What's #MFRWauthor @LaurenLinwood 's Guilty Pleasure?

Meet MFRW Author Lauren Linwood.
Lauren Linwood became a teacher who wrote on the side to maintain her sanity in a sea of teenage hormones. Her romances use history as a backdrop to place her characters in extraordinary circumstances, where their intense desire and yearning for one another grow into the deep, tender, treasured gift of love.

Lauren, a native Texan, lives in a Dallas suburb with her family. An avid reader, moviegoer, and sports fan, she manages stress by alternating yoga with five mile walks. She is thinking about starting a support group for Pinterest and House Hunters addicts.

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE would best describe my life. I'm at an age where I'm comfortable with myself and like who I am and where I am on this journey in life.

My guilty pleasure is dark chocolate. My trick to not gobbling it down is to put the individually wrapped Dove chocolates in my freezer. I'll take one out to nibble on, and then I get the taste I crave by the time it's finished--and can stop at the one piece.

The funniest thing that ever happened was when I came in from a bonfire in college, flipped on my radio, and heard, ""Be the 10th caller for concert tickets."" I never ever won anything, so I dialed--and I got through! I was the winner! The only trouble was I hadn't heard the firsts part of the DJ's pitch. Since Halloween was the next day, I had to howl at the money. I tried talking myself out of it, but he wasn't having any of that, so I sucked it up and bellowed out a howl. For the next week as I crossed campus, I was stopped a zillion times by people who'd heard me on the radio. A little embarrassing, but pretty darn funny!

The scariest thing was losing my 2-year-old daughter at a water park. We were in the children's play area, going in and out of water tunnels, popping out and saying ""Boo!"" to each other. She went around a corner and then didn't jump back out at me. I frantically raced through the tunnels, came to the outside, and saw dozens of children--but not mine. She turned up a few minutes later, but I was scared to death that she'd been taken or she'd drown.

I would love to go on THE AMAZING RACE so I could travel to all the incredible, exotic places . . . for free!

Though I think zebras are adorable, there's just something steadfast and yet mystical about an elephant. They're playful but seem to be an old soul at the same time.

I wish an interviewer would ask how long I plan to keep writing. BTW - forever!

Lauren's latest book is A Bit of Heaven on Earth, a Mainstream Medieval Historical Romance, with Soul Mate Publishing.
When Gavin of Ashgrove is captured in battle, his father refuses to pay his son’s ransom, leaving him to rot in a French prison. Gavin escapes and returns to England, only to find he is proclaimed a bastard and disinherited. With nowhere to turn, he journeys to the estate of Lord Aldred, the famed warrior he fostered with as a boy. Gavin falls in love with Elizabeth, the old warrior’s much younger wife, as a dying Aldred plots Elizabeth’s future with King Edward. Gavin loses his good name, lands, possessions--and his heart--to  famed beauty Elizabeth of Kentwood. Will the king allow a penniless knight to marry a wealthy widow?

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EXCERPT

       Elizabeth watched as Gavin built a fire. She moved close to it, resting her hands against the stone as she leaned into the heat.
“You shake still.” He moved behind her and placed his hands upon her shoulders. His fingers held such heat. Indeed, his very closeness seemed a stronger fire than that in the grate before her. She leaned into him, absorbing the warmth that he possessed, even in his wet tunic.
Then his arms slid round her waist, drawing her closer. Her breath caught in her throat at his very nearness. His fingers locked, trapping her in the circle of his arms.
“Gavin?” she asked, afraid to move, afraid to break the magic spell. She’d longed to be right where she now stood. Her pounding heart betrayed her fear at their situation.
His response was wordless. He bent and kissed her ear, his breath sending shivers down her spine. His lips moved to her neck, scorching a path there, before they touched her cheek.
One arm held her tightly against him as his other palm moved to caress her breast. Elizabeth moaned. Her knees turned liquid. If Gavin had not held her, she would have puddled on the floor.
Suddenly, he spun her in his arms. She clung to him wildly. His hands splayed along her back. His mouth was everywhere, in her hair, on her eyelids, her cheeks, the tip of her nose, her mouth.
His kisses overwhelmed her. She couldn’t breathe. And yet they continued, his mouth insistent on hers. Her lips parted, allowing his tongue entrance, and she welcomed it. He stroked her with it, a constant, dizzying motion that kept her head spinning. Her senses filled with him, his scent, his touch, his taste. Tears began to flow.
Gavin lifted his mouth. “Elizabeth?” he asked. “Have I hurt you?” He held her at arm’s length and studied her.
The concern in his eyes touched her very core. “No,” she whispered. “’Twas just so beautiful . . . I . . . had to cry.”
He smiled, a heartbreaking smile, and caught her up in his arms again. “No, my love, you are the beautiful one.” He kissed her gently, tenderly. The passion was still there, but it was more controlled now.
Gavin swept her up into his arms. Hers went round his neck and she kissed him for the first time, making her own bold move. His growl let her know he approved. He broke the kiss and looked around the room.
“I see no bed, my lady. The straw on the floor ‘twill have to suffice. But,” he said, his eyes glowing at her, “I guarantee you won’t notice the difference.”
He carried her to the corner of the room. As he placed her on the straw, she raised a hand to his chest. His heart beat as fast as hers did. Oh, God in Heaven, she wanted this man!
A voice from outside invaded her thoughts.
“Elizabeth? Gavin? Are you there?”

