Xio Axelrod's Blog, page 6

FoX Friday with Kimberly Kincaid!

Welcome to another Fox Friday, my lovelies! Today, we have the delightful Kimberly Kincaid with us again, this time with her new release DEEP BURN. This is book two in her smokin’ hot Station Seventeen series. Sexy firefighters, y’all!

Here’s a bit about the book…

Firefighter Shae McCullough is all-in, all the time. When her reckless response at a fire earns her a two-week penance filing paperwork for the arson investigation unit, the rules and routines are enough to bore her senseless. But the discovery of a possible arson at a murder scene has her instincts fired up, and when Shae is assigned to assist Remington’s elite intelligence unit with their investigation, she’s all too ready to jump in with both boots first.

To tech and surveillance expert James Capelli, logic isn’t just a job requirement, it’s a way of life. He’s less than thrilled to work with Shae, whose impulsiveness threatens his sanity and whose curves threaten his composure. Despite their differences, they uncover a case bigger than anyone could have expected—along with an attraction that burns deep.

But this killer is no stranger, and Capelli’s got a dark past. Can he and Shae outsmart a ruthless murderer, or will his secrets bury them both?

I love this couple already.

Brand new CAMDEN trailer, featuring Stuart Reardon!

Oh, my lovelies, have I got a treat for you! Check out the brand new trailer that Stuart and I did for Camden.

Amazing, isn’t it? Do you have your copy yet? Grab the book on:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2rbPGew

iBooks: http://apple.co/2r4B9B5

Nook: http://bit.ly/2rMDwF1

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2re5pcK

And pick up the single, “Stranger” on:

iTunes: http://apple.co/1MXQ44G

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2rvojeQ

or stream it on Spotify: http://bit.ly/2qecl4U

FoX Friday with Golden Czermak!

Hello, my lovelies! I’m soooooo excited to welcome this week’s guest. I’ve been following Golden Czermak on Instagram for quite some time. If you’re not familiar with his work as a photographer, I highly recommend you check it out. Golden is not only a phenomenal photographer who works with some of the most iconic models in the business, including my friends Stuart Reardon and Franggy Yanez, he is also one hell of an author.

I finally met Golden in person last month at RT Booklovers Convention in Atlanta, and asked him if he’d drop by with his new release The Steam Tycoon. Before we get to the book, let’s get to know Golden!

 

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing off and on since I was 15; I have a long outline for a sci-fi story I think I will try to tackle next year. Recently I plucked up enough courage to work on a WIP for publication, which became the first Journeyman book – Homeward Bound – released in June 2016.

Oh, cool! How many hours do you spending writing each day?

On writing days, anywhere between 4 and 8 hours.

Between writing, modeling, and your photography, you’re crazy busy. What do you do in your downtime?

What is downtime? LOL.

LOL!

I like to spend my downtime watching movies or playing video games – the ones with engaging stories or open world exploration.

Nice. In the movie about your life, what’s the title and who would play you?

The Guy Who Never Sleeps, starring Chris Pratt. Oh wait, that might be a daydream.

Hee! I could totally see that, though. What type of music do you listen to?

All genres, depending on the mood.

And what types of books are on your bookshelf at home?

Science fiction and fantasy, along with the many books I’ve had the privilege of working on over the years.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

Oh gosh that’s a toughie. I like living near the beach but not actually on it.

Not a fan of the sand? Ehehe. Okay, finish this sentence: I’m addicted to…

Carbs.

Ha! Aren’t we all? What can readers expect from you next?

I am planning to finish the short story “SWOLE” series in the coming months, along with a fantasy book “The Secret Life of Cooper Bennett”, which has more of a shifter vibe.

Awesome! I’m looking forward to reading all of the things, lol.

Jesse Winthrope is a self-made millionaire who has quickly risen from his own humble beginnings. Rocketed high into the upper echelons after the invention of his high efficiency Winthrope Steam Engine, Jesse is poised to take on the Western Frontier, starting in the city of Diablo.

Jenny Boone is from a hard-working farming family, living off the land far from the city and its technological marvels. However, circumstances beyond Jenny’s control force her into the clutches of a highly judgmental population.

Going to work in one of Winthrope’s factories, the two find each other and along with it a love that crosses both finances and prejudices.

Can their feelings for each other survive, or will society get the best of them, dousing the fire in their hearts?

Grab The Steam Tycoon on: Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, and Nook. Add it to your Goodreads Want-to-Read list!

About Golden Czermak…

In the beginning, Golden worked the standard corporate rat race, completed college for a Chemical Engineering Degree, and began a small photography company on the side.

