A QUESTION OF LOVE by Jess Dee

A past with three, a future for two…

Sequel to A Question of Trust.

Gabe Carter and his best friend Connor’s passion for threesomes brought Tina Jenkins into Gabe’s bed—and into his heart. As a matter of honor, he gave up the woman he loved. Time passes, times change and old promises fall away, but Gabe is still in love with Tina. Now he’s going after his heart’s desire.

Tina has her own opinion about Gabe’s sense of honor. His departure tore apart the most special of bonds and destroyed her relationship with Connor, leaving her brokenhearted. It took her a long time to pick up the pieces, a struggle she doesn’t wish to repeat. When Gabe shows up at her favorite coffee shop, she knows just where to tell him to stick his apology.

Gabe isn’t so easily put off—and Tina can’t help but respond to his seduction. Picking up where they left off is tempting, but Gabe wants her all to himself. And Tina wants the whole package, which includes Connor.

At the risk of crushing his hopes for the future, Gabe sets out to prove he’s more than enough man for her…

Warning: If piping hot sex, ménage scenes, adult toys, anal play, short blonde heroines and stacked, muscular heroes are not your cup of tea, then don’t read this book. You won’t enjoy it.

 

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A Question of Fate?

 

Deep down at heart I’m one of those romantics who believes when you fall in love it’s for keeps. No matter what happens between the two of you, or how bad things may get, in the end you work it out, and get your relationship back on track. You find your way back to each other.

But am I being naïve? Am I living in a world of fiction? In that world I’ve written three books about ex-lovers reuniting. (A Question of Love, Only Tyler and Steve’s Story.) In each of these books I have known for sure the characters where meant to be together. It was fate – or as they say in Hebrew, besheert.

When I hear stories about couples breaking up or getting divorced – couples I’d always perceived as being happy together – I struggle to come to terms with it. I tell myself over and over it’s just temporary; they’ll soon discover they can’t live apart. And I am unfailingly shocked when they remain separated.

Then I have to question my intrinsic belief in love being for keeps, because what about that “first love”? Remember him? The guy (girl) you thought you’d never get over? The one you loved so deeply your heart just about shattered when you broke up? I bet, like me you believed you were meant to be together and somehow, some way, you would be a couple again. And yet, like me, I bet now you laugh at the thought. Yes, somewhere deep inside, you’ll always have a soft spot for him (her), and every now and then you take out those treasured memories and smile at them, but really, that’s all they are. Memories. You moved on a long time ago.

So how can I believe in love lasting forever? Am I mistaking love for fate? Because, as with the first love, most of us have fallen in love and then fallen out of love. But what about when we find “The One”? The person fated to be your partner. Your besheert. Do you think it’s so easy to fall out of love with him (her)?

I don’t. And perhaps this is where I should change my opening line and say:

Deep down at heart I’m one of those romantics who believes when you fall in love with the one fated to be with you it’s for keeps. And yes, I believe once you have found your fated love, no matter what happens between you, you will always find your way back to him (her).

I have to believe that. After all, I’m a romantic at heart.

If you enjoy books about lovers fated to be together, don’t miss my new release, A Question of Love. It’s available from the 10^th of November at Samhain Publishing.

Fatin, once again, THANK YOU for inviting me to blog over at Novel Thoughts.

Jess
Jess Dee
Dee-liciously Sexy Romance
http://www.jessdee.com
http://jessdee.wordpress.com

http://internationalheat.wordpress.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Heat_Wave_Readers

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Special thanks to Jess for being our guest today! Leave a comment for the chance to win a download of a book off Jess’ backlist. You can also find out more about Jess and her books at her website here.

Read Kindle Books on PC

Amazon now has a program that you can download that allows for reading Kindle books on the computer and not just the Kindle. Check it out here. I’ve downloaded it and played around a bit. All my Kindle books are there and in order.

Lauren Dane and Megan Hart have NO RESERVATIONS

Out today in all fine bookstores near you!

Four days in Vegas. Two sexy and determined men. One penthouse suite… And No Reservations.

Christmas isn’t so merry for Kate and Leah. Kate’s romantic winter holiday is destroyed by the sudden and uninvited presence of Dix’s annoying ex-wife while Brandon’s super-perfect family and a diamond ring sends Leah running for the refuge of a girl’s holiday in Sin City with Kate in tow.

