Saturday, August 31, 2013

Discover Making the Grade by Lily Rede and Jane Gaudet/Win The Ebook

Summer's almost over and I could not be happier.  Crazy, I know, but I'm a creature of habit and September means back to routine and back to pages - you can take the girl out of school (by, ahem, several decades)...I get more done in the autumn than at any other time of the year.  Today I thought I'd talk about writing habits.

Writers are odd creatures and very sensitive to their environment.  Every writer I know can only create under very specific conditions - if it's too hot, too cold, too noisy, too quiet, or the wrong time of day, forget it.  Personally, I like white noise and the indistinct jumble of coffee shop crowds, but interruptions will kill it for me - it takes a solid twenty minutes to get into the "zone" and even a waiter at the coffee shop asking me if I need anything is enough to knock me out of it.

I've also discovered that I can't write the racy stuff unless there's no one else in the room - which was a shock, let me tell you.  "Prudish" is not really in my personality description, but I discovered this horrible trait when I was working on the love scenes for SAFE FROM THE FIRE last spring.  I remember thinking, "All these people are here to get their coffee and go about their day, and I'm sitting in a corner, typing, wondering if my spanking scene is intense enough."  My brain put on the brakes.  Ever since, I write the naughty bits at home, preferably with a gin and tonic in hand.

I'm going to keep summer alive for a few more weeks - there are three more TEACH ME TONIGHT stories to send out into the world, and hopefully the summer heat on the pages will keep everyone toasty warm as it starts to cool down.  Meanwhile, I'm going spend my days curled up in my coffee shop corner, tending to my little plot bunnies, but leaving the ones wearing red lace on their cotton tails firmly at home.

What are some of your writing habits?  When do you write best?


Twitter: @RedeLily

MAKING THE GRADE - Buy Link
http://amzn.com/B00EFCZF2W

BLURB:

Math teacher Sadie Dunne’s summer is not off to a good start. Not only has she spent the entire school year getting pushed around by her rambunctious students, by their parents, and by her colleagues, who find it all too easy to take advantage of her generous heart, but instead of taking a relaxing vacation on a tropical beach somewhere, she’s stuck teaching summer school. To make matters worse, the AC in her classroom is broken and too-hot-for-his-own-good maintenance man Cooper Bell seems more interested in flirting with her than in fixing it. When her latest mistake of a relationship implodes, Sadie has had enough. For once, Sadie wants to be the one calling the shots – in her classes, in her life, and especially in the arms of the hunky handyman.

Cooper has never been great at reading women, and the mixed signals from the lovely Sadie have been driving him crazy! She may want him, but she never speaks up, and he worries that she’s out of his league. When an accident traps them in a supply closet together, Cooper sees an opportunity to convince her to give him a chance, even if it means letting her call the shots and revealing his deepest, darkest fantasy of submitting to a beautiful woman. A steamy tryst in a closet is one thing, but can Sadie and Cooper get past their self-doubt to teach each other how to be happy together?


Leave a comment to be entered to win an e-copy of Making the Grade.


Welcome Edmond Manning and win a book

Please give a warm welcome to author Edmond Manning today....also he is giving away an e-copy of King Mai at each tour stop. Giveaway information is at the end of the excerpt.

To get us started can you tell us a little about what you are working on or have coming out?

I’m working on a series I call The Lost and Founds. The first book, King Perry, came out in 2012. The second book, King Mai, came out in 2013. I hope to pick up the pace so it’s more than one book a year, but I’m not making any promises. I want high quality over quantity.

How would you describe yourself using only five words?

Inquisitive. Dreamer. Motivated. Lazy-as-fuck. (That’s only one word.) Hopeful.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

I can use more than five words, right? Bacon, Earl’s cheese pops, salsa, panag curry, chocolate milk, guzzling glass after glass of regular milk, walking around the house in my underwear, shredded cheese, slices of cheese, cheese fries, melted cheese, cheese as a dipping sauce, sliders, staying up late, and reddit/funny. 

Name one thing readers would be surprised to know about you.

I wish I were a painter. Don’t get me wrong, I love the written word, but painters amaze me. Dazzle me. I have several paintings in my home that friends have created and I stare at them, fascinated with how they know that color would work or when to end that brush stroke. How could you see that with your mind’s eye? How could you know it would turn out so luscious? I don’t get it.

