C.J. Burright's Blog, page 7

Cover Reveal – Breathless by Georgia Lyn Hunter

Happy Friday, people! I’m so psyched to be part of the cover reveal for the up and coming contemporary romance written by my buddy, pal, critique partner, and all around fabulous author Georgia Lyn Hunter. This is one sexy read you don’t want to miss…trust me. And it’s on pre-order sale for only 99 pennies, so grab your copy!

When the fairy tale life you believed in falls apart, there is nothing else left…

Or so I believed, until Trouble, wrapped in one hunky body and a sinful smile promising untold pleasure of the carnal kind, lands on my doorstep. Despite what my body demands or the fact that I’m irresistibly drawn to him, I’d been burned too deeply to dare try again. Besides, Max Meade-Sinclair is my younger sister’s best friend—and totally off-limits.

Ila Logan’s coolly dismissive manner captures and challenges me from the moment our paths cross. What I want, I usually get. A little thing like age isn’t going to stop me. Neither are the men who disappear into her secluded room. However, she proves a difficult opponent who leaves me falling for her a little more at each encounter.

This tempestuous woman is mine, but to win her, I must dig deeper, and show her that beneath my brawling, player facade exists a man who would go to the ends of the earth to make her happy.

But surviving my own dark past may just destroy the fragile bond growing between us…

AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER!  

 

Georgia Lyn Hunter hails from the tropical climes of South Africa and currently lives in the searing Middle East.

She’s been creating stories from the moment she could string two words together. And no matter the tale, they always have romance woven through them.

When not writing or plotting her next book, she can be found reading, travelling, painting, or trolling flea markets where she loves to buy things she might never actually use because they’re so pretty.

After working in a few jobs, all Art related, she’s finally found her passion: writing.

There really is no other job she’d rather be doing.

Author’s follow links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Instagram

A Scary Story

Happy Thursday, people! I’m over at Pure Jonel today with a true and personal unexplainable incident story. There’s also a $10 Amazon gift card to give away in exchange for creeping you out a little. See you there!

Creepy Creatures

Happy Thursday, everyone! I’ve taken a position at Paranormal Romantics, blogging once a month, and today’s my day. I’m talking about some of my favorite, lesser known shapeshifters, so swing by and say hi!

Review – Beast of All – the Carus Series by J.C. McKenzie

Today, she’ll break free. Tomorrow, she’ll make them pay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Two months ago my world collapsed and the beast reigned.

Seven weeks ago the SRD captured me.

Nine days ago, they injected me with something vile.

Today, I break free.

And tomorrow?

I’ll make them pay.”

Badass Shifter Andy McNeilly wakes up from a horrible nightmare, only to discover it wasn’t a dream, and she’s no longer quite so badass. Chemically curbed, Andy has lost touch with her feras and beast when she needs them most. Can she regain control of her supernatural abilities in time to reap retribution from her enemies, or will she fall as fodder in a power play for control of Vancouver’s seedy underworld?

 

 

Also available at All Romance * Bookstrand * Chapters * TWRP

 

 

 

 

No feras. No beast. Whatever they shot me with blocked my communication with the animals. Did it prevent shifting as well? I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to call a form and change. Only a headache answered. Dread flittered across my skin. Was this permanent?

As the Carus, the genetic throwback to the first demi-god progeny of the beast goddess, I caged a beast with rage and power rivaled by few, and possessed more than one animal familiar to shift into.

At least, I did until the SRD shot me full of chemicals. Would I ever regain my abilities? Hear the indignant screech of the peregrine falcon? Or the lusty purr of the mountain lion? Or soulful howl of the wolf?

My heart hammered, punching bone. A buzzing sensation filled my head. The “wrongness” of my condition grated against my nerves, slicing them into slivers like a planer shucking off wood shavings.

Something in my abdomen swelled, as if the beast pushed against whatever barrier caged and hid her from me.

I’ll get you out, I told her, not knowing if she could hear. We’ll make them pay.

I’ve loved the entire Carus series from the very beginning. Andy is the perfect heroine, vulnerable, kickass, stubborn, loyal, mouthy, and she makes her fair share of mistakes throughout. I still want her for my BFF.

