Getting to know you in the New Year – #Hello2016 Hop
We’re ringing in the New Year with lots of giveaways! And by sharing some fun and wacky facts about ourselves. There’s a new giveaway at each stop so be sure to visit them all!
Rockin’ Reads Hop #Giveaway
So I guess today’s blog hop is about books we read that rocked? I tried to come up with books about rock – as in, rock star romances – except it turns out I haven’t read too many of those that really rang my bell. So if you’ve got some recommendations for those or any other books that rocked your world, please leave me a comment!
So I LOVE to talk books, and I love to share books that have really made me swoon, so that’s what I’m doing with this hop today. Share yours in the comments, and I will give one poster a signed copy of one of my paperbacks, plus some swaggy things!
Now – my recent fave comfort reads:
The Bollywood Affair – I had the pleasure of hearing Sonali Dev talk about her book at last year’s WRW Reader/Blogger Luncheon (we’re doing another one on October 10! You should totally be there!) and it just sounded so fascinating I had to check it out. I got so engaged in the richness of the story and the drama of it that my husband started making fun of how I wouldn’t put the book down. Given the way I read, that’s really saying something.
The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen (new adult, male/male) – another author mentioned this book in a discussion, and I eventually grabbed it and read it over and over. The love story is so sweet and it makes me actually want to watch college sports, which isn’t even usually my thing. The whole series is great. If you’re a purist about starting with book 1 of a series, you’ll actually want to go here.
Forgotten Sins – Rebecca Zanetti is always awesome, and I mean – a fiercely loyal superhuman soldier with amnesia, and the woman who loves him. Need I say more?
The Siren – this envelope-pushing erotica novel by Tiffany Reisz is one I go back to again and again not simply for the sexy chemistry between the characters but because I love Reisz’s lyrical writing style so damn much. <3
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened – Jenny Lawson’s “mostly true memoir” isn’t romance and apparently isn’t even entirely fiction, but I swear to you that you will laugh until you can’t breathe. Worth the price of the book, even though I typically bristle at paying more than ten bucks for an e-book. She has a new one out also, even better I’m told, though I haven’t had the joy of checking it out yet.
(For some reason I can’t get the linky script working that shows all the other hop participants, but for a full list you can go here: http://theherdhops.blogspot.com/2015/09/rockin-reads-giveaway-hop.html or try #RockinReads on Twitter, etc.)
Giveaway: Win your choice of paperbacks (from my Evergreen Grove or Chronicles of Yavn series), plus a little swag:
Cover Reveal + Giveaway: At the Stars
Cover photography by Michael Stokes – Cover design by Babski Creative Studios – Cover model, Adam Von Rothfelder
I started writing At the Stars years ago, and had to put it aside – partly because of other deadlines and family obligations, and partly because the story was a little too much for me at the time. I saw the image I absolutely needed to use for the hero, Jake, on Michael Stokes’s facebook page last March, and that finally pushed me to finish the story. I’m so happy and proud to finally have it done!
At the Stars is different than anything I’ve written before – it’s more emotional, the characters are younger, and laden with a whole ton of emotional baggage. It’s angsty, but it was a story that had been eating at me forever and when a story does that you have to get it out.
About At the Stars:
A GIRL TRYING TO LEAVE HER PAST BEHIND
I was a normal teenager who loved music and dancing, until the day I was attacked in my favorite record store. A few years later when my mom succumbed to depression and took her own life, I couldn’t stay in my hometown with all the memories and the curious stares. I decided to get in my car and just go – except my car decided it was done going outside a tiny place called Evergreen Grove. That’s where I found Jake. Or I guess Jake found me.
A GUY WHO CAN’T LET HIS GO
For the last eight years, all I can think about is the day I ended another man’s life. Then I manage to save Cassie’s, and I feel like maybe I’ve got some kind of second chance. To do what I couldn’t before, or maybe even for something bigger. Something like love. If only I could feel like I deserve her…
Pre-order Now!
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Excerpt (Cassie’s point of view):
“You can’t live off muffins and granola bars. You need a sandwich. Hell, so do I. We both need a break from this shit.” He grabs the box of muffins and rolls his massive shoulders, while my surprise keeps me rooted and watching him walk away. He turns at the door, still looking irritated. “You coming?”
I look toward the back. “Delia?”
“Be on time tomorrow,” she calls. “It’s multigrain day.”
Jake only smiles a little and pushes open the door, waiting. His arms and chest move under his button-up work shirt, pulling me forward in spite of my confusion.
God, I think this is the first guy I’ve honestly liked the way I used to hear my friends talk about at school. The giggles and the fake drooling and face fanning followed by ridiculous comments like “He’s so pretty” or “I’d totally do him in a phone booth.”
I mean, how stupid is that? When was the last time anybody even saw a phone booth?
Here, now, following Jake and his brisk stride across the street to his truck, it finally all makes sense: AJ’s right. I like him. I like the way he keeps trying to help without treating me like I’m fragile. I like the way he looks at me, like I’m a woman he finds attractive, not a wounded animal he has to pity. I like that he feels easy to talk to, even when he’s all growly.
