Terry Spear on branding your way into the Wolf’s cozy den.

In this fourth in Spear’s series, Private Eye Cameron MacPherson and Faith O’Mallery are both on quests that lead them into the world of magical wolves…

Cameron arrives in the Canadian Arctic to search for his partners in his P.I. business who are late returning from a hunting trip. Faith is there to discover what her father had seen in the same area years earlier that had made him lose touch with reality—man-wolves, he called them.

The two tumble into an icy world of enemies bent on destroying the lupus garou kind. As they turn into lupus garou themselves, and bond with the pack that only they can rescue from destruction, Cameron and Faith find their soul mates in each other.

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Most have probably heard of branding—at least when it comes to products. McDonalds’ golden arches, Wendy’s little girl with pigtails, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Energizer bunny. They’re gimmicks, not related to the actual product, that help buyers remember them.

In the past, I was known as the bear lady, which has nothing to do with my books, but with the fact I make award-winning teddy bears that have been featured in magazines and found homes all over the world. Many still know me as such, just in a different sphere.

As writers, we’re told we have to brand our image. Not all writers have a gimmicky branding though, as it truly relates to what we write. When we are known by this image for what we write, we’ve done it successfully.

For a while now, I’ve been getting emails from fans with information about wolves. A former writing student sent me news clippings about red wolves. Facebook and Myspace friends have shared new stories with me in the event I hadn’t heard. Others have told me on guest blogs that when they see anything about wolves, they think of me. A fan who has become a good friend sends me information about wolves in her neck of the wilderness and one of these days I’m going to have to set a story there. And my co-workers always set aside books for me at the library when they reference wolves.

I’ve been branded!!!

I’ve truly enjoyed hearing from everyone about wolves, and love that fans think of me when they see anything about the magnificent animals. I’ve been asked by other bloggers to blog about different aspects of werewolf mythology also, and that’s been really fun and exciting to be asked, because my characters are werewolves after all!

So why would I want my wolves to be so realistic, and not like the original werewolf horror tales? Many Native American tribes revered wolves because of the way they hunted together as a pack, kept their family units together, and remained committed and loyal. But many more peoples across the world saw wolves as a predator that ate their livestock or the animals humans hunted, and so wolves were seen as the worst kind of predator. And exterminated in many locales.

I’d read Jack London’s tales, Call of the Wild and White Fang, and in one of the sections I read, the story was told in the wolf pup’s point of view. I was touched by the notion that wolves were people too. Well, not really, but if you’ve ever had a dog, you know what I mean. So a person was a wolf part of the time, and when he was a wolf, he would be all wolf, only with his human thought processes. Yet, I didn’t want the werewolf to be totally separate from his wolf half while in human form. So he still thinks like a wolf. Best of both worlds.

So I’ve branded my way right into a cozy wolf den, which suits me fine. Who could resist a loyal, committed, family-oriented hunky wolf anyway?

If you could brand yourself, what would you be known for?

Thanks so much for having me at Romance Reader at Heart!

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Thank you for visiting us, Ms Spear!

And we have a giveaway, courtesy of the fine folks at Sourcebooks–there will be a drawing for two copies of Legend of the White Wolf. (Giveaway limited to residents of the US and Canada) To learn more about Ms Spear’s work, visit her website.

Angie Fox and a pet’s pet…

In the ultimate showdown for survival, may the best demon slayer win.

Last month, I was a single preschool teacher whose greatest thrill consisted of color-coding my lesson plans. That was before I learned I was a slayer. Now, it’s up to me to face curse-hurling imps, vengeful demons, and any other supernatural uglies that crop up. And, to top it off, a hunk of a shape-shifting griffin has invited me to Greece to meet his family.

But it’s not all sun, sand, and ouzo. Someone has created a dark-magic version of me with my powers and my knowledge—and it wants to kill me and everyone I know. Of course, this evil twin doesn’t have Grandma’s gang of biker witches, a talking Jack Russell terrier, or an eccentric necromancer on its side. In the ultimate showdown for survival, may the best demon slayer win.

