Love Saves the World: An Exclusive Interview with Shana Galen + Giveaway + Free book (Thank you, Authors! Thank you, Fellow Readers!)

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

An Exclusive Interview with Shana Galen + Giveaway + Free book (Thank you, Authors! Thank you, Fellow Readers!)

Shana Galen charmed me with the wonderful anecdotes she shares on Facebook and then completely won me over with her clear voice, wonderful storytelling and amazing characters.

When I read When You Give a Duke a Diamond, I really did experience that pure, pure joy of discovering something so awesome and it was exhilarating! Admittedly, I am a new fan and I have 7 years of Shana's backlist to read through -- but it is an exciting prospect for me and I look forward to that time in the near future when I can say that I have read all of Shana's books. (I plan to!)

My husband laughs when I preface stories about a romance author with "she's one of my favourite authors" because he thinks all the authors I read are part of that list anyway, (which is kinda true) -- but Shana truly is one of my favourites and today's feature is a distinct pleasure for me.

LStW: What was the inspiration behind True Spies, the latest book in
your Lord and Lady Spy series?

Shana Galen: Thanks so much for having me! What a fun idea for a post/interview!

When I wrote Lord and Lady Spy, I thought it would be a stand-alone or a series with recurring characters. It turned out that my publisher wanted another book with another couple but in the same world. Since Lord and Lady Spy was based on the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I wanted the subsequent books based on spy movies too.

So the inspiration for True Spies was the Schwarzenegger movie True Lies. In the movie, and my book, the husband seems boring but he really has a secret spy identity his wife doesn’t know about. By the end of the movie, and the book, she’s involved in the spy operations too.

LStW: (Halloween) If you could dress up as any character, real or fictional, who would it be?

Shana: I’m one of the hosts for a party at the Romantic Times convention in May, and I have to dress up as a pirate. I’m actually looking forward to that. I’d love to write a book with a female pirate sort of like Marsha Canham’s The Wind and the Sea.

LStW: (Thanksgiving) As a writer, what are three things that you are most thankful for?

Shana: My readers! Oh, my gosh, my readers are so awesome, and I’m not just saying that. They’re so sweet and supportive -- even when they don’t like something. I feel so fortunate to have found a readership for the books I love to write.

LStW: (Christmas) Do you have a favorite thing to gift friends for Christmas?

Shana: I like to give books. If I know what authors a friend likes, I really enjoy buying their favorite author’s latest book, especially of I can get it signed. I also like to give books by authors my friends haven’t read, but who I think they’ll like.

LStW: (New Year) What's next for Shana Galen in 2014?

Shana: In 2014 I have two books scheduled so far. I March the third Jewels of the Ton book, Sapphires are an Earl’s Best Friend will be out and in August Love and Let Spy, the third Lord and Lady Spy book will be out. It will be a year for endings for me and then 2015 will be lots of new starts, including my daughter starting Kindergarten and a new series.

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The Jewels of the Ton Series by Shana Galen

He had a perfectly ordered life ...

William, the sixth Duke of Pelham, enjoys his punctual. securely structured life. Orderly and predictable -- that's the way he likes it. But he's in the public eye, and the scandal sheets will make up anything to sell papers. When the gossips link him to Juliette, one of the most beautiful and celebrated courtesans in London, chaos doesn't begin to describe what happens next...

Until she came along ...

Juliette is nicknamed the Duchess of Dalliance, and has the cream of the nobility at her beck and call. It's seriously disruptive to have the duke who's the biggest catch on the Marriage Mart scaring her other suitors away. Then she discovers William's darkest secret and decides what he needs in his life is the kind of excitement only she can provide...

Read my review of When You Give a Duke a Diamond here.

Her Mysterious Past is the Best Revenge ...

Fallon, the Marchioness of Mystery, is a celebrated courtesan with her finger on the pulse of high society. She's adored by men, hated by their wives. No one knows anything about her past, and she plans to keep it that way.

Only He Can Offer Her a Dazzling Future ...

Warrick Fitzhugh will do anything to protect his compatriots in the Foreign Office, including seduce Fallon, who he thinks can lead him to the deadliest crime lord in London. He knows he's putting his life on the line...

To Warrick's shock, Fallon is not who he thinks she is, and the secrets she's keeping are exactly what makes her his heart's desire ...

