In the Author Spotlight & Contest

Melissa Blue

CONTEST: I will be giving away two ebook copies of Angel and the Unforgiven. To enter all you need to do is e-mail melissa@melissalynneblue.com. Include the word Contest in the subject heading. I will draw the winner March 24.

AL: Hi Melissa Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Melissa: Thanks, Ann, I’m thrilled for the opportunity to interview here on your blog!

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Melissa: Overall I’d have to say life is pretty darn good! Boring, but good, lol. Aside from working part time as a nurse at the local hospital I am home with my husband, five year old, seven month old, and two crazy dogs.

AL: Confederate soldiers, time-traveling women and roguish Irishmen, oh my! What do you have for us to read?

Melissa: I see you’ve visited my website! And you’ll find plenty to read there…

WITHOUT REGRET, MY LOVE was released last June and depicts a present day nurse traveling back in time and falling fast for a hunky, blue eyed doctor in the Confederate army.

ANGEL AND THE UNFORGIVEN was released March 1st and is a standalone sequel about a handsome sailor and a beautiful murder suspect.

FORGET ME NOT is a Regency set historical romance under contract with literary agent Kevan Lyon so check my website for updates on when this story will be available and from where. The Irish hero in this story is really dreamy.

All of my stories have action, adventure, and heros to DIE for!

AL: What are you currently working on?

Melissa: My most recent project is titled LIGHT TO VALHALLA. It sounds like a Viking story, but it’s actually another Regency historical romance. In Montana we have a lot of mining and one gemstone in particular is the garnet… Last summer I learned that Vikings believed garnets lit the way to Valhalla, and Knight’s in the crusades wore garnets on their shields for protection… In this particular story a series of attempts are made on the life of my heroine and the hero gives her a garnet to symbolize protection.

AL: Have you ever wanted to write your book in one direction but your characters wanted to go in another direction? What did you do in such a situation?

Melissa: Oh, all the time. I have rewritten the beginning of my current project four times! Usually I listen to my characters. Fighting with them gets me nowhere!

AL: Living in Montana, do you often find inspiration just by the countryside that surrounds you, or do you find inspiration elsewhere?

Melissa: I absolutely find inspiration in the countryside around me. Montana is beautiful no matter what time of year or where you happen to be. Right now I can look out my front window and see the Lady of the Rockies on the East Ridge, fluffy white clouds are rolling down the mountainside around her and patches of snow are still clinging to the hillside.

AL: Out of your stories do you have one that is more near and dear to your heart? If so, why?

Melissa: WITHOUT REGRET, MY LOVE is my first and will always hold a special place in my heart, but truthfully I love all of my stories equally and for different reasons. I love all of my heros, and I love that my stories are never predictable with more than romance in every plot.

AL: Are you ready to get personal, Melissa? Best movie you've seen recently?

Melissa: Wolfman. My husband and I had an evening out… ALONE… a couple weeks ago, and it was a great movie. It’s the sort of show we can never watch in theaters because of our little kids so it was especially fun. I’m a chicken at heart and not usually into horror flicks, but I love vamps and werewolves.

Where are my Twilight fans?

Can a storyline get any better? Sexy vampires AND smokin’ hot werewolves…

AL: What annoys you enough to be considered a pet peeve?

Melissa: I’m pretty laid back, the kind of person that is hard on—or competitive with—myself, but not others so I really don’t have a lot of pet peeves. In the writing world I don’t have any. When I’m reading I don’t get hung up on all of the “rules” writers are supposed to follow as far as point of view or when and where to insert back story. Give me a good read and I’m happy.

My pet peeves mostly come in to play in my other career… nursing… I can’t stand excuse making, lying, or people who cannot admit they don’t know something. In medicine the consequences for pride can be dire.

AL: If you could go anywhere in the world and in any time…where would you go? What would you do? And why that time-period?

