So, enough of the serious stuff (uh, for a short space of time). Here’s something cool.

A while back, Theresa Romain asked me to read a copy of her debut historical romance, Season for Temptation. Which isn’t out until October. And I loved it. It’s a rare beast–a fun, sparkling romance that still has a real dash of emotion.

The setup: James gets engaged to Louisa, a lovely girl, who he thinks he’ll get along with quite well. He spends some time with her family during the betrothal, including with her step-sister Julia. Julia is friendly and funny and outgoing, and James and Louisa are both a little more shy and reserved. It seems only natural that Julia, who wants James to feel welcome to the family, act as a bridge–as she really loves Louisa, and wants her stepsister to be happy.

And so Julia and James become friends. Their friendship progresses from, “Gosh, isn’t it lovely that we’re going to be family?” into a deeper, less superficial relationship. Neither of them intends to fall in love. Neither of them realizes they’re falling in love–they just enjoy each other’s company, and think it’s lovely that they get along so well, since they’re all going to be one happy family.

Until one day, James and Julia realize that they’re spending more time together, and enjoying each other’s company more, than James and Louisa do.

Gulp. It’s a slow, delightful falling in love–one that’s fun and adorable, even though I know the setup seems horribly conflicted and filled with angst. The forbidden love triangle can often be so angst-ridden that as a reader, it’s almost too much. But Theresa Romain’s version had a delicious innocence to it. This wasn’t a case of people behaving badly because they’re too lust-filled; it was one where people acted with the best of intentions. You really feel for them when they realize they’ve got in too deep, but instead of reading it and saying, “NO NO, DO NOT GO THERE, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?” you can’t help but cheer for what is a true friendship and a truer love.

I really had a blast reading this book, and Theresa got some extra ARCs and offered me one. I declined on my own behalf; I’m trying to do everything in digital these days, after all. But I decided it would be worthwhile to ask her if I could have one for my blog readers, and she said yes.

So here’s your chance, lucky readers. Comment if you want, and I’ll pick a lucky reader to have it over the weekend.

So: Winners from last time:

My Lord Scandal: SylviaSybil
The DUFF: Elisa

You know the drill: e-mail me your address at courtney@courtneymilan.com, and congratulations!

Now, on to other matters! As you may well know, Trial by Desire comes out in… ulp! Two and a half weeks. And it occurs to me that some people–some few people in the world–have not yet read Proof by Seduction. And so I have been giving a few copies away–some on Twitter, some on Facebook–and now, I’m going to give them away on my blog.

So. If you don’t have a copy of Proof by Seduction, let me know. I’m giving away at least 5 copies. Maybe more, depending on how I feel and how many people enter and all that jazz. You have all weekend–in fact, until next Tuesday, when I make my Next Big Announcement (which makes it sound bigger than it is, but hey), to enter. Did you somehow miss out on Proof? Or, do you have a friend who needs a copy of Proof? (You do–you know you do!) Just let me know, and I’ll pick at least 5 of you, at random, to win.

Today has been a day filled with work from about 6 AM to…um…it is still continuing now.

There were brief interludes to eat dinner and take the dog for a walk. The dog, incidentally, has hit a milestone in his life: today he caught his first squirrel. I am a little perturbed by this development, and he was utterly delighted. (For the curious: It was a ground squirrel. He nosed it up off the ground, shook it, flung it in the air. We called him off at that point, and–good dog!–he actually came. But he was very, very insistent in wanting to go back to where we found the squirrel, convinced that we’d made him leave behind the newest, best toy ever.)

Despite all that, here I am, to distribute copies of Warrior and to tell you about some books I read over the weekend during the few hours when I was not working, and which, incidentally, I have extra copies of. For you.

First, the winners of Warrior are: Llehn and Cris. Congratulations! Send me your snail mail addresses at courtney@courtneymilan.com.

And now, the books.