Attack of the 14 Nights of Halloween Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Attack of the 14 Nights of Halloween Giveaway! Halloween is my favorite holiday, so I have an exclusive $10 Amazon giftcard up for grabs – a separate Rafflecopter beneath the CURTAINS movie poster. Happy scavenging – may you find many terrifyingly awesome goodies along the way!

It’s that time of year again. The days are getting shorter, the air is getting cooler and the nights are getting spookier. Yes, it’s time for tricks and treats, goblins and ghouls, chills and thrills and huge amounts of sugary sweets. But at the Laughing Vixen Lounge blog it’s also time for the 5th annual Attack of the 14 Nights of Halloween Giveaway. Join Laughing Vixen Lounge and our bewitching co-hosts The Kids Did It, The Mommy Island, Herding Cats and Burning Soup, The Hopping Bloggers, Mama Smith’s Reviews and Women and Their Pretties for a spooktacular Halloween event.

Enter to win a $250 Prize Pack filled with goodies from 10 wickedly fabulous shops. All shops are offering Gift Cards or your choice of item(s) so there will be something for everyone. Many of the shops have items perfect for any book lover along with lots f unique, handcrafted and custom designs to choose from.

Visit the Laughing Vixen Lounge blog daily during the giveaway for the Halloween Movie Marathon. Test your movie knowledge with the Guess the Movie Game. Then try to solve the Murder Mystery Scavenger Hunt, if you dare! Each event will get you daily entries in the giveaway plus a special giveaway for the Scavenger Hunt. Find full details for these events HERE.

You can start by entering the Rafflecopter widget below. To experience all the games, movies, shop features, giveaway info and all around awesome fun make sure to stop by the Laughing Vixen Lounge blog HERE.

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C.J.’S SCARY MOVIE CHOICE…CURTAINS.

I grew up in an extremely conservative home (think Footloose…yeah, it’s not just fiction), so of course I grabbed onto freedom and held onto it for as long as I could whenever the opportunity arose. One such open window happened while on summer vacation at my cousin’s house, states away. He could watch whatever he wanted, and since the parental unit wasn’t monitoring me, we spent hours watching horror. It was glorious.

But Curtains *shudder* has stayed with me ever since. There’s a creepy mask involved. I hate masks with their empty eye holes, always watching you. There’s also a doll. Dolls freak me out. You never know when they’re going to talk or something. Add in an isolated location, a murdering actress psycho, an ending with a Norman Bates flavor, and we’ve got a winner. Or a loser, depending on the viewpoint.

Cryosleep – Guest Post by Diane Burton

Happy Friday, people! I’m so lucky to have Diane Burton on the blog today. She writes sci-fi romance, and she’s here to share a few tips on space sleep. How cool is that? And she’s also giving away a $10 Amazon giftcard to a lucky commenter, so be sure to talk back!

CRYOSLEEP

“Ready to turn into a popsicle, Commander?” from Mission to New Earth.

Have you ever wondered how humans could travel across vast reaches of space? First, we’d have to build spaceships that could travel those distances. Those ships would need fuel. The more fuel, the farther the ship can go. If the ship was empty, it could go even farther. A computer can perform all the necessary functions. In fact, isn’t that what the Kepler, Cassini, and Hubbell spacecraft do?

But what if we want to send people out past our star (the sun) and past many stars until they get to a planet in the Goldilocks zone? In a previous post on Veronica Scott’s blog, I wrote about planets that aren’t too hot, not too cold, where the environment is just right for humans.

The heavier the cargo, the more fuel is used. Humans need essentials like air, food, and water. To preserve their bones, gravity is needed, too. To maintain gravity and haul enough food, water, and appropriate air for several years would take a lot of fuel.

Scientists have been working on that problem for years. Science fiction movies and books already have it worked out. Just put the astronauts into cryosleep.

Interstellar – Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

Cryosleep is the process of lowering the body’s temperature to induce hibernation. In movies like Avatar, Interstellar, 2001: A Space Odyssey, astronauts are put into suspended animation (sometimes called stasis or torpor) so they can endure long space travels. Not every story or movie has warp or hyperdrive to get from Point A to Point B, thereby reducing travel time.

Photo credit: OldJohn73 at DeviantArt.com

When astronauts are put into cryosleep, as mine are in Mission to New Earth, food and water aren’t needed since a sleeper has no need for them plus they don’t breathe. The result is less fuel consumption, which then means the spaceship can go farther than if the astronauts were awake.

