Book Tour Update + Contests & Winners....

Just an update on A Place With Briar’s virtual book tour stops, contests and prize winners….

Sunday, I revealed the title of my October Superromance novel, Married One Night, at Roses of Prose. Writers, for my 5 Keys to Surviving a Successful Revision, visit the group blog here….

Monday, I was at author Carol A. Spradling’s blog talking about fiction vs. reality. Have you ever wondered how much of a writer’s real life winds up in his/her novels? (I also talk about how the British hero of Married One Night winds up wearing a kilt!) Find the answers here at Carol’s blog….

Yesterday, the hero of A Place With Briar, Cole, was at Rogue’s Angels filling out a customer survey for the heroine’s bed-and-breakfast. Find out what Cole really thought the inn sheets and Briar’s hospitality. There’s still time to enter to win the Ridges of Wayback, TX novella of your choice as well! See Rogue’s Angels for more details….

Tomorrow I will be interviewed by the Plotting Princesses. Friday, I will journey to Susana’s Morning Room. And Saturday will be my all-day Facebook chatting event at Coffee Time Romance’s Mocha Milieu where there will be yet another gift card giveaway. Stay tuned for all this and more….

Now for a round-up of contest winners. Good news: all three of the Fool for Romance Contest book bundle winners have contacted me to receive their prizes – thank you! If you see your name below and have already contacted me regarding your prize, please disregard this posting. If you are a winner and you have not yet contacted me to claim your prize, please do so at amber@amberleighwilliams.com

 

Just Contemporary Romance Giveaway for a trade paperback edition of Forever Amore

Winner: Julie O.

 

RR&H Novel Thoughts & Book Chat Giveaway for $15 Books-a-Million Gift Card

Winner: Tabitha Jones

 

A very special thank you to all those who participated in these tour stops and others. At this time, I do not know the winner for the Harlequin Junkie Rafflecopter giveaway for a $15 Barnes & Noble Gift Card. Please check back within the next few days. I’m sure I’ll have a winner announcement soon. I would like to say thank you so much to those who joined the discussion there about wounded/damaged heroes in romance! It was a wonderful debate and I added many of your recommendations to my own TBR list!

One last bit of good news - In the next week or so, I will be joining a new group blog, the Superromance Authors blog at SuperAuthors.com! I'm thrilled to be a part of this new group of distinguished authors and can't wait to get started. Stay tuned for my first post there....

FOREVER AMORE On Sale....

Wow, historical romance Forever Amore is on sale for Kindle readers! Purchase it today for just $2.99 on Amazon....

Historical Romance

Was their love destined to last forever …

Engaged in a brutal dogfight, dashing American Lieutenant Charles Tyler crashes his broken plane into the Italian countryside. He prays for divine intervention—and is certain he’s found an angel from the very moment he looks up at Lucille Renaldi’s lovely face. Yet how can he be with her when his sense of duty tells him to stay away?

… or become another casualty of war?

Lucille’s attraction to the American is forbidden, her obligation to her family’s safety overwhelming. At great peril the Renaldis carry Charles from the crash site and disguise him as just another worker in their vineyard. Hidden there inside the ugliness of World War II is the beauty of a growing love, and a danger that could end their lives any day—when all they want is … forever.

Here's what people are saying about Forever Amore....

Long & Short Reviews: "Features everything from dogfights to intimacy, love to desperation. Williams has a particularly poetic turn of phrase and has brought the romantic back to romance."

The Baker City Herald: "A beautiful love story woven with suspense to make you race through the page!"

Coffee Time Romance: "The setting of Italy during World War II is an exciting one... The author has brought the era to life and filled it with some memorable characters...from the first page to the last one."


Forever Amore was voted "Best Book of the Year" by the readers at Long & Short Reviews. It is also available in trade paperback edition. Find out more on the BOOKS page of my website and Black Lyon Publishing....

News & Updates...

Coffee Time Romance is bringing in the New Year with a bang! The extravaganza starts Monday, January 10. The Wild Rose Press is joining the party all day Saturday, January 15 with new releases, excerpts and possible giveaways! Be sure to join the fun! For more author/publisher dates, click here for the party schedule. (I'll post a reminder next Friday or Saturday morning....)

