Release Day! Exciting new series--plus PARTY announcement

Witch plus wolf? They’re allergic. Except no one told their hearts.
Shifters and witches? Forbidden on pain of death. Might as well stick a fork in a light socket. Yet those are the kind of sparks witch princess Sophia Blue feels when she meets wolf shifter Noah in her aunt’s bookstore.

But Sophia is stuck. Her aunt is missing and Noah, the last person to see her, is Sophia’s only hope. If not for that and her aunt’s new, cute little doggie, Sophia would run as far as she could from the sexy, hard-hewn alpha.

Noah’s stuck too. Before disappearing, the aunt hit him with a hex gone horribly wrong—he’s the doggie. By day he’s fifteen pounds of yippity-yip, and with five anti-alpha wolves nipping at his heels, that’s deadly dangerous. Only Sophia can help him, but she has lost her magic.

Then an evil mage from Sophia’s past shows up with murder on his mind, and all Noah’s instincts shout to protect the woman his misguided heart thinks is his mate.

Warning: Sinfully sexy alpha thrown together with a hot witch in a small town. Sass, sparkle, a meddling aunt, snafus, growling, fighting, and oh yeah, sex. Might want to get up to date on your shots.

Thanks to P&N Graphics for this gorgeous ad.

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SKPXWYS/

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heart-mates-mary-hughes/1121104081?ean=9781619225220

Samhain: https://www.samhainpublishing.com/book/5408/heart-mates

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/heart-mates-1

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/heart-mates/id960584564?mt=11

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Mary_Hughes_Heart_Mates?id=2X1VBgAAQBAJ

All Romance: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-heartmates-1733482-140.html

UK Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00SKPXWYS/

UK Nook: http://www.nook.com/gb/ebooks/heart-mates-by-mary-hughes/9781619225220

Author Links:

WebPage: http://maryhughesbooks.com

Email: mary@maryhughesbooks.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaryHughesAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryHughesBooks

Sign-up for Mary Hughes Newsletter: http://www.maryhughesbooks.com/news.htm#MHNewsletter

Group blogs:

Group Blog http://www.lustwithalaugh.com/

Group Blog http://magicalmusings.com/

COME TO MY PARTY!

May 6, 11am-3pm & 6pm-10pm Eastern Daylight Time. Many authors sharing great prizes!

Click here to get the latest information. 

3T Writing Tidbit

As I start Passion Bites, Book 9 of the Biting Love series, there's a lot of water...and a lot of characters...under the bridge.

Dealing with a large cast of characters can be confusing for the reader. Here's one thing you as a writer can do to make it easier on them.

I gleaned this technique from reading the master of large cast novels, Colleen McCullough (The First Man in Rome, et al.).

TIP #2: Use a memory of this scene's Point-Of-View character (or a letter) at the end of this scene to remind the reader and segue to the next scene and its new POV character.

Example 1.

John staggered out of the dentist's office, rubbing his jaw. "Can't feel my lip. I wonder if my wife is fairing any better at little Johnny's parent-teacher conferences."
/*segues to scene 2*/
Mary clenched her fists under the table of the child-size desk that didn't quite fit her hips. She'd rather be having ten root canals than be here.

Example 2.

(John this, John that. At the end...) John opened the envelope, releasing Mary's distinct perfume, and extracted the thick rag stationery. He paused with it in his hand, wondering how her skills learned as a rich daughter at hundreds of charitable foundation luncheons were transferring to the board room.
/*segues to scene 2*/
"I'm afraid this won't do." Mary's tone was regretful as she set down the treasurer's report, stared down the boardroom table at the assembled men and women, and gently shook her head. "I'm afraid these losses won't do at all." Gentle, but the steel underneath was unmistakable. The men and women began to tremble.

Passion Bites heroine, Dr. Alexis Byornsson has a sister, Synnove. Synnove is now married to master vampire Ric Holiday and actually has a story of her own in book 6 of the series. So I could write "Dr. Synnove Holiday". But frankly, that's just another name for the reader to remember. To add resonance and make it easier to understand Synnove's purpose in this story, I'll default to calling her Alexis's sister.

I'll have another tip next month.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.

2T Repeat Performance

April we started our regular schedule, 3 of us plus a guest. That was also the month the Flounder Paddles made their first appearance.

Fun with Sex

The Secret Sex Lives of Clowns

The Lusty Linguists Do NOLA: Roxy's Tips for Fun Times at Romantic Times

Cocktails for Characters--Guest Cora Cade--plus giveaway!

 

 

 

April 1T Olio

Big news! Serendipity Bites is live, along with the Lusty Linguists' April Fools For Love collection.

PLUS big multi-author bash Thursday, April 9, 2015. If you're on Facebook, check out our April Fools For Love PARTY!

Part of the April Fools For Love collection
Biting Love Short Bites, Book 4

Best April Fools joke ever—falling in love.

Coming soon to more vendors!

Serendipity “Sera” Braun wears glasses and a bun to teach during the day, but at night, she adds a breast-plumping vest and dirndl for her job hoisting beer steins at Nieman’s. The big, leather-vest-and-earringed Viking bouncer? He’s bedsheets waiting to get sweaty, but all he does is scowl at her. She’s trying to keep her geriatric stripper of a granny from breaking a hip, but it’s hard when she keeps getting distracted by that sexy, smoky baritone.

Thorvald Thorsson is bitingly lonely—every vampire around him is mating. But his ex-fiancée rejected him as a killjoy (her exact words were he ate rules and s*** misery), so it’s high time Fun Thor comes out to play. No way he’d pair up with the cute but too-serious little schoolmarm who waits tables at the bar.

Sera bridles the wicked, delicious things she’d like to do with the muscular Viking, suppressing herself until she’s a volcano about to blow. Then they are thrown together in a prank war, and all his potent masculinity is focused on her. He makes her burn to let loose, but how can she and still be responsible for Granny and set a good example?

Warning: A terribly lonely vampire, a conflicted schoolmarm with a caged wild side, nosy roommates and the female version of a bromance, not to mention scorching sex, swearing with the **** filled in, a whole town full of busybodies—and the best April Fools joke ever.

This story contains material intended for mature audiences. Reader discretion advised.

Thanks to P and N Graphics for this amazing cover!

Excerpt here.