Karen Docter's Blog, page 265
June 17, 2014
Karen’s Killer Book Bench: Blue Abyss by Michele Callahan
KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
BLUE ABYSS by MICHELE CALLAHAN
Timewalker Chronicles ~ Book 3
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Blue Abyss by Michele Callahan
Excerpt
Prologue
Two Years Ago…
Raiden Tzachar staggered into the tiny healer’s room on his ship and took a seat beside the only occupied healing bed. The traitor had escaped him and even now raced for the surface of Earth. Blood soaked Raiden’s back from a dagger wound in his shoulder and poison burned through every cell, devouring him from the inside out.
The long, soft bed where his first in command, his brother by choice, lay dying was no longer a healing bed, it was soon to be an open grave. Gerrick’s normally pristine uniform lay sticky and stiff with blood. The substance still flowed freely from the wound in Gerrick’s thigh. Ignoring the pain from his own mortal wound, Raiden lay his hand on Gerrick’s shoulder so the giant of a man would know that he’d returned. His entire crew had perished today, but none of his men died alone.
“Gerrick. I’m here.” Raiden squeezed Gerrick’s shoulder tightly, unable to completely reign in his rage.
“Did you kill him?” Gerrick uttered the question through lips stained by poison. Gerrick’s eyes flashed open for a blink, then the faint light of the chamber assaulted his friend’s overly-sensitized pupils. Gerrick’s eyes were stained an inhuman chalky blue by the Triscani toxin the traitor had injected into the entire crew. The sight brought an ache to Raiden’s chest that had nothing to do with the wound in his shoulder. A flood of memories hurtled to the front of Raiden’s mind, but he ruthlessly shoved every one of them aside. Now was not the time.
Raiden grimaced and did the one thing he could to bless his honorable friend with a peaceful death. He held up hands stained red with his own life’s blood…and lied. “Yes. Gutted him with my blades, brother.”
Gerrick visually inspected Raiden’s hands and actually smiled. “Good. Good.” That smile was a miracle in itself if the fire in his own veins was any indication of what Gerrick suffered. The wounded soldier attempted to roll onto his side, to move his arms, but only managed to twitch a couple of fingers. Gerrick’s arm muscles were paralyzed. Soon, his diaphragm would be as well. Then he’d stop breathing.
Death would be a blessing. Triscani poison was an excruciating end. If not for Raiden’s Immortal mother, whoever she might be, he’d be dead as well. Hell, he would’ve been dead an hour ago, just as that bastard brother of his had planned. His friend had no such luck. Gerrick was more than three-quarters human.
Gerrick closed his eyes. “The soul stone around my neck. Take it. Keep it safe.”
“What are you talking about?” Raiden rose and struggled to reach his bloody palm beneath the neck of Gerrick’s uniform. His fingers grazed a chain and he tugged, shocked to discover a swirling fire emerald dangled at its end.
“What is this?”
Gerrick opened his eyes once more, and the unholy blue made his words even more ominous. “Lose it, and we lose the war. It belongs to The Lost One. It must be returned to him. He’s here. On Earth.”
Raiden removed the stone and studied it. Gerrick wouldn’t sense what he did, but the stone most definitely did not house a piece of the Lost One’s soul. But it did hold something…. “It’s not his soul stone, Gerrick. It’s of Earth. An emerald. No Itaran would choose such a stone. Where did you get this? Who gave it to you?”
Gerrick tried to laugh, but his lungs were filling with fluid and it came out strangled. “Poor Little Prince. Didn’t know I had a secret.” He smiled and turned his head so he could see the stone dangling from Raiden’s grip. “Protect it with your life. Return it. The King.”
“How? He’s been missing for centuries.” Raiden clenched the stone tightly in his fist. The Lost King was a mystery even the Immortals had been unable to solve. At the time of the Crux, the King had been turned to ash with his Queen. And before that? In the alternative timeline no one else on Raiden’s crew seemed to remember? He’d disappeared years before the final battle. None who remembered either version of the timeline could explain what happened to him, or to their people.
“Keep it safe. Return it.”
“But…?” By the gods, how was he going to find the Lost One, the True King? Gerrick’s grin faded and his legs twitched, the muscles fibers finally dying. He had moments, no longer.
“Tell me what to do? Where to go? How do I find him?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t tell me.” Gerrick shuddered.
“Who?”
“The Seer.” Gerrick choked and fought to draw air into his lungs. “Don’t die. She’ll come for you.”
“What?” When had Gerrick spoken to a Seer? As far as he knew, Gerrick had never set foot in the Itaran Temples, let alone spoken to the most powerful Immortals on their world.
“Mark you.”
Raiden’s breathe froze in his lungs. Shock turned the acid in his veins to ice. There were no more Marked, no Timewalkers left alive. They’d all vanished at the Crux.
“Lucky bastard.” Gerrick grinned. The stubborn old fool must be losing his mind. And yet, there was no need to argue, no need to admit to Gerrick how quickly Raiden would followed him into the eternal night. They’d fought side by side for more than fifty years. Raiden had never trusted another living soul more. He owed the man whatever vow he could give.
“I give you my word, old friend. I’ll protect it with my life.” However pitifully short a time that may be…
About the author, Michele Callahan….
Sci-Fi/Paranormal Romance Author Michele Callahan is a wife, mother, romance and science fiction addict, and founder of RomCon. She suffers from a dangerous case of sci-fi/fantasy fever and never turns down an opportunity to sit through a Star Wars, True Blood, or Matrix marathon. Her favorite things in books; hot heroes, superpowers, freakish things that can’t be explained by modern science, and true love!
