Jennifer Bray-Weber's Blog, page 66
June 23, 2014
Mutiny of the Heart Release Party – Romancing the Pirate fun!
Yo Ho Ho! It’s a RELEASE DAY pARRRRRty!
The loooong awaited 4th full-length installment of the Romancing the Pirate series, MUTINY OF THE HEART, releases today. That’s right, TODAY!
And just like any good party, we’re celebrating with fun, games, prizes and a pinata! Well, not a pinata, but there’ll be lots of virtual confetti.
Leave me a comment, any comment, and you’ll be placed in a drawing to win one of 3 prize packs! I’ll be giving away the entire Romancing the Pirate eBook series; Blood and Treasure audio book + Mutiny of the Heart eBook; and a $10 Amazon gift card + Mutiny of the Heart eBook.
So what’s the book about?
Blurb:
Navigating the high seas as the female captain of a pirate ship means always being on your guard—especially when one takes a temptingly handsome slave on board.
Captain Joelle Quint believes the slave claiming to be a cartographer can help her decipher the map her father left her when she was a child. She’s spent years trying to unlock its truths, hoping that it holds the answers to a dark family secret.
Sloan Ricker has no intention of remaining captive. When the fiery, red-headed captain offers him his freedom in exchange for solving her map, what begins as an opportunity to escape becomes a struggle to make the beautiful, intriguing Joelle his mistress in more ways than one.
Amidst a battle with the Royal Navy and a first mate’s jealousy, Joelle also fights her growing lust. And as much as he’d like to deny it, Ricker’s desire for Joelle has overcome his initial disdain. To get the answers, independence and love that they both long for, Joelle and Ricker must relinquish control to each other…or die trying.
Gimme a taste, will ya?
Excerpt:
“I give you my word, Ricker.” The sincerity in her voice matched that of her eyes. “You help me and freedom will be yours.”
Freedom would be his no matter what. The ragtag band of pirates would not stop him from taking what was his at the first chance he got. Not even the red-headed siren whose knee softly brushed against his, sending an electric wave up his thigh.
He’d never seen a woman quite like Quint. Her abilities as a captain, her feminine artfulness, her sharp intuitiveness—his curiosity in her was eating him alive. Christ! Those lips. Begging to be kissed. He better damn well focus on something else lest he do something foolish.
“Are we ever free?” Do the nightmares ever really cease?
“No,” she said. “I suppose not.”
For a fleeting moment, she drifted. What shackles did she bear? Should he care? Nay, he didn’t think so. But he wasn’t entirely sure.
“What is it that haunts you, Captain?”
“I’ve nothing that ails me.” Her chin inched higher. She may have been defiant, but Ricker saw the lie in her eyes.
“Come now. What of this map? You say it leads to answers. Answers to what?”
Profound sadness shadowed her freckled features. “Why he left,” she said, shaking her head.
“Who?”
“My father.” She dragged her fingers into her red tresses at her temple, locks slipping through, and away she wafted once more to someplace far in the past.
“Who am I really? Why did he leave me at the orphanage? Why did he come back years later to deliver the strongbox? What were the emerald and map to mean? Why didn’t he take me with him? I needed him. Missed him. Didn’t he know that? Didn’t he care?” The slender column of her neck tightened as she swallowed. ’Twas painfully obvious she fought back her emotions and tears. “I didn’t even know he came until he was gone.”
Ricker was wrong. He did care. She fought demons just as he. At least his were distinct—people, mostly. He’d overcome his sufferings. Quint’s torments were elusive, like trying to grasp the thick sea fog. She might never put her anguish to rest.
“So, Mr. Ricker,” she said, regaining her flinty battle-ready mask. “Does that satisfy your need to know what haunts me?”
“We’re all made up of scars.”
“Scars grow thick to protect the wound.”
He shifted closer in his chair toward her. “Some wounds need attention.” He gently traced the outer edge of her dressing. “To lessen the pain.”
“Rum lessens pain,” she countered.
