Tuesday, August 16, 2016

3T Writing Tidbit

Before I get to the the Writing Tidbit, here's some great news.

Check out the Sun Sets on Summer Super Sale & Giveaway!

36 Romance Authors are offering 73 books...

Most of them are on sale for a limited time. It's just our way of thanking our loyal readers.

Even better, we've pooled our funds to offer an awesome giveaway! Enter to win a Kindle and Amazon Gift Cards just for subscribing to our newsletters or following us on social media.

Here's the link to the Sun Sets on Summer Super Sale & Giveaway:

http://lovekissedbookbargains.com/reader-rewards-sales-giveaways/
 Now, on to the writerly stuff...

This is the opposite side of last month's coin. Are you struggling with a middle that's saggy or wishy-washy?

Go to your end. What has to happen? That's the top of your staircase. Now think about what would make achieving that end as hard as possible for your protagonist. That's your second-from-the-top step. Now think about what would make that achieving step as hard as possible. That's your third-from-the-end step...and so on. Pretty soon you've worked your way back to the well of your middle, with nowhere out but up.

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.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Disciplining the Beast -- Guest Author -- Tina Donahue!

2T Repeat Performance has been delayed a few weeks for this awesome guest post!

Disciplining the Beast

Book 5 - Taming the Beast series

erotic paranormal-romantic comedy

A sexy reaper and a good angel to die for...let the games begin...

AUGUST 9





Blurb:

Thank heaven for babes who like to raise hell.

Taming the Beast, Book 5

Wynona relishes her job as a reaper. Some jerkwad pisses her off? He’s toast. Any
douchebag who mistreats a woman better watch out. Lately, she’s been enjoying it a little
too much—and Heaven is not amused.

Wings temporarily clipped, she’s doing time working as an enforcer at From Crud to
Stud. The body count isn’t what she’s used to, but at least the scenery—that is, her celestial
parole officer—is tall, dark, and deliciously hot.

Rafael can’t take his eyes off Wynona. No, really. She’s a 24/7, one-on-one job. No matter
how hard this angel rides her, she begs for more. Finding a way to bring out her best side is
turning out to be the greatest challenge of his career.

She’s sassy and sexy, and she’s brought out a side of him he never knew existed—an
inner Dom that is only too willing to follow her down the garden path of unrestrained
indulgence. And once they set foot on that slippery slope, there’s no turning back.

Warning: Virtue has met its match. Celebrates bondage, discipline, voyeurism, and crazy
good sex in an office setting, fetish club, and everywhere else. The faint of heart are advised to
turn back now.


Excerpt:

The world stilled.
Wynona’s longing exploded. She melted into Rafael, desperate to get close, and parted her lips to welcome his tongue.
On a restrained growl, he slipped the sweet thing into her mouth, filling her, exploring, his bristly cheeks rasping her skin.
Her nerve endings fired wildly, creating currents of heat followed by a flood of comfort and renewed excitement that had her panting for more. He deepened the kiss, not allowing her one breath or the faintest sound. Her mind turned to mush. She surrendered fully, suckling his tongue deeper, adoring his taste, as fresh and innocent as a new day, rich and seductive to match the most shameless night. Crazy good.
She tugged off the leather cord confining his hair. Freed, those silken waves glided over her hands, thick and wavy, scented with something divine she couldn’t quite place. She imagined the scent was how a sunbeam or a shooting star might smell. Otherworldly and unmatched. Yet he was also of this earth, a passionate being, no different from her.
Indulgence was on their menu. Control not allowed.
She buried her fingers in his mane, hopped into his arms, and wrapped her legs around his lean hips.
He teetered from her weight but righted himself quickly like the strong guy he was. All lean muscles rippled with power, biceps and shoulders bunching.
She moaned for all she was worth, the base noise muffled by his tongue, which transformed the sound into a softer, more feminine response. Already, he’d conquered her and she didn’t mind. He could freaking tame her all he wanted during moments like this.
He turned a slow circle. A sensual dance she couldn’t resist. From the moment she’d come into being, she’d yearned for intimacy fueled by lust but also laced with tenderness.
His kiss was less frantic now, more searching, reaching beyond the façade of her leather outfit, outrageous bravado, and snide comments to the real woman beneath.
Lonely, wanting, horribly insecure.
A flicker of unease ran through her. Walls went up. Submitting to carnal hunger was one thing. Craving anything beyond that was certifiable. She was a reaper, lowest of the low, more hated than politicians, lawyers, and used-car salesmen.
This had to stop.
Rafael wrapped his arm around her waist and coaxed her closer.
Fevered and reckless, she pushed his tongue from her mouth and filled his with hers.
He groaned heartily.



