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# Tessa Dare

New York Times Bestselling Author

## Sitemaps

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## Posts

- [Diary](https://tessadare.com/diary/)
- [New (to me) foreign editions!](https://tessadare.com/2024/07/09/new-to-me-foreign-editions/) - I absolutely love receiving copies of my foreign translations. They arrive in batches every so often, and I fawn over them and pet them, and inevitably hold them at arm’s length, squint, and say to myself, “Okay now, which book is this? In what language?” Some are in languages I can read a little (Thanks,
- [About release dates for The Bride Bet…](https://tessadare.com/2024/01/12/about-release-dates-for-the-bride-bet/) - Dear Readers, Over the past few years, there have been confusing placeholder publication dates for The Bride Bet at various online retailers. I have recently learned that due to an internal error, one of those placeholder dates shows a paperback release date of January 15, 2024. The Bride Bet is not releasing on January 15,
- [Summer Travels](https://tessadare.com/2022/08/04/summer-travels/) - As I write this, I’m in Kansas City for GenreCon—and last weekend, I had the great pleasure of meeting hundreds of readers at Apollycon in Washington, D.C. After 2-1/2 years of no book events, I’m loving seeing readers again in person (masked, of course)! However, something that always gives me joy is seeing photos and
- [Upcoming Appearances](https://tessadare.com/2021/11/14/upcoming-appearances/) - Who's excited for 2022 travel? I can't wait to see your faces again! Here is a list of events I'm confirmed for in 2022. APRIL 2 RARE PARIS, FRANCE https://www.eventbrite.com/.../romance-author-reader... JULY 28-31 APOLLYCON WASHINGTON DC https://jenniferlarmentrout.com/apollycon/ AUGUST 4-6 ROMANCE GENRECON KANSAS CITY, MO https://www.mymcpl.org/.../highlights/romance-genrecon SEPT 28-OCT 2 HISTORICAL ROMANCE RETREAT SAN DIEGO, CA https://www.historicalromanceretreat.com/
- [Meet Me in Paris!](https://tessadare.com/2021/03/29/meet-me-in-paris/) - For the obvious reasons, most in-person reader events in 2021 have been canceled or postponed, but as we look ahead to 2022, it feels relatively safe to make plans! I can’t wait to get out and see readers in person again. Virtual events have helped fill the gap, but they’re just not quite the same.
- [I've got a special gift for you...](https://tessadare.com/2020/12/24/ive-got-a-special-gift-for-you/) - Dear Readers, There’s no other way to say it. 2020 has been a rough one for everybody. Even though our holidays might look different this year, I’m finding it makes me reflect on what’s truly important. And you, readers, are so important to me. “When She Was Naughty,” an all-new Christmas short story, is now
- [So about that email...](https://tessadare.com/2020/12/23/so-about-that-email/) - So about that email.... If you had preordered The Bride Bet from Amazon, you may have received an email today saying the release date has been changed to-gulp-JANUARY 2024?! Nobody panic! (I’m saying that mostly to myself.) The decision to reschedule the book was made several months ago (sorry if you missed that announcement) but
- [New in audio, and autographed books for the holidays](https://tessadare.com/2020/11/19/new-in-audio-and-autographed-books-for-the-holidays/) - New in Audiobook! If you’re an audio listener, I’m excited to announce that two of my novellas are available in audiobook format for the first time! Beauty and the Blacksmith Audible * Apple Books * Kobo * Libro.fm The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright Audible * Apple Books * Kobo * Libro.fm Order autographed
- [An update on upcoming books...](https://tessadare.com/2020/06/15/an-update-on-upcoming-books/) - Dear Readers, Last week, my publisher and I made the decision to postpone my two upcoming books: The Bride Bet (Girl Meets Duke, book 4) and Love Letters from a Lord (a Spindle Cove novella). I’m sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment. I’ve been putting off dealing with some health issues—nothing too serious or life-threatening,
- [Cover Reveal for The Bride Bet!](https://tessadare.com/2020/01/19/cover-reveal-for-the-bride-bet/) - Isn’t it beautiful? The Bride Bet, coming your way late August 2020, is the fourth book in the Girl Meets Duke series. Here’s the newly revealed description! How to lose a duke in ten years…without losing your heart. Once upon a time, two sworn enemies—the bookish daughter of a scholar and the devilish heir to
- [Operation Auction](https://tessadare.com/2011/03/28/operation-auction/) - I want to draw everyone's attention to a huge Ebay auction going on right now, to benefit a special cause. From the Operation Auction website: Fatin has been an integral part of the romance community for years – she owns and runs the RR@H Novel Thoughts and Book Talk blog, is an administrator of the
- [Don’t miss these two novellas!](https://tessadare.com/2019/10/03/dont-miss-these-two-novellas/) - Just in time for the holiday season, How the Dukes Stole Christmas is now available as a mass-market paperback! Christmas magic is in the air… From the ballrooms of London, to abandoned Scottish castles, to the snowy streets of Gilded Age New York, four bestselling authors whip up some unforgettable romance…with a little help
- [It’s My 25th (Book) Birthday!](https://tessadare.com/2019/08/13/its-my-25th-book-birthday/) - Today marks the release of my 25th historical romance, The Wallflower Wager! I’m so grateful to all the readers who have read my books, recommended them to friends, and encouraged me with kind words over the years. I hope you will embrace Penny and Gabe’s story just as warmly. Amazon * Amazon UK * Apple
- [The Wallflower Wager has a cover! And three books are now available in audio for the first time](https://tessadare.com/2019/04/11/the-wallflower-wager-has-a-cover-and-three-books-are-now-available-in-audio-for-the-first-time/) - The Wallflower Wager (Book 3 in the Girl Meets Duke series) comes out August 13, 2019 - and it’s available for preorder pretty much everywhere! Behold, the cover. Aren’t Gabe and Penny lovely? I adore his slight, wicked smile. In other news, thanks to Tantor Media, three of my books are now available in audio
- [Heat up the holidays with free reads and more...](https://tessadare.com/2018/12/07/heat-up-the-holidays-with-free-reads-and-more/) - A holiday gift to readers Once Upon a Winter’s Eve, a Spindle Cove novella, is free in ebook for a limited time. If you’ve never read the Spindle Cove series, consider this your invitation to give it a try! Or if you have romance-reading friends, pass along the link and share the Regency love. Get it
- [Merry Dukemas! This book is stealing hearts...](https://tessadare.com/2018/10/15/merry-dukemas-this-book-is-stealing-our-hearts/) - A holiday anthology featuring all-new linked novellas by yours truly, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan and Joanna Shupe, available now!
- [Unwrap a Duke (or four) this Christmas!](https://tessadare.com/2018/10/03/unwrap-a-duke-or-four-this-christmas/) - Coming October 15th! Announcing HOW THE DUKES STOLE CHRISTMAS, a holiday anthology featuring all-new linked novellas by yours truly, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan and Joanna Shupe! Sarah, Sophie, Joanna and I had So. Much. Fun. putting this anthology together! Amazon has named it one of October’s top romances, and we can’t wait for you to read it. Read more about
- [Release Day!](https://tessadare.com/2018/08/27/release-day-2/) - The Governess Game is out and available now! Library Journal called Alexandra and Chase’s story “Pure reading joy.” My book-birthday wish is that it brings you joy, too. Links: Kindle | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Audible | Amazon UK | More retailers Also exciting: Target stores are carrying a special print edition with an exclusive bonus scene! It’s Chase and
- [A Secret Society and an all-new excerpt!](https://tessadare.com/2018/07/17/a-secret-society-and-an-all-new-excerpt/) - I have always wanted to belong to a secret society. Since no one has ever asked me to join one, I created my own! (Obviously, I am not very good at keeping secrets.) The Secret Society of Damsels Who Dare is my new Facebook group. All my readers are welcome to join this group, where daring is
- [Rogues Rush In!](https://tessadare.com/2018/05/15/rogues-rush-in/) - Available Now! ROGUES RUSH IN, a Regency romance duet featuring me and the wonderful Christi Caldwell! If you’ve never read Christi, you are in for such a treat. Her books are heartfelt and oh-so-romantic. This duet features two all-new novellas, and it’s available now! (Links: Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Kobo) A print edition is also available
- [Chat with debut author Jackie Barbosa: Does length matter?](https://tessadare.com/2009/05/25/chat-with-debut-author-jackie-barbosa-does-length-matter/) - GIVEAWAY! One lucky commenter today will win a signed copy of BEHIND THE RED DOOR. Like many of you, I first met Jackie Barbosa through the 2006 Avon FanLit writing competition. Since then, I've had the great fortune to become friends with Jackie both online and in real life. She's a fabulous person and a
- [Movie Club: Moonstruck](https://tessadare.com/2009/05/28/movie-club-moonstruck/) - But first, announcements! Congratulations to Catie James, the winner of a signed copy of Jackie Barbosa's BEHIND THE RED DOOR! Please email me your address, and I'll get it in the mail to you. Second, you could win a DVD of Moonstruck, or one of my other favorite movies, plus coverflats and goodies - just
- [Historicals: Alive, Kicking, and Taking Names](https://tessadare.com/2008/04/11/historicals-alive-kicking-and-taking-names/) - Was it really less than a year ago we were still hearing "Historicals are dead"? On this week's New York Times bestseller list, 4 of the top 20 mass market paperbacks in the country are historical romances. (And 2 of those 4 are Ballantine releases - woot!) A few weeks ago, Victoria Alexander's The Perfect
- [Coming in 2018](https://tessadare.com/2017/12/27/coming-in-2018/) - The Governess Game, book two in the “Girl Meets Duke” series, now has a book description and a release date! (August 28, 2018) The cover will be coming soon. It’s gorgeous, and I can’t wait to share it! I know, August is far away. I wish I wrote faster, I really do. But the book
- [Book Birthday!](https://tessadare.com/2017/08/21/book-birthday/) - Hurrah! Today is the day I get to send Ash and Emma's story out into the hands of readers. Readers, they're yours. Take good care of these two, if you will. I've grown quite fond of them. ❤️ If you are in the UK, Australia, or New Zealand and are having trouble finding or ordering
- [Counting the Days, Hours, Minutes & Seconds...](https://tessadare.com/2017/08/15/counting-the-days-hours-minutes-seconds/)
- [Counting down to The Duchess Deal](https://tessadare.com/2017/08/05/counting-down-to-the-duchess-deal/) - Buzz, buzz, buzz... August 22nd is just a few weeks away! There have been some lovely reviews and exciting honors coming in for The Duchess Deal. It's on "Best Books of August" lists from both Amazon.com and iBooks, and Publishers Weekly and Library Journal have both given the book starred reviews! Don't forget, you can
- [A signing in Orlando and a sneak peek for all](https://tessadare.com/2017/07/17/a-signing-in-orlando-and-a-sneak-peek-for-all/) - It's finally almost here! Release day for The Duchess Deal is just a month away. But you can start reading it now, if you like! The first chapter is posted here on my website. If that's not enough for you, the first two chapters are available in a fantastic free sampler put together by Publishers
- [I am honored; a reward could be yours!](https://tessadare.com/2010/02/09/i-am-honored-a-reward-could-be-yours/) - The lovely readers at All About Romance have voted me "Best Debut Author of 2009" in their annual reader poll. This is a truly thrilling honor to receive! I was also so excited to see that my good friend and critique partner, Courtney Milan, was awarded Best Short Story for her novella "This Wicked Gift"
- [One week until Wicked!  Also, new formats](https://tessadare.com/2012/03/20/one-week-until-wicked-also-new-formats/) - Release date for A Week to be Wicked is just seven short days away! Encouraging reviews keep popping up at sites like The Romance Reviews and All About Romance. At midnight on release day, I'll be posting a special little contest called "Colin Kept Me Up All Night" for those excited to read the book
- [New Reviews and Videos](https://tessadare.com/2011/08/24/new-reviews-and-videos/) - I can't believe it's less than a week until the release of A Night to Surrender! The book has been getting some very exciting reviews. Yes, that sound you hear is me tooting my own horn. Toot. Ahem. (you can click the links to read the full reviews) Library Journal weighed in with this lovely
- [Interview and giveaway](https://tessadare.com/2010/05/13/interview-and-giveaway/) - If you entered my "First Chance" contest last week and didn't win, here's your Second Chance. :) The lovely folks at All About Romance invited me to participate in their "Books with Buzz" feature. On the AAR blog today, there's an interview with me about the new series, and commenters will be entered to win
- [Weekend Roundup](https://tessadare.com/2009/09/11/weekend-roundup/) - Well, this is going to be a mighty exciting weekend for yours truly. Not only do I have the honor of speaking and signing books at my local RWA chapter, I get to share that honor with the amazing Linda Howard. Seriously, Linda Howard. The topic of my craft presentation in the morning is pacing.
- [A blogging I will go...](https://tessadare.com/2010/06/02/a-blogging-i-will-go/) - The good folks at Random House have booked me on a blog tour this summer, to travel around the internet and talk about my new trilogy! The wonderful Lisa at TLC Book Tours has industriously worked to set up a schedule, and the tour started yesterday. I will be doing guest posts in some cases,
- [Blogging at Borders! and other good stuff](https://tessadare.com/2009/09/08/blogging-at-borders-and-other-good-stuff/) - Hope you all enjoyed a great Labor Day weekend! Mine was mostly spent laboring (heh) on book two of my 2010 trilogy, since I'm nearing deadline in a little over three weeks. Also happening in three weeks? The release of A Lady of Persuasion on September 29th! I can't wait for readers to read Toby
- [Search, Browse, Review...](https://tessadare.com/2009/08/26/search-browse-review/) - Thank you so much to everyone who left congratulatory wishes yesterday for the release of Surrender of a Siren! If you haven't yet bought it and want to know more about it than the excerpt and blurb here will tell you, here are some ways to learn more, starting with a very cool widget from
- [Chicago Bound -- RT Booklovers Convention](https://tessadare.com/2012/04/09/chicago-bound-rt-booklovers-convention/) - What a fantastic few weeks it's been, with A Week to be Wicked hitting the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists and continuing to garner great reviews, including a new starred review from Library Journal: Compelling characters, lively dialog, offbeat situations, and some of the most hilarious romantic scenes written result in a
- [The Countdown Is On!](https://tessadare.com/2012/08/08/the-countdown-is-on-2/) - Less than three weeks now until A Lady by Midnight is available! I'm so excited for Kate and Thorne's story, and I'm excited that a lot of readers seem to be excited for it too. :) If you're counting down to (A Lady by) Midnight, I have a few little amusements to offer while we're
- [March Madness](https://tessadare.com/2013/03/21/march-madness/) - I'm happy to report the cover and excerpt are now up for Beauty and the Blacksmith! Any Duchess Will Do has received a lovely review from Kirkus: “Moments of laugh-out-loud humor, emotional intensity and sensual passion woven through an engaging plot and endearing characters make this a great read for romance fans.” And it's March
- [August is Read-a-Romance Month!](https://tessadare.com/2013/08/18/august-is-read-a-romance-month/) - Did you know this August is National Read-a-Romance month? Check out the RARM website for daily posts from romance authors on the many reasons why "Romance Matters " (Mine will be posted on August 29th!) and fun giveaways.
- [NoLa, Here I Come!](https://tessadare.com/2014/05/11/nola-here-i-come/) - I'm so excited to be leaving tomorrow for the 2014 RT Booklovers Convention in New Orleans! For anyone else who might be attending and curious as to where I will be and when, here's my schedule. I look forward to seeing lots of old friends and meeting new ones! Wednesday, May 14: 1:15-2:15pm - Cover
- [The Other Jane (and the other Toby)](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/29/the-other-jane-and-the-other-toby/) - Did anyone else watch the new BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre, shown on PBS Masterpiece Theatre the last few Sundays? It stars Toby Stephens as Rochester and Ruth Wilson as Jane Eyre.Now, I adore Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre, Pride & Predjudice, and Little Women - I've read each of those books more times than I
- [New Goodreads Group!](https://tessadare.com/2012/08/19/new-goodreads-group/) - Just over a week now until A Lady by Midnight is available! I've set up a new Goodreads group for any readers who'd like to ask me questions, spend a virtual week in Spindle Cove, and meet other readers. If you're on Goodreads, please come join us! And don't forget -- if you're counting down
- [Zut Alors!  She has emerged!](https://tessadare.com/2009/10/06/zut-alors-she-has-emerged/) - (That's a quote from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Ah, Lumiere.) Hooray! Twice Tempted by a Rogue is turned in to my editor! (And not a moment too soon, since it has just shown up on the Random House site! Release date June 22, 2010.) This means I have emerged from the Deadline Cave. I
- [Links o'plenty!](https://tessadare.com/2009/05/18/links-oplenty/) - I'm guest captaining the pirate ship today, over at the Romance Writers' Revenge. Come check out my post about taking the paranormal bandwagon for a joyride, in which I explain some of the Werestag's mythic origins. I'm giving away a copy of the e-novella and a signed coverflat for Goddess of the Hunt! Just comment
- ['Tis the Season...](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/10/tis-the-season-2/) - I've been interviewed by The Season, author Beverley Kendall's beautiful online newsletter for readers of historical romance. Bev asked me all sorts of thoughtful questions about Goddess of the Hunt, writing in series, and what I'm working on next. In conjunction with the interview, she's running a giveaway - one lucky person will win a
- [Coming to a town near you!  (Um, if you live near these three towns.)](https://tessadare.com/2010/03/15/coming-to-a-town-near-you-um-if-you-live-near-these-three-towns/) - Well, I returned from the wedding (um, a week ago, but who's counting...)! My dareling made a precious flower girl, if I do say it myself. Actually, several other people said so, too! I'm glad she got to have the experience, and it was lovely to see all our family members. As I look at
- [Putting on the happy-dance shoes!](https://tessadare.com/2010/03/25/putting-on-the-happy-dance-shoes/) - So, this morning was pretty awesome. I knew it was Golden Heart and RITA "call day," and I was very glad that I'd already made plans to spend the morning volunteering in my dareling's classroom. You see, this is my 3rd or 4th year watching "call day" closely -- but the first time I've ever
- [In which Tessa talks contests](https://tessadare.com/2010/03/31/in-which-tessa-talks-contests/) - Firstly, winners! Thanks to all who entered the Jennifer Haymore/A Touch of Scandal giveaway! We will have four winners, since Jennifer is kicking in two extra copies. (Thanks, Jennifer!) Winners, as drawn by Random.org, are: Liz (#9) Liza (#14) Peggy H (#15) Hannah (#20) Winners, please use the contact email form (click contact in top
- [This just in...](https://tessadare.com/2011/03/25/this-just-in/) - I got "the call" this morning that Twice Tempted by a Rogue is a finalist in the 2011 RITAs, in the Best Regency Historical category! The RITA awards are presented by the Romance Writers of America each year, at our annual conference. I am so thrilled and honored, not least because I'm in the most
- [Summer sale! A Night to Surrender is just $0.99](https://tessadare.com/2012/07/10/summer-sale-a-night-to-surrender-is-just-0-99/) - Exciting news! A Night to Surrender, the first book in the bestselling Spindle Cove series, is now discounted to just $0.99 at major e-book retailers! Yes, a full-length book for under a dollar. This is the perfect time to try Spindle Cove, or to recommend the series to a friend. Just don't delay! This price
- [RWA Conference is Here!](https://tessadare.com/2012/07/24/rwa-conference-is-here/) - Today, thousands of published and aspiring romance writers descend on Anaheim for the 2012 RWA National Conference! If you're anywhere in the Southern California area, please consider attending the... "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing Wednesday July 25, 5-8 PM - (open to the public) Come join 400+ of your favorite authors in the Anaheim Convention
- [RITA finalist!](https://tessadare.com/2010/03/25/rita-finalist/) - I'm thrilled to announce that Surrender of a Siren is a RITA finalist in the Regency Historical category! The RITAs are given by the Romance Writers of America to celebrate excellence in the romance genre, and the awards will be presented at the national conference this July. I'm so honored.
- [July 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/05/july-2009/) - Goddess of the Hunt releases this month! I'm still floating from the starred reviews in both Publisher's Weekly and Library Journal, as well as the Top Pick from Romantic Times. On July 15th, I'll be signing early copies at the RWA Literacy Signing in Washington, DC. If you can't make it, enter my new contest
- [What's New](https://tessadare.com/2011/02/04/whats-new/) - I've finished most of my revisions on A Night to Surrender--just a few little things to wrap up, hooray! (And I do think that title's going to stick.) It also looks like the release date will be August 30, 2011. I really hope I have a cover to show you soon! Thank you so much
- [February 2011](https://tessadare.com/2011/02/04/february-2011/) - Happy Valentine's Day! I hope your February is filled with romance. While you're here, please check out my new contest, or catch up on the latest news. If you're on Facebook, I'd be delighted to have you join me at my new Fan page for more updates, discussion, and giveaways.
- [Books for Free (sorry, not a giveaway post)](https://tessadare.com/2011/03/21/books-for-free/) - Though I do have an ongoing giveaway here. Let me preface this with an apology. I'm about to get all deep-thoughty about digital book pricing and so forth. I feel sort of bad blogging about this when a) I blog so infrequently nowadays and b) most of the people who regularly check this blog are,
- [New excerpt posted!](https://tessadare.com/2010/07/20/new-excerpt-posted/) - Or maybe I should just say, longer excerpt posted? Anyhow, I can't believe it's just one week until the release of Three Nights with a Scoundrel! I previously had part of Chapter One posted as an excerpt, but this morning I've expanded it to all of Chapter One. So a few more pages to tease
- [Available for pre-order!](https://tessadare.com/2011/11/01/available-for-pre-order/) - Just two weeks until the release date for Once Upon a Winter's Eve! I have three great bits of news on that front. Pre-order available! You can pre-order it for Kindle here. Other formats (including HTML and PDF) are available for pre-order directly from the Samhain store. That's just the beginning. By November 15th,
- [Seven Wicked Nights is out today!](https://tessadare.com/2014/09/16/seven-wicked-nights-is-out-today/) - Seven Wicked Nights is out today! Seven bestselling historical romance authors offer seven sexy stories featuring dukes, lords, rakes, scoundrels…and the unforgettable heroines who bring them to their knees. These stories range in length from long novellas to delectable little bites. My contribution to the set is How to Catch a Wild Viscount, which
- [Coming events!](https://tessadare.com/2015/01/08/coming-events/) - First, thank you so much to all my wonderful readers for putting Say Yes to the Marquess on the USA Today bestseller list! Second, I'm excited about some upcoming events and wanted to spread the word! On January 12th, I'll be reading from and signing copies of my latest book at Lady Jane's Salon in
- [California Dreamin...](https://tessadare.com/2015/03/25/california-dreamin/) - If you're in SoCal this weekend, you can find me at the California Dreamin' Writers Conference. https://caldreaminwritersconf.org/
- [Contest!](https://tessadare.com/2007/08/19/contest/) - First off, if you all have not already been over there, get over to Romance Vagabonds tout de suite and check out the FanLit reunion par-tay the gypsies are hosting all week. They're doing a FanLit sequel, featuring "Hellion Heiress" Lady Alexis Coulter, fan favorite Jonathan Crane, and Pugsley the pooch. Will SLJ make an
- [Various and Sundry Good News](https://tessadare.com/2007/08/22/various-and-sundry-good-news/) - Congratulations, Alice Audrey! You're the winner of the Cobblestone and Cerridwen gift certificates. Send me an email, and give me the email address you want your prizes sent to.Today, all the FanLit chapter winners are guestblogging on Romance Vagabonds. Please stop by to share what's new with you!Lastly, big congratulations to India and CM for
- [TMI Tuesday - Tortured Souls](https://tessadare.com/2007/09/11/tmi-tuesday-tortured-souls/) - Elizabeth Hoyt is blogging over on Romance Vagabonds today, and if you haven't read The Serpent Prince yet - go do so. Yeah, now. I'll wait.Seriously, it's that good. Simon, the hero, is just to die for. And when I try to understand why this book affected me the most viscerally of the trilogy -
- [TMI Tuesday... Another year older...](https://tessadare.com/2007/10/23/tmi-tuesday-another-year-older/) - Congratulations, Elyssa!!! You're the random winner of the brand-a-thon sweepstakes. Snail-mail me, and I'll hook you up with some books. Thank you so much to everyone who brainstormed such fabulous ideas. I'm going to think them all over a bit, but you'll know when I pick one for sure.It's birthday time! The Romance Vagabonds are
- [Will you be my friend? I already have a husband.](https://tessadare.com/2008/02/17/will-you-be-my-friend-i-already-have-a-husband/) - Check one:___Yes___No___MaybeOkay, I finally got a MySpace page. If you're on MySpace, please come friend me! And tell me what you think of my gorgeous-looking page. Manda (of Romance Vagabonds) got me started. I love the look and colors, and this has been a great experiment as I start working with my web designer to
- [You can't win if you don't play](https://tessadare.com/2007/03/09/you-cant-win-if-you-dont-play/) - So I entered GOTH in a contest. The Hearts Through History contest, to be exact. I'm also planning to enter it in The Beau Monde's Royal Ascot and Orange Rose contests within the month. And I think that will about do it.I hear such mixed things about what contests can do for you. There are
- [The Wicked Game of Marketing - Day with Avon, Part 4](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/19/the-wicked-game-of-marketing-day-with-avon-part-4/) - Please excuse tardiness of this post and lack of cute pictures. Every member of the Dare household has succumbed to a yucky cold.But congratulations to Christina, yesterday's winner! Yay! Email me with your snail mail address, please.So after my lunch at Saks, we returned to HarperCollins HQ, and I was introduced to Carolyn Pittis, Senior
- [Do you VaNo?](https://tessadare.com/2007/05/17/do-you-vano/) - So, the lovely gypsy girls over at Romance Vagabonds threw down the gauntlet and challenged one another to complete their WIPs by RWA National Conference in Dallas (starts July 11). Since that's my goal, too, they've generously allowed me to join them! In my case, it's like an eight-week NaNoWriMo. I'm counting by pages this
- [The Blurbs, They Are A'Changin'](https://tessadare.com/2007/05/31/the-blurbs-they-are-achangin/) - So first, today I'm guestblogging over at Romance Vagabonds, so puh-leeze come stop by! My post over there is all about my continuing quest to craft the perfect one-sentence hook - and I need some help. Writing the blog made me realize that the GOTH blurb on my website was long overdue for a change.The
- [Class of 2009](https://tessadare.com/2008/02/01/class-of-2009/) - Since I signed my contract with Ballantine, I've been blessed to connect with some other debut authors who'll be going through the same stress joy in the coming year. Watch for these names!Christy Reece sold a romantic suspense trilogy to Ballantine that is currently scheduled to release in Spring 2009. We actually have the same
- [Win some books!](https://tessadare.com/2009/01/10/win-some-books/) - Um, just not from me. :) How I long for the day when I can give away my own books! Christy Reece is giving away a shiny new ARC (advanced reading copy) of her debut romantic suspense novel, Rescue Me. (Release date April 28, 2009) Christy is a fellow Ballantine debut author, and Rescue Me
- [Want a sneak peek...](https://tessadare.com/2009/03/03/want-a-sneak-peek/) - At my Samhain e-novella? I haven't got a page for it up on my bookshelf page quite yet -- I'm waiting for the cover art. But the blurb and excerpt for my May 12th release went up on the Samhain website. If you read the title and laugh, that's good! It's a comedy. And the
- [Home at last - RWA Roundup](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/20/home-at-last-rwa-roundup/) - Whew. Why did I think I'd be able to blog from RWA National Conference? I don't think I even cracked open the laptop but once. It was iphone or nothing. But anyway, I am finally home and had such a great time. This was my first conference as a really, truly, almost-all-grownup author! And it
- [Giveaway! First chance to read ONE DANCE...](https://tessadare.com/2010/05/05/giveaway-first-chance-to-read-one-dance/) - Warning: Loooong post ahead. But so worth reading to the end. :) I returned from RT on Sunday - and what did I find awaiting me? My first two print copies of One Dance with a Duke! There is something so special about seeing your book in its bound form for the very first time.
- [On the road...](https://tessadare.com/2012/10/04/on-the-road/) - In late September, Team Bodice Rippers had the honor of participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Santa Barbara, CA. Pictured below (L-R) are me, Courtney Milan, and Carey Baldwin, just before we started off on the walk. Our fourth team member, Leigh LaValle, was at home with her newborn baby, but she
- [Next in the Process:  Outlining](https://tessadare.com/2008/12/16/next-in-the-process-outlining/) - Okay, so getting back to this whole "How I write a book" series. Lessee, I've blogged about the thinking and the "moments" and the research and the imaginary casting call for my characters. Once I've let all that ferment for a while, I usually sit down and outline. Well, sort of. This would not be
- [Oh, deer.](https://tessadare.com/2009/04/01/oh-deer/) - I have returned from a morning offline to find my forthcoming Samhain novella, The Legend of the Werestag, embroiled in a legal battle. The issue started with this announcement. To which my, ahem, zealous legal counsel replied here. And the debate continued here. I would like to publicly state that I have immediately fired Courtney
- [It's Werestag Release Day! Plus, ARC giveaway!](https://tessadare.com/2009/05/12/its-werestag-release-day-plus-arc-giveaway/) - Hooray! My e-novella, The Legend of the Werestag, is available today from Samhain Publishing! This quirky, sexy historical romance novella is not a paranormal shifter story, but rather the tale of five romantically entangled Regency-era houseguests who become intrigued by the local legend of a cursed man-beast. Among them is Miss Cecily Hale, a young
- [The Twelve Days of Proof!](https://tessadare.com/2009/12/20/the-twelve-days-of-proof/) - So, I have this friend. A brilliant friend. And she wrote this book. A brilliant book. It officially releases January 1st, but you'll probably start finding it in stores any day now. My friend's name is Courtney Milan, and her debut historical romance is Proof by Seduction. When Courtney and I met over three years
