A GIFT FROM THE STARS is here!

My latest Regency romance, A Gift from the Stars, is now available.

A Gift from the Stars , Book 1 of The Regency Star Travelers, is a sweet, traditional Regency romance with science fiction elements, 71,000 words.

The Regency Star Travelers--Where the Regency and outer space meet with romance.

BLURB:

A gift from the stars can change your life.

Miss Elizabeth Ashby loves astronomy. She especially enjoys her once-in-a-lifetime chance to observe the Great Comet of 1811. However, her excitement vanishes the night an odd-looking meteor proves to be a sky craft which lands nearby. The man who emerges from the vehicle doesn’t see her, but as he reenters his craft to fly away, he drops a small red stone.

The stone from the stars glows and sends waves of warmth and something else through Elizabeth. Her incipient cold disappears, her illness-prone mother shakes off her maladies, and everyone else who comes near the stone, which Elizabeth wears as a pendant, feels in the pink of health.

Including Mr. Jonathan Markham, who also saw the strange meteor but was too far away to determine what the object was. Gored by a bull, Jon has been show to mend until he meets the enchanting Elizabeth. Does his sudden speedy recovery emanate from his fascination with the desirable lady? Or something else?

A sweet, traditional Regency romance novel with science fiction elements. 71,000 words.

EXCERPT:

To Elizabeth’s right, an ivory moon beam sparkled off a small object. Bending over, she scooped up a polished oval crystal about the size of her thumbnail. A flash of warmth surged through her fingers. Gasping, she jerked back and dropped the stone.

Shivers rocked her entire body. As if this night hadn’t already ripped her view of the universe to shreds, now she found a stone that by all rights should be cold. She wrapped her arms around her waist and concentrated on calming her breaths.

When her shudders finally ceased, she again parted the wet heath to uncover the curious object. Prepared now, she poked the crystal with a tentative finger. Once more, heat rushed through her, but less intensely. The feeling was not unpleasant. With a relieved sigh, she picked up the stone, its warmth a soothing caress along her nerves.

The faceted crystal’s beveled edges gleamed silver in the moon’s rays. What would its color be in daylight? She pressed the stone to her ear. A faint whirring, like the sound the mysterious vessel made, filled her ear.

This crystal looked exactly like the one the man from the sky craft wore. Was it valuable? Would he realize its loss and come back? Should she take it with her or leave it here?

In the distance, a horse neighed. A lone rider emerged from the forest, travelling the Carsington road that ran along the meadow.

The man reined in.

Available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords. Coming soon to Apple, Kobo and Sony. Note, all formats are available on Smashwords.

Thank you all,

Linda
Linda Banche
http://www.lindabanche.com

FORBIDDEN LOVE Releases Early!

Hello Romantics!

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here, and today I have a special reason. I’m here to share my new book with you, actually, FORBIDDEN LOVE is a short science fiction romance (SFR) novella, and it released at Red Rose Publishing Thursday, May 13. That's a week early! It was one of those hard to explain feelings, exhilarating and stressful at the same time. I planned for a May 20 release and had no idea until That morning that Red Rose bumped FORBIDDEN LOVE up a week. I found out through my editor who emailed to tell me. I have to say I jumped around in a frenzy screaming, OMG! Several times. Then I Settled in and got to work. We are authors. We adapt. FORBIDDEN LOVE is now number five on the main Red Rose Publishing bestseller’s list. Sometimes it all works out. Besides the cover art, I have a a blurb and excerpt too. I hope you enjoy it!

Here's the Forbidden Love Blurb:

T’Kon and Maya are galaxies apart, so different yet so much alike…

Exploring the galaxies at faster than light speed (FTL) is routine for the inhabitants of Asconage. T’Kon’s cool-blood culture exists on a planet in the scorch of binary suns. Yet there are governing archaic rules to prohibit interspecies mating with those from different worlds and evolutionary paths.

When T’Kon crashes his spacecraft on Terrain, a seasonal planet barely on the cusp of space travel, he cannot resist Maya, the warm-blooded audacious female who gives him aid. Their desire for each other entices T’Kon to abandon his species moral code.

There is little time to linger inside this illicit passion. The warring factions of her world are closing in. A quick fix of his spacecraft and a fast exit is his best choice. Can T’Kon leave Maya behind and forsake their emerging Forbidden Love?

And for the Forbidden Love Excerpt:

...She was upon him so near he could feel her breath, sense her warmth. She reached out and ran a hand through the air, searching the length of him.

“Maya,” he blew her name on a sigh.

“Take me with you," she implored, as water filled her astounding tawny eyes. "I want to be with you, T'Kon.” She melded her body against his invisible one.

“You know nothing of me or my world."

“Teach me, show me everything.”

He felt her heat burning inside him, yet the absurdity of her request burned brighter. “What you ask is not possible.”

“Will you please become visible so I can look at you?” She asked. “We need to talk about this before you go flying off into the universe.”

He unshielded his body so she could see him. “I cannot take you.”

“Why not? You can’t say it was coincidence that you happened to crash land in my back yard.”

No, an unfortunate accident. The truthful certainty traced across his mind. Yet his arms enclosed her and he lifted her up. Her legs straddled his waist, and he held her close against his body. A fit so right he could not deny it.

