New Years Blog Hop!

Hey everyone! I am part of Carrie Ann Ryan’s fantastic blog hop! My favorite New Year’s memory happened when I was about 6 or 7yrs old. We had just bought our very first VCR. Yes, VCR. Heh. It was the kind where the tape popped out of the top. Very old school. For those youngings, a VCR plays VHS tapes…you know, the thing before DVDs and Blue-Rays. So we went down to the local grocery store because they had a rental place. Yeah, before Netflix and Redbox..remember? No? *sigh* We got Back To The Future (GREAT SCOTT!) and watched it with popcorn and candy until 10 min till midnight. It was the first year my mom allowed me to stay up. Or maybe it was the first year I actually made it to midnight. Either way, it really stands out in my memory.

The Rules: Alright, along with everyone else in the hop I have some prizes up for grabs. I will have 3 winners here. You need to tell me in your comment if you prefer to only be added for one of the giveaways or if you’d like a chance at any of them. My contest is open to US and Canada readers only. You also need to follow me somewhere. You can get my emails (link over to the right near the top) or follow on facebook. Follow me on Twitter for an extra entry only. In your comment you need to tell me how to find you if you win and which way you follow (I check ) I will close the contest on 1/4/12 at 11:59pm EST. Winner to be posted on 1/5/12. Please be aware that these books are all in good condition (some brand new) though a few have spine creases. 

On top of all this there is also a grand prize pack for anyone that comments on any blog participating in the hop. The grand prize over all the blog comments (at every stop) is a KINDLE FIRE!! The second place winner in the grand prize giveaway will be an $80 Amazon gift card!! each comment on each blog is 1 entry. Go to 20 stops, comment 20 times and be enter to win 20 times! Beware though, duplicate comments won’t count

PRIZE PACK #1 – Historical Romance

A DESPERATE BEAUTY
Despite fame and countless admirers, actress Marcail Beauchamp has never forgotten William Hurst, the audacious seafarer she once loved…and lost. Now, forced by a mysterious blackmailer who threatens her family, she must steal an ancient onyx box from the one man she’s vowed never to see again.

A BOLD ADVENTURER
To save his brother from a ruthless abductor, William must deliver the artifact as ransom. He’s stunned when Marcail, more lovely than ever, suddenly appears on his ship. But when she drugs him and steals the box, his fury knows no bounds.

THE TREASURE EVERYONE WANTS
William pursues Marcail, but too late: she has already delivered the box. The estranged lovers realize they must work together — both to regain the artifact that could mean life or death to his family and to destroy the mysterious blackmailer’s power over her family. Thus begins a high-stakes quest through the reaches of Scotland, a quest that stirs up long-forgotten memories and an unquenchable passion. . . .

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AN ENTRANCING THIEF

For beautiful, seductive Moira MacAllister, the stakes have become terrifyingly high. Her daughter has been abducted and a priceless ancient relic is the ransom. Moira must acquire it at any cost, even if it means confronting the man she once duped and left, a man who still doesn’t know she has a child . . . and that he is the father.

A DASHING RAKEHELL

Robert Hurst, an operative in the king’s service, has never forgiven the mysterious spy who seduced him into marriage and then disappeared without a trace. Now, as he pursues the onyx box that will save his brother’s life, their paths cross again. But Robert isn’t sure which he longs for more—to satisfy his lust for revenge or to quench his relentless hunger for this bewitching woman.

A PERILOUS MISSION

When Moira reveals to Robert her long-kept secret, however, he realizes his burning desires must wait as a treacherous foe closes in, threatening all they hold dear . . . and their second chance at love.

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New York Times bestselling author Jane Feather again delights with her new book in this entrancing Georgian trilogy featuring three noble brothers who are offered a preposterous opportunity to restore their family’s mortgaged lands. An eccentric uncle promises a lavish inheritance, but only if each marries—thus redeeming—a fallen woman. And if even one brother fails to fulfill the old man’s decree, none will gain the windfall.

Lady Serena Grantley was born to the nobility, but fortune’s whim placed her in control of her gamester stepfather, who uses her beauty to lure young men to his gambling tables. Serena even dismissed her first love, the Honorable Sebastian Sullivan, at her stepfather’s command. But when he attempts to force her into a liaison with a dissolute earl, Serena resolves to do his bidding no more. Sebastian is the only man who ever captured her heart, and it is to him she turns. . . .

Torn between family loyalty and the woman he loves, Sebastian faces a devilish dilemma. His uncle is ailing, and time is running short. Desperate to find a solution, Sebastian conceives a dangerous plan—a wager that could bring him and Serena happiness at last . . . or separate them forever.

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Prize Pack #2 – Contemporary Romance

What if you learned that your fiancé was not who he claimed to be? Engaged to the charming and seductive Greg Anders, Sara Shaw is happily anticipating her wedding in Edilean, Virginia. The date has been set, the flowers ordered, even her heirloom dress is ready. But just three weeks before the wedding, Greg gets a telephone call during the night and leaves without explanation. Two days later, a man climbs up through a trapdoor in the floor of Sara’s apartment, claiming that he is the brother of her best friend and that he’s moving in. While Mike Newland is indeed telling the truth about his identity, his reason for being there reaches far deeper. He’s an undercover detective, and his assignment is to use Sara to track down a woman who is one of the most notorious criminals in the United States—and also happens to be the mother of the man Sara plans to marry. Mike thinks the job will be easy—if he can figure out how to make a “good” girl like Sara trust him, that is. But Mike has no idea what this mission has in store for him. He’s worked hard to keep private his connections to Edilean, which date back to his grandmother’s time there in 1941. But as Mike and Sara get to know each other, he can’t help but share secrets about himself that he’s told no one else. And in return, Sara opens up to Mike about things she could never reveal to Greg. As the pair work together to solve two mysteries, their growing love begins to heal each of them in ways they never could have imagined.

