The Romance Studio

Shaking It Up--only 99 cents from amazon

2012-01-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

Some people hate the idea that fate is out there manipulating the paths of their lives. Me? I think it's kind of cool. All the time, you hear stories about people who missed their bus only to catch a ride with someone who changed thier lives one way or another. How can you not believe?

Fate has a few things in store for Daisy L'Amore and Rome Corazón--the hero and heroine of Shaking It Up--and the two of them are about to have their worlds shaken up and turned upside down. A gypsy whose predictions have all come true, tells Daisy she and her friends must find love by Valentine's Day or they will lose everything they've worked for--EVERYTHING. A crystal heart is supposed to "light the way," but Daisy is having a hard time believing...until she sees the crystal light up and shine on one man...

Unfortnately, he's not the man whose got her heart pounding and her pulse racing. So what's a girl to do when she's falling in love with the wrong man? Is there a chance that Mr. Wrong could make everything right?

Keep reading for an excerpt and a chance to win a copy of one of Erin Quinn's books.

Excerpt from Shaking It Up:

Daisy began to doubt her decision as soon as they walked out the door, but his hand held hers in a warm, firm grip and her body felt like it was on fire. The silk of her dress swished at her thighs, her heels tapped an erotic beat on the pavement and her heart pounded hard and fast in her chest. She was more than a bit tipsy, but she knew that her saying yes had little to do with the wine. In all of her twenty-seven years, she’d never felt this way before. It went deeper than the heat flaring between them. She had a connection with Rome that threw her equilibrium into a tailspin.

Rome stopped beside a motorcycle—a beast of a machine that looked neither safe nor practical. She had a mental image of her legs straddling it, skirts flapping in the wind, thighs pressed to his hips as she clung to him. The thought of it made her mouth go dry and another part of her body become embarrassingly wet.

Grinning, Rome leaned in and gave her a bone melting kiss. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”

“My car—”

“We’ll pick it up later. You’re in the structure?” When she nodded, he said, “They have twenty-four-seven security. It’ll be fine.”

Before she could argue, before she could change her mind—if that’s really what she wanted to do—Rome strapped a helmet on her head, pulled his warm leather jacket over her shoulders, and the next thing she knew, she was pressed to his back, arms around him and hands linked over the hard, tight muscles of his abdomen. The chilly San Diego night flashed past them as he turned down the street. The vibration of the bike between her legs tantalized her already aroused senses and the feel of his hips and back pressed to her front as she held on, nearly pushed her to the edge.

By the time he pulled into his neighborhood, accelerated up the steep incline and parked in the garage of a gorgeous house perched on a cul-de-sac with a breathtaking view of the bay, she thought she might self-combust. In her entire life, no man had ever affected her this way. She felt as if he’d lit a fuse with hello and now it hissed and sparked, destined to detonate the desire inside her.

Rome set his feet to the ground, popped the kickstand down and then, without dismounting, reached behind him and swung her around so that she was pressed to his front, her legs draped over his, encircling his hips. He caught her gasp of surprise with his mouth.

Holding her with one arm, he removed the helmet and tossed it into a box with padding in the bottom that sat on the garage floor, evidently for that purpose. And then his hands were in her hair, his mouth on hers and Daisy forgot to think. His jeans felt rough on her thighs, his erection tight against the damp silk of her panties. He hadn’t cut the engine or closed the garage behind them and the vibration from the motor worked through her as the cold night air fanned her fevered skin.

“God, you’re so fucking beautiful,” he said against her throat as his mouth roved over her face, her jaw, down to her collarbones. He leaned her against the tank, keeping her hips tight against his. Now his hands moved to her breasts, baring them to the night air as his hot mouth covered one nipple while his warm fingers cupped the other. She moaned and arched against him. There was no way to describe how his touch felt—honey and heat, scorchingly sweet and powerfully carnal. Every breath that caressed her skin felt intimate. Special. It didn’t make sense. This had been a textbook pickup, hadn’t it? He hadn’t even bought her dinner before they’d moved to desert.

And yet it felt like a honeymoon, filled with all the pulsing anticipation and emotion that came with the joining of two lives.

She cursed her own romantic stupidity and naivety even as she held him closer. They barely knew each other and she was not so foolish to mistake sex for love. Besides, this was not the man she should be loving. The crystal had picked William.

But the voice of reason couldn’t override her racing heart, her hot blood or the feeling of fate bearing down with gifts in its arms. Some part of her did know Rome, knew him on a fundamental and crucial level that very few people ever experienced.

Shaking It Up is part of the sexy, martini-inspired Love, Served with a Twist Valentine’s Day series by Amazon bestselling authors Erin Quinn, Calista Fox, and Mary Leo

Erin Quinn is an award winning author who writes romance for the thinking girl. Her books have been called “riveting,” “brilliantly plotted” and “beautifully written” and have won, placed or showed in the Booksellers Best, WILLA Award for Historical fiction, the Orange Rose, Readers Crown, Golden Quill, Best Books, and Award of Excellence. Go to www.erinquinnbooks.com for more information.

Two lucky readers who comment on my blog will be randomly selected to win reader’s choice of ebooks: Shaking It Up, Echoes or Whispers, by Erin Quinn. Good luck!"

Today, is a good day

2012-01-24T07:09:00.000-08:00

Good morning! Most days, we don't know how they're going to turn out. It could be a good one filled with great news and good times. It could be a bad one filled with bad news and rejection. It could even be such a busy one you hardly have enough time to breathe.

For me, today is a day that I've been looking forward to for ages.

My second book is released from Samhain Publishing:

When revenge, secrets and lust collide, there can only be chaos.

Recast, Book 2

Jenks Maine is dead, but the devastating effects forcing Recast to fight in the arena goes on. Half-Recast Ace Abu is determined to put a stop to it. All he needs is to get to the planet Fray, locate the concealed Clash Arena, and destroy it. But first he has to cross half the galaxy before the sound and smell of his partners’ nonstop lovemaking drives him mad.

By the time he parks himself on a barstool in the town of Grit, he’s more than ready for a few beers. Except the sexy singer on stage is only making him—and his inner beast—burn hotter.

Ely’Shea longs for the freedom Jenks stole from her. She’s his right-hand woman, but when the boss is away she steps out of her enforcer role and ducks into a remote bar to indulge her passion: singing onstage. The night she catches a glimpse of an alluring cowboy in the audience, he ignites a spark inside her she never thought she’d feel again.

Unable to resist temptation, they’re consumed by passion…but once the fuses are set, their deepest personal secrets could blow any chance of forever all to hell.

Product Warnings

This book contains a very lonely shapeshifter in need of some loving, a kick-ass singer leading a double life, a serious case of mutual lust, an arena filled with enslaved warriors, and so many secrets it can only end in total madness.

Not only is it my second release with Samhain, but it also happens to be the second book in my SFR Recast series. Double the excitement, right? The character featured in this installment made an appearance in WITHER, so it was a lot of fun to delve into his personality, personal story, motivations, and his search for a mate.

So, either way, I'm going to enjoy today! ;)

Thanks for reading!

Yolanda Sfetsos
www.yolandasfetsos.com

This Is My Life - My Path From There To Here

2012-01-21T03:53:00.000-08:00

I'm the first one to admit back in the day Billy Joel's music rocked my world and I embraced it with all my teenage heart. He got my attention with lyrics like "you Catholic girls start much too late", songs like "We Didn't Light The Fire" and most of all "My Life". As a teen about to jump straight out of high school into the real world of college and work I struggled to have my life, to be the me I was within and yearned to be rather than the 'me' my parents saw and wanted me to be.

Now I'm all grown up and I often think about my life - where it is, how it got to this point and most of all how I bucked against the odds and expectations.

Our blue collar working class neighborhood equaled the world to us in my childhood. Those narrow streets lined with tired, worn houses provided shelter and a familiar refuge. We often shopped at the small markets within a few block radius, went to school, to church, and to our relatives, most of which lived within the same area. St. Joseph’s Hospital – known in the ‘hood and community as “Sisters” – was where I was born and where the old folks went to die.

Growing up there my life seemed destined to follow a particular path. I’d grow up, go to the same high school my mother attended, graduate, maybe attend the local college or get a white collar job as a secretary like my mother did, and get married to a boy from the neighborhood. He’d work at the brewery a few blocks away, the same one with the whistle everyone used to keep track of time. Or maybe he’d work at the packing house like my dad did or another factory or at Quaker Oats or if he were really a go-getter, he might become a postman like my uncle.

I’d work, maybe in a nice office somewhere or if not, I’d be a waitress or sew hatbands onto men’s hats at the same sweatshop where my grandma worked. Or I could wash the hospital’s dirty laundry including the priest’s smalls like my Granny. If we could, maybe I’d be able to quit work when the inevitable kids came and if not, they’d go to Granny’s just like I did from the age of two months until school began for me. The years would pass, the kids would grow and I’d get old, living the same lifestyle that nurtured me. I’d go from girl to Granny myself in a few decades but it would be the natural order of things, the way of it all.

Except I never quite fit the pattern. Somehow from birth I was never quite the perfect little girl with ringlet curls and sweet demeanor my mother expected and as I grew up, I dreamed of another life, somewhere else and something different. My Granny, who’d once been a telephone operator with dreams of her own, encouraged me to pursue writing and I promised I would. She and my great-aunt Mae both urged me to stay in school, to get all the education I could. Everything shifted when the packing house closed and my father reinvented his career from necessity. We moved away from the home neighborhood, to another part of the same state and a place as alien to me as the back side of the moon. There I stood out, with my different ways and failed to fit any more than I did at home.

In that quintessential small town the expectations weren’t much different than back in the neighborhood but once again, I broke tradition. When I went away to college, I studied journalism and had no plans to become a secretary. After I earned my degree I went to work in broadcast radio, not an office and started writing with serious intent. My life suffered a lot of bumps along the road, lost jobs, frequent change in plans, different significant others who came and went but I stuck to the dream of writing.

In time I married my current husband, had children and got serious. With twin infant daughters, living in a mobile home tethered in the Ozark forest on the top of a rocky ridge, using a computer my brother rescued from the dumpster at his employer, I began to write my “first” real novel. We moved from that first dinky trailer, a hand me down from my brother-in-law’s broken marriage to a new one with more space and as I wrote, I stared out into the woods, my dreams intact.

After a devastating ice storm five years ago, we moved again and bought a house in what passes for the suburbs in a small town, on the edge of civilization on what used to be a huge orchard and fruit farm. And I got even more serious and kept spinning out my stories, never giving up until I sold the first novel, the second, and so forth.

Now I work harder and for longer hours than I ever have in my life to keep what I’ve begun going forward. I may have left the old neighborhood behind but it lives within me, baggage that serves me well. Along with the teachings of my family members, especially my Granny, I have the stubborn, fighting spirit that brought me here to keep me moving into the future.

Girls from my old neighborhood, from my rough river rat hometown aren’t supposed to grow up and write novels. My mother still can’t accept that it has and is happening to me. It can’t, you see, not to her daughter, not from the old neighborhood. But my other kin, my cousins rally around me with support and folks from the old hometown love my success because it is also their own.

Without them all I couldn’t be where I am but if I were there, I probably wouldn’t be here or just received the news yesterday I have a third romance novel in PRINT. A Time To Love, my time travel romance from Champagne Books joins Kinfolk (Champagne Books) and Love Never Fails (Rebel Ink Press) as my titles in both eBook and paperback format.

Arthurian Romances & Free Novel

2012-01-18T23:43:00.000-08:00

A slate stone discovered in1998 at the windswept ruins of Tintagel castle bore a 1,400 year old Latininscription, Artognov, which in English is Arthnou. With proof that a man atTintagel, the legendary birth place of the king of the Britian, had that namein the 6^th century has enhanced the Arthurian legend. The Welshmonk, Geoffrey of Monmouth, recorded Tintagle castle as Arthur’s birth place inA History of the Kings of Britain, written in the twelfth century. Ifollow the legend of Arthur per Geoffrey of Monmouth’s writings my two Arthurianromances.
Here is an excerpt, set atTintagel, from my short story, Night of Enchantment in the L & LDreamspell Anthology, Romance of My Dreams.

Excerpt:

“My king, notonly is your voice that of the Duke’s, but in truth, you are the spitting imageof him in height and girth, in every feature.” Ulfin let out a wry chuckle.

“I cannot believe my eyes.”

“Merlin, is ityou?” Uther chortled. “I swear you look just like Bricel. Your hair is shortlike a Roman’s.”

Merlin flashed amischievous smile. “And you have a huge bald spot in the middle of your head,Duke Gorlois.”

Still laughing, thethree adventurers vaulted on their horses and began the quest to Tintagel.Having ridden a full day and night, the air tingled with the magic of twilightas the enchanted triad neared the Dark Age fortress cast in black against thefading light.

They goaded theirsteeds up the cramped path of steep steps cut into the rock leading to amountain stronghold, perched above a torrent sea. Salty, damp air rose from thefoamy, churning water below as they moved high up the stone steps, which curledup the cliffs. Seagulls soared above, screeching lonely cries into the strongwind as the trio forced the horses to trudge onward, their hooves clinging tothe dangerous path.

Uther felt surreal ashe peered through the veil of twilight. Shadows danced in the mountains, magichung in the air. Was it day or was it night? Was this real or was it a dream?Was he Uther or was he Gorlois?

They neared the endof the treacherous path, Uther’s heart stilled as he waited for the gatekeeper.He let out a long sigh when the gate was opened. The smiling porter, thinkinghe was Gorlois, bid a warm welcome to him and his friends.

Torches flickeredagainst the rough stone wall of the hall as Uther headed to Igerna’s royalchamber. Anticipation mounted. with every step.

In the tone andtimbre of Gorlois’ voice, Uther yelled out, “Igerna, I have come back to you.”

“Gorlois.” The soundof Igerna's melodic voice flowed down the hallway. Uther’s heart beaterratically. He ran toward the sound. Then, he halted before the wooden door toher chamber. Waves of excitement swept through him.

He knocked hisknuckles against the thick oak door as his pulse hammered. She opened the doorand stood before him. He couldn’t breath. It wasn’t a dream. He was reallythere, face to face with the most beautiful woman in the kingdom.

Withthat story depicting the birth of King Arthur, in my novel, The Celtic Vixen,Arthur has been chosen as War Leader of Britain at the young age of 15. Here is an excerpt from The Celtic Vixen whichis free from today through Friday 01/20/12

Excerpt:

Dubriciusnow stood in front of the box, and the two monks on either side, bent down,lifted the lid, and uniformly hefted a long sword. Together they handed it tothe arch bishop. He turned to the crowd, holding the gleaming blade high abovehis head. Nesta took an audible, indrawn breath as did most of the crowd. Ulfinfell into a silence of rapt awe for he and all those present recognized thesword Constantine wielded in battle.

"Caledvwch,"Dubricius called out the name of the renowned blade.

A momentof silence fell as everyone moved their head this way and that, stealingglimpses of the peerless sword forged in the isle of Avalon.

"Mypeople, I pledge to rid all of Britannia of the Saxon scourge." Arthur'svoice rang out with clarity and strength. "I shall rule as one with theland as the Celtic kings of old."

Ulfin,Nesta, and everyone there raised their hand high in salute and yelled thrice,"Arthur map Uther, Arthur map Uther, Arthur map Uther."

A deepvoice said, "I am glad to see this day."

Ulfinturned toward the speaker and gasped. "Gwynfael or Gwynfael's ghost,whichever, what are you doing here?"

Thespirit grinned. "Watching the convocation with you."

Nestaflashed a puzzled half smile. "Are you all right?"

"Yes,I was not speaking to you."

"Thenwho were you speaking to?" Nesta’s brow crinkled.

"Shecannot see me." The fuzzy ghost chuckled.

Ulfinblinked. "You were right, you do not glow as bright as you did lastnight."

"Didyou say something?" Nesta asked Ulfin.

"Youwere drunk." Gwynfael nodded. "It is why I seemed to have glowedmore."

"Ithink I need to get drunk again." Ulfin sighed.

"Oh,yes, they will pass around cups of ale at the feast. Come let us get a goodplace." Nesta reached for Ulfin's hand.

"Whata woman. She has not changed. So beautiful, is she not?" Gwynfael’s eyeslocked onto Nesta as he asked Ulfin, "Are you taking her to thefeast?"

Notwanting to appear to be speaking to himself again, Ulfin remained silent andshrugged his shoulders as he stared at the pale, fuzzy figure.

"Yes,you are. It presents the perfect chance for you to charm her."

Tryingnot to speak, Ulfin stared at Gwynfael.

"Theperfect chance to woo her." The ghost winked.

Ulfinshook his head.
You canread The Celtic Vixen, free on kindle now through this Friday
For more on myCeltic/Romances and my new Young Adult The Prince of Powys released thismonth please visit my website.

Please post commentson Arthur, your favorite Arthurian character, your favorite Arthurian TV showor movie, your favorite Arthurian book, anything that you’d like to say aboutthe legend of King Arthur.

Change

2012-01-18T20:46:00.001-08:00

By Janet Quinn

Today is the day for certain websites to be shut down. Not that I go to those all that often but there is a big black mark over Google on my Internet page. I have trouble remembering to check my Facebook or post anything on it. I now have a Facebook button on my Kindle Fire, so maybe that will help.

My baby kitty, Count Rugen, is growing by leaps and bounds. His tail is nearly as long as his body. I know it is longer and fluffier than my dog who weighs 90 pounds.

The new year is starting out pretty well. I got a lot of writing done on A Chance for Love, my time-travel, between Christmas and New Years. I have also managed to write some every week, which is my goal. I want the book finished and uploaded to Kindle.

I also read an article by Debbie Macomber in the Guidepost magazine. Every year she picks a word for the year. Then she tries to use that word to improve things. I can’t remember any of her words. I thought I would try it this year. So my word for the year is change.

There are lots of things that one can change. I want to change my priorities when it comes to work and make sure the writing is one of them. I haven’t done nearly enough writing the last two years. I also want to change my eating habits. Since my son went on a diet and I don’t cook anymore so I am not always eating properly. I also want to change and exercise more. These are a lot like resolutions, but the key to remember that they are changes to be made.

I also have a list of goals I want to complete this year. Those are different. Those are things that need to be done.

