Love American Style: A Valentine's Weekend Celebration

It's here! Love, American Style. This weekend on Get Lost in a Story we're celebrating romance in the land of the red, white and blue--past, present and forevermore  Over the next three days, you'll meet authors who write romances set in America, and get a peek at a favorite love moment from one of their books, as well as have a chance to enter a drawing for lots of FREE goodies.

Today, we visit Love in the Old West with E.E. Burke, Jill Marie Landis, Becky Lower, and Sylvia McDaniel. Come with us on a journey back in time to the 19th century and enjoy love, American style. 

E.E. Burke

E.E. Burke

E.E. Burke writes romance from the heart woven with history the way it really happened. The tempestuous era of the early railroads inspired her latest American historical romance series, Steam! Romance and Rails, which includes Passion’s Prize, Her Bodyguard and A Dangerous Passion. Her writing has earned accolades in regional and national contests, including the prestigious Golden Heart®.
This weekend, her books are on sale at Amazon for only $1.99. You can find them on her Amazon author page.

What's your favorite love story?
There are so many wonderful romances out there it's difficult to pick a favorite, so I'll tell you my favorite fairy tale. Beauty and the Beast. Beauty has to look past the Beast's ugliness (both in form and manner) to see his true heart, and Beast must learn to forgive himself and become vulnerable, which is scary for someone who believes they're ugly and/or bad. 

Why do you write romances?
Because I believe in the power of love. Real life is harsh. The bad things that happen often make no sense at all, and leave us broken and feeling defeated. Stories about people who overcome their difficulties and find happy endings give us magical moments of hope and joy. What better gift could I offer to the world?

My latest novel, A Dangerous Passion, is part of the series Steam! Romance and Rails. It's kind of a Beauty and the Beast story, where beauty happens to be an adventure-seeking aspiring author and beast is a ruthless railroad baron. Here's a love moment, after Lucy shaves Henry and discovers a handsome, but scarred man, who longs to be loved but is afraid to give his heart.

On sale at Amazon

     What’s so funny?” Lucy asked.

     He turned and crossed his arms over his chest. In the daylight, her assessment of his face might be different. “Which do you prefer, beard or no beard?”

   She cocked her head to one side, studying him. He appreciated knowing he’d get an honest answer. People who had the integrity to tell him the truth usually didn’t have the nerve. Lucy had both.

    “You’re handsome either way.”

     That was taking the easy way out. “Don’t lose your refreshing honesty now.”

     “I mean it.” Setting the book aside, she glided across the room. Her touch on his face set off a sizzling response. He wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her closer.

     “Careful. Start something, and we may never get off this train.”

     The sultry smile teasing her lips increased the odds of his prediction coming true. “I just wanted to assure you that I find you attractive, with or without the hair on your face.” Her expression became thoughtful. “The beard does make you look dangerous. More like a villain.”

    Her comparison amused him. Somewhat. He arched an eyebrow in his best dastardly imitation. “You’d cast me as a scoundrel?”

     She tapped her finger on his chin. “If I put you in book, yes.”

     Was she serious? She was smiling, but something in her eyes told him she might be telling the truth.

     “Don’t look so worried. I like villains. They’re much more interesting. I thought Capitola should’ve chosen Black Donald instead of Herbert.”

      Who the hell was she talking about? “Sorry, I don’t follow.”

      “In The Hidden Hand. The book I was reading.”

     “Ah.”

     “Black Donald is a treacherous highwayman who wants Capitola in his bed. She outfoxes him when he traps her and ends up with a kind-hearted fellow named Herbert.”

     “Herbert?” Henry scoffed. “Even his name sounds boring.”

     “And yours is better?”

     “There were kings named Henry. None to my knowledge named Herbert.”

     Lucy sniffed. “Well, if I were naming you, I’d call you Hank. Sounds stronger.”

     “Stronger, eh?” Henry couldn’t resist flexing arms around her to remind her he wasn’t exactly a weakling. “So, Capitola liked this Herbert fellow?”

     Lucy nodded with a rueful twist of her lips. “As I said, I would’ve preferred she end up with Black Donald and rehabilitate him.”

     Henry swallowed a chuckle. Lucy got very wrapped up in her stories, almost as if they were real people, and he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “Rehabilitate the treacherous highwayman?”

