Lynn Tyler's Blog, page 5

Pierce’s Choice: Cover Reveal

Despite my many ongoing computer issues, (I swear, I’m cursed) I have something that just has to be shared! The brand new cover for Pierce’s Choice, which will be released on November 3 from Liquid Silver Books.

So, without further ado, I give you Pierce’s Choice!

After having been removed from his parent’s home for his own safety, Pierce Nevitt has lived his entire life at someone else’s whim. The tiger Omega has been protected and coddled from the outside world, denied the one thing he wants more than anything: Gavin.

Gavin Jackson ran away from Pierce, terrified of getting too attached, only to discover it was too late. Freshly graduated, he’s been assigned as one of Pierce’s bodyguards when he is moved to Smooth Rock Falls.

Now, someone is trying to kidnap Omegas, and the two of them need to figure out who and why before their newly re-kindled love is torn apart forever in Lynn Tyler’s newest addition to the bestselling Pack Mates series.

 

The Shore Thing!

Thank you so much, Lynn, for hosting me on your blog. Liquid Silver Books will release my new contemporary romance novel, The Shore Thing, on Sept. 1. It’s the first book in a series set in the fictional west-central Florida beach town of Gulf Shore, where you’ll feel sugary white sand between your toes, the warm sun on your shoulders, and a sea breeze ruffling your hair.

You’ll meet swoon-worthy alpha males who aren’t embarrassed to cuddle a rescued baby dolphin in their muscular arms, and accomplished women looking for an equal partner who thinks that smart is sexy.

You’ll get up close and personal with sea life, join the “snipe and gripe” club for girls’ nights out, and fall in love with a talking parrot who acts like a little boy in a bird suit.

You’ll go behind-the-scenes at the local aquarium and out to the beach to rescue marine animals in distress. And once you visit Gulf Shore, you just may find yourself wishing you could stay.

Here’s what The Shore Thing is about:

Danielle “Dani” Davidson vows to just say no to workplace romances after her first post-college job is soured by a messy breakup with a manipulative coworker at a fish hatchery.       That’s just one reason she doesn’t trust any man with her heart, let alone one who swims with sharks for a living. So why can’t she get cameraman Evan Sanders out of her mind?

Evan is twice shy, too, after an alluring but self-absorbed colleague at Gulf Shore Aquarium takes a bite out of his heart. Thought he’s dead set against dating anyone else he works with, he’s intrigued by Dani’s shyness and tempted by her intelligence and low-key sexiness.

Dani leads tours and educates guests, and Evan is the chief photographer/videographer at the aquarium and marine animal hospital in Gulf Shore. Their attraction smolders until an unfortunate encounter with a stingray sends Dani to the emergency room, and Evan steps up to help her through her recovery.

The two also bond over the rescue of an orphaned baby dolphin. But will Evan’s vindictive ex-lover, his career ambitions, and Dani’s inhibitions tear the young lovers apart?

 

Here’s an excerpt:

Evan Sanders felt his swim fins touch bottom as he settled into position with his camera pointed at the two ten-foot nurse sharks circling above him. It was feeding time, and Fred and Barney were restless and hungry. Evan watched as black drum, striped mullet, mangrove snapper, and other smaller fish scurried out of the predators’ way.

He was in full scuba gear and had only his camera for protection, but he wasn’t worried. He’d shot still photos and video in Gulf Shore Aquarium’s Florida Fishes tank many times, and the nurse sharks hadn’t shown the slightest interest in him.

Still, the usually sluggish bottom-dwellers did have thousands of tiny, serrated teeth capable of crushing shellfish and delivering a nasty bite to errant hands or feet, so Evan couldn’t afford to be careless.

Leaning against the clear face of the tank for support, he noticed an attractive young woman watching him. She had her long chestnut hair pulled back in a neat ponytail and wore khaki slacks and the aquarium’s standard-issue teal polo shirt with the GSA logo. A small crowd gathered around her, and Evan knew she was regaling them with facts about how nurse sharks in the wild use vacuum-like suction to snatch fish, mollusks, and crustaceans from their hiding places, sometimes even yanking a sea snail right out of its shell.

He wished he had time to take a closer look at her because he liked what he could see. But duty called.

Evan zoomed in and fired off frame after frame as Fred sucked a freshly thawed herring from the stainless steel grilling tongs a trainer held just beneath the water’s surface. He tracked Fred with his camera as the shark circled around for another handout.

Suddenly, Evan’s peripheral vision picked up a hulking shape closing in fast on his right. He pivoted to find Barney’s snout within inches of the camera lens.

Pulse pounding, Evan barely had time to react. He bumped the shark’s nose just hard enough to discourage him from coming closer. The lumbering fish veered away at the last second and swam up to a second trainer, who enticed him with a hunk of squid.