I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas. I read the reviews and they all seemed to be terrible. No one seemed to like their Fires. I am still learning to use mine and some of what it can do, I won’t use. I will never word process on it. The keyboard is too small. But besides reading, I can check my e-mail and I have games. I can also load documents, which I really don’t see a need for, but I can put pictures on it. Now I can carry pictures of my babies with me. I am having a great time learning everything it does. I had to get a stylus though. My fingernails get in the way of the touch pad.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the new year.

2012-01-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

Contests Are Super Fun!

And If You Are Like Me, And LOVE Winning Prizes. Make Sure And Stop By My Web-Site To Enter Mine For January .

While you're there, read about my new books and my upcoming releases.

I hope your Tuesday is fun,,,

Diane Story

Contact Me now!

"Crystal Dreams" By Diane Story

2012-01-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

Introducing!

Crystal Dreams

By:Diane Story

A calendar built by the Mayans sets a prophecy in motion, and for humans to move forward the third and fourth dimensions must merge on December 21, 2012.

Jillian is a fourth-dimensional woman who lives in a world where life and love coexist in metaphysical harmony. When her father begs her to marry a man she does not love, she reluctantly agrees. Ellery is a third-dimensional man who has the gift of metaphysical healing. However, Ellery’s spirit is torn. His physical being still lives in the third dimension, but his evil counterpart is in the fourth. As their worlds begin to crumble, Ellery and Jillian realize that fate has brought them together. Putting aside their own beliefs, they must decide if they will allow their worlds to end. Or can love guide them to a harmonious resolution?

***********************

Make sure and stop by my web-site to enter my January Contest. The prize is awesome!!!

Diane's Contest

Romance, suspense, alternate histories, and otherworldy creatures by T. C. Archer--and a giveaway

2012-01-16T05:45:00.000-08:00

Good morning, all! It’s Monday morning, Martin Luther King Day, and it’s a cold day here in the Northeast. No complaining, however. We’ve had unusually warm weather, and things will warm up as the week progresses.

We’re T. C. Archer, the writing team of Evan Trevane and Shawn M. Casey. Here’s a few particulars…

Evan Trevane is a former Navy technician with a BS., MS., and Ph.D in electrical engineering. He writes mystery, science fiction and horror.

Shawn M. Casey writes classical romance, suspense, horror and mainstream.

We met at an online writers’ group two years ago, and began our writing partnership on a lark. That ‘lark’ became the published short story “The Pickle, My Little Friend”—a second place top pick in Preditors and Editors 2005 Reader’s Choice poll—and has evolved into the completion of four full length novels, two novellas, and various short stories. We’re currently published with Loose Id, Silver Publishing and Amazon. We write romantic and erotic sci-fi, romantic suspense, and paranormal suspense.

Our latest release is the romantic thriller For His Eyes Only.

Jesse Evans is the most wanted woman in the world. She must prove she didn’t sell out the elite Special Ops team she sent into a Columbian village to rescue a little girl, or her sister dies. Only one man can save them both. But that man isn’t who Jesse thinks he is.

This book was inspired by Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity. Jason Bourne was one tough cookie. So is our Jesse Evans. We took a cue from the master of suspense, director Alfred Hitchcock, in his thriller North by Northwest, and worked on how to keep the reader guessing who was a good guy and who was a bad guy, and kept twists and turns in the plot that was hoped would keep the reader on their toes. Readers seem to agree—

Femme fatale, Ms. Bond are just a few names you could call Jesse. What a kick butt, action packed story. Cole was no slouch either. I thought I figured out the plot but a twist later and a wrench thrown in to change the plan keeps the reader on their toes.

Christine

It's my first book from this author but I'll surely check other T. C Archer's book. I recommend this book to all romantic suspence lovers. It has lots of twists and turns and even more action. Kept me on my toes to the end.

Petya

CHAPTER ONE

A gunshot silenced jungle-chatter for a heart stopping instant. The bullet ripped nearby foliage as Jesse vaulted over the decaying trunk of a fallen corozo palm. She landed on the soft, sloping Columbian jungle floor and bolted to the right deeper into the foliage—and away from where her informant Martinez had been gunned down. She choked back anguish. He shouldn’t have run when mercenaries burst upon their meeting place. He had a young wife and child who would now have to go into hiding in order to avoid being tortured and killed by the Columbian drug lords in payment for his having aided an American spy.

She scrambled down the slope into a patch of dense undergrowth, pushed through vines and spider webs, and finally emerged on the bank of a slow moving stream. Sunlight streamed through a wide break in the canopy. Blue sky arched overhead in backdrop to dark green foliage. A satellite signal might be possible through the gap in the trees.

Jesse slowed to a crawl and concentrated past the red howler monkey screeches and parrot caws for footfalls or leaves rustling to indicate Martinez’s killers slinked through the foliage in search of her. Nothing.

She dropped to her knees, yanked open a pocket of her camouflage fatigues, and pulled out the secure satellite phone. She flipped it open, punched out home base’s ten-digit number, then pressed the receiver to her ear and held her breath until the first elongated ring began. By the third ring, her heart pounded so hard, the thud echoed in her ears.

“Come on. Pick up.” She tried to ignore the dribble of sweat trickling down the valley between her breasts as the fourth ring began.

What was wrong? HQ verified the source of incoming calls on the first ring and picked up on the second. She jerked the phone from her ear and squinted at the display. Five black bars along the left indicated a strong signal. She pressed the phone against her ear and shoved aside a lock of hair which had worked free of the brain numbingly tight ponytail. Why weren’t they—

“Designation, please,” came the operator’s voice.

“Control, this is Blue Delta Four.”

“Designation code?”

“Zebra, four, eight, two, seven, golf,” Jesse replied in a low voice.

“Confirmed, Delta Four. What is your status?”

“I am not at target. Must speak with Blue Leader.”

“Blue Leader is out of communication range.”

“Code blue,” Jesse hissed. “Get me Blue Leader Five.”

A click sounded on the line, a quick ring, then a male voice answered, “Delta Four, this is Green Leader. What’s happened?”

Jesse froze. Green Leader? Why had Robert Lanton intercepted her call? “Where is Blue Leader?” she demanded.

“Out of communication range. What’s happened?”

She hesitated.

“What is your status?” he asked.

She silently cursed, but gave in. “We have a leak. The Columbians knew about the meeting.”

Silence, then, “That’s impossible.”

“Negative, Green Leader. Repeat, they were waiting. Abort Operation Hangman.”

“What is your source?” he asked.

Her heart thumped harder with memory of Martinez lunging for the trees when the mercenaries rushed them. “M-2,” she replied with effort.

“How did M-2 obtain his information?”

She wondered the same thing. “I don’t know. Before he could confirm his source, the Columbians shot him. But he was scared, really scared. The leak has to be high up.” Anger, hot and hard, shot through her. Martinez’s life had been forfeit—and for nothing. “If that little girl dies because someone at HQ leaked the mission, I’ll kill—”

“Verify your designation code,” Green Leader cut in.

What? She’d never been asked to verify her identity a second time. The control operator had already verified her code. “Zebra, four, eight, two, seven, golf,” Jesse counted off.

An almost imperceptible pause followed, then, “That code is outdated, Delta Four. Give me your current verification.”

Outdated? Her mind whirled. “What the hell is this?”

“Current verification, Delta Four.”

“Get Blue Leader on the line right now, and put me through voice recognition,” Jesse ordered.

“Negative,” he replied. “Not without current verification.”

“Get the director on the line—now! Don’t send in Green Team until you’ve verified with him. The Columbians were waiting for us—they murdered M-2. They knew about our meeting. That confirms what he told me. The Columbians have intel on Operation Hangman. Our men will be slaughtered.”

The line went dead.

“Wha—”

Jesse yanked the phone from her ear and looked at the screen. Five bars of signal strength held strong. She punched the direct emergency number to Blue Leader. A fast busy signal resonated through the connection. She pressed the phone’s display button. The display blinked unavailable. The network—satellites, ground stations, handsets—had never, ever been unavailable. It was designed and built by the best to be always available. HQ had scrambled the access code.

Her heart went stone cold. Green Team was headed straight into the arms of the Columbian mercenaries.

Only two hours ago, she gave the go ahead to move in and rescue Maria Hamilton, Senator Hamilton’s daughter. Jesse hadn’t spotted any guerrillas hidden among the villagers, but she now knew they were there, just as they’d been there when she met with Martinez.

A slight breeze wafted past, cooling the sweat soaked shirt that clung to her back and sending a chill down her spine. She was Blue Team—recon—working solo. She should have smelled the trap. Yet she’d sent her team in to be murdered—unless…

Jesse drew a deep breath to slow her heart rate while visualizing the map of coastal Columbia. The village sat three kilometers to the south over a small but treacherous pass jungle pass. Forty people lived in the village, farmers—or so she’d thought. How many were mercenaries employed by Amadeo Perez, the most powerful drug lord in Columbia, and the man responsible for kidnapping Senator Hamilton's daughter?

Probably every last one of them.

NOW AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

Our next release is from Silver Publishing where we switch gears by stepping back in time to WWII, when America was fighting a war that would have changed the face of the world…even more than most realized.

Fall 1942, former Chicago Detective Jordan Pierce is head of night security at Chicago Pile One, part of the Manhattan Project. The Nazi’s most dangerous spy has infiltrated Chicago Pile One. If Germany beats America to the first chain reaction, they could win the war. Pierce must protect America’s atomic secrets—and learn what it means to be a vampire.

The lovely and evocative female scientist Dr. Gladys Nichols is passing secrets to the Nazis. Dr. Nichols stirs Pierce’s bloodlust as no other human—woman—has in the eight months since this disease has infected his body. But it doesn’t matter that he wants her. It doesn’t matter that he is falling in love with her. Even a beautiful traitor is still a traitor.

Chain Reaction is the first in our Phenom League series. This alternate history/paranormal romance series delves into the untold stories of the men and women who fought the war behind the scenes, the war waged by beings who rode the wave of Hitler and Mussolini’s madness in order to rule the world and enslave humankind.

October, 1942

CHAPTER ONE

Tension fermented in the air like a sour mash whiskey. By chance, skill, stealth, and deceit I had kept my secret. But tonight I strode down the halls of Chicago University's Eckhart Hall with a feeling my time had run out.

Every evening I reported for duty as the Manhattan Project's head of nightshift security not knowing what I missed during those midday hours when I lay dead to the world. Along with the bizarre sleep that immobilized me, the strange infection raging through my body made me dislike food and drink, stopped my smoking habit cold turkey, and switched me into permanent high gear. The worst part was the dread I barely kept at bay, knowing the people I worked for would turn me into a lab rat if they discovered the truth.

My gut coiled tighter as I entered Security Chief Lopez's office at six p.m. sharp. Lopez stood in front of his desk, hat in hand, while rifling through a stack of files. He looked over his shoulder and our eyes met.

I halted. His bloodshot eyes told me something was wrong even without the uncharacteristic loose tie and rumpled black suit. He straightened and raked strands of greased hair over the bald spot in the back of his head.

"Pierce," he said, "there's been a security breach."

Relief washed over me. This had to be a repeat of the one and only security breach we'd had a couple of weeks ago. In a fit of depression, Miss Therese Hance, a mathematics major here at Chicago University, had written a poem. I still recalled the verse verbatim:

Dear little neutronian who lives on a nucleus in an atom of my knee, if you do not stop jumping around, you are going to cause an atomic blast and blow up the universe.

With the top-secret race to beat the Germans to the first nuclear chain reaction going on at Chicago University, the poem hit too close to home. When Miss Hance's professor, Dr Albert, found the poem on her desk here in Eckhart Hall—Dr Albert had some vague awareness of the research going on—he passed the poem along to Oppenheimer, and Oppenheimer panicked. Lopez and I barely prevented the scientists from having a collective nervous breakdown.

I gave Lopez a not this again look. "Which student wrote another poem? Miss Hance didn't know a thing. It'll be the same this time." Then I added before he could reply, "Don't tell me you bought into the story about how her studies in group theory gave her a subconscious knowledge of the scientific research being conducted here."

Lopez shifted and I caught sight of the bright red, Eyes Only, top secret folder beside the pile of folders he had been thumbing through. I started. An Eyes Only report could only have originated with General Groves, head of the Manhattan Project. This was no student poem.

"We intercepted a radio message north of the Ontario border last night." Lopez grabbed the folder and extended it toward me. "The code-breakers say the message contains the correct amount of Uranium 235 needed to sustain a chain reaction."

"The true U235 amounts?" I blurted, mechanically reaching for the folder.

Our big edge over the Nazis was the knowledge of how little uranium 235 was needed to start a chain reaction. Of the two isotopes of uranium, U-238 and the rare U-235, the Nazi's head scientist, Werner Heisenberg, believed they needed a uranium concentration of ninety percent U-235 to build an atom bomb. According to our head scientist, Enrico Fermi, only a twenty percent concentration of the rare isotope would reach critical mass. The disparity was enough to keep the Germans busy doing nothing but enriching uranium until we drove them back to Berlin. But we had to attain the first nuclear chain reaction to ensure victory.

I dropped my stare to the folder and forced my fingers to close around it as Lopez's hand fell away. A bona fide breach here at Chicago Pile One? No one in the outside world knew what was really going on in Eckhart Hall's Metallurgical Lab. The real liability lay a block away at Stagg Field. The scientists were building an atomic pile in an abandoned squash court beneath the field's west grandstands. Damn it, I'd warned Lopez someone would get suspicious at seeing scientists constantly running between Eckhart Hall and Stagg Field, briefcases clutched so tightly their knuckles turned white. Suddenly Miss Therese Hance's poem didn't seem so farfetched. Who else had noticed strange activity at Eckhart Hall?

"Who else besides the CP-1 scientists have this information?" I asked.

Lopez's mouth thinned. "You, me, and General Groves."

Groves and Lopez were above suspicion. The transmission had to have come from one of the fifty-two scientists working on the project. They all understood the ramifications of an atomic weapon in the hands of a madman like Hitler. I couldn't believe any of them capable of selling out their country, much less the rest of the world.

I swung my gaze up to Lopez's face. "If the Nazis find out Heisenberg's equations are wrong…"

"And the Nazis get their hands on the correct equations…"

We both let the unsaid words hang: The U.S. could lose the war.

"Any leads?" I asked.

"Nothing. I rang your apartment an hour ago when the report hit my desk, but you must have been out."

I nodded. Here was the reason for the dread I'd experienced tonight. A crisis like this could draw attention to the fact I was always out during the height of daylight hours. My service during the Great War combined with my position as a detective on the Chicago Police Force had gotten me through the security check for this job. Keeping a low profile had kept my secret safe—until now.

"What are our instructions?" I asked.

"Sit tight and observe until the spooks finish their investigation." He nodded at the folder. "It's all there. I've already requested a list of the scientists who have access to the U-235 information, as well as a few other topics so the librarians can't guess who or what we're after."

"When will the report be available?" I asked in a tone I hoped didn't show my disbelief. Waiting for our counter intelligence experts to mull over mounds of information wasn't General Groves's style. Groves was the kick-ass type who single-handedly spearheaded the construction of the Pentagon, the world's largest office building.

"When they're ready," Lopez said. "We've got to catch this guy, but can't chance alerting the scientists to the possibility we have a spy. Any panic, and the university might discover this isn't the harmless metallurgical laboratory our government claims. Those bleeding heart academics will strip us naked and toss us ass first to the media wolves. In the meantime, we go on alert. Our inside network is working to pinpoint where the information originated."

Suddenly, the folder felt like it weighed a ton. I'd never expected to be holding one of these super secret reports. My thirty-nine years of age made me ineligible to fight this war, so I'd consoled myself with the knowledge Chicago cops were needed to keep the streets safe here at home. When I'd been attacked in the alley eight months ago, I'd put my life on hold while I hunted for the fiend who attacked me. Now, I'd set aside my search in order to aid the war effort because I was even more afraid of Hitler's Nazis and Mussolini's fascists gaining control than I was of what I had become. The longer I put off finding out who infected my body with this sickness, the less likely were the chances I'd be able to reverse the disease. I hadn't allowed myself to think about what I might become if the disease ate me alive.

"We can't let those bastards win the war," I said.

Lopez's mouth thinned. "I have to fly to Washington. You're in charge while I'm gone."

"Me?" I forced back shock. "What about Banks? He's your dayshift second in command."

"You're head of nightshift. Groves says you're in charge when I'm not here."

My mouth went dry. Lack of seniority enabled me to do this job. I wanted to ask when he would return, grill him on every tiny detail in the red file I gripped, anything, to keep him talking and here at CP-1.

His gaze bored into me. "You got this handled?"

"Yeah," I replied.

Without another word, he donned his hat and disappeared out the door.

I stared at the open doorway and muttered to the empty room, "As long as I can find the leak before sunrise."

COMING FEBRUARY 18 FROM SILVER PUBLISHING

WWW.TCARCHER.COM

We're giving away a Kindle copy of For His Eyes Only

Just leave a comment and you're in the drawing.

We'll announce the winner here and contact them via email.

Winners are chosen via random number generator.

whoohoo!

2012-01-14T16:36:00.000-08:00

Just in! This fantastic review for All the Right Moves by Blackraven's Reviews! Below is a snippet of the well written review my book received. I hope you'll check out the whole thing.

If you’re looking for a sensual story where the chemistry between the hero and heroine is hot, the emotions are raw, the suspense is gripping, the banter is intense, yet at times humorous, and the love is endearing, then All the Right Moves by Tory Richards is definitely the book to read. Check it out! You won’t be sorry!

Rated 5 Ravens and a Recommended Read by AJ!

Tory Richards
The Wild Rose Press
The Mercenary Way...coming 2/1/2012!

How An Erotic Sci-fi Author Found Herself Writing Contemporary Romance

2012-01-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

On the 31st of this month, my sixth contemporary romance is released by Samhain Publishing. I'm pretty excited about this, but getting here has been an interesting journey. Little bit of backstory before I tell you about Dare Me , if that's okay?

