Kaylea Cross's Blog, page 11

No Pressure

[image error] It's the start of June already, which means I have only three more weeks until my two weasels are out of school for the summer. It also means I have to get as much writing done as possible before that happens! Since I'm writing on deadline for the first time and have two manuscripts due August 1st, you'd better believe I found some camps to put the boys in. But they're cool camps. One is going to a Star Wars and a junior film makers camp, and the other is doing a space and junior scientist camp.

I've finished the draft of Danger Close (which will probably be retitled), and now have to put it aside while I do edits for a Callie Croix release coming out early next year (Covert Seduction). Once that's done, I'll be juggling line edits and copy edits for that story while I revise and polish Danger Close. After that I plan to take the first week of August off, to let some ideas percolate in my little brain for Jackson and Maya's book.I'm certain by then I'll need the break!

I also entered Deadly Descent into the 2013 EPIC Awards, so please cross your fingers and toes that someone falls in love with Cam and Dev's story. And, because I've been such a good girl and working so hard, I bought myself this pretty little Victorian jacket that I'm very excited about. I keep waiting and hoping that hoop skirts will come back in style again while I'm alive...

Blogging With Laura Kaye

Happy Memorial Day to my friends down south. I hope you're all having a safe and happy long weekend. I love this picture because it's so raw, and I feel it sends an important message. So if you're out enjoying festivities today, please take a moment to remember what the holiday is truly about. We owe so much to our men and women in uniform (including first responders) and their families who make countless sacrifices along the way.

The gorgeous and insanely talented Laura Kaye is hosting me on her blog today for a giveaway for Darkest Caress , and I also talk a bit about the Bagram series. To enter the contest for a digital copy of Darkest Caress , just leave me a comment there.

Also, I was informed this morning that Darkest Caress is up for a readers' choice award at the Grave Tells review site. Please click here to follow the link to vote for the book if you liked it.

Bagram Special Ops Series

It's official! Carina Press has offered me a contract for both the second and third books in the Bagram Special Ops series. Both books will release sometime in 2013.

Here's a shot that gives you an idea of how Ryan and Ace work together :) Pretty deadly combination. I'm still working on finding out particular details from various military/former military contacts I've been put in touch with, and hope to get those ironed out in the coming weeks so I can really make this story shine. I want to do justice to Air Force Combat Controllers and Spooky gunship crews with this book.

CCTs are a dedicated, highly trained bunch, and their discipline under fire and in combat has earned them many awards in recent years.  They work not only in war zones, but also in humanitarian relief efforts like the aftermath of the devastating Haiti earthquake to help direct air traffic in and out of a stricken area when no one else can or will.

Ace and Ryan's story (working title Danger Close) is due August 1st, then I'll start in on book 3.

Rayne, Dec, Ben, Rhys and Luke are on Sale! Pass the Word

My award winning romantic suspense series with The Wild Rose Press is now on sale for 2.99 per book. Buy links for each of the five books can be found on my website, but here's the link to my author page on Amazon.

The series goes in this order:
Out of Her League
Cover of Darkness
No Turning Back
Relentless
Absolution

If you know of any romantic suspense fans that might be interested, please spread the word!

Had another busy weekend at the ballpark, and my 8 y.o. had his first communion today followed by a reception and a family gathering, so it's been another whirlwind.

I'm getting close to the end of the draft of Ace and Ryan's book, and will keep you all posted about its status.

Callie Croix Release Sale

I heard from Carina Press this morning that my naughty alter ego, Callie Croix, is having a sale on her upcoming release. Let Me In (featuring Liam, from No Holds Barred) officially releases May 21st, but it's being offered for only $0.99 at all vendors throughout the entire month of May. You can find the buy links on Callie's website.

It's an erotic romance, but a gentle and loving one, nothing too heavy or dark. I dearly love the hero, Liam, and since I'm sort of addicted to the show Hoarders, I (uh, Callie, that is) had to include a hoarder character in a story and Let Me In gave me/Callie the chance. Of course Liam's former military (Callie loves her men in uniform too, you know), but this time the heroine is a Marine also.

Blurb: On leave for Thanksgiving, the last thing marine lieutenant Talia Barnett expects to find is Liam Brodie waiting for her at the airport. He’s had a starring role in her fantasies for the past two years, and although she’d love to make them a reality, she has a dark secret that prevents her from taking things further.
A former Marine, Liam’s specialty is planning tactical operations, and that’s just what he plans to do to win Talia. The woman has kept him at arm’s length for too long, and this time he’s finally going to claim her—body and heart.
What begins as comfort quickly turns hot. When Liam shows Talia a hint of the dominant nature inside him, the submissive part of her flares to life. Though she desires him, she’s going back on deployment and doesn’t want to dump all her drama on him. Will he find a way to break through the protective walls around her heart and convince her they have a future that goes far beyond the bedroom?

Cam and Dev Finish 2nd

Got word yesterday that Deadly Descent placed 2nd in the New England RWA published contest, runner up to one of Marie Force's books. Since Marie is a romantic suspense phenom, I'm feeling pretty good about coming in 2nd to her.

