Blog Tour & Giveaway: Forget Me Knot by Mary Marks

Welcome to San Fernando Valley, California, where Martha Rose and her coterie of quilters are enjoying life on the good side of retirement—until murder pulls a stitch out of their plans…

Martha and her besties Lucy and Birdie are set to expand their Quilty Tuesdays by inviting newcomer Claire Terry into their group. Though at forty Claire’s a tad younger than their average age, her crafty reputation could perk up their patchwork proceedings, especially as they prepare for the fancy quilt show coming to town. But when they arrive at Claire’s home and find her dead inside the front door, and her exquisite, prize-winning quilts soon missing, Martha is not one to leave a mystery unraveled. Especially if she wants to stop a killer from establishing a deadly pattern…

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About the Author:

Born and raised in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, Mary Marks earned a B.A. in Anthropology from UCLA and an M.A. in Public Administration from the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. In 2004 she enrolled in the UCLA Extension Writers Program. Her first novel, Forget Me Knot, was a finalist in a national writing competition in 2011.

Website:http://marymarksmysteries.com/

Jennifer’s Review of Forget Me Knot

Review (4 Stars): Very sweet mystery debut about three women who stumble into a mystery when they decide to add a fourth person into their quilting club. Martha Rose and her friends find the body of Claire Terry at her home when they approach her to join their Quilty Tuesdays. Claire was known as a talented quilter and the ladies are surprised that anyone would want to hurt her. But when her prized quilts are stolen at Quilt Guild’s annual show, the ladies have to get involved to find the thief and possibly Claire’s murderer.

I really liked this book because it was light-hearted and fun. Martha and the gang were a great cast of characters and I enjoyed learning more about quilting. Delightful debut and looking forward to reading more from Ms. Marks.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away two copies of Forget Me Knot. This giveaway is for US Residents only. To be entered in the drawing by Jan 12th, please leave a meaningful comment for Mary:

January 7, 2014January 3, 2014

Interview & Giveaway with Mia Marlowe

Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome back Mia Marlowe to the blog. Mia, for those who missed you the first time around can you please share with us a little about yourself.

Mia: First, thanks so much for having me on Books-n-Kisses, but this is always the hardest question on any interview. I can write happily about anything but myself! I wish I could tell you I’m a black belt who sky-dives on weekends, but I’m not that girl. I always say if I was a reality show, I’d be cancelled. My life is pretty calm. I’ve been blessed with a happy marriage, grown kids who still speak to me and two little dogs who like to cuddle on either side of me as I write. All the drama and angst in my world are between the covers of my books.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

Mia: I didn’t plan on making things up for a living. Like a lot of the best things in my life, I stumbled into writing. After meeting a romance author, I simply decided, “Well, I could do that.” (The Greeks had a word for this–‘hubris.’)

My DH and children supported my decision completely. I overheard one of my daughters tell a friend, “Of course, my mom can be a writer. She’s a Renaissance Woman. She can do anything!”

After that, I didn’t dare fail.

What is your most interesting writing quirk?

Mia: To my horror, I am a pantser, but I seriously wish I were a plotter. I’ve tried to plan my books out, but when I do too much pre-work, the prose comes off flat. It’s as if I’ve already told the story once and it’s not as fresh as it is when I wake each day wondering where my characters are going to take me.

However, on the plus side of pantsing, if I’m surprised by the outcome, my readers will be too!

Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?

Mia: I’m so excited about this story! Between a Rake and a Hard Place is Book 3 in the Royal Rakes series. Here’s the blurb:

Lady Serena’s List of Forbidden Pleasures
Attend an exclusively male club.
Smoke a cigar.
Have a fortune told by gypsies.
Dance the scandalous waltz.

Sir Jonah Sharp thinks Lady Serena Osbourne will be just like any other debutante, and seducing her will be one of the easiest services he’s ever done for the Crown. Then he catches her wearing trousers and a mustache in his gentleman’s club and she demands he teach her to smoke a cigar. But what will truly be Jonah’s undoing is finding out he’s an item on her list too, which makes him determined to bring her all the forbidden pleasures she can handle.

There are many more pleasures on Lady Serena’s list and she checks every one of them off by the end of the book!

How did you come with the idea for this story?

Mia: The premise for the entire series is based on the actual “Hymen Race Terrific.” In 1817, when Princess Charlotte died along with her newborn son, the Prince Regent’s three younger brothers realized they had an opportunity to wed, and then sire the child who would someday wear the crown. So the three Royal Dukes went a-courting. In my fictional world, not everyone wants them to succeed, so three dashing rakes are called in to foil their plans by seducing the ladies they have their royal eyes on.

Can you share with us your current work(s) in progress?

Mia: I’m working on the second book in my upcoming Somerfield Park series. It’s a delightful world I like to think of as “Downton Abbey meets Jane Austen with a tip of the hat to Oscar Wilde.” There’s a big house, a big cast and big trouble!

The first book, A Rake by Any Other Name, comes out in November 2014. Book 2, Say Yes to the Marquess, will hit the bookstore shelves in spring 2015.

Who is the one author that you would love to meet someday and why?

Mia: You didn’t specify whether the author had to be living or not. I’d love to meet MM Kaye, who is no longer with us. She wrote my favorite adventure romance of all time—The Far Pavilions. The first time I read that book, I lived the lives of her characters in such excruciating detail, it still gives me shivers.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?

Mia: Write every day. If you want to make this your career, get used to producing on a deadline. Even when I was working 40+ hours a week, I wrote 25 pages a week by doing 2 pages on week nights, 10 pages on Saturday and 5 on Sunday. Don’t wait for the Muse. She’s an excuse for writers who don’t want to work on their craft.

Can you share with us something off your bucket list?

Mia: I don’t have an ultimate bucket list, but I do have some things I intend to accomplish this year. Near the top of that list is to renovate the house we’re moving to this spring. There are a gagillion decisions to be made. I’m not terribly confident in my decorating choices, but the DH and I want this to be our “forever” home, so I want to get it right. If you care to follow along with my reno peaks and valleys, follow me on Facebook! I’ve been asking my friends there to help choose colors and materials, etc.

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

Mia: Anything Sherry Thomas writes. She has another new YA coming out in September, but the title hasn’t been announced yet. Love her singing prose.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Mia: I’m a cancer survivor so I take every opportunity to encourage others to get the screening their doctor recommends. I’m alive today because my doc said I “deserved” a colonoscopy. I was aware of zero symptoms at the time, but the cancer was already at Stage 2. Now I’m 5 years clean (Thank you, God!) but if I’d pushed the screening off, the outcome could have been much different.

Take care of yourself. I’ll see to it you have a lot of romance in your future! I also love to connect with readers. Join me at www.miamarlowe.com for my blog, and on Twitter, Goodreads & Facebook!

BETWEEN A RAKE AND A HARD PLACE

By CONNIE MASON AND MIA MARLOWE

JANUARY 2014

Lady Serena’s List of Forbidden Pleasures

Attend an exclusively male club.

Smoke a cigar.

Have a fortune told by gypsies.

Dance the scandalous waltz.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Mia Marlowe is the award winning historical romance author of the Touch of Seduction Series and various Rock*It Reads. She lives in Boston. Connie Mason is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 novels. She was named Storyteller of the Year in 1990 and received a Career Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews in 1994. She currently lives in Florida. Together, Mia and Connie have written Sins of the Highlander, Lord of Fire and Ice, Lord of Devil Isle and the other books in the Royal Rakes Series: Waking Up with a Rake and One Night with a Rake. For more information, please visit http://www.miamarlowe.com.

