Friday, September 27, 2013

Cover Reveal: Grimnirs By Ednah Walters


Book Title: Grimnirs
Series: A Runes Novel
Author: Ednah Walters
Release Date: December 2nd 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Firetrail Publishing
Presented by: Twisted Book Tours and More & As You Wish Tours
Banner Made by: Camelia Miron Skiba

 
BLURB

One lost love.
One lost best friend.
One hot soul reaper.

Straight out of the psyche ward, Cora just wants her life to be normal. She doesn’t want to see souls or the reapers collecting them. The love of her life, the guy she’s loved from a distance for years, has moved away without saying goodbye. So yes, she’s nursing a serious heartbreak. It’s no wonder love is the last thing on her mind when Echo storms into her life.

The chemistry between them is mind-blowing. The connection defies logic. It doesn’t help that Echo is the poster boy for everything she hates in a guy—hot, beautiful, and cocky. A general pain-in-the-butt. Being around him makes her feel more alive than she’s ever felt before. But more important, the souls leave her alone when he is around.

Echo is perfect for her. Echo might even be her soul-mate. There is only one problem. Echo is a freaking soul reaper. A Grimnir. The very beings she wants out of her life. Maybe normal is overrated because Cora wants it all. Answers. Love. A life. You see, once you fall for a Grimnir, your life will never be the same again.

**Beautiful Cover! Ednah quickly became one of my favorite authors after I read Runes. I think it's an amazing series and I can't wait to read this one. I just know this one is going to be as good as the others. 

AUTHOR BIO
EDNAH WALTERS grew up reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys and dreaming of one day writing her own stories. She is a stay-at-home mother of five humans and two American short-hair cats (one of which has ADHD) and a husband. When she is not writing, she’s at the gym doing Zumba or doing things with her family, reading, traveling or online chatting with fans.

Ednah is the author of The Guardian Legacy series, a YA fantasy series about children of the fallen angels, who fight demons and protect mankind. AWAKENED, the prequel was released by Pill Hill Press in September 2010 with rave reviews. BETRAYED, book one in the series was released by her new publisher Spencer Hill Press in June 2012 and HUNTED, the third installment, will be released April 2013. She’s working on the next book in the series, FORGOTTEN. Visit her at www.ednahwalters.com

Ednah also writes YA paranormal romance. RUNES is the first book in her new series. IMMORTALS is book 2. She is presently working on book 3, GRIMNIRS (Dec 2). Read more about this series and the world she's created here www.runestheseries.com

Under the pseudonym E. B. Walters, Ednah writes contemporary romance. SLOW BURN, the first contemporary romance with suspense, was released in April 2011. It is the first book in the Fitzgerald family series. Since then she has published four more books in this series. She's presently working on book six. You can visit her online at or www.ebwalters.com.


Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Release Day Blitz, Excerpt & Giveaway Of Demon Chained By Erica Hayes



Demon Chained (The Shadowfae Chronicles, #5)

Demon Chained
Shadowfae Chronicles
Book Five
Erica Hayes

Genre: paranormal romance, urban fantasy romance

Word Count: 83,000

Cover Artist: Ravven

Kobo   BN    iTunes   Smashwords

Book Description:


A powerful djinni, enslaved to her lamp. An undead thief, bound to a cruel demon's whim. A passion that will outlast death itself...

A dark, delicious urban fantasy romance from the author of Shadowfae.

Jewel is a djinni of the lamp, an enchanted slave, bound to her owner by dark magical cravings she can't resist. She burns for freedom, and when her lamp is stolen—by Tam, a hot and dirty bad-boy thief—she vows to be rid of her new master at any cost. Even as she plots Tam's demise, the lamp's dark fascination makes her long to claim him as her own.

But the last thing Tam wants is a spellbound djinni who can't say 'no'. Cursed by a demon to suffer living death, he's tormented by undead longing for pain, pleasure, any sensation he can get. To have this exquisite, besotted Jewel at his bidding is pure torture... because Tam refuses to succumb to her magical allure.

Not when he knows she can't truly be attracted to an ever-dying freak. And not when he’s already on a mission from his cruel demon master: capture and deliver one djinni...

Warning: this novel contains a feisty magical heroine, a besotted fairy best friend and the hottest wise-ass dead-guy hero in town.