About Tina:

Tina is an Amazon and international bestselling novelist in erotic, paranormal, contemporary and historical romance for traditional publishers and indie. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Romantic Times and numerous online sites have praised her work. Three of her erotic novels (Freeing the Beast, Come and Get Your Love, and Wicked Takeover) were Readers' Choice Award winners. Another three (Adored, Lush Velvet Nights, and Deep, Dark, Delicious) were named finalists in the EPIC competition. Sensual Stranger, her erotic contemporary romance, was chosen Book of the Year at the French review site Blue Moon reviews. The Golden Nib Award at Miz Love Loves Books was created specifically for her erotic romance Lush Velvet Nights. Two of her titles (The Yearning and Deep, Dark, Delicious) received an Award of Merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competition. Take Me Away and Adored both won second place in the NEC RWA contest (different years). Tina is featured in the Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. Before penning romances, she worked at a major Hollywood production company in Story Direction.

Amazon author page: http://amzn.to/1ChWFkO
My page at TRR: http://bit.ly/1vb7eEc
EC Author Page: http://bit.ly/1Dh9wor
Samhain Author Page: http://bit.ly/1Bvw6mL
Sweet ‘n Sexy Divas: http://bit.ly/1ChWN3K
Romance Books 4 US: http://bit.ly/1JPtfeS


Tina Donahue Banner - for BLOGGER UPDATED 4 15 2016

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

August 1T Status Update

Happy August to everyone!

  • Mind Mates releases this month
  • Book tour coming...
  • I went kayaking for the first time in July. Fun!
  • Exciting news coming down the pike, can't wait to share.
  • Box sets coming...
  • Mind Mates TRAILER OF AWESOMENESS.

Here's the goody on Mind Mates:

Pretty little shifter, wizard prince—their taboo love could burn the barriers between worlds.

Shifter Emma Singer has more problems than she can shake her pretty little wolf tail at. Her heirloom journal is missing, her pack alpha wants her for his harem, and her family plans to sell her to him. Even her wicked little crush on her hot boss is doomed—why would six-and-a-half feet of handsome royal wizard want a boring, good-girl iota shifter like her? Not to mention her only power is going berserker—that's a real relation-shipwreck!

Gabriel Light is a wizard prince who turned his back on his exceptional powers after he was accused of causing his parents' death. Now he pours his intellect into his tech business, and hides his naughty, forbidden lust for his pretty shifter clerk. But when his sister is imprisoned, and Emma is kidnapped, it's time for this alpha geek-wizard to decloak with all laser cannons blazing. Only one problem—how can he be sure Emma won’t get caught in the crossfire?

Then Gabriel and Emma stumble on hidden magic, a key to power beyond imagining—if they can stay alive long enough to use it. But if Emma unleashes her berserker wolf on their enemies, can Gabriel draw her back from the brink before she destroys everyone in her path?

Warning: Contains a hot wizard prince panting to bring out a good-girl shifter's naughty side. Accidental voyeurism, deliberate orgasms, a jealous rival wizard, and fun with prophecy.
Don't miss this sexy, thrilling, paranormal romance--get your copy of Mind Mates today!

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HG1F7G2/
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1124016228?ean=2940153092669
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/645333
All Romance Ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-mindmates-2068656-140.html
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mind-mates/id1127456235
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Mary_Hughes_Mind_Mates?id=KAFqDAAAQBAJ
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/mind-mates
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HG1F7G2/



Excerpt follows TRAILER OF AWESOMENESS


Here's an excerpt, one which shows a bit of Gabriel's somewhat skewed sense of humor (and my sense of absurd language, lol). Was hubby right? Is the fun a bonus?

Enjoy this excerpt from Mind Mates (Pull of the Moon book 2)

Gabriel has just rescued his employee, wolf shifter Emma Singer, from a nasty fall. She's on her feet but still wrapped in his arms when Emma's alpha Bruiser stalks in.


