Empi Baryeh's Blog, page 31

Fall Into Romance Blog Hop Winners

It’s 23rd September! And you know what that means. Time to announce winners of the Fall Into Romance Blog Hop.

First off, I want to thank everyone who stopped by and left me a comment. It is so appreciated, especially since I know there were so many authors/blogs taking part in the hop. So thank you.

Just a refresher, there were two chances of winning: My Prize of two $5 Amazon gift cards to two lucky commenters, and the TRR grand prizes. If you visited my blog through the TRR link, you would have earned points toward the TRR draws for the grand prizes. For more info on that, go here.

And now the winners for my prizes…

Carolyn

and…

jmesparza821

Congrats to you both. You each win one $5 Amazon gift card. Expect your gifts in your in-box soon.

Meanwhile, don’t forget to check out TRR on the 25th for the announcement of their winners.

My Birthday Bash

It’s the best-est day in the world! (my b’day) and to celebrate, I’m giving away presents (although if you feel like giving me a gift, I’m accepting those too .

Here’s what I’m giving you…

SALE

To start with, I’m having a sale. For today only, both of my e-books are selling for $0.99 each, and the print edition of Chancing Faith is 40% off!

BOOK GIVEAWAY

I am also giving away 5 free e-books – winners’ choice of either of my books – but there’s a catch. You have to have read one book for a chance to win a copy of the other. What you have to do is leave me a comment telling me:

Which of my books you’ve read
What you liked about the book
Where you got your copy

If you’ve read both of my books, I will give you two choices:

an extra point in the gift certificate draw, or
select a friend to gift the free copy to

I will pick the most honest and interesting answers, meaning these prizes are a little bit selective, which is why I’m giving five chances for winning instead of one, so get commenting!

GIFT CERTIFICATE

Finally, I’m giving away a $15 Amazon gift Card through a Rafflecopter giveaway. Just follow the directions.

Winners will be announced on 21st September, 2013.

Just a little something to say a big thank you to you for sticking with me.

Fall Into Romance Blog Hop

Blog hops are fun, aren’t they? I mean, really, you get to meet new authors, discover new books and win prizes. It’s a win-win (win) situation. So obviously, I had to join the “Fall Into Romance Blog Hop” ,  being organised by The Romance Reviews.

As part of the hop, I am supposed to promote a romance novel, so just in case you didn’t see my guest author post last month, I’m doing my spotlight “Love Through Time” by Nana Prah.

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with fantasy romance. On the one hand, the practical side of me thinks it can happen so what’s the point, but there’s a side of me (the part that secretly wishes fairy tales were true and that I could get superhuman abilities) that draws me to the possibility…

Besides, who doesn’t love a bad-ass heroine? Nana’s heroine, Jasmine is skilled martial artist – good enough to make her hero worry about not being able to protect her as well as she can do for herself (Men!).

Here’s a blurb:

Defending her family – no problem. Recalling past lives – maybe just a small problem. Taking a chance on love again – well…

Jasmine Gibson has her world turned upside down when she meets gorgeous Sean Taylor. He’s the first man she’s been attracted to since her fiancé dumped her two years ago. But when the disturbing daydreams start, Jasmine begins to fear that her actions in a past life may have finally caught up with her.

Sean finds it impossible to stay away from Jasmine even though he can’t shake the inexplicable feeling of betrayal, simmering deep inside him every time he sees her.

To complicate things, someone is out to hurt Jasmine and every time she and Sean are together, the police have to be called. Even if Jasmine can make Sean trust her, the two of them may not stay alive long enough to enjoy their love this time around.

GET YOUR COPY!

Black Opal Books | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | All Romance eBooks |

GIVE-AWAY

You’ve got two chances to win here.