“’Tis true.” Ricker handed Quint her cup and picked up his own. “To pain,” he said, tilting his mug in a toast.
Her slow drink was like a slow burn of a gun’s corded fuse. The tension was near to igniting. With each passing second, his trousers grew uncomfortably tight. He wanted to kiss her. Had to kiss her. Would kiss her. Now.
The moment he drained his cup, her mouth descended upon him hard and voracious. Ricker recovered from his surprise before she pulled away slightly.
“To rum,” she rasped.
He grabbed her by her nape. No way was he letting her get away with that. He returned the favor, attacking her lips, raiding her mouth, feeding off the warm taste of liquor, the soft roll of her tongue. Damn, she tasted divine. Better than cool water to a dying man.
“What the devil?”
A rapier on the wall rattled at the slam of the door.
“Get your bloody hands off her!”
Ricker rose to his feet to face Valeryn. The heat of anger flushed up his neck, from both the interruption and the threatening demand. Things were about to get nasty. “What’s your trouble, friend?”
“Oh, I’ve no trouble I can’t be rid of.”
I want my copy NOW!
Amazon Barnes & Noble Carina Press Kobo iBooks
And anywhere great eBooks are sold.
Now for the games! Click on the links to play.
Easy!
We’ll start out easy with a pirate-themed words search.
Mutiny of the Heart – Pirate Word Search game
Medium!
Moving on to something a little tougher, because, hey, your a bad-ass wench/rogue. Try your hand at the Mutiny of the Heart sliding puzzle.
Mutiny of the Heart sliding puzzle game
Hard!
And for those of you who like a real challenge, try the Romancing the Pirate word scramble.
Romancing the Pirate Word Scramble Game
Don’t forget to leave a comment for your chance to win one of 3 prize packs - Romancing the Pirate eBook series; Blood and Treasure audio book + Mutiny of the Heart eBook; and a $10 Amazon gift card + Mutiny of the Heart eBook.
June 18, 2014
Hump Day Kick Start – Island God Edition
Song of the day: Slow Burn by Atreyu
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a visual treat.
In honor of my pirate release Mutiny of the Heart next week, summer, and golden Greek gods everywhere, I give you today’s delicious prompt. It’s a little late. I lost track of time while drooling.
So tell me about our fine deity, er, I mean fellow. Who is he? Ruler of the island? A fisherman? A wanted man on the lam? What/who is he looking at? What is his expression? Is he a broken man after the love of his life left him for a city boy? Is he swearing vengeance to an enemy on a neighboring island for destroying his home and family? Maybe he is praying for a monster wave at tomorrow’s surfing contest. Or plotting how he will win the sexy tourist’s heart. Did he become stranded after a three hour tour went horribly wrong with a group of clueless, ragtag characters?
I’d love to hear your version? Go ahead, take your time. ;-)
June 17, 2014
Before There Was You-
Writing can be awfully solitary, but, in fact, there are hundreds of thousands of us. Maybe even millions! Have you ever wondered about their lives? What drove F. Scott Fitzgerald to drink? Why did Hemingway say “Adios” before his time? Did you even know Casanova was a writer?
The web site is for the curious. If you’d like some interesting reading and one more way of distracting you from doing your work- then this is for you!
Enjoy!
PS. Did you know Oscar Wilde was arrested and imprisoned for being gay? Just learned that fun fact while reading through his bio this morning.
http://www.biography.com/people/groups/writers
June 11, 2014
Hump Day Kick Start – Insatiable Champagne Edition
Song of the day: Champagne by Cavo
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a visual treat.
Do you know how hard it is to please y’all?
I found this picture to be, well, hot. And it is the inspiration for my alter ego’s next naughty book. *maniacally giggles*
Who is our couple? And why are they gluttonously drinking and nearly bathing in champagne? Look at his expression. What is he thinking? Are they strangers indulging in a circumstantial one-night fantasy? Newlyweds splurging on their hotel’s seven free bottles of bubbly mistakenly sent to their room? Insatiable rock stars typically out of control after another show in yet another town? Is she dying and the only way he can save her is not by CPR, but by siphoning Moët & Chandon down her throat? (That would bring me around.)
