Hurry! Enter The Sheila Contest Before Deadline! @VFRomanceWriter #romance

Are you an aspiring romance author or a published romance author who’d like feedback on your manuscript from trained, experienced judges? The Sheila Contest, hosted by Valley Forge Romance Writers, is one of the most respected writing competitions in the industry. Low entry free, helpful feedback, the opportunity to have your book read by editors and agents, and a generous cash prize for the best of the best. The deadline looms, so hurry to enter!

Deadline is April 7, 2018.

Here’s the link for details. Good luck!

https://valleyforgeromancewriters.blogspot.com/p/2018-sheila-contest.html

Romance Authors List Their Favorite Reads of 2017 #booklover #Best of 2017 #romance

Happy New Year 2018!

Romance author Nicole R. Locker asked best-selling and award-winning authors of Romance Writers of America to share their single favorite book of 2017. If you’re looking for a great read, here’s the list of our recommendations. My choice is #11.

https://nicolerlocker.com/2017/12/31/15-favorite-reads-of-2017-straight-from-romance-authors/

LUXURY MODEL WIFE by Adele Downs

A 2017 HOLT Medallion Award of Merit Recipient

HOLT Medallion Award WINNER – HER IMMORTAL VIKING by Adele Downs

HER IMMORTAL VIKING won the prestigious HOLT Medallion Award “for outstanding literary fiction in the Romance Novella category” and is one of my most popular books. Have you downloaded your copy? Available at all book outlets.

HER IMMORTAL VIKING by Adele Downs

Viking Warrior. Immortal Slave. Freed by Love.

A Viking cast into eternal servitude by an angry god is transported to the modern world, but to claim the love of the mortal who called him, Gunnar must find a way to clear his name across the divide of a thousand years.

ONE LONELY NIGHT

Divine intervention. That’s all Penny asks. Freedom from overwork and mountainous debt. She sings songs of praise, chants like a yogi, and rubs her belly like Buddha until the crystal charm on her navel shimmers, all hoping to draw the attention of someone—anyone—“up there.”

In the west, beyond the seas, from the place between Heaven and Earth, an immortal hears Penny’s cries. Once a renowned Viking warrior, Gunnar has been cast into eternal servitude by an angry god. Now, while Penny sleeps, he comes to Earth to grant her wishes. But Penny is about to wake up, and so is every desire she’s ever known. To claim their fairy-tale ending, Gunnar must find a way to clear his name. Not only must his sword arm and courage stay strong, but their powerful love must cross the divide of a thousand years.

Buy The Book on Amazon!

Buy The Book from Smashwords!

Buy The Book from Boroughs Publishing Group!

HOLT Medallion Award WINNER – HER IMMORTAL VIKING by Adele Downs

I’m thrilled to announce that HER IMMORTAL VIKING has *WON* the prestigious 2016 HOLT Medallion Award “for outstanding literary fiction in the Romance Novella category.”

Many thanks to Virginia Romance Writers and the readers who judged the contest, loved my book, and gave my Viking and I this honor.

HER IMMORTAL VIKING by Adele Downs

Viking Warrior. Immortal Slave. Freed by Love.

A Viking cast into eternal servitude by an angry god is transported to the modern world, but to claim the love of the mortal who called him, Gunnar must find a way to clear his name across the divide of a thousand years.

ONE LONELY NIGHT

Divine intervention. That’s all Penny asks. Freedom from overwork and mountainous debt. She sings songs of praise, chants like a yogi, and rubs her belly like Buddha until the crystal charm on her navel shimmers, all hoping to draw the attention of someone—anyone—“up there.”

In the west, beyond the seas, from the place between Heaven and Earth, an immortal hears Penny’s cries. Once a renowned Viking warrior, Gunnar has been cast into eternal servitude by an angry god. Now, while Penny sleeps, he comes to Earth to grant her wishes. But Penny is about to wake up, and so is every desire she’s ever known. To claim their fairy-tale ending, Gunnar must find a way to clear his name. Not only must his sword arm and courage stay strong, but their powerful love must cross the divide of a thousand years.

Buy The Book on Amazon!

Buy The Book from Boroughs Publishing Group!

