RITA-nominated giveaway: Tote #10

[Ed. note: We continue our RITA® giveaway with our final tote bag. Be sure to leave your comments on the posts for a chance to win. One tote per winner will be awarded, but you can comment on any post throughout the contest period, which ends July 18, 2009. Remeber this week, there are four totes up for grabs: #7, 8, 9, and 10.]

Christine Wells, The Dangerous Duke
2009 RITA® Finalist for Regency Historical Romance

“I'm thrilled to be nominated for a RITA® for best Regency historical romance--and in such stellar company, too! Writing is always its own reward, and certainly, writing THE DANGEROUS DUKE helped pull me through a very dark period in my personal life. At the time, it seemed like my annus horribilis would never end, but here I am, alive to tell the tale, with the knowledge that life can throw some hefty curve balls and I can still write through it all. This nomination is definitely icing on the cake!”

About The Dangerous Duke:

She seeks justice. He, revenge. And they'll never guess what they'll find.

A Daring Diary
Trapped in a loveless marriage, Lady Kate Fairchild found refuge in her diary, scene of her fantasy affair. And now, even though her husband's death has set her free, no suitor can thrill Kate quite like her phantom lover – until a duke with a murky past sears her with his gaze...

A Dangerous Duke
Maxwell Brooke, Duke of Lyle, is hunting the arsonists who killed his family – and Kate's brother knows where they hide. But when jailing him proves futile, Max kidnaps Kate, demanding as ransom her brother's cooperation. Still, Max never counted on Kate's rapier wit and heated kisses – and soon, desire wars with duty, even as real danger stalks his captive lady...

A Delicious Deceit
When Kate threatens to publish a tell-all diary if her brother remains imprisoned, Max hopes to protect her from the powerful men she intends to expose. Stealing the diary, he spirits her off to a country estate. But the diary is nothing like he expected – and when Max discovers Kate's sensual secrets, he can't resist exploiting them in every way...

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Joanna Bourne
2009 RITA® Finalist for Historical Romance - The Spymaster's Lady
[in tote #7]
2009 RITA® Finalist for Regency Historical Romance - My Lord and Spymaster [in tote #10]

“Getting nominated for the RITA®, I feel like I've joined an elite group -- the SEALs, maybe, or Barnum and Bailey's Clown School or Temperance Brennan's band of dysfunctional forensic examiners on 'Bones'. Have you looked at the names of those RITA® nominees? If we were career criminals, instead of romance writers, this would be the Ten Most Wanted list.

Getting nominated was a pleasure; it was a shock; it was an amazement; it was a fist-pumping War Dance of a moment. It was total weirdness and flopping down in the chair and staring at my dog in profound bemusement.

It's an honor to be in such company. I am so proud.”

About My Lord and Spymaster:

After her father is wrongly accused of selling secrets to Napoleon, lovely Jess Whitby infiltrates the London underworld for the real traitor—only to end up naked in the bed of a rude merchant captain. Not only is she falling in love with him, but he may be the scoundrel she’s looking for.

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Diana Duncan, Lethal Attraction
2009 RITA® Finalist for Contemporary Series: Suspense/Adventure

“Among the things I learned growing up as an Air Force brat, with our many moves, is that life changes. Nothing stays static, no matter how hard we wish it would. Especially in publishing. We authors don’t like talking about it – because it’s scary and totally messes with our Muses – but new editors, different guidelines, and fluctuating markets are our constant reality. This causes authors to seemingly disappear off the grid. Although we twist and stretch, and strive to adapt, sometimes in spite of our very best efforts, the stories we’re writing just don’t fit the place we’re at anymore.

And that’s where I find myself today, tiptoeing down an unfamiliar road, attempting to figure out the map. I published six successful books with Silhouette, and then my line underwent a senior editor change. I’ve had 11 proposals rejected over the past 15 months. I have no books slotted this year or next, and it appears unlikely in the near future.

It’s rough, and it’s created a maelstrom of doubt inside me. My RITA® nomination for LETHAL ATTRACTION is the slender rope I cling to as I hang over the ledge, buffeted by indecision and fear. That nomination reassures me that I am a good writer, that readers like what I have to offer, and it gives me hope that I will again see one of my books sitting on store shelves someday. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the judges, and even more, gratefully thank my loyal readers. Without you, what I do would be meaningless.

Blessings.”

About Lethal Attraction:

One minute she was safe--the next, Sabrina Matthews was staring down the barrel of a gun. Just before shots rang out, she thought of Grady O'Rourke, the rugged SWAT cop she'd always loved...and would never see again. Then, Grady was there. One more second, and Sabrina would've been dead. But falling for the woman Grady had sworn to protect wasn't an option--until Sabrina stormed his defenses. The reckless agent faced the truth--he had someone to live for. With their future on the line, he raced to stop a deadly conspiracy before it claimed more lives--including their own.

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Susan Wiggs, Snowfall at Willow Lake
[NOTE: Book in tote is audio (MP3-CD) version]
2009 RITA® Finalist for Contemporary Single Title Romance

“Every writer I know started out as a reader. She was like me–voracious, insatiable, reading anything and everything she could get her hands on. Eventually she fell in love with genre fiction, and found a special affinity with romance novels. Like me, she probably cut her teeth on the big, juicy historicals of Kathleen Woodiwiss, Laurie McBain, Jennifer Wilde, Laura London. She stayed up late with A Woman of Substance, fantasized along with Princess Daisy and wept over The Thornbirds. She dreamed of Turtle Moon, Honey Moon and Carolina Moon. She developed a taste for Like Water for Chocolate and maybe even started her own knitting and reading club. All this reading made her a better writer, and an incredibly savvy reader. Along the way, she joined RWA® and volunteered to judge the RITA®.

