Guest Post and $25 Gift Card Giveaway: The de Montforte Brothers series

BLURB

"The bluest of blood, the boldest of hearts; the de Montforte brothers will take your breath away." 

England, 1776: Lord Gareth de Montforte is known as an irresponsible rake with a heart of gold. When he takes a bullet for boldly thwarting a stagecoach robbery, he is stunned to discover that the beautiful young woman he has heroically rescued, Juliet Paige, is his deceased brother’s American fiancée, accompanied by her infant daughter. Despite his brother the duke's refusal to acknowledge Juliet, Gareth is determined to do right by the courageous woman who crossed an ocean to give her baby her rightful name. But Juliet is wary of marrying this black sheep aristocrat, even while she is hopelessly charmed by the dashing devil. Never has she met anyone who embraces life so thoroughly, who makes her laugh, who loves her so well. And, even when it seems the odds are against them, Juliet has absolute faith that Gareth will go beyond the call of duty, risking his life itself to give her and her daughter a home — and a love that will last a lifetime.

"Ten Things Most People Don't Know About Me"

- Guest post by Danelle Harmon

1.  I set a good part of my book THE WILD ONE in the actual English town of Abingdon-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.  My husband and I were married and used to own a home there, and I took my dog, Roscoe, for daily walks along the footpaths and fields that I envisioned belonged to Swanthorpe, the estate of my hero Lord Gareth de Montforte.  County Hall, the scene of his triumph over The Butcher, is a real place, as are the churches, rivers, streets and other landmarks mentioned in the book.  I still have the old bicycle I bought while living in Abingdon, which took me everywhere as we only had one car, and my husband needed it to get to work.  I carried many a grocery bag home on that bike!  It's a bit rusty now and not very pretty, and my English husband says it's a "granny bike," but I don't care; there are wonderful memories attached to it!

2.  I love music, and the more energy it has, the better.  The British band Oasis, which rose to prominence during the years I lived in England, remains one of my favorites, though they are no longer together.  In fact, I wrote two of my de Montforte Brothers series to their music; their rousing and orchestraic "All Around The World" was frequently blaring while I was writing THE BELOVED ONE.  They did an outstanding cover of the Beatles's song, "I Am The Walrus," too, which I adore.  I have several versions of both these songs on my iPod and they'll probably contribute to an early loss of hearing on my part.

3.  The senior German Shorthaired Pointer on the e-cover of THE DEFIANT ONE is actually my beloved "Roscoe," gone now to the Rainbow Bridge.  He was my first AKC champion, and finished as the # 26 German Shorthaired Pointer in America in the year in which I showed him most heavily.  He also served as the model for "Freckles" in the book.  He was a great friend and lived to the ripe old age of fifteen, and I still miss him.

4.  I volunteer a lot of my time, effort, and tears to dog rescue, and my family has fostered five dogs over the past two years.  Fostering is probably the single biggest need that rescue organizations have, and it's a rewarding and deeply satisfying venture for anyone who wants to have a part in saving a life.  Rescue is a passion of mine, and I was recently tapped by our National Rescue Chair to write a column for our breed's bi-monthly national magazine.  (I suspect it will be more challenging than writing a book!)

5.  I wrote WICKED AT HEART, just released for e-books, while still living in England, and had a photo of a young, and at the time relatively unknown (although he has since gone on to become quite famous), actor next to the computer to inspire me.  He was my hero.  If you've read the book, can you guess whom he might be?

6.  Cookie dough is my favorite ice cream flavor.  It was "invented" by Ben & Jerry's back in the late 1980s, and at the time, you could only buy it at their own retail stores; it wasn't sold anywhere else.   I loved it so much that I used to jump in my little Mazda Rx7 and drive the two hours out to their shop in Eastham, Cape Cod, just to get a cone with it.  Then I'd drive all the way back home.  (Of course, gas was a lot cheaper, then!)

7.  I hate my hair.  It's hot and uncontrollable and frizzy and I can't roll the windows down and let the wind through unless I want to look like I stuck my finger in a light socket.  It stymies me that people with the hair that I envy — that is, straight! — think I'm "lucky" for having such a rat's nest sitting atop my head.

8.  I used to own, and know how to load, fire, and clean, a British "Brown Bess" musket.  As I live fairly close to Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts — sites where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired — and have a passion for this time in American history, I used to be heavily involved with re-enacting those events with a local minuteman group.  On my way home one day from Boston or Arlington, and while still dressed in my "minuteman" clothes and toting my musket, I stopped off at the Old North Bridge to reflect on the events in which I had just taken part.  I was deep in reverie when  voices intruded on my thoughts, asking for my picture.  Looking up, I found a whole group of Japanese tourists, all armed with smiles and cameras.  Of course I obliged them.  Even now, years later, I smile to think that maybe, far, far away on the other side of the world, I'm looking out of a Japanese photo album, surrounded by happy tourists.

9.  I booked trips on two Maine windjammers, and also took sailing lessons as part of my research when I was writing my sea stories.  I got pretty good sailing a 17' sloop, and solo at that!

10.  Ted Neeley of Jesus Christ Superstar owns a copy of my book, THE WILD ONE.  When the production came through here several years ago, I waited until the wee hours for the chance to meet this man that I all but idolized.  I was not writing at the time, and never thought to do so again, but we started talking about creativity, and he gave me all sorts of wonderfully supportive advice and encouragement.  He remains one of the most inspiring and incredible people I have ever met, and I feel blessed for the opportunity to have spent some time with him; God bless him!

Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog today — I've enjoyed being here, and wish you and your readers many hours of great reading.  Have a happy and wonderful summer!

— Danelle Harmon

P.S.  I love to hear from my readers!  You can email me at Danelle@danelleharmon.com, or reach me through any of the following means:

Danelle Harmon on the web:  Danelleharmon.com
Danelle Harmon on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DanelleHarmon
Danelle Harmon on Twitter:   https://twitter.com/DanelleHarmon
Danelle Harmon's blog:  http://danelleharmon.wordpress.com/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Multi-award winning and critically acclaimed author Danelle Harmon is the author of ten books, previously published in print and distributed in many languages throughout the world. A Massachusetts native, she married her English husband while living in the United Kingdom, and both now make their home in Massachusetts with their daughter Emma and numerous animals including four dogs, an Egyptian Arabian horse, and a flock of pet chickens. 

Danelle welcomes email from her readers and can be reached at danelle@danelleharmon.com , on the web at http://www.danelleharmon.com, or through her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DanelleHarmon

GIVEAWAY

Danelle will be awarding a digital copy of book two, "The Beloved One" to one randomly drawn commenter at every stop and a $25 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

Giveaway open INTERNATIONALLY and ends August 3rd 2012!