Since then, and the growth of the FuriousFotog brand, Golden became an internationally published modeling/fitness photographer and eventually began working as a book cover model.

Having been in the industry for at least four years, he has interfaced and networked with countless authors and other clients. As part of his work as a photographer, he worked with them to create book cover images – now numbering well over 500 at the beginning of 2017.

Learning the ins and out of the book world, along with being an avid reader and storyteller himself, Golden finally decided to write and publish his first book, Homeward Bound, in 2016. This paranormal adventure romance will span a total of six books and new ideas for other stories are in the works as well.

You can find Golden on his website, Facebook fan page, Facebook photography page, and on Twitter: @onefuriousfotog

Coming Soon from Xio…

FoX Friday with Sarah Hegger, plus a fabulous giveaway!

Hello, my lovelies! Are you ready to accentuate the positive? That’s what the Other Half of My Brain, Sarah Hegger, wants you to do and she’s here with her new release, POSITIVELY PIPPA. Here’s a bit about the book.

From author Sarah Hegger comes an exciting new series set in small-town Utah, where secrets don’t keep for long—and love turns up in the most unexpected places.

For Pippa Turner there’s only one place to go when her life self-destructs on national TV—home to Ghost Falls, and her heavily perfumed, overly dramatic, but supremely loving grandmother, Philomene. If anyone will understand how Pippa’s hit makeover show was sabotaged by her vengeful ex, it’s Phi. But she’s not the only one who’s happy to see her—and Pippa can’t help but wonder if Matt Evans, her gorgeous high-school crush turned Phi’s contractor, is game for a steamy close-up…

Matt owes his whole career to Phi and her constant demands to embellish the gothically ridiculous house he built for her. Getting to see red-headed, red-hot Pippa is a bonus, especially now that she’s no longer the troublesome teenager he remembers. He’s willing to stay behind the scenes while she gives her own life a much-needed makeover, but not forever. As far as he’s concerned, their connection is too electric to ignore. And the chance to build something lasting between them—before she can high-tail it back to Hollywood—is going to the top of his to-do list.

I’ve been super excited for Pippa to be unleashed on the world. I love Sarah’s writing, and Pippa may be my favourite of her characters to  date. Grab a copy  on Amazon, iBooks, Nook, and  Kobo. And add it to your Goodreads ‘want to read’  list.

Sarah was sweet enough to give us an excerpt from Pippa. Check it out!

Chapter 1

“Aren’t you—?”

“No.” Not anymore she wasn’t. Pippa snatched her boarding pass from the check-in attendant and tugged her baseball cap lower over her eyes. Couldn’t Kim Kardashian help a girl out and release another sex tape or something? Anything to get Pippa away from the social media lynch mob. She kept her head down until she found her gate, and chose the seat farthest away from the other passengers waiting to board the flight to Salt Lake City. Latest copy of Vogue blocking her face, she flipped through the glossy pages.

Peeping over the top of her magazine she slammed straight into the narrowed gaze of a woman three rows over. Shit! Pippa dropped the woman’s gaze and went back to Vivienne Westwood bucking the trend.

Across the airport lounge the woman’s glare beamed into the top of her head like those laser tracking things you saw in spy movies. Pippa buckled under the burn and slouched lower into her seat.

Look at that, Fendi was doing fabulous separates this season. And really, Ralph Lauren, that’s your idea of a plus-size model? Stuff like this made her job so much harder.

Her former job.

Losing her show still clawed at her. Losing? Like she’d left the damn thing at Starbucks as she picked up her morning latte. More like her jackass ex with zero conscience had knocked it out of her hand. Framed, stitched up, wrongfully accused—judged, found guilty, and sentenced to a plethora of public loathing wiping out all the years spent building her career. Burning sense of injustice aside, she was stuck in this thing until it went away.

Angry Woman lurked in her peripheral vision. As sweat slid down her sides, Pippa tucked her elbows in tight and risked another glance.

Under an iron-gray row of rigidly permed bangs, the woman’s mouth puckered up.

Back to Vogue. The knot in her stomach twisted tighter, and she checked her cap. What the hell? A baseball cap and shades always worked for other celebrities. Why not her?

Angry Woman squared her shoulders and huffed.

This could go one of two ways. Either Angry Woman would come over and give her a piece of her mind on behalf of women everywhere, or she’d confine her anger to vicious staring and muttering. Maybe some head shaking. Please don’t let her be a crusader for women. Please, please, please. After two weeks of glares, stares and condemnation, Pippa had gotten the message:

Pippa St. Amor, the woman America loves to hate.

