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Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Ordinary Superheroes with Fiona Jayde

My special guest today is Fiona Jayde who has a new sci-fi romance release called Cold Victory. Fiona Jayde is a space pilot, a ninth degree black belt in three styles of martial arts, a computer hacker, a mountain climber, a jazz singer, a weight lifter, a superspy with a talent for languages, and an evil genius. All in her own head.

In life, she is an author of kickass, action packed, steamy romances, possesses a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do and blue belt in Aikido, a web developer, scared to death of heights, loves jazz piano, can bench-press about 20 pounds — with effort, speaks English and Russian fluently, and when not plotting murder and mayhem enjoys steamy romance novels, sexy spy thrillers, murky mysteries and movies where things frequently blow up.

Today Fiona is talking about superheroes. Over to Fiona.

Cold Victory by Fiona JaydeVampires or hot-shot pilots. Werewolves or sexy super spies. Genetically altered humans or humans with larger-than-life lives. Supermen and kickass women.

My favorite books or movies or TV shows tend to feature superhero type characters. There is something about a larger than life character experiencing the same pull of love, lust or loss as us ordinary folks do. There is something about being able to step into a superhero’s life and be surprised that internally they can bleed just as much as we do.

With the explosion of the paranormal subgenre in romance, our choices for larger than life characters have expanded to suit every fantasy. Angel lovers, demon villains (or vice versa!), dragon shifters, you name a fantasy and there are books ready to cater to it, with various shifts on various subgenres. Blood vampires, energy vampires, psychic vampires… Werewolves, werecats, weredragons… One of my favorite paranormal “superheroes” are motorcycles from the series Driven To The Limit by Alice Gaines. The concept is so originally brilliant – motorcycles (which to me has always been a symbol of sexy man power) are built to shift into a man.

And yet, under the chrome, or leather, or scales, or teeth or Adamantium infused bones (gotta love Wolverine) we still have regular men and women who need an emotional connection, something or someone to believe in.

In Cold Victory, my superhero is Galen Stark, commander of Battlecruiser Victory. He possesses various technological enhancements such as an ocular implant which allows him to see vitals of a person, communication implants which allow him to “telepathically talk” to members of his crew, or nano-controlled fibers in his body which let him easily adapt to swift changes in gravity. And in that sexy tech-enhanced bod, pumps the heart of a red blooded male who has a duty to his crewmates and an insatiable desire for one of his pilots who shouldn’t even be on his ship.

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“You’ll follow standard protocol aboard this ship.” Stark knew his voice had dropped, was furious that he couldn’t control it. Images of skin and sweat and tangled limbs flashed through his mind as his pulse shuddered with accelerated rhythm.

She looked at him now, those exotic amber eyes empty of feeling. “My apologies, Commander. I’ve been on civ div far too long.”

Heat wouldn’t let him breathe. Despite himself, Stark engaged his ocular implant, watching the waves of red surrounding her form, her body temp spiking, her blood vessels pumping overtime. If not for the pink, delicate flush over her face, she showed no outward appearance of being affected by same beast that clawed at him.

“You’re dismissed.” He didn’t know what the hell had happened, couldn’t understand why an impersonal touch charged him with a sexual awareness he had no business feeling. He simply knew he had to put her out of his reach. “I suggest you find a standard uniform.”

Cold Victory © Fiona Jayde

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To the readers: who or what are some of your favorite super heroes or heroines?
(Fiona will be giving away a $15 Amazon gift certificate to one lucky commenter at the end of her tour. Details of Fiona’s full tour are available here at Goddess Fish Promotions)

Cold Victory by Fiona Jayde

Intergalactic warfare has not been kind to humans. Convicted pilot Zoya Scott has the chance to avenge her family, redeem an act of desperation with that of sacrifice. She’ll end this war if she betrays the man whose touch burns through her soul, the man whose ship and crew she must destroy. The man who is her bloodmate.

Commander Galen Stark never expected the convicted pilot on his ship to be anything more than a good looking inconvenience. A small brush of their hands grips him with vicious lust, a need he can’t control. She is his bloodmate–a biological reaction burning through his veins.