That’s why being a finalist is such an incredible honor. The judges are the pickiest readers in the world, and this year, they picked Snowfall at Willow Lake. This was extra-special for me because of the content of the book. Sophie Bellamy, the main character, was one of the most reviled and misunderstood protagonists I’ve ever created–chilly, competitive, deeply self-absorbed, a woman who had the audacity to be unhappy in her marriage–and to finally do something about it. Her journey from the international courts of The Hague to the storybook shores of Willow Lake was more than a plot, it was a quest for redemption. Landing in the finals was an affirmation that her journey was a success.

The competition is incredibly tough; I know, I’m always reading and I read a ton of terrific novels last year. So I’m deeply grateful and honored to be a finalist this year. I’m also thrilled to be slogging it out with some of my favorite writers for the final prize, the Queen of All Knickknacks. Because as soon as the list of finalists came out, I read all the others and was wildly entertained for days! There’s a reason the RITA® is the gold standard of prizes in our genre. I’m proud to be in the game. To read more about Snowfall at Willow Lake, and to find out more than even my husband knows about me, please check out my web site at www.susanwiggs.com and blog at www.susanwiggs.wordpress.com."

About Snowfall at Willow Lake:

Can a single moment change your entire life?

International lawyer Sophie Bellamy has dedicated her life to helping people in war-torn countries. But when she survives a hostage situation, she remembers what matters most—the children she loves back home. Haunted by regrets, she returns to the idyllic Catskills village of Avalon on the shores of Willow Lake, determined to repair the bonds with her family.

There Sophie discovers the surprising rewards of small-town life—including an unexpected passion for Noah Shepherd, the local veterinarian. Noah has a healing touch for anything with four legs, but he's never had any luck with women—until Sophie.

Snowfall at Willow Lake speaks from the heart about all the loves that fill a woman's life, and all the ways that love is tested and made to grow. It's the story of what comes after a woman survives an unspeakable horror and finds her way home, to healing and redemption and a new chance at happiness.

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Rosemary Clement-Moore, Hell Week
2009 RITA® Finalist for Young Adult

“It's amazing to me that people I don't even know are reading my books AT ALL, whether they like them or not. It's freaky and wonderful to me to think about the fact that I'm telling a story to someone who may be half a world away. Even more wonderful to know that I actually achieved my goal--telling a story that resonates with a reader.

It's especially great to be recognized by my peers, who know the work that goes into getting one's ideas across. (In a way that hopefully looks easy!) It's a cliché to say that it's an honor just to be nominated, but it's true. Not every story I tell will be loved by everyone, so mixed in with the glow of accomplishment is a gleeful recognition of how lucky I am, too!”

About Hell Week:

MAGGIE QUINN IS determined to make her mark as a journalist. The only problem? The Ranger Report does not take freshmen on staff.

Rules are rules. But when has that ever stopped Maggie?

After facing hellfire, infiltrating sorority rush should be easy. It’s no Woodward and Bernstein, but going undercover as the Phantom Pledge will allow her to write her exposé. Then she can make a stealth exit before initiation. But when she finds a group of girls who are after way more than “sisterhood,” all her instincts say there’s something rotten on Greek Row. And when Hell Week rolls around, there may be no turning back.

If there is such a thing as a sorority from hell, you can bet that Maggie Quinn will be the one to stumble into it.

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IMHO: That's the end of our contest, folks! Be sure to leave a comment for our authors if you want a chance to win this tote.

Tomorrow, July 18, is the big day when the RITA® winners will be announced at the huge celebration which ends the Romance Writers of America's® conference. We wish all the authors good luck, and although we know not everyone will take home an award, every one of them is a winner to us.

This has been an incredible celebration at IMHO, which would not have been possible without the generosity of each of the authors who participated. I cannot hope to thank them enough for sharing their books, time, and stories with me so I could share them with you. Thanks also to all my IMHO regulars and newcomers who passed along their good wishes to the nominees as well.

Remember, this week's tote bags will be awarded on Sunday, July 19, so be sure to come back for the announcement then. Winners will have a deadline by which to respond or I will have to choose another winner from all eligible comments. (US and Canada only, please, and sorry, no P.O. boxes.)

Whew! I'm exhausted! As such, IMHO will be taking a short vacay for the next couple of weeks (although I may pop in with an occasional announcement--I have some random freebies burning a hole in my hot little hands). I'll be back in August with a new slate of intriguing books and their authors, so be sure to sign up for my newsletter at the top of the page if you want to be down with what's up at IMHO in the future, or sign up to be a follower of this blog.

It's been a blast!

Take care,
TJ Bennett

www.tjbennett.com
THE LEGACY (AAR Desert Isle Keeper and "Buried Treasure 2008")
When secrets destroy, can love live on?
THE PROMISE (RT 4 stars! Eye on Romance TOP PICK!)
In a dangerous world, sometimes the greatest risk is love....