Melissa: Oh, this is a tough question! I love history. The American Civil War is a period of particular interest so I would definitely want to visit the union and confederate states. I would probably visit dying soldiers in the hospitals and field hospitals… what can I say, once a nurse always a nurse. I would want to see Colonial America… The Salem witch trials… I would want to attend a ball in Regency England and dance with a dapper gentleman while he whispered sweet, refined nothings in my ear. Medival Europe would be fascinating. Ancient Greece and Rome. Oh, and I can’t forget Ancient Egypt! When I was a kid I wanted to become an Egyptologist…still do sometimes!

AL: Spring will officially be here this Saturday. What’s your favorite part of the season?

Melissa: My favorite part of spring is the way the breeze smells sweet and warm even when the air is still chilly. The other thing I am looking forward to is an end to this nasty flu season! My preschooler has been dragging germs home all winter and we have all been sick continually—even the new baby. I’m starting to feel run down and just want some sunshine!

AL: Here’s a fun one… If you were a cartoon, which character would you be?

Melissa: Betty Boop. I used to have a stethoscope name tag with her on it! It was a sad day when I lost it.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Melissa: Those who ignore History are doomed to repeat it—Benjamin Franklin

It’s not the size that counts but the motion of the ocean—who knows who said it first, but my two cents worth are… YEAH RIGHT!

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with joining us this week, Melissa.

Melissa: Thanks again for having me Ann! I’d love to do this again some time.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Melissa please visit:

www.melissalynneblue.com

FEATURED TITLE: ANGEL and the UNFORGIVEN

Blurb:

When murder suspect Cadence Jamison disguises herself as a boy and stows aboard the Heavenly Mistress Captain Curtis Langston may find his two past occasions for rescuing her more than he bargained for.


Bitter and Cynical after service in the Confederate Army, Curtis believes himself no more deserving of another's love than capable of returning it. Content to drift through life free of emotional and therefore romantic complications the once carefree and mischievous rogue may be forever gone. But when Cadence appears in his life Curtis finds himself smiling again, smiling and dreaming and feeling more like himself than he has in five years. Drawn with almost unnatural force to the sweet and innocent goodness Cadence offers, Curtis blunders again and again to resist the pull of what a life with her could be.

Can Cadence show this wounded soul how to love again? Or is he doomed to be forever unforgiven, haunted by the ghosts of his past?

Excerpt:

Cadence didn't know what her next move should be. Curtis had gone from plying her with his kisses to shouting demands and downing shots in the space of minutes. Dare she trust him? Dare she put her very life into his hands? "Curtis," her voice was remarkably steady, "I cannot tell you everything now, but once we reach Europe I swear you will never see me again."

Never see her again? Is that what he wanted? It was a crushing blow to think of never seeing her again, surprisingly so. For a moment he felt terribly off balance. "Cadence," he reached for her, but she cringed away, turning her back with finality.

He murmured her name a second time and it was her undoing. There was no anger or malice in his voice, but moreover there was something pleading, almost broken in his tone. She turned at the door.

"I'm so sorry, Curtis." Briefly their eyes locked and it was sheer magnetism. In an instant he was across the room, and she was in his arms, and he was kissing her. And she was kissing him back.

Who were they to deny the forces of nature?

Her lips parted, his tongue found hers and had she been able to breathe she would have moaned. One arm circled the small of her back fitting her flawlessly against him while the other dipped beneath her knees. She may well have been floating as he cradled her against the warmth of his chest. Even through the heavy woolen sweater she could feel the well honed muscles and the memory of him glistening and naked in the lantern light scattered her senses.

Suddenly she was on the bed, and he was on top of her, and their clothes were falling with alarming speed to the floor. She had no idea what she was doing but where she lacked in experience her body made up for in instinct. Without a conscious thought she responded to every touch and kiss and caress. Somehow in the depths of her soul she knew this was where she was meant to be. And she was lost, doomed to be his for eternity. He tasted of whiskey and it burned upon her lips. His broad hand clasped her hip pulling her more snuggly beneath him.

REMEMBER: CONTEST: I will be giving away two ebook copies of Angel and the Unforgiven. To enter all you need to do is e-mail melissa@melissalynneblue.com. Include the word Contest in the subject heading. I will draw the winner March 24.