On the dry side of the Plexiglas, the young woman stared wide-eyed. Evan gave an exaggerated shudder and patted his chest over his heart. She laughed, and he grinned around his regulator mouthpiece and wiggled his fingers. She waved back.

As Evan held her gaze for a moment longer, the young woman blushed.

 

* * * *

 

Fifteen minutes earlier, Danielle “Dani” Davidson had returned from an early dinner break to see the diver standing on the concrete deck of the tank, looking like he belonged on the cover of Hot Hunks Monthly. He checked his air tank and hoses, spit in his mask to keep it from fogging, and collected his camera gear. He’d zipped up his wet suit only as far as his flat waist, and it was only natural for Dani to pause and admire the wide set of his shoulders and the muscles rippling over his tanned arms and chest.

Just then, he raised his head as if he felt her gaze roaming his body and, face reddening, she hurried toward the stairs. She stopped on the top step, hidden by a sign identifying the animals in the tank, and watched as he worked his arms down the sleeves of his wet suit and then zipped it closed.

The show over, she headed down to the underwater viewing area to narrate the nurse shark feeding.

Now, as Dani’s heartbeat returned to normal, the guests gave her an expectant look, obviously waiting to hear what she had to say about the diver’s close call.

“Barney was just making sure our photographer got a nice close-up of his handsome face,” she ad-libbed, adding a reassuring smile for good measure.

“You wouldn’t catch me in the water with those monsters,” one woman proclaimed.

“Sharks are awesome!” the boy with her enthused. “During Shark Week on TV, they showed a great white leaping out of the water with a seal in its jaws, and the seal was all bloody and flopping around and stuff, and its guts were hanging out, too. It was so cool!”

“Eeeewww,” a girl behind him squealed. “That’s totally disgusting.”

“Well—” Dani began, but was interrupted by the man beside her.

“So, would that shark have bitten that diver just now?” he asked.

“Nurse sharks usually aren’t aggressive and are tolerant of people,” she told him. “Unless, of course, someone is careless enough to step on the shark or foolish enough to pull its tail. Our diver is anything but an inattentive imbecile.”

Several people laughed.

“Then why did that shark charge him?” the man pressed.

“‘Charge’ is an overstatement. Sharks are attracted by bright and shiny objects, like a camera flash.”

“Won’t they eat those other fish in there?” someone else asked, setting off a flurry of questions from the group.

“Not as long as we keep Fred and Barney well-fed,” Dani said. “Nurse sharks are lazy hunters who forage at night when their prey is resting.”

“How often do you feed them?”

“Four times a week.”

“Why don’t you just throw the food in there instead of using tongs?”

“The trainers need to keep track of how much fish and squid each shark eats,” she explained. “And they also get vitamin supplements in their food.”

“How big do nurse sharks get?”

“They average seven to nine feet, but it’s possible they can reach fourteen feet.”

“How long do they live?”

“About twenty-five years in human care.”

“Human care? Let’s call it what it is—captivity.”

“Well—”

“Are these, like, the only sharks you have? Because they’re, like, totally lame,” said a bored-looking teenage girl.

“We have a lot of other species at Shark Pier, which is near the back of the property,” Dani answered.

“So, um, why are these here, then?”

“Fred and Barney came to us before we built Shark Pier. A local man had them at his home and gave them to us after they outgrew every tank he bought. They’ve settled in here, so why move them again? Think of them as the aquarium’s greeters, like the ones at Walmart, but with much sharper teeth.”

Dani smiled, but the teenager stayed stone-faced.

“What’s the most bloodthirsty shark in this part of Florida?” asked a man wearing a floppy fishing hat and a sticky layer of coconut-scented suntan lotion.

“We prefer not to use words like bloodthirsty and vicious. Yes, they’re top predators, but sharks don’t hunt humans. Of the more than three hundred and fifty species, fewer than ten are considered dangerous to people.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” the man accused, his hands folded across his chest. Then he spoke with a deliberate pause between each word, as if she had rocks for brains. “Which sharks should we be most afraid of when we’re in local waters?”

“Bull sharks. They’re aggressive and unpredictable.” Dani’s smile wavered, but she kept it pasted on her face.

“Anybody been attacked?”

“Off Gulf Shore? No. None reported, anyway. South of here, in the Tampa Bay area? Yes, but not many. You don’t have to worry. I swim in the Gulf all the time.”

“Hey, it only takes one bite! What happened with those attacks? This is stuff we have a right to know!”

“Yes, sir, absolutely,” she agreed. “Nobody’s trying to keep secrets. In 2000, a nine-foot bull shark feeding on mullet killed a retiree who jumped off his dock near St. Pete Beach and Gulfport.”

