uncle—had announced that they were moving to Hollister, California and had just bought a house with property attached. My cousin “knew” what it looked like and proceeded to describe it to her parents, who hadn’t shown pictures of it to anyone. What she described, from the house to the trees, driveway and outbuildings, matched the place her parents had just put a down payment on.

            After that, the family believed my cousin to have a gift from God. That experience prompted me to open my mind and begin a thirty-year exploration into ESP. What I’ve learned has convinced me that clairvoyance does exist, and that perhaps to some extent, precognition. Many people have incredible, intuitive abilities and many share this gift with others, at no intent of monetary gain but simply a desire to help others. A poll cited in the Journal of Parapsychology showed that at least sixty percent of Americans believe that they have had at least one psychic experience in their lives.

            The difference between a true psychic and a charlatan, or someone who uses trickery and seeks profit or notoriety?  Only one does it for monetary gain. True psychics, as do the psychic women in THE DELPHI BLOODLINE, share their gifts quietly and gratuitously.

            Like my cousin.

Wednesday 23 May 2012

4 Stars from Night Owl Reviews!

A profound "thank-you" to Pauline Michael at Night Owl Reviews for a lovely review of For the Love of a God!  I am incredibly thankful for those beautiful 4 stars! 

Pauline had this to say: "Rosanna Leo breathes life into a fantastic myth and makes it so believable you cannot help but be swept away....I love the rollercoaster of emotions this story had me on, from laughter to tears of joy and sorrow. I am a complete sucker for a great mythology based plotline and this one was fun. This is a great by the pool read.
Warning: You might get caught up in all the fantasy!"

Thank-you, Pauline!  Thank-you, Night Owl! 
Aw, heck (*sniff sniff*).  Thanks, everyone!



Sunday 20 May 2012

Juliet Chastain and a whole lot of Gypsy love!

Hello everyone!

I am so pleased to have author Juliet Chastain visiting my blog today, with not one, but two tales of forbidden Gypsy love!  Can you get more romantic than that?  I know I can't wait to hear more.  Juliet, welcome!


Greetings, fellow romance readers and writers.  I am in the middle of writing a series of short stories called Gypsy Lovers. One has been released and more to come each month. These are sexy 99-cent novellas, set in the Regency period about Gypsies and the English men and women love them.



 I wanted to do some stories in which totally inappropriate, culturally, and socially mismatched men and women find love together. I've always been fascinated by the Romani people, Gypsies, who for a thousand years traveled around Europe and were very separate from, and often despised by and even persecuted by, the people among whom they lived.



In the first book, A Proper Lady's Gypsy Lover, we have Lady Lucy-Ann who is a hellion. She does not want to be a proper lady although her relatives require it. What she wants is to roam free and swim and fish and ride astride. And most of all she wants to be with her childhood sweetheart the handsome Gypsy, Liberty Wood. Liberty is the caring kind of man who will do anything for the people he loves, but he's also a gambler, a horse trader, and an adventurer. Of course, he adores Lucy-Ann but is a totally unsuitable suitor.



In the second book, For Love of a Gypsy Lass, we have a bored-out-of-his-skull English nobleman, Lord Harry Beresford who has simply had it with his luxurious and dull existence and the noble and dull ladies he is supposed to court. He falls hard for an itinerant Gypsy singer called Talaitha Grey. He assumes she can be easily seduced by his wealth and prestige, but to his surprise she's not the least bit interested in any of that—although she is, against her will, attracted to the man behind it all.



Somehow these characters must find their way to happily ever after—and they do so in unexpected ways.

  

A Proper Lady's Gypsy Lover is available at Breathless Press! | Amazon | All Romance eBooks and at many e-book stores

For Love of a Gypsy Lass will be released soon and available as above

To learn more about upcoming stories or about me: julietchastain.com While you're there, check out my other short romances: The Captain and the Courtesan and The Cry of the Wolf. You can also find me on www.facebook.com/JulietChastain or Twitter@julietchastain

Friday 18 May 2012

Cover reveal- Sweet Hell, available July 16!

It's out! It's out! My new cover is out!  Sweet Hell, coming to you July 16 from Liquid Silver Books! And here he is, Dionysus himself...

A little "thank-you" from Rosanna!

Happy Friday all!
I just want to take a moment to say "thank-you."  For the Love of a God is my first foray into the publishing world, and as any author knows, it can get a little overwhelming sometimes.  One births this "thing", this novel, and then one must send it out into the world, hoping very much that someone falls in love with it as I have.

