June Has Something For YOU!!

by Caren Crane

Dearest Banditas, Buddies and friends we've just met, June promises to be all white knights, chocolates, white weddings, love songs and forget-me-nots around the Lair! Okay, maybe not that, but we do have a ton of happenings, contests and surprises to rave about so here goes:




June 2 - Popular Lair visitor Tiffany Clare is back to tell us about her third historical romance, The Secret Desires Of a Governess. Tiff is very generously giving away three copies of her latest book to people who comment. [I am all atwitter at the shades of Jane Eyre!]






June 3 - RITA winner Terri Garey returns to the lair to talk about her new “Devil’s Bargain” series, and the lure of “books that go bump in the night”! (Check out those abs on her cover!)






June 4 - It's going to be hot, HOT, HOT when Christie Kelley throws a release party for her steaming new Regency One Night Scandal! This is a party you won't want to miss. [I hope I can find a virtual designated driver!]







June 6 - Stefanie Sloane will be talking about the Young Corinthians and her second novel The Angel In Her Arms. [There is a book trailer on her website. Oh, my!]








June 7 - Jessica Andersen returns to the lair as Nancy's guest. June is the most popular wedding month, and Jessica will chat about favorite fictional weddings and the newest Nightkeepers novel, Storm Kissed. [Those lovely tattooed arms make me feel all stormy inside! *sigh*]





June 10 - Anna Campbell hosts debut historical romance author and regular lair visitor Karyn Gerrard. Karyn will be talking about her new book Timeless Heart and spreading the lurve with some giveaways. [We love new authors, especially when they are old friends!]





June 16 - Susan Gee Heino will return to the lair to talk about her July release Temptress In Training. [And wait until you find out who she is tempting...]






June 19 - Mega basketball fan Patricia Sargeant will join us as Regina Hart to tell us about her June release Fast Break, love 'n hoops and her fabulous Brooklyn Monarchs. [I can't wait for the hunky basketball heroes!]


BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!


Every week in June, Christie Kelley will be giving away a signed copy of one of her five releases, including One Night Scandal. Just visit her website for more details and your chance to win!


Anna Campbell is holding a Hardback Heaven at Midnight Contest, open until 30th June. She’s giving away three signed copies of the beautiful hardcover Rhapsody Book Club edition of Midnight's Wild Passion. To enter, just email Anna on anna@annacampbell.info and tell her the name of the hero and heroine of Midnight's Wild Passion. For more information on the contest, please visit her website.


Be sure not to miss any of the fun. We promise to be here every day with something Wildly Interesting (or at least Moderately Stimulating, if not Downright Exciting) for you!

Bandita Booty

Helen!!!!!

Congratulations! Patricia Sargeant chose you to receive a copy of POWER OF LOVE, and Fichen1 to receive TAILS OF LOVE. Could you send your contact information to Patricia at http://www.patriciasargeant.com/ ?

Thanks everyone for stopping by!

Patricia Sargeant in the lair

hosted by Donna MacMeans

It's my pleasure to introduce you to one of the sweetest, kindest people I've ever met. I swear, if you look in the dictionary under "sweet"...Patricia's picture will be there. But please understand, this lady writes hot suspense. Her tagline "Romances to die for"

is a little too true. It's always the quiet ones, isn't it? Please welcome Patricia Sargeant.

Donna, thank you so much for inviting me to meet your Romance Bandits friends. I’m thrilled and honored to be here.

Donna and I met when I joined our local Romance Writers of America chapter, Central Ohio Fiction Writers, in 1999. She was chapter president at the time, and did me the great favor of providing feedback on the first romance novel I completed.

The novel went on the shelf, and I started a new one.

However, since then, both novels – You Belong to Me and On Fire – have been published, with no small thanks to Donna for her excellent input.

This month, I’m celebrating the release of my third single-title, Sweet Deception, and a benefits romance anthology, Tails of Love, for which Donna and I contributed short stories. Both hit the shelves June 2.

As I mentioned, Tails of Love is a benefits anthology. It features original short stories by Lori Foster
Stella Cameron, Dianne Castell, Kate Angell, Ann Christopher, Marcia James, Sarah McCarty, Sue-Ellen Welfonder, Donna and me. My short story, “Scaredy Cat,” features a heroine whose adopted stray cat plays matchmaker. I had a lot of fun with that story. I’ve tried to tell the story in part from the cat’s perspective.

Tails of Love will raise money for the Animal Adoption Foundation, a no-kill animal shelter in Ohio, as well as increase awareness of the needs of abused and abandoned animals and pets. Have you bought your copy yet? If not, I’ll wait here while you pop out to get one. Or two.

Sweet Deception is my first contemporary romance. You Belong to Me and On Fire are romantic suspense. It took me a little while to plot a story without dead bodies. But in the writing, I realized what really drives my stories are the themes. In You Belong to Me, the theme is family. On Fire’s theme is trust. Sweet Deception’s theme is identity.

The heroine is a dutiful minister’s daughter who leads a secret life as an erotic romance author. When she begins a relationship with another more famous author, her secret identity is revealed, and she's forced to choose between duty (the person her family wants her to be) and desire (the person she wants to be).

I think this is a theme to which most of us can relate. As women, we wear so many hats – wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, career professional – we sometimes lose track of who we are individually. Who is Donna MacMeans? Who is Patricia Sargeant? Who are you? Sometimes we allow other people to define us rather than taking the time to define ourselves.

Tell me, what is it about you or your interests that most surprise people? Define yourself. But let’s try to keep this PG rated.

I’ll start us off. People are most surprised when they learn I enjoy football, both college and pro. They’re also surprised when they learn I’m a runner. Now, I haven’t been getting many miles in, and watching me run may not be the prettiest sight, but I do enjoy it.

OK. Who’s up next?

One commenter will win a copy of The Power of Love. Twelve award-winning authors contributed original short stories for The Power of Love, a benefits romance anthology. All of the authors and their agents donated all of their proceeds to the Hamilton County YWCA Battered Women's Shelter. In addition to raising money for this battered women's shelter, the anthology helped raise awareness of the problem of domestic violence.

Donna, thank you again for having me over.

My pleasure. You can find more about Patricia at www.patriciasargeant.com