Category Archives: Guest Blogger
Violet Dawn is here! Blog Blitz & Giveaway by @lynnrush
Check out the newest yumminess from the awesome Lynn Rush!
In the darkest place, the Light shines brightest.
Emma’s love saved Jake from life as a vampire. But their happily ever after is threatened by a savage Vamp seeking retribution for destroying the Avenos Trinity of Evil.
A mysterious stranger enters the mix, coinciding with the first Vamp attack in months. Emma’s new friendship, and the suspicion and deceit surrounding it, further drives a wedge between her and Jake.
To complicate things, Emma is bitten by a Vamp with abilities no one has ever seen before, and that bite has left its mark.
A mark that might tear Jake and Emma apart forever…
Title: Violet Dawn (Violet Night #2)
Author: Lynn Rush
Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press
Release Date: April 1st, 2013
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Violet-Dawn-Lynn-Rush/dp/1939173213
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17160459-violet-dawn
Website: http://www.lynnrush.com
What others are already saying about Violet Dawn:
“Violet Dawn is powerful, enthralling, and refreshingly complex.” ~Carrie Butler, author of Strength
“I’ve fallen head over boots for Emma and Jake as a couple—and as an elite vampire-hunting team…” ~Kristie Cook, author of the best-selling Soul Savers Series
“Fast-paced, action-packed, Violet Dawn is basically everything you’d want from a vampire hunter novel and then some. Emma has kick-ass written all over her.” ~Kate Evangelista, author of Taste
Rafflecopter Giveaway
(Kindle is the prize) Giveaway ends at Midnight (EST) April 23rd, 2013.
http://www.lynnrush.com/GiveawayZone
Violet Dawn Book trailer: http://youtu.be/MZE8Yyv2ZGM
Find Lynn on the interwebz
Author Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/Lynn-Rush/e/B005G3NVBQ
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LynnRushWrites
Twitter: www.twitter.com/LynnRush
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lynnrushwrites/
Author Bio.
Driven to write, Lynn Rush often sees her characters by closing her eyes watching their story unfold in her mind. Lynn Rush is a pen name that is a combination of two sources – Lynn, the first name of her mother-in-law, who passed away and Rush – since the author is a former inline speed skater and mountain biker. All of Rush’s books are dedicated to Lynn, her namesake, and a portion of the proceeds benefits cancer research and awareness.
Guest Author and Give@way~Cera duBois of the Hunter’s Dagger Series
The Rest of the Story…
Keeping the facts straight when writing a series.
Thank you, Amber, for having today as your guest!
*Always, thanks so much for stopping by 
*
Whether you are a reader or a writer of fiction, we often fall in love with the secondary characters or the “world” of a story. So much so, that readers often request authors to “finish” the story. This is what happened with the Star Wars universe. If you ask George Lucas, his story ended at the last scene in Episode 6, Return of the Jedi. Sure, he wrote and produced the Prequel which fans either loved or hated, but we (I’m a Star Wars fan) all wanted the rest of the story.
Do Han and Leia marry? Does Luke rebuild the Jedi Order? Does Leia become a Jedi?
Fortunately for us, Mr. Lucas made a business decision that has raked in millions for him, has kept the franchise alive and well and has, for the most part, satisfied us fans. Yes, Han and Leia not only get married, they have a set of twins, Jacen and Jaina and a son, Anakin, all of whom become favorite characters in the series about Luke’s new Jedi Order. And yes, Leia becomes a Jedi, she actually becomes a Master eventually. A lot happens in the Galaxy Far, Far Away beyond that final scene with the Force ghosts of Anakin, Obi-Wan and Yoda watching the Death Star exploding over the forest moon of Endor with the Ewoks playing primitive instruments and Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca and the droids rejoicing the end of the Evil Empire.
Yeah, did I mention I’m a fan? But having read this series of books, written by various writers, I’ve seen some of the problems with writing a big series. One of the biggest for me is inconsistencies… But this I can understand in a series as huge and diverse as the Star Wars books. These books aren’t written by George Lucas or even endorsed by him … Oh, he makes money from them and sanctions their plots as part of the Expanded Universe, but these authors are only using his “world” and characters. If he chooses to continue with his personal vision of the story—it will be nothing like what has been written. Something this fan hopes never happens. I love the books!
However, I think if a series is written by one author, within one “world” and with the same set of characters, he or she better get the facts straight. I hate inconsistencies and nothing will throw me out of a story faster than changing the facts late in the game.
So, how does an author prevent this from happening? Because it’s the little things that may and do bug the observant reader. Like the heroine’s sister’s green eyes (in book one) now are blue in book five—with no mention of colored contacts. Or the long lost friend whose name was John and now it’s James—without the benefit of the character changing his name.
We all have seen them, but hopefully we can prevent these with some basic record keeping. For both of my series, The Hunter’s Daggers Series and The Colton Gamblers, I use the Microsoft Office program One Note as a virtual notebook. There’s a lot of writing programs out there, and most of them have features that allow you to save notes, or information within the program. I use One Note simply because I like it and it’s easy to use, if you’re a Microsoft user.
For my series The Hunter’s Daggers, I created a virtual notebook and each book has a section. Within these sections, there are pages. I have a page in each book section for research, character profiles, calendar of events, and general notes. On the research page, I’ll copy/paste entire web pages. This makes life easy when I need to make sure my facts are straight, I simply go to my Notebook and find the article. I don’t have to do another web search. In the character profile page, I note anything I might need to know later—such as physical appearances, and any facts about that character I might need to know later. The calendar should be self-explanatory. On the general notes page, I list anything else I might need to know–like brainstorming sessions; I copy/paste the book info, like the blurb and synopsis; all the links to the files; and important dates, like when I started the book and when I finally finished it.
For example, here’s what the profile for Brad Morris/Austin Calhoun from A Hunter’s Angel and A Hunter’s Blade looks like. This was copied from my One Note page. The things in parentheses and italics I added to clarify things.
Bradley Andrew Morris AKA Austin Calhoun
*Born: August 23, 1979, age 32 at the start of A Hunter’s Angel
*Turned into a Vampire by Shane Chamberlain in January 2011.
*Eyes: Hazel/ After his turn, they glow amber when he drops his glamour.
*Hair: Golden Brown, he wears it sort of like Rob Pattinson in Twilight (LOL… I know, this is just so I can picture it so that I can describe it in the books.)
*Height: 6’2”
*Known for his one-night stands and never committing to a woman.
*His father is sentenced to life in prison when Brad is 3 yrs old after he kills a cop during a robbery of a convenience store. He hasn’t seen his father since.
*Grows up on his grandparents’ ranch in East Texas with his mother and sister Diane, who is a year and half younger than him.
*He marries Samantha Anderson when he is 18 after she gets pregnant with his first son, Brandon. She files for divorce in 2001. She remarried a rancher and lives in Texas with Brandon.
*He joins the Army after high school graduation and becomes an MP and eventually works his way into the CID (Criminal Investigation Division). He deploys to Afghanistan in 2002 and to Iraq in 2003. He ETS’s (this is a military acronym which means he leaves the Army) and joins the FBI in 2005.
*He marries his second wife, Jamie Becker, in 2005 after she becomes pregnant after a short series of one-night stands. They are married for 2 years until he cheats on her and she divorces him. She now lives in New Jersey with their son Matthew…
This goes on for every fact that makes up Brad/Austin’s character.
So, hopefully I don’t mix up something that is vital to his character. And hopefully you fall as much in love with this ex-soldier-turned-FBI Special Agent-turned vampire vampire hunter as I did when I wrote him in A Hunter’s Angel, and I just had to tell the rest of his story.
A Hunter’s Angel, Book 1 The Hunter’s Dagger Series
The serial killer stalking Clayton, Pennsylvania, isn’t all that has Chief of Police Grace Wallace worried. For a year, she’s tried to forget Special Agent Ian McHenry and now he’s the expert the FBI sent to catch the killer. She can’t stay away from him, but something primal is telling her to run to save much more than just her heart. Despite the strict code of ethics Ian vowed to follow as a vampire hunter, he craves Grace’s blood above all others. If he chooses to stay, Ian risks losing his chance at divine forgiveness. But if he leaves Grace unprotected from the evil he’s hunted for over a century, he loses more than just his soul…
***Here’s a never before seen excerpt featuring Brad, Ian and Grace***
She looked at him as if she wanted to say something, but Brad interrupted by moving in beside her. Ian hadn’t missed the two of them talking earlier while he waited with Sheryl and the children.
“We’re finishing up. I was thinking of heading back to Clayton for something to eat. I’m starved enough to eat a horse, shoes and all,” Brad said, looking at Grace.