Read my review of If You Give a Rake a Ruby here.

Careful, gentlemen -- there is more to this courtesan than meets the eye.

What better disguise for a secret agent than that of a courtesan? Lily Dawson, dubbed the Countess of Charm, is a spy working for the Crown to uncover a traitor. Andrew Booth-Payne, Earl of Darlington, wants to hate Lily for taking up with his father, but something about Lily intrigues him. When he discovers there is more to her flirtation than greed, he knows he must help her uncover a traitor. Even if that traitor is his own father ...

Lord and Lady Spy Series by Shana Galen

No man can outsmart him ...

Lord Adrian Smythe may appear a perfectly boring gentleman, but he leads a thrilling life as one of England's most preeminent spies, an identity so clandestine even his wife is unaware of it. But he isn't the only one with secrets ...

She's been outsmarting him for years ...

Now that the Napoleonic wars have come to an end, daring secret agent Lady Sophia Smythe can hardly bear the thought of returning home to her tedious husband. Until she discovers in the dark of night that he's not who she thinks he is after all ...

An enigmatic spy ...

Blue is the best of the best. A top agent for the elite Barbican group, he's on the trail of an assassin targeting his fellow spies. Blue's search leads him to Naples, Italy and the Teatro di San Carlo, where a string of suspicious events makes him believe he may have found his man. Unfortunately, he's also found a woman -- his long-neglected wife.

A brilliant opera singer ...

Helena Giles is beautiful, talented, and furious. She taught Blue how to be a master of disguise, and to thank her, he disappeared. When they married, he promised to give up his work for the Barbican group. He gave Helena up instead. Now Blue is back, and he wants a place in the theater and in her bed. Helena doesn't believe, as the rest of the theater's cast, that the murders have anything to do with a theater phantom, but she isn't ready to believe Blue's theories either.

A dangerous passion ...

It's soon clear the real object of the theater phantom is Blue. And when Helena catches a glimpse of the assassin called Reaper, she becomes a target herself. In Reaper, Blue is finally pitted against his match, and in Helena, he finds a passion he thought he thought impossible. But can this chameleon be true to himself when love is the most dangerous sport of all?

He's Getting Tired of Deception ...

Baron Winslow Keating is honor-bound to finish one last mission as an elite spy for the Barbican group even though he just wants to go home and be with his family. But after years of secrecy and absence, his daughters hardly know him and his wife has given up on him ...

She Wants to Try a Little Intrigue ...

Lady Elinor has had enough of domestic boredom. She contemplates an affair with a rakish spy, only to discover a world of intrigue and treachery that she never knew existed. Even more shocking, her neglectful husband is suddenly very attentive -- quite the jealous type -- and apparently there is much more to him than she ever knew ...

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Shana Galen is the bestselling author of fast-paced adventurous Regency historicals, including the RT Reviewers’ Choice The Making of a Gentleman. Her books are published all over the world and have been featured in the Rhapsody and Doubleday Book Clubs. She taught English at the middle and high school level off and on for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston's inner city. Now she writes full time. She’s happily married and has a daughter who is most definitely a romance heroine in the making. Shana loves to hear from readers: visit her website or see what she’s up to daily on Facebook and Twitter.

To find out more about Shana Galen and her books, click below:

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads

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It's almost Thanksgiving and this is my way of saying "Thank you" to all the wonderful authors and to all the wonderful romance readers in the world.

Image from Freedigitalphotos.net

As support for the authors, I'm hosting a giveaway for one copy of When You Give a Duke a Diamond. (Fellow readers, this is a book you'll enjoy. I promise! ^_^)

Shana Galen is giving away winner's choice of a paperback copy of any of her books (except Lord and Lady Spy).

*This giveaway is via Rafflecopter and is open to International Readers.
*This giveaway will run until December 4.
*One entry per household per IP.
*Rafflecopter will select 2 winners:
One winner will receive a When You Give a Duke a Diamond by Shana Galen from me (paperback via The Book Depository or ebook from Amazon Kindle or ARe)

and

One winner will receive a paperback copy of any of Shana Galen's books (except Lord and Lady Spy).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Free Book!

Shana Galen is part of an amazing Christmas anthology -- and it's free!