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Thanks so much for having me back on Novel Thoughts and Book Talk. I’m really excited to be here and to give away a copy of my new release, A Tale of Two Demon Slayers.

My favorite part about writing paranormals is that everything is possible. Not only can I write about a world where a demon slayer gets to ride around with a gang of geriatric biker witches, but I can also populate that world with any number of supernatural creatures.

One of my favorites is Lizzie, the heroine’s pet Jack Russell Terrier. He’s not especially magical on his own, but because of her abilities, Lizzie’s dog can talk to her. And this little guy has plenty to say. Pirate even gets his own pet in A Tale of Two Demon Slayers, a baby dragon that he names Flappy. It amused me for a pet to have a pet. It goes something like this:

Lizzie: You can’t have a pet. You are a pet.

Pirate: Exactly. So I know how to treat a pet. First rule – no Healthy Lite dog chow.

So in honor of Pirate’s new pet, we have the quiz: What Supernatural Pet is Right for You? Post your answer below and you’re entered to win a copy of A Tale of Two Demon Slayers. Good luck!

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Thank you, Ms Fox!

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen–go forth and take the quiz, then come back here to enter the drawing. And remember to visit Ms Fox’s website to learn more about Lizzie, Pirate, and their world.

Newest Winners! :)

Congrats to all the lastest winners!

 

Angela H. and Isabel

 

Won either TANGLED UP IN LOVE or LOVES ME, LOVES ME KNOT by Heidi Betts. It’s on a first come, first serve basis so email her via her website contact form http://heidibetts.com/bio/#email and let her know what book is your pick.

 

 

Kirsten

 

Won a copy of O, JULIET by Robin Maxwell.

 

 

Fran

 

won a copy of MOON CRAVING by Lucy Monroe.

 

 

Carol

 

Won a copy of either Slave to Sensation or Angels’ Blood, winner’s choice.

 

You all know the drill, email me your address at mad @ romancereaderatheart.com (without the spaces) within 48 hours or new names will be chosen.

Nalini Singh talking about heroines.

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux wakes from a year-long coma to find herself changed—an angel with wings the colors of midnight and dawn—but her fragile body needs time to heal before she can take flight. Her lover, the stunningly dangerous archangel Raphael, is used to being in control—even when it comes to the woman he considers his own. But Elena has never done well with authority…
They’ve barely begun to understand each other when Raphael receives an invitation to a ball from the archangel Lijuan. To refuse would be a sign of fatal weakness, so Raphael must ready Elena for the flight to Beijing—and to the nightmare that awaits them there. Ancient and without conscience, Lijuan holds a power that lies with the dead. And she has organized the most perfect and most vicious of welcomes for Elena…

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Let’s talk heroines today.

I’ve written sensitive heroines – Sascha, in Slave to Sensation is an empath, able to sense and heal emotional wounds.

I’ve written alpha heroines – Mercy from Branded By Fire is very much a woman who is dominant and strong.

I’ve written outwardly weak heroines – Katya from Blaze of Memory is incredibly fragile as the book starts.

And I’ve written kick-ass heroines – Elena from Angels’ Blood and Archangel’s Kiss is certainly a woman who can kick some butt when necessary.

I love all of these heroines for different reasons. For me, they’re each and every one of them strong and capable—though their strengths may be expressed in different ways. And that strength isn’t necessarily always physical. It might be emotional, spiritual or mental.

What I want to ask you today is – what kind of heroine works best for you? Is there a particular “type” that you’re drawn to?

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Oh, great question, Ms Singh!

Leave a comment to enter a drawing for one copy of either Slave to Sensation, the first in Ms Singh’s Psy/Changeling series, or Angels’ Blood, the first in her Hunters’ Guild series. Visit Ms Singh’s website to learn more about both of these amazing series!