CONNECT with Lauren
Website: http://www.laurenlinwood.com
Blog: http://laurenlinwood.wordpress.com/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7091840.Lauren_Linwood?from_search=true
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LaurenLinwood

Meet #MFRWauthor @AlisonMcMahan & The Saffron Crocus

Meet Alison McMahan.
Alison chased footage for her documentaries through jungles in Honduras and Cambodia, favelas in Brazil and racetracks in the U.S. She brings the same sense of adventure to her award-winning books of mystery and romantic adventure for teens and adults.

"My life experience is an indirect influence on my writing. I don't put people I know in my books. Instead I write about things that matter to me, and I let the characters tell me who they are. In this story, I originally didn't think the two main characters would fall in love. Instead, Isabella was going to love the wealthy merchant Domenico, who loves her the way he loves a good ship full of pricey merchandise. But Isabella and Rafaele had their own ideas, and fell in love. Who am I to argue with teenage hormones?

"Once I start writing a book I write from 5 am to 9 am. Then my husband gets up and we have breakfast and exercise and I go back to writing the rest of the day. Except lately I spend my afternoons marketing more than I do writing. I cannot write if my environment is noisy or if anyone interrupts me, which is why I write early in the morning. No one else is awake then. I do a lot of research for each book, but I try to save that for the afternoon. The morning is sacred writing time."

Alison McMahan's latest release is The Saffron Crocus, a Young Adult Historical Mystery, with Black Opal Books.

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Venice, 1643. Isabella, fifteen, longs to sing in Monteverdi’s Choir, but only boys (and castrati) can
do that. Her singing teacher, Margherita, introduces her to a new wonder: opera! Then Isabella finds Margherita murdered. Now people keep trying to kill Margherita’s handsome rogue of a son, Rafaele.

Was Margherita killed so someone could steal her saffron business? Or was it a disgruntled lover, as Margherita—unbeknownst to Isabella—was one of Venice’s wealthiest courtesans?
Or will Isabella and Rafaele find the answer deep in Margherita's past, buried in the Jewish Ghetto?

Isabella has to solve the mystery of the Saffron Crocus before Rafaele hangs for a murder he didn’t commit, though she fears the truth will drive her and the man she loves irrevocably apart.

Murder, Mystery & Mayhem in 17th Century Venice...  Amazon BUY LINK

REVIEW
I adored this beautifully written, passionate book. The Saffron Crocus is a glittering, thrilling opera of a novel that plucked my heartstrings and kept me reading at fever pitch. Brava, Alison McMahan! Encore! 
~ Nancy Holder, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Wicked Saga

WINNER: 2014 Rosemary Award for Best Historical for Young Adults

EXCERPT

Who knew a singing career would be this much trou-ble?
“Rafaele!” She flew into the garret. “Piero, it was so wonderful, wait until I tell you!”
The stool next to the bed was knocked over. The tray with the genepy bottle was on the floor, one of the cups broken. The fat candle that had been burning next to Ra-faele’s bed had been flung to the other side of the room. Canvases were strewn all over the floor, some of them slashed, and many of Master Strozzi’s jars of paint ele-ments were broken.
Did Piero and Rafaele have a fight? She quickly suppressed the thought. Who would get into a fight with a man who was already injured?
Something else must have happened.
She walked across the garret. “Piero? Rafaele, are you here?”
Rafaele was not in the bed. The sheets and blankets she had piled on top of him were strewn everywhere. Blood-stained sheets spilled over the edge of the pallet. There was a pile of clothes on the floor.
She walked around to get a closer look.
Not clothes. It was Piero. Face down, one arm stretched out before him, as if in supplication.
A puddle of blood under him.
Dead.