Dix and Brandon both know what they want. Hopping a plane in hot pursuit, the men show up in Vegas, ready to use every sensual trick they have to convince Kate and Leah to take a gamble on forever.

(It seemed fitting to do our guest blog via IM since we pretty much wrote the book that way and it’s how we spend a lot of time! Without further ado – we present Megan Hart and Lauren Dane talking about our new release from Black Lace – No Reservations!)

Megan Hart: all righty, ready?

Lauren Dane: Ready to rock, ma’am

Lauren Dane: So No Reservations is out today

Lauren Dane: wheeee!

Megan Hart: Thanks to Fatin for having us here today to talk about it!

Lauren Dane: most definitely!

Megan Hart: Brandon and Leah have to be two of my favorite characters that I’ve ever written. Ever.

Lauren Dane: I totally loved writing the relationship between Kate and Dix – not just ending at I Love You, but a view of a working relationship

Lauren Dane: As a writer, having the ability to check in a year later or whatever, with a couple was really fun and satisfying. Love isn’t enough, it just sets the foundation. Seeing people work with each other, accept flaws and changing things to accommodate the long term presence of another in their established life was great fun for me

Lauren Dane: Plus, I gotta say, the friendship between Leah and Kate was a hoot to write

Megan Hart: I loved the friendship between those two women, and I agree. Writing an established romantic relationship can be challenging but even more fun than getting your characters together for the first time. I think so often in romance, particularly erotic romance, the focus is on HOW the characters fall in love (or lust) and it’s so gratifying to be able to take them beyond that first-falling-in-love feeling to something richer and a little more layered.

Lauren Dane: right. Oftentimes people complain that romance isn’t realistic, but I think that’s untrue and certainly not any more the case in the genre than any others. Dealing with children and in laws and a place for you in someone’s life – can’t get more realistic than that

Lauren Dane: That said, my favorite scene in the entire book is when Dix and Brandon arrive in Vegas and head to the Penny Pincher motel

Megan Hart: HAHA. Oh, yes. Those two guys. I loved their relationship, too, how they were thrown together in a situation neither of them wanted but they not only made the best of it but urged the other one and bonded. I love how they interacted.

Lauren Dane: Yes, I think I got to know Dix a lot better through Brandon’s interactions with him too.

Lauren Dane: It’s funny, usually for me writing is very internal, but working with a partner has its own challenges, and in our case, a lot more advantages. I think going back and forth the way we did made the process more interactive and fun. And I think it comes through on the page too

Megan Hart: I think so too. Writing this book was even more fun than writing Taking Care of Business. I love the inside jokes. I love how everything flowed from our IM conversations. Sometimes books are fun and sometimes they are not. No Reservations was definitely fun.

Lauren Dane: yes, it was the best joint writing project I’ve ever had, LOL. There’s a lot of camaraderie between the characters and I think that flows from our friendship and connection

Lauren Dane: it adds a layer I love

Megan Hart: *Hugs*

Megan Hart: We are full of love

Lauren Dane: hee, for two grumpy old ladies, LOL

Megan Hart: Well listen, sometimes in this business you have to take the love where you can. Writing is the best job in the world, don’t get me wrong, but it IS work. Being able to make it fun and hang with my BFF and be paid for it is awesome. Bonus!

Lauren Dane: yes! I think this project has from the very start been fun. We wanted to write this story we brainstormed and we’ve been able to do two chapters of it – that’s a wonderful thing

Megan Hart: Yep. And I’m still percolating a third and final part to the story! I’d love to tell it.

Lauren Dane: definitely! These two couples have more to say and we really need, well I can’t say or it’ll be a spoiler!

Lauren Dane: I suppose we need to give a blanket FYI that this book is a Black Lace book – so it’s erotic romance and it’s also a sequel.

Megan Hart: Right. So, plenty of sex and an already established relationship between the characters. Though I do think you should easily be able to read it as a standalone!

Lauren Dane: It’s been a bit crazy this book around because after we turned it in, Black Lace stopped accepting manuscripts for at least a year. So I admit I’ve felt a little adrift.

Lauren Dane: I do think you should be able to read it as a standalone – though there’s some pretty major groundwork laid in TCOB when it comes to who these people are and why.

Megan Hart: I highly recommend reading Taking Care of Business anyway!

