September Contest!
* * * September Monthly Contest * * *
Blue Collars Vs. Billionaires
September, finally! Cooler weather is coming, and before then, we get Labor Day — YAY! So this month I’m celebrating the broad range of alpha heroes by asking which one you like best:
*Blue-collar heroes – mechanics, soldiers, fighters…
OR
*Billionaire heroes – CEOs, heirs with a cause, tech geniuses…
Tell me who you love! (Bonus points if you *show* me. ;) )
One lucky commenter will win e-book copies of TWO of my backlist books. (Already have them all? Enter anyway; I’ll give you two of another author’s backlist books instead!)
*** Likes and shares with your booklover friends are appreciated but not required! Contest ends SEPTEMBER 29th. ***
Hop on over and check out the contest on my Facebook page!
Photo Inspiration
I’ve been working on my assassin book this week. Levi is so damn rough — and so damn sexy. I wanted to share the image that has inspired this week’s scenes. Every time I see this picture, my gut clenches!
Hop over to my FB page and take a peek, tell me what you think.
Do You Reread Your Favorite Books?
Some of my fave rereads are almost anything by Christine Feehan (love me some Carpathians!), Linda Howard, Lara Adrian, and Karen Rose (those dark thrillers…*shiver*). What about you? Do you reread your favorite authors over and over? Share your number one reread with us!
I admit, between writing (and the business that goes with it) and my day job as an editor, there’s not a lot of time for reading, much less searching out new authors. I’m a rereader through and through. It saves me the time of trying to find a new book to read that I know will be good. (Guess what? I’m the same way with TV and movies. Go figure… 😜)
August Giveaway
I’ve still got Ireland on my mind! This month I’m giving away a gift pack I brought back from my trip specifically for one winner, including:
* A journal from Trinity College Library, home of the Book of Kells
* Whiskey-infused chocolate from the Jameson Distillery on Bow Street, Dublin
* Seed packets from the poison gardens at Blarney Castle
* “Hot Irishman” Irish coffee mix
* A signed paperback copy of DECEIVE ME (featuring my very own Irishman, Fionn McConnough)
* A signed paperback copy of Dani Wade’s Backstage Pass Anthology, including one of my favorite Ireland-set BDSM romances — and boy, is it hawt! — STRIKING A CHORD (check this great series out here if you haven’t read them yet: http://amzn.to/2v4xbdp )
What do you have to do to win? Share a little secret with me…what accent do you find to be the sexiest in the world? Irish? Australian? Cajun? Inquiring minds want to know! And you get double the entries if you share a gif or video clip that includes an example. J
*** Likes and shares with your booklover friends are appreciated but not required! Contest ends
August Giveaway
I’ve still got Ireland on my mind! This month I’m giving away a gift pack I brought back from my trip specifically for one winner, including:
* A journal from Trinity College Library, home of the Book of Kells
* Whiskey-infused chocolate from the Jameson Distillery on Bow Street, Dublin
* Seed packets from the poison gardens at Blarney Castle
* “Hot Irishman” Irish coffee mix
* A signed paperback copy of DECEIVE ME (featuring my very own Irishman, Fionn McConnough)
* A signed paperback copy of Dani Wade’s Backstage Pass Anthology, including one of my favorite Ireland-set BDSM romances — and boy, is it hawt! — STRIKING A CHORD (check this great series out here if you haven’t read them yet: http://amzn.to/2v4xbdp )
What do you have to do to win? Share a little secret with me…what accent do you find to be the sexiest in the world? Irish? Australian? Cajun? Inquiring minds want to know! And you get double the entries if you share a gif or video clip that includes an example. J
*** Likes and shares with your booklover friends are appreciated but not required! Contest ends
International Hotties!
International hotties are on my mind—Fionn since I've just returned from his home country, and my fave Aussie, Isaac, while I write his and Kennedy's book. I thought, while I'm thinking about them, I'd take the time and also introduce them. (You know you wanna see, right?)
Fionn is the redhead, of course, and Isaac is the one trying to get out of his clothes as fast as possible, LOL!
And don't forget, this month's contest is a giveaway for title suggestion for Isaac and Kennedy's book. Be sure to enter for a chance to win one of five ebook sets of the two IF ONLY books!
A Little Betrayal
I have this weird quirk when it comes to romance: I love betrayal.
