Maisey Yates on Princess From The Shadows plus GIVEAWAY!

Today we have USA Bestselling Author Maisey Yates and she's here with a Giveaway! Let's all talk to Maisey now and get into her special brand of fun....

Hi Nas, thank you for having me on the blog today!

My October release (which is available now from Harlequin’s website in print and e) Princess From the Shadows is the sixth book in the Santina Crown series and my very first continuity book.

Now, continuities are a lot of fun and a very different experience. We had eight authors working on individual romances that had kind of an overarching story. So for these we’re given our characters and a very basic outline on what needs to happen in their book for the big story to make sense.

Maisey's son 'Drama'  

I was given a few challenges. First of all, my heroine has a son. Writing children is not easy. But it so happened that Luca was the same age as my oldest son at the time. So I decided to apply the same conversational rules to him that my then 5yo employed. 1. Ultimately, it’s all about him. 2. No insights, no adding to the conversation. This led to interjections by said child in the book such as: This is a big table. You could put a big cake on it.

The second challenge was Rodriguez, the hero. Rodriguez was...how do a put this nicely? A big ol’ man whore. Now, I gravitate toward celibate heroes. Playboys have just never been my favorite. So my challenge as a writer was to make Rodriguez a playboy I could understand.

USA Bestselling Author Maisey Yates and Nas

And I have to say, I had a lot of fun with him. He’s the kind of guy who’s friends with every lover he’s ever had because people just like him and want to be with him. At the same time, he’s deathly afraid of emotional connections. He compensates for it by making physical connections.

So when his brand new convenient-fiancee shows up at his palace with a child in tow, his life gets a lot more complicated.

I thoroughly enjoyed taking Rodriguez on a journey from playboy to family man. And taking Carlotta, the heroine on her journey.

She was my third challenge. She’d been badly hurt by her past, and was looking for redemption, but at the same time, I wanted her to be strong. Because a single mother in her position would be very strong. She has to protect her child! Which is one reason she agrees to marry Prince Rodriguez...except she doesn’t count on the whole burning attraction thing. Very inconvenient since she fell for a playboy once and NEVER wants to go there again!

All these challenges mixed together to create a book I really enjoyed writing, with characters I grew to love. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

 One commenter will win a copy of Princess from the Shadows. Giveaway open to everyone!

And just for you, a little excerpt from Princess From the Shadows:

"What do you mean she's gone?" Prince Rodriguez Anguiano looked down at Eduardo Santina, King of Santina, and his future father-in-law, and swore he saw sweat beading on the older man's brow. The king was known for being formidable, tough and unbending. Watching him sweat was unexpected. And more than a little bit interesting. King Eduardo cleared his throat. "Just that. Sophia is gone. She left with a maharaja." Rodriguez felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. "A maharaja? Is marrying a prince not enough for some women? They feel the need to pursue a more...exotic title?" King Eduardo's face darkened, color creeping into his cheeks. "She has done so without my permission." "I'm assuming, since my intended fiancée has run away with a maharaja, the wedding is off?" The king only looked at him and Rodriguez felt a vague sense of relief wash through him. He had been prepared to do the marriage thing, but truly, he hadn't been looking forward to it. In his estimation it was a ball and chain situation, and he didn't know anyone who would willingly shackle themselves in that manner. Yet people did seem to get married. It was the heir factor, one he couldn't ignore forever, but for a while longer, maybe. Sophia had been pretty enough, a beautiful brunette with a real classic beauty. But even that would get old after a while. Now he could go back to Santa Christobel and celebrate with a blonde. Maybe a redhead. Maybe both. Not that he usually went in for that sort of thing but he'd had six long, unheard-of months of celibacy so that he could present his future bride with medical proof of his good health. And now that there would be no wedding, it had just been six months of physical torture. "Father?" Rodriguez turned, his ears always tuned in to sultry, feminine tones. But in this instance, the tone did not match the looks. One of Eduardo's other daughters was standing in the entryway, sleek brown hair hanging just beneath her chin. All no-nonsense and practical, as was the rest of her attire. Wide-leg beige slacks, a white button-up top and metallic ballet slipper-style shoes. She looked like she'd stepped out of the pages of a business-casual catalog. She was tall, slim, only a couple of inches shorter than he was, and her face was pleasant enough, but with none of the flash and paint he was accustomed to seeing on a woman. "Sorry," she said, inclining her head. "I didn't realize that you were busy." She turned to go, and for some reason, he was sorry to see it. "Carlotta." She paused and turned back again. This time he noticed how green her eyes were. "Yes, Father?" "Stay for a moment." Carlotta gave him a brief icy look before turning her focus back to her father. "This is Prince Rodriguez Anguiano. Your sister Sophia's fiance." She looked at him again, her expression blank. She was strange, contained, demure almost, and yet he could sense something beneath it. Something she seemed determined not to reveal. "Charmed," he said, flashing her a grin. "Though I don't know that I'm Sophia's fiance any longer. As she's run off with the maharaja." Carlotta blinked owlish green eyes at him before shooting her father a worried look. That's where her emotion was, reserved for the old man. She seemed to fear him, or at least feel nervous around him. Rodriguez couldn't even find the slightest bit of fear in himself. The king posed no threat to him. A lion who was all roar and no maul. He knew the other kind, the kind who wouldn't hesitate to...  Meet Maisey for her special brand of fun around the web: Facebook      Twitter        Blog            Website