It's the start of my INVITATION TO ROMANCE Blog Tour. 

The WINNER of a copy of Shana's A Rogue Pirate's Bride is Pam Brewer. We'll be in touch Pam. Thanks everyone for taking part. Nicola Cornick is now in the house with DESIRED.

Beginning April 27th, I will be traveling throughout the blogosphere telling people about my newest book, INVITATION TO SCANDAL. At most places I'll be giving away a copy of INVITATION TO SCANDAL to a random commenter (open to US and international residents).  I'll also be having guest authors visiting my blog. If you win and read the book, I'd love to hear what you think OR even better leave a review somewhere!

The Book Tour Grand Prize – A $200 Amazon, or B&N, Voucher PLUS… A Book Basket of 30 ‘SIGNED by the AUTHORS’ books…

I'd love to welcome one of my favorite historical authors to my blog for the start of the INVITATION TO ROMANCE blog tour.

Shana and I have only met in cyber space but she has been so friendly and supportive that I'm thrilled to start my blog tour with her as my guest.

She's just released a fabulous book, THE ROGUE PIRATE'S BRIDE. Here's what RT Book Reviews had to say...

"Galen pulls out all the stops, striking a balance between romance and adventure that will leave readers breathless and highly satisfied."
—RT Book Reviews

What's not to love about a Rogue or a Pirate!

Why I Write Romance

by Shana Galen
author of The Rogue Pirate’s Bride

I never set out to be a writer. When I was younger, I didn’t even realize it was a career. I don’t know where I thought all of the Stephen King and Anne Rice books I devoured came from, but I didn’t ever think about the person behind the book.

But I always enjoyed writing—essays, stories, poems, songs, everything. Once I became a high school teacher, I started thinking about writing a book of my own. I didn’t want to write a romance, but I couldn’t seem to think of any other sorts of stories. So I started writing a romance, and I kept it a secret because I knew there was a stigma attached to reading romances, and I couldn’t begin to imagine the stigma attached to writing them.

I remember one summer I took a writing class offered by a local group. The instructor and the participants were not romance-friendly. Over and over again, the instructor said, “You have so much talent! Why don’t you write a real story?” It made me angry enough that I decided to tell everyone I was writing an historical romance, and I never looked back.

The Rogue Pirate’s Bride is my eleventh published novel. By the way, I’m the only one of those “real” writers from the class who went on to publish a book (or eleven). The heroine in The Rogue Pirate’s Bride is a lot like how I wished I would have been early in my career. Raeven doesn’t make apologies or worry about what others will think. She’s the daughter of a British admiral and knows more about sailing than most men. In a time when women were expected to stay home and embroider, Raeven does not fit the mold. [CLUE ONE: WHO]

Fortunately, Bastien appreciates a girl who doesn’t fit the mold. He likes Raeven’s feisty personality and the fact that she knows how to shoot a pistol and fire a cannon. He even kind of likes that she has it in for him. She’s been trying to kill him for almost a year as payback for killing her fiancé in a naval battle. There’s nothing so much fun as a hero and heroine who hate one another and can’t seem to stop themselves from falling in love.

It reminds me of a certain high school English teacher who couldn’t stop herself from writing romances.

What’s your favorite kind of romance? Enemies? Friends turned lovers? Marriage of convenience? Something else? One person who comments will be randomly chosen to win a copy of The Rogue Pirate’s Bride. Open internationally!

Shana Galen is the bestselling author of fast-paced adventurous Regency historicals, including the RT Reviewers’ Choice The Making of a Gentleman. Her books have been sold worldwide, in countries such as Japan, Brazil, Russia, Spain, Turkey, and the Netherlands, and have been featured in the Rhapsody and Doubleday Book Clubs. A former English teacher in Houston’s inner city, Shana now writes full time. She’s a wife, a mother, and an expert multi-tasker. She loves to hear from readers: visit her website at www.shanagalen.com or see what she’s up to daily on Facebook and Twitter.