Stephani Hecht's Blog, page 8
June 30, 2013
Coming July First!
The Leopard Who Changed His Spots-Wayne County Wolves Book 6
Blurb:
As an assassin, Leopard shifter Toby has always liked things simple in his life. He takes his jobs, performs them with efficiency, and that’s it. So, the last thing he needs is to find out he has a long-lost brother. Even worse, he doesn’t need a Beagle shifter developing a crazy fixation on him.
Hale has been attracted to Toby since the first moment he saw the Leopard shifter, but Toby has always ignored him. Will Hale win out and get the Leopard of his dreams? Or is he destined for disappointment?
Excerpt:
Toby slowly shook his head. “You are one of the strangest shifters I have ever met, and it’s not just because you’re a Beagle who runs with Wolves, either. I’ve been trying to figure you out since the day we arrived here, and I have yet to peg you.”
Now it was Hale’s turn to be silent, just stand there and blink. Toby had been thinking about him. That came as a shock. Hale hadn’t thought Toby realized he even existed, much less cared enough to try to figure him out. Hale didn’t know whether to be overjoyed with excitement or scared out of his mind. Since he always tried to be an optimist, he went with the first one.
“There’s really nothing to try to figure out about me. What you see is what you get. I’m pretty much an open book,” Hale said, his heart beating madly.
Toby uncurled from the sill and moved closer until they were only standing a foot apart from each other. He was so close Hale could scent the Leopard. He liked what he smelled, too. Toby had a wild, untamed scent to him that made Hale want to roll over and expose his belly to him. To throw himself at the other man and to let him have his way with him.
“I don’t think so,” Toby said, his full lips curling up into a smile. “For example, don’t think I haven’t noticed how much you’ve been looking at me. Why is that?”
Busted! How in the hell was Hale going to explain his way out of this one without coming off as a dork or some sort of stalker? Damn it, he thought he’d been discreet in his little crush, too. But then again, Toby was an assassin, so he was trained to notice all the little details of the things that went on around him. Hale should have known better. Damn him and his stupid crush. It had caused Hale nothing but trouble since the moment it’d started.
“You interest me,” Hale finally said, coming as close to the truth as he could without fully spilling everything.
“And why is that?”
“Well, for one thing, I’ve never met a Leopard before,” Hale hedged, still skirting the real truth.
“Is that the only reason?”
Fuck, why did Toby have to keep pushing the subject? Hale was beginning to wish the Leopard would go back to ignoring him. Things were a lot less complicated then.
“You were also one of the first assassins I’ve ever seen.”
“So is the rest of my team, yet I’m the only one you seem to have taken an interest in.”
Hale tried to turn away, but Toby reached out and grabbed him by the arm. Most others would have pissed their pants had Toby touched them. Not Hale. No, he had to get turned on. Bone-numbing desire ran through his body, shooting straight to his cock.
Hale let out a groan. There was no way Toby was going to miss the scent of desire coming from him. And just from one little touch, too. What kind of loser did that make him? Hale looked frantically around for a hole in the ground for him to crawl into, just so he could hide away from his embarrassment. Unfortunately, the pack dwelling didn’t seem to have any of those hanging around.
“Don’t you know how risky it is to play with dangerous things, pup?” Toby all but growled.
“Yes, but sometimes I have trouble remembering that rule,” Hale returned.
Toby tightened his grip to the point where it almost hurt. “I don’t do relationships.”
“I don’t recall ever asking you to be in one,” Hale returned, surprising himself with his own boldness.
Toby let out a dark chuckle. “You mean to say you could just fuck me once and walk away forever.”
“Sure,” Hale lied.
If one night was all he could get out of Toby, then Hale would take it. Sure, it would hurt to walk away after and never be with the Leopard again, but Hale was willing to have that little bit. And didn’t that make him the most pathetic thing ever?
“You’re lying, and we both know it. But don’t think I might not take you up on that offer,” Toby said.
With those parting words, Toby turned and walked away.
June 29, 2013
June 25, 2013
National Gay Blood Drive
This is a very important video that all of us need to watch. Not only is it informative, but it will open your eyes to some of the discrimination that gay men face every day. Believe it or not this does still happen. I was with Cody when he was banned by the Red Cross from ever giving blood again, simply because he was gay.
June 23, 2013
June 14, 2013
June 12, 2013
Simply Awesome!
See! It can get better!
June 6, 2013
Of Blood And War-Coming Soon!
Logline
War is hell. Love is even worse.
Blurb:
Now that Ian and Kale are happily mated, they thought that worst of their battles were behind them. But, the war between the VRF has heated up and has become more bloody than ever. As the Drones prepare to take over Detroit again, Ian and Kale know that they must fight harder than ever to stay together. But, the stakes are higher than ever as the VRF is determined not to lose the city and will do anything to keep the Drones at bay.
Will the Ian, Kale and the Drones have victory? Or will they all lose the battle and pay with their lives?
May 28, 2013
Coming June 1st!
Blurb:
Sometimes you have to love yourself before you can learn to let somebody else love you.
