Delilah Devlin's Blog, page 503

See what I got?

Had to brag… This is from Long and Short Reviews.

"…Lone Heart is the delicious follow up to Delilah Devlin's previous book about the Wyatt brothers, True Heart. The characters are well crafted and the world is a realistic depiction of country life found on ranches throughout the west… I love where Ms Devlin took this story, away from the predictable course… Ms. Devlin has written a luscious love story, filled with new beginnings and passions reawakened…"

I'm always thrilled when someone says something nice about a story I've put effort into. It might seem like writing's easy. I work in my jammies or sweats. Words tumble effortlessly from my fingertips—NOT! Well, the jammie part is true.

But writing ain't easy. Ideas for stories come pretty easy, but actually getting a story on the screen takes work. I don't have a 9 to 5 job. Every day I roll out of bed, I'm at my keyboard, first thing. It's 7-days-a-week, pretty much. And the writing is only part of the job.

But before I bore you with the "Poor me, I'm a slave to my muse," I will tell you that I love my job. Pure and simple. I get to meet the most interesting people—those in my head and my online friends. I get to travel and count it off my taxes because its research. LIFE is research. One day, I will write a story about a writer living in a house with crazy relatives. (Did I mention my aunt shaved her head because grandma took her keys?)

Um, I don't have an end for this post, so I'll wind down now and get to work. 5 Stars for Lone Heart! Yay me! Woot!

A Winner and a Question…

Thanks to everyone who participated in the ONE-DAY-ONLY contest yesterday! The winner (by random number generator) of the $10.00 Amazon.com gift certificate is…Shadow! Congratulations, Shadow, and be sure to send me an email to arrange delivery of your prize!

And remember, the Promo Ho contest continues! TWO $25.00 gift certificates are up for grabs! See yesterday's post for details. More contest goodies are coming!

* * * * *

Of all the great success stories that you have heard or read about,

which one do you find the most inspiring?

ONE-DAY-ONLY contest, plus another!

Things are a brewin' for the MIK (My Immortal Knight) books! But I can't talk about it right now. Lips are zipped! In the meantime, there's some work we have to do. And this is directed to those who have already read the MIKs, so the rest of you…well, you can certainly go read the first book and join in the fun to come!

In the meantime, I need reviews! It's going to be particularly important for the first book soon. Trouble is, I went to Amazon to check the listing and I have one review—and it's a 2 because the reader couldn't get past the ugly cover. Like I have any control over that?! My wonderful editor at EC took care of that little problem, and very soon this pretty new cover will be the new All Hallows Heartbreaker cover!

For the next few weeks, I'll be back every few days with more chores for y'all! I promise, I'll bring prezzies. Yes, I'm a crass promo ho, but if it's possible to attract the attention of readers and get them to come along for the ride (that is continuing soon!), I'll do it! And it's in your interest too—if you want more MIKs, that is!

The contest below is just the start. I'd also love it if you would "like" and "tag" as many of the MIKs on Amazon as you can. All of this is important, I just can't tell you why NOW!

And because I'd love to get the ball rolling, I will add a ONE-DAY-ONLY contest today. Leave me a note, telling me you tagged and liked my books on Amazon, and you're entered for a $10.00 gift certificate that I will email to the winner tomorrow!

The Promo Ho Contest

What can you win?

I'm giving away two $25.00 Amazon.com gift certificates.

What do you have to do to enter?

See the links below? These books are in sore need of online reviews by readers. So I'm offering a tempting bribe. And wouldn't you like to have some cash to spend on new books? And who knows? Maybe you already have these stories sitting on your TBR pile. Time to move them to the top!

Give an honest review for one of these stories on one of the online bookstores. Send me the link at del…@delilahdevlin.com. It can be the same review on three different sites, but send me three separate messages with the different links. Doesn't matter if the review is on Ellora's Cave's website, Amazon or Nook—send me the link to the review. Easy as that!

This contest ends March 15th!

