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Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
Forbidden Party Starts Today!

To help celebrate the release of Forbidden, Christina Phillips’s debut Roman/Druid Ancient Historical Romance from Berkley Heat, she’s holding a launch party with lots of amazing authors and fabulous giveaways! In addition, Christina’s giving away a signed copy of Forbidden to one lucky person who helps spread the love. All you have to do is mention the party (you can copy and paste this blurb), being held from 1st to 6th September at http://christinaphillips.blogspot.com. You can Tweet about it, blog, Facebook, MySpace or anything! And then drop her an email at ChristinapPh @ gmail dot com (no spaces) to let her know. Please put Forbidden Launch Party (or something similar) in the subject line. The winner will be drawn for that on Monday 6th September.

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Monday, August 30th, 2010
The Hangout with Eve Cassidy

My special guest today is fellow Ellora’s Cave author, Eve Cassidy. Eve has a new release this week, her debut release with EC, called Southern Comfort and she’s talking about favorite hangouts.

One of my favorite things in real life, television, movies or books is discovering a cool new place where people like to hang out. Not necessarily a place you go to party (although it can be) but generally the feel good place you and your friends always seem to congregate and eventually you get to know people who work there and frequent there on a first name basis. It becomes your home away from home for you and your friends.

The Hangout

That’s exactly the kind of place my upcoming ebook with Ellora’s Cave is all about. Southern Comfort is a bar and is loosely based on “the” bar me and my friends used to hang out at many years ago when I was an active duty marine stationed at an air base in North Carolina.

It was just outside the front gate so it offered easy access for everyone but it was still off base so it didn’t carry all the same rules an on base bar did. Honestly the place was a bit of a dump but it was a good size with multiple rooms stuffed with couches, tables, a dance floor, 2 bars and a good number of pool tables. I considered myself quite the player back then so I played a lot of pool there. But more importantly, all my friends were there.

Practically any day of the week, I could show up and there’d be a crowd of people I knew well and hung out with. Those were some good times and great memories.

It was that atmosphere that inspired me to write Southern Comfort and actually I am writing more stories around the same concept of a bar outside every front gate that caters to the boys of service.

Now a days my friend hangout is a French Bakery Café that is located in my city’s arts district about 20 minutes from home. Besides delicious food, decadent desserts and free wi fi, they are the only place open 24/7 365 days a year. The perfect writer hangout. When deadlines loom, you’ll find me there writing late into the night. Although some days you have to fight to get a table. It’s beloved by the entire city.

Whenever I meet someone who hasn’t been there I am more than eager to take them there for the quirky décor and an unbelievable salted caramel brownie. No wonder the place is so popular.

So what about you? Do you or did you have a favorite friend hangout? I’d love to hear about it.

Southern Comfort Here is the blurb for Southern Comfort:

Two guys. A girl. One incredible game of pool…

Scarlett wants to escape, even if it’s just for a little while. So she heads to Southern Comfort where she’ll find a certain Marine she can’t keep her mind off of and he won’t be alone.

Michael spies the uptight woman of his dreams the minute she fights through the crowd. Sexy as sin, he can’t take his eyes off her while she flirts over some liquid courage. When she finally heads his way, it’s time to find out if she can live up to her end of the fantasy.

Red-hot chemistry may call the shots, but once you take the double hit… The game is on.

Purchase from Ellora’s Cave on 2 September.

CONTEST: Tell us about your favorite hangout and go into the draw to win a download of Eve’s new release, Southern Comfort.

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Friday, August 27th, 2010
Reader Gold – Series/Serials with Taige Crenshaw

My special guest today is fellow author, Taige Crenshaw. Today Taige is talking about series and serials. I love reading books in a series. I like entering a world I’m familiar with – it’s like meeting old friends. Over to Taige…

I’ve been reading a lot lately and I love series/serials so I have been rereading my favs. I’ve written on my own blog about my love of series and serials. What they are and how I feel about them. Almost monthly there are so many books coming that are part of a series/serial.

First here are my definitions of them both:

Series ~ Taige Crenshaw Definition:
Novels that has a related story theme but each one is complete in and of itself.