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Links to Michele’s website, blog, books, etc.
Website: http://michelecallahan.com
RomCon: http://romcon.com
Book 1 Red Night:
http://goo.gl/FR4qx4
Book 2 Silver Storm:
http://goo.gl/FJm7pc
Alphas Unleashed: Book 1 of the Chimera
http://goo.gl/3CeqsE
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June 16, 2014
Congratulations Week 06-02-14 & 06-09-14 Giveaway Winners!
CONGRATULATIONS WEEK 06-02-14 & 06-09-14 GIVEAWAY WINNERS!
Karen’s Killer Book Bench with MICHELE CALLAHAN!!
Giveaway: Michele will give away a digital ARC of ALPHAS UNLEASHED to three lucky readers: Tell her why you love SciFi Romance on her Monday Interview or Wednesday Book Bench blogs. Thanks, Michele, for sharing with us!
WINNERS!! DONNELL, MICK & JAN K!!
Karen’s Killer Fixin’s *Author Special* with MICHELLE MAJOR!!
Giveaway: Michelle will give away a signed copy of A BREVIA BEGINNING to one lucky reader who comments on her Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special** blog. Thanks, Michelle, for sharing with us!
WINNER!! bn100!!
Karen’s Killer Fixin’s *Author Special* with JENNIE MARTS!!
Giveaway: I am so excited to share Edna’s story with you. All three of these books are set in the summer and that is my favorite season! I love going to the pool and eating outside. Share one of your favorite things about summer in the comments for a chance to win a Kindle copy of JUST ANOTHER MANIAC MONDAY!
WINNER!! ROBIN DRISCOLL!!
[All winners chosen by random.org. Thank you.]
June 15, 2014
**Author Peek** with Michele Callahan
BLUE ABYSS by MICHELE CALLAHAN
Timewalker Chronicles ~ Book 3
**AUTHOR PEEK** Interview with MICHELE CALLAHAN
INTRODUCING…Michele Callahan.
Hi Karen! Thanks so much for having me here. I’m beginning to feel like your blog is a second home. I can’t wait to talk to you about Blue Abyss, the third book in my Timewalker Chronicles.
Q: Do all of your books involved time travel?
A: Well, these do. My original idea was to do something fun along the lines of Quantum Leap. Do you remember that TV show? Anyway, I thought it would be fun to get a time boss (the Archiver) and have him select women (The Timewalkers) who have died in their own time line (less complications for future events that way) grab them the moment they ‘die’, and send them through time on secret missions to fix stuff. I wanted each story to be a romp and completely independent. But, my muse tricked me. Next thing I know I have a complex series of interrelated events, and enough time loops to make me pull out all of my hair. LOL. I have 5 folders full of reference material, dates, etc…and I’ve only written 4 of the 5 books in the series!
Q: But Blue Abyss is Book 3?
A: Yes. Blue is coming out in the next few weeks. Book 4, BLACK GATE, will be out about a month later. And the final book, WHITE FIRE, should be out later this year.
Q: Give us an overview of BLUE ABYSS.
A: Well, the hero is a half Itaran, half human who was born on another world. His entire life has been shaped by the after effects of a war on Earth, a war that is happening right now. Humanity is completely unaware of the battle and the fact that the outcome for us all hangs in the balance. Raiden traveled to Earth on a secret mission to meet with a key player in the war. But he was betrayed along the way, sent back through time over a hundred years, and nearly killed. To survive, he is forced to place himself in a stasis chamber and hope someone will find him. Someone does, but it’s definitely not who he was expecting.
Q: Why do you write sci-fi? Why not historical or contemporary?
A: Well, I love to read historical romance, but I have absolutely no interest or patience to do the research needed to write one. Those authors are saints. I never did like history in school. Sad, but true. However, give me an article on new advances in physics, genetics, biology, or space travel, and I will lose hours reading an article, clicking on a link to reference article, and again, and again. I’ll go 5-6 clicks deep sometimes before I snap out of it. And contemporary romance? Well, I read a bit, but ‘real life’ surrounds me all day, every day. When I read or write, I want to go somewhere else!
Q: Any last thoughts you’d like to share with us before we let you go?
A: I have one question I’d like to share with everyone. I can spend hours thinking about it, and my answer is different every time. – If YOU could travel in time to change something…
1 – Would You? And 2 – WHAT would you change?
Some days my answer is YES. Some days, NO. Some days I’d love a chance to talk to my mom again. Some days I think someone really, really should’ve taken out Hitler.
What do you think?
Michele Callahan
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Links to Michele’s website, blog, books, etc.
Website: http://michelecallahan.com
RomCon: http://romcon.com
Book 1 Red Night:
http://goo.gl/FR4qx4
Book 2 Silver Storm:
http://goo.gl/FJm7pc
Alphas Unleashed: Book 1 of the Chimera
http://goo.gl/3CeqsE
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BE SURE TO COME BACK to read more about Michele and the third book in her Timewalker Chronicles series, BLUE ABYSS, on Wednesday’s Karen’s Killer Book Bench. Happy Reading!
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June 12, 2014
Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special** with Jennie Marts
Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **AUTHOR SPECIAL** with JENNIE MARTS!