I don’t feel scared or tentative around him. And in spite of his dire warnings, I’d like to hang around him more.
I want to spend time with him so much I’m following him even though I don’t have a clue where we’re going, and even though I’m still a little annoyed by his sandwich comment. I half suspect if we passed a phone booth right now, I might give the thing a moment’s pause.
Then, out of nowhere the tears come. Only for a second, because now isn’t the time to get emotional. It never is, so I shove them down.
He’d never get it, what liking him this way means, even if I tried to explain. He’s already given me one serious friend-zone lecture.
I sniff and blot my eyes on the edge of my T-shirt. Thankfully, he’s too busy unlocking his truck to notice.
Anyway, I like him enough that maybe the friend-zone is okay.
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GIVEAWAY!! To celebrate the upcoming release of At the Stars, I’ll be choosing two winners (or the giveaway doohickie will) to win either a $25 Amazon gift card or a signed paperback copy of At the Stars.
Happy reading!
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Spotlight and Giveaway: The Lady Smut Book of Dark Desires
I’m pleased to share this new anthology from my fellow WRW members at the Lady Smut blog! They’ve been kind enough to provide me with an e-ARC of the book for me to give away this week. Check it out, and happy reading!
About the book:
Four paranormal stories of erotic temptation & paranormal thrills!
THE IMMORTAL LONGING OF BRENNA BANG by Liz Everly
When a vampire materializes through her computer, successful vampire-romance romance author Brenna Bang finds herself marked for inescapable passion with a tech savvy bloodsucker.
THE LYING, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE by C. Margery Kempe
Christina tries to figure out how to unlock her grandmother’s wardrobe and uncover what happened all those years ago when the goblins came to offer their sensuous erotic fruits.
SEXSOMNIA by Madeline Iva
Jenny needs to unravel the mystery of what she does at night and who she does it with in order to subdue the sexual demon inside her.
DIVINE by Elizabeth Shore
Locked in an abandoned mental asylum, an ambitious filmmaker soon discovers she’s trapped with a Dionysian god. He offers her a glimpse of astounding future artistic success—but it will only come true if she’ll perform an erotic ritual to free him.
Find it: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
Giveaway:
(contest open to all legal adults with a viable e-reader or appropriate ebook reading app, no purchase necessary)
Fright Night Hop: My recent favorite paranormal reads
Hey, party people! I love a good blog hop. Thanks for stopping by! I’m excited to share my list of favorite paranormal reads, because my favorite thing to do is talk books with readers. Since I came up with too long a list to pare down, I decided to just share the most recent ones that really hooked me – maybe then I’ll be sharing some new-to-you authors. 🙂 I’ve also got a teaser from the new SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS boxed set I’m a part of, with my new novella, Wild Nights with a lone wolf–we’ve bundled together 12 novels and novellas from bestselling authors–$40 worth of books!–for only $0.99! It’s an awesome boxed set, and I do hope you’ll check it out. Because it’s AWESOME and reading it will make you smarter and sexier. Scout’s honor. (Disclaimer: I’m not a scout and I have no honor. I can’t prove anything.)
So! The best paranormal books I’ve read lately?
Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins – YA paranormal is one of my favorites, because it’s not enough to have the complications of the supernatural, right? Throw in the complications of being a teenager and all the associated confusions. This series, about sons and daughters of fallen angels trying to navigate their destinies (and their emotions) is one of my favorites.
Blood Vine by Amber Belldene – this entire series, about wine-making vampires from Croatia, was fantastic. Rich, sexy, and intelligently written. I found it almost impossible to put down.
Beckoning Blood by Daniel De Lorne – from the book description: A gripping, blood-drenched saga about twin brothers, the men they love, and the enduring truth that true love never dies — no matter how many times you kill it.” from Elisabeth: This was probably closer to romantic horror than paranormal romance, but I thought it was well-written and captivating even though there were parts I kind of found horrifying. It was horrifying in the way a car crash is horrifying though, or a particularly gruesome episode of The Blacklist–I wanted to find out how things ended and whether either brother might be redeemed, so I kept reading. There is a lot of violence, including sexual violence, in this story though, and I like to warn about that for readers who might have trigger issues. Do read with caution.
So you’ll notice two of the books listed above are vampire stories, because vampires have always been my happy place. Like my own alpha vampire, Lee, from my recent release, Hunter by Night:
Recently though, I also met Ash, from my new novella Wild Nights with a Lone Wolf. He came to me kind of out of nowhere, and he’s pretty damn special. I think if you get to know him, you’ll love him as much as I do. You can find him in the Seductive Supernaturals boxed set, which is out now. 12 paranormal romance novels, for only 99 cents, folks! $40 worth of reading material for under a buck (PS – we’re planning to raise the price after Halloween, so if you know anyone who might wanna get in on this deal, please help us spread the word!).
You can get Seductive Supernaturals at the following places: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Goodreads
OR
Enter to win a copy of the boxed set and a $10 gift card (both gifted from either Amazon or B&N – if there’s a way to gift ebooks from Apple or Kobo, please tell me. Last I checked there wasn’t one):
Contest open internationally, only to legal adults.