“No more training tonight,” I told him warily. “I’m not up for it.”

Verek shook his head and squatted beside me. The muscles in his thighs bulged beneath the fine fabric covering them. “I’m here to serve summons on you, my lady.”

My lady? Usually he called me ‘Princess’ and only in the most mocking of tones. “That’s a little formal isn’t it?” I laughed. Verek didn’t. So I sat up. “Shit, Verek. What kind of summons?”

He sighed. “Tonight you will stand before the Nightmare council and face inquiry into your actions.”

My heart gave a thud. “My actions? What I have I done?”

He looked almost sympathetic. “The Warden was there when you brought Noah into our world, Dawn. You broke the rules and now you must stand before the counsel and explain yourself.”

Explain myself? Part of me wanted to tell him just what he could do with his summons – what the Warden could do for that matter. I hadn’t known when I brought Noah into the Dream Realm during our fight against Karatos that it was something I wasn’t allowed to do, never mind that it had been something I shouldn’t be able to do.

How could they punish me for doing something no one ever thought possible? But apparently it fell under some rule about not endangering humans. Please, I had been trying to save Noah, not hurt him.

“This is bullshit,” I told him. “The council is freaked out by me and is looking for a way to keep me under control.” I was daughter of the lord of this realm! Just who did this Warden person think he was?

“What if I refuse?” I asked.

Verek’s rugged features hardened. “Then I am to bring you back to the castle in shackles to await the proceedings.”

“My father won’t stand for that.”

Now he looked downright pitying. “It was your father who gave the order.”

Oh, damn.

Kathryn Smith 2009

Want more? DARK SIDE OF DAWN  will be on shelves Nov 24th! Haven’t read book #1? BEFORE I WAKE is available at bookstores and online.

1. A masked ball is a very convenient locale to begin an anonymous seduction, especially if your duke is easily identified in his costume. Only take care that your disguise is not quite so easily penetrated.

2. Should you engage in a second encounter with your duke, be sure to leave behind a memento of the occasion on the pillow for him to find the following morning.

3. Do not be jealous if your duke seems enamored of your alter-ego. It was, after all, what you planned.

4. Be careful what you wish for.

5. It’s hard to have a future with a man haunted by his past.

6. One should always improve oneself through a variety of reading materials, especially risque periodicals.

7. Always have a robe handy. You never know when the duke’s brother might barge in.

8. When the duke asks you to marry him, say yes. Chances are he wants the marriage as well, despite acting as though he’s leading you to slaughter.

9. A strong back bone never goes out of style.

10. A man worth having is worth fighting for — and with.

CONTEST!!! Give me YOUR rules for When Seducing a Duke! As many or few as you would like. One lucky poster will win a copy of The Pearl,  the scandalous periodical upon which Rose’s favorite naughty magazine, Voluptuous is based! Contest closes Oct 30th @ 12 midnight EST. Good luck!

After all, a romance focuses on an intense period of lives of two lovers. Babies and animals can seem to be thrown in for the heck of it, something akin to the cheap thrill of a Hallmark card with a puppy on the front. Mind you, I love puppies – here’s my picture of Oyster, which I found on-line somewhere while trolling for puppies.

So I made up a rule for myself when I thought up Oyster, Eleanor’s little pug.

Oyster could be in the novel, but he had to have a crucial place in the plot. He couldn’t simply be a live accessory, a dog who appeared only for the sake of generating cute images in the reader’s mind. My model? Jennifer Crusie’s use of dogs, especially in my favorite Crusie novel, Crazy for You. The dog in that novel instigates the break-up of the heroine and her stalker boyfriend. In fact, the stalker’s craziness is accelerated by the presence of the dog – and as his mental state continues to break down, the dog is the tool Crusie uses to reveal the stalker’s innate cruelty and instability.

Well, I had an unstable character too, though in a very different way, and I thought that a dog might be just the way to reveal her inner self. But how to do it? Obviously, sweet little Oyster was going to have to be put in harm’s way. Enter the wonderful Connie Brockway, who knows everything about dogs!

I called her up and she told me exactly what physical symptoms a dog would show after being knocked unconscious. It allowed me to make that scene so intensely visual that though it’s only been ten days since the book was published, I’ve already received over a hundred emails, mostly talking of that one scene.

My newest project is a fractured version of Cinderella. It’s proving quite tough. A short list of my problems: Cinders herself is a bit pathetic, the prince is a black hole in the story, and then there are all those animals! If you go with the original story, you have rats and mice. If you go with Disney, you get a few other animals thrown in… either way, I’m obviously stuck with some more four-legged characters.

So what’s your favorite romance with a dog – or another pet? How does the animal work within the plot? Just what would YOU do with the rats in Cinderella?

After I’d completed writing THE INFAMOUS ROGUE (August 2009), I still wanted to pen more about Captain James Hawkins and sassy Sophia Dawson. The tale seemed unfinished to me. I had sketched their pasts in back-story that appeared in THE INFAMOUS ROGUE, but my editor had asked me to cut those scenes from the book as she felt they slowed the story’s otherwise lively pace.

And so, with even less about James and Sophia’s stormy love affair in print, I knew I had to keep writing. I submitted a proposal for a novella, MISTRESS OF PARADISE (a first for me). The proposal for the prequel was accepted and I went straight to work, penning James and Sophia’s first love affair … on the island of Jamaica. Why Jamaica? Why not England? I have author Jean Rhys, and her fabulous book WIDE SARGASSO SEA, to thank for that.