MIK-1: All Hallows Heartbreaker

Review at Amazon

Review at Ellora's Cave

MIK-1: Love Bites

Review at Amazon

Review at Ellora's Cave

MIK-3: All Knight Long

Review at Amazon

Review at Ellora's Cave

MIK-4: Relentless

Review at Amazon

Review at Ellora's Cave

Guest Blogger: Rachel Brimble

It is so lovely to be here visiting with Delilah. We met through one of her fabulous online courses many moons ago. Since then, I have written six books and two novellas, all published – I am pretty sure Delilah had a part to play in that! So when she asked me if I'd like to guest blog, I knew exactly what I wanted to talk about. Friendship and support in the writing world.

Knowing there are people out there to support you in your dreams means everything for a feeling of inner strength and belief. It is human nature to doubt what you are thinking or doing, and worrying people will laugh or put you down. When you meet people who cheer you on, love and admire your work and most of all, share your struggles, it gives an incredible sense of excitement and optimism.

Writers are often introverts and happy in their own company. This means that voice in your head telling you to give up or you're not good enough will take over if you don't fill your mind with other thoughts. My advice? Mix up your social circle, reach out through social mediums such as Twitter and Facebook and surround yourself with optimistic, supportive and fun people. You will be amazed how quickly you realize those thoughts are echoed and conquered throughout your writing peers every day.

Which means?

That you can stand tall and know you are no better or worse than the successful writers out there. Stand back and watch yourself grow and shine until you feel as though your star is in reach – because it is!

* * * * *

Rachel's current historical release is The Arrival of Lily Curtis and one of her recent contemporaries is Getting It Right This Time.

Here are the blurbs and buy links:

 Getting It Right This Time

Two years after her husband's death, Kate Marshall returns home a widow, seeking security and stability for her three-year-old daughter. But when her path crosses with 'the one who got away'…her husband's best friend, she has to fight the desire to be with him for the sake of further heartbreak for her…and her daughter.

A tough, straight talking theatrical agent, Mark Johnston is dangerously handsome, exceedingly rich, irresistibly charming – and branded by the tabloids as one of the UK's most eligible bachelors.  So even though he lost the girl of his dreams five years before to his best friend, Mark finds no hardship is being single. Or so he thought…but now Kate is back.

Determined not to lose her a second time, Mark has to find a way to convince her they can work. But can Kate cope with the media interest and ruthless, money-hungry clients surrounding him being anywhere near her daughter?  Or accept that Mark Johnston is really the family man he claims to be?

Buy at Lyrical Press

 

The Arrival of Lily Curtis

At the mention of an arranged marriage, Elizabeth Caughley feels her life is over at the age of three and twenty….so she hatches an escape plan.  She will reinvent herself as a housemaid.  Overnight, Elizabeth becomes Lily…

Viscount Westrop wants nothing more than his legacy to be passed to his own son one day.  Even though he feels insurmountable pity for the unborn child already, he knows how much pain a broken promise can cause and will do what is right.  But with the arrival of his new housemaid, his plans are thrown into disarray.  Lily is funny, feisty and the most beautiful creature on earth – Andrew is thunderstruck.  But if anyone suspects how much he wants to ravish her and endlessly love her, Andrew's lineage will be in peril.  And he cannot let that happen…

Buy at The Wild Rose Press

Rachel can be found here:

http://www.rachelbrimble.com/

http://rachelbrimble.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/#!/RachelBrimble

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Brimble/181873201887441

 

Sunday Report Card and we have a winner!

Catch a Naughty Read

I'm blogging in two places today. If you're in need of a sex-fix, be sure to head on over to Wild & Wicked Cowboys for a quick one!

* * * * *
Sunday Report Card

This week was pretty productive. I wrote and wrote and managed to move some things off my plate.

1) I finished Dragon's Desire—and passed it off to my editor with instructions for her to pull me back from the brink. There are problems with some of the sexual situations, but if you've been reading me for long, you know that sometimes, I go there. Yeah, this is one of those stories. I couldn't stop myself. *sigh*

2) I worked on revisions of a short story entitled Two Hot and shipped it to my formatter. Hopefully, depending on her schedule and whether I can get a cover together quickly, you'll have a sexy little m/f/m story to read before the end of the month.

