The Lady and the Libertine now on Kindle

The seventh book in my Khamsin Warriors of the Wind series is now on Kindle! Click here.

My next project is to upload the other five books onto Kindle, and to upload all seven of the books onto Smashwords.

My goal is to do this by RWA the end of June.

Today is the official release day of my seventh Egyptian historical, THE LADY AND THE LIBERTINE.

I like this book. I may like Nigel, the wicked hero, best of all. In this historical, a wicked earl plots to seduce a virginial beauty in order to steal the treasure she guards in Egypt. But will she steal away his heart, which he keeps as carefully guarded?

You can read an excerpt of the book here on my website.

Or, if you want to read an interview I did at Dorchester with the wild and wicked hero, click here.

If you're attending the Romantic Times convention in Orlando in April, you can meet Nigel in person when he's portrayed by one of the cover models in the Mr. Romance competition.

You can read more about The Lady and the Libertine, and my other new release, Broken Souls in the Midnight Cravings anthology, over at the Silk and Shadows blog. Click here. Leave a comment to be eligible to win an autographed copy of Midnight Cravings.

Happy reading!

Crazy ass road, The Lady and the Libertine contest

We returned to Bainet Thursday and saw the family we'd visited on our last visit. Brought a bunch of food and other stuff. The father was so happy to see us, and so grateful.

That was a good thing.

On our way back to PAP, our field manager, who was driving, opted for a short cut. It was supposed to take 45 minutes instead of taking the 1.5 hours the other road took to get to National Highway Number 2 to return to the capital.

I dubbed this road, of which photos are featured here, the "crazy ass road." It started out smooth, then got ridiculous. Instead of 45 minutes, it took us 2 hours! 2 hours to drive 37 kilometers.

Still, the scenery was pretty. Haiti has so much potential.

Then we saw this sign. Good Bye in French. We looked at each other like, Uh, good bye from where?

Where the hell were we? LOL

Eventually we made it back.

Now I'm home and exhausted. Tiger is doing ok after this past Monday's scare. I'm just glad I'm home so that when we have to do what we must, I'll be there and Dh won't have to face it alone like we feared he did on Monday.

Tomorrow, Sunday, I have an interview over at the UH blog about my April historical, my last Egyptian book, THE LADY AND THE LIBERTINE. Click here to check it out. I'll be giving away a copy of The Scorpion and Seducer.

And for now, I'm not blogging for a while. I need to focus on me, and concentrate on trying to regain myself. This was a tough trip and it's going to take a while to recover.

Hump Day Hunk

Yeah, I think Sawyer is cuter than Jack. Plus that bad boy edge that's so appealing. Taping LOST tonight, my new addiction.

Good news about our older dog! Right now he doesn't need very expensive eye surgery. The meds are working. Depending upon what happens at the vet's exam tomorrow with him, I will probably be at RT next month. My plan is to attend only for Friday and Saturday (the booksigning). Since The Lady and the Libertine, my April release, is probably my last Egyptian historical, I think I should do a signing.

Right now I'm buried with the day job, trying to schedule a Haiti trip for the next two weeks, dog health issues, and writing the Nocturne due very very soon.

I have mixed feelings on halting the Egyptian historicals. I love writing them, but I'm exhausted this year and something has to give. Since the day job is my bread and butter, that something had to be romance novels.

In other news, my website is in the process of being updated, and will include an excerpt from The Lady and the Libertine. Also, the Nocturne authors in the April anthology MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS will be doing a book giveaway in April. Lori Devoti, Karen Whiddon, Michele Hauf, Anna Leonard, Vivi Anna and myself all have stories in this trade paperback, and on our respective blogs, we'll be holding a contest. Stay tuned for more details!

RT gives THE LADY AND THE LIBERTINE four stars!

Here's the review:

"An exotic backdrop sets the stage for Vanak's newest novel. With a few twists, she combines an English lord, scarred in body and soul; an illegitimate young Englishwoman; a ruby and enough adventure, pathos, secrets and betrayal to keep you turning the pages of this sexually charged romance.