Welcome to my Friday bonus feature called Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special**!! Today, in lieu of one of my own recipes, I’m going to introduce you to a new author who will share one of her favorite recipes. Not only will you and I occasionally learn how to make something new and delicious, but we’ll get a chance to check out some wonderful authors. Introducing author, JENNIE MARTS, and her favorite recipe for WAFFLE IRON CINNAMON ROLLS!
JUST ANOTHER MANIAC MONDAY
By JENNIE MARTS
Hi Karen-
Thanks so much for hosting me on your blog today! I am excited to introduce you to the Page Turners Book Club and share a recipe.
I write romantic comedy and my series is set in the small town of Pleasant Valley, Colorado. It’s centered around a wonderful group of women in a book club. The women range from their teen years to their eighties and each book features a different woman and her story.
Every book has romance, friendship and mystery because in Pleasant Valley, dating can be deadly. These women are easy to fall in love with as they search for romance and clues while eating really great desserts!
Just Another Maniac Monday- Book 3 in the Page Turners series released this week. It’s Edna’s story and this character is a funny, sassy eighty-year-old who considers herself an expert on murder due to her extensive knowledge of CSI and crime-show television episodes. She gets the surprise of her life when her Monday morning game shows are interrupted by the arrival of John Collins, the love of her life…a man she thought had died years ago after being accused of murder.
John Collins is back, bringing with him a charming smile, a dog named Havoc, a second chance at love…and a threat of death. Danger surrounds this former bad-boy, and even after a lifetime apart, he still ignites a spark in Edna. A spark she thought she’d buried decades earlier.
This book flashes back to the sultry summer of 1955 as Edna tells the love story of her and Johnny and more than the weather gets hot and steamy. But the past has a way of catching up to you and a deadly threat has followed John to Edna’s door. Edna, with her sarcastic wit, a pocket stun-gun, and a few hare-brained schemes, is ready to fight for the man who still makes her pulse race.
Falling in love all over again, Edna must choose to risk it all to save the man she loves. But is finding your long lost love worth losing your life?
The Page Turners are always eating and Edna is famous for her cinnamon rolls! I recently saw this cute recipe idea for Cinnamon Rolls you make in a waffle iron and thought it was perfect for those of us on the go that might not have time to wait for home-made dough to rise. This one is so quick and easy, I think even Edna would approve! (See recipe below.)
About the author, Jennie Marts…
Jennie Marts loves to make readers laugh as she weaves stories filled with love, friendship and intrigue. She writes for Entangled Publishing and is the Kindle Bestselling author of the Page Turners series, which includes the romantic comedies: Another Saturday Night & I Ain’t Got No Body, Easy Like Sunday Mourning, and Just Another Maniac Monday. Reviewers call her books “laugh out loud” funny and full of great characters that are “endearing and relatable.”
She writes from the mountains of Colorado where she lives with her husband, two sons, a golden retriever named Cooper and a Sheltie puppy named Maggie. Jennie enjoys being a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), Colorado Indie Authors, and Pikes Peak Writers.
Jennie is addicted to Diet Coke and adores Cheetos. She loves playing volleyball and believes you can’t have too many books, shoes or friends.
Jennie loves to hear from readers. Follow her on Facebook at Jennie Marts Books , or Twitter at @JennieMarts.
Visit her at www.jenniemarts.com and subscribe to her newsletter for the latest on new releases and to find out the current happenings with the Pleasant Valley Page Turners.
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Links to Jennie’s website, blog, books, etc.
Website: www.jenniemarts.com
Facebook: Jennie Marts Books
Twitter: @JennieMarts
The Page Turners books on Amazon:
Book 1: http://amzn.com/B00AQPJ924
Book 2: http://amzn.com/B00HUTZLG2
Book 3: http://amzn.com/B00KUSWE7Y
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I hope you enjoy the recipe Jennie is sharing with us today on Karen’s Killer Fixin’s. Happy eating!
Karen
P.S. We’re at 147 recipes and counting with this posting. Hope you find some recipes you like. If this is your first visit, please check out past blogs for more Killer Fixin’s. In the right hand column menu, you can even look up past recipes by type. i.e. Desserts, Breads, Beef, Chicken, Soups, Author Specials, etc.
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WAFFLE IRON CINNAMON ROLLS
Ingredients:
1 tube refrigerated cinnamon rolls plus a waffle iron
Heat waffle maker & spray with non-stick spray. Separate your rolls & place 1 in all 4 slots of your waffle maker, close lid & press down slightly & set timer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from waffle iron, pile on a plate, drizzle with the icing that comes in the package with the rolls. Enjoy!
**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM JENNIE: I am so excited to share Edna’s story with you. All three of these books are set in the summer and that is my favorite season! I love going to the pool and eating outside. Share one of your favorite things about summer in the comments for a chance to win a Kindle copy of JUST ANOTHER MANIAC MONDAY!
Don’t miss this chance to read this new book. Thanks, Jennie, for sharing with us!
June 11, 2014
RomCon Book Cover Re-Reveal with Jennifer Zane’s Crazy In Love Series!!
KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
WAITING/WANTING/WONDERING/WISHING
Crazy In Love Series
By Jennifer Zane
Book Blurbs
Waiting: Crazy In Love Series – Book 1
Once you get the zing you can’t go back.
Jane West has everything a woman could want. A job in a small Montana town’s only adult store, two busy young boys and one dead husband. She’s been waiting–for a little zing. That all changes one summer morning at a garage sale with her kids.
