Julie Kenner's Blog, page 83
June 27, 2013
Release Me and Fifty Shades of Grey! “Literary Doppelgangers!”
Have you seen this “literary twin” campaign from PureWow? It’s a totally cool pairing of literary twins! And guess what ultra-popular book (hint: Fifty Shades of Grey) is paired with Release Me?
And check out what happens when you click on Fifty …
June 26, 2013
Hump Day Books from Lily Everett, Erica Ridley, Karen Fenech, P.J. Sharon, Delilah Devlin, Bella Love, Elaine Raco Chase, and Danelle Harmon
Need a fun read to sink into while at the beach? Prop up your feet for one of these great titles!
The Firefly Cafe: The Billionaire Brothers
FREE if you follow this link!
Learn more at Lily’s website!
Charmed (Nether-Netherland #1)
“Ridiculously awesome. An epic adventure that takes you through true love and beyond.” – New York Times bestseller Courtney Milan
Learn more at Erica’s website!
IMPOSTER: The Protectors Series – Book One
Now Free!
Learn more at Karen’s website
Western Desert (Chronicles of Lily Carmichael)
Check out P.J.’s blog post coming this Friday!
Learn more at P.J.’s website
Lost Souls (A Caitlyn O’Connell Novel)
Learn more at Delilah’s website!
Spin: A Sexy Contemporary Romance Novella
Scorching new contemporary romance by the pseudonym of award-winning historical author
Learn more at Bella’s website!
DESIGNING WOMAN
99 cents brings you to Daytona Beach & sexy, sassy, jaw-dropping fun!
Learn more at Elaine’s website
Taken By Storm
Now $.99!
Learn more at Danelle’s website!
If you would like to submit a book for the Hump Day feature, follow this link!
P.S. - If you enjoy romance with a magical twist, my award-winning THE CAT'S FANCY is currently on sale for only 99 cents! And it's also in the top 10 of several of the Kindle romance charts! Woot!
And as a cool bonus, it's the prequel to my fun series of superhero romances that began with the USA Today bestseller Aphrodite's Kiss!
I hope you check out The Cat's Fancy!
P.P.S. And why not scroll down and share the post? After all, sharing is sexy!
XXOO
--J.K.
June 25, 2013
Contest and a bonus #StarkOnSaturday from Complete Me (Stark Trilogy Book 3)
Two treats and two prizes in honor of the upcoming release of Complete Me, book 3 in the New York Times bestselling series Stark Trilogy by J. Kenner!First, scroll down just a bit for a steamy excerpt from the upcoming Complete Me (let’s call it #StarkOnSaturdayTuesday).
Second, I’m giving out two fab prizes! The first to one lucky winner is an iPad Mini (16G, WiFi). (I have a Mini. I love my Mini. The Mini is cool…)
And it’s especially awesome because you can read books from any etailer on it by downloading the appropriate Kindle, Nook or Kobo app (pretty sure iBooks comes already installed!)
Prize number two is for another lucky winner and it’s a full, signed set of the Stark Trilogy (with Complete Me coming as soon as I get my author copies!), along with a $50 Visa Gift Card!
Just enter the Rafflecopter below!
And because I want to spread the word about the trilogy and Complete Me coming up, there are lots of ways to get extra entries! So check it out … and good luck!
And now for the fun stuff!
I hope you enjoy a steamy excerpt from the upcoming Complete Me, book three in the Stark Trilogy that began with with Release Me, continued with Claim Me, and will conclude with Complete Me!
Then he steps in from the bedroom, his stride long and easy, his back straight, his expression that of a man who knows damn well that the earth will rotate whichever way he tells it to. All that power, and right now it is focused entirely on me. “Frustrated, Ms. Fairchild.”
“Maybe I’m feeling a little cheated,” I say.
“I promise you won’t by the time I’m through with you,” he says with such heat in his voice that it’s a wonder I don’t melt right there, and slip out of my bond like butter. “I didn’t get to take you as far as I would have liked during our limo ride. I intend to remedy that now. Slowly, and very, very thoroughly.”
He has something in his hand, and it takes me a minute to realize it’s one of his ties. “Your eyes are open,” he says.
“Ah.” I can hardly argue, as I’m looking right at him.