3) And I've plotted the next story I have to hustle out the door. A sequel to Bitten in the Big Easy. So this next week, I'll have my head down, writing like my hair's on fire. If you see me goofing off on line, you have permission to crack the whip!

* * * * *
The Believe Fairy Contest Winner

I am trying to think about what I should do for the next contest, so I don't have something to post just yet, but check back during the week, because when I get a minute, I will. In the meantime, the winner of the Believe Fairy is…Ava [ava@guilty....]! Ava, congrats, and be sure to send me your snail mail addy so I can get your prize into the mail.

I have a couple other prizes sitting in the hopper, waiting for me to take an hour to package them up, so it's probably a good thing I'm taking a break do some catch-up!

Y'all have a great week!

Saturday Snippet: Romantic

Sorry, I missed the contest end date. I didn't even think about it until late last night. Tomorrow morning, I'll pick a winner of The Believe Fairy Contest. ~DD

* * * * *

Your idea and my idea of what constitutes a romantic scene might be two completely different things. I'm not a hearts and flowers kind of girl. Give me a strong alpha male who's willing to risk EVERYTHING for his woman, and I melt. I hope you enoy this scene from Ravished by a Viking. Here, Dagr risks all to rescue his woman, Honora.

The Romance Studio's 2011 CAPA winner for Best Sci-Fi Romance!

"Clash of cultures, clash of myths, clash of powerful personalities…how many authors can bring out on paper the excitement and more-than-willing suspension of disbelief that old fashioned adventure stories once brought us?…a wonderful, action-packed, emotional roller-coaster of a read."

Alien Places

"With the intriguing meshing of the past with the future this was an engrossing read…"

Top Pick!, Night Owl Reviews

What a Viking wants, a Viking takes.

When his younger brother goes missing, Dagr, Viking warrior and Lord of the Wolfskin Clan, will do whatever it takes to get him back. But nothing could have prepared him for Honora—a feisty, intelligent woman who is nothing like the women of his world—women who are content to serve their men in all things. Drawn to her despite her recalcitrant nature, Dagr is determined to show her who's boss both in bed and out.

When the two enemies-turned-lovers join forces to find Dagr's brother they are thrown into a rousing adventure full of danger, intrigue and erotic abandon. Can their passion truly unite them or will their different worlds lead to destruction for them both?

Just as his skiff crunched against the rough edge of the beach, Dagr jumped to the ground, then spun to see how the battle fared. What there was left of a battle, anyway. The action was mostly a retreat—an ignominious run for safety. He counted heads quickly, assuring himself that every one of the men who had accompanied him had made it.

Frakki ran to his side. "Shall we save the bastards?" he said, disgust flavoring his tone. He nodded toward the Consortium soldiers doomed to die if the Vikings didn't mount a concerted rescue.

Odvarr loped toward him, his chest heaving, his face creased with worry. "Dagr, your woman!" he shouted, pointing toward the open waters.

A woman was on the ice! Dagr turned in time to see a slender figure pitch over the side of a skiff and slide on her belly perilously close to the edge. He didn't bother asking what Honora was doing there, or, more precisely, what she was doing on the frozen water. He broke into a run, heading for the closest boat, Frakki on his heels.

They both swung up, Frakki taking the steering ropes, and Dagr balanced on his feet at the raised nose of the small craft. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Stay still, Honora," he shouted, although the wind, the hollow roars of the beasts, and the screams from the remaining soldiers drowned out his voice.

He ignored the slashes of laser light that pounded the ice around him, dared the soldiers sure to die a gruesome death to kill him because he wasn't turning back. If the goddess Hel herself reached up from her frozen kingdom to drag him down, he'd fight her.

"Dagr . . ." Frakki said quietly, dread in his voice.

"I know."

Beneath them a dozen of sea serpents, in blue, green, and orange, swam, tracking them like prey, spiraling, shooting away for a few feet, then circling in closer.

One tapped beneath the hull of their small craft, and the ice groaned and crackled.

