The one who leaves you star struck…

I’m having fun shining a spot light on main characters in my current novel Restless Spirit. It’s sort of like having a psychotic break, but for a good cause. When you ‘talk to your characters’ folks tend to raise an eyebrow. I’ve covered Stan and Adrian in previous blogs. Today we move on to a bright and shining star—literally.

Sometimes in a novel we bring in a famous character. And by we, I mean (at least, for me as a writer) he shows up unannounced and says, “Hey! I’m here and I’m something else.”

In Restless Spirit, that particular character would be Reed Green—tall,  lean, pretty longish hair. He’s the one that any girl would be star struck over. And yet, Tuesday isn’t so much struck as intrigued. Because she’s much more clever than I am, apparently. I’d be stammering and stalking, but Tuesday is just soaking in the surreal scenario of having former child TV star and current berry farmer Reed Green as a potential lover.

So, let’s see what Reed has to say about Tuesday:

Hey, Reed, might I say you are as hot as you look on TV?

And might I say you are as sweet as the berries on my farm?

You’re quite a bullshitter when need be, eh, Reed?

Only as much as necessary. But I meant it. You are sweet.

I wanted to start in the same place I did with the other men.

[grumbles] Other men, right. Well, where shall we start?

Favorite beverage?

That’s easy. It was a nice Port I had at a dinner party for the president of the network I used to work for. It was a 19-something or other. I’ll have to check in my book.

You keep a book of beverages?

I keep a notebook of everything  I like.

So in that book, said the woman with the ham-handed segue, what is listed as your favorite sexual position.

[laughs]. That’s easy. Whichever one brings the most pleasure at any given moment.

Touché. So now let’s move on to Tuesday. What do you think of Tuesday Cane?

I think she’s the most genuine woman I’ve ever met. A bit broken, a bit angry, a lot passionate and funny as hell. Oh, and I’ve heard she’s wicked with a baseball bat. I like her. A lot. Probably more than I should.

Why do you say that?

Tuesday’s a heartbreaker. Doubly so because she doesn’t realize it.

So what do you think of your chances with her?

As good as anyone’s honestly. But a guy can hope.

Last question, Reed.

Shoot.

Can you sign this picture for me?

Sure. Who should I make it out to?

*At the end of the Restless Spirit tour I’ll draw two winners from comments. One print copy winner (I’ll let you know what books are available in print) from my backlist and one ebook winner from my backlist. To see my backlist see my Amazon author page:

http://www.amazon.com/Sommer-Marsden/e/B002BOA7S8/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Please note that only my single author titles are being offered as prizes. When you comment, make sure to leave a contact email! Full tour schedule is here http://www.writermarketing.co.uk/prpromotion/blog-tours/currently-on-tour/sommer-marsden-2/ :)

*****

Tuesday Cane walks out on her life and her abusive man when she inherits her grandmother’s house at Allister Lake. There she finds plenty of distractions to take her mind off her loss with her sexy neighbour and handyman Shepherd, former TV star Reed and her old flame Adrian. But, as time passes, she senses that something is not quite right with her new life. And no amount of steamy sexual encounters can hide her anxiety. Surrounded by so many interesting men and erotic enticements, Tuesday has no intention of committing to one man ever again. But the more she insists she’s nobody’s girl, the more she wants to be somebody’s girl. Will she continue to be a restless spirit and run from love or will she be won over?

*****

Excerpt from Restless Spirit by Sommer Marsden

I pointed to pretty boy with my pen. ‘I’ll get your Dr Pepper … um … Mr …’

‘Reed,’ he said. ‘My name is Reed Green.’

‘Like Mr Green Jeans!’ I said. Then I turned fast and prayed to drop dead. Because that always impresses a good looking man … a Captain Kangaroo reference.

I pulled his Dr Pepper and took his order, fish sandwich with lettuce, mayo and a toasted roll, an order of fries and lemon meringue pie for dessert. When I delivered the pie I blurted, ‘Undercover Father!’

He grinned at me and I felt that curl of heat in my gut again. Which made me think of Shepherd and what he’d done to me. And that made me think of meeting him in an hour and that made me antsy.

‘Good job.’ He tucked into the pie, rolled his eyes, took another bite.

‘And then–’

‘And then some other nothing-special, average TV shows and two movies and I got bored.’ He smiled as if to say end of story.

‘Oh, sure. I’m sorry. And now you …’

Why had I started that sentence?

‘Now, I write screenplays sometimes – if I feel like it – and have a berry picking farm.’

I laughed. ‘A what?’

‘A berry picking farm.’ He gave me a teasing smile.

‘Ah, see, I look at you and immediately think berry farmer.’

The traffic into Irv’s Eats was slowing down and Irv did not clear his throat at me. ‘As you should. Former TV star and now berry man.’

I smiled, realising when I glanced at the clock that in less than an hour I’d be at Shepherds. I had a vision of him on his knees, my fidgety fingers clutching my thighs as I came, water dripping from my hair, rain on the windows. I sighed without thinking about it.

‘You OK?’

‘I am. Sorry. My brain is racing, I just moved here, new job … just new everything.’