Bzz-bzzt. A buzz like an angry hornet stung wizard prince Gabriel Light’s ears the moment the predator slunk into the store. 

Cap’n Crunch me. Gabriel had magically alarmed the door for just such an event, but why now, when he’d finally gotten a semi-innocent excuse to wrap his arms around this warm bundle of soft, sweet-smelling heaven?

Emma. It felt like he’d been dying to hold her forever. Now, with her in his arms, was the first time in months he could breathe.

But that buzzing alarm told him the approaching beast was male, a wolf shifter, and, from that level of sting, Emma’s alpha. The beast was not going to appreciate seeing her in another man’s arms.

She started trembling, no doubt in response to the alpha’s rampant fight-club stench, a musk even Gabriel could smell. He tried to ease her tension with a joke. 

“Hey, Emma. How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?”

She skewered him with a disbelieving stare, icing his flesh. He’d blundered, she didn’t understand he was trying to comfort her, nobody gets my skewed sense of humor… Then she gulped and said, “Eight? Like, um, eight legs?”

Immediately his world brightened. “Nope. Ten tickles. Get it? Tentacles?”

She managed a tiny laugh, tinkling bells to his ears, and her body relaxed slightly under his arms. “That was such a dad joke.”

He loved that she, of all the people he knew, actually laughed at his jokes. He smiled into her eyes like a besotted fool.

Of course, that was when the he-wolf prowled into view. 

Gabriel wondered how far he could get with the wolf by protesting his intentions were honorable. Probably not far. The creature was only barely in human form. 

The wolfman was medium height but had a face like a dented shovel and a body like a trash compactor, his muscles-on-muscles popping in a stringy T-shirt that barely qualified past no-shirt-no-shoes-no-service.

Worse, with the hair sprouting everywhere, nose elongating like a snout, and lengthening canines, this alpha was dangerously pissed.

Hard to reason with a pissed-off wolf. They tended to bite first then ask questions…never.
Yet instead of releasing Emma, Gabriel’s hand dropped from her clenched jaw to open protectively on her back.

“The fuck?” the wolfman snarled.

Something inside Gabriel snarled right back.

When a powerful wizard prince comes out of hiding to save his sister, he is forced to team with a pretty shifter—one with ugly, dangerous powers of her own. As vengeful enemies close in, a forbidden attraction flaming between them, the two race to find a mysterious key.
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HG1F7G2/
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1124016228?ean=2940153092669
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/645333
All Romance Ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-mindmates-2068656-140.html
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mind-mates/id1127456235
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Mary_Hughes_Mind_Mates?id=KAFqDAAAQBAJ
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/mind-mates
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HG1F7G2/

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Guest Jennifer Estep Q & A on the UNWANTED Blog Tour -- with Giveaway!


I'm thrilled today to be part of NY Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep's tour for hot new release UNWANTED! I'm fan-girl excited to announce she's answered my questions, which I'm sharing with all of you!!

UNWANTED
The New York Times bestselling Elemental Assassin series continues with a new e-novella--from the point of view of Finnegan Lane, the foster brother of Gin Blanco, and a fan favorite of readers of the series.

The fallout from his disastrous "family reunion" in Bitter Bite has left Finn feeling hurt, angry, and depressed. He can barely stand to look at himself in the mirror, much less eat any of the delicious barbecue from Gin's famed Pork Pit restaurant.

But when the funeral for a slain security guard at his bank turns into a showdown with some nasty underworld giants, Finn knows that he must act in order to protect an innocent family.

Finnegan Lane might be the most unwanted man in Ashland these days, but he's determined to try to make amends for his past mistakes...

Purchase at Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Google Play | iBooks | Kobo

Jennifer's interview:

Did you enjoy telling the story from a viewpoint other than Gin's?

JE: I always enjoy writing in my Elemental Assassin world, whether it’s a full-length book from Gin’s point of view or something shorter from the point of view of one of the secondary characters. It’s just a really fun, action-packed world to play around in as a writer.

What did you like about it?

JE: Most of the time in books, the secondary characters are there to support the heroine, but they all have their own lives, worries, fears, and problems. I enjoy giving readers a sort of behind-the-scenes look at what’s going on in the secondary characters’ lives and how they think and feel about what’s going on in the main books with the main story arcs.

