Michelle Clay's Blog, page 8

Shameless Summer Blog Hop

A big thanks to Red Hot Books, Romance Around the Corner and Michelle's Book Blog for hosting the Shameless Summer Giveaway Hop! Now go forth and find new authors and books to fall in love with.
It's going to be HOT this summer, so why not curl up with a good book that features a smoldering HOT hero? Luckily, I have just the book for you! *grin*

One lucky winner will receive an ecopy of my newest novel, Of A Darker Nature. Be sure to follow the jump for an excerpt.

Fill in the rafflecopter form for your chance to win.
Of A Darker Nature With just one touch, Emily Cross can read the memories of the deceased. Working at a funeral home might not be the logical choice, but for Emily, it is a natural one. When she and her boss are attacked, the creatures she once thought were only folklore become all too real. Just as she’s about to be drained of life, the cadaver on the next table rises and fights them off. Feeling a connection to the man who saved her life, she makes it her mission to find him. As she delves deeper, she discovers a dark underworld full of vampires, magic and shape shifters.

Marcus Dane doesn’t know how he ended up in a mortuary. As an Enforcer for the Mistress of the City, he has been following leads regarding a powerful witch who wants to exterminate his blood-clan. His fear that the witch has recruited some of his fellow Enforcers is confirmed and now it looks as though the witch will make her threats real. He counts himself lucky to escape the mortician, because someone in the mortuary business disposes of vampires who are unfortunate enough to cross his table.

When it all comes down to it, Emily now has a vampire she’s romantically entangled with, a very angry Mistress who doesn’t like other people playing with her toys, and an incredibly powerful witch who realizes killing Emily is the gateway to what she wants. By the end, Emily will have to figure out who she can trust, who she has to align with even if she doesn’t trust them, and just who has the darkest nature of all.

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Of A Darker Nature

I'm very happy to announce that my second novel, Of A Darker Nature, was just released by Crescent Moon Press. It is available in print and kindle. Nook and Kobo will be available shortly.

Be sure to read the excerpt after the jump...


With just one touch, Emily Cross can read the memories of the deceased. Working at a funeral home might not be the logical choice, but for Emily, it is a natural one. When she and her boss are attacked, the creatures she once thought were only folklore become all too real. Just as she’s about to be drained of life, the cadaver on the next table rises and fights them off. Feeling a connection to the man who saved her life, she makes it her mission to find him. As she delves deeper, she discovers a dark underworld full of vampires, magic and shape shifters.
Marcus Dane doesn’t know how he ended up in a mortuary. As an Enforcer for the Mistress of the City, he has been following leads regarding a powerful witch who wants to exterminate his blood-clan. His fear that the witch has recruited some of his fellow Enforcers is confirmed and now it looks as though the witch will make her threats real. He counts himself lucky to escape the mortician, because someone in the mortuary business disposes of vampires who are unfortunate enough to cross his table.

When it all comes down to it, Emily now has a vampire she’s romantically entangled with, a very angry Mistress who doesn’t like other people playing with her toys, and an incredibly powerful witch who realizes killing Emily is the gateway to what she wants. By the end, Emily will have to figure out who she can trust, who she has to align with even if she doesn’t trust them, and just who has the darkest nature of all.

Buy Now:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
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The Twelve Naughty Princesses - A Naughty Fairytale

I am excited to introduce you to Adonis Devereux, author or The Twelve Naughty Princesses. And be sure to check out the other books by Adonis. Links are below.

Max is a soldier down on his luck, and when the king sends out a call for volunteers to solve the mystery of the twelve dancing princesses, Max figures he has nothing to lose, nothing, of course, except his head if he should fail. Max has faced death before and doesn't fear it, but when he meets the princesses, all lovely, light-hearted, and battling constant exhaustion due to their mysterious nightly escapades, he realizes he could lose his heart as well. To win his princess, Max must break the spell. But he must face the truth that the twelve princesses are terribly naughty and do much more than just dance, and he will have to join in the amorous festivities himself to get them out.


Thank you so much, Michelle, for hosting us today! We are Adonis Devereux, a husband-wife writing team. Our first release was last year at Evernight, but even though this our fourth Evernight release, The Twelve Naughty Princesses is a first for us in that it's our first story not set in our fantasy world of Gilalion. Instead, The Twelve Naughty Princesses is our extremely twisted take on the traditional Brothers Grimm fairy tale.In our version, the princesses do so much more than dance! Spanking, voyeurism, public exhibition, multiple partners, bondage – you name it, it's there! Add in magical curses, faerie men, and one lonely soldier, and you have The Twelve Naughty Princesses.