After reading about historic Jamaica in the book, I fell in love with the setting. It seemed right to set off for the West Indies. And I’m so glad that I did! The sultry island setting is as much a character in the novella as the protagonists. The steamy nights reflect the characters’ steamy affair. And their subsequent heartache—in paradise—serves as an emotional climax impossible to achieve in any other landscape.

What’s your favourite setting in a romance book? What setting would you like to see in a romance book?

In my current release, ONE RECKLESS SUMMER (the first book in my new Destiny series), Mick Brody ranks right up there as one of the most tortured guys I’ve ever written. Mick had a very rough home life growing up, with abusive parents and a dangerous older brother who drew Mick down a dark path, but the worst thing for Mick is that when the story begins, he has a big, big, life-or-death-size secret – and it becomes an even bigger problem for him when the heroine, Jenny Tolliver, finds out. Of course, I can’t tell you what the secret is, but I hope you’ll pick up the book and find out for yourself. That’s right – beneath that beautifully relaxing summery cover (I love it and can’t quit looking at it) lurks some very emotional stuff.

So who are some of your favorite tortured heroes? And why do you love them? From book, movie, or TV, what agonized hero makes you just ache for him?

And meanwhile, if you want to learn more about ONE RECKLESS SUMMER, just visit me online at www.ToniBlake.com, where you can read an excerpt and learn more about the book.

KS: Some Like it Wild has a highwayman hero — certainly a favorite amongst romance readers. What do you think is the appeal of the highwayman?
 
TM: I think almost any outlaw has his romantic appeal, whether he be pirate, highwayman or western outlaw.  First of all, he can kidnap you and carry you away without risking a restraining order. And who doesn’t want to be the woman whose steadfast love coaxes him into her arms and away from a life of crime? 
 
KS: I know you’re a Buffy fan. Have any shows filled the void since BtVS went off air?
 
TM: I adore LOST so I guess I’d have to say that Sawyer has filled the snarky, vulnerable, anti-hero hole in my heart left by Spike.  One has a British accent and one a Southern drawl, but they’re both blond and irresistible! My other favorites at the moment are probably LOST and 24. I also just discovered VERONICA MARS on DVD and will have to say it’s probably the closest to Buffy in tone and my affections. Oh, and I’m in love with almost all of the guys on STARGATE: ATLANTIS!  
 
KS: Your books always have plenty of humor in them. Do you consider yourself a funny person?
 
TM: Humor was always a defense mechanism in our family so…yes.  
 
KS: So, your mind is sent back in time and put in the body of a 14 year old you. Knowing what you know now, who will it be: Donny or David? Puppy Love or a Partridge?
 
TM: Sigh, I still love me my SOUND MAGAZINE album by the Partridge Family and think David Cassidy was actually a pretty amazing vocal talent but Donny was my first love so and has turned out to be a wonderful human being and family man so I’d still have to stick with my Donny.
 
 KS: Russell Crowe called and wants to read one of your books. Which one would you volunteer to read aloud to him?
 
TM: Definitely YOURS UNTIL DAWN! I finished the book right before seeing MASTER AND COMMANDER and that’s when I realized Russell would have made an amazing Gabriel and developed the first stages of RCO (Russell Crowe Obsession).

KS:  Your newest book, Her Notorious Viscount has a hero (Nicholas) who can kick serious butt. Is he based on anyone in particular?
JP: Well, I’m a huge UFC fan, so I think he’s a bit of a compilation of all my favorite fighters, but he ends up sort of just being his own person. Still, I think my love of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) influenced the story pretty heavily (and the dedication).
 
KS: Who is the most embarrassing celebrity crush you’ve ever had?
JP: Okay… deep breath. Donny from New Kids on the Block. There. It’s out. 
 
KS:  What comes first for you, character or plot?
JP: Generally, character and as that develops a skeletal plot can really get fleshed out. Once I know the way my characters will react, then the next actions sort of flow naturally.
 
KS: If Her Notorious Viscount was made into a movie, name three songs that would be on the soundtrack.
JP: It’s a historical… so probably it would be a bunch of classical music, honestly. I don’t write with music, so I never really think about songs that go with a book. Readers, what do you think?
 
KS: What is the one TV show you refuse to miss?
JP: I didn’t miss one episode of Battlestar Galactica, but now it’s off the air (pout). I’m big on Fringe right now, Lie to Me and I’m heavy into Amazing Race. Plus, we almost always get every UFC Pay-Per-View (see, I said I was a fan).

To see the covers for next month’s books, or to see what you might have missed last  month, click here, or click the Our Books link at the top of the page.

And the first book they’re discussing is HER NOTORIOUS VISCOUNT by Avon Romance author Jenna Petersen, on sale Tuesday March 31st! Discussion starts on Tuesday, but you can always pop by before that and check it out.

Avon Reading Group

Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson

Historical Romance
Duchess by Night by Eloisa James
In Bed with the Devil by Lorraine Heath
Where the Heart Leads by Stephanie Laurens

Paranormal Romance
The Undead Next Door by Kerrelyn Sparks

Regency Historical Romance
Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn
The Edge of Desire by Stephanie Laurens
Three Nights of Sin by Anne Mallory

Romance Novella
“Only You” by Jacquie D’Alessandro in It Happened One Night
“The Fall of Rogue Gerard” by Stephanie Laurens in It Happened One Night

Best of luck to you all, ladies!