Giveaway Time

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January 6, 2014January 6, 2014

Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Back To You by Jessica Scott

Q&A With Jessica Scott

1. You first introduced Trent and Laura a few years ago and readers have been eagerly awaiting their story for a few years. Did you always know when you first created them in BECAUSE OF YOU that this was how their story would play out?
I knew they would have a story to tell but telling their story in this particular way, no I didn’t intend it. It took finding my amazing editor along with multiple attempts at trial and error to get them just right. I’m a nervous wreck about their story, but I’m also really excited because I’m very happy with how their story turned out. Plus, hamsters. Who can argue with that, right?

2. BACK TO YOU is the incredibly emotional story of a marriage at the breaking point. What or who inspired you to write this story?
I remember standing in the ops one day and one of the guys was on the phone with his wife. He was telling her how much he was sorry, how much he didn’t want to work late. Then one of the other guys remarked that he always says that but he doesn’t ever mean it. So I had this idea of a man who was so driven to get back to war that he let his entire family and personal life suffer, but I also wanted a wife who people could relate to as well. Laura is Trent’s perfect complement.

3. In your own personal life, you’ve been the soldier that has deployed to a war zone and the spouse that stayed home and has taken care of the family on the home front. Which was more difficult for you in your experience? And why?
That’s a much bigger topic than we have time for but I’ll say this: each one has its own unique challenges. Being deployed, not being able to get home when your kids are crying that they want mommy, that’s brutal. It rips your soul out. But then coming home and your reality doesn’t live up to the fantasy? In some ways I think it’s worse, and that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. As far as being the wife at home? I remember vividly lying awake at night, obsessively checking to make sure my ringer was turned on. I never cared when he called I just wanted to hear his voice. So which one is worse? I can’t really say. But I’m grateful that we’ve made it through each one a little bit stronger, you know?

4. Which is your favorite story to write—a reunion romances like Trent and Laura’s where each scene is alive with their own history or a fresh romance where they meet for the very first time and everything is new? Why?
I love a reunion story. I love the idea of being able to forgive and love the person you’re with right then and not the memory of someone. I’m a huge sucker for reunion stories, honestly. I love the reconnection, the noting of how things have changed, of learning to love that person all over again, especially after a betrayal or things didn’t work in the past.

5. Trent is such a compelling character and you do a beautiful job of showing his survivor’s guilt and the resulting anxiety and fear that provokes in him. He’s both so alpha and strong and so very broken. What inspired you to create such a complicated hero? A real life person? A culmination of your own experiences? What you’ve seen yourself in the army? And were you at all concerned about the way readers would respond to him?
Trent is going to be hard for people to read, I suspect. He comes close to crossing some boundaries, and I wanted to do that deliberately: I wanted people to understand that coming home from war isn’t cured in a day or a week. It’s a process. Someone like Trent who has bled in combat isn’t going to be okay after a night of magical sex. I know that’s the fantasy, but I wanted something more: I wanted the fantasy that the couple will be strong enough to make it. So for me, Trent is deeply, deeply personal because I’ve seen friends struggle with some very tough choices. And the truth is, there is no magical cure but there can still be a happily ever after if you have someone strong enough to stand with you.

6. Laura is such an amazing character because she’s done the best for her family at every turn and supported her husband. But when all communication breaks down with her husband and he just keeps deploying, she serves her husband with divorce papers while he’s serving. It seems like such a taboo to serve papers while your spouse is deployed—is that true? And why did you choose to have Laura, the ultimate good wife, respond this way?
Laura sending Trent divorce papers while deployed I think is the ultimate prohibition. It’s just wrong on so many levels, and yet I wanted to give readers a sense of what could drive someone to their breaking point. Laura is such a strong woman and yet she broke. The strongest of us all have our breaking points. I wanted to show people how hard the war has been on everyone—not just the soldiers deploying but on the kids, on the spouses—but I also wanted to give people hope, too.

7. Agent Chaos and Fluffy, the family hamsters, almost steal the show with their disappearing acts and they add the perfect amount of cuteness and comic relief. What inspired you to add them into the story?
Ah Fluffy and Agent Chaos. So for readers who don’t know, we have hamsters. It all started when we volunteered to buy the pre-k class pet. I didn’t realize that this would include home visits for the holidays. Fluffy was the first hamster and she promptly escaped within the first 24 hours. After that, we’ve become a multiple hamster household and well, when they escape, it’s madness because we have dogs and cats who, by some miracle, haven’t actually ever managed to capture one of the little buggers.
This story badly needed something to lighten it up. I thought adding in some escaping rodents would be the perfect thing to break up a really tough interaction between Trent and his kids. They provided a bridge for him to cross, a way to reach them while he was still getting used to them.

8. Big wedding or small? Hamsters or dogs? Sweats or lingerie?
Small wedding. Both hamsters and dogs and cats. Sweats all the way.

9. Emma and Ethan, Trent and Laura’s kids, are adorable and watching Trent learn how to be a dad again is an amazing thing. How do you think Trent got so detached from his family?
Coming home to be a parent again is probably the hardest thing soldiers do. The kids have changed, they have their own wants and needs and, well, they’re not your soldiers. They don’t listen like your soldiers have to. The noise and the chaos and the constant needs are really tough to get used to again, so I think Trent just ran away because it was too much to deal with.

10. Since this is such an emotionally charged story, was it difficult for you to write? Or did it come easily?
It was very, very difficult to write. I wanted to push boundaries and create at least a glimpse of what it’s like to come home. I wanted to give readers a taste of the emotions that people go through, the fear, the uncertainty but also the love and the hope and the relief that their loved one is home safe.

11. Since you’ve been in Trent’s shoes, what is the hardest thing about readjusting to civilian life after a deployment?
The crowds and the entitlement. To this day, I won’t go into crowded stores or wait in crowds. It’s suffocating. And it’s funny because when I first came home, I was so annoyed at people complaining about lines and traffic and school starting. I was just so grateful to be back. Now, I’m much more sympathetic to everyday gripes and groans. I think it’s just part of how we get through our days.

He’s in for the fight of his life . . .
Army captain Trent Davila loved his wife, Laura, and their two beautiful children. But when he almost lost his life in combat, something inside him died. He couldn’t explain the emptiness he felt or bridge the growing distance between him and his family—so he deployed again. And again. And again…until his marriage reaches its breaking point. Now, with everything on the line, Trent has one last chance to prove to his wife that he can be the man she needs …if she’ll have him…to win back his only love.

Laura is blindsided when Trent returns home. Time and again, he chose his men over his family, and she’s just beginning to put the pieces of her shattered heart back together. But when Trent faces a court martial on false charges, only Laura can save him. What begins as an act of kindness to protect his career inflames a desire she thought long buried—and a love that won’t be denied. But can she trust that this time he’s back to stay?

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EXCERPT FROM BACK TO YOU

“So, to what do I owe the honor of this visit?” she asked, minimizing her e-mail to be able to focus.

“Don’t throw me out of the office,” he said, trying to keep his voice light. “But I need to talk to you about Trent’s case.”

Laura leaned back in her chair, folding her arms over her chest, and started counting to ten.

“I know you’re having a hard time with him.”

Laura sucked on her top lip for a moment before answering. “I wouldn’t necessarily call filing for divorce a hard time.”

“And that’s what I need to talk to you about.”

“Patrick…”

“Just hear me out, okay?”

She ground her teeth but after a moment nodded.

“Listen, there’s no case against Trent. It’s weak at best. With the Article 32 about to start, we have a good chance of getting it stopped here before it goes to court-martial. But I need to plant doubt that the allegations against him are true.” He met her gaze. “I need you to do that.”

