Lady Jane's Salon Raleigh-Durham

Sweet to Hot: February at Lady Jane's Salon RDU!

2012-02-29T20:45:00.006-08:00

We covered the full spectrum of heat at Lady Jane's RDU February Salon!

Kianna Alexander started us off with her sweet historical romance:

Ava Stone giving it her all as she gives us a sneak peek from her new Regency novella:

And Mari Freeman heats it up with her erotic romance!

Many thanks to our wonderful attendees! We had a great time celebrating readers and writers of romance and contributing to our two great charities!

February ~ the month of Candy, Roses & Lady Jane's Salon...

2012-02-14T01:00:00.002-08:00

So, Valentine's Day only happens once a year. We, here at Lady Jane's Salon Raleigh-Durham, celebrate love and romance all year long.

This month at the salon, you can hear:

KIANNA ALEXANDER will read from her latest release KISSING THE CAPTAIN an interracial historical romance.

In 1879, near the small northern California town of Ridgeway, Lilly Warren is a young black woman who has recently lost her father. There is little time for mourning, though, as the responsibility of running the twenty-six acre farm now belongs to her. To make matters even more complex, her father has deeded the house and the land to her in his will with an interesting condition: that she share the land with a person she's never met, or forfeit ownership.

Ricardo Benigno is a Spanish captain of the Anna Juanita, a shipping vessel bringing spices and oils to the shores of California. Seeking out the farm of his old friend Leonard Warren, he discovers that the older man has passed away. To his surprise, Ricardo has also been willed joint ownership of Warren land, as long as he shares it with Lilly, Warren's only child.
The attraction between them is instant, and they both agree that marriage is the only acceptable way they can share the land. But can two people from such different worlds learn to love each other, or will Lilly's heart be broken if she dares to kiss the captain?

~ * ~

MARI FREEMAN will read from HOT, HARD & HOWLING, the first in her Hot, Hard series.

Nell Ambercroft hasn’t done anything wrong. Lately. So why is someone trying to kill her? When a horde of moths lead her to a puzzle box in her basement, the Demon Hafling knows she’s found a clue. The box has some serious mojo working, powerful enough to kill for…and Nell’s at the top of the hit list.

Enter Werewolf Trent Nicholas. As Prime for the area, it’s Trent’s job to protect Nell and investigate the crime. Nell knows he’d rather investigate her body, which is fine by her; she’s loved the man for years. While the sex is sizzling, Trent continues to go cold every time he leaves the warmth of her body.

Trent’s always wanted the spunky half-Demon, but the men in his family have a nasty habit of murdering their mates. He refuses to give in to his wolf’s need to claim Nell. If he doesn’t, she might not have to worry about a killer on the loose. She could die by Trent’s hand first…

~ * ~

And finally, AVA STONE will read from her Regency era novella By Any Other Name which can be found in the anthology THE BETTING SEASON.

Lord Cleasby bets Mr. Potsdon five hundred pounds that Lord St. Austell will bed Lady Philippa Casemore before the end of the season. ~ April 19, 1813

Lady Philippa Casemore caused quite a scene at her very first ball of her very first season. She even landed herself, somehow, on the pages of the infamous betting book at White's gentleman's club. Unfortunately, she doesn't remember one moment of the night in question. Not the music. Not the notorious rake she'd dragged into the middle of the dance floor. Not the flask of opium-laced brandy she'd downed without realizing it's contents...

Jason York, the wicked Earl of St. Austell, can't quite forget the lady who stole his breath away the previous night. Of course, his broken nose, courtesy of the girl's brother, did have a way of making an impression. When he stumbles into Lady Philippa the next day, his ego is more than bruised when she doesn't seem to recall him at all and a scheme to make certain she never forgets him again quickly forms in Jason's mind.

Kicking off a New Year at LJS RDU

2012-01-26T06:09:00.000-08:00

Lady Jane's Salon RDU kicked the New Year off with a blast!

Readers Becky Moore, Marcia

Colette and Catherine Gayle rocked the house!

Becky Moore reading from her Contemporary Romance, Guardian Angel.

Catherine Gayle, visiting all the way from Texas!

Marcia Colette, whose reading was as fabulous as her karaoke!

Please join us next month as we celebrate Romance during the month of love with Kianna Alexander, Mari Freeman and Ava Stone!

For Our 1st Salon of the Year...

2012-01-14T01:00:00.000-08:00

We are excited to start off 2012 with three wonderful authors at Lady Jane's Salon Raleigh-Durham.

First up will be BECKY MOORE, who will read from GUARDIAN ANGEL, her most recent release.

Hot shot graphic novelist Sasha Mitchell is learning how to adjust to life as an underground hero with one of the hottest video games on the market. Her newfound wealth is no replacement for her brother’s recent passing, though, and certainly no balm to Doctor David Ellington, who’s adjusting to life without the dominating wealth of his powerful father.

