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Guest Blog by Anna Randol + Book Giveaway! {US Only}

Sailing Down the Amazon River by Anna Randol

When I was eight, I decided that my life was too boring, so I decided to write in my journal as if I was sailing down the Amazon River with my dog, Cream Puff. Nope. I wish I was kidding. I still have the red spiral bound notebook as proof. Here’s the entry for that day in case you don’t believe me. I've captured it exactly, bad spelling and all.

“Dear Diary, today I will write about school our class sugle [I have to assume this was an attempt at schedule.] is take roll, handwriting, seat work, reading, recess, spelling, math, lunch, story after recess and lunch, sharing, language, s.s., since, fine arts/ P.E. I hate math. I like art and since. Today I will start something new. I am going to write like I am on a raft. Not true. Repeat not true! Day 1…It’s nice out here just me and my dog Cream Puff smelling the fresh air drinking clean water in peace and quite. [This might be an appropriate place to note I have six sisters and one brother…] eating fish and seaweed and fresh fruit. I put my unused fish in a barll of salt. The day is over so I will go to bed. I have one cover and a pillow so good night Cream Puff.” [In case you were wondering, no, my spelling hasn't improved much over the past twenty years. I just use spell check.]

I know, after reading that fascinating tale, you might be wondering how I didn’t end up as a world famous travel writer. That’s because when I was twelve, my sister and I began picking boys to go on our rafts. (We’d take turns deciding. We had to make sure no one got all the good ones, after all.) Those handsome guys began appearing in my journal as well.

But all of this meant that once I started writing historical romance, staid ballrooms and dinner parties just didn’t keep my interest. I needed action. I needed adventure. I needed sultry. So my debut novel, A Secret in Her Kiss, is set in Constantinople. There are spies, knife fights, and scandalous scenes in a bath. And although this story lacks a raft, I had to save something for next time…

So Readers, if you were sailing down the Amazon with a handsome hero, who would you pick? One lucky commenter will receive a signed copy of A Secret in Her Kiss!

Blurb for A SECRET IN HER KISS:
A rare beauty, raised in the exotic heart of the Ottoman Empire, Mari Sinclair knows it’s time to end her career as a British spy when she narrowly avoids a brush with death. Unfortunately her employers think otherwise—and they are not above using blackmail to keep Mari in the Game.
Saddled with a handsome, duty-obsessed “minder” to ensure that she completes—and survives—one last mission, Mari is incensed…for her guardian, Major Bennett Prestwood, is simply too dedicated, too unbending, and too disarmingly attractive. But in the face of dark secrets and deadly treacheries, as the true peril to Mari is slowly revealed, loyal soldier Bennett realizes that, to save and win this extraordinary woman, he will have to do the unthinkable and break the rules—rules that passion and desire have suddenly, irrevocably changed.

Anna lives with her family in Southern California. She writes sultry, adventurous Regency romances for Avon. Her debut novel, A Secret In Her Kiss, is set in Constantinople and earned a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, who called it a “...masterful debut…[that] spins a tale replete with mystery, espionage, and memorable romance.” When she’s not plotting fun, sexy story lines, Anna’s usually eating dark chocolate, having wild dance parties with her kids in the living room, or remodeling her house one ill-planned project at a time. She loves hearing from readers at her website www.AnnaRandol.com or on Twitter at @AnnaRandol!

About Anna:

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