Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

I’m thrilled to announce Cat and Mouse, Middlemarch Mates 5 is now out in print.

Here’s the blurb:

Middlemarch Mates, Book Five

Every woman has sexual needs. Lana Sinclair, feline shapeshifter and widow, is more than ready for a fun night with a likeminded male. Hot lovin’ is compulsory because she’s determined to scratch the itch that’s driving her crazy. This time, career-girl Lana is picking a malleable male who won’t try to corral her into the housewife role.

Fellow shifter Duncan Ross is the perfect candidate. The cowboy follows the rodeo circuit and is only in Middlemarch for the bull riding. One night of mutual seduction, slick, naked bodies and pleasure, then he’ll be on his way.

Duncan is astonished when Lana propositions him, but no one could ever call him stupid. He’s always desired Lana and now that she’s ready for sex, he’s all action. It’s time to lasso the woman of his dreams with some sweet lovin’ and charm, a sexy massage and ropes spliced together with addictive pleasure. He’ll seduce her to his way of thinking—a permanent arrangement. This is one go-round Duncan is determined to win.

Purchase from Ellora’s Cave | Amazon |

Win a print copy of Peeping Tom on Goodreads. Thirteen days left to enter!

Surprise! Assassin is out in print from Ellora’s Cave today. I have a soft spot for this book, and I’m thrilled that Leo and Isabella are finally out in print.

Here’s the blurb:

Feline shifter Leo Mitchell is the pretty brother who attracts women with ease, but he’s turned picky. He suspects the mystery blonde hanging around Middlemarch is the one for him. If only he could grab the elusive female and seduce her. Oh yeah. He craves some hot, sinful lovin’ with the lady in black leather.

Assassin Isabella Black has harbored a huge crush on hunky Leo for ages. Because the timing sucked she’s watched him from afar, praying another woman won’t snatch the hottie away before she’s free to stake a claim.

Finally the pair meet. Isabella offers her naked body but Leo counteracts with a cup of tea. Seems Leo likes to call the shots when it comes to sex. A day later they’re finally dancing horizontally. It’s smokin’ hot, steamy, delicious—everything she’s ever wanted. Isabella is ecstatic until another assassin threatens to ruin her happiness. It’s life or death now. One wrong move and her secrets will destroy the Mitchells along with everything that has become dear to her…including Leo.

Purchase from:

Ellora’s Cave
Amazon
The Book Depository

It’s probably no secret to those who know me that I have a soft spot for feline shapeshifters. In fact, I’ve written quite a few over the years.

Thirteen Feline Shapeshifter Stories by Shelley Munro

1. Lynx to the Pharaoh – a historical romance featuring a caracal hero. That’s a cat with tufty ears.

2. House of the Cat – a sci-fi romance featuring black leopard shifters and weird hell-horses. Alien horse races. Fun and games!

3. Scarlet Woman – book one in the Middlemarch Mates series. Features Emily (human) and Saber, the oldest Mitchell brother. He’s a black leopard shifter.

4. Peeping Tom – features black leopard shifters. Felix, the second Mitchell brother is the hero. Book two in the Middlemarch Mates series.

5. Stray Cat Strut – book three in the Middlemarch Mates series. This story features Saul, one the the Mitchell brothers’ friends and a lion shifter from South Africa.

6. Assassin – book four in the Middlemarch Mates series. This book features Leo Mitchell, the third Mitchell brother. He’s a black leopard shifter.

7. Cat & Mouse – book five in the Middlemarch Mates series. This one features Duncan and Lana who are friends of the Mitchell family. They’re both black leopard shifters.

8. Cat Burglar – book six in the Middlemarch Mates series. Features Laura, a human cop, and Jonno, a leopard shifter who is a friend of the youngest Mitchell brothers.

9. Leticia’s Lovers – The main character of this story is Leticia, and she was introduced in Stray Cat Strut as a secondary character/sister of Lucas, one of the heroes in Stray Cat Strut. Book seven in the Middlemarch Mates series.

10. Catnap – Book eight in the Middlemarch Mates series introduces tiger shifters, brother Rohan and sister Ambar. This book is Rohan’s story.

11. Tiger By The Tail – book nine in the Middlemarch Mates series. This is Ambar’s story. See above for more info.

12. Blue Lady – book ten in the Middlemarch Mates series. This is a followup story to Scarlet Woman and features Emily and Saber Mitchell.

13. Twin Trouble – book eleven in the Middlemarch Mates series and the final story. This story features Joe and Sly Mitchell, the two youngest Mitchell brothers.

And an added extra – Lightning Strikes Twice, a free read featuring two black leopard shifters. Part of the Middlemarch Mates series, featuring Sam Mitchell, cousin to Saber, the hero in Scarlet Woman.

Note: the Middlemarch Mates stories are all stand alone stories, but it’s more fun to read them from book one.

Do you like paranormal shapeshifter stories? Which ones have you read recently? And if you’re not a fan, tell me about your latest read. I’m always ready to add to my to-read list.

Hubby and I have been trying to eat healthy during the last few months. We’re counting calories and have increased our daily exercise.