Lucy Monroe asks, “What makes a family?”

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…

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One of my favorite themes in romance is the concept of family and what that word really means to us.  I ascribe to the idea that family is both born and made.  You see that theme in romance quite a bit, especially in the gay subgenre.  I am lucky to have some wonderful siblings and a terrific mom, but my dad was a drug addict who died young.  I never really found a replacement, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get the idea of “making” a family.  And I don’t mean just popping kids out.

We adopted our oldest daughter when she was a teenager, and it was because of her that we brought two Korean exchange students into our home.  They lived with us for three years and are both very much our sons, though they have wonderful family back in South Korea.  One lives in our “sattelite” house with our oldest and her family while he attends college locally.  The other won a scholarship to Ohio State and we’re going to visit him the week of RT.  They’re both part of our youngest’s wedding on January 31st as they were for our oldest daugther last March, just as our biological son is and was.  We’ve had other teens and not-so-teens live with us as part of our family for short and long stretches of time.  My sibs and I have adopted other adults into our family as well.  My husband and I are considering foster parenting or adopting older children once the final teen finishes college and moves out.  Not sure if it’ll work with all the grandkids on the way, but my mom always taught us that love given away grows.  We agree!

Which makes it unsurprising that in my current release, Moon Craving, the concept of family is an important theme.  Just like my own daughters, the heroine Abigail is closer to her sister Emily than anyone else, despite the fact they share no parental genes.  She finds a place where she belongs amidst Talorc’s clan, when the best she thinks she can hope for is to somehow be reunited with her stepsister.

Share your thoughts: what is your favorite family concept from a book?  Is your personal family born, or made, or both?

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Thank you for visiting Novel Thoughts, Ms Monroe! You can learn more about Ms Monroe’s work by visiting her website.

Leave a comment to enter a drawing for an unsigned copy of Moon Craving, courtesy of our very own and oh-so-awesome! Fatin. The prize will be mailed as soon as the book comes out, but the winner will be chosen this Sunday.

Robin Maxwell talks about Writing About Love in History

Before Juliet Capelletti lie two futures:  a traditionally loveless marriage to her father’s business partner, or the fulfillment of her poetic dreams, inpired by the great Dante.  Unlike her beloved friend Lucrezia, who looks forward to her arranged marriage into the Medici dynasty, Juliet has a wild, romantic imagination that takes flight in the privacy of her bedchamber and on her garden balcony.

Her life and destiny are forever changed when Juliet meets Romeo Monticecco, a soulful young man seeking peace between their warring families.  A dreamer himself, Romeo is unstoppable, once he determines to capture the heart of the remarkable woman foretold in his stars.

 

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It recently occurred to me that my eighth and latest novel, O, JULIET, is the first in which love is the exclusive theme.  But in thinking back to my other titles, I realize that I’ve never written a book in which romantic love was not either a vital element or at least an important minor theme.

My first novel, the one that kicked off my career as an author, was all about a love affair (albeit the most dysfunctional one in history — that of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII).  In SECRET DIARY OF ANNE BOLEYN, with the character of Anne, I established the dominant characteristic of my heroines — a well-educated woman, ahead of her time, who defies convention and strict mores in wishing to (and attempting to) marry for love.  In Anne’s life — before the older man, King Henry — began relentlessly pursuing her affections, she was passionately in love with a noble boy her own age, Henry Percy.  Knowing it was a huge no-no, they nevertheless pledged their love to each other.  Some accounts say they consummated that love (I tell the beginnings of that fateful story in my sixth book, MADEMOISELLE BOLEYN).  King Henry decided he was going to have Anne, come hell or highwater, and the chase was on.  Henry Percy was sent away and forced to marry someone else (whom he hated) and Anne was sucked into a romance that was to be as historically significant as it was bloody.  It’s my personal opinion that if Anne was ever truly in love with Henry VIII, it was for a very brief moment in time.  But that relationship produced both the Protestant Reformation in England and a daughter who was to become the greatest ruler of the millennium — Elizabeth I.   In SECRET DIARY, while Elizabeth is reading her mother’s diary, the newly crowned Queen of England is grappling with her counsellors’ demands that she marry a foreign prince for dynastic reasons.  Meanwhile, the not-so-virginal 25-year-old is carrying on a torrid affair with her childhood friend and already-married horsemaster.

