• Quick and Fun,  Western

    Shot Through the Heart by Andrea Downing @AndiDowning #RLFblog #HistoricalWesternRomance #Western

    Shot Through the Heart by Andrea Downing @AndiDowning #RLFblog #historicalwesternromanceCan you have revenge on your mind when you’ve been Shot Through the Heart? In Andrea Downing’s new historical western romance, he wants to kill his sister’s murderers, she wants to help and heal the sick. Will it be trouble or love that finds them first?

    Andrea, welcome to Romance Lives Forever. I’m Kayelle Allen, author and owner of this blog. Happy to have you here! Please tell us about Shot Through the Heart.

    Shot Through the Heart by Andrea Downing

    Genre historical western romance

    Book heat level (based on movie ratings): PG13

    Gunslinger Shiloh Coltrane has returned home to work the family’s Wyoming ranch, only to find there’s still violence ahead. His sister and nephew have been murdered, and the killers are at large.

    Dr. Sydney Cantrell has come west to start her medical practice, aiming to treat the people of a small town. As she tries to help and heal, she finds disapproval and cruelty the payment in kind.

    When the two meet, it’s an attraction of opposites. As Shiloh seeks revenge, Sydney seeks to do what’s right. Each wants a new life, but will trouble or love find them first?

    QUICK

    Do you write more than one genre? If so, what are they?

    I write both historical and contemporary romance and women’s fiction, but so far all my books take place in the west. I’ve been using Wyoming fairly frequently as my setting as that’s where I live part-year (pandemics permitting!)

    How do you come up with ideas?

    Numerous different ways! My last book, Always on My Mind, devolved from an actual fight between cowboys and hippies at my local dancehall in the ’70s; Loveland came out of something I read about British aristocrats starting big cattle companies in the west. Shot Through the Heart started with the hero’s name, taken off my Cowboy calendar. Somewhere out there, there’s a real hero!

    What is the single most important part of writing for you?

    Character and conflict. Without really good characters, you have a very flat story, and without the conflict you have no story!

    When did you write your first book?

    Like most authors, that one is hidden away; mine is in boxes. It was written in the ’90s but I didn’t publish anything until 2012.

    FUN

    Leather or lace? Leather—cowhide!

    Black or red? Black. A gypsy once told me I’d die if I drove a red car so I avoid red.

    Satin sheets or smooth cotton? Cotton—I hate satin or silk sheets. Too slippery.

    Ocean or mountains? Mountains, though I’m lucky enough to live near each part-year.

    City life or country life? Country, of course.

    Party life or evening at home? Can I have both?

    Dogs or cats? Horses please? Okay, dogs if I must take one of those.

    Where to buy Shot Through the Heart

    Publisher https://www.thewildrosepress.com/authors/andrea-downing
    Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Shot-Through-Heart-Andrea-Downing-ebook/dp/B08DHV8VQ5/
    Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shot-through-the-heart-andrea-downing/1137387142
    Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54751926-shot-through-the-heart

    BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/books/shot-through-the-heart-by-andrea-downing

    Andrea Downing Social Media

    A native New Yorker, Andrea Downing divides her time between the canyons of city streets and the wide-open spaces of Wyoming. Her background in publishing and English Language teaching has transferred into fiction writing, and her love of horses, ranches, rodeo, and just about anything else western, is reflected in her award-winning western romances.
    She has been a finalist in the RONE Awards for Best American Historical Romance twice, placed in the International Digital Awards twice, and won ‘Favorite Hero’ and Honorable Mentions for Favorite Heroine, Short Story and Novel in the Maple Leaf Awards. Her book, Dearest Darling, has also won The Golden Quill Award for Best Novella and been on the short list for winning The Chanticleer Award for Best Short or Novella.
    Website https://andreadowning.com
    Blog https://andreadowning.com
    Twitter https://twitter.com/AndiDowning
    Facebook https://www.facebook.com/writerAndreaDowning/
    Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/andidowning/andreas-roundup/
    Instagram https://www.instagram.com/andidowning/?hl=en
    Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6446229.Andrea_Downing
    BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/andrea-downing
    Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Andrea-Downing/e/B008MQ0NXS
    Please follow Andrea on BookBub and Goodreads

  • Book Release,  Western

    Read Always on My Mind by Andrea Downing @AndiDowning #RLFblog #NewRelease #westernromance

    Read Always on My Mind by Andrea Downing @AndiDowning #RLFblog #NewRelease #westernromanceAndrea Downing welcome to Romance Lives Forever. I’m Kayelle Allen, author and owner of this blog. Happy to have you here! Please tell us about your book.