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New from bestselling author Jude Deveraux, the first in an exciting trilogy set in Edilean, Virginia, focusing on three young women who all went to college together and have remained friends since.

Sparks are flying between Jecca Layton and Dr. Tristan Aldredge. The only problem? Tris lives in a tiny town in Virginia, and Jecca has a great job and friends in the big city of New York. Can they survive the distance? And who will sacrifice the life they’ve created for themselves for the one that they love?

Filled with Deveraux’s trademark charm and masterful storytelling, Moonlight in the Morning is a well-crafted romance about a summer fling between a country boy and a city girl that has the potential to become something more—if only they lived in the same place—that readers will find impossible to put down.

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People have heard of fleeting rumors about The Club. Located just outside Washington, D.C., only its members know where men go when they want to indulge the desire to share their women with a carefully selected male partner. John “Mac” McCoy resigned his membership from The Club when he married Keiley Hardin. Tempting and innocent, sweet and sexy, she would never accept Mac’s desire to share her with another man. However, Mac’s fantasies of sharing his wife haunt his dreams.  And his passions. Unable to wait any longer to draw his best friend Jethro Riggs into his marriage, Mac invites Jethro to their home with the intention of drawing Keiley into the pleasures that only be achieved when two men love the same woman. But there’s more going on in Mac’s neck of the woods than a little additional pleasure. A past case, a stalker that likes to playing games and his wife is now in the middle of it all. Passion and pleasure, danger and desire combine as forbidden pleasure becomes an addiction none of them can escape.

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Prize pack #3 – Signed Erotic Romance

Beauty vs. power—a dangerous game with the heart as the prize…

Jacey Cass radiates confidence and sensuality just once a year, when she meets her rich and powerful lover for a night of anonymous sex. The rest of her calendar is filled with the daily struggle to survive. Her cashier job at Insomnia, Miami’s hottest lingerie shop, doesn’t go far toward college tuition, but she’s determined to rise above her mother’s freeloading legacy.

Alex Vaughn is one promotion away from realizing his life’s ambition. For years he’s been forced to stand by and watch his father systematically destroy the values that made Insomnia great. Now, with an expected vacancy in the summer catalog, he takes a chance. He’s never formally met the fascinating woman he takes to bed every year, but he knows a marketable body when he sees one. The last thing he expects is for her to turn the opportunity down flat.

Jacey won’t consider a handout—even from the man whose white-hot caress is the one bright spot of her life. Then a modeling competition’s prize money lures her from behind the register and into the blinding spotlight, unaware of what the cost could be to her heart…

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One night of anonymous sex. Zero consequences. At least, that was the plan.

Dumped for another woman, Bree Jamison buries her white-picket-fence dreams—and her naturally shy demeanor—for a contract job behind the scenes of an erotic cyberstore. Her new life comes with a sexy public persona, and a driving ambition to earn a permanent position with the company.

On the day she’s prepared to present her best work, she’s shocked to discover her future depends on impressing her only one-night stand. The one man who could blow her cover and ruin everything.

Evan climbed out of poverty with sarcasm on his tongue and a ring in his eyebrow. He can’t believe the vixen in front of him is the same woman who fumbled her way through their single botched encounter. Her offer for a do-over is an opportunity he can’t pass up, not only to secure his reputation, but to satisfy his curiosity about the one woman he couldn’t please.

In a bedroom full of the company’s products, fiery arguments lead to experimentation—and then to a passion that strips away their masks. In that vulnerable place, their troubled pasts collide, baring secrets that force Evan into a hard decision. And Bree back on the road to heartbreak…

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To get back to the list of participating blogs click here

GOOD LUCK and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

A Discovery Of Witches GIVEAWAY

Did everyone know that one of the most popular books of 2011, A Discovery Of Witches by Deborah Harkness, has now been released in paperback? No? You didn’t know? What? Well…technically it’s being released December 27th. No fear though, I have a giveaway for everyone today! Not only is the paperback coming out but the movie rights have been bought by Warner Brothers. So who knows…one day we may get to see these on the big screen!

To one random commenter in the US or Canada you can win a copy of your very own! I will leave the contest open until December 26th and will announce the winner on the 27th.

 

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.

Deep in the stacks of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

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EXCERPT

*Taken from DeborahHarkness.com*

The leather-bound volume was nothing remarkable. To an ordinary historian, it would have looked no different from hundreds of other manuscripts in Oxford’s Bodleian Library, ancient and worn. But I knew there was something odd about it from the moment I collected it.

Duke Humfrey’s Reading Room was deserted on this late-September afternoon, and requests for library materials were filled quickly now that the summer crush of visiting scholars was over and the madness of the fall term had not yet begun. Even so, I was surprised when Sean stopped me at the call desk.

“Dr. Bishop, your manuscripts are up,” he whispered, voice tinged with a touch of mischief. The front of his argyle sweater was streaked with the rusty traces of old leather bindings, and he brushed at it self-consciously. A lock of sandy hair tumbled over his forehead when he did.

“Thanks,” I said, flashing him a grateful smile. I was flagrantly disregarding the rules limiting the number of books a scholar could call in a single day. Sean, who’d shared many a drink with me in the pink-stuccoed pub across the street in our graduate-student days, had been filling my requests without complaint for more than a week. “And stop calling me Dr. Bishop. I always think you’re talking to someone else.”