‘Ah, let me take you for a drink tonight and calm you down.’ His features were fine and almost delicate. High cheekbones, flawless skin, and Lord, those October sky blue eyes. I almost said yes and then, ‘I can’t. I have plans.’

‘Of course.’ There was that boyish smile, smooth silken voice that wasn’t too deep and manly or too soft and feminine. It was a liquid silver voice that flowed and calmed and made you think happy thoughts. ‘What was I thinking? A gorgeous young thing like you moves to town and I think I’d get first opportunity to woo you? Crazy old man.’

‘Old? Like what? Thirty?’

‘Thirty-three. See? What do you know?’

‘That you’re a whole four years older than me. Are you calling me old, Mr Green?’

‘Would it earn me a drink?’

‘No.’

‘A smack?’

‘Maybe.’ I took the tab and the money he offered.

‘How about you just let me take you for a drink on a night you don’t have plans and I can tell you how you don’t look a day over twenty-two.’

‘Deal,’ I said. ‘I’ll go get your change.’

Buy Links

(print) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Restless-Spirit-Sommer-Marsden/dp/1908262273/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1

UK Kindle:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Restless-Spirit-ebook/dp/B0078OQYZ6/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1335356164&sr=8-12

US Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Restless-Spirit-ebook/dp/B0078OQYZ6/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1335356247&sr=1-6

US print coming August 1, 2012

Digging deep to lay the roots of Before The Morning (Corpus Brides: Book Two) by Zee Monodee

It’s a pleasure to be here today, folks – when Lucy asked me over, I was delighted to do a blog swap with her.

Until I slammed into the ‘wall’ – what topic will I address? Lucy to the rescue, asking “Was there a lot of research involved in this book?”

Was there? Boy, you don’t know the half of it! *grin*

First off, let me give you an idea what Before The Morning (Corpus Brides: Book Two) is about. It’s the story of Rayne, aka Kali, a clandestine secret agent and super-efficient killer who returns to civilian life to be with the one man she’s always loved.

The love story part, I had it down pat. I’ve been reading romances for 20+ years now, and been writing them for 7-or-so years. But the clandestine agent bit? Are you kidding me? What on earth do I, the ditzy housewife whose biggest thrill-episode was cutting class and not getting caught in high school, know about being a spy?

I have no clue why or how I even started writing a romantic suspense/espionage thriller series with the Corpus Brides. I just know that when I started Book 1, Walking The Edge, about 2.5 years ago, that the heroine’s amnesiac trek through London and Marseille led me to the workings and ramifications of a clandestine agency called the Corpus.

Still, there’s a difference between penning about ‘some’ memories of a clandestine life, and actually penning the day-to-day, minute-by-minute, clandestine life and missions.

My TV junkie status helped here – there I was downing season after season of spy/espionage fare, and learning everything I could from the lifestyle they portrayed. Nikita (the Maggie Q one, where a rogue agent takes on her former agency), La Femme Nikita (starring Peta Wilson, in which she’s a convict given a second chance, by becoming a clandestine agent), Covert Affairs (in which Piper Perabo is a green CIA cherry sent in the field before her secret agent training is over), and Burn Notice (where former, burned spy Michael Westen, played by Jeffrey Donovan, sets out to find who inside his agency burned him, and along the way, uses his spy-skills to help the down-trodden and those in need).

I gobbled these shows, watched every nuance, every aspect, every detail, of these “spies” and how they lived their life. That gave me a good shot at portraying the clandestine lifestyle, especially when on a mission. What about the rest?

Spies kill, and what do they kill with? Guns, of course! I’m lucky that I have a husband who is a trove of information on guns, and two growing boys who wield all types of firearms and know the specs of each one in their video-game junkie sprees. I’ve thus learned that a Makarov, a Russian pistol, is heavier than most commercial handguns; that a Colt Python .353 Magnum is now a collector’s weapon; that the Barrett M82A1 rifle is banned in the state of California; that James Bond used a Walther P99 with a silencer; that bullets also come as hollow-points that fragment upon impact; that .50 BMG caliber is used for anti-materiel sniping.

And whoever thinks “spy” thinks “cosmopolitan locations”. I’ve never been to mainland Europe, never set foot in Las Vegas, yet I had scenes in the story that would take place there. How do you render a proper geographical description and use the setting to your advantage, when you have no clue what the place is like really? This is where online guides and Youtube videos come in handy – a scene set in Prague takes place along the trajectory I viewed in a video guide to Prague’s city centre!

Not to mention that my hero is a London paramedic, and in the first scene of the book, is called to attend to an injury resulting from a drunken fight. I wanted him to come across as a real London paramedic would, so that involved getting in touch with actual London Ambulance Service paramedics and having them run me through protocol and checking the scene for accuracy – my endless thanks to them for their patience and willingness to assist!

I think that for almost every one of the 325 pages in this book, there’s a nugget of research involved in the writing.

My aim, though, is to provide the best, and most accurate, reading experience for my reader. I hope I have managed that with the story I have penned, and the research I undertook to make this story as true-to-life and as realistic as possible.

Take a bet on Before The Morning (Corpus Brides: Book 2), and I hope you’ll let me know what you think of the story!