Laura chewed on her bottom lip, playing his words over and over in her head, not understanding what he was asking of her. “What do you mean, you need to plant doubt?”

“The primary witness against your husband, PFC Adorno—”

“Oh, we’ve met,” Laura said dryly.

Patrick’s smile was humorless. “Yes, well, that’s part of the prosecution’s problem. She’s alleging that Trent was inappropriate but the problem is that she and Lieutenant Randall were caught in their shenanigans downrange.”

Laura frowned. “So you think this is a ploy to get herself out of trouble?

“Her and her husband. If they were working together to steal the missing weapons systems, then what better way to get out of trouble than to make this stuff up against Trent? Takes the focus off her and her husband completely.”

Patrick leaned forward, tapping his index finger on the desk. “If I can cast Trent as a sympathetic family man who would never do anything like what she’s alleging, this case is all but dismissed. I’m not attacking her. All I have to do is make Trent look better than the story she’s telling and we’ve got a win.”

“And you need me to paint on a happy face and be the loving wife.”

Patrick shook his head. “No, I need you to be one half of a loving couple. And I need you to do it publicly where everyone can see it—in the PX, in the chow hall, everywhere. I need the officers on this board to believe exactly what I’ll be telling them on the day of the hearing.”

She looked down at her empty ring finger, absently rubbing the bare skin beneath the bandage. “Everyone knows that we’re having problems, Patrick.”

“Then make sure everyone knows you’ve fixed it.” He leaned back. “I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t think it was our best shot at getting this whole thing thrown out.”

She looked up at him. “Why didn’t Trent ask me to do this?”

Patrick swallowed and looked away. “He refused to drag you into this,” he said quietly. “For what it’s worth, I don’t in a million years believe the allegations against Trent. I don’t think he would ever, ever be unfaithful to you.”

Laura pressed her lips together in a flat line. “You’re wrong, Patrick. He’s been cheating on me for years. It was just with the army instead of another woman.”

“Laura—”

“Let me think about it,” she said quickly. “I won’t say no out of hand but I can’t make this decision on a whim.”

Patrick leaned across the desk, gripping her hand. “I know this is hard for you, Laura. I know what I’m asking you to do.”

She said nothing for a long moment and he gave her a sympathetic but firm smile. “Give it some thought, okay?”

When she was alone, she sat there, staring at the picture of her family. Wondering how she was going to bring him back into the kids’ lives and then rip him out again. What he was asking wasn’t fair. He had no idea what this was going to do to her family.

She glanced at the photo on her desk as she typed furiously, trying to get ahead of the flood of e-mails in her inbox.

There was a quiet rap on her office door. “I’m not here,” she said quickly, looking up.

Her fingers froze on the keyboard. Her heart stopped in her chest.

Trent stood in the doorway. He had a duffle bag slung over his shoulder. His glasses hid the darkness of his eyes. There was a streak of dirt on his cheek. An assault pack hung limply from his left hand.

A thousand emotions ripped through her all at once, rioting for supremacy as she drank in the sight of her husband.

Ex-husband, she reminded herself. Or at least he was supposed to be.

She wished that this were a normal homecoming. One where she would rush across the small space and crash into him.

His arms would come around her and she would inhale the strong spicy scent of his skin. Feel the heat of his touch. Savor that first, wild kiss.
Instead she had this. This empty chasm between them, echoing with loneliness.

And she had no idea how to cross it.

About the author:

USA Today bestselling author Jessica Scott is a career army officer; mother of two daughters, three cats and three dogs; wife to a career NCO and wrangler of all things stuffed and fluffy. She is a terrible cook and even worse housekeeper, but she’s a pretty good shot with her assigned weapon and someone liked some of the stuff she wrote. Somehow, her children are pretty well-adjusted and her husband still loves her, despite burned water and a messy house.

She’s written for the New York Times At War Blog, PBS Point of View: Regarding War Blog, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn and has served as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas.

She’s pursuing a PhD in Sociology in her spare time and most recently, she’s been featured as one of Esquire Magazine‘s Americans of the Year for 2012.

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January 4, 2014January 4, 2014

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Teacup Turbulence by Linda O. Johnston

I’m so glad to have Linda here with us today to talk about her new book, Teacup Turbulence. I adore this series and rescued animals have a special place in my heart because of my little Maddie. She was found on the side of the road with her babies and brought to an animal shelter where she wasn’t adopted for two months. We luckily found her at our local humane society the day she was transferred and it was love at first sight. She is a wonderful kitty and I’m thankful that we have this lovely lady in our lives. Take it away, Linda.

Hi, I’m Linda O. Johnston, and I’m delighted to be blogging at Books-n-Kisses. I’m here thanks to a really delightful book tour. It was set up for me by Great Escapes Book Tours to help me promote my latest Pet Rescue Mystery, TEACUP TURBULENCE, a January release from Berkley Prime Crime.

My pet rescue mysteries involve both dogs and cats–but I focus on saving dogs. Why? Because I love them! So, I’m sending more kisses in their direction as I blog here.

My own dogs definitely rank high among my writing inspirations. I have two–or, rather, they have me. My Cavalier King Charles Spaniels Lexie and Mystie have trained me better than I’ve trained them.

Zoey is the main dog in the Pet Rescue Mysteries. She is–what else?–a rescue dog adopted by protagonist Lauren Vancouver, the chief administer of HotRescues, a wonderful, fictional no-kill pet shelter in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.

Of course when I talk about “no-kill” I’m referring to pets, not people. The Pet Rescue Mysteries are cozy mysteries, so someone is murdered in each of them. The animals all come out of the stories fine, even if some of them get into danger now and then.

So, kisses to the dogs, both those in my stories and my own. And kisses to Lauren for saving animals. She does have a love interest, by the way–Matt Kingston, a captain with Los Angeles Animal Services. Kisses, as well, to Matt. And to Dante DeFrancisco, the wealthy benefactor of HotRescues in my stories, since he makes sure HotRescues has enough funds to take care of all the animals it saves. Yes, it’s fiction, since most real shelters are always in need of funds. But it’s one less worry for Lauren as she takes care of animals and solves mysteries.

What’s the underlying theme of TEACUP TURBULENCE? It centers on a very special bunch of people who pick up homeless animals from areas where their sort isn’t being adopted particularly quickly, and move them to locations where people will welcome them with open arms…and homes. I fortunately did not make this up. A bunch of real organizations actually do this, using both private planes and cars. Private planes are the vehicles of choice in TEACUP TURBULENCE. And of course, since it’s a cozy mystery, there’s a murder involved that Lauren Vancouver has to solve. My kisses to the characters in TEACUP TURBULENCE, as well as to those genuine people who do such generous work to save homeless pets.

Let me add my kisses to Books-n-Kisses for hosting me here. I’d love to see your comments on this blog and my Pet Rescue Mysteries–and I’ll blow you a kiss if you comment!

About the Author:

Linda O. Johnston’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the year. Since then, Linda, a former lawyer who is now a full-time writer, has published more short stories, novellas, and 35 romance and mystery novels, including Harlequin Romantic Suspense as well as the Alpha Force paranormal romance miniseries for Harlequin Nocturne.

Linda’s Pet Rescue Mysteries, a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime, feature Lauren Vancouver, a determined pet rescuer who runs a no-kill shelter. In this cozy series, “no-kill” refers to pets, not people! And watch for Linda’s Superstition Mysteries from Midnight Ink.

Website/Facebook

Los Angeles animal shelter manager Lauren Vancouver has a soft spot for animals in need—and a keen eye for crime. . .

