This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn host. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Phaedra: On my favorite movies ever. Most gorgeous love scene ever. Movie that’s influenced my writing the most. Gorgeous score. Great acting. A love to burn the world down.
Blast From the Past: Adam, the hero (who’s lived in a bomb shelter all his life) is adorable, so innocent, so honest, and so open to the beauty of the world. Brendan Fraser, a superb actor in both comedy and drama, captures this charm and whimsy to perfection. And he can dance! Alicia Silverstone but she makes a good Eve, a bit shallow and jaded when she meets Adam, but essentially honest and loving like him, so I do love them as a couple.
Here’s the spectacular dance scene—Eve is helping Adam find a girlfriend. She tells him to be funny but expects him to be hopeless.
Romeo and Juliet: Zefferelli’s, not Baz Lurhman’s slight lunatic version. Except that Zefferelli cut too much of the actual text, it’s perfection. Beautiful and heartbreaking.
The meeting, set to the beautiful prophetic song.
Sense and Sensibility: What a pile of fantastic relationships. Elinor and Edward so adorable and the proposal scene makes me cry every time. I love that Alan Rickman wipes out the two handsomer actors with the intensity and tenderness of his love for Marianne. And even though Willoughby gets his just desserts, he’s still a delightfully sexy presence before he deserts. I think this is a perfect film, beautifully written, cast, directed.
Willoughby looks like the winner at first:
Pride and Prejudice: I’m fond of several! Sorry, I do not like Colin Firth as Darcy, though I appreciate the production as a whole and love Jennifer Ehle’s Elizabeth. My favorite Darcy is Laurence Olivier because, well, pride. Greer Garson is marvelous in the banter scenes, but fails to deliver a real depth of emotion. It’s got a great script but the production is too silly overall. But it has enough good points I return to it often.
But my favorite Lizzy is Lily James in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I really love Lizzy best, but Darcy’s transformation is wonderful.
Here’s the hilarious proposal scene:
Best version overall for me is the Keira Knightly film. I do love the Bröntesque feel, even if Austin would probably not approve. This version plays the physical attraction between Elizabeth and Darcy more than any other. I certainly responded to the sexual tension but I did miss the verbal banter and meeting of minds that other versions do better.
Bound: Corky and Violet, Woo! Pretty hard to find a scene that isn’t too steamy to post. It’s a great thriller and I love both women.
Who Am I This Time: I’ve watched this endless times. Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon are fabulous as two lonely souls who find each other through acting. It’s a pity Walken didn’t get more romantic comedy when he was young and beautiful.
Full movie:
Luther (and Alice): This wasn’t on my list at first. It’s TV, so that’s one reason why. But then I added my beloved Who Am I This Time, which was an hour drama for American Comedy Theatre. And for what I watch over and over – and over and over – for sexual tension and a fascinating emotional relationship, Luther and Alice are way up at the top of the list. Do I believe a psychopath can fall in love? Probably not. Do I believe that Alice falls in love with Luther and Luther comes to love her? Yes. I do have to wonder if one of them would have ended up killing the other though. I couldn’t find their first scene, the interview, but this one is good at showing the game playing though you’ll have to watch the show to really get it.
La Femme Nikita (and Michael): So, doing TV and yes, another all time favorite couple. A wonderful attraction of opposites. They are both forced to serve Section One or be killed. Nikita constantly fights to keep her soul. Michael is convinced he doesn’t have one anymore but holds on to Nickita because she will be his soul, his conscience for him. I was going to write an Elizabethan historical romance that was basically a La Femme Nikita story. Instead, after many mutations, Michael and Nikita transformed into Michel and Theo in Floats the Dark Shadow. Without being captives of Section One, they had to change greatly, no longer captive spies but independent cop and artist at odds, detecting a murder.
The Last of the Mohicans: I wavered a lot on a final movie pick—really too many to chose from. Casablanca and its reverse, The English Patient. Notting Hill. Something New. But I love both Cora and Hawkeye, and even if action dominates the movie their love story is still at the center. Daniel Day Lewis is truly extraordinary in it.