I started my professional writing life with erotic sci-fi. I grew up watching Dr Who, Star Trek and Star Wars (and my first crush was on Han Solo) so naturally when I decided to write an erotic romance what better sub-genre to explore than sci-fi. Actually, it was't even as planned as that. I opened a new Word doc and began writing with no real idea of what was going to come out of my brain. Pretty much all my books are written this way, which can be surprisingly fun or frustratingly annoying. My first ever erotic tale was definitely sci-fi. Shifting Lust is still my best seller at Changeling Press and I have to say, the hero--a brooding, menacing bounty hunter called Raiven a'Tor still has a very special place in my heart.

After that came more sci-fi with elements of paranormal. Then came paranormal all by itself (Savage Retribution,Captive Heat, Death, The Vamp and His Brother to name a few). Then I went back to visit sci-fi again, this time with fantasy elements (the infamous The Sun Sword is that book, my most hated book to date *grin*.) followed by some more sci-fi, this time with a foursome unlike any other (Spaceport: R&R) and a space dragon who is also a shapeshifter (Spaceport: Captured Rapture). Never in amongst all that did I dream I would ever write a contemporary erotic rom-com. But I did.

Mid 2009, Mari Carr asked me to be a part of Ellora's Cave Tempt the Cougar series, a strictly non-paranormal, non-sci-fi series. I was as nervous as all hell, but love Mari sooo damn much I couldn't say no. Copping A Feel was released August 2010 and, according to my EC editor (the most fabulous Kelli Collins) it was the best thing I'd ever subbed to her. "Freaking hilarious" I think was the words she used.

Of course, me being me, I didn't believe her and before I knew it, I was submerged again in the paranormal worlds where wild horny sex happens between non-humans and the fate of the world hangs in the balance (Savage Transformation and Endless Lust). But then, somewhere in amongst all that paranormalness, my Samhain Editor, (the most wonderful Heidi Moore) threw down a challenge. Write her a menage contemporary erotic romance. And do it in 10 days.

So, I did. I opened a new Word doc, put my fingers on the keys and waited. And a few minutes later I wrote this line...

Joseph Hudson tossed his snowboard aside, threw his goggles over his shoulder and swung a fist at his best mate.

Nine days later, I subbed Triple Dare, a 25,000 word m/f/m erotic rom-com to Heidi. Here's the blurb.

Joseph Hudson is serious, determined and phenomenally successful. He isn't Australia's Businessman of the year for nothing. So how does he find himself lost on the side of a mountain in the Colorado Rockies in the middle of winter with night fast approaching? Three simple words....I dare you.

Fear isn't in Rob Thorton's vocabulary, life is for the taking and Rob uses both hands. Daring his best mate into an impromptu snowboarding trip to the US is just the latest in a lifetime of dares. Besides, Rob has an ulterior motive for the trip. And a plan...

Anna McCarthy has seen plenty of trouble in her job as Park Ranger and nothing spells more trouble than the two Australians on her mountain. Even with all her skills Anna can't stop her body responding to their smooth Aussie accents or the sexy muscles beneath their ski suits.

Finding themselves in a remote cabin, Anna knows keeping a close eye on them isn't enough. With a storm raging outside, the temperature in the cabin continues to rise until all bets are off.

After all, who can say no to a dare? Especially a triple dare....

Turns out, Triple Dare was quite good. Good enough for Samhain to include it in their Red Hot Winter Anthologyreleased last January. The fact it was still totally blows me away. Me? Writing contemporaries? Surely Copping a Feel had been a fluke? Heidi however said it was the best thing I'd ever written (and she'd contracted four of my books at this stage--none of them contemporary) and demanded I write a sequel. So I did. And on the 31st of this month, Dare Me, that very sequel is being released as apart of Samhain Publishing's Red Hot Weekend anthology (along with books by Jess Dee and Delilah Devlin). Yay!

Defying death is the ultimate dare. Defying love? Well, that’s just stupid.

A Red Hot Weekend story.

Back-to-back medical degrees took Emily Knox right where she planned to be: treating patients in an alternative cancer clinic. But nothing prepared her for a cocky, cheeky Aussie who strode into her life and dared her to cure him. She told herself it was his challenge she couldn’t resist—not his daredevil charm.

Eight months later, Rob’s out of danger…and Emily’s in trouble. She’s in deep, too deep. Worse, Rob has left the clinic against doctor’s orders. There’s nothing for it but to follow him across eleven thousand miles of land and sea to give him what for—as his doctor, of course.

Rob never expected to survive the brain tumor. Nor did he expect to fall head over heels for his very proper, very English oncologist. The problem? Her Hippocratic Oath hangs between them, keeping her just out of reach. Now, with “cured” on his medical chart and his duty as best man for his best mate calling, he takes off for home to start getting his old life back.

Trouble is, while the good doctor cured his cancer, she seems to have inflicted him with something else—desire he just can’t shake.

Product Warnings

Rob Thorton is addictive. Also, there’s scorching passion, undeniable lust, soul-shattering desire, heartbreaking angst, explosive sex and of course, Australian sarcasm. Did you really expect anything else?

Now, what is the point of all this rambling, Lexxie, I hear you say. The point is this. Just cause you think you're a dyed-in-the-wool one thing, doesn't mean you are. If you never challenge yourself, you'll never know what you can do. I never everthought I'd one day be writing erotic rom-coms, but I've written four and have another four bubbling about in my brain. I've also written three emotionally-intense contemporaries and (*gasp*) one non-erotic romance. Can you believe it? And there's still more to come.

Eight non-paranormal, non-sci-fi, non-the-world-is-threatened-and-everything-is-dire erotic contemporary romances that just won't stay in the deep recessess of my mind. A mind I was to believe could only write weird, twisted and down-right disturbing. I love writing sci-fi. I love writing paranormals. I love writing romantic horrors, but I also love love love writing contempories. Love it.

So, don't let the fear of not-knowing or the certainty of only knowing the safe stop you. If you want to do something you haven't tried before--do it. Cause you never know where you'll end up.

DYLAN + Giveaway by C.H. Admirand

2012-01-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

This year isgoing to be a blast, with three books releasing from Sourcebooks:

January 2nd -DYLAN (book 2 in The Secret Life of Cowboys), July 2nd - JESSE (book 3), and November2nd A WEDDING IN PURITY, the first book in my new Small Town USA series.

To celebrate, I’m givingaway a signed copy of DYLAN today to one lucky commenter. Be sure to includeyour email address so I can get in touch with you. :)

For those of you who arenew to my series, The Garahan brothers own the Circle G Ranch in Pleasure,Texas. Like everyone else these days the ranch is struggling and the brotherswill do anything to save their family’s 150 year old legacy…it all began withTYLER last March when he answerd an ad for a hardworking man with a strong backand even temperament. And that’s when the fun began.

But now it’s Dylan’s turn workingnights to help supplement income to pay down the feed bill and the mortgage. Onhis last night filling in for Tyler at the Lucky Star, Dylan is all set to tosshis lasso around the birthday girl—but no way is he prepared for his reactionto the beautiful brunette.

Here’s the blurb:

THERE WASNOTHING HE COULDN'T TAME... Dylan Garahan might be an old hand at lassoingfillies, but one night at the Lucky Star club, and he ends up wrapping his ropearound someone that even his formidable strength can't tame. She's wily andbeautiful... and she's his new boss. Dylan's had his heart broken before, buteven an honest cowpoke has to wrestle with temptation...

UNTIL HEGOT HIS LASSO AROUND HER... Ronnie DelVecchio might be fresh off the bus fromNew Jersey, but she's a hard-edged businesswoman and has had her fill of menshe can't trust -- although she might consider getting off her high horse forthat big, handsome rancher with a Texas drawl.

But instead of me tellingyou about it, read an excerpt:

Dylan Garahan narrowed his gaze trying to focus in the glareof the spotlight, searching the crowd for her face. It was time for the bigmove in his act…the show-stopper. Where was she?

Jolene would kill him if he messed this up, but he'd made itthrough the last two nights and would make it through tonight. The redheadedowner of the club should have no complaints about the middle Garahan brothernot keeping his word or holding up his end of the bargain. Damn the woman andher tests!

Controlling the urge to turn on his heel and walk off thestage, he dug deep and found the grit to stick it out. Hell, if Tyler could handle this job, so could he. Garahans went downfighting!

Oblivious to the adoring gazes of the women around him, hemoved toward center stage, bent, and picked up the coiled rope. He looked up asa blonde, a brunette, and a redhead walked into the bar…right on schedule… butthere was something different about the brunette. Maybe it was the blindfold.He struggled not to laugh, but he couldn't keep from smiling, wondering why thecloak-and-dagger bit.

Looping the lasso in his hands, he started the slow circularmotion. Getting the rhythm going until it was smooth and sweet, he raised itabove his head and locked gazes with the blonde. When she nodded, he let thelasso fly, as the blonde whipped the blindfold off the brunette.

The woman's stunned expression as the rope slipped aroundher upper body didn't stop him from tugging on the rope and reeling her in. Thepatrons of the Lucky Star hooted and hollered, encouraging him to pull faster,but he didn't want the little lady to trip and fall on her pretty face.

Glad that the focus of the crowd wasn't totally on him, hegently pulled her toward him. The brunette's gypsy-dark skin, full red lips,and almond-shaped eyes captivated him. The promise of pain-filled death in herdark green eyes, as she struggled against the bonds that held her, had his lipstwitching, fighting not to smile.

She dug in her heels, but he used his strength to subdueher. Undeterred, he yanked on the rope. When her eyes widened in shock, he usedher surprise to his advantage and reeled her in the last few feet. When theywere a few inches apart, he tipped his hat, smiled, and rumbled, "Happy birthday,darlin'."

Her eyes narrowed, and her nostrils flared; Dylan recognizedthe signs of a fractious filly about to raise a ruckus. Not a problem, he wasready. Wrapping his free hand around her, he hauled her in close, pinning herto him before she could let loose and kick him.

The crowd roared its approval.

"Let me go," she demanded, her sweet breathtickling the hollow of his throat.

Enjoying himself for the first time since he'd hit thestage, he chuckled and bent his head closer to her full red lips."Why?" His gaze locked with hers. "So you can have more room todo more damage?"

"I don't like being manhandled."

Her vehement protest didn't deter him; he had a job to doand an act to finish. "Well now, darlin'," he drawled, "that'snot what your friends said."

Her eyes sparkled with temper, and her willowy body trembledwith anger. Dylan's body stood up and said hell yeah! It'd been a long timesince he'd had a woman tempt him. The sultry brunette in his arms looked likeshe wanted to tear a few strips off of his hide…right before she killed him.

Damn, but that turned him on.

Perverse. That's what his grandpa would say. He grinned andwould swear he heard her grinding her teeth in frustration.

"Let me go." She struggled against him, but he'dtrapped her slender curves against him so not a breath of air was between them."I'm not one of those desperately lonely women, or buckle bunnies comingin here looking for some eye candy."

Lord, he really loved the husky sound of her voice. Evenangry, it sounded sexy. He fought against the instant attraction he'd felt andshrugged. "I'm not the one whose friends blindfolded me."

She closed her eyes and stopped struggling. Dylan could feelthe anger leaving her by degrees.

"They're just trying to help."

"With a face like an angel and a body made for lovin',why would you need any?"

Tears gathered in her eyes. "None of yourbusiness."

Well, hell. His one weakness cut him off at the knees. Awoman's tears. "I'm about to make it my business."

The music ended and house lights went on, his cue to releasehis captive and take a bow. Cursing his job and his redheaded boss, he brushedher tears away. Moved by the split second of vulnerability, before she coveredit with the toss of her long, dark, wavy mane, he hungered for a long, slowtasting kiss.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to reassure her that whoever hadput the sadness in her eyes wasn't worth her time, and that he would be, or ifhe had been too long without a woman and was letting certain parts of hisanatomy take his mind hostage.

Dylan slid his hands around to the small of her back andwatched her eyes turn an even deeper green, the color of the tumbled sea glasshe'd found as a kid, on a beach down on the Gulf Coast. When the go-to-hellexpression on her face morphed into shocked surprise, he dipped his head low sotheir mouths were lined up.

He could feel her heart begin to pound, but from the dazedexpression in her eyes it wasn't from fear; it was something darker and a hellof a lot more fun. He brushed his lips across hers and felt the bottom drop outof his stomach. She tasted like sin, and he was ready to burn.

Need tied his guts into knots, but he'd be damned if he'd beletting go of this little filly before he'd taken his fill. He gentled her withsoft, tentative kisses until she relaxed in his arms. When she moaned low inher throat, the knots inside him pulled tighter a heartbeat before she meltedin his arms.

"Darlin', you're killing me."

Her eyes met his, and he knew she was going to kiss himback. He didn't ask; he simply plundered. Surrounded by the dark, sensuoustaste of her, he couldn't get enough. Splaying his hands to the small of herback, he molded her to him, drinking from her lips like a dying man, three dayswithout water.

Hungry for more, he slid the tip of his tongue along theseam of her lips, coaxing her to let him fully taste her dark, sweet flavor.When she parted her lips, he devoured her. Two years of frustrated need, anger,and desire swirled inside of him and struggled to let loose.

"Happy birthday, Ronnie!"

He snapped to attention and loosened his hold, though itnearly tore him apart. He was not done. He wanted more, ached for more, neededmore from this woman.

Here’s the book info:

Dylan:The Secret Life of Cowboys
By C.H. Admirand
ISBN-13: 978-1402258077
January, 2012

Availablefor pre-order at:
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble

Dylan:The Secret Life of Cowboys
January, 2012

COSProductions created another wonderful video for me…I was on double-deadline inDecember so I didn’t get the info to my webmaster yet…check it out on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC9v7XYdTkw.

The good news about my deadlines…Imet both of them…sooo JESSE’s copyedits and the first book in my new series AWEDDING IN PURITY were sent back on time and are in the works releasing laterthis year. To read more visit my website www.chadmirand.com, www.facebook.com/CHAdmirandor www.twitter.com/CHAdmirand

Don’tforget to comment and leave your email for a chance to win a signed copy ofDYLAN!

Slainte’

C.H. Admirand

The Grand Canyon by Kristy McCaffrey

2012-01-10T07:16:00.000-08:00

I’m so happy to stop by and share info about my newest release. THE SPARROW is the third book in my Wings of the West Series, a historical western romance set in the Arizona Territory. Texas Ranger Nathan Blackmore ventures into Grand Canyon with Emma Hart. Together they ride a wooden dory along the Colorado River while facing an ancient evil linked to Hopi folklore. It’s now available in e-formats from Whiskey Creek Press at http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=949

Please stop by my website and check out my giveaway for January ~ a copy of PLATEAU LIGHT (a collection of photos of the Four Corners Region of the U.S.) and a Whiskey Creek Press mousepad. Visit http://www.kristymccaffrey.com/Give-Aways.html to enter and while you’re there let me know your favorite movie(s). Also, visit http://www.kristymccaffrey.com/SparrowExcerpt.html to read an excerpt.

And now, some interesting facts about the Grand Canyon.

The amazing spectacle that is Grand Canyon, located in northern Arizona, has long defied description. And yet, there’s no shortage of writers who’ve attempted to convey the vast contours and depth of its landscape. Arizona author Leo W. Banks says, “All the descriptions written over the decades land with a dull thud next to the real thing. It’s because the Canyon is overwhelming. It is so personal, yet a beauty beyond us—a far world, unknown, and unknowable.”

The first written accounts of the canyon date back to the 1500’s when the Spaniards entered Arizona and New Mexico in search of treasure. Garcia Lopez de Càrdenas, with the help of Hopi guides from the nearby mesas, became the first European to see Grand Canyon. Unable to cross the impassable void, however, he left frustrated.

Native American tribes have long occupied the area in and around the canyon, including the Anasazi (the early ancestors of the Hopi), as well as the Hualapai and Havasupai tribes, which occupy reservations in the western canyon. On the North Rim Paiutes worked closely with the Mormons who colonized southern Utah and the Arizona Strip in the 1850’s. The last American Indians to arrive at Grand Canyon were the Navajo, or the Dine (Athabascan people related to the Apache), who moved there from the Northwest around 1400 A.D.

In 1857, Lieutenant Joseph Ives explored the area as part of a U.S. Army survey party, stating pessimistically that “the region is of course altogether valueless. Ours has been the first, and will doubtless be the last, party of whites to visit this profitless locality.” Ives was soon proved wrong.

In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell, a Civil War veteran with only one arm, and nine companions became the first men to journey 1,000 miles on the Colorado River, part of it through Grand Canyon. They braved rapids, heat, plummeting morale, and the loss of three men. Powell’s account of this expedition, Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries, made him a national hero as well as brought the canyon to the attention of the country. The Paiutes called the plateau that the canyon cuts through “Kaibab” or “Mountain Lying Down,” but it was Powell who first consistently used and published the name “Grand Canyon” in the 1870’s.

Mining soon became popular but proved unprofitable due to the difficulty of extracting and transporting ore from the canyon to the rim. A more lucrative, and less dangerous, option presented itself in the form of tourism. In 1905 the famous El Tovar Hotel opened on the South Rim. In 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt declared Grand Canyon a national monument.

Many stories and legends, some true, some exaggerated, have been told of Grand Canyon and the people who’ve entered its depths. Poet, wanderer, and writer Everett Ruess disappeared in the canyon at the age of 20 in 1934. He’s still searched for today and sung about by medicine men. His legacy is his writings: “I descended alone to the depths, to submerge myself in the steep silence, to be overcome by the fearful immensity, and to drown everything in the deafening roar of the Colorado, watching its snaking writhings and fire-tongued leapings until I was entranced.”

Fill it

2012-01-09T06:45:00.001-08:00

I’m starting a new book and facing that 1st blank page. This is a moment I love. When I look at that page, all I think about is what I am going to fill it with. My thoughts flood me and I think of what I am going to write. That blank page is a clean late to build a new world, characters, plot and passion. Love those filling the pages with those moments. Now I am off to fill it and you have a wonderful Monday.

McKenna Jeffries
http://www.mckennajeffries.com/
…. sensual, edgy, unexpected

Blog: http://www.mckennajeffries.com/blog
Updates Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/McKennaJeffriesList
Free Reads Site: http:/ /www.satinnotes.com/

Conquering Jazz - What’s a woman to do when she unwittingly makes a tantalizing proposition to her best friend?

Be brazen, bold and set some ground rules. Her offer. One night of carnal bliss. No emotion allowed.