Thanks to a savvy ad campaign featuring teacup pups sporting HotPets Bling—a new line of faux jewelry dog collars—small dog adoptions have skyrocketed across the city. So when Lauren discovers a shelter in the Midwest with more toy dogs than it can handle, she arranges a private plane to swoop in and fly the pups back to LA.

But Lauren didn’t count on rescue worker Teresa Kantrim coming along for the ride. Teresa has cared for the dogs since they were found and doesn’t trust anyone from La-La Land to take over the job. Her biting comments clearly haven’t earned Teresa any new friends, but when she turns up murdered, it’s time for Lauren to dig into Teresa’s past and find out who wanted her put down.

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Jennifer’s Review of Teacup Turbulence

Review (5 Stars): I have loved this series from the very beginning and Teacup Turbulence is the best in the series for me. Lauren Vancouver, the administer of HotRescues, learns that a shelter in Missouri has more small dogs than they can handle at a time where L.A. residents are clamoring for these dogs as a result of a new dog collar ad campaign. After Lauren arranges for these adorable dogs to be flown to HotRescues, she learns that a rescue worker has joined the pups and will be monitoring their treatment in L.A. Teresa isn’t a very nice woman and seems to get in arguments with everyone that she comes into contact with, which leads to Lauren finding another dead body at the shelter. It’s up to Lauren to find out who is to blame for Teresa’s death and everyone seems to have a reason for wanting this snarky woman dead.

Every time that I read one of Ms. Johnston’s books, I feel like I’m visiting an old friend. I love her Pet Rescue series and I am always entertained by whatever situations Lauren seems to find herself in to investigate a new murder and protect these adorable animals. I enjoyed catching up with these characters and I loved that I couldn’t figure out the mystery before Lauren did. Teacup Turbulence is a wonderful addition to a great series and I can’t wait to read the next Pet Rescue mystery.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of Teacup Turbulence. This giveaway is for US Residents only. To be entered in the drawing by Jan 10th, please leave a meaningful comment for Linda:

December 31, 2013

Shatter by Joan Swan Tour & Giveaway

Shatter

by Joan Swan

Genre: Romantic Suspense (with paranormal elements)

Heat Level: 3.5/5

Elements/Tags: romance, suspense, paranormal abilities, conspiracy, firefighters,

Publisher: Kensington

Publishing Date: 12/31/13

Series: Phoenix Rising, 4

Format: Print and Ebook

Words: 110k

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For seven years, Halina Beloi has been in hiding. But she’s never forgotten Mitch Foster, the long, lean man she had to leave behind. Until, that is, Mitch shows up with a list of questions and a 9mm in his hand.

All Mitch knows is that Halina broke his heart and disappeared. But new information has surfaced implicating her as a player in the deadliest game of Mitch’s life. This time, he’s not letting go without answers. Now terror, danger and heat will fuse them together or shatter the future. . .

Goodreads

Excerpt:

Outside, the cold, wet fog hit them like a wall. Halina tightened her arms around herself and took tentative steps on the concrete in her bare feet, pausing near the building.

People in robes, slippers and pajamas clustered in the parking lot. A ladder truck, lights flashing, parked in front of the hotel. Firefighters in yellow turnouts roamed in different directions.

“Fucking firefighters,” Mitch muttered. “I swear I could go the rest of my life without ever seeing one again.”

Beneath his hand, Halina started to shiver. He tossed his jacket around her shoulders.

“Away from the building, people,” one of the firefighters called, gesturing toward the parking lot. “Come this way.”

“Stay at the back of the crowd,” Mitch said. “Dex is dark and low. No one will notice him.”

Once there, Halina pulled from Mitch’s hold and dropped into a crouch, drawing Dex into a hug. With everyone watching the fire truck—which was doing nothing, along with the milling firefighters . . .fucking waste of taxpayer dollars—no one noticed they had a dog. Last thing Mitch needed was someone complaining about an animal in a non-animal-friendly hotel. Or bitching they hadn’t gotten to bring their dog. Or, worse, wanting to pet the mutt. Any attention was unwanted attention.

Mitch crossed his arms and faced her. “Tell me, Halina. Why?”

She released Dex and pushed to her feet. Her eyes blazed with emotion, but the night had taken its toll, leaving only a ghostly trace of her beauty. Mitch forced himself to ignore the shadows beneath her eyes, the injury across her forehead, her nearly translucent skin. She’d brought this on herself.

“Maybe, if you were a good guy,” she said, her anger showing only in the flare of heat in her gaze, “if you were genuine, if you cared, if you were nice, I’d tell you. But you know what, Mitch? You’ve been nothing but angry and mean. You came here with an agenda, one that was all about you. You don’t give a shit about me. You don’t give a shit what that agenda will cost me.”

She took a breath so deep it raised her shoulders. Mitch’s chest tightened with anger and regret and more of the self-disgust that was becoming far too familiar.

“So you can go to hell not knowing why. I know I hurt you. And you may not believe it, but it hurt me too. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I’ve done a shitload of hard things in my life. I told you that night that I was sorry. There’s nothing more I can say than I’m sorry. But that will never be enough for you. And it’s clear nothing about me will ever be enough for you now. You don’t believe anything I say anyway.”

Tears spilled over her lashes and slid down her cheeks. She was shaking. And damn it, Mitch wanted to reach for her, hold her. At the same time he wanted to shake her until the words he needed to hear fell from her mouth.

“Fuck you, Mitch,” she said, voice strong even pushing through a throat clogged with tears. “You don’t deserve answers from me.”

She didn’t turn and walk away as he expected. She stood her ground and glared at him. Daring him to deny he’d been the worst kind of bastard. To deny he was risking her safety. Her sanity. Her life.

And he couldn’t. She knew he couldn’t. And she knew he’d hate himself because he couldn’t.

Nor could he stand the sight of her tears, and reached out to wipe them. She knocked his hand away in one smooth, practiced move, then turned her back on him—nothing new there—and wandered further into the darkness, Dex beside her.

Mitch heaved a breath and checked on the unfolding events at the front of the hotel, hands stuffed into his pockets. But there were no unfolding events. Nothing was happening. “What the hell are they doing?”

With Dex standing guard over Halina, Mitch approached one of the firefighters. “Sir,” he said, “my wife’s sick. Do you have an ETA of when we’ll be able to go back in?”

“We’re just doing a final check,” he said. “Ten minutes.”

Mitch slogged back through the crowd. Statements like “false alarm” and “someone pulled the box in the lobby” and “getting a lot of different stories” penetrated his troubled mind, escalating into a vague sense of alarm.

A small yelp sounded at the back of the crowd. The sheer wrongness of it sent dread skittering across his chest. He sidestepped a couple and peered through the darkness in the direction Halina had taken Dex.

She was crouched next to a dark shadow on the concrete and her worried voice cut through the night.

“Dex. Dex. God, Dex.”

Dread turned to fear.

“Halina.” He called to her as he jostled through milling people, trying to get her attention off the dog and onto her surroundings. Her head came up and her light, frantic eyes met his, flooded with a plea for help just as another shadow moved.

“Behind you!” Fear burst at the center of his body and Mitch pushed into a sprint, drawing his gun. But she was too far away. The man behind her, dressed in a black jacket and black pants, slammed a fist to her arm.

Halina turned, grabbed his wrist and pushed to her feet. She struggled for mere seconds before losing strength. Then she went limp and fell right into the man’s arms—Abernathy’s arms, torn, scabbed lips and all.

Abernathy whipped Halina over his shoulder and threw her in the backseat of an SUV. A gray Chevy SUV. Mitch’s mind snapped back to the freeway accident. To the car that had made that insane cut across traffic. “Sonofabitch.”