She laughed. “Me, too. But I’ll pass on the shoes, I think.”
The sound shot right though Ian. When was the last time she laughed with me?
His answer came back to him like a double edged sword—the night you almost killed her while making love to her.
Grace brushed a lock of coppery hair from her lightly freckled cheek. Brad watched the action, and Ian sensed his lust. Ian’s jealousy was potent and instant. He fought his darker side and managed to prevent his fangs from descending.
Brad glanced at him, and Ian didn’t need to read his mind to know his intentions. Focused once more on Grace, Brad stepped closer and tilted his head toward her.
Brad was a good two inches taller than Ian. His light brown hair styled in one of the latest disheveled trends and the sun highlighted it with gold. The Texan had that cowboy charm most women easily fell for.
Ian didn’t pay much attention to their conversation. He was too busy fighting the urge to slip into Brad’s mind and make him dance around like a monkey. Maybe have him even scratch his crotch. Wasn’t that what all the Sunday paper cartoons made fun of?
He shook off the crazy notion. Ian didn’t like using his powers on his friends and rarely read Brad’s mind. But Ian couldn’t stop thinking Brad Morris was the last thing Grace needed.
The only thing that prevented him from sending Brad away was his connection with Grace. She wasn’t interested in Brad—now. But given time, would she fall under Brad’s spell as easily as if he had some sort of supernatural power? He had seen his friend charm the pants off more than one woman.
Ian clamped down so hard on his teeth it was amazing he didn’t break them off. The accent, Ian silently accused. He remembered all too well her fascination with his brogue when they’d met a year and a half ago. She’d quizzed him on it until he told her a satisfying story of picking up his Irish parents’ accents.
Brad’s chuckle quickly brought him back to the present. They talked as if Ian wasn’t even there, as if they’d known each other for years. Had they carried on like this last year? Ian couldn’t remember.
She asked, “Hey, you still hungry enough to eat the shoes off a horse?”
Brad smiled broadly. “Yep. What do you say we get out of here?
Available Everywhere E-books are sold:
The Wild Rose Press | Amazon | Barnes and Noble
A Hunter’s Blade, Book 2 of The Hunter’s Dagger Series 
Brigit Wolfe, a born werewolf, hasn’t killed a human in over a hundred years, although now, she wonders if the animal attacking people in Silver Creek, Colorado, isn’t her. But she might have bigger problems when her cowboy neighbor, Austin Calhoun, ambles into her bar. Austin hasn’t been a vampire for long, but he is determined to prove to himself that he’s worthy of his hunter’s dagger. Brigit’s rare beauty and blade-sharp tongue enchants him. She ignites a passion he thought was dead, but is she the killer his master sent him to destroy? During Austin’s investigation regarding Brigit’s involvement in the deaths, an old crime surfaces connected to her human best friend. These two immortal enemies have to join forces to solve the mystery before someone else dies. But can they survive the heat of their own desire?
***Excerpt***
“Why don’t you enlighten me?”
She glowered at him for several moments. Then she closed her eyes and spoke in a language he didn’t understand. Before he knew it, a fire sparked to life in the old stone hearth across the room. A second later, he flew out of his chair and shoved hard against the edge of the bar behind him.
He struggled against the invisible restrains, but she’d taken him completely off guard. He was powerless to break free.
Standing, she kicked the chair to the side and stalked toward him. She could kill him right here and now, but…holy hell, she was damned sexy.
She stopped in front of him and growled, “Let’s get something established about werewolves. There are two kinds. The lesser wolves who are made. And the Lykan who are born. I’m not one of the degenerates. I was born a Lykan in 1647. The first child of Valeriu and Elena. I’m an alpha and you are nothing more than a fledgling just hatched.”
He broke free of her power by drawing on his own. When he moved toward her, Austin held his hands to his side, ready to grab the special knife he had sheathed inside his jacket. His fangs had long ago descended ready for a fight. “I don’t really give a flying fuck whether you were made, born, or hatched.”
When the energy of her power touched him again, he pulled the knife, and the silver blade caught the dim light of the fire in the hearth when he opened the long switchblade. “I want to know if you’re the one preying on these people.”
Her eyes widened and she backed up a step as he approached. “I told you I didn’t attack those humans. I haven’t killed a mortal in over a hundred years. How many innocents have you snacked on tonight? How many of them did you want to kill?”
“I don’t hurt my prey,” he said through clenched teeth and held her icy gaze. He’d never let her know battling the beast within every feeding was the hardest thing he’d ever done.
After forcing himself to take a deep breath, he lowered the knife and released some of the tension zinging through his body. “If you didn’t kill those people then you have nothing to worry about. Best way to figure out who did is by working together.” He put the silver blade away, and his fangs retracted.
“What do you have planned?”
He didn’t miss the slight quiver in her voice. He should finish all this right here and now so he could get back to Ireland and whatever life he’d scraped together, but something needled him into doing a thorough investigation.
“We begin with you telling me everything you remember from those nights you became the big, bad wolf.”
Available now at Amazon and everywhere January 2, 2013.
Bio:
Cera duBois has a strong belief in never giving up on your dreams…
Although Cera was unable to read due to dyslexia and a learning disability until she was in the fourth grade, she always had a story to tell. She wrote her first novel in eleventh grade when she had to keep a journal for her academic English class. Since her life was far from exciting growing up as a farm girl in West Central Pennsylvania, she decided to rely on her imagination to give her something to write about. Over the course of the school year, she wrote a tangled romance set in the Deep South during the Civil War. Becoming an author was her ultimate dream. Despite holding a BS in secondary social studies education from Penn State University, she currently works full-time as a medical secretary. A mother of a teenage son and pre-teen daughter, she lives near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with her husband of nearly 20 years. If she isn’t sitting in a quiet corner with her laptop, warm days will find her in the English garden surrounding her house. Cera loves to read and is interested in history, romance, science fiction and the paranormal. She also writes contemporary Westerns under her real name of Sara Walter Ellwood.
Website Links:
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I’m also having a giveaway!
2 Lucky posters will be picked to receive a custom piece of jewelry designed by me. So make sure you LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS in your post!
Guest Author – Liz Crowe and Conditional Offer: Stewart Realty Book 5
Please welcome the lovely Liz Crowe to the blog today. Not only is she a terrific author, but does she have some stories to tell : )
Sometimes I feel like that chick “Dharma” – you know, from Dharma and Greg? The free spirit girl married to the zipped up attorney? One of the long running jokes on that show was that Dharma had done pretty much everything. If you mentioned you liked a Led Zepplin song she’d played backup guitar for the band. She’d piloted a hot air balloon around the world and taught sign language to chimps. You name it, she’d done it.
I find myself saying things like “well, when I lived in Turkey,” or “when my passport was stolen in Southern Spain,” or “well the fourth time I saw Paris in the springtime” a lot. And many times people think I’m full of it. When my 8 year old daughter told her 2nd grade teacher that she was born in Hiroshima, Japan and had lived in 2 other countries, and ridden elephants in Thailand when she was three the teacher called me, “worried about Julia’s tendency to exaggerate and lie.” Yeah.
Well, I’ve been blessed/cursed with that sort of life. I’ve worked in Washington D.C. for one of the largest non profit fund raising entities known to the modern world (United Way), managed a daily newspaper’s graphics and special sections department, been marketing director for a giant corporation that owns nursing homes, lived in 3 countries, travelled to many, sold real estate and now I’m a fairly successful writer and own a fast growing craft brewery. Yeah.
It’s been an interesting life and I try to channel a lot of it into my books. As a result, I have a style and sort of genre bending formula I like to call “romance for real life.” It’s full of heat, and heart but the people do not always act the way traditional romance characters do. They F%$# up in other words and I let them. They screw up perfectly good relationships by being selfish, rude, or mistrustful. I have won a lot of readers who say “GOD I threw my kindle across the room when ‘heroine’ said that to ‘hero.’ But when is the next book coming out ???”
It does not work for everyone, but it does for me so I’m sticking with it!
And check out her new release!
Available at:
Conditional Offer: Stewart Realty Book 5
Craig Robinson and Suzanne Baxter had no reason to meet, no real excuse to be friends. But when heart calls to heart…blood to blood…should two people who seem destined to be together heed the spin of Fate’s wheel?
Craig spent years floating through life on cruise control, using directionless jobs, his rock band, swimming, and a string of older women in his bed to smother feelings of loneliness and loss. He finally thought he had found his true love in one Sara Thornton — A sexy, beautiful, fellow real estate agent and mentor. But his self-doubt and innate sense of failure is only reinforced when he realizes her heart belongs to another man.
