The Weekly Recap – 4/5/19

The Weekly Recap – 4/5/19

A Kobo Sale!

The EVIDENCE Series is on sale exclusively at Kobo for $2.99 or less!  This special sale is  running in the US, CA, AU, UK, and NZ.  It’s a great time to pick up books for yourself or others!

Screenshot_2019-04-05 Bookshelf - Rachel Grant - Romantic Suspense Author

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https://www.kobo.com/list/the-evidence-series-for-2-99-and-less/keqGfYd_FMrBQQjWuc2LjQ

 

The Weekly Giveaway

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This week, I’m giving away a copy of Blind Ambition by Gwen Hernandez – Writer. Jungle romance thrillers don’t get hotter than this!

Winner will be announced on Tuesday!

To enter this giveaway, pop over to my Facebook page and answer the question in the comments!

Blurb: 

Rescuing a kidnapped aid worker from St. Isidore’s dangerous rebels is just another day at work for former pararescueman Dan Molina. But his mission falls apart when the woman—who once shattered his heart—refuses to leave the island.

Alexa Alyssandratos can’t return to her life as a nurse on the hurricane-ravaged Caribbean island, but she won’t leave until she’s certain the orphans she cared for—especially one sick little girl—are safe from the rebels. Denied their ransom, a would-be dictator and his soldiers are hunting Alexa, and Dan is the only person who can protect her. Old passions reignite as she and Dan race to save the children before they disappear forever.

 

Barnes & Noble BOGO Free!

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This month only at Barnes & Noble – Body of Evidence, Withholding Evidence, Incriminating Evidence, Covert Evidence, Cold Evidence, and Poison Evidence are Buy One Get One FREE!

Check out the sale for BOGO deals from Skye Warren, Katie Reus, Donna Grant, and more!

https://press.barnesandnoble.com/author-promotions

 

Grave Danger has Great Company!

I was thrilled to be included with Laura Griffin, Tara Janzen, and Lori Foster in Frolic’s March Romantic Suspense round up!

Read the article here:  https://frolic.media/march-romantic-suspense-round-up/

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She’s being stalked…
After struggling to recover from a career-crippling mistake, archaeologist Libby Maitland has landed the project of her dreams—a data recovery excavation in a picturesque, historic sawmill town. Tasked with digging up secrets of the town’s founding family, Libby soon learns that nothing in Coho, Washington, is as idyllic as it seems.She’s barely settled into her new home when suspicious events make her believe she’s being stalked…Or maybe she’s losing her mind.Coho Police Chief Mark Colby can’t decide if Libby is crazy or if she has her own twisted agenda, but the deeper he delves into her past, the more intrigued he becomes. Even as he and Libby grow closer, he can’t quite let his initial suspicion go.

When Libby’s life is threatened, they must work together to determine if the truth about her stalker is buried in her past, or if the answers can be found in the layers of the excavation.

AmazonKindle-grey-30  iBooks-30-grey   kobo_white-30   Nook-BN-white-30  google_play_white-30

 

Diversity and the Romance Industry

The Guardian has published an excellent article outlining racism in the romance book industry and the Romance Writers of America organization.

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Click the image above or the link below to read the article.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/04/fifty-shades-of-white-romance-novels-racism-ritas-rwa

 

The Most Popular Post of the Week

Fast food counters were much more beautiful 2,000 years ago.

https://www.facebook.com/RachelGrantauthor/posts/1205458992944987

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Gwen Hernandez Interviews Me – I  put myself in Grave Danger

Gwen Hernandez Interviews Me – I put myself in Grave Danger

The Kiss and Thrill blog, where this was originally published, will soon be disappearing, and I am republishing my Kiss and Thrill posts here to keep a copy. This one is from May 2013 and was written by Gwen Hernandez.

I wanted to be an archeologist for at least a year after I discovered Macchu Picchu (Peru) in a sixth grade textbook. I later realized I might not have the patience required for the job, but that didn’t stop my fascination with ancient sites and unearthed artifacts. Which is part of what I love about Rachel Grant’s books. They give the reader a glimpse into the real world of an archeologist. Add in some danger and steamy romance, and her stories have it all.

Rachel’s latest—out today!—Grave Danger, includes a determined archeologist trying to rebuild her reputation, a stalker, an unexpected find in the archaeological site, and a sexy small town cop who’s not sure if he can trust her, but can’t stay away. You won’t want to miss it!

She’s being stalked…

Grave Danger 300dpi

After struggling to recover from a career-crippling mistake, archaeologist Libby Maitland has landed the project of her dreams—a data recovery excavation in a picturesque, historic sawmill town. Tasked with digging up secrets of the town’s founding family, Libby soon learns that nothing in Coho, Washington, is as idyllic as it seems.