- [Greetings from the desert](https://tessadare.com/2009/04/14/greetings-from-the-desert/) - If you celebrated Easter or Passover, I hope it was great for you and yours! The Dare family is currently chillin' at a supremely air-conditioned resort condo in the desert, for our mini Spring Break. So far I've spent most of it working on copy edits of A LADY OF PERSUASION while Mr. Dare and
- [Let's get this party started!](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/27/lets-get-this-party-started/) - Woohooo!! At long, LONG last, it is the official release day of Goddess of the Hunt. I am tempted to go into a long, sappy speech thanking everyone I've ever met - but truthfully, it's 1 AM over here and I'm dead tired! That speech will have to wait. (Plus, it's in the Acknowledgments. See
- [All About Tessa.  Plus, freebies!](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/26/all-about-tessa-plus-freebies/) - Tomorrow is the official release date of Goddess of the Hunt, but the troops on the ground tell me it's already showing up on bookstore shelves. We had a WalMart sighting yesterday, and I think a Books-A-Million one. So exciting! A number of lovely people have interviewed me or asked me to blog with them
- [Good Stuff](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/06/good-stuff/) - In case you haven't seen it, USA Today ran a fabulous article yesterday on the Romance genre. Balanced, thoughtful, positive. Fabulous. Quoted are Eloisa James, Julia Quinn, and Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, among others. It's a must-read! And speaking of must reads, my friend and RWA chaptermate DeAnna Cameron celebrates her very
- [Jam Yesterday, Jam Tomorrow](https://tessadare.com/2009/05/19/jam-yesterday-jam-tomorrow/) - (Title is inspired by Alice's mad tea party in Wonderland) I had a blast guest-blogging at the pirate ship Revengeyesterday, and I'll be guest blogging at Risky Regencies tomorrow, so my Tuesday post is going to be brief. Do be sure to come back next Tuesday, May 26th when debut author and FanLit alum Jackie
- [December 2008](https://tessadare.com/2008/12/01/december-2008/) - I'm so excited! In August 2009, I've been invited to be the Book Club guest over at the Eloisa James/Julia Quinn Bulletin Board. What an honor! And in May, I'll have an e-book novella releasing from Samhain Publishing. Watch this site in the coming months for more info and new excerpts...
- [May 12, 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/05/12/may-12-2009/) - On Sale Now! My historical romance novella is available today as an e-book from Samhain Publishing! Click here for an excerpt!
- [But wait, there's more!](https://tessadare.com/2008/08/26/but-wait-theres-more/) - To squee about!Huge congratulations to two - yes, two - wonderful writers, good friends, and former Fanlitters who have just signed with agents: Maggie Robinson and Manda Collins! Congratulations, ladies! I know great things are in store for you both, and I can't wait to squee over your sales.(Man, are we setting NY on fire
- [Putting the TMI back in Tuesday](https://tessadare.com/2008/05/20/putting-the-tmi-back-in-tuesday/) - Well, at least the T.Some of you are probably wondering why I don't call it TMI Tuesday anymore. Well, there are a couple of reasons. One is because I discovered there is an actual TMI Tuesday blog somewhere with weekly memes for people to post on their own blogs. A bigger reason is because, as
- [Quirkiness](https://tessadare.com/2008/05/13/quirkiness/) - Gina Black tagged me over a week ago now. The rules are something like this:Link the person who tagged you.Mention the rules in your blog.Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.Okay, so my first
- [Save the Kitties!](https://tessadare.com/2008/04/25/save-the-kitties/) - A romantic hero, no matter how flawed, should always be willing to run into a burning building to rescue a basket of kittens. ~Teresa MedeirosOkay, so I have been a wee bit stalled on the novel-in-progress, due to the rethinking and refocusing issue I mentioned last post. And I really need to just plunge back
- [Tis the Season](https://tessadare.com/2007/09/28/tis-the-season/) - Hey, this sounds like fun:Starting Oct. 1 over at RNTV Kathryn Caskie is hosting a Scary Story contest! Each week will be a new contest with a new theme. 2 prizes per week. Box of halloween chocolates to one winner AND a 10 page critique by a published author for aspiring authors entering! Each week
- [July 28, 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/27/july-28-2009/) - Hooray! Goddess of the Hunt is in stores NOW! You can find an excerpt, reviews, and purchase links here. I've also added a longer excerpt of the second book in this back-to-back trilogy, Surrender of a Siren. Be sure to check my Diary for the latest guest blog and interview links..
- [A picture is worth a thousand words (My process, part 4)](https://tessadare.com/2008/11/18/a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words-my-process-part-4/) - So, moving right along with the writing process... I've got characters, a vague plot built around these "moments", and I've started my research. As part of the research, I collect pictures. I find it helpful to imagine my settings and characters' physical traits from the foundation of a painting or photograph of an actual place
- [Three Weddings and a Murder - on sale now!](https://tessadare.com/2012/05/23/three-weddings-and-a-murder-on-sale-now/) - I'm thrilled to announce the release of Three Weddings and a Murder, a new digital anthology featuring Courtney Milan, Carey Baldwin, Leigh LaValle, and yours truly! As I write this post, the book is available from Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords. Three Weddings and a Murder includes four fantastic all-new novellas--three historical romances
- [A Lady by Midnight is a bestseller!](https://tessadare.com/2012/09/07/a-lady-by-midnight-is-a-bestseller/) - Thank you so much, readers! Your excitement and support for Kate and Thorne's story shot them straight onto the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists this week! Sort of like a melon catapulted from a trebuchet. ;) I am so grateful to everyone who has embraced, enjoyed, and supported the Spindle Cove series.
- [Happy Holidays to You!](https://tessadare.com/2013/12/18/happy-holidays-to-you/) - I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. As I update the site toward the end of 2013, there is much to celebrate. I am so honored that Any Duchess Will Do has been named on several year-end "best of" lists, including: Library Journal Best Books of 2013: Romance Booklist’s Top 10 Romance Fiction,
- [One more week!](https://tessadare.com/2010/06/15/one-more-week/) - It's less than a week now until book two of the Stud Club trilogy, Twice Tempted by a Rogue, hits bookstores! You can read the full chapter one here. In other fun news, rights were recently licensed for Indonesian editions of Goddess of the Hunt, Surrender of a Siren, and A Lady of Persuasion!
- [A new story later this month!](https://tessadare.com/2012/05/01/a-new-story-later-this-month/) - UPDATE, May 16 - The new story has a page! And an excerpt! And it should be on sale within two weeks. More info to come, soon. I have an exciting announcement! It may be four months until A Lady by Midnight is available, but I have an all-new novella coming out toward the end
- [Waiting for Mr. Wright...](https://tessadare.com/2012/11/18/waiting-for-mr-wright/) - Are you looking for a wicked rake to steam up your winter's night? ;) Look no further! That rascally duke's heir Harry Wright is coming your way in my novella The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright, releasing December 11 from Avon Impulse. This novella was published earlier this year in Three Weddings and a Murder,
- [Mr. Wright is Mr. Right Now!](https://tessadare.com/2012/12/10/mr-wright-is-mr-right-now/) - Just in time for your holiday reading... A hero who's definitely on the Naughty List. ;) My novella The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright is now available from Avon Impulse. This novella was published earlier this year in Three Weddings and a Murder, a charity anthology. If you missed it then, here's your chance to
- [Now on sale - A Lady by Midnight!](https://tessadare.com/2012/08/27/now-on-sale-a-lady-by-midnight/) - It's finally here! Release day for A Lady by Midnight. At last, Kate and Thorne's story is making its way out into the world. Early reviewers have said some wonderful things about the book. Fresh Fiction called it a "must read," SBTB called it "delicious," and RT Book Reviews magazine gave it a Top Pick!
- [My Holiday Gift to Readers](https://tessadare.com/2016/12/19/my-holiday-gift-to-readers/) - Over the past year, I've received many letters and questions from readers about the characters from When a Scot Ties the Knot -- Maddie, Logan, Aunt Thea, and all of Logan's men. It seems that many wanted to know that they all ended happily, and I did, too. So I wrote a bonus epilogue as a
- [Do You Want to Hear Some Great News?](https://tessadare.com/2016/10/07/do-you-want-to-hear-some-great-news/) - Thank you so much to all my readers! Do You Want to Start a Scandal will be on this week's New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists! I'm so thrilled and grateful to see how readers have welcomed Piers and Charlotte's story into their lives. Thank you, thank you. A quick heads up for
- [RWA Roll Call!](https://tessadare.com/2007/06/22/rwa-roll-call/) - Sorry for yet another week of flaky blogging. That page-counter over there has been frozen for a while, which probably looks like I've been slacking off. But no, I've just gone back to concentrating on GOTH for a while. I've been working like a fiend to get some submissions in. Plus, I had a sick
- [Cover Reveal and RITA finalist!](https://tessadare.com/2017/03/22/cover-reveal-and-rita-finalist/) - So much exciting news to share! The beautiful cover of The Duchess Deal has been revealed! I hope you love it as much as I do. If you head on over to the Bustle website, you can get a few peeks behind-the-scenes at the photo shoot! The release date is August 22, 2017. Also, I was
- [Come join me at California Readin'!](https://tessadare.com/2016/12/28/come-join-me-at-california-readin/) - Attention, Readers! If you are near, or want to be near, Orange County, CA on March 25, 2017, California Readin' is one event you don’t want to miss. It's hosted by the inimitable Barbara Vey, and 60 authors (like me! And Robyn Carr, Jane Porter, Sarah MacLean, JoAnn Ross, Debra Holland, and many more) will be
- [Bonus epilogue for WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT](https://tessadare.com/2016/12/19/bonus-epilogue-for-when-a-scot-ties-the-knot/) - As promised, here's the first part of my bonus epilogue for WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT! Parts 2 and 3 will follow on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. I'm glad that readers have kept asking about Maddie, Logan, and all the men - I had a lovely time visiting with them again, and I hope
- [Do You Want to Start a Scandal? Of course you do!](https://tessadare.com/2016/09/27/do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal-of-course-you-do/) - It's here! It's finally here! Do You Want to Start a Scandal, Charlotte and Piers's story, is available in print, digital, and audio. Oh, I had so much fun with these two and their romance. I hope all my readers do, too. Don't forget! Sunday, October 2nd, 4pm PT: In-person and Virtual Release Party at The
- [Upcoming Book Signings, Virtual and In-Person!](https://tessadare.com/2016/08/28/upcoming-book-signings-virtual-and-in-person/) - I'm getting so excited about the release of Do You Want to Start a Scandal (recently given a starred review in Publisher's Weekly) on September 27. To celebrate, I've got signing events this fall on both coasts, and my first ever virtual signing for readers who can't attend in person! Sunday, October 2nd, 4pm PT, In-person and Virtual Release Party
- [An early look at Do You Want a Scandal](https://tessadare.com/2016/08/15/an-early-look-at-do-you-want-a-scandal/) - Great news! The first two chapters of Do You Want to Start a Scandal (releasing September 27th) are now included in the back of Beauty and the Blacksmith--which is free to download from August 15-22! (Even if you already have this Spindle Cove novella on your e-reader, you should be able to download the updated version to read the new excerpt.
- [The Scandal countdown is on...](https://tessadare.com/2016/08/08/the-scandal-countdown-is-on/) - New excerpt and pre-order links for Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare
- [French Edition Giveaway](https://tessadare.com/2016/08/07/french-edition-giveaway/) - International giveaway for my French speaking fans. a Rafflecopter giveaway
- [Signing in San Diego!](https://tessadare.com/2016/07/09/signing-in-san-diego/) - If you're anywhere near San Diego on July 13, don't miss the "Readers for Life" autographing at RWA's National Conference! I'll be signing books, along with more than 400 other romance authors. Click the image for a full list of authors attending and more information. I'm looking forward to being at the RWA Conference
- [Cover reveal!](https://tessadare.com/2016/03/07/cover-reveal/) - Behold, the beautiful cover for Do You Want to Start a Scandal (releasing September 27) Say it with me now: Ooooooh. I'll never get over the fact that these professionally pretty people stand still in passionate poses just to make pictures for my book covers. (I also like alliteration, apparently.) And if you've been waiting
- [Southern California signings!](https://tessadare.com/2016/02/10/southern-california-signings/) - I have several events coming up in the Southern California area and would love to see you at one or more of them! (And if you're not local, not to worry! Later in the year, I'll be visiting Nevada, New Jersey, and Washington...possibly more, as well.) February 11, 2016 - Yorba Linda, CA A Night
- [Don't miss out on this new novella!](https://tessadare.com/2015/12/08/dont-miss-out-on-this-new-novella/) - Just in time for the holidays! Lord Dashwood Missed Out, a brand new Spindle Cove novella, is available today in e-book and audio formats. (Paperback will be releasing January 19.) Aside from being a snowy, sexy cabin romance between two friends-turned-enemies, this novella features glimpses of many favorite series characters--including Griff, Pauline, Minerva, Colin, Charlotte,
- [Tis the Season for Giveaways!](https://tessadare.com/2015/12/01/tis-the-season-for-giveaways/) - If you're anything like me, you're spending your December buying, wrapping, and shipping gifts for everyone else. Well, I'm a part of two huge Romance giveaways this month--we authors want to give some gifts to you, our wonderful readers! The two giveaways each work a little differently, but each offers plenty of chances to win.
- [Ripping the bodice](https://tessadare.com/2015/11/16/ripping-the-bodice/) - Today I want to share an excerpt from my December novella. But first, some backstory. About a month ago, two romance-reading sisters in Southern California emailed to say they were planning to open a new bookstore, and raising seed money for furnishings and inventory on Kickstarter. When I first heard about Bea and Leah's business
- [What's coming next, you ask?](https://tessadare.com/2015/11/04/whats-coming-next-you-ask/) - I am back from a fantastic October full of traveling to meet readers in Dallas, Portland, and in-between! And one question I heard several times was... Tessa, what's coming out next? Two things! And both of them are related to Spindle Cove. As astute readers have reminded me lately, we have a few loose ends
- [On the road again!](https://tessadare.com/2015/09/30/on-the-road-again/) - Check out these events! If you're in the area, I'd love to see you! October 3 & 4th -Richardson, TX (Dallas area) Book Signing October 3rd at 2pm, Barnes and Noble Firewheel,190 Cedar Sage Dr., Garland, TX. Authors signing: Tessa Dare, Katharine Ashe, D. D. Ayres, Linda Broday, HelenKay Dimon, Shana Galen, Barb Han, Sophie
- [NYT and USA Today Bestseller!](https://tessadare.com/2015/09/03/nyt-and-usa-today-bestseller/) - I am so thrilled to report that When a Scot Ties the Knot is a bestseller! #15 on the New York Times mass-market fiction list #19 on the New York Times combined print/e-book list #30 on the USA Today bestselling books list #15 on the Barnes and Noble mass-market bestsellers list I promise, no lobsters
- [When a Scot Ties the Knot is on sale!](https://tessadare.com/2015/08/25/when-a-scot-ties-the-knot-is-on-sale/) - I love release day! When a Scot Ties the Knot, the third book in my bestselling Castles Ever After series, is on sale now in e-book, paperbook, audio, and large print formats. Ever since I read my first Julie Garwood romance, I’ve always longed to write a Highlander hero. This year, I finally got my
- [All sorts of good news!](https://tessadare.com/2015/07/30/all-sorts-of-good-news/) - It's been a busy summer for the Dare family, with a good deal of travel and excitement going on. I've just come home from the Romance Writers of America conference in New York City, and I was so thrilled to be bringing a shiny new friend home with me. Romancing the Duke won the RITA®
- [Tessa's on the move!](https://tessadare.com/2015/05/31/tessas-on-the-move/) - I'm gearing up for an exciting summer! Check out my "Upcoming Appearances" for information about book signings and events in Manila, Philippines (June 27th), New York City (July 22nd), and Dallas, TX (October 4th). Other news: Release day for When a Scot Ties the Knot (Castles Ever After, book 3) is less than 3 months
- [2015 RITA Finalist](https://tessadare.com/2015/04/17/2015-rita-finalist/) - Romance Writers of America (RWA), the trade association for aspiring and published romance fiction authors, announces the finalists for the 2015 RITA® and Golden Heart® Awards. The RITA — the highest award of distinction in romance fiction — recognizes excellence in published romance novels and novellas. 2015 RITA Finalist Historical Romance: Short Romancing the Duke
- [Available now! SAY YES TO THE MARQUESS](https://tessadare.com/2014/12/30/available-now-say-yes-to-the-marquess/) - I'm thrilled to announce that Say Yes to the Marquess is available today! This second installment of my Castles Ever After series features a sexy bad-boy prizefighter hero, Rafe, and Clio--a young lady who's been forced to be very, very good for far too long. :) You can read the first chapter on the website.
- [Queens Of Historical Romance GIVEAWAY 2 of 6](https://tessadare.com/2014/12/03/queens-of-historical-romance-giveaway-2-of-6/) - ***Queens Of Historical Romance GIVEAWAY 2 of 6 *** Enter here: http://bit.ly/HistRomQueens2 OPEN TO INTERNATIONAL ENTRIES Here’s our second giveaway for
- [QUEENS OF HISTORICAL ROMANCE GIVEAWAY](https://tessadare.com/2014/11/24/queens-romance-giveaway/) - I’ve teamed up with 14 other Historical Romance authors to offer you six weeks of giveaways! Enter this week’s raffle for a chance to win books.
- [Updates!](https://tessadare.com/2014/10/16/updates/) - Say Yes to the Marquess (Castles Ever After, book 2) is coming on December 30! The first print review is in, and it's a lovely one from Publisher's Weekly: "Dare excels at storytelling, creating a powerful, believable romance that evokes a plethora of emotions." If you're eager for a sneak peek at Clio and Rafe's
- [RWA Board Elections](https://tessadare.com/2014/09/04/rwa-board-elections/) - Elections for the Board of Directors of Romance Writers of America opened this week, and I am on the ballot as a candidate for Director-at-Large. Why am I running? RWA is going to be facing some big decisions and issues in the next year or two--and the choices made will affect every member. As a
- [Now free in digital!](https://tessadare.com/2014/08/21/now-free-in-digital-how-to-catch-a-wild-viscount/) - I'm happy to announce that I've re-released my very first novella as a free e-book! As I write this, How to Catch a Wild Viscount is available free from Amazon (US, UK, Canada), BN, Kobo, iBooks, and GooglePlay. If it's not free at your favorite retailer, you can also download a free PDF here at
- [It's Read-a-Romance Month!](https://tessadare.com/2014/08/12/its-read-a-romance-month/) - Once again, August is Read a Romance Month! This year's theme is "Celebrate Romance." Visit the RARM website for daily guest posts from your favorite authors, giveaways, and more!
- [I'm headed to Texas!](https://tessadare.com/2014/07/09/im-headed-to-texas/) - It's been a busy summer so far for the Dare family! I recently returned from a wonderful time at the American Library Association conference in Las Vegas, and soon I'll be headed to two events in Texas. July 20-22 - "For the Love of Books: Readers Love Romance!" at Lake Austin Spa I am beyond
- [Back from New Orleans!](https://tessadare.com/2014/05/18/back-from-new-orleans/) - I had a wonderful time at the RT Booklovers' Convention in New Orleans! I'm so grateful to all the authors, readers, publishers, volunteers, and RT Magazine staffers who worked so hard to make it a memorable, fun experience. For me, the highlights of every RT Convention are the signings: both the Avon open house and
- [RITA Finalist!](https://tessadare.com/2014/03/27/rita-finalist-2/) - Yesterday, I received the most wonderful call. Any Duchess Will Do is a finalist for the 2014 RITA in the Historical Romance category! This is such an honor, and I'm so thrilled to be on the finalist list with so many amazing authors. The awards will be presented at the national convention in San Antonio
- [Romancing the Duke - on sale today!](https://tessadare.com/2014/01/28/romancing-the-duke-on-sale-today/) - It's here! Release day for Romancing the Duke! I'm so excited for Izzy and Ransom's story to make its way into the world. Izzy is a heroine after my own heart, for so many reasons. As for wounded hero Ransom...well, he proved challenge enough for us both! These two needed each other desperately, and I
- [New Year, New Book (and video!)](https://tessadare.com/2014/01/02/new-year-new-book-and-video/) - Less than a month now until the release of Romancing the Duke, first in my all-new Castles Ever After series! If you like: Intrepid, book-loving heroines Wounded, reclusive heroes in desperate need of love Mysterious, romantic castles Weasels (okay, just trust me on this one) ...pre-order today! You can read the full first chapter here.
- [A lovely surprise](https://tessadare.com/2013/10/03/a-lovely-surprise/) - I was so honored recently to learn that Any Duchess Will Do was chosen by Booklist magazine as one of their "Top 10 Romances of 2013"! Meanwhile, the book has gone into its fifth printing! Thank you, readers, for all the amazing support for Griff and Pauline, and for Spindle Cove.
- [Atlanta bound!](https://tessadare.com/2013/07/14/atlanta-bound/) - This Tuesday, I'll be headed to Atlanta for the 2013 Romance Writers of America Annual Conference. RWA Conference is always a highlight of my year, and I'm so excited to see old friends and make new ones. If you are anywhere near Atlanta, please consider attending the "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing. Over 400 romance
- [So much good news!](https://tessadare.com/2013/06/18/so-much-good-news/) - Thank you, readers, for all the wonderful support you've given Any Duchess Will Do. Pauline and Griff's story has now spent two weeks on the USA Today Bestsellers list, and I just got word today that the book is already going into a third printing. Wow! I am just so touched by the enthusiasm readers
- [Any Duchess Will Do - on sale now!](https://tessadare.com/2013/05/28/any-duchess-will-do-on-sale-now/) - Hooray, it's release day for Any Duchess Will Do! I'm just so excited for Griff and Pauline's story to be out in the world. I hope readers enjoy getting to know these two just as much as I did. If you want to chat about this book, there are several chances! There will be a
- [Bestselling Blacksmith!](https://tessadare.com/2013/05/15/bestselling-blacksmith/) - Thank you, readers, for making Beauty and the Blacksmith a USA Today bestseller in its first week! I'm just thrilled and delighted by all the support you've given Spindle Cove. Edited to add: For those who've been waiting on print, I'm happy to say the paperback edition of BATB is now available to pre-order! It's
- [Beauty and the Blacksmith now available](https://tessadare.com/2013/04/30/beauty-and-the-blacksmith-is-available-now/) - It's finally here! At long last, Diana Highwood gets a romance of her own. Beauty and the Blacksmith is available today in digital format.* I hope readers will enjoy reading her happy ending as much as I loved writing it. If you'd like to chat about the book with me and other Spindle Cove
- [Spindle Cove on sale for $0.99!](https://tessadare.com/2013/04/16/spindle-cove-on-sale-for-0-99/) - In just two weeks, Aaron and Diana's story will be available! Beauty and the Blacksmith releases April 30th, followed by Any Duchess Will Do on May 28th. In anticipation, Avon Books is offering an amazing sale! Spindle Cove e-books are just $0.99 at USA retailers! (Prices may vary internationally.) This limited-time sale includes: A Night
- [Such news!](https://tessadare.com/2013/03/05/such-news/) - Dear readers, I have such exciting news. Many of you have written to me over the past few years, asking if there would be a Spindle Cove story for Diana Highwood. At last, I am able and delighted to answer with a definitive yes! There will be a story for Diana, and you will be
- [Ringing in 2013 with a cover reveal!](https://tessadare.com/2013/01/03/ringing-in-2013-with-a-cover-reveal/) - Happy New Year to all! 2013 is off to a great start on the website. At long last, I can reveal the beautiful cover for Any Duchess Will Do, releasing May 28th! Any Duchess is full-length book 4 in the Spindle Cove series. Isn't it sighworthy? I just love it. The tender, sexy pose...her coy
- [RITA Winner!](https://tessadare.com/2012/07/30/rita-winner/) - Oh my goodness! The RWA Conference was spectacular in so many ways. How could it not be? I mean, I was presented with jewelry and cake! (Thanks, Diana, Edna, Carrie, Lisa, and Marni!) But my highlight of the year (and many years!) came on Saturday night, when I was honored to receive the 2012 RITA
- [More Upcoming Events!](https://tessadare.com/2012/04/18/more-upcoming-events/) - The RT Booklovers Conference in Chicago was fantastic! Many thanks to all who came to say hi at one of the sessions or book signings. There's no rest for A Week to be Wicked, though. :) I'm on the move again! This Sunday, April 22nd, I'm excited to be participating in the LA Times Festival
- [New York Times and USA Today Bestseller!](https://tessadare.com/2012/04/04/new-york-times-and-usa-today-bestseller/) - Today, I got the most thrilling of phone calls from my editor, Tessa Woodward, at Avon Books. A Week to be Wicked is a bestseller! The book will be #98 on the new USA Today Top 150 bestsellers list and #31 on the New York Times e-book list! This is my first time hitting USA
- [I'm up for bids today!](https://tessadare.com/2012/04/01/im-up-for-bids-today/) - Thank you so much to everyone who made A Week to Be Wicked's release week so much fun! Today, April 2nd, I'm helping Kat Brauer kick off her fabulous Crits for Water campaign, an effort to raise money for clean-water projects in developing countries. Kat's collected an amazing assortment of writing critiques from authors and
- [A Week to Be Wicked - on sale now!](https://tessadare.com/2012/03/26/a-week-to-be-wicked-on-sale-now/) - It's here--release day for A Week to Be Wicked! I'm so excited for Colin and Minerva's funny, sexy road trip to hit bookstores everywhere. Reviews have been fab so far. You can check Goodreads for a range of early reader reviews. Two very "Wicked" giveaways are happening, and they're happening fast! Avon Books, my wonderful
- [Coming to a place near you!](https://tessadare.com/2012/02/21/coming-to-a-place-near-you/) - It's only about a month until A Week to be Wicked hits the shelves! I'm so excited about Colin and Minerva's story. Some wonderful reviews are already rolling in, including this starred review from Publisher's Weekly. Since A Week to be Wicked is a wildly romantic road trip, it's fitting that I'll be doing a
- [New Excerpt, New Contest!](https://tessadare.com/2012/01/18/new-excerpt-new-contest/) - Happy New Year! I hope all of you are enjoying a great start to 2012! I sure did, as Once Upon a Winter's Eve spent two more weeks on the USA Today bestseller list, for a total of four weeks overall! Thank you so much, readers. Today, I'm excited to announce a few updates to
- [USA Today Bestseller!](https://tessadare.com/2011/11/30/usa-today-bestseller/) - I'm thrilled to announce that my new novella, Once Upon a Winter's Eve, will be #100 on this coming week's USA Today Bestseller list! Thank you so much to everyone who bought it, read it, and told their friends. I'm so grateful to all my readers. This is the best early Christmas gift I could imagine.
- [Great e-book bargains!](https://tessadare.com/2011/11/24/great-e-book-bargains/) - Happy Thanksgiving to my friends in the United States! Tis the season for shopping. Bargain shopping. I have some wonderful e-book deals to share with you. As I write this post, my new digital novella, Once Upon a Winter's Eve, is on sale for just $0.79 for Kindle and Nook! Seventy-nine cents--cheaper than a donut,
- [Available now!](https://tessadare.com/2011/11/14/available-now/) - It's release day for Once Upon a Winter's Eve! This all-new novella in the Spindle Cove series is yours for just $0.99 this holiday season. If you'd like a preview, the first chapter is available here. I have to confess, this story wouldn't have come about without my friends. The entire plot was hatched
- [Exciting News from Spindle Cove!](https://tessadare.com/2011/10/07/exciting-news-from-spindle-cove/) - In the last month or so, readers have said a lot of very kind things about A Night to Surrender. Several have told me they're eager for Colin and Minerva's story in A Week to be Wicked, releasing March 27, 2012. And some have even been so kind as to say, "I can't believe we
- [New contest! New publisher!](https://tessadare.com/2011/09/30/new-contest-new-publisher/) - Thank you to everyone who entered the KISS and Teal bundle contest last month, and congratulations to winner Linda M.! I've just posted a new contest for October. One lucky reader will rake in three gorgeous new historical romances, all taking place in times and settings other than the English Regency. If you enjoy variety
- [Shop Teal this Holiday Season](https://tessadare.com/2011/09/07/shop-teal-this-holiday-season/) - First, a huge thank you to everyone who's been reading A Night to Surrender, writing me with their thoughts about it, and recommending it to their friends! I'm so grateful, and pleased by the warm reception readers have given Bram and Susanna's story. As I'm sure you know, if you've followed my site at all
- [Release Day!](https://tessadare.com/2011/08/30/release-day/) - Huzzah! A Night to Surrender is in stores today! (And available from every online outlet, too!) Nice reviews of the book keep coming in... Just yesterday, May at SmexyBooks had this to say: The story was fast paced, full of memorable moments and characters, and utter romance gold. And over at The Book Binge, Rowena
- [It's here! The Maya Banks dareling room video](https://tessadare.com/2011/08/10/maya-banks-video/) - Some of you may remember that last summer, I made a little low-budget video for my Stud Club series, using toys from my children's bedroom. The response to the video was great, and I had so much fun making it. So last March, as part of Operation Auction, I offered up a similar homemade book
- [KISS and Teal](https://tessadare.com/2011/08/03/kiss-and-teal/) - Psst! On the contest page, I've posted winners of the coverflat contest - who will be receiving their prizes in the mail soon - and posted a new "KISS and Teal" giveaway. What's "KISS and Teal," you ask? I am thrilled that A Night to Surrender is part of the “K.I.S.S. and Teal” campaign, a
- [To house a hero](https://tessadare.com/2011/07/30/to-house-a-hero/) - On The Ballroom Blog today, Miranda Neville has a fabulous post about Regency Real Estate, with gorgeous photographs of lavish English country estates with gardens to die for. I must confess--her post made me laugh, because while Miranda's hero is getting this: Poor Bram, my hero in A Night to Surrender, is getting something like
- [Regency Paper Dolls!](https://tessadare.com/2011/07/16/regency-paper-dolls/) - Over on The Ballroom Blog, today Sarah MacLean is hosting our first Saturday Salon and sharing her trade secret: Regency Dress-Up Paper Dolls. Come make and share some of your own! I'm headed out the door early this morning, but I couldn't resist taking time to make a doll for the heroine of A Night
