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GUEST LAUNCH PARTY + GIVEAWAY: Tainted Angel by Anne Cleeland

Please give a warm welcome to Sourcebooks historical fiction author Anne Cleeland! Her novels have a romantic twist to them that we thought you’d enjoy hearing about. Tainted Angel (in stores NOW!) pits two spies against one another—can they trust each other? Find out more below! 
   
Hello, everyone!  I was a mild-mannered lawyer and mother of four when I decided—like many people who love reading—that I would try my hand at writing the kind of stories I love to read.  My favorite stories are about ordinary people swept up in extraordinary events, so that’s what I like to write.  

In Tainted Angel, the heroine is an agent for the Crown, but her spymaster suspects she is “tainted”—a double agent working for Napoleon. Her love interest has his own dark secrets—unless his affection is feigned and he is actually setting a trap to reveal her own treason.  There are twists and double-crosses as the attraction between the two spies becomes more powerful than their mutual distrust—and England’s future hangs in the balance.

I think we love spy stories for the same reason we can’t get enough of James Bond; the stakes are always high and there’s the tried-and-true plot premise of the ordinary person who is secretly not so ordinary.  Think about the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith; one of the reasons it was so entertaining was because these extraordinary people were not very good at seeming ordinary, and in the end, they recognized this  “extraordinariness”  in the other, and it drew them together. 

Tainted Angel is the first book in a new historical series that combines romance with adventure—the heroine is swept up in a game of spies, with the fate of the world at stake.  Here are five fast facts:
1.    The story is a Regency version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, with the hero and the heroine playing a deadly game of cat and mouse.
2.   Neither the hero nor the heroine is who they appear to be.
3.   The hero is a widower, but the circumstances surrounding his first wife’s death are                 unclear.
4.   Someone is stealing gold shipments meant for the British army on the continent.
5.   The climactic scene takes place during a masquerade party on a London river barge—and both the hero and heroine must make the fateful choice between love and allegiance.        

I look forward to sharing these stories, and I hope you will enjoy them. For those of you who are mystery buffs, I also have a contemporary mystery series that will debut in August with Murder in Thrall.

Thank you to Anne for visiting with us today! To win one of two copies of Tainted Angel, just tell us who your favorite spies are (real or fictional) in the comments. Winners will be announced on Friday, June 14. Please be sure to leave an email address so we can contact you! (US and Canada only, please)

TAINTED ANGEL BY ANNE CLEELAND – IN STORES JUNE 2013
A Deadly Game of Deception…
Notorious and beautiful, Vidia Swanson works as an "angel," trying to coax incriminating secrets from powerful men who may or may not be traitors of the Crown. Her latest target is suspected of stealing gold from Wellington's troops, but matters take an alarming turn when Vidia realizes that her spymaster thinks she is the one who is tainted—a double agent working for Napoleon.

Backed into a corner, she can only hope to stay one step ahead of the hangman in a race to stop the next war before it destroys her—and destroys England. Tainted Angel offers up a compelling game of cat and mouse in which no one can be trusted and anyone can be tainted.

"Espionage and passion—Regency style—burning up the pages from chapter one."—New York Times bestselling author Raine Miller

"A world of spies and traitors where no one is quite what they seem and the truth is only true for a moment...a thrilling take that will keep you guessing until the very last page."—Victoria Thompson, author of Murder in Chelsea

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anne Cleeland holds a degree in English from UCLA as well as a law degree from Pepperdine University and is a member of the California State Bar. She writes historical fiction set in the Regency period and contemporary romantic suspense.  A member of the Historical Novel Society, she lives on Balboa Island, California and has four children. Tainted Angel is her first novel. For more information, please visit http://annecleeland.com/. 


Comments

  1. I love stories with a strong, female character ... and a spy at that! This novel sounds great, and I can't wait to read it.

    My favourite spy is Austin Powers. I love his puns and quirky one-liners. And it doesn't hurt that he's British!

    Please find me on Twitter: @mrsmonnandez! Thanks for the giveaway.

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  2. I saw spies and I was in. I am going to the online bookstore NOW!

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  3. CONGRATULATIONS on the new release. One of the first romance books I read was about Napoleon. This sounds like something I'd really like.

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  4. Thanks so muc, everyone. I am thrilled to be here!

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  5. Love historicals and this sounds like it has some real excitement to it. I use to really enjoy Charlie's Angels and I Spy.

    catslady5(at)aol.com

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  6. A spy historical story is so appealing. One of my favorite spy story is by Joanna Bourne. I really enjoyed A Forbidden Rose.

    Cambonified(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  7. Sounds like an interesting premise. I am not sure one would consider them 'spies' but I definitely enjoyed the James Bond and The Saint stories. Good luck with the new release!

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  8. Oh, goodness! LOVING the way this novel sounds!
    I love Annie and Auggie from Covert Affairs.

    justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

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  9. Good Morning! Thanks to everyone who commented on this post. Our winners are:

    Chelsea B.
    and
    Na

    I'll be emailing you both shortly!

    Have a great week,
    Danielle

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