He grinned back and slid the manuscripts—all containing fine examples of alchemical illustrations from the Bodleian’s collections—over his battered oak desk, each one tucked into a protective gray cardboard box. “Oh, there’s one more.” Sean disappeared into the cage for a moment and returned with a thick, quarto-size manuscript bound simply in mottled calfskin. He laid it on top of the pile and stooped to inspect it. The thin gold rims of his glasses sparked in the dim light provided by the old bronze reading lamp that was attached to a shelf. “This one’s not been called up for a while. I’ll make a note that it needs to be boxed after you return it.”

“Do you want me to remind you?”

“No. Already made a note here.” Sean tapped his head with his fingertips.

“Your mind must be better organized than mine.” My smile widened.

Sean looked at me shyly and tugged on the call slip, but it remained where it was, lodged between the cover and the first pages. “This one doesn’t want to let go,” he commented.

Muffled voices chattered in my ear, intruding on the familiar hush of the room.

“Did you hear that?” I looked around, puzzled by the strange sounds.

“What?” Sean replied, looking up from the manuscript.

Traces of gilt shone along its edges and caught my eye. But those faded touches of gold could not account for a faint, iridescent shimmer that seemed to be escaping from between the pages. I blinked.

“Nothing.” I hastily drew the manuscript toward me, my skin prickling when it made contact with the leather. Sean’s fingers were still holding the call slip, and now it slid easily out of the binding’s grasp. I hoisted the volumes into my arms and tucked them under my chin, assailed by a whiff of the uncanny that drove away the library’s familiar smell of pencil shavings and floor wax.

“Diana? Are you okay?” Sean asked with a concerned frown.

“Fine. Just a bit tired,” I replied, lowering the books away from my nose.

I walked quickly through the original, fifteenth-century part of the library, past the rows of Elizabethan reading desks with their three ascending bookshelves and scarred writing surfaces. Between them, Gothic windows directed the reader’s attention up to the coffered ceilings, where bright paint and gilding picked out the details of the university’s crest of three crowns and open book and where its motto, “God is my illumination,” was proclaimed repeatedly from on high.

Another American academic, Gillian Chamberlain, was my sole companion in the library on this Friday night. A classicist who taught at Bryn Mawr, Gillian spent her time poring over scraps of papyrus sandwiched between sheets of glass. I sped past her, trying to avoid eye contact, but the creaking of the old floor gave me away.

My skin tingled as it always did when another witch looked at me.

“Diana?” she called from the gloom. I smothered a sigh and stopped.

“Hi, Gillian.” Unaccountably possessive of my hoard of manuscripts, I remained as far from the witch as possible and angled my body so they weren’t in her line of sight.

“What are you doing for Mabon?” Gillian was always stopping by my desk to ask me to spend time with my “sisters” while I was in town. With the Wiccan celebrations of the autumn equinox just days away, she was redoubling her efforts to bring me into the Oxford coven.

“Working,” I said promptly.

“There are some very nice witches here, you know,” Gillian said with prim disapproval. “You really should join us on Monday.”

“Thanks. I’ll think about it,” I said, already moving in the direction of the Selden End, the airy seventeenth-century addition that ran perpendicular to main axis of Duke Humfrey’s. “I’m working on a conference paper, though, so don’t count on it.” My aunt Sarah had always warned me it wasn’t possible for one witch to lie to another, but that hadn’t stopped me from trying.

Gillian made a sympathetic noise, but her eyes followed me.

Back at my familiar seat facing the arched, leaded windows, I resisted the temptation to dump the manuscripts on the table and wipe my hands. Instead, mindful of their age, I lowered the stack carefully.

The manuscript that had appeared to tug on its call slip lay on top of the pile. Stamped in gilt on the spine was a coat of arms belonging to Elias Ashmole, a seventeenth-century book collector and alchemist whose books and papers had come to the Bodleian from the Ashmolean Museum in the nineteenth century, along with the number 782. I reached out, touching the brown leather.

A mild shock made me withdraw my fingers quickly, but not quickly enough. The tingling traveled up my arms, lifting my skin into tiny goose pimples, then spread across my shoulders, tensing the muscles in my back and neck. These sensations quickly receded, but they left behind a hollow feeling of unmet desire. Shaken, I stepped away from the library table.

Even at a safe distance, this manuscript was challenging me— threatening the walls I’d erected to separate my career as a scholar from my birthright as the last of the Bishop witches.

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Thank you to the wonderful people at Penguin for allowing me to have the contest!

Feature: When Copper Suns Fall by KaSonndra Leigh and GIVEAWAY

When Copper Suns Fall

YA Dark Urban Fantasy

By KaSonndra Leigh

In fifteen-year-old Chela Prizeon’s city, alchemy is forbidden, and angels hide among the mortal. With a deadly virus ravaging the globe, Chela’s nightmarish memories compels her to experience a past riddled with gloom, and now her brother is infected.

Chela’s only hope is the Caduceans, slayers sworn to protect the last seven Light Keepers and the ancient memories they share. A group led by the sometimes elusive, sometimes infuriating boy who intrigues Chela. But can she trust this boy with the mysterious past, someone who can influence her memories?

With the Caduceans aid, Chela races to defeat her rivals, to unearth dark family secrets, desperate to find a cure…only to discover the glutovirus is far more than a simple disease.

In this haunting debut, KaSonndra Leigh offers an escape into a world as intriguing as The Mortal Instruments and a story as chilling as Enclave. Full of celestial creatures, fascinating villainy, high-stake choices, and a secret romance, When Copper Suns Fall, is a fresh and original urban fantasy—with a dystopian twist—that will take readers on an unforgettable adventure.