Serial ~ Taige Crenshaw Definition:
Novels that feature/follows the same main character/s yet are still a fresh story each time.

No matter which way you slice it I find whether it is a serial or series I enjoy writing stories like this. It gives me room to stretch my mind, push my characters to give me more and wallow in there adventure even more. Although I enjoy these stories I don’t usually start writing with the intention of it being a series/serial sometimes it just happens to evolve that way.

I write what I love to read and I’m one of those readers that wondered what is next for such and such main character. Or what happened to this sub – character that I liked in this or that novel. I go hunting to find more and when I find it I feel like I’ve struck READER’S GOLD. I jump up and down and shout in glee. LOL.

I’ve been known to search for years to get that book to complete a series/serial I was reading. Hey I’m a dedicated reader and I want the complete set of my series/serial.

For instance I remember many years ago I picked up an author that I hadn’t tried before. The novel was great and imagine my glee that I struck reader gold and it was a series. I went back and bought all of their novels except one which was sold out. I searched and searched for years for this one book and couldn’t find a copy. Not even a used one. I even contacted the author to find out if the story was going to be re-printed. To my dismay it wasn’t at that time. Amazon even had over 200 people waiting for a copy of this book when I checked. I stopped checking the numbers after I saw the amount of people. No one was selling. A few years after looking I finally struck reader gold in 2005 when the book was reprinted and I was able to finish my collection. I know me and over 199 other people very happy.

Can you imagine so many readers looking for an author. Searching for that Reader’s Gold. That is what I want my novels to be to my current and future readers ~ Reader’s Gold. No I don’t want you the reader to wait a long time for my books but I want you to be so drawn into the worlds that I create you can’t wait to see what happens next.

This is what Reader’s Gold is all about. As my thoughts of Reader’s Gold evolved I thought of all the author’s who have some wonderful series/serials that I feel are Reader’s Gold. They line my bookshelf’s (online and print) and I go looking for them when they are released.

I’m sure most of you have a little Reader’s Gold on your bookshelf so come on and share. Give me some new Reader’s Gold to find.

CONTEST: Share your Reader Gold with me and Shelley will pick a winner who can choose one pdf download of any book from my e-book backlist.

Wilde SeductionTaige Crenshaw is a multi-published author with books available at Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, Loose Id, and Total-E-Bound. Taige has been enthralled with the written word from time she picked up her first book. It wasn’t long before she started to make up her own tales of romance. With novels set in today, in alternate dimensions, or in the future she writes with adventure, fun sassy heroine’s, and sexy hero’s. Always hard at work creating new and exciting places Taige can be found curled up with a hot novel with exciting characters when she is not creating her own. Join her in the fun, frolic, interesting people and far reaches of the world in her novels. You can find out more about Taige at her website: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com or blog: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/blog.

Wilde Seduction – What happens when a woman who doesn’t know how to relax meets a man whose lust for life will change her and make all her deepest desires come to life?

Buy here at Total-E-Bound.

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Thursday, August 19th, 2010
Shopping and Separation Anxiety with Jenyfer Matthews

My special guest today is author Jenyfer Matthews. She’s talking about a very special challenge she’s facing this week as well as her new release, Separation Anxiety.

You know how it is, you go on vacation and you buy things. Maybe you’re even going to a place where you expect to shop so you travel light going.

Now imagine that you live in a country that not only doesn’t have good malls or decent mail service, but where you can’t even find quality socks when you need them. That’s me, in Egypt.

I’m an American who has lived abroad for eleven years (where does time go??). It wasn’t so bad when I lived in the United Arab Emirates – Dubai hosts an annual Shopping Festival, after all. But even there, in the land of shopping malls, there were still things you couldn’t find easily, like good socks or books (gasp).

Every summer I come back to America with light suitcases and a long shopping list. I’ve got it nearly down to a science now. Each child has their own ticket and we’re allowed two checked suitcases apiece, each weighing 50lbs. I’ve gotten very good at packing things – for instance, I pack all the heaviest items in the smallest suitcase, on the theory that it won’t go overweight because it will be full before I get too much in there anyway. In all my years of bringing back a year’s supply of miscellaneous stuff for a family of four, I’ve only once had to pay an overweight charge. Not bad on average, all in all.