Thanks again for having me over today, Lucy!

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

*****

Before The Morning

. . . is a time of great darkness. . .

A trained killer with borderline sociopathic tendencies:

Rayne Cheltham traced out her life’s path when she was twelve: she would marry her best friend and bear his children, and in the process, stifle the restless edge in her. When he vows never to marry, she gives in to the darkness and becomes a clandestine agent—until the day he walks into her world again, and her carefully fabricated façade crumbles.

A former cop burned by life and his personal demons:

When Ash Gilfoy meets a woman who reminds him of his childhood best friend, he starts upon a path that leads him down into an abyss once again. The day Rayne waltzes back into his life, he knows she is his second chance, and the one who will save him.

Each thinks the other is their redemption . . . until they discover how deep the other’s edge of darkness goes

No one knows Rayne used to be a spy and an assassin, and no one knows why Ash left the police force. The secrets between them make them sit on a keg of gunpowder with a lit fuse in their hands. Neither knows what ‘normal’ means now, especially Rayne, whose whole life is built on a lie. Truth is threatening to explode in their faces, and that is not the only menace they have to face. Someone is out to get Rayne, and she must disclose her past before it is too late.

Can Rayne and Ash survive all that’s thrown in their path? Can they hang on to the last thread of their relationship, and can they emerge, still together and still alive, in the morning after the deepest darkness?

Grab your copy of Before The Morning (Corpus Brides: Book 2) at NobleRomance.com.

Watch the book trailer here http://youtu.be/ivUw0X9odFk

More about Zee Monodee at her blog http://zeemonodee.blogspot.com/

You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads, as ZeeMonodee.

*****

Excerpt:

From the front-facing window on the second floor of the Shepherd’s Close freehold, Corpus secret agent Rayne Cheltham watched the ambulance pull away from the curb.

Shivers crept up her arms, and she hugged herself tight to ward them off.

Get a grip!

She was a professional on an assignment, an elite, trained operative from a clandestine agency that handled operations for governments and international forces as a stealthy left hand. Her agency entrusted her with the most important missions—nothing should faze her.

Before today, she would’ve said that nothing could affect her when she had her eyes on a goal.

But she wasn’t sure anymore. She’d never had her past collide with her present like a few moments ago, in the form of her childhood best friend.

Ashford Gilfoy, better known as Ash. The boy who had been there to catch her when, at six, she had slipped while climbing the chestnut tree that sat right on the border between their two houses in Hastings, two days after her family moved there from Salisbury. The boy who had taught her how to ride a bicycle without the training wheels on the long and winding, gravel-covered lane leading to her parents’ mansion. The teenager who had smashed the nose of the first lad who had broken her heart, at thirteen, during recess in the schoolyard. The young man she had left seventeen years ago on a platform at London Waterloo, on the day she bid her old life goodbye.

For the first time since that day, she was back on British soil, and kismet decided Ash should cross her path.

Why then, of all times? She was a hair’s breadth away from closing the contract on this mission. Seven months of intensive infiltration work and she was ready to achieve her aim—neutralize Nikolai Grigorievskiy’s criminal operations before she took out the man. The Corpus always sent her for the kill, but the trick was that she had to make her target’s death appear self-inflicted, at the bare minimum, or an accident, in the direst of cases. Measles, as such operations were known in their clandestine world—a planned assassination that didn’t leave any indication of the cause of death. She would then have to sanitize everything—leave no evidence, no witness, nothing that could lead back to her. Unlike her other agency counterparts, she wasn’t an out-and-out black ops assassin, but a different level of highly implicated agent provocateur.

Sapphic Planet ~ Adriana Kraft

Welcome to the Sapphic Planet Blog Tour, April 23 – May 4! We’re giving away a free download of Sapphic Planet to one lucky commenter – be sure to check out all the posts on our tour: http://www.writermarketing.co.uk/prpromotion/blog-tours/currently-on-tour/sapphic-planet/.  The more blogs you comment on, the more chances to win!

Today, welcome author Adriana Kraft, with her short story, Accidental Contact.

Accidental Contact

The curves of a woman. Soft, round, comforting, tantalizing, tempting, enthralling. There’s nothing quite like erotic scenes with two women together, and it turns out that both halves of Adriana love to read them and write them. We’re a married couple writing together: erotic romance for two, three or more.

Our Sapphic Planet story is definitely a twosome, and one of our favorite sub genres – a Cougar story. Baby Boomers ourselves, we love to write stories featuring older heroines, in line with another of our mantras: hot sex at any legal age.

Story Blurb:

Natalie and the much younger Bridgette are real estate agents who’ve often traveled together for business seminars. Now they’re snowbound in New York City in a hotel room with only one bed. Will Natalie dare to make her move?

Accidental Contact Excerpt

Groggily, Natalie peeked at the red numerals on the hotel clock. Midnight—they’d only been in bed for an hour.

Her eyes blinked wide open. There was a hand on her breast. She wiggled her fingers. The hand definitely wasn’t hers. She held her breath, taking stock of her situation.

