Black Friday Reads

For those of us in the United States, it's the Black Friday holiday...which isn't a holiday at all, but rather the Friday that happens to be tucked between Thanksgiving and the weekend.  Because many people have the day off, it becomes a natural Christmas shopping day.  Over the last decade or two, it's become a crazy shopping day, with more and more stores encouraging shoppers with sales, promotions, and extended hours.

I'm not a Black Friday shopper.  I'd much rather stay far from the crowds and read.  If you're of the same mindset, give one of these great books a try.

For a taste of holiday romance, there's  Mistletoe Mine by Emily March

Newly engaged to her college sweetheart, Molly Stapleton has one wish for her holiday wedding: get her estranged parents back together. Will they accept this last chance to renew their promises of love—and cherish the gift from the daughter who loves them both?  Available on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble for only 99 cents, this is a novella you're bound to love.

For something completely off the Christmas grid, try a vampire romance.  Susan Sizemore's Primal Cravings is a fun, sexy read set in her Primes world.  If you haven't read her vampire romances, this is a great one to try.  Again, it's available from both Barnes and Noble and Amazon, and it's a full-length story for only $3.99.

If you're craving (ha...craving...I couldn't help using it again!) a romantic suspense, some of my faves are from Christina Dodd.  Her classic novel Lady In Black features a straitlaced lady butler, a powerful billionaire, kidnapping, scads of conflict, and some steamy scenes in a shower.

You can find it by following these links to Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Many of you know that I'm a sucker for historical romances of all kinds.  Though it's not out for a few weeks, I've already preordered a copy of Elizabeth Boyle's upcoming story If Wishes Were Earls, which is the third story in her popular Rhymes With Love series (no worries about reading earlier books to follow the story, though...you can read them in any order.)

Amazon has it on sale right now for only $4.74 for the Kindle version (though it could pop up to regular price at any time) and it's $4.99 for Nook at Barnes and Noble.

Finally, I've become completely addicted to author Julie Anne Long's Pennyroyal Lane historical romances.  The latest (and so far, my favorite!) is It Happened One Midnight.  Devastatingly romantic and very well-written, it'll make you a Julie Anne Long fan, too.  You can find it for only $4.74 for Kindle and $4.99 for Nook.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend filled with great books...whether you choose to shop from home, or face the crazy crowds!

Giveaway Winners and Sneak Preview of Honeymoon With a Prince

Thank you to everyone who entered the Goodreads contest for an Advanced Reader Copy of Honeymoon With a Prince which is book #2 in the Royal Scandals series.  The winners were Linda B. of Erie, PA, Karen E. of Fresno, CA, and Mary R. of Greensboro, NC.  The ARCs will go out today via Priority Mail, so look for them later this week.

And if you didn't win, no worries!  Honeymoon With a Prince, which features Prince Massimo Barrali, will be out on December 3.  Want a quick preview? Look below...

The man was unbelievably direct.  He also smelled unbelievably good.

The soft fabric of his shirt tickled the bare skin of Kelly’s back in the sensitive spot just below the tie of her sundress.  As if linked by a direct connection, the skin on her arms pricked to gooseflesh.
She imagined he didn’t suffer rejection often.

“I’m not sure it’d be wise,” she said, using the excuse in order to gauge his intentions.  She had no idea if asking a man into one’s home after a date carried the same implication in Sarcaccia it sometimes had in the States.  It was obvious he wanted to carry on their flirtation; how much further he wanted to carry it was the question.  Let alone how much further she wanted to carry it.  “Is it safe?”

“Safe as you were on the patio at Giulia’s.”

“We weren’t exactly alone on the patio.”

“We won’t be alone now, either.  Gaspare is here.”

“He is a good chaperone.”  She flicked a look at the dog, whose ears perked up at the mention of his name though he didn’t stir from his sprawl across the back seat.  “Of course, you realize that I don’t know the most basic things about you.  For instance, what’s your last name?”

His eyes crinkled at the corners, as if the question intrigued him.  “Barrali.”

“Massimo Barrali.  I like it.  It’s strong.”  Just like the man.  Forceful, yet somehow elegant.  Hearing the name from her own lips pricked a memory.  “Is Barrali a common name here?  Isn’t that the name of the royal family?”

“It is, and it’s common enough.  Lots of Barralis in Sarcaccia.  But no one with the last name Chase, I don’t believe.”  When she smiled at that, he continued,  “What else do you want to know?”

Goodreads Members: Honeymoon With a Prince Giveaway

If you're a member of the booklovers' social media site Goodreads, don't miss the giveaway running from now through Monday, November 25 for an Advance Reading Copy of my upcoming book Honeymoon With a Prince.  Follow the link below for more information, and good luck!

 
 

    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

       
   

   

     

          Honeymoon With a Prince
     

     

          by Nicole Burnham
     

     

         
            Giveaway ends November 25, 2013.
         