If we could have three or four lives to live, for the next one, I’d choose to be a painter and study art history.


If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I could see myself living in a two room cabin somewhere in Oregon near the coast. I am first class hermit material. I like to be alone. I like pissing in the backyard. I can eat the same meal six nights in a row (if it’s delicious). I already talk/argue with myself, so I’ve got the crazy old man thing down. I think I’m ready.

Are your characters able to love or do they need to be taught?

Love this question! For me, the answer is both. Of course, everyone knows how to love. We all know how to open our hearts and show exquisite vulnerability. We do. But forgetting how to love is a skill acquired and polished throughout adulthood. We forget through love that doesn’t work out, by hardening ourselves to the working world, and we forget in reaction to strangers laughing at us. We learn to move efficiently around our emotions, slamming shut windows into pain and before we know it – there’s no cross breeze anymore. No air gets in.

Characters in my books can love big, love brilliantly. But they don’t remember what they’re capable of. They have forgotten. So they don’t need to be taught. They need to remember. They spend the entire book running around throwing open windows, all of them, every last hurt until they’re ready to scream at the rising sun, “I remember!” 

Coffee, tea or other drink to get you moving in the morning? 

Diet Pepsi. I need my Diet Pepsi. Diet Coke will work in a pinch. And eggs. Do eggs count as a drink? I would like eggs. And bacon. Bacon, eggs, and Diet Pepsi. That’s my breakfast drink. Don’t argue with me, just get me a Diet Pepsi.   

What is coming up from you in 2013? Anything you want to tease us with?

Oh, I can tease.  My second book, King Mai, came out in July of 2013. Hrrrm. That’s not so much a tease as a fact. Well, the tease is I’m already writing a book of short stories based on characters in the second book. Some of these characters looked me in the eye and said, “Hey, we’re not done. We have more stories to tell. Write about us.” So, I am.

I also hope to have a book of non-fiction (a collection of blog entries) ready sometime in November.   That’s another 2013 project. My best friend has been on me for a year and a half to “do something” with all my blog entries about heart-opening love. In 2013 on New Year’s Day, she made me promise that I would ‘move the project forward’ in 2013. Can’t break a promise to your best friend, can you?


When you begin your stories, do you go with the flow, or go with an outline?

I often have a big-picture outline in my head but I don’t always follow it. I don’t write in sequence either. I usually write a rough draft of some climactic scenes in the book and start planning backward. Then, I’ll write a pivotal scene in the middle and then I’ll start at the beginning. It’s quite erratic. At some point when enough ‘big scenes’ have been written (often without description or the jokes that run through the book), then I’ll go back to the beginning and start writing from scratch.

I had planned out the six-book story arc of The Lost and Founds before I wrote the first book, King Perry. I know what’s revealed about the narrator, Vin Vanbly, in each book and how each man’s story advances certain themes.

But each book requires quite a bit of research, too. I moved to New York City during the entire month of May so I could research that setting. I found an apartment on craigslist and wandered around the city at night (worked remotely at my day job from a card table and metal folding chair). I wrote lines, outlined a few chapters, but mostly just soaked up New York and took a ton of photos.

I think my books are a wicked combination of spontaneity and careful planning.

What do you feel is the most important thing that a first-time author should know? 

Read every review of your first book. Either learn from your mistakes (as pointed out by others) or keep rereading the sucky parts until you develop a thicker skin. It’s just one person’s opinion. 


About the Author

Edmond Manning is a Minneapolis resident, owner of a rarely-used gym membership, maker of raspberry jam, and the author of King Perry and King Mai.


King Mai by Edmond Manning
M/M Contemporary


Adopted from Thailand and never one to fit in with the local bubbas, life has been rough around the edges for Mai Kearns, even before he came out of the closet. Now, almost ten years past the torture of high school, Mai still can't catch a break: he and his parents stand to lose their beloved farm.

How will a “King Weekend” help change Mai’s fate? What has narrator Vin Vanbly been up to for the four weeks he’s been sneaking around Mai’s hometown? At the urging of a ransom note from ‘The Lost Kings,’ Mai embarks on an impossible treasure hunt chasing mystic poetry, Fibonacci Hopscotch, ancient prophecy, the letter ‘x,’ and a confounding, penguin-marching army.

The stakes are high: if Mai fails, the Lost Kings will permanently claim him as their own. Finding the treasure may unlock the secret to saving his family farm. But can this angry farmer risk opening his broken heart before the weekend is over? Mai Kearns has 40 hours to get very, very curious in this second installment of The Lost and Founds.