I'm not talking cheating, but when a hero does something so wrong that it tears the couple apart—and he has to work hard to pull them back together. That's my favorite part, actually! 😉 Maybe it's because I'm drawn to a hint of the bastard hero, though only if he's redeemable (and seriously motivated). Or maybe it's that I love it when an alpha male willingly humbles himself to win back the woman he loves.
That probably seems odd for someone who absolutely cannot read a book without an HEA, but there it is, my confession!
Here are just a few of my favorite "betrayal" stories:
After the Night (Linda Howard)
Shades of Twilight (Linda again – she's really good at this, and OMG do I love this book!)
Coyote's Mate (Lora Leigh)
MacRieve (Kresley Cole)
What about you? Any confessions about story lines you love and why?
#Watercooler Wednesday: What I've Been Reading
What better to talk about around the proverbial watercooler than our latest great find, right? I admit that I tend to be behind everyone else on the latest great book -- I spend so much time writing and working (editing other authors' stories), that I don't often get time to dive into a book for pleasure, but this past weekend, laid up with a stomach bug, I scrounged through my TBR pile and pulled out a book that ended up being the best I've read in a while.
*
He loves me, and he doesn’t even know my real name.
The limelight that follows him could expose everything I’m hiding.
But even knowing the risks, I can’t force myself to stay away.
I’m going to break his heart, but mine will shatter right along with it.
Will we lose it all when I reveal what’s beneath this mask?
*
Has anyone read this book? If you haven't, go get it NOW. I can't tell you how hard it is for me to lose myself in a book without mentally editing it like I do for my day job, but not here! Meghan does a fantastic job of immersing us in the characters and their problems and quirks and pain and joy. I already have the second book in the series, Beneath This Ink, and I can't wait for a free day to devour it!
Okay, that free day might be a long time coming, but at least I have what I know will be a good book to sink my teeth into when it finally comes!
What about you, dear readers? Have you been surprised by an unexpected romance find lately? Tell me about it -- I want to know so I can go check it out too. A TBR pile can never be too tall, you know. ;)
~ Ella
Christmas Romance Giveaway!
I'm pleased to be a part of BookSweeps Christmas Romance Extravaganza this month, giving away over 150 FREE romances in all subgenres -- including TEACH ME. Wow!
There are also $1000 worth of prizes for readers to win. Go to the giveaway page by December 26th to enter and get all the free reading you'll need for your Christmas holiday!
Release Day Fun for NIGHT!
ONLY FOR THE NIGHT releases MAY 31st! For other books, I've had a party on my blog, but this time I want to take the party to where the readers are.
ONLY FOR THE NIGHT releases MAY 31st! For other books, I've had a party on my blog, but this time I want to take the party to where the readers are. So for NIGHT, the release day party will be on my Facebook author page! Stop by throughout the day for excerpts, behind-the-scenes secrets, fun games -- oh, and prizes. :)
Don't forget: MAY 31st. I can't wait!
~ Ella
What I've Been Reading: Dungeon Games
Dungeon Games (Masters & Mercenaries 6.5)Lexi Blake
Obsessed
Derek Brighton has become one of Dallas’s finest detectives through a combination of discipline and obsession. Once he has a target in his sights, nothing can stop him. When he isn’t solving homicides, he applies the same intensity to his playtime at Sanctum, a secretive BDSM club.
Dungeon Games (Masters & Mercenaries 6.5)Lexi Blake
Obsessed
Derek Brighton has become one of Dallas’s finest detectives through a combination of discipline and obsession. Once he has a target in his sights, nothing can stop him. When he isn’t solving homicides, he applies the same intensity to his playtime at Sanctum, a secretive BDSM club. Unfortunately, no amount of beautiful submissives can fill the hole that one woman left in his heart.
Unhinged
Karina Mills has a reputation for being reckless, and her clients appreciate her results. As a private investigator, she pursues her cases with nothing holding her back. In her personal life, Karina yearns for something different. Playing at Sanctum has been a safe way to find peace, but the one Dom who could truly master her heart is out of reach.
Enflamed
On the hunt for a killer, Derek enters a shadowy underworld only to find the woman he aches for is working the same case. Karina is searching for a missing girl and won’t stop until she finds her. To get close to their prime suspect, they need to pose as a couple. But as their operation goes under the covers, unlikely partners become passionate lovers while the killer prepares to strike.
