Release Date and Blog Tour Teaser

It's all happening!  My novella, At Second Glance, is the first one I wrote under Vicki, and I'm so excited it's coming out on the 5th September. I'm busy arranging a blog tour to promote my book, and once again, I'm blown away by the kindness of fellow writers and other people in this industry.

I had an overwhelming response from my fellow Decadent Publishing writers and also a fantastic response from fellow ROSA writers so my blog tour is going to last about three weeks! I'll have a lovely giveaway. I'll either buy some erotic satin handcuffs or a lush blindfold. Think they are stunning naughty gifts to match the theme of my book. To add to that, I will give away either one grand Amazon voucher or possibly three or four smaller $5 ones.

To top it, Love Bites and Silk (or their sister company Love Bites and Silk Ties - not sure which they will use) has very kindly offered for me to get their free blog tour for their one-year anniversary!! It's great to get my debut novel a good boost as I enter the writing world. Thank you so much, Kay! I'm blown over by your kindness.

Here's a blurb of the book in case you haven't read yet:

Four years after her divorce, Merryn decides she’s ready to find someone. Joining an online singles site, she connects with the perfect guy. Funny, sexy, sensitive. When he suggests they meet, excitement compels her to say yes.

Kirk pines for his ex-wife, but realizes he must move forward. After several stimulating online chats, he believes she might be the one for him. Smart, sexy, willing to experiment and learn. But when he happens across his ex, all his plans fly out the window.

Will Merryn learn to relax and have fun without giving her heart? Can Kirk forget the past and become the man he longs to be?

Cover Reveal for My Beyond Fairy Tales Romance

Take a look at the beautiful cover I received for my Beyond Fairy Tales Fantasy/Erotic Romance, Her Real-life Hero.

Don't you love the feeling of magic coming out the bureau where Joanie is sitting? And it's sexy! To match my book *wink, wink*

Here's a quick blurb to remind you of my upcoming release:

When Joanie buys an antique bureau to inspire her writing, the hero in her book comes to life after she promises him he can live with her. Outraged to be stuck with a man in her home when all she wants is to revel in her new-found freedom, Joanie tries her best to get rid of Theo. The magic of the bureau and Theo have other plans. Joanie resists Theo’s magnetic sex appeal, but the more she resists, the more she succumbs.

My book is based on the Grimm's fairy tale - The Frog Prince and Iron Henry. You can read it here.

Spotlight of Erotic Romance by April Vine

Today, I have fellow ROSA member, April Vine, talking about her erotic romance. I've read this book and I LOVED it!! Just so touching and hot - the right combination.

BLURB

Publisher’s Note: Previously published elsewhere in 2008 as The Midnight Rose and significantly revised for EC.

The only thing Ryan Redford could do to scare off his best friend’s sexy, all-grown-up little sister when she orchestrates an all-out, everything-bared seduction is to describe the most depraved sexual acts he can think of—everything, in fact, he’s fantasized about doing to her—to ensure the virgin runs in the opposite direction.

Hell, the steamy scenarios scared him.

Except the tantalizing Leah Jenkins is not accepting no for an answer and takes his threats as promises—and expects him to deliver. On every single dirty thing he said he would do to her.

A Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave.

EXCERPT

Ryan Redford had become very accustomed to the groan inside his head. It had started when he realized Bill was not a party to Leah’s dinner. Alone, he had no right to be there. But that groan had gotten louder when he saw her in that torturous little dress she greeted him in at the front door.

When he inhaled her perfume, the scent had started to ricochet through his head with a thunderous boom. Drugged now, and beyond help, he dared look at the thick-fringed, hazel-eyed beauty before him with her long, scented dark-brown hair and wonderfully sexy body. She was still the sweetest thing he had ever seen and he was so crazily in love with her he couldn’t think straight anymore.

“I thought Bill would be here,” he said as he sat across from her at her dining table.

“I didn’t invite him.” She hesitated for a second then smiled at him. “I thought it could be just the two of us. Do you mind?”

Did he mind? He had been in love with her since she had turned eighteen when, suddenly, her legs were no longer just appendages, but long and shapely, and ones he wanted wrapped around his waist as he pressed his cock inside her. And then her breasts had suddenly filled out from nowhere, ample and round, and every time he spotted her nipples through her t-shirt he would physically salivate, knowing they would taste like honey in his mouth. Her hips were made for his hands, her lips for his kisses, pink and lush.