         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         

     

   

   

      Enter to win

Now Available: Royal Scandals

Ready to sink in to a couple of stories about billionaire royals?  I'm thrilled to announce that the first book in my new Royal Scandals series, Scandal With a Prince, is now available at retailers everywhere, including Amazon, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

Scandal With a Prince tells the story of Prince Stefano Barrali, who discovers the woman he once loved is now living in Barcelona...and gave birth to his child.  It's a sexy tale of love and redemption set in the Gothic alleyways and markets of southern Spain. 

New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd says of the series, "Great food, great sex, exotic locale, and royal scandals...Enjoy!"

To kick off the series, there's also a prequel e-book novella available.  For the month of November only, you can grab Christmas With a Prince for only 99 cents! As with Scandal, Christmas With a Prince is available at Amazon, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.  It tells the tale of Gabriel Maddox, a Boston-bred lawyer who realizes that he's in love with his best friend's sister and pursues her all the way to the Mediterranean island of Sarcaccia...only to see her with a handsome prince by her side.  Set at the Barrali family's winery during a holiday wedding, it's sure to get you in the Christmas spirit.

Then, in December, look for book two in the series, Honeymoon With a Prince, which features Stefano's battle-weary brother, army veteran Prince Massimo Barrali.

I can't wait to hear what you think of the new series!

Giveaway: Honeymoon With a Prince

This month will see the release of the first novella and first full-length book in my new Royal Scandals series, Christmas With a Prince and Scandal With a Prince.

If you’d like the latest info on these books, please visit the all new www.nicoleburnham.com and sign up for my Nicole Burnham e-newsletter. Since the Royal Scandals books have more mature content than what is in my Niki Burnham YA novels, future updates on the series will be sent via the Nicole newsletter rather than to my Niki Burnham e-newsletter list (since those who read YA may not read romance and vice versa.)  

As a bonus, I'll do a giveaway on November 20 of an advanced reader copy (ARC) of the second book in the series, Honeymoon With a Prince, to a member of the Nicole Burnham newsletter list.  

I can't wait for this new series, and hope you can't either!

Introducing Royal Scandals

Big day of firsts here.

The first "first" happened across the pond.  Prince George was christened at St. James's Palace.  Snaps here.  Gorgeous gown on George, and mom and dad weren't looking bad, either!

The second "first" happens tonight in Boston.  Game one of the World Series between the Red Sox and Cardinals is set for an 8:07 pm first pitch at Fenway Park.  It's supposed to be chilly, so I'll be watching on television and cheering on the team with the crazy beards.  (Hey, if it works, it works.  It's not for us to question why.)

"First" number three is the one nearest and dearest to my heart.  It's the first day for my all-new Nicole Burnham website.  For the last few years, I've written books for teens under the name Niki Burnham while "Nicole" has been on hiatus from writing romance novels.  No more!  Next month, look for the first books in an all-new series of royal romances. 


If you enjoyed the San Rimini series I wrote for Silhouette, you're going to love Royal Scandals.  The series follows the wealthy Barrali family, who rule the idyllic Mediterranean island nation of Sarcaccia.  In November, look for a novella titled Christmas With a Prince, and book one in the series, Scandal With a Prince.  Then in December, book two, Honeymoon With a Prince, hits the stands. 

As you might guess, I've been waiting a long time to share this news.  I hope you're as excited to see these books as I am!

Want a sneak peek?  I just posted an excerpt from Scandal With a Prince to my new website.  Give it a read and let me know what you think.  Then look for Royal Scandals, beginning in November!

Royal Christening

Though it's not drawing the kind of press coverage seen when Kate Middleton was due to deliver the royal heir, tomorrow is another big event for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge:  the christening of Prince George.  If this were a romance novel, it would be one of those events where guests would coo over the baby and smile for the cameras, but all kinds of shenanigans would happen behind the scenes.  (And aren't those scenes the best?)

According to The Telegraph, Prince George's christening ceremony will be an intimate one, with room for only fifty family members and guests at the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace.  By contrast, hundreds attended Prince William's christening in the early 1980s.  In another break with tradition, rather than wearing the christening gown originally designed for Queen Victoria, Prince George will wear a replica designed by Angela Kelly, who is Queen Elizabeth II's personal assistant and stylist.  (The gown worn by Victoria is now considered to fragile to be worn, even by a royal.)

How do you think George's christening will compare with that of other recent royals?  For a look back, check out these great photos, courtesy of The Huffington Post. As cute as the infants are, the parents' fashions are great eye candy, too.

Royal Baby Names

Because I've written (and continue to write) stories that feature royal romances, keeping an eye on the happenings in London is an occupational hazard. With Kate Middleton due to deliver a new heir to the British throne any day, I decided to poll a slew of author friends about their predictions for the royal baby name (and whether they think Will and Kate will have a boy or a girl.)

What do you think? Add your own predictions in the comments! If you have a reason for a particular name, let me know.