This year, however, I’m worried.

I not only have several large but light, bulky items, but I also have a couple of very heavy things including a Separation Anxietymuch-larger-than-I-expected jewelry chest and a lidded cast iron soup pot that once belonged to my grandmother. Unique challenges to my packing skills to say the least. I travel back to Egypt on Sunday so I’ll have to get back to you on how it all goes.

I’ve traveled a lot in the last decade so I suppose it’s no surprise that I would write a book where the heroine starts traveling after a major life crisis. I have to admit that I when I wrote SEPARATION ANXIETY I was indulging in a major fantasy exercise because not only wasn’t my character dragging two small children in her wake, she shopped as she liked and simply shipped her excess and unneeded items home ahead of her. Bliss.

I’m happy to say that SEPARATION ANXIETY is available in multiple digital formats from Smashwords.com as well as other major ebookstores, including Sony and Apple. SEPARATION ANXIETY is also available in paperback from Amazon.com.

BLURB

Sometimes running away is the first step toward finding yourself.

Aurora has spent her entire married life transforming herself from a regular, middle class girl into the perfect society wife. Life seems perfect until she is unceremoniously dumped by her philandering cliche’ of a husband just before Christmas – and their tenth wedding anniversary. Devastated and unable to face the social ostracism or the holiday parties, Aurora and her best friend Kat plan a trip to Amsterdam for a weekend…then decide to keep going. Aurora attempts to drown her sorrows with wine in Amsterdam and Frankfurt, finds her anger in Athens and Cairo, and reclaims her sexuality in Dubai. By the time she and Kat reach Bangkok at the New Year, Aurora is ready and eager to move on with her life.

Planned as a way to escape her pain, Aurora’s travels instead become a journey to a new sense of self and a whole new world – post-divorce.

EXCERPT

I am standing in the kitchen debating on whether or not baking some gingerbread would be overkill when I hear a car door outside.

My stomach flips and I run to the window to peek outside. It’s Bryce.

I press my hand to my stomach and try to slow my breathing. Hyperventilation and hysteria is hardly the alluring look I’m going for.

I go back to the kitchen, check my lipstick in my reflection on the window, and finger comb my hair. I whirl around and try to appear casual when I hear Bryce’s key in the door.

“Aurora?” Bryce says as he lets himself in.

“Good morning, Bryce,” I say, walking toward him and giving him a big smile. “Good to see you.”

He looks at me with some suspicion as he stands uncertainly in the foyer.

He’s not as impeccably presented as usual. His shirt is wrinkled and he doesn’t look as if he’s slept much. He certainly doesn’t look like a man who is happy with the decision he’s just made. I can feel my hopes rising just looking at him. This might be easier than I expected.

“Don’t just stand there,” I say, “This is your home, come in. I made some coffee. Sit down and have a cup. Can I get you some breakfast?”

“Thanks, but no,” he says, putting his hands in his pockets. “I really don’t have much time. I have an early appointment this morning. I’ll just go up and get my things.”

My smile fades. He’s deviating from my mental script of how this will go. He’s supposed to sit down, have breakfast and snap out of whatever spell Audrey has him under. “What? Just like that? Can’t we even talk about this? About us?”

I hear him sigh. “We already talked last night. What more is there to say?”

“We didn’t talk last night!” I take a deep breath and try to regain my composure. Bryce doesn’t like scenes so screeching at him will hardly win him over or gain his ear. I start again. “We didn’t talk. You made an announcement. I’d like a chance to discuss things with you. Privately.”

“I don’t really have much more to add, Aurora. I’m in love with Audrey and it doesn’t seem…kind to draw this out any more than we have to. I think it’s best to make a clean break.”

“So that’s it? After ten years together? How is it ‘kind’ to just walk out on me with no warning? Aren’t we at least supposed to try counseling?” I ask him as I follow him up the stairs to our bedroom.

Bryce is pulling suitcases from the back of our walk-in closet. “I don’t want to go to counseling.” He pauses to look at me. “I’m sorry.”

