Katherine Longshore keeps getting better and better. In my opinion, BRAZEN (The Royal Circle, Book 3) is her best book yet!

Mary Howard has always lived in the shadow of her powerful family. But when she’s married off to Henry Fitzroy, King Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, she rockets into the Tudor court’s inner circle. Mary and “Fitz” join a tight clique of rebels who test the boundaries of court’s strict rules with their games, dares, and flirtations. The more Mary gets to know Fitz, the harder she falls for him, but is forbidden from seeing him alone. The rules of court were made to be pushed…but pushing them too far means certain death. Is true love worth dying for?

Kimberly’s Review of BRAZEN:

I’ve never been one to lean in the direction of historical fiction until I started reading Katherine Longshore’s books and BRAZEN is my favorite to date. Her writing just keeps getting better and better. It’s so rare to find a book that is historically educational while also as tantalizing and swoon worthy as a very popular romance. An amazing read.

Mary Howard and Henry FitzRoy are chess pieces in the very real and dangerous games being played in King Henry VIII’s court. But love has a power all it’s own and Longshore gives us front row seats to the danger and intrigue. You do not want to miss your chance to be a part of this. Read BRAZEN–better yet–read GILT, TARNISH and then BRAZEN asap!

You can pre-order BRAZEN by Katherine Longshore here…

*Amazon

*Barnes & Noble

*IndieBound

Having spent time as a freelance travel writer, travel agent, coffee shop barista, bookseller, ship’s steward, construction company contracts manager and Montessori preschool teacher, I have finally found my calling. I write historical fiction for young adults. I am represented by Catherine Drayton of InkWell Management.

You can find out more about Katherine Longshore and BRAZEN here…

*Website

*Twitter

*Facebook

*Goodreads

*YA Muses

Want to know what other must-reads the Bookanistas have been consuming? You’re in for a treat…

Lenore Appelhans is nuts for NOGGIN by John Corey Whaley

Tracy Banghart swoons for STAR CURSED by Jessica Spotswood

Rebecca Behrens raves about PUSH GIRL by Bookanista Jessica Love

Christine Fonseca is riveted by SEKRET by Lindsay Smith

Jessica Love sings the praises of OPEN ROAD SUMMER by Emery Lord

Katy Upperman is crazy for THE SYMPTOMS OF MY INSANITY by Mindy Raf

If you could read a historical fiction about any time period in history, what time frame would you like to see between the pages of a good book? I want to hear more about the Berlin Wall and what that felt like for families separated and trying to get home to each other. Okay historical fiction writers–get on that for me.

Tags: Bookanistas, Brazen, Gilt, Historical Fiction, Katherine Longshore, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, review, Tarnish, YA Author, YA Book, YA Muses, Yanarella School of Dance

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 Squee!!!!! It’s SCARLET #2 aka LADY THIEF by A. C. Gaughen. I’ve been waiting forever to sneak back into Scarlet’s world and hang out with my boyfriend Robin. <3

Scarlet’s true identity has been revealed, but her future is uncertain. Her forced marriage to Lord Gisbourne threatens Robin and Scarlet’s love, and as the royal court descends upon Nottingham for the appointment of a new Sheriff, the people of Nottingham hope that Prince John will appoint their beloved Robin Hood. But Prince John has different plans for Nottingham that revolve around a fateful secret from Scarlet’s past even she isn’t yet aware of. Forced to participate at court alongside her ruthless husband, Scarlet must bide her time and act the part of a noblewoman—a worthy sacrifice if it means helping Robin’s cause and a chance at a future with the man she loves. With a fresh line of intrigue and as much passion as ever, the next chapter in Scarlet’s tale will have readers talking once again.

Kimberly’s Review of LADY THIEF:

Dear A. C. Gaughen,

The sheer awesomeness of this book is driving me crazy. Scarlet is a serious badass, but sweeter than ever at the exact same time. How did you manage to pull that off? And that thing you did with Gisbourne–too many feels for a character I dislike as much as him. He’s such the perfect creeper. And about my favorite band of merry men. I still love them all *crushing hard* but how could you??? It was amazing it was awful. It was shocking–yes that’s what it was–it was shocking!!!! So this leaves me with one BIG question–WHEN DO I GET TO READ SCARLET #3??????