The trailer:
Love scene at the fort:
Warrior. Spy. Marian Montrose dons silk or chain mail with equal aplomb. Sent by Queen Eleanor on a mission to Nottingham, Marian is waylaid in Sherwood Forest by the infamous Robin Hood. Her companions are stripped of their riches, but from her, Robin steals only one brazen kiss.
Seething with anger at the thief’s presumption and the haunting memory of his searing embrace, Marian arrives at the castle to find the sophisticated and seductive Sir Guy of Guisbourne a welcome distraction. Guisbourne would be the perfect ally against the Sheriff and Prince John but he believes he’s already picked the winning side. Deft at games of intrigue, Marian discovers Guisbourne’s involved in plans to steal the ransom meant to free King Richard the Lionheart.
Conquering her misgivings, Marian returns to Sherwood and recruits Robin with the promise of a pardon for him and his men. Now they are allies in the fight to return the king, but Robin wants far more from Marian. First she resists his almost magical allure, then succumbs, then resists again, distrusting the elemental power he has over her. Guisbourne may be lethally dangerous, but Robin threatens to consume both her body and her soul.
Danger surrounds them. Betrayal separates them. But desire—and fate—will not be denied.
Enjoy an Excerpt
Simon of Vitry was a dead man. His rush was telling on him. In his eagerness for the kill, Vitry had expended too much energy. As he thrust at her again, he stumbled over a root. He recouped before she could counterattack, but Marian regained her balance and her surety. She saw that the great sword had grown heavy for him, showing its weight in his faltering backhand. Deliberately she edged around him, letting him follow with his strongest cuts, then quickly reversed direction, playing to his weakest maneuver. The backslash came at her, aiming to open her chest. She brought her own sword under his blade and turned it, then instantly drove her point home, taking him deep in the belly. Vitry screamed, surprise and outrage rising to a shrilling agony as she pulled her weapon free. With a surge of cold triumph she saw him fall to the ground. He lay at her feet, clutching the wound and thrashing. She did not answer when he begged her for his death.
Implacable as fate, Marian sat by the edge of the pool and watched Vitry die, wondering if her father had taken as long. After an hour it was over. Rising, she went to stand over his corpse. Though all around the bright May greenery fluttered in the breeze, looking down on him she felt encompassed by winter.
About the Author:
Gayle Feyrer began drawing as soon as she could hold a crayon and writing when she was twelve. She holds a Bachelor’s in Pictorial Arts from UCLA, and MFA from the University of Oregon in Creative Writing. In her varied career, she has been a tie dye artist, go-go dancer, baker, creator of ceramic beasties, illustrator, fiction teacher, and finally, novelist. A Libra with Scorpio Rising, Gayle’s romantic nature takes on a darker edge. She hopes these shadows bring depth to her romances.
A world traveler, Gayle has visited Paris, England and Italy numerous times. She lived for two years in Jakarta, Indonesia, with many trips around Asia. She currently resides across the bridge from San Francisco, with her husband and their two rescue cats, Charlotte and Emily, the Flying Bronte sisters, half Siamese and half tabby.
Buy the book at Amazon.
In March 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile in Elba. In Brussels, 18 year-old Helen Whitley knows war between France, Britain and her allies, is inevitable. A talented artist, she is aware of the anxiety and fear underlying the balls, breakfasts, parties, picnics and soirees held by the British Brussels. She paints scenes in which she captures the emotions of daily life during the hundred days before the Battle at Waterloo while waiting for Major, Viscount Langley, to arrive in Brussels and ask her to be his wife. Before Langley leaves England to join his regiment in Belgium, he visits his ancestral home, to inform his parents that he intends to marry Helen. They are bankrupt so he cannot ask Helen to marry him and her pride does not allow her to reveal the misery caused by Langley’s rejection. 