Teaser Excerpt:

The events in this novel take place in 1996

Chapter 1 
 Ladies and gentlemen, the BBC proudly presents another episode of Vin Vanbly, Farm Spy. Today, we follow the case—nah, no time. Only ten minutes until we begin his King Weekend.
From my hiding spot in the corn, I watch Mai Kearns on his front porch, watching his watch. Watch. Watch, watch. I like the word watch. Kearns wears a solid yellow T-shirt I have not seen before, which means either it’s new or one of his good tees. Yellow looks sexy against his hazelnut skin. I wonder if he realizes that color is perfect on him or if it’s a happy accident. He must know. I’ve been aching to kiss his dark copper neck, to glide my pale fingers down those strong arms, slightly less sunburned than his neck. I want to caress his chest, and to compare his farmer tan to what’s under his shirt. And, of course, his ass. I bet it’s a goldeny-brown, a tender shade that flushes when you kiss it, worship its rippling goose bumps.
His eyes… I can’t wait to see those hard, dark eyes staring right into me. Today I will see his eyes up close, no longer through binoculars.
Over the yellow tee, he’s wearing a white linen shirt, unbuttoned, the one he wore last Sunday when they ate dinner on the backyard picnic table. I almost strolled out of their cornfield to ask for a steak. Hard yellow corn, baked potatoes, fat red and gold tomatoes in a bowl, and his mom made a pie. I wish I knew what kind of pie. I’ll ask him. Tried to catch a whiff, but from my hiding spot, I could only smell dirt and corn.
His flat tummy peeks out as he stretches his arms behind his head. He looks at his watch again. I love his tummy. Slender guys have cute bellies. Or whatever you call his lack of belly.
God, I want to have sex with him.
He glances at his watch again and jerks his arm away. He’s already pissed and I’m not even late. I remained so adamant about beginning exactly at 6:00 p.m. that my impending tardiness will surely burst a vein in his neck.
He leans over the wooden porch’s railing, staring down the narrow, country road leading to his parents’ farm. Still no sight of me. He clunks his worn cowboy boots down the front steps and with clipped strides crosses the house’s front, the only side scraped and primed, ready for its repainting. Standing in the yard, he peers beyond the driveway but he can’t see far, not with cornstalks seven, eight feet high everywhere around us.
Okay, time for the final alignment test.
I step backwards, deeper into the field, and tighten my grip on the cornstalk in my right hand. Pressing my foot against the stalk, I wait until he’s looking away and with my boot, I punch it.
Crack.
Mai’s head snaps straight toward this field. He knows what he heard.
Yup, he loves the corn.
After staring in my direction and hearing northing further, Mai storms back to the porch and flops hard into an Adirondack, his morning coffee chair, lifts his feet to the railing, and then scrapes his boot undersides across a banister spoke. His mom’s not going to like that—Kearns, you know better. But the man can’t stand to be doing nothing, and this latest distraction betrays his impatience.
5:55 p.m.
Fuck it. I can’t wait until 6:00 p.m. I want our time together to start right now, this very second. I stride from the field into the neighboring grass and wait for him to notice me. He’s, what, fifty yards away? Sixty? Not close enough to distinguish eye color or read expressions accurately, but close enough to notice there’s a person now standing here.
Mai stands again and after flicking a few dirt chunks off the railing, catches me in his peripheral vision. He turns to look at me for a moment, peers in my direction, and jumps back a foot.
“Hey, bubba,” he yells. “That’s our corn.”
I love it. That’s what he calls the men in DeKalb. He once emailed me the word meant nothing more than a playful swipe at the locals. He lied. It’s more than a gentle snub. He hates the town bubbas, the redneck high schoolers who taunted him, a hurt exacerbated because he once loved a local bubba. It’s exhausting to hate what you love and love what you hate.
He stares at me, then glances down the road.