Right now, all she wanted was to sneak home and stay there until someone else topped her scandal. God, didn’t Vogue have anything fresh? She’d make a list. Lists were good. Soothing. Item one, run away from Angry Woman and hide in the bathroom. Item two, get your career back. She moved item two up to first place, where it had been since she left home at eighteen, and gauged the distance between her and the bathroom door. She’d never make it.

Angry Woman lifted her phone and snapped a shot of Pippa.

Damn, she’d forgotten that option; this one by far the worst. God, she hated Twitter. And Facebook. And Instagram, and Snapchat, and whatever-the-hell new social torment site some asshat was thinking up right this minute. The ongoing public derision chipped off bits of her until she felt like an open nerve ending.

A friend huddled next to Angry Woman, long hair that was totally the wrong shade of brown and aged her by ten years at least. If Pippa had her on the show, Long Hair would be wearing a cute, hip cut, a fresh new makeup look, and mile-wide smile with her new sense of self.

The reveals never got old. There was something about a woman finally seeing her own beauty that made all the other crap that went with a television career worth it. Ray had ripped that away from her too.

Pippa was getting it with double barrels now. Lips tight, matching twin spots of outraged color staining their cheeks as they whispered over Angry Woman’s phone. They both wore mom jeans. Up until two weeks ago it had been her mission to deliver moms everywhere from jeans like that. Along with those nasty, out of shape T-shirts they sold in three-packs of meh colors that had no business existing on the color spectrum. Angry and Long Hair were so her demographic. They’d probably seen the original episode live and watched it over and over again on demand or something. Maybe even watching it right this minute on YouTube.

YouTube! She hated YouTube, too.

Why didn’t they call her flight already and get her the hell out of here?

You didn’t sleep with the boss, and especially not in television. For four years. Ray had always been a bit sneaky, but to annihilate her career to boost his own? She hadn’t seen it coming. But you couldn’t rely on a man. How did she not get this by now?

Three minutes until boarding.

“Excuse me?”

Ah, shit, shit, shit, double damned shit in a bucket. So close, two minutes and fifty-five seconds. Smile and look friendly. “Yes.”

Try not to look like you.

“You’re that woman, aren’t you?” Angry Woman narrowed her eyes, and Pippa leaned back in her chair, out of striking range.

“Hmm?”

“It is you.” Long Hair planted her legs akimbo like a prizefighter. “I watched every single one of your shows. I can’t believe you said those things, and I—”

Two minutes, thirty seconds.

“—should be ashamed of yourself. What you said is a crime against women everywhere. You made that poor woman cry.”

Of course they cried. They were supposed to cry. The shows were edited to make them cry even more, but not the time to point it out.

“Shocking. And cruel. You’re just a . . . a nasty bitch.” Angry Woman got the last word in. She’d been called worse. Recently, too, and it still stung.

A man in the row opposite turned to watch the action. The three teens beside him openly stared and giggled.

I didn’t say it, people. Okay, she’d said it, but not like that. Editing, people. Creative editing—the scourge and savior of television celebrities worldwide. She could shout it across LAX and it still wouldn’t do any good. Until the next scandal broke and hers was forgotten.

“This is a boarding call . . .”

Thank you, Jesus!

“I’m sorry, that’s my flight.” Pippa creaked a smile and gathered her things. Handbag, phone, iPad, and coat. Her hands shook under the combined weight of several sets of eyes and she nearly dropped her phone.

No cabin baggage, not on this flight. Nope, this flight she’d packed just about everything she owned into the two heaviest suitcases on the planet. Paid extra weight without an argument. Anything to get the hell out of LA and home to Philomene.

Phi would know what to do.

***

Aww, poor Pippa! So maligned, so  misunderstood. I just want to hug her, and then get wardrobe advice. She’s a genius!  Grab a copy and dive into Pippa’s world, you won’t regret it. Now, check out this fabulous giveaway!

 

Born British and raised in South Africa, Sarah Hegger suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust. Her match? A hot Canadian engineer, whose marriage proposal she accepted six short weeks after they first met. Together they’ve made homes in seven different cities across three different continents (and back again once or twice). If only it made her multilingual, but the best she can manage is idiosyncratic English, fluent Afrikaans, conversant Russian, pigeon Portuguese, even worse Zulu and enough French to get herself into trouble.

Mimicking her globe trotting adventures, Sarah’s career path began as a gainfully employed actress, drifted into public relations, settled a moment in advertising, and eventually took root in the fertile soil of her first love, writing. She also moonlights as a wife and mother.

She currently lives in Colorado with her teenage daughters, two Golden Retrievers and aforementioned husband. Part footloose buccaneer, part quixotic observer of life, Sarah’s restless heart is most content when reading or writing books.