I stand there, stunned. He’s not repentant or regretful. He hasn’t realized his mistake. He’s merely uncomfortable with the situation. With me.

How has this happened? Yesterday things were normal. I was buying him an anniversary present. How can he be leaving me today?

He turns and begins to put things in the open suitcases. Shirts, pants, suit jackets, ties. I cross my arms and watch him silently. He picks up a small satchel and turns to cross to the bathroom. He squeezes my arm as he passes me. He is still my husband but already his touch seems foreign.

I can hear him opening drawers and dropping items into the bag. When he comes back out I want to catch his eye — to make him look at me! — but he’s looking down.

“You can’t leave without at least talking to me,” I try again. “You owe me that much at least.”

“I can’t see how talking about this will be helpful to you,” Bryce says, opening a dresser drawer and tossing socks and underwear into his suitcases. “I don’t have much time and endless discussion will only serve to hurt you more.”

“Oh my god — is she outside?” I ask. “Is she waiting for you in the car?” I run to the window to look out, trying to see into his car.

“No. I wouldn’t do that,” Bryce says. “I wouldn’t bring her here. This is hard enough as it is. On all of us.”

I can’t help but wonder whose feelings he is trying to spare because it certainly doesn’t seem to be mine.

It’s getting hard to maintain my composure when things are spinning so far out of my control. But this doesn’t make any sense to me. The situation does not compute. I have to have better answers than he’s giving me.

“What…” My voice breaks. I clear my throat and try again. “What did I do wrong? What do I need to do to fix this?”

Bryce sighs again. He stops packing for a moment and puts his hands on his hips. Finally he looks up at me.

“You haven’t done anything wrong,” he says. “Things just…happened. I’ve changed. I want different things. Neither of us is getting any younger and life is too short not to take happiness where you can find it. None of this was your fault. It’s not you, Aurora, it’s me.”

When I don’t answer him, he turns and starts packing again.

I can’t believe it. It’s been a while since I’ve heard it, but I’m pretty sure my husband of a decade just dumped me with a string of clichés and the old it’s-not-you-it’s-me line.

CONTEST – Jenyfer is giving away a PDF download of Separation Anxiety to one lucky reader. All you need to do to enter the draw is comment on this post or ask Jenyfer a question.

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Monday, August 16th, 2010
Can Murder Be Cozy?

I have a special guest today–author Amanda Lee who writes cozy mysteries. Amanda is the lady next to you in the grocery line or car pool. She has twins: one boy and one girl, she’s a baseball fan, she likes to decorate cakes, she rocks at Guitar Hero…oh, and she likes to think about murder. But it’s OK! She only writes about murder—a lot.

So what exactly is a cozy mystery? That’s what I asked Amanda…

Amanda Lee Cozy mysteries take place in a small town or confined setting where all the characters know each other. Think Desperate Housewives meets CSI.

Characters are integral to cozy mysteries. Cozy writers use hobbies, professions and even obsessions to make their characters unique. I have an interest in cake decorating, so I infuse my hobby into a profession for my character. Even though I’m a novice cake decorator, I have the knowledge to make my character an expert.

Judith Skillings and her husband own and operate a Rolls-Royce and Bentley restoration shop. Not surprisingly, her cozy mystery heroine works in a classic automobile restoration shop. Ellen Crosby introduces readers to Virginia’s wine country in her mysteries. Camille Minichino has a Ph.D. in Physics. She writes the periodic table mysteries. Sheila Lowe, a graphology expert, pens cozy mysteries wherein the heroine is an expert handwriting analyst.

Some cozy writers add a paranormal bent to their books. Alice Kimberly, author of the Haunted Bookstore Mystery series, employs the ghost of a murdered P.I. to help the heroine solve crimes. Madelyn Alt writes the Bewitching Mysteries, and Victoria Laurie writes the Ghost Hunter Mysteries.