His counter offer. A continued affair to fulfill all their sexual cravings.

His hidden agenda. Conquer to make sure their affair never ends.

Buy here at Liquid Silver Book.

The Marriage Cure: A Historical Romance

2012-01-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

Of all the many stories I carried around in my head and heart for years The Marriage Cure is one of the earliest. Since I made up stories to entertain myself as long as I can remember by the time I was in my teens, I spun tales about a woman living on her own in the wilderness. Many of the original elements remain - a lonely woman eking out her existence alone in a remote cabin, a stranger who shows up in need of help, and the chance for love.

I soon hope for another part of the story to be available - I recently submitted another work but I won't say more until I have news to share...but The Marriage Cure is set literally in my own back yard, in the forests of the Ozark Mountains. The location where Sabetha's cabin stands in the story is on the property where I lived for many years out in the hills above Shoal Creek, a creek large enough early pioneers called it a river.

The Marriage Cure is now just 99 cents at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Astraea Press and more.

It's a good read for a budget price....here's the blurb:
In The Marriage Cure, half Cherokee, half Irish Johnny Devaney leaves Fort Gibson in the Indian Nations. The place is nothing more than a pest hole of disease and he hates that he has descended into living life as a filthy drunkard. He yearns for the woodlands and peaceful life he knew back in Tennessee and so he follows the rivers away from the fort into the Ozark country he recalls from the march through on the Trail of Tears.

Widowed pioneer settler Sabetha Trahern struggles to eke out her existence from the rough and rocky Ozark hills. One day as she struggles to bring her single cow home, she meets a stranger who drives the cow back to her crude barn but then collapses, ill.

She nurses Johnny Devaney, growing attached to him as he fights for his life against the deadly typhus fever he brought with him from Fort Gibson.

The title, The Marriage Cure, is taken from an old Irish proverb that says the only cure for love is marriage.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005D7TMRW/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk

A kid at heart

2012-01-06T07:05:00.000-08:00

That would be me.

Some people say cartoons are for kids. Comic strips are for kids. Christmas is for kids.

Uh, I don't say that :).

I love cartoons. Even before I had children, I went to see cartoons regularly in the theater. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite movies. I love the beauty of the animation and the breathtaking story. Catchy songs don't hurt either. My kids are balking at seeing cartoons now because "they're too old." I say, "Bah. I'm not too old." You can bet I'll be going to see Pixar's Brave when it opens.

I love comic strips. I'm a little worried it's a dying art form :( but I really hope not. I have the entire For Better or For Worse collection by Lynn Johnston. I have various books with Fox Trot, Baby Blues, and Calvin and Hobbes. A friend of mine and I agree, we ever hit the lottery, we are buying the entire collection of Calvin and Hobbes. And then there is Snoopy. I'm a Snoopy-holic. I collect Snoopy stuff. I love his dance and his alter-egos like Joe Cool and the WWI Flying Ace.

Christmas is often touted as being for kids. I disagree. I think it's for anyone who finds wonder in the holiday because of why it's celebrated. I love lights, decorations, lights, getting together, lights, finding that perfect present for someone. Did I mention lights? I love the Christmas tree. I used to lay under and stare up at the tree for long periods of time. Still do. Just have a harder time hopping up than I used to ;)

My aunt has always said, "You're only as old as you feel." I turned forty last year. In ways, I do feel old. LOL. When Girl Scouts is having it's 100th anniversary and you remember it having the 75th, uh yeah, a little old. My kids tease me about being old and I know they really think I am. I'm their parent after all. But in a lot of ways, I feel young at heart. I think not giving up things I enjoy just because they are "for children" is part of that.

What do you enjoy that's kid stuff?

Another dragon is on the Loose! Loose Id that is. Mechele Armstrong is thrilled to announce that Fire Riders 2: The Fire Within released.

Geant maybe Alin's prisoner but he takes charge the day Alin walks into chain's reach. When Geant's mate, Elesia, shows up and is just as fascinated by Alin, will they deny or be consumed by the fire within?

To read an excerpt

Mechele Armstrong
www.mechelearmstrong.com

It's Begun!

2012-01-05T04:00:00.000-08:00

My 2012 goals. I joined the ASPCA the other morning. My love for animals and those tear jerking commercials have finally worn me down. It's five days into the New Year and I'm sure most everyone has made a resolution. I've only made one that I've been able to keep and that was five years ago. I vowed to slow down and I haven't looked back. All of my life I've hit the ground running and now I mentally remind myself to slow down. At 56 I'm not old by any means but I was so bad at running at high speed that I would literally reach the other end out of breath!

My son-in-law paid me a compliment the other day. I was playing with the kids and made a comment to the five-year-old that I wasn't as young as I used to be. Her daddy, over hearing said, I wish I was as young as you. So I guess I'm still keeping up pretty good.

I'm going to take baby steps this year, so my body won't go into shock. There are several things I want to do. Give up some things that aren't good for me. I want to devote more time to writing, get that tattoo I've always wanted. Not a big one. Something like a small flower on my ankle. I want to go back home, maybe find a new job closer to home. One thing I know I'm not going to do...diet! I've never been able to keep that New Year's Resolutions. In stead, this year, I'm going to give up a few unhealthy foods, and cut back on the sugars.

So, what have you subtracted or added to your plate?

Here is a picture of my feline family on their Christmas present. They love it! Gin Gin, the 20 pound calico actually claimed the house, even though she's sitting on one of the shelf's. Jezzie and her are staring each other down. Usually Jezzie wins, even though she's only 9 pounds. I don't know why Gin Gin backs down but I think it's because she's so sensitive. Big isn't always badder!

Woofy on top, is smart enough not to get involved. He loves both girls.

Before I say goodbye I have to plug my up-coming release. Due out the first of February with The Wild Rose Press is The Mercenary Way. Previously released with a different publisher several years ago, a lot more content has been added, and it's been seriously sexed up to meet their Crimson Line. It's also full of suspense. Below is a blurb and brief excerpt.

BLURB - When a ruthless gem smuggler mistakes Sarah for her best friend Susan, she's kidnapped and stashed on an island. Her only hope of rescue is Susan's cousin Clint -- a soldier-of-fortune whose my-way-or-else attitude is as infuriating as his muscular body is distracting.

Clint, ex-Navy SEAL turned mercenary, desperately needs a vacation. Rescuing a kidnapped woman from an island paradise isn't what he had in mind. And when he encounters Sarah's sassy mouth and tempting ways, he soon realizes he's the one in trouble.

Imprint: Crimson

Length: Rosebud

Rating: Spicy

Page Count: 178

Release Date: 2012-02-01 (This is in YYYY-MM-DD format)

Digital Price: 5.00

EXCERPT -

“Is Stan─”

“Sshh!” he warned briskly, his gaze returning to hers. “Now isn’t the time for conversation, angel.”

Sarah pressed her lips. She didn’t like being told to be quiet. She dropped her eyes before his steady gaze, beginning to feel self-conscious of their intimate situation. Clint was too sexy and in spite of his gruff ways, she was attracted to him.
“You can get off me now,” she spoke quietly, pushing against his shoulders. “They’re going away.”

Clint didn’t budge. “They may have lowered someone to the ground to continue the search,” he reasoned. “Be quiet.”

Sarah listened to the sound of the chopper diminish as it moved further away and raised her eyes to the top of the trees above them where the sky was visible. And where Clint’s gaze was focused. She couldn’t help noticing how thick and muscular his arched neck was. The veins were evident beneath his whiskered jaw.

“You can still get off me,” she insisted, wincing at the weakness in her tone. He glanced down at her. Their gazes met and held. Sarah tried to gauge what he was thinking. After an awkward moment of silence, Sarah looked away, but not before she acknowledged the flame of awareness in Clint’s pupils. His body grew taut. She caught her breath when he turned hard and demanding against her. With little between them, it was easy to determine Clint wasn’t lacking there. And the knowledge turned Sarah hotter. It seemed the danger of being captured was over but another more primal danger threatened her.

She knew she was playing with fire but couldn’t stop herself from acknowledging Clint’s hard-on in the most obvious way. Parting her legs, she arched into the hard shaft, being rewarded when he sucked in his breath.

“You know if I was a smart man I’d roll off, start walking and not look back.”

Sarah stiffened. Then why didn’t he? When Clint didn’t move right away, Sarah closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at him. His closeness was unnerving, catching her off guard when she realized how much she liked his weight against her. However, closing her eyes turned out to be a bigger mistake when all it did was enhance the charged atmosphere between them.

Her ears picked up the low drone of the helicopter as it was all but out of ear shot, but her senses were acutely aware of Clint. His breath was against her face, hot and intimate, his heart beating against her chest keeping rhythm with another more vital part of his body.

Suddenly, she felt alive. Her breasts became ultra-sensitive, swelling against his chest as her nipples hardened into tight little nubs. In her mind’s eye, Sarah could see his mouth on her, licking and tugging on them until she was breathless and on fire.
Oh God! What is happening to me? An explosive rush swept through her blood. She kept her eyes closed, desperate to ignore the changes in her body, trying to ignore that it was a man like Clint— callous, raw, and totally unlovable—who was turning her on to such a feverish pitch. She struggled to bring her breathing under control, embarrassed when a soft whimper broke the silence.

“Open your eyes,” he demanded in a voice hoarse with desire.

“No.” The way Sarah figured it, if she didn’t look at him, nothing would happen. He couldn’t possible know she was so turned on she was burning up with it.

“I’m going to kiss you.”

It sounded like a threat. Her eyes flew open. “No!” The firmness she tried to inject into her tone came out weak and throaty, revealing her condition. The savage expression on his face frightened her but not nearly as much as the untamed wildfire racing through her body. His body began to move against her. The ache in the lower half of her body became almost painful.
“No? Are you sure about that, angel?”

“Yes,” she gasped, mesmerized by the smoldering look in his eyes. “I don’t think it’s wise to complicate things.” Not to mention she was scared out of her wits that she’d enjoy it.

“One little kiss doesn’t have to complicate anything,” he returned with a wolfish grin.

He was actually teasing her—or was he testing her? “We both know that’s not all you have on your mind,” she pointed out.

Tory Richards

When Inspiration Strikes

2012-01-04T08:07:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about inspiration. As an author ideas come from a variety of things. Anything can spark an idea that can be put into a novel. For instance I had a candy craving and I also saw a woman who had afro.

The two ideas I had I worked into a series I am working on. In book two of my series there is a candy shop that the hero and heroine of the book frequent. They both have a sweet tooth. The candy shop owner will eventually have his own story and get to fulfill the idea spark I had from craving candy.

In the series I will use the fro idea for a supper club where the main characters go to. The owner of the super club will be getting her own book. I will be writing in a sixties theme night using my afro idea spark. :)

Inspirations for ideas are all around. Taking something that happens in the everyday life then using it create a concept is a fun thing to do. The unexpected can lead to so much more. Any little thing can give you an idea spark, which will be your concept for the next book.

Taige Crenshaw
http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/
…increasing the sizzle factor

Blog: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/blog
Chat Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crenshawcafe
Newsletter: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/newsletterandgroups.shtml
Free Reads Site: http://www.satinnotes.com/

Wilde Rapture - When a woman ducks into an alcove at a wedding she meets the man who is intriguing and will tempt her.

Buy here at Total-E-Bound.

2012: And So It Begins.....Foolishly Laying My Heart On The Table, Stumbling In

2012-01-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

2012 arrived and so it begins....another madcap, frantic, fun, awesome, and wonderful year. As each new year begins I always see it as a blank page filled with promise. The possibilities are endless and infinite. As I've grown just a little older I realize each year may hide some unanticipated events, things most of us would prefer not to experience but it's all part of living.

My title of the post today "And So It Begins...Foolishing Laying My Heart On The Table, Stumbling In" comes from a vintage Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman tune from my teen years. Back in the day, this was "the" song my then significant other shared, the tune resonating with personal power and meaning. Although he left my life along ago, I still love the song and I hope he does too.

For those who don't know the song, who may not remember or were born past the time, here's the link to the You Tube Video:
http://youtu.be/jLPSLYbJT_0

I begin this year like last and all the years I can remember by laying my heart on the table. I began 2011 with one work out - Wolfe's Lady, a paranormal romance from Evernight Publishing. I ended up the same year with the first three books of the Love Covenant series (more paranormal romance) also from Evernight, Love Never Fails (in both eBook and paperback), Witness Protection Program, and Sing We Now of Christmas, all contemporary romance from Rebel Ink Press, Love Never Fails (time travel romance) and Kinfolk both from Champagne Books, and my historical sweet romance The Marriage Cure from Astrea Press. I also have some other shorts out and appearances in several anthologies.

I begin 2012 with several novels lined up - A Patient Heart and In Love's Own Time, both in February, both from Rebel Ink Press along with Miss Good Samaritan, Guy's Angel, In The Shadow of War, also from Rebel Ink plus a story in the upcoming anthology devoted to single dads. My story is Three of Hearts. I also have another due out in May from Champagne Books, Long Live The King. And trust me there's much more in the works so it seems like an auspicious enough beginning to a brand new year.

So from my house to yours, I wish all other authors, readers, fans, friends and family a happy new year and all the best upcoming in the unknown 2012!

We're off to a great start!

Famous Heroines

2011-12-23T03:00:00.000-08:00

By Em Peters

As writers, we like to create women with presence, if not power. As long as they’re not too stupid to live—say running back to retrieve her grandmother’s prized quilt in a house where a murderer is known to be waiting with an axe—most readers can identify with the female characters in a story.

So who are some memorable heroines in fiction? And please don’t say Bella! Okay, I guess you can, but here are some others, as chosen by voters on Yahoo.

Shakespearean names:

Juliet

Ophelia

Helena

Hero

Olivia

Titania

Miranda

Ariel

Cordelia

Literature:

Annabella

Sula

Hester

Antonia

Cora

Alexandra

Eliza

Charlotte

Scarlett

Heidi

Movie Heroines:

Rose (Titanic)

Elinor (Sense & Sensibility)

Emma (Emma)

Scarlett (Gone with the Wind)

Dorothy (Wizard of Oz)

Tabitha (Bewitched)

Who are your favorites? Mine is Jo in Little Women. As a child, I fell in love with that story and never let it go. In my new release MOON CHILD, the heroine’s name is Anwar. Read on for an excerpt. I’d love to hear from you!

Em Peters

http://www.empeters.com

MOON CHILD available from Whiskey Creek Press

Blurb:

When eight-year-old orphan Jack spies an otherworldly girl seated in the crook of a cherry tree, he’s instantly smitten with the dark waif known as the “Moon Child.” Over time they become inseparable and the steel tendrils of tenderness take hold of Jack, especially on nights of the full moon, when she seeks sanctuary in his bunk, begging him to silence the voices she hears.

Frantic to find a way to help, he is thwarted by family at every turn. By the time he’s an adult, his determination to uncover the secret drives him to defy the family’s strict orders and he learns his childhood love has transformed into the bonedriven need to be part of her life in a brand new way.

To free her from the life she fears, he first must trust himself. Only then can he break the pact naming the woman he loves as Guardian of the Indian Six Nations, which forces her to wander the night protecting their peoples and ensuring the Montgomery family’s prosperity, but to her, means certain death.

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmJ_Pqk0A9Q

Defying the family’s strict orders might be hard. Breaking a centuries-old pact might be impossible.

Jack spied two dozen kids of all ages scrambling beneath a cherry tree. Their movements blurred together. Little pink dresses darted to and fro, faded blue jeans collided with green team jerseys, red checkered blouses and purple shorts marched about the edge of the group like a rampant rainbow.

Something wet and hard beaned him between the eyes.

“Retreat!” someone screamed just as a hailstorm of cherry pits splintered the air.

Jack shielded his face with a hand and peered into the thick branches.

In the crook of the tree sat a dark-haired girl, her brown stick legs dangling over the branch. She tore off bunches of cherries as fast as she could, cramming her cheeks full and spitting the pits into one hand, which she hurled at her laughing cousins who chanted, “Anwar! Anwar!”

He wondered what this French word meant when the little girl fixed him with her dark and piercing gaze. His legs grew roots. They burrowed deep into the earth, seeking solid ground. He did not feel like he was speeding down a tunnel—the tunnel had burst from the confines of the ground, turning, gaining speed. The world dimmed but the girl remained bright, an actor on stage lit by a spotlight.

Chants and squeals filled his ears and feet thundered past as several boys stormed the tree. The girl ignored them and continued to stare at Jack. The easy blush he hated, the blush he’d been teased about in the large public school he’d attended before the Winters adopted him, the blush that had gained him the nicknames “red” and “beet-face” crept over his skin.

Before he could lower his eyes in embarrassment, she turned away, kicking one boy cousin squarely in the chest and sending him flying from the tree branches. A howl of pain rent the air and twenty of the twenty-eight children clustered around the fallen boy. He lay on his back, clutching his leg and grunting against his tears. The older boy Ned lifted him and bolted for the house.

“It’s broken!” someone cried.

“No way. He’s faking. Kipp’s always crying wolf!”

“Not a chance,” a little girl with blond ringlets whispered behind her hand. “Anwar really broke his leg!”

At this, Jack realized that the word Anwar was actually the dark-haired girl’s name. He looked for her, but she had abandoned the tree. He glanced all around and finally spotted her walking away from them, her back relaxed and uncaring.

She didn’t even go in the direction of the house, but walked off deeper into the orchard. For a bizarre minute Jack consid-ered running through the trees which hung heavily with fruits until he caught her. And then what? Drag her back to face the consequences of injuring that cousin? No. He honestly had no idea why he wanted to catch her.

BUY MOON CHILD http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=938&zenid=4e2c03ef3738ab04da07f7e56b7c4271

Buy on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Child-ebook/dp/B005ZEPOQQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319706959&sr=8-1

Wicked Christmas Wishes: ADULT Excerpts from Kink

2011-12-22T06:43:00.000-08:00

Several excerpts from the first story in the Wicked Christmas Wishes anthology, Kink, is below.

Blurb:
Paul believes his marriage with his beloved Joy is wonderful, that their sex life is both varied and fulfilling. Yet when Joy reveals her heart's desire is more kink, Paul is determined to not only fulfill her wish, but to give her a Christmas that satisfies her wildest fantasies.