“Close them,” he says, and I do. I feel the brush of silk over my eyes, then the tug as he tightens the tie around the back of my head. His lips brush the corner of my mouth. “Nice,” he says. His lips brush my ear. “Now everything you hear, everything you feel, every bit of pleasure, every hint of pain will come from me. So tell me, Nikki. Does that excite you?”
“You know it does.”
His lips graze my neck, and his one simple word seems to reverberate through me. “Why?”
I swallow. It’s not a question I expected. “Because—because you know me. Because you know what I can take. You know what I want. You know my limits, Damien. And because you push them.”
“Good girl.”
He reaches up and traces his finger lightly along my collar bone, then over the strand of pearls. A moment later, he has removed the necklace, and I hear the clink of pearls against pearls as he crunches the strand in his palm, then cups his hand over my breast.
I tilt my head back and suck in air as he rubs small circles over my nipple, massaging me with the hard, slick surface of the cluster of pearls. Then he opens his hand more and I feel the brush of the necklace as he untangles it, then rubs the strand enticingly against the swell of my breast, my puckered areola, and my oh-so-sensitive nipple.
“Damien,” I murmur as he trails the tip of the strand down my belly, careful to let only the smooth surface of one stone touch my skin. The sensation is intoxicating. The cool brush of the gem. The sweet anticipation of not knowing where the next touch will fall.
I hope you enjoyed! Check back this weekend for a regularly scheduled #StarkOnSaturday!
And if you want more Damien and Nikki, why not pre-order Complete Me from Amazon or from Barnes and Noble! On-sale July 30!
And if you missed Release Me, you can snag your copy from your favorite retailers here:
Random House
Amazon (print)
Amazon (kindle)
Amazon United Kingdom
Barnes and Noble (print or Nook)
Books-A-Million
Kobo
iBooks
Indie BoundAnd, of course, you can get Book 2, Claim Me, from these great retailers:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books-a-Million
Random House
your favorite independent bookseller
in the U.K. from Amazon
in the U.K. from Waterstones
in the U.K. from WH Smith
And now, without further ado, here’s the contest! (if you don’t see the Rafflecopter widget, then refresh the page!)
June 23, 2013
An intriguing new series from Vivien Sparx – Meet Jack Stone
It’s always fun to find a story that sounds intriguing, and I recently learned about the new Jack Stone Dark Master series coming from Vivien Sparx.
As Vivien says over on the Jack Stone Facebook page (where you can learn more):
“Jack Stone is a character who has already become larger than life in my imagination. He is the ultimate hero and a man who is a skilled BDSM Master.
He is tough, sexy, relentless and determined.
Each book in the Jack Stone series is an erotic BDSM adventure that promises plenty of sizzling sex, action and mystery. The books are stand-alone and can be read in any order.”
I’ll be giving it a try! How about you?
P.S. - If you enjoy romance with a magical twist, my award-winning THE CAT'S FANCY is currently on sale for only 99 cents! And it's also in the top 10 of several of the Kindle romance charts! Woot!
And as a cool bonus, it's the prequel to my fun series of superhero romances that began with the USA Today bestseller Aphrodite's Kiss!
I hope you check out The Cat's Fancy!
P.P.S. And why not scroll down and share the post? After all, sharing is sexy!
XXOO
--J.K.
June 22, 2013
A new #StarkOnSaturday from Complete Me (Stark Trilogy book 3)!
Here’s a new snippet from the upcoming Complete Me, book three in the Stark Trilogy that began with with Release Me, continued with Claim Me, and will conclude with Complete Me!
I’m heading off to mingle with readers at an Author Tea near Dallas today! I’ll check in later here and on Facebook and Twitter! In the meantime, enjoy!
“Is this the first time you’ve received a text like this?” His voice is steady and firm and cold as hell.
“Yes,” I say flatly. Once again I feel the weight of the real world pressing in around us. The thin glass of our protective bubble is starting to crack. I don’t know what will happen when the pressure is too much and those tiny fissures finally explode under the weight of the world. I fear, though, that I’m going to find out.
And when the explosion comes, I hope I can resist the urge to pick up one of the shards and grind it into my own smooth flesh.
A shudder runs through me. “Just delete it,” I say harshly. “Just make it fucking go away.”
“No. We’re going to trace it.”
“Later,” I say. “Please, Damien. Leave it for later. I don’t want to think about it now.”
He studies me for a moment, then he turns off my phone and slides it into his pocket.
I cross my arms over my chest.
“Trust me, sweetheart, you won’t need it tonight.”