~ ~ * ~ ~
If you've read any of the Masters and Mercenaries books, you know who Derek is. He's a Dom and police detective with a tough-as-nails exterior. Normally I wouldn't be pointing you toward a book so far into a series because, let's face it, who knows if the six books ahead of this one will be ones you'll enjoy? But this little tasty treat is a perfect introduction into Lexi's M&M world and a great way to decide if you'd like to read more.
I'll admit, I'm not a fan of the 1001 Dark Nights covers. I can't ever figure out which author they belong to because they all look the same, and then I get kinda pissed because I miss an addition to a series I love, which is what happened with this book. But I'm so glad I finally figured it out despite the cover!
Derek is such a gem. As tough as he is, the quirks Lexi adds into his life are interesting. His ex-wife, for instance, is a shark, and the way he thinks about her and interacts with her are funny as hell. He's also a dumbass when it comes to certain things -- yes, you read that right. He has a lot of preconceptions about Karina that put him off on the wrong foot. I'll admit, I kinda enjoyed seeing the big, bad Dom being proven wrong. And when he finally gets it right? Good GOD, he scorches up the pages!
Karina has been described in other books (only peripherally) as "that crazy PI." She's not really crazy. Like many of Lexi's heroines, she's not "put together" and perfect. She's relatable, and her history is heartbreaking. A widow, Karina has held herself back from intimacy because of her past, because she doesn't feel she can ever fully expose herself to someone else. Sharing her secrets with Derek, especially, is impossible, despite the way the two of them sizzle whenever they're in a room together.
I'll let you pick up the book and read all about the way Derek and Karina finally come together, but suffice it to say, they make one helluva couple. You DO NOT have to read any of the other books in this series to understand this one. That's right -- you can waltz right into these pages without a moment of misunderstanding. We get some nice glimpses of the other characters in the series, but only in a peripheral way. I warn you, though...once you start with Masters & Mercenaries, no matter where, you WILL want to read the rest. Trust me!
~ Ella
What I've Been Reading: Cell by Stephen King
I finally got in a little reading last weekend! Reading is one of the things that falls off my list when I struggle to find time for everything, but I took a Saturday for myself and read Stephen King's Cell from cover to cover. What did I think? Well, as a romance author, I have to say my reactions were mixed.
Artist Clayton Riddell had been in Boston negotiating a successful deal to sell his comic book project. His joy at finally hitting it big is shattered by an event called The Pulse which causes all those who were using their cell phones at the time of The Pulse to become zombies attacking and killing anyone in their way. Fortunately for Clay, he does not own a cell phone. In the panic to get out of Boston and find his way home to his wife and son in Maine, he is joined by Tom McCourt, a man he meets in the meleé immediately following The Pulse and a young girl, Alice, who they rescue from being killed by one of the “crazies.” The story follows their terrifying journey, avoiding capture—and worse—by the “crazies” who are beginning to “flock” and are led by one they call Raggedy Man as they attempt to reach Maine and a place called Kashwak which they hope will be their salvation.
This is the first Stephen King novel I've read. It's been something on my to-do list for a long while, but other than reading On Writing, I haven't delved into his writing. I've seen almost every movie version, though. :) And since I began reading the books of Jonathan Maberry (and enjoying them immensely) -- and since it was a book on hand (my daughter had a copy) -- I decided this was a good start.
The story itself, I really did love. It was exceptionally well plotted, the characterization was spot on, and the ability to make even the smallest, most repetitious actions interesting was phenomenal. King has long been lauded as a master author, but I did not realize quite how seamlessly that skill played out on the page. I didn't necessarily care about the characters immediately, but I wanted to understand what was happening to them. They were interesting, and as time went on, I found myself rooting for them, living through their eyes, feeling what they felt despite the sparsity of language.
And that was where I wavered.
I've heard it said that King abhors adjectives and adverbs. I did find them used only rarely. King's style is bare, almost more of a report than a retelling, though what he is reporting are thoughts and feelings. Descriptions aren't flowery or overstated, but the details King chooses to focus on bring the entire scene to life. They're just right. It's very interesting -- and very different than what I was used to. The romance genre doesn't work that way, and I think a romance novel written in this style would never have worked. And yet, with the subject and the genre of Cell, King's style enhanced the other elements of the story instead of taking away from them. He let us focus in on what was important, not everything around us in the story.
Oh, one caveat: Cell ends on a cliffhanger (and since there's no book two, you never find out what ultimately happens with Riddell and his son, though the state of the world itself is pretty clear at the end). I had a heads-up that this was the case before I read the story, so I was prepared for it. Others who weren't warned told me they wanted to throw the book across the room. :) Be warned ahead of time!
