Epic Romances - now half-price or less!

If you love romances and historical fiction set in the distant, exotic past, then please take a look at these titles. They are now half-price or less and a real bargain.

"Blue Gold" is my epic historical adventure and romance set in ancient Egypt. It's well over 100,000 words and is now just $2.99 at Bookstrand.

 General Fiction, Mainstream Romance, Historical, Historical
Word Count: 124,400
Heat Level: SENSUAL
Published By: Siren-BookStrand, Inc.

This title is offered at a 50% discount. Offer ends midnight CST, February 14th.

[BookStrand Historical Romance]

Ancient Egypt, 1560 B.C.

Ruling Upper Egypt from Thebes, Pharaoh Sekenenre has many enemies. Aweserre, whose grandfather seized the crown of Lower Egypt. Kamose and Ahhotpe, his son and daughter, who plot to rule in his place. And, most dangerous, the storm-god Set.

It is a time of famine. To prosper a man must be civilized and ruthless. Ramose, priest and Vizier, is all of these. Kasa, a farmer, must learn to be like him to survive. Neith, wife of Ramose, is driven, first to drink, then to courage. Hathor, who killed her son, finds love, desertion, then a second chance at love. Tiyi, the gentle masseuse, is desired by many, but desires only one.

Watched by the gods of Egypt, the conflict reaches its climax in war. The pyramids, a thousand years old when the story begins, play a crucial part.

Behind all is the God Set, with his question: 'What am I?'

"The God Set or Seth in ancient Egyptian mythology is a mystery, represented by a strange animal. In 'Blue Gold' I set out to explore this mystery in the most direct and exciting way I could. And I've always loved the pyramids!"

You can see reviews and read excerpts of "Blue Gold" here

Do you love the lush, sensual world of ancient Rome? Then please consider my sexy erotic romance, "Escape to Love," a story I wrote to explore that world. From today it's only $0.99 from

Bookstrand. 

Severus is a slave, dragged from the fields to an uncertain future. Warned to expect no mercy from a mysterious young woman who comes to him in the night, he learns that his natural father is his owner, Calvus, and that he has a half-brother, Thallus.

Thallus has no sexual interest in women but he is desperate for an heir. Severus and Thallus' sexy young wife Lydia, whom Severus recognizes as the mystery woman who warned him, are sent to the family palace at Baiae and expected to breed.

Lydia, used to an unconsummated, loveless marriage, is intrigued by the handsome Severus and appalled by her husband's and father-in-law's treatment of him. She finds herself anticipating their lovemaking. She also wants to help Severus to escape because she knows that once he has served his purpose, Thallus and Calvus will never let him live.

They have just a month to escape.

 This title is offered at a 60% discount. Offer ends midnight CST, December 12th.
Reviews and excerpts here

If the world of ancient Rome and ancient Britain draws you, please try my novel, "Flavia's Secret," set in ancient Roman Bath.
 
"Flavia's Secret." $0.99 from Bookstrand.  A full length novel of 83,000 words for just 99 Cents!

How Far Dare You Trust Your Lover? Especially When He is Also Your Master? 

"Flavia's Secret" is a historical romance novel of 83,000 words. It's a sensual historical romance set in Roman Britain.

Spirited young scribe Flavia hopes for freedom. She and her fellow slaves in Aquae Sulis (modern Bath) have served the Lady Valeria for many years, but their mistress' death brings a threat to Flavia's dream: her new master Marcus Brucetus, a charismatic, widowed officer toughened in the forests of Germania. Flavia finds him overwhelmingly attractive but she is aware of the danger. To save her life and those of her 'family' she has forged a note from her mistress. If her deception is discovered, all the slaves may die.

For his part torn between attraction and respect, Marcus will not force himself on Flavia. Flavia by now knows of his grief over the deaths of his wife Drusilla and child. But how can she match up to the serene, flame-haired Drusilla?

As the wild mid-winter festival of Saturnalia approaches, many lives will be changed forever.