    Always on My Mind by Andrea Downing

    Genre Vintage Western Romance

    Book heat level (based on movie ratings): PG-13

    1972 – Vietnam, the pill, upheaval, hippies. Wyoming rancher Cooper Byrnes, deeply attached to the land and his way of life, surprises everyone when he falls for vagabond hippie Cassie Halliday. Fascinated and baffled, he cannot comprehend his attraction—or say the words she wants to hear. Cassie finds Coop intriguingly different. As she keeps house for him and warms his bed at night, she admits to herself she loves him but she misinterprets Coop’s inability to express his feelings. Parted, each continues to think of the other, but how can either of them reach out to say, “You were ‘always on my mind’?”

    Why did you write this book?

    I learned that there had actually been a bust-up between ranchers and hippies at my local dancehall in Wilson, WY, in the seventies. You really can’t get two more disparate groups—ranchers with their attachment to the land, their feeling for the generations that have worked it before them, and then hippies who are mostly freewheeling and care-free, unattached to anything pretty much. I just had to think, what if?

    What is your favorite genre to read?

    I read a lot of women’s lit. and literary fiction. I’m afraid to read too much romance in case I steal someone’s idea, although really, there are only so many tropes for romance.

    Who is your favorite character from fiction (not including your own)?

    So difficult Kayelle! But there are characters in a literary romance, I’ll call it, Midnight Cactus by Bella Pollen, and I got very involved with them.

    What are you working on at the moment?

    I’m thinking and promoting and haven’t started another book. I just sent in a new mss. to my editor so I’ll have my hands full for a while between that and promoting this one, but that’s not to say I don’t have ideas on the bubble.

    What books will we see from you in coming months?

    Hopefully, the historical western romance I just sent into my editor. It’s about a lady doctor and a former gunslinger trying to hang up his guns until he learns that his family have been murdered.

    Where to buy Always on My Mind

    Publisher The Wild Rose Press
    Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082S8TQD1/
    Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/always-on-my-mind-andrea-downing/1135994904
    iBooks https://books.apple.com/us/book/always-on-my-mind/id1491979552
    Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49696106-always-on-my-mind
    BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/books/always-on-my-mind-by-andrea-downing

    Andrea Downing Social Media

    A native New Yorker who has spent most of her life living in the U.K., Andrea Downing currently divides her time between the canyons of city streets and the wide-open spaces of Wyoming. Her background in publishing and English Language teaching has transferred into fiction writing, and her love of horses, ranches, rodeo, and just about anything else western, is reflected in her award-winning historical and contemporary western romances
    Website https://andreadowning.com
    Blog https://andreadowning.com
    Twitter https://twitter.com/AndiDowning
    Facebook https://www.facebook.com/writerAndreaDowning
    Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/andidowning/andreas-roundup/
    Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6446229.Andrea_Downing
    Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Andrea-Downing/e/B008MQ0NXS/
    Get to know Andrea Downing better by following her at BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/andrea-downing

     

  • Modern Western

    Come Love A Cowboy by @AndiDowning #RLFblog #cowboyromance

    Today’s featured book is Come Love a Cowboy by 8 Best-selling and Award-winning Authors
    About the Book
    Title  Come Love a Cowboy
    Genre Contemporary Western Romance
    Author Kathleen Ball, Caroline Clemmons, Keta Diable, Hebby Roman, Margo Bond-Collins, Julie A. D’Arcy, Andrea Downing, Patti Sherry-Crews
    Book heat level (based on movie ratings): PG13 – R
    Luke’s Fate by Kathleen Ball
    Meg O’Brien hoped never to lay eyes on the one man who broke her heart. To her dismay, Luke Kelly arrives at her ranch a much different and broken man. Can Meg ever forgive his callous treatment of her and help Luke become the man he used to be?
    Grant Me The Moon by Caroline Clemmons
    All Tory Fraser intended was to show her high school history club students a local archeology dig. How could she know the excursion would involve a murder?
    Three for The Win by Keta Diablo
    Hollis should have known better than to fall for a bone-melting man like Stede. He’s gone now and Eli is left to pick up the broken pieces of her life.
    Border Affair by Hebby Roman
    When his partners’ daughter is kidnapped in México, a self-made millionaire must confront his feelings about their affair and the future of their relationship.
    Leaving Necessity by Margo Bond Collins
    Mac has one week to convince his ex-girlfriend Clara not to sell his oil company. In this high-pressure reunion, can they strike love again?
    The Shape of Destiny by Julie A. D’Arcy
    A young male shape shifter. A beautiful female ranch owner. Can love be born in a web of deceit?
    Bad Boy, Big Heart by Andrea Downing
    She’s a New Yorker escaping her parents.  He’s a Wyoming cowboy supporting his dad. One summer, two young people—three months to find love.
    Desert Heat by Patti Sherry-Crews
    A single mother struggling to keep her guest ranch puts her own desires on hold. When a handsome and persistent fireman sets his sights on her, she must decide how much she’s willing to give.
    Buy This Book
    Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Come-Love-Cowboy-Kathleen-Ball-ebook/dp/B01D5876UK
    Universal link:  http://myBook.to/Come-Love-A-Cowboy 
    About the Author
    8 Best-selling and Award-winning Authors: Kathleen Ball, Caroline Clemmons, Keta Diable, Hebby Roman, Margo Bond-Collins, Julie A. D’Arcy, Andrea Downing, Patti Sherry-Crews.
    Author Social Media
    Websites:
    http://ketaskeep.blogspot.com
  • RLF Gems