Sarah is the recipient of the 2015 EPIC Award for Historical Romance.

 

You can find Sarah on:

Website: http://sarahhegger.com

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/sarahheggerauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahHegger

Google+: https://plus.google.com/100057781039257025684

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8202895.Sarah_Hegger

Tumblr: http://sarahhegger.tumblr.com/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sarahhegger7/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sarahheggerauthor/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FoX Friday with Katie Kenyhercz!

Hey, my lovelies! Today, we welcome Katie Kenyhercz back to FoX Friday with her upcoming release, Vegas Baby, out May 31st. Before we dive into Miranda’s story, let’s learn a little more about Katie!

Did you always want to be a writer? If not, what else did you want to do?

Once upon a time, I wanted to be a doctor (because Dana Scully). These days, when I’m not writing I’m teaching college English. One day I hope to score a creative writing class!

How do you celebrate each book release?

There is always cake. When I can manage it, there is cake with my book cover on it and I also have a cyber party in my Las Vegas Sinners Facebook group!

Ha! There’s always time for cake. What advice would you give to another author who’s struggling with writer’s block?

Plot. Every time I hit a block it’s because I’m not 100% clear on where the book goes from there. If I plot out the rest of the book or at least the next few scenes, the block is gone. If you keep hitting blocks, it might be because you’ve gone wrong somewhere, and subconsciously you know it. Look at the book so far and ask if you’re being true to your characters. Would they do those things? Say those things? If not, re-write, then move forward.

Great advice! What inspired you to write your latest release?

Vegas Baby is the first book in the Lady Sinners spinoff series from my Las Vegas Sinners series.  I knew I wanted to give the Sinners’ dance team their own books, and it made sense to make Ben Collier (an injured, ex-Sinners player) the first hero. Readers had said they wanted to know what happened to him at the end of Fair Trade. Now they can find out!

Sweet! If you could date the hero from one of your books, who would it be and why?

This is hard! Carter Phlynn from On the Fly because he knows what he wants and goes for it and doesn’t give up on the woman he loves. Dylan Cole from Home Ice because he’s super sweet, kind and thoughtful. And Grayson Gunn from Fair Trade because he’s been around the block, has learned a lot, and is unwaveringly loyal and dedicated.

Hey, no need to choose. Right? What do you do in your downtime?

I hang with the hubby and our grumpy cat, Motley. We love watching movies and going for walks in the park. It’s warming up in Ohio, and I’ll be skating soon, too!

Cool! What would the title of the movie about your life, and what would it be rated? (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17)?

Semi-Charmed Life mostly PG-13 and sometimes R

Haha! So, what can readers expect from you next?

Before I start Vegas Girl, the next book in the Lady Sinners series, I’ll be writing one book, Found on Anna Maria Island, in a sports romance trilogy called Sullivan’s Sons. The heroes are a baseball player, football player, and hockey player respectively. Their parents gave up their sister when she was born and never told the boys until the first book starts, and the family searches for the long-lost girl. Along the way, each brother finds his soul mate. In my book, hockey player Lucas unknowingly falls for the biological daughter of his sister’s adopted parents. Intrigue, right?! Look for this trilogy in early 2018 from me, Elley Arden, and Kristina Knight!

As captain of the dance team for the NHL’s Las Vegas Sinners, it’s Miranda Evans’ job to make sure a quality product goes on the ice between periods whether it’s choreographed numbers or short scrimmages, but she’s not blind. Her squad gets eye rolls and applause in equal measure. The chance to start a community intramural hockey league is her shot at legitimizing the Lady Sinners, but there’s a catch. To maximize good press, Miranda has to work with a retired Sinner who’s shut himself off from everyone in the organization. He’s stubborn, broken, and unwilling to say the least, but in unguarded moments she can see the man underneath, and he might just be worth fighting for.

Ben Collier’s NHL career came to a crashing halt a little over a year ago when a monster hit paralyzed him from the waist down. Feeling is coming back at a mind-numbingly slow pace. He’s attacking rehab to the point of obsession. All he wants is to be left alone to focus on his three goals: walk, skate, play hockey. He absolutely doesn’t need the distraction of the beautiful cheerleader who won’t give him a moment’s peace, but her optimism rubs off when he’s not looking. Despite himself, the glass is starting to look half full for the first time since his injury. And that’s terrifying. To love something means to accept the risk of losing it, and he’s not sure he can do that again.

You can pre-order VEGAS BABY at Amazon for only 99 cents!

Meet the Skinners: Camden is here!

