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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:

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52 comments:

  1. Sounds REALLY interesting!! Thanks for the giveaway!

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  2. Hello Arely!

    Doesn't the excerpt sound interesting?

    Thanks for your comment. All the best in the giveaway!

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  3. That's a great excerpt!! Sounds like a really interesting story! :)

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  4. Hi Jemi!

    The whole Santina Crown series is wonderful! You should check them out.

    All the best in the Giveaway!

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  5. Love the excerpt, this book sound interesting. I can't wait to read this book.

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  6. Hi Filia!

    Thanks for coming by! All the best in the giveaway!

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  7. I admire her for writing a heroine with a child. That can be tough to do in romance. Sounds like a great book!

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    1. It is a great book and The Santina Crown is a fantastic series, you should check it out!

      All the best in the giveaway. Thanks for coming by!

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  8. Thanks for having me, Nas!

    Thank you Arely, Jemi, Filia and Emily! It was certainly a challenge to write this heroine, but in the end, I loved that she'd made mistakes and done her very best to carry on and do the best she could with the path she ended up on. She's a real woman, with real problems, who absolutely deserved her happily ever after!

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    1. Welcome to Romance Book Paradise, Maisey!
      And thanks for the giveaway!

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  9. Maisey, I am truly amazed at your output. When I like an M&B author I tend to make it a point to get whatever book they bring out after that. I read your inter-racial romance THE HIGHEST PRICE TO PAY when it came out in India in August last year. I must have gathered another six since then. So many books in one year and more astonishingly so many original ideas! I'm so pleased that your present heroine is a mother. Just as well that you son is the same age. If you have a child the same age as the one you're writing about, it does give you insight. You can lose touch with an age group so fast when you don't have it in your life.

    Congrats on your newest release.

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  10. I recently finished reading Sophia's story, so this sounds really intriguing!

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    1. I have yet to read Sophia's story. I already read Natalia, Matteo and Angelina's story.

      All the best in the giveaway, Alison! Thanks for coming by!

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    1. Thanks for coming to chat with Maisey, Jennifer!

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  12. Maria, thank you so much so the kind words. They mean a lot!

    Alison, I was fortunate enough to do a little work with Penny when we were working on these books. So honored!

    Hi Jennifer!

    Thank you, Charmaine!

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  13. Yay for Maisey! What a lovely photo of the two of you, Nas.

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    1. Thank you Talli, I was very lucky to have met Maisey!

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  14. What a great giveaway! Sounds like a fascinating read!

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    1. All the best in the giveaway, Sherry. Thanks for coming by!

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  15. LOVE Maisey's books and would feel so lucky to win "Princess From The Shadows" :D

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    1. All the best in the giveaway, Sasha. I love Maisey's books too! Thanks for coming by!

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  16. Hi, Nas & Maisey,
    Rodriguez sounds like a fascinating character. Hope this book does well.

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  17. hi maisey and Nas.

    nice to know you..^^
    your son very cute maisey, and i love the story your book..cant wait to reading..wish i win.

    thanks for the giveaway ^^

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    1. All the best in the giveaway, Dian. Thanks for coming by!

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  18. Thank you, Talli, Sherry, Sasha, JL and Dian!

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  19. That's interesting - I don't think I've read a romance yet with children involved!

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    1. Hi Deniz!

      It's interesting to read a romance amid all the drama a young child causes!

      Thanks for swinging by!

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  20. nice post and enjoy reading the excerpt :)

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  21. Thank you Nas and Maisey for the very lovely post and the wonderful giveaway. I love the idea of children in romance novels like that are always the emotional ones for me !

    Thank you for the giveaway

    Desere

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    1. Children in romance is reality, isn't it Desere?

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    2. I agree Nas it is what makes the book more real for me and makes the characters jump out at me!

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  22. Rodriguez does sound like a challenge. This story has great conflicts.

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    1. Rodriguez is a playboy, Medeia and Maisey reformed him to be a one-woman-man!

      You should read another of Maisey's which has a virgin hero!

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  23. I'd never heard of of a continuity. What a challenge! These characters sound great. Love the excerpt!

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    1. Thanks Lyn, a continuity is very interesting. You'd want to hunt down all the books in the series to read after meeting characters in earlier books!

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  24. I found your website through a random stroke of luck. It helped me do my research on this topic. I have spent lots of time looking through your site. You have something good going here, keep it up!

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  25. Hmm, intriguing excerpt! I think I'm gonna love it since I'm a huge fan of arranged marriage/marriage of convenience kind of story ^^

    Thanks for the chance to win Maisey!

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    1. All the best in the giveaway, Aline. Thanks for coming by!

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  26. Methinks there are sparks about to go off between gorgeous Rodgrigues and lovely Carlotta...!!

    All the best to Maisey!! Take care
    x

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  27. Thank you everyone! Have enjoyed reading all the comments this AM. ;)

    I did a random drawing for the winner and I have picked.... *drum roll* JL Campbell!! Send me your details to maisey at maiseyyates dot com and I'll mail you the book!

    Thank you all for entering, and thank you, Nas for having me!

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  28. Congratulations! Joy, please contact Maisey for your prize!

    Thanks to all my lovely friends for coming along and chatting with Maisey!

    Thank you Maisey for this awesome giveaway!

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  29. Goodness. This is sooooooo cool! Read one of Maisey's books and it was hot! Loved it.

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