Plus, I think that novellas and short stories that focus on the secondary characters are just fun, bonus material for readers. So that’s one of the reasons that I tend to make the novellas and short stories almost like stand-alone adventures for the secondary characters.

What prompted you to write Finn's novella?

JE: Bitter Bite, book #14 in my Elemental Assassin series, focused a lot on Finn’s relationship with a long-lost relative, and things definitely didn’t end well in that regard. If you’ve read Bitter Bite, then you know that Finn needed his own story after everything that happened in that book. And a hug.

So with the Unwanted novella, I wanted to show exactly what Finn was thinking and feeling, and his reaction to all of the heartache and betrayal in Bitter Bite. I had been wanting to write something from Finn’s point of view for a while, and this just felt like a natural place in the series to do that. Plus, I had the time in my writing schedule to do it.

I hope that everyone has as much fun reading Finn’s story as I did writing it. Happy reading, everyone!

Thanks to Jennifer for chatting with us today!

TOUR STOPS
7/11 - Books and Things (review + giveaway)
7/12 - DianaMCKiaradB (review + Q&A)
7/14 - Rantings of a Reading Addict (review + giveaway)
7/17 - The Book Crumb Trail (review + giveaway), Diane's Book Blog (Q&A)
7/18 - A Book Fanatic Obsession (review + Q&A), Bambi Unbridled (review + giveaway)
7/19 - Bookish Things & More (review + giveaway), Slippery Words (review + giveaway)
7/20 - Mary Hughes (Q&A + giveaway), The Book Nympho (review + giveaway)
7/21 - Goldilox and the Three Weres (review + giveaway), The Reading Addict (Q&A + giveaway)
7/22 - Books That Hook (review + giveaway)

GIVEAWAY!
Jennifer has a giveaway for 5 copies of BITTER BITE (5 winners!) and a $25 Amazon gift card! Open to US residents only. One winner per household. Contest ends July 25th at midnight EST. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


JENNIFER ESTEP
Jennifer Estep is a New York TimesUSA Today, and international bestselling author prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.

Jennifer writes the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series for Pocket Books. Unwanted, e-novella #14.5 in the series, will be released on July 18. Unraveled, book #15, will be released on Aug. 30.

Jennifer also writes the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series. She is also the author of the Black Blade young adult urban fantasy series and the Bigtime paranormal romance series.

For more information on Jennifer and her books, visit www.jenniferestep.com or follow Jennifer on FacebookGoodreads, and Twitter.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

3T Writing Tidbit

Are you struggling with a passage that you know is good, important, but it's just not right? Either it's confusing, or lacks punch?

What goes before is vital to the proper appreciation of the now.

If your scene--or the whole plot--is confusing, write a step-by-step of what happened before that first sentence. Just like a newspaper story, detail when, why, how and were, or time, reason, manner and place.

Once you're gotten a firm foundation for the muddled scene or story, you'll have clearer vision for how to begin.

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.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Love Shack -- Guest Roxy Mews -- New Release


2T Repeat Performance delayed because Love Shack releases today! Congrats, Roxy!

Living tiny doesn’t leave many places to hide.
Tiny Houses, Big Hearts, Book 1
Felicity Newhouse left a life of excess for a tiny house—and she’s never felt richer. She’d like to give back to the artisanal community who gave her wounded spirit a place to land, but she wants to do it on her own terms. Except she’s been turned down for a loan four times. And the fifth bank on her list isn’t looking too promising, either.
The woman sitting across Brandon Halston’s desk must be out of her mind. Who’d want to live in a house the size of his walk-in closet, much less create an entire community of them? He’s drawn to her soft beauty and her ideals, but business is business.
When her story hits the news, Brandon’s boss solves the PR nightmare by ordering him to spend a month in her house—while cameras roll. The heat between them boils over like the water for their morning coffee. But when one person is hiding who they really are, passion may not be enough to clean up the dirt someone is digging up behind the scenes.
Warning: This book contains copious amounts of coffee and sex in confined spaces. If the tiny house is rockin’ don’t come a-knockin’.

Amazon | BN | Samhain | Kobo | iTunes | ARe | Amazon UK