I can’t help my responsive grin, especially when he pulls out his own phone and turns it off as well. “Now it’s just you and me.”
“Just how I like it,” I say, taking Damien’s hand and letting him pull me back into the protective circle of his arms. He slides his card key into the lock and I watch as the light flicks from red to green. My body is tight with anticipation. I am expecting lust and passion and Damien’s hands upon me, his cock inside me.
I am expecting to slide back into that magical fantasy where there really is nothing but the two of us.
But when he opens the door, I realize that the real world can follow us anywhere.
Because right there—sitting on the couch where Damien has fucked me so many times—is a woman I never thought that I would see again.
A woman who used to be in Damien’s bed.
The last two snippets have been decidedly steamy, so I thought I’d shift the tone and shake things up a bit this week–hope you enjoyed!. But if you’re a fan of the steamy-tease, never fear! I’m feeling generous and am going to do a #StarkOnSaturdayTuesday this week — along with a (really fab!) contest! (Psst! Tell your friends! Sharing this post will earn you extra entries in the contest!)
And if you want more Damien and Nikki, why not pre-order Complete Me from Amazon or from Barnes and Noble! On-sale July 30!
And if you missed Release Me, you can snag your copy from your favorite retailers here:
Random House
Amazon (print)
Amazon (kindle)
Amazon United Kingdom
Barnes and Noble (print or Nook)
Books-A-Million
Kobo
iBooks
Indie BoundAnd, of course, you can get Book 2, Claim Me, from these great retailers:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books-a-Million
Random House
your favorite independent bookseller
in the U.K. from Amazon
in the U.K. from Waterstones
in the U.K. from WH Smith
More soon,
XXOO
P.S. - If you enjoy romance with a magical twist, my award-winning THE CAT'S FANCY is currently on sale for only 99 cents! And it's also in the top 10 of several of the Kindle romance charts! Woot!
And as a cool bonus, it's the prequel to my fun series of superhero romances that began with the USA Today bestseller Aphrodite's Kiss!
I hope you check out The Cat's Fancy!
P.P.S. And why not scroll down and share the post? After all, sharing is sexy!
XXOO
--J.K.
June 20, 2013
June 19, 2013
Hump Day Books from Robyn DeHart, Elaine Grant, Julie Kenner, Anna Markland, Kourtney Heintz, Zoe Dawson, Tracy Deebs, and some yummy fat fast dishes!
Lots of great books this week to help you get over that mid-week hump!
The Secrets of Mia Danvers: A Dangerous Liaisons Novel (InterMix)
I’m excited! I’ve been looking forward to this Jack the Ripper centric book from Robyn DeHart for forever! And now it’s out, and at a great price! Snap it up folks! And learn all about Robyn here!
The Caverns (Tennessee Mountain Home Series)
Here’s a new release from Elaine Grant that looks absolutely awesome! Already raking in the 5 star reviews!
California Demon: The Secret Life of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom
In anticipation of Demons Are Forever FINALLY coming back to digital format (should be by this weekend sometime!), I lowered the price on California Demon! Enjoy.
Learn more at www.DemonHuntingSoccerMom.com
Haunted Knights (Montbryce~The Next Generation Medieval Romance)
Don’t miss this new release from Anna Markland!
The Six Train to Wisconsin (Volume 1)
Don’t miss this release from Kourtney Heintz!
You can learn more at Zoe Dawson’s webpage!
Don’t miss the sale! Doomed for $2.99 … and I think today is the last day, so hurry!
Fat Fast Cookbook: 50 Easy Recipes to Jump Start Your Low Carb Weight Loss
I’m not doing a fat fast, but I have scoped out and tried a number of recipes from this book, and can I just say: YUM. You’ll want to beware if you’re not a low-carb eater (fats and carbs do not play well together in the keeping-pounds-off department) but if you tend to eat low-carb, you really should treat yourself!
Want your book listed on the Hump Day Reads blog post? Click here for submission info!
P.S. - If you enjoy romance with a magical twist, my award-winning THE CAT'S FANCY is currently on sale for only 99 cents! And it's also in the top 10 of several of the Kindle romance charts! Woot!
And as a cool bonus, it's the prequel to my fun series of superhero romances that began with the USA Today bestseller Aphrodite's Kiss!
I hope you check out The Cat's Fancy!
P.P.S. And why not scroll down and share the post? After all, sharing is sexy!