- [Come to the ball!](https://tessadare.com/2011/07/13/come-to-the-ball/) - Today is an exciting day! Months of collaborative scheming have come to fruition, and I'm delighted to announce the grand debut of The Ballroom Blog. The Ballroom blogroll includes authors Sarah MacLean, Gaelen Foley, Katharine Ashe, Miranda Neville, Sabrina Darby, and yours truly. I was thrilled to be invited to blog with these lovely and
- [In the news...](https://tessadare.com/2011/07/05/in-the-news/) - I'm back from NYC! The conference was wonderful. A full wrap-up (including details of my scintillating encounter in the NYPL Rare Books room!) will have to wait for another day, because I have so much exciting news to share. (The beautiful NYC skyline from Bryant Park. We had gorgeous weather! You can click on the
- [New York, here I come!](https://tessadare.com/2011/06/26/new-york-here-i-come/) - The bags are (mostly) packed, and in just a few short hours I'll be jetting off on the red-eye, headed for the Romance Writers of America national conference in New York City! Before I forget -- While in NYC, I'll be passing out some beautiful postcards for A Night to Surrender, directing people to visit
- [Site updates!](https://tessadare.com/2011/06/01/site-updates/) - A Night to Surrender finally has its own bookshelf page! There isn't a whole lot there yet, but there are pre-order links and a blurb and tiny teaser excerpt. I will be posting a much longer excerpt in weeks to come. If you'd like to win a signed coverflat and bookish surprise, please do enter
- [Foreign Cover Love!](https://tessadare.com/2011/04/15/foreign-cover-love/) - I finally found time to update the site with some of my most recent foreign covers. I thought I'd highlight them here, too. First, this gorgeous new Slovak cover for Surrender of a Siren: Siigh... So romantic! I love it. And here are two new covers for A Lady of Persuasion-- the Indonesian and the
- [RT Recap](https://tessadare.com/2011/04/10/rt-recap/) - I spent much of the last week at the RT Booklovers' Convention in L.A., and it was a fabulous conference. What a busy few days! I, of course, always forget to take pictures - especially ones with me in them - so I'm linking to a few posted on various blogs, and I hope those
- [In praise of artists...](https://tessadare.com/2011/04/05/in-praise-of-artists/) - Despite having no actual visual arts talent of my own, I love art and am fascinated by artists. I adored writing an artist heroine in Surrender of a Siren, and giving Sophia all the artistic talent I wish I had, but don't. This week, I am the very happy beneficiary of some prodigious artistic talent!
- [Romance Live - Tonight!](https://tessadare.com/2011/04/06/romance-live-tonight/) - Don't miss this! Tonight, at 9 PM Eastern, 6 PM Pacific -- six Avon historical romance authors live-streaming questions and answers. You can watch it here and order personalized books here. From the latest announcement... If you are a romance fan, but you can’t make it to the RT Booklovers Convention in Los Angeles next
- [Newsy notes...](https://tessadare.com/2011/04/02/newsy-notes/) - Sometime in the next few days, the site will have a bit of downtime - so my wonderful web designer, Frauke Spanuth of CrocoDesigns, can give it a new, fresh look. I hope everyone loves the new design as much as I do! Operation Auction update: The winning bidder on my book video was none
- [Romance Live on April 6 (Plus, see my cover!)](https://tessadare.com/2011/03/29/romance-live-on-april-6-plus-see-my-cover/) - First, don't forget about Operation Auction! Bidding for my book video has been doing great, thanks to all who've helped spread the word. But I know we can raise even more money for Fatin and family. Second, I'm going to be part of this uber-cool event at RT on April 6th, called Romance Live. Six
- [March, 2011](https://tessadare.com/2011/03/21/march-2011/) - Happy Spring! I hope your bookshelves are blooming with great reads. I'm busily writing away on the second book in the new series (tentatively titled A Week to be Wicked, coming early 2012) and getting excited about some upcoming appearances. On April 2nd, I'll be talking with the East Valley Authors, and from April 6-10,
- [December, 2010](https://tessadare.com/2010/12/03/december-2010/) - December is normally the time when creatures enter hibernation. I'm doing the reverse--emerging from the writing cave (and there was precious little sleeping going in there, trust me :) ). I've turned in the manuscript for my next book, hurrah! And while I wait for revisions from my editor, I finally have some time to
- [Sneak Peek at What's Next...](https://tessadare.com/2010/12/03/sneak-peek-at-whats-next/) - Quite a few of you lovely, lovely people have asked about the next book, and now that the book is actually written 8) I feel I can post a few tidbits of information. I should say that everything in this post is subject to change, as it's not yet set in stone. Once I have
- [GotH around the world!](https://tessadare.com/2010/10/26/goth-around-the-world/) - Today, I received a very exciting package in the mail - copies of the German translation of Goddess of the Hunt! It prompted me to do some web searching to see if any of the other translations have hit the market while I wasn't looking. And look, they have! Not only in German, but in
- [September, 2010](https://tessadare.com/2010/09/22/september-2010/) - My goodness, it's been a busy few months, between my trip to England and all the excitement of school starting! Fall is my favorite season, even with the milder version we get here in Southern California. I've updated the blog with some answers to readers' questions - namely, How do you solve a problem like
- [Since I blogged last...](https://tessadare.com/2010/09/22/since-i-blogged-last/) - Um, the seasons changed! Also... I went to England! My eldest started first grade! *sob* Goddess of the Hunt came out in Russian! Booklist mentioned me as one of the "new stars of historical romance" - woot! (If you're looking for new historical authors, be sure to check out that list.) And I've received so
- [What Happens in Florida...](https://tessadare.com/2010/08/04/what-happens-in-florida/) - ...is finally on my blog! Okay, here comes the overdue conference wrap-up! So, I did not win the Regency Historical RITA on Saturday night - that honor (most deservedly) went to Julia Quinn for What Happens in London. I was so elated to see her get her third RITA and instant induction into RWA's Hall
- [July, 2010](https://tessadare.com/2010/07/26/july-2010/) - Today, July 27th, my sixth book Three Nights with a Scoundrel, hits the shelves--exactly 364 days after the release of my 2009 debut, Goddess of the Hunt. To say it's been a whirlwind year would be a vast understatement! I fly out today to cap it with a wonderful week at the Romance Writers of
- [Release Day!  Three Nights is in stores today](https://tessadare.com/2010/07/26/release-day-three-nights-is-in-stores-today/) - Hooray! Three Nights with a Scoundrel, the final installment in the Stud Club trilogy, is in stores today! I wish I could be online more, but I'm traveling today from California to Florida for the RWA conference, so I'll be in transit for most of the day. But I want to say thank you to
- [Desires winner and RWA preview](https://tessadare.com/2010/07/25/desires-winner-and-rwa-preview/) - Congrats to Babs, lucky #15 as drawn by Random.org. You win the prize package of three autographed Silhouette Desires! Please use the contact form to send me your mailing address. Congratulations! I'm packing my bags for RWA as I type... well, okay. Not exactly as I type, because I am not that good at multitasking.
- [Win Your Desire(s)](https://tessadare.com/2010/07/21/win-your-desires/) - Last week was my local RWA chapter meeting, and I had the pleasure of signing books with several of our chapter's published authors. What struck me was that three of them all had Silhouette Desire books out this month! If you've read books from the Desire line (or even looked at the titles), you know
- [Nook News](https://tessadare.com/2010/06/30/nook-news/) - A few days ago, a very alert reader wrote to let me know that Goddess of the Hunt wasn't available for the Nook (Barnes and Noble's e-reader), even though all my other books were. But when I tried to email this very alert reader back, the return email bounced. So for the benefit of all
- [Twice Tempted is in stores today!](https://tessadare.com/2010/06/22/twice-tempted-is-in-stores-today/) - Hooray, it's release day! Twice Tempted by a Rogue, book two in the Stud Club trilogy is in stores today. Sooo exciting! You can read the first chapter and find buy links here. You can enter to win an autographed copy here. This book was a challenge for me in many ways. Rhys is by
- [June 22 - Release day!](https://tessadare.com/2010/06/21/june-22-release-day/) - Book Two in the Stud Club trilogy, Twice Tempted by a Rogue, is in stores today! RT Book Reviews has deemed it "a great book that deserves a place on your keeper shelf." Read an excerpt and find order links here.
- [Busy, busy!](https://tessadare.com/2010/06/15/busy-busy/) - It's been a busy few days since I blogged last. Friday evening and Saturday were full of RWA chapter events with the fabulous Sue Grimshaw of Borders. Sunday, the Dare family trekked on down to the San Diego Wild Animal Park to enjoy the beautiful weather and catch glimpses of rhinos, giraffes, lions, and more.
- [Work of Art](https://tessadare.com/2010/06/10/work-of-art/) - First, announcements! I'm a guest today at The Romance Dish, where I'm blogging about the importance of books and reading, in life and romance. Please come share your thoughts. My post includes an exclusive excerpt from One Dance with a Duke! Also, tomorrow I'll be attending my local RWA chapter meeting, and if you're anywhere
- [This is me tempting you...](https://tessadare.com/2010/06/08/this-is-me-tempting-you/) - I can't believe that Twice Tempted by a Rogue will be in bookstores just two weeks from today! I've added to the excerpt available on the site, so it's now Chapter One in its entirety. Hope you enjoy getting to know a bit more about Rhys, Meredith, and the quirky little corner of Dartmoor they
- [Sarah's Sizzling Summer Book Club!](https://tessadare.com/2010/06/04/sarahs-sizzling-summer-book-club/) - How have I not blogged about this yet? I thought I had - but I guess the announcement came out on release day, and the blog was full of recipes. :) Anyway, I am completely thrilled to announce that One Dance with a Duke is an official selection of this summer's hottest book club. SB
- [Winner Winner Chicken Dinner](https://tessadare.com/2010/05/27/winner-winner-chicken-dinner/) - First, I'm a guest today at the Seductive Musings blog, where I wrote about the making of my Stud Club book video. Do come on over and say hi--you could win a signed copy of One Dance with a Duke! Second, thank you so much to all who participated in the #recitweet contest! It was
- [One Dance with a Duke in stores today!](https://tessadare.com/2010/05/25/one-dance-with-a-duke-in-stores-today/) - It's finally here! Release day for One Dance with a Duke, the first installment in an all-new trilogy. (And if you haven't watched the Stud Club Trilogy video yet, you really should!) To celebrate the book's release, I'm hosting a very special giveaway. Details here.
- [One Dance in stores today! Contest and giveaway](https://tessadare.com/2010/05/24/one-dance-in-stores-today-contest-and-giveaway/) - Woohoo! Today's the big day! The release of One Dance with a Duke, the first installment in an all-new trilogy. I'm so proud of this book, and of course, I want to have a contest to celebrate! Usually, I just invite you all to comment to win books. That's always fun, but I thought I'd
- [One Dance is just One Day away!](https://tessadare.com/2010/05/24/one-dance-is-just-one-day-away/) - I can't believe it! Release day for One Dance with a Duke is finally almost here. To celebrate, I'm working on a fun contest and giveaway for tomorrow. In the meantime, I've at long last posted excerpts for Twice Tempted by a Rogue and Three Nights with a Scoundrel, in case you want to sneak
- [Regency Research Links](https://tessadare.com/2010/05/21/regency-research-links/) - The countdown, it is on. Just four days until One Dance with a Duke releases! In the meantime...The lovely folks at RT Book Reviews magazine asked me to contribute a "Pros on Prose" article about historicals, for their June issue. I was glad to write it, and it is indeed in the issue that's on
- [Extended excerpt available! ](https://tessadare.com/2010/05/13/extended-excerpt-available/) - Well, this is a banner day here at TessaDare.com. Three blog posts in one day. Whew! My publisher, Random House (Ballantine being a division of), has done something soooo cool - they've posted a 60-page excerpt of ONE DANCE WITH A DUKE on Scribd.com. And those 60 pages are all prettily formatted and look just
- [A very beastly birthday, on which Tessa reveals all...](https://tessadare.com/2010/05/13/a-very-beastly-birthday-on-which-tessa-reveals-all/) - Note: I meant to post this yesterday, but realized I was missing some data. I have remedied that, and now it's complete. The Werestag is having his birthday! My e-novella The Legend of the Werestag was released from Samhain Publishing exactly one year ago this week. Digital publishing is changing rapidly (understatement alert!), and has
- [First Chance winners!](https://tessadare.com/2010/05/06/first-chance-winners/) - Sorry to be posting so late - this was my evening to work at the library. But I am home, and I have spent several minutes on Random.org, cross-matching with preferences and such, and lo -- I have winners. Let me just say - I wish I could send each and every one of you
- [Winners! (Not a mistake)](https://tessadare.com/2010/04/30/winners-not-a-mistake/) - Thanks for your patience. I'm here at RT in Columbus--and shockingly not online 24/7, as I usually am! But I figured out the hotel wi-fi this morning and Random.org kindly gave me two winners for Maggie Robinson's fab Mistress by Mistake (which, by the way, received a very nice review at Dear Author yesterday!) Winners
- [](https://tessadare.com/2010/04/27/1092/) - This week, I'm off to the RT Booklovers Convention in Columbus, Ohio, where I can't wait to meet up with readers, writers, and booksellers...oh, and accept a lovely award for Goddess of the Hunt (RT Reviewer's Choice for Best First Historical 2009)! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy checking out the new book video
- [Make no mistake -- it's a debut giveaway!](https://tessadare.com/2010/04/26/make-no-mistake-its-a-debut-giveaway/) - It's another banner day in Romancelandia! Another dear friend is celebrating her print debut. Today's toast is for Maggie Robinson. I met Maggie online over three years ago now, and I've been a fan of her writing from day one. She's since signed contracts with two different publishers, and the world's going to be treated
- [Der squee!](https://tessadare.com/2010/04/26/der-squee/) - Thanks to Melanie, a very alert reader in Austria, I've got my first foreign cover! Goddess of the Hunt will be released in German translation on October 18, 2010. I'm told the German title, Der Kuss der Jagerin (so sorry, don't know how to do the umlaut in Wordpress), translates as "Kiss of the Huntress."
- [The making of an excerpt booklet](https://tessadare.com/2010/04/23/the-making-of-an-excerpt-booklet/) - So my dear friend, critique partner, fellow RITA nominee, role model, and general inspiration in life, Ms. Courtney Milan, is spending her pre-RT Con weekend at the Chicago Spring Fling conference. And she took with her copies of our new excerpt booklet (You may remember that last year we joined forces to create The Dangerous
- [Cat's out of the bag](https://tessadare.com/2010/04/22/cats-out-of-the-bag/) - Next week I'll be traveling to Columbus, Ohio, to attend my very first RT Booklovers' Convention, the annual reader/author event sponsored by RT Book Reviews magazine (formerly known as Romantic Times). Some months ago, I learned that my debut, Goddess of the Hunt, was nominated for an RT Reviewer's Choice award in the Best First
- [Two easy ways to do good today](https://tessadare.com/2010/04/14/two-easy-ways-to-do-good-today/) - The other day, my friend and fellow author Jennifer Haymore announced on her blog that she's been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. (You may remember that I hosted a giveaway just a few weeks ago to celebrate the release of her newest book, A Touch of Scandal.) Her prognosis is good and her attitude is
- [Can all Mondays start like this?](https://tessadare.com/2010/04/12/can-all-mondays-start-like-this/) - I woke up to a flurry of tweets informing me that Publisher's Weekly had posted a starred review of One Dance with a Duke (releasing May 25)! One Dance with a Duke Tessa Dare Ballantine, $7.99 (416p) ISBN 978-0-345-51885-9 This standout Regency romance, the first in Dare’s Stud Club trilogy, matches an unlikely heroine with
- [Identity Crisis](https://tessadare.com/2010/04/06/identity-crisis/) - I need to update my bio. I've been putting this off for years now. You know, the little bio I have on my "Author" page? I wrote it late one night when I was putting together my very first basic website, when I was an unpublished author with no actual books to mention--let alone any
- [Giveaway!  Jennifer Haymore's A Touch of Scandal](https://tessadare.com/2010/03/30/giveaway-jennifer-haymores-a-touch-of-scandal/) - I am so jealous of my friend Jennifer Haymore. First, because she gets the most unbelievably beautiful, hawt stepbacks. If you're a clinch lover like I am, you must visit her website and mouse over the cover of A Touch of Scandal, so you can see this one in all its blond-hero glory. But my
- [He's no Barbara Walters...](https://tessadare.com/2010/03/24/hes-no-barbara-walters/) - Today, I refer you to a most unique and memorable interview. I've been interviewed by the resident were-llama at CJ Redwine's blog. You all know the penchant I have for were-creatures, in particular ruminants. So this was great fun. And blogger CJ's husband even made me a Stud Muffin! Okay, a Stud Cupcake (even better,
- [Crashing](https://tessadare.com/2010/03/19/crashing/) - This year, I am adding a new term to my publishing vocabulary: "crash". As in, "to crash a book." Perhaps you already know what this means. I confess, I didn't. My agent called me a little over a year ago to let me know yes, Ballantine would publish the Stud Club trilogy. I said, "Great!"
- [Mischief Managed!](https://tessadare.com/2010/03/03/mischief-managed/) - *carves sixth hashmark on the wall* I am so happy to report, the manuscript of Three Nights with a Scoundrel is all turned in to my editor. There will be revisions and edits and page proofs to come, but I can say now that I have authored six books. Hooray! I am so thankful to
- [March, 2010](https://tessadare.com/2010/03/03/march-2010/) - Whew! I have met all my deadlines (for the moment, ha), and just in time to enjoy the beautiful California spring. (My sympathies to those of you still shoveling snow in the East.) It's a busy family month for us, with weddings and birthdays and other fun. And I can't believe it's just a few
- [Reading Aloud for Fun and Profit](https://tessadare.com/2010/02/23/reading-aloud-for-fun-and-profit/) - I don't blog about the craft of writing all that often anymore. There are a few reasons for that. The first is that most days, actually practicing the craft of writing is just about all I can manage. Barely. The second is that, the more books I've written, the less I feel I truly know.
- [this is just to say... happy valentine's day](https://tessadare.com/2010/02/13/this-is-just-to-sayhappy-valentines-day/) - Many thanks to Janga for passing on the link to this site. Click on the picture to find other valentines from Poets.org. Random thoughts this post inspired: Must download the Poem Flow app to my iPhone. I'm always drawn to poets who punctuate with exuberance and eccentricity. (My copy editor would be unsurprised to hear
- [Promise Me Winners!](https://tessadare.com/2010/02/06/promise-me-winners/) - And the winners of copies of Sara Lindsey's PROMISE ME TONIGHT, as determined by Random.org, are.... Emily (#6) and Willaful (#16) Congratulations! Please use the contact form to send me your snail mail address. And if you didn't win, be sure to enter my current "New Authors" contest--I'm giving away copies there, too! Thanks to
- [Best Friend's Little Sis](https://tessadare.com/2010/02/02/best-friends-little-sis/) - If you've read Goddess of the Hunt, you already know that I find this an irresistible romantic trope: the poor guy who falls under the spell of his best friend's little sister, all grown up. For years, she's been nothing but a sister to him, or a friend--perhaps even an annoyance. And suddenly, Little Sis
- [February, 2010](https://tessadare.com/2010/02/02/february-2010/) - Ah, February...the month of romance! For me, this is going to be the month of romance and work, work, work, as I finish up the writing, revising, and editing of the 2010 trilogy (starts with One Dance with a Duke on May 25!). So I may be scarce on the internet for a few weeks,
- [The news, it is good...](https://tessadare.com/2010/01/19/the-news-it-is-good/) - In my own little bubble, anyway. Of course, the past week has seen horrific news on the global scale, and my thoughts and heart are with the people of Haiti as they continue to suffer the aftereffects of the catastrophic earthquake. But in times like these, it is some comfort to find small reasons to
- [Happy New Year!](https://tessadare.com/2010/01/02/happy-new-year/) - As I write this, I'm in the lovely (well, rainy and cold...but to me, it is lovely!) Pacific Northwest with my dear friends and critique partners, Courtney Milan and Carey Baldwin. We're celebrating the release of Courtney's amazing book (see previous post) and eating great food and enjoying wonderful conversation. Today we're actually going to
- [January, 2010](https://tessadare.com/2010/01/02/january-2010/) - Happy New Year! 2009 was a fantastic year, thanks to the wonderful family, friends and readers who made my debut trilogy a success. I'm so grateful. It's hard to imagine topping that excitement...but 2010 is shaping up to be pretty darn cool, too. A new back-to-back trilogy will hit stores this summer, starting with One
- [The good, the not-as-good, the great!](https://tessadare.com/2009/12/11/the-good-the-not-as-good-the-great/) - The good news is, as of this morning, those three tasks I mentioned in my last post (page proofs, revisions, partial manuscript) are all completed! (So is Thanksgiving, for that matter!) The not-as-good news is, I still have a lot of writing to do on THREE NIGHTS, my house is a disaster, and I haven't
- [Miss me?](https://tessadare.com/2009/11/22/miss-me/) - I'm still alive. To prove it, I even had a birthday since I blogged last! Woohoo! Here's what my "desk" looks like at the moment: Galleys of One Dance with a Duke (due in early December) Revisions of Twice Tempted by a Rogue (due...um...soon?) Still writing Three Nights with a Scoundrel (partial manuscript due to
- [November 2010](https://tessadare.com/2009/11/22/november-2010/) - Happy Thanksgiving to my U.S. readers! Wherever you live, I'm thankful you've dropped by. Next year's Stud Club trilogy is now available for pre-order! The sizzling new covers and story blurbs have been posted on individual book pages, all linked from the Bookshelf page. I've even posted a short teaser excerpt for One Dance with
- [My writing process...a work in progress!](https://tessadare.com/2009/10/28/my-writing-processa-work-in-progress/) - A while back, I shamelessly asked for blogging ideas, and Sarah Tormey (I believe?) suggested I blog about how my writing process has changed since I began writing romance. Gee, what an interesting question! Honestly, I am not sure. Let's see. I'm currently writing my 6th romance novel (not counting the novella). Things that have
- [What's bugging me about Top Chef](https://tessadare.com/2009/10/23/whats-bugging-me-about-top-chef/) - If you don't watch the Bravo TV show Top Chef, this post won't have much interest for you, sorry! But TC is one of...three?...TV shows I actually make a point to watch, and something's been bugging me ever since this week's "Restaurant Wars" episode. (Warning: Spoilers ahead, if you DVR'd it and haven't watched yet.)
- [Please, share my books!](https://tessadare.com/2009/10/21/please-share-my-books/) - So, there was an article in the New York Times today that has generated some online discussion, much of which centers on whether it's "stealing" for a Kindle user to allow a few friends to share her downloaded books. It's not stealing, according to the terms of the Kindle user agreement. Customers are allowed to
- [Recently Asked Questions](https://tessadare.com/2009/10/16/recently-asked-questions/) - Lately, a fair number of people have asked me whether I plan to write stories for some of the peripheral characters in my debut trilogy. First, let me say that I love those questions! I love it that people want to read more about them. Just in case anyone else out there is wondering the
- [I aim to tease...](https://tessadare.com/2009/10/13/i-aim-to-tease/) - Hello, hope you all had a great weekend! So, people have been asking about next year's books, The Stud Club Trilogy. And I may as well start talking about them, since books one and two, One Dance with a Duke (5/25/10) and Twice Tempted by a Rogue (6/22/10), are now both available for pre-order! And
- [The Two Geniuses](https://tessadare.com/2009/10/07/the-two-geniuses/) - Thank you to those of you who left me blogging suggestions yesterday! How my writing process has evolved...great idea, will do. Teasers for next trilogy...oh, most definitely! But today I will direct you toward Petit Fours and Hot Tamales, where I'm blogging with my two critique partners, Courtney Milan and Amy Baldwin. We were invited
- [October 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/10/06/october-2009/) - A Lady of Persuasion is in stores now! At long last, all three books of the trilogy are released and available in bookstores everywhere. Thank you to all the readers who've made this a wonderful three months. I'm hard at work on next year's trilogy, which kicks off with One Dance with a Duke
- [Winners!](https://tessadare.com/2009/09/30/winners/) - Thank you all for a great time yesterday! Here are the winners, as chosen by Random.org: Copies of A Lady of Persuasion: 82 - Barbara Elness 12 - Trish D 60 - Cheryl Goddess of the Hunt: 43 - Donna Stratton Surrender of a Siren: 2 - Jane Heart of Christmas: 83 - Scott Romanski
- [September 29, 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/09/29/september-29-2009/) - A Lady of Persuasion is in stores today! This is the final installment of the trilogy, and I'm so excited to send Toby and Bel's romance out into the world. RT Book Reviews named it a Top Pick, citing “wry wit, endearing characters, laugh-out-loud moments, sensual interludes and poignancy." Please do stop by my blog
- [It's a Persuasion party! Tell your friends!](https://tessadare.com/2009/09/29/its-a-persuasion-party-tell-your-friends/) - A Lady of Persuasion is in stores today! This is the third and final installment in the trilogy that began with Goddess of the Hunt and continued in Surrender of a Siren. It's the story of Toby and Isabel's romance, but it's also a happy ending for an entire group of friends, both old and
- [How to spend your weekend](https://tessadare.com/2009/09/25/how-to-spend-your-weekend/) - Assuming you don't have other plans. :) If you haven't already read Goddess of the Hunt and Surrender of a Siren, this would be a good time to catch up. Because the third book of the trilogy, A Lady of Persuasion, hits shelves next Tuesday, September 29th! And you don't want to be that one
- [The countdown is on....](https://tessadare.com/2009/09/15/the-countdown-is-on/) - In more ways than one! It's just two weeks until the release of book three in my trilogy, A Lady of Persuasion. I'm so, so excited for readers to gets their hands on Toby and Bel's romance. In some ways, it's more than just their story--it's a happy ending for their entire circle of friends,
- [September 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/09/02/september-2009/) - Surrender of a Siren is in stores now! Sophia and Gray's tale of passion and adventure on the high seas is an RT Book Reviews Top Pick! RT says, “Dare’s second novel cements her place as a “not to be missed” author." This month, I'm participating in the Unleash Your Story event to benefit Cystic
- [Unleashing my story!](https://tessadare.com/2009/09/02/unleashing-my-story/) - Sorry to be away for a bit. My eldest dareling started kindergarten on Monday, and my youngest started at a new preschool. The Dare household has been settling into a new routine. It's a rite of passage for us all...sniffle. I had the most wonderful time with the book group at Sunshine Books in Cypress
- [Where I'm at today...](https://tessadare.com/2009/08/28/where-im-at-today/) - Virtually, I'm guestblogging over at Romance B(u)y The Book -- the topic is Gray, the scoundrely delicious hero of SURRENDER OF A SIREN, and bad-boy heroes in general. In person, I'll be joining the book club at Sunshine Books in Cypress, CA (4931 Lincoln Ave.) at 1ish, to talk about and sign both GODDESS and
- [Siren is in stores today!](https://tessadare.com/2009/08/24/siren-is-in-stores-today/) - Woohoo! It's release day all over again! Today, book two of my trilogy, Surrender of a Siren is officially on sale! Siren stars Sophia Hathaway, Lucy's friend from Goddess of the Hunt. Sophia is a beautiful, pampered heiress with a wild, irrepressible imagination, and she's in for the adventure of her life when she boards
- [August 25, 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/08/24/755/) - Surrender of a Siren is on sale today! And of course, Goddess of the Hunt is still available. For the rest of August, I'm the book club guest at the Eloisa James/Julia Quinn bulletin board. Please do stop by, if you'd like to chat about either book! The final installment in the trilogy, A Lady
- [Coming soon: Goats on a Boat!](https://tessadare.com/2009/08/22/coming-soon-goats-on-a-boat/) - In just a few days, Surrender of a Siren, book two in my trilogy, will be hitting the shelves everywhere! I know I've blogged about this book's sentimental title--amongst friends, it's known as "Goats on a Boat". Why, you may ask? Well, because much of the story takes place on a boat. And because there
- [Thank you, Readers!](https://tessadare.com/2009/08/18/thank-you-readers/) - I can't believe it's just a week now til the release of book two, Surrender of a Siren! Since Goddess of the Hunt came out, I've received so many lovely notes from readers through email, Twitter, Facebook, and such. If there's anyone out there who wrote and hasn't received a reply from me, it must
- [I have the best friends in the world](https://tessadare.com/2009/08/13/i-have-the-best-friends-in-the-world/) - Sorry it's been a week since I posted! It's been a busy week. After the whirlwind release of Goddess of the Hunt, I needed to spend some quality time with the family and then hunker down to get some progress made on all this other work...namely the Stud Club trilogy, coming summer 2010! I'm in
- [Pictures Worth a Hundred Thousand Words--How my cover art came to be](https://tessadare.com/2009/08/05/pictures-worth-a-hundred-thousand-words-how-my-cover-art-came-to-be/) - I've had so many compliments on the lovely cover art for this trilogy, and it's not hard to see why. They are gorgeous--bright colors, beautiful models, full of rich (and accurate!) detail. I knew just from looking at them that a great deal of time and attention went into them, but the process behind cover
- [Talk About It!](https://tessadare.com/2009/08/03/talk-about-it/) - If you've read Goddess of the Hunt and would like to chat about the book with me and other readers, I invite you to come on over to the Eloisa James/Julia Quinn Bulletin Board. For the entire month of August, I'll be the book club guest. We're talking about GotH and the other two books
- [August 1, 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/08/01/august-1-2009/) - Goddess of the Hunt is available in stores now! For the entire month, I'm the book club guest at the Eloisa James/Julia Quinn bulletin board. If you want to chat about Goddess or ask questions about the trilogy, please do stop by! Book Two in the trilogy, Surrender of a Siren, releases on August 25th.
- [TGIF!](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/31/tgif/) - Sorry...tried to post this this morning, and just now realized it didn't go through! Better late than never, right? It's been a fun and fabulous release week - thank you all SO much. Today, I'm wrapping up a week of blogs and interviews over at Romance B(u)y The Book, where I'm blogging about Jeremy Trescott,