• Emma Wildes’ My Lord Scandal. This is a book about a rake and a sheltered virgin. But it is not the book you think–the rake is actually really honorable at heart (even though he is, after all, a rake), and the virgin, while a virgin, is so matter-of-fact and straight-forward and in charge of her life. There is no misunderstanding. There is no kicking and screaming on the part of either of the characters, when they realize that love is descending with nasty, clawed teeth. There is no stupidity. In fact, one of the most delicious things about this book is that it’s a straight-up love story: you really do believe that Alex and Amelia are really, really good together, and that they are going to be deliriously happy together for the rest of their life.

  And yet there is constant tension throughout, with never a dull moment. These are two of the most likable characters I’ve seen–for their forthright honesty, their commitment to each other, and their ability to cope with some really awful situations. I’m not sure I can describe the awesomeness that is this book. It’s sort of like, I’m reading it, and thinking, “Oy, setting up for misunderstanding in three, two, one…Wha? They didn’t! Yes! He didn’t do that! Awesome!”

  Also, this book is incredibly hot. I’m just saying. Loved, loved, loved this book.

• The DUFF by Kody Keplinger. This book is a YA book. It uses words like “asshole” and “fuck,” though. There is Cherry-Coke induced violence. I didn’t count the number of times that the main character has sex (with the same guy). So this isn’t precisely your grandma’s YA. It’s an edgy, raw book–one where the heroine does some things that feel almost dangerously self-destructive. But as the book progresses, we start seeing that her coping mechanisms aren’t as downright awful as you might think. And yeah, Bianca, the heroine of this book, is more than a little bitter. But we see that she has reasons–real reasons to be.

  Wesley is the romantic love interest, and he is not romanticized one bit–not by the book, the story, or Bianca, who is so straight-forward and clear-thinking, that I want to stand up on cheer. There is no “but he loves me so it is okay!” justifications going on here. There is no “I must prove myself to him by some act of painful self-sacrifice!” vibe, either. It’s just about Bianca, figuring out what she deserves, and realizing that she doesn’t have to be the sweetest little piece of docile cherry pie ever to get it.. There are some parts of this book that are laugh out loud funny. There are some parts that are downright brilliantly heart-stopping. There is one scene where I finally, finally start cheering for Wes. Neither Wes nor Bianca have to be perfect–nor do they have to apologize for their imperfections to each other. At the end of the day, I think these two like (and I do use the word “like” advisedly) each other for their imperfections, not in spite of them.

  I’m not sure how to describe this book to readers of adult romance, but just think about it this way: If Victoria Dahl’s heroines were in high school? Yeah. They would be Bianca. And if that doesn’t sell you on it, I’m not sure what will!

  This is one of the best YA books I have read this year, if not the best. Straight-up no-nonsense awesomeness.

So: there’s my last week’s reading in a nutshell. (Actually, there were more books–but these were the three huge standouts.) These books were such huge standouts that I actually went to the bookstore today for the purpose of getting extra copies to give away. Normally, extra copies just sort of magically appear, because I can’t help myself. These…these I went to get on purpose.

Also, as a note: the author world is very small, and quite often I know the authors whose books I’m giving away. This is not to imply that I’m less than honest in my discussions (alike Sarah Rees Brennan, I just don’t do negative reviews–so I keep my mouth shut, generally.) In this case, I’ve never met either Emma Wildes or Kody Keplinger in my life. We’re not friends. We’re not even acquaintances. And I loved both books enough that honestly, I had to buy extra copies and I had to give them away, because I want everyone to read these books. They are just that good.

So. There you are. If you didn’t win Warrior, you can win another book. And both these books are made of utter awesomeness.

When I was growing up, I was absolutely mad for awesome coming-of-age stories. The kind that stayed with me–the ones that I still have not forgotten, even today–are adventure stories. You know the sort. There’s an ordinary girl who lives what is otherwise an ordinary life, up until the point when she is snatched away by (take your pick) a trio of old women/a man in a desert cloak/an apparition from a dream. Thereupon she proceeds to kick ass and save her little brother/her country/the entire world. I’m sure many of you were right there with me, reading those books. Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword comes to mind, as do Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time or Jane Yolen’s Dragon’s Blood. I grew up on those stories. I read them over and over and over and over, until the spines of the books cracked and entire pages fell out, not that it mattered, because I had those pages memorized anyway.