I was impressed and astounded by the level of support I felt IMMEDIATELY upon joining the ranks of romance authors.  There's a lot of love in this community, and not for one moment have I suspected it wasn't genuine.  And our fans truly can't get enough of the genre!  That's a wonderful thing!

I have to say that getting my first good reviews have truly left me gobsmacked.  When I saw those 4 stars, and in one heartwarming instance 5 stars, I felt such an incredible rush of emotion.  I know I sent little "thank-you" messages to my kind reviewers, but I really feel the need to say it again.  THANK-YOU!  This is why we do this work.  We want you to fall in love with our heroes and to identify with our heroines.  To know that someone did is bliss. :)

THANK-YOU to my publisher Liquid Silver Books for taking on a newbie, but never making me feel like one.  Because you took a chance on me, I've been in a state of constant giggles and smiles for months now.  My cheeks hurt, and I have new laugh lines, and it's awesome.

And THANK-YOU as well to the people in my life who have supported me and cheered For the Love of a God.  To the co-workers who always ask how my sales are going.  To the friends who, when they see me, say "I just finished chapter so-and-so", and then wink at me!  Thank-you to everyone who has bought a copy or tagged it to read or just plain "liked" me.  Your support keeps me going.

I look forward to sharing my new novel Up in Flames with you on May 28.  Have a wonderful week-end. 

Lots of love,
Rosanna

Sunday 13 May 2012

Danita Minnis and Falcon's Angel!

Today, friend, I am excited to introduce you to my fellow Liquid Silver Books author Danita Minnis!  Her wonderful paranormal romance debut Falcon's Angel is being released May 28, and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!  Check out her beautiful cover, read on for a blurb and excerpt and get to know my pal Danita!

Danita, the floor is yours!


Hello and Welcome!



Like reincarnation, mystery, chills and hunks? My debut paranormal romance novel Falcon’s Angel is for you!

Watch for it here: www.liquidsilverbooks.com on May 28th.












Bio

After a jaunt on New York City’s nightclub singing circuit and all too realistic forays into the health field as a risk manager in South Florida hospitals, I turned back to my passion of writing with determination!

I’ve always been an insatiable reader of romance, which for me signifies hope and the affirmation of life through love. A powerful human need, love is the purest form of communication. I love creating the worlds my characters live in!



Favorite saying: Chivalry is NOT dead, ladies!



Falcon’s Angel – blurb



If Angelina had her way, she would not be the daughter of a dynasty. She would go to Italy and spend all her time playing her Stradivarius on the steps of the Pantheon.  

If Falcon had his way, she wouldn’t be a thief, they wouldn’t be lying to each other and a devil-worshipping cult would not want them dead.

Falcon’s Angel is sexy and funny, with plenty of action and lots of surprises along the way. Romance finds my version of James Bond as the Falcon tracks the stolen violin to the Naples Conservatory in Italy.

Falcon’s Angel is a paranormal romance of a love that ended in tragedy in eighteenth century England. That love is tested in a fight of good versus evil some two hundred years later.



Falcon’s Angel - Excerpt



Naples, Italy



Falcon stood in the shadowed courtyard of the Naples Conservatory.

She left the building right on schedule. She had arrived early and stopped by the panetteria to pick up breakfast. She preferred the sweet rolls. When she left the music school, it was near dark.

Her schedule of classes wasn’t that bad. It was the time she spent practicing alone in whatever unoccupied classroom she could find that kept her there all day. She was dedicated, and very beautiful.

She had bumped into him in the hall two days ago on her way to class, “Scusi, Signore.” He did not know which was more shocking; the sound of her rich contralto or those huge liquid gold eyes, a striking contrast to the midnight waterfall rippling down her back.

He had purposely stepped in her path that day to confront her about the Stradivarius she carried. When he got a better look at her, he smiled “Perdonami,” and let her pass. Her lithe form glided down the hall.

If this goddess is a thief, she won’t have to take anything from me. I’ll give her whatever she wants, and more.

Although he allowed her to see him just that once, he had been watching her ever since. He did not know her name yet, but he called her Angel. Her unusual eyes made her seem like a fairy. Her fluid grace only enhanced the impression of an ethereal wood sprite.

The warm breeze lifting her summer print skirt silenced those thoughts.

Damned if he was not holding his breath waiting for the end of those legs before the gentle curve of her hips.

She crossed the darkening piazza and her full breasts danced under the white camisole top, making his mouth water. She was on her way home now.

She was staying at the Casa di Città on Piazza Avellino and now so was he. The apartment, a few avenues away from the Conservatory, was in the cultural Greco-Roman district, where the buildings themselves looked like archaeological finds.

