Bonnie Vanak's Blog, page 5

Valentine's Day next week? Already?

Ok, this is not fair. I only took down our Christmas decorations two weeks ago, as I told DH I would NOT remove them until I turned in the third Navy Seal book for Harlequin. Soon as I emailed that manuscript, down came the decorations. So I am in complete denial. It's not Valentine's Day!

Bookwise, I'm taking a short break, doing promotional things while I gear up to start Gideon's book in full steam ahead mode. A fellow author, Alison Mcmahon, is giving a great presentation on designing characters for maximum effect. I'm going. It will be a good workshop so I can really plan Book 9 of my Werewolves of Montana series.

About that book - Gideon is the Crimson Wizard, but in his mortal life he was a Dark Fae prince, and he has secrets you will learn about a little in Xavier's book, out March 13. He is a cold, remote person, but a deep, dark passion simmers within him. It will take the right person to bring it out...and he will meet his match in the heroine.

New release Feb. 1

Shielded by the Cowboy Seal is out Feb. 1! I'm quite excited about my second romantic suspense book for Harlequin. Cooper is a sexy Navy SEAL who is home on leave and has to protect a runaway heiress who needs refuge from her ex-husband. Meg hides a secret that will rattle Cooper's world once he discovers it. 

Here's a sneak peak at Shielded by the Cowboy Seal, out Feb. 1!


Copyright 2017 Bonnie Vanak
She peered upward to get a closer look at him. A thick shock of wavy dark brown hair was cropped short. He had an intense gaze, thin cheekbones and a wide mouth. Handsome, with a hint of Irish blood in those ice-blue eyes.

A dusting of black hair covered his muscled chest. Washboard abs rippled beneath smooth, tanned skin. He was mouthwatering, a prime example of masculinity. Meg stared, still struggling with the unreality that this man had rescued her from the cold and warmed her with his body.
“You’re Cooper Johnson?”
“The one and only,” he drawled. “Your host over the next several days.”
She pulled the blankets up to cover her breasts, well aware her lacy red bra provided thin covering in the chill, and her nipples had turned rigid.
From the cold. Not the pull of attraction toward this handsome stranger. It didn’t matter if her libido sat up and started shimmying.
All she had to do was think of what Prescott would do if he found her, and her heated blood turned to ice.
“Where’s Sophie?”
Cooper lifted the bottom of the blankets. Snuggled at his feet, wedged partly beneath the covers, her dog snoozed. Relief filled Meg. She tossed back the covers, climbed down the length of the bed and gathered her dog into her arms, checking her over anxiously.
“She seems okay.” Meg drew in a deep breath as the awakening Sophie licked her face.
Sheer male interest flared on Cooper’s face. He rearranged the blankets around his waist. Realizing he must have had a bull’s-eye glimpse of her rear end, Meg flushed. She clutched the dog just a little too tightly, and Sophie squirmed.
The interest faded as his expression shuttered. He scratched the bristles on his hard jaw. “You feeling okay now, Princess?”
At her nod, he flung back the blankets, displaying a pair of long, muscled legs. A dusting of hair didn’t hide a wicked-looking scar on his left thigh. Her fascinated gaze traveled upward to the black Jockeys he wore…
And the very large bulge beneath them showing a blatant male reaction.
Seems as if Cooper Johnson was equally attracted to her.
Not that she’d do anything about it. Not in her lifetime.
His mouth curved into a knowing smile as he reached down to the floor, retrieved a pair of jeans. Cooper slid into them and stood, buckling the belt.
“Had to get you warm. Can’t help the consequences. I’m a guy, and you’re a very attractive woman.”
He shoved a hand through his thick hair and the move flexed the biceps of his right arm. A tattoo of a snake writhed with the motion as well. Sailors got inked, from what she knew. And he was a Navy SEAL.
Click here to purchase! 

Happy 2017 and boxed sets

Happy New Year! I hope you have a wonderful 2017, with health, success, joy, and only good things.

I'm kicking off the New Year by finishing my third Navy Seal book for Harlequin. Temporarily titled Navy Seal Nomad, it takes place on a horse ranch in Tennessee. Soon as that is finished, I"m turning my attention to producing two boxed sets of my Werewolves of Montana series. This will make it easier to purchase all the current stories in the main series in reading order. 

