Kaylea Cross's Blog, page 9

Tactical Strike Twitter Party!

Okay, I'll admit this is the first Twitter party I've ever done, but I'm excited about it! You can pre-register for a chance to win some of my titles, or you can participate the day of to win other prizes, including a gift certificate to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Click here for more information and to pre-register. 

Ace, Ryan and I will look forward to seeing you there!

Wild Weekend

I had THE best weekend EVER. My birthday was on Saturday, but on Thursday afternoon when I got to the school to pick the boys up, my husband suddenly appeared next to my vehicle. I immediately thought something must be wrong, but he grinned and said, "I got you an early birthday present."

I got out and who should I find standing on the sidewalk? My best friend and writing idol, Katie Reus. He'd flown her up that afternoon to spend my birthday weekend with me. How amazing is he???

Here's my reaction. I was so floored and beside myself to see her, I didn't even notice him filming. He titled the clip "Longest Hug Ever".
Katie's never been to Vancouver before and I was super excited to have her stay with us. I took her downtown to see Stanley Park and walk on the sea wall, then to my favorite comfort food restaurant, Burgoo. During her visit we ate a lot of great food, talked about writing and the publishing industry in general, and pretty much hung out all the time.

On my actual birthday, my hubby sent us to the spa in the afternoon. We came home to a surprise Mardi Gras themed party, complete with New Orleans style food and decorations. There was even a murder mystery game. Katie got to meet my closest family members and we had a great time.

I dropped her off at the airport yesterday and was so bummed the rest of the day. I feel a bit better today, but I know it'll be a long time until I get to see her again. My boys just fell in love with her, but how could they not? She's a sweetie.

So yes, it's official: I'm married to the best husband in the world. He's not the most affectionate or romantic guy, but he does these grand gestures from time to time that just floor me. This birthday he gave me the best gift I've ever received!

Covert Seduction

That naughty Callie Croix has a new release out today! Covert Seduction is 53,000 words long, and it has a bit of a suspense plot as well. If you like steamier romance, you might like this title because it's definitely hot, but it's very romantic and tender as well.

Callie is giving away a copy of the book over at her Facebook page today, so leave a comment about your all time favorite romance hero to enter the contest.

In Kaylea news, I'm winding up my rewrite of my Civil War manuscript and it's due to my editor shortly. She's ready Lethal Pursuit soon (Maya and Jackson's story), and I have all my fingers and toes crossed that she likes at least the meat and potatoes of it. Between the revisions, edits and drafting other projects, I won't be writing anything more for Callie Croix in the near future. I've got my plate full with more military romance books!

Here's what Covert Seduction is all about:
Blurb: Navy SEAL Reid Galvin is back from hell and eager to find comfort in Becca Anderson’s arms. He knows he hurt her when he cut contact during his deployment, so when his call interrupts her date with another man, he has only himself to blame. But he can’t forget what she means to him—or the sexy email she sent him—and he won’t miss this chance to claim her as his own.
It’s been weeks since Becca heard from the man she thought she was involved with. So when Reid wants to take up where they left off as if nothing happened, she refuses. Then he rescues her from a first date gone very wrong, and she realizes she’s not quite ready to let him go.
Reid and Becca have a lot to talk about, but since she’s not listening, he’s going to have to regain her trust another way—by bringing her most erotic fantasies to life. Making her surrender to pleasure just might be his most important mission.

Happy reading!

Happy New Year!

It's the last day of 2012, and I'm glad to see it over with. I hope 2013 is a much kinder year to humankind, and my biggest hope for the new year is that people stop shooting each other in our communities.

If you're looking for something steamy to read tonight, all of my Callie Croix titles with Carina Press are on sale right now. They're selling for $2.50 at the Kindle store and a bit more than that over at B&N.

Also, Tactical Strike is up for presale at the Kindle store as well, and it's being offered for only $2.99!

Here's the back cover blurb:


Gunship pilot Captain Candace Bradford has worked long and hard to earn her rank and position within the male-dominated world of Air Force Special Operations. She's not about to let anything or anyone jeopardize that, let alone one sinfully tempting man who seems determined to cause her nothing but trouble. Even if she's starting to fall for him.
As an elite Combat Controller, Staff Sergeant Ryan Wentworth is used to overcoming adversity in order to complete a mission. Breaking through Candace's prickly exterior and into her heart is a challenge he can't let go. But just when he's begun to gain her trust, they're thrown together in the field facing an overwhelming enemy force.
Candace and Ryan find themselves on the run, searching the skies for an emergency extraction. But one dangerous enemy has an agenda in mind and he'll use whatever means necessary to achieve it, including using American forces to do his dirty work.
Here's to a happy, healthy and prosperous new year to us all! 

Sharon Hamilton and Her SEAL Heroes

Author Sharon Hamilton is over at Writers Gone Wild today, talking about her SEAL heroes and giving away a copy of her latest romantic suspense. Come on by to enter the contest!

Getting ready for the holidays here at our place. The boys have two Christmas concerts tomorrow and then we're hosting an early Christmas dinner for hubby's side of the family on Saturday night. Then we're booked every day right through to the 29th! Yikes.