The next books of what I call my “Elizabethan Quartet” (VIRGIN, THE QUEEN’S BASTARD, THE WILD IRISH), Elizabeth continues to battle with the “duty vs. desire” issue.  In VIRGIN, the nubile thirteen year-old is obsessively in love with her sociopathic step-father, Thomas Seymour, who is taking sexual advantage of the situation, in one of the most scandalous episodes in Tudor history. In THE QUEEN’S BASTARD, after giving birth to Robin Dudley’s illegitimate child, Elizabeth continues trying to find a way (against all odds and to the terrific frustration of her council) to marry the man she loves the most in the world.

There are two love stories in THE WILD IRISH.  The first is Elizabeth’s May/December relationship with the MUCH younger and gorgeous Earl of Essex.  The main heroine in this book, however, is the fabulous Irish pirate and rebel, Grace O’ Malley.  Though love is not the guiding force of Grace’s life, and she married twice for political reasons, she did have a grand passion — a Nordic seaman who was literally washed up half-dead on her shores after a shipwreck, and whom she nursed back to health.  Though after only a year it came to a tragic end, it became an important part of the legend of Grace O’Malley.

TO THE TOWER BORN, of all my novels, had the least to do with love, and what there was of it played second fiddle to the great historical mystery of the young York Princes who disappeared from the Tower of London in the reign of Richard III.  Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but of all my books, TO THE TOWER BORN was the least successful.

SIGNORA DA VINCI’s romantic story is one of my favorites.  It has Leonardo da Vinci’s brilliant and adventurous mother Caterina cross-dressing as a man so that she can move to Florence and keep an eye on her genius son, falling in love with the most magnificent man of the time — Lorenzo “the Magnificent” de’ Medici.  The lovers move together through the vibrant, though deadly dangerous years of the Italian Renaissance, and become conspirators in one of the greatest hoaxes of all times.

So when it came to writing a pure love story (O, JULIET) I was more than ready for the experience.  I kept the history, politics and religion in the background (only relying on a few real historical figures — Cosimo and Lucrezia de’ Medici) and pursued the most romantic, poetic and sensual aspects of my writer’s mind.  I hope that the result is something that will please lovers of romance, and historical romance readers alike. It was certainly a pleasure writing it.

If you’d like to learn more about my other books, please visit www.robinmaxwell.com and my blog http://robinmaxwell.blogspot.com.

Here’s a video that tells my own personal Romeo and Juliet story:

This is a second, shorter video of me telling the story of my husband and I escaping from a catastrophic and deadly firestorm (complete with dramatic fire footage) on our property.

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Many thanks to Robin for being our guest today. Leave a comment for the chance to win a copy of O, JULIET. Good luck!

Heidi Betts: “Getting knocked for a loop”

SHE’S CUTTING HIM LOOSE
When it comes to relationships, talk show host Grace Fisher won’t stand for cheating—especially not from her fiancé, star hockey goalie Zack Hoolihan. Her weekly knitting group backs her up when she calls it off, but it doesn’t entirely ease the sting of betrayal. She won’t listen to Zack’s indignant explanations of innocence—she just wants to tie up loose ends and move on. Until he winds up injured, that is, and she finds herself playing nursemaid…

NOW HE’S THROWN FOR A LOOP
Zack doesn’t know how that woman got into his hotel room, but he does know losing Grace has put him so far off his game, he ended up with a busted knee and a broken heart. If things aren’t mended fast, he’ll miss the playoffs, miss his girl, and lose everything. But if Grace is willing to push him into physical therapy, maybe he can pull her back into his arms—before their truce unravels. This time, he’ll do everything it takes to knit their relationship back together…

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Good morning, everyone!  Thank you so much for having me back at Novel Thoughts.

