~Snippet Saturday~ Entangled (Spellbound)

Time for another excerpt from one of my stories. Gertrude has been the star of the past two Snippet Saturdays, so how about something different this time?

Let's have a snippet from Entangled, shall we? Entangled is a remake of my previously published novel Spellbound. It's getting a revamp, inside and out.

The following is the opening of Spellbound, before any changes for the revamped edition. Enjoy! ♥

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January 1820

“It’s insane, Raven. He’s insane. How can you even consider it?”

Raven Emerson stared at Adam, her slightly raised brows the only sign of her annoyance. Adam’s wife, Bri, was strangely silent. Normally, she was full of ideas and opinions, some quite scandalous, but today she was keeping her thoughts to herself. Raven was unsure why this was but decided to spare her friend the necessity of giving her opinion in front of Adam.

“I don’t see how my decision is any concern of yours, Adam Prestwich,” replied Raven in her throaty voice. Her expression revealed nothing.

“None of my concern?” Disbelief was writ plain on the baronet’s handsome face. “And how, madam, do you suppose that?”

His tone had taken on a dangerous silkiness that Raven knew meant he was more than a little perturbed. She didn’t care. She was no longer his to command and she’d be damned if she’d let him try.

“I’m not your responsibility now,” she told him. “You have a wife and children to worry about. Leave me be.”

Adam stared at her. “You may not be my mistress anymore but you’re still my friend and my wife’s as well.” He paused but Raven said nothing. “You cannot have thought this through!” he finally exploded.

“I assure you, I have,” she told him quietly—and completely without truth. She caught the look of surprise on Bri’s face but ignored it. “Lord Windhaven assures me I will be well paid and have nothing to fear from his family provided I play my part well.” A ghost of a smile crossed her lips. “And there is little fear of that considering I’ve been an actress for years.”

“But you have acted in nothing for nearly a year, Raven,” Adam pointed out mockingly. “Are you sure you remember how?”

Raven glared at him in response. She was used to Adam’s callousness. She had been under his protection for years before he met and married Lady Brianna Derring, a titled lady in her own right and running from her family. Adam’s hands had been full to overflowing with Bri’s problems and while Raven had been of some considerable help to the couple, she had also been in the way.

Adam released an exasperated breath. “The man must be completely balmy to ask you to impersonate a peeress, Raven. Either that or he views you as expendable. Do you realize they will hang you if you’re discovered? And his family will probably be the first to lead you to the scaffold. Can he protect you then?”

Raven shrugged with seeming nonchalance. “He’s a duke,” she said carelessly. Inside she was frightened but she’d never reveal that to the odious man before her.

A shiver of excitement coursed through her. Her life had become a trifle boring of late—a circumstance she blamed entirely on her past decisions and her belief that she had a penance to pay for giving in to temptation—once with Adam and once with…

She pushed her other indiscretion determinedly from her mind.

---

That's the old version. I will do my best to have the new version for you within the next few weeks. ;) 

The cover shown here is the new one. I guess this would be the official unveiling. LOL I hope you like it. 

As always, thank you for stopping by! ♥ 

♥Happy reading, writing, and blogging!!♥

There’s a jukebox in my head. It’s currently playing
♫♪ Evanescence ~ Going Under

I'm a Bestselling Author!

OK, not really, at least not to my way of thinking. It's still nice, though, to see so many e-copies of my Regencies flying out the door.

Smashwords is in the tail-end of their annual Summer/Winter promotion and I offered up two of my self-published titles, Betrayal and Spellbound, for free. In that time, Betrayal managed to make it to the #2 spot in bestsellers for several days (it's now at the end of page 9, lol) and Spellbound at this very moment sits in the #1 spot. (You can see the screen shot below.) 

For bestsellers. Unreal. 

Even though it's free, this still makes my jaw drop. There are so many books listed for free on Smashwords right now so while I don't really consider this makes me a "real" bestselling author, it is still an accomplishment. 

And I owe it all to you, my lovely readers, fellow writers, and fans. Thank you all so much for downloading my books and supporting me. I appreciate it more than I can say. 

If you haven't downloaded my books yet, please take advantage of this offer and get Betrayal and Spellbound for free. Don't forget to apply the code(s) though, or you will be charged full price ($2.99 each). 

I Made a Mistake. I'm Sorry.

With the receipt of a less than glowing 3-star review, I have come to the realization that I may have made a tactical error. In releasing my books out of order, I have caused preventable confusion. In failing to market them as a series, I have caused even more. This was nearsighted of me and I apologize for it. 

Since I can't undo the damage I've done, here's a list of my currently released titles in the order they *should* be read: 

1. Betrayal (1816-1817)
2. Deception (1818)
3. Spellbound (early 1820)
4. Heartless (late 1820)
5. Redemption (1821)

It seems, however, that I've made the mistake of setting myself into a course that I can't alter. The next book up for release is Honor, a story that takes place a year or so before Betrayal. Part of me never wanted to release Honor but readers have demanded Connor's story. He is an intriguing secondary character and probably deserves his turn in the limelight. It will be taking another step back in time, however, to make his story available. You see my dilemma. 