Summary: Lord Nigel Wallenford, Earl of Claradon, is a thief, a liar and a scoundrel. He's also in need of a great deal of money. Anne Mitchell began her young life in a workhouse in England. Sent to Egypt by her father, she is now known as Karida, guardian of a ruby that is the key to a sacred treasure -- a ruby that Nigel is intent on stealing.

Fate takes them on a journey filled with great passion, secrets, betrayal and danger. Though Nigel fights his feelings for Anne, she is determined to help him overcome the demons that torment him. Can she teach him to unlock his heart, to love and prove that she will always be his? (LEISURE, Apr.,
320 pp., $7.99) HOT "

First review for THE LADY AND THE LIBERTINE

Marilyn Rondeau, at C2K KWIPS AND KRITIQUES gave four and a half clovers in this review for The Lady and the Libertine, my April Egyptian historical. Woo hoo!

“Nigel Wallenford’s reputation of being an incorrigible thief, libertine, and liar was clearly shown right from the very beginning of this book and it appears he is not ready to redeem himself. Nigel needs money and if he must steal from an innocent in order to achieve his aims, he would.

Anne Mitchell, was born illegitimate; raised in a workhouse; sold by her mother; then packed off by her father to the East. Living with the Khamsin, Anne was known as Karida and was adopted and loved by new parents. Not until she was entrusted with a great secret did she find the one thing she could call her own – honor and belief in herself. But would her new found passion for Nigel destroy what she cherished or give her the happiness she had long yearned for?

Award winning author Bonnie Vanak continues her fascinating Egyptian series with her seventh book featuring the disreputable and notorious twin brother of the hero from THE SCORPION AND THE SEDUCER. Vanak showed Nigel to be a truly disreputable human being giving a complete picture as to how he wound up being the way he was. His childhood and the treatment from parents who should have shown him love, rather than disdain was carefully woven into the storyline so that the reader could easily feel empathy towards him and rejoice when the love and acceptance from Karida helped him to rediscover his good side and overcome his own feelings of inadequacy.

As always, Vanak creates her romantic scenes with daring sensuality and the intimate scenes between Nigel and Karida were no exception. Especially well done was the initial scene when Karida revealed the burn scars received during her childhood after falling into a fire. Vanak has a knack for creating strong , imperfect heroines and her characterization of Karida bears witness to her genius in giving life to her unforgettable characters.

The author kept the non-stop action perfectly paced and flowing well along with the suspense of whether Nigel would or could change his wicked ways and become a better man. Vanak also includes a scrupulously good amount of historical research making this series as well as this installment a highly entertaining and recommended read.”

New blog, post on Harlequin's paranormal blog

Some news to report.

First, I blogged over at Harlequin's paranormal blog about Enemy Lover, and how I came up with the idea for flying werewolves. Check it out here.

And speaking of werewolves, I have great news - a release date for Raphael's book! That Nocturne is called IMMORTAL WOLF and will be out next fall.

Now switching to Egypt and historicals: THE LADY AND THE LIBERTINE is my next Egyptian historical. The hero is an earl who is a rogue, and a libertine and a thief. The heroine is a woman who was raised in an English workhouse, and then sent to live in Egypt with the Khamsin. The ruby necklace she wears is the key to a fabulous treasure, and the earl desires to steal it, and her virginity as well. But will she steal away his heart?

I'm blogging about Egypt next week for the new blog some fellow authors and I have launched. The Chatelaines features Emily Bryan, Cindy Holby, Jennifer Ashley, CL Wilson (Cheryl), Gerri Russell, Joy Nash and me!

Click here and let us know what you think of the banner. I think it's very clever and funny. I'm walking like an Egyptian!

The Lady & the Libertine

Here's the cover to my April historical. It's the scene where he's trying to steal her necklace, which is the key to a fantastic treasure hidden in Egypt's sands.

Good news

This is the music box I bought a few months ago when DH and I were at the Flagler Museum. I was writing THE LADY & THE LIBERTINE and wanted inspiration for that time period at the turn of the century.

The music box became an inspiration to shape the hero's character. I don't always use props when I'm writing, but this one worked out well.

Anyway, forget the pretty music box. (I collect them, BTW). Look what it's sitting upon.

MY BOOK IS DONE!

I'm mailing it out today to my editor. It's done, done, done!

I'm blissfully happy. I made it!

Now for some more good news...