Lauren Dane: well yeah, LOL

Lauren Dane: I think No Reservations is funnier – it reads to me that all four are more comfortable with themselves even when they struggle to process life’s changes

Lauren Dane: But there are sections when I re-read that make me LOL.

Lauren Dane: This book has a vein of humor that really pleases me

Megan Hart: I love the scene with Dix and Brandon in the strip club!

Lauren Dane: oh yes! That’s a really fun one to

Lauren Dane: too even

Lauren Dane: Readers definitely get a better look at both men in this book, or at least that’s how it felt to me

Megan Hart: Yeah. And since I love both of the men in this story, I think that’s fabulous.

Lauren Dane: Yes!

Lauren Dane: No Reservations and TCOB were two of the more “easy” writing projects I’ve done. The story seemed to flow well and the characters interconnected too

Lauren Dane: Anyhoodle, I don’t think this is the end of our characters, though we’ll have to find a new home for them since BL is no more.  I  hope people read it and feel as if they’re visiting with friends they haven’t seen in a while

Megan Hart: And I hope they love the story as much as we do.

Lauren Dane: Yes, that too, LOL!

Megan Hart: Or at least  half as much, because that would still be a lot.

Lauren Dane: very true. Considering how many hours we spent talking about these characters and getting them in and out of trouble

Nota Bene: I have not edited anything in the above exchange, other than changing the font color for the names.

Thank you for visiting, Ms Dane and Ms Hart!

Leave a comment to enter the drawing for one copy of No Reservations, sent by the authors to the winner directly from amazon.com

And do not forget to visit Ms Dane’s website and Ms Hart’s website to learn more about these two ladies’ wonderful work!

ONLY IN MY DREAMS by Dana Marie Bell

Delayed gratification has its place. This wouldn’t be it.

Halle Pumas, Book 5

Gabriel Anderson has accepted a unique position in the shifter world. He’s about to become a Hunter, one of the few trained and sanctioned to hunt down the rare rogue shifter dangerous to humans and shifters alike. There’s one catch: until his training is complete, he must hold off on marking his mate. No problem…after all, she probably couldn’t handle the sexual demands he dreams of making on her.

Her mate’s apparent desertion devastates Sarah. And his friendship with another woman threatens the bond they should be sharing and building. Maybe flirting with another man will make him sit up and take notice—and finally win Gabe’s heart. It works. Almost too well.

One touch of another man’s hand on Sarah’s tempting body brings every ounce of Gabe’s possessiveness roaring to the surface. He wastes no time making his erotic dreams of dominating her a reality—whether she’s ready for it or not.

If she’s not, the only place he’ll ever have her is in his dreams…

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Once upon a time Gabriel Anderson, Sheriff of Halle, Pennsylvania, Marshall’s Second to the Halle Puma Pride, and mate to Sarah Parker, was given a wonderful opportunity to serve the shifter community even more than he already did. He was asked to fill the shoes of a deceased Hunter, one of the few shifters sanctioned to hunt down rogues. But the training required would take him away from his newly found mate for six months. So rather than have them both tortured by memories of being together and then apart he accepts the advice of his trainer and slips away in the dead of night, leaving her without marking her.

 

Six months later, he’s come to regret that…

 

Only In My Dreams came about when I asked myself a simple question: What happens when you do the wrong thing for the right reason? Let’s face it, we’ve all done something that, at the time, we thought was the right thing to do, and for very good reasons. For instance, I told a friend that some of our mutual friends were fighting about her. I thought I was doing the “Good Samaritan”, hey-you-should-know-about-this thing by letting her know what was being said behind her back. She was upset, and I understood why. I remember I kept telling her that, because she was the center of the storm she had the right to know what was going on and, if no one else would tell her then I would. I hoped she understood I was trying to be the best friend I knew how to be.

Instead I got angry letters from both her and her fiancé telling me and several other people that we sucked and they never wanted to talk to us again. Apparently she’d been a lot more upset than I thought just knowing people were fighting about her and blamed us all equally, them for fighting and me for telling her about it. I hadn’t even been part of the original fight, yet because I did what I thought was the right thing to do I lost two friends. And that wasn’t the first time my “helping” lost me people I cared about, even though I meant well. Over the years I’ve managed to let it go, since people do eventually outgrow “young” and… okay, usually you don’t outgrow “stupid”, so I’ll say “naïve” instead. I did what I thought was right, though I know now that it was wrong. I should have stayed out of it, let it run its course. Instead most of those people never spoke to each other again. (Although, frankly? Most of them were headed that way anyway.) But, like Gabe, I was punished for doing the wrong thing for the right reason: trying to help a friend.