Thanks again, Michelle, for having us here.
Here are our author links.
Where we are:
Blog –  http://boundlessasthesea.blogspot.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/adonis.devereux
FB author page – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adonis-Devereux/250061305038584
Twitter – http://twitter.com/#!/AdonisDevereux
Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Adonis-Devereux/e/B0067XK2CU
Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5336502.Adonis_Devereux

How to purchase:
Evernight Publishing – http://www.evernightpublishing.com/pages/Adonis-Devereux.html
All Romance eBooks
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-worthhisfreedom-630422-143.html
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-brideforthegodking-665365-143.html
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-chasingearthandflame-770243-143.html
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thetwelvenaughtyprincesses-790120-143.html
Bookstrand – http://www.bookstrand.com/adonis-devereux
Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=adonis+devereux&x=0&y=0&sprefix=adonis+dev
Barnes and Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/adonis-devereux?keyword=adonis+devereux&store=allproducts

Thanks Adonis, it was a pleasure having you here!

Cover Reveal for Denied by Kinley Baker

DENIED  
SHADOWED LOVE, BOOK TWO 
By Kinley Baker
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press

When invaders brutally massacred the women and children of the Varner, Caleb witnessed loss and destruction on a scale few can comprehend. As the leader of a race on the brink of extinction, his only hope for survival is gaining acceptance into the Shadow Shifter Kingdom. Struggling with new customs, he meets Tabitha, a woman who challenges his limits. 

Refused the right to join the king’s guard because of her gender, Tabitha must be stronger than the men to prove she deserves to be the first accepted female Warrior in the kingdom. She believes Caleb will help improve her abilities, until she learns her goals conflict with the foundation of his culture. 

When the realm is attacked, Tabitha and Caleb must come together not only to fight, but to find the strength to win against an evil with the potential to destroy everything they revere most--including each other. 

Add DENIED as To-Read on GoodReads! 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13646204-denied 

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Diamond Jubilee Hop

I'm helping Romance at Random celebrate the UK's Diamond Jubilee

Enter below to win beginning 5/21 thru 5/31 – Romance at Random will be randomly giving away some of our jewels of romance including:

1 winner, 1 copy – Born To Darkness by Suzanne Brockmann 1 winner, 1 copy – The Proposal by Mary Balogh 1 winner, 1 copy – Darker After Midnight by Lara Adrian 3 winners, 1 copy of WITCHFUL THINKING by HP Mallory 10 winners, 1 copy of a PREVIEW from Net Galley of ABOUT LAST NIGHT by Ruthie Knox 10 winners, 1 copy of PREVIEW from Net Galley of DEEP AUTUMN HEAT by Elisabeth Barrett

That’s right, 26 winners in all! Enter the hop using the Rafflecopter below then visit all of the participating sites to increase your chances – winners will be randomly chosen and this is a big one . . . it could be you! US only for this one - Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sinful Sirens Blog Hop - INT giveaway

Hosted by Guilty Pleasures and Under the Covers
Full List of Participants 
Calling all sirens of the sinful kind... let's heat up the upcoming summer by finding some hot authors and steamy books to read. :)

To help celebrate, I'm giving away one ecopy of my new novel, Bitter Black Kiss. This giveaway is international. To enter, please fill out the rafflecopter form below. Good Luck!!


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Happy Mother's Day

Celebrate Mother's Day!

I am reminded of the mother I lost a few years ago. It would be easy to mope around and be saddened by the fact that I no longer have her in my life, but that isn't exactly true. She's everywhere, in nearly everything I do. And since it is Mother's Day, I wanted to share a little something with you. I've mentioned it before, but I consider my mom and her love of books one of the biggest reasons I became so interested in reading and writing.



One of my earliest and fondest memories is sitting with her while she read to me. I recall a book about dinosaurs (I was a bit of a tomboy) and she even did the different voices. From there, my hunger for books grew and she ended up reading all sorts of books. She even read to me long after I could read for myself. The time spent with her was our special time. It didn't matter if the book was about robots, puppies, dinosaurs or fairies. Just being close to her and listening to her voice was so very special to me.
When I was a little older, she would take me to the bookstore with her and we'd spend what seemed like hours there, browsing through books. I read at an advanced level so she never minded that I would start in the comics, peruse the mystery, gander at the fantasy, gather an arm load of horror then meet her in the romance section. I don't think we ever got out of the bookstore without spending a small fortune. Our trips to the library were much the same. We devoured books like we were starving and absolutely abhored the idea that we could only check out a certain number at a time. The nerve!Over the years, our shared love of books continued. We traded books, introduced each other to new authors and discussed what we'd read like some people discuss The Real Housewives or their favorite soaps.
Now that she's gone, I oftentimes find myself thinking about her after I've read a book she would have enjoyed. If not for her, my love of reading would never have grown. Without that, my love of writing would never have developed and I might never have become an author. I just wish she was around to enjoy this with me and see what I've worked so hard for. If she were around, I'd say thank you. Thank you for sharing books and reading with me. And most of all, just for being my mom.

