Dec 31
WINNER OF AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF NATASHA’S TASTE OF HONEY IN ELLORA’S CAVE’S SEASON OF SEDUCTION IV IS Marilyn aka Playground Monitor CONGRATS! Email me and we’ll get your prize right out to you!
Good morning loverlies,
I may be on semi-hiatus until the new year (or a couple days after) but I’d never want to leave you guys bored and alone because I know you’re just hanging around this place pining for me. 
Hush. It’s my blog and I can be delusional if I want to. Anywho. Guess what! DiddyKarenClarice aka 
::diddy:: instant messaged me yesterday and gave me some pretty wonderful news! Seducing St. Nic got a Recommeded Read from Fallen Angel Reviews! 
I know! You can read the entire review here!
And that’s not the only good news! We have a guest blogger today, children. The super awesome Natasha Moore! And she comes bearing goodies. Comment and you’ll be entered to win an autographed copy of her novella Taste of Honey from Ellora’s Cave Seasons of Seduction IV. Go get those comments ready. The usual rules apply. Without further ado, please help me welcome, Natasha Moore!
Oops! Almost forgot! I hope you all have a wonderfully awesome and safe new year!
Love Those Gothics!
I want to thank Emma Petersen for inviting me to chat today. I figured everyone has read enough about setting goals and New Year’s resolutions, so I thought I’d just talk about one of my favorite genres that I read when I was growing up, and my new release that they inspired.
I grew up loving the gothic romances from authors like Mary Stewart and Phyllis A Whitney and Daphne Du Maurier. A young woman, a tortured hero, a secluded house, a hint of danger. Who can resist? What is it about these stories that call to us?
I find I identify with the heroines in these novels. They are usually ordinary women thrown into extraordinary circumstances. They don’t know what to do any more than you or I would. They can’t help but fall for the handsome hero, who is usually tortured by something in his past. And it takes the strength the heroine didn’t know she had to rescue the hero. The secluded house is a way of keeping the hero and heroine together and forcing them to work things out. And if there’s a hint of danger, or a mystery to solve, so much the better.
I loved taking those parts of the traditional gothics and giving them my own twists – including making it hotter than Mary Stewart or Daphne Du Maurier ever would have thought! Here’s the blurb for Dark Angel, which will be released January 1st by Red Sage. Did I hit all the gothic hooks?
Disfigured in an accident that killed his wife, reclusive photographer, Rafael D’Angelo wants to be left alone amid rumors the car crash was no accident. Julie Brightman has been secretly in love with her sister’s husband for years. When a violent thunderstorm strands her at his secluded house, she discovers the man in the mask is not the Rafe she remembers. Trapped together, their happiness is threatened by the past that haunts them and the secrets they keep from each other.
Here’s an excerpt to tempt you:
Rafael D’Angelo paced the widow’s walk atop the roof of his old Victorian house as thunderclouds rolled across the late afternoon sky. Dark and turbulent, they churned like his stormy thoughts.
Irritation at his sister-in-law invading his sanctuary had given way to worry. And the fact that he was now worried irritated him even more. What right did she have to call him out of the blue and announce she was on her way from the airport? She said she just wanted to talk, but Rafe knew she really wanted to ask questions. Wanted to search for meaning in the scattered pieces of his shattered life.
He’d long ago stopped wondering what it all meant. He just didn’t give a damn anymore.
The wind whipped around him; tearing at the sleeves of his black shirt and the hair he didn’t bother to cut anymore. He scanned the swaying tree tops, as if he could see her approach through the thick Pennsylvania forest.
He could smell the rain in the air. There had been little sunshine in the past few months to soothe his tortured soul. Only storms to feed the churning emotions within him. Lightning burst in the distance and it wouldn’t be long, he knew, until it was flashing overhead. The air grew oppressive with humidity and angry thunder rumbled through the air.
The clouds opened up and a driving rain slashed through his clothing. He abandoned the roof and descended the two long, narrow flights of stairs to the main floor.
Thunder crashed, closer this time. It seemed to echo around him, bouncing off the walls and through his skull. An unfamiliar emotion tugged at him beneath the hard shell he’d built around himself. If he didn’t know better, he’d think it was eagerness.
No. That was impossible. It had to be anxiety. He was man enough to admit to himself that he was scared to death to see Julie again. This would be the first time he’d see someone who knew him before his face, and his life, was ruined on a twisted stretch of asphalt along the California coast.