And even though this senator’s son is far more interested in making his mark in the community through the clinic where he volunteers, he still has to overcome decades of enforced emotional barrenness to let Sasha’s powerful character reignite his passion.

~ * ~

Then MARCIA COLETTE will read from HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENT.

Root woman Donna Tucker made a mistake. A person died on her watch, not thanks to tainted roots and herbs that were meant to heal. Now she must trace her steps to where her stash came from and stop a modern-day plague from destroying a small town.

She’s not going alone.

Werecheetah Ronan McCleary would rather see her pay for killing his coalition’s matriarch than to accompany her anywhere. He believes she’s responsible and the only thing this trip is doing is delaying the inevitable. Her death.

But death is hunting them both.

The residents of Seclusion, North Carolina have an unseen force in the midst that has control over the town’s most influential people. There are those who’ll do anything–kill anyone–to keep the secret of the Davenport Foundation. A lowly root woman and her werecheetah companion are no match for them. And they won’t be unless they can put their differences aside and work together to survive the night. Of course, that would mean having to survive each other as their hearts brave a HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENT

~ * ~

And all the way from the Lone Star State, CATHERINE GAYLE will read from TWICE A RAKE, the first in her Lord Rothby’s Influence Series.

Some scandals are meant to be . . .

When Aurora Hyatt loses her journal in Hyde Park, her ruin is a foregone conclusion. After all, if anyone discovers her writings, they'll find scandalous fantasies involving the newest rake in Town alongside entirely-too-candid thoughts about her typical dreary suitors. Aurora will either be forced into a loveless marriage with the first nodcock to make an offer, or she'll be assigned a permanent position on the shelf. Oh, dear good Lord. What catastrophe will God smote down upon her next?

If Niles Thornton, Baron Quinton, desires to maintain any semblance of his current lifestyle, he must fulfill the requirements his grandfather, Lord Rotheby, has set for him. First and foremost: he must marry and begin filling his nursery within the year. When he is nearly barreled over by a racing curricle and a journal flies out to land at his feet, his troubles are over. Inside the journals pages, Quin discovers a scandal waiting to happen. Surely a young lady who would write such brazen things in a journal (and then dare to lose it) must recognize the necessity of a hasty marriage, even if the gentleman making the offer is rather less-than-honorable.

In a drunken haze, Quin kisses Aurora on a crowded ballroom floor, necessitating their immediate marriage. Quin's troubles are only beginning, however, as Aurora's writings are soon the focus of both gossip rags and drawing room conversation. When word arrives of an even greater scandal following in his wife's wake, will he prove himself a drunken abuser like his father, or will he become the loving husband of Aurora's fantasies?

Fab time at the November 2011 Salon!

2011-12-01T06:14:00.000-08:00

What a great night! Claudia Dain, Olivia Kelly and Katharine Ashe rocked the house and we had a great time celebrating romance with our LJS RDU friends!

Claudia, Katharine and Oliva!

RDU Directors and Fab Readers: Katharine Ashe, Deb Marlowe, Jodie Pearson-1/2 of Lydia Dare, Claudia Dain, Tammy Falkner-1/2 of Lydia Dare and Olivia Kelly.

Deb Marlowe, Olivia Kelly and Incredibly Cool Girl Erin Knightley :-)

We won't have gather for a salon in December, but please join us in January when we will welcome Becky Moore, Marcia Colette and Catherine Gayle!

At This Month's Salon...

2011-11-15T01:00:00.000-08:00

USA Today bestseller CLAUDIA DAIN will read from The Courtesan's Secret, the second book in her Courtesan Chronicles Series.

Lady Louisa fell in love with Lord Dutton exactly three years ago and never fell out. It was past time for him to fall in love with her. Long past time. What was wrong with Dutton? Couldn't he see that she was the very ideal sort of wife for him? The picture of ginger haired beauty and sparkling wit? And her bosom was quite nice, too.

After watching the speed with which Caroline, Sophia's daughter, managed to snag a husband, Louisa has come to the logical conclusion that if she could only have Sophia help her then Louisa and Dutton would find themselves quickly married. With Dutton as her goal, Louisa swallows her pride and asks Sophia for help in acquiring the man of her dreams.

Sophia is more than happy to help a woman get the man of her dreams, but is Dutton that man? Lord Henry Blakesley seems a much better match for the fiery Louisa. And Sophia, an ex-courtesan, has no qualms at all in arranging things so that Louisa sees Blakesley in a new light. But it's a secret...no one can know that Louisa sought help in snaring a man from a former courtesan.

But in London, secrets are as rare as hen's teeth.

