Cover Reveal ~ A Lady Unrivaled

Cover Reveal ~ A Lady Unrivaled

I have been so excited over the covers for my Ladies of the Manor series with Bethany House. The elegance. The simplicity. The colors.

We have oohed and ahhed over Brook in The Lost Heiress.

We have gone ga-ga over Rowena in The Reluctant Duchess. (Because seriously. That. Dress.)

And now, we get our first glimpse of Ella. She’s fun. She’s optimistic. She always, always finds something to smile about…even when no one else can figure out why. And when the world tells her she shouldn’t, well…Ella is still going to love. She is indeed A Lady Unrivaled.

And here she is!

Lady Ella Myerston can always find a reason to smile–even if it’s just
in hope that tomorrow will be better than today. All her life everyone
has tried to protect her from the realities of the world, but Ella knows
very well the danger that has haunted her brother and their friend, and
she won’t wait for it to strike again. She intends to take action . . .
and if that happens to involve an adventurous trip to the Cotswolds,
then so much the better.

Lord Cayton has already broken two
hearts, including that of his first wife, who died before he could
convince himself to love her. Now he’s determined to live a better life.
But that proves complicated when old friends arrive on the scene and
try to threaten him into a life of crime. He does his best to remove the
intriguing Lady Ella from danger, but the stubborn girl won’t budge.
How else can he redeem himself, though, but by saving her–and his
daughter–from those dangerous people who seem ready to destroy them
all?

Influencer Sign-Up for The Reluctant Duchess

Influencer Sign-Up for The Reluctant Duchess

As usual, I’m collecting names of people to receive a copy of The Reluctant Duchess from Bethany House in exchange for helping promote the book (book description is at the bottom of the post).  You can help promote by:

* Posting reviews to Amazon, B&N,
Christian Book, etc.;
* sharing about/reviewing the book on your blog;
* asking your Library to order it; snapping a photo of it on the shelf of a
store and posting;
* sharing on Facebook, Twitter, etc., both about the book once you’ve read it and posting pictures when you get it;
* recommending to a
book club;
* other ideas uniquely your own

Influencers for the first book in the series had first shot at signing up for the second, so my spots are limited and few. The form will only be live until Saturday morning, which is why I gave you notice in my blog on Wednesday of when it would be going live. =)The form is at the bottom of this post, and you can also access it here.

(Due to shipping costs, Bethany House has a US-address-only policy. If you’re an international reader interested in influencing, there are digital versions available; just email me at roseannamwhite at gmail dot com.)

Right now I have about 20 slots open. Those remaining slots will be selected based on your answers to that question of “What will you do to help promote?” so please be sure to tell me about any blogs or places where you habitually post reviews and any super-cool influence you have. 😉

It’s been such a blessing to have a team of happy readers to share in the joys of a book releasing! I’ve so enjoyed getting to know the members of my team with The Lost Heiress and look forward to getting to know some new names and faces too!

Now, what in the world is The Reluctant Duchess about? Well this is the publisher’s description from Amazon:

A Riveting Edwardian Series Set among Britain’s High Society

 Lady
Rowena Kinnaird may be the heiress to a Highland earldom, but she has
never felt good enough–not for her father, not for the man she thought
she’d marry, not for God. But after a shocking attack, she’s willing to
be forever an outcast if it means escaping Loch Morar.

Brice
Myerston, the Duke of Nottingham, has found himself in possession of a
rare treasure his enemies are prepared to kill for. While Brice has
never been one to shy away from manor-born ladies, the last thing he
needs is the distraction of Lady Rowena, who finds herself in a
desperate situation. But when Rowena’s father tries to trap Brice into
marrying his daughter, Brice makes a surprising decision.

Rowena
wanted to escape the Highlands, but she’s reluctant to marry a notorious
flirt. And when she learns that Brice is mixed up in questionable
business with a stolen treasure, she fears she’s about to end up
directly in the path of everything she was trying to avoid.