Now someone wants their garage sale find and will let nothing get in their way. Including Jane. This new excitement for Jane spells trouble for a relationship with new neighbor–and hot fireman–Ty Strickland. Can Jane and Ty handle a relationship meddling mother-in-law, crazy kids, and stay alive while trying to solve the garage sale mystery? Will their love be worth the wait?
Wanting – Crazy In Love Series – Book 2
Now on sale for .99!
Veronica Miller is a plumber on a mission—buy out her dad and the family business is finally hers. One big, handsome problem stands in her way. And it’s not a clogged toilet.
Jack Reid is the boy she mooned over in high school. He’s back in town, but he’s no longer a boy. Ten years ago he broke her heart, skipped town and never came back. Now he’s a big shot lawyer in Florida whose uncle feigned a health crisis to trick Jack into coming back into town. Upon arrival Jack finds his uncle is gone, he’s homeless, and forced to be roommates with the one woman he could never resist.
Jack discovers his lust hasn’t cooled for the sexy Veronica, but neither has her heart forgiven him. A sex-toy educational party, romance novel writing gone awry, Goldie’s meddling, an escape artist snake, a strange stalker in a fluffy pink coat, a house fire, plumbing gone awry, bitter cold, and a smart-faced garden gnome all conspire to force Jack and Veronica to work through a decade of baggage, disappointment, wanting and unrequited lust while figuring out the mystery behind the stalker.
Wondering – Crazy In Love Series – Book 3
Emma Hardy hasn’t been able to forget Sam Carter, or his incredible kiss in the elevator. Sadly, he rocked her world (and her libido), then calmly walked away, quit his job, and disappeared for two months. Not exactly the hot kiss follow-up she’d been hoping for. But Sam was busy making plans. And now, thanks to a glued-together gnome name George, a set of handcuffs, mistletoe, and a meddling adult store cupid disguised as an eccentric but innocent grandmother, Emma’s about to get the greatest Christmas gift of all…true love.
Wishing – Crazy In Love Series – Book 4
Violet Miller is a teacher savoring her summer break until she’s been called in as emergency reinforcements—of the dating kind. She volunteers to help an old flame by pretending to be his girlfriend. In Alaska. At a family reunion. Since the guy is a handsome, lumberjack-sized doctor she’s never quite forgotten, faking a relationship won’t be hard work—while wishing for more.
Mike Ostranski is a desperate man on vacation. His mother wants grandchildren and sees a crazy Alaskan woman as a candidate for daughter-in-law. Mike needs Violet by his side to deflect the lady’s advances.
A week in Alaska as boyfriend and girlfriend should be easy for them. They grew up together, even had a brief fling. What could go wrong?
~~~
Excerpt from WANTING – Crazy In Love Series – Book 2
Now on sale for .99!
Copyright 2012 – Jennifer Zane
CHAPTER ONE
When little girls play make-believe with their dolls, most pretend they’re mommies or princesses or teachers. Have little tea parties with them, play dress-up. That’s what my sister, Violet, did with hers. Me? I played plumber with mine. I dressed my little Betsy Wets-Alot up in a pair of gray coveralls stolen from a male test pilot action figure I’d found at the toy store. He’d been tossed, naked, into the back of my closet until my sister found him and used him for the groom in her pretend weddings.
Not only did I dress my self-wetting doll in menswear, I ran a straw down the pants leg to divert the faux pee away from her anatomically-incorrect little body. No potty for her. I was five and knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I, Veronica Miller, wanted to be a plumber. Just like my father.
Now, over twenty years later, I’d fulfilled my childhood dream. I was the plumber I’d longed to be, working with my dad. Soon to be working on my own. One last payment to my old man stood between his official retirement and my small business owner status.
I smiled to myself about this almost-upon-me momentous occasion while lathering my hair in the shower. I squealed when the spray of water I was standing beneath went cold and quickly rinsed out the strawberry scented shampoo.
“Stupid hot water heater,” I grumbled to myself as I yanked back the plastic shower curtain and stepped out into the steam filled room. I longed to get back to my own house as Violet’s plumbing system needed some serious work. Even in the thick humidity, goose bumps popped out all over my body as I quickly toweled off and snuggled into my ratty, yet wonderfully comfortable flannel robe.
While I leaned over and rubbed my wet hair with a bright pink towel, I heard it. The sound of a key in a lock, the front door opening. I froze in place upside-down, staring at my knees between the edges of the robe, towel tangled with my long hair. Since I was a plumber, not a law enforcement officer, I lacked the training to keep panic at bay. That hot, adrenaline-induced fear rose up inside me between one heartbeat and the next. I swear the little wet hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Help. I needed to get help, but my cell was in my purse, which I’d dropped by the front door, one room away. No house phone.
I stood up, flipped my dark hair back over my shoulder, held my breath and listened. Rustling and a little mumbling was all I could make out. Who was in the house? Sure, they must have a key since I hadn’t heard a window break, but the only other person who was supposed to have one was Violet, and she was in Utah.
I tiptoed over to the door, bit my lip and winced as I turned the knob and hoped it didn’t squeak. I slowly opened the door as I held my breath. Peeking into the bedroom, I saw nothing out of the ordinary. Barely made bed, dirty clothes tossed haphazardly at the wicker hamper. Something heavy thumped onto the floor from the vicinity of the front door and I looked in that direction as if I had x-ray vision and could see through the wall to the person in the living room.