 

An Excerpt from When Copper Suns Fall: a YA Dark Urban Fantasy

By KaSonndra Leigh

Forcing my eyes to open, I found myself outside the Cradlehack. I was standing in Faris’s arms, my head against his chest, my fingers entwined in his black vest. It was a smooth fabric that felt like silk. A cloth no one had worn outside of ceremonies since before the Tidal Years. This boy was no common citizen. His earthy-sweet smell made me feel hypnotically safe, as we stood among the crowd fleeing down the hillside. He lifted my chin, stared in my eyes. But this wasn’t some dumb player’s move.

No, a mysterious thing stirred behind his silvery-gray eyes.

“Feel better, Chela?” he asked. I nodded.

“Thanks for helping me,” I said, still fighting a light head. Still afraid the dreaded black blobs lingered somewhere around us. Somewhat ashamed I’d spoken so horribly to him moments ago.

“You probably shouldn’t do that,” he said.

“Do what?”

“Thank me.”

“Why? Because I caught you using alchemy? That’s what your kind does. Make magic in the shadows, right?” I said.

His left eye ticked. The girl in the hoodie had called him a Caducean. Could it be possible? Father told me Caduceans were a mythical group—demon slayers from a time long gone. Yet, here I stood with a boy who didn’t deny my claim.

Around us, fewer people were leaving the Shack. They paid no attention to the two idiots standing and staring at each other. Did Jalen and Lexa make it out safely?  They were taking forever to reach me.

Did I really want them to find me?

“They’ll call me, now, and make me a witness against you. I’m sorry, but I already have too many problems. So I—I have to tell the truth,” I said.

“That won’t be a problem.” Faris smiled, a catchy one that lit his face up. I couldn’t decide whether it was angelic or downright wicked. Just like I couldn’t remember where I’d ever heard an accent like his. What kind was it? Old southern? Old English? Irish? It sounded like a mix of all three, but with a deep timbre, making him sound god like. “In a few minutes, you won’t remember me or any of this.”

“Really? How do you figure that?” I asked, heart racing.

“Because my gift to you…” He moved his face closer to mine, pulling me into whatever was happening in his head. “My gift is to remove memories that cause you pain.”

“Okay, um, right.” Had I lost my mind? It probably wouldn’t have hurt to scream.

He held my gaze, locking me into something I couldn’t explain. A tear puckered up in his left eye, and slid down his cheek where it stopped on his top lip. Then he blinked, snapping us out of whatever place he’d taken us to, and glanced behind my head. “Here comes your dark knight,” he said, easing his arms away from me.

He strolled off into the last group of stragglers hanging around the Shack. How did he know my nickname for Jalen?

I wiped away a tear rolling down my right cheek.

“Chela, there you are. You scared me, girl.” Jalen’s voice cut into the moment. He spun me around to face him. I blinked, clearing my eyes. “What’s wrong? Did you get hurt?”

I glanced around us. The boy was gone. A dull headache joined the fuzziness in my head. Lost inside a clouded mind, I forgot what I wanted to say. The entire night’s events were hazy.

I fumbled with my thoughts.

What happened to me in there?

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Talking with KsAonndra about her inspiration!

First I’d like to say thank you Nikki for allowing me this opportunity to visit your wonderful blog. Readers and bloggers have been so kind to me during this adventure. I can’t wait to share the story behind the music on my website, the heart of When Copper Suns Fall. I think every author has some kind of motivation technique when crafting a scene. For me, it’s about taking the essence of the novel as a whole when writing a scene. And to do that without losing sight of the story elements, I use music. Copper Suns is a cross-genre novel. It is pretty much a dark urban fantasy, but with heavy dystopian elements. So I listened to music that put me in the mood. Here’s a list of seven songs that very much influenced my writing process:

1. Furious Angels by Rob Dougan

Faris’s Song – Kind of goes without saying. But the song is about a guy who loses his fiancée in a car accident. He makes a promise to her passing spirit that if she goes away, then his furious angels will find her and bring her back to him. Unfortunately, I can’t say too very much about what scene this was relevant to and why. But when you read the book, you’ll automatically know which one it relates to.

2. Who Am I Living For? By Katy Perry

Chela’s Song- If you’ve heard Katy Perry’s heavy base and hard beats coupled with some pretty haunting lyrics, then you’ll understand why this is Chela’s song.

3. Teardrop by Massive Attack

Chela’s song- One suggestion. Watch the video trailer and then listen to the song.

4. Bring Me to Life by Evanescence

A song that always assisted me with focusing on the core being of my character Seth Alton. Listening to the words on this one tells you so much about him.

5. My Immortal by Evanescence

Kind of goes without saying again. And I truly don’t want to ruin the story by talking too much about this one. So, I’ll let my readers listen to the song and place it with the right scene when reading.

6. Uprising by Muse

An overall feel for the dystopian nature behind the book. This one covers the entire series as well.

7. Paint the Sky with Stars by Enya

Okay. So there’s a romantic element in the story if you haven’t guessed by now. And this song is so pretty and light. There’s a scene in the book where you’ll be able to picture lying there and listening to this song in the background. Ahhh. LoL. All right, giving out too much information.

You can listen to all of these songs on my website. Two of them (Furious Angels and Teardrop) have been removed for some reason. But you can listen to them on Amazon and tons of other places. I do hope you enjoy reading the world I’ve created in When Copper Suns Fall. Once again, I’d like to thank Nikki for hosting me on her site today.

Character Interview with Seth Alton

Today we have the chance to interview Seth Alton, leader of the physical training group in Castle Hayne, Hill Burrough #1. Thank you, Seth, for taking a moment out of your valuable time to interview with us today.

Since you just turned eighteen, you were able to join a new class of citizens in Castle Hayne. How do you feel about your family, now that you’re an adult?

Seth: **chuckles before answering**

Family? What does that mean? Mine are all either missing, dead, or some combination of both. The Thoughtmaster’s are my family now.