So, did I enjoy it? I did. Not in the way I'd expected, but I did. I will definitely try another, maybe The Stand, since they are remaking the movie version. Next, though, will probably be Lisey's Story (since I already own a copy, and since it's about a writer). But for next month, I'll be returning to romance, I think. I have to switch it up, doncha know!
~ Ella
Want a Free TAKE ME Preview?
I had the privilege of being included in a fantastic summer anthology called TASTE ME. This free anthology is kind of a "skip to the good parts" preview of more than twenty fantastic erotic authors' summer releases -- and TAKE ME was included!
Doesn't it look yummy? ;)
* * *
122,000-WORDS OF DARK ROMANCE AND DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS!
TASTE ME is a collection of twenty-seven sexy scenes from the hottest releases of 2015, both newly released and coming soon. This all-star lineup of bestselling authors includes...
Tijan, Alessandra Torre, Lauren Blakely, Skye Warren, CD Reiss, Anna Zaires & Dima Zales, Red Phoenix, Cherise Sinclair, Kendall Ryan, Chelle Bliss, TK Leigh, Toni Aleo, Sam Crescent, Jenika Snow, Julia Sykes, Nina Levine, Cari Quinn & Taryn Elliott, Ainsley Booth, Katy Regnery, Shari Slade & Amber Lin, Shoshanna Evers, Pam Godwin, Carolyn Crane, Molly Joseph, Ella Sheridan, Karla Doyle, and Brooke Cumberland
Download TASTE ME now for a sneak peek of Hold Me, the highly anticipated third book in the dark romance Twist Me series from Anna Zaires. Push your boundaries with a twisty scene from Tight by Alessandre Torre, one of the blockbuster books of the year. Sink your teeth into an alpha rocker bad boy in the not-yet-released Second Chance with a Rock Star from Shari Slade and Amber Lin.
Note: This compilation is intended as a FREE preview of this year’s hot releases to help readers find their next scorching read. May not be free in all countries due to price matching delays.
* * *
Gabe and Sam and Peyton's first night together is previewed in the anthology, along with so many other fantastic books. You can get your free copy from AMAZON or IBOOKS today!
And don't forget, TAKE ME is already available for preorder at a special prize of $1.99. Be sure and order yours and have it download to your e-reader the minute it releases on June 29th!
Insta-Love, Virginity, and Other Wonders
Authors can't get away from reviews. Much as we try to avoid them, there are those times when you must go look at your book page, and there they are, staring you in the face. And I have to admit, readers come from varying backgrounds and interests and personal opinions and, therefore, have differing ideas about books they read -- as it should be. But I've noticed a disturbing trend that, for me, is a bit sad. Some readers can no longer suspend disbelief, even when it's necessary, while enjoying a book.
Suspension of disbelief is a concept we are most often taught in high school lit classes. There are a lot of readers who love romance out there, and many of them understand that the romance genre is not, for the most part, reality. Even so, when it comes to parts of the story that are realistic, they label it fantasy and claim it ruins the book for them. It's sad that, instead of widening our world as we claim over the past hundred years, we've actually narrowed it in many ways, seeing not the many possibilities of how people come to love, marry, live, and think, but how WE love, marry, live, and think -- and believe no one else's experience is valid. But it is. Our world is made up of many possibilities, including ones you might think are fantasy.
Like insta-love.
I kinda get a chuckle over this when I see it in reviews. "I hate that insta-love stuff. It's so fake!" Really? I have to admit, I didn't come to love in an instant; it took me a while to realize that my husband was "the one." But he knew the day he met me. I've seen posts on Facebook of readers commenting that not only did they fall in love immediately, but they married shortly after (like weeks), often to the dismay of those around them. And when someone trots that out, they most often end with "and we're still together today." Didn't happen to me that way, but it HAS HAPPENED. It's not only in fairy tales that you see someone or speak to someone and know in an instant they are the one for you. Love doesn't come with a strict timeline, thank you very much!
Here's the other reality of romance and "insta-love": readers say they don't want two characters to just fall instantly into love at first sight with each other, but no editor in their right mind is going to buy a book featuring a long, drawn-out courtship (except maybe a historical). Time is necessarily compressed in books, just like they are on TV.