I squeezed through the small gap I’d made in the bathroom doorway, afraid if I opened it anymore, the old hinges would give me away. Breathing as quietly as possible, which was pretty hard in panic mode, I bent down and grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on to use as a weapon. What I held didn’t register. I knew it was solid wood like a baseball bat and as good as I was going to get for protection.
Violet’s house was small, with only one floor and a scary basement I rarely visited. Living room, kitchen, bedroom and bath. That’s it. Which also meant there wasn’t anywhere to hide.
For breaking and entering, the guy wasn’t Mr. Stealth. It was the middle of the afternoon, he’d come in the front door and he was awfully noisy for someone being where they weren’t supposed to be. Even if he was the worst robber ever, that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous.
My palms were sweaty as I peeked around the door jamb into the living room. His back was to me and he appeared to be looking down at something he held in front of him, probably a cell phone. It appeared he was texting, or reading one. Tall, around six feet, maybe a little more, and solid. He wore jeans and dark leather shoes. His black jacket was a lighter weight than one would expect for the dead of winter in Montana in the throes of a bitter cold snap. A gray knit cap covered most of his dark hair.
I didn’t recognize him, but I wasn’t in the mood to wait for him to turn around and see me. I decided to use the element of surprise. I tiptoed over to him and whacked him on the arm with my wooden weapon. Hard.
Thwack!
I’d aimed for his head, but nerves and slick palms messed me up and I hit his shoulder instead. The reverberations tingled in my fingertips.
“What the….
To continue this read: http://www.amazon.com/Wanting-Crazy-Love—Book-ebook/dp/B008BW5WZ2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1402365669&sr=8-2&keywords=jennifer+zane#reader_B008BW5WZ2
About the author, Jennifer Zane….
Jennifer Zane has lived all over the country–from Georgia to Maryland, New York to Colorado. including an exciting five years in Montana. Her time in Big Sky country was the basis for this book. When she’s not writing, she savors the insanity of raising two boys, is figuring out how many meals she can make with a pressure cooker, and teaches a pretty mean karate class. She currently lives with her family in Colorado.
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Links to Jennifer’s website, blog, books, etc.
Website: http://www.jenniferzane.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jenniferzanewriter
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jenniferzane
Email: jennifer@jenniferzane.com
~~~
http://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Crazy-Love-Series-Book-ebook/dp/B006QQRH3A
WANTING now on sale for $.99!
http://www.amazon.com/Wanting-Crazy-Love-Series-Book-ebook/dp/B008BW5WZ2
http://www.amazon.com/Wondering-Crazy-In-Love-Series-ebook/dp/B00A40ZR40
http://www.amazon.com/Wishing-Crazy-Love—Book-ebook/dp/B00HUZ4LHQ
RomCon Promotions
http://www.romcon.com/romcon-promotions
June 10, 2014
Karen’s Killer Book Bench: Alphas Unleashed with S.E. Smith, Mina Khan, Carolyn Jewel, & Michele Callahan
KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
ALPHAS UNLEASHED
5 Hot Heroes/4 Authors/4 Worlds
~ 1 Hot Giveaway ~
S.E. Smith, Mina Khan, Carolyn Jewel & Michele Callahan
Hi everyone. On Karen’s Killer Book Bench today I wanted to highlight my friends and fellow ALPHAS UNLEASHED authors that will be at RomCon® with me in 2 weeks. Come meet us! (Michele Callahan, Mina Khan, and S.E. Smith) *Carolyn Jewel couldn’t join us at the convention this year, but we’ll be thinking of her.
In the meantime, we’re launching a Rafflecopter contest to give away a KINDLE FIRE and a $100 Visa gift card to celebrate the release of our anthology, and our trip to RomCon® 2014 in Denver. Join us! It’s NOT too late. Register NOW: http://www.romcon.com/fan-registration
Contest ends June 30. Don’t miss your chance to win!
(To enter the contest, go to Rafflecopter at the bottom of this blog.)
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ALPHAS UNLEASHED
Book Blurbs
A Warrior’s Heart (Marastin Dow Book 1.1) by S.E. Smith
Ben and Aaron Cooper think their luck has ended when the freighter they are on is captured by the Marastin Dow, a terrifying alien species known for their savagery. Instead they discover love with two warriors who capture their hearts. Now, they are in a race to keep the fragile gift they find before it is ripped away from them forever.
Sealed With A Kiss, A Djinn Novella by Mina Khan
Rayez, a smoking hot chef and fire djinn in exile, lands himself in deep trouble (at the bottom of a beer bottle) when he tries to help a mysterious beautiful woman.
Selene is pursued and desperate. She’ll do anything to keep her brother safe—including capture a djinn.
While deception brings them together, dangerous enemies make them unlikely allies. Can one wrong lead to two rights and true love?
Dead Drop, A My Immortals Novella by Carolyn Jewel
Wallace Jackson has so little magic she expects to be kicked out of her group of street witches being trained to use their gifts and work with demons. No one is more shocked than she is when a powerful demon proves her wrong. And then asks a favor of her.
The demon Palla is a warlord’s enforcer, a stone cold killer. Wallace Jackson is a pacifist witch with a dangerous power. He wants nothing to do with humans until he needs Wallace to help him free his former lover from a living death and release her spirit from unimaginable suffering.
