When I am asked about my all time favorite authors (and I have been asked), in the handful of names that immediately come to mind is Marsha Canham. She has written 17 historical romances—ALL wonderful—earning her Romantic Times’ Lifetime Achievement Award. In my 5 star ratings, I have noted how she weaves complex plots that draw you in, the seamless way she incorporates history and has us salivating over sexy, noble heroes and wanting to be her amazing heroines. Gifted at dialog and speech patterns, and sometimes adding humor (SWEPT AWAY comes to mind) so that I'm laughing out loud, and at other times brings us to tears (THE PRIDE OF LIONS trilogy broke my heart for the Scots). You will never be disappointed with one of Marsha's stories, I promise.
Canham told me she usually invests 6 months of research for each book she writes before and during the writing of it. When you read them, it is not hard to believe. She is true to the period of the story, and the variety in her settings is amazing. She captures the nuances of characters’ accents in her dialog, which is very difficult to do and many don’t even try. Her love scenes are well scripted and fit precisely into the relationship, and her plots are complex and will keep you reading late into the night.
She is the MASTER of high seas historical romance, and after an 8-year hiatus, I am happy to say she is BACK with a great one! —the third in her wonderful Pirate Wolf trilogy: THE FOLLOWING SEA, reviewed on my blog this week.
I just can’t say enough good things about Marsha’s work…I love her stories.
Come back on Thursday and Friday, as she’ll be making a guest appearance on my blog, telling us how she writes those swashbucklers.
Here are her novels. Note that most are available in new eBook format with sexy new covers.
Scottish/Highland trilogy:
· The Pride of Lions (1988)
· Blood of Roses (1989)
· Midnight Honor (2001)
Pirate Wolf trilogy:
· Across a Moonlit Sea (1996)
· The Iron Rose (2003)
· The Following Sea (March 2012)
Robin Hood trilogy:
· Through a Dark Mist (1991)
· The Shadow of Midnight (1994)
· The Last Arrow (1997)
Others by her I love:
· Bound by the Heart (1984—a high seas romance) [Note: The paperback book and new e-versions are different.]
· The Wind and the Sea (1986 – high seas romance)
· Pale Moon Rider (1998 - highwayman adventure)
· Swept Away (1999 - Regency)
· Under the Desert Moon (1992 - western historical)
· Straight From the Heart (1995 - Civil War historical)
· My Forever Love (2004 - medieval) coming soon as an e-book, titled The Dragon Tree
· China Rose (1984, her first book)
Sounds fun Regan!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI'll watch for the blog...
Lisa :)
Lisa, do come back for Marsha on Thursday...you won't be disappointed. There must be a high seas scene in one of those paranormal romances of yours! A vampire with a sword?
DeleteRegan, I'm in total awe of writers of Historical Romance (the amount of research boggles the mind) and will definitely check back later this week.
ReplyDeletePam
Pam, having done the research, I know first hand how much work Marsha has put into her books. I once spent three days doing research for a 3-page prologue that was a mere scene only related in a small way to the full story!
ReplyDelete