My Prize: I am giving away two $5 Amazon gift cards to two lucky commenters. (Winners of my prize will be announced on will be announced after 23rd September, 2013!)
Grand Prizes: TRR is also giving out load of other prizes. So whether you win my prize or not, you get entered in the TRR draw for a chance to win one of the grand prizes. Find out more here. ( Winners will be announced on or before September 25, 2013. )

Take full advantage of this blog hog and visit as many participating author blogs as you can.

Have a wonderful day!

Birthday Surprises Coming Up

My birthday is coming up next week and I will celebrating it with you this year. That’s right

Come back here on 18th September (next week Wednesday) and find out what prizes are up for grabs and how you can win. Please share with your friends.

In the meantime, have a blessed week!

Spotlight on Stacy-Deanne (@stacydeanne) + book giveaway

Hi folks. It is my pleasure to welcome Stacy-Deanne to my blog for a chat as she celebrates her latest book release, The Wild Life. 

Stacey, tell us about The Wild Life

When Albany Detective Brianna “Bree” Morris learns that Cuban crime lord Milan Varela wants her estranged father dead, she heads off to Miami to find out why. With Homicide Detective Jayce Matthews and her ex-lover Detective Steven Kemp she devises a plot to get close to the Varela organization.

Brianna finds herself attracted to the older Milan and falls deep into his web of seduction while fighting to keep her mind on her mission. Milan is equally drawn to Brianna and vows to win her trust and her heart.

Is Milan really the villain when it comes to Brianna’s father? Or is he the victim?

Is Brianna’s father really in danger or is there more to the story than anyone could ever imagine?

Brianna risks her life to save her father’s but will she end up losing her own?

Ooh, sounds interesting and I love your cover.

What readers would enjoy The Wild Life and why?

People who have read and enjoyed the previous two releases in the series will definitely not wanna miss this one! So far feedback from advanced reviews is that The Wild Life is the best in the series. Anyone who enjoys interracial romance mixed in with top-notch suspense will not be disappointed. People who find mobster romances sexy will definitely want to check out the book as well.

Looks like you catered for a variety of palates.  Do you feel readers will relate to your heroine? Why or why not?

Yes. I’ve gotten great feedback from readers who love Bree. The thing about Bree is that I make sure to show a vulnerable side of her because too often, police women are shown as hollow or hard. Bree is a strong woman, but just because she is a cop does not mean she is invincible or that she always has the right answers. It also doesn’t mean that she’s never afraid. I do my best to show different sides of every character because this mirrors how people are in real life.

Why did you begin the series? 

The series began in 2011 with “Giving up the Ghost”. The second book, “The Season of Sin” came out in 2012. Bree and Steven originally appeared in my ’08 release “Melody”. I fell in love with the characters and there was so much I wanted to do with them. Bree and Steven spoke to me immediately and I fell so in love with them so much that I wanted to give them a series.

There are many interracial relationships going on in The Wild Life. Was this planned or just a coincidence?

Because I do write interracial romantic subplots, I always try to have an interracial romance, but no I didn’t plan for all the interracial romances that are in this book. LOL! There are about three different pairings in this book such as black/Latino, white/black, and white/Latino. It just turned out that way. But that’s what I love about myself. I don’t focus on color, but chemistry between the characters. Some writers try to put their characters with who they think they should love but I don’t. I let the characters tell ME who they are attracted to and I go from there. The man can be purple and the woman green. If they have chemistry, that’s all that matters.

Was it hard constructing a well-rounded bad guy who has a heart like Milan?

No because I’ve always been one that could see different sides in people. I always try to make sure my characters are not one-dimensional yet believable. No one is all bad or all good. Milan is a mafia kingpin, but he is also a passionate lover, endearing mentor, and caring father. He separates his business dealings (no matter how vile) from the ones he loves. This is how many real-life mobsters are. People see them as the big bad villains only, but behind the corruption are people who have families and loved ones they care about. It was important to show Milan’s good points for Bree to struggle with her feelings for him. She wants to hate him because he is supposed to be this evil person, but ends up caring for him.

The mafia is an interesting twist. What made you come up with it?