“I wish it were not so, but it is,” he whispered, breathing in her pungent scent. “You would not survive on my world.” He dropped his head to taste her lips before she had a chance to counter his words. “Just one last kiss.” Her mouth opened to allow his tongue entry and he explored the soft moistness, losing himself in her tang.

The stars help him. He did not want to leave her.

Without warning, a sudden and dangerous noise yanked T’Kon from his sexual stupor. He sensed peril approaching. In a rapid-fire move, he raised his palm. A copper arch flashed and shimmered before them revealing the entryway to his concealed spacecraft. He dragged her inside. Tapping a pad the opening closed leaving them hidden behind an undetectable shield..
~~~~~

As a romance author, I lean toward the adventuresome in my writing. I love science fiction and all the enticing quantum theories surrounding it. Where characters rush through outer space at Faster than Light speed, (called FTL in Sci-Fi terms) or teleport into another time, and even slipstream into an alternate reality. I like creating sizzling love scenes too with sexy heroes, and captivating heroines. It just seemed natural to combine all these elements together in my stories and write (SFR) Science Fiction Romance.

I hope you enjoy reading FORBIDDEN LOVE as much as I enjoyed writing it!

You can find FORBIDDEN LOVE at the Red Rose Bookstore ~HERE~
As well as the links to the FL title throughout this blog post.

Visit My Website for some interesting facts about Forbidden Love and a Science Fiction Lexicon. Check out My Blog for updates and articles on everything from promoting to writing.

I'm also offering some special prizes for those who comment on any of the blogs on my tour. If you post a comment here, you name will be added to the drawing to take place at the end of my Blog Tour.

See you around the Galaxy!

Kaye Manro

Lady of the Stars is a Finalist in the EPIC 2010 EBook Competition!

My big news!

Lady of the Stars, my Regency time travel, is a finalist in the Science Fiction Romance category in EPIC 's (Electronically Published Internet Connection) 2010 EBook Competition. Complete finalist listing here.

I'm still bouncing around, and I'll probably bounce for a while longer.

I've never finaled in a contest before. While I would love to win, I can be very happy with finaling.

As for reviews, Romantic Times Book Reviews gave Lady of the Stars 4 stars (review here, contains spoilers) and LASR gave it 4 1/2 books (review here, contains spoilers)

All reviews are here:
http://lindabanche.blogspot.com/2009/07/lady-of-stars-reviews.html

And you can buy from here:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/lady-of-the-stars-p-1111.html

BLURB:
A legend spanning time and the man and woman caught in it.

Caroline knows something is wrong the instant she steps from her holiday cottage into that unusual gazebo with two doors. But when a man she knows she will never see again appears outside the gazebo, she flings caution aside and plunges through the back door, crashing into the man--and 1817.

A voyage through time? Impossible. Richard refuses to believe the strange woman's outlandish tale. Still, the lady is lost and alone, and he helps the stranded wayfarer.

But as attraction flares between these two lonely people, Richard's family legend grinds to its ultimate fulfillment--will it bring them together, or tear them apart forever?

EXCERPT:

Caroline followed him into the room she knew was the kitchen and he stepped up to the banked fire.

Fire? Where were the stove and refrigerator? And all the chrome and stainless steel of the ultramodern kitchen she had seen only this morning? This kitchen contained a scarred wood trestle table with several chairs pushed under it. Pots and pans hung on wall racks and reflected the dim firelight. A cupboard stood against the far wall, next to a sink with a pump. A pump?

With shaking hands, she set the lantern on the table and pulled out one of the chairs. She was in trouble, very deep trouble.

As she sank into the chair, she turned her stunned attention to her host.

Unaware of her gaze, he busied himself at the fireplace. His back to her, he placed the candelabrum on the mantle above the hearth, then drew the fire screen to the side of the grate. Dropping onto his haunches, he pulled several logs from the nearby basket, then arranged the wood in a neat pile on the smoldering embers. Almost at once, the flames blazed to full roaring life.

Silhouetted against the light, he straightened, replaced the screen, then removed his hat and tossed it on the table.

Her jaw dropped. Good heavens, the aggravating man was gorgeous. Tall and slim, his broad shoulders tapered to narrow hips and long legs. But where had he found that outlandish outfit? He wore a top hat, out here in the middle of nowhere. His shirt collar was turned up and he wore a huge white tie. And his waist-length, double-breasted jacket had tails, like the one an orchestra conductor wore. Muddy black boots with the tops turned down came up to his knees. Skintight trousers, or were those breeches--of all things?--emphasized every well-formed muscle.

Now if his face matched his form...

What was she thinking? She hadn't felt anything for any man in a long time. Not since...

He turned, and for the first time that night she fully took in his face. She gasped. Had she seen a ghost through the gazebo's back door? "Richard?"

Puzzlement spread over those chiseled features she now saw only in her memories. "How do you know my name?"

Thanks,
Linda
Linda Banche
Regency romance--most with humor, some with fantasy, and occasionally a paranormal
Lady of the Stars--4 stars from Romantic Times, 2010 EPIC EBook Competition finalist, Regency time travel available from The Wild Rose Press
Pumpkinnapper--Regency Halloween comedy available from The Wild Rose Press
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