Falcon emerged from the cluster of fig trees in the courtyard. He stopped when a man exited a side door off the Conservatory. The man started walking behind Angel.

Turning toward the fountain in the courtyard, he gave the man a head start. He fell in step behind the man, who carried no books, no instrument. Is he a teacher, or a lover? No, not a lover. The man didn’t even call out to the girl. He did not know her.

Falcon strolled along, looking into shop windows he passed. The man ignored a streetlight, but Falcon stopped, making sure no one followed him. With an idle shift from side to side, he waited for a car to cross the intersection.

Across the street, a teenager sat on the steps of a closed shop. He’d been there for the last few days. The car stopped at the curb in front of the teenager.

Someone should pick him up.

He would not jeopardize his cover for drug trafficking. He would leave that to the local polizia.

The light changed and Falcon crossed the street, satisfied that the man following Angel was alone.

They were walking through the ancient Roman marketplace, which was deserted now. When the girl got closer to the church built on the site of an old temple, the man began to close the distance between them.

Falcon shook his head as she reached the church corner. She never noticed the man who was just a few feet behind her now. When the man pushed her into the gloom around the church corner, they were lost from his sight. The girl screamed.

Sprinting, he rounded the corner. About ten feet away, the man was trying to wrestle the violin case from her against the wall.

Falcon pulled out his gun and aimed. “Let her go.”

The man turned toward him, and the girl pulled at his ear. The man bent, holding his stomach. He made an inarticulate sound before running away along the side of the building into the darkness.

Falcon darted past the girl and followed the man into the shadows.

What the hell?

Something flitted overhead, darker than the darkness in which he now stood alone. He pointed the Glock upward even as a figure walked up the side of the building. It looked like a black cloud but more solid than it should be.

Before he could get off a shot, the darkness disappeared over the side of the roof.

Staring at the dead end in front of him, Falcon put his gun away. No doors or windows on either side.

Where is the guy? Must be a hidden door somewhere, he’d check it out later.

Falcon turned back toward the girl. Beyond her, across the street, the man he had been chasing got into a car.

“No way,” he murmured as the car sped off. No way could the man have gotten past him in the alley.

The girl had both arms wrapped around the violin case in front of her. She was leaning against the church wall, crying.

A street lamp flickered on above them, belatedly bathing the passage in revealing light. She did not seem to realize that he was there.

“Did he hurt you, Signorina?”

She looked up. He lifted his gaze from her heaving chest.

“Grazie,” she whispered, wiping her face with the back of her hand. She shook her head. “I am fine.”

“You should not be walking alone at night.” The harsh reprimand in his voice surprised him. She was very young. Her tears wrought such vulnerability that he softened his tone when he came to stand in front of her. “Do you know that man?”

“No, I have never seen him before. But ... he knew me.”

“What did he say to you?”

She looked down at the violin.

He stared at her until she looked up. Ah, she had just found her story. It was in her eyes, and it was not the truth. The fear in her eyes told him that story would never change.

“He didn’t say anything, but the way he looked at me...”

Her chest heaved again. He almost smiled; she was having a hard time with this lie.

She stared at him. “You are from the Conservatory. I saw you the other day.”

“Antonio Russo, Tony to my friends.” She did not hesitate to shake his hand, and he did smile then. She might be lying to him but at least she did not see him as a threat. She continued to stare at him. She must want more. “I’m taking classes at the Conservatory,” he added. “I play piano.”

“Oh yes, I’ve seen you in Signor Gattano’s class.”

He had signed up for the class because it was right next door to hers. So, she had noticed him, too. He smiled wider.

“Signorina, I could call you Bella, but that would not satisfy my curiosity.”

She lowered her eyelashes over cheeks flushed the color of the terracotta tiles on his mother’s sunlit patio in Tuscany. She tanned well for one so light. He almost lifted his hand to touch her cheek. There would be little satisfaction in knowing her name now that her skin was singing a siren’s song to him.

“My name is Angelina Natale.”

“Ah. You are an angel, after all. I have not seen you around here for very long. Did you just fall from heaven?”

He watched her full lips while the sound of earthy laughter, though shaky, amped up the adrenaline coursing through his veins. A vision of her lying naked beneath him, her golden eyes glazed in passion, teased him.

“I am from England. I’m here for the symphony.” Her Italian was excellent.

“Angelina Natale, I would be honored if you would let me escort you home.”

She put the violin case under one arm. “I would like that.”

There was blood on her closed fist.

“Are you hurt?” He moved closer.

