My Regency-era tale of pirates, puppies, pirates-in-training and secrets won the New England Chapter of Romance Writers of America's Readers' Choice Award.

The Pirate's Secret Baby is a follow-up to Aspen Gold winner Castaway Dreams. I had so much fun writing my morally flexible, but always fashionable, villain Robert St. Armand in Castaway that I wanted to give him his own novel. I tossed a baby in his direction, and the rest is award history.

Thanks go to my publisher, Amber Quill Press, my editor, and all my readers, of course. I also want to do a shout-out to the volunteers who judge and coordinate contests. None of this would happen without them, and their efforts are greatly appreciated by authors and readers.

My publisher, Amber Quill Press, rolled out their new website this week. It has all sorts of new features to make shopping and ereading even easier: PayPal, wishlists, shopper loyalty points, easy conversion of book formats, and loads of discounts. If you haven't been by their site yet, check it out! All of my ebooks and paperbacks are there, with special savings on ebook editions of 2013 Aspen Gold winner Castaway Dreams and Golden Quill Finalist Sea Change, the novels with connections to my newest release The Pirate's Secret Baby.

Now's the time to stock up on your summer beach reading, or if you're Down Under, your winter cozy-by-the-fire reading.

March brings showers, snow melt (one hopes) and the release of The Pirate's Secret Baby on March 11 from Amber Quill Press in print and ebook. Here's a blurb: 

The captain of the Prodigal Son has a deserved reputation as the deadliest (and best dressed) pirate in the Caribbean, but Robert St. Armand’s totally at sea when it comes to “Marauding Mattie”, the daughter he never knew he had. How in the world can he deal with the littlest pirate, one who prefers knife-throwing to arithmetic lessons, and who’d rather be keelhauled than eat her beets? He needs help!

 

Lydia Burke is living a safe life, separated from England by an entire ocean. It’s exactly what she needs and she’s not going to risk her boring, but secure, position as a governess to consort with pirates, especially one who’s too pretty for his own good or her peace of mind.

 

No self-respecting governess would be willing to come aboard the notorious Prodigal Son, but Robert didn’t fight his way to the top by letting small obstacles like scruples stop him. If he can’t hire Lydia Burke, he’ll steal her and take her to England with them, certain he can charm her into his bed along the way as an added bonus on the voyage.

 

It will be a true voyage of discovery for the pirate and the governess, as one learns to navigate the rocky shoals of parenthood while the other tries to keep deadly secrets hidden, and both will find that while it’s a child who initially brings them together, the growing passion between them offers the greatest temptation.

 

The Pirate's Secret Baby is a follow-up to 2013 Aspen Gold winner Castaway Dreams, and contains precocious children, puppies, and, of course, pirates.

I've turned in my edits on The Pirate's Secret Baby, and am now gearing up to do more research for my next novel, as yet untitled. I'll still need to proof the galleys, but the writing part of the book is done. I still need to work on publicity and promotion for TPSB, which has a March release date.

If you're wondering why I have a copy of Castaway Dreams at the top, it's because TPSB is a spin-off from that book. Captain Robert St. Armand, notorious pirate and libertine, is the villain of Castaway Dreams. Now he gets to play the hero, with mixed results.

I'll post the cover for the new novel as soon as it's available to me. I can't wait to see it!

I'm thrilled to announce my Regency era romance, Castaway Dreams, won first place in historicals in the Aspen Gold Reader's Choice awards, sponsored by Heart of Denver Romance Writers of America. 

It was a stiff competition, and congratulations go to all the finalists.