When Sara introduces him to Suzanne, a woman fighting her own demons from an abusive marriage and subsequent feelings of inadequacy and deep unhappiness, that chance moment snaps Craig’s hazy existence into crystal clear focus. A bond born of instant physical attraction is nurtured by time and shared experience, and plenty of erotic energy.
As Suzanne’s past continues to haunt her, making her push Craig away just as he thinks he’s getting closer, each of them must come to terms with their true selves and face their ultimate realities.
“Pre order” on ARe, Releases on Aug. 25.
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-conditionaloffer-907922-148.html
CONDITIONAL OFFER TRAILER (it’s awesome I love it)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvlYO_zzx18
Liz Bio:
Microbrewery owner, best-selling author, beer blogger and journalist, mom of three teenagers, and soccer fan, Liz lives in the great middle west, in a Major College Town. Years of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as an ex-pat trailing spouse plus making her way in a world of men (i.e. the beer industry) has prepped her for life as erotic romance author. When she isn’t sweating inventory and sales figures for the brewery, she can be found writing, editing or sweating promotional efforts for her latest publications. Her ground breaking romance sub genre: “Romance for Real Life” has gained thousands of fans and followers, interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”)
Her beer blog a2beerwench.com is nationally recognized for its insider yet outsider views on the craft beer industry. Her books are set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch and in high-powered real estate offices. Don’t ask her for anything “like” a Budweiser or risk painful injury.
Find her:
www.facebook.com/lizcroweauthor
www.facebook.com/romanceforreallife
www.facebook.com/jackgordonrealtor
Other Books in the Stewart Realty Series:
Floor Time
Sweat Equity
Closing Costs
Essence of Time
Conditional Offer
Escalation Clause (November 2012)
House Rules (March 2103)
Due Diligence (May 2013)
Good Faith (September 2013)
Ashlynne Laynne shares a #Steamy excerpt of Blood Bonds
Please help me welcome Ashlynne Laynne as she shares a steamy excerpt of Blood Bonds.
Blood Bonds Blurb (The Progeny Series #2)
“Forever. For always. For eternity.”
The ties that bind two hearts are powerful. For Ascher Rousseau and Shauna McCutchin, it’s more than just a blood bond. Their union is that of vampire legend. Their love is a predestined prophecy foretold centuries ago.
It’s a week before Ascher and Shauna’s sealing and the couple is making final preparations for their eternity, but Ascher’s ex has other plans. Ursula is hell-bent on revenge—revenge fueled by lover’s scorn and her father’s death—and she begins breeding a fresh army of newborn darklings to do her bidding.
When Ursula finds a new weapon—an ally with the capability to dismantle the Rousseau clan— Ascher and Shauna’s bond is tested and they must stand together against Ursula or lose each other for eternity.
Available Here:
Amazon Kindle US Barnes and Noble Nook Smashwords All Romance E-books
Blood Bonds Steamy Excerpt
“I can remember a time when all I did was to fantasize about how making love to you would be. I dreamed about how your lips would feel on my body, how you’d feel inside of me.” She placed his hand between her legs. “If you need me to take control tonight, I will.” She directed his fingers to her pussy, guiding them inside her wet passage. “Do you feel that Ascher? This is what youdo to me.” She moaned as she wrapped her legs around his waist, threading her fingers into his hair. “Come on, Ascher. Don’t over think this. It’s still just you and me.”
Shaunamolded her impassioned lips to his as her hips moved in sensuous rhythmic circles, slidingher warm wetness along his fingers. Hard kisses on his mouth became softer, more deliberate tongue twirls as her mouth journeyed down his neck causinghis stiffness to poke her stomach. Reaching down, she took him in her hand, swirling her thumb around his swollen crown.
He drew an uneasy breath as a true blaze ignited, sweeping his body, burning him everywhere at once. “Shauna.”
She shook her head at him. “I don’t want to hear it.”
His body quivered, the warmth spreading and making its way to his vision. His fingers delved deep inside of her as she masturbated him into painfully stiff proportions.
Lifting herself off him, she pushed him back, motioning him to lie down. “We’re sealed now,” she whispered against his neck. “That means…” She kissed a slow, teasing trail down his stomach, tracing wet circles into his flushed skin with a stiff tongue. “That I can pleasure you anyway I please. Even this way.”
An involuntary gasp slipped from his lips as he instinctively grabbed a fistful of her hair, winding his hands into it to stop her. He’d had to use this protective measure several times—most of them with Ursula, once before with Shauna and with two overzealous volunteers.
Shauna’s lips pursed with determination. “No.” Her insistent hand found his rod, pulling and stroking it again.
Ascher’s eyes morphed red as the combustion took him over. He attempted to pull her head up to him, but she refused. His restraint and will weakening, he concentrated on keeping control of himself.“Shauna, I think that…”
“I don’t want to hear it. No thinking…”
“But…”
“Sealing was the prerequisite for me pleasuring you in this way—a way you’ve been unselfish in pleasuring me numerous times.”
Stunned by her aggression, he was unable to speak.
She flashed her ring finger at him. “I’m sealed and married to you. There are no more excuses. I want to do this. Think of it as a wedding gift.”
His grip in her hair loosened. He should have considered himself lucky because somemen bribed, begged and sometimes coerced their wives into this, yet she was eager, ready and willing to give him this pleasure. “I don’t know what my reaction is going to be. I’ve never—”
“Well, I’m not exactly sure of what I’m doing. I mean, it isn’t like I’ve ever done this before,” she assured him. “We’ll learn together. I’m sure you’ll let me know how it feels.” She bit her lip and gave him a sneaky grin. “If you’re worried about me, then don’t. I desire to share this experience with you.” Her hands came to his thighs, kneading and massaging them. “You won’t hurt me. Let me pleasure you, Ascher.”
Her head returned to his stomach, her wavy locks gliding along his chest, her warm mouth peppering his skin with more kisses. The heat crept down to his shaft, concentrating there.
He closed his eyes, anticipating what was coming and felt her warm breath against him, causing him to stiffen more. His cock registered her mouth’s close proximity as her tongue flicked the sensitive head with soft and careful laps, tracing wet kisses up and down its length.
Pearly beads bubbled up from the crown, causing the head of his cock to throb with each swipe of her tongue. She flashed him a heavy lidded gaze before sucking the milky offering into her mouth and licking her lips. It felt so good and he couldn’t stifle the rumbling in his throat, forcing its way out of his trembling mouth. His vision saturated with red heat as her mouth enveloped him, taking in as much as she could.
Having never been religious, but finding no other words to describe the intense sensations her mouth gave him, he surprised them both when he moaned, “Oh, my God.”
The familiar tingles coursed his body, only tonight it was an inferno burning the length of his spine. His entire bodyshuddered as her scorching mouth taunted him with heated and determined pulls, coaxing the release out of him. More beads oozed from the depths of his shaft. She rolled her velvety tongue around his crown, greedily sponging up his love offering.
His fangs pulsed in his mouth, aching to make an appearance, as it flooded with uncontrollable thirst. He’d never felt so open to another person, so vulnerable, cherished and scared out of his mind. His breaths quickened as the claws sprangfrom his nails. Horrified, he tucked his hands underneath him as they nearly shredded the slippery red sheets.
Climax approached as the bloodlust set in. His eyes rolled in his head.“Shauna, I can’t.” He growled as another wave of unimaginable pleasure vibrated along his nerves. “You shouldn’t.”
“Let go, Ascher. Don’t hold back.”
“Baby, you don’t understand.”
Her mouth latched onto him with ferocity, her lips milking him, her tongue torturing and feverishly seducing his release to the surface. “Oh, baby,” he moaned, his hand holding her head securely in place. It now felt too good for her to stop. The fire that once coursed his spine was now a deep burn blazing all over his body as warm waves of lust swallowed him up.“Oh God, baby.” His rod became a flesh covered block of solid steel. “You have to stop, Shauna. If you don’t—”
“No,” she groaned as her hand stroked him faster with her mouth keeping a constant pace.
His head fell back as pleasure moved up his shaft, filling him with warm electricity. “You shouldn’t…” He attempted to speak but his tongue was too heavy. “I mean, I don’t …” The words became harder to say. The satisfyingsensations leached the vocabulary right out of his brain, and left unnatural and beastly sounding growls, snarls and howls behind—sounds that no human woman should ever hear come from the man she loved.
She lifted her head, flipping the hair from her face, gazing into his eyes. “I want to see you when you come.”