- [A Fresh Pick, and Lightning Round!](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/30/a-fresh-pick-and-lightning-round/) - Today's stops on the Tessa Dare magical whirlwind online tour: Goddess of the Hunt is today's "Fresh Pick" at Fresh Fiction! Among other very nice things, their review says: Debut author Tessa Dare bursts upon the scene with a high-energy and high-drama romance. She tells the story with provocative words and feverish action. Her cast
- [The party continues...](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/29/the-party-continues/) - Oh, man. Today I woke up with a post-release-day hangover! Yesterday was a blur. I did manage to drag the darelings to a few local stores to sign stock. The wonderful Mr. Dare brought me roses and champagne to celebrate, and we took the family out for enchiladas. All in all, it was terrific! Thank
- [A question answered...sort of.](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/25/a-question-answeredsort-of/) - "Well, is it working?" Since I first launched my TessaDare.com website, I've had pretty much the same excerpt of Goddess of the Hunt available. It ends with this line from Lucy to Jeremy, where she's asking him if her seduction efforts are having any, erm, measurable effect. That question has hung unanswered in cyberspace for
- [RWA Conference Roundup, Part 2](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/23/rwa-conference-roundup-part-2/) - Okay, so I have a very loose definition of "tomorrow"... *shrug* Click on any of the pictures for a better view. Friday was a big day at RWA, and I began it by sleeping late. :) Seriously, I'd planned to attend morning workshops, but I was just so beat by the previous two days' activities
- [It's here, it's here!](https://tessadare.com/2009/07/02/its-here-its-here/) - I got two copies in the mail this morning from my editor's assistant. (You can click on the picture for a bigger view.) I have since accomplished very little besides gazing into the shiny gold foil and fondling the embossing. It's real! It's really real! There are 384 pages inside, and my words are on
- [Movie Club: Last Day to Enter!](https://tessadare.com/2009/06/30/movie-club-last-day-to-enter/) - Enter today to win DVDs, coverflats, and yummy treats! Oh my goodness. In all the excitement of the last few weeks, I completely forgot that I've not yet written up love letters to my last two favorite movies, Cold Comfort Farm and Enchanted. Actually, they're easy to combine into one post, because I chose them
- [Worldbuilding...sorta](https://tessadare.com/2009/06/24/worldbuildingsorta/) - I'm hard at work on my second book in this new Stud Club trilogy. At the moment, I think we've decided to call it TWICE TEMPTED BY A ROGUE. It's been a mix of rough rough-drafting and research so far. I was joking on Twitter the other day that after four books, I've finally broken
- [RWA in the digital age](https://tessadare.com/2009/06/23/rwa-in-the-digital-age/) - While I was off gallivanting in cornfields, a controversy exploded in the online romance community last week. In case you've missed it, the online portion of it started with agent/author Deidre Knight's open letter to RWA (Romance Writers of America), and RWA President Diane Pershing's response. Today, Dear Author has a helpful guide to further
- [Back home to more good news; plus win an ARC!](https://tessadare.com/2009/06/22/back-home-to-more-good-news-plus-win-an-arc/) - Thank you so much to everyone who posted (or tweeted) congrats on the Library Journal review!! Well, the Dare family is back from vacation. We dug for dinosaur bones, saw the (great!) movie UP, visited a living history farm, and ate and ate and ate deliciously artery-clogging and therefore ironically named Heartland fare. Most importantly,
- [Reviews are in!](https://tessadare.com/2009/06/22/reviews-are-in/) - Reviews for Goddess of the Hunt are rolling in! So far, GOTH has received starred reviews from both Publisher's Weekly and Library Journal, and 4-1/2 stars and a Top Pick from Romantic Times! I'm thrilled and honored. You can read clips from the reviews and an excerpt here.
- [Gold stars never lose their thrill](https://tessadare.com/2009/06/15/gold-stars-never-lose-their-thrill/) - The Dare Family is here in the balmy Midwest on vacation, but I just had to share this exciting news. Goddess of the Hunt has received a starred review from Library Journal! You can read the whole review here. A snippet: This is an exceptional debut novel, from the first hilarious "practice" session to the
- [Want to win an ARC of Goddess of the Hunt?](https://tessadare.com/2009/06/10/want-to-win-an-early-copy-of-goddess-of-the-hunt/) - Come comment today at Romance B(u)y The Book! I'm blogging about first crushes, and one lucky commenter will received a signed author copy of Goddess of the Hunt (just as soon as I receive them! :) ) Correction: I think Michelle actually has an ARC! She's going to send it to me for signing, and
- [A-traveling I'll go](https://tessadare.com/2009/06/09/a-traveling-ill-go/) - Goddess of the Hunt releases in 49 days. Gulp. If I think about that for more than 49 seconds, I start to get the shakes. Fortunately, I have lots to keep me busy in the meantime. In addition to my ongoing work on the trilogy for 2010, I have some travel coming up. At the
- [Catching up....](https://tessadare.com/2009/06/02/catching-up/) - This week, I'm taking a break from drafting Stud Club book two (which was briefly known as The Return of a Rogue, but now will likely be known as something else) to catch up on other things. Namely the page proofs for A LADY OF PERSUASION, which I must mail tomorrow, and reading, which I
- [June 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/06/01/june-2009/) - Wow, I cannot believe Goddess of the Hunt releases next month! If you're curious to sample my work, my e-novella is available now. I've added some new content to the site, including an FAQ and a short excerpt from my August release, Surrender of a Siren. Also, this is the last month to enter my
- [Face-First. Or, Why I Write Slapstick Physical Comedy](https://tessadare.com/2009/01/13/face-first-or-why-i-write-slapstick-physical-comedy/) - The short answer is, because I live it. Seriously, when my books come out, I expect I'll get some comments on the fact that they include a fair amount of slapstickyness. People stumbling, tripping, falling on faces and arses (usually the heroines). Some people like that kind of comedy in moderation (raises hand) and others
- [The Care and Feeding of Werestags](https://tessadare.com/2009/05/20/the-care-and-feeding-of-werestags/) - That's the topic of my guest blog today over at Risky Regencies! Please do come visit and tell us what were-hero you'd like to see in historical romance. :) One commenter will win a free copy of The Legend of the Werestag and a signed coverflat of Goddess of the Hunt!
- [Now That's True Love](https://tessadare.com/2009/05/14/now-thats-true-love/) - First off, thank you to everyone who helped make my first release day so very exciting! There's still a chance to win a copy of my historical (NOT paranormal) novella, The Legend of the Werestag, at Jennifer Haymore's blog. Check it out! And while you're there, treat yourself to the blurb and excerpt of Jennifer's
- [Movie Club:  Jane Eyre.  And Rochester.](https://tessadare.com/2009/05/10/movie-club-jane-eyre-and-rochester/) - I'm giving away a copy of this DVD and other goodies, including signed coverflats and gourmet chocolates! Just enter my Movie Club Contest. I've heard it said that every modern historical romance novel has its roots in one of two classic books: Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre. I've blogged about P&P (too?) many times,
- [SQUEE! Plus, how to spend your $ this May](https://tessadare.com/2009/05/08/squee-plus-how-to-spend-your-this-may/) - Courtney Milan stole the blog post from my fingertips this morning. Huge squees of joy are in order for two more friends who have made their first sales: Maggie Robinson, who recently sold to Berkley Heat, and Tiffany Chalmers, who just sold this week to St. Martin's Press! Congratulations, ladies! I can't wait to find
- [And there was much rejoicing!](https://tessadare.com/2009/05/05/and-there-was-much-rejoicing/) - Since I blogged last, I turned in the manuscript of The Desire of a Duke to my editor. Such a good feeling. Then I met up with my wonderful friends and critique partners for the weekend, and among other things, they helped me hash out the plot of Stud Club book two. They also helped
- [May 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/05/01/may-2009/) - It's May! Release month for my funny, sexy, not-paranormal e-book novella, The Legend of the Werestag, available from Samhain on May 12th! Read a great review here. Also, author Brenda Novak's annual auction to benefit diabetes research is underway. If you're eager to read my print debut, Goddess of the Hunt, you can bid on
- [Farewell, FanLit - Hello, NaNo!](https://tessadare.com/2006/10/27/farewell-fanlit-hello-nano/) - Hey, everyone! I felt like I needed some way to stay in touch with all of you after the madness that was FanLit! I'm gearing up to try NaNoWriMo for the first time, and I'm looking forward to seeing many of you over there in the AFL Nano'ers group. I suppose for my first blog
- [I have been reviewed!](https://tessadare.com/2009/04/29/i-have-been-reviewed/) - There is a lovely review of my upcoming Samhain novella, The Legend of the Werestag, posted on Smart Bitches Trashy Books this morning. It's my first publicly posted review! Ever! And it's entirely kind and mostly positive! Wow. I am honored and tickled and pretty much thrilled. All this before 8 AM. Now that I
- [Saving Kitties and Full Grown Cats](https://tessadare.com/2009/04/28/saving-kitties-and-full-grown-cats/) - It's crunch time. My deadline for The Desire of a Duke is Friday, and I'm on track to make it--which feels great. Last week, a few friends joined me in twitter-based rehash of my "Save the Kitties" writeathon from last year to motivate me to push through to the end of the draft. The idea
- [A new look!](https://tessadare.com/2009/04/22/a-new-look/) - Hey, all - more excitement! I just got the slightly revised covers for my trilogy. As you can see, they decided to make the typography a little more modern and the colors a little more bold. I love the red for GODDESS. Lucy wears red almost all through that book, so it's perfect! The titles
- [Exciting News!!  I'm an alternate!](https://tessadare.com/2009/04/20/exciting-news-im-an-alternate/) - First, I extend the usual apologies for scattershot blogging. My deadline for the first Stud Club book is May 1st, and I need every (childfree) minute between now and then to finish and polish it up. But I had to share this - my editor emailed me this morning to let me know that Goddess
- [January 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/01/01/january-2009/) - At last! I can finally say my books come out this year! And now all three are available for pre-order: GODDESS OF THE HUNT, SURRENDER OF A SIREN, and A LADY OF PERSUASION.
- [November 2008](https://tessadare.com/2008/11/01/november-2008/) - GODDESS OF THE HUNT is now available for pre-order! The official release date is July 28, 2009.
- [April 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/04/06/april-2009/) - I can't believe it...less than four months now until Goddess of the Hunt hits bookstores everywhere! And in the meantime, I'm busy working away on a whole new trilogy for 2010. If you'd like to get release-day reminders, please sign up for my mailing list!
- [Movie Club:  My Best Friend's Wedding](https://tessadare.com/2009/04/06/movie-club-my-best-friends-wedding/) - Enter my contest to win a copy of this movie, and other goodies! The fastest way I can describe the plot of Goddess of the Hunt (the first half of it, anyway) is like so: Think My Best Friend's Wedding, set in the Regency--except replace witty, charming, gay Rupert Everett with a brooding, intense, most
- [Capital-R Romance](https://tessadare.com/2009/04/02/capital-r-romance/) - Happy National Poetry Month! (And thank you Janga, for the lovely reminder!) In THE DESIRE OF A DUKE (you all convinced me not to mess with the title just yet), I've given my heroine a much-cherished family home on the banks of the River Wye, not far from Tintern Abbey. And I've been reading and
- [Happy Thought, Indeed](https://tessadare.com/2009/03/31/happy-thought-indeed/) - I've been busy the past week trying to work on page proofs of SURRENDER OF A SIREN and make significant progress on my draft of THE DESIRE OF A DUKE (Stud Club, book one). I'm not sure about the title for this book, btw. If anyone has ideas, shout them out. I pretty much started
- [False Starts; My process, parts 6-8](https://tessadare.com/2009/03/23/false-starts-my-process-parts-6-8/) - It's been ages since I added an entry to this "How I Write a Book" series. I really have been writing a book in the meantime. I just started to get a little superstitious about blogging about it before the book was actually sold. But now that it is (yay again!), I'm gonna back up
- [The New Deal!](https://tessadare.com/2009/03/20/the-new-deal-hooray-for-job-security-in-a-recession/) - I've been sitting on the news for a little bit...but whoops, it hatched! I've already had a few friends email me to say my new book deal with Ballantine made Publisher's Marketplace today. Here are the deets. (Okay, they're super-vague deets, which may make them something other than deets, but here goes.) Tessa Dare's next
- [Twitterpated!  Or, I must have my share in the conversation.](https://tessadare.com/2009/03/16/twitterpated-or-i-must-have-my-share-in-the-conversation/) - Okay, so I broke down and started a Twitter account. So far I'm not finding much to say. Heck, I can barely manage to blog once or twice a week! But I'd started to feel like I was in danger of being the last person aboard the HMS Twitanic, so... *shrug* Come follow me if
- [Just in time for Friday the 13th...](https://tessadare.com/2009/03/12/just-in-time-for-friday-the-13th/) - Just in - the cover art for my e-novella! World, I give you The Legend of the Werestag. And it has its very own bookshelf page, here! Cover artist Natalie Winters did an amazing job. This certainly wasn't an easy assignment, I'm sure. I mean, I doubt she's had to make covers for too many
- [The movie that launched my writing career...](https://tessadare.com/2009/03/10/the-movie-that-launched-my-writing-career/) - Psst...I'm giving away a DVD of this film, along with goodies and coverflats! To enter, see my contest page. If anyone ever asks me why I became a romance writer? This movie is to blame. Travel back in time with me, to November 11, 2005. (cue wavy effects and plinky music) I was a work-at-home
- [March 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/03/01/march-2009/) - At long last, I have a contest up and running! Come enter Tessa's Movie Club Contest for a chance to win some of my favorite DVDs and a set of signed coverflats!
- [Why I'm no good at tag](https://tessadare.com/2009/02/25/why-im-no-good-at-tag/) - Is it just me, or is Facebook getting exponentially more daunting? I got tagged a while ago to tell 8 interesting things about myself - that alone sounded difficult. So I put it off...and then put it off some more. Then someone else tagged me, and it had become 16 interesting things! A week later...25!
- [Seduced by the blushing young debutante...](https://tessadare.com/2009/02/24/seduced-by-the-blushing-young-debutante/) - They're calling me to the bookstore today. I'm so excited about these three releases, all debuts of some fashion: My local RWA chaptermate and fellow Ballantine author, Jennifer Lyon, is debuting a hot new paranormal series with Blood Magic. The book got a TOP PICK from Romantic Times, so I can't wait to read it!
- [February 2009](https://tessadare.com/2009/02/22/february-2009/) - Welcome to the relaunched TessaDare.com! Thanks to a design update by CrocoDesigns, the site's more colorful than ever, and I'm ready to add content, contests, and excerpts. Check back often!
- [The new site is live!](https://tessadare.com/2009/02/22/the-new-site-is-live/) - Wow! Look, here I am on my new site! I'm still figuring out how this works, so this is basically a test post. Isn't the diary page cool? See the "Styles" feature at the left? If you choose the different couples, the colors of the site change to match the respective book covers! How cool
- [October 2008](https://tessadare.com/2008/10/01/october-2008/) - People often ask me, just how do I write a book? To which I say: Hm, good question! I’m starting a new book this month, and I'll blog about the process as I go, here. We can figure it out together.
- [September 2008](https://tessadare.com/2008/09/01/september-2008/) - Through the Unleash Your Story event, our team raised more than $1200 to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Thanks to everyone who helped!
- [August 2008](https://tessadare.com/2008/08/01/august-2008/) - I’m finally on Facebook! Come be my friend?
- [Going dark this weekend...](https://tessadare.com/2009/02/20/going-dark-this-weekend/) - If you visit the blog or my website this weekend, you may find it temporarily offline. The fabulous Frauke at CrocoDesigns is helping me sharpen up my Wordpress template and make the whole site a little easier to use (for both me and others). I've decided to convert the non-blog part of my site to
- [Forty days and forty nights...](https://tessadare.com/2009/02/17/forty-days-and-forty-nights/) - Okay, it hasn't been raining quite that long, but it sure feels like we're going to float away. Southern California is having what's being called "our biggest storm of the year", which to someone who grew up in the Midwest feels odd, because I think of a storm as a quick, crashing downpour accompanied by
- [Love is in the air...](https://tessadare.com/2009/02/12/love-is-in-the-air/) - Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! One of the best things about being a romance writer is that I often feel like I'm living Valentine's Day all year round. So setting aside one separate day to celebrate romance seems a little odd, given my profession. Maybe kinda like being the presidential biographer on Presidents' Day? Everyone else
- [E-Publishing: What's in it for me](https://tessadare.com/2009/02/10/e-publishing-whats-in-it-for-me/) - Okay, I promised this post a few weeks ago now. I'd been holding off, hoping I could get the blurb of my soon-to-be-epubbed novella together, but it's still in the works. Darn if that isn't proving to be the hardest book ever to blurb. Anyhow, I posted a few weeks ago about my belief that
- [In which Tessa gets a life...](https://tessadare.com/2009/02/03/in-which-tessa-gets-a-life/) - It's Tuesday, and I try to always blog on Tuesdays. And usually I blog about something related to writing, because...uh, because I really have no life. Seriously. I write, I take care of my kids, I work at the library from time to time, I spend some time with Mr. Dare, and I try to
- [More on the e-pub/print discussion...](https://tessadare.com/2009/02/02/more-on-the-e-pubprint-discussion/) - Author Lauren Dane (both e-pubbed and traditionally print-pubbed) has an excellent article on her blog about the differences between the two. Note: not the superiority of one or the other, just the differences. I'll be back tomorrow with an actual blog of my own. :) Wasn't that a great Super Bowl?
- [Sense and Sensuality](https://tessadare.com/2009/01/27/sense-and-sensuality/) - Newsflash: Lori Brighton (Lori from FanLit) has a new blog! And she's giving away three fab books! It's been a busy week! I just finished the galleys of GODDESS OF THE HUNT last night, and I'll give them one more quick look before mailing them, likely tomorrow. I'm wrestling with the blurb for my Samhain
- [E-publishing and romance](https://tessadare.com/2009/01/21/e-publishing-and-romance/) - There's a lot of conversation going on right now, on various loops and blogs, about the RWA's new rules for the RITA contest, which require entries to be "mass-produced" and effectively exclude most e-books or books published using POD (print-on-demand) technology. I don't really want to get into contest rules nitty-gritty--I know those kind of
- [Oh happy day!](https://tessadare.com/2009/01/20/oh-happy-day/) - You probably think I'm talking about the inauguration. Yes, that too! I'll be forcing the darelings to watch it with me, no matter how they plead for Spongebob instead, and they are going to be completely bored and have no idea what the big deal is - and that is awesome. Now we just have
- [Covers!](https://tessadare.com/2009/01/09/covers/) - I have some! I mean...I found some online. If Random House can post them on their site, I figured it should be safe for me to do the same, right? Aren't they pretty? I really have to hand it to the Art Department at Ballantine - they worked very hard to get so many details
- [A New Year, with much to celebrate!](https://tessadare.com/2009/01/06/a-new-year-with-much-to-celebrate/) - I hope you all had lovely holidays! We certainly did at the Dare residence. This was the first year that both darelings were really old enough to get excited about Christmas and Santa (who did not disappoint!), and we all had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa Dare, despite passing around a nasty cold.
- [Happy Holidays!](https://tessadare.com/2008/12/23/happy-holidays-2/) - The blog will be on holiday for a few weeks, as the Dare family gathers 'round to celebrate Christmas and New Year's. Grandma and Grandpa Dare will be arriving for a visit, to the delight of all. The darelings are all aflutter with excitement for Santa's arrival. And I got the lovely Christmas gift of
- [Migraines...](https://tessadare.com/2008/12/10/migraines/) - They suck. I haven't given up blogging, swear. Just alternately cursing the sun and, when meds are working, trying to catch up on other stuff. The wedding was great, in case you're wondering! I love watching people in love, and weddings are one of the best places to find them. Not only the happy couple,
- [A busy week....plus, birds and bees.](https://tessadare.com/2008/12/02/a-busy-weekplus-birds-and-bees/) - Hope you all had a lovely holiday! My eldest dareling came down with a stomach bug, and Mr. Dare worked overtime. This added up to very little work time for me, and of course my copy edits are still calling...I did manage to send off a sneak peek of Stud Club to my agent at
- [Happy Thanksgiving!](https://tessadare.com/2008/11/27/happy-thanksgiving/) - Wishing you all a lovely holiday with your families and friends, safe travel, and good fortune at the malls! The Dare family will be laying low this weekend--Mr. Dare is working the holiday (someone has to, and we luvs that holiday overtime pay), and I just received my copy edits on Goddess, which will keep
- [What's doing...](https://tessadare.com/2008/11/24/whats-doing/) - It's been a while since I wrote a newsy little post about my exciting life as a soon-to-be-published author. I know a lot of you who read this blog do so because you're either traveling the same journey or will be soon, and want to know what lies ahead. So here's the status update: Cover
- [On historic elections and history](https://tessadare.com/2008/11/04/on-historic-elections-and-history/) - I may be insane. I plan to take the darelings with me today to the polls. I don't have a sitter, for one. And for another, I just like taking them there, to see what this whole democracy thing is all about. Plus, they get stickers! My eldest and I have been having lots of
- [It's that time of year again...](https://tessadare.com/2008/11/11/its-that-time-of-year-again/) - Holiday shopping is upon us. Does anyone else share my sense of creeping panic? I don't like shopping under normal circumstances. Factor in the holiday madness, and it's all over. Malls make me itchy. Online shopping it is. Fortunately, the darelings are easy. They're already conditioned by our grand consumer culture to blurt out, "I
- [Exciting News!!!](https://tessadare.com/2008/11/05/exciting-news-2/) - Okay, I know the world is abuzz with exciting news, but this is my own little tiny piece of excitement. My first book, Goddess of the Hunt, is now listed on Amazon! It's not available for pre-order quite yet, but imagine it will be soon. You can pre-order it now! Hooray! Actually, you can already
- [Tricks and Treats!](https://tessadare.com/2008/10/31/tricks-and-treats/) - Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope you all have safe and festive celebration! So, which candy will you be stealing from your children's haul tonight (or holding back from the neighborhood kids)? I'm partial to the peanut butter cups and anything with coconut. On the other hand, I've reached the point in my life where certain
- [More about the process:  The research starts (but never ends)](https://tessadare.com/2008/10/28/more-about-the-process-the-research-starts-but-never-ends/) - This would be the third installment in my little "How I write a book" series; click the tag below for all of them. It's my continuing effort to understand myself and have a cogent answer for people when they ask me that dreaded "are you a plotter/pantser/pepper" question. Warning: Overextended analogies ahead. At this point
- [Color me amused...Halloween Fun with the darelings!](https://tessadare.com/2008/10/24/color-me-amusedhalloween-fun-with-the-darelings/)
- [Emerging from the cave](https://tessadare.com/2008/10/21/emerging-from-the-cave/) - *blinks* Sorry to have been scarce for the past week. I sort of went into e-hiding, to focus on writing. The good news is, after several false starts, I finally have a beginning I like for my new book. Which doesn't mean it's the beginning that will be in the final draft necessarily, but it
- [How I Write a Book, Part 2: Thinking Some More](https://tessadare.com/2008/10/14/how-i-write-a-book-part-2-thinking-some-more/) - So, last week I blogged about how my novel-writing process starts with months of thinking, and that usually the thinking starts with the main characters. Once I have these two protagonists in my mind, even in very vague, shadowy form, what I start thinking of next are "moments". I'm not sure why, but this seems
- [Little 'taters have big eyes](https://tessadare.com/2008/10/07/little-taters-have-big-eyes/) - The other day, I was happily reading a romance novel, and my littlest dareling came up and sat beside me. He tried to grab for the book, and I said, "No, sweetie. Mommy's book." "Mommy's book," says the dareling. "Yes," I say. "Mommy's book." The dareling disappears. Pitter-patter of little feet down the hallway. Back
- [A new leaf...a window into my "process"](https://tessadare.com/2008/10/03/a-new-leafa-window-into-my-process/) - Hey, it's a new month. I'm starting a new book. And I thought it might be an interesting experiment, this time, to blog about my writing process (such as it is) as I go. I'll tag them all "How I Write a Book." I know many of you who read this blog are writers, and
- [Refilling the bank](https://tessadare.com/2008/09/30/refilling-the-bank/) - No, not one of those Wall Street banks. I only wish I knew what to do about those. In recent months, I've laid off the cable news channels in my house, because they seem to add little to my understanding of current events and much to my general feeling of unease. But this week, that
- [And the winners are...](https://tessadare.com/2008/09/27/and-the-winners-are/) - Maggie and Gillian! Congratulations, you two. Please email me your wish lists and snail mail addys... Thanks to everyone who commented, especially Gillian for giving us the link to Terry Jo's blog. Both darelings caught a virus this week, and we've spent several days quarantined and miserable. Things are looking up today: we've decided everyone's
- [Desperate Reads](https://tessadare.com/2008/09/23/desperate-reads/) - **Contest alert! Win some books!** September 30 is circled on my calendar several times, because there are an insane number of books coming out that day that I'm absolutely *desperate* to read. As in, I'm counting the minutes until next Tuesday. I mean, seriously: Quinn, Kleypas, Guhrke in one day! Not to mention, an amazing
- [Yay!  I mean, SQUEE!!  Or wait - arrrh!](https://tessadare.com/2008/09/19/yay-i-mean-squee-or-wait-arrrh/) - Yay! I'm actually officially here in my new blog digs. Welcome! I think next week I'll have some sort of contest to celebrate, but in the meantime, I wanted to just thank everyone for bearing with me and share some exciting news. SQUEE!!! Beverley Kendall, another Fanlit friend, has just signed a two-book deal with
- [I'm not really here yet...](https://tessadare.com/2008/09/08/hello-world/) - Hi! I haven't officially moved the blog to this site yet - as you'll see if you poke around a bit, there are still some kinks to be worked out. But you're welcome to visit my old Blogger blog in the meantime. Thanks for your patience. :) (Love the emoticons in Wordpress)
- [Why you should name your heroine Cecily](https://tessadare.com/2008/09/04/why-you-should-name-your-heroine-cecily/) - First, the Unleash Your Story update:(see previous post for an explanation)Three days into the challenge, the Chocolate Mafia now has seventeen members! As a team, we've raised $220 toward our goal already.As for my progress toward my 20,000 word goal - eh, there hasn't been much. About 1,200 words or so. I knew this week
- [Join the (Chocolate) Mafia! Fight Cystic Fibrosis!](https://tessadare.com/2008/08/30/join-the-chocolate-mafia-fight-cystic-fibrosis/) - Well, I was looking for a way to get motivated to start writing again in September, after taking most of August off. And lo and behold, along comes the fabulous Unleash Your Story event! This is like a text-based equivalent of a fundraising run or walk. It's all about setting writing OR reading goals to
- [My writer's voice](https://tessadare.com/2008/08/23/my-writers-voice/) - Hey, I'm back. My body is still on SE Asian time though, which would be why I'm up blogging at 3AM. Mr. Dare has promised the darelings donuts in the morning if they sleep through the night (something they failed to do our first night home...and our second). I, however, know I am assured of
- [Mark your TBR lists! (And, I told you so!)](https://tessadare.com/2008/08/13/mark-your-tbr-lists-and-i-told-you-so/) - Not that this will be news to many of you - by now, it's everywhere on the Internet. (Why can't auctions take place on eastern hemisphere time?) But congrats, huzzah, kisses, hugs, and much much love to Courtney Milan, who just sold her first book, PROOF BY SEDUCTION, to HQN in a two-book, six-figure deal,
- [Hi and Bye](https://tessadare.com/2008/08/04/hi-and-bye/) - Just a very brief post in-between trips...I arrived home last night from San Francisco and the RWA National Conference - tonight, we leave for our intercontinental extravaganza, so packing and laundry and jetlag are eating my day. (Yes, I still get jetlag when traveling within my timezone. I am not a good traveler. ugh.) San
- [San Francisco or Bust!](https://tessadare.com/2008/07/29/san-francisco-or-bust/) - So, almost everyone who would normally read this post is probably on her way to SF. But for the few of you holding down the fort at home...uh, hi! Bye! In the past 24 hours, I've:*Turned in my third book to my editor. Woohoo!*Finished shopping and packing for conference in SF.*Barely started shopping and packing
- [It is still technically Tuesday!](https://tessadare.com/2008/07/22/it-is-still-technically-tuesday/) - Here in Cali, at least. It's going to be a crazy week, turning in my third book, getting ready for RWA, packing for the Dare family vacation of ridiculous proportions....I had a little vocabulary lesson the other day - my editor sent me an email that read, "I launched your titles last week, and everyone
- [Miscellany](https://tessadare.com/2008/07/15/miscellany/) - What I have to show for *this* week:1. A revised draft of A Lady of Persuasion.2. Two darelings pleasantly exhausted from four days of playing with the grandparents. (I'm sure the grandparents are pleasantly exhausted, too!)3. A miraculously still-organized kids' room.4. No blog topic.Announcements:Tiny still needs your vote! He's made it to the final round,
- [Happy Thoughts Indeed](https://tessadare.com/2008/07/11/happy-thoughts-indeed/) - Please join me in wishing Happy Birthday to Ms. Courtney Milan!As I'm sure I don't need to tell you, CM is brilliant in about 314 ways, and 187 of them before breakfast. I'm sure we could solve this whole pesky cost-of-oil nonsense if scientists could just figure out how to harness the power of her