Mitch passed the spot where Halina had been standing and chased the SUV as it fishtailed out of the parking lot. When the vehicle was well out of range, he came to a shaky stop and dragged in air.

He set his stance. “No way, you fucker.” Aimed. “She’s mine.” Fired.

Meet Author Joan Swan:

NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Joan Swan writes sexy romantic suspense for Kensington (Phoenix Rising Series) and independently (Covert Affairs Series). She also works as a sonographer at a top medical facility in San Francisco and lives in magnificent wine country on the central coast of California with her husband and two daughters.

Website | Facebook profile | Facebook page | Twitter | Twitter giveaways

Tour Wide Giveaway Details:

Tour Wide Giveaway: (1) Kindle Fire HD, (1) Kindle, and (1) $25 eGC to Amazon or B&N will be gifted to three different lucky commenters from the tour. Please follow the Rafflecopter widget to enter to win at each stop. (Full Terms & Conditions located on the widgets.)

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Tour Stops:

http://events.litconnect.com/shatter-by-joan-swan/

Other Upcoming Events:

Facebook Event: Wednesday, January 1.

Twitter Party: Thursday, January 2 from 8-9pm EST.

December 30, 2013December 30, 2013

December Covet Release Day Blast

Covets have all the sexiness, emotion, and happily ever after that readers have come to expect and love from Entangled. They are firmly grounded in the contemporary world, but each novel brings in supernatural twists, breaking the contemporary and paranormal rules, alike. To find out more about their titles, chat with authors, participate in special events, and to find out what books you’ll be coveting next, visit the Entangled website, follow them on Twitter, LIKE their Facebook page, and join the Book Club.
Today I’m happy to be featuring Covet’s December releases:

Beg Me to Slay by Lisa Kessler

He’ll slay her demons, but it may cost her heart…Four years ago Tegan Ashton was attacked. Determined never to be a victim again, she devotes her life to martial arts and self-defense. When her assailant returns to finish what he started, only one person can help her.

Gabe is a private investigator by day and demon slayer by night. After losing loved ones, he vows to defend people from a threat they don’t realize exists.

The relationship is supposed to be strictly business, but fighting demons together stirs up emotions they never expected. Turns out demon slaying is a breeze compared to facing their scarred pasts and even worse – hearts.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Goodreads

Ashes by Sarah Gilman

Journalist Ambrosia Pellerin accepts an assignment involving the legendary phoenix, expecting, if nothing else, a little entertainment. Instead, she winds up pregnant—by a surprisingly human-looking firebird, Reece Bennu.

As the Phoenix prince, Reece is next in line to the throne and expected to marry a purebred royal. A common human such as Ambrosia is not in the cards. He swears, though, he’ll never be an absentee father.

As Ambrosia’s due date grows closer, so do the soon-to-be parents. But will their tentative love survive the prejudice of Reece’s grandmother, who will stop at nothing to tear the two apart?

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Goodreads

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December 20, 2013December 16, 2013

Spotlight feature & excerpt of Dragon Awakened by Jamie Rush + Tour Wide Giveaway

DRAGON AWAKENED

by Jaime Rush

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookish

December 17, 2013

Ruby Salazaar wants answers . . . and revenge. Her uncle has just been murdered before her eyes and the name he utters with his final breath – Cyntag – leads Ruby into a world beyond her wildest imaginings. She soon learns that the dark, sexy Cyntag Valeron knows more about her than she does herself.

Ruby changed Cyn’s life before she even knew who he was. Now she charges into his life, a beautiful woman full of fire and questions. Cyn knew this day would come, yet he couldn’t foresee the danger – and desires – Ruby would bring with her. He can teach her how to harness her newly awakened powers. But there is one force neither of them can control . . .

Excerpt:

Cyntag slowly waved his hand in front of her face, his eyes staring straight into hers between his long fingers. “Crescents can identify one another by our eyes. Some are icy glitter, some swirling mist, and others burning embers.”

Her heart hitched. Hadn’t she seen a glow in his eyes?

He lowered his hand. “Moncrief cast an illusion spell to hide the magick in your eyes. You looked like a Mundane, a regular human. Now that he’s gone, the spell is wearing off. Soon it will be obvious to every Crescent who sees you.”

She walked over to a gilt-framed mirror on the side wall and stared at herself. No glow. He was full of it. “I don’t see anything like what you described.”

“Because you cannot see.” He came up behind her. “You have not been Awakened. Crescents are initiated in a ceremony at thirteen, when their powers begin to appear. It’s similar to those of many native tribes to celebrate a coming of age. But much more comes with being an Awakened Crescent.”

Thirteen. She remembered a gnawing hunger deep in her belly and vivid dreams filled with colors and longing and…dragons.

Cyntag brushed her bangs from her forehead, his thumb grazing the skin near her burn. “The orb did this?” She nodded, and anger shimmered over his face. “Unacceptable.”

“I thought so.”

He’d said it as though the attack on her was a personal affront to him. Like he owns you.

“Right now you’re like a baby chick fallen prematurely from the nest, without feathers developed enough to fly from danger or any way to fight enemies. Unable to even see them. You might get a glimpse now and then, but that won’t be enough.”

“You’re saying I have powers?” Could her disbelief be more clear? “Can I make one of those orb-lightning-bolt things?”

Another twitch of a smile. “Sorry, no. However, you are much more magnificent than mere magick.”

“I’m magnificent. Yeah.” She couldn’t help but glance down at herself. “Fine, how do I get…what’d you call it? Awakened?” Let’s play along.

“Considering the circumstances, only I can awaken your powers.”

Did his arrogance know no bounds? Dumb question, Ruby. “What do I have to give you for that?”

“You assume there’s a price?”

“There’s always a price.” She could see that he had one too.

He stepped closer, again breaching boundaries. She wouldn’t move away. If only she didn’t have to look up at him. Even being five-foot-eight, he was way taller. His heat reached out, beckoning her. She stiffened her stance. The dragon tattoo eyed her, but no, she did not see it move.

He waited until she drew her gaze back to his face. “The price is that once you see, you can never go back to being blind. Once you know, you can never forget. Once you experience your true nature, you can never ignore it.”

“Ignore what?”

He released a breath. “We’d better start with the small stuff.”

A little about Jamie:

Things that go bump in the night have always fascinated Jaime Rush. Sometimes those things are human; other times, not so much. Now she has twisted them all together in the Hidden, a trilogy about humans with the essence of gods who walk the knife’s edge between the glamour of Miami and a place filled with dark magick and dangerous beauty.
Jaime is the author of the Offspring series and also writes under the name Tina Wainscott. She is the bestselling author of eighteen romance novels. She lives in Southwest Florida with her husband, daughter, and cat.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway Time!!!

15 winners will receive our Hidden prize pack, featuring a bound flip book of the first two novellas DRAGON MINE and DRAGON AWAKENED, a print copy of DRAGON AWAKENED, advanced copies of the next two books in the series, MAGIC POSSESSED and ANGEL SEDUCED, plus a series bookmark and a special Jaime Rush dog tag!