Behind them, came the scraping sound of more skiffs joining them on the ice. His men were skilled with the boats, often skimming just off shore. Just far enough to drill into the ice to fish, but close enough to the keep that the guard on the wallwalk could give them fair warning. None of his men were was as skilled as he at escaping the beasts because none dared travel the open seas.

Still they followed him, shouting and hitting the ice with the points of their pikes to draw the beasts away.

In the distance, Arikan's men continued to fire, shredding the solid surface beneath their feet in their panic, drawing the creatures who banged their heads from below to crack the ice, then shoot upwards, mouths agape to catch the men before diving deep to devour them.

Dagr could only worry about only one Consortium officer, who now lay on her belly on the ice, her face turned toward him, her eyes beseeching. That she was terrified was evident by the paleness of her skin and the roundness of her eyes. And by her silence. Honora was rarely silent.

When their skiff drew near, Frakki slowed only a fraction, just enough for Dagr to jump off the boat. He rolled, leapt to his feet, and ran for his woman, brandishing his sword and hoping that another of the boats was close enough to retrieve them once he had her before the dragons burst through the ice.

He prayed as never before—to Thor, who'd blessed his fathers' sword. Prayed that, just like Thor, who'd felled the giant Hrungnir with his mighty hammer, that his sword and his will would be enough to save the only person who'd ever made him feel complete, the woman who held the other half of his heart.

Honora lay flat on the ice, her head raised, watching Dagr draw near. As her muscles contracted with cold, relief and abject fear for him warred inside her.

He threw down his cloak, his furs, never slowing, running full out, his dark hair whipping behind him, his expression so fierce it took her breath away.

A loud thud sounded beneath her.

Honora couldn't hold back a scream as the ice cracked and lifted, splintering into large pieces like a jagged puzzle. She scrambled for a handhold, sliding gloved fingers over one raw edge.

A serpent pushed up, its dark orange head lifting the shard-like section of ice she held tight to, pushing on one edge with the end of its nose and tilting her toward the water. With her arms stretched, her body swinging, she cast a glance toward Dagr, sure he would be the last thing she saw in this life.

Dagr was close, and not slowing, although the ice broke beneath his feet. He took one last step and leapt onto the serpent's head, landing hard, and gripped his knees on either side of its wide skull.

Their gazes met for a moment, Dagr's filled with love and regret. Then the beast pulled down its head, dislodging the icy shard she clung to, and sending it sliding across the ice, away from it and Dagr.

"No!" Honora screamed, watching in horror as the beast shook its head, trying to dislodge Dagr, but he held tight, the hand not holding his sword gripping horny spikes atop the beast's saw-tooth brow.

The creature flung back its head one last time, and then tucked his its head down, preparing to dive.

With a roar, Dagr let go of the spikes, turned his blade upside down, gripped the pommel in both hands, and plunged it downward, piercing the beast's translucent blue eye.

The creature let out a loud, hollow squall, then crashed down his its head, slamming the ice and breaking it. Water closed over its head, submerging the beast and taking Dagr down with it.

Desolation clawed at her chest and Honora screamed again, shoving up to her feet and running to the edge of the ice to peer deep into the water, uncaring whether another beast burst from the water. Her heart was already lost in the cold, cold depths.

* * * * *

Be sure to check out the snippets on these other authors' blogs:

Eliza Gayle

Rhian Cahill

Anne Rainey

Jody Wallace

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Taige Crenshaw

Alison Kent

HelenKay Dimon

Shiloh Walker

Zoë Archer

Lacey Savage

Leah Braemel

Guest Blogger: Desiree Holt

Hi all. I'm really glad to be here today. Thanks, Delilah for having me as a guest. Be sure to leave a comment because at the end of the day I'll pick a name for a free ebook. ~Desiree

* * * * *

They live in Texas and they wear cowboy boots, but they aren't ranchers. Nope, they build ranches. And a lot of other things, from houses to major developments. They are the McMann brothers—Alex with a masters in business administration, Josh with an advanced degree in architecture, and Tyler, the civil and construction engineer. Each one is better looking than his brothers and they cut a wide swath through the eligible women in San Antonio.

In Erector Set, you will meet each of them and learn his story.