His crimson gaze burned at her and a clamorous roar forced its way from his convulsive body as he succumbed to an intense climax. She never wavered from her task, taking him deeper into her mouth until not a drop remained. The feeling was like none he’d ever experienced. It was the urge to feed and kill mixed with the most unbelievable sensual shock speeding through every inch of his body.
Available Here:
Amazon Kindle US Barnes and Noble Nook Smashwords All Romance E-books
About The Progeny Series
At its core, The Progeny is simply a story about a man and woman who fall in love, andthe fact that he’s a half-blood (half-human, half vampire) and she’s a Wiccan human are secondary factors. When we meet Ascher, he’s grumpy. Frankly, who could blame him? He’s engaged to seal to Ursula—a cold and careless vampire who wants nothing more than to get her hands on a bloodstone— and he feels conflicted about his existence.
All of that changes when he meets Shawnette McCutchin. She’s beautiful, intriguing and possesses some of the most potent blood that he’s ever smelled. A war immediately begins inside Ascher. He craves Shauna’s blood just as much as he craves her body and the closer they get, the harder it is for him to control his urges. After Ascher calls off the sealing to Ursula, the trouble begins. His family’s peaceful period ends when Ursula’s army attacks the Rousseaus.
This series is about a family of which we’ve never seen before. They share a common mortal and immortal bloodline but loyalty is the thread that holds this clan together. Once you become a part of this family, the others will risk their lives to protect you. We see examples of this throughout the journey. There is no shortage of romance, steam and surprises in The Progeny Series but these books are for adults and contain adult sensuality, language and themes.
Book one of the Progeny Series—The Progeny—re-released on May 7, 2012. The “revamp” is a second edition full of extended scenes, new details and tighter editing. Book two—Blood Bonds—released July 14, 2012.
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About Ashlynne Laynne
Ashlynne Laynne has always had a soft spot in her heart for vampires but grew tired of the garlic fearing, sun-loathing creatures of old. An avid horror movie fan, she tends to enjoy media and music that is of a younger, more eclectic nature. This was the catalyst for her writing The Progeny. The vampire/witch pairing is unique and different when most books pair vampires with werewolves.
Ashlynne loves writing on the edge and teetering between the erotica and romance genres, and thinks of Ascher and Shauna as the wicked, damned version of Romeo and Juliet. She is currently working on books three and four of her Progeny Series, book one of her upcoming Rocker Series, and an untitled novella WIP. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, reading and spending time with her family. She juggles the hats of wife, mother, full time employee and part-time writer, hoping to write full time one day soon.
Ashlynne lives in North Carolina with her husband and teenage son.
Find Ashlynne Online
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Guest Interview Emily Ryan-Davis
Hey all, please help me welcome Emily Ryan-Davis to the blog today.
BLURB:
There’s only one substance on earth that can create a new vampire–the blood of a Chalice, a rare individual with magic in her veins. Atlanta’s human-vampire Civility Laws demand that if a Chalice is found, she must be destroyed. Vampire Teijon Reyes allowed the mortal girl Dessa Collier to live despite the threat she posed to society. If he ever finds her again, he will kill her, personal desires be damned.
Heiress to a family tradition of ward-working, house painter Dessa Collier has spent the past twelve years pretending vampires don’t exist. When a friend-enemy walks back into Dessa’s life after a decade-long absence, everything Dessa has been hiding from comes crashing down on top of her.
Thrown together on a mission to protect a city under seige, Dessa and Teijon can no longer hide from the powerful attraction that binds them…or the monsters out to destroy them.
Available here: Amazon BN Smashwords All Romance Ebooks
And don’t forget to check out the excerpt after the interview
What is a typical day for you like writing-wise?
Oh, jeez. Typical isn’t a word I get to use anymore. I have an infant (8 months!) who sets all the schedules. On a day when I get lucky, he only wakes up twice during the night. From wake-up time until 11 am, he and I play in the living room and I check e-mail, try to get blog posts together, peek in on Twitter and Facebook and forums. If he takes a morning nap and I choose writing over breakfast, I manage to fit a few words into that half hour or so. At 11, my husband gets up and takes the baby so from about 11 am until 4 pm, I write as much as I can between feedings, diapers, and general “no more daddy, only mommy!” fits.
The evening nap is another one of those 45 minute spans where I have to choose between food and exercise and writing. When I’m on a deadline, writing wins. After the evening wake-up, I bide my time until my son goes to sleep, then I write as much as I can until my brain stops working.
It’s a rough schedule and some days I miss having hours upon hours to sit and procrastinate and mull and perfect every sentence the first time out, but most days I manage. I’ve even accomplished a couple of start-to-finish projects on this crazy schedule!
Congrats on the little one, Emily. I remember those crazy hectic days, but the good news is, they do eventually sleep on a semi-regular schedule 
What’s the first thing you did when you received word you’d sold a book?
I chose a pen name. And ever since, I’ve decided at least three times a year to change my pen name. I never do because I’m lazy, but I almost constantly want to. Aspiring authors reading this right now: be darn sure you want to live with your pen name forever! J
What hobby do you enjoy when not writing?
I love knitting wool socks. I haven’t made a new pair for myself in a few years, between deadlines and pregnancy and being a new mom, but I very much look forward to the day when I don’t have a winter deadline or two, and I have my hands free long enough to dig into a ball of soft Merino wool.
If you could be any supernatural creature, what would it be and why?
I haven’t named this creature yet, but I know it’s spooky secret power is the ability to think a book directly into MS Word without having to plot or type or revise or character sketch or run spell check.
Best answer I’ve ever heard!!
What’s your favorite comfort food?
Don’t gag, but pepperoni sandwiches do it for me. Two slices of cheap white bread piled high with pepperoni, a slice of mozzarella, nuked in the microwave until the pepperoni oil soaks into the bread and the crusts get a little crispy with melted cheese, and my diet is over for days. It’s a throw back from growing up in my mother’s house, where the gourmet meal of the week was potato soup (5 pounds of potatoes, a stick of margarine, a handful of salt in a pot of boiling water; boil to a salty paste).
The pepperoni sandwich horrifies my husband, who has a culinary degree.
I don’t think it sounds too bad, in fact, I’ll have to try that. Hopefully with that degree he does a lot of the cooking
If you could time-travel, where would you go and why?
I’m not sure. I’m not much of a traveler. I prefer my clothes in my own drawers and the freedom to roam around in my underwear (or out of them) at will. Right now if I had to choose, I’d probably do a forward jump just to make sure that forty years from now, my little boy (only 8 months old now) is happy with life and love – and if he isn’t, forty years from now, I’d figure out what went wrong so I could work on preventing it. That would probably get me into some kind of weird Ashton Kutcher Butterfly Effect trouble, wouldn’t it?
LOL, one never knows
Why are manhole covers round?
Because men aren’t triangular?
Do you have any upcoming news you’d like to share?
All my current news is “just happened” news, but if I can share some “just happened” stuff, then I’m really excited about my August 3 Ellora’s Cave release NAKED & UNLEASHED, which isn’t paranormal but is definitely something different for me. I’m still totally in love with that hero.
And the Following Fast Five:
Coffee or Chocolate? Coffee.
Jewelry: Precious gems or gold? Gold.
Beach or Mountains? Mountains.
Early Morning or Late Night? Late night.
Fruit or Veggies? Veggies.
And last, but not least, where can we find you on the internet:
Web Site: http://www.emilyryandavis.com
Blog: http://emilyryandavis.blogspot.com
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/emilyryandavis
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/emilyryandavis
Newsletter Sign-Up:
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Paint for Blood
Available Here: Amazon BN Smashwords All Romance Ebooks
EXCERPT:
She turned slowly, only gathering sensory impressions of his alleged safe zone. They faced one another across a sitting room furnished with sofas, chairs, and a writing desk. To her right, the dark shape of an open doorway suggested a more intimate area.
Teijon lifted his shirt over his head, revealing smooth skin, dark and satiny over the pads of muscle beneath. She averted her eyes before they strayed to his waist. The tension was all wrong. She shouldn’t want him, not with his mood switch hanging in the air between them. She should have questions, should demand answers. And he should put his clothes back on.
“What now?” she asked after the silence began to take on a sound of its own. “Earlier tonight…” She licked her lips. “I created vampires, didn’t I?”
“You didn’t by choice.”
“No. I did because Donovan wanted me to.”
“Yeah. And that’s why I have to find Donovan. I need to meet with some people, so you’ll have most of the night to yourself.” He walked past her and went into the bedroom.
Sighing, she raked a hand through her hair. He’d somehow managed to bring his tension under control, but hers continued to run wild. How would she sleep, surrounded by his scent?
