Visit with Mary Gillgannon today and find out what she loves about writing, her favorite places to travel and her new book, Wicked Wager.

She is also participating in 
two giveaways: One is for a shamrock solar lantern to be given away at the end of the month: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/91181bf930/?


The other is for a $500 gift certificate, to be given away on June 21st: :https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/91181bf929/?


There are three options to enter. Good luck!!
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Mary G: When I began writing romances, they were set in the dark age and medieval eras. I loved the intensity, the “life and death” stakes playing out in these time periods. Later on, after reading several Regency romances, I realized that the stakes for people in this era, even though there was less violence, were pretty intense as well. The lives of women of the Regency era (and, alas, most eras of history), were defined by who they married. It was the only thing that mattered, the only way to improve your circumstances.

Because of this, love wasn’t really a focus. Young men and women met each other during the “season” in the London “marriage mart”. It was all a complex game of prestige and wealth and beauty. But that’s no fun for us romantic sorts. So, starting with Jane Austen, we’ve added the wild card of romance to the equation.

Which is the perfect introduction to Wicked Wager, a book that focuses on both gambling and romance.

Excerpt:

 He might have known she’d take hours, Marcus thought with irritation as he waited in the drawing room. Offer to take a woman somewhere, and she fussed and fiddled half the day. He’d thought Penny was more practical than that, but it appeared she was as tardy as other members of her sex. A pity if she’d already been corrupted by Madame Dubonet and lost that ingenuous charm of hers. He rather liked the grubby hoyden he’d met in the drive of Horngate. She’d been a delightful change from the coy, manipulative women of the ton.

He paced across to the window to check on the phaeton and team. Hearing a faint sound, he turned.

For a moment, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His gaze moved down Penny’s slender form, then returned to the expanse of lush creamy flesh exposed by the low neckline of her dress. He swallowed hard, then choked out, “What the devil are you wearing?”

She gave him an innocent smile. “It’s my new daydress. Do you like it?”

Gone was the sweetly pretty young miss he’d brought to London. She’d been transformed into a sensual, sophisticated, breathtaking… goddess. It wasn’t merely the sumptuous décolletage the gown revealed, but the color of the fabric. Some subtle shade of pink that made her look edible. He longed to kiss and lick and nibble every inch of the silken, creamy skin the garment exposed.

He took a deep breath and tried to focus on Penny’s face. “The dress is very fashionable, I’m certain. But if you don’t want to catch a chill, you’d best put on your pelisse.”

Penny hurried to do as he suggested. Despite having carefully planned this moment, when it actually came time to appear before Revington in the skimpy gown, she’d experienced an attack of nerves. It had taken all her willpower to walk boldly into the drawing room, despite feeling half-naked.

Revington’s expression had turned quite strange, almost savage. But then a moment later, his normal reserve had prevailed and he’d carried on in his usual impatient style.

She put on her pelisse and started for the door. Then she remembered the other part of her plan. Turning, she said, “I wondered if rather than driving today, you could have footman take the reins and sit in the carriage with me. That way you’ll be able to tell me about the sights as we travel through the city.”

Seeing a muscle twitch in his jaw, she wondered whether he disliked the thought of spending time with her. Too bad, she thought stubbornly. For her plan to work, she needed to force him into close proximity.
                                         * * *
Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/ B00VU8L64K

Barnes and Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wicked-wager-mary-gillgannon/1121799505?ean=2940151266314

The Wild Rose Press: http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=6209

Mary Gillgannon writes historical and paranormal romance and fantasy. She’s worked in a public library for over twenty-five years and as part of her job, has the enviable task of ordering fiction. She’s married and has two children. Now that they’re grown, she indulges her nurturing tendencies on four very spoiled cats and a moderately spoiled dog. When not working or writing, she enjoys gardening—a real challenge in Wyoming—reading and travel. She loves history, which may explain why her favorite places to visit are Ireland and Wales.

Links:

Website:  http://marygillgannon.com

Blog: http://marygillgannon.blogspot.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/mary.gillgannon

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MaryGillgannon

Today is Release Day for Highland Escape!

The heroine, Anna Braxton, is not your typical young woman in 14th century Scotland--or England, for that matter. Here is what DD has to say about her.