Buy Link: http://www.melange-books.com/authors/anthologies/WickedChristmasWishes.html

Excerpt from Kink by Tara Fox Hall:

Another new message blip appeared at the bottom right hand of the screen, before fading and disappearing. Paul blinked, then rubbed his left eye with his hand. That one had been from the VP, asking again where the status report was. He was working on it, Damn it, but he could only work so fast, especially with all the emails that kept appearing…

“Lunch!” came the urgent call.
Paul paused, considering his options. If he stayed to work on his report, his boss might not ream him out Monday morning. Yet if he didn't come eat in the next few moments, his wife, Joy, would not only be irritated, she'd likely come up here and give him both barrels. It was a no brainer, really. She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed was the clear choice.He pushed back his chair, then stood up, stretching the kinks out of his muscles. Maybe he could convince Joy to give him a quick massage after lunch. His wife had the most skill of any masseuse he'd ever visited. He'd only had to feel her hands on him once to know he wanted them again, and soon. She'd ensnared him just like a hapless fly, and he'd never been so happy to be bedazzled.

He walked towards the kitchen, sniffing the air. It smelled like cookies, not lunch. Maybe she had been baking? Christmas was less than a week away. “Joy?”

He turned the corner, then blinked, his eyes widening. There in the kitchen stood his wife, her beautiful dark blonde corkscrew curls buoyant, her eyes lowered, a sultry smile on her face. She was dressed in red velvet panties, trimmed in white fluff, her creamy breasts flushed, the nipples covered by small red velvet circles trimmed in lace. On her head at a jaunty angle was a Santa's hat. In her hands, she held a gingerbread cookie, one of his favorites.

“Santa's got a treat for you,” she purred. “Have you been a good boy, Paul?”

****

“I wish it would stay like this,” Joy said wistfully. “It’s been such a good year, staying warm so long this fall.”
“It has been nice,” Paul answered, taking her hand in his. “I’m not looking forward to the snow any more than you are, but I think it’s headed our way.”
Joy didn’t reply, her eyes still watching the last of the sun’s rays fade away.
“So what do you want for Christmas?” he asked, turning to her. “I know you like chocolate, but I wanted to get you something really meaningful this year. This is going to be our seventh Christmas together. Was there anything you had been wanting?”
“Is there a limit?” Joy asked craftily, her attention still on the sunset.
“Well, if you want a three-carat diamond, that’s probably out,” Paul said, after a moment. “But I think we could afford a little splurging.”
“Chocolate is fine,” Joy said suddenly, drinking down the rest of her wine. “Really, we have a lot, Paul. I don’t need anything more.”
Something was wrong. Worse, this feeling he’d had wasn’t just tonight. It was something that had been brewing all fall.
Paul gently took hold of Joy’s shoulders, and turned her toward him. “Joy, please. What is wrong? Something’s been going on for a while. Tell me.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she asserted again, shrugging. “I just don’t want anything. You’d think you’d be relieved not to have to shop for anything—”
“I’m not relieved or anything else when I know there’s something wrong and you won’t tell me what it is,” Paul said, frustrated.
“All right!” Joy said, slamming down her empty glass. “You, okay? You’re what’s wrong.”
Paul gaped at her, not only shocked, but also suddenly scared. He didn’t move, afraid that if he did it would trigger another outburst, this one about something he didn’t want to know.
Joy closed her eyes, then bit her lip. “I’m not having an affair, Paul. I can see by your face that you think that might be it. It’s not.” She looked up at him. “I just need more.”
“More what?” he stammered out.
“More kink,” Joy admitted, flushing instantly. “I admit that when we were first together, I was satisfied with our sex life. I never thought I was missing something. But then when you came back from that trip to New Orleans and brought me that first teddy and the stockings and mask, I realized I had been. You remember how good that first time I wore it was—”
Paul nodded. He did indeed remember. Their noise had woken their closest neighbors. The elderly couple had sent them a nasty note telling them to either move, or install soundproofing in their bedroom.
“—and I was hooked. I really like dressing up, and I like acting out various fantasies, and trying new things—”
“—and I love that you do,” Paul interrupted, hugging her. “I love that part of you, even if I didn’t know it existed when we first got married. I’m always eager to try your suggestions—”
“But that’s just it,” Joy said sadly, biting her lip, her eyes blinking rapidly. “It’s always me doing the suggesting. I’m always seducing you, Paul. Sometimes, I want to be seduced.”
Paul understood in a heartbeat. Joy wasn’t just saying she wanted to be seduced. She was saying that she needed to be. And something told him that if he didn’t find a way to make her fantasy come true, he was going to lose her eventually, even if she went reluctantly. “Come here, Joy—”
“I didn’t want to tell you,” Joy admitted, coming into his arms. She hugged him hard. “I didn’t want to hurt you, and it seems so petty of me to ask, when we have this great life and we’re happy—”
Paul thought fast and furiously. Joy wanted to be seduced, and in some steamy, romantic, and wicked fashion, if he considered her past fantasies. He also needed to go above and beyond anything they’d done previously, something that would really knock her stockings off the mantle, so to speak.
“Shh,” he whispered, kissing her lips lightly. “You can tell me anything, and I want you to. That’s what our marriage is, sweetheart.” He forced a smile. “Let me see if I can come up with something special for you for Christmas.”
“Really, you don’t have to—”
“I want to,” he said, determined. “This is just what I asked you to give me; a good suggestion. Maybe it’s not something I can just order online, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
“Then I look forward to it,” Joy purred, eyes twinkling. She poured them both a bit more wine, then clinked her glass to his. “To us and a very steamy Christmas.”

“Yes,” Paul said, then drained his glass nervously. To make Joy’s wish come true, he was going to need help. A lot of help. It was time to call in a few favors.

****

Christmas Eve came complete with snow and ice, cancelling the dinner Paul and Joy had planned to attend. Paul looked out at the flakes nervously. His plan had them beginning the scenario on the way home. Now he’d have to wing it.
Everything else was all set in the guest bedroom, at least. He could do this. He just had to believe he could, like Sin had said.
“Honey?” he called. “I have a present I wanted you to open tonight. Were you working on anything, or are you ready to sign off work for Christmas?”
“Ready, willing and able,” Joy said tiredly. She plopped down on the couch. “We are done for the night, and the weekend, too. Would you pour me some wine?”
“Sure,” Paul said, opening a bottle of Shiraz. “But there is one present I really want you to open now. I’ve been waiting all day, and I can’t wait until tomorrow morning. It’s there in front of you on the table.”
Joy shot him a curious look. “You’re eager, Mr.-I-Don’t-Care-About-Presents. What’s in here?”
“A surprise,” Paul said, sitting back as he watched her unwrap it. “One I’ve been working hard on all week. I hope you like it.”
Joy took a large sip of her wine, then dove in, tearing the wrapping paper away from the box in large strips. She yanked at the taped top, splitting the tape in two, then folded back the two halves. Her face registered absolute shock, then glee.
“Where did you get this?” she asked in awe, lifting out the black harness, the soft leather and metal rings glistening in the winking lights of the tree. “It’s beautiful.”
“That’s not everything,” Paul said huskily. “Look deeper.”
Joy set the harness aside, then moved away the tissue paper. Her eyes widened as she lifted out over the knee spike heeled boots, the black leather creaking. “There’s something in one—”
“In both, actually,” Paul encouraged. “Take a look.”
Joy slipped a small whip with a tassel on the end out of one boot, and then a black motorcycle cap and set of long black leather gloves out of the other boot. She looked up at Paul. “Do you want me to try them on?” she purred.
It was her aroused tone. And he hadn’t even gotten to the scenario yet! Encouraged, Paul nodded. “Hell, yes. I’ve been eager to see how they look.”
“Wait right there,” Joy said, then left quickly with the box.
In twenty minutes, she was back, the transformation complete. Her curls were fluffed under the leather cap, her eyes made up, her exhaustion forgotten as she stood proud and strong before him, balancing perfectly in the heels. The leather getup fit her perfectly: her breasts threatening to spill from the deep cups, her inviting hips riveting, the whip in one delicately gloved hand.
“I can see you like it,” Joy purred. Her gloved hand moved upward languidly, and then she crooked a finger. “Come here to your master.”
She was following it! He just had to keep his cool. Paul nodded, took a long swallow of wine for courage, then set down the glass. He came to stand before her, then went to his knees. “Mistress. How may I serve you?”
“Mmm,” Joy said, the pleased sound rolling out of her as she shifted her weight. “I like the sound of that. First, I want you to undress before me.”
Paul took off his shirt, and stood, slipping off his pants and underwear. As he turned to face her, Joy flicked him slightly with the whip, the tassel gently hitting his rigid cock. Paul gasped, his penis bobbing as he drew back.
“I didn’t give you permission to stand,” Joy said darkly. “I’ll have to punish you now—”
“No,” Paul said roughly, grabbing the whip away. He took it in his hands, then broke it with a sharp crack. Joy’s eyes widened, her lips parting. Before she could move, Paul pushed her into the chair behind her, then straddled her. “I have something else in mind, Mistress.”
Joy thrashed about wildly as he began to buckle leather cuffs around first her right wrist, then her left. With a click, he connected them, and then looked at her with a satisfactory smirk. “Now hold still.”
Producing a leather blindfold, Paul slipped off the cap, then pulled the leather over Joy’s eyes. He got to his feet, grasping her bound wrists. “Come with me.”
“Where are you taking me?” Joy said querulously. Paul didn’t answer, slowly guiding her towards the guest bedroom, her high heels making sharp clacks on the wooden floor.
Opening the door, he turned on the light, led her to the bed, sitting her down on it firmly. Carefully, he pushed her back until she was lying in the middle, then clasped one wrist cuff onto a chain. Disconnecting the other wrist from the chained one, he pulled her spread-eagled, making her cry out softly in surprise. With a click, he fastened that one to another chain on the other side of the bed. Paul’s hands slid slowly down her legs, tugging off each boot. Joy let him without protest, but brought her legs tight together as soon as he was done. She shifted slightly on the bed, the chains on her arms clinking.
“Stay right there, Mistress,” Paul teased lustfully. “I’ll be back for you soon.” With a kiss between her breasts, Paul left, his footsteps fast, Joy’s alarmed call following in his wake.
Ten minutes later, he hesitated on the threshold. Saying a quick prayer for courage, he crossed over, striding to the bed and yanking the blindfold from Joy’s eyes.
Joy gasped, her look of shock complete. Paul stood before her in leather pants, the neck ties of his long billowy black pirate shirt undone, the gold studs on his calf high black boots shining. In his left ear, a gold ring caught the light. Over one eye was a black leather eye patch.
“You thought to dominate me,” Paul said lustfully. “You got in over your head, woman. Tonight it’s my desires that will be fulfilled.”

Contest today 12/22 at TRS! Win an e-copy of Wicked Christmas Wishes!

2011-12-22T06:42:00.000-08:00

I'm running a contest today at The Romance Studio's Blogsite. I'm giving away an e-copy of Wicked Christmas Wishes, in which I have two stories, Kink and The Oath. A comment and an email address in any one of my posts will get you an entry, and I'll choose the winner by noon on 12/23/11. Sound good? Then let the fun begin!

-Tara Fox :)

(***Please also note that I usually close my blogging at 10pm EST, in order to be able to make it into work the next morning, BUT if you add a comment after that time, I will still see it and enter you into the free drawing. I always go back in and check the next day for any last names to add in to the contest, in order to be fair to all commentors. I just will not be able to reply to anyone commenting later than 10pm.)

WElcome! and Excerpt from The Oath by Tara Fox Hall

2011-12-22T06:31:00.000-08:00

Good Morning, everyone! My name is Tara Fox Hall and I'm pleased to join you here today the The Romance Studio.

Let's launch right into the promo, and then chat!

Here is an excerpt from The Oath, a story paranormal romance story is the recently released Wicked Christmas Wishes. This paranormal romance story is a piece of my upcoming novel from Melange Books, Promise Me, debuting in June 2012.

Blurb:
Young widow, Sarelle McGarran, is in love with the vampire, Danial Racklan, the charismatic man that has transformed her life in only a few short months. But now Danial asks for more; an Oath, a promise a mortal gives her vampire lover to be his forever, a permanent joining that cannot be dissolved. But having lost a husband once, can Sar bring herself to give her promise once again?

Buy Link: http://www.melange-books.com/authors/anthologies/WickedChristmasWishes.html

Excerpt:
Later that night, Danial and I sat by the blinking Christmas tree in the great room. Suri and the other werefoxes had helped me put it up earlier that day. I’d brought some lights from home, but others I’d made with the help of Ivan, Janice, and Demetri: popcorn strings, cookie ornaments, pinecones, and various nuts and feathers.Theo had declined to help, saying he had work to do. Yet he’d come in with a golden star when we were almost done, and I’d seen the pleasure in his face when he’d put it on top. By the time I’d turned to ask him about it, he was already gone.He’d been distant to me ever since I’d moved in. The few times we’d needed to talk, he’d been polite but short. I wondered if seeing Danial and me so much in love hurt, if he remembered Tawny and missed her.“You look tense,” Danial said. “I can fix that. Slide your feet this way.”He proceeded to give me a foot massage. I writhed in pleasure and uttered moans as he eased all my tensions with the deft manipulation from his strong hands.“Is there anything you aren’t good at?” I asked, sighing with contentment.“Not many things,” he said immodestly.I laughed. He tickled my foot, and I shrieked. Ghost and Darkness, our dogs, looked up, decided it was nothing important, and laid their heads down again.“I have something for you,” he said. “Look under the tree.”“Really, Danial, you give me too much as it is—”“Shh,” he said holding his finger to my lips. “I’ll get it.”He got up and retrieved a gift bag from the tree’s base. “Open it.”I opened the package and took out a beautiful black velvet robe. As I slipped it on over my nightgown, I felt something in the pocket. It was red velvet box, containing a pair of stunning gold earrings. I fingered the choker at my neck with the same symbol: the gold fox head, ruby eyes glinting.“They’re beautiful,” I said, giving him a kiss. “Thank you.”“Put them on.”I removed my earrings and slipped on the others.“They look lovely. See for yourself.”Looking at myself in the bathroom mirror, I thought it might be too much. Between the scars, the choker, and the fox earrings, I felt like I had a sign on my forehead that said “Danial’s” in huge letters. The ruby eyes winked at me in the light and I moved my head to make them flash and sparkle. “They’re beautiful.”“I’m glad you like them,” he called from the great room.I paused before the mirror. This was it, the moment I’d planned on telling him I would swear to be his. Like before, my uncertainties arose. I couldn’t ever leave him if I did. Not ever. Was I that sure?Words my friend Kat had spoken earlier came back to me. Why haven’t you told him you’ll marry him? Are you crazy? You love him; he loves you; he’s rich; and he’s gorgeous! How can you even have to think about it?I went to the bedroom door. Danial waited for me, the strong lines of his face relaxed in a happy smile as he studied the tree. His freshly cut hair feathered back except for a loose wave that fell over his forehead. I loved him so much my chest ached.It was now or never. It was the perfect moment. Kat was right; things weren’t going to get any better. If I didn’t do it, I’d wonder the rest of my life what it could have been like with him, what I missed out on by not taking the chance.I walked to the couch and bent over, kissing him on his lips. “They are beautiful. Thank you.”“I’m glad you like them.” He reached for me. “Sit with me.”I took hold of his hand and gently pushed it back toward him. That got his attention.“Sar?” he said, alarm and wariness clouding his features.“I have something for you, too.”I went to my knees beside the couch. He watched me, riveted.God, I so wanted to do this perfectly, like I’d mentally rehearsed all afternoon. “I’m yours, Danial Racklan, for tonight and the rest of my life. I, Sarelle McGarran, promise myself to you.”

Celebrating The Hope And Light of Winter Solstice and the season

2011-12-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

Each December day as we trudge through our routines, do a little holiday shopping, and follow our routines, we notice how early the darkness comes. In the cold evenings, we shiver and head home where we have both warmth and light. The lamp in the window, the sparkling lights of the Christmas tree or a special candle welcome us and banish the night.

As we thaw our frozen toes and settle down, we savor the warmth. As the winter solstice arrives, this year on December 22nd, whether or not we realize it, we mark the event behind the holiday season.

Long before a baby was born in that stable behind the inn in Bethlehem to bring Light into the world and the gift of salvation, humankind celebrated the shortest day of the year and marked it as a turning point. The winter solstice marked the darkest day of the ancient year and ushered in the harshest portion of winter. In that distant past winter was more than just a nuisance or a cold season. Winter often brought death in the form of disease or starvation. Almost every culture in all corners of the world celebrated the solstice as a festival of light, of hope, of faith and promise.

It's not by chance Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, often called the Light of the World at this time. The early church decreed it for several reasons. After all, what better time to celebrate hope, the coming of a Savior than the winter solstice, long a time to celebrate light and hope. Most cultures also marked the occasion with joy, feasting, and revelry so the birth of Christ became eternally connected to the solstice. The symbols of our Christmas celebration all resonate with the same themes connected with the solstice for centures...light in the form of candles, Yule Logs, and lights sparkling on our Christmas trees. Evergreen branches and boughs decorate our homes with their promise of everlasting life, of renewal.

Even faiths and cultures who don't belief in Jesus Christ as a Savior celebrate the promise of light. In the Jewish faith, Hannukah , known as the festival of Lights, marks a special event, a victory when Judah and the Macabees triumped. The celebration oil burned for eight days, when supplies were limited, a miracle and another triumph of light over darkness.

As we come together this year, no matter what faith we claim, what tribe we are part of, what our beliefs may be, most of us will celebrate hope and light, no matter what we may call the celebration.

We will sing of good cheer, of promise, and our hope will shine like a beacon through the darkness of December.

My wish to you at the time of the winter solstice, as we celebrate our own holidays be it Christmas or Hannukah or Kwanza or just hope is peace, joy, and all good things. May we share a new prosperity, may our hearts overflow with love and kindness and our joy resonate.

In my Christmas novel available from Rebel Ink Press at all online romance retailers, "Sing We Now of Christmas" is a story about hope in the face of despair, of one woman's love which refuses to give up even when everything seems hopeless. I hope you might like to share my vision of hope with my story or share it with others during this blessed season of light.