- [What I have to show for my week](https://tessadare.com/2008/07/08/what-i-have-to-show-for-my-week/) - So, here's what I have to show for my week:1) A reorganized kids' room.2) A finished draft of A LADY OF PERSUASION.3) A pile of laundry and dishes.4) No blog topic. I'm just drawing a complete blank at the moment. Something may come to me later today...In the meantime, in the "made-me-laugh-til-I-cried" department, enjoy this:(You
- [The Whys of Love (Scenes) - and Shut that Door!](https://tessadare.com/2008/07/01/the-whys-of-love-scenes-and-shut-that-door/) - Here's another topic that came out of a bulletin board thread somewhere. (It's not that I'm opposed to posting on BB threads, it just that by the time I happen to stumble across these discussions, everyone else has moved on and there's no point to posting. So I just save it all up to inflict
- [TBR in 2010!](https://tessadare.com/2008/06/25/tbr-in-2010/) - We interrupt this blog for an announcement of squee-erific proportions:Author Sara Lindsey Mangel - former Fanlit winner, steadfast Bonbon girl, and general sweetheart - has signed a three-book deal with NAL/Signet for her debut historical romance, PROMISE ME ALWAYS, and two sequels! All three will be published in 2010.PMA is a lovely romance with wit
- [Romances - do you like them short or long?](https://tessadare.com/2008/06/24/romances-do-you-like-them-short-or-long/) - In the way of updates:The other day I turned in my revisions of SURRENDER OF A SIREN - so that's one thing crossed off the list! And now I can turn my complete attention toward wrapping up A LADY OF PERSUASION.To answer a few questions from the comment thread last week - Yes, we are
- [Change of Scenery](https://tessadare.com/2008/06/17/change-of-scenery/) - I went here this week! Uh, in my imagination. :)Well, that is the cool part of being a writer. Seriously, this my picture was my inspiration for a little scene I wrote this week while revising SURRENDER OF A SIREN. If only I'd planned this better, I could have taken a sweet trip and written
- [Handy (Wo)Man](https://tessadare.com/2008/06/10/handy-woman/) - Sorry to be posting late today...we had some minor excitement in the Dare household last night and it threw everything off. And I do mean minor. As in, our washing machine stopped draining, and Mr. Dare and I (okay, mostly Mr. Dare) embarked on fix-it mission that involved much googling, cursing, and mopping of floors,
- [Important Announcements!](https://tessadare.com/2008/06/05/important-announcements/) - Over at the Eloisa James/Julia Quinn bulletin board, there's an auction going on through June 27th. There are lots of signed books, ARCs, and goodies to be won. One of the board members recently lost her husband to liver disease, and the money raised will go to help her kids. I can't even imagine how
- [The TBR Pile Takes on New Meaning](https://tessadare.com/2008/06/03/the-tbr-pile-takes-on-new-meaning/) - I have a teetering stack of new and recent historicals which I have purchased, but not yet read.They include, but are not limited to:Elizabeth Hoyt's To Taste TemptationJulia Quinn's The Lost Duke of WyndhamMeredith Duran's The Duke of ShadowsLoretta Chase's Your Scandalous WaysEmily Bryan's Distracting the Duchessand on...and on...Each of these books has received glowing,
- [Unlikely Heroes](https://tessadare.com/2008/05/27/unlikely-heroes/) - As we forge ahead into summer blockbuster season, I've noticed something about the movies I'm psyched to see. They're all action movies -- and they all star very atypical action-movie heroes.We've got Robert Downey, Jr. in Iron Man.And then we have Ed Norton as The Incredible Hulk.And oh-my-stars, am I desperate to see James McAvoy
- [Is nowhere safe?](https://tessadare.com/2008/05/06/is-nowhere-safe/) - Happy Tuesday, everybody!Last Saturday, I attended a workshop in LA with Julia Quinn, which included lots of wonderful advice on writing dialogue and much helpful insight on career issues...but there was one thing JQ said that just about chilled the blood in my veins.Starbucks is moving to free Internet.Oh dear. Can I pretend I didn't
- [What's going on](https://tessadare.com/2008/04/29/whats-going-on/) - First, thanks to everyone who gave me encouragement over the weekend - I was able to make a big jump forward on the novel-in-progress, and I and the kitties feel much, much better. I'll have to try that again someday.Well, last night I thought, "Tomorrow's Tuesday - what shall I blog about?" And no ideas
- [What Happens in Vegas...Goes in my book.](https://tessadare.com/2008/04/22/what-happens-in-vegasgoes-in-my-book/) - Well, the CM-TD-IC critique trio is back from our whirlwind tour of Las Vegas, which was anchored in our lovely suite at the Venetian. We ate, we drank, we gambled away all of $20. (No high roller upgrades for our party, sadly.) We saw Phantom - squee! We toasted Courtney Milan's Golden Heart final at
- [Sing....sing a song....](https://tessadare.com/2008/04/15/singsing-a-song/) - So this weekend, we're having a CP summit in Vegas, baby! Woot!And as part of the festivities, we're going to see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. I have never seen Phantom, so I'm psyched. But I know it means I'll be singing it for weeks and weeks to come. Showtunes are mental peanut
- [Oh drat, it's Tuesday isn't it....?](https://tessadare.com/2008/04/08/oh-drat-its-tuesday-isnt-it/) - Yikes. This has been a crazy-busy week. At the end of which, I have accomplished...nothing that can be quantified. Virtually zero forward progress on ALOP, and my taxes still aren't even started. Ack. Ack. Ack. But I feel a lot better than I did last Tuesday, which is good. Some weeks give us progress that
- [I'm giving up blogging...](https://tessadare.com/2008/04/01/im-giving-up-blogging/) - April Fool's. Well, I am giving up blogging for the day. Thank you so much to everyone who clicked over to Romance Bandits to say hi yesterday - it was so great to have so many friends in one "place", and the Banditas were wonderful hostesses. I've been really bad lately about making rounds to
- [Gone Fishing...](https://tessadare.com/2008/03/31/gone-fishing/) - With the Banditas!I'm being interviewed by Anna Campbell today over at Romance Bandits. Drop in for the chance to win some Amazon bucks!
- [The Other Woman - Does this mean I'm getting old, or what?](https://tessadare.com/2008/03/25/the-other-woman-does-this-mean-im-getting-old-or-what/) - Latebreaking news - Please join the SQUEE chorus for the following FanLit alums who are Golden Heart finalists!Courtney Milan (Historical, Breath of Honor)Pamela Bolton-Holifield (Regency Historical, Lost in Love)Darcy Burke (Regency Historical, Glorious)Liese Sherwood-Fabre (Strong Romantic Elements, Heads Up, St. Anthony)And the following FanLit pubbed author participants who are RITA finalists:Anna Campbell (a double final!!
- [Diversions](https://tessadare.com/2008/03/18/diversions/) - Pop quiz: What do these things have in common?Latin conjugationsCranial NervesMillipedes and other creepy-crawliesGeometrySnow and other things that are coldMultiples of sevenNo, they're not the categories on Jeopardy tonight. They're all mental cold showers - the topics that heroes in either my or my CPs' books think about when they're trying not to think about
- [What puts the TM in TMI?](https://tessadare.com/2008/03/11/what-puts-the-tm-in-tmi/) - Here's another Tuesday topic Vagabond Lindsey suggested a while back.In my second book, Surrender of a Siren, there's a scene where the hero, Gray, fesses up to a slew of misdeeds in an effort to discourage imprudent affection on the heroine's part. You know, he's your typical bad-boy hero--plenty of pleasure-seeking and profit-seeking in his
- [Rock and Roll](https://tessadare.com/2008/03/07/rock-and-roll/) - Last night, Mr. Dare and I (and like a billion other screaming people) rocked out with the Foo-Fighters at The Forum, and it was amazing. So today, I'm all about the rockstars. Here's a little Friday footage for your viewing pleasure. (I like to do these fangirl photo spreads in black-and-white, 'cause it all feels
- [Mama's Boys](https://tessadare.com/2008/03/04/mamas-boys/) - Toby, the hero of my current book (oh, and right now I think I'm leaning toward A Lady of Persuasion as a working title, in case you're wondering) has something most romance heroes don't - a mother. And she's a mother who isn't vindictive, backstabbing, jealous, drug-addicted, murderous, manipulative or otherwise evil... she's just a
- [Knocking on my last nerve](https://tessadare.com/2008/03/01/knocking-on-my-last-nerve/) - Here's my life lately:Dareling One: Knock knock.Me: Who's there?Dareling One: Banana.Me: Banana who?Dareling One: Banana apple. Hahahahaha!!! Laugh, Mommy, laugh!Me: (laughing feebly) Okay...Dareling One: Knock knock. Me: Who's there?Dareling One: Apple.Me: Apple who?Dareling One: Apple orange. Hahahahahahahahhah!! Laugh, Mommy!Me: Sigh...Dareling One: Knock knock. Knock knock. KNOCK KNOCK!!!Yes, Dareling One has entered that golden age of
- [This Book Needs a Name](https://tessadare.com/2008/02/28/this-book-needs-a-name/) - So here I go - all this week I've been researching and outlining book three. (Yes, I am actually a plotter, despite my aversion to storyboards and worksheets and notecards. I just write it all out in narrative form in one big file.) I'm so excited about this book. It brings all the characters from
- [TMI Tuesday: The Meaning of Romance](https://tessadare.com/2008/02/26/tmi-tuesday-the-meaning-of-romance/) - So way back before I got really ill the other week, I blogged about my difficulty talking about my books and how this Toastmasters guy was coming to my chapter meeting. And I did go to that meeting, even though I was running a fever and hoarse from coughing. After his talk, I asked him
- [Woot!](https://tessadare.com/2008/02/24/woot/) - Just a note to say, Goats on a Boat Surrender of a Siren is now revised and complete and sent in to my editor.I'm going to Disneyland!(Really.)More on book three this coming week...it's in desperate need of a title.
- [TMI Tuesday--Pass the Tissue](https://tessadare.com/2008/02/19/tmi-tuesday-pass-the-tissue/) - I think it was Keira Soleore who asked in the comment trail the other day what movie Mr. Dare and I went to see for our annual outing - we went to see Juno. Which is wonderful, if you haven't seen it, and the end made me cry and cry. I'm not even sure why...It
- [Look at me, I'm learning!](https://tessadare.com/2008/02/15/look-at-me-im-learning/) - As many of you know, I am allergic to storyboards, character worksheets, index cards, multi-tabbed notebooks and all examples of an organized writing process. I've tried to do them all, I really have. They make me break out in hives. I think they're wonderful--for other people. But for me, they feel like forcing a square
- [Sick, sick, sick](https://tessadare.com/2008/02/12/sick-sick-sick/) - I'm sorry, guys. I am really under the weather - have been ever since Saturday. I'd describe it more detail, but that would really be TMI of the not-amusing sort. It's a flu-ish thing, I guess. I promise to be back just as soon as I'm feeling better. If anyone has a fun topic to
- [Yes, we have Great Expectations of Ms. Milan](https://tessadare.com/2008/02/08/yes-we-have-great-expectations-of-ms-milan/) - My wonderfully talented and just-plain-wonderful critique partner, Courtney Milan, is a finalist in the NTRWA Great Expectations contest! I'm so proud of her. And last year, India was a finalist in the same contest, so clearly North Texans have excellent taste. :0)I have my monthly chapter meeting tomorrow, where someone from Toastmasters is going to
- [TMI Tuesday - Super Tuesday](https://tessadare.com/2008/02/05/tmi-tuesday-super-tuesday/) - Hey hey - it's Super Tuesday, which means here in Cali (and in numerous other states - perhaps even yours) we're off to the polls. Happy voting, everyone.And while we're making weighty decisions...If you could have any superpower, what would you choose? I'm torn. I know which ones I wouldn't want - no psychic ability,
- [TMI Tuesday - He Pays to Play?](https://tessadare.com/2008/01/29/tmi-tuesday-he-pays-to-play/) - Argh. I seem to be turning into a weekly blogger. I apologize. I will try to start posting a late-week blog now and again, but thanks for always popping by on Tuesdays!Just a note on last week's topic - I've learned that having a soundtrack for one's book is very helpful when one must go
- [TMI Tuesday - Tickle Me Emo](https://tessadare.com/2008/01/22/tmi-tuesday-tickle-me-emo/) - I have been a bad girl. I have not blogged in a week. I promised you sailing pictures, and I did not deliver. Bad, bad Tessa. Okay, here is one of our ship firing on the brig Lady Washington. That's our captain, giving the order.I'll post more another day, promise!Then, Alice Audrey tagged me last
- [TMI Tuesday - Sleeping Together](https://tessadare.com/2008/01/15/tmi-tuesday-sleeping-together/) - I've been busy. Over the weekend, I:*Went to my chapter meeting, where our speaker, Carly Phillips, confessed to having a writing process almost as messy as mine. I love her for it. *Went sailing. And I promise, I will post more about it and some pictures later this week.*Finished the draft of SOAS. Yay!!!I actually
- [Just checking in....](https://tessadare.com/2008/01/10/just-checking-in/) - Still breathing, still writing... I've given up on updating that page meter, because I passed the 400 page/100K word mark long ago, and now my heart sinks with every page I write, knowing that it means I'll need to cut a page somewhere else. But the end is in sight. And this weekend, I'm going
- [Enchanted](https://tessadare.com/2008/01/06/enchanted/) - Okay, so I'm the last person in America to see this movie. But I'm so glad I finally did - and NOT because I look anything like Amy Adams, as Sara Lindsey seems to think (although perhaps I share her character's goofiness), but because it was the cinematic equivalent of what I'm trying to do
- [New Year, Same Old Me](https://tessadare.com/2008/01/02/new-year-same-old-me/) - You know that feeling you get when you're **thiisss** close to winning at chess, or to untangling a very large, very uncooperative knot? Sort of itchy and excited and tense all at once - you can see the nine or ten moves it will take to get there, but in order to complete them you've
- [Happy Holidays!](https://tessadare.com/2007/12/19/happy-holidays/) - The Dare family is off for our Christmas holiday in sunny Florida, by way of a Caribbean cruise. Wheee! Now there's just the matter of that frantic last-second packing...This blog will be on vacay until New Year-ish. Hope you all have fun with your loved ones, dishing TMI the old fashioned way... over eggnog and
- [TMI Tuesday - Homewrecking, in the fictional sense.](https://tessadare.com/2007/12/18/tmi-tuesday-homewrecking-in-the-fictional-sense/) - First, winners!Congrats, Sara Lindsey! Randomizer chose you - and boy, did you ever work for that prize. So many great suggestions.Everyone made great suggestions, and it was really hard to choose. But for the meantime (and it's always subject to change again), I think I'm going to go with Lindsey's suggestion of "Stubb(s)" (I'm thus
- [Breaking News](https://tessadare.com/2007/12/15/breaking-news/) - My brilliant CP, Ms. Courtney Milan, has won first place in the Golden Pen with her manuscript, Abducting Oliver! Congratulations, CM! I'm so proud.Not that this comes as any surprise.Add your "I knew it" or "Of course she did" or "I told you so" here.And by all means, keep adding to the contest entries in
- [Santa Claus stopped by my house yesterday... (plus Contest!)](https://tessadare.com/2007/12/13/santa-claus-stopped-by-my-house-yesterday-plus-contest/) - And left a check, from Random House. Just in time for Christmas. I'm a paid author now. Wow.So, I'm in the mood to celebrate. And speaking of grizzled, bearded old guys, I'm also in the mood to rename one of my characters. So, contest time!I have a character in Goats on a Boat Surrender of
- [The Final Tally](https://tessadare.com/2007/12/06/the-final-tally/) - Well, my contest career is officially over. All my scoresheets and rankings and whatnot have at long last returned, almost eight months after I sent my first entry off. In total I entered five contests. In two I did not final, in three I did. I placed everywhere from (the bottom of) the bottom third
- [TMI Tuesday - Not in the mood.](https://tessadare.com/2007/12/04/tmi-tuesday-not-in-the-mood/) - You know, I just had this fairly salacious topic all ready to go today... and then I decided to save it for next week. I'm just not in the mood. And then I thought - that could be a topic all on its own. Is anyone in romance ever allowed to be simply "not in
- [Question du jour](https://tessadare.com/2007/11/30/question-du-jour/) - For the writers among us... as you're writing a book, what scenes do you look forward to? What is it that keeps you motivated and progressing? Is it the promise of bringing your h/h together, or the sick thrill of tearing them apart? Be honest, now.I always thought my answer was the former, but today
- [TMI Tuesday - A Quickie](https://tessadare.com/2007/11/27/tmi-tuesday-a-quickie/) - After writing that title, I realize "quickies" could make for a really interesting topic some Tuesday.But not this Tuesday.I'm going to be out and about most of the day, so I thought we'd try another fill-in-the-blank, since it was so much fun last time.So complete the following: (and if you don't celebrate Christmas... uh... edit
- [Come for the dimples, stay for the schadenfreude](https://tessadare.com/2007/11/24/come-for-the-dimples-stay-for-the-schadenfreude/) - Surely you all remember Ervin? How could we forget the genius that gave us Patience the Zombie-Slayer and so many other unforgettable FanLit parodies? Including my personal favorite chapter of the whole contest. Well, Ervin has a new blog, on which he is posting excerpts from his memoir, Memories of a White-Trash Boyhood. You have
- [TMI Tuesday - Turkeys and Thanksgiving](https://tessadare.com/2007/11/20/tmi-tuesday-turkeys-and-thanksgiving/) - Well, this post will be TMI of a different sort...I haven't blogged in a week, nor have I done much visiting of friends' blogs - sorry! Truthfully, it was a rough week, in different ways. But it was a rough week of my own making, and I just couldn't bring myself back around the blog,
- [TMI Tuesday - You can dish it out...](https://tessadare.com/2007/11/13/tmi-tuesday-you-can-dish-it-out/) - So here's something I noticed this weekend. I am far, far more comfortable receiving criticism than praise.Cases in point:Last Friday, shortly before our CP summit was to convene, a certain CP and I had an email exchange in which certain ugly truths were brought to light. The main of which being, she doesn't like my
- [That's Life](https://tessadare.com/2007/11/11/thats-life/) - Since I posted last week, I had about a dozen really wonderful things happen to me, and one minor tragedy.CM and India flew out this weekend to help celebrate my birthday, my sale, and just the general awesomeness of life. We had an amazing time, and on Saturday we attended my local chapter meeting. I
- [I'm not here...](https://tessadare.com/2007/11/07/im-not-here/) - I'm guest-blogging at Romance Roundtable. Please stop by!
- [Mommy Monday - It's a girl thing.](https://tessadare.com/2007/11/05/mommy-monday-its-a-girl-thing/) - Help! Maybe some of you who have children, or were once children, or still act a bit childish from time to time can give me some advice.Dareling #1 has picked up on boy/girl differences. Not the anatomical differences- I'm still waiting for that conversation - but the (dubious) social differences. The things a kid learns
- [Good luck NaNo-ers!](https://tessadare.com/2007/11/01/good-luck-nano-ers/) - Just wanted to say a quick huzzah for all of you who are taking on NaNoWriMo this year! I'm in awe of your commitment and I'll be jealous of your progress. And I'll be cheering you on and prepared to crack the whip when necessary, so write your little hearts out!And...this is a very sweet
- [TMI Tuesday - Tasty Treats](https://tessadare.com/2007/10/30/tmi-tuesday-tasty-treats/) - Okay, maybe it's the fact that Halloween is tomorrow. Maybe it's the ongoing bloodbath/brain buffet going on over at the Mavens'. Maybe it's because my own characters are 3 weeks out from land with only weevil-infested hardtack and rancid salt-beef to eat. Maybe it's the stomach flu from which I recently recovered... (TMI?)But with today's
- [Blame it on the Moonlight](https://tessadare.com/2007/10/25/blame-it-on-the-moonlight/) - Over at Manuscript Mavens, they've been doing a Halloween-themed round robin story, where each day the readers get to vote on the twist for the next installment. I wrote today's chapter (zombiessss!), so pop on over and vote for your favorite ending! Kalen Hughes is up to bat tomorrow.People have been asking what's going on,
- [Brand me! .... (a contest!)](https://tessadare.com/2007/10/18/brand-me-a-contest/) - Hey, I'm a guest Maven today! Sooooo exciting. Click over and read me trying to sound erudite ... or something. Seriously, I just re-read it, and I don't even understand me. That is what happens when you write with a toddler hanging around your neck and spinning your swivel chair. Gives new meaning to the
- [TMI Tuesday - Hero Jealousy: Hot or Not?](https://tessadare.com/2007/10/16/tmi-tuesday-hero-jealousy-hot-or-not/) - I've posted this pic of Clive today because... well, do I really need a reason? No, I would contend. But I did have one anyway. You see, for a while Mr. Dare and I had this running joke that in every one of his movies, Clive had some variation on the line, "If you touch
- [Thanks a million....](https://tessadare.com/2007/10/14/thanks-a-million/) - Here comes the Oscar speech....don't say I didn't warn you...I'm so paranoid that I will leave someone out of this post. Please forgive me if it's you! I didn't mean to, I swear... I reserve the right to keep adding to the list. I have so many people to thank for helping me with this
- [I got the call...!!!!](https://tessadare.com/2007/10/12/i-got-the-call/) - Well, lots of calls. And emails. This has been one crazy week. But this afternoon I finally got THE call (which I missed) from my new editor! I'll be replaying that voicemail message all weekend, let me tell you...I am extremely excited to tell you all that Goddess of the Hunt and two other books
- [TMI Tuesday - Fill in the blank](https://tessadare.com/2007/10/09/tmi-tuesday-fill-in-the-blank/) - I'm kind of short on time and inspiration this morning, but let's just try a little experiment, shall we?Complete the following sentence (anonymously, if you wish) -Everyone else seems to rave about it. I really feel like I should like it, and I'm almost embarrassed to admit I don't. But honestly, I just can't understand
- [Sounds of History](https://tessadare.com/2007/10/07/sounds-of-history/) - I strive to include sensory detail in my writing, to evoke that sense of time and place that is so important when writing historicals, but I think I have the most difficulty incorporating period-appropriate sounds. Visual detail is fairly simple to come by. We have period paintings and illustrations to study, current photographs of the
- [Smart for a day?](https://tessadare.com/2007/10/05/smart-for-a-day/) - I sent the Smart Bitches a Banned Book review, and they posted it today... I hereby excuse myself from writing a post of my own.Check it out.What's everyone up to this weekend? Just another quiet few days around the Dare household...
- [TMI Tuesday - Naughty Books](https://tessadare.com/2007/10/02/tmi-tuesday-naughty-books/) - This is the American Librarian Association's annual Banned Books Week, and as an American librarian, I feel duty-bound to make note of the occasion. Boo on censorship! Although, I must admit, I'd be rather pleased to one day become a banned author.... what cachet! Is that terribly hypocritical of me?In Goddess of the Hunt, Lucy
- [Breaking News From Atlanta](https://tessadare.com/2007/09/29/breaking-news-from-atlanta/) - This just in from Moonlight and Magnolias...India received Honorable Mention in Single Title category, and Darcy got 2nd place in Historical!!!Way to go, ladies! I'm so proud of you both. *wipes tear*Can't wait to hear all the juicy details.
- [Georgia on my mind....](https://tessadare.com/2007/09/27/georgia-on-my-mind/) - Let's all send good-luck vibes with my dear friends India and Darcy, as they travel to the Moonlight and Magnolias conference this weekend, where they will wow the publishing populace, pick up their Maggie accolades, and drink very sweet iced tea.Have a wonderful time, ladies! I can't wait to hear all about it, and I
- [TMI Tuesday - Dream a Little Dream...](https://tessadare.com/2007/09/25/tmi-tuesday-dream-a-little-dream/) - Sorry it's been a whole week! For a few days there, I decided hijacking Lacey's blog was more fun than doing mine, I guess.Okay, so here's today's exercise in Tessa Validation - Tell me about your weird dreams and nightmares. Because I seem to be under a wee bit of stress at the moment (which
- [Words to live by...](https://tessadare.com/2007/09/15/words-to-live-by/) - I read a lot of children's books. To me, an excellent children's book is just plain an excellent book, and one that readers of all ages can enjoy. Right now I'm reading this absolutely marvelous story. I looked up the book's website, and found an interview with the author. I particularly appreciated this bit:Q: How
- [Peaches and Poetry](https://tessadare.com/2007/09/13/peaches-and-poetry/) - We're eating a lot of peaches in my house these days. Both of the Darelings like them, which is a rare thing in and of itself, and they're yummy and in season. And every time I start slicing up a peach for them, I reflexively recite, I grow old … I grow old … I
- [The Big O](https://tessadare.com/2007/09/08/the-big-o/) - I was reminded of this recently while reading a chapter for a CP...Back in my first draft of GOTH, I had a variation on the phrase, "Her mouth formed a stunned O."And a very wise person very kindly said to me, "I think you should rethink that phrase. Does one's mouth ever really make an
- [Vixen Revealed....](https://tessadare.com/2007/09/05/vixen-revealed/) - Shameless self-promotion alert! (It may be the last of its kind, so indulge me.)I just learned today that the "wardrobe scene" from Goddess of the Hunt is a finalist in the MRWA "Reveal Your Inner Vixen" contest. Yay! (And no, the finalists aren't posted yet. They said it might take a while.)This was especially exciting,
- [What's the Word?](https://tessadare.com/2007/09/04/whats-the-word/) - This isn't really TMI, but - well, on second thought, it could qualify. By all means, let's strive to make it qualify.When I was at RWA in Dallas, I attended a panel discussion on "Hot Historicals." One of the panelists was the delightful Janet Mullany, whose recent release The Rules of Gentility is getting rave
- [Begin at the beginning...](https://tessadare.com/2007/08/29/begin-at-the-beginning/) - I have finally updated the excerpt on my website. Once upon a time, that excerpt was part of chapter one. Not the actual beginning of the book - that was a prologue. Not the beginning of chapter one - that was two pages of infodump. No, the excerpt began a solid two pages into chapter
- [TMI Tuesday - Goats on a Boat](https://tessadare.com/2007/08/28/tmi-tuesday-goats-on-a-boat/) - Well, I've finally gotten around to cleaning up this place a bit. Added a few links. Updated my website in a few tiny ways. Nothing big. I did finally push that page-meter a bit ... you'll notice it no longer says Goddess of Beauty. Yeah, I'm no longer sure what I'm calling that book. But
- [TMI Tuesday - Hair Apparent](https://tessadare.com/2007/08/21/tmi-tuesday-hair-apparent/) - Well, you all can blame seton for this blog. Her post the other day (and I shan't even link directly to it, because it is most definitely not safe for work, children, or perhaps even hi-def computer monitors. Scroll, and you'll find it.) was certainly Too Much Something. Or maybe Just Enough of it. Anyhow,
- [I'm Back!!!](https://tessadare.com/2007/08/16/im-back/) - Back from the family vacation. The Dare-lings actually did pretty well on the plane and we all enjoyed spending time with our extended family. Nothing too exotic, just lots of "quality time."I came home to learn that GOTH is a finalist in the Orange Rose contest! Not only that, but my good friends India and
- [Exciting News!](https://tessadare.com/2007/08/03/exciting-news/) - I am so thrilled to tell you all that I am now represented by Helen Breitwieser of Cornerstone Literary Agency.Some of you know, choosing an agent was a difficult decision for me. I had multiple offers, and I took lots of factors into account, did my research, solicited advice from the pros, and spent several
- [Public Service Announcement](https://tessadare.com/2007/08/01/public-service-announcement/) - The Gather.com First Chapters Romance Writing Competition is a first time author's gateway to publication. One novelist will win a guaranteed publishing contract with Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster! Enter from August 1-22, read and vote starting August 27.Gather.com is very pleased to announce the next generation of our First Chapters Writing Competition. On August 1,
- [TMI Tuesday - Too Close for Comfort](https://tessadare.com/2007/07/31/tmi-tuesday-too-close-for-comfort/) - Gee, has it been a whole week since I blogged? I've been working hard, promise. Still revising GOTH (although I had a nice mental breakthrough for a scene GOB I'm itching to write down soon.) The floor of my writing corner is littered with murdered darlings. It's a veritable darling bloodbath. Ah, revision.Then last night,
- [TMI Tuesday (sorta) - Mail Order Madness](https://tessadare.com/2007/07/24/tmi-tuesday-sorta-mail-order-madness/) - Well, my Field & Stream mystery has been solved. My good friend and neighbor also received two issues of F&S the same day I did - and she, being a vegetarian, anti-gun pacifist, called the magazine demanding to know who sent this offensive publication to her house. Turns out, we were both automatically subscribed to
- [Okay, so which one of you did this?](https://tessadare.com/2007/07/20/okay-so-which-one-of-you-did-this/) - Way back in April, I was blogging about Pam Spengler-Jaffee's tips for promoting your book in unlikely forums. And I joked about promoting Goddess of the Hunt at gun shows and in sporting magazines and quoted that great line from Notting Hill, "The readers of Horse and Hound will be delighted."So what shows up in
- [Promotion and Professionalism](https://tessadare.com/2007/07/19/promotion-and-professionalism/) - So on Smart Bitches this week, there's been this whole bloffle (doing my part, Sara Dennis!) over a few authors' decision to wear costumes to the RWA literary signing. A few authors in the new manga-inspired Shomi line donned manga-inspired outfits, complete with thigh-high stockings and miniskirts, and Sherrilyn Kenyon wore a now-infamous hat shaped
- [TMI Tuesday - Stalker Alert](https://tessadare.com/2007/07/17/tmi-tuesday-stalker-alert/) - So in Dallas, there was a recurring conversation that went something like this:"I so want to go to her panel/spotlight/signing, but I don't want her to think that I'm stalking her!"It seemed we were always treading this fine line between wanting to interact with our favorite authors or dream editors and not wanting to look
- [Bigger, Sexier, and A Lot More Fun!](https://tessadare.com/2007/07/16/bigger-sexier-and-a-lot-more-fun/) - Forget "Signature of Success" - the title of this post was the real catchphrase for RWA 2007! I'm shamelessly borrowing it from my good friend (and roomie!) India, because Ms. Eloisa James came up with the phrase while giving India pitch pointers and it quickly became our battle cry.RWA was phenomenal. Meeting those of you
- [Dallas Beckons ...](https://tessadare.com/2007/07/08/dallas-beckons/) - This will be my last post for a week or so ... off to Dallas! I'm so excited, but I haven't packed a thing. I've been off in the woods for a few days, so I'm late doing my bit to notify the masses, but if you haven't already heard, we're having a little to-do
- [Firth Friday](https://tessadare.com/2007/06/29/firth-friday/) - Okay, so a friend of mine who drops by this blog occasionally saw Chandler's picture down there and accused me of being "an apostate from the church of Firth."No. No, no.I think Chandler is funny. I do not yearn for Chandler. I do not ardently admire and love Chandler.Just to prove the point, let's have
- [TMI Tuesday - The Deal-Breaker](https://tessadare.com/2007/06/26/tmi-tuesday-the-deal-breaker/) - Okay, I am just stumbling out of bed and realizing I have no TMI Tuesday up. This post is incredibly off the cuff and short and lacking. I do apologize.So I woke up this morning thinking about Chandler. I have to admit, I still love Friends. When I first got the idea for GOTH, my