This week, I accepted an offer to write two more Silhouette Nocturnes, plus another Nocturne Bite.

YAY!

The first book is called DEADLY TOUCH, and features a Draicon you'll meet in Enemy Lover in November. Raphael is a very cool, Cajun, Harley-riding Draicon werewolf.

The only thing is, gulp... that book is due in October. I have two months to write it.

Sooooo I'm going to be super busy the next two months, and probably neglecting things, like email, etc.

BTW, Annie, who just emailed me asking if I'm going to write any more Draicon books? Your email address bounced twice. I tried to respond, and the answer is yes.

Okay, off to mail this puppy, and then DH and I are going bike riding. My reward.

YAY!!!

Rip it up

Ahhhh, yes....

I'm very proud of myself. I destroyed the first part of my book due in two weeks.

It was fully intentional. I had written a prologue that turned into a first chapter. I put aside the book and when I looked at it again, it really bugged me.

I took off my Writer's Hat and started reading as someone standing in the aisle of a bookstore would. Reading the very first graph.

It was... okay. But not great, not thrilling, just meh. Too much background.

No interaction between the hero and heroine, because the prologue/first chapter was about the heroine as a little girl growing up in England.

So I dumped it. The entire first chapter, and then rewrote.

Now, instead of reading like this: "She was a thief and would be punished."

The first line reads like this, "He couldn't stop staring at her breasts."

Much more intriguing to me. The very first line you meet the hero and heroine.

I wove the old first chapter into the rest of the story, including a key scene between the heroine and her uncle, that actually embellishes the story and makes it more intriguing.

It's not easy wiping out an entire first chapter. But that's what you have to do if it makes a book stronger. You have to be able to let go as an author and rip it up. Look at the book as if you were a reader and debating on buying it based on the strength of the first few pages.

It was tough, but I did it. And hopefully, it makes for a much stronger book.

I think I can, I think I can

Getting close.

Second day off of a week's "vacation" from the day job, to finish The Lady and the Libertine. Wanted to concentrate all my efforts on the book and write this week. I'm close, very close.

Right now I'm reading about the Temple of Alexander the Great in the Bahariya Oasis, where the hero and heroine go before they raid the treasure tomb. The temple is mainly ruins, and it's the only known temple dedicated to Alex in Egypt.

The Valley of the Golden Mummies is very close. I'm loosely, very loosely, basing the secret tomb in The Lady and the Libertine on that tomb site. The Valley wasn't discovered until much later than the time period of this book.

I love researching Egypt. Always something new to uncover.

Nice view Monday

Since I missed Hump Day Hunk last week... This is French actor Stéphane Rideau. Gives whole new meaning to the phrase "getting horizontal." The male body is so nice to look at and it beats a cup of coffee in the morning...

Spent all weekend writing, wrote 9,000 words on The Lady & the Libertine, my May 2009 Egyptian historical. Coming down the home stretch on this book, which is due in, ah, four weeks. Gulp. I think I can, I think I can, I know I can, I had BETTER CAN... and I have typesets due on ENEMY LOVER, the November werewolf Nocturne and I have to turn in a cover art description for The Lady & the Libertine.

I'm thinking of a cover art description of the scene with the hero standing on the terrace at the hotel with the Great Pyramid in the background and the setting sun, and Karida is ripping off his shirt while he's dangling her ruby necklace from his fingers.

She's so busy getting him undressed she failed to notice he slipped it off her neck yet again, just like the first time he stole it.

Hump Day Hunk

In honor of the upcoming Batman movie, here's the ever-so-wonderful CHRISTIAN BALE. Intense, brooding, a great, complex hero.

Wrote another 1,000 words on The Lady and the Libertine, the May '09 Egyptian historical. The hero is turning out to be very intense, complex and dark and keeps doing things that HE wants to do, but it's fascinating watching the twists and turns. He's almost an anti-hero, but for the reasons motivating his actions.

And the other actions he does to encourage the heroine to break free of the expectations she's placed on herself that have chained her.

I like this couple. He might turn out to be the hero I like most. We'll see.

Barbara Vey's blog for Publisher's Weekly, Beyond the Book, featured The Scorpion and the Seducer today in a book review by Joyce. Stop by to comment if you get a chance.