Thoughtmasters? What are they?

Seth: **smirks** Who doesn’t know what a Thoughtmaster is? They’re the best of the five classes of gifted people that live in Castle Hayne. Masters of the meditative arts. Disciplinarians. We run a camp for bad kids. It’s called Minders Camp. My job is to make sure trainees can handle themselves once they step outside the Great Wall. You never know what ugly thing might get you out there. I also use techniques to…well, just say, I help them get their attitudes right so they can return home. Should I set a slot up for you? I could train you personally, if you like.

Er, no. I’m good. But thanks anyway. So, if you were granted three wishes, what would you ask for?

Seth: **crosses his legs, raises his left eyebrow, and stares at me a long moment** I don’t really want to answer that question right now. Next one, please.

Okay. How do you fall in love? At first sight? Over a long period?

Seth: I don’t fall in love. Love is a minefield of magnetic bombs waiting for you to swallow the iron pill. It pulls you in, and then boom! You’re dead. **uncrosses his legs and stares at me**

That’s kind of sad you feel that way. How do you decide if you can trust someone? First impressions? Intuition? Do you test the person somehow? Or are you just generally disposed to trust or not to trust?

Seth: I wonder if I didn’t make myself clear in the previous question. But I’ll humor you this one time. I trusted once, loved once. What did I get in the end? Betrayal. Heartache. Next question, please.

What really moves you, or touches you to the soul? And that’s not the same thing as the love question, by the way.

Seth: **chuckles and grins with his black-blue eyes** A double-edge sword kind of question. You get me to answer this one, and then you think you can figure out how I’d answer the little wishes question, right? One word, one thing touches my soul. It’s all that matters…power. I intend to have it. And I’ll get it anyway I have to.

When you walk into a room, what do you notice first? Second?

Seth: Well I’d notice you if you were sitting in there. You have such lovely brown eyes. I could swim in them until the silver moon rises on high next year.

Okay. Thanks, I think. On the other hand, when you walk into a room, what do you expect people to notice about you?

Seth: Well I don’t know, lovely. If walked into a room which one of my assets would you pay attention to first? **gives me a dimpled grin as I turn red** Are we almost done with these…incredibly fun questions? I have to get back to the Camp. New trainees are arriving shortly.

Of course. Just a couple more. What do you consider your special talent?

Seth: I make things happen that you wouldn’t believe. Even if you’d just seen it with your eyes all the way open.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done? Why?

Seth: Are you really prepared to hear me answer that question? Take my advice and skip it.

What are you most afraid of?

Seth: Easy enough. Nothing.

Surely you’d be afraid to lose someone you love. Your ideal mate, for example. Describe her to me.

Seth: **eyes cloud over and look through me a long moment** She is strong. Not just in body, but in spirit. She can stand me down. That’s not a easy thing to do, in case you haven’t heard. She can pull someone under her spell, or she can destroy them with a glance. And I don’t mean by using magic. I mean just because she is the one. **eyes refocus on me. I’m surprised he answered this one**

Describe yourself to me.

Seth: I am the alpha and the omega, the original and the doomed. The first of my kind and perhaps the last. Thank you for interviewing me.

Want to know more about the intriguing Seth Alton? Then grab your copy of When Copper Suns Fall by KaSonndra Leigh at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble, or Smashwords.

 About the Author:

KaSonndra Leigh lives in the City of Alchemy and Medicine, North Carolina. She likes to write about teens doing fantastical things in magical worlds. Her two sons have made her promise to write a boy book next.

She holds the MFA in creative writing, and loves to play CLUE, Monopoly (the Indiana Jones version), and Pandora’s Box (good writer’s block therapy). She lives in an L-shaped house with a garden dedicated to her grandmother. It has a secret library complete with fairies, Venetian plastered walls, and a desk made out of clear blue glass.

When Copper Suns Fall is her debut novel.

www.kasonndraleigh.com

http://twitter.com/#!/kasonndraleigh

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5137209.KaSonndra_Leigh

http://www.facebook.com/pages/When-Copper-Suns-Fall-by-KaSonndra-Leigh/111665822268673

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Want to win an ecopy of When Copper Suns Fall? Simply comment on something here in the post or just say hello to KaSonndra! This is open internationally. I will leave the contest open till Friday, Dec 16th at 11:59pm EST. The winner will be announced over the weekend! GOOD LUCK!

With Good Behavior by Jennifer Lane (The Conduct Series #1) and GIVEAWAY

Available: Now Amazon/B&N

Type: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Omnific

My Copy: Sent/blog tour

In a world gripped by organized crime, family dysfunction, and dim hopes of redemption, can true love persevere? For Sophie Taylor, a beautiful psychologist who lost everything when she violated an ethical boundary, and Grant Madsen, a handsome naval officer who sacrificed everything to protect a loved one, finding that love may carry an unbearable cost.

Starting their lives over in Chicago, both are fighting influences from their family and running as fast as they can to escape the past. When their paths cross outside the parole officer’s door, the attraction is instantaneous. But a hidden connection may not only shatter their fledgling love, but prove deadly to them both.

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Love outside of the parole office door? Seems unlikely but that is just what happens when Grant sees Sophie there the first day out of prison where he had been for over a year. The worst year of his life is over but now the threat of going back hangs over his head like a blinding beacon of light.

Having just got out of prison herself for sleeping with a client, former psychologist Sophie is floundering trying to find a job as a condition of her parole. Who wants to hire a felon? Meeting Grant was a stroke of luck she can’t deny…neither is the attraction she feels when she’s with him.

Secrets are never good among parolees and both of them are hiding their past. Only the truth can truly set them free. With that truth though comes violence, a mob boss and their lives intertwining in ways neither could ever have expected.