He returned to the living room moments later, tucking the hem of a fresh shirt into clean trousers. “I don’t have any women’s clothes around, but you can use anything of mine you’d like. Shower and get some sleep. I’ll be back… late.”
“Wait. I need to know how this is possible.”
“What do you mean, how? It just is.”
“How is it possible that I’m more than one thing? I know I’m not normal. I never have been. But my heritage is…” she hesitated, came up with nothing better than, “good. White-light stuff. Protective. Do you have any idea how long my ancestors have been protecting people from their fears? That’s what I do. Who I am. I can’t be this too. This Chalice.”
He frowned. “Why can’t you?”
“It’s too many roles to fill. I have to make decisions about what I can and can’t work into my life. I have clients already, and my painting doesn’t make me feel like all of me is being sucked away in a mass of yearning. I choose that. I don’t choose you.”
When a flash of something unreadable crossed his features, her chest tightened. Backpedaling, she said, “I mean your kind. Vampires. I can’t protect people from y—from vampires and other fears and serve as a support structure for the creatures I’m warding against. It doesn’t make sense.”
He closed the distance between them and grasped her shoulders, pulling her onto her toes. The rough texture of his beard abraded her jaw when he tucked his face into the curve of her throat and opened his mouth over her skin. His perfectly-normal teeth closed around a tendon in her neck. At the contact, her thighs weakened and her skin tightened over her limbs, heated until her ears and cheeks burned. Teijon’s groan vibrated against her throat. One of his big hands slid into her hair. The other shifted from her shoulder and curved around her breast. He moved, walking her backward, until her spine came up against a wall and she could feel him thick and hard at her stomach.
Memory zapped the strength she had left. She could smell the damp of the cave at Stone Mountain, the limo’s air freshener, the sliver of rose soap from her bathroom. Her body shivered with a backlash of the dread she’d experienced descending into the dark behind Teijon. She recalled every detail of that kiss. And every detail of what followed.
Available Here: Amazon BN Smashwords All Romance Ebooks
BIO:
Emily Ryan-Davis is a lifelong East Coaster whose passion for the written word saw her through jobs writing obituaries, press releases and grants before she decided “I’m going to do this” and sat down to write a book. She made that decision in 2005 and has since published several short stories and novellas with digital publishers including Ellora’s Cave. On May 24, 2012, Emily left supervisors and payrolls behind in order to focus her efforts on writing and raising her son.
Emily has been a member of the Writer’s Digest-recognized writing community Romance Divas, where she volunteers as a moderator and organizes the annual “Not Going to Conference” Virtual Conference, since 2006.
Check out Inhale by Kendall Grey and help save the whales
INHALE Flash Mob
INHALE, an urban fantasy romance by Kendall Grey, is now available in paperback and e-book for Kindle (MOBI) and Nook (EPUB). INHALE is the first book in the JUST BREATHE trilogy. Kendall is donating all profits from the sale of the trilogy to programs that educate people about whales and the challenges they face. Watch the video to find out why. http://www.youtube.com/embed/YQfjxacis28
Kendall encourages interested readers to consider purchasing an e-book instead of a paperback. E-books save trees, cost considerably less, and bring in much more money for the whales.
Thank you for supporting INHALE, and most importantly, the whales that need our help.
INHALE blurb:
Strangers in reality, inseparable in dreams…
After years of suffocating under her boss’s scrutiny, whale biologist Zoe Morgan finally lands a job as director of a tagging project in Hervey Bay, Australia. Success Down Under all but guarantees her the promotion of a lifetime, and Zoe won’t let anything—or anyone—stand in her way. Not the whale voices she suddenly hears in her head, not the ex who won’t take no for an answer, and especially not the gorgeous figment of her imagination who keeps saving her from the fiery hell of her dreams.
Gavin Cassidy hasn’t been called to help a human Wyldling in over a year, which is fine by him. Still blaming himself for the death of his partner, he keeps the guilt at bay by indulging in every excess his rock star persona affords. That is, until he’s summoned to protect Zoe from hungry Fyre Elementals and learns his new charge is the key to restoring order in the dying Dreaming. He never expects to fall for the feisty Dr. Morgan…nor does he realize he may have to sacrifice the woman he loves to save an entire country.
***
*This book contains graphic language, sex, and some violence. Not suitable for readers under the age of 18.
**The author will donate all profits from the sale of the JUST BREATHE trilogy to programs that educate people about whales and the challenges they face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kendall Grey
Blog: http://www.kendallgrey.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KendallGreyAuthor
Despicable Tweets: http://www.twitter.com/kendallgrey1
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5108885.Kendall_Grey
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hmcmg
Guest and Give@way: Sapphire Phelan
Please welcome Sapphire to the blog today to celebrate The Witch and The Familiar. Read the yummies, and check out the giveaway at the end
The Witch And the Familiar Blog Tour Stop #7—Grace Sherwood
The witch, Tina Epson in my new release erotic urban fantasy, The Witch And the Familiar is fictional. But in real life, there have been people accused (both women and men) of witchcraft. In Europe, they were burned at the stake. In the New World, at least in Salem, Massachusetts, they were hung. In Virginia, except for one hung on ship in 1600s just before it landed colonists for Jamestown, most were not. That’s not to say they didn’t go on trial, were “ducked” to prove they were witches and jailed or made to pay, but not thanks to lawmakers, many did not go through a nightmare like Salem. One woman accused of witchcraft in Virginia was Grace Sherwood.
Born in 1660, Grace Sherwood was an only child. With no sons to help him, her father taught her how to work the land and how to irrigate it well. She knew how to make things grow, and from her mother, before she died when Grace was young, she learned how to be a midwife. She couldn’t read or write, but she could memorize well. Grace could swim well and in those days, the only people who could swim were sailors’ sons. A woman wasn’t supposed to be able to swim.
She married James Sherwood and they had three sons, James, John, and Richard. She grew cotton (for cottonseed oil, nothing more), rice, and tobacco. Unlike the other women of the day, who stayed indoors and did womanly things, she would go outside to work the land and even visited the Indians, learning about herbs from them, which she also grew on the plantation. This brought suspicion on her. It didn’t help that she was very attractive in a physical way, either. It had been said that the local magistrate had tried to seduce her and she had refused his attentions.
It also didn’t help that the neighbors accused her of blighting gardens, causing livestock to die, and influencing the weather. When a neighbor had blighted cotton and the Sherwoods did not, that was because of Grace’s knowledge of irrigation, but not witchcraft. It didn’t matter. Suddenly, people began to whisper things about her—that if someone saw a firefly at night, it was actually Grace dancing in the moonlight. After Grace was accused of bewitching a neighbor’s crop in 1698, allegations kept growing over time until the Princess Anne County government and her accusers decided she would be tested by ducking. When the sheriff searched Grace’s house (which no longer stands today), there was no evidence of a witch ball, which made her a possible witch all the more in her accusers’ eyes.
The reason witches were ducked was because water was considered pure and would not permit a witch to sink into its depths. Based on this theory, the accused was tied up and thrown into the water. If the person drowned, he was declared innocent of witchcraft; if he could stay afloat until he could free himself, he was declared a witch. In this case, innocent, damned, guilty, damned—you might die either way.
Grace was tried in the second Princess Anne County Courthouse, found guilty, and consented to the traditional trial by water.
One of the many tall tales that have been handed down from generation to generation has to do with the day of her ducking. On July 10th, 1706, at 10am, her accusers tied her thumbs to her big toes cross-bound and dropped her into the western branch of the Lynnhaven River near what is now known as Witchduck Point. When they led Grace Sherwood through the crowd that had turned out to see her put into the water, she told them, “All right, all of you po’ white trash, you’ve worn out your shoes traipsin’ here to see me ducked, but before you’ll get back home again you are goin’ to get the duckin’ of your life.” When they put Grace into the water the sky was as bright blue as a bird’s wing, but immediately afterward it grew pitch black, thunder rolled and the lightning flashed across the heavens. The terrified people bolted for home, only to be washed off the roads and into the ditches by a regular cloudburst. In reality, Grace couldn’t have walked, being tied as she was and when placed in the water, Grace did not drown but floated, which was considered a sign of guilt. Most likely the ties came undone so she could swim, which she could do well. She was imprisoned for seven years and ten months. Released in 1714, Grace paid the back taxes on her property and returned to her farm, where she worked the land until her death at eighty years of age in September, 1740.
Her story doesn’t end there, for on July 10, 2006, after Belinda Nash worked hard for seven years to get Grace pardoned, Governor Timothy M. Kaine fully cleared exonerated Grace. She is the only deceased person known to be cleared in Virginia. A statute was unveiled on Saturday, April 21, 2007, on the lawn of Bayside Hospital in Virginia Beach. It was placed near the corner of Independence Boulevard and North Witchduck Road, within two tenths of a mile of the old second Princess Anne Courthouse of 1706.