This week at The Roses of Prose is our first foray into our new resourceful format. We're also introducing our newest rose, Jerri Hines! Stop by any day this week - we're reviewing book-related social networking sites. To read my Monday post on Shelfari, click here!

FOREVER AMORE at ARe

Good news in my inbox this morning - my historical romance Forever Amore is now available at All Romance eBooks! Click here to purchase it from my favorite ebook store! Forever Amore was nominated for Best Book of 2009 by Long & Short Reviews and is available in paperback from Black Lyon Publishing!

Reviews for Forever Amore...

"A beautiful love story woven with suspense to make you race through the pages!"
Lisa Britton Jacoby, The Baker City Herald
"This is a wonderfully written story of a forbidden love during wartime. The two main characters are extremely well developed and sympathetic and I felt so much sympathy for their plight. The setting of Italy during World War II is an exciting one filled with political intrigue and danger from all sides. The author has brought the era to life and filled it with some memorable characters. The villain DeMarco in particular jumps off the page. The descriptions of the Renaldi’s lives during wartime are quite detailed, from their personal lives to their social the first page to the last one."
Coffee Time Romance

"Amber Leigh Williams’ Forever Amore is a dynamic war-time romance novel. The love of the two main characters, Lieutenant Charles Tyler and Lucille Renaldi is wonderful, frank, and exciting. Almost from the start, we get to know them as real, believable people with many concerns and responsibilities, but we see that potential there. When it seems possible, we are then all too aware of the difficulties, too. Making him especially human is the Lieutenant’s camaraderie with his buddies in the early pages, and the natural dialogue. Meeting Lucille has an enormous impact on him. And then, of course, it is the age-old story of forbidden love, with the ensuing heartbreak, self-doubt or blame, and the struggle to make with their own perceptions. One of the nicest things about this is, in this case, it is the main characters’ own sense of duty, or propriety that provides the chief barrier. They are both extremely likable and engage reader sympathies at once. Perhaps, most touching is the efforts of everyday people – and the risks they take – to protect someone who is not even their own. There is both desperation, and determination. We feel very clearly the terror of invasion, the potential loss of family or home. The events here make the people who lived and struggled in World War II seem a finer sort than ordinary humanity. Through all this fear they still reached out to help someone else. We do know such tales have a basis in fact. This makes this story, this lovely romance, all the more moving. The two main characters dominate the narrative, but secondary characters are well-presented although in some cases stereotypical. There is also a most unexpected villain (as if a war wasn’t enough to deal with!) However, this interaction makes the story all the less predictable. There are so many scenes worth noting, that I fear this would become novel in its discussion. Suffice to say this features everything From dogfights to intimacy, love to desperation. “Mountains rear toward the heavens…” Williams has a particularly poetic turn of phrase and has brought the romantic back to romance. The wonderful visuals her words create and pace of the story give this an overall aura that is heartwarming. Our sympathies are engaged at once, and if feels as if we have stepped back in time and see these events first hand. I must give this a best book, as the rating sheet goes no higher. Mark this a must-read."
Long & Short Reviews

CTR Review for FOREVER AMORE

Lovely surprise in my inbox tonight from Coffee Time Romance - a 4-cup review from reviewer Maura:

"This is a wonderfully written story of a forbidden love during wartime. The two main characters are extremely well developed and sympathetic and I felt so much sympathy for their plight. The setting of Italy during World War II is an exciting one filled with political intrigue and danger from all sides. The author has brought the era to life and filled it with some memorable characters. The villain DiMarco in particular jumps off the page. The descriptions of the Renaldi’s lives during wartime are quite detailed, from their personal lives to their social lives. Fear makes some members less than honorable and brings out the best in others, even family can turn against one. Lucille’s trials and tribulations and her love for Charles will keep the reader riveted from the first page to the last one."

Thank you to Maura and CTR! I particularly like the line "Their romance is dangerous and forbidden, but love does not always follow the rules." For the full review, visit CTR here!

And great news, not only is Forever Amore available in paperback and ebook at Black Lyon Publishing; you can now purchase the Kindle edition here!