June 2015 Book of the Month & Giveaway
July 17, 2015 11:44 AM Posted by juliannadouglas
Once again, five-star reads eluded me in May, so I'm skipping ahead to my June reading. My favorite book I read that month is a historical romance set in the Georgian era. It's the eighth and latest book in Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane series. Our heroine, Phoebe, has been there almost since the beginning of the series, when she was just a teenager whose eyesight was failing. Now she's a grown woman and fully blind but struggling to maintain her independence while dealing with an older brother who wants to wrap her in cotton wool. The only way he'll let her out of the house is with a bodyguard escorting her everywhere. Phoebe initially resents the man's intrusion but the more time she spends in his company, the more she becomes accustomed to having him in her life and can scarely imagine him not being a part of it. Her bodyguard and hero is James Trevellion, the former Dragoon captain, who has also been a part of the series for quite some time. He's loved Phoebe from afar almost since he started working for her brother, but thinking himself too old for her and too far beneath her in social station, he keeps his feelings to himself. When multiple kidnapping attempts are made against Phoebe, it becomes quite clear that someone is out to do her harm. James will do whatever it takes to keep her safe, which means taking her far away to someplace where the ne'er-do-wells would never think to look for her, his old family home in Cornwall. On their long journey there, they pretend to be husband and wife, placing them in very close quarters and making it impossible for James to ignore his love for Phoebe any longer.
Categories: Book of the Month
Tags: Elizabeth Hoyt
Romance Novel Convention 2015 -- Day 5
July 13, 2015 07:13 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
The final day of RNCon was my kick back and relax time. No classes I was planning to take, nothing special to do, just a day where I was able to simply get up, go down the convention hall, and see where the day took me. I was so happy to finally turn in my strappy heels for sneakers (my feet still ached for a few days after) and my business casual attire for jeans and a t-shirt.
My hubs did have a class to teach that afternoon, so we went down to lunch early. There weren't a lot of people in the dining hall at that point, just enough to fill one table. The food wasn't set out on the buffet yet, so we pulled up chairs and joined them for a little relaxed conversation. Natalie and Will were there, but we also got to chat a bit with some other people we'd seen around but hadn't really had the opportunity to talk with before that. Finally the servers started bringing out our food, and when we heard we were getting pizza for lunch, everyone cheered.:-)
Categories: Events
Tags: Bruce Heinsius, Jimmy Thomas, Michael Newkirk, Natalie Wilson, Orestis Papapetrou, RNCasanovas, Romance Novel Convention, Vikkas Bhardwaj, Zack Williams
Romance Novel Convention 2015 -- Day 4
July 8, 2015 07:11 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
On Day 4 of Romance Novel Convention, well-rested, I was up bright and early (for me – hey at least I beat my hubby out of bed ;-)) and down in the convention hall around 8:30 a.m. to set up for the Book Fair & Festival. With JossiLynn already heading home, Natalie and I had requested seats together. We found our tables and got all our books and other paraphernalia set up just as some of the early bird readers were coming through the door. Normally, I tend to be rather nervous about book signings, but surprisingly, I settled in very quickly. I enjoyed talking with the book fair attendees as they stopped by, and I'm thankful for all the ones who took the time to let me tell them about my stories and even more grateful for those who bought my book. When I wasn't busy with potential customers, I chatted it up with Natalie. We also listened to music provided by the 80z All Stars. They were a very talented musical group, and I loved their set list of almost all '80s music.
Categories: Events
Tags: 80z All Stars, Billy Thomas, David Nicholl, Hudsy Hawn, Jackson Young, Jet Arnett, JossiLynn, Natalie Wilson, RNCasanovas, Romance Novel Convention, Sean Kanan
Romance Novel Convention 2015 -- Day 3
July 5, 2015 04:42 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
Day 3 of Romance Novel Convention started out much like Day 1, in an exhausted blur. Maybe I was on too much of a high after the previous night's costume ball, but I woke in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. As a consequence, I was running on about five hours of sleep, but somehow I got my butt out of bed and made it down to the first class period of the day at 9 a.m.
I attended classes all morning, starting with Fiona Jayde's “Get Yourself Covered: A Pre-Launch Strategy.” Since I'm about to launch a brand new book in my Loving Hearts series this month, I thought this would be a good class to take, and I definitely learned some important things from it. Next, I went to the panel discussion, “Developing a Series and Creating Your World Inside It,” where I got some good tips that will hopefully help me with a couple of paranormal series ideas I have. To round out the morning, I attended Randi Alexander and Jackson Young's class, “Branding Brainstorming.” There I got some new ideas for building my author brand.
Categories: Events
Tags: Billy Thomas, David Nicholl, Fiona Jayde, Jackson Young, Jet Arnett, Jimmy Thomas, JossiLynn, Julian Mora, Natalie Wilson, Paul Gunn, Randi Alexander, Romance Novel Convention, Winsor Harmon
Romance Novel Convention 2015 -- Day 2
July 3, 2015 06:43 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
Even though every day was a great day, I would have to say that Day 2 of RNCon 2015 was my favorite. It certainly helped that I was much more well-rested to begin the day. I kicked things off by going to Randi Alexander and Jackson Young's class “Public Speaking Made Easy.” For a while now, it's been in the back of mind that I'd like to teach a class of my own at RNC, but like many people, I'm terrified of public speaking. In fact, I came very close to participating in a panel discussion this year, but it was canceled due to no one else signing up to present with me (I can't really argue that one person doesn't make a panel.:-)). Anyway, given the relief I felt when I saw it was dropped from the schedule, I figured if I ever have any hope of making my aspirations of speaking a reality, I'd better learn something about it, hopefully how to control my nerves.
Categories: Events
Tags: Aveda Institute, Bethany Burke, Blushing Books, Bruce Heinsius, Daenerys Targaryen, Game of Thrones, Gwen Steel, HRM King Timothy of Shilo, Jackson Young, Jimmy Thomas, JossiLynn, Leo Charles Taylor, Paul Gunn, Randi Alexander, RNCasanovas, Romance Novel Convention, Tara Rose, The Crown Princess Samantha of Shilo, The Grand Duke Travis McHenry of Westarctica, Zack Williams
Romance Novel Convention 2015 -- Day 1
July 1, 2015 02:57 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
Well, I'm safely back home in Phoenix after spending an exciting week in Las Vegas, attending Romance Novel Convention 2015. This has been my favorite RNCon so far. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had there and how many amazing memories I've brought home with me to cherish, but I'm going to try, starting with Day 1.
Our view of the High Roller from the tiny balcony of our hotel room at Harrah's Las Vegas.
Categories: Events
Tags: Courage Knight, Firefly, Jimmy Thomas, JossiLynn, Michael Newkirk, Natalie Wilson, Paul Gunn, RNCasanovas, Romance Novel Convention, Zack Williams