HOLT MEDALLION Award Finalist-HER IMMORTAL VIKING by Adele Downs

I’m pleased to announce that HER IMMORTAL VIKING is a finalist in the novella category of the HOLT Medallion Award. I’m thrilled that readers love this story and appreciate this honor.

HER IMMORTAL VIKING by Adele Downs

Viking Warrior. Immortal Slave. Freed by Love.

A Viking cast into eternal servitude by an angry god is transported to the modern world, but to claim the love of the mortal who called him, Gunnar must find a way to clear his name across the divide of a thousand years.

ONE LONELY NIGHT

Divine intervention. That’s all Penny asks. Freedom from overwork and mountainous debt. She sings songs of praise, chants like a yogi, and rubs her belly like Buddha until the crystal charm on her navel shimmers, all hoping to draw the attention of someone—anyone—“up there.”

In the west, beyond the seas, from the place between Heaven and Earth, an immortal hears Penny’s cries. Once a renowned Viking warrior, Gunnar has been cast into eternal servitude by an angry god. Now, while Penny sleeps, he comes to Earth to grant her wishes. But Penny is about to wake up, and so is every desire she’s ever known. To claim their fairy-tale ending, Gunnar must find a way to clear his name. Not only must his sword arm and courage stay strong, but their powerful love must cross the divide of a thousand years.

Excerpt:

He smoothed her hair and rubbed a thick tendril between his thumb and forefinger. “I am Gunnar.” He pronounced the name Goo-nar.

An emblem of the sun, surrounded by a circle, had been branded on the back of his powerful hand. Penny touched the scar while he held a length of her hair, recognizing Freyr’s sacred insignia from her textbooks. “The pain must have been excruciating.” Without thinking, she lifted the old wound to her mouth and laid kisses along its perimeter before pressing a kiss to the icon inside.

Tremors vibrated across her lips when they touched the ancient symbol and her body tingled with the contact. The brand grew warm and then hot against her mouth, though it did not burn. She ran her tongue over the thick scars to erase the heat, and then licked the center, finishing with a tiny swirl.

Gunnar’s gasp of surprise was the last thing she expected when she lifted her head. He released her hair and drew away.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. Have I offended you?” She’d always been popular with men, and comfortable around them, but her behavior with Gunnar was bold, even for her. She sat up. “Am I under some kind of spell?”

Gunnar shook his head. “I used my powers to heal you, but your free will remains intact.”

She searched his face for clues about what to do next, because desire shone behind the wary expression in his eyes. Something else shone there, too. Gratitude. Penny waited for Gunnar’s reply without letting go of his disfigured hand.

He said, “Kindness isn’t something I’m used to finding. Perhaps you’d be less inclined toward compassion if you knew what I’d done to deserve this brand of servitude.”

She reached out and draped an arm around his neck to bring him closer. Their gazes locked and held. Gunnar’s eyes were like pools of ice blue water that pulled her in and down.

Her breathing slowed while the sound of her heartbeat rushed blood through her ears. “I am Penelope. And if you’re from Alfheim, I know who and what you are. I just don’t understand why you’re here.” How could she deserve his rare, benevolent gifts? She was just an ordinary woman from an ordinary town, barely scraping by.

His warm breath grazed her cheek in shallow rushes, lifting goose bumps across her skin. His wide, firm mouth smelled of sweet ground parsley and fresh-picked mint. “Sometimes we get what we need, simply because we ask. That’s the beauty and power of the unexpected.”

Buy The Book!

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Her-Immortal-Viking-Adele-Downs-ebook/dp/B00TY21LBM/

Boroughs Publishing:

http://www.boroughspublishinggroup.com/books/her-immortal-viking

Kiss A Cowboy For Only .99!

If you haven’t yet given romance titles by Adele Downs a try (and why haven’t you?), there’s a selection of .99 short stories and novellas to choose from at every major ebook sales outlet. The .99 titles include western romances KISSING HER COWBOY and HER CHRISTMAS COWBOY; and HOOK ME UP, a firefighter novella.

KISSING HER COWBOY by Adele Downs

A Lunchbox Romance Short Story

Only .99!

An Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Western, Western Romance and Short Romance

A cowboy with a fractured back and a cop with a broken spirit heal on a Texas ranch with the help of a stallion named Big Blue.