DD MacRae: The inspiration of Anna was born of two things, my 35 years of love of martial arts and fascination with the Crusades. She is actually a composite of two women I used to train with. With the exception of her archery, the other skills are held by a combination of both of these ladies. I attempted to keep the weaponry and abilities authentic to the period. In Chinese martial arts, it was common to learn the art of healing along with, or before one learned to fight, hence Anna’s knowledge of acupuncture and other herbal healing. History tells us acupuncture goes back thousands of years.
The trick was to figure out a way to get Chinese martial arts and weaponry, along with healing arts, into medieval England, and the 9th Crusades provided the vehicle. During this period, the Silk Road, which was a means for many cultures and peoples to mingle, was dominated by the Mongols as they and the Muslim Mamluks fought for superiority in the region. When Edward (Longshanks), son of Henry III, came crusading after arriving too late to aid Louis IX of France in the capture of Tunis, he headed toward the Holy Land. Edward negotiated an alliance with the Mongols to fight the Mamluks in the region.

While seeing some success in places like Tripoli (modern day Lebanon and Syria) and Acre (Northern Israel), Edward withdrew due to pressing needs back home. The 9th Crusade wasn’t a loss per se, but rather the campaign ran out of steam as its principals were needed elsewhere.

The backstory for Highland Escape gives us Sir Everard Braxton, a English knight, who proved instrumental in the campaign in Tripoli and was in turn rewarded with a small barony in the borderlands. It was common for second sons who wouldn’t inherit and other knights to go on crusade for the opportunity to earn land and wealth in the Holy Land, or purchase land for themselves with the spoils back home. Some would say such a title and holding wasn’t much of a reward, as the borders were a dangerous and tumultuous place, particularly at this time. Longshanks would want men he knew to be loyal and strong at the border.

Having won victory at Tripoli, it wasn’t a stretch for Braxton to have freed Mamluk prisoners. Zhang was a bodyguard to a rich merchant who plied the Silk Road who met with a foul end. Attaching himself to Braxton in exchange for his freedom, Zhang provided the means of cultural transfer to the borders of Northern medieval England. His time in captivity would have changed his perspective on training, much like US POWs in Viet Nam changed how military training is done today. Anna and her brother Edrick became beneficiaries of his experience.

Braxton used diplomacy rather than war to keep the peace on his piece of the border by marrying the daughter of the local Scottish laird. While this made him a peacekeeper in his territory, it set up an impossible situation for his daughter, who was despised for her Scot’s blood south of the border, and for her English heritage north of it. This provided enough conflict for Anna to become someone other than a pampered English noblewoman.

We hope you enjoy Anna’s story and the rich history behind it.

If you like your heroes big, bad and a wolf under the moon, check out Saranna DeWylde's book, Big Bad Billionaire, on sale now for 99 cents!

Blurb:

Blake Woolven is the bad boy CEO of Woolven Industries, but he’s badder than the luscious, BBW Randi Rutger would’ve guessed. After Woolven took down her father’s company and devoured it like a shaking rabbit, she’s determined to get close to him and make all the Woolvens pay for destroying her father. Blake knows Randi’s agenda, but the wolf inside him will do anything to have her. Even expose the Woolven family secret. When Randi sees Blake and his brothers shed their skins beneath the moon, she’s terrified. But it’s just what she needed to bring him low—that and the silver nitrate plasma gun her father designed. With her loyalties torn, Randi must choose between avenging her father and the big bad wolf who clawed his way into her heart.

Amazon Link

My new friend, USA Today Best-selling author, Sally Berneathy, has her book, The Great Chocolate Scam (The third book in the Death by Chocolate series) on sale today for 99 cents!
For all you chocoholic readers out there, she's put a recipe for Cookie dough cheesecake bars in the back!!

Blurb:


Finally Rick has agreed to sign the divorce papers and give Lindsay her freedom! She is sitting in her lawyer’s office waiting for him when she gets the call. 

Rick is dead. Murdered by a bomb that blew up his car in his own driveway. 

Lindsay is his sole heir. Or is she? She’s never met any of Rick’s family. Though he told her various conflicting stories about them, she came to believe they didn’t exist, that Rick was an alien stranded here when the mother ship left without him. But then Rick’s mother and two brothers show up followed by a woman who claims to be his ex-wife and a boy she claims is Rick’s son. Everyone except Lindsay wants to inherit Rick’s estate. What’s so valuable that someone killed for it and is ready to kill again? 

Come for the Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars, stay for the murder, mayhem and fun!

Amazon Link