Excerpt

In seconds, I crystallized. My bare feet hit carpet that was streaked with dim moonlight. Dusty grey curtains swelled with warm breeze. The place smelled of blood, sticky and salt-drenched. I couldn't see anyone.
My skin prickled. I'd expected bright lights, laughter, gloating, that kind of thing. Usually people giggle and caper about like fools when I appear, before they find out about the moon and the french fries.
But this time I'd appeared in dim silence, alone.
My eyes adjusted, and the shadow of a bed emerged. I wasn't alone after all. A man, naked, fit and golden-skinned. His dark hair was a tangled mess. Curling thorns were inked up his arm and over his shoulder. He stirred, lifting his face from the pillow, fighting long black strands away before he even opened his eyes.
Recognition speared under my skin like a needle, and I groaned, disbelief mingling with irony. They had to be kidding me. Owned by a crazy vengeance-obsessed corpse?
My thoughts twirled in crazy circles. How did he get my lamp? And how did he know my name? They needed my name to own me. I hadn't told him. Hadn't said a word . . .
Except in my dream.
But that was crazy. How the hell could a dead guy eavesdrop on my dreams?
Someone had cornered him since we'd met at the club, by the looks of the spidery red bruise across his kidneys and the dark blood leaking from his nose onto the sheet. Still, he looked great naked. Lean tight legs, smooth back, cute butt. Not that I noticed.
Inwardly, I sighed. This is what happens, see. They claim me, the magic switches on, and poof! I'm all romantic and girly for a while.
I'd get over it.
I kicked the bedframe to rattle it. "Wake up, genius. Where's my lamp?"
He jerked fully awake, scrambling to turn over and crawl away from me at the same time. His dark eyes fixed on me, and widened. "Jesus, you're really . . . what the fuck are you doing here?"
Okay. Yeah. He looked even better from the front. That soaping I imagined before? All done, his skin clean and glistening with just a hint of mysterious darkness to keep you interested. He had a nasty gash on one hip, but who cares? I couldn't help letting my gaze slip a bit lower. Very nice.
He didn't seem to mind being naked in front of a suddenly-appearing woman, either. Maybe he liked guys. Damn. I wouldn't even be able to seduce him into letting me go. What I'd give for a glimmer of persuasion right now. I couldn't, not of my own accord. My power wasn't mine to play with anymore.
I tried it, just in case. Reached for my magic, a shimmer of seduction or a trick. Nothing.
Damn it. I scowled, in case he saw me staring. "Don't play dumb. You called my name, remember?"
He halted, leaning back on his elbows, staring at me with a crease in his forehead like I had three noses or something. "What are you on about, lady?"
I rolled my eyes. "Come on, already. Brass lamp, long neck, about this big?" I held up my hands a foot apart. "Sound familiar?"
He stared, and swallowed, his throat jerking. "You're kidding."
"You're telling me. Look, just hand it over, release me and I'm gone, okay? No harm done."
He sat up, dragging that gorgeous black hair into a twist and draping it over his shoulder out of the way. "Look, lady—"
"It's Jewel. You know that. Enough with the ladies, it doesn't fool me." I wanted to look at him, to watch him move, and it made me mad. He was trouble, pure and painful, I didn't care how bad and dangerous and downright tasty he was.
"Jewel, then. Whatever. I don't believe you, all right? Kane sent you to screw with my mind. Or you're just some crazywoman stalking me, or something. Either way, you can get out of my house right now."
Nah, nah. He didn't say the magic words. If they don't say my name, I don't have to. "I can't do that. Not without my lamp."
He lifted his hands, a mocking shrug. "Fine. Stay here. Just shut up and let me sleep." And he grabbed the sheet and made to roll himself back into it.
I tugged it away. "Ask me for french fries."
He laughed. "What?"
"Ask me. Say, 'Jewel, go get me some french fries'."
He shook his head, a tolerant smile. "If I say it, will you get the hell out of my bedroom?"
"Sure will." I just hoped something was still open around here. I couldn't charm french fries from the air any more than I could charm anything else. Sure, I can turn iron into gold or make things disappear, but that's not the same as creating something out of nothing. That can't be done, at least not by me. The only way I can get something new is to take it away from someone else. Like I said, I'm a collector, a fetcher of baubles. I swap things. That's all.
"Great. Now we're getting somewhere." He jammed the pillow against his curled arm and flopped down onto it. "Jewel, darling, if you're not busy and it isn't too much of a hassle, can you please leave me the hell alone for a few seconds and go find us some french fries?"

God, what a sweetie. I only wished I could stay to watch his face when he saw what happened next.

About the Author:

Erica Hayes

Erica Hayes was a law student, an air force officer, an editorial assistant and a musician, before finally landing her dream job: fantasy and romance writer.

She writes dark paranormal and urban fantasy romance, and her books feature tough, smart heroines and colourful heroes with dark secrets.

She hails from Australia, where she drifts from city to city, leaving a trail of chaos behind her. Currently, she's terrorizing the wilds of Northumberland.







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Monday, September 9, 2013

Monthly Wrap Up August '13

This was such a good month for me, I read so many great books.


       Obsidian (Lux, #1)     Onyx (Lux, #2)


       Opal (Lux, #3)   Tangled (Tangled, #1)

       Before Midnight    The Demon's Song (Hearts of the Fallen, #1)

       The Demon's Desire (Hearts of the Fallen, #2)  The Fault in Our Stars

       Origin


So I read 9 books this month and proud of it! I haven't read this much in a long time, I just don't have the time but I got so into The Lux series that I could not stop reading them. I read Obsidian August 1 and that's pretty fast for me and then the rest of the series followed.

