Surprise Announcement!

Hey there, loyal readers, I'm back!  No, I'm not dead, I was just out of commission for a while. Fortunately, I have some great news. Three items of great news, actually.

First, I have a surprise for you. AmazonCrossing, the foreign language publishing imprint for Amazon, has acquired the German rights for Mail Order Regrets. The translation is finished, and the book is slated for release on March 10th. However, it is available for pre-order now, for those of you who are eligible to purchase books from Amazon DE.

 Here is the link: http://www.amazon.de/Braut-postwendend-Julianna-Blake-ebook/dp/B00SC2GIYU/ 

Are you curious about the cover? So was I! Here it is:

What do you think?

For anyone who wants the German translation, but lives in the US, here is the link to get the book at Amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/1477830944/  If you have German-speaking friends or family, I would very much appreciate it if you would let them know about the release date Mail Order Regrets/Braut Postwendend.  

And for those who speak French or have French-speaking friends or family, I'm happy to tell you that AmazonCrossing has recently acquired the French rights to Mail Order Regrets as well, and that is tentatively scheduled for release on May 26th of this year.

My other two announcements are regarding upcoming books.  I am currently writing book five in the Montana Mail Order Brides series, and due out in March.  

I also just finished edits for a novella for a new series, which is a spinoff of the MMOB series.  It is also a prequel to Mail Order Regrets, and takes place in Boston in 1886, featuring Madeline and her sisters (Clara and Grace--the sister that Madeline later named her daughter after), during the time that their terrible family secret is revealed.  The story is Grace's story, and takes place in a completely different environment--instead of the small town of Helena Montana and its rough and rugged surroundings, it takes place in the elegant Back Bay mansions of Boston's elite.  This story is a stand-alone story, and can be read either before or after you've read the MMOB series.  There won't be any spoilers in it.

The new novella, The Brahmin Ball is available now, so please spread the word!  Also, for the first time, the novella is in Kindle Unlimited, so KU customers can read it for free.  (Free!  Wooo hooooo!)

Thank you for being so patient with me.  I have a wonderful group of loyal readers, and without you, I would have never been offered a contract with AmazonCrossing in the first place.  I owe it all to you!  And now that things are more settled, I have a lot more books planned for you the coming year.

Book 4, coming soon!

I just wanted to update you all and let you know that book 4 in the Montana Mail Order Brides series is coming soon.  I'm pounding away on my little laptop, and I expect it should be out by mid-March (a little later than I intended, but I'm working like crazy to shorten that time if possible).

You can follow my twitter or blog to find out when it's released, or go to my Julianna Blake Amazon Author page, and in the upper right hand corner you'll see a heading titled "Stay Up To Date".  If you click the link below that, Amazon will contact you through your Amazon account  to notify you when I release my next book.

Thanks to all the readers who have taken the time to leave reviews on all my books.  I've read some very lovely reviews lately, and it means so much to me when a reader enjoys my work.  If I'm able to create a world that gives my readers a welcome respite from their daily duties, or make them forget their troubles for a short time, then I feel like I've accomplished something truly worthwhile!  When I hear from you wonderful readers that I've achieved that goal, it means so much to me.  :-)

Book 3 on it's way! Start the New Year with Montana Mail Order Brides Book 3

Since some of you have been wondering, I thought you'd like to know that Book 3 of the Montana Mail Order Brides series will be coming out by January 1!  Mark your calendars, and keep checking back, because it may go live sooner.  And as always, if you follow my blog and my twitter, you'll receive an announcement when the new book goes live.

I'm sorry it wasn't out on December 1st like I had planned--that's what happens when author optimism meets pre-Christmas chaos!  But I'm quite proud of getting out a full-length novel in only just over two months, during the holiday season!  :-)  Thank you for your patience.

Wondering what this one is about?  I've kept it under wraps, but here's a little teaser:

If her ambitious parents have their way, Elinor Travers will endure a life married to a dull man who believes that love is a mere fairy tale.  To make matters worse, she'll be losing her best friend Addie, who is leaving Massachusetts for the ultimate adventure--traveling to the Far West, as a mail order bride.  Addie's husband-to-be is a Montana hay farmer named Gideon, whose alfalfa farm with its little flock of sheep is exactly the idyllic setting which Elinor--not Addie--has always dreamed of.

Gideon Cartwright has spent the last few years working hard and raising his younger siblings following the deaths of his no-account father, then his heartbroken mother.  After years of putting his own desires aside for the welfare of his family, he can finally focus on his own dreams:  improving his farm, expanding his sheep flock, and finally having a loving wife to start a family with.

When both Addie and Elinor get cold feet, Addie suggests a radical change that may bring Elinor the life she's always dreamed of.  But will the behavior of Gideon's new wife remind him too much of the runaway father who abdicated all responsibility for his family?

New Edition Uploaded for Mail Order Regrets: Download Now! (and a "thank you")

There is a new version of Mail Order Regrets available to download on Amazon.  (The new version should be available on the other major retailers by May 25th.)

