COVER SPOTLIGHT - The Prince's Special Bride

Cover Reveal

ROYAL ROMANCE, BOOK 1: 

THE PRINCE'S SPECIAL BRIDE

by

DEVIKA FERNANDO

Sneak Peek

Marie doesn’t believe in fairytales and needs no handsome prince to rescue her from misery – but everything changes when she falls in love with Crown Prince Christian of Taragonia. When his sister invites Marie to the palace, their lives collide and leave them both fighting their forbidden attraction.

Prince Christian has no place in his life for love or for a woman who doesn’t fit into the royal scheme of things. But vivacious Marie steals his heart and puts all he has lived for at stake. When the media gets wind of their affair, he has to make a difficult decision. 

Will the unlikely couple have a chance at a happy ending?

About the Author

Almost as soon as Devika Fernando could write, she imagined stories and poems. After finishing her education in Germany and returning to her roots in Sri Lanka, she got a chance to turn her passion into her profession. Having lived in Germany and in Sri Lanka with her husband has made her experience the best (and the worst) of two totally different worlds – something that influences her writing. Her trademark are sweet, yet deeply emotional romance stories where the characters actually fall in love instead of merely falling in lust. She draws inspiration from everyone and everything in life. Besides being a romance novel author, she works as a self-employed German web content writer, as a translator, and as a faithful servant to all the cats, dogs, fish and birds in her home. What she loves most about being an author is the chance to create new worlds and send her protagonists on a journey full of ups and downs that will leave them changed. When she’s not writing, she’s reading or thinking about writing.

You can follow the author here:
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Excerpt from the book

Marie blinked some more, her feet automatically carrying her close. “What…what are you doing here?” Belatedly, she curtsied and added a weak “Your Highness”, remembering that they were not alone. 

His smile widened. For a moment, he seemed to be drinking her in, his gaze roving appreciatively over her body clad turquoise capris and a white polo shirt. She felt his gaze like a physical caress, driving her out of her mind, increasing the heat.

“This is my family’s property. Surely I have a right to be here,” he joked mildly. For a moment, it looked like he wanted to touch her, but his hand fell back down to his side, clenching into a fist once.

“Yes,” she replied, still dazed. “But you’re a crown prince, not a winemaker.”

He laughed, and the sound traveled straight to her heart. “That is correct, but I do know a thing or two about wine. My duties encompass everything concerned with my kingdom.”

She nodded. Of course. And wasn’t that what made him the perfect regent? His interest in anything and everything, his willingness to learn and his readiness to get his hands dirty?

He ushered her into the building, her entourage trailing behind and exchanging looks.

“I came here this morning with the dignitaries from England and Germany to give them a private tour.” Christian raked his hands through his hair, as if the time spent with them hadn’t exactly been fun. “My sister told me you’d end up here sooner or later, otherwise I’d have traveled through the region, visiting some other vineyards and villages.”

Marie swallowed. So he’d stayed behind because of her. She felt thrilled and anxious at the same time. As keen as she was on every minute spent with him, this would lead nowhere and should not even get a chance to bloom. Why nurture something that was doomed to be cut off at the stem before it could blossom?

Are you ready?????

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Seduced in Spain - Character Interview

Seduced in Spain by Devika Fernando

Hi, Emily, welcome to my blog and thank you for this interview.

   First impressions count so what are you wearing? What do you look like?

I love wearing dresses. Today’s dress is one of my favourites: It’s a black dress, knee-length with sleeves to my elbows. I love the collar because it has red and white embroidery that reminds me of traditional artwork. I’ve combined it with espadrilles. I consider myself pretty tall, slim with some feminine curves, warm brown eyes and brown hair that’s neither long nor short.

      Are you a girly girl or a tomboy?

That’s tougher to answer that it sounds. I love some girly things, like nice fashion, cute animals, romance novels, and chocolate… And I certainly go all girly and gushy when it comes to my handsome Spanish lover Alejandro. But I guess some would consider me a bit of a tomboy too. I don’t like asking for help or depending on others, and I’ve also grown more confident in the past nine years.

      What do you do for a living? Do you like it?

I’m a personal assistant to a famous hotelier, and I think it’s the perfect job for me. I love interacting with people from all over the world and focusing on tourism and various countries. And I’d never have met my true love if I hadn’t been in the tourism trade.

      Tell us your story.

You shouldn’t have said that, now I’ll sit here talking for hours and bore you to hell. *laughs* Seriously though, it’s not easily summarized. I’m from Germany, and I wouldn’t say I’m close to my family. I met Alejandro for the first time nine years ago when I visited Spain, and we were instantly attracted to each other. But then something went horribly wrong. Now I realize it was all a huge misunderstanding…but I can’t reveal more about that, or I’ll spoil things for you. Let me just tell you that a lot of things about my life are about to change now, for better or for worse.

      Describe your Hero. Is he a Darcy or a Christian Grey?