She moved her hand behind the folds of her skirt and backed into the wall.

He waited, leaning his hand against the wall above her head, inhaling her perfume. A beguiling combination of ... amber, apples and musk. The scent suited her, organic, delicious. He wanted to lift her skirt right now and take her against this wall, those long legs wrapped around him.

Angelina examined the buttons on his shirt that were in such close proximity. Stepping away from him would be cowardly, and he would guess she was made of sterner stuff. When she looked up it was with the defiance he expected from a cornered tigress.

He held her gaze, reaching behind to bring her fist out from the folds of her skirt.

The bloody gold in the center of her palm was a heavy medium-sized loop engraved with a stylized dragon. She had pulled it from the man’s ear and he had not made a sound.

“A memento?” He whispered in English close to her lips.

“I don’t want it. You can have it,” she answered in her native tongue. Now, that was the truth. Her British accent was tinged with a weary sadness. He wanted to pick her up against his chest and carry her home.

She had courage. Even while his mind worked to figure out what her role was in the mystery of the Stradivarius, he admired that.

He couldn’t leave her alone now. Not on a street where men escaped him when cornered in an alley and black clouds slid up church walls.

“Are you hungry?” Their lips were inches apart and he wanted to kiss her, but that would have to come later.

“I forgot about lunch. I had caffe at four. I’m starving,” the beautiful tigress admitted.












Tuesday 8 May 2012

Jenna Storm with The Burning Seal!

Hi friends;
I'm so excited that novelist Jenna Storm is visiting with us today, to introduce her new work The Burning Seal!  Sounds awesome! Take it away, Jenna!


          Hello Rosanna! Thank you for allowing me to visit your blog and share some information on my new paranormal romance, The Burning Seal. Published through MuseItUp Publishing it is available for download in several formats.


          I enjoy writing very much and consider myself lucky for the opportunity to put on paper (lol! cyber-paper) the stories and scenes that fly through my head. I hope you enjoy reading about The Burning Seal.





Back Cover:

          Detective Danni Keegan is plunged into a dark, demonic world where survival depends on deciphering the connection between ritual killings, and a demon terrorizing her for a “gift” she wasn’t even aware she possessed. She must unravel her dreams of another woman who lived during ancient times and battled a bloodthirsty demon—the same demon who now hunts Danni. The loss of her body and soul looms imminent as her only chance to destroy the demon depends on changing her new partner’s convictions. He is a sinfully sexy man, who exudes power and self-assurance with the ease of breathing and has an iron-willed determination not to believe in the paranormal.



Excerpt: (Danni, the heroine of the book is a psychic and she’s about to relive another woman’s  long ago battle with the demon)



          She stared at her bare feet visible because the hem of her dress tangled around her legs. Beyond the demon, mauve spires from a far off castle shot into the sky. The majestic sight, coupled with the cumbersome dress she wore spoke of an ancient time. He wrenched her arm, drawing her to the very edge of the cliff as she teetered on her toes. The wind gusted off the ocean and batted her body. Her mind slipped gears and fought to understand what happened.

           Below her the angry sea roiled, while above, steel gray clouds churned, obliterating the once sunny sky. One minute she was in her house fighting an insurmountable force; a demon, and the next she was outside where the air smelled clean, unspoiled and the ocean slammed the rocks.

          The beast’s hands tightened. She feared his strength would shatter her bones. The edge of the cliff loomed too near. “Sara, the book,” the voice demanded.

          She felt like the only passenger on a runaway freight train. No. That wasn’t entirely true. Impossibly, Sara was here too and the unknown woman’s hate for the demon overpowered everything and prompted Danni to speak things of which she had no understanding.

          Scathing words fell unbidden from her lips. “You are a soulless beast from hell. A demon. You will not command me.” Her shrill vow rippled in the air, the words bowing under the weight of her promise.

           Realization rushed through Danni and soured her stomach as everything clicked into place. She was a prisoner, a conduit, forced to endure Sara’s experiences, speak Sara’s words while retaining her own thoughts and emotions.

          She didn’t know why the other woman chose her to speak through.

          Nothing makes sense. Not from the moment I opened my front door and let the demon in, to this moment, when I feel myself growing smaller as Sara takes over my mind and body. Her heart raced. She tried to scream, to push the foreign energy from her, but she wasn’t strong enough. At this moment, for this portion of the battle it wasn’t her turn to speak or fight. Terrified, she was unable to stop Sara from taking complete control and slotting her into the role of voyeur.