At heart I am a historian. My classic/historical romantic fiction is set in England during the reigns of Edward II, Queen Anne Stuart 1702-1714, and the Regency era. I explore themes 21st century people can relate to e.g., a soldier suffering from posttraumatic syndrome before the condition was diagnosed, a young woman seeking her birth parents, a city on the verge of war. My novels are meticulously researched to capture times past – culture, fashion, food, customs and much more. My late 20th century novel, Indira and Daisy is a view of two vastly diverse cultures shown through two fourteen-year-old girls who live in England. The Hindu and English backgrounds, religion, clothes, food and drink, bring their story to vibrant life. 
I haven’t seen Soren Mathews in ten years, but he draws me right back under his spell. We spend one stormy night together living out our teenage fantasies and in the morning, he’s gone again, leaving me to think about him and the secret I’m keeping. Readers who enjoy romance with childhood crushes and one night stands will love Beards & Babies by Heather Lauren, a steamy, small town, brother’s best friend, beach romance.
When the British arrived in Winnipeg in the 1800s it was convenient for the men to take Metis wives. They were called a la vacon du pays – according to the custom of the country. These women bore the brunt of ensuring survival in the harsh environment. Without them the British army and fur traders would not have survived the brutal winters. However, as society evolved it became accepted that wives must be white, schooled in British ways, fashionable in the European sense and married by the Anglican church. The Metis wives and their ‘country born’ offspring were thrown out and forced to fend for themselves. The unrepentant husbands continued to live comfortably with their ‘new’ wives. It was inevitable that some discarded wives did not accept their fate quietly and hard feelings on both sides were unavoidable. When the bodies of two discarded Metis wives, Marguerite and Marie-Anne, are found floating in the Red River, Guilliame Mousseau, sets out to get to the bottom of his sisters’ murder.
Nancy lives near Balzac, Alberta. She is a member of the Writers Guild of Alberta, The League of Canadian Poets, and the Canadian Authors Association. She has publishing credits in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction with over 20 published novels. Her work has been included in Tamaracks Canadian Poetry for the 21st Century and Vistas of the West Anthology of Poetry. Her poetry is also being included by the University of Holguin Cuba in their Canada Cuba Literary Alliance (CCLA) program. 
Long and Short Reviews welcomes 
Doc has been a member of the Desert Rebels for a long time. He had his own clinic until a sweet, beautiful nurse came on board and ruined everything. Harlow is married and a complication Doc didn’t need. He tried; he really did. But after a while he couldn’t stand working beside a woman he wanted more than he needed air to breathe.
GIVEAWAY!
Rachel lives in a small town near Bath, England. She is the author of 29 novels including the Ladies of Carson Street trilogy, the Shop Girl series (Aria Fiction) and several single titles with The Wild Rose Press. She is super excited to be the debut historical fiction author writing for Harpeth Road Press and her first novel with them will be released in Spring 2024.
Sarafina di Ramonicci sets sail for America as the promised bride in an arranged political marriage.
Avery Sterling’s love for the romance genre began in her teen years when she picked up her first novel. She was captivated by the sweeping scale of emotions brought about by the words. The experience catapulted her towards learning the art of wielding a breathtaking adventure, with a love that felt authentic. Wanting to inspire people with her own thoughts and words, she finished her first novel at sixteen. It was a step towards understanding the essence of what she wished to create. Most of her youth was spent traveling, searching out the romance and beauty in her everchanging world. From the waves that crashed against the rocky shores of Downeast, Maine, to the warm breezes of the Caribbean, she discovered that love was universal, apparent in its grandest and simplest of forms. Her goal is to write novels an audience can relate to, one that conveys the truth and nature of love… with all that steamy romance.
Star Rider on the Razor’s Edge 
Heidi Skarie is the author of the Sci-Fi, Space Opera series The Star Rider Universe. The sixth book in the series, Golden Cord of Light is a new release and the seventh is coming out in 2024. She was inspired to write Star Rider on the Razor’s Edge after having a series of six dreams that was like watching a movie. 