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December 19, 2013November 23, 2013

Guest Blog & Giveaway with ML Buchman

Research for the Night Stalkers series

There are stories inside an author’s comfort zone and outside. There are stories that we could tell from the world we know. And then there are the stories we need to tell even though we don’t know the world. When that happens, when the author doesn’t have that direct knowledge, I think there are three real options open to them:

To “wave their hands.” I’ve read authors who can do this magnificently. Many of these writers land in the fantasy world. “I’m telling you a military story, but I’m setting it in an elfen realm so that I can work with the emotions, not the hard facts of reality.” These can be future set, alternate reality, or a myriad of other paths as well.
Down the middle. These authors will do sufficient research to make it sound real, but again, there is a certain amount of distraction of the reader with other events rather than going down into the details. This allows them to come at the story and worry less about the details of the world.
I always choose the third path, maximum realism. I do everything I can to make the background information as real and accurate as possible. In Take Over at Midnight there is a scene where they crash land on an oil rig. I spent days studying the different models located in the Gulf of Mexico, how their helipads were positioned, how high were they out of the water while actually working a site, and so on.

Setting out to write a story in this third style has more challenges than finding out the information; the Internet has solved many of those issues. Reading many books and doing the occasional personal interview plugs the holes. Granted, there is the challenge for a writer to not get lost in the research and forget that their job is actually to do the writing. I admit, I have occasionally looked up and realized I’ve lost a day or more, but that doesn’t happen very often, for it is the storytelling I love and not the research.

The real challenge of research for me? Figuring out when not to use it. I have ten times the detail that I put in the books. I’ve read Black Hawk service manuals that have allowed me to add a dozen paragraphs over four novels. I have also read a single article and watched two three-minute videos in order to install the pivotal ADAS camera technology in my earlier book, Wait Until Dark, the third Night Stalkers novel that alters the very course of the love story.

So, perhaps the oddest bit of research I do is studying just how much research I can do without and still make the story feel real.

TAKE OVER AT MIDNIGHT

by ML BUCHMAN

Name: Lola LaRue

Rank: Chief Warrant Officer 3

Mission: Copilot deadly choppers on the world’s most dangerous missions

Name: Tim Maloney

Rank: Sergeant

Mission: Man the guns and charm the ladies

The Past Doesn’t Matter, When Their Future is Doomed…

Nothing sticks to “Crazy” Tim Maloney, until he falls hard for a tall Creole beauty with a haunted past and a penchant for reckless flying. Lola LaRue never thought she’d be susceptible to a man’s desire, but even with Tim igniting her deepest passions, it may be too late now…With the nation under an imminent threat of biological warfare, Tim and Lola are the only ones who can stop the madness–and to do that, they’re going to have to trust each other way beyond their limits…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

M. L. Buchman has worked in fast food, law, opera, computers, publishing, and light manufacturing. It’s amazing what you can do with a degree in geophysics. His Night Stalker Series have garnered starred reviews, top picks and have even been named an NPR Best Romance of 2012 (I Own the Dawn). He lives in Lincoln City, OR, with a loving lady and the coolest kid on the planet. For more information, please visit http://www.mlbuchman.com/.

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December 19, 2013December 16, 2013

BlogTalk Radio with Molly Harper!!! Mark your calendars 12.20.13

Hello everyone! We’re thrilled to introduce an amazing new venue for all Romance Lovers, as well as promote for a wonderful Romance author today!

Readers of all subgenres of romance, including paranormal and romantic suspense, love to hear from their favorite authors. So… Jennifer Fusco of Market or Die has launched “Romance is on the Air” as part of the BlogTalk Radio Authors on the Air line-up, where every week, she will have a romance author as a guest, asking them questions and chatting about their books.

You can keep up with all of the Events on the Facebook Page for the venue, and keep an eye out for the Facebook Events that are floating around as well.

To start things off, Romance on the Air is proud to be hosting the wonderful Molly Harper 12/20/13, and Books-n-Kisses and LITERAL ADDICTION are happy to be helping to spread the word.

When Molly Harper was eight years old, she set up a “writing office” in her parents’ living room, complete with an old manual typewriter and a toy phone. And she (very slowly) pecked out the story of her third-grade class taking a trip around the world and losing a kid in each city. She had a dark sense of humor even then.

When Molly was considerably older, she headed for Western Kentucky University, where she majored in print journalism. After graduation, she landed a job with The Paducah Sun and married her high school sweetheart, David, a local police officer. After six years at the newspaper, Molly took a more family-friendly secretarial position at a local church office.

Her husband worked nights and Molly was alone with their small child in the “The Apartment of Lost Souls.” A big fan of vampire movies and TV shows, she decided to write a vampire romance novel. Molly created Jane Jameson, a bit of an accidental loser. Jane is single, almost 30, and a librarian working in Half-Moon Hollow, Ky. She has become a permanent fixture on her Mama’s prayer list. And despite the fact that she’s pretty good at her job, she just got canned so her boss could replace her with someone who occasionally starts workplace fires. Jane drowns her sorrows at the local faux nostalgia-themed sports bar. On her way home, she’s mistaken for a deer and shot by a drunk hunter. And then she wakes up as a vampire. The three-book JANE JAMESON series–which includes Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs, Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men and Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever—was released in 2009. A fourth and final installment, Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors, was released in 2012.

Molly continues stories in the Jane Jameson universe through her HALF-MOON HOLLOW series, Driving Mr. Dead, The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires, Undead Sublet, and A Witch’s Handbook of Kisses and Curses. Undead Sublet is a short story in The Undead in My Bed anthology. A Witch’s Handbook of Kisses and Curses was released in June 2013.

A special FREE audio holiday novella, I’m Dreaming of an Undead Christmas is available now from Audible (so be sure to get your copy today!).

Molly has been updating her popular NAKED WEREWOLF romance series in 2013. How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf was originally released in February 2011, quickly followed by The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf. A third installment, How to Run With a Naked Werewolf, will be released on 12/31/13.

Molly also launched her first-ever contemporary romance series, BLUEGRASS, with My Bluegrass Baby in December 2012. Rhythm and Bluegrass was subsequently released in October 2013.

Molly’s books are published by Pocket Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. They are available in print, as e-books and audio books at major book stores and on Amazon. Molly is a native of Kentucky. She lives in Paducah with her husband and children.

You can keep up with Molly online at her Website, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on GoodReads.

For those of you new to Molly’s work, we highly suggest that you check out her entire backlist, but for today, we’re going to spotlight her NAKED WEREWOLF series and its upcoming release.

*****

How to Flirt With a Naked Werewolf

NAKED WEREWOLF Book #1

Add to your GoodReads Shelf

Buy from Amazon / B&N / BAM / Audible

Northern Exposure

Even in Grundy, Alaska, it’s unusual to find a naked guy with a bear trap clamped to his ankle on your porch. But when said guy turns into a wolf, recent southern transplant Mo Wenstein has no difficulty identifying the problem. Her surly neighbor Cooper Graham, who has been openly critical of Mo’s ability to adapt to life in Alaska, has trouble of his own. Werewolf trouble.

For Cooper, an Alpha in self-imposed exile from his dysfunctional pack, it’s love at first sniff when it comes to Mo. But Cooper has an even more pressing concern on his mind. Several people around Grundy have been the victims of wolf attacks, and since Cooper has no memory of what he gets up to while in werewolf form, he’s worried that he might be the violent canine in question.

If a wolf cries wolf, it makes sense to listen, yet Mo is convinced that Cooper is not the culprit. Except if he’s not responsible, then who is? And when a werewolf falls head over haunches in love with you, what are you supposed to do anyway? The rules of dating just got a whole lot more complicated. . .

*****

The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf

NAKED WEREWOLF Book #2

Add to your GoodReads Shelf

Buy from Amazon / B&N / BAM

Generations of werewolves have been secretly residing in a secluded valley a stone’s throw from Grundy, Alaska. So when a snooping Outsider comes to Grundy to investigate rumors of lycanthropic shenanigans in the area, the valley’s pack alpha, Maggie Graham, resolves to chase him away, even if doing so takes a quick bite on the butt.