          "I'll never tell you the book's location. I'll never give you more power to kill the innocent. I won't let you start the cycle of death, to turn the tides of power. You will never release the Hierarchy from their chains to walk the earth again. I know you'll kill me, but I'll never give you what you want. Never!"

          "You offer your life so easily, Sara. What about those you love? Can you protect them forever, through the centuries even? I think not.” He gnashed his teeth, a rabid beast looking to consume her. “While I torture you and bring hell to your feet, I will slaughter those around you and you'll beg for death."




Sunday 6 May 2012

First Review!! 5 stars on Goodreads!

What sheer delight it was to receive my first reader review on Goodreads today!  Many thanks go out to Pauline Allan who took the time to write some very kind words about For the Love of a God.  I'm so happy she enjoyed the story, empathized with my heroine and found my hero sexy! *hugs!*
Check out the review at:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/324768594

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Stephanie Burkhart is visiting! And has a giveaway!

Stephanie Burkhart has written a new YA mystery and is here to tell us about it.  Take it away, Steph:





STEPH: Rosanna, thanks so much for having me on your blog today. Just a little about me: I grew up in New Hampshire and joined the Army when I was 18, wanting a great adventure. I met my husband in the Army and we settled in California. Now I work for LAPD as a 911 dispatcher. I'm a romance and children's author.


ROSANNA: Tell us about your latest book.


STEPH: My latest book is a YA mystery, "First Flag of New Hampshire." High school juniors Alyssa Rydell and Miguel De Soto are given a "history mystery" to solve by the end of the semester – where's the first flag of New Hampshire?


ROSANNA: If you could have a romantic evening with any character from romance literature who would it be and what would you do?


STEPH: I really enjoyed Jillian Hunter's Boscastle series, and my favorite hero of the series was Drake Boscastle. And knowing Drake, we'd end up doing something naughty by the end of the night.


ROSANNA: What was the first thing you ever wrote?


STEPH: A Spiderman comic book when I was six. Does that count?


ROSANNA: What is your favorite book of all time and why?


STEPH: Oh that's a toughie because I have a lot of "favorite" books. I would have to say JK Rowling's "The Deathly Hallows" for its easy reading style and how it used the clues given in previous novels to present the ending the series deserved. Well done.


ROSANNA: What was the first thing you did when you discovered you were going to be published?


STEPH: Treated myself to a bowl of ice cream – with chocolate. J


ROSANNA: If you could live in any of your plotlines which would it be and why?

STEPH: I've always been interested in history's mysteries and what if scenarios. That said, I wouldn’t mind going on the hunt for the first flag of New Hampshire with Alyssa and Miguel.


ROSANNA: Tell us about the lead characters from "First Flag of New Hampshire."


STEPH: Alyssa Rydell is very determined. She's very goal orientated and likes to run track to relax. Miguel De Soto is very easy going. He goes with the flow. His common sense smarts compliments Alyssa's book smarts. They make a good team.


ROSANNA: Do you ever borrow any plot lines from real life?


STEPH: Generally, no. I'm a 911 dispatcher for LAPD and while I hear a lot of crazy stuff, I've yet to find inspiration from that. For my contemporaries, I find I like international settings (inspired by my time traveling in the Army) and heroes who are searching for something and heroines who help them find what the hero is looking for.


ROSANNA: What are you working on now?

STEPH: A steampunk romance called "A Gentleman and a Rogue." It's Book 2 of my Windsor Diaries. Modern day royals Edmund and Alice Windsor travel back in time to set the time line straight, but can they overcome the obstacles in their path? There's plenty of steel, brass, and coal including whuzzies, datamancers, and transmogrifiers. There's even a guest appearance from Queen Victoria.


ROSANNA: What would you be doing if you couldn't write?

STEPH: Well, I'm already a 911 dispatcher so I'm doing it. It's like the best of both worlds.




BLURB FOR: FIRST FLAG OF NEW HAMPSHIRE:

Alyssa has to take American Studies for college prep, and she hurries to the first class. She’s paired with classmate Miguel De Soto to find the first flag of New Hampshire, but the flag has flown only four times in New Hampshire’s past. Can Alyssa and Miguel track the flag through history before time is up?

BOOK TRAILER:





Hunt For the Flag Giveaway:

Answer the following questions about New Hampshire. I’ll pick a winner to receive a spring book bag (made by my talented friend, Lori Powell), full of goodies to include a GC to Starbucks, chocolates, a magnet and more. Please leave your email address so I can get a hold of you if you win.

Question: What's the type of ship is on the NH State flag?

Bonus: What New Hampshire landmark collapsed in 2003?

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