XXOO
--J.K.
June 18, 2013
Writing the Supernatural: Kourtney Heintz’s Research and Discoveries in Telepathy (plus a contest!)
If you’ve ever read my Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series, you’re no stranger to paranormal fiction. Today Kourtney Heintz gives us a taste of her own kind of paranormal – the telepathic. Keep reading for a chance to win a copy of her breakout book The Six Train to Wisconsin and my own Release Me!
Where Research and Reality Collide
Big thank you to Julie for having me on her blog! I met her during the 2010 Brenda Novak Charity auction. I won her feedback on the first chapter of my manuscript. She told me she thought I had something there. Her belief helped me stick with it for the next 3 years. Thank you so much Julie!
When I decided to write a telepath, I knew I needed to explore the supernatural more. To learn how it worked and then create my own version of it.
I read a bunch of books on witchcraft. Trying to understand the rules that governed different magical systems. Some books weren’t that helpful. Some didn’t make any sense to me. Then I stumbled on Laurie Cabot’s Power of the Witch.
The way she explained things just clicked in my head. Every other book had confused me, but using her technique I taught myself how to meditate in a few days. To slow my thoughts down and visualize things. To relax my body and reach a calmer state.
This was really cool stuff. But I wanted more. I craved an actual lesson. So I signed up for a week-long workshop with Laurie Cabot “The Official Salem Witch” in Salem, MA.
She taught us about the concept of alpha brain waves. That when you slowed down your mind you could tap into something deeper. More intuitive. A universal consciousness if you will.
Over the course of the week we did several meditations. We learned how to craft a protective shield, do a past life regression, and to see other people’s illnesses from miles away.
That last one was the coolest experience. We did this exercise where we each wrote down the names, locations, ages, and illnesses of 3 people we knew. Then we were randomly assigned a partner and given the name and location and age of one of their people. Using meditation, we visualized the person and diagnosed their illness.
Each of us experienced it differently. I tended to be very visual. So I saw a woman with a big head and a bony brittle body. I didn’t understand what it meant. So I talked through the image. Until I arrived at osteoporosis. I was right.
Sounds impossible, but we all got most or all the people’s illnesses correct. Without ever meeting them or seeing them.
It was an otherwordly experience and made me believe that the mind is capable of some awesome stuff when it’s trained to do it. And when you believe you can do it.
The idea of a telepath and a dreamwalker no longer seemed so far outside the realm of possibility.
Here’s your chance to win a signed copy of The Six Train to Wisconsin by Kourtney Heintz and Release Me by J. Kenner! Just fill out the Rafflecopter on this link and you’re entered to win!
Kourtney Heintz writes emotionally evocative speculative fiction that captures the deepest truths of being human. For her characters, love is a journey never a destination.
She resides in Connecticut with her warrior lapdog, Emerson, her supportive parents and three quirky golden retrievers. Years of working on Wall Street provided the perfect backdrop for her imagination to run amuck at night, imagining a world where out-of-control telepathy and buried secrets collide.
Her debut novel, The Six Train to Wisconsin, was a 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Semifinalist.
One Sentence Summary of Novel:
When Kai’s telepathy spirals out of control, her husband Oliver brings her to the quiet Wisconsin hometown he abandoned a decade ago, where he must confront the secrets of his past to save their future.
You can download the first chapter of the Six Train to Wisconsin as a pdf file.
Connecting with Kourtney on her website, Blog, and Facebook page!
Find The Six Train to Wisconsin at Amazon and Barnes and Noble!
Wow, what an awesome experience, Kourtney! What do y’all think about the superpowers of the mind? Don’t forget to fill out the Rafflecopter for your chance to win The Six Train to Wisconsin and Release Me!
P.S. - If you enjoy romance with a magical twist, my award-winning THE CAT'S FANCY is currently on sale for only 99 cents! And it's also in the top 10 of several of the Kindle romance charts! Woot!
And as a cool bonus, it's the prequel to my fun series of superhero romances that began with the USA Today bestseller Aphrodite's Kiss!
I hope you check out The Cat's Fancy!
P.P.S. And why not scroll down and share the post? After all, sharing is sexy!
XXOO
--J.K.
June 17, 2013
Still time to grab Doomed by Tracy Deebs for a great price!
I’ve mentioned Doomed on my blog before, but that was when it first came out. Now, it’s on sale. Woot! Grab it while you can for $2.99 before it kicks back up in price!