Steady breathing warmed her neck. She was in danger of becoming intoxicated with Bridgette’s scent. She squirmed her bottom only to discover something solid—Bridgette’s torso, curved around hers. Fortunately, they were about the same height.

She couldn’t discern if Bridgette was awake or maybe acting out a dream. Natalie rechecked the clock. It had taken her nearly five minutes to assess her situation, and she still wasn’t sure what was happening. Her breathing faltered. She did know her nipples were growing incredibly aroused.

Shutting her eyelids, she withdrew into her body to concentrate on one particular nipple. The one Bridgette’s thumb lay within an inch of.

Author Bio

Adriana Kraft is the pen name for a married couple writing erotic romance together. Published at Extasy Books, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid, Love You Divine, Logical Lust and Torquere, our novels and short stories garner top reviews and are available in e-book and print. Genres include straight m/f, lesbian, bisexual, ménage and polyamory, with both contemporary and paranormal settings.

Adriana Kraft on the Web
Website: http://www.adrianakraft.com/

Blog: http://www.adrianakraft.com/blog

FaceBook http://www.facebook.com/people/Adriana-Kraft/100001944980679

Twitter http://twitter.com/AdrianaKraft

GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/1578571.Adriana_Kraft

Midnight Seductions http://midnightseductionsauthors.blogspot.com/

Sapphic Planet Blurb

Welcome to the Sapphic Planet, a literary realm where women are free to love one another without fear of prejudice or reprisal. Inside these pages you’ll discover nineteen stories written specifically to tease and titillate your senses.

From a frolic in the rain with a Bathing Beauty, to a concerned sibling showing his sister some Brotherly Love, and everything in between – whether you’re in the mood for steamy romance or unrequited lust, we’ve got a story guaranteed to satisfy your cravings.

This anthology showcases just a fraction of the talent from the writers of Sapphic Planet, a group specifically created for authors and aspiring authors of quality lesbian literature. Now sit back, relax and enter our world. Afterwards, while waiting to catch your breath, take a moment to visit us online at www.sapphicplanet.com

Contributing Authors

Beth Wylde, Jean Roberta, Kissa Starling, Jodi Payne, Meg Leigh,

Jennifer Cross, Dylynn DeSaint, JT Langdon, Allison Wonderland,

Nan Andrews, Fiona Zedde, Ann Cory, Adriana Kraft, Dalia Craig,

Stephanie Rose, Tenille Brown, Kira Chase, Moondancer Drake, Roxy Katt

BUY LINKS  ~ Sapphic Planet is available in Print and Ebook ~

Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007B5K9U8

Rainbow Ebooks http://www.rainbowebooks.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6202

All Romance ebooks http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sapphicplanet-726425-144.html

1 Place for Romance http://1placeforromance.com/womanlove/sapphic-planet/prod_6960.html

1 erotica ebooks  http://1eroticaebooks.com/female/female/sapphic-planet/prod_2634.html

Leave a comment to enter for a free download of Sapphic Planet!

Hello, my name is Cate, and I am . . . 

“I don’t know how you do that . . . but it was great!”

This is what my mom said to me after reading one of my stories (YA and fantasy – both so not her thing). Honestly, sometimes I don’t know how I do this writing thing, either.

Somehow, I sit down at a computer, stare at the blinking cursor, then just start typing. When I finally come up for air, there are words – and sometimes, when I read them later, I find it hard to believe that I actually wrote that. I don’t remember writing it, but there it is, sitting on the page, waving at me. A miracle. A story.

I have been writing for so long, I don’t recall a time when I wasn’t writing something. Poetry, song lyrics, short plays – I’ve done it all, and thoroughly enjoyed every word. I even wrote a scene for my high school Shakespeare class in iambic pentameter. (Don’t be too impressed – it’s easy to do if you’ve read Shakespeare since 5^th grade. Yep, I’m a theatre geek.)

It has always been a part of my life, this making up stories in my head and putting them on paper. It has only been the last few years that I got serious about it, that I wanted it to be not only what I did, but who I am. I am a writer. Whew – I said it out loud.

And that is more of an accomplishment than almost any words I string together – acknowledging it, to myself, to the world. Putting the deepest, most secret part of myself on virtual paper and putting it out there for everyone to see.

And it’s a terrifying thing to do – because not everyone will like me. Or what I have to say. Or how I say it.

But I accept that, now that I’ve put myself out into the world. There is no pleasing everyone – especially when it comes to something as subjective as fiction. I figure if my story inspires strong emotions, whether they be positive or negative, then I have done what I set out to do.

I made you think. I made you react. And hopefully, I made you care.

*****

Book One The Claire Wiche Chronicles

Claire Wiche is an ordinary woman, running her Wicca shop, The Wiche’s Broom, in an ordinary California beach town.

But Claire wasn’t always ordinary, and she isn’t quite human. She hides a secret, and a past she thought she had put behind her.

A past that is about to explode into her present.

When it does, and everyone she loves is in danger, Claire must face up to her past – and become what she left behind in order to save them.