Sapphire Phelan
Dark heroes and heroines with bite…sink your teeth into a romance by Sapphire Phelan today.
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2010 Prism Winner
Buy The Witch And The Familiar
Blurb:
Mortal woman Tina discovers she is part of a prophesy that says she and Charun, her demon Familiar, must make love so she can become the witch she is fated to be. If she doesn’t do it and stop the demon army bringing Armageddon to the Mortal Realm on Halloween, she won’t stand a chance in Hell.
A year later, just when Tina and Charun thought it was all over and that their life would be normal—another prophesy pops up. If Lucifer snatches Tina and mates with her before the last chime before midnight of the new year and gets her pregnant with his son, that the real Armageddon would begin, spelling the end of life as they knew it. This time they get help from an archangel, Jacokb, but with demons, Lucifer, and a cute demon bunny with fangs out of a Monty Python nightmare, out to stop them and Heaven not lending a hand, will Tina this time lose the battle and become the mother of the Antichrist and the start of a new Hell on Earth?
Excerpt (must be 18 and older to read):
Buy The Witch And The Familiar
The time had come.
About time too.
Not looking back, Charun rose from the bowels of Hell to the Mortal Realm, ending up just down the street from Cup of Tea and a Book bookstore. He shifted into the form of a handsome, naked man. His staff waved before him like a proud, hissing snake, spitting even as precum beaded at the slit. He shook his head. No, it was too soon for him to assume the man form. He frowned, thinking.
A cat!
He would become a cat. That would do—for now. Just not a horny tom cat, as the pain of his arousal washed over him. He dodged into a nearby alley and worked his organ, biting his lips when he came.
Withdrawing his hand from his flaccid penis and using the other to prop himself against the building, he spoke in demon, “Denoch er nomonaty.”
A strange feeling slammed into him and he cried out as he dropped to his knees on the pavement. Thrusting out a hand against the ground so he wouldn’t topple over, he began to metamorphose, growing smaller and smaller as he did. Black fur sprouted all over his body and head. His ears sharpened into points and shot up over his head, while his hands and feet became paws edged with sharp claws. Whiskers pinged out of his cheeks and from his buttocks snaked a long tail. He hunched over and then fell over onto his ass. Within seconds, his metamorphose completed, he was a black cat. Resisting the peculiar urge to wash his face, Charun stretched and then rose onto all four paws. He padded over to a puddle of rain water to inspect the change.
He sat down and viewed his reflection. Not bad looking as far as cats went. Lifting a paw, he splashed his image. Then back on all four paws, he trotted to the street and paused to sniff the air. He sneezed as the full force of odors hit him. A multitude of different things, from the smell of blasted sunshine to the grime of city life. The sunshine revealed to him that it would not rain for days. He had arrived a day too late. The air revealed that it had thunder stormed yesterday.
He needed heavy rain to make his first appearance to his witch. Needed it as a reason for her to feel sorry for him and take him in. From what he remembered she would not leave any animal drowning in a torrential downpour. But from all the viewing he did of her growing up he knew she wasn’t an impulsive person either. He knew that she loved animals, but felt that she couldn’t afford one right now in her life. He might end up in an animal shelter or a place like that. This kind of operation needed the right things in place. Timing, too. Timing always mattered. He had learned that long ago as an Incubus. The wrong time could always mean the lover would wake up too soon. Find that their fantasy lover was real, and that the husband, wife, lover, concubine, whoever, wasn’t what really was taking them beyond the heights of lust. One Succubus found that out the hard way when her nobleman lover woke up not to find his wife mounted on his staff but a green-skinned fiend. He knocked her out before she could call her magic up and had a priest exorcised her. Exorcism was death for a demon. Instead of sending them back to Hell, it ended their existence.
So timing was important, even now. His witch’s survival was the true equation here. If she died before he made her a witch, he knew the fate for Earth if the demons took over. There was the matter of his lust for her too. Relieving it wouldn’t be bad, either.
He cocked his head and twitched his ears. He was a demon, with strong magic. Closing his eyes, he let his magic surround him with a shimmering golden light.
Lano’ste. Na la por lestano.
His fur stood on end, the ends crackling, and he widened his eyes as the magic burned within and outside with a violent heat close to atomic. He fell onto his side, dazed, and barely noted when it shot away from him, heading toward the blue skies. It dusted the few white clouds drifting along the blue sky and they became black ones, pregnant with rain.
Still unsteady, he rolled over onto his stomach and waited until the power quieted. Charun breathed in the rain odor and gave a Cheshire cat grin. He rose to his paws and padded off, as the sound of thunder vibrated in the air.
Fuck the weather forecasters and their predictions. With magic, he’d just turned their Doppler radar upside down.
About Sapphire Phelan:
Sapphire Phelan is an author of erotic and sweet paranormal, fantasy, and science fiction romance, along with a couple of erotic horror stories. She also writes as Pamela K. Kinney, for horror, fantasy, science fiction, and nonfiction ghost books.
She lives in Virginia with her husband and two cats, Ripley and Bast.
She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house and husband sometimes suffers for it!
For more information, check out her website: http://www.SapphirePhelan.com .
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Giveaway Goodies
I am doing a giveaway for the whole blog tour April 23rd through April 28th. Leave a comment here or at any of the blogs I make at. You can leave a comment (plus your email, so I can contact you) at each blog, to get more chances, but no more than one per blog, please. The giveaway is a signed copy of The Witch And The Familiar. This is only for USA commenters though (due to price of mailing outside of US). For those outside of US, I will give instead a gift cert for price of the book at Phaze Books, so that I can email you.
Who wants some Cowboy Kink? and Give@way
Please welcome my guest Randi today, and get ready for an awesome giveaway
Yes, I Can Write Paranormal Cowboys!
Thank you, Amber, for hosting me today. I’m Randi Alexander and I write cowboy erotic romance. I’m published with The Wild Rose Press’ Cowboy Kink line. My new release, Her Cowboy Stud, is available now.
Her Cowboy Stud available at The Wild Rose Press Wilder Roses and Kindle version is available at Amazon.com
I enjoy reading paranormal romance, but the few times I’ve tried to write it, it’s been difficult for me. Last year, All Romance eBooks hosted a contest called Just One Bite. I felt a driving urge to challenge myself and write a vampire erotic romance short story to enter. I did it! This Cowboy Bites was a blast to write.
I started by creating my character’s world. My vampire was warm blooded, night walking, and when he bit a woman’s neck, he also needed to take her, sexually. I loved being able to set my own rules. It’s very freeing. I could be as creative as I chose.
I entered the story in the contest, and Oh My Gosh, it was chosen from over a hundred entries as one of the thirty-two finalists! Really amazing for me because I hadn’t written paranormal before. But it gets better! I ended out just out of the money in fourth place, but for a first-timer, that was truly incredible.
Here’s a link to the story, if you’d care to read it. It’s actually a free book download from All Romance eBooks which includes eleven other paranormal short stories as well as This Cowboy Bites. Click here for your free download.
After the contest, dozens of readers asked me to write more vampire cowboys. I spent a week creating a series of vampire cowboy erotic romance ménages – nine books in all. I pitched the idea to an editor at a writers’ conference. She loved it, and wants to see the first book as soon as it’s ready. Now, I just have to write it.
I also need to find a name for the town. The series is set in a very small town in south-central Texas. I’m looking for a name that gives the feeling of a dusty old place on a dead-end road that is nearing extinction until rich cowboys (vampires!) begin buying up all the huge ranches surrounding the town. The books will tell the story of the clashes and seductions between the town folk and the vampires.
This is where I need your help. What are your suggestions for the town’s name? Whatever pops into your mind, one, two, a dozen names, please leave a comment with your ideas. One lucky commenter will win an ebook!
Trace McGonagall’s quiet life on his Houston stud ranch is shaken up when gorgeous Macy Veralta arrives to claim an inheritance left to her in his uncle’s will. Trace sees her as just another gold digger, but he also can’t resist her curvy body. When she hints at being the perfect submissive to his Dom, he has to have her.
Macy wouldn’t have been three months late to claim her inheritance if she’d known Trace was sin in jeans. The cowboy’s dominant bearing and the smoldering glint in his eyes send shivers to her toes and stirs images of being bound in his bed and disciplined at his hand. But could Trace’s perfect seduction be part of his plan to reclaim her inheritance?
EXCERPT: Over 18 only, please.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you.” Macy wrapped her arms around his middle.
