Things You May Not Know About Me

For the last two blog posts I’ve been writing about the “real me.” That’s the Vanessa Kelly who writes sexy, Regency-set historical romance for Kensington Zebra. But I also have an alter-ego—V.K. Sykes, and under that name I write steamy contemporary romances.

But there’s even a bit of twist to my writing alter-ego: there are two of us jostling around under that one pen name. The other is my husband, Randy. Yep. We’re one of a rare breed in the romance writing world – a husband and wife team. Our first book was published last year with Carina Press, Harlequin’s digital first imprint. It’s called CaddyGirls, and it’s a sexy read about a young woman who’s an aspiring pro golfer, who supports herself by caddying for rich guys on the golf courses of Las Vegas. It’s a fun book, and hubby and I really enjoyed working on it together – even though we had the occasional argument about that thing guys really hate to talk about. I’m referring, of course, to emotions, and the need to have them in a romance novel. As you can imagine, I tended to carry the day in those discussions!

I’m happy to say that V.K. released another book this past June. We chose to take a different route from our last book – this time we’re indie published on Amazon, Smashwords, and Nook. The book is called Hardball and it’s another sexy contemporary romance, starring a hot baseball hero and a very serious surgeon as the heroine. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of heat between these two characters when they get together.

Here’s the blurb for Hardball:

After years of hard work and keeping her nose firmly to the grindstone, Dr. Holly Bell has finally achieved her dream: a position as a pediatric surgeon at a prestigious teaching hospital. Children’s lives rest in her skilled hands. That means total dedication to her work and her patients without letting anything or anyone get in the way. And a hot affair with a superstar athlete is most definitely getting in Holly’s way.

Nate Carter, star pitcher for the Philadelphia Patriots, has the world in the palm of his baseball glove. He’s at the height of his game, a west coast team is about to lure him with even greater riches, and the most gorgeous women in town are in full pursuit. Nate has everything he wants, or at least he thinks he does, until he meets the beautiful and brainy Dr. Holly Bell. He’s totally up for a hot affair, and Holly turns out to be the hottest.

But will Holly be willing to play his game? When the lovely doctor starts changing the rules, Nate realizes he just might be playing for keeps.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Very sexy fun, if I do say so myself! There’s also an element of suspense in this book, which really ups the stakes for Nate and Holly. To read an excerpt, please stop by our VK Sykes website. While you’re there, you can also have a look at the CaddyGirls excerpt too.

What about you, readers? Do you wish you had an alter-ego? If so, what would you chose to be? One person who comments will win a copy of Hardball.

When she’s not trying to figure out who she is, you can find Vanessa Kelly on the web at www.vanessakellyauthor.com. And when she’s working with her dear hubby, you can find her at www.vksykes.com.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Yesterday, I talked about my latest book, My Favorite Countess. In this post I’d like to chat a bit about my next book, His Mistletoe Bride. As you might surmise by the title, it’s a Christmas book (it comes out in October 2012). I had a great time writing it, partly because I got to research Christmas customs during the Regency era, which is the period in which my books are set. Much of what we recognize about Christmas didn’t develop until the Victorian period, when Prince Albert brought some of his German holiday traditions with him to England. And then there was Dickens, who also helped develop the modern version of seasonal celebrations in his famous story, A Christmas Carol.

But the folks in the Regency period also loved Christmas and they celebrated it with style, especially when it came to food and drink. One of the most treasured traditions of the time was the partaking of the Wassail Bowl, a beverage we would recognize today as mulled wine. There were many different recipes for Wassail, each family carefully passing down their particular version from one generation to the next.

Here’s a description from antiquarian Geoffrey Gent, describing one passing of the communal bowl:

“When the cloth was removed, the butler brought in a huge silver vessel of rare and curious workmanship, which he placed before the Squire. Its appearance was hailed with acclimation; being the Wassail Bowl, so renowned in Christmas festivity. The contents had been prepared by the Squire himself; alleging that it was too abstruse and complex for the comprehension of an ordinary servant. It was a potation, indeed, that might well make the heart of a toper leap within him; being composed of the richest and raciest of wines, highly spiced and sweetened, with roasted apples bobbing about the surface.”