There were some corrections that needed to be made, most of which were small, but there was one major change that you might enjoy!

I won't give away details, but I will say that instead of just hearing about the character of Dalton Ashby, we actually get to meet him!  But don't worry, the ending of the book is the same. 

If you would like to download the new edition to your kindle, unfortunately with Amazon you can't just delete it and re-download it.  According to Amazon policy, you must contact Amazon and request that you be allowed to have the new edition--otherwise you'll just get the old version again.  I wish I could make it easier for you, but I can't.  They do it to make sure no one accidentally deletes their old version-which they wanted--and can't get it back.  [Edit:  Amazon has a new "automatic update" feature, which I assume means when an author loads a new version, you'll get the new version downloaded to your kindle.  However, I signed up for it, and I still have the old version on my kindle, so either I'm doing something wrong, or it doesn't work.]

For those who purchase from other retailers, you should be able to just delete it and re-download the newer version--but don't quote me on that!  Check with your retailer, because I'm not sure.

When  you download the new version, you'll know it's the right one if you look at the blurb, which should be the first thing when you open the document--the new edition says at the bottom of the blurb that the book is 76,344 words long.  If the word count is smaller, that's the old edition.  (Sometimes the kindle opens the book to page one, so you may have to backtrack to the beginning of the book.)

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank you, my readers, soooo much for your support.  You have all been incredible!  I broke the 1,000 rank barrier yesterday--meaning Mail Order Regrets is one of the top 1,000 books sold in the entire Kindle store!  I've also made it to the "front" page of several genre bestseller lists and Hot New Releases genre lists.  I am thrilled and humbled that my book has found a place in so many people's hearts.  I couldn't have done it without all of you.

For those of you with friends or relatives who don't have e-readers, you'll be happy to know that the print version of Mail Order Regrets is coming very soon.  I'll make an announcement here on my blog when it is available to order through Amazon.  And I'm still working on Mail Order Promises, which I hope to have out very soon--stay tuned for the cover reveal!

Dressing (and Undressing!) the Historical Romance Heroine

Have you ever wondered what it would really be like to be a romance heroine, stealing off for moments alone with your hero?  The heavy breathing, the kisses, the touching?  It's enough to make a reader swoon!

Except...

Silk corset, circa 1891, from a collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

It probably didn't happen quite the way you think.  There probably wouldn't have been much petting on regions anywhere on the torso--and if there was, the heroine probably didn't feel much of it under a corset and multiple layers of clothing.  Don't believe me?  Check out this article on How to Undress a Victorian Lady in Your Next Historical Romance.

Author Deanne Gist gave a detailed demonstration at the RWA conference back in 2011, and a reporter was there to capture the experience.  The article goes into detail, with the addition of a video and a slideshow gallery, on how a lady of that era would dress, and the difficulty of doing so even with a lady's maid.

Gist also dispelled myths on various situations commonly used in romance novels for the hero and heroine to get intimate, such as a brief encounter in a carriage.  There would be no disrobing, as it would have been far too difficult and time-consuming just for the lady to undress, much less the hero.  More likely, it involved the tossing up of skirts--assuming she wasn't wearing a hobble skirt or similar slim-lined skirt.  (We'll leave out the details for my more modest readers--I do usually write sweet romances, after all!)

It was a very interesting and informative article, and I hope someday to be able to see Gist's lecture and demonstration in person.  I highly encourage anyone who is writing historical fiction to learn more about fashion, particularly when it comes to romantic scenes where articles of clothing may or may not be removed.

*wink*

Hello!  I'm historical romance author, Julianna Blake.  Welcome to my blog!

I am so excited to announce the publication of my novel, Mail Order Regrets, the first novel in the Montana Mail Order Brides series!

It is now live on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple/iTunes, Smashwords, Kobo, and All Romance Ebooks. It will be delivered to Diesel, Sony, and other smaller retailers through Smashwords, which could take up to two weeks.

Traveling from Boston, mail order bride Madeline Barstow hopes that Samuel Croft will provide a comfortable, respectable life, far from the prying eyes of her gossiping socialite peers. But when she steps off the train in Helena, Montana, she is appalled to find a stranger waiting for her instead of her husband-to-be.

Widower Clay Porter is tired of everyone trying to match him up. He wants only to be left alone, spending his days off making deliveries and earning money to someday buy the butcher shop he works in. When he is hired to transport a woman to Croft Ranch, he realizes she is completely in the dark about her fiancé's character.  Is Clay willing to risk his own dreams—and even his life—to persuade Madeline that she's making a mistake?

Note:  Mail Order Regrets is a sweet historical romance novel of 75,739 words, but is not a Christian/inspirational romance.  

I hope you enjoy Mail Order Regrets, and the other upcoming books in the Montana Mail Order Bride series!  If you like it, I would be very grateful if you could spare the time to leave a good review for me.  Good reviews are helpful on any ebook retailer or book review website , but especially on Amazon, where good reviews can really boost sales.  Thank you so much, my wonderful readers!


~Julianna Blake