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Be prepared folks, this is one long book. I mean seriously long. I wasn’t expecting it to be nearly as long as it was and so it took a bit of time reading it. Jennifer Lane is a new to me author and as the first book by hers that I have read, this one left me conflicted. The writing is really good and so is the story telling. My problems had to do with the character. Mainly Grant. It’s no secret how I like my men in books. I like them big, somewhat scary and tough…really tough. Grant was none of those and so I had issues bonding with him as a character. He spent a lot of time crying. I don’t like crying unless it involves a body, blood and huge loss. I could understand Grants emotional mess because he was a average-ish Naval man who had been backed into a corner by his mob family and ended up in prison as a result. He was scared, as he should have been, and having the upbringing he did didn’t help. I just couldn’t get past all the crying.

Sophie was likable and I felt for her. She had been in love and I think part of her lover/client , Logan loved her in his own way. She get the crappy end of the deal when he stashed evidence in her office and when the authorities found out she went to prison. Honestly her lawyer must have been a hack job because really…they didn’t have much of a case. But I digress. She was extremely naive and at times that grated on my nerves.

For the majority of the book Sophie has no clue that Logan and Grant are brothers and for his part Grant has no idea that Sophie went to prison because of a brother he hasn’t seen in years. I think the best thing about this book is the fact that people turn out the way they do because of the environment they were raised in. Grant, raised by a loving uncle, was a loving, productive member of society. His brother, raised by their crime family was backstabbing and unforthright, though underneath it all he was loyal and still had a conscience. Sophie was easily manipulatede because of her need to be loved stemming from a unattentive father who seemingly blamed her for her mothers untimely heart attack and death.

Those with a love for well written contemporary romance should really enjoy this one. Character driven with real world scenarios, With Good Behavior will keep you occupied and wanting to learn more about the families of Grant and Sophie. Left open to usher in the next book, Bad Behavior.

I give With Good Behavior by Jennifer Lane 3.50 stars!

Since I am part of the blog tour with Omnific Publishing and A Tale Of Many Reviews I have been given the ok to give away an e-copy of either With Good Behavior OR Bad Behavior. This is open internationally and I will close it out on Dec 13th 2011 and announce the winner on the 14th. Please answer the following question as well as give me a way to find you if you win: Would you survive in prison? Why or why not? 

Bad Behavior Blurb:

Grant Madsen’s got issues. He’s still battling his Mafia family and doing everything possible to keep his loved ones safe. With the cruising season coming to an end, he has to find another job soon or he’ll rejoin his father in prison. And he’s trying to convince his rebellious teenage nephew to stay away from their criminal relatives (you can imagine how that’s going). But worst of all, Grant’s parole officer has mandated that he attend therapy.

The only saving grace is that they’re couples sessions with his girlfriend, Sophie Taylor, a fellow parolee who’s struggling with a few issues of her own. Sophie desperately hopes her past with Grant’s brother won’t destroy her future with him. There’s a sleazy professor at work who revels in sexually harassing women in the psychology department. And her father still hates Grant.

Their psychologist has his work cut out for him.

When Grant’s ruthless father hints at a plot to get out of prison, Grant must use everything he’s learned in therapy and beyond to try to stop him. It’s a race against time — and a race to rescue Sophie from the Mafia’s clutches once again. But this time McSailor and Bonnie refuse to play victims. This time the cuffs are coming off.

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Click here to see all the other participating blogs

In addition to the giveaway here at my blog, if you stop and comment at EVERY blog on the tour and then enter to win the grand prize at the tour host (A Tale Of Many Reviews) you will have a chance to win a $20 B&N giftcard OR a print copy of one of the Conduct books!

Winner: Cynthia Eden Angel Of Darkness Giveaway

The winner for the copy of Angel of Darkness is:

Ferishia!

*winner picked by random.org*

*winner has 48 hrs to respond to email I will be sending shortly or a new winner will be picked*

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Winner: M.L.N. Hanover GIVEAWAY

Winner of all 4 books in the Black Sun’s Daughter series is:

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KITT (@Paperbackdolls)

*Winner picked by random.org*

*Winner has 48 hrs to get back to the email I will be sending shortly, or another winner will be chosen*

CONGRATULATIONS!

Cynthia Eden Guest Post and GIVEAWAY

Angels—A Deeper Look

 

Thanks so much to the very gracious Nikki for having me over! I love visiting!

Today, I thought I’d share some of the background for my upcoming release, ANGEL OF DARKNESS. As the name implies, this book is about—you totally guessed it—angels. And, yes, DEFINITELY, this is a work of fiction. I tried really hard to create some dark, tortured but (hopefully) sexy angels.

But while I was creating those angels, I wasn’t just inventing them purely from my mind. I did my angel research. I consulted angel encyclopedias, I read every angel myth I could find, and I used some biblical assistance. I figure a girl should always explore all of her options. I took my discoveries, merged some ideas, and created a few “just me” slants on the stories…and my dark angels were born.

When readers open my FALLEN books, they may recognize some of the names…like Sammael (“Sam” in my books) or Azrael (yep, I shortened him to “Az”). These two are some of the “big boys” in angel lore, so I couldn’t exclude them from my stories. According to my research, Sammael was considered to be a mix of good and evil, and I tried to carry over that mix in ANGEL OF DARKNESS (and in the second Fallen book, ANGEL BETRAYED—Sammael’s book).

Something else I incorporated from my studies…according to legend, when an angel is near, humans can smell a light, floral scent in the air. (This scent has been cited in so many reference texts that it made me re-think my own life and wonder about any times I might have caught this scent.) So while humans don’t normally see angels, we can smell them—we just don’t realize it’s them that we’re smelling. I added this tidbit in my story as a way of announcing an angel’s presence. When a dark angel is close, sure, you may feel a shiver sliding down your spine, but you may also smell something sweet. I love the opposite nature of the angels—powerful and dark, but with a sweet smell that can trick you.