Blitz: Luck Of The Dragon By Susannah Scott



Luck of the Dragon

Luck of the Dragon
Susannah Scott

Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Release Date:  June 2013
Publisher: Entangled Covet


Book Description:
Luciana de Luca has a PhD in sass and gemology—and a problem. Her twin brother’s gambling debts have gotten out of hand, and a mob enforcer is blackmailing her to rob the latest, greatest mega-casino on the Strip. Although Lucy has worked her whole life to get away from her family’s grifter past, to save her brother, she dons three-inch heels and a sluts-r-us dress and struts into Alec’s Gerald’s casino, determined to put her long-forgotten thieving ways to the test again.

Alec Gerald, a shape-shifting dragon, has built the Crown Jewel casino to provide sanctuary for his people amongst the flash and awe of Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the sexy little thief trying to rob his gem exhibit turns out to be his mate, and he must woo her before he loses his dragon form forever. With enemies in every corner, and the all-important mating ceremony looming, Alec and Lucy must learn to trust each other, before time runs out for Alec and the rest of the dragons.




 About the Author:

 Susannah Scott

SUSANNAH SCOTT lives in the Missouri Ozarks and is the lone female in a very loud household of males ranging in age from 4 to 40. While she jokes that the extreme levels of testosterone inspired her to write romance, it is really the love of creating an excellent story, and the occasional dreams of twenty-foot dragons, that wake her and send her to the laptop before the chaos of daily life ensues. Susannah loves to hear from her readers at the following social media locations:






Itara

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Blog Tour: Excerpt & Giveaway Jace By T. A. Grey




Jace (Bodyguards for Hire, #1)

Jace
Bodyguards for Hire
Book One
T. A. Grey

Genre: Contemporary erotic romance

Publisher: Grey Ink Press
Date of Publication: Aug. 27th, 2013

Word Count: ~55,000

Cover Artist: Melody Simmons of eBookindiecovers

Amazon Kindle | Paperback

Book Description:

One fateful tail-bender leaves Mara Colgen with a hard-on for Jace Mathews which is not how Mara anticipated meeting the hottest man alive. Or, rather, one crappy afternoon bodyguard Jace gets a rude awakening when some cutesy blonde rear-ends his beautiful truck. Now he’s really in for it. Mara’s pretty, funny, and has the greatest job in the world…

She is a sex toy operator.

Just those three words send Jace into a dream-like coma plagued with erotic imagery featuring the spunky sex toy operator. As luck would have it for Jace, nothing’s easy. Mara comes to him with a problem…one he cannot refuse to help her out with. Someone strange keeps calling Mara, she thinks someone’s been in her house, and worse Jace might be thinking the same thing. Mara needs help and Jace finds he’s the right man to lend a (strong) helping hand—so long as they seal the deal with more than a kiss.


