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

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 today comes from Primal Law by JD Tyler, a new-to-me author. I’m about three-quarters of the way through and thoroughly enjoying this story of wolf shapeshifters and fated mates. This is the start of a series called Alpha Pack.

The soldier in him knew the smart move would be to go for the man with the gun; the beast demanded blood from the one with his hands on her. The one who’d hit her.

page 20, Primal Law

Founded by a group of former Navy SEALS, the Alpha Pack is a top-secret team of wolf shifters with Psy powers tasked with eliminating the most dangerous predators in the world. But the gift of their abilities comes at a price…

After a massacre decimates half his team and leaves him crippled, Jaxon Law must relearn how to fight—and battle the anger and guilt threatening to overwhelm him. But when he rescues a beautiful woman who reawakens his primal instincts, Jax is unprepared for the dangers that lie ahead.

On the run from her employer, brilliant lab assistant Kira Locke has evidence that leads the Alpha Pack on a hunt for someone targeting human civilians with Psy abilities. And as Jax and Kira circle both the killer and each other, Jax will have to decide if the deep connection he feels with Kira is worth breaking the ultimate shifter rule—because bonding with Kira means putting his abilities at risk, and they might be the only tools he has to keep his mate alive…

Purchase Primal Law

What are you reading this week? Leave a link to your teaser or give me a two-sentence teaser in the comments section. I love adding to my to-read list.

I’m really excited to introduce my guest today. Maddy Barone writes romance and has a love of all things paranormal. In her own words, “I’ve been writing since junior high. Werewolves, time travel and handsome princes who can wield magic and lead armies are my thing. Any damsel in distress that I write can darned well rescue herself and if the hero’s ego can’t take that, then he’s not a hero. I want strong men who can respect their ladies and treat them like partners, not dainty little dolls. Is there anything sexier than a tough man who finds that one perfect woman and is willing to do anything for her?”

Maddy is also a keen member of SCA, a non-profit education organization that studies the renaissance and middle ages. She gets to dress up, mainly in garb from the Italian Renaissance but she has Japanese, Viking and Byzantine garb too. Just quietly – she has a rather cool steampunk outfit that I have my eye on. I’m very tempted to launch a surprise attack from New Zealand to nab it for myself!

Today Maddy is taking us through the process of making our own fascinator hat. Give her a warm welcome. Over to Maddy…

How to Make a Fascinator Hat

HRH the Duchess of Cambridge (nee Kate Middleton) has made fascinators the newest rage in headwear. Appropriate for every social event from weddings to the races to cocktail parties, a fascinator can add the perfect finishing touch to any outfit. But –gulp!—have you seen the prices?! Wouldn’t it be a lot cheaper to make it yourself? I made this one for $10.00 (USD) in 40 minutes.

Do you think you need to be a milliner to be able to make a fascinator hat? Well, you don’t! All you need are a few things you already have around the house and a couple things from a craft store.

Materials:

A round base. This can be a ready-made sinamay base available from some millinery supply stores and Etsy.com, or a small plastic lid covered with fabric.

Veiling. About 12-15 inches (30-37 cm) This can be purchased from bridal supply stores, eBay, Etsy. But you can do without it too. Use tulle or take a veil off some old hat from the thrift store.

Feathers. I bought mine at JoAnn Fabric & Crafts. I used:
a half-pinwheel of black feathers
a 3 inch piece of black and white marabou feather boa
2 red feather clumps

A focal piece. I used a brooch from my grandmother. You might use a silk flower, a fancy button, a cute bow, a rhinestone earring or clip.

Fastener. I’m using an old black plastic headband. You could use a comb, a clip, a barret or elastic.

Needle and thread or glue. I sewed my items on so I could remove them and re-make the hat with other items and colors, but you could easily use a glue gun if you prefer.

Directions:
1. If you will be using veiling, gather it to a length that will go half way around your base. Stitch or glue in place along the back edge. If it looks a little wonky that’s okay. The wearer can use hair pins to put the edges in place.

2. Begin adding your feathers, layering them in whichever fashion you like best. I sewed the pinwheel on first. See what big ugly stitches I used? I plan to take this off and remake it sometime to go with a different outfit. Big stitches are easier to remove, and who is ever going to see them?

3. When the feather layer is secured by stitching or glue, add your focal piece. I used my grandmother’s brooch. I can take it off and replace it with another one to change my color scheme.

4. Stitch or glue the fascinator to the headband or whichever fastening method you chose.

5. Try on the fascinator. Pretend your hair is perfect, your eyes are dramatically made up and your lips have that 1950s red pout. Use hair pins to arrange the veil in the most flattering way.

You’re done!! Congratulations! You have a fascinator hat to wear to your next cocktail party!

Wolf’s Glory

After the Crash, Book 2

When goth-girl Glory Peterson’s plane crashes she walks to find help. What she finds are people living in teepees like it’s the Old West. Wolf’s Shadow knows Glory is his mate. Glory’s happy to take a roll in the hay with him while she’s waiting for transportation back to civilization, but when she finds out she’s gone fifty years into the future and Shadow is a bossy werewolf who thinks he owns her, her attitude changes fast. Shadow is used to giving orders that are obeyed. Glory hasn’t obeyed an order since kindergarten. When two strong-willed lovers clash, who will win?

Available from Liquid Silver Books Now

Visit Maddy Barone to learn more about Maddy and her books.

CONTEST: Book one in Maddy Barone’s series, After the Crash, is actually one of the ebooks in the ebook bundle I’m giving away. The contest closes soon. Details of how to enter are on my contest page.

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

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 is from Wilder’s Mate: Bloodhounds, Book 1 by Moira Rogers. It’s a steampunk, shapeshifter, vampire, paranormal story from Samhain Publishing.

He was dark and forbidding, a large man wrapped in the savagery of a hound. Some hid their other natures well, but this one… Satira met his eyes, and a beast stared back.

Page 7, Wilder’s Mate

Think a vampire-hunting bloodhound is dangerous? Try threatening his woman.

Bloodhounds, Book 1

Wilder Harding is a bloodhound, created by the Guild to hunt down and kill vampires on America’s frontier. His enhanced abilities come with a high price: on the full moon, he becomes capable of savagery beyond telling, while the new moon brings a sexual hunger that borders on madness.

Rescuing a weapons inventor from undead kidnappers is just another assignment, though one with an added complication—keeping his hands off the man’s pretty young apprentice, who insists on tagging along.

At odds with polite society, Satira’s only constant has been the aging weapons inventor who treats her like a daughter. She isn’t going to trust Wilder with Nathaniel’s life, not when the Guild might decide the old man isn’t worth saving. Besides, if there’s one thing she’s learned, it’s that brains are more important than brawn.
As the search stretches far longer than Wilder planned, he finds himself fighting against time. If Satira is still at his side when the new moon comes, nothing will stop him from claiming her. Worse, she seems all too willing. If their passion unlocks the beast inside, no one will be safe. Not even the man they’re fighting to save.

Warning: This book contains a crude, gun-slinging, vampire-hunting hero who howls at the full moon and a smart, stubborn heroine who invents mad-scientist weapons. Also included: wild frontier adventures, brothels, danger, betrayal and a good dose of wicked loving in an alternate Wild West.

Purchase Wilder’s Mate

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?