And so if you want to understand why everyone seems to be buzzing about Zoe Archer’s upcoming Blades of the Rose series, it is because the books capture that same sense of magic and discovery in the books I adored as a young adult–except this time around, they’re for adults. They’re not coming of age stories, of course; they’re much deeper, with emotions that resonate with the person that I am now, instead of the thirteen-year-old I once was. But there’s still that same sense of magical discovery inherent in them, that feeling that at any time in my normal life, I might meet someone who will slip me a compass, and the next thing I know, I might be the person who runs off on a voyage of discovery.

So let me tell you about Warrior, which is the first book in the back-to-back-to-back-to-back series filled with awesomeness. It starts when Captain Gabriel Huntley, newly returned from Crimea, happens upon a group of men beating up another man in Southampton, England. Huntley isn’t sure what is going on or why–all he knows is that the odds don’t look good for the loner. And besides, he’s not ready to settle down on English soil, not after all those years of adventure.

So he intervenes, and gets more than he bargained for. Over the course of the fight, he sees things that aren’t possible. And at the end, when the person he has helped has no other choice, he’s given a mission: to deliver a message and a stylized compass to Mongolia.

No, not even inner Mongolia; that would be too easy. Outer Mongolia. And Gabriel, who is deeply restless and unready to simply marry a fine English woman and spend the rest of his life getting fat over pints of beer, decides to go. And that is where the story, so far mostly familiar, begins to weave its threads of adventure.

The magic of this story is that it takes you to the windswept steppes of Outer Mongolia, delivers on that same sense of breathless discovery that I remember and love, while still rendering everything accessible. I thought about this for a long time, trying to decipher what it was that made the story seem so different, and yet so instantly recognizable all at the same time. And what I decided was that while the setting is rare and the world that Zoe Archer builds is unique, there’s a real sense of universality to the story. When Gabriel meets Thalia, she’s used to wearing a native dress called a del–but because Gabriel is English, she dons a regular English costume…to hilarious effect. And most of all, it is her emotions that are achingly familiar.

For instance, when she first encounters him, she’s wearing an ill-fitting, ugly gown. When her father sees her, dressed as an Englishwoman for the first time in years, they have the following exchange:

“You look…”

“Hilarious,” Thalia supplied.

“Well, yes,” her father agreed. “But I was also going to say: lovely.”

And in that instant, it doesn’t matter that Thalia is something of an assistant Blade of the Rose living in Outer Mongolia, that her father knows secrets about magical things called Sources. Instantly, I understand the love and affection between them. Thalia’s the tomboy forced to play at dress-up. Without being told, I know that she’s going to ride fast, fight fiercely, and love with intensity. You know that she will lead you into adventure. It’s that same thread of human emotion that we recognize again and again in Thalia and Gabriel. Even though the book proceeds at breakneck speed across scenery that is larger than life, chasing prophecies, fighting off bands of mercenaries, running from with the villainous Heirs casting magic about that threatens their lives–throughout it all, Thalia and Gabriel remain people who we can identify with.

Near the end of the book, there’s a moment when Gabriel refuses to kiss Thalia. The scenery is new, but I still found myself getting just a little choked up right then.

Ultimately, that’s what makes this book so memorable. It’s not just that the scope of the story is sweeping. At the same time that Warrior takes you past monasteries and through magical outpourings of bright red flowers, it also tiptoes through territory that is both human and accessible. It precisely captures that feeling of magic that I remember so vividly from my childhood reading. And yet at the same time, it makes me feel so comfortable in Outer Mongolia that when the book ends, I’m surprised to lift my head up and discover that I’m still in my house, in the United States. For the space of a book, Zoe Archer makes Outer Mongolia feel as if it is truly my home. And that is dark magic indeed.

In any event, if you can’t tell, I am hugely excited about this book–and the rest of Zoe Archer’s series. I’m going to be giving away two copies of this book to commenters who answer the following question: Where would you like to see a romance set?

Here are the winners from the last post, a week ago.