What’s your take? I’d love to hear it.
June 10, 2014
Link of the Week – 2EPUB
Free. We like free, don’t we?
Formatting. We hate formatting, don’t we?
I stumbled across this site that is a free (we like) ebook format converter – for us – for free. Did I mention free formatting? Disclaimer: I haven’t tried it myself, but it seems easy enough.
Check out 2EPUB and see if it’s right for you.
June 4, 2014
Hump Day Kick Start – Rip and Tear Edition
Song of the day: Rip and Tear by L.A. Guns
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a visual treat.
Bad pun alert!
Who is our ripped fellow and what’s got him so torn? Is he a law enforcement agent who just got into a scrap with a sexy cat burglar? Meow! A voyeur frustrated that she pulled closed the blinds? Did he lose power in the middle of a heat wave? Could he be tearing his shirt for something more sinister, like sopping up a pool of blood? Maybe he’s a regular Joe forced to fight an alien invasion of giant moths.
What’s your RENDition? I’d love to hear it.
June 3, 2014
Link of the Week – Smashwords + Overdrive
For those of you who are Indie authors or are considering going indie…
Smashwords has now teamed up with Overdrive. Overdrive is the distributor of ebooks to 90% of the libraries in the US. For someone like me who has taken the long route to get into my local library, this is a big deal.
http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/05/smashwords-and-overdrive-to-bring.html
May 28, 2014
RT 2014 in (Tomfoolish) Pictures
As promised, here are a few pictures of my adventures at the 2014 Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in New Orleans. Man…I love that city.
A room with a view.
And it comes at a price.
First night was spent at Mardi Gras World. Beads, floats, sampling fare, stilt walkers and entertainers, and live music on the Mississippi waterfront.
Starting the mornings off right. My very first visit to the legendary coffee shop.
Beignets! Orgasmic Goodness!
Lots of great workshops, including ones put on by publishing professionals like Amazon
And fun reader workshops put on by moi and my fellow Ruby-Slippered Sisters. Why are we wearing boas?
Because we hosted a burlesque dancing workshop. Trust me when I say sexy fun was had by all. No chickens were harmed during this event despite the floor being covered in red plumes.
Some spicy lunch was required. When in Rome…
And a little sight seeing and shopping in Jackson Square.
Pub Crawl on Bourbon Street. Yeah…this was sponsored by publishers. It’s dangerous letting authors out in public roaming in hordes.
They take selfies. Eliza Knight made a great crawl buddy.
They take photos with New Orleans firefighters. I mean, who wouldn’t seize the opportunity, right?
They take more selfies. (Eliza, Anne Marie Becker & me)
They ride mechanical bulls dressed as a pirate, holding in the goods. Sorry, I couldn’t upload the video. :-D
And when done, they attend a Saints & Sinners party. My angelic dance partner, Vivi Andrews.
In the end, it all culminated to a giant book signing. I just adore my huge book poster!
I had an incredible time. The buzz of the readers, the energy from the workshops, the incredible vendors, the craziness of Fan-Tastic Day, and the excitement of the parties were memorable. To top it off, I hung out with old friends and met new ones, and met some pretty cool readers. I’m looking forward to doing it again in 2015.
Comments? Heckles? Snickers?
May 27, 2014
Link Of The Week- Let Your Fingers Do The Talking!
Do you know how to type? What is you WPM? (words per minute) You don’t know?
Try out these sites- they have tests, free courses and games to improve your accuracy and speed! This is an essential skill to being a writer. If you can’t type very well or you make a ton of mistakes, you’ve lost quality time creating. Enjoy!
http://www.goodtyping.com/test.php
http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php
May 26, 2014
Memorial Day
To those who are serving, to those who have served, and to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, thank you.