     Her gaze softened. “Or redeem him—with her love.”

    The remark stopped Henry’s heart. After a breathless moment, it lurched into motion, chugging hard. Was this Lucy’s way of saying she loved him? 
     He ventured a question to confirm, but kept his tone light, just in case he was wrong. “Is that what you’d do with me?

     Uncertainty flickered in her eyes. “Are you in need of redemption?”

     For God’s sake, he was in need of love. Her love. Only, he wouldn’t beg for it. She was a bright girl. She ought to know by now how he felt about her. “Doubt you could turn me into a kind-hearted fellow. Men like that can’t run a railroad.”

     “You can run a railroad without breaking the law. My father is proof of that.”

    He was tempted to point out that her illustrious father had been given the sack. 
     “I’m sure he didn’t get to where he did without bending a few rules.” He regretted the remark the moment it was out of his mouth, and even more when Lucy’s eyes reflected disappointment.

     “How many rules have you bent?”

     “If I told you, you might think I’m a treacherous highwayman.” The line came out sounding more like a confession than a joke. He tried smiling. “But you did say you prefer villains.” 
     The unhappiness that filled her eyes should’ve warned him. “Only in stories.”

Jill Marie Landis

Jill Marie Landis

JILL MARIE LANDIS has written novels that have earned distinguished awards and slots on national bestseller lists, such as USA TODAY's Top 50 and the New York Times Best Sellers Plus. She is a seven-time finalist for Romance Writers of America's RITA Award in Single Title Historical and Contemporary Romance as well as a Golden Heart and RITA Award winner. She resides in Hawaii with her husband. When she's not writing or sitting on the beach reading, she enjoys visiting with family and friends, raising orchids, working in her garden, occasionally quilting, but most of all dancing the hula. 

What's your favorite love story?
One of my favorites is the movie Overboard with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.
Not only does their real life attraction for each other show on screen, but I love the whole premise. A cruel, pampered rich bitch, Joanna (Hawn), screws over a hired carpenter, Dean (Russell). Later, she falls overboard off of her yacht and suffers amnesia. Happy to be rid of her, her conniving husband doesn't even try to find her. When her photo appears in the local Oregon newspaper, Dean shows up and claims her as his wife. Seeking revenge, he dumps her in his run down backwoods house with his four unruly sons and tells her to clean the place up and have dinner waiting for him. She doesn't know the first thing about being a housewife but she hangs on. Many laughs and heartwarming scenes later, the unlikely pair falls in love. Dean fears that if he tells her the truth he'll lose her. Naturally Joanna is shocked and terribly hurt when the truth comes out and leaves him, returning to her former life. But will she be able to forget Dean and the kids? Will she ever morph back into the cold, heartless bitch she was before? Let's just say this is a romance so you know there will be a happy ending. When I'm feeling down, this is one of my go-to DVD's for a laugh and attitude adjustment. 
     
Why do you write romances?
I love to write romances because I know that no matter what obstacles I throw in the hero and heroine's paths, no matter what conflicts I create in their back stories, no matter how unlikely they are to be right for each other, love will triumph in the end. Why? Because their own unique story is being told in a romance novel where there can only be one ending. Readers expect all the hearts, flowers, tears, laughs and sighs of falling in love over and over and time after time, the hero and heroine end up happily ever after.   

Past Promises has been recently re-released as an eBook through Amber House Books. Here is a love moment, Jessica and Rory's first kiss:

When Rory Burnett gets wind of two women searching the untamed wilds of New Mexico for a cave rumored to contain ancient “saurian” bones, a cave on sacred Ute land that he’s promised to protect, he hires on as their guide, determined to lead them away from their goal and persuade them to clear out.

But Rory hasn’t reckoned on dealing with a woman like no-nonsense Jessica Stanbridge, who is not only a stubborn intellectual, but behind her severe clothing and wire framed glasses, is a find as rare and lovely as the artifacts she’s searching for.

     Casually, his voice so low that it could not be carried on the breeze, he asked, “Have you ever been kissed, Miss Stanbridge?”

     The abrupt change of subject took her aback. Had she heard wrong?

     “What? Why I never!”