Several guests gasped, and someone muttered, “Good Lord!”

“That happened in Boca Ciega Bay, where nine years later a teenage girl was swimming—”

“Wait a minute. Boca Ciega Bay? Oh! My! God! We’re staying right near there!” shrieked an older woman who looked like she’d just come off the beach and now regretted sticking even a toe in the surf.

“Did that girl get eaten?” the young Shark Week fan asked before Dani could say anything else.

“No, she was bitten just below the knee. It was serious but not life-threatening.”

“We need to stay someplace else if there are killer sharks in that bay,” the woman insisted, on the verge of a full-blown frenzy.

“Ma’am, sharks are found in every major body of saltwater in the world,” Dani said.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better, young lady?”

Dani’s shirt was sticky with sweat. “Your chances of being attacked are about one in eleven million,” she assured the woman. That didn’t seem to satisfy her, so Dani launched into tips for lessening that already minuscule risk.

“Don’t swim alone, at twilight, after dark, or if you’re bleeding. Don’t wear shiny jewelry. Be extra cautious in murky water. Don’t splash a lot or let pets in the water with you. Avoid going in the water where people are fishing.”

The woman’s face looked like she’d just sucked on a lemon, and the man who’d raised the specter of shark attack gave an impatient huff.

Geez, what’s with these people? Dani thought, sneaking another look at the diver with the camera. I’d be safer in there with him, not to mention with Barney and Fred.

 

 

The Shore Thing is available for pre-order from Liquid Silver Books at www.lsbooks.com/pre-order-coming-soon-romance-books-c322.php. Order now and buy the book for $3.99, which is 20 percent off the regular cover price.

 

 

Now, a little about me. I’m a veteran of some 30 years of newspaper work in the Tampa area, most of it with The Tampa Tribune, and work as a freelance editor in addition to writing books.

In July 2013, I published the e-novella Getting Her Money’s Worth, inspired by and dedicated to a close friend who died in June 2012 after a failed bone marrow transplant.

In my spare time, I greet and educate the public as a volunteer at Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home to movie star dolphins Winter and Hope from the Dolphin Tale films.

I also enjoy reading; riding on the back of my husband’s Harley-Davidson; playing with my pets; and cheering for my favorite NASCAR drivers and Tampa Bay area sports teams.

 

Visit me at my website, www.AnnetteMardis.com, my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AuthorAnnetteMardis and my Pinterest boards at www.pinterest.com/annettemardis/the-shore-thing/ and  www.pinterest.com/annettemardis/getting-her-moneys-worth/. Follow me on twitter: @AnnetteMardis48.

I also post book reviews, publishing news and other reader-friendly content through a public forum at www.facebook.com/PostHereReaders.

Friday Favourite: CN Blue edition

For the last Friday Favourite, I featured one of my favourite Korean rock bands, FT Island. This time, I’m going to introduce another Korean rock band, CN Blue. They are under the same label as FT Island and are also extremely popular all over the world.

So, what do you think?

Of bees and ducks.

My lovely son started off his life with a bang. I had pregnancy induced high blood pressure and gestational diabetes. I was induced at 38 weeks and soon enough the nurse was uttering a word no woman in labour ever wants to hear: Crap!

He was ready to be born and it was a mad scramble to find someone, anyone, to deliver him. He was born with just one push, the doctor telling me to slow down the whole time.

Because I had a high risk pregnancy, I didn’t get to see him right away. I remember looking up and seeing his bassinet surrounded by six doctors. They moved out of the way and six more people came in. My husband was hovering near our son, while my own mother was holding my hand, telling me everything was okay.

It turns out that he was seen by thirty people in under ten minutes.

But he was perfect and healthy and he was ours.

It wasn’t until he was 18 months old that we noticed something wasn’t quite right. He didn’t speak. Not one single word. Not mama, not dada, not dog, not anything…

We made an appointment at a local speech therapy clinic after having his hearing tested. They determined our son had a speech development delay. Not just a vocabulary delay, but an expressive language delay. We started therapy as soon as a spot opened up.

It was a lot of hard work. There were flash cards, tongue exercises and lots of mirrors. Very slowly, his vocabulary grew, as did his ability to express his emotions in words.

Now he’s talking up a storm. He still has trouble with certain sounds and occasionally throws a tantrum instead of using his words, but what kid doesn’t?

What does this have to do with bees or ducks? Well, I have a habit of giving my kids animal nicknames. Our daughter is “monkey” and our son is “ducky”.

Just recently my son as started calling me “bee.” When I asked him why, he responded in his cute little voice: “Because bee is for the best. And you’re the best.”