Out of all the breeds in the shifter world, Hyenas are one of the most hated—even if they are only half-breeds like Kallen. So when Kallen joins up with the feline coalition, his welcome is less than warm. But at least he has his brother and a small group of friends to count on. Even though the rest of the felines and Hawks make it no secret that they hate him.
Tiger shifter Drake has been enamored with the Hyena ever since he saw him working as a medic in the infirmary. But so far, all his attempts to get closer to Kallen have fallen short. The Hyena seems skittish and afraid to trust anyone. Drake is determined not to let Kallen push him away.
Then old friends turn out to be new enemies of Kallen, and he’s in more danger than ever. Will he be able to trust Drake to protect him? Or will his fears be his own undoing?
Excerpt:
By the time Kallen’s shift was over, he was tired, grumpy, and more than a little sore. They’d had to treat a Lion shifter who had refused to transform to human. So they’d been forced to tie him down in his animal form, and it’d been a bitch. Kallen had suffered more than his fair share of scratches in the process.
All he wanted to do was go back to his living quarters, take a shower, go to his bed, shift in order to heal, then fall asleep. So when he walked out and found Drake waiting for him, Kallen was less than pleased.
Giving Drake a sour look, Kallen walked past him. “What are you here for now? To offer a marriage proposal?”
Drake appeared undaunted, and he just pushed himself from the wall and said, “No, I came to see if you wanted to catch some breakfast together at the cafeteria.”
Kallen shook his head. “I’m too tired to eat. I’m going straight to bed.”
“Come on, everybody has to eat breakfast.”
“Why is that?” Kallen asked, walking away.
“Because they say it’s the most important meal of the day.”
“I don’t care what they say.”
Drake continued to follow. “I’ll even pay for it.”
That comment actually made Kallen stop and look back at Drake. “All the meals in the cafeteria are free, you dope.”
Drake gave such a cute smile—one that had dimples in it—that Kallen felt his resolve dissolving.
“I’ll pay in spirit,” Drake said.
Kallen let out a sigh. What harm could come from one small meal? Besides, he was hungry. He could eat quickly and then leave to go home, no harm done.
He nodded. “Fine, but just this one time.”
Drake grinned like a kid who’d just been given the best Christmas present ever, and damned if it didn’t bolster Kallen’s battered ego. Kallen just prayed that Drake really meant it, and it wasn’t all some cruel joke.
“Okay, then let’s get going while the coffee is still fresh,” Drake said.
Drake reached out and took Kallen’s hand. At first, Kallen tried to pull away, but he soon gave up and let the Tiger take the lead. They received more than a few odd looks thrown their way, but Drake didn’t seem to care, so Kallen chose to ignore them, too.
Once they arrived, Drake relinquished his hold on Kallen’s hand so they could grab their trays and load them up. Since Kallen loved anything sweet, he chose pancakes loaded with plenty of syrup. Drake loaded his plate with just about everything else they had to offer. Kallen’s eyes went wide. He’d heard Tigers had mega appetites, but dayam!
Drake led the way to an empty table, and they sat down. All of a sudden, Kallen felt awkward. He’d never been on a date before. If what they were on even qualified as a date. He sucked at small talk and was shy when it came to being around others. So he didn’t know how to act.
May 8, 2013
GABRIELLE EVANS
gabrielleevans.author@gmail.com
WEBSITE |...
GABRIELLE EVANS
gabrielleevans.author@gmail.com
WEBSITE | BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | AMAZON | SIREN
A small-town girl from southern Oklahoma—we are talking one red light that may or may not work depending on the day of the week—Siren-exclusive author Gabrielle Evans believes in taking chances and pushing boundaries.
Gabrielle’s best-selling series are driven by her belief that everyone has a happy ending waiting to happen, even if it’s found in a seemingly unconventional way. When she’s not busy writing her next anxiously awaited book, she’s living her own happily ever after, married to her high school sweetheart. For now, she parks her car in central Indiana, but who knows what tomorrow will bring.
HAVEN 8: FOUR-LETTER WORDS
Coming May 16th from Siren-BookStrand
Zasha Gershwin lives a rigidly controlled life. He doesn’t see anything wrong with being prepare
d and organized, and he certainly doesn’t have time for such frivolous things as
love. He cares for Thane, and he’s certainly attracted to the witch, but that’s just how the mating bond works.
While his mate may not remember their previous life together, Thane Braddock has no trouble recalling every moment, right up to their tragic end. Now, he has a second chance to make everything right. Unfortunately, he’s making all new mistakes this time around.
Evil lurks to the west, spreading its shadow across the desert, and the races hover on the verge of war. When the Braddocks are called to answer the rising threat, Thane and Zasha’s turbulent relationship will be pushed to its breaking point. Can they rekindle the old flame before it’s too late? Or is history destined to repeat itself?
My Darling Raven
“ Raven looked between Galen and Bannon before rolling his eyes. “I don’t know what you did to him, but he’s a mouthy little thing now. You’ll want to nip that in the bud before it gets out of hand.”
“Excuse me?” Galen’s mouth dropped open, and his eyebrows arched in disbelief. Surely he’d heard that wrong. Not even Raven was dumb enough to say something like that out loud.