Do you think we can really get DNA results in real life as fast as they do on CSI? Heck, no! Do you want to follow the lab techs as they go about their daily business for the weeks it takes to get that info in -- and have the suspect disappear in the meantime? Uh, no, you don't want to see that. Time is compressed so that you, the watcher (or reader) will stick with the story. That's the reality of the entertainment industry today -- what we the entertainees have demanded. It's just how it is.
And then there's the dreaded virginity question...
I'm not sure what it is that people have against virginity. It's almost reverse peer pressure: "Your heroine MUST NOT be a virgin; it's unrealistic!" And God forbid your hero be a virgin, because, ya know, men cannot possibly control the urge to have sex, even if they're raised in monstrous conditions with severe psychological scars (the same goes for women). That's sarcasm, by the way -- I firmly believe virginity is a reality for everyone on the planet, and that the first time comes at its own pace for each and every person, not on a timeline. Jess, in Teach Me, is a virgin. So many reviewers complained about me "trotting out the virgin card." But there was a very good reason why Jess was a virgin, and here it is:
It fit who she was.
Why? Jess was and is incredibly shy; it's the very first thing Conlan notices about her aside from her eyes. That's why he equates her to a doe. Hesitant, beautiful, SHY. If you aren't shy, maybe you can't understand, but I AM SHY, and that attribute kept me from being very forward as a teen. I didn't get into a lot of parties and other situations that might've led to sex. When you have body issues or are unsure of yourself, you are often left in the background. That's reality. Does that mean shy people never lose their virginity in high school or college? No, but it can go either way.
But that's not all. Jess did meet and start to date in college. She met Brit, her very first "serious boyfriend." College isn't really that old, around age twenty, give or take, for most of us? Brit was helping Jess through a tough situation with her parents' death, and I don't know about you, but if my parents just died and I was in college and I was trying to figure out life from that point on, having sex for the first time might be a bit of a stretchy decision for me at the moment. Not only that, but though she was grieving and uncertain (and SHY, don't forget shy!), Jess felt that something was off about her feelings for Brit and the way he treated her. Given that we find out later he might've had something to do with her parents' deaths, we can intimate that his behavior at that time might've been a bit on the stalkerish side already. Lots of red flags there.
Now, we preach that women should listen to their instincts and not sleep with someone just because they feel it's expected, but I guess some people don't really believe that. They felt like surely in and amid all this turmoil, Jess should've had sex at some point, right? WRONG. She did what she was supposed to: she listened to what her mind and her heart and her body were telling her and said no. And almost died for it.
Surely then she had sex, right?
O.o
Yeah, I think if my first and only boyfriend beat me up because I wouldn't have sex with him, I'd run right out and find the next willing partner and... Well, you get the idea. Sarcasm aside, maybe some readers haven't been through a traumatic experience, but I know what it's like to face a terrible situation and then try to rebuild your life on the other side. It doesn't work that way. It takes time, and it takes trust, and Jess finally found that in Conlan. Why is that so hard to find realistic?
A fellow author (whom I love!), Sandra Owens, wrote the K2 series featuring a hero in Someone Like Her who was a virgin. That point of the story caused the biggest issue in reviews: no man who was a SEAL would still be a virgin! Not only that, but the reason he was still a virgin was flimsy at best -- his mother was a prostitute who abused him and his sister, and surely no such woman could ever be even slightly realistic. (Sarcasm again...) And yet that entire part of the story was based in a true life story, Sandra's father's story. That was his life she was writing about in many ways, and yes, it was true. But for whatever reasons, some reviewers felt it was "unrealistic."
I've written before about the writing advice "write what you know" and how we might not be able to experience dying of cancer, but we can relate to the emotions. As a reader, I might not have been a SEAL and decided to remain a virgin, but I can understand the reasoning. I can see the legitimate motivation. I can see someone else's experience -- that wasn't anything remotely like mine -- and empathize with it. That seems to be something some people have lost. I've never seen genocide, but I know it happens. I've never had sex before marriage, but I know it happens, and that it's a valid experience for many people. My own experience is different, for whatever reason, but no less valid. Maybe it's time to bring that tolerance we all talk about to the world of fiction, of romance, and start seeing each story as the adventure it is, the chance to step into someone else's shoes and experience something we ourselves haven't, not just a homogenized plot that reads as exciting as milk by the tenth incarnation.
What do you think? Do you feel some things are just too off-the-wall to believe? Can you suspend disbelief if the author motivates a character's choices well enough? I'd love to know which side of this idea you fall into!