Short Excerpt:
Mara Colgen slammed on the brakes but it didn’t matter. Her little VW Bug barreled into the beautifully shining black truck.
The air bag exploded, slamming her head backward and making everything all fuzzy.
“Huh?” she mumbled, blinking slowly.
A high-pitched sound rang in her ears and slowly solidified like someone turning a dial up. That ringing became her horn which was constantly wailing. A glance out of the broken windshield made her breath catch.
A tall, gorgeous, way-too-muscled-to-be-real man was reaching under her hood looking pissed off. Hot and pissed off. Why hello, gorgeous, her feminine side purred. He did something under the hood and her horn stopped blaring. Her eyes flared. He fixed it. She liked this man already. Any man who was handy with cars was handy in the bedroom, or at last that’s what she’d heard. She eyed his hand, totally not creepy, and saw no wedding band on his finger.
His eyes met hers. Yep, he was very pissed off. He looked down right violent. Then he threw open her car door and got in her face. All she saw were pretty eyes. The kind that almost looked blue but were really more gray than blue. He had a black ball cap pulled low over his eyes, a white t-shirt, jeans, and boots. And he was glaring at her.
“Ahem,” she cleared her throat. “I’m very sorry about all this. Your truck was very...nice.” She attempted a smile.
His eyes narrowed in an are-you-shitting-me look. “Lady, what the fuck’s the matter with you? How did you not see me? My truck takes up most of the damn road.” His eyes flicked down to her lap and his jaw actually snapped to the side. She could hear it crack. “Fucking texting. You little bitch, you know that’s against the law for a reason right?”
Her jaw fell open in shock but before she could respond to his name calling he threw his hand up in her face. Actually threw his hand up. In her face.
“Don’t wanna hear it, lady. Get your license and registration. I’m callin’ the cops.”
He left before she could form a reply. Only after he wasn’t in her face could she take a calm breath. “Well that didn’t go well, Mara.” She giggled a little, an involuntary response that she swore couldn’t be helped, and grabbed the necessary items he’d ordered her to get. She met him at his truck as he was getting off the phone.
“They’ll be by soon to make a report.”
“All right.”
He went back to the back of his truck, shaking his head. From his profile she noticed he had a hard, sleek jawline covered in rough stubble several days too thick, and hollowed cheek bones. He had a hard looking forehead.
He was mumbling under his breath about women drivers and texting. That’s where she had to stop him. Hot or not, he was wrong about her.
“Listen here, hot cakes, I wasn’t texting. I don’t text.”
His eyes snapped to her, looked her body up and down then he cocked a brow. “Oh yeah? Well I don’t believe that bullshit for a second.”
“I was actually on the phone,” she corrected.
He threw up his arms, shaking his head. “That’s illegal in this state, lady.”
“Oh, I’ve upgraded from bitch. Very nice.” She couldn’t help smiling at him.
His brow pinched forward. “Now is not the time for jokes. You just wrecked my rear end.”
Speaking of, her gaze fell down to his ass and verified that indeed it looked as hot as the rest of him. Mmm, mmm, good as her friends would say.
“Excuse me, did you just check out my ass?”
She made a perfect oh did I just do that? face. “Maybe.” She cocked her head, gauging his response.
He looked like he might say something, then shook his head. “If you think being cute with me is gonna get you out of this then you’re shit out of luck.” He took out his phone and started snapping pictures of the wreckage. She quickly did the same, since he just reminded her she should be doing that.
Standing next to him trying not to smile, and utterly failing, she snapped pictures for her insurance company. “So you think I’m cute?”
“What the fuck?” Shaking his head, he made some noise between laugh and disbelief. “Hand over your license and registration.”
Snickering at his cop-voice, she handed him the docs. He looked them over, paying special interest to her driver’s license. She knew what he’d find there: 5’5”, brown eyes, blonde, and a weight she refused to even think aloud. Not too shabby if she did say so herself. Which she did often while checking herself out in the mirror after a shower.
“Oh just a sec,” she said, suddenly remembering. She grabbed her business card out of her wallet and handed it to him. “Here’s my business card. Keep it. In case there’s any problems along the way. I’ll be sure to fix your truck. I really am sorry. If it helps, I’ve only been in two accidents before.”
He took the card but didn’t look at her. “Two? Lady, you make that sound like it’s not a lot.”
“It isn’t.”
“You know how many accidents I’ve caused in my life? Zero.”
“Well aren’t you fancy.” Her lips twitched again. Who knew teasing such a big, sexy man would be so much fun.
He sent her a withering glare then looked down at her card. It was a light pink with red, fancy lettering. “Mara Colgen, sex toy operator...” he said the words slowly as if not understanding them.
“Yes.” Honestly, one of her favorite parts about having her job was the reactions she got when people found out.
“You are a sex toy operator,” he said again.
“Mmhmm. Sure am.” Another winning smile. He didn’t even lift his gaze from the card.
“Tell me darlin’ what does that actually mean?”
Oh, now she was darlin’? Oh how her position had moved up in the world. She was bitch only five minutes ago. “Well, as you can see from that card I work at Aphrodite’s Love and we are one of the biggest designers and distributers of adult sex toys. I’m a tester. I also help the production team tweak designs and things like that.”
“You...” he scratched the back of his head, flicked his gaze down her body again, then continued in that slow, measured way. “Your job is to try out sex toys for a living?”


About the Author:

T.A. Grey

I love to write the kind of stories that will keep you up late at night and make your heart pound. It's my goal to make each new book better, more exciting, and more action-packed to keep thrilling you. I'm always trying to push the boundaries with my imagination, and yours, to create something new and different.

Open up one of my novels and you will find hot, erotic stories that will make you laugh out loud, cry, and fly through the pages. I write addictive love stories and I hope you like them.

Visit my website to learn more about my books at www.tagrey.com








It's giveaway time guys! Good luck.

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Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Blog Tour: Excerpt & Guest Post Of Wolf Born By Ann Gimpel


Wolf Born (Underground Heat, #2)
Wolf Born
Underground Heat
Book 2
By Ann Gimpel
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Published: August 26, 2013
Genre: Paranormal Romance
In a futuristic world where shifters keep their friends close and their enemies closer, passion flares hot and sweet.