You can see reviews for "Flavia's Secret" and read excerpts here

Lindsay Townsend

Four bookmarks for 'Escape to Love'

I've had a four-bookmark review from Wild on Books for my erotic ancient Rome story Escape to Love. Natalie S. says:

"Lindsay Townsend’s ability to weave historical tales with the amount of passion and sensuality has me completely hooked. ESCAPE TO LOVE is timeless and true love lasts forever and is able to scale all heights. Severus and Lydia beat the odds and for that I am glad.

ESCAPE TO LOVE is available at Siren Publishing. Lovers of historical romance will be thrilled with this steamy and sweet novella. I know I was!"

The review is here.

Romantic Roman flowers for Valentine's Day

As a forerunner to Valentine's Day, and with Flavia's Secret and Escape to Love in mind, I thought I'd talk about some romantic Roman flowers. Some are surprising. Some are popular even today.

Sweet violet is a pretty, sweet-smelling flower used, like the anemone and the madonna lily, in garlands at Roman banquets. The scent was believed to ward off drunkenness! The Romans loved the scent of violets and even drank wine infused with violets and honey.

Vervain is a dull-looking plant but one which the Romans believed held magical proprieties. Believed to bring good luck, it was used in love potions.

Roman brides used mint for their garlands, and their faces may have been cleansed with a facepack made from the juice of yellow elecampane, because it was believed that Helen of Troy was collecting the flower when Paris abducted her.

Then as now however, the most popular romantic flower was the rose. Roses were grown in Campania for sale and the streets in Rome were red with rose garlands. They were known as flowers of seduction - Cleopatra was rumoured to have seduced Mark Anthony with rose petals. I'll leave it to your imagination as to how!

(Painting by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and drawings of sweet violet, elecampane and mint from Wikimedia Commons.)

Five cherries for 'Escape to Love'

Thank you, Daisy at Whipped Cream Reviews, for giving five cherries to Escape to Love! Here's part of her review:

"It's very clear that the author did her research, and knows her facts about the Roman Empire. I found those little details she incorporated about everyday life fascinating and they greatly enriched the plot. Parts of this story were laugh out loud funny, and others were just how I like my romance: Hot."

The full review is here and the book is here.

5 Angel Review for 'Escape to Love'

I am delighted with this 5 Angel Review from Kimber for my erotic historical romance, Escape to Love!

"Escape To Love is a rare erotic romance set in Roman times. The unique setting prompts equally unique sexual positions and variations. The writing sparkles, the research is well woven in, and the emotion builds. Severus is strong yet gallant. The first scene made me sympathetic to his situation. Lydia is witty and brave. Together, they work as a couple. Escape To Love is a extraordinary read."

http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/2008/December/Kimber-EscapeToLove.htm

Best wishes, Lindsay
http://lindsaysbookchat.blogspot.com

A Christmas "Ghost" story

In Britain, there is a tradition of telling ghost stories around Christmas.

Here is mine. It's not a traditional ghost story but I hope you enjoy it. It begins like this....


THE BEACH.

I was born seventeen years ago, in the year of our Lord 900. I give the Christian date because I respect Jesus Christ, who cares for slaves, although I will never worship him. Forgiveness is a creed I do not understand.
The name I was given at birth is not important; the villagers of Oslo never used it. They called me a charmer. Or a witch.
Perhaps I was a witch. I hated water and was afraid of the sea. Once, running along the beach with apples, fleeing the tide, I fell and turned an ankle.
A Viking found me. We knew each other by sight, Bjorn Askson and I. Once, on market day in Oslo, he blew me a kiss. He had been drinking, but I did not care. The way he looked at me then passed straight into my memories. Bjorn was handsome, with the piercing glance of a dragon ship. As different from the man who owned me, the paunchy wizard Gagnrad, as a body could be.
Now Bjorn swung down from his horse and lifted me out of that mess of crushed reed-weave, sand and apples. Gently, as if I was one of his precious bales, the silk-stuff which he traded and which made him rich. He set me on his mount before him.
Neither of us spoke. Gagnrad was always scolding me to take care, not to rush so recklessly, nor speak so boldly, forthright as a free-woman. I was silent and still. I tried not to think about Gagnrad. I leaned back against Bjorn Askson's body, imagining, in as many ways as possible, what it would be like to enjoy that well-shaped mouth.
Bjorn smiled, brushing back the tendrils of blonde hair plastered against my cheek by water. I felt his fingers tighten round my waist. He bent his head.
'You are free to choose.’ He slackened his grip. 'I am not Gagnrad.'