- [The Devil is in the Details](https://tessadare.com/2007/06/25/the-devil-is-in-the-details/) - Over on Manuscript Mavens, Erica has a great blog today about creating sexual tension with effective use of details. And Lacey suggested I blog about this, too. Well, okay! Actually, I've been looking for an excuse to post a some kind of excerpt from Goddess of Beauty, so this works well.Details are everything, aren't they?
- [Flip the Switch](https://tessadare.com/2007/06/24/flip-the-switch/) - I have come to a conclusion, in my continued quest for self-knowledge. I don't do quick transitions.I'm not referring to the transitions in my prose. Actually, I'm pretty proud of those. I try to keep my chapter and scene transitions snappy and full of momentum. I just wish 'snappy' and 'full of momentum' were words
- [TMI Tuesday - Cry Me a River](https://tessadare.com/2007/06/19/tmi-tuesday-cry-me-a-river/) - Here's something I'm curious about.What makes you cry?Tears are important in both of my books thus far. I'm not sure how that happened - I didn't exactly set out for it to be a theme. Lucy almost never cries and Sophia bursts into tears at the drop of a hat, so they're quite different at
- [Tagged by Terri](https://tessadare.com/2007/06/18/tagged-by-terri/) - Okay, I've been putting this off for a week or so now. I'm supposed to tell you eight interesting things about me. Huh. I feel like you all know my more interesting qualities - the stuff you don't know is pretty boring, really. Or it's something I'm just not gonna share. :)But here goes:I don't
- [TMI Tuesday - Fear Factor](https://tessadare.com/2007/06/12/tmi-tuesday-fear-factor/) - This is not a titillating TMI Tuesday, sorry. I'm thinking about giving my hero a phobia. Phobia may be the wrong word, because it's not exactly an irrational fear. But a strong fear of something in particular.This can be hot when done well, right? I mean - I'm thinking Indiana Jones. "Snakes. Why did it
- [Enjoy the silence](https://tessadare.com/2007/06/08/enjoy-the-silence/) - Just a note to say I have nothing to say.Seriously, I have to catch up on some stuff in my life outside of writing, so I'm going easy on the blogging this next week. I will make sure to post on Tuesday, though. No cause to worry, no cause to celebrate ... I'm just trying
- [TMI Tuesday - Food of Love](https://tessadare.com/2007/06/05/tmi-tuesday-food-of-love/) - One of the best books I've read in recent months is Laura Lee Gurhke's And Then He Kissed Her. I was thinking about it again just the other day (and if I'm thinking about it two months after I read it, it must be a great book!) and it has at least two marvelous scenes
- [So what are we doing here, anyway?](https://tessadare.com/2007/06/03/so-what-are-we-doing-here-anyway/) - You know, I'm sure I'm not the only one who wonders quite frequently, "Tell me again - why exactly am I doing this?"And I don't mean that in a self-defeatist, 'writing is sooo danged HARD' way, although I certainly have those moments occasionally. What I mean is, I like to step back and imagine the
- [TMI Tuesday - Bad Boys](https://tessadare.com/2007/05/29/tmi-tuesday-bad-boys/) - Okay, another topic brought to you by special request of Mr. Dare.Inquiring men want to know - what is it about bad boys? Why are women attracted to those dangerous, hell-raiser types, even though we know we'd be better off with someone respectful and principled and caring? Why do we cheer for the girl to
- [Tessa Believes.... Google is fun!](https://tessadare.com/2007/05/27/tessa-believes-google-is-fun/) - So Lacey had this fun blog on the results she got googling "Lacey needs." I decided to take that idea and change it up a bit. Here's what happens when you google "Tessa believes."Tessa believes that "writing is a process, a craft that can be learned."Tessa believes the mansion holds the secret of her birth.Tessa
- [The Big Mis](https://tessadare.com/2007/05/24/the-big-mis/) - Okay, so here's a comment I've had, in various permutations, from some of the contest judges who've read my first 25-30 pages and synopsis. It goes like this:The conflict in GOTH is too weak to sustain a full-length book because there's a Big Mis.Well....In a way, they are right. Yes, there is a Big Mis.
- [TMI Tuesday - Process of Elimination](https://tessadare.com/2007/05/22/tmi-tuesday-process-of-elimination/) - Okay, we're going to dial it down a bit this TMI Tuesday - I mean, after last week, any sex topic would be a bit anticlimactic. (Groan, I know. Sorry, couldn't resist.)My WIP, Goddess of Beauty, takes place mainly during a month-long ocean voyage in the early 1800s. I find myself wondering how much of
- [Rah Rah Fanlitters!](https://tessadare.com/2007/05/19/rah-rah-fanlitters/) - Big day yesterday for the FanLit team, in case you haven't heard.Ericka Scott (Pamsko) has a new release from Cobblestone, Crystal Clear. I'm running (um, make that clicking) over to buy it right now!And Pamela Bolton-Holifield (aka Doglady) is a finalist in the Royal Ascot! Yay!I am not a finalist in the Royal Ascot, alas.
- [We interrupt this Mother's Day to say... I'm sorry.](https://tessadare.com/2007/05/13/we-interrupt-this-mothers-day-to-say-im-sorry/) - There's a pernicious rumor in Blogdom that I've heard a few times now. It goes something like this: The words "I'm sorry" are an anachronism, if you're writing a Regency.To which I say, "I'm sorry, but that's just wrong."Some quotes from Pride and Prejudice:Elizabeth, from The Proposal at Hunsford:In such cases as this, it is,
- [Happy Mother's Day!](https://tessadare.com/2007/05/13/happy-mothers-day/) - Of all the jobs I've ever had - and this includes that miserable stint in my college cafeteria - being a mother is both the hardest and the best. I doubt my qualifications and my sanity daily, but the dozens of kisses and hugs I receive pretty much even the score.Sometimes people wonder aloud how
- [GuestBlog today on Romance by the Blog](https://tessadare.com/2007/05/08/guestblog-today-on-romance-by-the-blog/) - I'm so excited to be invited back to Romance by the Blog today, to guestblog about my day at Avon. Michelle thought her bellas would be interested in hearing about the cover art, and if you read this blog regularly, you'll have heard most of it before. But I'd be much obliged to anyone who
- [Progress Report](https://tessadare.com/2007/05/07/progress-report/) - Wow - coming off a busy weekend in the Dare house. Hope everyone else had a happy Cinco de Mayo! I'll be around later today to catch up on everyone's blogging, promise.I really need to get that word count widget working again - in case anyone's wondering, I'm at about 15K words with Goddess of
- [Blogging and Thinking, and Thinking Like a Man](https://tessadare.com/2007/05/02/blogging-and-thinking-and-thinking-like-a-man/) - So, like a week ago, Lacey gave me this awesome Thinking Blogger award, and I'm just now getting down to thinking about it. I'm supposed to pass it on to 5 bloggers who make me think. I know, I know - many of these people have been awarded this already. I think that's okay. And
- [Chapter and Verse](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/29/chapter-and-verse/) - Lately, CM's been blogging about DH Lawrence. Today, I'm writing the chapter where my GOB heroine goes out to sea for the first time in her life. And I have this poem running through my mind. Although it's from a different era and place entirely, the sensation it describes is universal. By Emily Dickinson:Exultation is
- [Herstory](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/26/herstory/) - One reason it's taking me forever to get really rolling on Goddess of Beauty is the amount of research I've had to do. Egads, have I done research. I chose the plot and setting of Goddess of the Hunt (comedy of manners at a Regency house party) partly because I wanted a story I could
- [It wasn't a dream!](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/22/it-wasnt-a-dream/) - So I finally downloaded a few pictures I took during my day at Avon. Just had to share this one.
- [Thanks for a great week!](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/21/thanks-for-a-great-week/) - Congratulations to Beth! Beth, you've won some great stuff - just email me your snail mail address.Thanks so much to all of you who've hung out with me all week. It's been so much fun, and a great way to prolong the high from my trip. I wish I had a prize for every one
- [Tea and Sympathy - Day with Avon, Part Five](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/19/tea-and-sympathy-day-with-avon-part-five/) - Congrats to Cynthia Falcon, Thursday's winner! Email me with your snail mail addy, and I'll give you a list of books to choose from.Ms. Eloisa James took me for tea and scones at the beginning of the day, and she was kind enough to ask about my book. I'd never tried to pitch my book
- [If you're not blogged out yet....](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/18/if-youre-not-blogged-out-yet/) - I have a mini-blog today on the official FanLit site. I'd be much obliged if you have time to come over and say 'hi' there, too - so I don't feel lonely! You have to sign into the site to comment, but maybe some of you remember your passwords?The link
- [Breakfast at Tiffany's Lunch at Saks! (Day at Avon, part three)](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/18/breakfast-at-tiffanys-lunch-at-saks-day-at-avon-part-three/) - Congrats to Leigh, yesterday's winner! Please email me with your snail mail address, and to choose your extra book.I had the great pleasure of having lunch at Saks with Avon editors Tessa Woodward and Esi Sogah. Tessa and Esi are good people to know. Not just because they're fun, smart, sassy women, but because they
- [Publicity! (Day at Avon, Part Two )](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/17/publicity-day-at-avon-part-two/) - Thanks to everyone who stopped by yesterday! I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am. Congrats to Kelly Rardon, winner of the Caskie ARC, tote, and book of her choice! (Email me, Kelly, and I'll let you know your choices.)So after that fascinating introduction to cover art, I visited the Publicity
- [Day at Avon, Part One - Cover Art!](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/16/day-at-avon-part-one-cover-art/) - My first stop on my Grand Tour de Avon was the art department where all the HarperCollins mass-market paperback covers are created. My guide, Will, was awfully nice (get used to me saying everyone was nice, because everyone just was) and terribly cute. (I'm quite certain he would blush if he read that, which is
- [Contests aplenty coming ....](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/15/contests-aplenty-coming/) - This message is just a little placeholder. I have so much to tell you about my day at Avon, I'll have to break it up throughout the week. So come back every day, Monday through Friday, for a new post - I'll be giving away a different prize everyday!In other news, my good friend and
- [So ... how did it go?](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/14/so-how-did-it-go/) - Okay, my day with Avon was fabulous! I wish I had time to tell you all about it, but I'll just give you a brief update now and spread the details out over the week, I think.I started out the day having tea with Ms. Eloisa, which was delightful. She was extremely gracious and gave
- [Quick Note](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/11/quick-note/) - Just wanted to say thanks for all the great questions, and for all the kind wishes. I'm frantically getting ready to leave tomorrow - haven't even started packing, but at least I got my nails done last night!Watch this space - I may not have time to post Friday night, but I'll try to give
- [Progress! Plus, Question Box.](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/06/progress-plus-question-box/) - This has been an awesome few days. A professional personage who is NOT a friend/CP/relative was kind enough to read GOTH, and she gave me wonderfully positive feedback. I got my final travel itinerary from Avon (this will be the first time in my life - possibly the last - that one of those guys
- [First ... love?](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/03/first-love/) - So one of the themes in Goddess of the Hunt is, heaven preserve us from ending up with our first "love." I mean, I love a good "destined to be together" tale as much as the next girl, but in most cases, I think we're pretty lucky we don't pick our spouses at the age
- [Casting Call](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/01/casting-call/) - I've seen a lot of people discussing/posting whether they used celebrities as models for their characters, so I thought I'd share my visions of Jeremy and Lucy in Goddess of the Hunt - a youngish Clive Owen and a brunette Reese Witherspoon. I'm curious to hear if those of you who've read some or all
- [And the winner is....](https://tessadare.com/2007/04/01/and-the-winner-is/) - By low-tech random method involving alphabet magnets and my 3-year-old daughter -Maggie Robinson!No April foolin'. So Maggie - you said you have TLP already, right? Just email me another title on your wish list and your snail mail address, and your goodies will be on the way!Thanks to everyone who shared their own openings or
- [Winning Beginnings!](https://tessadare.com/2007/03/28/winning-beginnings/) - Everyone's having contests. I wanna have a contest, too! (Ab)using my librarian status, I wrangled an ARC of The Leopard Prince out of Elizabeth Hoyt a few months ago. Having adored The Raven Prince, I was positively salivating to read TLP, and I'm delighted to report it's definitely drool-worthy. It's warm and witty and very
- [Page Fright](https://tessadare.com/2007/03/26/page-fright/) - I'm in this limbo right now between finishing one project and starting another. I got two more contest entries out in the mail today, so I'm set with the contests for now. Next I'm going to start querying agents.Then there's book #2, which for some time now has been a lovely, fully developed plot in
- [Cafe au Lait](https://tessadare.com/2007/03/23/cafe-au-lait/) - So I have a bit more news about my day at Avon HQ in April. The day starts with coffee with the incomparable Ms. Eloisa James! That's it - April 13th will officially contain more excitement before breakfast than I typically see in a year.It's just a few weeks away - I can't believe it.
- [Things I Learned for Next Time](https://tessadare.com/2007/03/20/things-i-learned-for-next-time/) - I'm sure I'll be tinkering with Goddess of the Hunt up until the point it's (I say with unbridled optimism) published - but, for the moment, I feel I can call it 'finished.' With some painful cutting, I got it down to about 101,000 words, and I'm starting the query process and thinking about my
- [AutoSummarize Me!](https://tessadare.com/2007/03/13/autosummarize-me/) - So, you all know or will find out - writing a synopsis sucks. Imagine how thrilled I was to learn that MSWord has an "AutoSummarize" feature! Yep, right under the little Tools menu - you can tell it to condense your entire manuscript to a certain number of sentences or words or a certain percentage
- [Hungry Heroines](https://tessadare.com/2007/03/05/hungry-heroines/) - It bugs me when women don't eat. I like to eat. Whether in real life or in books - I'm suspicious of girls who never seem to eat, or just nibble.I remember reading something about Drew Barrymore, when she was co-producing Charlie's Angels. There's a scene in the movie where the Angels go through the
- [Do you giggle during sex?](https://tessadare.com/2007/03/01/do-you-giggle-during-sex/) - So you all know by now that I'm writing a relatively light, humorous book.Wait - I have written a relatively light, humorous book. (Must give myself credit there.)The trickiest parts of the whole novel for me (and the sections I'm revising heavily) involve sex. First, I've never written sex before - so that in and
- [Mere Mortal](https://tessadare.com/2007/02/27/mere-mortal/) - And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.Genesis 1, RSVOk, so "Goddess of Romance" I'm not. Because somewhere last week (after many more than six days), I sat back and realized I'd finished drafting my novel. And, behold it was ...Welllll.... Not horrible. But certainly not as good as
- [Still Alive, Still Typing ....](https://tessadare.com/2007/02/20/still-alive-still-typing/) - Sorry I haven't posted in a week. I'm just writing as much as I can. I'm at the 102K mark, but the little wordcount widget site seems to have crashed. Just a few scenes to go, and then I'm into revisions. Yay!And RitaSV - OMG, it was so exciting to see your comment! Please, please
- [Black Moment](https://tessadare.com/2007/02/13/black-moment/) - Okay, so last night I was supposed to sit down at the computer and write my book's "black moment" - or, as I am calling it in this relatively light romance, the "gray chapter."Instead, what I did was mess around surfing the internet for a few hours. Then I went to bed.It's like I just
- [The word count illusion](https://tessadare.com/2007/02/11/the-word-count-illusion/) - Well, I have officially changed my target word count to 105K words - because there is no way my book is getting wrapped up in the next 4,000. I'll eventually have to cut some stuff to make it fit 105K, I'm sure.And even when I reach that 105K mark - oh, I am so far
- [Love Letters](https://tessadare.com/2007/02/08/love-letters/) - So I was just over on Romance By the Blog, and the guest-blogger today is a professional love-letter writer. And I got to thinking about how I owe Mr. Dare an amazing love letter.Valentine's Day is coming up, and so is our 5th anniversary - and he has been so good to me this year,
- [Tagged, Parti Deux](https://tessadare.com/2007/02/05/tagged-parti-deux/) - (Blame Kelly.)Contemporary, Historical, or Paranormal?Historical, almost exclusively.Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?A bit of everythingHeyer or Austen?Ha ha. Like anyone reading this blog needs to ask. Let me just say, my son's middle name isn't "Heyer."Amazon or Brick and Mortar?BothBarnes & Noble or Borders?Borders, usually. I once worked at a B&N and haven't
- [Why you're going to love my hero.](https://tessadare.com/2007/02/04/why-youre-going-to-love-my-hero/) - Gee. I really wish I could tell you why in 25 words or less. I have to work on that.You see, the problem is, I'm not even sure of all the reasons yet. But do I know there are many reasons!Jeremy, the hero of GotH, is a bit of an enigma. When I started the
- [Start Spreadin' the News ...](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/31/start-spreadin-the-news/) - So..... I now have a date for my trip to NYC for my big "Day with Avon"!!It's Friday, April 13th. Yep.Friday the 13th.But that's okay, because - the day I won Round 4 of FanLit with "Forget Me Not" was Friday, October 13th. So superstition be damned.I fixed a few links to the right and
- [Since You Asked](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/26/since-you-asked/) - Over on Salon.com, Cary Tennis writes this magnificent "advice" column called Since You Asked. The "advice" he gives is seldom really advice, and it seldom has much to do with whatever superficial concern the original letter addressed. He's the kind of hero I blogged about yesterday - someone who sees the divine in the mundane.
- [Tessa Does Dallas](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/26/tessa-does-dallas/) - I sent in my registration for the RWA Conference in Dallas! I can't wait to meet up with all of you there. We should schedule a FanLit Fiesta.
- [My Hero](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/25/my-hero/) - I consider the novel I'm writing to be a comedy of manners. The reason I love comedies of manners (the novels of Jane Austen being a perfect case in point) is that they do not neglect or gloss over the big, dramatic concepts of Life and Love and Heroism and Truth, etc. Quite the opposite.
- [May-December Romance (or in my case, more like April-March)](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/24/may-december-romance-or-in-my-case-more-like-april-march/) - So I've been thinking about age. Lately, I've read a number of excellent historicals with heroines that are near my own age(28-30ish). Okay, I'm 31, but you know. Close enough. Be they spinsters or widows, they're old enough to have a better-developed sense of themselves and their own sensuality, which adds to the complexity of
- [Sharpening My Darling Ax](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/23/sharpening-my-darling-ax/) - "Murder Your Darlings."I've seen this quote attributed to Eliot, Fitzgerald, and a host of other writers but most often to Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, who (supposedly) wrote:"Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it -- whole-heartedly -- and delete it before sending your manuscripts to press. Murder your darlings."The
- [Still Here ...](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/19/still-here/) - Yep, I'm still alive. We all got the flu in my house. And now we're all recovered in time to go away on a skiing mini-break, as Bridget Jones would say. V. V. G.Actually, yours truly will be staying far from any ski slopes, to avoid what would certainly be a Bridget Jones-y sort of
- [Don't Forget ...](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/12/dont-forget/) - FanLit FOX deal winner Sara Dennis is guestblogging today on Romance By the Blog! Be sure to stop by!
- [Anachronism Intervention](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/12/anachronism-intervention/) - So, I'm having a little problem in Regency land. The problem being that it preceded the Industrial Revolution. There are a whole host of metaphors I routinely use in writing and speech that just don't fly in 1815.For example, a sentence like:"Somewhere deep inside him, a switch flipped."Well, they didn't really have switches, did they?
- [Heroes - How bad do you want them?](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/09/heroes-how-bad-do-you-want-them/) - First off, thank you so much to everyone who stopped by Romance by the Blog yesterday! It was so great to "see" so many Fanlitters together in one place. Big thanks to Michelle and her bellas for hosting the reunion.So this morning, I'm thinking about heroes. Craveable, lovable, to-die-for heroes. It occurs to me that,
- [Chicken or Egg?](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/08/chicken-or-egg/) - For FanLit folk and blog regulars:I am guest-blogging today on Romance by the Blog! PUH-leeeeze come over and chat about FanLit. I'm giving away chocolate...!There are several very cool people linked to the right. If you are a cool person I haven't yet linked, sing out!For Romance by the Blog bellas:Ciao, Bellas! Thanks for dropping
- [Hunt the Hero!](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/07/hunt-the-hero/) - If you haven't already guessed it, Sir Toby the Clueless is not the hero of this book.So Lucy learns that Toby is on the verge of proposing to Sophia Hathaway. Lucy is desperate. She can't possibly compete with Sophia's beauty, elegance, or dowry. She doesn't have time for a subtle campaign -- she needs to
- [Reason #3 - How and Whom Lucy Wants](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/05/reason-3-how-and-whom-lucy-wants/) - So a couple of posts below, I introduced you to Lucy, the heroine of my WIP, Goddess of the Hunt, and gave you some reasons why you will love her. Time to introduce the man Lucy loves.But first, let me tell you bit about how Lucy loves. Lucy has no talent for painting or music,
- [Lather, rinse, repeat.](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/03/lather-rinse-repeat/) - Reason #2 you want to read my book: Lather, rinse, repeat.So I was over at Maggie's blog, and I realized those three words pretty neatly describe the first half of my book. Lucy and her guy get all hot and bothered. Repeatedly. And between steamy interludes, they get soaking wet.Don't worry. There's a bit of
- [Quick check](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/03/quick-check/) - So how does this blog look to you? I tried changing the blogskin, and I've realized it looks different in different browsers. It looks perfect in Opera, OK in one version of Explorer, wonky in another version, and completely stupid in Firefox.What are you seeing in the header? It should be a swooshy red thing.Sigh.
- [Starting the New Year right](https://tessadare.com/2007/01/01/starting-the-new-year-right/) - Happy 2007, everyone!So in my last post, I swore that this year I was going to give you all reasons to read my book. All right, here goes.Reason #1 - You will love my heroine I know, I know. Totally backwards. I'm supposed to make you fall in love with the hero. Well, I'm aiming
- [Over the Hump](https://tessadare.com/2006/12/26/over-the-hump/) - I hope you all had a pleasant holiday. My Christmas present to myself was pushing that little progress bar to your right over the 50,000-word mark. I'm more than halfway done! (um, with my first draft.)Actually, I'm very excited, because I'm hitting a great section in my manuscript. For the past 45K words or so,
- [Living up to my title ...](https://tessadare.com/2006/12/21/living-up-to-my-title/) - There's a reason this blog is subtitled "A Study in Sleep Deprivation." Here's a transcript of a conversation between my brain and my fingers at 1 AM this morning:Fingers: (typing, of course. They don't start actually start speaking to me in sock-puppet fashion until about 2 AM)"Oh," said Sophia, pressing her lips together. "Shall I
- [What's Missing ...](https://tessadare.com/2006/12/19/whats-missing/) - I've just discovered something about myself, as a romance reader. I can't bring myself to care about the missing whatnots.I have tried three times now to get into a certain novel. The writing is fantastic. The characters are wonderful. But the whole plot hinges on the hero and heroine teaming up to search for a
- [Water is grease for my brain](https://tessadare.com/2006/12/16/water-is-grease-for-my-brain/) - What helps you think?Before I can write something, I have to see it. And if I just can't see it, I go either:a) take a shower, orb) wash dishes.Yes, my house was built in 1922, and I still wash dishes with Palmolive and everything. But no rubber gloves.For whatever reason, running water helps me think.
- [I've Been Tagged](https://tessadare.com/2006/12/14/ive-been-tagged/) - Four jobs I've had:Calling up alumni and asking them to pledge $2000 to my college's sorry-ass football team.Hefting 40-pound crates of milk into cafeteria dispensers.Transcribing ER reports on injuries like bat bites and penis fractures.Shopgirl.Four favorite foods:Chocolate-covered anything.Peanut butter-filled anything.Coffee-flavored anything.Olives.Four movies I could (and do) watch over and overPride and Prejudice (any version)North and
- [Defending Romance](https://tessadare.com/2006/12/14/defending-romance/) - So there I was, sandwiched inbetween two other mommies on a bench at the park. Mommy #1 began talking about her book group, and how they were going to be discussing Pride and Prejudice this month. "I just can't get into it at all," she says. "It's so cheesy! It's ... it's just a romance
- [It's Official!](https://tessadare.com/2006/12/13/its-official/) - Check it out:I am a HarperCollins author!These Wicked Games is officially an e-book. And thank goodness they fixed the typo in my chapter. That was the first thing I checked!
- [I can't blog and write at the same time](https://tessadare.com/2006/12/11/i-cant-blog-and-write-at-the-same-time/) - I am a woefully inconsistent blogger. Sorry. But just so you know, the less frequently I'm blogging, the more writing I'm getting done. But I'm quite proud of myself for figuring out how to insert that widget to the right. I attended my first-ever meeting of the local RWA chapter last weekend. My local chapter
- [A Partridge in a Pear Tree](https://tessadare.com/2006/12/06/a-partridge-in-a-pear-tree/) - No, this isn't a post about the holidays. It's just that I recently realized my WIP (aka GOTH, FYI) now features both a partridge and a pear tree. Although the partridge is not in said pear tree, thankfully. Well, perhaps not thankfully. The partridge is dead.Egads, this gets worse and worse, doesn't it? You are
- [Don't quote me...](https://tessadare.com/2006/11/29/dont-quote-me/) - But I am going to be guest-blogging on Romance by the Blog on January 8th, as the chapter grand prize winner of Avon FanLit. Sara Dennis is scheduled for the 12th, I think. I'm still not sure when I'll be going to New York - with a three-month-old baby, I'm not in a real rush,
- [Making Misteaks](https://tessadare.com/2006/11/27/making-misteaks/) - OK, so I occasionally have a useful thought on a Monday morning. Only on rainy Monday mornings in California, on odd-numbered days in November.Here was mine today - I should not be trying to avoid making mistakes with this novel. I should be making all the mistakes on purpose, just to get them out of
- [Does a prologue mean The End?](https://tessadare.com/2006/11/26/does-a-prologue-mean-the-end/) - My WIP has a prologue. Is this a Very Bad Thing?I mean, it isn't a long biblical series of begats. It's a scene, and (I humor myself) amusing, and the hero and heroine are both in it. The action just takes place eight years before the rest of the book. And the heroine is still
- [Just call me Dummy....](https://tessadare.com/2006/11/24/just-call-me-dummy/) - And not just because I've neglected my blog for so long!Because I am a huge fan of the book Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies. It does an excellent job of demystifying the romance-writing process. Other resources I couldn't live without as I slog on through my historical romance WIP:What Jane Austen Ate and Charles
- [Prize Patrol](https://tessadare.com/2006/11/13/prize-patrol/) - I received a package from Avon FanLit today, full of my prizes for winning the chapter in week 4. Six lovely signed books - one of which is an ARC of Pleasure for Pleasure!! How much do you hate me?No spoilers, though, I promise.The Victoria Alexander is an ARC, too - A Little Bit Wicked.
- [Well, Google me.](https://tessadare.com/2006/11/10/well-google-me/) - It used to be, if you googled my name you'd just get a bunch of book reviews I've written. I guess Avon FanLit sent out a flurry of press releases this week, and my googlability has definitely increased as a result! Kinda cool. Sara Dennis, the winner of the Fox development prize, has been in
- [Anglo-Saxons and GOTHs](https://tessadare.com/2006/11/09/anglo-saxons-and-goths/) - OK, so I have a WIP. And it is the reason I've woefully neglected this blog for almost a week. It's a historical set in the Regency, and its working title is Goddess of the Hunt - which I like primarily because it has a wicked-cool acronym. I'm a little off the word count for
- [Soundtrack To My Life](https://tessadare.com/2006/11/02/soundtrack-to-my-life/) - So, I have been told by various and sundry friends that the name "Tessa Dare" brings to mind:A)An intrepid 40's girl reporterB)An exotic dancerC)A celebrity baby; more particularly, a child named by Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.I have decided that I vastly prefer the (A) interpretation. Furthermore, intrepid girl-reporter and chronicler-of-romance Tessa Dare needs a
- [The No in NaNo](https://tessadare.com/2006/11/01/the-no-in-nano/) - I am convinced that the (lovely, brilliant) people who conceived NaNoWriMo were not parents of small children. Because any parent of small children knows that November 1st - the day after Halloween - is an inauspicious day to embark on any grand enterprise. Surely, were they parents of small children, they would know that one's
- [A Tale of Two Emails](https://tessadare.com/2006/10/30/a-tale-of-two-emails/) - So this morning, this greeted me in my inbox:Congratulations Eve!You've won the Chapter Winner Grand Prize:A Day with AvonAwarded by random drawing to one (1) of the six previous chapter winners, this prize package includes travel, hotel, and a day at HarperCollins. You'll meet with an editor, get an introduction to our art department, and
- [Just when you thought this would be the world's most boring blog...](https://tessadare.com/2006/10/27/just-when-you-thought-this-would-be-the-worlds-most-boring-blog/) - Wow! I won the random drawing of the six chapter winners! I get to go to New York for a day at Avon! ***insert squeals of joy here***Congratulations to Sarah/Sienna, who won the Fox Studios deal!And to Sara_Lindsey, who won chapter 6!And to Gillian, who won the weekly chapter bonus!So now I will have something