Chimera Born: The Beginning (Book 1 of the Chimera) by Michele Callahan
Aron of Itara, Forbidden Son, has been a prisoner of fate since before he was born. Captured as a child by the evil Triscani, it’s been centuries since he’s felt the sun on his face or the tenderness of a woman’s touch. Determined to help humanity break the elusive but powerful Itaran Triads’ hold on Earth, Aron escapes with one goal, to find the one man who can help him save humans from an eternal prison. After that, he’ll fight to the death, but he’ll never go back in the cage.
Zoey Williams watched her sister die at the hands of monsters, and no one believed her. She’s spent the last five years using her journalism skills to track aliens, investigate paranormal activity, and hunt for answers. But she got too close to the truth, and now it’s not just monsters hunting her, but her own people. Zoey doesn’t believe she needs a guardian, but once Aron finds her he can’t leave her to the vicious hunters that would turn her to ash or to the power-hungry humans who seek to silence her. In fact, he discovers that he doesn’t want to leave her at all…
ALPHAS UNLEASHED, Anthology Coming June 15!
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Links to websites, blogs, books, etc.
S.E. Smith
Website: http://sesmithfl.com
Mina Khan
Website/Blog: http://minakhan.blogspot.com/p/home-page.html
Carolyn Jewel
Website: http://www.carolynjewel.com
Michele Callahan
Website: http://michelecallahan.com
RomCon http://romcon.com
~~~
June 8, 2014
**Author Peek** Interview with Michele Callahan at RomCon
Today we’re talking with RomCon® founder Michele Callahan about the upcoming fan convention for romance readers. We asked a few questions to find out what’s new this year.
Q: What is RomCon? And when?
A: RomCon is JUNE 20-22 in DENVER. It’s a fun weekend for romance readers, authors, and fans. Unlike other huge conferences, we are small and personal. Fans sit at a table and play a game with their favorite authors, or meet some new ones. We laugh a lot and get crazy. We have shows, games and intimate chats. You won’t get this much real face-time with the authors at any other convention or conference – anywhere.
Q: What kind of romance is represented at RomCon®?
A: We keep everything balanced as much as possible. We try to schedule an equal number of events in the main genres of romance – Contemporary, Historical, Paranormal/Sci-Fi, Erotic, and Romantic Suspense. If you look, you’ll see a pretty equal mix of events in each genre. We felt it was important to represent all of them. Most readers don’t just read one kind of book. I know I don’t. And this is a convention all about authors building relationships with readers. Readers read a lot of different stuff.
Q: If I were a first time RomCon® attendee, what would you say are the absolute musts?
A: You need to get into an intimate chat. There is nothing like sitting in a small, quiet room with a group of like-minded people and having an author you adore at your mercy for an hour. My first year, I sat in with Christine Feehan and got some insider scoop on her Dark series. I’ll never forget it. And a total bonus? She was awesome. Nice. Funny. A normal person. I adore her more now, after I met her. I’ll buy her books until she stops writing.
Q: So, if I decided to attend, last minute, what’s the last day to sign up?
A: You can register until Friday, June 14. Don’t wait! The convention is June 20-22 this year.
Q: I heard that RomCon® was starting a new program this year, for aspiring authors? Can you tell us about it?
A: Yes. With the rise in Indie publishing, we have been scrambling for answers and resources ourselves. We decided to run a special 2 day course for people who are interested in honing their craft, but especially in taking the leap into self-publishing. RomCon® University has 15 classes designed to get anyone ready to self-publish. We found all the answers we needed ourselves and put it into a comprehensive program. It’s less than the half-price of the other writing cons, including the one here in Denver. Totally worth it if you are an author who wants to take control of your own destiny.
Q: What kind of authors come to RomCon?
A: We have a fair mix of traditionally published authors and Indie or self-publsihed. At RomCon® they are all treated the same. No separate rooms for the signing, or other things like that. We know that readers are loyal to the authors and the stories, not the company imprint on the book’s spine. I think the rest of the publishing world is also coming to this realization, if a bit slowly.
Q: Michele, what are you most looking forward to this year?
A: I am actually the event chair for a fun game we’re calling “Hot Heroes From Other Worlds.” We ‘re going to play a Headbandz® style game where we are all a hot hero, be it an alien, vampire, trans-dimensional being, etc…a non-Earthling. We are going to have a blast trying to figure out who we are, and we’re going to look ridiculous with cards on our foreheads. It’s going to be fun. I love feeling like a kid again. RomCon® gives me the perfect excuse.
Q: What are you hearing from past attendees? What was their favorite thing, or what are they looking forward to?
A: We found a local improve comedy troupe called Stick Horses In Pants. They do a family friendly show that they modify for us. Nothing is off limits, and it got a bit wild last year as the readers and authors yelled out suggestions for them. I laughed so hard I couldn’t breathe and my face hurt for hours afterward. They’re coming back this year, and I can’t wait to see what kind of hilarity ensues.
Q: Thanks for sharing with us. Anything else you want to share?
A: Yes. Thank you! I am excited to say the you will be able to meet over 90 exciting romance authors at RomCon® this year, including 2 of the authors in the Alphas Unleashed anthology coming out next weekend. S.E. Smith and Mina Khan are joining me at RomCon®. It’s going to be a ton of fun, so I hope you all can make it.
Michele Callahan
http://www.michelecallahan.com
Twitter: @michelecallahan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michele.call...
Congratulations Week 05-26-14 Giveaway Winner!
CONGRATULATIONS WEEK 05-26-14 GIVEAWAY WINNERS!
Karen’s Killer Book Bench with JONI HAHN!!