That’s where things get tricky for poor Gabe. He does everything he can to ease the unavoidable separation between himself and Sarah, but instead tangles things up so badly he almost loses her. And make no mistake, Sarah is strong enough to walk away from her mate and never look back. It will take a lot of fast talking and a lot of loving for Gabe to win back Sarah’s trust. Is he an idiot for doing what he did? Possibly, but he acted on the advice of someone he thought knew more than he did about the subject, and who hasn’t done that? Who hasn’t acted on “expert” advice and, hindsight being what it is, looked back and gone, “D’oh! What the hell was I thinking? Or drinking, for that matter?”

Gabe will win his girl. But what Sarah and Gabe have to go through to get to their happy ending will leave them both shaken to the core and more tightly bound together than any other shifter couple I’ve written. And this time it will be the right thing to do.

P.S.: Only In My Dreams  is the last Halle Puma book. It was always meant to be the last Puma book. Now, before you start hunting me down, chaining me to my desk and refusing me chocolate until I comply with your demands, I AM starting a new shifter series. The Halle Shifters will be full length and will have more Weres than you can shake a stick at. Lions and Tigers and Bears and Foxes and Coyotes and…um, yes. Pumas. Pumas will definitely be there. In Halle. Where they belong. *cough* 

Maybe it’s the right thing to do to end the novellas and take the stories to full length, and maybe it’s the wrong thing, but I have to run with it, because I’m doing it for the right reasons. The biggest request I get from all of you is to make the stories longer and for me, that’s the best reason of all.

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Many thanks to Dana Marie for being our guest today! Leave a comment for the chance to win a download off her backlist. You can find out more about Dana Marie and her books at her website here.

Winners for Last Week’s Posts!

Winners for last week’s posts are –

GSM

Wins a copy of SKIN GAME by Ann/Ava.

Jeannette Juan

Wins a download of a book off Dee’s backlist. Check out her website here and let me know what title and format you’d like.

Lindsey Ekland

Wins a copy of WINTER KISS by Deborah.

Brandy

Wins the $50 gift certificate to Zappos from Susan.

Deirdre

Wins a copy of CAPTIVE OF SIN by Anna.

Calia

Wins some Tim Tams from Anna.

Winners have 48 hours to email me their addresses at mad @ romancereaderatheart.com (without the spaces) to claim their book prizes or new names will be chosen. Jeannette Juan, all I’d need from you is an email address, title of choice and preferred format of Dee’s book.

NAKED DRAGON by Annette Blair

NAKED DRAGON by Annette Blair
Publisher: Berkley (January 5, 2010) 
ISBN-10: 042523200X
ISBN-13: 978-0425232002

A WORKS LIKE MAGICK NOVEL
For centuries, in the The Witch City, human magick has thinned the veil between the planes to a permeable mist, forming a portal into Salem, allowing more and more magickal supernatural ancients–time travelers and chameleons of the universe–to enter there.

 

Bastian Dragonelli, once a Roman warrior turned dragon, is the first of his legion to be returned to earth, a man. There, so his brothers can also be saved and sent back, he must recover the magick of the sorceress Andra, Goddess of Hope, who gave her powers to transform him. To do so, Bastian must seek his heart mate at the sign of the crowned dragon and make her quest his own. But the dark and powerful Killian, Sorceress of Chaos, who turned his legion into dragons and skewed his transition back into a man, is lightning-hot and hailstone-swift on his heels.

 

McKenna Greylock, the last non-magical descendant of Ciarra McKenna, a witch who survived the hanging times, needs a jack-of-all-trades to help turn her dilapidated Victorian into a bed and breakfast in time to pay her mortgage and meet the building inspector’s approval, or she will lose her home and her family’s centuries-old legacy.

 

Enter McKenna’s cousin, Vivica Quinlan–a highly evolved witch with the power of centuries behind her. Owner of the Works Like Magick Employment Agency, Vivica has a gift for matching human employers with magickal employees. Like her High-Priestess ancestors before her, Vivica knows when the magickal supernatural ancients are about to arrive, so she greets and acclimates them to life, and to making a living, in Salem.