Trace hugged her tight for a minute. Against her chest his heart beat as wildly as hers. Reaching down, Trace eased an arm under her knees and lifted her into his arms. “Wait until you get a taste of my lovin’, sweetheart. You’ll be hooked.”
She rested her head on his chest and admitted more to herself than to him, “I think I’m already hooked.” Being held in his arms tingled like magic, and her body reacted, filling and warming, flooding her needy pussy with a sweet ache.
He opened the screen door and deftly carried her in. He strode down a hallway and into a big bedroom, kicking the door shut behind them. A gigantic bed dominated the room, done up in moss green with a few gray and green throw pillows tossed on as an afterthought—the housekeeper’s doing, probably. Trace didn’t seem like the accessorizing kind of guy.
Big, clunky dark wood furniture stood around the room. A beautiful old rug nearly covered the entire hardwood floor, and a lamp in the corner cast a subtle glow over the room.
She took a deep breath, smelling the scent of man and musky cologne. “This bedroom is so masculine.”
“Just like me?” He set her on her feet.
“Exactly like you.” She ran her fingers through his hair, loving how the soft locks curled around her skin, tickling her. She tugged him down for a kiss.
He groaned as he slanted his lips over hers and made love to her with his mouth. His tongue touched everywhere, slow and thorough. His hands slid to the tie of her halter top, and he eased it free, standing back to watch as he revealed her breasts.
“Beautiful.” He stared for a moment before bending her backward over his arm, one hand at her neck to steady her, suckling first one nipple then the other. He laved them with his tongue, teasing them with sensual flicks.
The sucking and nibbling of his hot, talented mouth on her breasts drove her mad. A quaking desire filled her as her core contracted, and moisture slid from her needy lips.
Lifting the hem of her halter top, he eased it off over her head and tossed it onto a chair.
“My turn.” Macy unbuttoned his shirt, taking her time, enjoying each inch of skin she revealed. She slid it off his shoulders and let it drop. “Oh, wow.” His arms were defined, his chest sculpted and furred by a light scattering of dark hair, his flat stomach showed a hint of muscle developed by hard work, not zealous sit-ups. Lower, his narrow hipbones showed above his low-slung jeans.
Her need to touch him consumed her.
“Touch me,” he drawled, as if reading her mind.
Macy ran her fingers over his torso. She wanted him, wanted his chest pressed to her breasts, wanted his big arms around her. First, she wanted to see what hid beneath those tight fitting jeans.
At the instant she reached for his belt buckle, his fingers closed on the button of her capris. They both grinned and worked in tandem, removing his boots and socks, her flip flops and pants, and his jeans. They stood in their underwear, hers lacy and white, his black and stretched to the limit by his big, long cock.
He stared at her, a long, slow appraisal, making her skin quiver wherever his gaze touched. When he reached for her, she melted into his arms as his hands roamed across her back. He pressed his lips gently to her neck. His tongue darted out for a taste. “Aw, God.” His voice rumbled low in her ear.
His hand eased from her back to the side of her breast. His thumb traced a path around her nipple, brushing over it.
She sighed and shuddered as heat streaked from her nipple down to her slit.
His cock jerked against her belly. She abandoned any insecurity she felt and pressed her hand to the bulge in his underwear. His rod throbbed in her palm, and she licked her lips with the need to feel him in her mouth, pushing in deep, taking him down her throat as she swallowed his long shaft and sucked him dry.
“Darlin’.” He lifted her gently in his arms and carried her to the bed, laying her on the comforter. “I want to taste you. Everywhere.” His words came slow and full of promise. His half-lidded eyes turned nearly black with lust as he looked his fill of her body, not touching her, taunting her with expectation.
Macy’s back arched off the bed as a sweep of pleasure brushed over her. Tingling with need, she reached up and touched one of her nipples. “Here?”
He swallowed loudly. “Yes, there.”
Her hand snaked down her body, over her stomach. “And here?”
“Of course.” His voice growled even deeper.
She looked him in the eye, reveling in his barely-leashed desire. The tightness of his face, his flared nostrils, and tense jaw. When she slid her hand lower, he watched.
Slipping her finger inside her lacy panties, she asked, “Will you taste me here?”
*********
To celebrate the release of Her Cowboy Stud, I’m giving away, to one lucky *commenter, an e-copy of my new erotic romance short story anthology Cowboy Bad Boys. Just leave a comment today and we’ll choose a winner tomorrow. *Commenter must be 18 years of age or older to win.
I’m also giving away a custom-made messenger bag and a $50 gift certificate to Pureromance to one subscriber to my newsletter. For more details, and to sign up for this contest, please go to my website, RandiAlexander.com And while you’re there, you can read the first chapter of Her Cowboy Stud.
Good luck, and thank you!
Randi “Rode Hard and Put Up Satisfied”
Her Cowboy Stud available at The Wild Rose Press Wilder Roses
Kindle version is available at Amazon.com
Who wants some Yummy werewolf? Trinity Bound by Carrie Ann Ryan
Trinity Bound by Carrie Ann Ryan
Hannah Lewis, a rare earth witch, is taken from the only life she’s ever known. Held at her will by a sadistic wolf, she almost gives up hope that she’d ever see her real life again. But as her fellow captive, a werewolf named Reed, tries to calm her fears, she begins to feel a spark of something she never thought she’d feel – love. But is Reed, alone, enough to get her out of this dark basement so she can move on with her life?
Reed Jamenson, the artist of a werewolf Pack of Alpha males, knows instinctually that Hannah is his mate. Thus, despite their imprisonment, he will do all to protect her and then worry about their hearts. But is he strong enough to find a way for both of them to escape? And why does he feel as though something else is missing?
Josh Kolb, an ex-military human, stumbles upon Reed and Hannah and finds he must trust this new world of supernatural beings to survive. But that desire will lead the three to a triangle of attraction that will test the boundaries they all possess and its consequences in defeating the enemy. Can they all trust one another to save themselves and life as they know it? Even at the cost of their own hearts?
Sound good? Check it out.
And for a taste of Yum~
Hannah put her hand on Josh’s arm, a jolt of electricity flashing between the two. She gasped and he held back the urge to do the same. She gave him a smile and he desperately wanted to brush the curls from her face, soothing the bruises that couldn’t hide her radiant beauty. Reed crouched behind her, still protective. He too was beautiful, his chiseled cheekbones pronounced against the shadowed, healing bruises.
Crap. He could understand thinking sexy thoughts about Hannah, but since when did he think males were attractive in anyway? Either that weird connection confused him, or he really was falling for Reed. He didn’t know which one, if either, he wanted to be true.
Reed bent over Hannah to whisper to them both. “Camera.”
“Don’t worry about them now. We have about ten more minutes and then we’d have to worry.”
They both looked curious with a similar tilt of their heads, but didn’t say anything, merely nodding.
“Who are you?” Reed whispered, leaning closer.
“Josh.” Why the hell did he say his name? He was never a name, just a presence, on any other mission. Why did he want them to know his name? Know him? “I’m no one. Just a friend.”
“You’re human.” Hannah’s surprised gasp was still whispered.
Meet Carrie
Carrie Ann Ryan is a bestselling paranormal and contemporary romance author. After spending too much time behind a lab bench, she decided to dive into the romance world and find her werewolf mate – even if its just in her books. Happy endings are always near – even if you have to get over the challenges of falling in love first.
Her first book, An Alpha’s Path, is the first in her Redwood Pack series. She’s also an avid reader and lover of romance and fiction novels. She loves meeting new authors and new worlds. Any recommendations you have are appreciated. Carrie Ann lives in New England with her husband and two kittens.
Carrie Ann loves hearing from readers. You can find her at:
Twitter: @CarrieAnnRyan
An Alpha’s Path
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-alphas-path-carrie-ann-ryan/1107828923
ARe: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-analpha039spath-737818-139.html
A Taste for a Mate
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1108508709?ean=2940014077125&itm=1&usri=a+taste+for+a+mate
ARe: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-atasteforamate-737822-139.html
Author Ashlynne Laynne and The Progeny
Please welcome author Ashlynne Laynne with us today, and read on for some goodies
The Progeny by Ashlynne Laynne (Book One of The Progeny Series)
Publisher: Novel Concept Publishing
Release Date: February 15, 2012
Buy Link(s): http://amzn.to/yLwQB6
The Progeny Blurb
“No fate other than the one I choose.” The timeless creed, and tattoo, bore by the Rousseau’s— a vampire clan with the purest bloodline of any vampire family. Out of this clandestine group came one who was different, yet the same: Ascher – a half-bloodling— half- human, half vampire.