Book Description: 
In a futuristic California that’s almost out of resources, Max leads a double life. A Russian wolf-shifter, he heads up the State of California as its governor—and the shifter underground. He took on the governorship to help his people. Threatened with genocide, many shifters have gone into hiding. Some blame Max and the underground for their plight, rather than the governmental edict that’s meant death for so many.
Audrey works for Max. Unlike most humans with low levels of shifter blood who bless their lucky stars they avoided the purge, she wants to be a shifter. If she could find a way to finesse it, she’d quit her job in a heartbeat and go to work helping the shifter underground. The only sticking point is Max. She’s been half in love with him forever.
Against a dog-eat-dog political backdrop where no one knows who their allies are, Max and Audrey spar with one another. Max fears she’s part of the group trying to kill him. Audrey has no idea about Max’s double identity and worries she won’t be able to walk away from their fiery attraction to help the underground.
After a second attempt on his life, Max faces critical choices. Should he follow his head or his heart?
Excerpt:
…Loren double parked the electric car outside the restaurant and shadowed them inside, along with the redheaded guard. “Looks pretty good.” Loren eyed the private, sound-shielded room. “I’ll be right outside, and John will be here, too, just as soon as he takes care of the car.”
“Once reinforcements arrive, feel free to go hunt for your men,” Max said. “You must be worried about them.”
“Thanks, boss. I am. Go sit down. I’ll scare up a waiter to at least get you a bottle of wine or something. John’s going off-shift in an hour, so there will be two new guards outside when you’re done eating.”
“Thanks for letting me know.” Max pulled the door shut and walked to the table. Audrey had already seated herself and was sorting through the stack of papers, arranging them into piles. “It’s all right if you don’t work for a few moments,” he said, taking a seat across from her.
“It’s better if I have something to, uh, take my mind off what happened. You asked if I’d gotten a chance to practice with the gun. The answer is yes. My brother sort of smuggled me into the cop shop gun range in the middle of the night a couple of times. But I’ve never been around anybody who was dead.” Her voice cracked. He saw her swallow hard. Max’s estimation of her edged up a few notches. Audrey was one tough cookie, even though she might not realize it. Most women would have dissolved into hysterics.
“You did fine. Good thinking to be in front of the elevator door with your gun.”
“Really?” She met his gaze with lovely hazel eyes that were shading toward green at the moment and rested her chin on an upraised hand. “I wasn’t certain what to do. I thought I should call the elevator back, but I didn’t want to subvert whatever you were doing. Then I wondered if I should take the stairs to a lower floor, but that wouldn’t have helped if you were still in the elevator… Ach.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t mind me. I’m babbling.”
“You did fine,” he repeated just as the door opened, and a waiter swooped in with a silver bucket holding a wine bottle and two glasses.
“Good evening, sir and madam.” The waiter bowed slightly. He was in his fifties with a bald head and merry blue eyes. “The gentleman outside thought you could do with a spot of something relaxing. How does a cabernet strike you? If you’d rather have something different, I haven’t opened it yet.”
“I’m sure it will be fine.” Max held out a hand for the bottle and inspected the label. “What’s on the menu tonight?”
The waiter rattled off a series of dishes while he opened the wine. Max glanced at Audrey. “What sounds good to you?”
She smiled warmly. “I’m used to whatever my ration coupons will buy. If it’s not too expensive, I’d love to have a steak.”
“How would madam like it cooked?” the waiter inquired, arching a brow. He poured a jot of wine into a glass and handed it to Max.
“Rare.”
“Salad and rice or potatoes?”
“Salad and potatoes, please.”
“I’ll have the same,” Max cut in and took a sip of what was a very good wine. Rich and oaky, it had an enticing bouquet. “The wine is perfect,” he told the waiter, who immediately poured some into a glass for Audrey and added more to Max’s.
“This is really quite wonderful,” Audrey said once the waiter left. “Everything. Not just the wine. I can’t remember the last time I ate out at anything but one of those diners where I flash my wrist computer at the glass cases, and it debits credits from my account.”
“Enjoy it.” Max smiled. “You deserve to be pampered after what happened. I can still barely believe…” His voice trailed off. He needed to be careful not to say too much. “Um, what’s in those documents that’s so important?”
She leaned toward him. Her scent was even more intoxicating than the wine. He caught himself inhaling deeply and pulled away, aware of a pressure against his trousers where he was suddenly hard.
Audrey wriggled in her seat. She bit her lower lip and blew out a tense breath. Finally, she lowered her voice and murmured, “I probably shouldn’t do this, but I need to be honest with you. It’s all in my employment records anyway, but since I was here long before you were governor, well, you may not have looked at them… Cripes! I’m blathering like an idiot.”
“Whatever it is, just go ahead and tell me.” Max felt oddly protective toward her, though he didn’t understand quite why. Worse, the moment his cock had gotten hard, his wolf had begun a steady patter of lewd side remarks that made Max want to throttle him.
“There’s no easy way to do this,” she went on, her knuckles so white against the wineglass, Max hoped it wouldn’t shatter from the pressure. “If you decide I can’t work for you afterward, well…” she set down the stemware and spread her hands in front of her. “Not much I can do about it. I have shifter blood. Roughly 35 percent. Some of my relatives have been killed in this purge, so I’m not the most ardent supporter of the governmental edicts to round up shifters and imprison them.”
She sucked in a ragged breath and raised her gaze so she looked right at him. A combination of defiance and pleading etched fine lines around her eyes.
“Miss Westen. Audrey. I’m not going to fire you. It’s all right. Thank you, for trusting me.” Deep inside, Max felt the wolf push him to say more, to tell her about the serum. To offer it up, for God’s sake. He resisted. “You told me that for a reason. I assume it’s related to the documents. Could you walk me through what’s in them?”
She nodded. “Sure. It’s intel about something called the shifter underground.” Her eyes flashed. “Frankly, now that I know about them, I’m on their side, but don’t worry, I wouldn’t ever say that publicly.”
Max listened as she relayed the story he’d lived for the past couple of days. Everything was there, including the serum that pushed cops with a low percentage of shifter blood into full-blown shifters. Before the series of intravenous infusions that law enforcement had forced on their elite tracker task forces, a person needed 50 percent shifter blood to morph into their bond animal. After the infusions, 10 percent was sufficient. Max had gotten unutterably excited by the prospect of thousands of new shifters to swell their ranks and perhaps turn the tide of the war in their favor.
Another set of nationwide reports detailed those same cops betraying their oaths and going rogue. Predictions about anarchy ran wild. By the time Audrey was finished, Max was ecstatic, but he couldn’t let it show. Everything he’d assumed would happen was playing itself out like a well-oiled machine. He couldn’t wait to let the underground know.
“Well?” Audrey raised her gaze from the stack of papers and gathered them together.
“Interesting material. I understand why it was classified top secret.” Max tried for a neutral expression. Just because she’d confided in him was no reason to let his guard down.
The door to their private dining room opened. The waiter pushed a cart laden with wonderful smelling dishes. Max’s mouth watered. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and it was pushing nine at night. For the moment, his sexual hunger receded, and he tucked into a succulent, barely cooked piece of meat.
“Where do they get this?” she asked, cutting into her steak and chewing slowly. “None of the shops where I exchange my ration coupons ever have anything but ground or processed meat products.”
“There’s a black market,” he replied around a mouthful of salad.
Her brows drew together. “So it’s real,” she muttered. “I never paid much attention.” Her mouth curved into a smile. She set down her fork and knife. “It’s so good, I feel like I should save what’s left and take it home. I’ve already eaten far more than I usually do.”
“I can ask the waiter to box it up for you.”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you.” She glanced at him shyly through long, dusky lashes. “You’ve taken the worst day of my life and turned it into something special.”
He wanted to move to her side of the table and gather her into his arms. Not only was Audrey one of the most stunning women he’d ever seen, she was level-headed and seemingly oblivious to how gorgeous she was. Max put himself on a tight leash. He had bigger problems to attend to than his non-existent love life. At least so far, Audrey hadn’t asked about O’Hare’s accusations in the elevator. Christ! Maybe she thought he was tossing the shifter epithet at her.
Max nodded to himself. It made sense. Likely, that was why she’d fessed up about her shifter blood.
“Penny for your thoughts, boss?” She focused her alluring hazel gaze on him. In the low light, her eyes held a violet cast.
“Nothing. Are you about ready to head home?”
She nodded. “I suppose we should. Tomorrow morning will come around early.”
He laughed. “Right you are, Miss Westen. It always does. It’s all right with me if you take a few hours off—”
She waved him to silence. “Nothing happening at home. The neighborhood’s gone to hell. I can’t even go out for a walk anymore. All I do is sit barricaded behind a bunch of deadbolts.”
Part of him wanted to bring her home with him, to his uptown mansion where she’d have gated grounds to roam. He cleared his throat before something untoward slipped out. “Let me find the waiter.” He realized he was still hard and pulled his jacket around to shield the evidence as best he could.
As if the waiter had been waiting right outside and could read his mind, the door opened before Max had gotten up. “Would sir and madam like anything else? A touch of dessert perhaps?”
“You can box up the rest of the lady’s meal,” Max said. “You wouldn’t happen to have that delectable chocolate mousse?”
The waiter’s mouth formed an apologetic moue. “Not tonight, sir. We have lemon cheesecake, a cheese and fruit plate with brandy, or ice cream.”
“Does any of that sound good?” Max glanced at Audrey. Her eyes were wide with delight.
“Oooooh, it all sounds wonderful. I can’t even remember the last time I had real ice cream. That frozen crap they sell nowadays doesn’t even have any dairy products in it.”
“Could you bring us a sampler plate with a little of everything?” Max asked.
“Of course. Coming right up.” The waiter snatched their plates and left.
“Not that I wouldn’t love something sweet,” she said a bit wistfully, “but I thought we’d decided it was late and—”
Max kicked himself. They had decided that—sort of. He was enjoying himself, and he didn’t want the evening to end, but that wasn’t the sort of thing he could—or should—say to his secretary. He shrugged. “You seem to finally be relaxing. After what happened at the office, you deserve a little R and R. You really can come in an hour or two later tomorrow.”
Her gaze softened. “Thank you.”