“With the momentum and drama of a modern
thriller and the charm and intrigue of an Edwardian upper-class romance, White
balances hearty helpings of names, ranks, and family history with highly
entertaining situations and plenty of humor.” ~ Booklist

 

Influencer Sign-Up and News Coming

Influencer Sign-Up and News Coming

I’m so excited! We’re at the 2-months-to-go mark for the release of The Reluctant Duchess. In my world, that means chatting with Bethany House about fun things like bookmarks, personalized tea bags, Facebook covers, and when I can share the cover for the third book in the series.

I’m beginning the process of gathering influencers, so if you’re interested in being on my launch team this time around, be sure to check my blog Friday morning (10 a.m. EST) for a link to the sign-up form! (Last time some folks missed out because the list was filled before they even saw my blog, so this time I’m giving you warning, LOL!) An influencer will get a complimentary copy of the book from Bethany House with the understanding that they’ll help spread the word about the book through reviews, tweets, posts on Facebook, talking to family and friends, requesting libraries carry it, etc.

When The Reluctant Duchess releases, I’ll be having another big giveaway. This one’s piece de resistance will be another necklace. Not crafted by me this time. No, this one is from the lovely folks at Tiara Town.

This red crystal necklace is a fair imitation of the famous Nottingham rubies that play a vital role in the story of Brice, whom readers met in The Lost Heiress, and Rowena, the heroine from the Scottish Highlands. Who grew up in a castle modeled on Eilean Donan.

(No, I’m not sending anyone there as part of the giveaway. If only I were…I’d send myself along with them!)

But that’s not the only fun in the works! Next week I’ll be doing TWO fun reveals. First, the cover for book 3, A Lady Unrivaled. Cover reveal will be on February 9. Then, on February 10, I finally get to share some exciting news about my next series!

So, to sum up:

1. Come back here Friday at 10 a.m. EST to sign up for a few select influencer spots for The Reluctant Duchess, if you’re interested

2. Tuesday, February 9 is the cover reveal of A Lady Unrivaled

3. Wednesday, February 10 you’ll hear about the series I’m working on now



Have a fabulous Wednesday!

Sale!

Sale!

First of all, thanks to all my fabulous readers for sharing about the 1-day-only sale of The Lost Heiress on the 2nd. In unprecedented awesomeness, it skyrocketed to the top of its lists and even cracked the top 100 on all Kindle books! If you heard any strange shouting for joy, that was just me. 😉

And now that the 1-day-only sale is over, I want to share about another sale, this one for my Culper Ring Series (digital editions). These prices will run until January 31st–your chance to snatch up the whole series for under $5!

Otherwise, it’s back to the grind today. School will begin at our kitchen table promptly at 9…and I’m going to use the time until then to work on Giver of Wonders, which is thiiiiiiiiis to “The End”!

See y’all back here soon for some more special stuff I’ll be focusing on this week!

My Big News!

My Big News!