Since many cozy mysteries are series books, the reader has time to develop “relationships” with the books’ main characters. The reader watches the characters grow and interact from book to book. While these might be the most unlucky people on the planet—murder victims are turning up around practically every corner—they’re still falling in love, making new friends, caring for pets and pretty much happily going about their lives. Diane Mott Davidson’s character Goldy has gone through quite a lot of changes since her first book, Catering to Nobody. There we met a divorcee with a young son. Now Goldy has remarried and little Arch is all grown up. In that way, cozy mysteries are rather like a soap opera; only you have to wait a long time between installments. Which reminds me of Lost . . . although my series doesn’t have a dark cloud monster or a plane crash. At least, not yet. :-)

One reviewer said of Murder Takes the Cake, “I could identify with Daphne’s relationship with her family. I think this was the part I liked best. Daphne has a cautious and teeth gritting relationship with her mother, a loving warm one with her father and her sister.” I was surprised that this is what she “liked best” about the book. I’d intended to give the characters depth through their relationships, and I’d tried to make those relationships realistic. In fact, the publisher even asked me to tie up the heroine’s relationship with the stray cat at the end of the book. I couldn’t do that and remain realistic. The cat in book is based on a real cat, and it took me months to establish a relationship with her. The fictional relationship will progress in the next book, as will all of Daphne’s other relationships.

It is really cool how readers of cozy mysteries become attached to characters and loyal to authors. In fact, every year cozy readers gather in Arlington, Virginia for the Malice Domestic “Fun Fan” convention to celebrate cozy mysteries and their authors. It’s quite a coup for an author to win an “Agatha,” the teapot awards given by Malice Domestic. And the convention is a terrific experience. As a fan as well as an author, I was thrilled to meet Dorothy Cannell and Harley Jane Kozak at the Malice Domestic convention a few years back. Both are delightful ladies with great senses of humor. Naturally, I told them I love Ellie Haskell and Wollie Shelley, respectively. And I do. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do next.

The Quick and the Thread

The Quick and the Thread by Amanda Lee

Marcy Singer has big plans: a move to the breathtaking Oregon coast, opening an embroidery shop called The Seven Year Itch, a fun grand opening. What she doesn’t plan on is the shop’s old owner showing up—DEAD—in her shop. Some people think Marcy killed him. Some people think she’s the next victim. All Marcy knows is someone has to uncover the murderer before she’s forced to flip the sign on her shop door to CLOSED permanently. And it looks like that someone might be Marcy.

Purchase The Quick and the Thread: An Embroidery Mystery today!

Just Thought You Should Know:
Amanda Lee is also Gayle Trent, author of the Daphne Martin Cake Decorating Series that includes Dead Pan and Murder Takes the Cake. To learn more about Amanda you can visit her website or blog.

CONTEST: Win a copy of The Quick and the Thread – comment on this post, ask Amanda about cozy mysteries or a question about her book and you’ll go into the draw to win a copy of Amanda’s book. Note – contest is only available to those who live in USA or Canada.


Women on Writing

Click to find details of other stops in Amanda’s blog tour.

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Thursday, August 12th, 2010
Shades of Purple with Lynn LaFleur

Thursday Thirteen

I have a special guest today–Lynn LaFleur. Lynn is a fellow author at Ellora’s Cave, and she’s thinking purple in honor of her Lavender Lace series and her release, Two Lovers For Molly. Lynn is giving away a download from her Ellora’s Cave backlist today. See below for details of how to enter the draw.

Thirteen Shades of Purple

1. Heather
2. Lavender
3. Orchid
4. Lilac
5. Eggplant
6. Plum
7. Violet
8. Wisteria
9. Amethyst
10. Thistle
11. Iris
12. Grape
13. Hydrangea

Two Lovers for MollyTwo Lovers for Molly by Lynn LaFleur
Book 3 of Lavender Lace Series

Blurb

A chance meeting with Julian Forrest changes Molly Ross’ mind about her bad luck with men. Julian is not only gorgeous, but intelligent and charming. Finally, her luck with men has changed.

Julian loves the sexy underwear Molly buys at a store called Lavender Lace that makes his mouth water every time they make love. It takes less than a week for him to know he’s falling in love with her.