I cock my head, but say nothing.
Across the front yard, driveway, and expanse of grass crushed flat and ripped open by tractor wheels, he cups his hands and yells, “You…are you Vin Vanbly?”
I nod.
He yells, “C’mere.”
I shake my head in refusal, exaggerating the motion so he can see it clearly.
I smile, remembering the many months it took us to get here.
When we first started emailing six months ago in March, Mai argued the sheer impossibility of so many kings, arguing the nightmare bureaucratic and legal consequences. He next launched real-world crime statistics like missiles, demanding explanations for how any utopia could remain untouched by humanity’s worst. In another email, he insisted that with many countries barely acknowledging women’s rights, so how could they recognize each woman as the one true queen? Despite his goading questions, Kearns didn’t really want answers.
He wanted to believe.
He waits a minute, staring at me hard. “Hey, could you come here for a moment? I need to talk to you.”
I shake my head again. With my right hand, I motion for him to come.
Fuck talking. I already know he wants to back out. “Something important came up.” That’s about half the excuses I get. Also popular lately is “I only showed up to explain why I refuse go.” Blah, blah, fucking blah.
When I invite men on my King Weekend, they never know what to expect, only that they must submit to my every demand all weekend. When Friday evening arrives, they realize my promise to help them “remember the man they were always meant to be” seems awfully vague weighed against a full weekend of total submission and obedience. I’m sure they worry it’s all dungeon basements and restraints in metal chains but lucky for them, I’m not that kind of guy. I guess I’m not surprised men want to back out at the last minute. I probably would too.
Mai tilts his head and skews his face into what might be a frown. Can’t tell. But I dig the cowboy angle of his body, hands on his hips, fighting me for control over this single moment in time. I wish I had a camera.
Almost the entire Kearns’ farm lies behind him. The dilapidated red and white barns don’t need new paint; they need new wood to go under the paint, and then new paint. The barn they use for storing tractors and hay shows its ribs in a few places, and a few massive corrugated tin sheets stretch themselves across squares of missing roof, protecting its modesty. I can’t imagine it’s effective in winter. The animal barn appears in better shape. They take good care of the cows. It’s clean inside—well, as clean as you can get with forty-three shitting cows. I’m not a farmer but from my night-time lurking around the property, I could identify dozens of necessary improvements once money is found.
No, Vin, don’t think about that. Don’t think about the farm.
He saunters across the yard, extra-casual, attempting to disguise his irritation. Damn he’s hot, even when he’s angry. Maybe especially when he’s angry. I get the appeal of angry men. They carry a clenched power in their eyes and fists, threatening immediate, immoderate action. While I do not want the anger, I love the accompanying raw testosterone. Bring it on, bubba.
After he storms across the white-stoned driveway, he skirts the scything machine, whatever that thing is, careful not to step on the border of impatiens I’ve seen his mom water and weed. Clearly, this rusted thing is beyond salvage. The rubber wheels are years flat, the blades dull and useless. I want to believe the surrounding pink and white flowers communicate his mother’s Midwestern sensibility regarding beauty: if this piece of crap stays in our yard let’s make it look like we intended it. I have to remember to ask him where this machine came from. I have a theory.
When he reaches the grass twenty feet from me, I start backing into the corn.
He stops and puts his hands on his hips. “Yes, yes, just like Field of Dreams. It’s been done, Vin.”
I leap back a few more feet until I’m sure I’m hidden, then turn and dash down the row. People associate cornfields with either Field of Dreams or Children of the Corn. That’s a pretty fair dichotomy: Found Kings’ interpretation, Lost Kings’ interpretation.



