RITA-nominated giveaway: Tote #4

[Ed. note: We continue our RITA® giveaway with our next tote. 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.]

Karen Rose, Scream for Me
2009 RITA® finalist for Romantic Suspense

“I was delighted to receive the call from RWA this year telling me that SCREAM FOR ME was a RITA® finalist! I’m honored and so pleased that the judges enjoyed it. I’m also honored to be grouped with my fellow finalists. Each one is a master at her craft and each one is a lovely, friendly, giving person.

Being nominated this year was especially exciting, because for the first time my husband, Martin, will be joining me for the award ceremony. Having him there with me will be so sweet! FYI, Washington, DC – the location of this year’s RWA – is our hometown. Martin and I went to college in nearby College Park, MD and most of our dates were spent haunting the museums of DC. In fact, my husband proposed to me on the steps of the US Capitol in July 1983. After the awards ceremony and reception – since he’ll be in a tux and I’ll be dolled up – we’re going to go back to the Capitol steps and have some passerby snap our picture! It will be almost 26 years since I told him, ‘Yes.’ My hero!”

About Scream for Me:

Special Agent Daniel Vartanian has sworn to find the perpetrator of multiple killings that mimic a 13-year-old murder linked to a collection of photographs that belonged to his brother, Simon, the ruthless serial killer who met his demise in DIE FOR ME. Daniel is certain that someone even more depraved than his brother committed these crimes, and he's determined to bring the current murderer to justice and solve the mysterious crime from years ago.

With only a handful of images as a lead, Daniel's search will lead him back through the dark past of his own family, and into the realm of a mind more sinister than he could ever imagine. But his quest will also draw him to Alex Fallon, a beautiful nurse whose troubled past reflects his own. As Daniel becomes attached to Alex, he discovers that she is also the object of the obsessed murderer. Soon, he will not only be racing to discover the identity of this macabre criminal, but also to save the life of the woman he has begun to love.

**************

Eloisa James, Duchess by Night,
2009 RITA® finalist for Historical Romance

“I was particularly happy when Duchess by Night finaled for the RITA® because it's a book inspired by my childhood. I grew up on a farm outside a very small town in Minnesota. My greatest delight was when my mother would go into town for grocery shopping and drop me at the Carnegie Public Library -- where I discovered Georgette Heyer's historical romances. I still remember the cover of every one of those library editions. I read them over and over and over. Duchess by Night features a heroine who's dressed as a boy, imitating one of Georgette's favorite plot devices. And I took a stab at her witty conversation, though I admit to failure... still, to get a RITA® nomination for this particular book means that in emulating her, I achieved my best. So I'm grateful (again) to Ms. Heyer!”

About Duchess by Night:

Harriet, Duchess of Berrow, is desperate to flee the sadness of being a widow. Whether presiding over the Shire Court of the Duchy of Berrow, or dressed as a prim Mother Goose at an extravagant masquerade ball thrown by one of her wicked friends, Harriet’s in a rut. And she’s beginning to long for something altogether different.

It’s time for a complete change of pace – she will throw off her widow’s weeds and escape…to the famously dissolute house party held at Lord Strange’s country estate? But no duchess can appear at one of Strange’s parties without risking her reputation forever. So when the Duke of Villiers offers to accompany Harriet, she jumps at the chance – even if it means disguising herself as a young man.

**************

Irene Hannon, Where Love Abides
2009 RITA® Finalist for Inspirational Romance

“For a writer, getting the RITA® call is akin to learning you’re up for an Oscar. This is my third such call—I won the RITA® in 2003 and was nominated in 2008—so I’ve been thrice blessed! I’m especially pleased about the nomination for WHERE LOVE ABIDES, because in this book I dipped my toes…very tentatively…into suspense, with a cop hero and a heroine who has a mysterious past. That whetted my appetite for more—and I went on to write my first full-fledged suspense book, AGAINST ALL ODDS.