What I've Been Reading: Hot Pursuit by Lynn Raye Harris
Hot special ops soldier. Woman in need. A past they'd both like to forget. A passion that makes it impossible. What more could you ask for?
I'd put off starting this series because, like me, Lynn Raye Harris writes military/ex-military suspense with a Southern touch. It's hard to read in the same genre you are writing and not have bleed-through, so I waited until Trust Me was finished before starting this series...
And I'm glad I did, because I needed a free weekend to finish Hot Pursuit! This is book one in Harris's Hostile Operations Team series. Here's the blurb:
The last man she ever wanted to see…
Evie Baker’s luck just ran out. Thanks to an ex-partner with organized crime ties, she’s lost her restaurant, her money, and nearly all her self-respect. Forced to return to her hometown and work as a shampoo girl in her mother’s salon, she doesn’t think her luck can get any worse.
But then someone starts shooting at her, her sullen baby sister is suddenly missing, and the high school heartthrob who stole her heart—and her virginity—is the only man big enough and bad enough to help.
Might be the only one who can save her…
Captain Matt “Richie Rich” Girard can’t afford to get involved. He’s already on the verge of a court-martial after a Top Secret op gone wrong, and he’s been ordered to stay out of trouble while he’s home for his sister’s wedding.
But when Evie’s ex-partner turns up dead, staying out of trouble is the last thing on Matt’s mind. He failed Evie once before; he can’t fail her again. If he’s going to protect her from a killer, and find her sister before time runs out, he’ll have to risk his entire future—and both their lives—to do it.
Things are about to get HOT in the bayou!
Suspense can go one of two ways, easy on the romance and heavy on the suspense, or heavy on the romance and easy on the suspense. Harris straddles the fence very well. There's a strong mystery, figuring out why Evie is being targeted, why her ex-business partner winds up dead. Matt has his own worries and family obligations pulling at him, warring with his need to help Evie and, ultimately, to be in bed with her. Instead of Evie being the female in danger, it's her teenage sister who has been kidnapped, and together these two have to figure out what they need to rescue her.
The book moves at a fairly good pace despite the history between the two main characters that needs to be worked out and the cast of secondary characters that populates the small town of Rochambeau, Louisiana (and makes it come alive). That many people sticking their noses into this couple's business while they're trying to hide/solve a kidnapping might have made for a cluttered and confusing story, but Harris handles it well. I didn't feel that "I wish this would hurry up" feeling I sometimes get with contemporary romances; I just wanted myself to hurry to the next page!
The sexual tension between Matt and Evie is strong. I would've like a bit more on-screen "action," maybe, and certainly it would have taken me longer to get over the aftermath of Matt's leaving after taking her virginity than it did Evie (I might've wanted him to squirm on that hook a bit longer, or maybe for Evie to feel it a bit deeper), but then I tend to prefer a darker, more angsty read. This book is lighter but enjoyable, and overall their relationship works well.
I'll definitely be reading book two!
If you enjoy these inside looks into what is on my reading list each month, you might like a new venture I've started with Nice Girls Writing Naughty's reader group. The final Saturday of each month, I'll be hosting the Nice & Naughty Reading Club featuring a romance we all read, then discuss on the blog. For more information and to find out what book we are reading this month, check out my blog post on the site HERE.
What I've Been Reading: Azagoth by Larissa Ione
For those of you who don't know, paranormal is my first love. And also for those of you who don't know, I run terribly behind in reading! I buy books when they come out, but getting a chance to actually read them? Well, sometimes it takes me a while.
So over Christmas, though I haven't read the later books in the series, I was jonesin' for some paranormal and opened Azagoth by Larissa Ione. Now, this is how far behind I am: I read the first of the four horsemen books. (Don't ask me how long ago that was! :) ) I actually own all the books in this series, but that's as far as I've read. I really want to read more, but see last week's post as to why I haven't yet. Anywho...
Azagoth.
Lordy.
Why did this book totally do it for me? I'll tell you: Even though it's a novella that relies somewhat on the history of the series (totally readable even if you haven't read the others, though), I LOVED the hero. Why? Because I'm a sucker for a bad boy who seems bad without remorse, but whom we discover, in the course of the story, is in fact the way he is for very good reason. When a hero seems unlovable but we get to go on the journey with the heroine to find out exactly why he is, that's my favorite kind of story! It's the kind of story I try to create in my paranormals, and Larissa does it magnificently here.