Hello, my beautiful friends! I’m super excited today because CAMDEN is finally here. This book is a little different for me, and I’m anxious for you to meet the Skinner boys. So, please, grab a copy and let Camden fill your pint glass.

Sometimes there’s a moment when you know you’ve screwed up. For Camden Skinner, it’s the night a dead pop star walks into his pub.

As one-half of Skin, an agency which specializes in cleaning up behind the ultra-rich and infamous, Cam has gotten used to getting his hands dirty. A little too used to it. After the young singer at the center of a client’s controversy is found dead, Cam decides he’s out. He walks away from Skin in search of a simpler life. Maybe even a shot at redemption.

Redemption arrives in the form of Yara Bujold.

The singer’s meteoric rise to the top surprised no one more than Yara herself. All she ever wanted was to make music. Caught up in the dark underbelly of the industry, Yara is forced to fake her own death. But she can’t hide forever.

Yara tracks down one of the principals at Skin, the very people that helped to tear her down. She’ll force Camden Skinner to make it right, whatever it takes. What she doesn’t expect is remorse from the man that helped to ruin her. And she certainly doesn’t expect to lose herself in him.

Cam finds himself sucked right back into a world he’d hoped never to step foot in again, but he can’t walk away. He has to fix this. Not only for himself, but for her. For Yara. Because she might just be everything he didn’t know he needed. She just might be everything.

The idea for CAMDEN came about when I met my brother-from-another-mother, Stu Reardon, in Dublin last October. Stu has inspired quite a few authors, and I am no exception. He’s a beautiful person, inside and out. Be sure to check out his awesome online program: Fear Nothing Fitness. He’ll whip you into shape!

CAMDEN is set in Philadelphia and features a family of Scottish ex-pats, which seems to be my kink. LOL! This is the first book that bridges my two worlds: romance and music. You can pick up the single “Stranger” on iTunes, Amazon, and stream it on Spotify. Take a listen!

 

Now, how about an excerpt?

It was nights like this that Cam truly enjoyed his new occupation. This was so much more pleasant than sucking up to powerful assholes and helping them to look less like assholes in the public eye or playing bodyguard to an oil tycoon on a bender in Vegas.

But like the chewing gum you step in on a hot summer’s day, Cam couldn’t seem to scrape Skin from his heel.

At first, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him. Cam had spent so much time staring at photos of Yara Bujold, devouring any scrap of information he could find on her, he felt like he knew her. So when she walked into Skinners, clad in a hoodie, loose jeans, and dark sunglasses, presumably to conceal her identity, he’d only been a little surprised.

She’d been missing, presumed dead, but he’d known she wasn’t. Had known it in his gut. And though no one else in the room seemed to recognize her, Cam would have known her anywhere.

There was something in the way she carried herself. A regal air about her, though she hunched her shoulders now as if to hide in plain sight. Her signature long, dark hair was twisted up and hidden partially by a snapback that was pulled down over a bright purple bandanna.

Yara made her way to the back of the bar, settling in a corner with full view of the space.

Kris wound his way over to her and Cam watched as she placed her order without a glance at the menu. Probably not much money in her pocket, if she’d been on the run all that time.

Cam snagged Kris on his way to the kitchen.

“Boss?”

“The lady in the back, what did she order?”

“Coffee and curry fries.”

“Have Rocco make her a grilled cheese too.” In his research, Cam had learned it was her favorite. Along with peanut butter, Coke, and cheesy snacks. Strange, the minutiae that had stuck with him.

Kris cocked his head. “Oh, okay. Sure. On you?”

“Everything is on me. Take her the food and leave her be. I have a feeling she’s going to be here for a while.”

Kris nodded and went on his way.

Cam went back to tending the bar, keeping a close eye on Yara Bujold throughout the evening. She’d ravaged the sandwich when it arrived. Had questioned Kris about it.

“What did she say,” he asked when the kid passed by again.

This time, Kris eyed him suspiciously. “She tried to refuse it. I told her there was a mix up in the kitchen about her fries, and that it would all be on the house. I’m getting her fries now.”

“Good man.”

Kris squinted in the girl’s direction. “She an ex or something? She looks familiar.”

Cam caught Kris’s gaze. “No. Just…keep an eye on her. Give her anything she wants.”

The blond quirked an eyebrow. “On the house?”

“Yes, on the house.”

Kris smirked. “Not an ex. Sure.”

Cam watched him walk all the way to the kitchen where he disappeared through the swinging door. Let him think whatever he liked.