~ * ~

Debut author OLIVIA KELLY will read from her short story It Could Only Be You found in A Summons From His Grace.

Harry Connelly has crossed an ocean and pushed his half-healed, battle weary body to its limits to confront the man who stole the life he should have had; his grandfather, the Duke of Danby. Wounded, Harry collapses in a small village’s church, and is nursed back to health by the vicar's beautiful daughter, Lily Beaumont. A man haunted by the demons of war, he should know better than to become involved with such an innocent but he cannot stay away from her. Harry's forced to make a decision. He can wield his decades old anger and bitterness against his grandfather, to compel him to acknowledge the damage he caused, and demand that the duke make monetary amends. Or he can turn his back on the past, and create a future with the woman he is beginning to think he cannot live without.

~ * ~

And Katharine Ashe will read from her soon-to-be released When A Scot Loves A Lady, the first in The Falcon Club Series.

London gossips are asking: What use has society of an exclusive gentleman’s club if no gentlemen are ever seen to pass through its door?

After years as an agent of the secret Falcon Club, Lord Leam Blackwood knows it’s time to return home to Scotland. One temptation threatens his plans—Kitty Savege. The scandal-plagued lady warms his blood like a dram of fine whiskey. But a dangerous enemy stands in the way of desire, and to beat this foe Leam needs Kitty’s help…

Kitty never wanted to spend her holidays in a wretched country village! With snow up to the windows, escape is nowhere in sight. A hulking Scottish lord, however, is. His rough brogue sends tingles of heat from Kitty’s frigid toes to her chilled nose, but she’s confident she can withstand that. What she cannot control is the reaction of her carefully guarded heart when she discovers this beast is, in fact, no beast at all…

Fun at the October Salon!

2011-10-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to all who came out to the October edition of Lady Jane's Salon RDU! We had a wonderful time indulging in Paranormal Romance! Above are the directors of the salon and our fabulous readers: Deb Marlowe, Jodie Pearson-1/2 of Lydia Dare, Claudia Dain, Jenna Black, Aimee Laine and Virginia Kantra.

Here are some pics of our wonderful audience. There was much good food, fun, our own pink Lady Jane drink, and of course, amazing readings! And we continue to raise money for the Shout Against the Whisper campaign and to collect books for the Wake County Public Library system.

Thanks to Aimee Laine, Virgina Kantra and Jenna Black for a great evening! We hope you'll join us next month when LJS RDU will feature Katharine Ashe, Olivia Kelly and our own Claudia Dain!

And Now...

2011-10-13T05:38:00.000-07:00

Wednesday October 26th, Lady Jane's Salon Raleigh-Durham will recommence with an amazing lineup. We are happy to give you a peek at what is to come at this month's salon...

USA Today Bestseller and Rita winner VIRGINIA KANTRA will read from FORGOTTEN SEA, the latest release in her Children of the Seas Series.

A lost soul...

Fallen angel Lara Rho is eager to prove herself as a Seeker--one called to rescue other children of air before they are hunted down by the children of fire. Drawn to rootless, restless sailor Justin Miller, she is determined to save him. But Justin is no angel...

A lost life...

Charming drifter Justin is reluctant to get tangled up in port with conscientious Lara. A child of the sea, Justin remembers nothing of his life before the day he was plucked from a shipwreck seven years ago. But one impulsive act lands him literally on the side of the angels and on the run for his life. Lara and Justin must work together to uncover his identity--before what they don't know kills them both.

A passionate journey of discovery...

Pursued by Lara's colleagues and hunted by demons, the two set out on a journey into their darkest fears and deepest desires. Together they have powers neither imagined. But when Justin discovers his merfolk past, will he turn his back on his true nature...or his newfound love

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

AIMEE LAINE will read from her latest release - LITTLE WHITE LIES.

When the government needs a body double for a covert operation, they hire shape-shifter Charley Randall. For two centuries, she's played every part from foreign dignitary to office drone. The role she wants most, though, is one she's denied herself three times already.

FBI Agent Wyatt Moreland believes Charley's photographic memory is the key to his latest assignment. He's oblivious to the true extent of her abilities, but he can't deny the sense of déjà vu at their introduction.

Unlike Wyatt, Charley knows this isn't their first meeting.

It's their fourth.

The girl he vowed to love, sixteen years before, stands in front of him in her true form — one he'll never recognize.

With each reconnection, Charley loves him more though she realizes this is her last chance to explain. Only absolute truth can bring them happiness, but can Wyatt forgive her deceptions? Or will lies tear them apart forever?

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

And JENNA BLACK will read a selection from her FAERIEWALKER Series.

Dana Hathaway doesn't know it yet, but she's in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, again, Dana decides she’s had enough and runs away to find her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the captivating, magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl—she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and the only person who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.