 About the Author
Ann Gimpel
 Ann Gimpel is a clinical psychologist, with a Jungian bent.  Avocations include mountaineering, skiing, wilderness photography and, of course, writing.  A lifelong aficionado of the unusual, she began writing speculative fiction a few years ago. Since then her short fiction has appeared in a number of webzines and anthologies. Several paranormal romance novellas are available in e-format. Three novels, Psyche’s Prophecy, Psyche’s Search, and Psyche's Promise are small press publications available in e-format and paperback. Look for three more urban fantasy novels coming this summer and fall: To Tame a Highland Dragon, Earth’s Requiem and Earth’s Blood.
A husband, grown children, grandchildren and three wolf hybrids round out her family.
Blog 

Here's Ann's Guest Post:

The Psychology of Character Development

Since psychology is a comfort zone for me, it seems logical to blog about the psychology of character development. Have you ever wondered why some fictional characters feel so real it seems you could easily know them, while others feel wooden and contrived? Or worse, when an author builds a character who feels real up until they suddenly don't because of some event that simply jars your sensibilities; and you toss the book aside feeling cheated. Or, when you get partway through a book and all the characters feel alike? Or, they're two dimensional and it's difficult to understand why they're doing what they are. And you find yourself paging backwards to see if you missed something. Of course that's much harder to do with e-readers.