Rich and racy—sounds good to me!

I may not have my own family recipe for Wassail, but I do have one of my mother’s old Christmas cookie recipes. When I was a kid these cookies were my favorite, and I still love them. Give them a try—I bet you’ll love them too!

Flora’s Russian Tea Balls

Preheat oven to 300F

1 cup softened butter
¼ cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon water
2 cups flour (sifted)
1 cup chopped pecans

Cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in water. Add flour and blend thoroughly. Stir in nuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Cool before removing from sheet. Roll in frosting, then flaked coconut (optional).

Frosting:
4 cups confectioner’s sugar
½ cup milk

And what’s the Christmas Season without a little gift-giving? I’d like to give out another one of my books today: my first historical romance, Mastering The Marquess. Just tell me what your favorite Christmas recipe is. One person who comments will win a copy of the book!

Vanessa Kelly writes Regency-set historical romance for Kensington Zebra, and has been named by Booklist as “one of the new stars of historical romance.” She recently won the Maggie Award for Best Historical Romance for her second book, Sex And The Single Earl. You can find her on the web at: www.vanessakellyauthor.com.

I've Got A Secret

Hey, folks! I’m Vanessa Kelly and I write Regency-set historical romance. I’ve got lots of things I’d love for us to talk about, and books to give away over the next three days. Let’s get started, shall we? Today’s topic, as you can tell by the header of this post, is secrets.

Who doesn’t love a good secret? There’s nothing like that little zing you get from being in the know—to have access to info that no one else seems to have. But a secret can also be a heavy burden that weighs on the soul, and it can make life very, very complicated.

In my latest Regency-set historical romance, My Favorite Countess, my heroine keeps lots of secrets, including hiding her true nature from most everyone she knows. To the world, Bathsheba is a beautiful but hard-hearted woman who cares for no one but herself. She does very little to dispel that impression as she sweeps through the ton, levelling people right and left with her scathing intellect and devastating wit. Trust me. If you get on Bathsheba’s bad side, you’ll be sorry!

Why the heck, you may ask, did I make this type of woman the heroine of my book? It’s because of her secrets. You see, Bathsheba first appeared as the villainess of my second book, Sex And The Single Earl, but even in that story the reasons for her rather nefarious actions seemed motivated by something more than greed or selfishness. As I went deeper into her character I discovered those motivations—she is fiercely loyal to her family, and is determined to protect them from hardship at all costs. Bathsheba suffered several tragedies when she was young, tragedies that made her responsible for the well-being of those weaker than she is. She’ll do what she has to in order to keep them safe, and the hell with what others might think of her.

Bathsheba has a lot of pride, too. So rather than beg for help or reveal the scandals in her past, she’s created a diamond-hard facade to protect herself and her family from the discovery of those secrets. Most people can’t see past her facade, but one man can. Yep. He’s my hero—the intelligent, noble-minded, and very sexy doctor, John Blackmore. As a man who has devoted his life to helping those in need, John is determined to get past Bathsheba’s secrets to find the woman within. Bathsheba, naturally, wants nothing of that, but John proves to be her Achilles’ heel. Their encounters are passionate and deeply felt and I loved writing about them.

By the way, I have a secret of my own I’d like to share with you. It’s about my writing life and it’s…well, all I can say is that you should stop by for my Wednesday blog post to find out all about it! But for now, let’s keep talking about secrets.

Do you like books that contain lots of secrets? Do you crave heroes who are dark and mysterious and drive the heroine crazy? And what about all those secret baby stories—love or hate? One person who comments will win a copy of My Favorite Countess.

Vanessa Kelly writes Regency-set historical romance for Kensington Zebra, and has been named by Booklist as “one of the new stars of historical romance.” My Favorite Countess was recently nominated for an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Regency Historical Romance. You can find her on the web at: www.vanessakellyauthor.com.