Surprisingly, no one approached Yara. Could be because she’d kept her head down, hunched over her phone as if she were engaged with something. Cam knew she wasn’t. Judging by the lack of light on the screen, the phone wasn’t even on.

It couldn’t have been a coincidence, her being there. Which meant she knew who he was. What he’d done. To her.

Shit.

He didn’t have time to be worried about that, though. He was too fucking relieved to see her alive and well and fucking breathing. Cam figured she’d need help to get her life back. No one pulled a disappearing act without good reason, especially not someone who had the world in the palm of their hand. Besides, he owed her. Hell, even if he hadn’t, he would give her anything she needed. Anything.

***

Woot! I hope that made you want to 1-click CAMDEN. Did it? Did it? Awesome! You can grab a copy at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, and Kobo.

I’ll be celebrating CAMDEN for the rest of the month (and well into June). In fact, I’ll be part of, not one, but two Facebook parties next week!

On 30th May, I’ll join the lovely and talented Sarah Hegger and Terri Osburn to help them celebrate their new releases, POSITIVELY PIPPA, and THE LAST IN LOVE. Then, on 31st May I’ll help Stephanie St. Klaire celebrate her 40th birthday and her new release, FEARLESS. I will have some lovely prizes for those parties, so make sure you check those out!

Last but not least, there’s still time to grab 13 FREE e-books and enter for a chance to win 13 signed paperbacks (including The Warm Up)!

But how, Xio? It’s easy!

A few of my uber-talented New York Times and USA Today bestselling friends and I have decided to run an amazing giveaway that lets you try one book from each of us! Why? Because I am confident that if you like my books, you will like these as well. Why not GET TO KNOW some other authors?! Aaaaand…everyone who enters to receive our books will ALSO be entered to win 13 signed paperbacks – one from each of us (see below!)

Seriously? This is the biggest win-win EVER!

TO ENTER:

1. LIKE my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/XioAxelrod

2. FOLLOW me on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Xio-Axelrod/e/B00JCFOOHY

3. CLICK on the link below to enter!

**All entrants will receive links to the 13 free e-books the week of May 29. The links will come via each author’s individual newsletter.

**The winner of the 13 signed paperbacks (see below!) will be announced on May 29.

**Open internationally.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

FoX Friday with Virginia Nelson plus a HUGE giveaway!

Hello, my lovelies! This week, we’re joined by the lovely and talented Virginia Nelson. She’s here with her brand new release, The Irish Prince.

Before we get to know the delectable Aiden Kelly, let’s learn a little bit about Virginia.

How long have you been writing?

I started writing as a kid. I even used to swap this spiral-bound notebook back and forth with my best friend in high school—she’d write a chapter then I would in my next class—so storytelling was always a great love for me. It wasn’t until I was way older, though, that I considered doing it for publication… It took that long for me to realize my stories were something more than a way to make myself happy!

And we’re so glad you did! Do you have a single book or character that’s dear to your heart, and why?

I tend to be the most in love with whichever hero I’m writing at the moment, but I have to say I’m really proud of two of my novellas. Dom of the Dead is one, because so many readers identified so much with the grief in that story. I got more emails from readers on that one than any of my other books. The second was Forever Devoted, because I gave the heroine a TBI. Since the symptoms are quite similar to those from a stroke, I just identified with the heroine a lot, making it really hard to write.

Oh, wow. I have to grab that one. Sounds amazing! Do you have a one-click or must-buy author whose books you just have to have?

I’m insanely addicted to everything that Kristan Higgins writes.

Haha, who isn’t?

She makes me laugh and ugly cry every single time. I love her books.

Me too.

FoX Friday with Angi Morgan + a giveaway!

Hello, my lovelies!

I’m back from the 2017 RT Booklovers Convention, which took place in Atlanta, GA. It was a fantastic event, and I was able to meet so many of you. Thanks for coming down/out/over, lol. Hope to see you again in Reno.

Are You Ready to be Gone With the Dead?

Hello, my lovelies! I’m back from a fun but exhausting RT Booklovers convention and I have a brand new project to tell you about! Gone With the Dead is an anthology of romance and horror where Gone with the Wind meets The Walking Dead!

When a convention of more than 4,000 romance writers and readers descended upon Atlanta Georgia, it could only mean one thing…a mash-up of two of the finest Georgia traditions.

Erotic romance anthologist Lori Perkins brought together 16 tales of Southern love and death in this unique short story collection, which includes my tale, FALLEN.

Here’s a snippet!

Adea became aware.

The colors hit first, swaths of dark, vibrant brights, and everything between. Colors they had no name for on the celestial plane. Adea knew the names of the things, but not the colors themselves.