## Pages

- [News](https://tessadare.com/)
- [Content Advisories for The Governess Game](https://tessadare.com/content-advisories-for-the-governess-game/) - Hero's wards are orphans and have previously been emotionally neglected. Their mother's death of infection is briefly discussed. Heroine was orphaned as a teen (discussed). Heroine was shipwrecked (discussed), leaving her with a phobia of drowning (phobic attacks shown on page). Hero's cousin died from wounds in a fight (discussed). Hero's uncle had life-limiting stroke
- [Content Advisories for The Duchess Deal](https://tessadare.com/content-advisories-for-the-duchess-deal/) - Hero has extensive battle scars and refers to himself in hurtful language. Hero has previous opium addiction (discussed). Heroine was banished from her home due to parental slut-shaming (discussed mostly, mild incident on page).
- [Contact](https://tessadare.com/contact/) - Note: If you’re looking for information about The Bride Bet, please look for updates on the book’s page. Join My Newsletter Join my mailing list to receive reminders when my books release, event announcements, and sneak peeks. I promise not to flood you with emails, and I'll never share or sell your email address. Email
- [Privacy Policy](https://tessadare.com/privacy-policy/) - Who we are Our website address is: https://tessadare.com. Mailing list or newsletter This type of service makes it possible to manage a database of email contacts, phone contacts or any other contact information to communicate with the visitors who join our mailing list. These services may also collect data concerning the date and time when
- [Site Info & Copyright](https://tessadare.com/site/) - The site was designed by Croco Designs. You may not distribute, exchange, modify, sell or transmit any of these images without permission. Photos of Tessa are the courtesy of Raphael Maglonzo. All cover art and copy is copyrighted by the respective publisher, and all rights are reserved by the respective publisher. All book excerpts contained
- [Frequently Asked Questions](https://tessadare.com/faq/) - Here are answers to some of the questions I’m often asked. I hope you find it helpful! If you have a burning question that isn’t covered here, please email my assistant, Kelly Oakes, at Kelly @ TessaDare.com. When is The Bride Bet coming out? Over the past few years, there have been confusing placeholder
- [Videos](https://tessadare.com/videos/) - Tessa's Dareling Room Videos These are some book videos I made featuring toys I gathered in my children's (I call them "the darelings") bedroom. In the years since I made these, we've moved to a different house and the darelings have grown out of many of these toys. However, I'm keeping the videos here on
- [Love Letters from a Lord excerpt!](https://tessadare.com/secret/) - Thanks for coming to see me at HRR 2022! Enjoy this unedited (please don’t hold mistakes or future changes against me!) pdf of the first three chapters of the upcoming Spindle Cove novella, Love Letters from a Lord! I don’t have the release date quite yet, but I expect to have one very soon. If you are
- [Handouts](https://tessadare.com/handouts/) - Everything I Needed to Know About Writing, I Learned From Kindergarteners
- [Events and Appearances](https://tessadare.com/events-and-appearances/) - Here is a list of events I'm confirmed for in 2022. APRIL 2 RARE PARIS, FRANCE https://www.eventbrite.com/.../romance-author-reader... JULY 28-31 APOLLYCON WASHINGTON DC https://jenniferlarmentrout.com/apollycon/ AUGUST 4-6 ROMANCE GENRECON KANSAS CITY, MO https://www.mymcpl.org/.../highlights/romance-genrecon SEPT 28-OCT 2 HISTORICAL ROMANCE RETREAT SAN DIEGO, CA https://www.historicalromanceretreat.com/
- [Meet Tessa](https://tessadare.com/author/) - Tessa Dare is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty historical romances. Mixing wit, sensuality, and emotion, Tessa writes Regency-set romance novels that feel relatable to modern readers. With her bestselling “Spindle Cove”, "Castles Ever After", and “Girl Meets Duke” series, she has had great fun creating heroines who
- [Free Reads](https://tessadare.com/free-reads/) - The Perks of Seducing a Wallflower This is a Christmas short story I wrote a few years ago for a holiday blog party. The "Manfatuation" This is a rather silly bonus scene from A Lady by Midnight, which I wrote as a reward after my book won a round in a reader contest. Colin teaches
- [Fun](https://tessadare.com/fun/) - Just what you've been looking for! A few more ways to waste time on the Internet. Browse through Regency Men's Fitness: The finest gentleman's magazine that never was! Covers brought to you by the talented Laura Jill Somers (Check out this Storify for the origin story and many more hilarious article titles!) * * *
- [Content Advisories](https://tessadare.com/content-advisories/) - These content advisories are offered for readers who want or need to avoid distressing content. Examples include (but aren’t limited to) physical or sexual assault, domestic violence, pregnancy loss, character death, PTSD, child abuse, and other kinds of trauma. Content advisories may be spoilers. General notes: To varying degrees, all of my books include descriptive
- [Content Advisories for Do You Want to Start a Scandal](https://tessadare.com/content-advisories-for-do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal/) - Do You Want To Start A Scandal? Hero's mother suffered from mental illness, and committed suicide by laudanum overdose (discussed). Hero found her body (situation and emotional trauma discussed in some detail). There is a house fire - no one is hurt, but there is some peril and the heroine's possessions are destroyed.
- [Content Advisories for His Bride for the Taking](https://tessadare.com/content-advisories-for-his-bride-for-the-taking/) - Potentially distressing content: Character with a past history of physical and emotional child abuse. This is remembered and discussed, but is not depicted on the page. Death of a family member at war. This happened in the past and is mentioned. No graphic details.
- [Content Advisories for The Wallflower Wager](https://tessadare.com/ca-tww/) - This book has lots of animals in it. None of them die. Potentially distressing elements include: Heroine with a history of child sexual abuse (discussed and remembered, but does not happen on the page) Heroine confronts her abuser (happens on the page) Hero with a history of abandonment and extreme poverty in childhood (mentioned)
- [The Governess Game- Chapter One](https://tessadare.com/the-governess-game-chapter-one/) - Enjoy Chapter 1... Chapter One The morning began in the same way as most of Chase’s mornings lately. With a tragic demise. “She’s dead.” He turned onto his side. As he blinked, Rosamund’s face came into focus. “What was it this time?” “Typhus.” “Charming.” Using the sofa’s upholstered arm for leverage, he pushed to a
- [The Manfatuation - Portuguese translation](https://tessadare.com/the-manfatuation-portuguese-translation/) - A Homopaixão — uma cena bônus de "A Dama Da Meia-Noite" Tessa Dare Tradução: Suelen Mattos Esta é uma cena bônus bastante boba de "A Dama da Meia-Noite" (Spindle Cove 3), que eu escrevi como recompensa depois do meu livro vencer uma rodada num concurso de leitores. Um bônus das margens de A Dama da
- [Any Duchess Will Do bonus excerpt](https://tessadare.com/any-duchess-will-do-bonus-excerpt/) - Woohoo! Thanks to all your votes, A Lady by Midnight has made it to the Sweet Sixteen of the DABWAHA tournament! And as promised, here's a peek at Chapter 21 of Any Duchess Will Do. NOTE: This excerpt has explicit content. It is for readers who are over 18 years old. from Chapter 21 of
- [Bonus Epilogue! When a Scot Ties the Knot](https://tessadare.com/bonus-epilogue-when-a-scot-ties-the-knot/) - Over the past year, I've received many letters and questions from readers about the characters from When a Scot Ties the Knot -- Maddie, Logan, Aunt Thea, and all of Logan's men. It seems that many wanted to know that they all ended happily, and I did, too. So I wrote this bonus epilogue as
- [New Year, New Book -A Giveaway](https://tessadare.com/new-year-new-book-a-giveaway/) - Update, 12/30 - The ten winners (drawn at random by Rafflecopter, listed in the widget below) have been announced and notified! I've sent out emails to the winners, and to everyone who entered, so if you don't see an email from me in your inbox, please check your spam or bulk mail folder just in case.
- [Newsletter Signup](https://tessadare.com/newsletter-signup/) - If you'd like to be added to my mailing list, please fill out the form below. Only an email address is required. Sometimes we send postcards to announce my new books. If you'd like to receive those, please include your name and mailing address. Once you fill out this form, please check your inbox (or
- [How to update your copy of Beauty and the Blacksmith](https://tessadare.com/how-to-update-your-copy-of-beauty-and-the-blacksmith/) - Kindle: Log into your Amazon account through a browser. ->Your Account ->Manage Content and Devices Find the book and check the box at left to select If "Update Available" appears to the right of the title, click it. If it doesn't, you'll have to delete the book from your list, then go back to the
- [Printable Booklist](https://tessadare.com/printable-booklist/)
- [The Perks of Seducing a Wallflower](https://tessadare.com/the-perks-of-seducing-a-wallflower/) - This is an original holiday short story, written for a 2012 Christmas blog event on the theme “A wallflower makeover on Christmas Eve.” In the past, I’ve written a Christmas wallflower novella (Once Upon a Winter’s Eve) and greatly enjoyed writing a quiet, reserved heroine who comes into her own. But with this story, I
- [The Manfatuation - a bonus scene from A Lady by Midnight](https://tessadare.com/the-manfatuation-a-bonus-scene-from-a-lady-by-midnight/) - Thank you, all who voted for A Lady by Midnight in the DABWAHA tournament! It was a hard fought match against Courtney Milan, and her excellent book The Duchess War. The lead changed several times, and it was a tight race...but Team Tessa prevailed in the end! So here is the scene I promised. A
- [Coming Soon](https://tessadare.com/coming-soon/)
- [Colin Kept Me Up All Night](https://tessadare.com/colin-kept-me-up-all-night/) - Winners! Thank you so much to all who entered! I gave Random.org a workout drawing the winners. :) Grand Prize ($50 gift certificate, signed books, swag) - Lidia P. of California Congratulations, Lidia! The following lovely readers will received signed books and Wicked swag: Jenni A. of Texas Donna C. of Illinois Merci A. of
- [Thank you for confirming your signup](https://tessadare.com/thank-you-for-confirming/) - You're officially on the mailing list!
- [Thank you!](https://tessadare.com/thank-you/) - Thank you for signing up for Tessa Dare's mailing list! A confirmation message has been sent to the email address you provided. Please check your inbox (or spam/bulk folder) and click the link in that message to complete your signup. You won't be added to the list until your address is confirmed.
- [Deleted Prologue from Goddess of the Hunt](https://tessadare.com/deleted-prologue-from-goddess-of-the-hunt/) - For each of my books, I've written scenes that (very rightly) never made it to the final draft. That doesn't mean writing those scenes was a waste of time. In most cases, those scenes helped me work out something important about the characters or story. This was definitely the case with the prologue I originally

## Books

- [The Governess Game](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/the-governess-game/) - He’s been a bad, bad rake – and it takes a governess to teach him a lesson. The accidental governess After her livelihood slips through her fingers, Alexandra Mountbatten takes on an impossible post: transforming a pair of wild orphans into proper young ladies. However, the girls don’t need discipline. They need a loving home.
- [The Wallflower Wager](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/the-wallflower-wager/) - They call him the Duke of Ruin. To her, he's just the beast next door. Wealthy and ruthless, Gabriel Duke clawed his way from the lowliest slums to the pinnacle of high society—and now he wants to get even. Loyal and passionate, Lady Penelope Campion never met a lost or wounded creature she wouldn't take
- [Do You Want to Start a Scandal](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal/) - On the night of the Parkhurst ball, someone had a scandalous tryst in the library. Was it Lord Canby, with the maid, on the divan? Or Miss Fairchild, with a rake, against the wall? Perhaps the butler did it. All Charlotte Highwood knows is this: it wasn’t her. But rumors to the contrary are
- [The Duchess Deal](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/the-duchess-deal/) - When girl meets Duke, their marriage breaks all the rules… Since his return from war, the Duke of Ashbury’s to-do list has been short and anything but sweet: brooding, glowering, menacing London ne’er-do-wells by night. Now there’s a new item on the list. He needs an heir—which means he needs a wife. When Emma Gladstone,
- [His Bride for the Taking](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/his-bride-for-the-taking/) - It’s the first rule of friendship among gentlemen: Don’t even think about touching your best friend’s sister. Sebastian, Lord Byrne, has never been one for rules. He’s thought about touching Mary Clayton—a lot—and struggled to resist temptation. But when Mary’s bridegroom leaves her waiting the altar, only Sebastian can save her from ruin. By marrying
- [The Bride Bet](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/the-bride-bet/) - Important Note: Over the past few years, there have been confusing placeholder publication dates set for The Bride Bet at various online retailers. I have recently learned that due to an internal error, one of those placeholder dates shows a paperback release date of January 15, 2024. The Bride Bet is not releasing on January
- [Love Letters from a Lord](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/love-letters-from-a-lord/) - Sally Bright has a growing heap of love letters from a handsome lord. Unfortunately, none of them are addressed to her. More information and a release date will be coming!
- [Three Nights with a Scoundrel](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/three-nights-with-a-scoundrel/) - The third time is the charm. The bastard son of a nobleman, Julian Bellamy is now polished to perfection, enthralling the ton with wit and charm while clandestinely plotting to ruin the lords, ravish the ladies, and have the last laugh on a society that once spurned him. But meeting Leo Chatwick, a decent man
- [Twice Tempted by a Rogue](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/twice-tempted-by-a-rogue/) - How long could she resist him? Luck is a double-edged sword for brooding war hero Rhys St. Maur. His death wish went unanswered on the battlefield, while fate allowed the murder of his friend in the elite gentlemen's society known as the Stud Club. Out of options, Rhys returns to his ancestral home on the
- [One Dance with a Duke](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/one-dance-with-a-duke/) - "An engaging love story with strong, believable characters. I can't wait to read the sequels!" ~Mary Balogh, New York Times bestselling author True temptation begins at midnight... A handsome and reclusive horse breeder, Spencer Dumarque, the fourth Duke of Morland, is a member of the exclusive Stud Club, an organization so select it has only
- [Once Upon a Winter's Eve](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/once-upon-a-winters-eve/) - Now available as an audiobook! Audible * Apple Books * Kobo * Chirp * Libro.fm Some wallflowers bloom at night... Violet is a quiet girl. She speaks six languages, but seldom raises her voice. The gentlemen aren't beating down her door. Until the night of the Spindle Cove Christmas ball, when a mysterious stranger crashes
- [How to Catch a Wild Viscount](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/how-to-catch-a-wild-viscount/) - She’s on the hunt for a hero… Luke Trenton, Viscount Merritt, returned from war a changed man. Battle stripped away his civility and brought out his inner beast. There is no charm or tenderness in him now; only dark passions and a hardened soul. He has nothing to offer the starry-eyed, innocent girl who pledged
- [When She Was Naughty (A Christmas Short Story)](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/when-she-was-naughty-a-christmas-short-story/) - A Christmas Eve ball. A light-hearted beauty. An earl who needs to come in from the cold. All year long, Chloe Garland’s been trading witty remarks and heated glances with her nemesis, the arrogant Lord Cheverell. But when Chloe tricks him into wearing a hideous waistcoat—complete with sequins, pompoms, and jingle bells—to her
- [A Lady by Midnight](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/a-lady-by-midnight/) - A temporary engagement, a lifetime in the making... After years of fending for herself, Kate Taylor found friendship and acceptance in Spindle Cove--but she never stopped yearning for love. The very last place she'd look for it is in the arms of Corporal Thorne. The militia commander is as stone cold as he is ruggedly handsome.
- [Beauty and the Blacksmith](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/beauty-and-the-blacksmith/) - At last, Diana Highwood gets a romance of her own! But with the last man anyone in Spindle Cove expects... Beautiful and elegant, Miss Diana Highwood is destined to marry a wealthy, well-placed nobleman. At least, that's what her mother has loudly declared to everyone in Spindle Cove. But Diana's not excited by dukes and
- [The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/the-scandalous-dissolute-no-good-mr-wright/) - When a girl meets a rake... Miss Eliza Cade is a lady in waiting. And waiting. Because of a foolish mistake in her youth, she's not allowed "out" in Society until her three older sisters are wed. But while she's trying to be good, she keeps bumping elbows—and more distressingly, lips—with notorious rake Harry Wright.
- [Romancing The Duke](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/romancing-the-duke/) - As the daughter of a famed author, Isolde Ophelia Goodnight grew up on tales of brave knights and fair maidens. She never doubted romance would be in her future, too. The storybooks offered endless possibilities. And as she grew older, Izzy crossed them off. One by one by one. Ugly duckling turned swan? Abducted by
- [How the Dukes Stole Christmas](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/how-the-dukes-stole-christmas/) - Now available as a mass-market paperback, just in time for the holiday season! Christmas magic is in the air... From the ballrooms of London, to abandoned Scottish castles, to the snowy streets of Gilded Age New York, four bestselling authors whip up some unforgettable romance...with a little help from some enchanted shortbread. "Meet Me
- [Rogues Rush In](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/rogues-rush-in/) - Note: Tessa’s novella, His Bride for the Taking, is now also available separately. New York Times and USA Today Bestselling authors Tessa Dare and Christi Caldwell come together in this smart, sexy, not-to-be-missed Regency Duet! Two scandalous brides... Two rogues who won’t be denied... His Bride for the Taking by Tessa Dare It’s the
- [A Week to be Wicked](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/a-week-to-be-wicked/) - When a devilish lord and a bluestocking set off on the road to ruin… Time is not on their side. Minerva Highwood, one of Spindle Cove’s confirmed spinsters, needs to be in Scotland. Colin Sandhurst, Lord Payne, a rake of the first order, needs to be… anywhere but Spindle Cove. These unlikely partners have one
- [Say Yes to the Marquess](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/say-yes-to-the-marquess/) - Your presence is requested at romantic Twill Castle for the wedding of Miss Clio Whitmore and ... and ...? After eight years of waiting for Piers Brandon, the wandering Marquess of Granville, to set a wedding date, Clio Whitmore has had enough. She's inherited a castle, scraped together some pride, and made plans to break
- [Any Duchess Will Do](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/any-duchess-will-do/) - What's a duke to do, when the girl who's perfectly wrong becomes the woman he can't live without? Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, has no desire to wed this season—or any season—but his diabolical mother abducts him to “Spinster Cove” and insists he select a bride from the ladies in residence. Griff decides to
- [A Lady of Persuasion](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/a-lady-of-persuasion/) - Tessa Dare spins a witty, wanton tale of passion and conquest, as a reformer and a rake find unexpected love. Only one thing could convince Sir Tobias Aldridge, an incorrigible rake, to profess undying fidelity to a woman he’s just met. Revenge. What better way to get back at his enemy, than by stealing the
- [Goddess of the Hunt](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/goddess-of-the-hunt/) - "The sweetest, sexiest romance you'll read all year." ~Eloisa James, New York Times bestselling author "A romantic delight, sure to satisfy every reader." ~Teresa Medeiros, New York Times bestselling author Every earl knows the one lady he shouldn’t seduce is his best friend’s little sister… Lucy Waltham is hunting for a husband, but she needs
- [Surrender of a Siren](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/surrender-of-a-siren/) - Desperate to escape a loveless marriage and society’s constraints, pampered heiress Sophia Hathaway jilts her groom, packs up her paints and sketchbook, and assumes a new identity, posing as a governess to secure passage on the Aphrodite. She wants a life of her own: unsheltered, unconventional, uninhibited. But it’s one thing to sketch all her
- [When a Scot Ties the Knot](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/when-a-scot-ties-the-knot/) - On the cusp of her first London season, Miss Madeline Gracechurch was shyly pretty and talented with a drawing pencil, but hopelessly awkward with gentlemen. She was certain to be a dismal failure on the London marriage mart. So Maddie did what generations of shy, awkward young ladies have done: she invented a sweetheart. A
- [A Night to Surrender](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/a-night-to-surrender/) - Welcome to Spindle Cove... Spindle Cove is the destination of choice for certain types of well-bred young ladies: the painfully shy, young wives disenchanted with matrimony, and young girls too enchanted with the wrong men. It's a haven for those who live there. Victor Bramwell, the new Earl of Rycliff, knows he doesn't belong here.
- [Lord Dashwood Missed Out](https://tessadare.com/bookshelf/lord-dashwood-missed-out/) - A snowstorm hath no fury like a spinster scorned! Miss Elinora Browning grew up yearning for the handsome, intelligent lord-next-door…but he left England without a word of farewell. One night, inspired by a bit too much sherry, Nora poured out her heartbreak on paper. Lord Dashwood Missed Out was a love letter to every young lady