In conclusion, I apologize for this error. I pray my readers are not too upset with me for overlooking the possibility of this result. 

Updates of a Varied Sort

Well, there are a few matters to update here.

Announcements:

• I have started a blog for Spellbound. All you readers who are interested, please follow to get all the inside dirt on the novel as updates are posted: All the Gossip of Spellbound.
• The blog tour for Joyce DiPastena's new medieval romance Illuminations of the Heart is in full swing. Four prizes are being given away at the end of the tour and you can enter NOW. For details of the tour and rules for entry view the post on my book review site: Romance, Old School. Followers are always welcome and very much appreciated.

Updates:

• My recent blog poll on publisher reviews has ended with 75% voting that this type of review is only of some importance and should be considered with a grain of salt. 25% think they are too biased to be considered at all. Nobody felt they should be treated as normal reviews. Although the voting is over, you can still leave your opinion on the original post: Do Publisher Reviews Matter?
• Spellbound is still available for FREE download from Smashwords.com. Smashwords offers several file formats for many e-readers including Kindle, Palm, and Sony. They also offer PDF and HTML for ordinary computer reading. For details of my offer and the coupon code required for download, check out the original post: Spellbound is FREE Until August 21!

That is all for now. Happy reading, writing and blogging!

Spellbound is FREE Until August 21!

Until August 21, Spellbound can be downloaded for FREE from Smashwords.com. There are no catches, no hidden charges or requirements. All you do is enter coupon code FQ22T when required during the checkout process.

Smashwords offers many ebook formats for several ebook readers including the Kindle, Sony Reader and Stanza, as well as good old-fashioned PDF and HTML for online reading.

Book Blurb:

England 1820. Retired actress Raven agrees to pose as a missing noblewoman/fiancé of an eccentric duke. If caught, she could lose her life. Her reason is simple curiosity about her employer, Lord Windhaven. His plan goes far deeper than merely hiring an actress to play a role. He suspects something is not right with Raven. Then the duke's brother arrives, threatening to reveal Raven's identity.

Reviews from Goodreads:

From Joyce DiPastena: "Spellbound is filled with mysteries. Why does the Duke of Windhaven, who has hired Raven to pose, first as his fiancé and then as his wife, react with such terror when he sees Raven draw too close to the lake on his family estates? What is the truth about the missing noblewoman Raven is pretending to be, and what mysteries lie in Raven’s own past that have been hidden from her since childhood? And will the answers to these mysteries unite Raven and Windhaven together in love or tear them apart forever? Will the Raven I grew to love in Betrayal finally find her own happy ending?...I found the book difficult to put down, staying up later than I should have to read “just a few more words” in a new chapter, every time I finished an old one."

From Pamela Sinclair: "I really like how she fills in pieces of the characters past as the story progresses and the way the characters work to overcome their past mistakes."

From Rachel Rager: "Spellbound is an enchanting tale woven through and around two broken souls. Ms. Grant takes Raven, an actress, and leads her through a wonderful adventure full of love, forgiveness and acceptance. Together, the characters learned to work through their issues under unique circumstances.
I was particularly enthralled by the idea of the hero and heroine acting out a couple of Romeo and Juliet's duets! This definitely added a sense of romance unparalleled.
Once again Ms. Grant's style and description placed the reader right in the thick of the adventure. Such a page turner!"

Paperback Update

I am in the process of updating my currently published titles. Stupid? Maybe. Pointless? Hardly. Do I have control issues? Most definitely!

The Kindle versions are done. The regular eBook versions are done. Now, I'm updating the paperbacks, which takes longer, as I have to approve the new copies. Look for a title or two to be down for a week or more at one time.

As of posting this message, Heartless and Spellbound are taking a breather. Betrayal is finished. The new copy is what is now available on CreateSpace and Amazon, despite appearances to the contrary. I expect my proof copy of Spellbound to arrive any day, at which point it will be approved--fingers crossed--and then Redemption will take a break. In a week or so, Heartless should be back up for sale.

What are the differences between 1st and 2nd editions?

1. First and foremost, the artwork. I updated the cover art. The other covers all had some aspect I found mildly annoying. (Why were they published that way in the first place? I am impatient. I am an impatient control freak. How does that translate in regard to my overall health? Stress, stress, and more stress. LOL)
2. There were a few things I overlooked that my husband thought were rather important. I fixed those.
3. And, of course, I noticed a couple little typos that were overlooked in the billion edits these all went through before publication. There is always at least one, no matter how many different people go over the manuscript however many times. Even "professional" editors miss things.
4. I also cleaned up the formatting a bit. This altered the page count. The books seem longer now. They are not. The word count is the same. Ex: Betrayal went from being 144pgs to 172pgs. The word count is still about 60,000.

All that aside, here is an example of the new & old covers

I think you see my point...