Want to read more? Here is the blurb from Larissa's website:
Even in the fathomless depths of the underworld and the bleak chambers of a damaged heart, the bonds of love can heal…or destroy.
He holds the ability to annihilate souls in the palm of his hand. He commands the respect of the most dangerous of demons and the most powerful of angels. He can seduce and dominate any female he wants with a mere look. But for all Azagoth’s power, he’s bound by shackles of his own making, and only an angel with a secret holds the key to his release.
She’s an angel with the extraordinary ability to travel through time and space. An angel with a tormented past she can’t escape. And when Lilliana is sent to Azagoth’s underworld realm, she finds that her past isn’t all she can’t escape. For the irresistibly sexy fallen angel known as Azagoth is also known as the Grim Reaper, and when he claims a soul, it’s forever…
Now, this story is a novella (part of the reason I picked it, so I could finish it in one or two sittings). As I said above, you don't have to read the previous books to understand this story; Larissa adds just enough detail that you can figure out what happened in the past and the various connections, the relevant ones. And Lilliana, the heroine, isn't a pansy -- I like that about her too. Strong men need strong women to stand up to -- and with -- them. The scene where she stands up to her ex was enjoyable too! :)
Azagoth is a must-read and will definitely stay on my Kindle! You can pick up your copy here:
Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, All Romance Ebooks
~ Ella
When Writers Don't Read
It's terrible when you have to schedule reading time so you can write a blog post. That's what has happened to me over the past few months. In order to write my monthly "What I've Been Reading" posts, I've had to schedule reading time -- not because I didn't want to read, but because I simply didn't have time.
I hesitate to go into the "why" for fear of sounding, well, why-ney. :) But the truth is, life's been kicking my butt. Getting TRUST ME out by Christmas has been my number one priority, and unfortunately, my writer brain has not been cooperating. Of course, neither has my kids' sports and school and orthodontist schedules, my husband's work schedule, my work schedule (that's right; I work a day job in addition to writing)... You get the drift. In fact, for a little while I feared TRUST ME would not only be late releasing, but would not release at all. Everyone has those times when the avalanche descends and you wonder if you'll make it out alive.
Well, I have, but only because I made some tough decisions. And one of those was making time to read.
Last month in Birmingham I heard Sylvia Day speak. It was at a readers' luncheon, and of course she talked about reading. Or rather, her lack thereof. She discussed how, when she ended up in a crazy publishing schedule that took every ounce of time she had, she couldn't squeeze in the minutes and hours it took to read. And when it came time for a particular deadline, she realized that the book that was due just...wasn't going to happen. She was done, dried up. Her creativity was taking her nowhere with this story, and she didn't think it ever would. In fact, she didn't think she'd ever write another story. Ever.
So Sylvia contacted her editor and gave her the bad news. After much discussion and pushing off of deadlines, Sylvia said her editor finally asked one all-important question: When was the last time you read? (A book that wasn't yours was implied.) And Sylvia told her, I don't remember. So her editor gave her an assignment, not to finish writing, but to go read. It was the spark Sylvia needed to see the light on her own story and find her well of creativity again. She read other writers' novels, eventually finished her own book, and rediscovered a piece of herself in the process.
As a writer and a woman (mother, spouse, sibling...), I think I fell into the trap many women fall into: that something we find pleasure in is unimportant. My kids spend hours a day playing video games and reading books and watching TV/movies, and I WORK. Day in and day out, I work, because that's what a good mom and wife does, right? But my need to write was going nowhere. And then I heard Sylvia speak and realized, other than my scheduled monthly posts, I haven't read a book for pleasure in...I can't remember when.
For a writer, it simply isn't possible to sustain your creativity without nourishment. And for a woman, it isn't possible to sustain your supportive, positive, hard-working attitude without taking time for yourself as well as others. I knew that, but the tyranny of the urgent was louder than what I knew, until the urgent couldn't be taken care of because there was no fodder for the fire. TRUST ME wanted to be written, but I wasn't giving myself enough fuel to sustain the creative need. We have to feed ourselves, body and soul, if we hope to continue feeding others. I wasn't doing that, but now I am! And it is oh so sweet to find that place of comfort and pleasure again. :)
Reading again has made a huge difference in my life and in my writing. And next month, I'll share again some of What I've Been Reading -- without the whole scheduling thing. I hope you are nourishing yourself too, taking care of you so that you can take care of others. So tell me, what have YOU been reading? What else do you do to feed your soul? What difference does that make in your life?