I'm sure all authors address character development a bit differently. Truth be told, I wish I could because the way my characters come to life is intrusive. Once "born", they run about in my head like little mad things. If I try to make them do something they don't like, they let me know about it in no uncertain terms. That's why I'm an "organic" writer. I've tried outlining my material and found it to be a waste of time when my protagonist simply thumbs her nose at me if I push her in a direction she doesn't want to go. Patiently explaining about the plot has proven meaningless. Besides, people think I've gone bonkers when they see me having conversations with myself!

Before I started writing fiction, I didn't understand this at all. Years ago when I read an interview by Diana Gabaldon when she complained about her protag, Clare Randall, simply refusing to cooperate, I just rolled my eyes. Now I understand perfectly. Apologies, Diana!

I suppose most of my books begin in my head with a protagonist. Once I have the protag, I need to figure out which setting would work best for them. Is it modern day America? Or do they live in a high fantasy world, or a science fiction one? They usually let me know right away if I've gotten it wrong. If I’m going for high fantasy where I need to do extensive world-building, I usually try to have at least some of that mapped out first. Maybe it’s a built-in deficit, but I find I cannot build both worlds and characters at the same time. The credibility of my story suffers if I try.

Characters are just like us--except they're larger than life. What that means is, while you and I might think about an unusual act of heroism, my characters will actually do it. Oh, they'll be plenty scared; but they'll mow right ahead in spite of it. When you think about it, a working definition of courage or heroism is action in the face of fear. If I have a character in a situation that would scare me, of course it scares them too. Unless the character is a sociopath. They aren't particularly sensitive to the feelings that plague the rest of us. Things like compassion, fear, honor, etc. Sociopaths manipulate others and are able to do so without much in the way of emotional fallout . . . at least to themselves. Everyone around them suffers terribly.

So long as we're on the topic of sociopaths, the very best books have well-drawn, three dimensional antagonists as well as strong protags. Without digging too terribly deeply, I can generally find something in any antagonist to at least try to link to a reader's sensibilities. Humans usually have mixed feelings about lots of things. It's important for characters to be able to see things from more than one point of view as well. That's one of the tools an author has to make characters feel believable.

While it’s fun to go to the movies and watch superheroes mow through one catastrophe after the next, guns blazing, readers want fictional characters they can relate to. From a reader perspective, which characters work best for you? Who have some of your favorites been and why?


My Answer:

The first character I ever fell in love with was Edward from Twilight, I was immediately hooked. I'm more interested in male characters because I don't know how their minds work. I know exactly how females work; emotional, needy, always needs rescuing (most of the time). I enjoy reading female characters that are badass and can take care of themselves like Clary from TMI City of Bones and Kat from the Lux series. My favorite male characters at the moment are Jace from TMI, Torin St. James from Runes by Ednah Walters and Deamon from the Lux series Jenny L. Armentrout. I feel like both these characters and the books have this addictive quality to them that I can't get enough of. These men are witty, dangerous, and definitely hot. They're also a little self absorbed but we forgive them for that.

Thanks Ann for a great excerpt post, I'm always interested to know what is in you author's minds.

Itara

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Blitz: Blood And Bone By Candace Osmond



Blood & Bone (Iron World Series, #2)

Blood and Bone
The Iron World Series
Book Two
Candace Osmond

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Number of pages: 250 roughly
Word Count: 74,960

Cover Artist: Corey Majeau from Coris Designs


Book Description:

The stakes are high in the second installment of The Iron World Series as Avery Quinn decides which path her life will take. Become a vampire and be with Jack forever, or pledge herself to the Fey and help save Faerie from the horrible Queen Mabry?

The more she thinks about it the more she wants to remain human. But as she sinks further into the magical world she has come to love, Avery realizes that remaining human is next to impossible, especially when a dark king sets his sights on her. To make matters worse, a secret society of shape shifters have sworn themselves as Avery’s enemy all because of a certain classmate with a caustic temperament.

With a mythical war brewing and Evaine close on her heels, Avery must decide who to give her humanity to before it’s too late.



Excerpt

Change has an irrevocable impact on the mind, body and soul. To the fearful its threateningit means there’s a possibility that things could get worse. To the hopeful, however, it’s encouraging because it means things could get better.
Was I fearful or was I hopeful?
I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling in my sunlit bedroom and pondered about that. To most people this wouldn’t be so stressful. To most people change meant a new hair color or a new job.
But I realized a while ago—I am not most people.
I had been left to make a choice that was so life changing that it would alter me completely, forever. I could choose to become a vampire and gain the strength I desperately needed to protect myself. With this choice I could spend an eternity of nights in the arms of the most perfect creature because I too, would be a perfect creature.
Or, I could choose to pledge myself to a monarch, a leader of the fey. Become a child of magic, wonder and beauty and still possess the strength I need for my defense.