GIVEAWAY INFORMATION~ Want to win a copy of King Mai? Leave a comment/question, etc for Edmond to be entered to win this wonderful book. 

Release Day Event/Giveaway~ Rock My Heart by Selene Chardou

Rock My Heart Release Day Banner
Synopsis

Rock_Heart_Kindle_Nook“I thought I knew what I wanted but someone forgot to tell me that you have to embrace the ugly in a relationship in order to appreciate the beauty of what you have created between another person and yourself. The following is what happens when you think you can take a short cut but in life, as in love, easy doesn’t come without difficulty, and if you want love to survive, you have to fight for it each and every day.”Sydney Landvik

Syd and Kaz survived getting together in the most unusual of ways, a rigorous world tour and his crazy ex-wife but their relationship will be tested more than they ever thought was possible. Now that Sydney is expecting their first child and they are engaged, demons from Kaz’s past rear their ugly head and cause a catalyst that will spin their world completely out of control. Kaz reacts in the only way he knows how and that is to shut down his emotions while contemplating a deal for Scarlet Fever that could set them up for life and finally give them the stability they need.

Meanwhile, Syd reacts to the situation in a way that is completely unbecoming and may spell the end of their relationship and the happy ending she has craved for so long. Can two people—who have gone through the fires of lust and love—reconnect with what brought them together in the first place and make peace not only with themselves and each other or will the pressure prove too great and tear them apart for good? This is the explosive conclusion to one of the most exciting and twisted love affairs in rock history.

Meet the Author

Selene Chardou is a world traveler and the alter-ego of Elle Chardou. Ms. Chardou’s writing is all about hot romance and exciting times with the wild, damaged, out of control and/or the rich and famous set in the New Adult realm. She is currently working on In Too Deep, the conclusion to The Lovers Duet, and The Will To Love, book two in the Scarlet Fever Series, which chronicles the relationship of Will, the bassist of Scarlet Fever and Laurel, Syd’s BFF who fell head over heels for the hot rocker. Ms. Chardou has lived abroad in Stockholm (Sweden), Manchester (England), Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Portland. She currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Book Spotlight~ A Taste of Paris by Lucy Felthouse

A Taste of Paris by Lucy Felthouse
Book two of the A Taste Of… series

Ryan Stonebridge and his friend Kristian Hurst are traveling on their year off before going to University.
Unfortunately, Kristian has been called back home due to a family emergency. Ryan continues on to Paris alone, hoping his friend will join him again soon.
In the meantime, Ryan’s lucky streak with women continues, and by the time Kristian makes it to Paris, Ryan’s bumper box of condoms is depleting rapidly. However, there are more than enough women to go around, and Kristian intends to have some sexy fun of his own, and when the boys get a chance to play with two sexy ladies at once, they certainly aren’t going to turn it down.
Adult Teaser:

Ryan could hardly believe his luck. After a sex-packed day and a bit in London, he was now being propositioned by a sexy older woman on the Eurostar. The Paris-bound train had just started moving and it seemed the woman wanted to spend at least some of the two-and-a quarter-hour journey to the French capital fucking him in the toilet.
He shook his head disbelievingly. Then, after making sure no one had witnessed their exchange—when she’d given him the come-on—he slipped from his seat and made his way as nonchalantly as possible in the direction the woman had gone. He quickly found her, standing in the area between carriages that also housed the public conveniences.
She looked around, ensuring no one could see through the glass doors at the ends of the carriages to either side of them, pulled open the toilet door and dragged him inside.
Ryan barely had time to catch a breath before she’d locked the door, slammed him against it and molded her lips to his. She tasted of expensive champagne—she’d probably been indulging in St. Pancras station’s champagne bar—and it suddenly made him very aware that, although she’d started their sexy rendezvous, he was most likely taking advantage of an inebriated woman. He twisted his head away.
“Hey,” he said, grasping her arms and pushing her gently away from him. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re gorgeous and very, very sexy, but you’ve been drinking. I don’t want you to do something you might regret later.”
The woman laughed, long and loud, and Ryan worried that someone might have heard her and wonder why on earth there was a woman laughing to herself in the train toilets. The last thing he wanted was to open the door and find a pissed-off member of staff waiting there. There was no excuse for two adults being in a locked cubicle together that anyone would believe.
Clapping her hand over her mouth, the woman suppressed her mirth, then finally spoke. “Yes, gorgeous blond one.” Her French accent surprised him—he’d thought she was a tourist heading to Paris. “I have been drinking champagne. But only a glass. I’m certainly not drunk.”
With that, she pounced on him once more, and Ryan decided not to resist any longer. They were both consenting adults and he had protection in his pocket—so where was the harm in indulging their baser instincts? His cock definitely didn’t see any further reason for delay as it filled with blood and pressed against the crotch of his jeans.
He pushed his fingers into her thick black hair and pulled her more tightly to him, deepening their kiss. She was eager and, judging by the way she was rocking her hips against him, incredibly horny. He held out for as long as he could, exploring her mouth with his tongue, nibbling at her plump lower lip and pulling her hair to expose her white throat. Before long, though, the pants and tiny mewls coming from the woman’s mouth pushed him to the point of no return. His cock was all but bursting from his jeans and he really needed to be inside this woman’s pussy.