There were trees and the color of trees. There was grass and the color of grass that was similar to the trees, but lighter. There was the sky above and the sea below, also similar but not the same.

Then there were the sounds. Wind was wind, but softer somehow. The very sounds of life overwhelmed Adea. So many hearts beating. So many voices.

Landing atop the listing waves of an ocean, Adea looked down at the corporeal form which contained them. Long appendages stretched toward the water, dark and smooth as a starless night. Adea willed them to move, and they did, like ribbons of space undulating in the open air. There were more on the sides, and Adea moves those too. A curious sensation, Adea could feel the wind brush against these extremities. How odd, to feel that all the time as humans must. How distracting it must be.

But it was pleasurable, like being caressed by the breath of God.

The rest of the form baffled Adea. Soft curves, and even more dark, smooth flesh.

Names, words, definitions. Adea lacked them all. This was unacceptable. It had been millennia since they had inhabited the earthly realm, had come into contact with the life there. Adea had forgotten all that they had ever known about the place. Unacceptable.

Man was clever, though, and he had cast his existence into the universe like a net. Ready to trap anyone that ventured close.

Adea allowed the net to settle over this body, let the information seep into the cells.

Languages. Du er ikke alene. So many. The only thing to fear is fear itself. How could these beings communicate? Je t’adore.

The knowledge of things came quickly, now. Apples. Cars. Phones. Clothes

Adea learned of the men, women and children. The parents. Generals. Doctors. Actors.

Learned of Race and gender. Action. Inaction. Emotions. Desire. Love. Hate.

Hate.

A lot of that one.

But also love, joy, pleasure – so much pleasure.

Adea looked down at this body and realized it was female. Interesting. He was male. She was female. And so, Adea was female. A she. She, her. Very confining.

Adea moved her limbs again and brought the things called hands to the thing called her face. Moved them down this body, over the things called tits. Breasts. Boobs. So many words for them, but soft was Adea’s word. This body was soft and pleasing to touch. Stroking certain areas sent ripples of sensation across a thousand nerve endings. Maybe it wouldn’t be so horrible to stay in this form while on earth, she thought.

Willing herself to move, Adea floated down closer to the ocean. Water lapped at the ends of her legs. Feet. Toes, they were toes. Adea touched the toes to the water and registered the cold, the energy traveling through her like an electrical current. Gathering that energy, pulling it toward her, Adea fed and felt her mind clear.

She knew where she was and when, and she knew the one she had come to claim was close. Adea gathered nature’s will around her and went off in search of her target.

It didn’t take long to find him.

Stars were beautiful, dotting the velvet curtain of the universe like musical notes. They were, after all, the jewels of the universe. Chalices of light. Adea might not admit it on the celestial plane, but fallen stars burned brighter. And fallen stars would attract the hedonists. The sybarites. The lonely. The lost. The lustful.

This body’s lust led her right to him. An aching between her thighs that pulsed, driving her along the river to where he sat. Waiting, whether he knew it or not.

***

Gone With the Dead contains these brand new stories:

Christina and the Virus by Sarah Bale

A Dead Man is Hard to Find by Ellay Branton

A Piece of Him by R. L. Merrill

A Happy Medium by Freddie Milano

Bait by Isabelle Drake

Bloody Line by Carolyn Haven

Devil’s in the Well by Harley Easton

A Ferocious Blossom by Marie Piper

Kissing Summer by Megan Hart

If I Only Knew By Genevieve Williams

Animals by Sue Ayers

Dogs of War by Andrew Robertson

The Music Man by Kimberlie L. Faye

Fallen by Xio Axelrod

Leftovers by Cassandra Chandler

Here for You by Kate L. Mary

Grab a copy on Amazon and Smashwords!

The Warm Up is back!

Hello my lovelies!

Zim and Suji are back, and there’s even more of them to love. The Warm Up is available now as a standalone novella, and there’s a bonus chapter!

If you missed Hot On Ice, now’s your chance to catch this sexy, snarky love story.

Subzero.

That’s what folks around the league call Constantine Zimin, hockey’s best defenseman. He’s unflappable. Stoic, even. No cracks in all that ice, not until he meets Suji Meriwether.

The pediatric nurse has no time for bad-boy jocks who want to use her patients as props. But as soon as they meet, temperatures rise and their defenses fall.

How about an excerpt?

***

“Mama, papa, we’re going to find our table and leave you to it. Enjoy

yourselves, da?”

His mother grabbed his forearm and pulled.

Zim bent over, and she cupped his cheek, turning his head.

“You really like her,” she whispered.

“I just met her, mama,” Zim whispered back.

