It really took me not even a moment to decide which romance heroine I’d chose for heroine’s week here at RNTV. When I think of romance heroines who I’d like to be friends with, or hang out with, one author comes to mind: Julie James. In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that I consider Julie to be a friend, but I read her books before I got to know her, so I can say honestly and without bias that her books are wonderful contemporaries — ones that I recommend over and over again.

So when it came time to choose a heroine, I chose Payton Kendall from Julie’s Practice Makes Perfect. From the first moment we meet Payton, we understand what makes her tick – competition and…

Generally speaking, when you gather a group of romance readers together, the talk turns to heroes. And believe me when I say, we here at RTNV have absolutely no problem with that. We’ve talked bad boys , we’ve talked virgin heroes , we love, love, love talking about heroes. But the fact of the matter is, sometimes it’s not the hero that makes the book, it’s the heroine. A woman savvy enough, lovely enough, wily enough, strong enough to take on that alpha (or beta) male. She who complements the He of the story.

A strong woman is a heady thing, and romance offers us a variety of them. Sure, there are plenty who get a rise from we readers, “too weak, “ we’ll say. Or the heroines we think are…

Reviewed by Stacey Agdern
Publisher: Dorchester
5 Stars

What makes a good writer is how they choose to tell the substance of their story; in essence, the style of their work. The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker can be commended not only for it’s substance, but it’s style as well.

Leanna Renee Hieber makes a conscious choice to tell the majority of Percy’s story in the limited third person perspective of two of the main characters:  Percy herself, and Mr. Alexi Rychman, the intended hero.  But in limited third person, as with first person, a writer is restricted to knowledge that their point of view character has.  That means that a great deal of events are taking place outside of either character’s point of view.  And in most cases, this information is…

Welcome to RELEASE DAY and to the Strangely Beautiful Haunted London Blog Tour! Thank you RNTV for hosting me on this very, very special day. I appreciate all you do for our industry, Maria, Marisa, the reviewers and readers, it’s such an honor to be here.

For those of you just joining us, the purpose of this Haunted tour is to celebrate the release of my Gothic Victorian Fantasy Romance debut, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, first in the Strangely Beautiful series. This Tour will introduce you to some of the real, documented London haunts who “ghost-star” in my book. When Professor Alexi Rychman and his Guard of spectral police make their rounds, it is to any number of London phantasms. Since these characters are familiar to The Guard, I don’t get to tell their full story in the book. But here I can give them their due and show how they’ve inspired parts of the book. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win a signed copy!

Dear Reader:

I don’t go to the movies often. In fact Maria has to drag me kicking and screaming. I don’t go for several reasons:

1. There hasn’t been a movie I wanted to pay $13 to see.

2. I have very little free time.

3. I can’t hear what they’re saying. (thank goodness for the new earphones for the hearing impaired).

In any event when I do go, I want it to be light, happy, joyful. I get enough angst from newspapers, television and many of my romance books. So kicking and screaming I went to see Julie & Julia the new movie starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams written and directed by Nora Ephron and based on two different true stories.

What a delight!  In case you live in a cave and haven’t heard, Julie…

My dearest Readers,
The following is what men would actually learn if they attended the School of Gallantry. By the by — for those of you that are curious — the School of Gallantry was founded in 1830 in London, by Madame de Maitenon who sought to educate men in the topic of love and seduction. (Mind you, the school and all the characters in my books are fictional but hey, a woman can dream)

Gentlemen:
*Instead of relying on giving a lady more flowers and more gifts, try to rely on giving more of yourself.
*The art of pleasure involves more than just that stick between your legs.
*As a side note to number 2, most women’s delicate little pearls cannot be reached by said stick, no matter how long or how large. Which…