First out of the gate is Erected, Josh's story with Vanessa "Ness" Bowen.

Who can resist a pint-sized female with luscious curves stranded in a parking lot? Not Josh McMann. It's his pleasure to save Ness Bowen, especially given the instant sensual chemistry that explodes between them. When she wrecks her car on the way to meet him for dinner, he saves her once again. And dinner at home takes on a whole new meaning as the sexual pull becomes too strong for either to ignore. The more they see each other, the more intense and erotic the sex becomes.

But Ness sees Josh as a player, and she's been dumped by men like him who were always looking for the next conquest. Josh has his own trust issues, having been burned by women interested only in his money and power.

When a breakfast date goes awry and Ness thinks she's been dumped once again, it takes a lot of fancy maneuvering from Josh to make amends.

"Yeah, hi," he said when a male voice answered. "This is Josh McCann. Did you guys tow a…" He looked at Ness.

"White BMW," she told him. "With navy interior. One day old," she added, anxiety edging her voice.

Josh repeated the information into the phone. "Okay, thanks. Uh huh. Hold on." He pressed a button on his phone, pulled out a slim stylus and wrote something down. "Got it. We'll take care of it."

He disconnected and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

"Well?" Ness looked to be more in control of herself even with anxiety written all over her face.

"They towed it. About an hour ago." He looked at her curiously. "Were you in the restaurant? Why didn't you give it to the valet?"

She tucked her hair behind her ear. "Because I've already had one car demolished a couple of weeks ago and I was hoping to last another twenty four hours before getting a second one dinged. I thought it would be a lot safer here."

"Were you in there with friends?" He felt like he was digging the information out of her. "Where did they go? Can one of them take you to get your car?"

She sighed, fiddling with her hair again. "It was a business dinner. I can't ask a client to take me to pick up my car that got towed. Anyway, he's gone."

"Not friends. A client."

He looked at her cast then back at her face, one eyebrow raised.

She straightened her shoulders, trying to make herself taller. "My broken ankle has nothing to do with my ability to conduct business. I don't talk with my foot."

Josh swallowed a smile.

"Well, that kind of leaves you in a predicament, doesn't it?"

She did that straightening thing with her body again, as if somehow she'd grow another six inches. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much."

"Really?"

"Yes. Really." She clearly put as much indignation into the words as she could. She needed to get her game face back on.

"Could have fooled me."

"Besides, I've bothered you enough. I'll just go on into the restaurant and they can call a taxi for me."

She turned and began to clump her way back down the sidewalk, shoving his handkerchief in her pocket.

"Hold it." Josh reached out to take her arm. "Hold it a minute, will you? You don't need a cab. I'll take you. And it's really not a bother."

How many times had he said that in his life?

* * * * *

Find me at www.desireeholttellsall.com, Twitter @desireeholt and Facebook /desireeholt.

A question and thanks…

Flying out the door, so this will be quick! I'm heading to Hot Springs this morning with my daughter. We have some errands to run.

Thanks so much to everyone on FB and Twitter who sent their congratulations for the two awards I received on Valentine's Day! It means a lot—getting the awards, sure, but also the fact you are always there to support me. Thank you!

So, while I'm away today, here's a question to ruminate over—it's an important one (cough):

If snow could fall in any flavor, what flavor would you choose?

See? Life's simple.

Guest Blogger: Olivia Waite

Thanks to the marvelous Delilah Devlin for hosting me today!

Let me be the first to admit that I have a hard time sticking to one genre.

Oh, my three books are erotic historical romances, but they are, in order, 1) a Dickensian alternate history of the invention of the vibrator, 2) a straight-up Regency set almost entirely in a brothel, and 3) a story about a dead lord, in Hell, who falls in love with the demoness in charge of his punishment. So we've got an erotic steampunk romance, an erotic historical, and an erotic historical fantasy romance (for which I'm currently working on a sequel).

And that doesn't even begin to count the many half-finished and mostly-plotted ideas I'm working on behind the scenes. The young adult fantasy with yetis, Finnish magic, and the Arabian Nights. The Australian love-potion romance. The psychic noir. The fantasy adventure trilogy that starts in the Roman Empire, jumps to medieval France, and ends in Victorian London. The contemporary karaoke romance, or the time-travel romance epic fantasy, or the steampunk space opera menage with bonus sexy robots and squidshifters.