Soon, Dana finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone seems to want something from her, from her newfound friends and family to Ethan, the hot Fae guy Dana figures she’ll never have a chance with… until she does. Caught between two worlds, Dana isn’t sure where she’ll ever fit in and who can be trusted, not to mention if her world will ever be normal again…

Our Debut Salon!

2011-09-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Thank you to all of the guests who came out to share in an evening of great romance, fabulous company and worthy causes! Lady Jane's RDU opened last night with a bang!

We were so lucky to have such wonderful readers at our inaugural salon. Here they are: Sabrina Jeffries, Lydia Dare and Heather McCollum.

We had a great turn out--a real crush, in true historical romance fashion!

Here are the directors of the Salon along with our fabulous first readers:

Claudia Dain,Sabrina Jeffries, Jodie Pearson- half of Lydia Dare, Heather McCollum, Deb Marlowe and Tammy Falkner- half of Lydia Dare.

Thanks to you all the Wake County Library system is richer with romance, and the Shout Against the Whisper campaign will continue to help fund research to fight ovarian cancer.

We hope you will join us next month! October 26 will be an evening of Paranormal Romance with Aimee Laine, Jenna Black and Virginia Kantra!

This just in...

2011-09-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

We at Lady Jane's Salon Raleigh-Durham are so excited about our inaugural salon this month! As we finish our last minute preparations, we thought we'd give you a brief glimpse of what this month's salon has to offer...

New York Times Bestseller Sabrina Jeffries will read from TO WED A WILD LORD, the 4th installment in her Hellions of Halstead Hall Series. (This will be a real treat for us since this particular book won't be released to the general public until November 22nd.)

When Lord Gabriel accepts another wild racing challenge, he speeds headlong into Virginia Waverly—and love!

Like everything daredevil Gabe does, pursuing Virginia Waverly is a high-stakes game. Ever since her brother, Roger, died racing Gabe, Virginia has yearned to take her revenge on the reckless lord by beating him at his own sport. But when she challenges him to a race, the hellion called the “Angel of Death” counters with a marriage proposal!

Gabe knows Virginia's family is in dire financial straits—why shouldn’t she marry him and solve both their problems? She claims to be appalled by his proposal, but her response to his kisses says otherwise. So when the two begin to unravel the truth behind Roger’s death, Gabe takes the greatest gamble of all, offering the courageous beauty something more precious than any inheritance: true love.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Heather McCollum will read from MASQUERADE, the third book in her Dragonfly Chronicles series.

The Dragonfly Chronicles

Orphanage director by day, jewel thief by night. Using her magic to rob from the rich to keep the orphanage running seems like the perfect solution until Kat steals from the wrong man, a man who sees through her magic, a man who can see the scars she hides from the world.

Toren MacCallum is cursed. An old witch tore him from his sixteenth century world and threw him into the twenty-first century. But he’s found an ancient dragonfly necklace to bait the witch to return him to his time. For he must find a way home to save his sister and his clan from disappearing off the pages of history.

When a mysterious woman steals the necklace in front of a hundred witnesses, the witch, followed by a storm of demons, sends Kat and him to Elizabethan England. Toren agrees to return the necklace, but he won’t give up the greater prize, the thief who’s stolen his heart.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

And Lydia Dare will read from her newest release NEVER BEEN BIT, the final installment in her Gentlemen Vampyres series.

The glittering world of high society is the playground for the rich, titled, and reluctantly undead...

Alec MacQuarrie's after-life has become an endless search for pleasure in an effort to overcome his heartbreak and despair. Wandering through the seedy world of London's demimonde, he's changed into a dark and fearsome creature even he doesn't recognize until he stumbles into a magical lass he knew once upon a time and sees a glimpse of the life he could have had.

But the ton is no match for one incorrigible young lady...

After watching each of her coven sisters happily marry, Sorcha Ferguson is determined to capture a Lycan husband of her very own. When she encounters Alec, she decides to save her old friend from what he's become, all while searching for her own happily-ever-after.

Over his dead body is Alec going to allow this enchanting innocent to throw herself away on an unworthy werewolf, but that leaves him responsible for her, and he's the worst monster of them all...

Inaugural Salon!

2011-08-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled to invite you to the inaugural meeting of

Lady Jane's Salon Raleigh-Durham;

a reading salon designed to celebrate romantic fiction, featuring debut authors to bestsellers and every sub-genre of romance.

Join us Wednesday, September 28th for an evening of Good Company, Great Books & a Worthy Cause!

Our first salon will feature

Heather McCollum

Lydia Dare

and

NYT Bestseller Sabrina Jeffries

Admission is $5 or one gently used romance novel

All proceeds to benefit

The Shout Against the Whisper campaign against ovarian cancer

and

the Wake County Public Library system