About the Author 

Lucy Felthouse is a very busy woman! She writes erotica and erotic romance in a variety of subgenres and pairings, and has over seventy publications to her name, with many more in the pipeline. These include Best Bondage Erotica 2012, 2013 and 2014 and Best Women's Erotica 2013. Another string to her bow is editing, and she has edited and co-edited a number of anthologies. She owns Erotica For All, and is book editor for Cliterati. Find out more at http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk. Join her on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to her newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/gMQb9


Friday, August 30, 2013

New Dreamspinner Press Books to enjoy

Make Me Whole by Marguerite Labb
Length: Novel (294p.) | Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary, Paranormal, BDSM/Kink I Release Date: August 26, 2013 
Available in e-book & print

Nick has a lifelong dream of finding the Dexios Collection, and it winds up in the hands of Galen, the man who broke his heart.

After a grueling battle in ancient Greece, lovers Dexios and Lykon committed their lives to each other in the name of Goddess Cythera. 

After the war, fearing the strength of his love for Dexios, Lykon abandoned his vow and returned home. Heartbroken, Dexios called on Cythera, who changed him into four unfinished statues. In that form he would wait for his fickle lover to return, break the curse, and make him whole.

Thousands of years have passed when Galen Kanellis finds the disassembled pieces in the storeroom of a Seattle museum and makes them the focus of his new exhibit. Needing information, he contacts his ex-lover Nick Charisteas. Nick has a lifelong dream of finding the Dexios Collection, and the last thing he expected was for it to wind up in the hands of the man who broke his heart. As both men search for answers about the statues, worries of abandonment and fear of loss test their renewed relationship, threatening to separate them again—this time permanently.


No Angel by Daniel A. Kaine
Length: Novel (200p.) | Genre: Contemporary Fantasy, Paranormal, Coming of Age Release Date: August 26, 2013
Available in e-book & print

Josh has horns and Sam has wings. Their relationship grows and they find a haven in each other’s arms until tragedy threatens them.

Born with a birth defect called Devil Syndrome, it is impossible for Josh Harper to hide the two small stumps of hornlike bone atop his head. If people also knew about his ability to create force fields with his mind, they’d lock him up for sure. Left to fend for himself on his eighteenth birthday, Josh tries to make it on the streets. When he’s attacked, he’s rescued by Sam Mitchell, who has an equally strange power—and a set of pure white wings.

Sam ran away from home a year ago, and the new life he’s built for himself includes living in an abandoned house and looking after three younger kids, all with Devil Syndrome. Then along comes Josh. After a rough start their relationship grows and the two young men find a haven in each other’s arms. But when tragedy strikes their newfound family, Sam’s hatred of regular humans spirals out of control, and Josh will have to make Sam see sense before everything he’s worked so hard to build is destroyed.


Call Me But Love by Tracy Rowan
Length: Novella (74p.) | Genre: Contemporary, Historical (European, Americas) Release Date: August 28, 2013
Available in e-book only

In these four stories, Mercutio’s love for Romeo goes far deeper, always somehow entwined with the fates of Romeo and Juliet.

Mercutio is a funny, moody, complex foil for Romeo in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but in the four stories presented here, each an independent tale, Mercutio’s love for his friend goes far deeper, always somehow entwined with the fates of Romeo and Juliet.

The first tale sets the trio back in Renaissance Verona, where Mercutio vies for Romeo’s love. Romeo is oblivious, but the love triangle has deadly consequences. Next, we find Romeo and Mercutio in Victorian England. Though Romeo knows Mercutio loves him and returns his passion, he struggles to fit his desires into the strict mores of the day. 

The third story takes us to post-WWII America, where war-weary Romeo, Juliet, and Mercutio long for the right to love whom they choose. The final story in the collection brings the three characters into contemporary times, a band on a road trip that will change their lives forever. 


Ride the Wind by Anne Dudley
Length: Novel (246p.) | Genre: Contemporary, Coming of Age | Release Date: August 28, 2013
Available in e-book & print

Alex meets the confident and outgoing Jordon at the Sturgis motorcycle rally, finds new experiences, and faces fear and love.

Alex Durant lives in a room behind the motorcycle repair shop where he works as an underpaid mechanic, bullied by his boss. There’s a truth he’s ignored most of his twenty-three years: men on their bikes turn him on, not women on the pin-up calendars that line the shop walls. 

It’s during a well-earned vacation to Sturgis, South Dakota, to attend the motorcycle rally where he comes face to face with his truth.