“See, the thing with mates is this.” Raven completely ignored his indignation as he began pacing the room and waving his hands around idiotically. To be fair, everything the man said or did at that point, Galen found it stupid as hell. “You have to let them know who’s in charge. If you don’t establish yourself as the alpha early on, then they’ll just walk all over you.”
Galen glanced up to see what Bannon thought of the sewage spewing from Raven’s mouth. While he didn’t think Bannon agreed with all that bullshit, he was a little surprised to find the man had turned a brilliant shade of red, and he was biting his lip so hard to keep from laughing, Galen was afraid it would start bleeding at any moment.
Personally, he didn’t see a damn thing funny about the situation.
“You give them an inch, and they’ll take over the world,” Raven continued. “So, you have to assert yourself. Feisty is all well and good when you’ve got your cock inside something warm, but not where other people can actually see it. They’ll think you can’t handle your mate, and that looks bad on you, see?”
“That’s it.” Before Bannon could stop him, Galen jumped to his feet, bent his knees, and launched himself off the bed to land on Raven’s back. ” –Haven 4: Back Roads
Talk to any Haven fan, and Raven’s name is sure to come up. Readers love him. The one question I am asked more than any other is when I will write his story. But why do readers love him so much?
Raven is arrogant. He can be a bit selfish. He sometimes sticks his foot in his mouth, and you can always count on him to be inappropriate. His sarcasm often runs away with him, and what he means to be humorous, only comes off as insensitive.
“ Jory closed his eyes and sighed. “Will you please make up your mind? Either you want to be with him or you don’t. You can’t have it both ways, honey.”
“I want to be with him. I just don’t want him to know what I am.”
“And what are you?”
Kendall whirled around and glared at Raven as he entered his room. “Don’t you knock?”
Raven just shrugged and bit into the apple he was holding. “Door was open. Raina is looking for Jory. I figured he was here.” He shifted his attention to Jory. “She wants to know if you can babysit the ankle biters during the full moon.”
Jory clapped his hands together and squealed as he hurried out of the room.
“So, are you going to Spain as well?”
“Who’s going to Spain?”
Kendall tilted his head to the side and frowned. “I thought Stavion was going to Barcelona to talk some vamp into joining The Council.”
“Well, yeah, but he left a couple of hours ago.”
Kendall’s stomach lurched painfully. Raven probably didn’t know Cassius was Kendall’s mate. He couldn’t realize how much pain his words caused. “So, he didn’t take any guards with him?”
Raven took another bite of his apple and chewed slowly as he shook his head. “Hey, have you seen Cassius? I need to talk to him before he leaves to meet with Kieran and I start patrol duty.”
“The werewolf?” Cassius had already replaced him?
“Yep, that one. Anyway, I gotta find him before he takes off.” Raven turned and strolled toward the still-open door. “Later, Kendall. ” – Haven 2: Faith, Trust, and Stardust
So, why do we like him? Why do we root for him and long to see him find his happy ending?
Simply, it’s because he doesn’t mean to be a prick. There’s a soft center people rarely get to see, and while Raven often talks out of his ass, he is never intentionally hurtful. There is a certain devil-may-care attitude that draws us in and leaves us hungry for more. Raven says the things we wish we could say. He doesn’t worry about what people think or how they perceive him. If he has something to say, he’s going to say it.
There is a certain appeal to living life on your own terms and not caring what other’s think about you. But then, we get these tiny glimpses into his core that tell us maybe he really does care.
“ To his relief, and a little surprise, the door opened almost immediately, and Raven stepped out into the hallway. He looked like he hadn’t slept all day, and Stavion wondered what burdened the Enforcer’s mind.
“You okay, man?”
Raven nodded curtly. “Yeah. I’m good. I hope to hell you have a plan, because I don’t know what to do about this.”
The largest of the Enforcers, a smart-ass, and just as often a troublemaker, Raven secretly held a tender heart. Stavion knew it had to be bleeding after finding those men beneath the cabin. Part of him regretted that it was Raven to find them. The rest of him was just glad that he could count on the man. No one was better suited for the task at hand.” – Haven 1: Caution: Contents Under Pressure
So, which is it? Is he a smart-ass dick? Or is Stavion right? Does Raven have a heart of gold and a desire to save the world?
Only time will tell…
May 5, 2013
Good News!
I’m just coming in from RT, so I will keep this brief. I just had to share my good news with you. Dragon’s Eye will be finally getting a sequel! Right now it has a working title of Dragon’s Heart and I’m not certain when it will be coming out. I do know it will be with Total-E-Bound. Here is the very, very, very unedited blurb:
Lester has always been only half good enough, half a sorcerer, half a dragon, but all a bastard, he was shunned and unwanted as a child. So, the first thing he does when he can is move away to the human world and never looks back. But the supernatural world is coming back for him. The war between the Dragons and the sorcerers is at its climax and both sides want Lester on their side.
Dragon shifter Mick, grew up watching his best friend Lester being abused and shunned, now that he’s back Mick is more determined than ever to protect him than ever before. As the two find themselves falling in love will they be able to overcome all their obstacles, or will war win over love?