She’s barely settled into her new home when suspicious events make her believe she’s being stalked…

Or maybe she’s losing her mind.

Coho Police Chief Mark Colby can’t decide if Libby is crazy or if she has her own twisted agenda, but the deeper he delves into her past, the more intrigued he becomes. Even as he and Libby grow closer, he can’t quite let his initial suspicion go.

When Libby’s life is threatened, they must work together to determine if the truth about her stalker is buried in her past, or if the answers can be found in the layers of the excavation.

Read on for more about Rachel, archeology, and her books.

Gwen: Clearly your experience as an archeologist provides background for your stories, but was there something in particular that sparked Grave Danger? An incident? An article? A scene idea?

Rachel: The story for GD really flowed from the axiom “write what you know” – and while I’ve never been romanced by a hunky police chief or been stalked, I know a fair amount about prehistoric shell midden sites in the Pacific Northwest. I wanted to write a book about real archaeology, as it’s practiced in the United States, because most books with an archaeological storyline either focus on treasure hunting (which will get a real archaeologist blackballed) or contain other inaccuracies. So I started with the archaeological project, and plotted from there.

Avoiding spoilers, there is a discovery Libby makes during the excavation that is a real concern among archaeologists given the protocols we must follow in similar circumstances.

Is that vague or confusing enough? ?

Gwen: Hah, now everyone has to read it. ? This book was the first you’d ever written. I know you’ve made a lot of changes since the first iteration almost a decade ago, but what is it about this story that kept pulling you back in?

Rachel: I shudder when I think of that first draft.  I set this story aside in 2008 so I could focus on writing Concrete Evidence and other, more suspense-y books, but I never really let this one go. This is my small-town-romantic-mystery, as opposed to my city-set-political-thrillers, and I’d love to write more books in this part of the romance genre. I’ve had the sequel plotted for years and I can’t wait to write it.

Gwen: I definitely want the sequel! In GD, Libby is an archeologist trying to restore her good name, and Mark is the chief of police of the small town where she’s starting a new project. What do you think makes these two characters perfect for each other?

Rachel: Libby is really attracted to confidence, because she’s lost confidence in herself after a professional and emotional setback, but Mark sees her strength—and the courage in her convictions that she thinks she lacks—from their first meeting. Plus they are both outsiders in a small, closed community, but they each need to understand and become members of that community as part of their respective professions.

To me, the town of Coho was a character—a beautiful, pristine historic gem on the outside, but with a dark and conflicted history that overshadows today.

FrontCover-Final-300dpiGwen: Confidence is definitely sexy. Grave Danger—and your first release Concrete Evidence—both have archeologist characters, but the books aren’t a series. Do you have related stories for either of them in the works?

Rachel: I’ve had the sequel to GD plotted for a long time and look forward to writing it. I have two sequels to CE written and am working on a third. No promises yet on when those books will be released.

Gwen: Ooh, can’t wait for more in both series. Grave Danger takes place in a small sawmill town in Washington State, and Concrete Evidence was set in the big city—Washington, D.C. Do you find it easier to write small town or big city settings?

Rachel: The fictional small town was based on an historic sawmill town not far from where I live. This setting was easier simply because I could adapt the setting to suit my needs, but I loved writing the D.C. book too, because I lived there for two years and know the city well enough to write it with confidence. In CE, every scene (except for the ones set on fictional tribal-owned land) was set in a place I’ve visited at least once. Erica’s apartment in SW D.C. was my own, and the Bethesda office building was (not really) shockingly similar to the building I worked in.

Gwen: I definitely find it easier to write about places I’ve lived or at least visited. What’s the most interesting thing you ever found while working as an archeologist?

Rachel: Oh, that’s a hard one! In the Pacific Northwest, we don’t have pottery, we have woven basketry instead. Woven fibers decompose easily—they are only preserved in ideal conditions, very wet, or very dry—so finding prehistoric basketry is rare. Years ago, I worked on an excavation inside Porcupine Cave in Eastern Washington and caves and rockshelters have wonderfully dry preservation conditions. I found—in the screen, not in situ—a small fragment of a basket. That was really cool, but it was only about an inch across and something that wouldn’t trigger backflips for people who don’t know how rare and unique the find was.

Another exciting find was in SW Idaho, when I found a petroglyph on a rock face on the Owyhee Plateau. The petroglyph itself wasn’t all that exciting – it was a simple circle slightly larger than a softball – but still, it was the first time that particular petroglyph was recorded by an archaeologist and I was thrilled to have spotted it.

On a more bizarre note, I once dug a pit and found a rusted metal bucket and shovel head—evidence the site had been looted about a hundred years before.