The truth? The mafia is sexy! Mobsters are the perfect anti-heroes. Women love bad guys. I think we all like a little bad in our men when it comes to our fantasies. Nothing could be sexier than a man with money and power who gets it through corrupt means and makes no apologies for it. Of course, most women wouldn’t go near a mobster in real life, but this is a story. LOL! In fiction we are allowed to have dangerous fun.

Where can readers find you online?

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Mailing List

 

Purchase The Wild Life

Amazon

Giveaway Question

Do you, as a reader, feel it’s important to relate to the main characters of a novel? What makes you take to a character and why?

Five people who provide the most interesting answer to this question will each win an e-book copy of The Wild Life.
Giveaway ends at 8 pm Central Time. E-book copies will be emailed to participants by Stacy-Deanne. Commenters must leave email address with comment to be eligible.

And the winner of “Love Through Time” is…

Hi again!

I hope I haven’t kept anyone is suspense. Oh who am I kidding, I thought I’d let the suspense simmer on for about a week (teeheehee), which ended yesterday, so now I’m ready to announce a winner of my prize: a brand spanking new book by Nana Prah!

And the winner is …

Iris Anie-Annan!

Congratulations, Iris. Have fun reading. Please send me your email address using either the “contact me” form on this blog or my Facebook page.

That’s if for today, people. Happy Thursday (or as some will call it, almost-end-of the week)

 

10 Things I didn’t know before I got published by @NanaPrah + giveaways

Hi people,

I’m especially excited to introduce you to a fellow Black Opal Books (and Ghanaian) author, Nana Prah, as she celebrates the release of her debut novel, Love Through Time. I met Nana when she entered a romance writing competition that I was judging, and it’s been a wonderful treat for me to watch her journey from second runner-up to published author (not the same book).

To celebrate her release, Nana Prah is having a blog tour at the end of which she will be giving away three (3) $10 Amazon gift certificates (details below).

Meanwhile, I’m also giving away one free copy of her book, Love Through Time, to one lucky commenter on this blog post.

Let me tell you a bit ABOUT NANA.

She was born in Ghana, West Africa, raised in the US and currently resides in Ghana where she loves her job as a writer and nurse educator. She has been writing since she can remember (in her journal) and has been an avid reader of romance novels since the eighth grade. She has finally been able to utilize the years and years of inadvertent research into writing her own romance novels where love always conquers all.

And she can be found online at:

Blog | Twitter: @NanaPrah | Facebook: Nana Prah, Author

So…

I’m going to sign off here and let Nana Prah have her way with my blog (*sigh* it sounded much better in my head).

***

Empi has allowed me to post on her lovely blog today. I hope I don’t get too comfortable and take up a permanent residence. Empi wanted me to write a list blog post so here I go:

10 THINGS I DIDN’T KNOW BEFORE I GOT PUBLISHED (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

The overuse of adverbs is bad, bad, bad when writing a novel. Stephen King said so himself.
Rejection is a horrible, heartbreaking, necessary aspect of success.
You can’t escape promoting your own work, no matter who you are, how much money you have, how many books you have written, or how much you bribe people with chocolate.
An author should show not tell (I’m still working on grasping this concept).
Authors are lovely people to have as friends once you take them off of their pedestal (ahem, Empi – author extraordinaire).
The term pantser (someone who doesn’t go by an outline when writing), the word cracks me up.
GMCs – the most important acronym in the writing world. Goals, motivation and conflict. They are what drive a story.
Being an author warps how you read a book. You become critical of every written word. I miss reading solely for the mindless pleasure of it.
Editors are awesome. I’m pretty sure most of them wear wigs and toupees after pulling out all of their hair as they work on their author’s work.
Apparently authors of romance novels like to oogle half naked men and make lewd comments (I fit right in – giggling).

Thanks for spending some time with me. Here is some information about freshly released romance, Love Through Time.

