Clothier Reilly Dunne desires an honest woman for his wife. Temptation abounds, and they explore their passion amidst a backdrop of Prohibition parties and police raids. The saint in Moira brings out the sinner in Reilly, but love soon delivers their destiny.
Reviews for Saints and Sinners
"Saints and Sinners is a great book. The sexual tension is very tense and so thick you could cut it with a knife. Moira is a great heroine with a go-get'em attitude that you will love. Reilly comes off as a real gentleman, but deep down he's really rugged and sensual. He makes no excuses for wanting Moira and goes after what he wants with no holds barred. You do get real insight into the life of the 1920's and the different people and style of New York. I think historical fans, especially the ones with a soft spot for the 1920's era, will love this book and Shawna Moore's style of writing." - Angel Brewer, TRS Blue
"Get the fire extinguishers out, as Saints and Sinners could raise the heat enough to create some flames. I, for one, was nearly singed as I read this erotic tale of lust, love and even hotter sex. This is the first book I've read by Shawna Moore, but it won't be the last." - Wendi, FAR
"I never read a book that took place in the 20's before and I have to say, I found this one highly entertaining! From the dialect of the time (swell, doll, etc) to the "speakeasies". I loved the characters and the story. This was a great read and well worth your time!" - Teri, Enchanted in Romance
"All this reviewer can say is WOW!! What a great job Ms. Moore did in crafting a story about the time in our history when flappers and gangsters ran the cities. Her colorful descriptions and great storyline brought to this reviewer's mind the rollicking 20's, as the world then was wild and also more peaceful. This great author crafted a wonderful, compelling novel filled with great characters, a wonderful plot and a background that made this reviewer's imagination soar. Her characters were at times strong-willed, yet also gentle. They complemented each other perfectly, and the secondary characters also were crafted excellently. Ms. Moore's descriptive words and multidimensional characters made this a thrilling story to read. This reviewer thought the sexual tension would melt the computer screen, so a fire extinguisher was kept handy just in case of flare-ups! Ms. Moore's writing was a thrilling ride through an era where prohibition was the norm, gangsters and flappers ruled, and love and hardship were accepted. From beginning to end, Saints & Sinners delivers a delightfully wicked ride in the 20's and delivers a bang at the end. This reviewer highly recommends Saints & Sinners for a wild roaring 20's book that should be in any reader's library. This reviewer can hardly wait for Ms. Moore's next release to see where it will lead readers." - Dawn, Love Romances
"In Moira, Ms.Moore excellently brought and innocent "flapper" to life, who ingrained morality fought against her need to experience the excitement of 1920's New York. Reilly was a wonderful example of a second generation American breaking from his family's criminal past to establish a life of his own, and he wants a good woman beside him. These characters were well written, and their loves scenes are so hot that readers will identify and care about them long after they finish the book. I also liked how the bad guys were not caricatures. They were realistic villains who were trying to survive at all cost in their version of society. The language was appropriate to the time and never faltered, and the settings definitely enhanced the storyline. Readers could feel early 20th century Manhattan. All fans of historical romance will love SAINTS AND SINNERS and others will love a thrilling erotic romance. For all romance readers, this book should be a keeper." - Anya, Coffee Time Romance
"Shawna Moore expertly recreates the seedy side of New York in the 1920s, complete with speakeasies, flappers and gangsters, in her novel SAINTS AND SINNERS. The tawdry setting immediately comes to life with realistic dialog and convincing interaction between the characters. SAINTS AND SINNERS by Shawna Moore portrays the corruption and decadence of 1920 New York so realistically that I was totally absorbed." - Donna, E-cataRomance Reviews
"Delving into the world of bootleg whiskey, secret bawdy clubs, hidden gambling establishments, and questionable characters, Ms. Moore takes us on a rollicking journey into the underbelly of 1923 New York's speakeasy atmosphere in her book Saints and Sinners. Sexual tension, so thick you could cut it with a knife, encompasses the hero and heroine in this insightful rendition of a time when the unscrupulous profited from the sale of whiskey and flesh. Moira, stepping out into the unknown with firm resolution and gumption, is determined to make a better life for herself. Reilly is rough and untamed, sensual and persistent, going after the woman he desires and doing what he believes to be right."