Hope you enjoy the holidays!

Hurry! Hurry hard!

Holy cow, only two weeks until Christmas Eve!!!

On Friday I wrapped up revisions on Lethal Pursuit (Maya and Jackson's story), the third and probably final installment of the Bagram Special Ops series. I sent it off to my editor and likely won't see it again for at least a month or two. Hope she likes it! It's very fast paced and dark, even brutal in spots.

Between now and Christmas I plan to get my holiday preparations finished and hopefully do a bit more drafting of my new R/S project. In early January I have to do heavy revisions (AKA a major rewrite) of my Civil War romance, The Vacant Chair. I have the most gorgeous cover for it but I don't want to show it until I have a better handle on a release date. The book is due to my editor February 1st, and I'm pretty sure that despite all my work before handing it in, I'll still have lots of work to do once I get it back from her. *cough*

I'm sure a lot of you are wrapped up in the middle of Christmas madness right now. This coming weekend is my hubby's staff party. Every year the office goes to a local curling rink, and every year my hubby's team seems to be pitted against mine in the final. He's beaten me the last two years, even though I taught him everything he knows about curling. Gah. I have to step up my game!

Cover Reveal

Woot! I just got the final art work for the cover of Tactical Strike, Ace and Ryan's book, and I love it. If you want to imagine Ryan with a scruffy russet-colored beard though, that's quite okay by me since that's how he looks for most of the story. But there is one particular scene at the end of the book where he's clean shaven (and oh, it's a steamy one if I do say so myself), so it's all good. It comes out March 11th!

This weekend is the start of the Christmas madness, and I'm sure it is for many of you as well. Our December calendar is stuffed full. Stuffed, I tell you. Parties, gatherings, concerts, dinners, more parties... You guys should see our house right now. It's all decked out for the holidays so I'll try to post some pictures.

Book Giveaway!

Today I'm participating in Paloma Beck's birthday blog hop and giving away a digital copy of Deadly Descent to one of the winners. Click here to go to her blog and enter!Some other authors participating are Laura Kaye, Kallypso Masters and Keta Diablo. Happy birthday, Paloma!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Going To Print!

I got the most awesome email today from Angela James, executive editor for Carina Press. She told me that Harlequin has decided to pick up Darkest Caress as one of their June direct-to-customer program titles. So, I'm going to print! Not in stores, though any leftover copies from the program will be available for sale on the Harlequin website, and I get author copies as well. Woot!

I know a lot of my readers don't love paranormal books, but I've received a surprising number of emails asking when the next book in the series is coming out. I feel so torn! I'm working on another single title romantic suspense right now (featuring military contractors in Pakistan), but I'm definitely interested in writing both Cade's and Vaughn's stories. Especially Vaughn's.

I'm about a quarter of the way through the draft of this next book, and Lethal Pursuit (Bagram Special Ops #3) is due to my editor in mid-December. It's all done, so I'm going to start revisions in early December. In the meantime I hope to hammer out most of this draft.

Read any great books lately? Would love to hear some recommendations.

Holiday goodness

Being that we're now into November, that means it's the start of the Christmas season here at our place. And, according to tradition, the first wave of decorations went up this weekend. Added to my collection this year is this Grinch quilt, which I finished up last week. It's so cozy and snuggly.
My father and step mother arrived home safely after their three month trek across all the -stans (Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, etc--they even dipped across the border into Afghanistan!), so I'm relieved. I wasn't too crazy on them being over there, but they managed okay. My father said again he wished I'd gone with them, especially the leg across Tajikistan and the border of A-stan. You know, since I write about that stuff.

I'll be honest--I'm quite happy to look at their trip through pictures, rather than experiencing it firsthand. Some of the places they traveled to were extremely rough (they slept in tents in the desert, no running water or plumbing or heat, and even had to kill a goat at one point), and there have been kidnapping and shootings between the locals and the military. At any rate, they're home safe and sound and that's all I care about. My Christmas wish came early this year!

And, if you're looking for some holiday reading right now, Katie Reus has another installment of her Red Stone Security romantic suspense series out. Miami, Mistletoe and Murder is only 99 cents!

Blurb: Fierce and sexy, former Marine Travis Sanchez has always held himself back from the rest of the world, using his tattoos and piercings as armor. But when the woman he’s wanted for months is threatened, he knows it’s time to strip away the bad boy image and show her just how much he wants to be with her. As one of Red Stone Security’s best contractors, Travis is trained for almost any situation. But nothing prepares him for the most dangerous threat of all: the one to his heart.

Kind-hearted Noel Baskov’s only wish for the holidays is that her Miami coffee shop has a successful Christmas season. But her focus on work is interrupted when the family of the young girl she mentors is threatened, and the man she’s been lusting after for months steps in to handle it. Unfortunately the danger is far from over. Can this sexy and mysterious warrior protect Noel? Or will he be the one to shatter her heart.

Warning: features a heroine determined to fight for those she cares about, a protective hero with a very interesting piercing, and some holiday magic.