If you love gothics as much I as do – or if you just want a hot read with a sexy, tortured hero – you can check out Dark Angel at www.eredsage.com It’s still on the Coming Soon page today and should be featured as a January release tomorrow. You can check out my other releases at my website www.natashamoore.com.
Happy New Year and I hope 2009 brings wonderful things to you all! Now tell me, do you have any favorite gothic romances? Rebecca? Jane Eyre? I’d love to hear about them.
Natasha
Romance with more…sizzle
www.natashamoore.com
Hey Natasha! Welcome
I have a copy of Rebecca but admit I haven’t read it yet. 
I know, I know. I am ashamed. I didn’t read many gothics but I accidentally wrote one once. LMAO. Didn’t even know I was writing one until you described one. :D
Loved the blurb and loved the excerpt! Congrats! Em
Happy New Year Natasha and everyone. I hope 2009 brings happiness and success for you.
I have to reluctantly admit that I havent had the pleasure of reading your books but after reading this post I do believe that is going to change. I am very intrigued by this book and would really love to get my greedy little hands on it.
I remember reading Mary Stewart books after seeing the movie “The Moon Spinners.” I vaguely remember one about the Lippizan Stallions and another that involved a tree? I loved those dark books but haven’t read one in years. Oh wait — Desire did a series a few years back with dark heroes.
Congrats on the new release! Happy New Year!
Hey Natasha!!!
I just wanted to stop by and say Hi!!!!I lvoe a tortured hero/heroine1!!!!
Okay gotta go get things ready to cook tomorrow. Hugs,
WendyK*romancevixen*
Hi and Happy New Year Natasha. Love gothics, and was pretty happy when I’d heard they’d made a comeback of sorts. You’re right, I can’t imagine Phyllis Whitney, or any of the early gothic writers opening the bedroom door! good stuff then, good stuff now. congrats on the new release. it sounds fascinating.
Helen
E! Congrats on the great review! The “Recommended Read” rating (say that five times fast) is totally deserved.
Hi Natasha! Congrats on the release–I loved gothics growing up and your book looks great. Many happy sales!
Hey Emma! Thanks for having me today :) And congrats on your Recommended Read!
Sara, I hope you pick up some of my stories – if you like sexy and sensual – I hope you’ll be satisfied.
Marilyn! Thanks for stopping by, and that Mary Stewart book is The Ivy Tree! My favorite!!
Great to see you, Wendy! Luckily, I don’t have to cook for tonight or tomorrow :)I’m relaxing! (And getting a little writing done – my favorite thing to do)
Natasha
Well, now we know why I love “Dark Angel” so much. :) I was also an avid reader of gothic romance as a child. I think I must have read “Mistress of Mellyn” about 30 or 40 times in junior high.
Your steamy gothic sounds delightfully chilling and sexy and I’m excited to hear about the title, as I am the President of RWA’s Gothic Romance Writers Chapter and a dear fan of the Gothic, be they the old traditional in the vein of Phyllis Whitney or Barbara Michaels, or the new erotic Gothic style such as your own. Congrats on this book, and may 2009 be filled with more spine-tingling whispers of chills and temptation!
Hey Theresa! I loved Mistress of Mellyn too. :)
Thanks for stopping by, Lise. I’ll have to check out the Gothic Romance Chapter, I honestly didn’t know about it. So glad there are still fans of the Gothic.
@ Katie – Hey Katie Me Matie!
Thanks! I’ve been waiting forever to get one. LOL!
@ Natasha – Thanks Natasha! I’m going to have to check out some of these books.
Hey Helen, sorry I missed your post before. Phyllis A Whitney’s Silverhill is one story I read over and over.
Hi, Katie! Thanks fot the congrats. I’m thrilled to see how many people still love to read them. Hmm, I may have to come up with another gothic idea :)
Ooooooh . . . windswept moors, misty nights, and emotionally tortured alpha males . . . who doesn’t love a good gothic romance? And the whole falling-in-love-with-your-dead-sister’s-husband thing is tres, tres romantic!
LOL, Elle. You can’t beat it :)
And the whole falling-in-love-with-your-dead-sister’s-husband thing is tres, tres romantic!
Maybe it’s just me and the fact that I’ve known my bro-in-laws since I was like 8 but they’re like my brothers. Totally dad-like.
Hi, Natasha! I really didn’t like Jane Eyre that much–I think some of it creeped me out too much! On the other hand, Dark Angel sounds pretty good! Thanks for the excerpt–tortured heroes are good reads! Happy 2009!
Happy New Year, Fedora! Thanks for stopping by.