As you know, tomorrow is The Big Day!  After a very long, not-so-patient wait (at least on my part ) the third book in my sexy, funny Chicks with Sticks knitting trilogy will finally be here!  And although it wasn’t easy to get the hero and heroine of Knock Me For a Loop into the same room together—those of you who have read Tangled up in Love and Loves Me, Loves Me Knot know what I’m talking about —I managed to arrange a short interview with the stars of our story.

First, a little background information:

Grace Fisher is the lovely and talented host of one of Cleveland’s most popular daytime talk shows, Amazing Grace.  And judging by her accomplishments both on and off the air, she truly is amazing.  From (allegedly) knitting her own wedding gown to changing the spark plugs in her former fiance’s Hummer, Grace can do it all…and wants to show you how to do it all, too.

Zack  “Hot Legs” Hoolihan is one of the NHL’s most popular hockey stars.  As goalie for the Cleveland Rockets, Zack has let his team to the Playoffs and helped to bring home the Stanley Cup for the past three years in a row, proving beyond a doubt that legs are not the only thing about this guy that are hot, hot, hot!

Bruiser Hoolihan is Zack’s beloved Saint Bernard.  Rescued from a local animal shelter, he’s been living the good life ever since.  He’s got his own corner in Zack’s spacious apartment, complete with a blue and red Rockets blanket, and more chew toys than he can find the time to…well, chew.  (Of course, he kind of prefers his daddy’s big, leather couch, but he pretends to like the blanket best.)  And he can eat whatever he wants…pizza, spaghetti, Cheetos, even the occasional beer.

Yes, life was good.  Until daddy got in trouble with Bruiser’s almost-mommy, and she took him from his daddy’s big, messy apartment with its basketball hoop on the door and foosball table in the middle of the room to her own much neater apartment with its white carpeting and furniture he wasn’t allowed to sleep on.  Then she took him to the vet.  And put him on a diet.  And started dressing him in fuzzy pink sweaters she knit just for him.  And, yes, painting his nails.  Now, Bruiser just kind of wishes his daddy and almost-mommy would patch things up so he could get back to lying around on that leather sofa and snitching pizza straight from the box.

Together, Grace Fisher and Zack Hoolihan are one of the East Coast’s most talked-about couples.

Apart…  Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out about that.

And now for the interview:

What’s your favorite pastime?

Grace:  Knitting.

Zack:  Hockey, of course.

Grace: [with a snort]  Yeah, because you’re obviously so very good at it.

Zack:  [scowling]  Hey, I am good at it.  Star goalie, remember?  Stanley Cup three years in a row, thankyouverymuch.

Grace:  Well, now that you’ve messed up your knee, the only cup you’ll be scoring this season is a Big Gulp from the local Seven-Eleven.

Favorite sport?

Zack:  [still scowling]  Hockey.

Grace:  [smirking]  Baseball.

Favorite song?

Grace:  “He Had it Comin’” from the Broadway musical Chicago.  “The Thunder Rolls” by Garth Brooks—the long version, of course.  “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” by Funky Divas.  Oh, and “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood.

Zack:  [crossing his arms over his chest and slumping in his seat, muttering] “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne.

Tell us about Bruiser, the adorable Saint Bernard you rescued from a local animal shelter.

Grace:  Actually, it’s Muffin now.

Zack:  Oh, no, it’s not.  His name is Bruiser.

Grace:  [with a smile]  It’s Muffin.  Really.

Zack:  His name is Bruiser, not Muffin.  No male dog of mine is going to walk around with a name like Muffin, for God’s sake.

Grace:  Good thing he’s not your dog anymore, then, hm?