But that wasn’t all. Not only had she become a full-blown, touchable woman in all areas necessary, she could argue the hell out of him and, even if he were right, she would turn those hazel eyes up at him and melt his resolve. Yes, he had gotten it so bad for his best friend’s baby sister that in the last five years, whenever she was near, he walked around with a constant ache in his groin. But something was up with her. She seemed unusually quiet this evening. A little tense.

“You’re not afraid of being alone with me, are you, Ryan?” She didn’t look at him when she asked that, choosing to toy with her food instead.

I’m petrified of being alone with you.

BUY LINKS

Ellora’s Cave

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

All Romance

BIO

April Vine writes erotic romance by night and is a professional dreamer by day. She has two precious sons who keep her sharp and one very tolerant husband who chivalrously defends her honor on a daily basis. Visit her at www.aprilvine.co.za

Spotlight and Review for Love on Death Row

Title: Love On Death Row

Author: Melissa Love

Genre: Women's Fiction, Urban 

Synopsis: 

How Far Would You Go To Save Your Marriage? From the outside De’Nesha Cole had the picture perfect life with two beautiful children and a loving husband. But on the outside, Terence was far from perfect. He was violent, controlling and abusive. When her best friends find out what’s been going on behind closed doors, they encourage her to go to the authorities, but she refused. She was determined to make her marriage work no matter at what cost and death was no exception. 

Book links: 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play 

Add to Goodreads

Excerpt: 

“These are for you! He said as he slowly brought his hands around to show me the dozen of red and yellow roses he had gotten for me. He kissed me on the back of my neck. “Well, do you like it?”

I couldn’t believe he was acting so casual after just punching me forty minutes ago. He must be suffering from personality dissociation.

“Of course,” I replied with a fake smile on my bruised face. “Thank you, baby.”

“Can you forgive me for the way I have been acting? I know that’s my child you’re carrying. Is it a boy or a girl?” He asked as he rubs my stomach and kissed me tenderly.

“I don’t know yet, it’s too early to tell, but when I go back next week I can ask the doctor and you can go with me if you want to?”

“Hell, yeah, this is my first child, so I got to be there. I called my parents, and they are so thrilled too.”

The only reason I hugged Terence and forgave him is because of our baby, and I know it sounds stupid, but this is our first child and I refuse to be just another single black woman raising a child alone.



Erotic Excerpt:

The male guards like that and sometimes they ask if they can join in or watch; most of the time, with Strawberry’s permission, we let them join in on our session for a price. I really didn’t want to do that, because I believed in our marriage vows and keeping it just between us. The three guards took me into the craft room and the other two took Strawberry on the other side of the room. They handled me really good! I was licked, sucked and manhandled in the right way. I came so many times that I didn’t know what to do, and I could hear Strawberry moaning just a few feet away.

Author Bio: 

Melissa Love began her love of writing since picking up her first urban fictional book. She wanted to turn her love of reading into writing. In 2001 and 2002 she went the self-publishing route and published 3 books. She knew that self-publishing wasn’t the rout she wanted to take anymore, so she continued on to write more manuscripts until she was able to get signed with a major publishing company. Writing has become a way for her to be creative in telling compelling stories and memorable characters of lies and deceits. She is also a member of the Motown Writer Network and she currently resides in Detroit, Michigan with her two daughters.

Melissa is giving away a book Scented Candle Set. For your chance to win, complete the rafflecopter entries. A winner will be chosen at the end of the blog tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Review of Love on Death Row:

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review. Please be aware that there may be some spoilers in this review.

Yes, I’m going to be honest. I thought this book was gripping, full of non-stop action, and brutally honest, but I didn’t think it was perfect.

De Nesha finds herself in an abusive marriage. In fact, the book starts off with her on death row, about to get the life sentence for murdering her husband. It starts off with a lesbian relationship which totally caught me off guard as, to be honest, I thought the book was an ordinary M/F romance. It turned out nothing like that. What also caught me was the fact that she’d chosen the lesbian relationship because of where she’d come from and what she had left in her last few days of life. That made me curious.