And the angels I’ve written about are dark. They aren’t sweet, innocent guardian angels who want to take of humans. They’re death angels and punishment angels. They can destroy with a touch—and they often do. Throughout history, angels have been revered—and feared. In my stories, humans are definitely right to fear the angels…because an Angel of Death can kill with a touch.

Or, in my Fallen world…the angel can seduce with that touch, too…

Now tell me…do you think you’d make a good angel? Would you be a protective guardian angel, carefully watching over your charge? Or would you be the type of angel who’s eager to hand out punishments to unlucky mortals? One commenter will be randomly selected to win ANGEL OF DARKNESS.

Thanks for checking out my post! And for those in the U.S., have a great Thanksgiving! Contest open internationally and will close on Nov 25th at 11:59 pm with the winner announced on the 26th

Cynthia Eden

www.cynthiaeden.com

Angel Of Darkness- Available 11/29/11 from Kensington Brava

When an angel falls, all hell breaks loose……..

M.L.N. Hanover 4 Book Black Friday GIVEAWAY

Today I have an awesome giveaway that is brought to you by the incredible people over at Simon & Schuster! I am working on reading this series right now as well but when having a giveaway for all you blog readers was mentioned to me, of course I jumped on it. Who wouldn’t want to try out a series they hadn’t before?

The winner will get all four books in the Black Sun’s Daughter series by MLN Hanover! ALL FOUR!!

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Jayné Heller thinks of herself as a realist, until she discovers reality isn’t quite what she thought it was. When her uncle Eric is murdered, Jayné travels to Denver to settle his estate, only to learn that it’s all hers — and vaster than she ever imagined. And along with properties across the world and an inexhaustible fortune, Eric left her a legacy of a different kind: his unfinished business with a cabal of wizards known as the Invisible College.

Led by the ruthless Randolph Coin, the Invisible College harnesses demon spirits for their own ends of power and domination. Jayné finds it difficult to believe magic and demons can even exist, let alone be responsible for the death of her uncle. But Coin sees Eric’s heir as a threat to be eliminated by any means — magical or mundane — so Jayné had better start believing in something to save her own life.

Aided in her mission by a group of unlikely companions — Aubrey, Eric’s devastatingly attractive assistant; Ex, a former Jesuit with a lethal agenda; Midian, a two-hundred-year-old man who claims to be under a curse from Randolph Coin himself; and Chogyi Jake, a self-styled Buddhist with mystical abilities — Jayné finds that her new reality is not only unexpected, but often unexplainable. And if she hopes to survive, she’ll have to learn the new rules fast — or break them completely….

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When Jayné Heller’s uncle Eric died, she inherited a fortune beyond all her expectations — and a dangerous mission in a world she never knew existed. Reining in demons and supernatural foes is a formidable task, but thankfully Jayné has vast resources and loyal allies to rely on. She’ll need both to tackle a bodyswitching serial killer who’s taken up residence in New Orleans, a city rich in voodoo lore and dark magic.

Working alongside Karen Black, a highly confident and enigmatic ex-FBI agent, Jayné races to track down the demon’s next intended host. But the closer she gets, the more convinced she becomes that nothing in this beautiful, wounded city is exactly as it seems. When shocking secrets come to light, and jealousy and betrayal turn trusted friends into adversaries, Jayné will soon come face-to-face with an enemy that knows her all too well, and won’t rest until it has destroyed everything she loves most….

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For the first time in forever, Jayné Heller’s life is making sense. Even if she routinely risks her life to destroy demonic parasites that prey on mortals, she now has friends, colleagues, a trusted lover, and newfound confidence in the mission she inherited from her wealthy, mysterious uncle. Her next job might just rob her of all of them. At Grace Memorial Hospital in Chicago, something is stirring. Patients are going AWOL and research subjects share the same sinister dreams. Half a century ago, something was buried under Grace in a terrible ritual, and it’s straining to be free. Jayné is primed to take on whatever’s about to be let loose. Yet the greatest danger now may not be the huge, unseen force lurking below, but the evil that has been hiding in plain sight all along—taking her ever closer to losing her body, her mind, and her soul. . . .

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JaynÉ Heller has discovered the source of her uncanny powers: something else is living inside her body. She’s possessed. Of all her companions, she can only bring herself to confide in Ex, the former priest. They seek help from his old teacher and the circle of friends he left behind, hoping to cleanse JaynÉ before the parasite in her becomes too powerful.

Ex’s history and a new enemy combine to leave JaynÉ alone and on the run. Her friends, thinking that the rider with her has taken the reins, try to hunt her down, unaware of the danger they’re putting her in. JaynÉ must defeat the weight of the past and the murderous intent of another rider, and her only allies are a rogue vampire she once helped free and the nameless thing hiding inside her skin.

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To Enter:

Simply leave me a comment  with your email address to contact you if you win and follow me somewhere. Either get the emails (link over at the right), follow me on Twitter ( @NikiBrandyberry ) or on my blog Facebook page. Do more then 1? That’s great too, you get 1 entry per way you follow me

THEN tell me why you like urban fantasy books….

This contest is open to US & Canada ONLY and winner will be announced Black Friday…aka November 25th!

Working Out The Kinks by Kiki Howell GIVEAWAY BLITZ!