Oh, the joy of words!

Friday Favourite! FT Island edition: Be Free

So, many authors listen to music or white noise while they write. It’s actually a question I get a lot. What do I listen to when I write?

Perhaps I’m the odd one in the bunch. After all, I’m the white girl who lives in Canada. But I actually grew up in an area of Toronto called Little Korea. I know three different ways to say hello, thank you and say random things in Korean and Mandarin that I don’t really know the meaning of.

So, maybe it won’t be too weird to say I love K-Pop. Yes. Korean pop music. My brother-in-law discovered my not-so secret stash of k-pop a couple of months ago, and now our kids groove to Big Bang together.

Honestly, though…one of my favourite groups is actually a K-Rock band called FT Island. They have been around since 2007, and were ridiculously young when they started. They do, indeed, play their own instruments and are heavily involved with their music, from writing and composing many of the songs on their albums to producing their live concerts. They’ve just released a new c.d., which I’m dying to get my hands on. For now, I’ll share the music video with you.

What is very interesting about them is that, though they are indeed Korean, they enjoy great success in Japan and this song is in Japanese.

Give it a listen. You might love what you hear!

An erotic romance excerpt: Steam

It occurs to me that I never posted an excerpt for my newest erotic romance novel, Steam. How remiss! This book is a little different from what I normally write, but I personally think it is my best work yet.

So without further ado…

Sunny Kerrigan has never quite figured out what was wrong with her. After being raised in a series of foster homes, and even a stint in the local psychiatric unit as a child, it’s not until she’s visited by two strange men that she finally gets some answers about her past. She’s a witch. A fire handler, to be specific.

Sloan Shirer, the MacAlister water handler, has never gotten over the death of his wife. But the arrival of the new fire handler, with a personality that matches her name, shakes him to the core. Suddenly, he’s feeling things he’d thought died all those years ago with his wife.

Sunny and Sloan struggle to find their way as the prophesied battle looms ever closer in this steamy new series.

 

Excerpt

Sloan Shirer laughed at the sight his wife, Dara, made dancing in the rain, arms spread out and face tilted skyward. “It’s beautiful, Sloan,” she called, twirling around.

“You’re beautiful,” he called back. He made the drops swirl around her, just to hear her laugh.

“Sloan,” Raven shouted. “I’m glad you’re having fun, but we’re training.”

Dara giggled and pointed at Sloan. “Yeah, Sloan. You’re supposed to be training,” she teased.

He stuck out his tongue at his wife and focused on his task again. As the water handler for the MacAlister clan, the water was his to manipulate to his liking. If he wanted to create a whirlpool in a pond, it was easily done. If he wanted to manipulate a lake into one giant wave, he could. And if he wanted to create the perfect storm, he could.

Well, maybe he couldn’t create the perfect storm on his own. But if he combined his magic with the magic of the clan’s three other handlers, they could do just about everything. “Anna,” he called. “Can you increase the wind?”

He couldn’t hear her response, but her husband, Addison, flashed him a thumbs up. It took a few minutes before he felt the breeze increase and a quick glance in the air handler’s direction showed him she concentrated fiercely. Her intense focus didn’t surprise him. Anna had only come into her magic a couple of years ago and was still learning how to manipulate it to her liking.

As soon as his magic collided with Anna’s the intensity of the storm increased until it raged around them.

Raven, the MacAlister clan leader, appeared in front of him. “You’re doing well, Sloan. The dragons are impressed.”

Sloan felt his chest puff out. The dragon queen, her son, and a small contingent of their guards had joined them that morning. They had been allied with the dragons for a few years and their queen seemed to be fascinated with their magic. Her son, Prince Gareth, was her second in command, and had taken to accompanying her on her visits. To be complimented by such ancient beings was a huge honor.

Once the storm was sufficiently large enough, it was time for the other handlers to join in. The earth handler added her power first, making the ground rumble and shake under their feet. She was skilled enough to stop the ground from shifting under his feet and he smiled his thanks at her.

The fire handler shot a stream of fire directly into the heart of the storm, heating the rain until it exploded into a superheated steam. “That would cook anyone who wandered by,” Sloan shouted with glee.

He wasn’t bloodthirsty. He didn’t want to kill any innocents. But the tensions between the MacAlister clan and the Keita and Takahashi clans, the two other witch clans, were increasing at a rapid pace. The handlers had to get their powers in sync or risk heavy casualties when the battle finally broke out between the three clans.

Leith MacAlister paced the perimeter of the storm anxiously. His long blond hair whipped around his face and his mouth was turned down in a frown. It wasn’t unusual for Leith to be frowning. In fact, Sloan sometimes thought Leith’s face would crack if he tried to smile. The pacing was unusual, however.