    RLF Gem Award: Top Bloggers 2014 Romance Lives Forever #RLFblog @LSB_lsbooks

    Romance Lives Forever
    Top Blogger Award 
    Last month, Romance Lives Forever had 30 posts in a 31 day month.
    Each month, the RLF Gems post ranks in the top ten, but is not counted, in order
    to focus on guests.
    The Top Blogger for December was Liquid Silver Books. In
    addition, they are the top bloggers for the year. Their stats were up to three
    times higher than any other guest on the blog in its history. They win a year of
    free cover advertising on the blog. The top blogger for each month wins a month of free advertising. This month’s winner would be Liquid Silver Books as well, but since they garnered the top spot for the year, I am extending the free month to Diane Saxon, who was in second place. Congratulations to all of you!

    Top Five Bloggers for the Month

    Judged by page views, the top bloggers are:
    1. Liquid Silver Books
    2. Diane Saxon
    3. Andrea
      Downing
    4. JoAnne Myers
    5. NJ Walters
     Honorable mention: Diana Cosby, Berengaria Brown

    Top Twelve Bloggers for the Year

    As with the bloggers of the month, these twelve bloggers and
    groups are listed in order of their page views.
    1. Liquid
      Silver Books – Publisher Week / December
    2. MFRW
      Founding Day (Marketing for Romance Writers) / October
    3. Boroughs
      Publishing – Publisher Week / September
    4. Anaiah Press
      – Publisher Week / June
    5. Daisy Banks
      / February
    6. Marilyn
      Baron / August
    7. Changeling
      Press – Publisher Week / April
    8. Kayelle Allen – Salute to
      Veteran Authors / November
    9. E Ayers /
      July
    10. Vicki Batman
      / March
    11. JD Faver /
      January
    12. Kayelle Allen – Report from
      Outlantacon / May
    Romance Lives Forever features authors and new books. It has
    a blogger’s FAQ page with a downloadable guide and optional interviews. Readers
    can follow via Google+, Networked Blogs, Linky Followers, email, an RSS feed, and
    there’s a blog button readers and authors can grab. Authors can share previous books.
    The blog uses author or publisher names as tags on posts, and author Twitter handles
    in the titles. The site is broadcast over Triberr with a potential reach of over
    1.2M readers via its Twitter-linked network. Twitter mentions are also gathered
    in several Paper.li ezines, giving the author additional opportunities for promotion.
    The Romance Lives
    Forever Paper.li ezine
    features guest authors on its front page every day.

    Share your book cover on Romance Lives Forever

    Limited spots to share book covers are available. Cost is $3
    per month, with discounts for covers posted for one quarter and up to one year.
    Covers can be changed monthly.

    Sign Up for a Future Post

    Guest calendar http://is.gd/rlfdates
    My thanks to all who took part this month. You made Romance Lives
    Forever a great place to discover new books and authors.
    Other participants this month in alphabetical order by first
    name are:
    Anita Philmar, Brita Addams, Christine Ashworth, Christy Effinger, Heather
    Hiestand, Jennifer Hayward, Jennifer Young, Kate Moore, LA Sartor, Lauren
    Linwood, Leslie Lynch, MJ Schiller, Naughty Literati, Rebecca Cohen
  • Contemporary

    Characters: Writer’s Creation or Reader’s Interpretation @AndiDowning #RLFblog #writertips