Read the rest here.

ESCAPE TO LOVE- SIZZLING EROTIC ROMANCE! OUT NOW!
http://www.sirenpublishing.com/lindsaytownsend/etl.asp
FLAVIA'S SECRET - sensual historical romance set in Roman Britain.
Bookstrand www.bookstrand.com 4.5 Red Roses and Blue Ribbons. 4
Books. Book of the Week at LASR 4 Stars.
http://www.bookstrand.com/product-flaviassecret-11087-330.html
A SECRET TREASURE - romantic suspense set on Rhodes. Bookstrand. The
perfect holiday read. 5 Stars. 4.5 Red Roses. 4
Cups. 5 Angels. 4 Books. 4 Bookmarks
http://www.bookstrand.com/product-asecrettreasure-11086-330.html
A KNIGHT'S VOW - Kensington Zebra and Kindle editions. Passionate
medieval romance. 5 Red Roses. 4.5 Blue Ribbons.4 Stars
A KNIGHT'S CAPTIVE - Kensington Zebra. Forthcoming, April 2009.

Siren-Bookstrand Christmas Party

Hi! Join us for a full weekend on December 20 and 21st when we party away for Christmas!

It's all happening next weekend on the Siren-Bookstrand Group:

Christmas Crackers - Contests. Prizes. Hunks. Christmas Stocking Fillers. (Need a last minute gift? Our Stocking Fillers could give you that perfect present - especially to yourself. There will be excerpts galore to savour, from Christmas -themed stories and from other stories.)

Christmas Dreams. Share your hopes and wishes for this festive season. Be transported as our writers share their 'Couples' First Christmases.' What happens to your favourite characters at Christmas? Here's a chance to find out!

Christmas Times. Come and join in as we chat about Christmas past and present and share good memories and stories. Tell us your favourite Christmas song. Wow us with your best Christmas memory.

Christmas Fun. Recipes. Candies. Drinks. Chatter. Jokes.

All welcome! Tell your friends. Come as and when you can - it's all weekend on December 20-21st, right here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SirenBookstrand/

Best wishes, Lindsay

Lindsay Townsend

ESCAPE TO LOVE- SIZZLING EROTIC ROMANCE! OUT NOW!
http://www.sirenpublishing.com/lindsaytownsend/etl.asp

FLAVIA'S SECRET - sensual historical romance set in Roman Britain.
Bookstrand www.bookstrand.com 4.5 Red Roses and Blue Ribbons. 4
Books. Book of the Week at LASR 4 Stars.
http://www.bookstrand.com/product-flaviassecret-11087-330.html

A SECRET TREASURE - sweet romantic suspense set on Rhodes. Bookstrand. The
perfect holiday read. www.bookstrand.com 5 Stars. 4.5 Red Roses. 4
Cups. 5 Angels. 4 Books. 4 Bookmarks
http://www.bookstrand.com/product-asecrettreasure-11086-330.html

[Mistletoe and ribbon from http://www.clipartof.com]

Author Discovery: Escape to Love

Escape to Love
by Lindsay Townsend

Categories: EROTIC Romance Historical
Word Count: 15,753
Heat Level: SIZZLING

Blurb ~
Severus is a slave, dragged from the fields to an uncertain future. Warned to expect no mercy from a mysterious young woman who comes to him in the night, he learns that his natural father is his owner, Calvus, and that he has a half-brother, Thallus.

Thallus has no sexual interest in women but he is desperate for an heir. Severus and Thallus' sexy young wife Lydia, whom Severus recognizes as the mystery woman who warned him, are sent to the family palace at Baiae and expected to breed.

Lydia, used to an unconsummated, loveless marriage, is intrigued by the handsome Severus and appalled by her husband's and father-in-law's treatment of him. She finds herself anticipating their lovemaking. She also wants to help Severus to escape because she knows that once he has served his purpose, Thallus and Calvus will never let him live.