What a pity that researcher Nick Thatcher turns out to be so drool-worthy, and that his kisses make Maggie want to sit up and beg. Maggie just can’t seem to convince Nick to leave . . . and even worse, she can’t convince herself to stay away from him. Cross-species dating is problem enough for a harried alpha female, but on top of that, a rival group of werewolves is trying to move into the valley. With interpack war threatening, Maggie can’t afford to be distracted.

Combining romance and a career can be tough for anyone; for a werewolf in love with a human, it may be disastrous. . . .

*****

How To Run With a Naked Werewolf

NAKED WEREWOLF Book #3

COMING 12/31/13!!

Add to your GoodReads Shelf

Pre-Order from Amazon / B&N / BAM

Caleb Graham is a werewolf by nature, a tracker by profession. He uses his “extra gifts” to find people, and not always in the most legal or ethical manner. He doesn’t care what they’ve done, or who wants them found, as long as his considerable fee is paid. He likes his life simple and uncomplicated.

Anna Moder, former physician to Caleb’s pack, happens across Caleb during a particularly violent “negotiation” that has left him bloodied and unconscious. She helps him, despite the fact that he’s cost her a car, so he insists that she stay with him on the road for a while. As they grow closer, Anna looks past the gruff exterior and and the questionable job to thoroughly decent werewolf underneath.

Anna – who is careful to edit her involvement with Caleb’s pack from their conversations – doesn’t talk about why a nice girl wants to live in the middle of frozen nowhere, but she’s obviously on the run from something. When Anna’s past collides with Caleb’s current assignment from one of his sleazier contacts, Caleb finally has to make a choice—protect his job…or his potential mate?

***

They sound fantastic, don’t they!!? Make sure to add them to your TBR and check them out from your favorite Bookseller.

For the rest of today though, we’re here to give you the details about the radio show that Molly is doing with Jennifer on Romance Is On The Air.

Tomorrow, 12/20/13, at 11am EST, Molly will be on air with Jennifer talking about her books and romance. Check out the Event on the Authors On The Air site, and join in for this awesome Event.

CONTEST:

But wait, there’s more! In celebration of this wonderful Event, Molly and Jennifer are offering up some wonderful prizes, and Books-n-Kisses and LITERAL ADDICTION get to give them away! J

1 lucky winner from Books-n-Kisses will receive a Starbucks Giftcard and Molly’s new release.

A lucky winner from LITERAL ADDICTION will get an Amazon Giftcard and Molly’s new release.

To enter, find the Rafflecopter widget for today’s Event below, follow the directions, take action, and mark as ‘Done’.

Good luck!

Giveaway ends 12/25

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December 17, 2013December 16, 2013

Spotlight Feature & Exceprt of REAVER by Larissa Ione + Tour Wide giveaway

REAVER

by Larissa Ione

Amazon | Barnes & Noble IndieBound

December 17, 2013; Grand Central Publishing Mass Market; $8.00; 978-1-4555-2697-0

Reaver is an angel with a past, a record, and a less-than-heavenly attitude. Powerful enough to fight alongside the fiercest battle angels-and crazy enough to risk his wings on a one-way mission to hell-he’s agreed to go where no angel has ever gone before . . . to steal the most seductive and dangerous prize of Satan himself.

Harvester is one of the Fallen, a once-heroic angel who sacrificed her wings to work as an undercover agent in hell. But now her cover has been blown, and she’s doomed to an eternity of agonizing torture. Even if Reaver can snatch her away from Satan’s lair, even if they can fight their way out of the underworld’s darkest depths, there is one thing Harvester can never escape-her newfound thirst for an angel’s blood. . .

Don’t miss Kelly’s review of Reaver HERE

Excerpt:

“R-Reaver?”

Reaver held Harvester’s frail body tight against his as he navigated the final steps of a winding ledge that dropped them into a world of weird. “It’s me. It’s okay. We’re safe.”

Relatively safe, anyway. Relative meaning that they weren’t dead. Yet. He just hoped the same could be said for Tavin, Matt, and Calder. When he’d left them to sneak into Satan’s realm, they’d been engaged in a battle they’d initiated as a diversion. It had been a risky move, and Reaver could only pray they’d make it to the rendezvous point.

A hunter’s horn sounded in the distance and was answered by another, closer horn signal. Satan’s minions hadn’t gained ground, but they were spreading out. Damn.

He scanned the landscape of thorny plants, hills of blackened earth and trees, and twisted, abandoned structures. Nothing moved.

He looked down at Harvester, and as before when he first saw her hanging over a pit of acid, he felt sick to his stomach. He didn’t like Harvester even though he was grateful for the things she’d done, but she didn’t deserve this; her naked body too thin and mottled with bruises and ligature marks, her once silken black hair tangled and dull, and worst of all, missing her gorgeous green eyes.

Under ideal circumstances, an angel could heal from even the most heinous injuries within hours. But these were far from ideal circumstances, and Harvester’s source of power, her wings, had been severed. Without wings or medical assistance, it could take weeks, even months, for an angel’s body to fully heal.

“I can’t risk healing you more than I did,” he said. “My power isn’t reliable right now, and I could do more harm than good.”

“Reaver,” she croaked, as if he hadn’t spoken. “Why…how…”

“Shh.” He tucked her face into his chest, quieting her. “We’re going to meet up with some friends, and then I’ll answer all your questions.”

Reaver and the assassins had worked out a plan A and a plan B. Plan A had been shot to hell when iron gates had prevented Reaver from getting out of Satan’s realm to the south, where his companions would have been waiting. Now, with demons in pursuit, they were on their way to plan B. Hopefully Tav, Matt, and Calder had realized quickly that Reaver’s escape route had gone bad.

Inhaling the stench of rotten vegetation that permeated this section of Sheoul, he started away from the skeletons of some burned-out buildings and toward a mountain range as expansive as the Rockies. He moved swiftly, outrunning the sounds of pursuit and pausing once to blast a group of imps with a ball of lightning. The sphere struck the leader, and from there sent electrical strikes at each of the surrounding imps, frying them all in a handy eight-for-one.

Harvester slept in his arms, barely stirring when he stopped to listen for anyone following them. By the time they neared the plan B meeting site, Reaver was sure they’d lost the demons—temporarily. Reaver wasn’t naive enough to think they were off the hook. The demons chasing them were only the first wave, the security detail unlucky enough to be guarding the dungeon Harvester was kept in.

Once Satan got wind of this, if he hadn’t already, Reaver and Harvester were going to have legions of minions on their heels.

A little about Larissa:

A former meteorologist and EMT, Air Force veteran Larissa Ione now gets her daily dose of excitement from vampires, werewolves, demons, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. She lives in wintery Wisconsin with her U.S. Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat, and her hellhound, a King Shepherd named Hexe.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway Time!!!

1 winner will get our grand prize of a Kindle Fire

4 winners will get a signed set of Larissa Ione’s Lords of Deliverance Series: Eternal Rider, Immortal Rider, Lethal Rider & Rogue Rider!

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December 14, 2013December 14, 2013

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Cursed By Destiny by Cecy Robson

Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other 20-something girls—with one tiny exception: they’re products of a backfired curse that has given each of them unique powers that make them, well, weird…

Celia’s a girl in trouble. Her heart is bound to Aric, but he is a pureblood were who must deny her or risk condemning his species to extinction. And that’s just her love life. She’s also been called to take down a group of demon terrorists looking to overthrow the paranormal world. (No pressure.)

In order to bring them down, Celia must ally herself to Misha, the master vampire who has made no secret of his desire for her.