     Rory smiled. “That’s just what I thought.”

     She stepped away.

     He reached out for her before she escaped.

     “Get ready, because it’s about to happen.”

     Jessica knew what was coming but was powerless to stop it. Shock, mingled with an odd curiosity kept her from struggling. When his hands closed over her upper arms and he pulled her roughly against him, all she could think of was the warmth that emanated from him and the surprising fact that up close, his eyes were unbroken by any flecks of color and just as dark and fathomless as they appeared from far away.  As he lowered his lips to hers, she was mesmerized by her own reflection in his eyes. Almost immediately she was caught up in the sudden realization that his lashes were so thick that it was a pity they had been wasted on a man.

     Their lips had barely touched when Rory pulled back and secured his hold with an arm across her shoulders. He slipped off her spectacles with his free hand and set out to kiss her again.

     It was like nothing she’d ever imagined.

     It was more than he’d ever dreamed.   

Becky Lower

Becky Lower

Becky Lower has traveled the country looking for great settings for her novels. She loves to write about two people finding each other and falling in love, amid the backdrop of a great setting, be it on a covered wagon headed west in the 1850s or present day middle America. Historical and contemporary romances are her specialty. To find out more about Becky and her books, visit her website at www.beckylowerauthor.com

What's your favorite love story?
I have so many favorite love stories, it's hard to choose just one. I can watch When Harry Met Sally or Romancing The Stone any time. My favorite love stories in books would have to be Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series, because they're about family dynamics as well as the love story.

Why do you write romances?
I write romance because that's what I read, and have, since I graduated college and put textbooks behind me. I appreciate the classics and spent a lot of time with William Shakespeare in college, but give me a good, sappy, romance any day. I grew up watching westerns on TV, and, in fact, my first writing effort was to submit a screenplay to the writers of Bonanza when I was only 12. Of course, it got rejected, but they writers were very encouraging, so I kept on.

My early love of westerns is what drew me to writing historical romances set in America. I love finding little pieces of history, little known facts that in some small way changed the lives of the people who were living in that era, and then placing my characters into that setting. Something as simple as public transportation, which we all take for granted today, impacted the lives of many when first introduced.

Excerpt from Banking on Temperance, book three in the Cotillion Ball Series. You can find it on Amazon.

Temperance Jones and her large family pull into St. Louis, hoping to catch a late wagon train headed west. However, they’re too late and must winter over in town. The head of the family finally succumbs to the illness that plagued him during their travels from Pennsylvania, but not before extracting a promise from his eldest daughter that she’d get the family to Oregon. She begins work for Basil Fitzpatrick, cleaning his bank and private quarters, and a friendship develops.

     She sputtered and fumed, breathing fire as the door to Basil’s apartment staircase closed behind him. That no-good, self-centered ass! How dare he say their friendship had been destroyed by her ambition! If they’d truly been friends, he would have stood by her and championed her clever attempts to get her family moved westward. But once he introduced her to Jake, it was as if he’d turned his back on her. She could take him turning his back on her as a woman, but not as a friend. She yanked open the door and ran up the stairs.

     “How dare you!” She didn’t bother to knock at the top of the steps, she was so angry.

     He turned to face her, but didn’t reply.

     “Well? How dare you say that I’m the one who turned away from your friendship. You’ve become my best friend here in town. Do you want me to quit? To leave?”

     “Yes.”

     “Yes, what?”

     “If you know what’s best for you, leave, right this minute.”

     “Why? Because you’ll tell me something I don’t want to hear?”

     Basil crossed the room to her in two strides. He placed his hands on either side of her face and growled, “Not because of what I’ll tell you, but because of what I’ll do.” He lowered his mouth to hers, crushing her tender lips beneath his own.

     Temperance stood still, in shock at what was happening. The breath whooshed out of her lungs. Her arms hung by her sides, but her mouth and tongue were doing battle with Basil’s. She wanted this, she had wanted this since the night in October when she’d been forced to stay here overnight.          She’d begged Basil then, silently, to take her to bed, but he had remained stalwart. Now, she could tell his emotions for her rivaled her feelings for him. She breathed a contented sigh.

     She moved her arms finally, and wound them around his broad shoulders.

     This is where I belong. Not Oregon.