Then Lane Edison comes back into Julian’s life. Despite being apart for a year, one kiss from the handsome man and Julian tumbles. He wants both Molly and Lane, but doesn’t know how that can happen…until he reads a threesome scene in a book Molly is writing.

Molly loves Julian, yet feels an instant attraction when she meets Lane. Discovering the two men were once lovers is a huge turn-on for her. When Julian suggests a ménage a trois, she’s more than willing for the two men to fulfill all her fantasies.

Purchase Two Lovers For Molly

Visit Lynn’s website

CONTEST
Prize offered: Winner’s choice of download of any of Lynn’s books. To enter the draw either ask Lynn a question about writing or her series, tell us your favorite shade of purple or mention something that’s purple.

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Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Contest: Blue Lady

Blue Lady Blue Lady, book ten in my Middlemarch Mates series is due out on 11 August at Ellora’s Cave. I’m giving away a download to one commenter.

Tell me what you do to cure the blues. What do you do to cheer yourself up when you’re feeling down in the dumps?

I usually go for a walk or find my husband and pester him. He has a way of making me laugh that always cheers me up. He also brings home chocolate and chocolate makes everything feel better!

I’ll choose the winner tomorrow night (New Zealand time) and announce it in the comments section.

Here’s the blurb for Blue Lady:

Saber and Emily are longtime mates. Happiness has been theirs, until the tragic loss of their unborn baby.

Saber is desperate. Emily has shut him out, wallowing in depression. They inhabit the same house, but his loving mate has withdrawn, and he wants his happy, matchmaking woman back. It’s time to up the ante. Armed with a bag of sex toys from his wild twin brothers and a tropical island setting, Saber is determined to seduce his mate to his way of thinking, to drive the blues away, and he won’t take no for an answer.

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Monday, August 9th, 2010
The RWA Conference Experience with Wynter Daniels

My special guest today is fellow Ellora’s Cave author, Wynter Daniels. Wynter was lucky enough to attend the recent RWA conference in Florida and is here to tell us about both that and her latest release, Getting Even With Warren.

Thanks so much to Shelley Munro for inviting me to guest blog here! I want to tell you about my trip to the RWA National conference in Orlando. This was my first, but I can assure you, it won’t be my last.

Aside from the awesome parties, the plethora of free books and the great info at the publisher spotlight sessions, there were the workshops. Before I attend a conference, I make myself a spreadsheet of my schedule including which workshop of the 7 or 8 being offered at any given time. My organized self sighs contentedly at the neat chart I tuck into a folder.

Then I arrive at the conference and I blow that all to hell! I listen to the buzz from other authors, scratch one program off in favor of another. The time rolls around and I change my mind yet again. The offerings were great this time and I would love to give you a detailed recap from each workshop I attended. But that would make a ridiculously long post, so I will try to give you a pearl from each of my favorites.

Linda Howard’s Twelve Steps of Intimacy is always a crowd pleaser. If you ever have the opportunity to attend this program, go for it. You won’t regret it. One thing that stands out – leapfrogging the steps can intensify or shake up the intimacy experience.

Donald Maass’ Fire in Fiction II program was standing room only. The pearl there – imagine the standout emotion from your scene then recall a moment in your own life that exemplifies that emotion. Include the details of what you were feeling at the time to give your writing better impact.

Nora Roberts, aka J. D. Robb, was the keynote speaker at the opening luncheon. She spoke about the incredible changes in technology in the thirty years since the first RWA conference in 1980. Manuscripts were typed on typewriters with carbon paper and research was done at the library. She said she’s heard people say it was so much easier to get published back then but she disputes that. Getting published is supposed to be hard. Hard makes it that much more special when you achieve it. She also talked about the huge number of opportunities available today like e-publishing. She credits the camaraderie of RWA members for helping writers survive and flourish in a difficult field.

Getting Even With WarrenI also listened to sessions on police procedure, upping the heat in romance and diversifying an author’s portfolio and attracting the biggest audience for your books. Overall, the conference was a winner and did I mention free books?

CONTEST: Please leave a comment and I will draw one name to receive a free copy of my latest ebook from Ellora’s Cave, Getting Even with Warren.