Gwen: How cool to be the first to record a petroglyph! And I hadn’t thought of finding looting evidence, but then I guess that’s just another layer of artifact with its own provenance… Okay, one last question, like my experience after reading about Macchu Picchu, was there a particular incident that sparked your interest in archaeology?

Rachel: I was a senior in high school when I discovered Elizabeth Peters’ mysteries, and I (fondly) blame her for my decision to become an archaeologist.

Thanks so much for hosting me today, Gwen! I want to thank all the ladies at Kiss and Thrill for the fabulous support you all have given me over the last months.

Gwen: Thanks for sharing your new release with us. I can’t wait for more of your stories!

Pick up one of Rachel’s books today. C’mon, you know you want to.

Concrete Evidence
Amazon | iTunes | Kobo | Barnes & Noble

Grave Danger
Amazon | iTunes | Barnes & Noble

The Weekly Recap – 8/31/18

The Weekly Recap – 8/31/18

Grant Family Adventures

Thursday night we went to a Seattle Seahawks game.  The Seahawks lost to the Oakland Raiders 30-19, but it was a lot of fun to watch the game in person!

 

WalMart and Kobo, Oh My!

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Earlier this week, I went to Walmart to see the new Kobo ebook display. Bestie Darcy Burke‘s book, DUKE OF LIES, is one of a small number of ebooks you can buy in the store!!

I’m very excited by the partnership between Walmart and Kobo! Now all of my books are available at Walmart online, and I love working with the wonderful people at Kobo Writing Life. Plus I absolutely love my Kobo Aura H2O. (It’s waterproof!)

While I was at Walmart I bought a $25 Walmart eBook gift card to give away to one lucky reader through my Facebook page.  The winning comment was by Tina Stuck – congratulations!

Worried that you don’t have a Kobo reader and won’t be able to use the gift card? No problem, download the Kobo/Walmart eBooks App on your tablet or phone.  It’s free!

Click on the below link, select Apps & eReaders, and download your free app!

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/p/aboutwalmartebooks

 

Read my first Romantic Suspense!

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Have you read GRAVE DANGER?
She’s being stalked…
After struggling to recover from a career-crippling mistake, archaeologist Libby Maitland has landed the project of her dreams—a data recovery excavation in a picturesque, historic sawmill town. Tasked with digging up secrets of the town’s founding family, Libby soon learns that nothing in Coho, Washington, is as idyllic as it seems.

She’s barely settled into her new home when suspicious events make her believe she’s being stalked…

Or maybe she’s losing her mind.

Coho Police Chief Mark Colby can’t decide if Libby is crazy or if she has her own twisted agenda, but the deeper he delves into her past, the more intrigued he becomes. Even as he and Libby grow closer, he can’t quite let his initial suspicion go.

When Libby’s life is threatened, they must work together to determine if the truth about her stalker is buried in her past, or if the answers can be found in the layers of the excavation.

AmazonKindle-grey-30  iBooks-30-grey   kobo_white-30   Nook-BN-white-30  google_play_white-30

 

Love Urban Fantasy? Get this 99c Boxset!

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Just 99c! The first three full-length novels of the Immortal Vegas Series by Jenn Stark in one box set, plus an introductory novella. Over 1,000 pages of #UrbanFantasy!

“Hilarious, sexy, and thrillingly high action. GET THIS BOOK!” by NYT Bestselling Author Darynda Jones

AmazonKindle-grey-30  iBooks-30-grey   kobo_white-30   Nook-BN-white-30

 

 

 

 

 

The Most Popular Post of the Week

A fascinating discovery has captured our imaginations!

https://www.facebook.com/RachelGrantauthor/posts/1059246710899550?__xts__[0]=68.ARAQYuwoK2yjnhXhucD3Tj06rFSnPY8mezcuRNFMbz8oouFQyrC9YEUoer_cLh4EboSaC-YRvTo87MKRiwWVkYCn3eL4vrAd0UL7uWgcEiItl6bQFrQk9zE3Q21EWlPsRPMVmtzPbIDJg5o6Pev48nXvOTl2sgOoB1tzb0R67G5mB83Zh8Hqpg&__tn__=-R

 

 

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Hometown Heroes Fun Facts

Hometown Heroes Fun Facts

HH_front_coverHometown Heroes: Hotter Ever After (A Pets for Vets Charity Bundle) can now be purchased at AmazonBarnes & NobleiBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo!

If you are on the fence about purchasing the bundle, I’ve compiled some statistics to aid your decision making.

