Confessions of a Romance Writer – Tara Kingston

My name is Tara Kingston, and I have a confession. I write historical romance. According to a recent study reported in the news media, I am a very naughty girl. As a romance writer, I am a bad influence on women everywhere, creating unrealistic expectations of romantic love that can lead to bad decision making and a complete loss of common sense. If this study is to be believed, it’s very dangerous to believe in happily-ever-afters.

So, I confess. I write books that have happy endings. I write stories with heroes who have muscles, looks, and brains and heroines who have looks, brains, and inner strength to rival their lovers’ brawn. In my stories, the hero and heroine are passionate, monogamous, and possess the devotion and guts to overcome obstacles on their path to their happily-ever-after. Women (and men) who read my books can rest assured they won’t devote their time and mental energy vicariously escaping to a passionate rendezvous only to see the heroine fatally trampled by a horse or the hero succumb to a tragic disease in the last chapter. Nope, it’s a sure bet the hero and heroine will end up happy in the end. The joy is in the journey.

If this study is valid, it would be reasonable to assume that I am a starry-eyed romantic waiting by my laptop for a suitably-alpha male to sweep me away. Once again, I confess. I’m not particularly starry-eyed, and I’m usually much too busy to even contemplate being swept away, but I am a romantic. I don’t imagine there are many romance authors who aren’t. I suppose one could be a closet cynic about love and romance, but it would make the task of infusing characters with emotions of love and hope and devotion quite a challenge. And that’s the key to a moving romance.

My recent release with Ellora’s Cave, Claimed by the Captain, is a passionate, sensual story of revenge transformed to devotion through the characters’ blossoming love. Here’s a little about the story:

Jason Kane lost everything he loved to greed and treachery. Thirsting for vengeance, the ruthless privateer abducts Catherine Farrell, the daughter of the man who destroyed his family. Intending to extract the debt owed him from his tempting prisoner, he plans a cold-blooded conquest. Drawn to his captive’s passion and beauty, he claims her with seductive persuasion. As he teaches her the pleasures of passionate surrender, her sensual responses spark a deep longing in his heart and his soul.

Catherine Farrell lived the sheltered life of a prosperous merchant’s daughter until Captain Jason Kane makes her a pawn in his quest for revenge. Stolen away and imprisoned on a ship at sea, she is at the mercy of a man who will settle for nothing less than total domination. Claimed by the captain, his tender mastery arouses Catherine’s passions and stirs her heart. Can she teach him that love is even more satisfying than sweet revenge?

My upcoming Ellora’s Cave release, Claimed by the Spymaster, is a story of love that blooms against a backdrop of treachery and danger.  Russian actress Valentina Baranova travels to England to marry, but the arrangement is definitely not a love match. Betrothed to a cunning and ruthless English lord, she’s the sweetener in a deal that will put stolen British documents in Russian hands and curry the Czar’s favor for her father. Determined to escape her loathsome intended, she flees him—and promptly falls into the hands of his most bitter enemy. An enemy who stirs her like no other.

Spy for the crown Alec Jameson, Lord Carrington, is on a mission—unmask the traitor responsible for his brother’s death before the blackguard can further betray Queen Victoria’s empire. Capturing Valentina to use as bait, he spirits her away from London. Despite his efforts to resist the alluring captive he’s snatched from his enemy’s grasp, Alec claims Valentina in the most carnal way possible. Once the beauty has been in his bed, he wants her for his own. But she must lay siege to a long-untouched part of Alec’s existence—his heart.

Claimed by the Spymaster releases on August 17.

To learn more about me and my romances, stop by my blog, www.tarakingstonromance.blogspot.com and my webpage, www.tarakingston.com. 

I’m also on Facebook and Twitter. I’d love for you to friend me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

Want to win a copy of the ebooks of Claimed by the Captain and Claimed by the Spymaster? Leave a comment and friend me on Facebook or leave a comment and follow me on Twitter, and you’ll be entered into the drawing. One lucky commenter will receive both ebooks.

Thanks for stopping by!