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BOOK SPOTLIGHT: For All of Ever @Sherry_Ewing #MFRWauthor

MFRW Sherry Ewing released For All of Ever, a Mainstream Historical & Time Travel

Romance, with Kingsburg Press.

Katherine Wakefield has dreamed and written of her knight in shining armor all her life until she and her three closest friends take a vacation to England. Yet, how could they have known they’d find themselves thrown back more than eight hundred years into the past?

Riorden de Deveraux travels to Bamburgh answering the summons of King Henry. But nothing prepares him for the beautiful vision of a strangely clad ghost who first appears in his chamber.

Centuries are keeping them apart until Time gives them a chance at finding love. Will the past of one consume what their future may hold, or will Time take the decision from them and hurdle Katherine forward to where she truly belongs?

Sometimes to find your future, you must look to the past…

AMAZON Buy Link

EXCERPT

Reaching the center of the room, she felt compelled to turn to her left. A painting of considerable size rested against a large easel, and Katherine had the notion that the gentleman who had left the chamber was in the process of restoring the artwork. Her feet moved without her even realizing she was walking as she made her way to see what was inside the golden frame. Once she stood before the canvas, she couldn't believe her eyes. Her breath left her. Her heart surely stopped beating. Her knees buckled beneath her, and she fell upon them onto the cold stone floor. Tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks in recognition of who was in the portrait.
It was him...standing there with Warkworth Castle in the backdrop. It was the same castle that had reduced her to tears only days ago. The artist, whoever he had been, had captured him to perfection, especially his incredible eyes. Katherine felt that she could drown in those eyes if she were allowed to gaze at him in the flesh. He was dressed as he had been in her dream, with the lion head on his surcoat. He held a sword in front of him, its tip gracing the earth. His hands rested one atop the other on the golden hilt, adorned by a large, sapphire stone that was obviously of some worth. His hair blew gently in the breeze, and one could tell by looking at his expression in this portrait that he had been none too pleased to have had to stand still for its painting. He portrayed enough pure, raw energy to knock her off her feet, and in essence he already had, given that she was kneeling on the floor.
As she continued staring at his portrait, she wondered what in the world he had been staring at, for the look on his face practically scorched her with passion. What had held his interest? Suddenly, the room became exceedingly hot. It seemed as if her knight was actually pulling her through time to be with him.
Katherine...come back to me, my love.
Her eyes widened to once again hear those haunting words inside her head. It was as if he was calling out to her and asking her to do the impossible. Her heart beat wildly in her chest. Her body began to shake all over. She sensed she was actually standing there next to him, even to the point of feeling the soft breeze ruffling her hair. She felt heat radiating from his body as desire coursed through her, knowing he was within reach. Merciful heavens, he was close enough to touch.
She watched in vivid fascination when his grin began to widen, and he held out his hand for her to take. Her own fingers began to tingle in anticipation of that very first touch. A gasp escaped her, and she knew a part of her dream was about to become a reality. She blinked, just to clear her vision from the tears threatening to fall down her checks. But that was a mistake, for she ruined everything by doing so.
Suddenly, she became disoriented, when she was unwillingly ripped back to the present as if she was being tossed about in the turbulent whitecaps of the sea. Wavering on her knees, air rushed back into her lungs while a feeling of desolation at what she had lost consumed her.

ABOUT Sherry Ewing
Sherry Ewing is a self-published author who writes historical and time travel romances to awaken the soul one heart at a time. Her debut historical romance, If My Heart Could See You, hit Amazon’s top ten bestseller list only two days after the paperback release. Always wanting to write a novel but busy raising her children, she finally took the plunge in 2008 and wrote her first Regency. She is a national and local member of Romance Writers of America since 2012 and is currently editing her fourth novel. When Sherry is not busy writing, she can be found in the San Francisco area at her day job as an Information Technology Specialist.

Website & Blog: http://www.sherryewing.com
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Ewing/e/B00LP3CVXK
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherryewingauthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8382315.Sherry_Ewing
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/SherryLEwing
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sherry_ewing