Definitely a Darcy. And by the way, I LOVE “Pride & Prejudice”! Alejandro is incredibly tall and handsome with his black hair and emerald green eyes. He’s just the right mix of muscles and intelligence / brawn and brain. He can get a bit alpha-male when he really wants something, but he’s also caring and kind and a Latin lover who really knows what a woman wants. Sorry, am I swooning too much?

      Just between us, what do you like best about your Hero?

Is it awfully superficial of me if I say his eyes? They are just so beautiful and incredibly expressive. Just kidding… I love it that he’s not afraid to be emotional. In a world where men think they have to be all cool and hard and demanding, he prefers a more quiet strength and confidence. He makes me feel safe and loved like I’ve never felt before.

      Do you prefer the bedroom door open or closed?

Sometimes open, sometimes closed. I have to say being with Alejandro has made me shed some inhibitions…

      What TV shows best describe your relationship with the hero—Scandal or Downtown Abbey?

Don’t kill me, but I’ve watched neither. I guess all others would say “Scandal” because my choices seem to upset quite a few people.

      If your story is made into a movie, what actress do you want to play you?

I can’t choose just one, there are so many choices… Perhaps Alicia Vikander, Emma Stone or Jessica Chastain.

      Tell us about your author.

She’s super busy at the moment with her latest two books, trying her hand at rural romance and royal romance. I’d describe her as an author who really injects some love and depth into her contemporary and paranormal romance novels instead of letting lust dominate. She loves writing multicultural romance novels, which is how a German ended up falling in love with a Spaniard in SEDUCED IN SPAIN and how an Irishman fell for a Sri Lankan in SAVED IN SRI LANKA.

That was a lovely interview, Emily. Hope you liked being Seduced in Spain. :)

About Devika Fernando:

Having always loved to read and write, Devika Fernando made her dream come true in 2014 when she became a self-published novelist. The Amazon bestselling author has released several eBooks in the genres contemporary romance, paranormal romance and romantic suspense. Her German and Sri Lankan roots influence her writing.

Connect with her:

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DEVIKA FERNANDO: guest post on PUBLISHING

On the blog today, we have South Asian author, Devika Fernando, who writes "a little bit of everything" genre-wise...in her own words. This is her experience with self-publishing: 

Here's her WEBSITE where you'll find all of her books and other goodies.

Thanks for requesting a guest post from me, Falguni! I’m honoured to be on your blog.

At the end of 2013 I decided to make my lifelong dream come true and become a romance novelist. I had stumbled across an online article about self-publishing. After reading it, I spent months researching the topic and reading countless modern romance novels and indie books to get a better picture of things. Finally, I sat down and wrote my debut “When I See Your Face” during NaNoWriMo, which I released in April 2014. A year has gone by, and I don’t regret anything.

Everyone always wants to know whether I never considered traditional publishing and whether I might turn to it in the future. The first answer is yes, the second answer is no. In the beginning I was open to trad publishing. But then I realized how many limitations are connected to it – and not least of all, how much time. There are so many brilliant authors who waited years and years before they got published, and there are great self-published novels out there who had been rejected time and time again. The more I found out about the indie author world, the more I was drawn in. Here’s what I like about indie authoring: 

-control, freedom and flexibility (about the plot, editing and marketing)

-       -to be paid a fair amount of money for your hard work

-       -I can have a say about the cover

-       -I hold all the rights

-       -it’s easy to make changes to the books

-       -no time wasted by pitching the story to agents

-       -no risk of being cheated

Of course there aren’t just pros, but also cons. Depending on how you choose to go about it, self-publishing can cost you a hefty sum of money if you hire editors, cover designers and formatters and if you invest in paperbacks to distribute. If you opt against it, you’ll either need to ask friends for help or you’ll end up with a book that doesn’t look professional and thus might not attract any readers. Also, the competition is huge – but that’s the case whichever way of publishing you choose. You might have fewer sales – but you’ll earn more from each sale. Money is indeed an important factor, for there are many authors out there who were lured into publishing deals and have never seen a single cent for their work or have had to wait much too long. If you’re with a publisher, you can rest assured that you’ll have a professional cover and professional editing – but I’ve read dozens of books that had just as many mistakes as self-published ones.

Marketing is viewed as a self-publishing con by some because it takes up much time, because there’s a lot to learn, and because sometimes you have to invest money in it. However, even authors who are with famous publishers dedicate themselves to marketing and should be active on social media – and publishing houses don’t necessarily promote unknown authors.

In the end, it all boils down to what you personally prefer. If you want to focus only on writing, prefer a professional approach and wish to sell as many book as you can, then traditional publishing is the right way. If you want to make your own choices, if you don’t mind investing time and learning new things, and if you want to earn more from your writing, then try out self-publishing. As for me, I am happy to be an indie author. It isn’t always easy, but it’s filled with valuable experiences, I’ve found amazing friends, and I am living my dream of having my books out for everyone to be read.

~~~

That was an excellent post on publishing, Devika. Thanks for coming on and unveiling the self-pub process for our readers.