From my heart to yours, across the miles I wish you the goodness of the season and hope in your heart to carry into the new year.

REJECTED HEROS...HOW DO THEY DEAL?

2011-12-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy almost Christmas, everyone!

In Dating 911, there is a bit of a competition between twin brothers, Firefighter Jett Avery and Emergency Room Doctor Cruz Avery. They both are after Nurse Roxanne Carter, but for different reasons. As the book progresses, Jett and Cruz will both win and lose some.

A real hero can handle rejection in various ways, but lets face it, he's human and therefore will feel anger and hurt just like anyone else. It may just take him a while to get through the bitterness that we all feel after being dumped.

Jett is wild and out of control whereas Cruz is the more sensible, controlled brother. Both hot, sexy, driven men with their own styles and penchant for womanizing.

Which brother does Roxanne choose?

BLURB:
Emergency room nurse, Roxanne Carter is a loser-magnet wishing she could enjoy her single life. Commiserating with girlfriends over butterscotch martinis creates the idea of The Dating Manifesto--a not so scientific research project which promises to point the way to dating success. While gathering data to find the most suitable single men available, she wades through a series of unsavory, stale dates, which literally places her back at ground zero. Just when she is ready to give up, sin personified in the form of sexy firefighter Jett Avery, arrives tainting all of her previous data.

A traumatic warehouse fire, in which firefighter Jett Avery's closest friend dies, has him suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Attempting to stave off the worst of his depression, he decides to use his brand of therapy...Sex. The remedy has lost luster until he encounters ER nurse Roxanne Carter.

The pursuit of Roxanne by Jett's twin brother, Doctor Cruz Avery, complicates her research and interferes with Jett's therapy. Does Roxanne choose the brother who by analysis is the perfect match? Or the broken, dark and irresistible one?

EXCERPT:
She held up her hands, palms facing toward him. “Stop. This is a hospital. Not some stupid television show where the medical staff is always making out in a closet. I work here. Don’t even think about it!”

Jett closed the distance between them until her hands pressed against his chest, searing their imprint through the thin cotton of his T-shirt. He grasped her fingers and lifted them to his mouth, licking the sensitive tips with his tongue one by one. Heat filled her eyes and she trembled.

“You feel the pull, too. Don’t you?” he asked, dropping her hand.
Jett slid his hands to her waist, and molded her against his erection. A perfect fit. Her sharp intake of breath as she shook her head told him all he needed to know. He smiled. Satisfaction filled him.

“Liar. Shake your head in denial all you want, but I can see the reflection mirrored in your eyes, and feel the powerful draw when I touch you,” he said in a husky tone. He rubbed his stiff cock against her stomach. The intensity of his desire eliminated all reason.

Jett buried his face in her neck and breathed in her sweetness. “Hmm. Today you smell like chocolate.” His tongue traced the delicate shell of her ear as his hands stroked her bare arms. “But you taste like honey.”

Her knees bent and he placed his leg between hers to support her. On the brink of total insanity, he continued his light exploration. His hand skimmed her torso, and skirted the side of her breast. With slow, deliberate care, he let his fingertips graze her collarbone on the way to grasp the back of her neck. Another tremor rippled through her.

God, she felt so damn good.

She tilted her chin and her head rested in his open palm. “Jett,” her sultry voice caused his penis to throb. “This is not a good idea. Anyone could come in here and….”

He pushed his thigh against her crotch. She inhaled sharply, desire deepening the blue of her eyes. “You were saying?”

Her brow furrowed. “And…”

“Intoxicating being a little naughty, isn’t it?” he rasped. He gently tugged her face closer to his. “Hmm. I believe you mentioned the other night that your most recent sexual exploits have been lacking. Let’s add something of interest for your science venture.”

Available now at Evernight Publishing at this link:
http://www.evernightpublishing.com/dating-911-by-kathleen-grieve/

To find out more about Kathleen Grieve and her books, you can stop by her blog, Keeping A Pulse On Life & Romance http://kathleengrieve.blogspot.com

Her website: www.kathleengrieve.com

Follow her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Kathleen-GrieveAuthor/251669291518939

Follow her on Twitter: @KathleenGrieve

The 2nd book of my Dating Series, titled Dating Impossible has currently been submitted and you can follow the other brother in his travel to finding a love of his own.

Paranormal romance ebooks from $0.99 to $2.99!

2011-12-17T04:26:00.001-08:00

Are you looking for some bargain paranormal romance ebooks to fill up your ereader before the holidays? Or perhaps you want to bookmark some new reads for that Kindle or Nook you'll be unwrapping on Christmas day?

I have some fantastic offers on a selection of my paranormal romance books until January 15th 2012. There are plenty of great reads to choose from, all priced between $0.99 and $2.99 and in a range of lengths between novella and long novels, and a variety of paranormal romance sub-genres including sinful angels, sexy vampires, seductive werewolves, and even a super-hot demon and sassy witch pairing.

In my Felicity Heaton books, you can snap up the first book in my best selling angel romance series, Her Dark Angel, for only $0.99, a saving of $2. Or indulge in some urban fantasy romance with Ascension for only $0.99, a saving of $3. Or perhaps get in the seasonal spirit with Vampire for Christmas for only $0.99. If you like your vampire romances packed with emotion and full of twists to keep you on your toes, then Forbidden Blood is only $2.99.

In my other persona, F E Heaton, I'm offering great savings on my popular Vampires Realm series. You can buy all three books in the epic Prophecy Trilogy for only $0.99 each. That's a saving of $6! What's more, you can get your hands on two more books in the series, Seventh Circle, a vampire romance novel, and Winter's Kiss, a vampire/werewolf romance novel, for just $2.99 each.

These great deals are available at Amazon Kindle Stores, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble Nook, Sony Reader Store, Apple iBookstore and Kobo Books, and others! See the offer page for availability of individual books.

Here are some blurb snippets and links for all the books...

Vampire for Christmas
Felicity Heaton
It was one last mission. Shannon, a demon hunter with the agency, is looking forward to leaving behind the small town and the vampire she's been stuck with for the past two years. Things are getting complicated fast and she wants out. A fresh start, free of her vampire partner, awaits her if she can survive their final mission and the lonely Christmas holidays...

Available for $0.99 from
Author's website
Amazon Kindle | Kindle UK | Kindle Germany | Kindle France
Apple iBookstore USA | iBookstore UK | iBookstore Aus | iBookstore Canada
Barnes and Noble Nook
Sony Reader Store
Kobo Books
Smashwords

Her Dark Angel (Her Angel series #1)
Felicity Heaton
An angel without a mission, Apollyon lives trapped in Hell guarding the bottomless pit. Surrounded by endless darkness, he longs to fly free on Earth once more but his master hasn't called him in centuries. When the call finally comes, it's to serve a new master, a beautiful woman he has often watched over, a woman who has always captivated him...

Available for $0.99 from
Author's website
Amazon Kindle | Kindle UK | Kindle Germany | Kindle France
Apple iBookstore USA | iBookstore UK | iBookstore Aus | iBookstore Canada
Barnes and Noble Nook
Sony Reader Store
Kobo Books
Smashwords

Ascension
Felicity Heaton
A witch on the verge of achieving phenomenal power, Lealandra must turn to her half-breed demon ex-lover Taig for protection from the dark force that is after her and also from her own magic. With her Counter-Balance dead and her coven against her, Taig's blood and power is the only thing that can help her control her magic and survive the ascension and gain the strength to defeat her enemy...

Available for $0.99 from
Author's website
Amazon Kindle | Kindle UK | Kindle Germany | Kindle France
Apple iBookstore USA | iBookstore UK | iBookstore Aus | iBookstore Canada
Barnes and Noble Nook
Sony Reader Store
Smashwords

Forbidden Blood
Felicity Heaton
In a dark world where vampires exist and where Source Blood, a rare human blood type, can bestow godlike powers upon them, the vampire Venators of the Sovereignty fight to protect the humans by banishing those who drink it to the endless dark. Exiled from his family and with only his duty to sustain him, Kearn has been on the trail of an elusive Source Blood abuser for three years. When he saves a beautiful human female from the vampire's grasp, it turns out she's the lead he's been waiting for. Amber is a Source Blood and the perfect bait, but for who?

Available for $2.99 from
Author's website
Amazon Kindle | Kindle UK | Kindle Germany | Kindle France
Apple iBookstore USA | iBookstore UK | iBookstore Aus | iBookstore Canada
Barnes and Noble Nook
Sony Reader Store
Smashwords

Prophecy: Child of Light (Prophecy Trilogy #1 / Vampires Realm series #1)
F E Heaton
A vampire unlike any other, Prophecy lives life in the dark until the night she encounters Valentine, a gorgeous vampire who is both her enemy and the man who will change her life forever. Convinced that the prophecy about her is wrong and unable to ignore the vision of them that he saw in her blood, Valentine goes against his orders to execute Prophecy and kidnaps her instead. The attraction between them grows as they search for the truth behind the prophecy, battle a dark evil that threatens to destroy the world, and attempt to evade their families and the Law Keepers...

Available for $0.99 from
Author's website
Amazon Kindle | Kindle UK | Kindle Germany | Kindle France
Apple iBookstore USA | iBookstore UK | iBookstore Aus | iBookstore Canada
Barnes and Noble Nook
Sony Reader Store
Kobo Books
Smashwords

Prophecy: Caelestis and Aurorea (Prophecy Trilogy #2 / Vampires Realm series #2)
F E Heaton
The final battle draws closer. Prophecy's world becomes darker and more dangerous, pushing her to the limit and testing her strength and her heart, almost breaking her. Old friends turn their backs, leaving her to fight with the help of an unlikely ally and forcing her to call on the devastatingly seductive and powerful Lord Hyperion for assistance...

Available for $0.99 from
Author's website
Amazon Kindle | Kindle UK | Kindle Germany | Kindle France
Apple iBookstore USA | iBookstore UK | iBookstore Aus | iBookstore Canada
Barnes and Noble Nook
Sony Reader Store
Smashwords

Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising (Prophecy Trilogy #3 / Vampires Realm series #3)
F E Heaton
An enemy with unimaginable power and bloodlines with centuries of hatred bred into them, two things that threaten to tear Prophecy and Valentine apart as they fight for their lives and their future together. Their vain attempt to join their houses into one army drains the last of their strength, leaving them more vulnerable than they've ever been. The tension escalates between the bloodlines, and, more dangerously, between Valentine, Prophecy and Venturi. As everything crumbles around them, defeat seems inevitable...

Available for $0.99 from
Author's website
Amazon Kindle | Kindle UK | Kindle Germany | Kindle France
Apple iBookstore USA | iBookstore UK | iBookstore Aus | iBookstore Canada
Barnes and Noble Nook
Sony Reader Store
Smashwords

Seventh Circle (Vampires Realm series #7)
F E Heaton
Born with powers similar to a vampire's, Lilith has spent her life hunting demons for Section Seven. On the same night as she watches a vampire kill her best friend, she is faced with her worst nightmare—a client who is not only attractive but a vampire...

Available for $2.99 from
Author's website
Amazon Kindle | Kindle UK | Kindle Germany | Kindle France
Apple iBookstore USA | iBookstore UK | iBookstore Aus | iBookstore Canada
Barnes and Noble Nook
Sony Reader Store
Kobo Books
Smashwords

Winter's Kiss (Vampires Realm series #8)
F E Heaton
Their lord drinks blood and they are dead men walking. The tales of the mansion don't stop Nika from falling for one of the guards, but when wolves attack her and he rides to her rescue, she discovers that her knight is anything but saintly. He is a vampire and she is becoming a werewolf, and love between their species is forbidden—the penalty death...

Available for $2.99 from
Author's website
Amazon Kindle | Kindle UK | Kindle Germany | Kindle France
Apple iBookstore USA | iBookstore UK | iBookstore Aus | iBookstore Canada
Barnes and Noble Nook
Sony Reader Store
Kobo Books
Smashwords

Find out more about the books, including excerpts and reviews, and these great offers at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/paranormal-romance-ebook-offers.php

Felicity Heaton

Because I love it

2011-12-15T04:22:00.000-08:00

A conversation that I’ve had a few times in the past and more recently got me to thinking. A lot of blood, sweat, time, sleepless nights and tears go into anything that you love. Whether it is sewing that fabulous outfit, painting a picture, crocheting a throw or any other number of things you do. With each it takes all of what I mentioned above on my your to get to that finished point. It is the same with being a writer. Let me break it down.

Blood – I’ve typed so hard that I’ve left blood on the keyboard or gotten paper cuts while reading through pages of my manuscript. Hey paper cuts hurt something awful. (grin). I put my figurative blood into each book I write. My heart and soul are on each page.

Sweat – I’ve broken into lots of sweat as I pounded away at the keyboard trying to get a scene just right. Talked with a reader which I love to do. Since I am shy this is the hardest for me. Hush those who know me that are laughing. I am shy, just not with those I know and am comfortable with. But I digress. I’ve sweated about a variety of things. Waiting anxiously to hear back on a submission. Edits for my book. Opened a review of my book.

Time – The amount of time spent with writing the book, doing self editing, then again self editing, crit partner editing, your editing again and then off to publisher who you will have to wait for a response. And if you get that all lovely response of “yes” then even more waiting to get to the process. When in the process even more waiting to get through the process. Then after process even more waiting to actual release. Then release then more waiting to see what people think. Whew I am tired of even imagining the time. Yet each moment is worth it. So worth it all.

Sleepless night – The idea in your brain that will not understand that you are sleeping that forces you out of bed in search of paper to write it down. The book you are writing that will not let you rest until that last scene is just so or that last word is complete. The excitement of a new project. The wait for the submission that you sent. Or waiting for a note/call from your editor on something.

Tears – Oh the tears I have cried as I write a scene in a book or read a letter from a reader who actually got the story as intended. The awesome review that said that one phrase that made you smile that the story did as you intended it to do. The bad review that even though they didn’t like the story there was something constructive in it that you took away for future reference. The tears of completion that you finished the story and it was written to the best you could get it. The tears of relief for the contract that you went after or publisher you wanted that story to be with. The tears of making hard choices that will be best for your career.

I could go on and on with a list of what all the things above mean in correlation to writing. I’ve been asked many times why do I write. My quick response is “it’s in my blood, soul and heart”. The more complex one is “because the blood, sweat, time, sleepless nights and tears go into it because I love it.” I get lots of confused looks when I give the complex one so I usually give the simple explanation. With the complex response I’ve never tried to articulate what I meant until now. There are so many layers to it all. So much to say. If you think about it all those points cover many things you do in your life. I have many creative outlets that I pursue. I draw, love to sew, do crafts and cook. Each are things I love and that I want to be my best at.

No matter what you are pursuing. The things that you put your heart into – that you bleed for – figuratively and in reality. The things that bring you closer to people you would never have expected to have anything in common with. Things that may, take time away from family and friends. What you sweat over because you want it to be you upmost best and create a reaction – good or bad. The nights you cannot sleep because your thoughts are consumed with whatever project you are working on. Or the wonder when it is seen by the world and how will they react. The tears you shed to get there, between going there and as you get there. Each tear has a purpose to make you go forward. They each make you learn and grow.

In each thing you do that involves blood, sweat, time, sleepless nights and tears none of it matters because it all boils down to one thing. You do it because you love it.

Taige Crenshaw
http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/
…increasing the sizzle factor

Blog: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/blog
Chat Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crenshawcafe
Newsletter: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/newsletterandgroups.shtml
Free Reads Site: http://www.satinnotes.com/

Power of Instinct - A woman does whatever is necessary to protect the man who is hers but once he finds out he goes with his instincts and makes her his.

Buy here at Total-E-Bound.

Clarissa Yip Interviewed by her Muse. Beware! Part 2

2011-12-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

Interview with My Annoying Muse

Annoying Muse: And we’re back!

CY: Keep it down will you? *whispers * We all know how loud you can be.

Annoying Muse: *glares * Just because you leave me in the dark all the time, doesn’t mean—

CY: Anyway, we’re here today because it’s our turn at this wonderful blog.

Annoying Muse: * Clears throats and mutters * Not by choice of course…

CY: Zip it! I thought you had questions for me.

Annoying Muse: Fine. Let’s see… Being that Lily and Rafe from Silent Night’s Seduction is already out, what else do you have going on?

CY: * frowns * Like you really don’t know…

Annoying Muse: Just humor me. I can’t help it if you’re the most boring person to inter—

CY: Tempting a Prince comes out December 23^rd.

Annoying Muse: And who is from Tempting a Prince? What is it about? Why should I care?

CY: *mouth drops * Are you kidding me?

Annoying Muse: * whips out a nail file and starts filing * Nope.

CY: *grumbling * Tempting a Prince is about finding your Prince Charming. Sarah—

Annoying Muse: Of course, she finds her Prince Charming. When have you ever written a story that doesn’t have a happy ending?

Available at Decadent Publishing!

CY: *fists clench * Do you want me to do this interview or not?

Annoying Muse: *files another nail *

CY: Sarah is on an adventure to Las Vegas with Brenda and Mia (Mia from Tempting a Cowboy) and she’s determined to find her Prince Charming…except he turns out to be someone she’s never expected.

Annoying Muse: Get to the good stuff. * examines fingernail *

CY: *grumble * Sarah’s Prince Charming ends up being Evan (Mia’s older brother) whom she’s had a crush on her whole life but he doesn’t even know she exists. Evan is actually there to spy on his enemy (Shane, from Tempting a Cowboy) so he had to sign up for Madame Eve’s dating service and ends up paired with Sarah…except he doesn’t turn out to be so…Prince Charming-ish.

Annoying Muse: Okay, I’m bored. When can we go to the beach?

CY: OMG. Is that all you think about?

Annoying Muse: Hey, I didn’t tell you to move back to the mainland. I was perfectly happy in Hawaii. I think you hung out with me more there than here. * looks around * Too many damn trees and bugs. When are you going to learn that I’m not a wilderness girl?

CY: * rolls eyes * Get a job and we’ll talk about this later.

Annoying Muse: You’re right. Here, I’ll just post the blurb and excerpt. We’ll continue this conversation later…

CY: * waves * Enjoy!

Available December 23rd!