*****

Cate Dean has been writing since she could hold a pen and put more than two words together on paper. She grew up losing herself in the wilds of fantasy worlds, and has had some of her own adventures while tromping through the UK, and a few other parts of the world. A lover of all things supernatural, she infuses that love into her stories, giving them a unique edge. When she’s not writing, she loves cooking, scaring herself silly in the local cemeteries, and reading pretty much anything she can get her hands on.

Website: http://catedeanwrites.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/catedeanwrites

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/catedeanwrites

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5694181.Cate_Dean

Hi, y’all! Since I’ve hopped the pond for this party, which Lucy has graciously agreed to host, I’d like to offer you all something a little different. For the last few Sundays I’ve featured six sentence excerpts of my new romantic suspense TIDE OF LIES, so today I’d like to put the pieces together to introduce you to the story via these snippets. Let’s kick things off with the blurb.

TIDE OF LIES |  blurb

A devastating secret. A shocking betrayal. A deadly obsession.

Haunted by three unsolved murders, Detective Holden Whitlow is stunned when his cold case takes a heated turn. Julia Cohen, his ex-lover, is back in town, and in the face of a brutal attack she’s ready to run. No matter how tightly she holds her secrets, for Holden, turning away from the woman he’s spent a decade trying to forget isn’t any more an option than walking away from his job . . .even when it threatens to cost Julia her life.

Julia is still reeling from a past she can’t bear to face. When she becomes the target of a killer, fate throws her back into Holden’s arms, but she’s yet to recover from a truth that has stripped her of everything—and everyone—she loves. Will she tell him the secret that will destroy him, or will her lie destroy them both?

Now that you’ve “met” Holden and Julia, let the snippets begin!

(1) Here, Julia and Holden have only recently met again, and he’s heavy on her mind . . . and so is her deception. What he doesn’t know is *she* knows he wasn’t exactly honest with her in the past.

The connection she felt was probably more imagined than real, but it brought to distorted light all he’d been to her. Not for the first time she wondered if she’d meant anything to him at all—or if she even could have. The air between them hung thick with things left unsaid.

“Why did you leave, Jules?”

She jumped at the question. Because we were both liars.

(2) In this next excerpt, Julia still struggles with her secrets, while Holden has no idea she is keeping anything from him.

There was a truth about the past somewhere inside her, but it burrowed a little deeper every time she looked at him. How had she never before noticed the earthen flecks of color rippling through those eyes? “I’m not who you think I am,” she blurted.

Holden leaned forward, settling with his shoulder against the back of the sofa so he faced her. Holding her—captivating her—with his gaze, he said, “Until today, I didn’t even know your name. Convincing me I knew less will be a hard sell.”

(3) This is from Holden’s POV. Things are heating up, but she was recently attacked and he’s afraid he’ll hurt her if he gets too close.

He didn’t know the extent of her injuries so he relied on body language, the grip of her thighs around his hips and the blessed sting of her fingernails under his shirt coming through loud and clear.

His world existed in brutal slow motion—passion on the verge of explosion, the desire to dive into her almost too much to bear. Ten years of pent up emotion made a hell of a mess once set free, and he was drowning in it.

He lowered his head and found her mouth. She met his kiss with a soft breath against his lips, her hands clutching him everywhere they touched. The familiarity of her beneath him didn’t make sense on any level, and the ease at which they fit together only deepened his ache.

(4) In the sentences that follow, Holden has just discovered Julia’s devastating secret. The first line of speech is hers.

“You know.”

It wasn’t even a question, and her voice might not have registered at all if not for the relief therein. Not trusting himself to speak, he looked up from the phone to see her hugging herself through one of his t-shirts. Betrayal ran through his blood, hot and brittle, and for once not a drop detoured to his groin. The only thing lingering in that particular region was remorse, the hours of lovemaking from the night before now seething inside him.

He opened his mouth to speak and snapped it shut again.

Want to know what the secret is? I’m afraid you’re going to have to read the book. *grins* But you don’t have to dive in with TIDE OF LIES. You can start with FAMILIAR LIGHT, which is just $1.50 from Noble Romance, to get the full story leading to the LIES. But . . . you don’t have to. TIDE OF LIES is a standalone story, and if you grab it I’d love to know what you think!

BUY LINKS

TIDE OF LIES @ NOBLE ROMANCE  https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/409/Tide-of-Lies

FAMILIAR LIGHT @ NOBLE ROMANCE https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/344/Familiar-Light

AMAZON (author link) http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003WKYEJI

BARNES & NOBLE (author link) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/sarah-ballance

Thank you so very much for allowing me to visit with you all today. I hope you enjoyed this look at TIDE OF LIES, and I’d love for you to join me at my blog for my weekly gift card giveaways. There’s a whole page of details at http://sarahballance.wordpress.com, but basically it comes to this: every week, I give away a gift card to Noble Romance, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice). To enter, all you need to do is subscribe to my blog *by email* and you’ll automatically be included in every drawing for as long as you remain a subscriber. Easy, right? Hope to see you stateside! ;c) Thanks again, and have a wonderful day!