The author’s brutally honest dialogue and language had me hooked from the beginning. She or her characters didn’t mince words for a second. I liked that honesty although I had to admit, the swearing got a bit too much at certain spots in the book.

De Nesha took a downward spiral from enthusiastic wife to secretly abused to violently angry. It was a sad, tragic story—dark, heart-rending and definitely something to stir the emotions. I couldn’t put the book down. In that way, I highly recommend it as a gripping, soul-stirring read. Honest, real, and in no way skirting around painful, tender, raw, hurtful issues. She doesn’t give her character any grace—she presents the protagonist in the most realistic light with her image-maintaining problems in the beginning and her raging jealousy in the end. She’s a realist through and through so that’s why a couple of things bothered me.

My biggest concern was that once Terence, her husband, had abused her almost to the point of death, had a long-standing affair with another woman, and raped her, De Nesha still wishes at some point that they could make right and have a good marriage. I’m sorry! When did she ever have a good marriage? The man abused her emotionally and physically from the start. He degraded her as a person and ground her into nothing. I can’t possibly see why she hoped he would come right at that stage or that they could be reconciled. I also couldn’t understand the deep jealousy she felt towards his second wife when she’d been abused by him for so long. Why wasn’t she glad to be free of him? Yes, the knowledge of the affair must have hurt, but I’d have been so relieved. Finally, to be free of the freak! But I fully understand her jealousy in the woman taking her children! That would have had me thoroughly enraged, and I can sympathise how that drove her to the point of murder. Now all of these unrealistic responses could be the reaction of someone abused. I haven't been in an abusive relationship so I don't know. I just wanted to shake De Nesha so many times to tell her she's going the wrong way. I suppose that's what the author wanted to convey and she did so very effectively.

Besides some serious editing issues, this book really was excellently written and hopefully an eye-opener to many young women who would marry someone even though many red flags have gone up warning them that the man could be an abuser. And it’s a warning to those in an abusive marriage to talk about it and get out as soon as you can before your whole psyche has been wrecked. I so wish De Nesha could have gone back in time and changed the way she responded. Life would have been so much better for her. Thank you to the writer for getting me invested in her life so much that I couldn’t put the book down.

Spotlight and Review - Goddess Awakened by Cate Masters

Today, I have a fellow fantasy romance writer, Cate Masters, talking about her book, Goddess Awakened, which is a brand new release, and I had the privilege of reading it before it released.

The Goddess Connection Book 1

Goddess, Awakened

by Cate Masters

Blurb

With a little help from a goddess, battling evil is a piece of cake for Jocelyn Gibson.

A descendant of the goddess Iris, Jocelyn Gibson may have forgotten about the realm of magic, but it hasn’t forgotten her. When Eric Hendricks is targeted by a demon, Joss must step in to battle the evil and save the town’s awkward, but endearing, vet…who also happens to be the man she loves.

Joss’s new inn, a culinary career specializing in cooking with lavender and a new love all make for a fine recipe of disaster. She needs to embrace her inner goddess and harness the powers she never knew she had before it’s too late.

Goddess, Awakened

The Goddess Connection, Book 1

Fantasy/paranormal romance novel

About 89,700 words

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance eBooks | Kensington

The Goddess Connection Series

Every woman should embrace her inner goddess. What’s your connection?

In each novel of The Goddess Connection series, the heroine is somehow connected to a goddess. Her lifelong quirks will become strengths once she finds her true place in the world, and accepts herself for who she really is.

And in each, the heroine is encouraged to embrace her inner goddess. And the hero treats her like one! As it should be for every woman.

 About the Author

Cate Masters has made beautiful central Pennsylvania her home, but she’ll always be a Jersey girl at heart. When not spending time with her dear hubby, she can be found in her lair, concocting a magical brew of contemporary, historical, and fantasy/paranormal stories with her cat Chairman Maiow and dog Lily as company. Look for her at http://catemasters.blogspot.com and in strange nooks and far-flung corners of the web.