He didn’t have a chance to ask Leith what was wrong though. It was getting harder to control his magic now that the three other handlers had mingled their powers with his.

Cupping his hands, he began shaping the rain into a water funnel. If he could master holding the water funnel during a storm of this proportion, he could do anything. Anna’s magic tugged against his before merging with it.

The sensation of combining their magics was mildly unpleasant. The power buzzed up his arms, adding to the strength of his own magic until it was almost impossible to hold, but it wasn’t the most uncomfortable thing about the whole experience. For some reason, every time he succeeded in joining his magic with that of another handler, all his walls seemed to fall away. He could feel Anna’s presence in the back of his mind, like a silent observer to his every thought and emotion.

Of course, it went both ways. Once they’d established their connection, he could clearly see her determination to create the storm. He knew she feared they’d fail and disappoint the clan. Her nervousness of preforming such a feat in front of spectators was so acute, he could have sworn it was his own feeling.

He tried his very best to remain ignorant to any of her feelings that weren’t relevant to what they were doing, but apparently, she and Addison had had a particularly satisfying night in bed.

Barely keeping the amused grin off his face, he concentrated on the task at hand. The addition of the wind created a funnel more massive than he had expected. “Awesome!” he shouted.

Raven and Leith started waving their arms in the air. He could see their mouths moving, but the wind whisked their words away. It looked like they wanted the handlers to end the storm.

It was easier said than done. Pulling back that amount of magic into his body would be excruciating. He resigned himself to an uncomfortable evening and started absorbing his power into his very cells.

It was slow going. The earth handler had ceased the earthquake and the fire handler had extinguished the flames. It would be harder for him and Anna to stop their storm, since their magic had been let out a lot more.

Finally, he had the rain slowed to a drizzle. He looked around for his leader to question the sudden decision and was confronted with his worst nightmare.

The ground was stained with blood. Raven, Leith and the other handlers were surrounded by the enemy and were engaged in a battle to save their own lives.

Everywhere he looked, there was another Takahashi or Keita witch or one of their allies. Werewolves were snapping their jaws and lunging at everyone they considered an enemy, and vampires were busy tearing out people’s throats.

How had the other clans figured out what they were doing?

He summoned a single, massive jet of water and used it to knock a werewolf off Raven and a vampire away from Leith. He swiveled his head around frantically, searching for Dara in the chaos. All he could see was Anna, who had conjured a funnel cloud to blow the other witches, werewolves, and vampires away from the MacAlister clan.

The dragons had shifted and clawed at the vampires, who seemed to be concentrating their attacks on them, blowing fire at them.

He sent another jet of water out, this time directly at a Takahashi handler, who hurled boulders left, right and center.

A searing pain shot through him and he collapsed, landing on his hands and knees. He struggled to his feet and had almost made it when another lightning shaft of agony bolted through his system, followed by an empty chasm in his soul. He’d never experienced something like this personally, but he’d heard whispers about it from the earth and fire handler. Just as he had felt Anna come into her magic two years ago, he keenly felt the death of at least two of the MacAlister handlers.

Fighting through the pain, he forced himself to his feet and noticed the wind still blew. Anna must be alive. Which meant the earth handler and the fire handler were dead, their magic now transferred to two unborn MacAlister children.

They were hopelessly out numbered, and now that two of their handlers were gone, they didn’t have much hope of surviving the battle. He hoped Raven had enough time to get back to clan grounds and set the evacuation plan in place. If he didn’t give the order for the clan to disperse, they would be easier to kill than fish in a barrel. The clan would be decimated.

He shook his head, trying to clear it of the lingering pain, and focused on drawing up as much water from the soil as possible. Maybe he could create a giant wave and flood the attackers out.

A scream pierced the air, and Sloan spun around to find Anna kneeling on the ground. He made a mad dash for her. If the MacAlisters had any hope of surviving at all, they needed both him and Anna. They couldn’t be down three handlers. It wasn’t until he skidded to a halt next to the fallen handler that he realized she wasn’t screaming because she was hurt.

The air handler cradled her husband’s head in her lap. Addison’s eyes were open but his stare was empty. Blood trickled from both his nose and his ears. Sloan pawed at the man’s neck, searching for a pulse. “It’s no use,” Anna said in a dead voice. “I turned around and he was holding his head before he collapsed. It had to be one of the damn Takahashi handlers. One of them must have gotten into his head when I wasn’t paying attention.”

Sloan bent over the fallen witch. His pupils were blown wide and the whites of his eyes were bloodied. It certainly looked like a psychic attack.

“When I started running toward him, I blinked and realized I was back where I started. The Keita handlers stole some time from us.”