About two weeks ago I discovered an iTouch app called Fitness Pal. It’s free, and we’ve found it very good for counting calories and recording our exercise. For those who don’t have an iTouch or phone, you can use the web based Fitness Pal. There are also mobile applications.

Check it out. It’s working for us.

Twin Trouble received a wonderful review from Whipped Cream and is up for book of the week. You can vote for Twin Trouble or one of the other nominated books here.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

~ Grab your current read
~ Open to a random page
~ Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
~BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
~ Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week comes from Play of Passion by Nalini Singh.

The huge wolf beside Indigo, its tail raised in a gesture of dominance, closed its very dangerous teeth around the boy’s throat. Joshua stayed immobile, quiescent, until the tracker let go. Apology accepted.

page 7, Play of Passion.

Passion and reason collide with explosive force in the newest installment of Nalini Singh’s “mesmerizing”* Psy/Changeling series. As a conflict with Pure Psy looms on the horizon, two powerful wolves fight a far more intimate war of their own…

In his position as tracker for the SnowDancer pack, it’s up to Drew Kincaid to rein in rogue changelings who have lost control of their animal halves—even if it means killing those who have gone too far. But nothing in his life has prepared him for the battle he must now wage to win the heart of a woman who makes his body ignite…and who threatens to enslave his wolf.

Lieutenant Indigo Riviere doesn’t easily allow skin privileges, especially of the sensual kind—and the last person she expects to find herself craving is the most wickedly playful male in the den. Everything she knows tells her to pull back before the flames burn them both to ash…but she hasn’t counted on Drew’s will.

Now, two of SnowDancer’s most stubborn wolves find themselves playing a hot, sexy game even as lethal danger stalks the very place they call home…

Purchase Play of Passion

I have a new feline shapeshifter release. Lightning Strikes Twice is part of my Middlemarch Mates series. And, even better, it’s free. Download your copy from Ellora’s Cave.

Here’s the blurb:

Lisa Jordan lost her husband two years ago and now it’s time to start living again. At the Middlemarch singles’ ball, she’s attracted to a sexy shifter, but his identity is a shock. Years ago she used to babysit him and now she feels like a dirty old woman.

Sam Mitchell has harbored a crush on Lisa for years and is eager to stake his claim. A few dances turns into a one-night stand full of exciting, satisfying sex. Sam wants more but first he’ll need to persuade Lisa to his way of thinking.

Download your free copy of Lightning Strikes Twice

In a few hours, the final story in my Middlemarch Mates series: Twin Trouble comes out at Ellora’s Cave.

Middlemarch Mates started out as a little 15,000 word Quickie called Scarlet Woman. Positive I’d written the best-ever story I emailed it off to my editor. When she emailed me back, it wasn’t a contract offer. She’d sent me a revise and resubmit instead. She liked the characters, the idea and the plot elements but thought I had too much plot for a short story.

Back to the drawing board.

I rewrote the story, doubling it in length, and the Middlemarch Mates series was born—the story of a leopard shifter community who lives secretly amongst humans in a small country town called Middlemarch.

My series bears an element of truth because the real town of Middlemarch has a shortage of women of marriageable age. To combat this shortage they held a singles’ ball to attract women to the area.

At the same time news articles started appearing in our New Zealand newspapers about sightings of an alien black cat in Canterbury. (That’s near Christchurch where the earthquake recently struck). I decided to combine these ideas and came up with Scarlet Woman.

Saber Mitchell is at his wits end. His four younger brothers Felix, Leo, Sly and Joe are out of control. He’s determined to marry them off at the inaugural Middlemarch Singles’ ball, except it’s Saber who ends up caught like a fish on a hook. Once he meets Emily he’s determined to keep her.

The next Mitchell brother to meet his match is Felix. He runs into Tomasine, a reporter the locals have dubbed Peeping Tom.

There’s an assassin running loose in Middlemarch and she has Leo squarely in her sights.

Logically, the next characters to get their own story should have been Sly and Joe, the Mitchell twins, but they didn’t seem old enough to find their happy-ever-after. Luckily the Mitchell brothers have lots of friends. Saul, their neighbor, stepped into the fray followed by Duncan and Jonno. All three men found their mates. Then it was Leticia’s turn – (I still get tears in my eyes when I read this one).

Still not quite ready for the twins, I introduced some new characters—tiger shifters who moved into the area. Brother Rohan and sister Ambar took over the village store and created more than a little turmoil with their arrival. In fact something that occurred after their arrival left Saber and Emily (from Scarlet Woman) reeling and this led on naturally to the tenth book in my series, Blue Lady.

Finally, it was time for the twins. I thought about them long and hard. Originally I’d planned a different story but the twins are both so cheeky I decided to be really mean and made them suffer. I hope you’ll enjoy Twin Trouble and their journey to happiness.

Here’s the blurb:

Man wanted: confident and charismatic, a virtuoso in bed and capable of supporting a woman in her quest for freedom.