 

 

MOON CRAVING by Lucy Monroe

 

Moon Craving by Lucy Monroe
Berkley Sensation (mass market paperback)
ISBN: TBD
February 2010

Lucy Monroe will capture your heart.—New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs

Bestselling author Lucy Monroe pens a scorching tale of passion, deception, and a wild love that can’t be tamed…

If it were up to him, Talorc—laird of the Sinclair clan and leader of his werewolf pack— would never marry. But when the king orders that Talorc wed an Englishwoman, the lone wolf is shocked to find his mate in the strong-willed Abigail. And after an intensely climactic wedding night, the two fiercely independent souls sense an unbreakable bond…

Deaf since childhood, Abigail hopes to keep her affliction from Talorc as long as possible. And for his part, he has no intention of telling her about being a werewolf. But when Abigail learns that the husband she’s begun to love has deceived her, it will take all of his warrior’s strength—and his wolf’s cunning—to win his wife back. And Talorc will have to face his biggest challenge yet: the vulnerability of a man in love…

Win A Kindle from Noobie!

Susan Mallery: I discovered Anne Hathaway

Dana Birch vowed never to put herself at the mercy of a powerful man. She became a deputy so that she could take care of herself, and protect those she loved. Especially her best friends, the Titan sisters.

Twenty years ago, Garth Duncan swore revenge on Jed Titan for abandoning Garth and his mother. Now he s back to fulfill that promise, even if Jed s daughters get caught in the crosshairs. All that stands between him and his goal is Dana, her gun, and a growing passion that can t be denied…

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I Discovered Anne Hathaway

Yep, you read the title right. I discovered the actress Anne Hathaway. It was your classic “actress discovered in a shopping mall” kind of story (with “kind of” being the operative words). Several years ago, after a long day of shopping, I felt like taking a break, so I strolled over to the movie theater. They were playing a movie called THE PRINCESS DIARIES. What fun! I love Meg Cabot’s writing, so I was familiar with the book and had heard they were making a movie of it. I immediately bought a ticket.

Princess Mia was this awkward, frizzy-haired girl with bad eyebrows and bad posture, but I could see right through that right away. I knew she could be beautiful and sure enough, abracadabra. A super-fun makeover scene transformed her into a beauty and gave me a satisfyingly smug thrill of delight. As I left the theatre, I called a girlfriend and told her she had to go see that movie. Anne Hathaway was the Next Big Thing, I was sure of it. I talked about that movie for weeks.

Ever since then, whenever I see her in a film, I get an echo of that smug thrill. A smug tickle, if you will. She is, after all, an actress I discovered. We can disregard the producer, director, and everyone else involved in the film. (Except Julie Andrews. One must never disregard Julie Andrews.) No, no. I discovered Anne Hathaway. And then I spread the word about her and so now I feel partly responsible for her success. Congratulations, Anne, and you’re welcome.

I absolutely adore when I hear from a fan who has just discovered me. It’s so much fun to be discovered! There’s such excitement in the tone of their emails and messages on Facebook, and I hope it means that they’re getting the same thrill of delight that I got when I discovered Anne Hathaway. I hope they spread the word about me to their friends. And I hope they know that they truly do play a part in my success.

A lot of fans seem to have discovered me via my latest series, the Lone Star Sisters, which culminates with the November release of HOT ON HER HEELS. In fact, I’ve been getting a lot of emails from people who had never read a romance novel before, who were surprised by how much they loved it. So now I get the thrill of delight from thinking that I may be partly responsible for the future happiness of those readers. Through my books, they were introduced to the world of romance novels, and we all know what a wonderful world that is! A world of exciting possibilities, first kisses, well-matched spar partners, and those oh-so-wonderful happy endings.

Who have you discovered, whether a writer or someone on TV or in movies? How and when did you discover this person? Who did you tell about this person?

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Thank you, Ms Mallery!

You can learn more about Ms Mallery’s novels by visiting her website.

To celebrate the release of Hot on Her Heels, Ms Mallery is giving a $50 certificate to Zappos to one lucky commenter (military addresses, US or Canada residents only, as they don’t ship elsewhere)

Book Video: WICKED ENCHANTMENT by Anya Bast