Fuck. It was no secret the Keita clan handlers could manipulate time. If they had reversed time, even for a few seconds, there was no telling what had happened. Everything he remembered from the past few minutes could actually never have happened. He needed to find his wife.

The battle still raged around him, but Sloan risked a quick glance around, locating Dara, who was using her magic to strengthen Raven’s.

Reassured, he turned back to Anna, only to find her pressing a kiss to her dead husband’s forehead. She eased him to the ground and rose to her feet. Her eyes flashed and the wind increased dramatically. Suddenly, a funnel cloud appeared. Anna screamed, a sound of pure fury, and sent the tornado racing toward the Takahashis.

Sloan watched for a few seconds, stunned by the sheer power behind the wind funnel, before spinning around to run to Dara. She could help him bolster his magic so he could wash these fuckers away.

In a frantic attempt to locate her, Sloan eased up on the rain and strained his eyes.

His heart stopped when he finally caught sight of Dara again, in time to see a Takahashi witch wave his hand and a massive boulder go flying toward his wife.

He screamed for Anna to blow the boulder off of its deadly course, but it was too late. It crashed into Dara, knocking her to the ground and crushing her under its weight.

His heart was trying to pound its way out of his chest by the time he stumbled to a stop next to his wife. He redirected his water jet and managed to push the boulder off of Dara but she didn’t move. Instinctively, he knew she was already gone.

A different kind of pain, not physical but still as potent, hit him and he dropped to his knees and examined her. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her abdomen, which was surely mangled beyond belief. There was no way she could have survived, but he searched for a pulse anyway. Nothing.

Desperate for any thread of hope, Sloan threw up a wall of water to surround them and shuffled to her side, ready to administer CPR.

He regretted his actions as soon as he pressed his palms to her chest and his hands sank farther into her flesh than they ever should have.

There wasn’t even a word to describe the murderous wrath that swamped him. Letting the wall drop, Sloan surged to his feet and threw his arms in the air. He didn’t even attempt to control his magic. Instead, he let it flow unchecked, allowing it to grow and evolve, until it seemed to have a life of its own.

His magic collided suddenly with Anna’s. The resulting storm was truly terrifying but he didn’t care. He had enough sense in the face of his grief to make sure none of his own clan were harmed. Anna seemed to have the same thought because Raven and Leith were only damp and relatively unruffled.

When it was over, there was no sign of either the Takahashi or the Keita clans, or their allies. The dragons were gone too, but that didn’t really faze him.

Knees buckling, Sloan sank to the ground as grief overwhelmed him. He gathered Dara’s broken body in his arms and buried his face in her hair. Anna sobbed somewhere nearby, and he could make out Leith’s voice as he spoke lowly to her.

Raven sat down next to him and Sloan lifted his head. Tears were streaming down his leader’s cheeks. “Come on, Sloan. We need to get back to the castle. We have to give the evacuation order.”

But Sloan didn’t care. He didn’t care about the two dead handlers, his mourning leader or even Anna, who was still crying for her husband. He didn’t care about separating the clan they worked so hard to bond or the fact that they had to wait twenty-five years before the new handlers would come into their magic.

All he cared about was his wife, now dead, and the sucking wound her death left in his chest where his heart should be.

Liquid Silver Books  Amazon  Kobo  Nook Books  All Romance E-books 

 

Summer Camp and Volcanos.

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged about anything but my books, and for that, I apologize. But I’m back with another post about one of my favourite people in the world, my daughter!

On Monday, I took my oldest baby to one of our local community centres and put her on a bus to go to her first week of residential camp.

All of a sudden, it hit me. She’s not my baby any more. Not even close.

I should have noticed the fact that she’d started growing up sooner. I mean, this is a girl who decided she wanted to be a vulcanologist when she was four years old.

Yes, I said vulcanologist. Don’t know what that is? Neither did I until she enlightened me. A volcano expert.

She’s also decided that she wants to be an author, just like mommy. Of course, I haven’t told her what I write yet.

But back to camp.

She has been asking for years to go to summer camp. So this past January, she finally sweet talked my husband and I into signing her up for a week of camp. She’s now gone for a week of swimming, canoeing, sailing, archery and BMX biking.

Don’t forget the campfires. She is really looking forward to those, although I’m not sure if she’s looking forward to learning the songs or the s’mores. Possibly both.

I was prepared for a few tears when she left. She’s still quite young after all. But she climbed aboard the bus without a backward glance. Just before the bus pulled out of the parking lot, she looked out the window and waved at me, wearing a big, confident smile.

As I watched the bus leave, taking my baby with it, I realized that she was doing far more than heading off to camp for the first time.