Giveaway: Joni will give away an e-copy of AGENT M4: RIORDAN (upon release) to one lucky reader who comments on her Monday Interview or Wednesday Book Bench blogs. Thanks, Joni, for sharing your story with us!
WINNER!! ANGELA SMITH!!
June 5, 2014
Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special** with Michelle Major
Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **AUTHOR SPECIAL** with MICHELLE MAJOR!
Welcome to my Friday bonus feature called Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special**!! Today, in lieu of one of my own recipes, I’m going to introduce you to a new author who will share one of her favorite recipes. Not only will you and I occasionally learn how to make something new and delicious, but we’ll get a chance to check out some wonderful authors. Introducing author, MICHELLE MAJOR, and her favorite recipe for STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE TRIFLE!
A BREVIA BEGINNING
By MICHELLE MAJOR
Book Blurb
Lexi Preston has gone from the courtroom to the barroom–as the world’s worst waitress at Brevia’s hot spot Riley’s Bar. Lexi’s back in town to right old wrongs, not to fall in love—but she’s finding it awfully hard to avoid her impossibly gorgeous new boss.
Former U.S. marshal Scott Callahan is still grieving his partner’s death—and recovering from one drunken night when he bought himself a bar. Scott just can’t deal with the way Lexi makes him feel. The ravishing redhead might get his heart racing, but she couldn’t take an order if her life depended on it! Will Scott resist Lexi and all she has to offer, or will he find the love he’s always craved?
A BREVIA BEGINNING
By MICHELLE MAJOR
EXCERPT
His smile disarmed her, made her breath hitch. She wanted him in a way she couldn’t explain and barely understood. Clearly, she wasn’t his type, and he was way too much…man for her. But it didn’t stop her body’s response to him. He met her gaze and the way his eyes blue eyes darkened made her think he might feel the same. She knew her time in Brevia would eventually come to an end, and she wanted to experience everything she could while she was here. Maybe that’s what made her blurt, “Have an affair with me?”
Scott’s grip on her arm loosened. His fists clenched and she thought he might walk away. “You can’t want that.”
“I do.” She licked her lip and felt the electricity of desire charge between them. “More than you know.”
His hands smoothed up her arms and across her shoulders to her neck, his fingers burning a path along her heated skin. He cradled her head in his hands as one thumb traced the seam of her lips. “You should be gentler with this mouth,” he told her, soothing the spot she’d bit down on earlier. “I’ve grown to like it quite a lot.”
She could hardly manage a breath, but whispered, “What if gentle isn’t what I want?”
He cupped her face, tilting her chin up and leaning in so they were so close she could smell the peppermint scent of his breath. “You don’t know what you’re asking, Lexi.”
“Show me.”
Heaven help her, he did. His mouth covered hers, igniting a fire in her belly that quickly spread out of control. Which was exactly what she wanted: to lose control with this man. Right here, right now. As his lips teased hers, she lifted her arms around his neck, pressing her body against him.
Scott groaned low in his throat and deepened the kiss, his mouth making demands that she tried her best to meet. His hands moved down, just brushing the outline of her breasts, making her gasp. He took the opportunity to tangle his tongue with hers and she lost all coherent thought, so caught up in the physical sensations that were flooding through her.
About the author, Michelle Major….
Michelle Major grew up in Ohio but dreamed of living in the mountains. Soon after graduating with a degree in Journalism, she pointed her car west and settled in Colorado. Her life and house are filled with one great husband, two beautiful kids, a few furry pets and several well-behaved reptiles. She’s grateful to have found her passion writing stories with happy endings. Michelle loves to hear from her readers at www.michellemajor.com.
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Links to Michelle’s website, blog, books, etc.
Website: www.michellemajor.com
Brevia Beginning:
http://www.amazon.com/Brevia-Beginning-Harlequin-Special-Edition/dp/0373658222/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1401583450&sr=8-1
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I hope you enjoy the recipe Michelle is sharing with us today on Karen’s Killer Fixin’s. Happy eating!
Karen
P.S. We’re at 146 recipes and counting with this posting. Hope you find some recipes you like. If this is your first visit, please check out past blogs for more Killer Fixin’s. In the right hand column menu, you can even look up past recipes by type. i.e. Desserts, Breads, Beef, Chicken, Soups, Author Specials, etc.
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STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE TRIFLE
This is one of my favorite summer dessert recipes. It’s easy, pretty and best of all so yummy! Try it at your next barbecue or cookout.
Ingredients:
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Cool Whip, thawed (or more to taste – my family loves Cool Whip!)
4 tablespoons sugar
1 angel food cake, torn into bite-size pieces
2 quarts fresh strawberries, thinly sliced
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until fluffy; add sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and the almond extract; set aside.
2. Fold the cool whip into the cream cheese mixture.
3. Gently stir in cake pieces; set aside.
4. Combine strawberries and sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
5. Layer in a large glass bowl, starting with 1/4 of the strawberries, then adding 1/3 of the cake mixture.
6. Continue layering; finish with strawberries.
7. Cover with plastic wrap; and chill several hours.
**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Michelle will give away a signed copy of A BREVIA BEGINNING to one lucky reader who comments on her Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special** blog. Don’t miss this chance to read this new book. Thanks, Michelle, for sharing with us!
June 4, 2014
Book Blast: Healed By A Heart by Cynthia Woolf
Healed by a Heart
by Cynthia Woolf
This is the second book in the Destiny in Deadwood series but you can also read it as a stand alone.