Love,
Me

You can order LADY THIEF by A. C. Gaughen here…

*Amazon

*Barnes & Noble

*IndieBound

ok, no, AC does not stand for ACCUWEATHER.  but last time i tried googling myself, the first thing that comes up when i type “ac” is “accuweather.”  go figure. 

i’ve been madly in love with writing since I was in kindergarten.  not kidding–some of my earliest memories revolve around books and writing, like reading in front of the class, reading with my mother, and writing a story in first grade that was so funny (it dealt with a gorilla finding someone naked in the shower, and was, sadly, the culmination of my humor writing skills) it got me kicked out of class.  which was also the first and last time for that.

no that’s a lie. in third grade i got detention for ripping bark off a tree.

i know, i’m a rebel.

from there, it was a long road.  i wrote all through middle school and starting submitting novels (I hope I still have those very kind, gentle rejection letters somewhere) when I was thirteen.  ACK you have no idea how bad those novels looked.  All through high school I was writing in a notebook instead of taking class notes (explaining the less than perfect GPA).  It was always novels for me–the first time I seriously wrote short stories was at the end of my college career, to get into my graduate program, and it felt awkward and weird.

but i got in to grad school, wrote like a fiend, and when i graduated i spent three miserable years as a freelance writer while working on several different novels.  I wrote them, prepped them, submitted them, and kept on working, because as far as I can tell, the actual writing is the only thing that i can control, and it’s the part that really makes me happy. oh, and i have two dogs.  because every writer should have dogs. 

You can find out more about A. C. Gaughen and LADY THIEF here…

*Website

*Blog

*Tumblr

*Twitter

*Facebook

*Goodreads

Want to know what other badass books the Bookanistas are reading? Here’s a list…

Jessica Love is captivated by LIV, FOREVER by Amy Talkington

Katy Upperman praises PANIC by Lauren Oliver

Christine Fonseca applauds DANGEROUS by Shannon Hale

Lenore Appelhans is riveted by THE GLASS CASKET by McCormick Templeman

Scarlet is a wiz at getting in and out of tight places undetected. If you could be really good at one Navy Seal style skill (no super powers please) what would you choose? I think I’d have to go with absolutely NO fear of heights with some really good balance for extra measure. LOL!

Tags: A. C. Gaughen, Bookanistas, Historical Fiction, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Lady Thief, review, Scarlet, YA, YA Author, YA Book

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Hello Friday! What took you so long to get here??? Even though this week seemed endless, with very little sleep, it also simultaneously sped by at the speed of light. Yup. That’s exactly how it happened. Trust me. I’m feeling the need to recap, mash things up and write in bullets today. It may be the lack of sleep thing. Just go with it.

*Don’t forget you still have time to support a great film…PROMISE LAND…and earn yourself one of five signed copies of TOUCHING THE SURFACE or a 10 page ms critique from me. GO HERE!!!!

*The winner of the caption contest is….

At 11:02 am A.N.Remtulla said:

Your mouse? I eated it.

I’m still chuckling about that one. <3 Beans loves a good mousey. Reeces on the other hand loves a good hair elastic. Cat diversity.

*I’ll be at BEA on Friday May 31st!!!! I’ll be having lunch with my spectacular agent and hunting down ARCs with my roomie from last year, Lisa Lueddecke. <3 It’s our friendship’s one year anniversary!!! I’m also hoping to finally see Rachel Simmons in person. We just miss each other every where we go. LOL! I’m also going to miss my girl, Grace Smith who made me smile every time I saw her last year. 🙁 Hoping to see a bunch of people who I connected with last year and of course make some new face to face friends. If you see me, don’t let me pass you by–I’m a little bit of a spaz when it comes to remembering names of cyber friends and then attaching them to real live people. HELP ME OUT!!!!

*On June 2nd I’ll be participating in the Chronogram Kids & Family Fun Day. When I have more information on the author panel, I’ll let you know.

*Interesting observation: I’ve been cleaning and prepping the house for sale and I’ve been writing and revising. One of those things burns a lot more calories than the other. Damn.

*On June 12th I’ll be a guest speaker at the Orange County Librarians Dinner. I’m super stoked about that!!!! Watch out Orange County Librarians, I’m giddy with excitement about hanging with you.

*And I’ll leave you with my very entertaining Goodreads review of…

“I’ll be honest. My boys and I LOVE Roald Dahl books. All of them. Rather than review this book in my predictably gushy manner, I thought I would tell you a funny story that happened during our nightly reading sessions…

For those unfamiliar with the story, a grandmother is instructing her grandson on the multiple ways one might recognize a witch in disguise. While giving this info to my eight year old, he checked me over to confirm that I was indeed, not a witch. When he heard they wore itchy wigs, he checked my hair line. He investigated my toes and fingers for cat like claws and block like feet without toes.I thought I’d passed inspection, but a few days later, I caught him staring deeply into my eyes. (There had been a mention of a witches pupils being multicolored.) After a good hard look, he pronounced that I was definitely not a witch–I didn’t have multicolored NIPPLES. I corrected him and indicated that he meant PUPILS. His response was…whatever…it’s the same thing.

And there you have folks.”

I figure I’ve given you enough information for the comments without having to light your way. ROTFL! Have a fabulous holiday weekend. I WILL NOT BE BLOGGING ON MONDAY (Memorial Day) I’ll be picnicking and celebrating my 12yo’s graduation and move up to middle school. I’ll also be very busy being proud to be an American. May the force be with you!

Tags: BEA, Caption Contest, Chronogram, Contest, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Memorial Day, Orange County Librarians, PROMISE LAND, review, revising, Roald Dahl, The Witches, Touching the Surface, writing

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