I have the covers designed already by the fabulous Kim Killion. 

Release date for these boxed sets is TBA. Targeting some time in February. I'll post more when the date is firm. 

Next release is Shielded by the Cowboy Seal on Feb. 1, and in March, Xavier's book, The Mating Game.

RIP Carrie Fisher

I’m shocked and sad over the death of Carrie Fisher. Oddly enough, I dreamed last night that I went to the set of a Star Wars movie set, only the movie was reflecting the world long before A New Hope. There was a fighter jet that was orange, with a death’s head logo on it like The Punisher movie, and George Michael was going to play the part of the pilot. Everyone was cheering him on, and there was a big party. Maybe it was my internal feelings that she wasn’t going to make it.
Back when Star Wars first opened, she became my icon for female empowerment, for she was only a little older than I was. My good friend Amy and I were blown away by Star Wars. I loved Han, Luke and Chewie and the whole world, but Princess Leia was a breath of fresh air. She got to boss the men around, had a blaster and her whole world blew apart and yet she survived and carried on. She had POWER, and courage and such strength, and purpose. And yet she cared deeply, just as a princess should. She could kick ass and still look stunning, and yet she didn’t give a hoot about her makeup or her hair. Remember the “hairy earphones?”
We couldn’t wait to see The Empire Strikes Back. I moved to Florida and Amy and kept in touch for a while, signing our letters “May the Force be with you.” But we drifted apart and when I went to see “Empire” it was with other friends. Princess Leia had changed, just as I had. She loved Han. She was still strong, but in a more reserved, more important way. She knew what it was like to risk everything, including your heart, and still had the courage and strength to love.
When “Postcards from the Edge” came out, I went to see that movie about my idol, Carrie Fisher. It was a thoughtful, gritty and fascinating look at a woman who portrayed my idol, and dealt with her own very real struggles, and survived.

RIP Carrie Fisher. May you shine in endless stars in the galaxy far, far away.

Want a free book?

Check out The Mating Chase, the first book in my Werewolves of Montana series. I've added bonus content - the prequel - The Mating Heat. And this sexy new cover!

Click here to get your free copy today! 

Werewolf Cowboy available for pre-order

The Werewolf Cowboy is now available for pre-order on Amazon!

Katy Thomas has dreamed about sexy cowboy Grayson Moore sweeping her off her feet ever since the handsome, strong Lupine bought the ranch next door to Aiden Mitchell’s spread. But pack comes first for the orphaned Katy. She owes her allegiance to her adoptive family and alpha Aiden, not Grayson, the known lone wolf with a quiet air of lethal danger about him. 

Grayson has dark secrets he can’t reveal to ordinary Lupines, and Katy is still too innocent for the fierce lovemaking his wolf demands. Fighting the sexual attraction between them, he has vowed to protect Katy from all harm. When a rogue werewolf kidnaps Katy and takes her into the Dark Kingdom, only Grayson dares to enter the forbidden world to rescue her. He will do anything to keep her safe and teach her the ways of dark magick, for the wolf inside him demands he consummate their bond sexually and claim Katy as his forever mate…

Reader’s Note: This story features a rugged, sexy cowboy with a dark, protective streak and a sassy cowgirl werewolf who knows what she wants, along with a dose of scorching hot loving. It also features characters from The Mating Destiny, Book 7 in the Werewolves of Montana series, but like all the stories in my series, The Werewolf Cowboy can be read alone.


Click here to pre-order. 

New story

Almost finished with the Werewolf Cowboy. It's been a story that has taken a life of its own. I am placing it as Mating Mini #6 and when it is released, I will put the boxed set on sale for 99 cents so whoever hasn't read the other Mating Mini stories can indulge. I'm seriously thinking that Werewolf Cowboy may be my last PNR for a long time. The market has changed so much, and if I can't have good sales from this book, I may put away my werewolves.

I still have one more Harlequin romantic suspense to write, and I need to get that done. And after? I am not sure. The entire publishing world has changed so much. But I do know this... much as I love to write, creating a story, paying to get it edited and proofed and buying a cover, means I have to do more than break even. If I don't get enough sales, then I end up losing money and that's not a good thing.