• Goddess of the Hunt, by Tessa Dare: Angela
• Bound by Temptation, by Lavinia Kent: Mary K
• The Perils of Pleasure, by Julie Anne Long: Jacqueline C
• What Happens in London, by Julia Quinn: Monica
• Ten Things I Love About You, by Julia Quinn: peggy h
• Captive of Sin, by Anna Campbell: Julie
• Nine Rules to Break when Romancing a Rake, by Sarah MacLean: ms bookjunkie

Congratulations!

As I mentioned in my last post, I am dreadfully behind on giving books away. So here are the winners from the last post:

• One Dance with a Duke: azteclady (yay! She brought me cookies at the RWA signing, when I was in desperate need of blood sugar–this is random.org karma in action!), Rose, and Tessa K.
• The Irish Warrior: Jacqueline C., Booklover1335
• Skin Tight: Stephanie, Noelle Pierce
• Tempting the Marquess: Vi
• His at Night: Llehn

These are all the winners from two days ago. If you won, congratulations, and send your snail mail to courtney@courtneymilan.com. But don’t be dismayed if your name is not listed! I have more books to give away… so many more books. Here’s the second (of three) batches of books I’ve intended to give away.

• Twice Tempted by a Rogue, by Tessa Dare. This is the second book in Tessa’s brilliant Stud Club series. It’s brilliant for a number of reasons–one is that you don’t have to read the first book to fall in love with the second. I think that out of the entire series, I related to Meredith as a heroine more than anyone else. She’s a widower, and one who has worked hard to make sure that her town stays together. The heart and soul of the town is her inn–a waypost that she cares for quite well, but knows that people only stop there if they have no other choice. It’s warm, comfortable, homey–and it will never be as swank as the posh affairs in Bath or Bristol. But she doesn’t let that discourage her, and she’s determined to do as best as she can under the circumstances.

  Understandably, she is wary when the local lord–who has been absent all these years–sweeps into town. He threatens the inn, and the livelihood of the villagers–and her own sense of comfort. I loved this book, and somehow, again, I ended up with three extra copies of it, not counting my own paper copy and the e-version I bought. How does this happen? I’m not sure, but my inability to say no to Tessa’s books is your gain!

• Crazy for Love, by Victoria Dahl. It’s no secret that I adore Victoria Dahl, and Crazy for Love is no exception. Chloe Turner, the heroine, is That Woman: the woman who everyone believes is so crazy that her own fiance faked his death to escape her antics. Of course, she completely doesn’t deserve the sobriquet of “bridezilla”–but still, it’s given to her.

  But as wonderful and relatable as Chloe is, Max, the hero, is who really makes this book. I’ve known a lot of guys like Max–in fact, I think there’s a little Max in every good, dependable man. Max is a really good guy. Completely reliable. Utterly dependable. So dependable, in fact, that people just depend on him, without thinking of the stress that this puts him under. So when he meets Chloe–not knowing how she’s been labeled by the media–to him, she’s a restful dream come true. She doesn’t need a caretaker. She doesn’t have a raft of problems. She’s just a nice, wonderful girl who really likes him.

  How they deal with the complications that arise is what makes this book so engrossing. And yes, Max is totally, utterly adorable. This is how I somehow ended up with an extra copy.

• The Forbidden Rose, by Joanna Bourne. Joanna Bourne is one of those writers where it’s almost kind of unfair that she’s writing. I mean, let’s face it. She’s like a genius. I say “like” a genius, because, in fact, the only reason she would not be counted as a genius is because she’s beyond that. The Forbidden Rose is set in revolutionary France. For anyone who complains that there is not enough history in historical romance, Jo Bourne will take your complaint and raise you one. And for anyone who believes that history in historical romance serves only to interrupt the romance and the plot, Joanna Bourne will dance in little circles around your belief, and then show you how it’s done.

  Seriously. The ending of this book is freaking brilliant, and the beginning and the middle are utterly amazing. And notice that I’ve said almost nothing about the book itself–what is there to say? She’s brilliant. I have an extra copy of this, and you all should want it.

• Money, Honey, by Susan Sey. So, basically, I adored this book. It’s about an FBI agent and a (former) crook. Both of them have a substantial path, that brings them to the place where they are. Elizabeth Brynn, the FBI agent, is a consummate professional–one who believes very strongly in the role of law and justice in society. She’s absolutely committed to her job, and knows that she is making the world a safer place. Patrick O’Connor is a former crook, and Liz isn’t necessarily sold on the former. His sense of morality seems fluid at best, and (at least to her) completely self-centered.

