Captured by the Pirate Laird by Amy Jarecki‏

Amy has won multiple writing awards and lives in Utah with her husband, Bob. She writes contemporary romance and Scottish historical romance. For fun, she hikes, bikes and plays a mean game of golf. Born in California, Amy holds an MBA from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Web site
Blog
Twitter: @amyjarecki
Facebook
Goodreads

Wed by proxy to a baron old enough to be her grandfather, Lady Anne trudges up the gangway of a galleon that will deliver her into the arms of a tyrant. Crestfallen, she believes her disastrous life cannot get worse—until she awakes to the blasts of cannon fire.

Facing certain death, Anne trembles in her stateroom while swords clash and the chilling screams of battle rage on the deck above. When a rugged Highlander kicks in her door, she prays for a swift end.

But Laird Calum MacLeod has a reason for plundering the ship—and it’s not a stunning English lass. With no other choice, he takes Anne to his crumbling keep on the isle of Raasay and sends a letter of ransom to her husband. In time, Anne grows to understand MacLeod’s plight and finds it increasingly difficult to resist Calum’s unsettling charm—until the baron sends a reply agreeing to terms.

Ripped from passion that will be forever seared into their souls, will Anne and Calum risk everything for love?

Q) What inspired you to write this story?
I have always enjoyed Scottish Historical romance, and my heritage (even my maiden name) is Scottish. I got my MBA at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Anyway, after dabbling in contemporary romance, I tried my hand at Scottish historical romance, and found I had quite a knack for it.

Q) How long did it take you to write?
Captured by the Pirate Laird took about four months. The first three books in the series took about nine months. They’re all 90K word manuscripts…no short books yet, though I’m considering writing a novella.

Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
I love the revision process. It gives me the opportunity to change ordinary prose into something special and make the characters come alive.

Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
Writing to me is an obsession. If I let it, I can become isolated. Of course I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though everyone else in my family will argue. I have to work at not letting my stories and ideas take over my mind.

Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
I would be Monica McCarty. It would be interesting to fill the shoes of my favorite author!

Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
I still have the habanero sauce from my last interview on your site. Is that gross or what?

Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
In 2014 I have five Scottish Historical Romances coming out…the first is Captured by the Pirate Laird, followed by two more in the series, The Highland Henchman and Beauty and the Barbarian. In the fall Turquoise Morning Press will release my Celtic Warrior series, Rescued by the Celtic Warrior and Celtic Maid. I have another Scottish historical series I’m working and hope to roll out in 2015.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Virtue by Amy Jarecki‏

Before college, I was a showgirl. I toured—singing and dancing my way around the world in a review called Follies on Broadway. Several years later, I dreamed up the plot for VIRTUE after I took a cruise to Belize...

How cool would it be to write a romantic suspense about a dancer who falls in love with a hot Belizean man and ends up in more trouble than Indiana Jones?

Web site
Blog
Twitter: @amyjarecki
Facebook
Goodreads

Sheltered, raised in rural Utah, Zoe Marshall has never heard of the Mayan Prophecy of the Golden Goddess—but she’s about to.

At the moment she’s thrilled to have landed her dream job dancing on a cruise ship where she meets Belizean Gabriel AhKin. The sizzling bartender stirs her passion.

When the ship docks in Belize, Zoe disappears—spirited into the bowels of a Mayan cult led by a reclusive fanatic. When the madman sees her, he divines Zoe is the Golden Goddess. She is “the one” to fulfill the prophecy. Now Gabriel’s driving obsession is to save the woman who’s captured his heart.

Book Trailer

Q) What inspired you to write this story?
Before I went to college, I was a showgirl and toured with a review called Follies on Broadway. On a vacation in Belize, it excited and freaked me out to climb through the caves of the Mayan underworld. I asked myself, how cool would it be to write a story about a dancer who gets a job on a cruise ship and ends up in more trouble than Indiana Jones. Voila, a story was born!

Q) How long did it take you to write?
The first draft took about two months…then a month of editing…then a few months of waiting for a contract…then another month of editing. Writing/rewriting all up took about four months.

Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
Writing…LOL…who doesn’t say that? In all honesty, I like the revision process. It gives me the opportunity to change ordinary prose into something special.

Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
Writing to me is an obsession. If I let it, I can become isolated. Of course I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though everyone else in my family will argue. I have to work at not letting my stories and ideas take over my mind.

Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
I would be Albert Einstein. For a day I’d like to be the smartest person on the planet…maybe some of it would stick!

Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
I actually had to walk to my fridge and take inventory. I’m a bit anal about cleaning out my fridge once every two weeks, because my mother had what the family called an “antique food collection”. Sometimes things were just unrecognizable *shudders*. I swear I’m never going to go there. Anyway, the oldest thing in my fridge is a bottle of habanero sauce my husband bought on our honeymoon seven years ago…Does that stuff ever go bad?

Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
In 2014 I have five Scottish Historical Romances coming out…the first is Captured by the Pirate Laird on February 17th. I’m super excited my historical novels will finally be hitting the shelves!

a Rafflecopter giveaway