That book came out in February, and has since made the two premier best-seller lists for inspirational fiction (the Christian fiction equivalents of the New York Times and U.S.A. Today lists). It was also named a “Top Pick” by RT BOOKreviews. So it seems my instincts were on target when I added a dash of suspense to my romance in WHERE LOVE ABIDES. Now we’ll see what the RITA® judges have to say!"
About Where Love Abides:

The widowed sheriff's daughter wanted just one thing: a mom. But the lady she'd set her sights on didn't consider herself mother or wife material. Christine Turner couldn't abide her attraction to handsome lawman Dale Lewis. She'd moved to Oak Hill for a fresh start, but no matter how much she wanted it, she didn't believe a family was in God's plan for her life. Dale decreed it a crime for such a lovely, kind woman to hide away on her farm. Especially when he wanted to make his daughter's dream and Christine's come true.

**************

Dana Marton, Tall, Dark and Lethal
2009 RITA® Finalist for Contemporary Series Romance: Suspense/Adventure
“To be nominated for the RITA® is such an honor, I can still barely believe it. RWA puts a tremendous amount of time and effort into this contest, and I truly appreciate that. TALL, DARK AND LETHAL is my favorite book about the most unlikely couple I’ve ever written. Bad neighbors can be a pain, no matter how sexy. And Bailey truly couldn’t stand the stubborn and overbearing Cade, even before he blew her house up. I couldn’t be happier that of all of my books, this one is the one to be a RITA® finalist. I’m so proud of the way these two handled their differences and put their lives on the line to fight for freedom and the lives of innocents. Their book being a finalist is kind of like watching your kid winning a ribbon at school. Just the absolute best feeling.”

About Tall, Dark and Lethal:

Her moody, arrogant neighbor had a way of getting under her skin. And that was before he blew her house up. She was so not impressed that he managed to save her life at least. But in the game of hide and seek that follows, nothing is as it seems. Soon Bailey Preston realizes that tall, dark and handsome Cade Palmer might just be the only thing standing between her and the faceless enemies who want to destroy her.

**************

Yasmine Galenorn, Dragon Wytch
2009 RITA® Finalist for Paranormal Romance

“When I got the call that I’d been nominated for the RITAs®, it took me a few minutes to understand what she meant. For one thing, I’d been asleep and was still blurry-eyed and without my caffeine. For another, I’d actually kind of forgotten I’d entered. You see, it’s a contest I never expected to have a chance in, so I didn’t really give it a second thought after the fact.

For one thing: my books have other-than-HEA endings—I write a series and you can’t wrap everything up all happy and nice at the end of every urban fantasy/paranormal romance without sort of shutting down the series story arc. So while the endings wrap up the story within the book, nobody just lives happily ever after. And for another, almost all my characters have what are euphemistically called ‘alternative lifestyles.’ The main character (half-human, half-Fae) of DRAGON WYTCH does get married at the end—to two of her three lovers (one of whom is a dragon-shifter and one who’s a youkai-kitsune fox demon) in a polyamorous wedding. I figured those two things right there would axe any chances I had because old stereotypes of love and marriage die-hard.

What making the finals for the RITAs® means to me is that attitudes may be shifting: There may be more tolerance for alternative lifestyles. And even more important to me: the definition of romance isn’t so limited anymore. Because in my mind, love can expand to include more than one person. Love can cross gender lines and race lines (whether it be a gay couple, an interracial couple or—say, a dragon-Fae match). I think the most important thing this says to me is that perhaps, if there’s more tolerance for alternative sexuality/relationships in the RITAs®, maybe one day there will be more tolerance for them in our everyday world. And that would be a wonderful thing.

So being nominated as a finalist for the RITAs® does more than strengthen my pride over my writing—it gives me hope.”

********

IMHO: That's it for today. Be sure to leave a comment for our authors if you want a chance to win this tote and tune in Wednesday for more featured RITA®-nominated finalists.

TJB