  Right there, you can see that you have some incredible conflict, and that sparks will fly between them. But what takes this book beyond the typical meet-cute plus sparkling conflict, and into the territory of Really Awesome is the depth of the characters. Liz isn’t just any old FBI agent, dedicated to her job Because. Her character is layered and rich and real, and the plot is designed to strip those layers away, one by one, until they shine. Patrick isn’t the selfish, money-grubbing crook that he appears to be–he has a very firm sense of family, and as the book passes by, you quickly begin to learn just how much he’s willing to sacrifice for the ones that he loves. As the book goes by, both of them have their conception of self challenged by the other. And like all my favorite books, this one ends with both of them realizing that love has made them bigger, not smaller, and enlarged their horizons, not shrunk them. Both Patrick and Liz end up in stronger positions than where they started. And that I truly, truly loved.

  I also have a copy of this to give away.

• The Cinderella Society, by Kay Cassidy. This is the only YA in the batch I’m giving away right now. It’s a fabulous girl-power book, with a very pink-pink cover. I have to admit that the cover gave me some trepidation, because I am not a pink-pink girl. But inside, the book isn’t about wearing pink. It’s about finding ways to express yourself in a way that’s true to yourself, about empowering women, and about believing that you can be the best. It’s also a book about a secret society of girls–well-liked girls, no less!–who go around being nice to people. This is such an awesome inversion of the usual popular kids=jerks formula. So many times you see YA books where pretty and popular are used as caricatured short-hand for “evil,” and it’s refreshing to see a book recognize that you don’t have to be mean to be well-liked.

  I have a copy of this to give away, too.

Now, I know you are wondering: Courtney, how is it that you get these copies to give away? Answer: Sheer book acquisitiveness. When I read a book I like, I end up buying it. Multiple times. Just… don’t ask. And don’t tell my husband.

So I am woefully behind. I have a stack of books many books high that I need to give away–and after I missed the first week of them (there were three that week!) the stack has only gotten larger, and my resolve to tackle the pile has shriveled to pea size. Nevertheless, over the course of the next week and a half I will be getting rid of Every. Single. One.

Seriously. You should believe me.

So, first things first. I am woefully late in announcing the winners from the Double Mistress giveaway, which was, like, two months ago:

Bonnie Ferguson: Susan Gee Heino’s Mistress by Mistake
Collie: Maggie Robinson’s Mistress by Mistake

And speaking of two months ago! June was a month that saw a lot of really amazing romances. I meant to post about all of these books individually, and give them away individually, but they were all released on the same day and in my fluzzombottomnation (that is totally a word) about not deciding which to post about first, and which to do when, I ended up not posting about any of them at all, which was a wretched state of affairs. In any event, here goes: June giveaway, in August!

• One Dance with a Duke (three copies). I loved Tessa Dare’s first trilogy a lot–but in all honesty, I think that in reading her second trilogy I can see all the ways that she has grown as a writer since then. One Dance with a Duke has all of the amazing writing, amazing chemistry, and amazing characterization that I saw in Goddess of the Hunt, Surrender of a Siren, and A Lady of Persuasion–but it also has something more. I’m not sure what to call it, but there’s a certain depth to this book–and to every book in this trilogy–that is new. This is not to imply that the other books were shallow–far from it! Just that I found myself identifying with Amelia far more strongly than I had identified with any of the characters in her prior trilogy. Amelia’s a woman who just wants to make things come out right. She wants her brother, who is hurting, to heal; when she meets Spencer, the hero of the book, she quickly intuits that his arrogance is a cover for a deeper social anxiety, one that she wants to make better. She’s an extraordinarily loving, and lovable, individual. What makes this book so wonderful for me is that Tessa shows how this quality is simultaneously both her greatest strength, and yet an incredible weakness. I really loved seeing Amelia’s journey, and I adored this book!