Cost  $1.99
Authors  17
Books  16
Pages in Word  4,118
Words  1,129,245
Characters (no spaces)  5,050,663
Characters (with spaces)  6,139,211
Paragraphs  43,297
Chapters  353
Happy Endings  16
If this were offered in print, estimated number of pages:  3,226
Number of Tweets it would take to tweet the entire set:  43,852
Reader cost per book:  $0.124
Reader cost per chapter:  $0.006
Reader cost per word:  0.0000018
% of net royalties going to Pets for Vets:  100

PetsforVetsLogo

What do you get if you buy HOMETOWN HEROES?

A LITTLE HARMLESS SEX by USA Today author Melissa Schroeder–When Anna falls for her best friend Max, it might be true love, or the biggest mistake of her life.

CHANGE THE GAME by USA Today author Lucy Monroe–Alex is looking for revenge. Isabel is looking for a relationship without those pesky things called emotions. Neither will get what they’re looking for, but a whole lot more!

WILD RIDE (Changing Gears, Book 1) by USA Today author Nancy Warren–Trouble is piling up in the small town of Swiftcurrent, Oregon with hints of a treasure missing since WWII, a motorcycle riding bad boy history prof, a sexy librarian and a murder. It all adds up to a very Wild Ride.

HEARTBREAK ON A STICK by USA Today and New York Times author Sabrina York–When the man who broke her heart ten years ago suddenly returns to town—a hot shot movie star—Gina Fox is determined to avoid him. But for some reason, Jason Sherwood is pursuing her again.

MADRONA SUNSET by bestselling author Jami Davenport–Meet a wounded warrior suffering from paralyzing guilt and woman pining for her dead husband–both damaged souls craving comfort for a moment or a lifetime.

BRACE FOR IMPACT by bestselling author Allie K. Adams–Bush pilot Reid Cavanaugh’s life is turned upside down when he takes a fare that ends up driving his plane into the ground and him into the danger surrounding her.

HONORABLE SACRIFICE by bestselling author Destiny Blaine–Hired to protect an affluent family with embarrassing secrets, Audra McAllister reconnects with a small-town hero willing to risk everything to win Audra’s heart.

SHE’S WORTH IT ALL by bestselling author Cathryn Cade–Mase Barnett is a hometown hero with a secret. Natalie Cusco has a broken heart only a strong man can heal. Will this wounded hero risk everything to show her she’s worth it all?

DECEIVING DANTE by award-winning author Kate Davies–A stolen car on her front lawn. A sexy cop – looking to arrest her favorite student. A principal ready to fire her. Could Ellie’s Monday get any worse?

ROCK, RATTLE AND ROLL by USA Today bestselling author Cari Quinn and bestselling author Taryn Elliott–A beachfront cottage, hours of alone time, and plenty of skin-on-skin action is just what the rock star and his new wife ordered—until the future comes much quicker than they expected.

GRAVE DANGER by Golden Heart finalist Rachel Grant–An archaeologist digs up a murder victim in a Northwest archaeological site and must help the hunky local police chief solve the crime before she becomes the next victim.

TURNING THIRTY-TWELVE by award-winning author Sandy James–Jackie Delgado didn’t want a new man in her life until a dreaded blind date with detective Mark Brennan turns out to be more exciting than she’d ever imagined.

HIS ONLY DESIRE by Adrianne Lee– Nick Rossetti married the wrong twin sister. Will the right one ever forgive him? Not if her stalker has his way.

EVEN HEROES CRY by Hildie McQueen–War widow Tesha Washington slowly draws Adam Ford out of the shell that used to be a man, and learns there really is such a thing as starting over.

THE VIXEN & THE VET by bestselling author Katy Regnery–In a Beauty & the Beast reboot, an ambitious reporter tracks down a wounded war vet for a scoop and ends up falling in love with him instead.

TROUBLE WITH A COWBOY by Sandy Sullivan–Can some slashed tires and an ornery bull bring two hard-headed people together for some fun in the sun…and a little more?

Grave Danger – Cover Reveal!

Grave Danger – Cover Reveal!


Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000032_00033]She’s being stalked…

After struggling to recover from a career-crippling mistake, archaeologist Libby Maitland has landed the project of her dreams—a data recovery excavation in a picturesque, historic sawmill town. Tasked with digging up secrets of the town’s founding family, Libby soon learns that nothing in Coho, Washington, is as idyllic as it seems.

She’s barely settled into her new home when suspicious events make her believe she’s being stalked…

Or maybe she’s losing her mind.

Coho Police Chief Mark Colby can’t decide if Libby is crazy or if she has her own twisted agenda, but the deeper he delves into her past, the more intrigued he becomes. Even as he and Libby grow closer, he can’t quite let his initial suspicion go.

When Libby’s life is threatened, they must work together to determine if the truth about her stalker is buried in her past, or if the answers can be found in the layers of the excavation.