Blurb:

Sarah Westfall is on a mission. Living the mundane life of a near spinster school teacher and sick of her parents throwing eligible men at her, she is determined to get over her crush on her best friend’s brother. She wants a prince and wouldn’t settle for less. What better way than a 1Night Stand?

Evan Hunt needs to figure out his enemy’s game plan. Chasing his nemesis to Las Vegas and signing up for Madame Eve’s service and masquerade, he never expected the woman he’s desired for years to appear before him…as his princess.

When their attraction fires the night, the inevitable happens. Her prince isn’t as charming as she’s hoped, but he does save her from trouble. Would he be willing to fulfill her fantasies also?

Excerpt:

Ryder nudged Evan in the arm. “Yo.”

“What?” He couldn’t keep the annoyance out of his tone. He’d searched the room and no McCormick. Was this a joke? Had his informant lied to him?

“Think I spot your date.”

Evan turned to where Ryder pointed. His breath hitched at the sight before him. No more than twenty feet away, his princess stood with her back turned. Her shimmery white gown hugged her loving curves like a glove. The chandelier above formed a golden hue around her lush figure. Her smooth, milky skin glowed in the light, and his mouth watered as his gaze trailed from the bottom up to her slim hips to the bare expanse of her back. He took in the thick blonde curls on top of her head and the sparkle of her crown. Definitely his princess.

Heat rushed through him. Desire struck, blood pooled in his groin.

“You lucky bastard. My date better be as hot as her.”

He barely heard Ryder. All thoughts flew out of his mind. He couldn’t draw his attention from the woman. His feet involuntarily moved forward. His pulse sped as he got closer. When he stood right behind her, he studied her closely. She looked out into the crowd as if searching for someone. He noted the smoothness of her skin, the delicate curve of her earlobe, the gracefulness of her neck. His fingers itched to touch her. He smelled peaches and drew in a deeper breath, her perfume permeating his senses. An alarm sounded in his head. Something familiar about her, but he couldn’t pin it down. He didn’t care. One thing was for sure: he wanted her.

“Princess.”

His date whipped around. Her mouth fell open and her violet eyes widened in shock.

Recognition struck like a fist pummeling his chest.

“Sarah?” His voice actually squeaked.

Hope to see you all again soon! * drags muse out of room...screaming *

http://clarissayip.com

An unexpected ingredient

2011-12-12T07:13:00.000-08:00

Every year my youngest's Girl Scout troop does a cookie exchange. This year to shake things up, it was Iron Chef style and we all had to use a same ingredient.

Tea.

Yes, you read that right. Tea. Needless to say, I and the other parents panicked a little about that. I'm not a baker. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Give me anything to write but don't expect me to put it in the oven. When the kids want to bake Christmas cookies, they go to Grandma's.

So I asked Grandma, "Got any cookie recipes with tea in them?"

"Tea???"

"Yep."

She didn't. And that's when I really started to panic. She was the "baker" and had no recipes with tea.

Ever Google "Tea" and "Cookies"? LOL you get a lot of recipes for cookies that go with tea, not necessarily ones that are made with tea in them.

Youngest started saying, "Well, maybe we can just tell them it has tea in it." The kids know about my baking skills or rather, the lack thereof. She was losing faith in our ability to pull this off.

I did manage to find one that had Chai tea and eggnog. Youngest and I like eggnog so that got a second look. It was also easy peasy to fix. It used a sugar cookie mix to build from. Something this non-baker could handle. We decided to try it, though we didn't have high hopes.

And how did they turn out? We WON best cookie! They are pretty good if I say so myself. The judge was going to make them to take to her cookie exchange and grandma is talking about making them when the kids come to visit and bake over the holiday.

Tea was definitely an unexpected ingredient but it worked out very well.

That's sometimes how writing a story turns out. When I first started Taming the Fire, the first in the Fire Riders series, I was thinking it was going to be a standard romance. Only another character popped into the lineup. And he wanted to be included in the mix as well. My m/f romance quickly became a m/m/f. The story definitely benefited from that addition. Just like the cookies that we made benefited from some chai tea.

Mechele Armstrong

http://www.mechelearmstrong.com/

Sweet Gift for Christmas

2011-12-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

Grab a towel and/or an apron. Or a bib.

It's that time of year when even people like me (who rarely bakes anything) whip out cookbooks and look for cookie recipes. My favorite kind is sugar, and my newest favorite recipe is for a mix, created by the geniuses over at Busy Cooks. I'm here to share it with you.

Give this mix along with cookie cutters and the recipes for a Christmas gift. I've decorated the page with a few choice hunks to make the days seem brighter. Besides, (eye) candy and cookies go together. =^_^=

Homemade Sugar Cookie Mix

http://busycooks.about.com/od/homemademixes/r/cookiemix.htm

Ingredients

5 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp. baking powder

2 tsp. salt

1 cup solid vegetable shortening

1/2 cup butter

Preparation:

In large bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix well until blended. Cut in shortening and butter with pastry blender, two knives or your hands until the mixture resembles cornmeal and shortening and butter are evenly distributed. Store in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container for up to 12 weeks.

Wash your hands. Thoroughly.

To measure, remove with a large spoon or scoop and level into cups. Do not scoop with the cup or the mixture will pack too tightly and overfill. Let mixture come to room temperature before using.

RECIPES

Sugar Cookies

4 cups homemade cookie mix

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

Combine all ingredients in large bowl until well blended. Divide dough in half, then cover dough and chill at least one hour or until dough is easy to handle. Roll out dough, one half at a time, on a floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Arrange cutouts 1-inch apart on a greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes until cookies are set but not brown. Cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2-1/2 cups homemade cookie mix

2 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and blend until well mixed. Drop by teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 375 oven for 8-10 minutes until cookies are light golden brown. Cool on sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool.

Use fresh flower. Er... flour. *ahem*

Cookie Press Cookies

4 cups homemade cookie mix

3 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

2 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix with a fork until blended. Fill cookie press with dough and form cookies 1-2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes until set (cookies should not brown much). Cool 1 minute and remove from cookie sheets. Cool on wire rack.

Spice Cookies

2-1/2 cups homemade cookie mix

1 tsp. lemon extract

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Follow directions for Chocolate Chip Cookies. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes until light golden brown.

Peanut Butter Cookies

2 cups homemade cookie mix

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

Follow directions for Chocolate Chip Cookies. Form dough into balls, place on ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten with a fork dipped in sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Chocolate Candy Cookies

2 cups homemade cookie mix

1/4 cup cocoa

2 Tbsp. water

1 egg

1 cup candy coated chocolate pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except candies in large bowl and beat until well blended. Stir in candy. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets 2" apart. Bake at 350 degrees 8-10 minutes until set.

Join us for A Christmas party 12/19-23!

Want a free story for Christmas? Check out my free reads page! Click here. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Seasons Greetings. I hope you enjoy the recipes, the stories, and have a wonderful new year filled with success and joy.

What's your favorite Christmas cookie?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kayelle Allen writes about...
Unstoppable heroes, Uncompromising love, Unforgettable passion
Books onAmazon ~ Books on B&N ~ Books on Fictionwise

Happy Holidays

2011-12-08T20:48:00.000-08:00

By Janet Quinn

Happy Holidays to everyone.

I hope everyone is getting all of their holidays stuff done. My youngest has been helping me with decorating. Count Rugen, the cat, has been helping undecorate. He completely demolished the Christmas tree skirt. It is in pieces all over the floor, but he seems to like it and has left the tree alone for the moment.

I did some of my shopping online, but still need to go to the store. I can’t believe how quickly Christmas is arriving. There is always so much to do. I seem to be a bit better on top of things this year, but I’m sure I will run out of time along the way.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday. I will have all of my children, their spouses and my grandbaby here for Christmas. Her other grandma will be here also since my daughter-in-law’s family is Jewish. Grandma now celebrates with us. It is fun since she makes the best deserts.

I am getting no writing done, but hope to get some done over the Winter Break from school. I won’t have any papers to grade or students to content with for two weeks. It is rather nice.

Everyone enjoy their holiday.

Top 5 Dawgs of Hollywood

2011-12-06T14:45:00.000-08:00

I’m a closet celebrity gossip reader. It’s a guilty pleasure. I try not to get wrapped up in all the cries of infidelity, because stars are simply people, too, and their lives are often quite complicated. When it comes to romance, we like that happily ever after and having a heroine leave one man to be with another … well, that’s tricky territory.

Usually, you can’t have the first guy be truly decent. He’s got to have his flaws that just simply can’t be overcome (he’s a wife beater, kicks the dog, druggie, etc.) How do you make the first man so unlikeable that we want her to find “true love?”

Well, reading a piece of news today got my fire burning, and not in a good way. So in order to the worst, here’s a listing of the baddest bad boys. (All according to celebrity gossip, that is …).

5) Ryan Phillippe

I know … old news. And Reese Witherspoon is now re-married, and got her happily ever after. It’s all rumor; however, I adore Reese, so my hackles went up with this story.

“It's alledged that the entire situation blew up when Reese found secret dirty messages on Ryan's Blackberry the two of them had been sending back and forth the night of the Flags of our Fathers red carpet premiere.”

http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/reese-witherspoon-and-ryan-phillippe-the/

4) Ashton Kutcher

Unlike Reese, I don’t hold a great love for Demi Moore, but I do respect her as a woman and mother. She’s done wonders for the image of a 40-something woman. But, really if the rumors are true: Cheating on your wedding anniversary … that’s just wrong.

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/10/ashton-kutcher-cheating-photos-sara-leal-partying-demi-moore-divorce

3) Tiger Woods

The athlete-celebrity racked up the infidelity total. Woods’ straying makes the average woman shudder. If model beauty Elin Nordegren doesn’t keep her man happy in the marriage bed, where’s the hope of the rest of us? (Seriously, happily married for almost 12 years, and staying faithful.)

http://www.radaronline.com/photos/image/55378/2010/03/beautiful-celebs-who-have-been-cheated

2) Arnold Schwarzenegger

How worse could it get than to have your “soul mate” cheating with the long-term, live-in maid, and to produce a not-so-hidden “love child?” Yep, Arnold definitely deserves to high on the list of dawgs.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/mother-arnold-schwarzeneggers-love-child-revealed/story?id=13626896#.Tt5x964bgd8

1) Jesse James

Ah, the leader of the pack that incited today’s rant. After the bad-news breakup with Sandra Bullock, the motorcycle moron is not redeeming himself: “Von D later revealed that James cheated on her with 19 women.”

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/ouch-jesse-james-slams-sandra-bullock-153658335.html

Nineteen women? Ladies, please: Don’t Touch This!

Definitely not romance-novel material. Who did I miss? Am I being unfair to any of these lovely gentlemen?

Here’s some info on my latest release, an erotic paranormal:

The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf: Chains of Silver:

Adopted at birth, Silver Ashe discovers her blood-brother Trevor Pack is a werewolf, with a vampire and witch for lovers. All her teachings about the evils of the paranormal Others come into question. She runs to a family friend, Nick, for help.

Nick Stake takes his hobby as a vampire hunter personally. He strives to rid the world of evil bloodsuckers. When his best friend’s “kid” sister comes to him for advice, Nick discovers Silver’s more than grown up. He battles his growing desire for Silver and blindly holds true to his convictions.

Once Silver reaches her sexual maturity, she’ll inherit her full genetic heritage and turn into a werewolf. When death comes calling, Silver and Nick must face their darkest fears in order to break free from the chains that bind.

Grazie!

Louisa Bacio

http://www.facebook.com/louisabacio

http://www.twitter.com/louisabacio

http://louisabacio.blogspot.com

And It's On To The Next!

2011-12-04T03:42:00.000-08:00

Although winter weather's arrived in my little corner of the world just in time to accompany the debut of my latest romance novel, my first Christmas release Sing We Now of Christmas and I'd love to cuddle up with a good read beside a warm hearth, there's no time to rest on my accomplishments.

I'm out promoting my new release, pushing the great reviews the story received from Sizzling Hot Book Reviews and Manic Readers, spreading the news. The local ABC affiliate even contacted me Friday morning, then came down to my house to do an interview about the novel. It's on the Four States Home Page website and my family, friends and fans around the world are checking it out.

At the same time I'm already planning ahead for my next release from Rebel Ink Press, a Valentine's Day romance due out February 3 called A Patient Heart. Right on the heels comes another Rebel release, In Love's Own Time.

And amid the busy whirl of holiday decorating, shopping, planning, and baking, I'm waiting on the edits for my fourth novel in my paranormal romance Love Covenent Series from Evernight Publishing - Love Shadows is due out in December as well but I'm thinking near the end of the month.

I'm deep into a new work-in-progress as well, one I'm calling - at least for now -Weather Signs.

One year ago, last December my first novel emerged and now my tenth novel will debut this month so life's changed. How I work, my tight schedule, the ongoing promotion, and more are becoming my normal lifestyle.

So there's no time to sit back to enjoy the fuss over my new release although that's a facet of my life, a lovely one. It's on to the next - the next book to promote, the next novel to write and I'm loving it.

I just might steal a few minutes though on this cold, blustery day to read a little and unwind!

A Page In The Life

http://leeannsontheimermurphywriterauthor.blogspot.com

Rebel Writer: Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

http://leeannsontheimermurphy.blogspot.com

Website http://leeannwriter.weebly.com

On Twitter @leeannwriter

On Facebook Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

Book trailer:

http://youtu.be/mLQBf90xFMM

2012 Is Already Looking Good!

2011-12-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

I've been asked to sex up a couple of my earlier releases for the Torrid line over at Whiskey Creek Press Torrid. I'm so excited about this. I have been in a writing funk for a while now and hopefully this will get the juices flowing again. Ever had writer's block? It ain't pretty! And can be down right frustrating. The Mercenary Way is due out in Feb of 2012 but after that, nothing. Nada! Except for a couple short erotic romances.

Cupid's Arrow and The Senator's Daughter will get new content, that's where the sexing up come into play. They will get new book covers, too! And be re-released under my pen name. Of course there will be a disclaimer that they were previously published, for those of you who don't care if Mike and Emma have great sex on the vanity in her bathroom. They didn't in the original but things sure got hot between them before they were, ah, interrupted. Maybe they won't be interrupted this time around:)

Sexing up these two stories is going to be fun for me. My writing has evolved since my first romance came out in 2005. Those of you who have read my books have probably noticed that.

Christmas is coming up. So I thought I'd offer someone who leaves a comment on this post a download of Cupid's Arrow and The Senator's Daughter. One name will be drawn on Saturday, December 4th, and announced on my blog at: www.toryrichards.com

Readers' Choice #1 Bestseller

Fallen Angel Reviews Recommended Read

Clarissa Yip Interviewed by her Muse. Beware!

2011-11-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

Interviewed by My Muse

Annoying muse: So why do you write? Might as well give everyone the whole hoorah!

Clarissa: As a child, I’ve always wanted to be a rock star, a doctor, a linguist, and a wedding planner. You thought I was going to say author, right? Yeah, no. I’m no Nora Roberts and writing romance didn’t come to me until later. I did pick up my first Harlequin at age nine. My sister’s fault, really. She thought I didn’t know what she was reading and I kept stealing them and hiding in my room to read…It was quiet sad. You can only imagine her reaction when she found out. * gasp * “There—there’s sex in them!” she sputtered. “Not kid books!” But that was only because I had read all the Babysitter’s, R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike, and Beverly Cleary books already. I was a vicious, avid reader. Yes, I said vicious.

I fell in love…

Annoying muse: Yeah, whatever. You fall in love with everyone!

Clarissa: *glares *

Annoying muse: Talk to me. Tell me more about me.

Clarissa: *lifts eyebrow* You really want me to talk about you?

Annoying muse: Maybe not. You do tend to go off on tangents… How about when you first started writing? How did you go about putting a story together?

Clarissa: I’ve been penning stories since I was a kid, but who knew about goal, motivation, conflict, or character arcs? I was smitten with the people on the pages and the voices in my head kept talking to me. (Not those voices that would put me in the psych ward, but you—my loving muse who never leaves me alone and throws temper tantrums when I don’t write.) It’s relaxing. No one told me writing was suppose to be so technical… But usually, I like to plot out my hero and heroine and you tell me what to write most of the time.

Annoying muse: * snicker * That’s what you get for waking me up in the middle of the night. I can’t help it if I have to boss you around sometimes. It’s good for you.

Clarissa: Don’t push it. You drive me nuts as it is.

Annoying muse: Okay, enough chit-chat. Let’s talk about these people you make me hang out with all the time.

Clarissa: Well? Which ones? I make you socialize with all of them.

Annoying muse: Pfft. How about Jenna and Cade? Or Lily and Rafe? They’ve been on my nerves since—

Clarissa: And they’re all sweethearts!

Annoying muse: * mutters * That’s what you think…

Clarissa: Anyway, Jenna and Cade from One Chance was released on November 18^th. Jenna is sick of being a tomboy and when she hears that Cade plans to marry the wrong woman, she feels the need to step up her game and save him! Cade is her best friend, by the way, and he’s just ready to get a move on on his life.

Annoying muse: That’s cuz he’s being a turd for even thinking to marry th—

Clarissa: Don’t ruin it for everyone!

Annoying muse: Okay, okay. Chill out! Let’s talk about Rafe and Lily.

Clarissa: Rafe and Lily are actually from Silent Night’s Seduction, which was just released November 28^th. It’s a really sweet story. If you’ve heard of 1Night Stand Series from Decadent Publishing, then you should be familiar with Madame Eve and her services. Lily is literally kidnapped and thrown onto a plane by her older brother and is forced to Alaska to meet her mystery date…except her date turns out to be her ex-husband, Rafe. Sparks fly and—

Annoying muse: Yeah, yeah, stop your gushing. I hate when you get into these moods.

Clarissa: *glares * What kind of interview is this?

Annoying muse: Forget it. Continue. * waves hand *

Clarissa: Anyway…what was I saying? Oh yeah, Rafe and Lily just have a lot of surprises in store for them and it’s heartwarming to watch what loops they have to overcome with each other. I don’t want to spoil it all for everyone. Silent Night’s Seduction was released in e-book, but it was released in print just a few weeks ago in a print anthology called Madame Eve’s 1Night Stand Holiday Anthology. *chuckle * Yes, the title is a little original, but it’s a great book to pick up! There’re stories from many other popular authors, too! You need to check it out.