Photo credit: Spaceworks Enterprises

There’s another benefit of cryosleep. Relief from boredom. Can you imagine looking at empty space for years? In Mission to New Earth, the trip from Titan (Saturn’s moon and launch platform) to Serenity (a planet in the Goldilocks zone) takes three years. With nothing to do and nothing to observe, the astronauts would need to keep busy. Workouts take energy—not just from the astronaut but from the ship. Gravity, air, food, and water. All demands on fuel consumption.

Photo credit: https://www. www.itsokguys.com

As a sci-fi writer, I’m not concerned with the mechanics of cryosleep. I compare it to an automobile. I don’t know (don’t need to know) how it works. I just need to know that when I put the key in the ignition, the car will take me where I want to go.

From what I’d read, seen in movies, and researched, I gathered enough info to make the scene of my astronauts going into cryosleep believable. At least, I hope so. Or that the reader can suspend disbelief. I was more concerned with the emotions experienced by the astronauts. Since Mission to New Earth is told in the first person point of view, the reader only knows/experiences what the main character does.

Sara Grenard, the commander of the mission and the story’s narrator, has a vivid imagination. While preparing for launch, before being put into cryosleep, Sara experiences many emotions. Fear, mainly. What if there’s a problem with the freezing chamber? What if the computer (an AI like Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey) decides to eliminate the humans? What if there’s a malfunction and the computer has to decide whose vitals can be turned off and who will live? What if the cryosleep chamber is vandalized?

Alien 3 – Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

But Sara’s already decided being the first pioneer on a new planet is worth the risk of cryosleep. There is no other way. The elation over going first outweighs the fear. So she and the other five astronauts willingly enter their cryotubes and are put into hibernation for the long trip. She is certain she and the others will wake up—just like Jake in Avatar.

Avatar – Photo credit: Lightstorm Entertainment/20th Century Fox

In real life is this possible? As written above, scientists are not only working on it for space travel, they see practical applications in the medical realm. We’ve already heard or read in the news about people who’ve plunged into icy cold bodies of water, their bodily functions and temperature have slowed down, yet they survived with almost no ill effects. Medically-induced hibernation is being used in critical patient care, for instance in cases of traumatic brain and spine injuries.

Whether for medical treatment or space travel, cryosleep is real.

Mission to New Earth: a novella

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would you go on a one-way trip to explore a new planet? Would you do it to save humankind?

Earth’s overpopulation and dwindling resources force the United Earth Space Agency to expedite exploration of new planets for a possible new home. When new crises ensue—a giant tsunami and the threat of nuclear winter—the timeline changes. Eight years of training crammed into four. Sara Grenard and her team prepare for launch, but are they ready for the one-way trip? Will the Goldilocks planet prove just right for Earth’s inhabitants? Before time runs out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALSO AVAILABLE AT ARe and SMASHWORDS

 

We had such hopes for our mission. Scared and hopeful. What a combination. Three years in cryosleep. The scary part.

I forced myself not to think about all that could go wrong. So many people were depending on us. If all went well—that is, if we survived cryosleep—one of the teams would find a planet that could be the answer to Earth’s problems. Or maybe all three would. We could only hope.

I was excited and nervous. In some respects, I wished it was launch day. Just get it over with. Put me in cryosleep, where I can’t think and won’t dream. At least, that’s what the scientists told us. I dreamed all the time. Happy dreams about Marsh, sometimes about my parents and the wonderful life they’d had together. Together was how they left this world. At the time, it was devastating, losing my parents at the same time. As grief eased, I realized how difficult it would have been for either of them to go on alone. Yet, that was how they’d left me. Alone. Until Marsh.

Sometimes my dreams were frightening. Choking to death on the viscous substance that replaced the air in our lungs, my most frequent nightmare. Or our shuttle craft plummeting to the surface and crashing. I often woke up shaking, terrified, until Marsh put his strong arm around my waist and pulled me tight against him.

Diane Burton combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction and romance into writing romantic fiction. Besides the science fiction romance Switched and Outer Rim series, she is the author of One Red Shoe, a romantic suspense, and the Alex O’Hara PI mystery series. She is also a contributor to two anthologies: Portals, Volume 2 and How I Met My Husband. Diane and her husband live in West Michigan. They have two children and three grandchildren.