So it's a test, and a wait and see game. I may venture into something new. I'm not sure yet. Right now it's more important to finish the book, and put it out for pre-order. So it's back to work!

Looking ahead

We were very, very fortunate in that Hurricane Matthew did not affect our area that much. We still have power, and the winds were only around 60 mph, if that, because the eye was 100 miles off our coast. So while we in S. Florida breathe a sigh of relief, good thoughts to those still in this hurricane's path.

It has killed hundreds in Haiti.

On another note, back to writing. I am finishing a novella in my Werewolves of Montana Mating Mini series. It's a werewolf romance, and it will introduce you to the underworld of the Dark Kingdom, a universe that is parallel to the "Skin" world where werewolves co-mingle with humans. No humans live in the Dark Kingdom. It's a world where only paranormal creatures reside, and the magick they produce can be very, very good, or very, very bad. 

Stay tuned for details! 

Hurricane Matthew - We are under a hurricane warning

Such is life in S. Florida. We haven't had a hurricane since Wilma in 2006, and that one did a lot of damage. The storm dropped a tree on my house and we had to get a new roof, plus two other trees fell, but thankfully NOT on the house.

On the right is the barometer reading at 7:25 a.m. the day Hurricane Wilma struck. You can see how low it is...and I will get out the trusty barometer again to see how low it gets with this storm. Hopefully it will not! The lower the pressure the more intense the storm.


And this is what happened during Hurricane Wilma... the tree fell on our Florida room, thankfully, and did not take out half the house, only the Florida room. I had been standing there moments before and realized I needed to get inside.

My guardian angel must be exhausted...

Hurricane Wilma caused the power to go out for almost a week. The only good thing was that the weather was cool, so we could sleep with the windows open. Now it is very hot and sticky.

And that's me standing between the two trees that fell in our backyard. Not happy!

It could have been worse.

For Hurricane Matthew, we are prepared. WE have a generator, and gas, and we installed impact windows and an impact garage door. The hurricane may or may not brush past us. It's going to be close, but as with any hurricane, especially a Cat. 4, you don't fool around when you live five miles from the beach.




I am worried about this storm and trying to stay calm. I had trauma during Wilma, and was so scared. I'm concerned about my butterflies, too. Sounds crazy to worry about butterflies during a hurricane, but I love my garden. I'm doing what I can to try to save the monarch butterfly. This morning, the day before Matthew is supposed to approach our coast, I shot this photo of a monarch on milkweed we bought over the weekend.

I think I'll take in the plants that are not on the ground and put them on the back patio.

Stay safe, all in this storm's path. It's going to get nasty very soon.

Haiti, Hurricane Matthew

This is me with children at a Haiti orphanage back in 2007. These little ones lost their parents during a storm. Now Haiti is faced with yet another disaster - Hurricane Matthew.

I don't travel to Haiti anymore, now that I work part-time. Yet in all my 21 years of travel, Haiti was always close to my heart.

Weather forecasters say Matthew's 135 mph winds and torrential rains may cause "catastrophic" damage to the island nation. I've been all over Haiti, from Cap Haitian in the north, to Les Cayes in the South. They say Les Cayes will get badly hit by this hurricane.

I was in Haiti shortly after the 2010 earthquake. The destruction was staggering. Some of those buildings that survived the earthquake are still fragile.

Haitians are still recovering and many families still sleep in tents. I can't imagine being in a tent during a bad rainstorm, let alone a hurricane. Some are refusing to leave. It sounds insane, but you have to understand the poverty and desperation. They fear losing all they own, and they can't comprehend how bad this storm can be. I pray it won't be that bad, but from the look of it, Hurricane Matthew will deal a devastating blow to the country.

One of the many mountainous areas in Haiti I traveled to.
The biggest fear I have is not the wind in that country, but the rain. Torrential rains. Up to 40 inches of rain locally, they are predicting. Haiti has few trees and many denuded areas, as you can see in the photo to the left. This means flash floods and mudslides, as there is nothing to hold back the ground.

One of my last trips to Haiti was to Les Cayes, the city in the south end. The ocean there is lovely, and there are little shops where you can order fresh fish. I keep wondering what will happen to all of those vendors and those living in that area after this storm.

Haiti just can't seem to catch a break. All I can do is wait...and watch..and hope and pray.