"Anyone with the love for this era will enjoy the unabashed sensuality, and live-life-for-the-moment attitude, portrayed in this 1920's saga. The descriptive broad spectrum of characters, highlighted by Shawna Moore, offers us both the best and worst of those times." - reviewed by Gayle at FALLEN ANGEL REVIEWS
Read an excerpt from Saints and Sinners
Visit Shawna Moore's web site
Visit Shawna @ MySpace
Visit Helle's Myspace
Visit Fierce Romance
Visit Shawna @ Bebo
Visit Shawna's BookPlace
About Shawna Moore
As an only child, daydreaming about enchanting places was one of my favorite pastimes. From the first skit I wrote and performed in front of an audience of stuffed animals and Barbie dolls, I've loved being a storyteller. Creating fantasy worlds and filling them with characters provided more fun than any board games or other avenues of amusement. My beloved late mother always encouraged my love of reading and writing, and from well before the time I started kindergarten, she gifted me with books and took me to our local library. She passed away before my first book was published, but her spirit is with me every day, lovingly and creatively spurring me on.
During my high school and college years, I concentrated on a mixed curriculum of business and academic classes and earned a 4.0 GPA. Never have I been more grateful for my typing skills (over 140 wpm) than when I started writing toward the goal of publication. After fifteen years of working in the medical profession in a variety of capacities, the call of a career writing romance and women's fiction came stronger than ever. My mother had just been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and it was also my desire to spend as much time with her as possible. With the blessing of my real-life hero, my dream came true and I embarked on a full-time fiction-writing journey and haven't looked back. Sharing my stories with readers has proven rejuvenating and rewarding.
Since then I've had multiple novels, novellas and short stories published. Currently I'm writing for Ellora's Cave. In addition I've completed over forty other manuscripts including historical and contemporary erotic romances, single-title erotic women's fiction, erotica, novellas and short stories. Writing is my second greatest passion. My greatest passion? Of course, it is my husband without whose love and strong support my career wouldn't be possible. When it comes to my fiction work, my promise to readers is erotic content presented in the purest way I know possible. My own fulfilling romantic relationship provides me daily inspiration. My wish for every man and woman is that they derive as much romance and pleasure from life and their reading material as possible. Feel the heat, forget the ice when reading one of my stories.
Backlist
Erotica Romances
ROUGHRIDER (contemporary) - Ellora's Cave
HELLE IN HEELS (paranormal) - Ellora's Cave
TAMING THE TEMPTRESS (historical) - Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
Historical Erotic Romance
SAINTS AND SINNERS - Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
TORMENTED - Coming soon from Ellora's Cave
Contemporary Erotic Romance
TORRID TEASERS VOLUME 24 - Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
An Interview with Shawna Moore
By Katie Raines, Assistant for The Romance Studio
KR: Shawna, thank you for joining us at TRS BLUE. Please tell us about
Saints and Sinners.SM: SAINTS AND SINNERS was my first published novel. Set in the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the Roaring Twenties, this story will always hold a special place in my heart. Moira Monaghan is a good-natured, kind-hearted second-generation Irish woman who dares not only making her dreams become reality but also exploring some daring sexual possibilities with the story's hero, a young Irishman named Reilly Dunne. While Moira is an intelligent sort, her knowledge about the ways between men and women has its limits. She's drawn to Reilly-a worldly and chivalrous clothier who happens to have a keen sexual appetite and have a gangster as his uncle. Whenever Moira and Reilly are together, anything seems possible-romantically and otherwise. Reilly doesn't hesitate to shield Moira from harm, but his protective ways are sorely tested during a wild hotel party and may prove his undoing. They laugh, love, and dance with passion and dedication, but certain dangers threaten to destroy them and their budding romance.
Blurb: A flapper falls for a gangster's nephew and lets down her garters and inhibitions. Shopgirl Moira Monaghan longs to leave Manhattan's Lower East Side behind. Clothier Reilly Dunne desires an honest woman for his wife. Temptation abounds, and they explore their passion amidst a backdrop of Prohibition parties and police raids. The saint in Moira brings out the sinner in Reilly, but love soon delivers their destiny.
KR: A flapper falls for a gangster's nephew in the roaring 20's. Where
did you get the idea for this unusual but sizzling story? SM: The idea for SAINTS AND SINNERS came in a dream. A dream I still remember years later. A Grammophone played a song from one of those old 78s-Crazy Words, Crazy Tune. The couple danced the Black Bottom and Charleston and later lounged on a divan that served as the prototype for the one on my novel's cover. From time to time, the heroine pulled the cigarette holder from her mouth and puffed smoke rings toward the ceiling. That bit later gave me the idea to have the rising smoke form a halo above Moira's head on the cover. With his ladylove lying between his legs, the hero massaged her body and whispered sweet nothings and sexy somethings into her ear. Some days later, I jotted down the elements of the dream and set them aside in a folder. A few years passed before I sat down and wrote Moira's and Reilly's romance.