If you want a word of the week today, I’d have to with “surreal”–which is how this big news feels to me. (But did you know it wasn’t a word until 1927??? I guess before that people may have just used unreal. But that doesn’t quite capture it, so special thanks to Monsieur Apollinaire for coining it in French.)
Many of you probably saw my announcement on Facebook on Friday, but if not, I can finally announce the big news I’ve known about since October–Harvest House just bought a three-book series from me!
Now, here’s why this is so surreal. Some of the first Christian fiction I read was by Lori Wick. I discovered her books when I was twelve, and my mom and I would both read all of them, even sharing them with my piano teacher. Those books were what inspired my first novel (finished at age 13). And as I finished that first novel and started dreaming of publication, my eyes naturally moved to the spines of those books I so loved.
Harvest House. Oh, the wonders of a publisher like Harvest House! It seemed everything on my shelf was either from Harvest or Bethany. Surely, surely I could find a home there!
But as the years went by and I learned more about the publishing world, I started to think that, while I would find a great publisher (surely!), it probably wouldn’t be those ones I’d dreamed of for over a decade. And that was okay.
Still, when I had the chance to meet with an editor from Harvest House at the 2009 ACFW conference, I was excited. I pitched to her a contemporary romance, and she read the first few pages right there in the appointment, and declared that my writing was great. I was now excited but also guarded. I knew how long these things could take, and how an enthusiastic editor didn’t always mean anything.
Sure enough, a year went by without hearing anything. I got in touch with this editor and discovered that she’d misplaced the manuscript, so I resent–along with a slew of other proposals for historicals she’d asked to see when I inquired about historical romance possibilities.
But after many months, I got the bad news on that contemporary–they just weren’t doing straight-up contemporary romance. So I said, “Well, what about a historical romance set around George Washington’s first spy ring, during the Revolution?” I’d just had this idea, you see, knew it would be a great follow-up to Annapolis, which had recently been contracted.
She said, “Oh, I’d be interested in looking at that!” So after finishing up a couple other projects, I got to work researching this idea I had. I titled it Ring of Secrets and came up with one of the best one-line blurbs I’ve ever managed:
For a Patriot daughter in Loyalist New York, 
opening her heart could mean a noose around her neck.

I sent it off totally unsure that those first three chapters were any good, but I said, “Eh, it’ll take her a good while to get to it, anyway. I can always send her a revised version . . .”
An hour later I get an email from this editor. I opened it up thinking it would be, “Thanks, got it!” But no–it said, “Call me!!!” Uh . . . okay. 😉
In short, she loved it. Loved it so much that we agreed then and there to meet at the conference we’d both be attending in Oregon in August, and that I’d deliver whatever I had finished at the time. She warned me she wasn’t the type to take things to committee before she’d read the whole thing, but I was so excited to hear her talking of taking it to committee that that didn’t bother me at all. 😉
So in August, she read the 75% of the book I had finished, and her enthusiasm for it left me giddy. In September, she told me when the committee meeting would be, in October. The day of, she emailed me several times making sure she had every detail of information right, and to tell me to pray. Warned me it would be two weeks before I heard.
Then it came–the email from her, to me and my agent, with the words I’d waited 15 years to hear: “Harvest House wants to buy this series!”
My first three-book deal, with a publisher I’ve admired since my introduction in Christian Fiction! I could hardly believe it then, and I can still hardly believe it now, three months of negotiations later. =)
But it’s real. Ring of Secrets (assuming the title doesn’t get changed, which is always a possibility), a fictional account following the real-life, documented activities of Washington’s most trustworthy spies, will release 1 January 2013. Just less than a year from today. Here’s my unofficial description. =)
Winter Reeves is a Patriot daughter forced to hide her heart amid the Loyalists of the City of New York. Though she has learned to don a mask to hide her thoughts, she has also learned to keep her ears open so she can pass information on British movements to her childhood friend and his Culper Ring. Never before has she had a problem hiding her true heart behind an image of brainless beauty. But then, never before had someone seen straight to her soul.

Bennet Lane returns to New York from his Yale professorship with one goal: to find Washington’s spy hidden among the ranks of the elite. Romance was supposed to be nothing more than a convenient cover story for his search, a way to gain entrance to the world he had so long shunned—though women are terrifying, baffling creatures that inevitably render him bumbling. But when he meets Winter, with her too-intelligent eyes under her too-blank face, he finds a mystery too intriguing to be ignored.

In a world where loyalty can be bought and sold, where no one can be trusted, and where threat dangles ever before them, Winter and Bennet must find a way through the snares of intrigue . . . before their secrets can swallow them whole.
Winter and Bennet (and Robert Townsend, Benedict Arnold, and a host of other historical figures) will be a reality soon. Followed every six months by their sequels, which will follow the next generation of both Culper Ring and the family in the War of 1812, and then next-next generation in the Civil War. 😉
Yep . . . definitely surreal. But oh, how I praise Him for it!