Elaine Marie Cooper Author

Historical Fiction That Grabs Your Heart and Feeds Your Soul

romance

Romance Stories for Valentine’s Day

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Every day should be a day to celebrate love, but Valentine’s Day is a reminder to treasure all the people in your life who fill you with joy and, of course, love.

For everyone, that person might be different. It might be your parents, your close friend, your spouse, or that new love interest who makes your heart beat a bit faster whenever you greet them. But I encourage you to not let Valentine’s Day pass by without letting them know you love them. Life is too short to miss out on saying, “I Love you.”

For those who love romance stories (that are clean but swoony!) and are filled with lots of American history, my latest releases have a bit of romance to make your toes tingle. 😉

The stories begin with a prequel novella, War’s Respite:

The next book in this 4-book series is Love’s Kindling. Here is a quote:

Mesmerized by the dancing beams in the distance, he stared at the
glimmering light. The unexpected flashes of lightning added sudden
bursts of illumination, both frightening and beautiful. But it was the
sharp burst of thunder that drew Aurinda to lay her head on his
shoulder, clutching the whimpering Hannah. It could thunder all
night if it meant Aurinda would remain close to him.
For the first time in his life, he thanked God for a storm.


Ah. The storms in life that draw us to cling to those we love. 🙂

War’s Respite is just .99 on Kindle: War’s Respite

Love’s Kindling is available on both Kindle and in Paperback: Love’s Kindling

Announcing the Winner of the Series Title!

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I was SO impressed with the submissions for this contest! All of the contestants were very creative and it made it difficult to narrow it down. When all was said and done, however, a choice had to be decided. So my publisher and I have chosen…

 

IN PURSUIT OF LIBERTY AND LOVE

Saratoga Letters will be Book 1 in this series.

 

And the WINNER IS:

BECKY SMITH!!

 

Congratulations, Becky!! She will receive a signed copy of Saratoga Letters, plus a $10 Amazon gift card.

THANK YOU once again to all of my faithful readers who helped us pick out a title for this brand new series! Be blessed, friends.

9781938499142

“Saratoga Letters” is sure to captivate every romantic at heart. Through the use of period writing, Elaine Marie Cooper creatively depicts two love stories set in separate centuries within the same book. Her brilliant use of letters to bridge the stories of Abigail and Abby brings mystery and suspense while piecing together their connections after 200 years. If you enjoy both historical and modern day romance, then Saratoga Letters is a double delight.” — Amazon reviewer

To purchase Saratoga Letters, click here.

Cover Reveal – “Road to Deer Run”

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Cover Reveal Day for Road to Deer Run is here at last! And soon, the newly edited text and the beautiful interior design will be available for readers to be swept up in this historical romance set in 1777. I cannot wait!

Book Launch Day will be December 10 but there will be plenty of opportunities before then to pre-order a copy for either Kindle or in paperback.  But keep December 10 on your calendar, as there will be lots of fun giveaways to celebrate this new version of Road to Deer Run. I’ll announce more details as the time draws near and I will set up an event page on Facebook.

Some say you can’t tell a book by its cover. While that may sometimes be correct, a book cover can reveal much about what is inside the story. What do you see in the facial expression of Mary Thomsen as she clutches a red coat in her arms? This new cover should give a hint at the intense story line of this historical romance. And since it is an inspirational romance, it is generally geared towards an adult audience rather than YA. There is nothing graphic in this book, but it is not intended for young children. It is, after all, a story set in the midst of the American Revolutionary War.

Road to Deer Run - Cover

I want to thank CrossRiver Media for breathing new life into the Deer Run Saga. The edits by Debra Butterfield and the new cover design allow readers of the earlier release to be in for a treat. It is basically the same story, but so much more.

 

The sequels will release in 2016: Promise of Deer Run in June and Legacy of Deer Run in December. I cannot wait to share these novels with you as well. It is a series close to my heart and I am grateful for its rebirth!

 

 

 

Romance or Raw Lust?

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As I scrolled down my Facebook feed one morning, I did a double take.

There was a Christian author friend, posing next to a cover model for romance novels. She was dressed in a modest dress. He was shirtless, six-pack rippling, pants on the edge of too low, with his arm around my friend. My author friend had just come from a secular romance writer’s conference and had posted this photo.

It was the same day her Christian devotional posted on her blog to which I subscribe.

Is there something wrong with this picture?

I checked out the conference she had attended. The featured authors ran the gamut from Christian to VERY edgy. When I checked out the books of one of the authors in attendance, I discovered numerous titles with such words as “devil,” “temptation,” “sin” and “virgin.” I’ll give you this much: Even secular writers know the correct terminology. In this PC world where many want to deny the evil one and the existence of sin, at least it was good to know the secular writers know they are real.

This issue of Christian romance authors side-by-side with the pornographic romance writers has bothered me for some time. And many times it is not the authors themselves who put themselves in such company. Their publishers do.

A wonderful Christian author with a beautiful historical novel was recently a finalist in a contest frequented by secular romance writers. This Christian author knew nothing about how her book was even entered.

This same romance organization that sponsors the contest has a publication that prints book reviews. As a newbie historical romance writer a few years ago, I subscribed to this magazine. To my surprise, it arrived in a dark cellophane wrapper. Only after opening the magazine did I realize why: The abundance of sexually suggestive covers displayed were enough to cause even this romance writer to blush.

I looked for the “Inspirational Romance” section for reviews. It was a few short pages, surrounded by page after page of book covers with scantily dressed lovers in various poses. The activity of the paramours was obvious. After reading the reviews in subsequent issues, I soon realized I was not going to be able to read them without the visual assault of one book cover after another tempting my libido at every turn of the page. I started dropping the unopened magazine into the trashcan upon arrival. Needless to say, I no longer subscribe.

There has been a growing trend among women supposedly trying to revitalize their sex lives by reading a recent series of books about “Forty-Nine Plus One Derivations of A Dull Shade of Black.” I refuse to name the title due to internet search engines. 🙂

 

What is shocking is that a recent survey revealed many of the readers of the aforementioned series are Christian women. What is even more troublesome is that there has also been a dramatic increase in women delving into pornography.

 

A recent book, “Pulling Back The Shades” by Dr. Juli Slattery and Dannah Gresh, addresses the concern. In an article in Christianpost.com, Dr. Slattery (who read the trilogy of books) describes not only the kinky nature of the explicit sex in the popular series, but the frequent Satanic symbolism. The latter agenda in these books shocked Dr. Slattery, a Christian psychologist. To read the full article in Christianpost.com, including details about the survey, check it out here.

So here is my question: As Christian authors do we have an obligation to distance ourselves from the organizations that promote lustful images? Or should we hang out with the sinners, hoping our offerings of less-explicit romance novels will influence the buying public to reform their reading habits?

I don’t have clear-cut answers. But I will say one thing: if you ever see me posing with a shirtless man other than my husband, send me a virtual slap.