My picks:

For a Boy:  Arthur
For a Girl:  Charlotte
Boy or Girl?  Girl

- Note:  My husband says there's no way Will and Kate would name a baby Arthur, because King Arthur creates rather high expectations.  My response? "Oh, because William is easy? As in William the Conqueror?" Time will tell.  Besides, I don't think it'll matter, as the baby will be a girl named Charlotte.

Picks from other authors:

•  Linda Winstead Jones, author of The Shades Trilogy (Shades of Midnight, Shades of Winter, Shades of Scarlet):

For a Boy:  Edward
For a Girl:  Diana
Boy or Girl?  Girl

•  Erin Downing, author of None of the Regular Rules:

For a Boy:  George
For a Girl:  Hermione (with a middle name of Diana)
Boy or Girl?  Boy

•  Virginia Kantra, author of Carolina Home:

For a Boy:  James
For a Girl:  Grace
Boy or Girl?  Boy

•  Emily March, author of Reflection Point:

For a Boy:  Phillip
For a Girl:  Alexandra
Boy or Girl?  Girl

•  Susan Sizemore, author of Memory of Morning:

For a Boy:  Phillip
For a Girl:  Diana (with a middle name of Elizabeth)
Boy or Girl?  Don't care as long as it's healthy and looks more like mom's side than dad's.  (Ed. note:  Hilarious...I think I'll count that as "girl.")

•  Elizabeth Boyle, author of And the Miss Ran Away With the Rake:

For a Boy:  Phillip
For a Girl:  Elizabeth (Ed. note:  So predictable...)
Boy or Girl:  Of course it's a girl!

and finally, a prediction from Christina Dodd, author of Lady in Black:  

For a Boy:  William        

For a Girl:  Christina (Ed. note:  Hmmmm...do I detect a pattern here?)     

Boy or Girl:  Girl
-- Christina also predicts that Her Royal Highness Princess Christina will be born on July 14.    Wonder where she got that birthdate? Because I can guess....

Just for fun and in keeping with today's royalty theme, I thought I'd share the cover of my very first book, a now hard-to-find royal romance called Going to the Castle. Check out the heroine's hairstyle. (You can click on the cover if you want a closer look.)

Trivia moment:  When the publisher's art department asked me to describe the heroine's dress, I sent a photo of a gown worn by Princess Diana in the late 90s. They ended up using that exact gown on the cover.

While I like the dress on the original cover, I think I like the cover of the Japanese manga version better overall.


Think the royal baby will grow up to look like any of these characters? My guess:  Not a chance. I'm also willing to bet it won't have either of these characters' names, which are Jennifer and Antony.

One Bed, Four Stories

I admit, I'm a voracious reader when it comes to novellas.  I love stories I can finish in an evening, but that feel 'complete' when I finish that last page. This month, I want to give you a heads-up about a must read for fans of romance novellas: Check out the ONCE UPON A PILLOW series by New York Times bestselling authors Connie Brockway and Christina Dodd. It's one of the best novella collections I've read in a long time and the concept blew me away.

The stories each stand alone--you can read one story or read all four, and in any order--and are centered around a magnificent bed and the people who've owned it through the ages. The stories were released once a week over the last four weeks and the final story in the collection, Christina Dodd's Last Night, is available as of today. Of course I grabbed it immediately and dove in.

Here's the official blurb on Last Night :

The man in her house is a stranger to her, a danger to her ... and the one man she should never love. What events of passion and peril could occur on this, their last night at historic Masterson Manor? 

If you've never read books by either Connie Brockway or Christina Dodd, this is a great chance to try their work at a fantastic price. Each story is only $2.99 on Kindle, Nook, or iTunes.  Here are the Kindle links:


First Knight 



Kidnapped




Her Captive



Last Night

Feel free to post your thoughts on these (or novella reading in general!) to the comments.

Senior Assassin - Yay or Nay?

If you've read my YA romantic comedy Shot Through the Heart, you're familiar with Senior Assassin.  For those who aren't, it's a game played in high schools and colleges across the country--often by senior classes, fraternities, and other groups--where players eliminate each other by using water guns, nerf guns, stickers, or other means.  It was created solely for fun, though it's often used by groups as a team-building exercise.  (For more details, check out my earlier blog on the subject here.)

Yesterday, a group of teens from Thomas Jefferson High School in Pleasant Hills, PA, drew concern for their play.  You can check out an article on it here, from CBS Pittsburgh or a video from the local news station, WTAE.

What do you think?  Is it ever okay to play a game like this given the gun discussion in the United States?  If so, are there ways to make it both fun and safe?  Does your school have an event like this?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Happy Birthday, Fabio

I've never had a Fabio bookcover--his heydey occurred before I was published and most of my books aren't the type to feature Fabio covers anyway.  However, I thought this article honoring his 54th birthday with a retrospective of his covers was a hoot.

Enjoy!

Fabio's 54th Birthday Is Just A Good Excuse to Revisit His Best Book Covers