Of A Darker Nature - Cover reveal

It's finally here! The cover art for Of A Darker Nature has arrived along with a release date.... June 1st.



With just one touch, Emily Cross can read the memories of the deceased. Working at a funeral home might not be the logical choice, but for Emily, it is a natural one. When she and her boss are attacked, the creatures she once thought were only folklore become all too real. Just as she’s about to be drained of life, the cadaver on the next table rises to fight them off. Feeling a connection to the man who saved her life, she makes it her mission to find him. As she delves deeper, she discovers a dark underworld full of vampires, magic and shape shifters. Marcus Dane doesn’t know how he ended up in a mortuary. As an Enforcer for the Mistress of the City, he has been following leads regarding a powerful witch who wants to exterminate his blood-clan. His fear that the witch has recruited some of his fellow Enforcers is confirmed and now it looks as though the witch will make her threats real. He counts himself lucky to escape the mortician, because someone in the mortuary business disposes of vampires who are unfortunate enough to cross his table. When it all comes down to it, Emily now has a vampire she’s romantically entangled with, a very angry Mistress who doesn’t like other people playing with her toys, and an incredibly powerful witch who realizes killing Emily is the gateway to what she wants. By the end, Emily will have to figure out who she can trust, who she hasto align with even if she doesn’t trust them, and just who has the darkest nature of all.Closer to the release day, I will most likely hold a giveaway. One lucky winner will receive some fab prizes.Stay tuned and until then, read on! *xoxo*

Prettiest Death You've Ever Seen

Skulls and Such
My love of sugar skulls (and skulls in general) goes all the way back to Kindergarten and the beloved babysitter who made me one. Her name was Cherry and she was probably the coolest babysitter ever. I also had a HUGE crush for years and years on her oldest son, but I'm sure that had nothing to do with her "cool" factor. LOL

One morning as her son and I are getting ready to go to school, she shows me this awesomely fascinating piece of artwork she's done. There on the counter sits a row of sugar skulls, each one different and each one made for a specific family member. Next to my crush's skull is the prettiest pink, purple, blue and black skull you've ever seen. "This one is yours," she says proudly. I was so excited! It was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen and it was mine, all mine! I snapped it up into my grubby little paws and looked it over, ooh-ing and ahh-ing about how fantastic and pretty it was. Then she told me I should leave it there until after school. WHAT?! No way, today was show and tell and people needed to see this thing of beauty. Naturally, I argued and being the boisterous little imp that I am, I got my way. Her last words to me as I was getting out of the car was, "Be careful, they're fragile and break easy."


The skull made it through show and tell, however just after that it met a terrible demise. A little bully of a boy walked right up to me, slapped my treasure right out of my hand and said, "Girls aren't supposed to like stuff like that." Whatever! I didn't even have time to bloody his nose (I was a bit of a tomboy) let alone shriek for the teacher. My sugar skull was lying on the floor in pieces! It had shattered into a million colorful pieces and I would never hold its beauty in my hands again.


Since that fateful day, I practice much more care with my treasures and listen (slightly) better. I also collect anything and everything with a skull on it whether its dia de los muertos related, a simple skull, a freakish oddity, whatever. I love them. Many people are kind of like that bullish boy and look at me with curled lip when they see skulls dangling from my ears or emblazoned across my shirt. Sometimes, I just want to say, "Look, I don't hate on you for liking Hello Kitty or having a collection of super-girly, sickening sweet flowers and hearts." Instead, I just tighten up the strap of my purse (has a cool pattern and a couple glittery skulls on it) and walk on in my super bright dia de los muertos slippers.

Winners!!

Just a quick post to announce the winners of the Spring Fling Blog Hop and the Hunky Heroes Blog Hop...

Winner #1 for Hunky Heroes: Shadowluv
Winner #2 for Spring Fling: Desiree Reilly
(you should have received an email from me)
Congrats, ladies and enjoy! You've won a free e-copy of Bitter Black Kiss.




If you didn't win, don't despair! There's always another chance around the corner. In fact, The Sinful
Sirens Blog Hop will be starting soon. Keep an eye on this blog for more info. :)