## International Editions

- [Pennys passion](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/pennys-passion/)
- [Ieškomas: gelbėtojas](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/ieskomas-gelbetojas/)
- [אתגר פרח הקיר](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/אתגר-פרח-הקיר/)
- [Kihlvedu müürilillega](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/kihlvedu-muurilillega/)
- [Kusursuz Mürebbiye](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/kusursuz-murebbiye/)
- [Alexandras utmaning](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/alexandras-utmaning/)
- [Гувернантка для герцога](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/гувернантка-для-герцога/)
- [Jocul de-a guvernanta](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/jocul-de-a-guvernanta/)
- [Ich gwiazdy](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/ich-gwiazdy/)
- [משחק האומנת](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/משחק-האומנת/)
- [Ένα μάθημα στην αγάπη](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/ένα-μάθημα-στην-αγάπη/)
- [Evlilik Anlaşması](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/evlilik-anlasmasi/)
- [Emmas affär](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/emmas-affar/)
- [Pact cu ducesa](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/pact-cu-ducesa/)
- [Μερικοί απλοί κανόνες](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/μερικοί-απλοί-κανόνες/)
- [Сделка с херцог](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/сделка-с-херцог/)
- [A ​hercegné alkuja](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-hercegne-alkuja/)
- [עסקת הדוכסית](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/עסקת-הדוכסית/)
- [Хотите быть герцогиней?](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/хотите-быть-герцогиней/)
- [公爵の傷痕に優しい口づけを (ベルベット文庫)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/公爵の傷痕に優しい口づけを-ベルベット文庫/)
- [Menaklukkan Hati Sang Earl](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/menaklukkan-hati-sang-earl/)
- [A Lady by Midnight](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-lady-by-midnight/)
- [Say Yes to the Marquess - Indonesian Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/say-yes-to-the-marquess-indonesian-edition/)
- [Any Duchess Will Do - Indonesian Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/any-duchess-will-do-indonesian-edition/)
- [Do You Want To Start A Scandal - Indonesian Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal-indonesian-edition/)
- [Romancing the Duke - Indonesian Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/romancing-the-duke-indonesian-edition/)
- [Et fristende væddemål](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/et-fristende-vaeddemal/)
- [Et forførende tilbud](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/et-forforende-tilbud/)
- [En uimodståelig udfordring](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/en-uimodstaelig-udfordring/)
- [O lady convingătoare](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/o-lady-convingatoare/)
- [Predarea Sirenei](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/predarea-sirenei/)
- [Surrender of a Siren (Indonesia)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/surrender-of-a-siren-indonesia/)
- [Zeița vânătorii](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/zeita-vanatorii/)
- [Goddess of the Hunt (Indonesia)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/goddess-of-the-hunt-indonesia/)
- [Dublă tentaţie](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/dubla-tentatie/)
- [Un Dans cu un Duce](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/un-dans-cu-un-duce/)
- [Wymarzony narzeczony](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/wymarzony-narzeczony/)
- [When a Scot Ties the Knot - French Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/when-a-scot-ties-the-knot-french-edition/)
- [Από τη Σκοτία με αγάπη](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/από-τη-σκοτία-με-αγάπη/)
- [Powiedz "tak" Markizowi](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/powiedz-tak-markizowi/)
- [Say Yes to the Marquess - Slovene Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/say-yes-to-the-marquess-slovene-edition/)
- [Romancing the Duke - Slovene Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/romancing-the-duke-slovene-edition/)
- [Say Yes to the Marquess - French Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/say-yes-to-the-marquess-french-edition/)
- [Η πολιορκία της καρδιάς](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/η-πολιορκία-της-καρδιάς/)
- [Say Yes to the Marquess - Portugal Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/say-yes-to-the-marquess-portugal-edition/)
- [Romanca z vojvodo](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/romanca-z-vojvodo/)
- [Romantyczny książę](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/romantyczny-ksiaze/)
- [Romansa u zaboravljenom zamku](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/romansa-u-zaboravljenom-zamku/)
- [Ένα φιλί για καληνύχτα](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/ένα-φιλί-για-καληνύχτα/)
- [Слепият херцог](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/слепият-херцог/)
- [Srčna stava](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/srcna-stava/)
- [Uma aposta irresistível](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/uma-aposta-irresistivel/)
- [Ich zwycięstwa](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/ich-zwyciestwa/)
- [Une délicieuse voisine](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/une-delicieuse-voisine/)
- [Una scommessa deliziosa](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/una-scommessa-deliziosa/)
- [O Duque da Ruína](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/o-duque-da-ruina/)
- [Guvernandi mäng](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/guvernandi-mang/)
- [Um Amor Conveniente](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/um-amor-conveniente/)
- [La perfetta istitutrice](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/la-perfetta-istitutrice/)
- [Ieškoma: guvernantė](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/ieskoma-guvernante/)
- [Miłosne szyfry](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal-russian-edition-2/)
- [Un cuore senza scandalo](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/un-cuore-senza-scandalo/)
- [Escândalo com o Marquês](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/escandalo-com-o-marques/)
- [Como Se Livrar de Um Escândalo](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal-brazilian-edition/)
- [Uma Duquesa Qualquer](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/any-duchess-will-do-brazilian-edition/)
- [Οι κανόνες μιας δούκισσας](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/10022/)
- [Any Duchess Will Do - Croatian Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/any-duchess-will-do-croatian-edition/)
- [Les demoiselles de Spindle Cove 4: Tant Qu'il Y Aura Des Ducs](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/les-demoiselles-de-spindle-cove-4/)
- [Any Duchess Will Do - Polish Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/any-duchess-will-do-polish-edition/)
- [Ένωση παντοτινή](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/ένωση-παντοτινή/)
- [A Week to be Wicked - German Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-week-to-be-wicked-german-edition/)
- [Ταξίδι με έναν εχθρό](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/ταξίδι-με-έναν-εχθρό/)
- [A Week to be Wicked - Portugal Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-week-to-be-wicked-portugal-edition/)
- [Uma semana para se perder](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/uma-semana-para-se-perder/)
- [O Presente Inesperado](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/o-presente-inesperado/)
- [Πριν την καταιγίδα](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/πριν-την-καταιγίδα/)
- [Ieškoma: hercogienė](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/ieskoma-hercogiene/)
- [A Night to Surrender - Portugal Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-night-to-surrender-portugal-edition/)
- [The Wallflower Wager (UK Edition)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/the-wallflower-wager-uk-edition/)
- [Guvernantina igra](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/guvernantina-igra/)
- [Prometo nao Te Seduzir](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/prometo-nao-te-seduzir/)
- [Le jeu de la preciptrice](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/le-jeu-de-la-preciptrice/)
- [Un matrimonio d’affari](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/un-matrimonio-daffari/)
- [Hertsoginna lugu](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/hertsoginna-lugu/)
- [Ich obietnice](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/ich-obietnice/)
- [Un drole de mariage](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/un-drole-de-mariage/)
- [Vojvodova ponudba](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/vojvodova-ponudba/)
- [Um Casamento Conveniente](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/um-casamento-conveniente-2/)
- [Um Casamento Conveniente](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/um-casamento-conveniente/)
- [The Governess Game - UK edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/the-governess-game/) - The accidental governess… After her livelihood slips through her fingers, Alexandra Mountbatten takes on an impossible post: transforming a pair of wild orphans into proper young ladies. However, the girls don’t need discipline. They need a loving home. Try telling that to their guardian, Chase Reynaud. The ladies of London have tried—and failed—to make him settle down. Somehow, Alexandra must reach his heart . . . without risking her own. The infamous rake… Like any self-respecting libertine, Chase lives by one rule: no attachments. When a stubborn little governess tries to reform him, he decides to prove he can’t be tamed. But Alexandra is more than he bargained for: clever, perceptive, passionate. She refuses to see him as a lost cause. Soon the walls around Chase’s heart are crumbling . . . and he’s in danger of falling, hard.
- [The Duchess Deal - UK edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/the-duchess-deal/) - His terms are simple: - They will be husband and wife by night only. - No lights, no kissing. - No questions about his battle scars. - Last, and most importantly… Once she's pregnant with his heir, they need never share a bed again. But Emma is no pushover. She has secrets and some rules of her own: - They will have dinner together every evening. - With conversation. - And teasing. - Last, and most importantly… Once she's seen the man beneath the scars, he can't stop her from falling in love… When a girl meets a Duke, their marriage breaks all the rules…
- [A Week to be Wicked - Vietnamese Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-week-to-be-wicked-vietnamese-edition/)
- [A Lady by Midnight - Vietnamese edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/8216/)
- [The Legend of Werestag - German Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/the-legend-of-werestag-german-edition/)
- [A Lady of Persuasion - Turkey Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-lady-of-persuasion-turkey-edition/)
- [Surrender of a Siren - UK Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/surrender-of-a-siren-uk-edition/)
- [Surrender of a Siren - Dutch Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/surrender-of-a-siren-dutch-edition/)
- [Surrender of a Siren - Turkey Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/surrender-of-a-siren-turkey-edition/)
- [Goddess of the Hunt - Turkey Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/goddess-of-the-hunt-turkey-edition/)
- [Goddess of the Hunt - Dutch Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/goddess-of-the-hunt-dutch-edition/)
- [Three Nights with a Scoundrel - Slovenia Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/three-nights-with-a-scoundrel-slovenia-edition/)
- [Three Nights with a Scoundrel - Dutch Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/three-nights-with-a-scoundrel-dutch-edition/)
- [Three Nights with a Scoundrel - Thai Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/three-nights-with-a-scoundrel-thai-edition/)
- [Twice Temped by a Rogue - Slovenia Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/twice-temped-by-a-rogue-slovenia-edition/)
- [Twice Tempted by a Rogue - Thai Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/twice-tempted-by-a-rogue-thai-edition/)
- [One Dance with a Duke - Slovenia Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/one-dance-with-a-duke-slovenia-edition/)
- [One Dance with a Duke - Dutch Edition 2](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/one-dance-with-a-duke-dutch-edition-2/)
- [One Dance with a Duke - Dutch Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/one-dance-with-a-duke-dutch-edition/)
- [One Dance with a Duke - Thai Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/one-dance-with-a-duke-thai-edition/)
- [One Dance with a Duke -  French Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/one-dance-with-a-duke-french-edition/)
- [Do You Want to Start a Scandal - Dutch Editon](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal-dutch-editon/)
- [Do You Want To Start A Scandal - French Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal-french-edition-2/)
- [When a Scot Ties the Knot - Russian Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/when-a-scot-ties-the-knot-russian-edition/)
- [When a Scot Ties the Knot - Portugal Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/when-a-scot-ties-the-knot-portugal-edition/)
- [When a Scot Ties the Knot - Dutch Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/when-a-scot-ties-the-knot-dutch-edition/)
- [When a Scot Ties the Knot - Slovene Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/when-a-scot-ties-the-knot-slovene-edition/)
- [When a Scot Ties the Knot - Turkey Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/when-a-scot-ties-the-knot-turkey-edition/)
- [Say Yes to the Marquess - Turkey Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/say-yes-to-the-marquess-turkey-edition/)
- [Romancing the Duke - French Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/romancing-the-duke-french-edition/)
- [Romancing the Duke - Dutch Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/romancing-the-duke-dutch-edition/)
- [Romancing the Duke - Japanese Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/romancing-the-duke-japanese-edition/)
- [Romancing the Duke - Portugal Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/romancing-the-duke-portugal-edition/)
- [Romancing the Duke - Turkey Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/romancing-the-duke-turkey-edition/)
- [Romancing the Duke - Russian Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/romancing-the-duke-russian-edition/)
- [Do You Want To Start A Scandal - Slovenian Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal-slovenian-edition/)
- [Do You Want To Start A Scandal - Russian Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal-russian-edition/)
- [Any Duchess Will Do - Italian Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/any-duchess-will-do-italian-edition/)
- [Any Duchess Will Do - Russian Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/any-duchess-will-do-russian-edition/)
- [A Week to be Wicked - Czech Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-week-to-be-wicked-czech-edition/)
- [A Week to be Wicked - Turkey Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-week-to-be-wicked-turkey-edition/)
- [Once Upon a Winter's Eve - Croatian Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/once-upon-a-winters-eve-croatian-edition/)
- [A Night to Surrender - Vietnamese Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-night-to-surrender-vietnamese-edition/)
- [A Night to Surrender - Bulgaria Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-night-to-surrender-bulgaria-edition/)
- [A Night to Surrender - Czech Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-night-to-surrender-czech-edition/)
- [A Night to Surrender - Turkey Edition](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-night-to-surrender-turkey-edition/)
- [A Night to Surrender](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-night-to-surrender/)
- [A Lady by Midnight - Dutch](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-lady-by-midnight-dutch/)
- [A Lady by Midnight - Polish (Volume 2)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-lady-by-midnight-polish-volume-2/)
- [A Lady by Midnight - Polish (Volume 1)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/8217/)
- [Lady a mezzanotte](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/lady-a-mezzanotte/)
- [In den Armen eines Gentlemans](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/in-den-armen-eines-gentlemans/)
- [Diga sim ao Marquês](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/diga-sim-ao-marques/)
- [A noiva do Capitão](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-noiva-do-capitao/)
- [Romance com o Duque](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/romance-com-o-duque/)
- [A Bela e o Ferreiro](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-bela-e-o-ferreiro/)
- [VJENČANJE U PONOĆ](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/vjencanje-u-ponoc/)
- [TJEDAN DANA ZA LJUBAV](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/tjedan-dana-za-ljubav/)
- [Noć predaje](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/noc-predaje-2/)
- [Uma noite para se entregar](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/uma-noite-para-se-entregar/)
- [A dama da meia-noite](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-dama-da-meia-noite/)
- [A Week to be Wicked](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-week-to-be-wicked/)
- [Vojvodinja po naključju](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/vojvodinja-po-nakljucju/)
- [Polnočna dama](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/polnocna-dama/)
- [Týden hříchu](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/tyden-hrichu/)
- [Noc odevzdání](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/noc-odevzdani/)
- [Als Jij Mij Schaakt](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/als-jij-mij-schaakt/)
- [Süßer Sieg der Leidenschaft](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/suesser-sieg-der-leidenschaft/)
- [Noč predaje](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/noc-predaje/)
- [Sedem dni pregreh](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/sedem-dni-pregreh/)
- [Танец с герцогом](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/танец-с-герцогом/)
- [Dolce rifugio](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/dolce-rifugio/)
- [Una settimana per innamorarsi](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/una-settimana-per-innamorarsi/)
- [Zärtliche Schatten](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/zartliche-schatten/)
- [Tydzień na uwiedzenie](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/tydzien-na-uwiedzenie/)
- [Дважды соблазненная](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/twice-tempted-by-a-rogue-russia/)
- [A Lady by Midnight (Japanese)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-lady-by-midnight-japanese/)
- [Les demoiselles de Spindle Cove 3 : Un mariage au clair de lune](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/les-demoiselles-de-spindle-cove-3-un-mariage-au-clair-de-lune/)
- [Les Demoiselles de Spindle Cove 2: Une Semaine de Folie](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/les-demoiselles-de-spindle-cove-2-une-semaine-de-folie/)
- [Drei sinnliche Nächte](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/drei-sinnliche-nachte/)
- [A Week to Be Wicked (Japan)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-week-to-be-wicked-japan/)
- [Les demoiselles de Spindle Cove 1: Un moment d'abandon](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/les-demoiselles-de-spindle-cove-1-un-moment-dabandon/)
- [Noc Uległości](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/noc-uleglosci/)
- [Три ночи с повесой](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/three-nights-with-a-scoundrel-russia/)
- [A Lady of Persuasion (Indonesia)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-lady-of-persuasion-indonesia/)
- [One Dance with a Duke (Indonesia)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/one-dance-with-a-duke-indonesia/)
- [Twice Tempted by a Rogue (Indonesia)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/twice-tempted-by-a-rogue-indonesia/)
- [Three Nights with a Scoundrel (Indonesia)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/three-nights-with-a-scoundrel-indonesia/)
- [Leidenschaftliche Rache (Weltbild Edition: 3-in-1)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/leidenschaftliche-rache-2/)
- [Wirbelsturm der Liebe (Weltbild Edition: 3-in-1)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/wirbelsturm-der-liebe-2/)
- [Der Kuss der Jägerin (Weltbild Edition: 3-in-1)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/der-kuss-der-jagerin-2/)
- [A Lady of Persuasion (Thai)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-lady-of-persuasion-thai/)
- [Siete días de locura](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/siete-dias-de-locura/)
- [A Night to Surrender (Japan)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-night-to-surrender-japan/)
- [Zwei Sündige Herzen](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/zwei-sundige-herzen/)
- [Twice Tempted by a Rogue (Large Print)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/twice-tempted-by-a-rogue-large-print/)
- [Een Moment van Overgave](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/een-moment-van-overgave/)
- [Una noche nada más](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/una-noche-nada-mas/)
- [Ein verführerischer Tanz](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/ein-verfuhrerischer-tanz/)
- [Goddess of the Hunt (Thai)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/goddess-of-the-hunt-thai/)
- [Surrender of a Siren (Thai)](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/surrender-of-a-siren-thai/)
- [Bohyňa lovu](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/bohyna-lovu/)
- [Zvábená siréna](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/zvabena-sirena/)
- [Vplyvná dáma](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/vplyvna-dama/)
- [Ночь в его объятиях](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-night-to-surrender-russia/)
- [Зачем ловеласу жениться](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-lady-of-persuasion-russia/)
- [Богиня охоты](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/goddess-of-the-hunt-russia/)
- [Искушение сирены](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/surrender-of-a-siren-russia/)
- [Twice Tempted by a Rogue](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/twice-tempted-by-a-rogue/)
- [One Dance with a Duke](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/one-dance-with-a-duke/)
- [Three Nights with a Scoundrel](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/three-nights-with-a-scoundrel/)
- [A Lady of Persuasion](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/a-lady-of-persuasion/)
- [Surrender of a Siren](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/surrender-of-a-siren/)
- [Goddess of the Hunt](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/goddess-of-the-hunt/)
- [偽りのくちづけは伯爵と](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/goddess-of-the-hunt-japan/)
- [La dea della caccia](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/la-dea-della-caccia/)
- [Mia piccola sirena](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/mia-piccola-sirena/)
- [Ti convincerò](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/ti-convincero/)
- [Trois nuits ou jamais](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/trois-nuits-ou-jamais/)
- [Le destin de Merry Lane](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/le-destin-de-merry-lane/)
- [Valse de minuit](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/valse-de-minuit/)
- [L'idéaliste](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/lidealiste/)
- [L'aventurière](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/laventuriere/)
- [L'impulsive](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/limpulsive/)
- [Leidenschaftliche Rache](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/leidenschaftliche-rache/)
- [Wirbelsturm der Liebe](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/wirbelsturm-der-liebe/)
- [Der Kuss der Jägerin](https://tessadare.com/international-editions/der-kuss-der-jagerin/)

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://tessadare.com/archived/uncategorized/)
- [Writing Life](https://tessadare.com/archived/writinglife/)
- [What I'm Reading](https://tessadare.com/archived/what-im-reading/)
- [Contests](https://tessadare.com/archived/contests/)
- [MommyWorld](https://tessadare.com/archived/mommyworld/)
- [News](https://tessadare.com/archived/news/)
- [Movie Club](https://tessadare.com/archived/movie-club/)
- [Reviews](https://tessadare.com/archived/reviews/)
- [Guest Blogs](https://tessadare.com/archived/guest-blogs/)
- [Behind the Scenes](https://tessadare.com/archived/behind-the-scenes/)

## Tags

- [Celebrations](https://tessadare.com/tag/celebrations/)
- [Excerpts](https://tessadare.com/tag/excerpts/)
- [Recommended Reads](https://tessadare.com/tag/recommended-reads/)
- [Craft](https://tessadare.com/tag/craft/)
- [How I Write a Book](https://tessadare.com/tag/how-i-write-a-book/)
- [Darelings](https://tessadare.com/tag/darelings/)
- [Mr. Dare](https://tessadare.com/tag/mr-dare/)
- [Research](https://tessadare.com/tag/research/)
- [Current Events](https://tessadare.com/tag/current-events/)
- [The Desire of a Duke](https://tessadare.com/tag/the-desire-of-a-duke/)
- [Edits](https://tessadare.com/tag/edits/)
- [Pretty People](https://tessadare.com/tag/pretty-people/)
- [Promotion](https://tessadare.com/tag/promotion/)
- [Cover Art](https://tessadare.com/tag/cover-art/)
- [True Story](https://tessadare.com/tag/true-story/)
- [e-publishing](https://tessadare.com/tag/e-publishing/)
- [unsolicited opinions](https://tessadare.com/tag/unsolicited-opinions/)
- [What to Expect](https://tessadare.com/tag/what-to-expect/)
- [Movies](https://tessadare.com/tag/movies/)
- [Orphans](https://tessadare.com/tag/orphans/)
- [Werestag](https://tessadare.com/tag/werestag/)
- [Stud Club](https://tessadare.com/tag/stud-club/)
- [Silliness](https://tessadare.com/tag/silliness/)
- [Poetry](https://tessadare.com/tag/poetry/)
- [Guest blogging](https://tessadare.com/tag/guest-blogging/)
- [The Season](https://tessadare.com/tag/the-season/)
- [Beverley Kendall](https://tessadare.com/tag/beverley-kendall/)
- [Jackie Barbosa](https://tessadare.com/tag/jackie-barbosa/)
- [Behind the Red Door](https://tessadare.com/tag/behind-the-red-door/)
- [novellas](https://tessadare.com/tag/novellas/)
- [Interviews](https://tessadare.com/tag/interviews/)
- [RWA](https://tessadare.com/tag/rwa/)
- [Conferences](https://tessadare.com/tag/conferences/)
- [Friends](https://tessadare.com/tag/friends/)
- [Eloisa James](https://tessadare.com/tag/eloisa-james/)
- [Julia Quinn](https://tessadare.com/tag/julia-quinn/)
- [book club](https://tessadare.com/tag/book-club/)
- [Doreen Minuto](https://tessadare.com/tag/doreen-minuto/)
- [Carey Baldwin](https://tessadare.com/tag/carey-baldwin/)
- [Courtney Milan](https://tessadare.com/tag/courtney-milan/)
- [Jennifer Haymore](https://tessadare.com/tag/jennifer-haymore/)
- [Sara Lindsey](https://tessadare.com/tag/sara-lindsey/)
- [Debra Mullins](https://tessadare.com/tag/debra-mullins/)
- [DeAnna Cameron](https://tessadare.com/tag/deanna-cameron/)
- [Dawn Halliday](https://tessadare.com/tag/dawn-halliday/)
- [Appearances](https://tessadare.com/tag/appearances/)
- [Signings](https://tessadare.com/tag/signings/)
- [Unleash Your Story](https://tessadare.com/tag/unleash-your-story/)
- [Borders](https://tessadare.com/tag/borders/)
- [Vicki Lewis Thompson](https://tessadare.com/tag/vicki-lewis-thompson/)
- [Pop Culture](https://tessadare.com/tag/pop-culture/)
- [TV](https://tessadare.com/tag/tv/)
- [Proof by Seduction](https://tessadare.com/tag/proof-by-seduction/)
- [RITA](https://tessadare.com/tag/rita/)
- [Foreign Rights](https://tessadare.com/tag/foreign-rights/)
- [digital](https://tessadare.com/tag/digital/)
- [libraries](https://tessadare.com/tag/libraries/)
- [QUEENS OF HISTORICAL ROMANCE](https://tessadare.com/tag/queens-of-historical-romance/)
- [TESSA DARE](https://tessadare.com/tag/tessa-dare/)
- [STEPHANIE LAURENS](https://tessadare.com/tag/stephanie-laurens/)
- [ELIZABETH HOYT](https://tessadare.com/tag/elizabeth-hoyt/)
- [Queens Of Historical Romance GIVEAWAY 2 of 6](https://tessadare.com/tag/queens-of-historical-romance-giveaway-2-of-6/)
- [giveaway](https://tessadare.com/tag/giveaway/)
- [Karen Hawkins](https://tessadare.com/tag/karen-hawkins/)
- [Madeline Hunter](https://tessadare.com/tag/madeline-hunter/)
- [Historical Romance](https://tessadare.com/tag/historical-romance/)
- [California Dreamin](https://tessadare.com/tag/california-dreamin/)
- [Surrender of a Siren](https://tessadare.com/tag/surrender-of-a-siren/)
- [Contests](https://tessadare.com/tag/contests/)
- [Goddess of the Hunt](https://tessadare.com/tag/goddess-of-the-hunt/)
- [The Legend of the Werestag](https://tessadare.com/tag/the-legend-of-the-werestag/)
- [A Lady of Persuasion](https://tessadare.com/tag/a-lady-of-persuasion/)
- [Reviews](https://tessadare.com/tag/reviews/)
- [One Dance with a Duke](https://tessadare.com/tag/one-dance-with-a-duke/)
- [International](https://tessadare.com/tag/international/)
- [French Edition](https://tessadare.com/tag/french-edition/)
- [Trois Destinees 1](https://tessadare.com/tag/trois-destinees-1/)
- [2022 travel](https://tessadare.com/tag/2022-travel/)

## Series

- [Spindle Cove Series](https://tessadare.com/connected-books/spindle-cove-series/) - Visit Spindle Cove, a seaside resort for “unconventional” young ladies and a few exceptionally brave men.
- [Stud Club Trilogy](https://tessadare.com/connected-books/stud-club-trilogy/) - The heroes—a duke, a war hero, and a low-born scoundrel—hold shares in a priceless racehorse. When the club’s founder is tragically murdered, these three unlikely associates are united by chance, divided by suspicion, and brought to their knees by love.
- [The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy](https://tessadare.com/connected-books/the-wanton-dairymaid-trilogy/)
- [Castles Ever After Series](https://tessadare.com/connected-books/castles-ever-after-series/)
- [Girl Meets Duke Series](https://tessadare.com/connected-books/girl-meets-duke-series/)
- [Unconnected Novellas](https://tessadare.com/connected-books/unconnected-novellas/)

## Language

- [France](https://tessadare.com/language/france/)
- [United Kingdom](https://tessadare.com/language/united-kingdom/)
- [Germany](https://tessadare.com/language/germany/)
- [Japan](https://tessadare.com/language/japan/)
- [Italy](https://tessadare.com/language/italy/)
- [Russia](https://tessadare.com/language/russia/)
- [Slovakia](https://tessadare.com/language/slovakia/)
- [Indonesia](https://tessadare.com/language/indonesia/)
- [Thailand](https://tessadare.com/language/thailand/)
- [Spain](https://tessadare.com/language/spain/)
- [The Netherlands](https://tessadare.com/language/the-netherlands/)
- [Poland](https://tessadare.com/language/poland/)
- [Slovenia](https://tessadare.com/language/slovenia/)
- [Brazil](https://tessadare.com/language/brazil/)
- [Croatia](https://tessadare.com/language/croatia/)
- [Vietnam](https://tessadare.com/language/vietnam/)
- [Turkey](https://tessadare.com/language/turkey/)
- [Czech Republic](https://tessadare.com/language/czech-republic/)
- [Bulgaria](https://tessadare.com/language/bulgaria/)
- [Portugal](https://tessadare.com/language/portugal/)
- [Estonia](https://tessadare.com/language/estonia/)
- [Lithuania](https://tessadare.com/language/lithuania/)
- [Greece](https://tessadare.com/language/greece/)
- [Romania](https://tessadare.com/language/romania/)
- [Denmark](https://tessadare.com/language/denmark/)
- [Israel](https://tessadare.com/language/israel/)
- [Hungary](https://tessadare.com/language/hungary/)
- [Sweden](https://tessadare.com/language/sweden/)

## Original Title

- [Surrender of a Siren](https://tessadare.com/original-title/surrender-of-a-siren/)
- [Goddess of the Hunt](https://tessadare.com/original-title/goddess-of-the-hunt/)
- [The Legend of the Werestag](https://tessadare.com/original-title/the-legend-of-the-werestag/)
- [A Lady of Persuasion](https://tessadare.com/original-title/a-lady-of-persuasion/)
- [One Dance with a Duke](https://tessadare.com/original-title/one-dance-with-a-duke/)
- [Twice Tempted by a Rogue](https://tessadare.com/original-title/twice-tempted-by-a-rogue/)
- [Three Nights with a Scoundrel](https://tessadare.com/original-title/three-nights-with-a-scoundrel/)
- [A Night to Surrender](https://tessadare.com/original-title/a-night-to-surrender/)
- [Once Upon a Winter's Eve](https://tessadare.com/original-title/once-upon-a-winters-eve/)
- [A Week to Be Wicked](https://tessadare.com/original-title/a-week-to-be-wicked/)
- [A Lady by Midnight](https://tessadare.com/original-title/a-lady-by-midnight/)
- [Any Duchess Will Do](https://tessadare.com/original-title/any-duchess-will-do/)
- [How to Catch a Wild Viscount](https://tessadare.com/original-title/how-to-catch-a-wild-viscount/)
- [Beauty and the Blacksmith](https://tessadare.com/original-title/beauty-and-the-blacksmith/)
- [Romancing the Duke](https://tessadare.com/original-title/romancing-the-duke/)
- [When a Scot Ties the Knot](https://tessadare.com/original-title/when-a-scot-ties-the-knot/)
- [Say Yes to the Marquess](https://tessadare.com/original-title/say-yes-to-the-marquess/)
- [Do You Want To Start A Scandal](https://tessadare.com/original-title/do-you-want-to-start-a-scandal/)
- [The Duchess Deal](https://tessadare.com/original-title/the-duchess-deal/)
- [The Governess Game](https://tessadare.com/original-title/the-governess-game/)
- [The Wallflower Wager](https://tessadare.com/original-title/the-wallflower-wager/)