Shifter Kiera Pascoe is desperate to foil her brothers’ plan to ship her back to England. She needs help, and hunky Joe Mitchell is the perfect applicant. Joe misses his twin Sly, and Kiera presents a diversion from his isolated state. From the start, hunger explodes between them and sparks fly with each intoxicating touch. The sex is fun and challenging—mutual ecstasy with a little spanking and kink.

Sly arrives home unexpectedly, creating chaos with their erotic hijinks. Emotions tangle and create a dilemma for all three. Joe has feelings for Kiera and wants to keep her. Kiera worries about exchanging one set of pushy males for another while Sly lusts after his twin’s lover. Two sexy shifter twins and one gorgeous feline woman—they’ve got trouble in Middlemarch and it’s gonna take time to unravel the steamy muddle.

Purchase at Ellora’s Cave

A final note: I wanted to have an even number of stories—an even dozen. To thank all my readers, I’ve written a free story called Lightning Strikes Twice. It is due for release on 25 April and is set at the same time as Scarlet Woman. Don’t forget to watch for Lightning Strikes Twice and download your free copy at Ellora’s Cave on 25 April.

Happy reading,
Shelley

Twin Trouble, my new release is out at Ellora’s Cave on 1 April. As the title suggests, my story features identical twins as the heroes. The Mitchell twins, Joe and Sly, inspired my topic this week.

Thirteen Facts About Twins

1. 1 in 250 pregnancies can result in identical twins.

2. Women pregnant with twins will have more ultrasounds, tests and prenatal appointments than women pregnant with singletons.

3. The average weight of twins at term is about 5.5 lbs

4. Identical twins share the same DNA, but have their own fingerprints

5. Fraternal twins (girls) have twice the chance of giving birth to twins than singletons

6. Gemellology is term use for the scientific study of twins

7. The chances of having a twin pregnancy naturally is increased by maternal age ( 30+), genetics and number of previous pregnancies.

8. China has the lowest rate of twins in the world

9. Twins share a special connection, and many report incidences of twin telepathy or extrasensory perception ESP phenomenon. Some twins create their own language.

10. Twins are generally born on the same day but in some cases twins have different birthdays

11. For the second-born twin the mortality rate at birth and within the first month of life is twice that of the first born

12. The use of fertility drugs, the increased use of in-vitro fertilization, and the use of contraceptive pills all influence the rise in the rate of multiple births

13. Twin Trouble is the name of my book featuring twins. Here’s the blurb:

Man wanted: confident and charismatic, a virtuoso in bed and capable of supporting a woman in her quest for freedom.

Shifter Kiera Pascoe is desperate to foil her brothers’ plan to ship her back to England. She needs help, and hunky Joe Mitchell is the perfect applicant. Joe misses his twin Sly, and Kiera presents a diversion from his isolated state. From the start, hunger explodes between them and sparks fly with each intoxicating touch. The sex is fun and challenging—mutual ecstasy with a little spanking and kink.

Sly arrives home unexpectedly, creating chaos with their erotic hijinks. Emotions tangle and create a dilemma for all three. Joe has feelings for Kiera and wants to keep her. Kiera worries about exchanging one set of pushy males for another while Sly lusts after his twin’s lover. Two sexy shifter twins and one gorgeous feline woman—they’ve got trouble in Middlemarch and it’s gonna take time to unravel the steamy muddle.

Read an excerpt for Twin Trouble

Do you have twins in your family? (My husband’s mother is a twin, but not an identical one)

I sold the final book in my Middlemarch Mates series today. Yes! The Mitchell twins, Joe and Sly, finally have their own story. Twin Trouble should be out in a few months at Ellora’s Cave.

And speaking of Middlemarch Mates, I have a Naughty Nooner called Lightning Strikes Twice coming out on 25 April.

Lisa Jordan lost her husband two years ago and now it’s time to start living again. At the Middlemarch singles’ ball, she’s attracted to a sexy shifter, but his identity is a shock. Years ago she used to babysit him and now she feels like a dirty old woman.

Sam Mitchell has harbored a crush on Lisa for years and is eager to stake his claim. A few dances turns into a one-night stand full of exciting, satisfying sex. Sam wants more but first he’ll need to persuade Lisa to his way of thinking.

I’ve started work on a new project today – a historical this time. What are you up to this week?

Peeping Tom, which is book two in my Middlemarch Mates series, is now shipping from Amazon and The Book Depository! And, Peeping Tom has a new cover…

Here’s the blurb:

The residents of Middlemarch have a nickname for reporter Tomasine Brooks. They call her Peeping Tom and refuse to answer her questions about the mysterious black cats spotted in the vicinity. To them she’s an outsider—the enemy—who has no place in their close-knit shifter community.

Tomasine is determined to find a safe place to settle but earning the locals’ trust seems impossible. In desperation, she decides to seduce the sexy Felix Mitchell into giving away Middlemarch’s secrets because it’s a matter of life or death…hers.

From the moment feline shifter Felix Mitchell crashes into Tomasine outside the post office he desires her with an urgency that makes him suspect they are fated mates. When they are together the connection is hot, the sex is spicy and she makes him happy, but Tomasine is close-mouthed about her past—a past that can threaten their future together.

Purchase Peeping Tom