Current Works and Events

Coming from Samhain in June 2010

Living breath-to-breath beneath the shadow of violence, Italian perfumer and apothecary Allegra Grimaldi was forced to learn the killing arts from the Hand of God—a religious assassin. She has sworn never to use her deadly skills, but now a blackmailer has her by the proverbial throat.

To save her family from an ugly death, she must do the unthinkable. Infiltrate the court of King Henry VIII, poison the heretic Anne Boleyn before she becomes queen—and frame Anne’s bastard brother for the crime. Honest and principled, Sir Joscelin is the perfect pawn.

Allegra is clever, captivating…and her warning to Anne of the plot immediately rouses Joscelin’s suspicion. Sworn to protect his sister, and striving for recognition from the powerful father who disdains him, Joscelin has no choice but to put aside his attraction to the mysterious lady and gather evidence to see her burn for witchcraft.

To avert a disaster that will change the face of Europe, this stalwart soldier of incorruptible integrity and the fallen woman who breathes deception must learn to trust each other—and discover the one truth that could save them all.

Coming from Dorchester in November 2010

THE BEAUTY
In the glittering, sumptuous court of Eleanor of Aquitaine, betrayal lurks around every corner. The queen is at odds with her king, and to obey one could mean treason against the other. Even Alienore, considered the most virtuous lady at court, holds secrets: whether masquerading as a knight on the tourney field to defend those without a champion or desperately trying to save her lands—-and her maidenhead—-from the Duke of Ormonde.

THE BLACK KNIGHT
He is called the Raven—-his face scarred by a Saracen blade, his voice raspy with the effects of Greek fire. His parentage is unknown, his prowess legendary. And he’ll sell his sword to the highest bidder. As his piercing eyes track her every move, Alienore wonders who he’s working for now: finding a spy for King Henry? sent by the duke to fetch her home? Or is each heated touch, each whispered promise of pleasure part of a much more personal mission?

More great news from the lovely women at River City Romance Writers. I have now learned that BOTH of the manuscripts I submitted for the contest have finalled: Russian Seduction in the mystery/suspense category, and Devil’s Mistress in the historical category. So Mistress will now be read and judged by an editor from Samhain Publishing.

I have to say this is encouraging feedback. I entered Mistress in several contests over the winter in order to get some feedback from within the romance industry on the read. And the story has now finalled in the first two contests where I’ve entered it. Of course, it has also benefitted from being workshopped by fellow students in the Stonecoast program at University of Southern Maine, where I’m earning my MFA in Writing Popular Fiction. As part of the program, I submit monthly writing packets to my faculty mentor, who this semester is the excellent horror/romance/YA author Nancy Holder…who has been fantastic to me. She’s helped a great deal in making my courtesan-assassin heroine in Devil’s Mistress a sympathetic character, which was not exactly easy to do!

I’ll keep you all posted on how the story does in these contests!

Cheers,
Xenia

Greetings to all you lovely readers!

Today was my birthday (which is not normally a matter for cheering), but I did receive a particularly lovely surprise in the mail. My sexy romantic suspense, THE RUSSIAN SEDUCTION, has finalled in the River City Romance Writers Duel on the Delta contest! It was particularly pleasant since this is not only the first contest in which I’ve entered this particular story, but the first contemporary romantic suspense I’ve written. I entered a few contests primarily to get feedback from within the romance industry on this rather exotic bird of mine. And was frankly delighted to find the feedback so positive!

Interesting also that the aspects of the story I expected to be “misunderstood” actually went over pretty well. The judges seemed to like my storyline of Russia-Ukraine at war, and seemed to like my very alpha, chain-smoking Russian hero. Now the final round will be judged by Keyren Gerlach, an associate editor at Silhouette Romantic Suspense!

If interested, you can find out more about the contest at http://rivercityromancewriters.org/duel.html I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out!

Cheers,
Xenia

Dear Xenia,
I just wanted to congratulate you on the Golden Heart Award!
Alison