“10 Moments That Changed My Life” by Marie Higgins Plus: PRETENDING YOU’RE MINE Historical Romance

Please help me welcome author Marie Higgins, sharing the…

“10 Moments That Changed My Life”

1. Writing a skit for girl’s camp when I was 17 years old, and getting the award of ‘best written’. At this age, I didn’t even know I wanted to be a writer.
2. Receiving awards for my skits in the community. When I was in my mid-twenties, I wrote skits for my community which were performed and judged. The awards I received were “Funniest” and “Best Written”.
3. Reading my first romance book, A Rose in Winter by Kathleen E Woodiwiss. I was in my mid-twenties, and my step-mother-in-law brought me this book to read when I was very sick. I was so caught up in the story that I couldn’t put it down. After I finished this story, I searched for more books by this author, and then more historical romance books. That was the point in my life when I fell in love with historical romance.
4. Watching a romance/suspense movie that had the worst ending! Yes, believe it or not, this did change my life, because I was so upset that the producer/writer of this movie made the audience fall in love with the hero and heroine and yet they didn’t end up together at the end. This was the very thing that pushed me to write my own happy endings!
5. I’ve always had movie-like dreams. The day I watched that crappy movie, I had a dream that night about a happily-ever-after story. The next morning, I decided to write my dream. That’s all it took to kick-start my muse. The rest, they say, is history…
6. Joining RWA (Romance Writers of America). Can you imagine how excited I was to join a group of other writers who loved romance as I did? The years I was with the Utah Chapter, I met so many great women (who are still my friends today), and I learned so much about writing. I realized if I was going to be a writer, I’d better learn how to do it the right way.
7. Winning Second Place in a writing contest! I entered my story (which is now titled “Charmed By Knight”) into a RWA contest, and I won second place! I was shocked…and on cloud nine. It was exciting to think that readers actually enjoyed my story.
8. Received my first email from an agent from my dream agency. She had read “Charmed by Knight”, and loved it…but she couldn’t fit it into her schedule to represent me. So although I never did get with this ‘dream agency’, it was a thrill knowing she enjoyed my story. I even kept the email. lol
9. Getting my first publishing contract. In 2010, I had a publishing company offer to contract one of my stories (which is now titled “Her Own Fairy Godmother”). The editor told me how much fun she had reading this story, and how she couldn’t put it down. Unfortunately, this particular publishing company was one of the worst mistakes I made, but at the time, I was thrilled that a publisher wanted my stories!
10. Discovering self-publishing! In 2011 I had heard so many great things about self-publishing, so I decided to give it a try. That was one of the BEST decisions I’d ever made. Many of my stories were in Amazon’s top 100 best sellers, and I received many 5-star reviews! Now, all these years—and 44 books—later, my stories are still making it to Amazon’s top 100 best sellers, and I’m still receiving many awesome 5-star reviews.

Wow, Marie, what an excellent, fun list! I can definitely relate to your Kathleen Woodiwiss moment, except mine was The Flame and the Flower – Brandon and Heather, I’ll never forget reading that and being completely swept away. Although, my first experience with passionate historical romances was Rosemary Rogers’ Sweet, Savage Love. I read it 8 times! But, enough about me, LOL. Tell us about your book…

HEROIC ROGUE SERIES (all ebooks 99 cents through the month of July).

PRETENDING YOU’RE MINE (book 1)

Mercedes Maxwell is devastated when her twin sister is driven to take her own life by none other than her husband, William Braxton. Determined to make her brother-in-law pay for the injustice, Mercedes travels to Dorchester, England to find him. She is shocked to find that William is unaware of his wife’s death, and when Mercedes is mistaken for her sister, she decides to pose as her twin to glean some answers. Mercedes embarks on an adventure she never dreamed of in hopes of bringing justice to her sister. Instead of justice, Mercedes uncovers a plethora of secrets and mystery. As she works to unravel the mystery and discovers who she can trust, Mercedes finds that all is not as it seems, and that William Braxton may be the one man she can trust.

 EXCERPT :

Thundering hooves of a horse bore down upon them. Mercedes switched her attention to the man on the steed. The small crowd parted, and the man atop the animal dismounted. His horse had whipped up a cloud of dust in the dingy alley and she waved her hand in front of her face to keep from sneezing. The sight of the rider left her speechless and a bit weak at the knees.

His rugged appearance shocked her, his strength evident in his muscled arms and legs. Rather than the fancy clothes of the English gentry, the beige shirt and brown leather vest of a farmer’s attire stretched taut across his wide chest, and the black material of his trousers molded to his legs and fit snugly into his black knee-boots. But this man was no farmer. That much appeared evident by the way he carried himself as he strode toward her, his step too confident, too graceful.

When he neared and she gazed upon his face, her breath caught in her throat. The sun had turned his skin a light brown, and the sureness of his jaw bespoke authority. Chestnut hair tousled by the wind framed his head, and she had a sudden urge to swipe the unruly locks off his forehead.

He was quite handsome, if she dared admit, and he literally made her lungs stop working. Never had that happened to her from just admiring a man. Looking into his fiery hazel eyes, she swallowed hard.

He stopped mere inches away, towering over both Mercedes and the soldier like a dark cloud of doom. She leaned her head back to take in his height.

The handsome man met the soldier’s stare. “Sir, will you kindly remove your hands from my wife?”

Her jaw dropped. Wife?

“Correct me, Mr. Braxton, but was your wife not running from you?” The soldier shook his head. “A few hours ago, I had heard that you reported your wife missing. Now here she is caught running. There must be a reason for that.”

She sucked in her breath. Mr. Braxton? This handsome and very powerful man was William Braxton, her sister’s husband?

The pulse in her temple grew stronger. She couldn’t speak, and she couldn’t think. Telling him about Kat’s death was crucial, yet she didn’t want to do that in front of all of these spectators.

If only her mind would cooperate with her tongue and voice, perhaps she wouldn’t feel like a trapped animal. But more importantly, why did she find her brother-in-law dangerously attractive?

When the man in question settled his eyes on her, his expression softened and a smile touched his mouth. “Yes, my dear. Please inform the captain and all these good people why you were running from me.”

 Purchase link to Amazon – http://a.co/aZ0bGdL

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Marie Higgins is a best-selling, multi-published author of Christian and sweet romance novels; from refined bad-boy heroes who make your heart melt to the feisty heroines who somehow manage to love them regardless of their faults. She’s been with a Christian publisher since 2010. Between those and her others, she’s published over 40 heartwarming, on-the-edge-of-your-seat stories and broadened her readership by writing mystery/suspense, humor, time-travel, paranormal, along with her love for historical romances. Her readers have dubbed her “Queen of Tease”, because of all her twists and turns and unexpected endings.

Visit her website / blog to discover more about her – www.mariehiggins.com

Find her on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/marie.higgins.7543

And Twitter – https://twitter.com/mariehigginsXOX