SARAH BALLANCE | about the author

Sarah and her husband of almost fifteen what he calls “long, long” years live on the mid-Atlantic coast with their six young children, all of whom are perfectly adorable when they’re asleep.  She often jokes that she writes to be around people who will listen to her, but her characters aren’t much better than her kids.  Fortunately, her husband is quite supportive, having generously offered to help her research “the good parts” . . .  and she’s never had to ask twice.

WEBSITE  http://www.sarahballance.com/

BLOG  http://sarahballance.wordpress.com/

AMAZON  http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003WKYEJI

TWITTER  http://twitter.com/#!/SarahBallance

FACEBOOK  http://www.facebook.com/sarah.ballance.author.news

I’m excited because the third book in the Mates of the Guardians series, His Capture, Her Rescue releases tomorrow from The Wild Rose Press.

Masquerading as an American, Eallair, a Guardian Steward from another world, is searching Victorian England for the kidnapped mate of a fellow Guardian. When he meets Miss Harriet Cartwright, he knows her for the spirited, intelligent mate he has longed to find.

Since the death of their parents, Harriet has used her intelligence and sharp tongue to guard her sister from fortune hunters, but now that Prudence is close to choosing a husband, Harriet can consider her own future—one hopefully filled with adventure. When she meets Eallair, an American rancher who likes to travel and isn’t put off by her outspokenness, she is intrigued.

But before Harriet and Eallair can explore their attraction, she and her sister are kidnapped. While Eallair scours the countryside for them, Harriet discovers Eallair’s off-world origins. Now she must decide: just how much adventure does she want in her future?

Excerpt:

Harriet squinted at the unknown man towering over her. The sun behind him deepened the shadows of an angular face. Hollows carved the area beneath prominent cheeks, and a sharp jawline led to a pointed chin. Where some men might have chosen to sport a beard to relieve the harshness, he did not. His lips were rather full and his nose a tad crooked, as if broken and never properly reset. Focusing on each individual feature, he was rather unattractive, but coupled with strange tawny eyes and golden hair, he was arresting, an American mountain lion among English lapdogs.

Her heart leaped though she told it he was probably seeking permission to speak with her sister. She sighed. After all, it was the usual reason strange men approached her.

He bowed. “Miss Cartwright, might I have the pleasure of your company for a stroll in the gardens?”

Her pulse raced at his accent—an American mountain lion in truth. If he was looking for an introduction to Prudence, surely he wouldn’t want to stroll in the gardens?

Her eyes narrowed. But, why would he be interested in her? Every other man of her acquaintance considered her difficult to manage at best, a termagant at worst. Perhaps he was another American in need of an heiress? She sniffed. She hated fortune hunters.

“Sir, you are unknown to me.” Sudden silence descended, even the birds ceased singing, but she refused to apologize for the bite of disdain in her voice. What do I care what a stranger thinks?

*****

Readers can find out more about the series and me at the following places:

Website: http://www.emmalaiwrites.com

Blog: http://emmalaiwrites.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorEmmaLai

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/emmalaiwrites

I’ll be giving away a copy of His Capture, Her Rescue to a commenter from today and at the end of the month will draw the winner of a $10 gift card to All Romance eBooks from all the people who have left comments on my Fool for Love blog spots at http://emmalaiwrites.blogspot.com as well as those who visit me at any of my guest spots for His Capture, Her Rescue release (see my blog for the full list of places I’m at.)

Tortured Heroes by Doris O’Connor

As a reader I love a tortured hero and as an author I love writing them even more. I call them the two T’s tall and tortured—a must have. Every one of the heroes I have ever written could be summed up by that description, but I think Lucas may be the most tortured yet. I didn’t quite realise how tortured he was until I sat down to write his story. As he slowly revealed his past, I shed a few tears for my delicious vamp and at times wanted to jump into the manuscript and give him a big hug.

I can see you all backing away slowly now. Stay away from the crazy lady. He’s your hero, why didn’t you change things? Well, the jury is out still on the crazy part, but as for changing things, that’s not that easy.  My stories are entirely character driven and when I don’t do as I’m told, then they stop talking. And when a character reveals his past, well that’s just it, his past. I couldn’t change it. He wouldn’t be who he is today.

As you may have guessed my characters are very real people to me and I try very hard to do them justice on paper so to speak. I will leave it up to you to decide whether I’ve succeeded with Lucas. His inner struggle is one of the things that my heroine Coralie can really relate to, and is ultimately what wins her over, as they strive to connect emotionally when the odds are stacked against them.

I leave you with a little snippet of the start of that connection.

The fury and barely controlled violence radiating off Lucas made Coralie swallow nervously. He watched her warily, hands pushed into the back pockets of his jeans, his muscles straining the material of his tee.  Damn it, it just wasn’t fair. Even after everything that had happened her body reacted to him instantly. She straightened her shoulders and crossed her arms over the soft robe and glared at the man watching her with an unblinking gaze.

“Where the hell are my clothes? How dare you…” Heat rose in her cheeks, when she realized it must have been him undressing and washing her. And why the fuck didn’t she have any memories of that? The last thing she remembered was Lucas fighting with the fairy and Carmen’s cruel laughter.

“They reeked of fairy, as did you. Forgive me for taking care of you and saving your life – again. How dare I indeed? Next time I happen to find you in deadly peril, I’ll just leave you to it, shall I, Chere?”