Quick Facts
Release Date:
Genre: Historical Romance. Western
Formats to buy: Papaerbacks and all ebook formats
Book Synopsis
All Liam Anderson wanted after the War Between the States, was a little peace. After seventeen years in the army, he’s tired of fighting and killing. Having lost his beloved wife to influenza, he’s tired of hurting. And seeing his baby brother framed for murder, he’s tired of injustice.
He left everything behind to help his brothers escape, packed up his children and possessions, and took them all to a gold claim in Deadwood. Miss Eleanor Smith is a thirty-two year-old spinster. She gave up her dream of a home and family a long time ago. Instead, she has spent her life traveling the world, ministering to the weak, the injured, the poor, and the forgotten, following her preacher father from one hell hole to another.
From what she’s seen of men and the world, she’s better off taking care of herself. And she gets along just fine, until she literally falls into Liam’s arms, gets in the middle of a fight that isn’t hers, and becomes a pawn for an enemy’s revenge.
Deadwood was supposed to be a fresh start for Liam Anderson and his younger brothers, but trouble followed him and his children. And when Eleanor disappears, only Liam can rescue her. The headstrong, independent woman awoke his dead passion, but refused to surrender to his touch. Can he convince her that merely surviving isn’t enough? Despite his sins, he’s the only man who can save her, and she’s the only woman strong enough to heal his broken heart.
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Excerpt:
PROLOGUE
April 1876 – St. Louis, Missouri
Liam Anderson sat in front of a blazing fire, in his pajamas and robe, puffing on his pipe, reading, for the last time in this house. The place he’d called home for so many years. The kids were asleep upstairs. Sleep had eluded him and he’d risen to read until he got tired.
BAM! BAM! BAM!He looked up from the book he read and glanced at the mantel clock. One of the few things he hadn’t packed away. “What in the world? Who would be out in this weather at this hour?
”What the hell?” said Liam, when he opened the door to his two younger brothers. “Jake? Zach? What are you two doing here? It’s the middle of the night.”Zach growled from behind Jake. “Are you going to let us in or make us stand in this rain all night?”
“Come in. Zach put that gun away,” said Liam.
“Can’t until the kid here,” he poked Jake in the back with his gun, “is inside and we’ve talked to you.
”Jake, the youngest of his brothers, walked into the foyer of the house, followed closely by Zach. He stared down the hallway, packed with luggage and boxes down to the parlor, but didn’t question it. Didn’t even seem to notice that the house was packed up ready to move.
Both of them were haggard, completely worn out. Their coats were soaked through and they couldn’t have been comfortable. He’d never seen them looking so exhausted or…desperate.
“Sorry to do this to you, Liam. I know you’re leaving tomorrow,” said Zach as he holstered his gun and dripped water onto the foyer floor. He threw his had onto one of the steamer trunks. Jake followed suit.
It was times like these that the difference between his brothers was so striking. Zach with his nearly black hair and dark blue eyes. There was one in every generation with the coloring of their Gypsy great grandmother, Zach was theirs and their father had been the one in his generation. It was rare to have two gypsies in the same family, usual it was an uncle or aunt rather than a parent of the latest child with the coloring.
Jake with dark blond, overly long hair and light blue eyes most resembled their dear mother.
Liam was somewhere between the two, with light brown hair and gray eyes. His children were different as night and day, too. Ten year old David resembled Liam not only physically but mentally too. David always seemed to weigh his words before he spoke them. Whereas Hannah, the gypsy of her generation, said whatever came into her little head. She was only five, but even at her age, David had been as contemplative as he was now.
He smiled thinking of his children. They were his joy. His reason for living. He closed his eyes and grounded himself in the present and answered Jake.“Yes. At first light. Now, tell me what’s going on and why you brought Jake here at gun point.”
“Only way I could get him to come,” growled Zach.
“And?” Liam said, exasperated. “Don’t make me beat the story out of you word by word, little brother. Just tell me the problem.”
Liam pointed at the two chairs in front of the fire and then went to the fireplace and stoked the banked coals back to a roaring blaze. He really didn’t need this now, not when he was leaving in the morning. Not when he was so close to putting the old, hurtful memories behind him.
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Other books in the series:
Redeemed by a Rebel
The Author
Cynthia Woolf is the author of six historical western romance books and one short story with more
books on the way.
She was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the mountains west of Golden. She spent her early years running wild around the mountain side with her friends.Their closest neighbor was one quarter of a mile away, so her little brother was her playmate and her best friend. That fierce friendship lasted until his death in 2006.
Cynthia was and is an avid reader. Her mother was a librarian and brought new books home each week. This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug. She wrote her first story at the age of ten. A romance about a little boy she liked at the time.
Cynthia loves writing and reading romance. Her first western romance Tame A Wild Heart, was inspired by the story her mother told her of meeting Cynthia’s father on a ranch in Creede, Colorado. Although Tame A Wild Heart takes place in Creede that is the only similarity between the stories. Her father was a cowboy not a bounty hunter and her mother was a nursemaid (called a nanny now) not the ranch owner. Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she’s made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.
WEBSITE – www.cynthiawoolf.com
GIVEAWAY:
- International
- Win a $25 Visa GC thanks to author Cynthia Woolf
**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Cynthia will also give away an ecopy of HEALED BY A HEART to one lucky reader who comments on her Book Blast blog. Don’t miss this chance to read this new book in the Destiny in Deadwood series. Thanks, Cynthia, for sharing with us!