He meets the confident and outgoing Jordon Baker, who races motorcycles as a career. Alex is overwhelmed by Jordon’s incredible smile and kind eyes and his need to live life to the fullest. In the week they spend together, it’s Jordon who shows Alex things he’s never experienced: concerts, races, and the stars. It’s Jordon who shows him that two male bodies can ignite in pleasure when they come together. 

By the end of the week, Alex sees in Jordon’s eyes what he feels in his heart, and the truth of that scares him to the core.

But Sturgis week has ended, and Alex is back to the grind. He’s now stuck with making a difficult choice: continue to live his sad life alone and in hiding, or live his truth with the man who has big eyes for the world.


A Heart Without Borders by Andrew Grey
Length: Novel (200p.) | Genre: Contemporary | Release Date: August 30, 2013 
Available in e-book & print

Wes may face adopting a boy from Haiti without the support of Anthony, the one person he’s come to rely on most and may never see again.

Pediatrician Wes Gordon will do just about anything to escape his grief. When opportunity knocks, he signs on to work at a hospital in a tent camp in Haiti. One night while returning to his quarters, he comes across a gang of kids attempting to set fire to an underage rentboy and intervenes, taking the injured René under his wing. At the hospital, diplomat Anthony Crowley tells Wes that the kids involved in the attack are from prominent families and trying to hold them responsible will cause a firestorm.

In spite of the official position Anthony must take, Wes’s compassion captures his attention. Anthony pursues him, and they grow closer during the stolen moments between Anthony’s assignments, escaping earthquake destruction for glimpses of Caribbean paradise. When Wes realizes the only way to save René is to adopt him, Anthony is supportive, but time is running out: Wes must leave the country, and Anthony is called out on a dangerous secret mission. Now Wes must face adopting a boy from Haiti who has no papers without the support of the one person he’s come to rely on most and may never see again.


A Royal Bind by Sui Lynn
Changing Moon Series, Book Two
Length: Novel (200p.) | Genre: Paranormal, Vampires, Shapeshifters, Mystery/Suspense Release Date: August 30, 2013
2nd Edition; 1st Edition published in 2012 by Silver Publishing
Available e-book & print

Lance wants to tear apart the abusive vampire, Stephon, and free his mate, Andrew, and their family for good.

Lance Fitz and Andrew Reed are a blissfully mated pair, but Andrew’s benefactor Stephon, a born vampire, isn’t happy with the pairing, especially after he discovers Lance’s pedigree. Stephon attempts to find answers using his mental connection with Andrew, and when his efforts fail, he goes after Lance’s new shifter family. Enraged, Lance severs the tie to Stephon. He wants to tear apart the abusive vampire and free his mate and family for good. But before he can try, the family reminds Lance that the death of one vampire won't change the social status of shifters as an enslaved people. The fight won’t end with Stephon, even if Lance succeeds.


Strong Enough by Cardeno C
A Book in the Family Series
Length: Novel (200p.) | Genre: Contemporary | Release Date: August 30, 2013
Available in e-book & print

With a prize like Spencer on the line, Emilio faces a challenge; Spencer must slay his personal demons and learn to trust again.

When twenty-two-year-old Emilio Sanchez sees handsome Spencer Derdinger walking by his construction site, Emilio makes it his goal to seduce the shy professor. Getting Spencer into bed isn’t difficult, but Emilio soon learns that earning the trust of a man deeply hurt will take time and patience. With a prize like brilliant, sweet Spencer on the line, Emilio decides he is strong enough to face the challenge.

Spencer is surprised when he’s approached by the gorgeous construction worker he’s admired from the safety of his office window.

Acting spontaneously for the first time in his thirty-eight years, Spencer takes Emilio home. When the casual hookup turns into the potential for love, Spencer realizes that if he wants to build a life with Emilio, he’ll need to be strong enough to slay his personal demons and learn to trust again.

Cover Reveal Day for Embracing Death

embracing_death_final 

Title: Embracing Death
Author: D.T. Dyllin
Series: The Death Trilogy #2
Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance
Expected publication: November 2013 by Dragonfairy Press

Blurb:

All of Samantha Bevan’s memories have been returned to her. But instead of bringing her peace, they’ve only brought her more turmoil. She now recalls the dark addiction to feeling other people’s deaths and every day is a struggle to control her urges. At least she has Austin to help her… or does she? Samantha will discover that even with her memories, she doesn’t know the truth of her past, and those secrets may prove detrimental to her and everyone she loves. Will she be able to unravel the mystery of who’s been pulling her strings before it’s too late? Or will Austin be the one to suffer from her mistakes?