The growled endearment settled somewhere perilously close to her heart and Coralie’s conscience chose that moment to whisper in her ear. Shame flooded her and she dropped her gaze to the floor. Her mum would be turning in her grave right now. Lucas’s frustrated sigh and mumbled words of French made her bare toes curl into the plush cream carpet. She could almost hear her mother berate her. “It doesn’t matter one iota what somebody looks like, what race he is or what his reputation is like. Sweet words are easy and mean nothing. What matters is inside and actions speak louder than words, so remember that in future, Coralie.”

Her mother’s wise words increased her discomfort. Vampire or not, he had saved her life twice. Shit, he almost killed himself trying to convince her that he hadn’t turned her. And as despicable as his actions in Carmen’s presence seemed, Coralie was still alive and relatively unharmed, the chunk of lost time and the big black hole in her recent memory notwithstanding. Had he caused that memory loss?

Lucas had moved away from her to the bar at the other side of the living area. He had his back to her and she allowed her eyes to feast freely. The dejected slump of his big shoulders and the heavy-handed way in which he poured himself a straight Scotch spoke of deep-seated wariness and her whispering conscience settled in the pit of her stomach with intensity.

“I’m sorry.” His head shot up at her whispered words and he turned around slowly. Coralie’s heart gave another little lurch inside her tight chest when she saw the swirling emotions in his brilliant green eyes.

“Don’t.” He ran one hand through his hair, making the slightly damp strands stick up and Coralie’s heart skipped another beat. He looked to the floor and the white-knuckled grasp on his glass lessened slightly. “You’re right. I am a monster who shouldn’t exist. I don’t blame you, running from me. Most people do and with good reason. The fact that I need to drink their blood is usually an instant conversation stopper.”

His eyes briefly flickered to her face.  He swore and threw the glass in his hand against the nearest wall with such force it shattered into a gazillion pieces. Coralie jumped at the display of violence and he swore again.

“Merde, Chere, I so want to take that look out of your eyes, but I can’t.”

*****

You’d think a three thousand year old vampire would believe in forever. Not Lucas. He has an escaped demon to hunt and no time for the follies of humankind. When strip-o-gram Coralie arrives on his boat, she awakens human instincts long buried, and protecting her becomes of paramount importance.

Coralie, standing in for a friend, is mortally embarrassed at having stumbled onto the wrong boat. The vampire wannabe she encounters makes her body sing in ways she never thought possible. Finding out that he is indeed the real thing throws everything she ever believed in into doubt.

With the demon closing in and the future of humanity in peril will they manage to find their forever?

Buy Links

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Evernight Publishing

*****

Author bio

Glutton for punishment would be a good description for Doris… at least that’s what she hears on an almost daily basis when people find out that she has a brood of nine children, ranging from adult to baby and lives happily in a far too small house, cluttered with children, pets, dust bunnies and one very understanding and supportive husband.  Domestic goddess she is not.

There is always something better to do after all, like working on the latest manuscript and trying not to scare the locals even more than usual by talking out loud to the voices in her head. Her sexy Alpha heroes and sassy heroines tend to be pretty insistent to get their stories told, and you will find Doris burning the midnight oil on a regular basis. Only time to get any peace and quiet and besides, sleep is for wimps. She writes contemporary, erotic and paranormal romance.

German born, Doris now resides in the middle of a busy town in Bedfordshire/England and dreams of a nice big house by the sea, with plenty of space to run kids and dogs and let her imagination soar.

Find Doris on the web here:

Website: http://www.dorisoconnor.com/

Blog: http://thetardisscribbles.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/mamaD8

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Doris-OConnor-Romance-Author/241366635885432 

*****

Contest:

If you’d like to be in with a chance to win a copy of Lure Of Forever, just leave a comment. I will be picking three winners at the end of my blog tour.  Every time you comment on one of my stops, you will get another entry into the draw

Details of the tour stops can be found here. http://www.writermarketing.co.uk/prpromotion/blog-tours/currently-on-tour/doris-oconnor/

I’m a Voyeur by Victoria Blisse

As a reader of erotic romance I count myself as a literary voyeur. I like to sit in the shadows and watch a person’s life unfold before me. I enjoy seeing the intimate moments wherever they might happen with no fear of being seen and reprimanded for watching what I shouldn’t.

So when the Wednesday Briefs gang decided to come up with some hot and steamy anthologies to showcase our slightly bigger briefs -that’s 3k short stories folks before your minds disappear elsewhere- the first theme we picked was voyeurism.

It’s a theme that has inspired a great variety of responses from our authors, 14 completely different stories in two anthologies in fact. All about people watching other people enjoying themselves. A lot.

Foreplay

Did that get your attention? LOL, I bet it did.

Now that I have your attention I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Brenda and I’m a writer, reader and a chocoholic. Oh, and I love bacon.

I’d like to take a moment to thank Lucy for allowing me on her blog. I promise not to do anything stupid–well too stupid.

I was going to talk on and on about my debut novel, Love’s Prophecy, but then I changed my mind. I’d like to talk about foreplay.

