Raine Balkera - Romance Author

Hello, there! I missed last week's Hop, so this is now Week 24 of the MFRW Author Blog's 52-Week Blog Challenge , and the topic is: Item I Can't Live Without . If you had asked me just two years ago if I could live without music, I'd have emphatically told you N.O. Nearly my entire life was spent listening to, enjoying, recording, dancing to, and driving wherever with some type of music blaring back at me. Especially when I was writing. I honestly never believed it would be possible to write without ambient background filler to urge me on. Any time I hopped in my car, or even as a kid hopping into mom or pop's car, the 'radio' was always on as soon as the engine turned over. Elevators, fancy anchor stores at the mall, concerts, and even movies include some form of music. But, lo and behold, people... I have not been inclined to listen to music for more than a year. I just stopped turning on the car radio, tuning in to my favorite int...

Today I review the Highland Madness series, Madman MacKeefe Trilogy, by Elizabeth Rose, about three Highland brothers and their separate journies to love. Pages -  561  Publisher -  RoseScribe Media Inc.  Published -  July 31, 2015 Sold by -  Amazon Digital Services LLC Series -  MadMan MacKeefe Trilogy Genre -  Highlands, Historical Romance Language -  2/5 Sexual Content -  3/5 Narrative -  3rd (The complete MadMan MacKeefe Trilogy) Boxed-Set Edition Onyx - Book 1 Onyx MacKeefe takes an Englishwoman, Lady Lovelle, captive when his mother's life is threatened. And with Lovelle at his side, he searches the Highlands for the stolen Book of Hours that could possibly set his mother free. Aidan - Book 2 Highlander Aidan MacKeefe is the guardian of the Stone of Destiny, and uses it as his pillow. When he dreams of a Scottish angel with flaming red hair and then she appears in his life, he has ...

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring Hello, everyone, and HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY! Welcome back to Week 5 of the MFRW Author Blog's 52-Week Blog Challenge. This week, we're asked to discuss: A Book That has Influenced My Life The word 'influenced' threw me for a time, and it wasn't until I began to query others that the dawning of realization hit. Honestly, I am one-track minded when it comes to books. Books = Romance Novels to my mind, and I have yet to read one that made me sit up and think, "Y'know, it's about time I did something like this in order to better myself!" LOL Also, at my age, I don't necessarily read to 'learn' anymore... and I know that sounds odd or wrong to most, but bear with me, please. When we were on the topic of Earliest Memory, I should have mentioned my earliest Reading experience when I was probably late three or four. I was on my father's lap, helping him turn the pages of a...

Print Length -  250 pages Publisher -  Lyrical Press Published -  August 18, 2015 Sold by -  Penguin Random House Publisher Services Series -  Lost Heiresses, Book 1 of 3 Genre -  Historical, American West and Victorian England Amazon -  Kindle Link Language -  4/5 Sexual Content -  3/5 Narrative -  3rd P It’s one thing for a girl to lose her way, quite another to lose her heart… Genny Hayes could charm a bear away from a pot of honey. But raised in the forests of Yosemite, she’s met precious few men to practice her smiles upon. Until a marvelously handsome photographer appears in her little corner of the wilderness and she convinces him to take her clear across the country and over the seas to England, where she has a titled grandmother and grandfather waiting to claim her. On their whirlwind journey, she’ll have the chance to bedazzle and befuddle store clerks and train robbers, society matrons a...

Pages -  224  Publisher -  Ink Lion Books Published -  June 18, 2014 Sold by -  Amazon Digital Services LLC Series -  My Notorious Aunt Book 3 of 3 Genre -  Clean & Wholesome Regency Language -  0/5 Sexual Content -  0/5 Narrative -  3rd Person Aunt Honore is up to her old tricks, only now she’s meddling in her mysterious nephew’s life… Why does the powerfully built, golden-haired, Lord St. Evert dress like an overdone Dandy? His outlandish wardrobe belies the hard unyielding lines of his face. Whoever he is, he’s ruining Elizabeth Hampton’s desperate scheme to secure a rich husband. Terribly vexing, to arrive at the most fashionable Breakfast Party of the Season wearing a perfectly stunning Chinese silk gown, only to discover Lord St. Evert is clad in unmentionables cut from identical cloth. Humiliating. And insufferable! Why, the devil, must he show up in fabrics Elizabeth searched so dilig...

(In case you haven't noticed, I spent a few days revamping my Blog. The color scheme never seems quite right to me, and if there is something about the whole thing that sets you off, jars your senses, or makes you want to look away, I'd really like to know!) Hi everyone, and welcome to another installment of the MFRW.org 52-Week Blog Challenge. Week 28 here, and this time we are asked to talk about any Life Lessons in My Novels . Um... This is a bit like asking if I believe violent video games promote violence. Or if I agree that rap music is morally and ethically unstable. That wearing a seat belt is the law for a reason . All of which are valid points to ponder but none of your business and certainly not worth arguing about or berating someone for not agreeing with your opinion on. And, I'm beginning to suspect that whoever came up with these weekly challenges left my personality out of the equation. (sad face) Here is a cool pic I took of a s...

Pages -  204 Publisher -  Accent Press Published -  June 27, 2015 Amazon Link -   Purchase Here Genre -  Regency Romance, Satire, Mystery Language -  clean Sexual Content -  2/5 Narrative -  3rd P Elinor Bascombe, widowed and tied to an impoverished estate, has learned to ask little of life. With no hope of leaving, the years have passed her by. Lord Ryde, exiled abroad after a scandal, has returned to strip his estate and make a new start in America. A chance encounter changes their plans, plunging Elinor and Lord Ryde into adventure and not a little peril until, finally, they are forced to confront the mystery of what happened on That Night, all those years ago. Are they both so entangled in the riddles of the past that they are about to miss this one last opportunity for future happiness? This was a good read. Not a terrific read, but a good one. And, yes, believe it or not, the 'humor' label is legitimate;...

Pages - 303 Publisher -  Amber House Books, LLC Published -  July 7, 2015 Sold by -   Amazon Digital Services LLC Series -  Free Fellows League, Book 1 Genre -  Historical Romance, Regency Language - tame Sexual Content - extensively vulgar Narrative -  3rd P Can a lady tempt a Free Fellow to surrender his heart? As a founding member of the Free Fellows League—a group of four gentlemen who signed a pledge to never wed when they were lads—Griffin, Viscount Abernathy, swears that he will put off marrying as long as possible. But when he is suddenly called off to war, he has no choice but to obey his father’s wishes and find a wife… Just days later, he marries the lovely Lady Alyssa. For a man committed only to his freedom, she seems a perfect—and perfectly undemanding—bride. Intelligent and self-sufficient, Alyssa craves her independence just as much as Griffin loves his. But as the irresistible attraction between them flourishes w...

MFRW.org 52-Week Blog Challenge Hello, again, and welcome back to another episode of the MFRWauthor 52-Week Blog Challenge . It's Week 24, and this time we're asked to Choose/Describe our LAST MEAL. I'll begin with an irreverent shot at the blog's title for this week's challenge and say I suspect that EVERYONE will partake of a Last Meal prior to their departure from this world, eh? They just won't know it in most cases. Then I'll include something maudlin and recall my father's last day on this planet (a week ago +30 some yrs). With this being Father's Day Weekend here in the USA (MX, UK, and CA), it has its place. It was a strange day for sure, and he behaved too abnormal for my comfort or keener instincts. He had made a big stink about the night's meal, insisting that the whole family be there to help him partake of none other than carry-out from his favorite Chinese restaurant. We were a grown family of six, each wit...