KR: What made you decide to pen a story that takes place in the 20's? SM: Next to the time period spanning the War Between the States, the Roaring Twenties is my favorite. Filled with lots of sexual tension and bold sensuality. Many provocative possibilities. Speakeasies where dimmed lighting, cool jazz and close proximity made for one steamy scene. Josephine Baker's uninhibited stage performances. Flappers who weren't afraid to let their sassier side show-in more ways than one. Much like James P. Johnson's musical revue, young men and women were RUNNING WILD. Women were voting. Frances Perkins became chairwoman of the New York State Industrial Commission in 1926 and was appointed as Industrial Commissioner of the State of New York in 1929 by Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. Lots of suspense was generated by the gangster element and bootlegging. Plenty of fancy-free times until The Great Depression struck.
KR: The reviews are glowing and all of them describe your work as one
hot read. =) In your opinion, what makes this story so hot? SM: Pair a sexually curious young Irish woman who wants to find a higher place for herself in the world with a strong-willed Irish man who longs for a good woman to fill his life and bed, and you get plenty of steam heat-Jazz-Age style. Moira and Reilly are polar opposites when it comes to their upbringing and personalities, but they both long for success earned the honest way. The fact Reilly was raised by a gangster uncle and exposed to the seamier side of Lower East Side Manhattan, and the fact he's also a gentleman underneath the aloof façade he presents to the world, makes him the right man to deliver Moira's sexual awakening. Her goodness paired with his grittiness, the saint with the sinner, makes for a spontaneous sexual combustion.
KR: What did you like best about Moira? SM: There are several things I admire about Moira. Her devotion to family. Her free-spiritedness. How she doesn't hesitate to help out an ill friend at a moment's notice. Moira has high hopes and she won't surrender them despite the fact she's a working class second-generation Irish woman. All the same, she's sensible enough to know there is some limit to what she can attain. While she appreciates the roof her greengrocer father has placed over her head, she aspires to someday leave the Lower East Side behind and move up in the world.
KR: You've written in several romance genres. Do you have a favorite? Do you find any to be more challenging than the others?
SM: Historical romances have always held a special place in my heart and on my keeper shelves. I've been reading them longer than any other sub-genre of romance fiction. I'm quite fond of historical research, and that is another reason why writing and reading historical romances are favorite pastimes. I will admit women's fiction and erotic fiction run a close second to historical romances. The reason I've written in several romance sub-genres is the fact I enjoy reading a wide variety of fiction and prefer writing something different from time to time. Switching up my writing projects, so to speak. Historicals and paranormals are the most challenging fiction to write, in my opinion, simply because of the focus on world-building involved. Readers want to escape to those bygone eras and otherworlds, so the writer must include setting details that enable the reader to live the story vicariously. Not that this isn't true for other sub-genres, but I find it especially true in historical and paranormal romance.
KR: How much time do you devote to your writing career? SM: For eight to ten hours a day, at least five days a week, I can be found either at my writing desk or in the living room going over plotting sheets or jotting notes on a whiteboard. Some days, life intervenes and thwarts my best attempts at reaching the daily writing, plotting, editing, research and/or promotion goals. But I always strive to make up for lost time the next working day.
KR: What's the most important thing you've learned from life as a
writer? SM: Writing is a career I pursue with great passion, but it can become a very solitary pursuit. I've learned to tailor my writing times so I can spend as much time with family and friends as possible. While dwelling in fantasy worlds for eight or so hours a day is a great escape, nothing can substitute for human interaction. Cherish your friends and family like never before. They are the most precious parts of your life.
KR: What's your favorite way to network with readers out there? SM: Any opportunity I have to chat with readers is a blessing. Meeting them in person, whether in bookstores, while out shopping, or at a signing is the best. I enjoy chatting with readers about what they most enjoy about romance fiction. Why they read romances. Who are some of their favorite romance-fiction characters. Interacting with readers at online chats and on various online lists is also a lot of fun. Cyberspace allows us a special connection that makes distance a non-issue.
KR: What would you like to tell readers out there? SM: You all have my heartfelt thanks for embracing books and for making reading one of your favorite pastimes. Being able to create fictional characters and worlds for readers is something for which I give thanks daily. When you aren't immersed in a fictional world created by one of your favorite authors, live life to the fullest. Love with every breath in your body. Never surrender your passions. Dare to make your dreams become reality.
KR: Thank you!
top
Close this window
Copyright © 2008 theromancestudio.com
| 