I'm well past the half way point in Ace and Ryan's story now, and am currently tormenting them will all kinds of evil things up in the Hindu Kush Mountains. Did you know authors are evil? We are to our characters, anyway.

Baseball season is in full swing now, so I've been spending quite a bit of time at the ball park cheering on my two weasels. My garden is looking gorgeous right now, but those nefarious black vine weevils are at it again, so in a couple weeks everything will be shredded out there. Sigh.

In happier news, I just got confirmation that we will indeed be heading back to Kauai next March (yay!) with my dad and stepmom. My fave cousin Mike (who I dedicated Darkest Caress to) is getting married there during our trip, so it's perfect. We can't wait to go back and soak up some more island paradise. 

Any exciting spring developments in your world?

Darkest Caress is Unleashed!

It's release day! Darkest Caress is officially unleashed upon the world. I hope you fall in love with this new cast of characters.

I'm at the lovely Cynthia Eden's blog today, as well as at Novel Thoughts to do a digital giveaway of the book. To enter, just stop by either site and leave a comment.

Happy reading and I hope you all have a great week!

Kaylea :)

Darkest Caress Giveaway

Holy smokes, it's only six days until release day! *gasps*

Today I'm at the paranormal Darker Temptations blog talking about my wild and wonderful adventures in Lithuania that gave rise to the premise for Darkest Caress, as well as some particular events of the trip that I absolutely have to include in the next two books. They're just too good to pass up! Plus you'll get to learn a bit about my favorite cousin, Mike, whom I will introduce a bit more in a future post. I adore him, and he's really the reason I went on the trip to the Baltic States in 2009. So really, Darkest Caress and my venture into paranormal waters are all his fault. (Thus I will blame him for any bad reviews! He's got broad shoulders--he can take it.)

I'm giving away a digital copy of Darkest Caress to a commenter, so please drop by to enter.

Have a great week, everyone!

Darkest Caress: The Empowered Series

I promised I'd post the cover and blurb for Darkest Caress, which is due out April 23rd from Carina Press. This book is a bit of a departure for me, since it's a paranormal romance, and many readers have asked me why I chose to write something outside of romantic suspense. 
The short answer is, I wanted to find an agent to represent me, and since the few military romantic suspense titles I'd submitted to agents didn't get me anywhere, I thought I'd try a "hotter" genre and see if that helped. At the time paranormal romance was very hot, and after taking a trip to the Baltic States, some folklore I learned about in Lithuania piqued my interest enough that it inspired an idea for a new series. Hence, the idea for the Empowered was born, and Darkest Caress is the first installment. The manuscript did not garner me an agent after all, but I was lucky enough that my current publisher wanted to acquire it.

I don't plan to stop writing military romance, though I'm not sure yet whether I'll write the remaining books in the Empowered series. I intend to finish Danger Close (2nd Bagram Special Ops book, Ace and Ryan's story) as soon as possible, then simultaneously work on book three of that series, along with the 2nd Empowered book (Cade's story). Right now it's a case of wait and see on the paranormal stories, to find out if there's even any reader interest for more Empowered books.

For those of you waiting for word on Ace and Ryan's story, I hope to have news about Danger Close within the next few months. Fingers crossed! In the meantime, here's what Darkest Caress is all about. The story is dark and the hero extremely yummy, but the Baltic mythology woven into the book is what inspired me to write it in the first place.

Blurb: Two-hundred-year-old Daegan Blackwell is one of the last remaining Empowered, an ancient magical race. Daegan's duty is to lead and protect his remaining Brethren in the coming war foretold by prophecy. The last thing he expects is to meet the one woman who will either save or destroy him—his destined mate. Fiercely independent Realtor Olivia Farrell believes darkly handsome Daegan is simply a prospective client. Until she's attacked by a man with a strange aura—and Daegan fights him off, taking away her pain with just his touch. At first, Olivia refuses to believe she's part of a magical race, yet mounting evidence and her powerful chemistry with Daegan are too strong to deny.
But as Daegan's partner, Olivia becomes a target in the battle between good and evil that threatens her life, as well as the very existence of the Empowered. And the only one who can save her is the man claiming to be her destiny…

Luke Won!!!

I'm so excited to announce that Absolution has won the EPIC Award for best romantic suspense of 2011!

I actually found out by accident while I was on holiday. I happened to be on Twitter, checking to see if I had any messages, and saw my name mentioned with the EPIC convention. No one sent me an email or anything, so I had to check on my own to see if I really had won, and indeed I had! I had a mojito to celebrate at dinner that night :)

You all know how much I adore Luke, so this win really tickled me. I think it's my best book (along with Relentless), although I heartily agree it's not a stand alone book. Without reading at least a few other books in the series, Absolution won't have nearly the same emotional impact for the reader. At least in my opinion.

I also just found out that Deadly Descent is a finalist in the New England Romance Writer's published contest, though it didn't final in the RITA Awards (aww...). Fingers crossed that Dev and Cam place in the top three.

That's my news for now; I'll post the cover for Darkest Caress next week. Have a great weekend!