She was charging off into her future.

Guest Post ~ Siren Allen

~ Christmas Fantasy has been re-released. ~

As an author I must say that having your publishing house close its doors, three months after your book is released is very disheartening. But I’ve managed to bounce back! Christmas Fantasy is back and it’s no longer a novella, it’s now a full length novel with new scenes, new characters, a new ending and a new cover. Christmas Fantasy has been revamped and guess what… It’s only $1.99! Consider this an early Christmas present from yours truly, Siren Allen.

~Christmas Fantasy Blurb~

One bite was all it took.

It’s that time of year again. Alyssa Blakely is busy writing in her fantasy diary, filling it with all her forbidden, sexual fantasies. The star: her very sexy boss, Devin Jordan. Too bad for her, he’s never given her a second glance.

Or so she thought…

After a steamy kiss under the mistletoe and a night of wild sex, Alyssa has the bite to prove just how wrong she was.

Devin Jordan has found his mate. The only problem: she’s human. He’s not. Can he prove to her that his inner beast can be both naughty and nice? Or will her fear of the unknown and a threat neither of them saw coming keep him from claiming her?

 

~Christmas Fantasy Excerpt~

#TeamDevin

 

Devin took a deep, calming breath. Alyssa was off limits. Even if she were single and interested in him, he still couldn’t have her. It was too risky. She made him feel things he wasn’t used to. He didn’t know if he could handle touching her without hurting her.

Hurting Alyssa was something he would never do. He would just have to endure her presence. He would take pleasure in the shy smiles she cast his way every now and again. He would enjoy the laughs they shared while working late some evenings. He would maintain the professional relationship they had, even though he yearned for a taste of her.

Devin turned and placed his back against the window. He stared at the door that separated him from the woman he desired. A piece of metal and space was all that separated his body from hers. It would only take a couple of strides for him to reach the door.

One pull on the door knob and he could send it flying across the room. Then he would be face to face with the one woman in this world that made him wish he wasn’t a beast with a conscience. If he had no conscience, he would take her, now, against his desk, against her desk, against the wall, on every damn hard surface in this building.

He would make sure she enjoyed it. He would make sure he pleased her so thoroughly that she wouldn’t even think of leaving him, even when she found out that he was not the man he pretended to be. Devin sighed, but that would never happen. Because though he was a beast, he did indeed have a conscience

That conscience kept her safe from him… for now.

 

~Christmas Fantasy Excerpt~

                                                                     #TeamAlyssa

 

Alyssa took a deep breath before turning around to enter Ms. Cora’s house. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Devin standing in the door way waiting on her. She’d thought he’d gone inside to put the decorations up. He leaned against the door with his arms crossed, a sexy smile on his face. His jeans fit him perfectly and his white T-shirt showed just how muscular his arms were. Alyssa took another deep breath before heading up the stairs.

“Excuse me,” she said when she reached the top step, but Devin did not move out of the way. He just continued staring at her, wearing a sexy grin that promised long nights full of pleasure filled moans.

Stop it, Alyssa, stop fantasizing.

“Excuse me,” she repeated, louder.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you pass.”

Alyssa’s mouth dropped open. “B-but why?” she stuttered. Devin tilted his head upward, and Alyssa followed his gaze. She spotted the mistletoe hanging in the doorway. She hurried up and closed her mouth before drool began to leak from her shocked lips. Did he really expect her to kiss him?

“Did you put that there?” she asked her voice sounding huskier than she intended. Devin shrugged nonchalantly.

Alyssa took yet another deep breath. “I don’t think that would be very professional of us if we kissed here.”

I so want to kiss you right here, right now. “It’s just a silly tradition anyway,” Alyssa  nervously pushed her bangs out of her eyes.

Devin grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him. Alyssa gasped in shock as her body came in contact with his underneath the mistletoe. That was definitely an erection she was feeling. Flutters of excitement spread throughout Alyssa’s belly. Alyssa tried not to shiver in his arms, but she couldn’t help it. Knowing that he was hard…for her. She shivered again, unable to finish her thought.

“Are you cold?” he asked her wrapping his arms tightly around her body.

Alyssa couldn’t speak. She wasn’t cold, she was on fire. She had to be dreaming. There was no way Devin Jordan was holding her in his arms with a full erection throbbing against her stomach. Alyssa moaned and immediately regretted it when she looked up into his face.

Did his eyes just turn black? She wasn’t sure. Before she could utter a word, his head was slowly making its way to hers. Alyssa closed her eyes, but she didn’t back away. There was no way she was going to miss this. She didn’t know what was going on, but she was okay with it.