Excerpt:

“Oh, Lord.” Treymont Woods kicked up dust on his boots as he sauntered from the stables to the woman who just had to be his new riding student. Her flaming red hair swooshed from one side of her shoulders to the other as she watched his stallion, Big Blue, canter inside the corral. Her hands, knuckles white, clutched the fence and every muscle in her tall, slim figure looked tight. Before he could get to her, she pivoted toward the parking area, moving her feet like she was fixin’ to run.

“Hey there!” He called out as a distraction. By the time Trey reached the woman’s side, he could hear her breathing like she’d raced a Texas mile. Before he could introduce himself, she turned to him with wide green eyes and shouted, “He’s huge!” Pink splotches bloomed under the freckles on her pale skin.

She licked her bottom lip and shook her head. “No, no, no, no….” and started backing away. “I can’t do this. Keep my deposit. I’ll figure something else out.”

Trey lifted his hands in mock surrender. “Okay. No problem. You don’t have to ride if you don’t want to.”  Her jeans looked too tight for riding, anyway, and that white blouse would be smudged inside five minutes. Hadn’t the woman ever been to a ranch before?

She stopped moving then and frowned at him, causing twin lines to form above her nose. Her adorable nose, now that he’d gotten a decent look. In fact, everything about the woman seemed downright appealing, despite her reaction to Big Blue. Who in their right mind wouldn’t love the greatest horse that ever lived, on sight?

Buy The Book for .99!

Amazon   iTunes

Boroughs Publishing Group

Available wherever ebooks are sold.

HER CHRISTMAS COWBOY is an Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Western, Western Romance and Short Romance and the stand alone sequel to KISSING HER COWBOY.

A Lunchbox Romance short story. Only .99!

Aspiring or Published Romance Authors-The Sheila Contest Opening for Entries

Are you an aspiring romance author or a published author who’d like feedback on a new manuscript? The Sheila Contest, hosted by Valley Forge Romance Writers, can help.

On the path to publication of my novel LUXURY MODEL WIFE, releasing May 2016, I entered The Sheila Contest with an early draft of the manuscript under a different title, and finaled in the competition. Though I was happy to have scored high enough to make the cut and win a finalist badge, I didn’t win my category, or even take one of the top three spots.

Fueled by the desire to make my book a winner, I took the feedback I received from the judges to heart and revised the entire manuscript. After revisions, I polished the book again. And again. And again. I changed the title to LUXURY MODEL WIFE, and when I thought the manuscript was ready, pitched the rags to riches story to my publisher. Within a week I received an email with the magic words “love the book” and a contract arrived soon after.

If you’d like feedback on a work in progress or the opening of a completed novel, The Sheila Contest opens for entries March 13. You do not have to be a member of Romance Writers of America to enter.

The Sheila Contest 2016

Sponsor: Valley Forge Romance Writers

Fee: $25 for VFRW members, $30 for non-members

Opens for Entries: March 13, 2016
Deadline: April 16, 2016

Eligibility: Participation is open to all romance writers who are unpublished, self-published, and published. Entry must be the author’s original unpublished work and not under contract.

Entry: First 20 pages of manuscript and up to 5 page unjudged synopsis.(25 page total)

First Round Judges: Three (3) qualified, trained judges, including: General, PRO and PAN members.

Categories and Final Judges:

Single Title: Junessa Viloria, Penguin Random House

Historical: Stephany Evans, Fine Print Literary Management

Erotic: Sara Megibow, KT Literary

Romantic Suspense: Alicia Condon, Kensington Publishing

Fantasy/Futuristic/Paranormal: Nicole Resciniti, The Seymour Agency.

Best of the Best – 1st place winners from the final round will move on to the Best of the Best round, judged by Best Selling Authors and Booksellers:

Madeline Hunter – New York Times & USA Today Best Selling Author

Mariah Stewart – New York Times & USA Today Best Selling Author

Terri Brisbin – USA Today Best Selling Author

Joan Silvestro –  Indie Bookseller, Hamilton Book Trader

Heather Soligo – Traditional Bookseller, Barnes & Noble, Christiana Mall

Grand Prize for Best of the Best: $100

Top Prizes: Certificates, and the 1st through 4th place winners will be printed in RWR Magazine. (Romance Writers Report is the trade magazine of Romance Writers of America.)

For more information please visit our website: http://www.vfrw.com