BLURB:

Defending her family – no problem. Recalling past lives – maybe just a small problem. Taking a chance on love again – well…

Jasmine Gibson has her world turned upside down when she meets gorgeous Sean Taylor. He’s the first man she’s been attracted to since her fiancé dumped her two years ago. But when the disturbing daydreams start, Jasmine begins to fear that her actions in a past life may have finally caught up with her.

Sean finds it impossible to stay away from Jasmine even though he can’t shake the inexplicable feeling of betrayal, simmering deep inside him every time he sees her.

To complicate things, someone is out to hurt Jasmine and every time she and Sean are together, the police have to be called. Even if Jasmine can make Sean trust her, the two of them may not stay alive long enough to enjoy their love this time around.

EXCERPT

She was coming to terms about their past lives, but he was having trouble just dealing with her in this one.

“I must have been a great man in previous life,” Sean said jokingly, but Jasmine’s expression turned serious as she held onto the doorpost. “Are you all right? Are you getting lightheaded?”

“No, I’m fine.”

But he could tell something was bothering her. “Now you’re holding something back from me.”

“Do you believe in past lives?”

“I haven’t thought about it. I’ve seen so much in my travels around the world that I wouldn’t be surprised if it existed. Do you?”

“I think it might exist, and the thought about coming back and making your soul better is very appealing. At the same time it could be painful, especially if you hurt someone else in a past life and met them again in another.”

Sean felt a chill go up his spine. He knew there was something more to this conversation, but he couldn’t pin point it. He wanted to stay and talk with her about it, but he had to get back to studying.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. It was nothing but a friendly kiss, but he felt the shock of it straight down to the soles of his feet. Jasmine looked just as affected as he was.

GET YOUR COPY OF “LOVE THROUGH TIME”

Black Opal Books | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | All Romance eBooks |

GIVE-AWAY & BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

I am giving away 3 $10 Amazon gift-cards at the end of the blog tour through rafflecopter.

To enter, click on the link below: 

Rafflecopter – Love Through Time give-away

Finally, here’s a list of the dates and blogs that I will be on for the month of August.

Date
Blog


3-   August
Cathrina Constantine


5-   August
Kiru TayeWrites


6-   August
Debbie Christiana


7-   August
Lara Daniels Writes


8-   August
Kathy Bosman – Romance Author


9-   August
Lynda Frazier


13-   August
Empi Baryeh’s Blog


14-   August
Liv Rancourt


15-   August
Via Linden Lounge


16-   August
Readinpleasure


20-   August
The Basement Level Five


21-   August
Jami Gray’s Blog


22-   August
For Romance Lovers Only


27-   August
Conundrum Corner


28-   August
Rinelle Grey


29-   August
Dream Voyagers – Taryn Kincaid

Thanks for joining me and good luck in the give-away.

Nana Prah

#BookReview: To Tame a Sheikh by @OliviaGates

Disclaimer: No favours were exchanged for this review.

Where I got my copy: eHarlequin

To Tame a Sheikh (Pride of Zohayd, #1) by Olivia Gates

Blurb

He’d noticed her across a crowded room, and in that instant Sheikh Shaheen Aal Shalaan wanted her. With just a few words, Shaheen had his mystery woman in his bed, where she awakened passions he’d long denied.

Then the sheikh discovered his lover’s true identity. She was Johara, his childhood friend, now fully blossomed into a vision he could not do without. But his lineage demanded he take a wife of the throne’s choosing. Anything else would have catastrophic results. Yet how could he turn away from the woman who carried his baby?

 

My Review

I love Sheikhs and virgin heroines (so sue me) and To Tame a Sheikh puts the two together in one sizzling novel (score!).

drop-dead-gorgeous, wealthy, has-a-sense-of-entitlement  hero – check
exotic beauty, virgin heroine – check
Idyllic setting  - check
Sizzling sex scenes – check

It all begins when Johara decides to have one last glimpse/encounter with the man she’s loved since she was a kid before he enters into a marriage of state–as is the plight of many a royal hero . She doesn’t have huge expectations, but when he sets eyes on her, he’s spellbound. Against her wildest expectations, the nights ends in the most passionate encounter she’s ever had (I will stop here before I start giving spoilers).