Contact Details

Website: http://catemasters.blogspot.com

Email: cate.masters@gmail.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cate-Masters/89969413736?ref=ts

Twitter:  @CateMasters

Book video

Direct link:  http://youtu.be/_HZ2hb_wcz0

Mini excerpt for GODDESS, AWAKENED

In starting her life over, Joss had expected some resistance, even some trouble, but not this. The bedroom floor boards trembled beneath her golden-slippered feet. Tendrils of an unseen power curled upward from deep within the ground, tingling through her toes. She paused to steady herself, then continued to put the finishing touches on her costume. The tremors grew into rumbles and their hum seeped beneath her skin. When their tiny wisps twined through her mind, she clenched her hands. Enough. Go away.

Thick as starlight on a clear summer’s eve, sweet as the lavender blossoms she had yet to plant, energy whooshed up through the cracks of the worn wood and out into the October night.

She gripped the bureau until it passed, the vibrations rolling over her in lessening waves. Bubbly, effervescent waves. “Third time tonight, Taz.” Each departure took longer, and more of the essence remained.

When the dog whined, she stroked his fur. “Don’t worry, it won’t hurt you.”

Even if tonight the waves were palpable enough to make her hairs stand on end. Oh, no, please.

Nothing could ruin tonight. More than a party, this event would determine her future. And after three years of grief, she’d never allow anything to trap her in its clutches again.

My Review:

I enjoyed reading this fantasy, paranormal romance. The book had many facets and kept me gripped and entertained for hours. Jocelyn is new to town and opens up The Lavender Inn with her friend, Annie, who cooks gourmet. She's bright, kind, and energetic but hides loneliness behind her goddess persona. The setting is dreamy and I'd love to visit it, if it were not for the undercurrents of evil spiritual activity which reach a climax several times in the book. What amazes me is how the author transitions from touching romance to scary paranormal to fantasy and then to an everyday feel like Katie Fforde while she runs her inn. Jocelyn (Joss) is a goddess but denied her powers for years because her previous husband wasn't keen on the whole idea. She has to face up to her powers when the man she loves (although she doesn't know she loves him yet) is endangered by the evil powers in the area.

The book will keep you gripped. It's unique, has much conflict, and the romance keeps you hooked. It's also an escape. I loved the Lavender Inn and Taz (the dog) and have even considered planting lavender after hearing of all the benefits of the plant. Definitely one of those stories that get you pondering and thinking. Deep and sweet yet scary and suspenseful at the same time. You'll enter a fantasy world of a difference to the norm, and I'm pleased that this is the first of a series. I love the message thread throughout the book - that every woman is a goddess and should find a man who makes her feel that way.

Another Cover Reveal for my Fantasy Romance

Squee! It's the month for cover reveals - one of the highlights of being a writer.

Tibbs Designs has once more come up with an amazing cover for my contemporary, fantasy romance. The book belongs to the Ubuntu line - books set in Africa, steeped with the colours and flavours of the continent.

Here it is:

Here's the blurb to give you a taste of my book:

Gelsey is a savannah sprite – a fairy in Africa who works to preserve the earth. She’s a pro at eco-balance, but when the fairy queen gives her a commission to become a human to research their love, she’s miserable. Unfortunately, it's the only means to the promotion of her dreams – a chance to save the African Wild Cat. She becomes a florist and sprinkles her gold dust on Evan, a single man in the human world. Enchanted by the magic, he marries Gelsey immediately. Gelsey is swept into the world of Evan’s love and learns that humanity is quite different to what she'd presumed. She begins to wonder if she’s ready to give up her life with him, but how can she forsake her fairyhood forever to become a human for good? Especially for a relationship she’s sure is merely based on plain old fairy magic?

An excerpt - it hasn't been through the editing mill yet so excuse any rawness:

Gelsey thought her head would spin out of control. The strange warm sensations in her tummy made her loathe to eat although she felt hungry. Was this the human love emotion? Something about the man—the way he spoke to her, the way he looked at her, as if she were so important to him, as if he really cared how she felt, shook her from the inside out. Even her fairy friends hadn’t connected with a spot deep inside of her like him. If only she could tell him of the turmoil in her soul, of the world she had left behind and of how she missed her home and her friends. Maybe he would care. Maybe he would help her and let her leave early. He would tell her all about human love so she didn’t have to be trapped in the human world a whole year.