Ascher questions the purpose for his existence and which world he truly belongs to: the human world or the vampire world. Two months from sealing to Ursula— a prearranged union to a woman he abhors — he’s at his wit’s end. He knows if he calls off the sealing, the Romanian clan will strike with deadly force, but he cannot see eternity with a cold empty shell of a woman like Ursula.
Just when he thought life was complicated enough, he meets Shauna— a beautiful, bi-racial human Wiccan — and immediately develops an unshakable attraction to her. She makes him feel alive and vital despite his origins and Ascher makes a decision that turns his immortal world upside down.
About The Progeny
At its core, The Progeny is simply a story about a man and woman who fall in love, andthe fact that he’s a half-blood (half-human, half vampire) and she’s a Wiccan human are secondary factors. It started as research about the Salem witch trials, some rough sketches of a special family heirloom that my guys would wear and two names—Ascher and Shauna. In the beginning, of the book, Ascher is grumpy. Frankly, who could blame him? He’s engaged to seal to Ursula—a cold and careless vampire who wants nothing more than to get her hands on a bloodstone— and he feels conflicted about his existence. All of that changes when he meets Shawnette McCutchin. She’s beautiful, intriguing and possesses some of the most potent blood that he’s ever smelled. A war immediately begins inside Ascher. He craves Shauna’s blood just as much as he craves her body and the closer they get, the harder it is for him to control his urges. After Ascher calls off the sealing to Ursula, the trouble begins. His family’s peaceful period ends when Ursula’s army attacks the Rousseaus. Kidnapping, some steamy love scenes between our hero and heroine and Wiccan rage complete the plot.
Excerpt from The Progeny
Ascher pulled Shauna behind him, his stance clearly a protective one. But why-? Surely, she didn’t need protection from her. His grip tightened around her arm, his knuckles straining with tension. Her mind finally registered his firm hold and sent messages to her heart and eyes.
She wiggled away from him. “Let go of me, Ash! What’s wrong with you? Who is she?”
“I’m fine and she’s nobody. Ursula was just leaving.” He spoke with little conviction.
“The hell I am…” the stranger mumbled, an unsavory smirk turning up the corners of her mouth. “Tell her, Ascher. Tell her who I really am!”
“Yeah, Ascher,” Shauna spoke in a mocking tone, her eyes becoming pieces of wet coal in narrow sockets. “Why don’t you tell me the truth…who is she?”
He froze, his youthful face chiseled with a mixture of shock, horror and anger. “There’s something you need to know.”
“Spit it out, Ascher. Tell her! Or I will!” Ursula growled, her hands flicking the shades away from her face.
Terror, worse than any horror movie Shauna had ever seen. More ghastly than any monster a mind could conjure.
Shauna clutched her chest, stepping away from both of them. “Her eyes!” she screamed. “Ascher…what’s wrong with her eyes?”
The stranger giggled and continued piercing her demonized stare into Shauna.
Ascher struggled to control his mounting anger. He clutched Shauna closer. “Do you trust me?”
The floor vibrated underneath their feet. Shauna’s eyes became cold, the glare of distrust swimming in them.
“No. I don’t! Why are you so nervous?”
“You left Katy alone. You should go back up with her. I’ll be up there in a little while. Okay?”
“No. I want to know who she is. Right now, Ascher! Who…is…she?”
“Please, Shauna,”— he huffed with impatience— “just do it.”
“For cryin’ out loud…” Ursula groaned.
“I warned you, Ursula,” he growled, every part of him aching to rip her to shreds. She had nerve. Were he not a gentleman, he’d finish her and be done with it.
“You don’t warn me. Looks like you’ve been keeping a lot from her. Afraid she might not want you if she knows the real you?”
His lips strained against clenched teeth, begging to curl up and release a menacing snarl. Control— He had to stay in control. Push the anger back down. Stem the raging desire to lash out at Ursula.
Her red eyes narrowed, the smirk taunting him, daring him to expose himself. He was strong in his gifts, but rage made her stronger. Her mind turned, fighting off the subliminals he hurled at her.
She cackled, “That won’t work, dearest. It’s time she knows everything.”
“Dearest?” Shauna questioned, her tiny fists balling.
Ascher reached for Shauna but she moved away from him.
“Don’t touch me!”
“Ursula, doing this won’t change things between us,” he uttered, knowing she’d never listen to reason.
“No! She deserves to know the truth, Ascher,” Ursula responded.
“Ursula, please—” He couldn’t believe he was begging her for anything.
Ignoring his pleading, she continued, “My name is Ursula. Ascher and I are to seal in two days.”
Shauna drew in a staggered breath. “Seal— as in marriage?”
Ascher sighed.
“Is this true?” Shauna demanded.
His head dropped in shame. “Yes, but…”
“So she is your fiancée? And let me guess, she’s the first.”
“Shauna, I can explain.”
Shauna clutched her head with both hands screaming, “No!” The window, behind her, cracked. She ran towards the door, fresh tears flooding her face. Ascher grabbed at her, missing. “No!” she shouted again. The ceiling rumbled, water raining down from the sprinklers. “Move!” she shouted, pointing towards the door. It flew open, nearly ripping off its hinges. Ascher appeared in front of her. She scowled then pushed him back. “Go away!” she yelled then watched as an unseen force moved him from her path. She turned, backing away from both of them, her eyes fixated on the two. Her finger twirled then pointed at each of them. “Stay!”
“I hope you’re happy now,” he growled at Ursula then sprinted after Shauna, catching her before she hit the stairs. He clutched her, turning her to him. Distress blanketed her face. “Shauna please, just let me explain.”
A strange burn started in her legs. What’s happening to me? She’d had rage issues all her life but never anything like this. Her normally clear eyesight was now blurry and grey. The hall—she’d seen for three months and knew like the back of her hand—became an unfamiliar maze, veiled by her fuzzy vision.
She took a step, stumbled then regained her balance against the wall.
“I told you how important honesty was to me and you’ve been keeping this from me the whole time. You told me she was nobody… that it was only physical curiosity. It doesn’t look that way to me. She talks like she owns you. You told me it was over between the two of you. How were you going to cover up getting married to someone else?”
“I wasn’t, just listen to me…”
She shook her head. “I’ve listened enough. I can’t trust you. Without trust, we have nothing. All you’ve done is feed me lies. You’re a liar! I despise liars! I can’t believe I was going to sleep with you—allow you to be my first.” She gripped her stomach and doubled over. “I’m going to be sick…”
He reached for her, again.
“Don’t touch me!” Every ounce of restraint left her body. Chaos now flooded her brain. She wanted to lash out. No, she needed to lash out.
“Shauna. Just let me take you home. I promise I’ll explain things to you.”
“What part of, ‘I don’t want to hear your lies’— don’t you understand?” she seethed through clenched teeth, her anger blazing directly into him. “Back…!” she barked, pushing her hands away from her body, towards him. He flew back against the wall. “I don’t want to hear it! Don’t touch me, Ascher,” she sobbed into her hands, “I hate you. I wish I’d never met you!”
“Shauna…?” he whispered, pain and disbelief creasing his face.
“Just leave me alone. I never want to see you again.”
“Shauna you don’t….”
“Oh yes I do— I mean it and I quit! I can’t work here anymore.”
She ran out the emergency exit, setting off the door alarm, sprinting—into the night.
About Ashlynne:
Ashlynne Laynne has always had a soft spot in her heart for vampires but grew tired of the garlic fearing, sun loathing creatures of old. An avid horror movie fan, she tends to enjoy media and music that is of a younger, more eclectic nature. This was the catalyst for her writing The Progeny. The vampire/witch pairing is unique and different when most books pair vampires with werewolves.
The infinite possibilities, for such a wickedly unique couple, intrigued her. There is no shortage of romance, steam and surprises in The Progeny. These books are for adults and contain adult sensuality and themes, but minimal profanity. She loves writing on the edge and teetering between the erotica and romance genres. She thinks of Ascher and Shauna as the damned version of Romeo and Juliet.
She’s currently working on book two of the series entitled Blood Bonds. In her spare time, Ashlynne enjoys cooking, reading and spending time with her family. Ashlynne juggles the hats of wife, mother, full time employee and part-time writer, hoping to write full time one day soon.
Ashlynne lives in North Carolina with her husband and teenage son.
Ashlynne appreciates and loves to hear from her readers. Contact her:
Twitter: @qlane
Facebook: Book Page- http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Progeny-Series-by-author- Ashlynne-Laynne/129418917161599
Author Page- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Ashlynne-Laynne/118945981513261
Author Blog: http://authoraslane.blogspot.com/
Email: ashlynnelaynne@aol.com
