Joanna Bourne and THE BLACK HAWK

If you like romance and mystery and historical fiction, check out Rita Winner Joanna Bourne's latest book THE BLACK HAWK, which has just been nominated for Best Historical Romance by Romantic Times. Some of her earlier books include THE SPYMASTER'S LADY, MY LORD AND SPYMASTER, and THE FORBIDDEN ROSE and if you haven't read them, stop what you're doing (seriously, stop it, right now) and go get them.

(Jo is an awesome storyteller, and I'm telling you, hand over heart, that Spymaster's Lady made me stop and gasp and slap my thigh and yell a hey nonny nonny WHATNOW?! when I got to a certain part in the story. You will too. Trust.)

Publishers Weekly said this about THE BLACK HAWK:

Bourne mixes heart-pounding mystery and romance in her spellbinding fourth Spymaster historical romantic thriller (after 2010’s The Forbidden Rose). From childhood, Adrian Hawker spied on France for England while Justine DeCabrillac gathered intelligence for the Police Sècrete. They were teens when they met in Paris in 1794, and as they grew up, their paths crossed often in a changing world. Sometimes they were on the same side, and sometimes they were opposed, but it was inevitable that they fall bittersweetly in love, knowing that any minute duty could take precedence over passion. Their tempestuous love affair unfolds in flashbacks, alternating with scenes from 1818 London, where somebody tries to kill Justine and frame Hawker, now head of the British Intelligence Service with as many enemies in England as in France. Just the right amount of intrigue makes this vivid romance a gripping page-turner.

(Name drop alert.)

Last year, I had lunch with Jo and Anne Perry and the luminous, unflappable, awesome writer and conference coordinator Kathy Chung at the Surrey International Writers' Conference. Listening to Jo and Anne in conversation was like watching two master tennis players lob a ball back and forth for fun. They both have brilliant intellects and wit, and as they discussed details of the French Revolution as casually as one might discuss the weather, I felt privileged to be their ball boy grabbing at stray balls. Jo knows her history, and she is a born storyteller, so the two combined? Magic.

Hie yourself over to The Debutante Ball where you'll find an interview with Jo and a chance to win her latest novel.

A contest worth entering and an interview worth reading

Susan Adrian (see link at right) has an interview with Joanna Bourne, author extraordinaire and mentor to so many of us in the Compuserve writers forum.

So stop reading my blog and beetle on over to Susan's for a chance to win Jo's latest book MY LORD AND SPYMASTER. I haven't read it yet (she said, rubbing her hands in anticipation) but Jo's last novel THE SPYMASTER'S LADY got great reviews. It was certainly one of the best novels I've read in a very long time. And people like Nora Roberts agree with me, so it must be true.

What are you waiting for? Go. GO!!

A Great Read

My friend from the Compuserve Books and Writers Forum, Joanna Bourne, has just had her novel published and I have to shout it out here: GO AND BUY THIS BOOK. I'm only partway through it, but this is a great story, well told. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to let your family fend for themselves while you immerse yourself in the tale of THE SPYMASTER'S LADY. I haven't read a romance in ages, mostly because so many of them are poorly written, but this...oh, this is a story told by a master storyteller. I just want to hug this book and roll around on the floor with it, it's that good.

Ode to Jo

There once was a scribe named Jo Bourne,
Who embarked on a fruitful sojourn.
A novel completed,
That achievement, repeated,
Then an agent and deal, blow your horn!

In the forum, she helps each new crop,
without ego or guile, not a drop.
Sometimes semantic,
but never pedantic,
she’s our sesquipedalian cop.

Check out her blog from the list on the right. Then go buy this book.