  I adored it so much I have three copies to give away. I did not buy them all at the same time, and yet every time I encountered this book at the store I ended up picking up a copy. It was irresistible–much like Amelia and Spencer!

• The Irish Warrior, by Kris Kennedy. This book pretty much freaking rocked. If I were trying to describe it to someone, I think I would call it a medieval adventure. With explosions. Of both the literal and the hoo-boy-does-the-hero-rock-her-world variety. Finian is just an incredible hero–strong, stalwart, and once he realizes how much he wants and needs Senna, utterly willing to do anything and everything just to have her. He’s Irish, and Kris writes him with just that added bit of flair–no random bits of Irish dialect thrown in to fake the Irishness, but the rhythm and cadence of his speech just lulls you into the feel of the accent. You could sleep to the sound of his voice… If, that is, the rest of the story let you. But it doesn’t. Senna and Finian are in serious trouble: they are hunted by the English Lord Rardove. They’re going to win.

  This book beat me out in the 2008 Golden Heart–and I completely, utterly understand why. It’s compelling, incredibly so, and unputdownable. I have two copies of it.

• Skin Tight, by Ava Gray. If you read Skin Game, you already know how awesome Ava Gray is. But, seriously, Skin Tight is a step above that. The hero, Foster, has an insidious, painful power: when he touches a woman, she stops seeing him. In his place, she sees the man she most wants. A less honorable man would doubtless take advantage of this power, sleeping his way through a swath of womankind. But to Foster, it’s a curse. Nobody ever sees him for himself. Nobody ever wants him for himself. The fact that every woman sees him as her fondest wish is a living nightmare. He doesn’t dare touch any woman, and the more he wants her, the more he knows he cannot lay hands on her–because once he does, he’ll destroy everything she sees in him.

  He’s a lonely, desperate man, and Mia Sauter–a brilliant accountant–is just the woman to see past his dark facade. I don’t want to say too much about this book, but I read it in one, long gulp, unable to put it down. And then when I was done, I went back and read parts again–and again–and again. This is the mark of true genius, and Ava Gray truly delivers.

  I have two copies of Skin Game to give away.

• Tempting the Marquess, by Sara Lindsey. Sara is fast becoming my go-to author for sexy, sweet historicals. Tempting the Marquess is no exception. This book is laugh-out-loud funny and warm and at the same time deeply emotional. It’s about Jason Traherne, who is mourning his wife’s death, and about Olivia Weston–who is both fanciful and practical, all at the same time, who wants him both as knight in shining armor, and as the wretched man that he is. Olivia well and truly tames Jason.

  Also, this book contains one of my favorite tropes ever. I would say more, but it would be a spoiler. Let’s just say, all you need to do is tell me this thing occurs and I will walk to the cash register, book in hand.

  I have one copy of TTM to give away. In fact, I’m sure I have more, but I have no clue where the other copy went. I suspect Mr. Milan is reading it on the sly.

• His at Night, by Sherry Thomas. Like all of Sherry’s books, His at Night is gorgeously written. But this book is more than that: it also has the most complex plot that I’ve seen from her yet. Lord Vere is a man who everyone in society thinks is an idiot. He’s not, though; he’s only pretending. He’s been pretending for years–so long that he almost doesn’t even remember who he is anymore, himself, and has had to invent imaginary friends to keep him company.

  Elissande knows everything about pretending. Her uncle–who is psychologically cruel, and inventively vindictive–has convinced everyone he is a saint and a martyr. She knows better. It’s not casual abuse that he deals in; he strikes hard, to the center of who the characters are. He keeps her aunt addicted to opium, unable to flee; every time Elissande begins to enjoy something, he takes it from her. And so when she meets idiotic Lord Vere, instead of seeing a moron, she sees escape: A man she can trap into marriage, and a marriage that will free her and her aunt from the nightmare that they live in.

  Lord Vere, of course, is not best pleased to be so used, and the path that the characters take to find the truth of themselves is truly awe-inspiring to watch.

  I have one copy of His at Night to give away.

So there you have it. You have 48 hours. Leave your name in the comments, listing any and all books you might want, and I will announce the winners on Thursday, and announce the next set of giveaways as well!