The moment Devin’s lips touched hers, she felt her whole world shift; she shuddered as thoughts of him fucking her hard raced through her mind. His kiss was everything she imagined it would be.

She felt his tongue flick against her own and she moaned again. Her body desperately needed this. She was primed and ready for whatever he could deliver. Without thought of consequences, Alyssa wrapped her hands around Devin’s neck and pulled him closer to her, deepening the kiss Devin had initiated.

 

Christmas Fantasy is available now!

Buy Links:

 

Amazon U.S: http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Fantasy-Diary-Book-ebook/dp/B00KXE6SF4/

 

Amazon U.K: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-Fantasy-Diary-Book-ebook/dp/B00KXE6SF4/

 

Author Links:

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorsirenallen

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SirenAllen

 

Website: http://sirenallen.com

 

*Sign up to receive updates on Siren’s new releases and info on book two of the Fantasy Diary Series – http://eepurl.com/Wr6Jn

 

Guest Post: Aferrum Brotherhood Series

Alex Carreras

Bio: Alex Carreras believes there is nothing sexier than a hot, naked man with a cocky attitude and a sultry smile.

Always on the hunt for inspiration, you will find Alex wherever there are attractive men, hopefully in a state of undress. And since he lives in South Florida where the average yearly temperature is a balmy 82 Fahrenheit, there is certainly no shortage of inspiration.

Find Alex on his Facebook – Blog

 

Blurb: Caeli Aferrum found himself in the Midwest unsure what to expect from the human race.

He was searching Earth for a partner he could call his own along with some of his brethren. After a few beers and a name change to, Kyle he found the curious creatures full of questions. They appeared less scary and a whole lot sexier, especially the one named Hank.

 

When Hank Cutter entered Rascals Bar the last thing he expected in his small town of North Fork, Kansas was to meet a man. There was only one gay man in town and that happened to be him. He finds himself faced with a startling truth: Kyle is actually a Ferrumis in search of a mate he intends to have for life on the spacecraft Fronza, a stolen Thorean ship manned by seven other aliens who are roaming the galaxy with no particular destination in mind. He knew love came in many different shapes and sizes, but did his have to have a smooth metallic-colored tail and a set of razor sharp fangs?

 

Can their love span species lines and quench the growing lust in Caeli in time to save him from his Needing? Or will Hank deny his growing feelings to stay safe and sound on good ol’ planet Earth?

 

Buy link:

Amazon

Barnes and Nobles

ARe

 

Lea Barrymire

Bio: About Lea Barrymire

Lea lives in Western New York with her hubby, three children, and miscellaneous critters. Before the rugrats, she lived a life of adventure, following her husband all over Europe with the US military. She’s slept in a car outside Paris, drove six hours just to see tulips in the Netherlands, and knocked ash from her shoes at Pompeii. Now she spends her time in life’s adventures at soccer games, PTA meetings and school plays.

Lea has loved reading from a very young age, spending many sleepless nights devouring books. Science fiction and paranormal were her favorite genres to read as a teenager, and that love bled into her adult life. She started writing during a bout of insomnia, to fill time, and found it filled a creative void. Now she communes regularly with the characters in her head and tries not to laugh out loud when they say something funny.

When Lea isn’t reading, writing or corralling kids, she enjoys watching movies and sciencey shows, or just kicking back and listening to some music.

 

Find Lea on herWebsite – Facebook –Twitter -Blog

 

 

Blurb: Luke has given up the idea of finding someone to spend his life with, at least until he’s no longer working for his uncle and living in a small town. When his eyes meet those of a sexy stranger after a hockey game he’s almost tempted to listen to his friends. They’d been urging him to give in and find a man to share some intimacy with. Luke’s ideals don’t mesh well with the idea of a one-night stand.

 

Sycita isn’t an ordinary human looking for a man to sate his lusts. He’s not a human at all. Walking into the ice rink had been the best thing he could have done while searching for a male to use during his Needing. What Syc didn’t expect was the draw to not only bed but to keep the human male.

 

Can the two lovers conquer their differences, their burning lust and their families to find some semblance of happy ever after?

 

Buy Links: Coming soon

Steam

Sunny Kerrigan has never quite figured out what was wrong with her. After being raised in a series of foster homes, and even a stint in the local psychiatric unit as a child, it’s not until she’s visited by two strange men that she finally gets some answers about her past. She’s a witch. A fire handler, to be specific.

Sloan Shirer, the MacAlister water handler, has never gotten over the death of his wife. But the arrival of the new fire handler, with a personality that matches her name, shakes him to the core. Suddenly, he’s feeling things he’d thought died all those years ago with his wife. Sunny and Sloan struggle to find their way as the prophesied battle looms ever closer in this steamy new series.

This book has been previously published.