Here’s a little about the book and a link to an excerpt:

Widow Macy Halstead learned of her much older husband’s voracious appetite for cheating shortly before his death. Now it’s too late to get back at him. When she meets his bi-racial illegitimate son at the funeral, a mutual attraction flares. She leaves with him and the two share a night of hot passion.

Alex Jackson set out to get back at the father who treated him like dirt. Bedding his old man’s widow fit the bill—until he forgets his reasons and realizes he really likes Macy. But after a steamy fling, she seems to have second thoughts. Can they overcome their initial agendas and explore the possibility of a relationship?

You can find Getting Even with Warren HERE.

Bio: Wynter Daniels is the naughty alter ego of contemporary romance author Dara Edmondson. She lives in Central Florida with her husband of more than twenty years and their two nearly grown children. They are all the slaves of two very demanding cats. After careers in marketing and the salon industry, Wynter’s wicked prose begged to be set free. She currently writes for Ellora’s Cave, Loose Id and Red Sage Publishing.

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Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Vacations, Resort Fun and Eye Candy with Berengaria Brown

My special guest today is fellow Ellora’s Cave author, Berengaria Brown. She’s talking about resorts and has actually brought some cabana boys with her. Grab a drink and join in the fun…

Double SatisfactionHave you vacationed at a resort?

What do you think of when someone mentions a vacation at a resort?

Hot, hot sunshine. Blue, blue skies. Lots of pretty flower gardens and lush green trees.

Peace, quiet, relaxation.

Cabana boys waving palm-frond fans over you as you relax, and feeding you grapes and strawberries.
Swimming pools. The beach. Tennis, golf, other sporting facilities.

A choice of top quality restaurants, plus some casual dining options.

And along with the luscious meals, some semi-naked luscious hunks on the beach, at the pool, and more especially in your bed.

Likely when my boss sent me to a couple of business conferences held at resorts he thought my mind would be focused on business matters. Well it was. Of course. *bats eyes innocently*

But as I walked around I couldn’t help thinking about the endless possibilities for romance. Everything was so beautiful, so perfect. Well, except for the fact that I wasn’t there with a lover. Or two.

The eye candy at the swimming pool was awesome. The eye candy at the beach was even better.

And I got to thinking what if…

And so “Double Satisfaction” was born.

The two resorts I stayed at are melded together to make the one where Imogen, Gage and Liam spend their vacation. The golf course at one was absolutely awesome with views out over miles and miles of ocean. And at the other one I couldn’t decide which swimming pool I liked better: the one with the beach, or the lagoon one with the waterfall. Both resorts had amazing gardens and totally scrumptious meals.

But what about you? What are your resort experiences? What do you like to do on vacation?

Would you just like to lie by the pool with a long, cold drink? Would you rather fill every moment with sightseeing and shopping? Or would you prefer to be in bed with a hot man or two, rather than in the hot sunshine?

CONTEST: Tell me what you think and Shelley will pick a winner who can choose a book from my backlist or a copy of my latest release, “Double Satisfaction”.

Buy link for Double Satisfaction

Berengaria Brown – website and blog

Blurb:

Imogen, Gage and Liam relax at a luxury resort for a week’s vacation and some extra-hot ménage sex. The gardens are beautiful, the meals are delicious and the facilities are excellent—swimming pools, beach, tennis and golf. The men are delicious too, and Imogen is having a wonderful time—until bossy Gage makes a few autocratic decisions that remind Imogen of her manipulative father. Imogen has to decide whether the best orgasms of her life are worth risking potential heartbreak.

Excerpt – Adult

Read the rest of this entry ?

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Friday, July 30th, 2010
Special Guests Visiting Taste of Kiwi…

(This is a sticky post…please scroll down for today’s post…)

Psst!! Look who’s coming to visit…

25 Aug – Mandy Roth and Michelle Pillow.
27 Aug – Taige Crenshaw, Ellora’s Cave
30 Aug – Eve Cassidy, Ellora’s Cave
3 Sep – Kim Knox, Samhain Publishing, Ellora’s Cave.
6 Sep – Christine Price, Carina Press

I’m doing a blog tour during September with The Spurned Viscountess.

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