Except his bloodmate carries an explosive. And Stark may have to give the order to destroy them all.

Purchase Cold Victory from Loose Id
Visit Fiona Jayde’s Website

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Friday, November 6th, 2009
Romance Tropes and Why I Love Them.

My special guest today is Jennifer Leeland. I read about her new release Marked For Pleasure at Leah Braemel’s blog and immediately pestered…ah emailed her to come and do a guest post for me. Being the nice Romance Diva that she is she said yes, and here she is talking about romance tropes! Over to Jennifer…

Marked For PleasureI’m so sad and pathetic. I stand in front of the book section at my local grocery store and sneer at the “The Sheiks Virgin Princess’ Secret Baby” titles but the truth is, I love the familiar romance tropes.

The Secret Baby trope–She’s pregnant…or had a baby that belongs to him but he doesn’t know a thing about. I have to admit, I love these. (Favorite example: Lucy Monroe’s “Goodness had Nothing To Do With It”)

The Bodyguard trope–She’s in danger, he protects her. The opposite variation is fun too. (Favorite example: Any Christine Feehan Ghostwalker series. They all have elements of this trope)

The Mate/Mate trope–”You were made for me”. I don’t know why I love this one, but it’s just so cool. (Loribelle Hunt’s Delroi series)

The Arranged Marriage trope (or Marriage of Convenience)–I actually just started one of these as a sci fi erotic romance. To complete a peace treaty, the heroine has to marry an alien. Conflict ensues. My absolute favorite of these devices is “Prince Charming” by Julie Garwood)

The Reformed Rake—I ADORE this one. I know. Sad, isn’t it? Can the playboy ever stop playing? Will the heroine find love or heartbreak? Variations are also “The Hero Who Is Determined Never to Commit”. My absolute favorites are “Master Of Cormus” by Charlotte Lamb (1978) and Kate Pearce’s “Simply Sexual”.

The Damaged Hero/Heroine Healed By Love–Oh, my FAVORITE. “Simply Sinful” with Peter being “healed” by Abigail’s love. Joey W. Hill’s “Mistress of Redemption”, a complete twist on this trope. “Rough Canvas” by Joey W. Hill.

Those are the highlights. All of my favorite books have elements of these. “Paul’s Dream” by Rowan McBride has the Bodyguard trope since ultimately Kian attempts to protect Paul from an evil sorcerer and Paul ends up saving his bacon instead. “Lonely Places” by A.L. Debran features a marriage of convenience. (Though that book took that trope and twisted it all around. LOVED that.) All of Kate Pearce’s “Simply” books feature men who are determined to maintain their freedom.

My newest release MARKED FOR PLEASURE is a combination of the Mate/Mate trope and a marriage of convenience. In a dangerous situation, Conner marks Rhea as his mate, tying her to him to protect her. I love to place my heroes and heroines in danger and make them work together to escape.

So, what’s your guilty secret? Do you love the Slutty Virgin Trope? You know, the hero thinks she’s been sleeping around, but she’s really a virgin….which he finds out the hard way. Or how about Friends To Lovers Trope? They’re friends but he’s never thought of her “that way”. What will she do to get him to see her?

Did you ever notice how silly the word “trope” looks? LOL.

Leave a comment and I’ll pick one random commenter to receive a copy of MARKED FOR PLEASURE by Sunday November 8th.

Tell me all about your favorite trope.

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Friday, February 22nd, 2008
Guest Blogger: Mechele Armstrong

The Sixth Curse of Spring My special guest today is author, Mechele Armstrong who writes for Loose Id and also co-writes under the name Melany Logen for Ellora’s Cave and Loose Id. Mechele says that while growing up she had a vivid imagination and lots of imaginary playmates to keep her company. After reading some of her paranormal and sci-fi tales I can report her rich childhood imagination continues into adulthood and translates to some wonderful tales!

Today Mechele is talking about the small details you’ll find in romances, the ones that make all the difference. She’s also giving away a download from her backlist to one lucky reader. All you need to do to go into the draw is post a comment. The winner will be chosen the following day so don’t forget to come back to see if you’re the lucky one.

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