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18168194-embracing-death?ac=1

About the Author

 

Cynical-Optimist. Chocolate-holic. Sarcasm Addict. Paranormal Believer. Self-Imposed Insomniac. Sci-Fi Geek. Animal Lover. Writer…are just a few words to describe D.T. Dyllin. She was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and two very spoiled GSDs.

Book Spotlight ~ Tanya Anne Crosby’s Speak No Evil

Speak No Evil (No Evil #1) by Tanya Anne Crosby
Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Categories: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher: Kensington
Release Date: March 7, 2013
Heat Level: Sensual
Length: 283 pages

Available at:

Description:
“Dangerously addicting. “-Sherrilyn Kenyon #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Crosby serves up suspense, secrets and Southern scandal like no one else! “ - Harlan Coben #1 New York Times bestselling author

Lifting the veil of secrecy on a grand Southern family in decline, New York Times bestselling author Tanya Anne Crosby explores the lives of Caroline, Augusta, and Savannah Aldridge, three sisters who share a dark past and an uncertain future...Caroline Aldridge was surprised by the number of mourners at her mother's funeral. Evidently the newspaper heiress who had caused her children so much pain was well-loved by everyone else in Charleston. Now she was gone, leaving behind countless secrets--and a few demands: Caroline and her sisters must live together for one year or lose their inheritance. And Caroline must take over The Tribune. But a killer is making headlines, and Caroline may have unwittingly stepped into the crosshairs...

A series of kidnappings and murders resurrect the sisters' memories of their brother's disappearance as a child--and Caroline fears she may be next. Yet in the midst of her turmoil, she may be rekindling a romance she'd extinguished long ago. With Jack back in her life and the tattered bonds of sisterhood slowly mending, Caroline hopes the family can restore its position in Charleston society--unless a sinister force beyond their control tears them apart forever. . .


Teaser Excerpt:

He took another swig of his Guinness and reached into his pocket to grab his cell phone. Three missed calls from Kelly. Zero from Caroline.

Then, again, he hadn’t expected Caroline to call. She was as prideful as her mother—damn her! Even ten years later, she wasn’t about to forget a stupid mistake. He set the phone down on the counter and drained his glass, eyeing the cell with some malice.

The bartender eyed him curiously. “Bad day?”

Jack shrugged. “Buried a friend,” he said.

And fought with the woman who somehow still managed to consume his thoughts even after all these years, but he didn’t offer up that part. It was nobody’s business.

Caroline was the sole reason he couldn’t settle down with Kelly, he realized. Every time he’d considered it, Caroline’s face popped into his head—like one of those annoying carnival games. He didn’t think that was the way it was supposed to be—married to one girl, obsessed with another.

There was nothing wrong with Kelly.

She just wasn’t Caroline.

“I’ll take another.”

Kyle nodded and complied.

Okay, so maybe as a description of the past several years, “obsessed” was a bit of an overstatement, because he had pretty much managed to put Caroline out of his head—except whenever lifechanging decisions were about to be made. This minute, however, it was a full-on obsession, complete with phantom touches that were hijacking his body. Just seeing her had done that to him. It left him with a sense of longing that was acutely disagreeable, and he couldn’t shake it.

Eyeing the phone again, he considered calling her—just so he could stop thinking about her—and it dawned on him that she was probably the reason he had never changed his number. That thought had never even entered his brain before this moment, but he was pretty sure it was true. He wasn’t over her. Worse, he was afraid he was never going to be over her, and the thought of living his life in limbo made him feel like chain-smoking half a dozen packs of cigarettes right in front of her.

His cell phone rang and his heart thumped hard. Then he saw the number and felt the letdown: Kelly.

He couldn’t avoid her forever.

Draining his glass once more, he took out his wallet, paid the tab, grabbed his cell, and almost as an afterthought, reached into his pocket, digging out his last pack of cigarettes, still half full, and tossed them on the bar, then walked out. The phone stopped ringing, but he would call her back. Now that it was all clear in his head, he realized holding on wasn’t fair.
It was time to let go.

About the Author

Tanya has written seventeen novels, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists including the New York Times and USA Today. Best known for stories charged with emotion and humor, and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She lives with her husband, two dogs and two cats in northern Michigan.

Connect with Tanya Anne Crosby



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