Pandora’s just your average teen-glued to her cell phone and laptop, surfing Facebook and e-mailing with her friends-until the day her long-lost father sends her a link to a mysterious site featuring twelve photos of her as a child. Unable to contain her curiosity, Pandora enters the site, where she is prompted to play her favorite virtual-reality game, Zero Day. This unleashes a global computer virus that plunges the whole world into panic: suddenly, there is no Internet. No cell phones. No utilities, traffic lights, hospitals, law enforcement. Pandora teams up with handsome stepbrothers Eli and Theo to enter the virtual world of Zero Day. Simultaneously, she continues to follow the photographs from her childhood in an attempt to beat the game and track down her father-her one key to saving the world as we know it. Part The Matrix, part retelling of the Pandora myth, Doomed has something for gaming fans, dystopian fans, and romance fans alike.
And, of course, there’s my daughter’s review: ”Loved it!”
P.S. - If you enjoy romance with a magical twist, my award-winning THE CAT'S FANCY is currently on sale for only 99 cents! And it's also in the top 10 of several of the Kindle romance charts! Woot!
And as a cool bonus, it's the prequel to my fun series of superhero romances that began with the USA Today bestseller Aphrodite's Kiss!
I hope you check out The Cat's Fancy!
P.P.S. And why not scroll down and share the post? After all, sharing is sexy!
XXOO
--J.K.
How Marijuana May Follow in the Footsteps of Condoms: Colleen Gleason on Legalization
Here’s a post that’ll make you think–pot, condoms and a touch of controversy to kick off your weekend! Please help me welcome Colleen Gleason to the blog!
How marijuana could follow in the historical footsteps of condoms…
My latest release, Roaring Midnight, is the first in a historical urban fantasy/romance series set in 1920s Chicago. The trilogy will tell the story of Macey Gardella, vampire hunter.
I love the era of the Twenties (The fashion! The hats! The music!… And of course the intrigue of the speakeasies and clubs). I had so many fascinating things to research about this time period, and one of the most interesting things I had to investigate was the issue of birth control.
We all know that The Volstead Act (The 18th Amendment) made illegal the sale, distribution, and manufacture of alcoholic spirits. But to my surprise, liquor wasn’t the only item outlawed in the early 20th century that is in common use today.
I’m talking about condoms.
Of course my characters in Roaring Midnight had to practice safe sex–and so I had to find out what options were available. To my surprise, I learned that condoms were already being manufactured out of rubber, and were plentiful in Europe–where they weren’t illegal.
This was not the case in the US. In and around 1873, thirty states made the sale and manufacture of condoms illegal. And during the same time, The Comstock Laws made it illegal to send condoms through the mail anywhere in the US. Which pretty much made condoms impossible to come by.
But while fighting overseas during World War I, US soldiers had been accustomed to having condoms readily available. In fact, they were distributed like candy to the GIs in order to keep them healthy–and happy.
It was only after our men came home from the Great War, bringing with them an increased number of syphilis cases, that the laws were changed to allow the prophylactic to be sold legally in the States.
Even then, however, the Moral Majority had their way. Condoms could only be sold as protection from STDs. Not as contraceptive devices. That restriction controlled how their uses were advertised as well.
Many people might feel the restrictions on marijuana sale, possession, and use–currently limited in most states to medical use only–is eerily similar to the situation with condoms. As we know, condoms were eventually able to be sold as contraceptives as well…one can only wonder whether, some day, the same will be said for marijuana.
In the mean time, many casual pot users are surely doing their best to get legal access to their favorite weed…just as those conscientious men (and women) of the early 20th century, who didn’t want to start a family quite yet, were finding legal ways to acquire the illegal contraceptive device known as a rubber.
Visit Colleen on her website!
Wow! Who else didn’t know that condoms were against the law until after the 20s? What do you think about the direction marijuana’s going towards legalization?
P.S. - If you enjoy romance with a magical twist, my award-winning THE CAT'S FANCY is currently on sale for only 99 cents! And it's also in the top 10 of several of the Kindle romance charts! Woot!
And as a cool bonus, it's the prequel to my fun series of superhero romances that began with the USA Today bestseller Aphrodite's Kiss!
I hope you check out The Cat's Fancy!
P.P.S. And why not scroll down and share the post? After all, sharing is sexy!
XXOO
--J.K.