She released him and caught his eye, her expression full of mischief.

“So, go get to know her better.” She winked.

Fortunately, Suji had been occupied by another guest.

Zim joined her. When she was done, he offered his arm, which she took.

He’d chosen a table at the other end of the ship, away from the bulk of the partygoers. This way, he could put in the requisite time with them, and retreat when he needed to.

“This is pretty far from the action, isn’t it?” Suji noted.

“By design.”

“Want me all to yourself do you?” She was still teasing, but Zim saw something else in her eyes. Uncertainty.

He was right there with her. He couldn’t deny the attraction, but he wasn’t sure what they were doing at this point. He had no game plan. Instead of answering, he offered to pour her some wine.

“Red or white?”

“In this dress, I’m safe with red.”

Zim raised an eyebrow.

“I’m a clutz when it comes to any sort of fancy dress. I can tap a vein with my eyes closed, hook up a drip in seconds, but put me in a dress? I’m Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed.” Suji grinned.

Zim hadn’t seen the film, but he got the gist of it. “Red it is. And the dress is beautiful, by the way.”

Was that a blush on her cheeks? “Thanks. I borrowed it from my sister. She’s into clothes and all that.”

Zim filled her glass and then his own. “And you’re not?”

“I don’t have much occasion for street clothes. But I own about a hundred different sets of scrubs, in every conceivable color and pattern.”

Zim chuckled. “I liked the unicorns.”

“Yeah?” She smiled and took a sip of her wine. “I’m partial to those myself. And the kids love them.”

“Hey,” Zim started. “How is Tiffany?”

Suji’s expression sobered. “She’s actually okay. She had chemo this morning,

and she sometimes reacts badly. That’s why she wasn’t at the party today.”

“Ah.”

“But she’s been responding really well to treatment. We have every confidence she’ll beat this thing.”

“That is fantastic news.”

Suji’s smile was a mixture of pride and relief. “It is.”

They sat in silence for a few awkward moments. Zim racked his brain for a topic of conversation that didn’t revolve around her work.

“Tell me about your sport,” Suji said, rescuing him. “I confess, I know nothing about it. When did you start playing?”

If there was one thing Zim could talk about, ad nauseum, it was hockey. “My father strapped my sister and I both into skates as soon as we could walk. We lived near the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg.”

“Oh,” Suji said. “I didn’t know you were born in Russia. How old were you when you moved to the United States?”

“Ten.” Thankfully, she didn’t ask why, so Zim continued. “Anyway, my father played hockey before he met my mother, so he’s always been in love with the sport. He passed that on to me.”

“And what do you love about it?” Suji watched him with glittering, amber eyes.

Zim kept getting caught in that mysterious gaze.

“The speed, the skills you need to develop, the discipline,” Zim answered without thinking. “I love the camaraderie with my teammates. Unlike some other sports, it’s never a one-man show. One player hardly ever carries a whole team.”

“You have to work as a unit.”

“Yeah, that’s it exactly.”

“Not so different from my and my team,” Suji remarked. “Not one of us could do the job alone. We work together to make sure each child has the care they need.”

Zim nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. My teammates and I work together toward our target, scoring goals, winning games.”

“And ultimately that shiny trophy on the other side of the room.”

Zim grinned. “That too.”

“So, your father got you started, and then you moved here to Philadelphia.”

“Yeah, where I joined a ten-and-under league.”

Suji’s eyes went wide. “They have a league for kids that young?”

“Younger. It’s better to start very young. Though, at that age, it’s more about getting the kids comfortable with being on the ice. Skating and stopping. Control. Falling.”

“Falling?” Suji laughed.

“You fall a lot.” Zim couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “A whole hell of a lot until you’re about sixteen when the skates and the stick feel more like extensions of your body.”

“And now, here you are.”

“Here I am.”

“Well, if I didn’t say it before, congratulations on winning.” Suji raised her glass and Zim followed suit.

“Thanks. And thank you for…accompanying me tonight.”

“So far, so good,” Suji said, her mouth curving in a grin.

“Very much so.” Zim loved the blush that spread across her cheeks.

“There you are,” Marty jogged up to the table. “We need you to make your speech, take some group shots, that sort of thing. Hi, Nurse Meriwether.”

“Suji is fine,” she offered. “And don’t let me keep you, Zim. I know you have obligations.”

He stood, hating the fact that they’d finally gotten to talk and he was being pulled away.

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” he assured her.

She waved him off. “Go make money for my kids.”

Zim smiled. “That’s the plan.”

***

You can grab your copy of The Warm Up on Amazon, iBooks, and Kobo. (B&N coming soon!)