Someone—I'm sure they meant well—once told me to write the books you'd like to read. I want to read all of these stories. I want more crazy westerns and science fiction romance and more historical fantasy—oh, how lucky we live at a time when historical fantasy is coming into its own! I want to read genres that don't even have names yet! I want more books like Zoe Archer's Blades of the Rose, or Isabel Cooper's No Proper Lady, both of which I cannot recommend highly enough.

My own books—Generous Fire, Hearts and Harbingers, and Damned if You Do—are definitely unusual, but they're only a step or two outside the borders. I want to plunge headlong into the wilderness.

My question for you today is: do you have a favorite genre?

Or do you hop around Romancelandia, like me?

Guest Blogger: Cynthia D'Alba (Contest)

This post is proudly a stop on the TEXAS TWO STEP Blog Tour. For a complete listing of all stops on this tour, please visit here. All contests are for U.S. residents only unless otherwise noted. Comments left on this blog will be counted toward the Texas Two Step Faithful Follower Gift Certificate. To see a complete listing of Blog Tour Prizes, click here . Be sure to check out the freebies. Yours for the asking as long as they last.

A mega-thank you to Delilah for hosting this stop on my blog tour. DD has been an unfailing supporter and friend. She listened to me whine, complain, and basically kvetch about everything from a muse who took an ill-timed vacation to judges who just didn't like my voice. When I sold to Samhain, DD was one of the first authors I turned to for advice, and she's never led me wrong…well, maybe astray a few times, but there was alcohol involved and we agreed never to mention it again.

The hero of Texas Two Step (Mitch Landry) doesn't have a sister, but like most men, he knows the rule about messing with a friend's little sister…which is, Don't Do It. In college, he was in a fraternity with Travis and Jason Montgomery. During that time, he heard a lot about their little sister, Olivia (the heroine of Texas Two Step) and even met her once. But she had been in high school…just a kid, he'd thought to himself at the time. Now at SMU (Southern Methodist University) law school, he shares classes and a friendship with Jason Montgomery. He remembers Olivia as a teenager until he meets her at The Bourbon Cowboy bar on her twenty-first birthday.

Texas Two Step opens about ten years after this inadvertent meeting at The Bourbon Cowboy. So much of the time when a story opens and the couple has a history, we only get to hear about it in flashbacks or musings during the story. But Olivia and Mitch have such a love affair that I thought it only fair to share snippets of their past in a Texas Two Step Prequel. Today's installment is The Meeting-Part Two. If you missed part one and want to read it before today's episode, click here.

I never had an older brother to "watch" out for me or shoo the boys away. I had an older sister, but I'm thinking that's different.

What I want to talk about today is the older-brother-younger sister dynamics. Did you have an older brother? Was he protective of you like we romance authors like to portray older brothers? Did you ever date one of his friends? What are the rules of dating your brother's friend?

Today's TTS Blog Tour Prize

Many guest bloggers can offer a copy of a backlist book to be given away as a potential prize for a blog commenter. As a debut author, I don't have a backlist. But I do have some awesome author friends who have stepped forward and offered one of their books as a prize.

Today's TTS Blog Tour Author Sponsor is Turquoise Morning Press author Keri Ford. Keri will send Uninhibited in Apple   Trail, Arkansas Vol. 2 to one lucky person who leaves a comment. To find out more about today's Blog Tour Sponsor, you can visit her website, Twitter or Facebook.

To learn more about me check out these links:

website , Facebook. Twitter, Group Blog , and Personal Blog

And if those aren't enough, Sign up for inside scoops and special contests by receiving the newsletter I share with my blog buddies.

Remember! Leave a comment for a chance to win Keri's book!

Texas Two Step is available for preordering at Samhain, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble and I will be forever in your debt if you would buy it!

Tomorrow's Tour Stop is at Riding With The Top Down Blog and episode Three of The Meeting. Hope to see you there!