They have just a month to escape.

Excerpt ~ http://www.sirenpublishing.com/lindsaytownsend/etl.asp ~

~~~~~~

Author Review by Savanna Kougar

Lindsay Townsend’s ESCAPE TO LOVE is a delicious and exciting escape into another time. I adored all the different historical aspects that was the Roman world during *AD 125 * ~ especially how they were used to create the story and the growing love between Lydia and Severus.
As honorable as the handsome, strong Severus was in his caring treatment of Lydia it was the heroine, Lydia, who truly won my heart with her intelligence and cleverness in bringing about their opportunity to escape the horrors waiting for them both.
However, like the true hero he is, Severus defends his Lydia when it matters most, winning my heart for him as well.
On a personal note, I wouldn’t mind resurrecting some of those erotic practices supposedly designed to bring about a woman’s fertility. My goodness, did Lydia and Severus enjoy themselves during their breeding sessions.

Savanna

Savanna Kougar ~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~ http://savannakougar.com ~

Other times, other places...

Want to know how it felt to bathe in a Roman bath?
Want to know what to do if faced by a boar with piglets?
Want to know how to fight with a wooden sword?
Want to enjoy a Roman banquet?
Want to know what went on at the Saturnalia?
Want to know about corrupt protection rackets?
Want to know how one Roman master felt about his slave girl?

Read my Flavia's Secret - set in ancient Roman Bath.

Want to know about ancient Roman aphrodisiacs?
Want to know what position the philosopher Lucretius said was best for making love?
Want to know if Lydia and Severus can escape to love?

Read my Escape to Love - set in ancient Rome.

Best wishes, Lindsay.

Escape to Love - out today

Severus is a slave, dragged from the fields to an uncertain future. Warned to expect no mercy from a mysterious young woman who comes to him in the night, he learns that his natural father is his owner, Calvus, and that he has a half-brother, Thallus.

Thallus has no sexual interest in women but he is desperate for an heir. Severus and Thallus' sexy young wife Lydia, whom Severus recognizes as the mystery woman who warned him, are sent to the family palace at Baiae and expected to breed.

Lydia, used to an unconsummated, loveless marriage, is intrigued by the handsome Severus and appalled by her husband's and father-in-law's treatment of him. She finds herself anticipating their lovemaking. She also wants to help Severus to escape because she knows that once he has served his purpose, Thallus and Calvus will never let him live.

They have just a month to escape.

http://www.sirenpublishing.com/lindsaytownsend/etl.asp

Categories: EROTIC Romance Historical
Word Count: 15,753
Heat Level: SIZZLING
Price: $2.50

If you want to see all my ancient world novels - historical romance set in ancient Egypt, ancient Krete, ancient Britain, ancient Rome - please see my author page at Bookstrand:

http://www.bookstrand.com/authors/lindsaytownsend/

Best wishes, Lindsay

Eight Reasons Why I Love Historical Romance

When I was first published, I began as a writer of modern romantic suspense. I still love that genre but writing for Kensington and Bookstrand has given me the chance to return to my first love, historical romance.

"Why do you like it so much?" a friend asked me over coffee recently. "History is the past. Everyone's dead!" That made me think - WHY do I like historicals and history so much? I suppose in a wider sense we all live always in the past - we are a collection of past memories and experiences that forms us and makes us what we are.

Here are 8 more reasons why I love the genre:

1. The chance for high stakes and adventure. (This is where history and romantic suspense tend to come close together and perhaps why so writers of romantic suspense such as Mary Stewart tend to write both historicals and moderns.) In a historical romance, I can choose when and where to set the story, so I choose to set my stories in situations of great personal conflict and outer tension. With my ancient historical novel, FLAVIA'S SECRET, set in ancient Roman Britain in AD206, the stakes for Flavia and the hero Marcus are life and death. To save her life and the lives of her fellow slaves, Flavia has forged a vital document, and she does not know if she can trust her new master Marcus, to whom she is also passionately attracted. For his part, Marcus wishes to expose a corrupt and brutal Roman official, the Decurion Lucius Maximus, a man who, if crossed, is quite happy to commit murder.