Sylvia McDaniel

Sylvia McDaniel

Sylvia McDaniel is a best-selling, award-winning author of western historical romance and contemporary romance novels.  Known for her sweet, funny, family-oriented romances,  Sylvia is the author of The Burnett Brides a historical western series, The Cuvier Widows, a Louisiana historical series, Lipstick and Lead, a western historical series and several short contemporary romances. To find out more, visit Sylvia’s website at www.SylviaMcDaniel.com

What’s your favorite love story?

My favorite movie is It Could Happen To You with Nicholas Cage. It’s the cop and the waitress story, and whenever I’m sick or needing a pick me up, it’s the movie I go to. My favorite books are: See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson, Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James.

Why do you write romances?

I write romance because it's fun and I love creating relationships between men and women. I enjoy taking people who you would never think of belonging together and forcing them to work out a problem. I love contemporaries, but I find that my voice is more fitting for westerns and I do love cowboys, so that’s what I write. In our world violence is so much more accepted than love and romance. So I try to make my heroines kick-ass women who don’t take any crap from anyone. They are not your typical sweet, southern girl. They will take you out and tie you up if you misbehave. By making them stronger, I hope that my readers will get a touch of the old and the new.

Available from Amazon, iBooks,
Kobo, Google, B&N

Sylvia's latest series is Lipstick and Lead, and here's a love moment from her new book, Dangerous. 

    Her pantaloons were starting to feel very warm. The scent of something burning reached her nose, and then suddenly, Beau was throwing her onto the bedroll, beating her legs.

     “Gosh, damn it, woman, you are a pain in the ass.”

     “Get off me.”

     “Your underwear was on fire.”

     With him still on top of her, she glanced down at the bottom of her pantaloons. The lace around the edge had burned off but hadn’t reached her skin.

     Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of her clothes catching fire. Yet, he was lying on top of her, and she was beginning to feel a different kind of warmth. She could feel his bare chest and the thump of his heart against her.      They landed on the bedroll, but now he was half-on and half-off of her. He was gazing at her, his eyes dark and burning with some emotion she didn’t recognize. A heat that had nothing to do with her pantaloons catching fire suddenly engulfed her.

      “How can one woman get into so much trouble and yet look so innocent and beautiful? How can you be so tempting and sweet and luscious one moment and the next I’m ready to kill you? And how can I go another minute, looking at those full lips without tasting them? Damn it, I don’t want to do this, but I’ve got to,” he said, his voice husky, sending shivers of anticipation through her.

     He was going to kiss her. She watched as his mouth lowered to hers, and she realized she wanted his kiss.

     His mouth moved over hers, tempting and teasing and tasting of her like she’d never been kissed before. And she never had.

     This was her first kiss and whatever expectations she’d had were quickly dispelled. It was much better than she’d imagined. His hands gripped her face, holding her hostage to his lips, holding her immobile as he took her lips between his own. Savagely, he slanted his mouth over hers as his tongue persuaded her to open. He tasted her thoroughly, completely, and so convincingly her heart was ready to explode in her chest.

     Hot, heavy, hunger filled her as his mouth took her like the storm that raged outside. Wild, consuming, and awakening feelings she’d never experienced before. She arched her back, needing more, wanting more of the passion this man had awakened inside her.

     She wanted to remove the barriers between them. Running her fingers down his silken, muscled shoulders, she wanted to touch him everywhere, feel his skin, taste him.

     God, she didn’t know what it was she wanted, but she wanted this to continue. She didn’t want this to stop. She wanted…

     A shot rang out in the night, not far from their cave.

     Beau bolted into a sitting position. He jumped up ran to the entrance, and peered into the darkness. Another shot sounded and he grabbed his wet shirt and ran outside in the rain, with his guns drawn, leaving Annabelle alone, panting in a bat cave. 

Tomorrow, we'll explore Love in the City with Vicki Batman, Alexa Bourne, Lara Lacombe, and Tawny Weber. And on Sunday, find Love in the Country with Angi Morgan, Liz Selvig, Donna Alward, and Love Forevermore with Kathleen Baldwin.

What's your favorite love story? Share it with us, and be sure to enter the drawing. There are books from twelve authors up for grabs. 

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