Or door number three, choose not to choose. I could remain human, as I’d lived comfortably for the past eighteen years now. But, to choose nothing would still be a choice, and would determine the path my life would take. None of my options guaranteed a smooth path. But I had a lingering a feeling that, no matter what I chose, the path that was unwinding in front of me was going to be very, very rocky.

About the Author:

Candace Osmond

Born in 1985 as Candace Osmond in North York Ontario, I began to travel with my parents at the very young age of four years old. I had lived all over Canada and seen everything my country has to offer, from the enchanting shores of Newfoundland to the gigantic snowcapped mountains of British Columbia all by the time I was ten. I did, however, spend most of my life in Eastern Canada where I was surrounded by folklore and legends, not knowing how they would shape my personality and imagination for the rest of my life.

Being the only girl of my age in a small group of kids, in an even smaller town, left me spending most of my time by myself and, in result, letting my imagination take over. I would sit by the shore and dream up stories of mermaids and other fantastic creatures to pass the time. Coming from a family with writers and artists dispersed throughout, it was only natural that I spend my time writing, drawing and reading. I dreamed of becoming nothing more than an artist, a creator of any kind. By the age of eleven, I spent most of my waking hours scribbling down short stories, poems and anything else I could think of, while adding my own personal illustrations. By the age of fourteen, I had won numerous local and minor arts and writing competitions.

I excelled at anything art and literature related so, naturally, I planned to attend university for nothing more or less than that. In 2003 I planned to attend university for Creative Writing and Literary Studies. But, with the fear that I would spend all my time and money on an education and end up in a field that I may very well struggle to succeed in, I backed out and attended school for Design instead. Now, a successful Designer specializing in interiors, I met a man and fell in love. His passion and talent for art far exceeds my own, but he motivated me and awakened my old habits of staying up late and waking up early to scribble down dreams and ideas before I had forgotten them and they disappeared forever.







Itara

Cover Reveal: Rogue's Possession By Jeffe Kennedy

Rogue’s Possession
Covenant of Thorns Series
Book Two
Jeffe Kennedy
 October 7, 2013

Rogues_Possession_final

Book Description:

A human trapped in the world of Faerie, in possession of magic I could not control, I made a bargain for my life: to let the dangerously sensual fae noble known as Rogue sire my firstborn. And one does not break an oath with a fae. But no matter how greatly I desire him, I will not succumb. Not until I know what will happen to the child.

Though unable-or unwilling-to reveal the fate of human-fae offspring himself, Rogue accompanies me on my quest for answers. Along the way he agrees to teach me to harness my power, in exchange for a single kiss each day and sleeping by my side each night. Just as I am about to yield to temptation, I find myself in a deadly game of cat and mouse with an insane goddess. Now my search for the truth will lead me to the darkest of all Faerie secrets.


Rogue’s Pawn
Covenant of Thorns Series
Book One
Jeffe Kennedy

Rogue's Pawn (Covenant of Thorns, #1)

Publisher: Carina Press

Book Description:

This is no fairy tale…

Haunted by nightmares of a black dog, sick to death of my mind-numbing career and heart-numbing fiancé, I impulsively walked out of my life—and fell into Faerie. Terrified, fascinated, I discover I possess a power I can’t control: my wishes come true. After an all-too-real attack by the animal from my dreams, I wake to find myself the captive of the seductive and ruthless fae lord Rogue. In return for my rescue, he demands an extravagant price—my firstborn child, which he intends to sire himself…

With no hope of escaping this world, I must learn to harness my magic and build a new life despite the perils—including my own inexplicable and debilitating desire for Rogue. I swear I will never submit to his demands, no matter what erotic torment he subjects me to…


About the Author

Jeffe Kennedy

Jeffe Kennedy is an award-winning author with a writing career that spans decades. Her fantasy BDSM romance, Petals and Thorns, originally published under the pen name Jennifer Paris, has won several reader awards. Sapphire, the first book in Facets of Passion has placed first in multiple romance contests and the follow-up, Platinum, is climbing the charts. Her most recent works include three fiction series: the fantasy romance novels of A Covenant of Thorns, the contemporary BDSM novellas of the Facets of Passion, and the post-apocalyptic vampire erotica of the Blood Currency. 

Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, with two Maine coon cats, a border collie, plentiful free-range lizards and a Doctor of Oriental Medicine. Jeffe can be found online at her website: JeffeKennedy.com or every Sunday at the popular Word Whores blog.

She is represented by Pam van Hylckama Vlieg of Foreword Literary.

Blog 


I love these covers! They are absolutely beautiful and in my favorite colors. I can't wait to read them.

Itara




Review: Beasts Of The Frozen Sun by Jill Criswell

Title: Beasts Of The Frozen Sun Author: Jill Criswell Series: Frozen Sun Saga #1 Genre: YA Fantasy Publishing Date: August 6, 2...