LOL, not oral foreplay before intercourse. I’m talking about foreplay between the characters that leads up to the sex scenes.

For me, the foreplay lead up is as important or even more so than the sexual act. The conflict and build up of sexual tension between the characters can be a huge turn on if written properly. I love the frustration they feel when near each other–how they want nothing more than  to tear each other’s clothes off.  I love the excitement, the newness.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy hot, sweaty sex scenes, but how the characters interact beforehand is essential to making those scenes fulfilling–at least for me.

I think why I enjoy the foreplay before the foreplay is because it reminds me of when I first met my husband. The newness and excitement–the rush. It was like a drug, lol. So now I experience that high through characters in novels.

What about you? Do you enjoy the foreplay before the foreplay?

I would like to give away a free copy of my novel, Love’s Prophecy to one commenter.

*****

Dark warriors of might…

Mel is a vampire warrior sworn to hunt and kill demons in the dark streets of Vancouver. But he’s burdened with a new assignment: find the meaning behind the Vampire Prophecy. Having no faith in the gods and their empty words, he believes there’s no truth to the ancient legend until he meets Breeana, a human woman who bears the mark of the prophecy and resembles the mysterious woman haunting his dreams. When a vengeful demon spies Breeana in his arms, she is marked for death. He must take her from the world she knows until he can eliminate the threat. But the real danger is the role Breeana must play in fulfilling the prophecy and the intense feelings she brings out in him. Mel is forced to choose between his obligations to his kind, the world, and the woman he loves. Does he have the courage to let the one woman who could heal his wounded heart and soul go, or will he risk her life and bind her to him for all eternity?

Small warriors of light…

Veterinarian, Dr. Breeana Spencer yearns for love and companionship, but the disappointment of failed relationships have left her bitter. She now finds solace in romance novels. But when she meets a mysterious stranger, she’s drawn to him by a connection so forceful it shatters all reason, leaving her incapable of resisting him. Yet there’s more to him than smoldering good looks and a rock-hard body. As she’s drawn deeper into his danger-filled world, she learns she’s part of an ancient vampire legend. Breeana fears her future is no longer hers and will not include Mel. As their enemies close in, desperate to destroy them both, she must fight to convince Mel her place is at his side. A  life-altering choice is before her—one that will take all her courage and love to make.

Buy links: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00702YWF0

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/125112

B&N: bit.ly/z89nmB

*****

About the Author:

Brenda Dyer lives in the small town of Sooke off the coast of British Columbia with her husband, two teenage boys, and an assortment of animals.

She is a graduate from LongRidge Writers group.

When she isn’t writing you can find her out in her gardens or working with her two miniature horses.

Brenda loves to hear from readers. If you would like to contact her, visit her website.

http://www.brendamdyer.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrendaMDyer

Twitter: www.twitter.com/brendaMDyer

I cut my professional teeth in the radio business, so my daily time management came in :30 and :60 second increments, just like commercials.

Of course, reading a book takes a bit longer, which is okay, because sometimes we all need to slow down and spend time in a fantasy world. I get to be on both sides of that equation–I can read for a respite from the ‘real world,’ and I can also take a break from the same by writing a whole new world.

I combined the two in my latest story Haste Ye Back. The story just showed up during a vacation in Scotland some years ago and just had to be written.

Going back to living life in minute increments, I know a very talented young lady who I have enlisted to produce my book trailers. You know, those minute-long little movies which represent a book.

My ‘minute of book’ turned out better than I could have hoped. Watch it below! And read the blurb later in this blog.

Haste Ye Back trailer

 You’ll need to watch the following trailer as well—because if you comment on this blog, you could win a copy of The One He Chose.

The One He Chose trailer

Blurb:

All her life something had drawn Bryn Wallace to Scotland. Even dumped by her fiancé just weeks before their trip to Edinburgh, Bryn is still determined to have a good time. But touring the romantic Highlands is a bit boring alone. Not wanting to troll the pubs, she goes out on a limb and signs up with Madame Eve’s 1NS service.

Divorced Ian McCallum is tired of making decisions, especially when it comes to women. When an old schoolmate suggests 1NS, he figures he has nothing to lose. But, what he doesn’t know, is his match through Madame Eve’s 1NS service was centuries in the making.

Available from Decadent Publishing and all other good eBook retailers.

*****

Wendy is a displaced Cheesehead, proud to have been born and bred in Wisconsin. She was a migrant worker for years in the radio business, until she landed in Ohio and refused to leave. When she isn’t writing for pleasure and publication, she is a TV newsroom assignment manager – a great job for her as she gets to tell people where to go and what to do! She shares her clean, yet perpetually dusty, house with her chef husband and two spoiled rotten cats. Decadent Publishing has been a godsend as she can finally stop talking to the people in her head and allow them to speak for themselves!  Find her at her blog, on Facebook – Wendy Burke author, and on Twitter @WendyBurke1994. You can send her an email too – wendyburke1994@bex.net.

Haste Ye Back Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bakdXVOhc60

The One He Chose Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h4ECfB3Na4

Blog: www.whateverwendy.blogspot.com