And if that weren’t enough misfortune for one girl, a clairvoyant’s prediction could destroy Celia and Aric’s love for good. The only way to protect the world from unbridled supernatural terrorism is for Celia to bind herself to her destined mate. And that doesn’t appear to be Aric…

Amazon/B&N

About the Author:

Cecy (pronounced Sessy) Robson is a full-time writer, registered nurse, wife, and mother living in the Great Northwest. A member of Romance Writers of America, she attributes her passion for storytelling to the rough New Jersey neighborhood she was raised in. As a child, she was rarely allowed to leave the safety of her house and passed her time fantasizing about flying, fairies, and things that go bump in the night. Gifted and cursed with an overactive imagination, she began writing in May 2009. Her Weird Girls Urban Fantasy Romance series is published with Penguin Random House’s Signet Eclipse and released to stellar praise from multiple reviewers including: Publisher’s Weekly, USA Today, and Romantic Times. THE WEIRD GIRLS: A Novella, SEALED WITH A CURSE, and A CURSED EMBRACE are now available. A CURSED MOON: A Novella, releases December 3, 2013, followed by CURSED BY DESTINY, January 7, 2014.

Website/Twitter/Facebook

Jennifer’s Review of Cursed By Destiny

Review (5 Stars): In this book, Celia is still dealing with the heartbreak of losing Aric and has been staying as a platonic house guest with master vampire, Misha. After the events of A Cursed Embrace, Celia and her sisters have been worried about a possible retaliation from the supernatural Tribemasters that reeked havoc in their world. The only safe place for Celia is with Misha, even though her ex-boyfriend, Aric, isn’t happy with this living arrangement. What they soon find out is that something unspeakable is hunting Celia and wants her dead and will stop at nothing to make sure that happens. Even if it means destroying the people that she cares about along the way.

I LOVE this series and I can’t say enough wonderful things about the Weird sisters. This book picks up right after the heart-wrenching ending of A Cursed Embrace which just about killed me. I still want to smack Aric over the head because he belongs with Celia and now is days away from marrying another woman to appease his Elders. Celia is such a wonderful character to me, strong, smart, loving and at times vulnerable. She is so good at protecting the people around her but can’t seem to find the same happiness that her sisters have found in the love department. Cecy Robson does a great job of portraying that emotional heartbreak and it makes me love Celia all the more.

Cursed By Destiny is an exciting installment to the already amazing Weird Sisters series. Cecy Robson has done a wonderful job creating this fascinating paranormal world that will make you fall in love with her characters and have you wanting more after finishing the last page of her books. If you haven’t read her books, you are missing out because this is an author to watch. Can’t wait to read the next book in her series and I’m sad to say it won’t be out soon enough for me.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a signed copy of CURSED BY DESTINY, a magnet, lip balm, and bookmark. This giveaway is for US Residents only. To be entered in the drawing by December 20th, answer me this question in the comments:

Who is your favorite literary or television vampire?

***Disclaimer: if you win this prize pack on another blog, another winner will be chosen***

December 14, 2013December 14, 2013

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Heartache Motel

Heartache Motel, Three Interconnected Mystery Novellas

Elvis has left the building, but he’s forever memorialized at the Heartache Motel. Filled with drag queens, Rock-a-Hula cocktails, and a vibrating velveteen bed, these three novellas tell the tales of three amateur sleuths who spend their holidays at the King’s beloved home.

DINERS KEEPERS, LOSERS WEEPERS by Terri L. Austin

A Rose Strickland Mystery Novella (follows DINER IMPOSSIBLE)

When Rose and the gang head to Graceland right before Christmas, they get all shook up: the motel is a seedy dump and an Elvis impersonator turns up dead. Rose discovers missing jewels tie into the death and her suspicious mind flips into overdrive, questioning her fellow guests, the staff, and even a cute impersonator who keeps popping up. Will Rose be able to find the murderer and get home by Christmas day? It’s now or never.

QUICK SKETCH by Larissa Reinhart

A Cherry Tucker Mystery Novella (prequel to PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY)

Sassy Southern artist Cherry Tucker and her poker-loving boyfriend, Todd, pop into Memphis to help Todd’s cousin who’s been hustled out of his savings, right before Christmas. Staying at the shady Heartache Motel, Cherry can’t tell a shill from a mark and fears everyone is playing them for chumps. Cherry and Todd quickly find themselves in a dangerous sting that could send them to the slammer or mark them as pigeons from cons looking for an even bigger score.

DATELINE MEMPHIS by LynDee Walker

A Headlines in High Heels Mystery Novella (follows BURIED LEADS)

Crime reporter Nichelle Clarke thinks she’s going home for Christmas. But a quick stop at Graceland proves news breaks in the strangest places. When the King’s home gets locked down with Nichelle inside, she chases this headline into the national spotlight—and the thief’s crosshairs. Christmas dreams of blue suede Manolos fade, and all Nichelle wants from Santa is to land the story before the thief cuts off her news feed for good.

Amazon

About the Authors:

Terri Austin

As a girl, Terri L. Austin thought she’d outgrow dreaming up stories and creating imaginary friends. Instead, she’s made a career of it. She met her own Prince Charming and together they live in Missouri. She loves to hear from readers!

Website/Twitter/Facebook

Larissa Reinhart

After seeing Paper Moon as a child, Larissa Reinhart fell in love with stories about confidence capers. QUICK SKETCH is the Cherry Tucker prequel to PORTRAIT in the mystery anthology THE HEARTACHE MOTEL. HIJACK IN ABSTRACT is the third in the Cherry Tucker Mystery Series from Henery Press, following STILL LIFE IN BRUNSWICK STEW (#2) and PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY (#1), a 2012 Daphne du Maurier finalist. She lives near Atlanta with her minions and Cairn Terrier, Biscuit.

Website/Twitter/Facebook

LynDee Walker

LynDee Walker grew up in the land of stifling heat and amazing food most people call Texas, and wanted to be Lois Lane from the time she could say the words “press conference.” An award-winning journalist, she traded cops and deadlines for burp cloths and onesies when her oldest child was born. Writing the Headlines in Heels mysteries gives her the best of both worlds. LynDee adores her family, her readers, and enchiladas. She often works out tricky plot points while walking off the enchiladas. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she is working on her next novel.

Website/Twitter/Facebook

Jennifer’s Review of Heartache Motel

Review (4 Stars): Each of these entertaining stories revolve around the Heartache Motel, a seedy establishment located near Graceland where numerous characters find themselves involved in mysteries while trying to enjoy some much needed time off. The first story, Diners Keepers, Losers Weepers was a fun story where Rose and her friends visit the Heartache Motel on the way to Graceland during the holidays. They soon find themselves involved in a murder of an Elvis impersonator and some missing jewels. This was my favorite story of all of them just because I loved the humor and the characters. Between the drag queens and stoned travel companions, this was a delightful story that makes me want to read more about these characters.

The second story is called Quick Sketch, which is a mystery involving an artist and her poker playing boyfriend looking to help a friend that was swindled out of his money during a poker game. I liked how Cherry found herself in interesting situations especially with a drag queen named Priscilla and it kept me guessing until the end.

The last story is called Dateline Memphis where crime reporter, Nichelle Clarke finds herself in the middle of a robbery while visiting Graceland. During her tour, she discovers that one of the King’s prized possessions was switched with a fake replica and she is hunt for the true culprit. This was also a fun story and I can’t wait to learn more about this character in future books.

Heartache Motel was an enjoyable read that introduced me to new characters that I thought were fun and entertaining. Looking forward to reading more from these authors in the future because I was definitely hooked after reading these stories.

Giveaway

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