The introduction of Shaheen might leave you  thinking he’s the typical drop-dead-gorgeous, wealthy, has-a-sense-of-entitlement  hero – which his is – but don’t be fooled, because he quickly shows us that he’s so much more. Which is what I loved most about him and this story. Frankly, I was a little surprised at his unflinching love for Johara, his absolute trust in and devotion to her. I haven’t read many romance novels where the hero is absolute in his trust for the heroine. Royal or not … Shaheen leaves you thinking this is the kind of man I want.

But when y0u strip all of that away, you are left with Olivia Gates’ unique voice and quirks that will make you enjoy not just the story but the narration of it. No one does desert heroes like she does!

My Rating

 

 

***

Character #Interview with Lord Mckenzie from Most Eligible Bachelor by @NanaPrah

Last month brought me a major life event and some very bad news, due to which I was unable to complete my A to Z posts. I will, therefore, continue this month as I got the impression that some readers looked forward to those posts.

For today, though, I’d like to invite you to meet/hang with my hero, Lord McKenzie (Most Eligible Bachelor) for his interview with author, Nana Prah on her blog. If you’ve read the book, I hope you enjoy the chance to spend some extra time with Lord (and find out what he’s up to post-MEB). If you haven’t read the book, I hope this interview leads you to get a copy

Okay, here’s the link to Lord McKenzie’s interview.

Enjoy!

 

Jessie by Joshua Kadison

We all know about someone who is or has been in a doomed relationship – you know, the kind that makes you shake your head and think, ‘the sex cannot be that good.’ You just can’t understand how that person keeps going back to that relationship.

Today’s pick, Jessie by Joshua Kadison, is a song that puts in words what must go through the minds of people who find themselves in those kinds of relationships. If you are one of those, you’re probably nodding right now and— (hey, put that phone down right now!)

*shakes head*

Anyway, “Jessie” was written by Joshua Kadison and was the lead single from his album, Painted Desert Serenade. It’s so simple and so recognisable/relatable – AND to be honest, Joshua Kadison has that bad boy look that gives him the perfect tortured hero look, which soooo makes the song work.

See for yourself:

♫ From a phone booth in Vegas, Jessie calls at 5 A.M.

To tell me how she’s tired of all of them

She says, “Baby I’ve been thinking about a trailer by the sea

We could go to Mexico, you, the cat, and me

We’ll drink Tequila and look for sea shells,

Now doesn’t that sound sweet?”

Ah Jessie you always do this every time I get back on my feet

Jessie paint your pictures about how it’s gonna be

By now I should know better, your dreams are never free

But tell me all about our little trailer by the sea

Jessie you can always sell any dream to me

Oh Jessie, you can always sell any dream to me

She asks me how the cat’s been, I say, “Moses he’s just fine”

But he used to think about you all the time

We finally took your pictures down off the wall

Jessie how do you always seem to know just when to call

She says, “Get your stuff together, bring Mose’ and drive real fast”

And I listen to her promise “I swear to God this time it’s gonna last”

Jessie paint your pictures about how it’s gonna be

By now I should know better, your dreams are never free

But tell me all about our little trailer by the sea

Jessie you can always sell any dream to me

Oh Jessie you can always sell any dream to me

Jessie you can always sell any dream to me

I’ll love you in the sunshine,

Lay you down in the warm white sand

And who knows maybe this time,

Things will turn out just the way you planned

Jessie paint your pictures about how it’s gonna be

By now I should know better, your dreams are never free

But tell me all about our little trailer by the sea

Jessie you can always sell any dream to me

Oh Jessie, you can always sell any dream to me♫