Working Out The Kinks

by Kiki Howell

Published by Rebel Ink Press

Genres: Pagan, Contemporary, Erotic Romance

Length: Short Story

Adult Content Warnings: Explicit Graphic Language and Sex Magic with BDSM Elements

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Blurb:

Making an appointment with his ex-girlfriend under a fake name, David buys himself one hour to get her attention. Hoping to apologize and remind her of their time together, he intends to do whatever he has to in order to make Meredith, a practicing Wiccan, forgive him for being idiot enough to have listened to those around him which meant choosing his political aspirations over love.

Meredith is resistant to let David anywhere near her heart again. Desperate, David plays all his trump cards and suggests a sexual magick ritual which incorporates the BDSM lifestyle he and Meredith used to experiment with. The methods he uses may be unconventional, like sensory deprivation and sensation play intended to build trust and to achieve altered states of consciousness. But David is more than willing to do whatever it takes if he can just get Meredith to agree.

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EXCERPT:

“Your last client is in your massage room.” The receptionist tilted her head toward Meredith, giving a wry smile but then grimacing as she looked away. 

      “Thanks.” Meredith sighed, rolling her eyes as she rapped her knuckles on the door to announce her arrival.

      What was that about? Taking a deep breath, she swept into the room. One more massage, and I can soak my tired muscles in a hot bath at home. 

      “Hello,” she said to the body on her table while grabbing a bottle of oil. 

      She stopped short of turning back around. Cologne assaulted her. The potent mix of patchouli and musk with a hint of oak reminded her of the man who’d left her heart bruised and battered. Meredith blinked hard as if she could shut down her mind before some blissful memory could wallop another punch.

      The client shifted on the table. “Hey, Mere.”

      Swinging around like a moth drawn to a buzzing light, air whooshed from her lungs moments before the oil bottle hit the floor. “David?”

      “Yes. Gave a false name when booking the appointment.  Now, I have your undivided attention for the next hour.”

      She stepped back in defiance of her need to rush into his arms and retrieved the plastic bottle instead. “Why?”

      “Because we need to talk. Here, this way, you can’t walk away.  I’ve already paid for my time.”

      “Paying is easy for you.”

      “You can begin the massage now. The clock is ticking,” he stated in a business-like tone.

      Meredith sucked half her top lip into her mouth and bit down, every muscle in her face tight to avoid her unexplainable need to smile. David was tapping his wrist where his watch should be just as he’d done to her a hundred times before to get her moving. With a confident half-grin, he laid back down.

      “Really? You want me to touch you?” She hadn’t quite meant for the thought to come out of her mouth, but she felt as if someone was pressing her to death.

      With each step toward her ex-boyfriend, another stone was added to the imaginary board across her chest which had her laboring for breath.

      But, he already tried me as a witch.

      The idea of that, her conviction and thus banishment from his life, spurred her forward. Thoughts of getting even, of squeezing a sore muscle too tightly, loomed like a silver lining around a storm cloud.

      Stop it! You’d never. Concentrate! Meredith reviewed the steps to a full body massage like she was back in school.  Use sensitivity when making first contact with your client’s body. Her hands floated above his skin.  The heat of his energy challenged her fingers, and she willed each tensed-to-the-point-of-shaking finger into a semi-state of relaxation as they moved an inch above the sculpted latissimus dorsi muscles of his back. Naming each superficial layer, she hoped would keep her on task.

      “I miss you, Mere.” David’s voice was muffled from the table.

      Blinking against the sting in her eyes, she lingered over his skin. The thought of her palms meeting with his flesh tightened her center, and her need warred with the nervous way her stomach rolled. Meredith wanted the rush of blissful sensuality despite the threat of emotional damage which slithered over her skin, a cold reptile squeezing the life from her already broken heart.

      “Did you hear me?” He turned to her.

      A tear slipped from her eye. Ripples of water down her cheeks had become commonplace this last month being separated from him. These tears came as no surprise, and neither did the warm anger bubbling up to the surface.

      “What difference does it make?” she clipped, answering both his question and her reluctance to give in to the pleasure of stroking her hands over his skin.  What remained hidden from her view under the strip of the white towel over his butt was crystal clear in her mind.

Kiki Howell Bio: 

Ever since she was young, Kiki Howell has loved to listen to a well-woven tale with real characters, inspired plots, and delightful resolutions. Kiki could spend hours lost in a book, and soon she knew that creating lives, loves, and losses with just words had to be the greatest thing that she could do. To that end, she pursued her study of literature and writing, earning a bachelor’s degree in English. She then followed in a Master’s program in Creative Writing.

“After a long break having my boys, I finally just had to write again. And, as soon as I gave the stories the space, they entered it. It’s both awesome and humbling to find the words in my mind become characters on a page and create their lives.”

She has now had over twenty stories published between five different small presses.  She could not be more thrilled or grateful to see her creations polished and out in the real world. Please look around. Although, a bit of caution, most of her stories tend to hang out on the graphically sexy side of town.

Kiki resides in the Midwest with her incredibly handsome and talented, singer/songwriter husband and two children. When she is not writing, she is spending time with her family, reading, baking or knitting.

Her biggest dream is to have a novel she writes be made into a movie that her husband creates the soundtrack for, and then cruise to Alaska with her family on the money they make.

Links

Websitehttp://www.kikihowell.com 

Blog http://authorsbyauthors.blogspot.com

FaceBook http://www.facebook.com/kikihowell

Twitter http://twitter.com/KikiHowell

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If you’d like to be entered into a giveaway for an e-copy of Working Out The Kinks OR any of Kiki’s other works, please take a minute to fill out the information here at this link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEY2aUNSY0hzamp5T0FxMmk1UEtEZVE6MQ

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Cherished by Belinda Boring WINNER

Winner is:

Roughandrowdy

*please respond to email within 48hrs or I will have to pick a new winner*

*winner picked by random.org*