For more info and excerpts from her books, visit Diane’s website.

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Diane is giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Card to a lucky commenter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Piece by Piece – Elisabeth Staab

Heads up to a brand spankin’ new release by Elisabeth Staab, one to add to your TBR list…and there’s a giveaway too. Happy Thursday!

ETHAN’S HIT A ROUGH SPOT

So I caught my dad in bed with my ex-girlfriend.

My best friend cancelled our plans to celebrate my birthday.

Decided to drink away the betrayal.

Made out with a cardboard cutout of a celebrity in front of my new roommates.

Got in a bar fight.

Hooked up with that pretty bartender whose sad smile I’ve secretly been painting pictures of since forever, but she shoved me out the door without a word.

Did I mention the tattoo I don’t exactly remember getting?

And that’s only Saturday.

Now I need to pick up the pieces of my messed-up life.

LEEANNE’S HAD A TOUGH LIFE

What do you do when you’ve lived in the same small town your whole life and you feel as if you’ll always be stuck in the same rut, like a piece of busted wagon wheel? Well, maybe you start by hooking up with the first decent guy who walks into your bar.

Maybe once you do, it’s hard to get him out of your head even though you try. And maybe, just maybe, you find out he makes you laugh even more than he makes you want to shout his name.

If you’re me, you don’t even know what to do with a guy like him. A little piece of happiness…that feels downright dangerous.

(Ethan’s POV):

So, whatcha thinking? Time to go?” He rises up on his knees. The way he’s poised, he could either move away or get closer just as easily.

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not dizzy yet.” Not that I honestly want to get dizzy, but we’ve gotten a little too serious. After Ethan brought me here to have fun, I want to lighten the mood.

With his hands deep in the pockets of his leather jacket, Ethan leans in toward me again. “I thought you didn’t want me to make you dizzy.”

I didn’t think so. Yet here we are, hot breath puffing in the cold air between us. My lips tingle as he leans close. It’s impossible to forget the way his hands explored me so carefully before. The way his tongue tasted me like he wanted to keep on tasting me forever.

“You remember that first time you kissed me?”

His cheeks turn a deep merlot. “Damn right I do. I remember thinking it was the best kiss I’d ever had.”

Well now. I’m pretty sure if I wasn’t sitting on something cold and metal, I’d have just melted right into the playground gravel.

“It was the first time I’d kissed someone because I wanted to, and not because I thought I should.” My chest feels strange when I confess this to him. Like it’s full of butterflies or bees. Lighter but nervous. And oh God, my heart is just bouncing every which way.

As his hair brushes my forehead, his dimple deepens and his eyes get darker. “I’m glad you wanted to kiss me, LeeAnne. I’ve been dying to do it again.”

Maybe…maybe I don’t have to lean on him. Maybe I could just lean in again. Meet those wind-chapped lips halfway. That’d be okay, right?

I wrap my arms around my knees and smile. “I think I’ve decided I wouldn’t mind getting a little dizzy.”

His lips brush mine so fast, I’m left breathless when he jumps from the merry-go-round to give it a spin.

“Hang on tight,” he says.

So I do.

GIVEAWAY!!

Elisabeth is giving away a cute makeup kit she made (US only) or an ecopy of Piece by Piece (INT). Follow the Tour!

Entry-Form

Elisabeth Staab started hunting mutant hedgehogs back in 1842… Oops, wrong bio… Elisabeth Staab digs coffee, saucy stories, and sexy things that go bump in the night. Once, she ate dinner in a jail and liked it. She lives in the Washington DC area with her incredible family and does her best to juggle life while ignoring the laundry.

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Reblogging Kristen Lamb

THIS POST BY THE FANTABULOUS KRISTEN LAMB JUST DEMANDED TO BE REBLOGGED…

Why the Fashion Industry is Dying—Laughing at Salad & Cleavage Snacks

Today we are going to talk about something a bit different, but maybe this might inspire your fiction, because if the world changes guarantee you a writer was behind it

King of the Friend Zone by Sheralyn Pratt

From the Power of the Matchmaker series:

Esme Taylor has an amazing fiancé, a lifelong best friend, and a problem.