“Um, tell me about love,” she said once they were seated opposite each other at the fish restaurant called John Dory’s. She could somehow stomach eating seafood but being an earth fairy, couldn’t bear to eat the animals she’d spent so many years helping out. According to Ziana, she would be human and forget most of her life as a fairy. That had prompted a deep fear in her and she’d determined never to forget. Thankfully, somehow she could remember almost everything.

The smell of seafood cramped her already hungry stomach. Why hadn’t she eaten lunch today? Evan had totally sent her whole day in a crazy direction. She’d been quite happy to spend the rest of her year working in the florist, making pretty arrangements, meeting people and asking them questions. She wasn’t ready for this marriage thing and had no idea what it entailed.

Evan opened his mouth and didn’t speak for a moment. “Love?”

“Yes, tell me how it felt when you fell in love. It seems it happens more than once in a man’s life.”

His eyes twinkled a moment. “This is my first time.” He looked right into her, his gaze giving off some magic as though he’d sprinkled fairy dust on her. He’d almost totally bewitched her. She knew if she hadn’t been a fairy, she would be falling into this love thing right now.

“I …”

“Why do you ask?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t expect you to answer like that.”

“You cut to the chase, don’t you?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You’re a very innocent person. It’s as if you’ve been sheltered from so much.”

“I’ve lived for the earth and the environment. Love hasn’t featured in my life.”

He took hold of her hand and squeezed it. “I’d love to show you what it’s like.”

Book Spotlight with Sara Daniel

Today I have Sara Daniel talking about the very first Beyond Fairy Tales book to be released from Decadent Publishing. Welcome Sara!

Once Upon a Marriage

Retelling The Three Army Surgeons

By Sara Daniel

My favorite school assignment ever was modernizing and retelling a fairy tale (sophomore English – Aced it AND got extra credit – Thanks  Ms. Seckler!), so when Decadent Publishing put out the call for a retelling of a Grimm’s Fairy Tale, my hand immediately shot in the air. I was given The Three Army Surgeons, an obscure, somewhat gruesome story that was definitely not a romance. (Read it here.)

At the beginning of the initial brainstorming, I thought, “You have got to be kidding me. What I have I gotten myself into?” But then I plunged in. Before long, I was giggling as I typed because Once Upon a Marriage was SO MUCH FUN to write. Yep, favorite assignment ever!

Once Upon a Marriage

Time is running out for Armina Keer to have the baby she’s always wanted. Before she can move on with her life, she needs her estranged husband to sign their divorce papers. When she can’t get him to respond, her meddling uncles arrange for a trip to his inn. Despite vowing to guard her broken heart, she has to settle the past before she can have a future.

Ian Keer might not deserve a second chance with his wife, but he’s not going to give up one either, not with the immediate flaming attraction still between them. While her uncles’ antics wreak havoc on life at The Inn, he offers her the ultimate gamble: Spend the night with him, and afterwards he’ll sign the papers if she still wants to leave.

With everything riding on one night together, Ian must convince her that their love is strong enough the second time around, and Armina must decide if love is worth sacrificing her dreams.

Excerpt:

“You hate me,” Ian whispered, feeling more nauseous than if he’d ingested a prosthetic eyeball. How could she not hate him when she believed their personal relationship had meant less to him than an employment issue?

Armina gazed beyond his left shoulder. “I don’t hate you. I’ve never hated you. When we got married, I understood you had a strong work ethic combined with an unusual drive to succeed and a consuming passion for the Inn. I knew I’d come in second to this place.”

He opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but couldn’t. If she’d made him choose, he wouldn’t have picked her.

“I thought I was okay with it,” she continued. “After all, I loved the Inn, too, and wanted you to realize your vision for it. Turns out I wasn’t okay. I didn’t realize how distant second place actually was.” She shrugged her slim shoulders. “Live and learn, right?”

Not right. He wanted to take back the lesson and teach her about real love instead. “You never should have had to settle for second place. With me or with anyone else. No one has the right to ask that of you.”

“Agreed.” Her voice came out stronger, her shoulders squared, and she looked him directly in the eye. “Now you understand why I want a divorce.”

Buy links:

Amazon   Barnes & Noble   All Romance ebooks   Decadent Publishing

Sara Daniel writes what she loves—irresistible romance, from sweet to erotic and everything in between. She lives her own happily-ever-after romance with her hero husband. Connect with her online at:

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