2/13/2017

E.E. Burke's Valentine Unveiled

Valentine's Special: 99 cents 
Meet a hero named Valentine

The first book in my series The Bride Train features an English aristocrat named Valentine. It wasn't by accident that I chose the name. Releasing a book around Valentine's Day might've had something to do with it. I wondered where the name had come from, and in researching the origins, conceived a story about a man who sets out on a journey to live up to his name.

The surname Valentine is a very old, distinguished Anglo-Saxon name, and my hero, Constantine Valentine, is a second son of one England’s noblest families. 

In the late nineteenth century, a number of aristocratic families sent their sons to America to toughen them up, and in hopes that they might make their fortunes, or at least make something meaningful out of their lives. 

Val sails to America after losing his inheritance and embarrassing his family with his flagrant lifestyle. He hopes to regain his fortune and return home to repair his tarnished reputation.

What's in a name?

Valentine comes from a Latin name Valentinus, from the root word valens, which means strong and healthy. The word “valor” comes from this root. 

Indeed, Val is very strong man. He stands six feet-six inches, which in his day meant he towered over other men. He’s also strong willed. But even a strong man is bound to have a weakness. In Val’s case, he suffers from what we know today as Attention Deficit Disorder. Being misunderstood and ridiculed for his impetuous nature has a devastating impact on his life, and it takes a special woman with a great capacity for love to help Val overcome his past.

Meet Valentine's Rose

Rose Muldoon, an Irish laundress, grew up in Five Points, a crime-ridden slum in New York City that housed a large Irish immigrant population. After tragedy strikes, Rose signs on with The Bride Train, and heads west to replace what she's lost. Val’s aristocratic background as far from her world as the sun is from the moon, but Rose is determined and knows what it means to fight for what’s important, things like family and love. 

I won’t spoil the story by telling you how Rose and Val end up together, but I will say these characters discover things in each other, and themselves, that make them a surprisingly well-suited couple. It just takes awhile for Val to realize this.

I’m running a Valentine’s Special on this book through February 15. Buy it for only 99 cents (normally $2.99). 



Tomorrow, I’ll give you a sneak peek at Book 4 in The Bride Train series, with a cover reveal and exclusive excerpt.

Win a sweet treat!

Over the next two days, you can enter a Valentine’s drawing for a chance to win artisan chocolates from Christopher Elbow (my favorite local Kansas City chocolate artist), or a copy of Valentine's Rose.

Do you remember your first or favorite Valentine? It can be a card or a gift or a story. 



a Rafflecopter giveaway

13 comments:

  1. Your books are not steamy, are they? I'm fairly certain I've read some of your books.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They would be considered "sweet" romance. Sensual tone, but closed door.

      Delete
  2. I loved Valentine's Rose it was a great read.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My first Valentine was a box of chocolates shaped like a heart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My parents gave me small boxed chocolates when I was young. Our first year of marriage, my husband bought a huge box of chocolates--and then I realized it was because he wanted me to share!

      Delete
  4. I loved Valentine's Rose. Can't wait for more.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I Remember My BEST and Worst Valentines days
    My Worst was in 2006 I was 8 mths pregnant with My Now a Middle Child - 2nd Boy
    and My Mother Passed away and My Family is not very emotionally stable so I had to plan her funeral with an almost 2 yr old and being 8 mths pregnant and she wasn't in PA where we live so I also had to have her shipped back from South Carolina
    Never the less we quit celebrating Valentines Day even though My Hubby and I were very happy in our marriage I dreaded that day
    So Come 2012 Valentines Day I'm Pregnant again With My 3rd Child Which is supposed to be my Girl and She was a Girl and was Born On You guessed it Valentines Day so I feel like God and My Mom had a little hand in that so we would have to once again celebrate Valentines Day <3

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looking forward to reading Valentine's Rose!!
    I am reading the Romance and Rails Series right now!

    ReplyDelete
  7. love your books and looking forward to reading this one in print!

    ReplyDelete
  8. My Wife having My Daughter

    ReplyDelete