The problem stems from the fact that her best friend is named Hunter and, well. . .he’s kind of (totally) hot. It’s hate at first sight when her fiancé, Jon, and Hunter meet. Jon’s convinced that Hunter is in love with Esme, and that Hunter must be out of the picture if their upcoming marriage is to succeed.

Esme thinks Jon is paranoid.

The truth is, Jon’s not that far off. Hunter is in love with his best friend and always has been. What Jon has wrong, however, is that Hunter never had any plans of ruining Esme’s happily ever after. Hunter wants what’s best for Esme, even if that’s not him.

When Jon pushes hard to end Esme and Hunter’s friendship, opposition comes from the most unlikely of places. It’s an eccentric lady with a cookie cart who suggests a different solution to Esme’s problem: Hunter and Esme should give each other a chance.

They’ve both thought of the possibility over the years—of course they have. But with a ring already on Esme’s finger and a heap of hurt feelings and broken trust in the mix, there hasn’t been a worse time to explore the depths of their feelings for each other.

Both Esme and Hunter think it’s time to move on and leave childhood crushes in the past. The question is: Can one woman and the taste of one cookie change their minds?

 

 

King of the Friend Zone is the first book I’ve read by this author, and it was such a fun, quick read. I finished in two nights! So…Esme and Hunter have been best friends for all their lives, growing up together, hanging together, teasing each other, a BFF relationship with zero romance along the way, a deep connection that not everyone understands. One such person who misunderstands is Esme’s new fiance, Jon. Then again, maybe he understands what Esme refuses to see, that Hunter is head over heels for Esme.

Hunter is awesome – such a guy’s guy! He’s a fireman who works out all the time, hangs with the boys, calls ’em like he sees ’em, and has no problem catching every woman’s eye…with the exception of Esme, the one woman he wants. But what’s so great about Hunter is he’s willing to step back and keep his heart ziplocked if it means Esme’s happiness. Aw. But it was also frustrating because dude, that’s a big secret to keep forever without ever exploring the possibilities. Still, I understood why he did it. It’s TOUGH going from friends to lovers and then back to friends, and he’d prefer to keep his friend rather than risk loving her and losing her.

Until Jon puts the kibosh on Esme’s and Hunter’s lifelong friendship. What a douchebag. All the characters kept saying how nice Jon was, but he seriously wasn’t, and the fact that Esme allowed him to affect her friendship with Hunter is what took the book down from a five star for me. She comes across as strong and sassy in every other area of her life, then lets her fiance/boyfriend of six months damage her relationship with Hunter, her best friend from day one. It just didn’t ring true for me. I could see that it would cause some tension, but to just diminish such a deep friendship for a guy you’ve known for six months? I don’t think so.

But besides that little quibble, it was a great read for me. I chuckled out loud a few times, and there’s a matchmaker cookie lady! She was awesome, and it looks like she makes appearances in the rest of the books, which I love. All the secondary characters were great and made me want to read their stories too.  If you’re looking for a cute, quick read with sweet romance and cookies with special love ingredients, check out King of the Friend Zone!

 

 

Sheralyn was born at an early age, with 10 fingers and 10 toes. She is proud to report that she currently retains all 20 digits. Described by one reviewer as “the bomb dot com” (url already claimed… bummer), Sheralyn has been a karate instructor, musical theater performer, a beach bum, freelance writer, nomadic traveler, and, yes, a private investigator. At the moment she enjoys working with and training her dog to give the poor thing breaks from sitting and Sheralyn’s feet with the unbearable task of watching someone write a book.

Really, and you thought your job was bad!

Sheralyn currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, although as people who know her can attest to, that is subject to change at any time

Okay for a Monday

It’s another Monday…but since it’s also Labor Day…

Today is the last day of the Beautifully Burned blog tour, and thanks to everyone who followed along, dropped by to say hi, and entered the giveaway. Here are the places I am today.

The Silver Dagger Scriptorium

Fanatical Paranormal Romantical

Also, there’s an exclusive giveaway going on at Pure Jonel – Confessions of a Bibliophile. I’m giving away a $10 Amazon giftcard and ebooks of both Wonderfully Wicked and Beautifully Burned. Because it’s Monday, and since I have the day off, I’m feeling generous. Stop by and say hey!