The whole issue of slavery is also explored in FLAVIA'S SECRET - it's many terrors and cruelties. There is also love and tenderness, as there was in the Roman world itself, where we have gravestones showing that masters did free and marry their slave-women companions.

2. Glorious heroes. In the past, the roles of men have been perhaps more defined by martial qualities, by their roles as warriors. This can lead to unpleasant, brutish individuals but I like to explore its other positive aspect in my historicals - the man as a valiant protector. I love the idea of a strong man who can rescue the heroine. So in FLAVIA’S SECRET and my forthcoming title, A SECRET TREASURE, I have the heroes Marcus and Julio care for and protect the heroines Flavia and Eve - who also care for and protect them.

3. Enterprising Heroines. Because women sadly are still oppressed in many parts of the world and were particularly oppressed in the past, writing about my heroines in a past where they were automatically belittled simply because of their sex gives me lots of opportunities for conflict. My heroines must battle for their places in the world and they do so, with their wits and beauty and knowledge. Often in the past women could also be powerful figures - think of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Cleopatra - with control of lands and men. I like to explore that in my stories, too and I think it's very empowering for women.

4. Exotic and Exciting Settings. I can show cathedrals and castles when they were new or being built. Living in the United Kingdom, I can explore many part of the medieval and Roman worlds - as I did when I set FLAVIA’S SECRET in the Roman baths at Bath. (This is a wonderful, sensual, sexy setting!) For my next Bookstrand title, A SECRET TREASURE, due on September 2, I explore the beautiful city of Rhodes on the island of Rhodes, adding a twist by suggesting how the island may have looked in the late 1930s.

I can also show the pyramids when they still had their white limestone coverings and Egyptian temples when they were vibrant places of faith, as I do in my forthcoming Bookstrand historical BLUE GOLD. I can also use the setting in a more intimate way, as I do in another forthcoming Siren historical ESCAPE TO LOVE, where the hero and heroine are at the Roman holiday resort of Baiae, infamous even then for its wild boating parties and debauchery.

5. Lovely costumes. I know this is possibly a frivolous reason for enjoying writing about the past, but throughout history there have been some truly spectacular fashions! Read about what Roman and Egyptian women really wore in my books and you'll see why I like them so much. And I must admit, I'm a sucker for a man in armor...

6. Insight and empathy. A historical novel can really take you back, in imagination, to a different world and time. It can give you a glimpse into what people might have felt. And people in the past did think very differently to us. A novel can take you into that past, provide a bridge between what people believed then and ourselves. I tried to do that in FLAVIA’S SECRET, where I touch on the pagan beliefs of Marcus and of Flavia herself - she is Christian, but her faith is different to modern beliefs, because of her experience.

7. Play and fun. The past is indeed 'over'. New documents or witnesses might appear but I don't have the particular problem of a writer devising stories in our contemporary world, where imaginary events can sometimes be overtaken by real ones. (This happened to me with one of my modern romantic thrillers, where I set a scene in the famous Italian opera house, La Fenice. Soon after the book came out, La Fenice burned down. It's now rebuilt, but I felt very awkward for a long time!) I can use the 'gaps' in the historical record to flex my own imagination. The old 'What If?' scenario. This is great fun for a fiction writer! In my upcoming historical romance, A SECRET TREASURE, I used 'What if' to consider the following: 'What if a priceless classical treasure was just waiting to be discovered in the then ruined palace of the Grand masters on Rhodes, a palace rebuilt by the Fascists in 1940 as a holiday home for Mussolini?' After I'd posed that question, I just filled in the gaps!

8. The drama of the past itself. A world without phones, internet, safe transport, or amazing life-saving surgery can be useful if you want to to add to your characters' conflicts and problems. I do this towards the end of both FLAVIA'S SECRET and A SECRET TREASURE, where vital 'breakdowns' in communication happen between Marcus and Flavia and Julio and Eve. This is something a modern character could solve simply by making a call on a cellphone!

Lindsay Townsend
http://lindsaysbookchat.blogspot.com/