~ Ella
FUN Cover Reveal: Tina Christopher's Dirigibles Are Forever!
Fellow Nice Girl Writing Naughty Tina Christopher has a new release coming, a fun book called DIRIGIBLES ARE FOREVER. Here's how she describes it: "Dirigibles Are Forever is a super-sexy Christmas novella set in an alternative Victorian London, filled with adventure, secrets and fun."
That sounds like something very different and very entertaining. The cover is too. Want to see?
I love it! Can't wait to pick this up when it releases on December 9th from Loose Id.
Special Agent Jack Smith kept his identity a secret when he came to the London Royal Port Authority with one assignment, one he cannot fail. It holds him back from following his attraction to Holly. But on the eve he must complete the mission, Holly asks for one night with no rules or boundaries, and his control snaps.
When London experiences an unexpectedly white Christmas, all dirigible traffic is grounded, leaving Holly and Jack free to act upon their stormy passions. Holly finds her determination to stay emotion-free crumbling unaware Jack is experiencing the same need. Each lover wishes for more, but fears it can’t be. Instead they focus their desires in mind-blowing passion.
But when Holly discovers that Jack isn’t who he claimed to be, everything is thrown into turmoil. Can she trust the man she thought she knew?
What I've Been Reading: Crazy For Her by Sandra Owens
Many of you know that I finalled in the RWA Golden Heart contest in 2013. While I didn't win, I did have the privilege of becoming part of a wonderful group of ladies (and fellow finalists) called the Lucky 13s. And one particular Lucky sister, Sandra Owens, has an awesome new contemporary romance with Montlake out that I just had to read: Crazy For Her.
That he is in love with Dani Prescott, his best friend and SEAL teammate's wife, is a deep secret Logan Kincaid keeps close to his heart. On their last mission in Afghanistan, Evan Prescott is killed in battle. With his dying breath, Evan begs Logan to take care of his wife and child.
It's been close to two years since the death of her husband, and Dani Prescott is living in Asheville, North Carolina with her daughter Regan. When a stalker threatens, she turns to the most dangerous man she knows. Logan Kincaid.
There are many reasons why Logan believes he's not good enough for Dani. His secrets are as dark as the underside of a rock. The best thing he can do for her is catch the stalker and then get the hell out of her life.
Of course, when love is involved things have a way of not going as planned.
When I say Crazy For Her is awesome, I really mean, it was awesome!
That awesome starts with one word -- SEALs! As soon as I saw that Logan was a SEAL, I had to read this book. I mean, who doesn't love a SEAL hero? And Sandra doesn't disappoint. Logan is incredibly tough, surviving a horrendous childhood and watching the woman he loves marry his best friend, Evan. He lives through his friend's death and bears the burden of his guilt over the whole situation as only the strongest man could, with complete stoicism. And even though we're in Logan's thoughts and hear his tender side a bit, we never lose the feel that he is one tough you-know-what. ;)
Y'all know I'm totally hero focused when it comes to books, but Sandra's heroine is just right for Logan. Dani is strong in her own way. She's taken care of her baby by herself since her husband died in battle, she's gotten through horrific grief, but she's finally come up against an obstacle she can't overcome: a stalker who claims to be her dead husband. She needs Logan's help to keep her child safe. Even more important, she needs Logan for herself. The passion between the two sizzles with tension, and when they finally come together, it's not without a few surprises and the most satisfying use of an outdoor patio in the rain that I've ever encountered. ;)
But what's the absolute best part of Crazy for Her? The baby! Or more specifically, Logan with the baby. There's just something about a big, strong soldier cuddling a baby that just...melts your ovaries. :) And when we're in Logan's thoughts and he's watching Dani nurse her child? Gah! It's awesome. I also like that though Evan has died and some time has passed, there's not this sense that he's forgotten. When Dani sees Logan with her child, she can't help but grieve the fact that Evan will never get to hold their daughter. There is a good balance here between focusing on the relationship between Dani and Logan now and remembering the person both of them lost.
So, yes, I really did enjoy this book, and it's gotten some rave reviews as well (not just mine!). I would highly recommend checking it out here, and maybe some of Sandra's other books as well. She's pretty versatile, with historical romances alongside her contemporaries. Oh, and the sequel to Crazy For Her, coming out early next year. (Yay!)
~ Ella