Annoying muse: Definitely! * whispers * Should you mention Evan and Sarah?

Clarissa: *sigh* I love Evan and Sarah. They’re the cutest couple ever from Tempting a Prince. If you’ve read Tempting a Cowboy, then you’ll be familiar with their story. Obviously Sarah is looking for a prince and when her childhood crush shows up as her date…well things just get complicated. How can anyone resist a Prince Charming? Tempting a Prince comes out December 23^rd.

Annoying muse: * looks at watch * Did you know that this is the longest I’ve ever seen you not reach for the coffee mug?

Clarissa: * picks up cup* You’re right. Maybe we need to go get coffee.

Annoying muse: Yay! * turns to audience * Nice seeing you all. Please come back Dec. 14. We’ll both be back here again!

Clarissa: Have a great week! *whispers * Don’t let my annoying muse get to you…she’s annoying.

Annoying muse: * glares * I heard that.

Clarissa: * looks innocently * I don’t know what’s you’re talking about. If anyone wants to go hangout for coffee. Please come along. Check out my website at http://clarissayip.com. Lots of free giveaways and chances to win prizes! Or just come and hang out with me. (*points at muse* Not her.)

Thank you so much for joining me here today! If you have a funny muse story, please share! Mine drives me nuts as it is!

Blurb:

Stubborn and proud cowgirl, Lily McCormick, is finally coming to terms with her quiet life on her parent’s ranch, until her older brother, as payback, signs her up for 1NightStand. Kidnapped and forced onto a plane to a foreign location, she faces the dreaded cold and an unwanted tryst, until her ex-husband appears before her…as her date.

New York City District Attorney, Rafe Martinez, would do anything to get his ex-wife back, even if it meant taking drastic measures to pretend he was there for another woman. When jealousy and rage surfaces and Lily’s tough demeanor wanes, desire and lust sparks their once powerful connection as truths unfold. Will Rafe convince her to return to him or push her further away from giving their love a second chance?

http://clarissayip.com

Twitter: ClarissaYip

Facebook: ClarissaYipAuthor

http://clarissayipblog.com

http://romanceauthorhotspot.com

The Eyes Still Have It

2011-11-29T21:31:00.000-08:00

Stephen King knew a bouncer who could distinguish a kid with a fake ID from a legal adult with a careful moment of scrutiny. "It's in the eyes," the bouncer had told King, "in the way they look at you." King in his 40s interpreted his friend as saying that older eyes "lost" something. I'm sure the 60-something King would now see it differently.

It always annoyed me, in my teenaged years, when my mother called me a kid. I didn't understand the perspective of age. I didn't realize that being considered a kid could be anything other than a social status putdown by a haughty old-timer. There are many benefits in youth. I didn't "get" that age gives us more than wrinkles -- that it also affords us certain scars upon the soul. Scars build up through time, and may limit us in ways, but time also provides us calluses, like the ones built up on an expert guitarist's fingers, that enable him to play a jazz riff. Younger players can't play that long since their fingers are still soft. Maybe older eyes, with their different vision, can see things younger eyes can't -- and vice versa.

The eyes are the windows to the soul, as the Latin statesman Cicero first said, and as way too many people have quoted. It bears repeating if only for the point -- the difference in the eyes may not be the loss of something but a necessary change of vintage --- a deepening, a broadening of vision. As we get older, nearsighted people often become farsighted. Maybe that's more than an optical phenomenon. In what seems like a matter of weeks, we become our parents in many ways, even if only to stand in contradiction to them. We lose something that youth retains, but we gain something, too.

I first started writing my novel erotic romane, Defining Moments (MC Books), when I was 41. As I wrote it, I feared the couple was too idealized and, well, old to be an acceptable erotic romance couple. I've now published the novel as my hour is about to strike 52. I know now that fifty-somethings are just twenty-somethings with whiter hair. My only worry was that an audience in the twilight of Twilight romantica couldn't embrace my fiery-hearted late-blooming lovers. I'm happy to say that reviews suggest I was wrong. Young people see the same things we do, just in different ways.

Perhaps Stephen's door guard friend couldn't see what was there because he didn't have a sufficient range of sight. The older eyes weren't missing anything. They just weren't focused on him. Us oldies know the future belongs to us and that our hours won't go on forever. We're closer to the end than we are the beginning. We direct our eyes to the future, to the days beyond, and we don't worry about the reaction of the doorman. That's something the young might learn from us, just as we could learn from the young.

The Anticipation of Christmas (Make That My Christmas Novel)

2011-11-28T00:04:00.000-08:00

As a child, waiting for Christmas to arrive seemed both exciting and arduous. The days after Thanksgiving's leftovers vanished into memory stretched into December with slow precision and my anticipation grew with each passing day. By the time the fresh cut Douglas Fir arrived to claim a place of honor in the living room's alcove, bringing the wonderful aroma of pine into the house and a few bright packages appeared beneath its branches, I would be in such a dither I imagine I drove my parents almost out of their minds.

Although I never did outgrow either Christmas or the magic of the season, I did learn to temper my excitement and anticipation with a small measure of patience. Patience, however, as I often tell people is a virtue I have yet to perfect. I still count the days to Christmas and celebrate the season of Advent in my Catholic faith which is about waiting too.

This year, however, I'm counting down the days with a remnant of my childhood joy and glee to December 3. The date looms large on my calendar because it marks the release date for my first ever Christmas release, Sing We Now of Christmas from Rebel Ink Press.

Sing We Now of Christmas came out of my own love of the holiday season (like my heroine Jessica) and also from one of my favorite carols, Sing We Now of Christmas. It just happens to be Jessica's too. My very favorite Christmas carols are the oldest - this as a 15th century French carol and What Child Is This? to the tune of Greensleeves, an old English melody. The French carol is haunting and poignant so when I decided to write a Christmas themed novel, it seemed the obvious inspiration. And my desire to write a novel about a missing person came into play as well.

So during one of the worst heat waves in decades across the United States, I sat down in bare feet and shorts to write this novel. When I stared out my window lost in thought I didn't see the browning grass or the shimmering heat in the air or the relentless sun but beautiful snow and evergreen trees.

I'm excited about the debut this week of Sing We Now of Christmas so I'd like to share the blurb and a brief little excerpt:

When Jessica Martin met Johnny Devereaux that December, holiday magic filled the air but their love was no enchantment….he was, without doubt the love of her life and by summer, they were happy newlyweds with all their life and holidays ahead.

But when he failed to return home from a fishing trip on the Fourth of July, Jessica’s world is rocked to the foundation and when the authorities tell her that her husband is missing, presumed dead, she refuses to believe it.

As the months and seasons pass, no one else holds out hope but Jessica believes.

She knows he’ll be home for Christmas no matter what. Her family calls her crazy, Johnny’s family tries to help her find closure but Jessica’s heart refuses to surrender hope.

When Christmas comes, the truth will come out to shock them all.

Excerpt:

After the storm passed, the air felt sticky and hot. That heat made her almost sleepy and to stay awake, she reminisced about the night last December that she first met Johnny, at Rusty’s Nail in Joplin.

She got up to leave, unhappy because her friend, Susan, spent all her time with the lead singer of the band, and backed into someone. In her haste she almost lost her balance. Strong arms caught her and held her upright as a voice said, audible above the music but not loud,

“Whoa, there honey, take it easy.”

Jessica whirled, embarrassed, to mumble an apology. All her words faded away when she gazed into his eyes, dark brown and richer than sweet chocolate. He looked back with interest and she felt a strong sense of attraction. He wasn’t the kind of guy she would give a second glance under any other circumstance but tonight she couldn’t look anywhere else. Everything about him was opposite of what she liked in a man – she liked tailored, Brooks Brothers business charm and he radiated country cowboy.

He fit into his faded Wranglers as if they’d been made just for his long legs and his pearl snap button blue patterned Western shirt suited him. He towered above her, taller by several inches even without the worn cowboy boots he wore. She inhaled his scent, a potent mixture of musky cologne, tobacco smoke, and beneath it all, Irish Spring soap. His hands, still holding her arms, were warm against her bare skin and she was glad, now, that she’d worn the black silk halter top despite the cold instead of the red sweater she’d worn to school. Jessica made her voice work with effort, “Thank you.”

“No problem,” he said and she drank in his voice, strong and comforting with just enough Oklahoma twang to make it interesting. “Would you care to dance?”

“I’d love it,” Jessica said as he released his grip on her arms to grab her hand instead. “My name’s Jessica Martin.”

“I’m Johnny,” he said and she committed the name to memory, “Johnny Devereaux.”

He led her onto the tiny dance floor just as Mark began to sing the softer, sweeter vintage country song, Lookin’ For Love. The old Johnny Lee song she remembered from that movie, Urban Cowboy, now felt like a theme song. She recalled watching it one late night in college, hating the boot scooting dance moves and the mechanical bull riding but loving the scene where Debra Winger danced to this same music with John Travolta. Such a coincidence she mused, Johnny Lee, John Travolta, and Johnny Devereaux.

Johnny put his arms around her and she cuddled close against him for the slow dance. They swayed together, their easy motions in time with the music, and she felt safe. Jessica’s head fell short of his shoulder and so as they danced, she could hear the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Above them, the stationary silver ball that must have once spun reflected the colorful Christmas lights strung above the bar and Jessica felt the strangest sense of coming home in his arms. She wanted to stay there forever, wrapped in that magic cocoon of his embrace, and hold this moment close to her heart.

Jessica savored that memory, just as sweet now as it had been on that incredible night. Sometimes she couldn’t believe it had just been not quite seven months ago, that until that December evening her world didn’t include Johnny Devereaux. Until then, she never believed in love at first sight but after that dance, they were together and in love. They never doubted the reality of it and by the time they married, down at the lake over Memorial Day weekend, neither did any of their family or friends. They were meant to be together, Jessica and Johnny like Lucy and Ricky.

Christmas is coming - and so is my first Christmas novel release. I hope you'll join me in celebrating this season of anticipation, hope and joy!

Catch the book trailer, a Murphy Girls (my teenage daughters) Production here:

http://youtu.be/mLQBf90xFMM

Just About A Year Ago....I Set Out On The Road To Becoming An Author

2011-11-26T02:33:00.000-08:00

Old habits die hard and I still listen to a lot of the music I loved in my youth, even in my childhood. One of my favorite groups remains Credence Clearwater Revival and one of the songs I love most is “Lodi”. That song opens with the lines, “Just about a year ago, I set out on the road, seeking my fame and fortune, looking for a pot of gold.” That ballad seems not just a favorite these days but somehow prophetic for my career or so I hope.

http://youtu.be/vxO_FHR5U_A

A year ago, I had two signed contracts for my novels and I wanted readers discover my work and enjoy it. I wanted to write fiction that would engage people’s imaginations

Last November at this time I was deep into my first edits for Wolfe's Lady, a paranormal romance released at the end of December 2010. My other contract - signed first - was for a novel Kinfolk with a targeted release from Champagne Books for July 2011. That seemed so very far away as I worked hard on those first edits, learning to use track changes and other Word options. During the process, between the first round and second round of edits, I came down with some gnarlybug and was so sick I could hardly stumble to the computer. That's rare for me - I'm seldom sick but it happens to the best of us.

A year ago I couldn't imagine I would have eight novels out this year with two more coming out before the end of 2011 or that I'd have six more signed contracts thus far for 2012. I had no clue two of those novels would be in paperback as well as eBook form or that I'd gain readers and some fans aloong the way. In additon to the novels I have several novellas and short works out plus my number of anthology appearances shot up from eleven or so to twenty five and counting.

http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Ann-Sontheimer-Murphy/e/B004JPBM6I

My second release (also from Evernight Publishing) Love Tattoo led to a sequel called Love Scars and then became a series, The Love Covenant Series, with Love Knots. The fourth volume in the series, Love Shadows also will be out in December 2010.

Early in 2011 I made one of the best decisions I've ever made and submitted a novel to Rebel Ink Press. That novel, Love Never Fails, became my first Rebel Ink release and also my first novel to also come out in paperback. My second Rebel Ink release, Witness Protection Program came out in early October and flirted with the Bookstrand bestseller lists in a way I liked. My upcoming Christmas release, Sing We Now of Christmas due out in just a week is another Rebel Ink Press title. In 2012, I have two Rebel February releases, A Patient Heart and In Love's Own Time, along with others which so far include Miss Good Samaritan (April), Guy's Angel (June) and In The Shadow of War. I'll also have a shorter work as part of a special Father's Day release with the characters borrowed from Love Never Fails.

There's also my other Champagne Books release, a time travel romance A Time To Love that came out on the heels of Witness Protection Program in October

Now I write full-time but most of life has changed very little. In this turbulent economy I'm far from rich - I still struggle to make ends meet (and sometimes they don't quite and I have to push and force to get it to work)

      I still like the same things and have much the same routine. I go grocery shopping in my worn-out blue jeans, worship at church with my family, sit out on the porch in the cool of the evening, and doing the things I’ve always done.   I just spend more time promoting, sometimes very long hours, and do a lot more web appearances through interviews, guest blogs, and such. Last year I had one blog - I now have five and do so many guest blogs I often lose track of them all.

      I attract some attention with my prose and my fiction but I don’t know if I can call it “fame” just yet but I like the recognition for my writing.   I hope that at least a little of the “fortune” drifts my way with each royalty quarter but for now, my pleasure comes from reader comments, from those who like my stories and remember them.

      A lot can change in a year’s time, though and I adapt to the changes. And I look forward to next year with eager anticipation because I've learned you never know just what can happen.

Visit me at my main blog A Page In The Life
http://leeannsontheimermurphywriterauthor.blogspot.com
or my website at http://leeannwriter.weebly.com

If you like book trailers come by my You Tube Channel to view them all:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheJoetowngirl

THE FINE LINES OF LOVE, PASSION, & LUST!

2011-11-22T00:06:00.000-08:00

Dictionary.com defines lust, passion, and love as the following:

LUST~ noun
1. intense sexual desire or appetite.
2. uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness.
3. a passionate or overmastering desire or craving (usually followed by for ): a lust for power.
4. ardent enthusiasm; zest; relish: an enviable lust for life.

PASSION ~ noun
1. any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.
2. strong amorous feeling or desire; love; ardor.
3. strong sexual desire; lust.
4. an instance or experience of strong love or sexual desire.
5. a person toward whom one feels strong love or sexual desire.

LOVE ~noun
1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
3. sexual passion or desire.
4. a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart.
5. (used in direct address as a term of endearment, affection, or the like).

As you can see, they all elicit very strong urges and emotion. Is that why the fine lines between them blur so easily? Can you have one without the other? Personally, I don't think you can. Not if the relationship is a healthy one.

My hero, Firefighter Jett Avery thinks he can keep his own personal demons at bay with lust, denying his own need for love. When he pursues my heroine, Nurse Roxanne Carter, there is plenty of passion and lust, and he falls head over heels. He is so shocked by the L-word, he can't even bring himself to admit that he's in love with her, not even to himself. Jett has beat himself up for so long, he doesn't believe he deserves happiness and love in his life.

BLURB:
Emergency room nurse, Roxanne Carter is a loser-magnet wishing she could enjoy her single life. Commiserating with girlfriends over butterscotch martinis creates the idea of The Dating Manifesto--a not so scientific research project which promises to point the way to dating success. While gathering data to find the most suitable single men available, she wades through a series of unsavory, stale dates, which literally places her back at ground zero. Just when she is ready to give up, sin personified in the form of sexy firefighter Jett Avery, arrives tainting all of her previous data.

A traumatic warehouse fire, in which firefighter Jett Avery's closest friend dies, has him suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Attempting to stave off the worst of his depression, he decides to use his brand of therapy...Sex. The remedy has lost luster until he encounters ER nurse Roxanne Carter.

The pursuit of Roxanne by Jett's twin brother, Doctor Cruz Avery, complicates her research and interferes with Jett's therapy. Does Roxanne choose the brother who by analysis is the perfect match? Or the broken, dark and irresistible one?

EXCERPT:
She held up her hands, palms facing toward him. “Stop. This is a hospital. Not some stupid television show where the medical staff is always making out in a closet. I work here. Don’t even think about it!”

Jett closed the distance between them until her hands pressed against his chest, searing their imprint through the thin cotton of his T-shirt. He grasped her fingers and lifted them to his mouth, licking the sensitive tips with his tongue one by one. Heat filled her eyes and she trembled.

“You feel the pull, too. Don’t you?” he asked, dropping her hand.
Jett slid his hands to her waist, and molded her against his erection. A perfect fit. Her sharp intake of breath as she shook her head told him all he needed to know. He smiled. Satisfaction filled him.

“Liar. Shake your head in denial all you want, but I can see the reflection mirrored in your eyes, and feel the powerful draw when I touch you,” he said in a husky tone. He rubbed his stiff cock against her stomach. The intensity of his desire eliminated all reason.

Jett buried his face in her neck and breathed in her sweetness. “Hmm. Today you smell like chocolate.” His tongue traced the delicate shell of her ear as his hands stroked her bare arms. “But you taste like honey.”
Her knees bent and he placed his leg between hers to support her. On the brink of total insanity, he continued his light exploration. His hand skimmed her torso, and skirted the side of her breast. With slow, deliberate care, he let his fingertips graze her collarbone on the way to grasp the back of her neck. Another tremor rippled through her.

God, she felt so damn good.

She tilted her chin and her head rested in his open palm. “Jett,” her sultry voice caused his penis to throb. “This is not a good idea. Anyone could come in here and….”

He pushed his thigh against her crotch. She inhaled sharply, desire deepening the blue of her eyes. “You were saying?”

Her brow furrowed. “And…”

“Intoxicating being a little naughty, isn’t it?” he rasped. He gently tugged her face closer to his. “Hmm. I believe you mentioned the other night that your most recent sexual exploits have been lacking. Let’s add something of interest for your science venture.”

Available now at Evernight Publishing at this link:
http://www.evernightpublishing.com/dating-911-by-kathleen-grieve/

To find out more about Kathleen Grieve and her books, you can stop by her blog, Keeping A Pulse On Life & Romance http://kathleengrieve.blogspot.com

Her website: www.kathleengrieve.com

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