    Dearest Darling by Andrea Downing
    I see my characters clearly in my head. I hear their voices. I’d know them on the street and I understand them perfectly, what they would do in any given situation. When people ask me, what actor would you have play your hero or heroine in the film of the book, it’s difficult for me to answer because I envisage what they look like so plainly, and it’s not like any actor I know. So, with all this clarity, all this precise depiction, why do I get the occasional comment in a review that completely contradicts what I know my character to be?
    When I wrote Loveland, it was perfectly apparent to me that Lady Alex was the product of a neglected childhood. Her father had made it clear that he hated her, had sent her off for several years to live in a strange country, on a rough ranch, with no one of her own age. He then forced her into a disastrous marriage. Now, with all this behind her, she wanted to be independent—especially of men. She wanted a career. So why was it that a couple of people commented that they thought she was spoilt? Yes, as a member of the aristocracy, she had a maid, wore fine clothes, but did that imply she was spoilt? What happens is that the reader puts his or her own interpretation on the book; one reader might agree with me that Lady Alex was the product of her background with expectations to have these accouterments, but the next reader might have the view that these things make Lady Alex spoilt, that she had expectations beyond the norm. So who is right?
    In a way, both of us. A reader can only interpret what she reads from her own knowledge or background of experience. The author must strengthen the characterization enough to get the correct interpretation—the reader is not going to get what is in my mind by osmosis! It has to be down on the page. Perhaps the author must account for the breadth of viewpoints of her readership, the variety of experiences that readers are bringing to the page. On the other hand, I have to ask myself, could I, for instance, have created someone of Lady Alex’s background without the necessary props to show exactly who she was?
    So, how does the author create a character? First of all, the author shows the back-story of the character—let’s call him Charles for now. Charles has a body of experience behind him when the story begins that has helped to shape his character. As the novel proceeds, Charles will act and react to events, and the reader will know his thoughts on these events. When we’re in his POV, we’ll show his inner conflicts (is he torn between sweet Betty Lou and the glamorous Megan?), the emotions and tensions within him. We’ll relate his view on his relationship with other characters in the book; does he hate his father, is he bored stiff by his aunt? And we’ll describe his appearance, his quirks and his ticks; he’s grown a beard, he plays incessantly with the ring on his finger.
    Now comes the reader, Miss R. She gets the back story in drips and drabs so that a picture begins to form. Charles went to a posh school; Miss R thinks that means money in his background—that is, until it is revealed he was a scholarship student. Then her view of him

    changes somewhat. He buys a coffee and his hand shakes and a spill burns him. Miss R. wonders if he’s ill or nervous? Meantime, both Betty Lou and Megan are equally likeable and have an equal amount of faults. But Miss R is sitting in NYC and thinks the choice should be Megan, while Mrs. Farmer favors Betty Lou. Now we have 2 different interpretations of what’s going on, what’s going to happen and what SHOULD happen. Further complications arise when it becomes apparent that Charles hates his father and Miss R. did too, but Mrs. Farmer adored and worshipped hers so thinks ill of Charles. Finally, there’s that beard. Is it hiding a scar? Is he playing with that ring because he’s nervous or because he wants to remember the beautiful woman who gave it to him?

    The author has no control over what goes on in her readers’ minds and, at the same time, we don’t want to give away the whole story at once. Part of the telling is in letting out the secrets and the story in doses, but in such a way the reader reaches the correct interpretation of the character. And if we don’t do that, then, perhaps, we, as authors, have failed.

    About the Book

    Author: Andrea Downing
    Genre: western historical romance
    Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
    Stuck in a life of servitude to her penny-pinching brother, Emily Darling longs for a more exciting existence. When a packet with travel tickets, meant for one Ethel Darton, accidentally lands on her doormat, Emily sees a chance for escape. Having turned down the dreary suitors that have come her way, is it possible a new existence also offers a different kind of man?
    Daniel Saunders has carved out a life for himself in Wyoming—a life missing one thing: a wife. Having scrimped and saved to bring his mail-order bride from New York, he is outraged to find in her stead a runaway fraud. Even worse, the impostor is the sister of his old enemy.
    But people are not always as they seem, and sometimes the heart knows more than the head.

    About the Author

    Andrea Downing
    Andrea Downing
    Andrea Downing likes to say that when she decided to do a Masters Degree, she made the mistake of turning left out of New York, where she was born, instead of right to the west, and ended up in the UK. She eventually married there, raising a beautiful daughter and staying for longer than she cares to admit. Teaching, editing a poetry magazine, writing travel articles, and a short stint in Nigeria filled those years until in 2008 she returned to NYC. She now divides her time between the city and the shore, and often trades the canyons of New York for the wide open spaces of Wyoming. Family vacations are often out west and, to date, she and her daughter have been to some 20 ranches throughout the west. Loveland, her first book, was a finalist for Best American Historical at the 2013 RONE Awards. Lawless Love, a short story, part of The Wild Rose Press ‘Lawmen and Outlaws’ series, was a finalist for Best Historical Novella at the RONE Awards and placed in the 2014 International Digital Awards Historical Short contest. Dearest Darling, a novella, is part of The Wild Rose Press Love Letters series, and came out Oct. 8th, 2014, and Dances of the Heart, another full length novel, comes out in February, 2015.

    Author Social Media

    Buy This Book