Okay, okay, I see that’s a touchy subject.  Let’s move on.

Grace, you mentioned that you like to knit.  When did you learn, and what are you working on at the moment?

Grace:  My grandmother taught me after I came to live with her.  I was probably eleven or twelve.  And I’m not working on much of anything at the moment.  More like… [shifts uncomfortably] unraveling a project I started a while back.

Zack, we hear a couple of your male friends have recently learned to knit.  Have you ever given the yarn and needles a shot?

Zack:  No.

Really?  Not even—

Zack:  No. Next question.

I know this is another sensitive topic, but after a very public and longstanding romance, the two of you recently broke up.  Can you tell us why?

Zack:  It’s kind of personal and complicated, but—

Grace:  It’s not complicated.  It’s actually quite simple.  He’s a cheating bastard who couldn’t keep it in his pants, but did think I’d never find out as long as he stuck to screwing puck bunnies while the Rockets were on the road.

Zack: [grinding his teeth] I’ve told you a million times, I did not sleep with that woman.

Grace:  Right.  She was naked in your bed because that’s what hotels leave on the pillows these days instead of mints.

Um… Is there any chance you’ll be getting back together?

Zack and Grace:  [together, emphatically]  No.

All right.  Well.  That was very… enlightening.  Will you stick around for a while to answer some questions from readers?

Grace:  Of course.

Zack:  [with a shrug]  Whatever.

All right, guys!  Now that we’ve got them on the ice, so to speak, slap shot a few questions our way.  We’re all happy to chat about Knock Me For a Loop, the other two books/couples in the “Chicks with Sticks” series, or… well, just about anything.

Oh, and I’ll happily give away copies of Tangled Up in Love and Loves me, Loves Me Knot at the end of the day—one each to two different commentors!

Happy chatting!

Heidi

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Thank you, Ms Betts!

People, you heard the lady–leave your comments, ask questions. To learn more about the Chicks with Sticks, visit Ms Betts’ website.

Latest Winners!

We have new winners!! Congrats to everyone who won!

 

TeresaW.

 

Wendy (suchalush) 

 

Maureen

 

Each won a copy of In The Warrior’s Bed by Mary Wine. Many thanks to Mary for her generosity! There was originally going to be one winner of her post but after so many of your commented, she’s offered three copies for three winners.

 

 

KaraC.

 

Won a copy of Here Comes Trouble by Donna Kauffman.

 

 

Becky Jean

 

Won a book off Jennifer Ashley’s backlist. You can find the list here to pick the book you’d like: http://www.jennifersromances.com/NewSite/seriesorder.html

 

 

 

Raelena

 

Won a copy of Ecstasy Unveiled by Larissa Ione.

 

Sadly, we have an uncliamed prize from last week. I never heard from the second winner of Courtney Milan’s post so the new winner of Proof by Seduction by Courtney Milan is..

 

QuiltLady

 

You all know the drill, email me your address at mad @ romancereaderatheart.com (without the spaces) within 48 hours or new names will be chosen.

Larissa Ione: can you believe it?

A Demon Enslaved…

Lore is a Seminus half-breed demon who has been forced to act as his dark master’s assassin. Now to earn his freedom and save his sister’s life, he must complete one last kill. Powerful and ruthless, he’ll stop at nothing to carry out this deadly mission.

An Angel Tempted…

Idess is an earthbound angel with a wild side sworn to protect the human Lore is targeting. She’s determined to thwart her wickedly handsome adversary by any means necessary—even if that means risking her vow of eternal chastity. But what begins as a simple seduction soon turns into a passion that leaves both angel and demon craving complete surrender.

Torn between duty and desire, Lore and Idess must join forces as they battle their attraction for each other. Because an enemy from the past is rising again—hellbent on vengeance and unthinkable destruction.

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Demons. Not everyone loves them… can you imagine?

Yeah, me neither.

But in Ecstasy Unveiled, I took my demons a step further, and created a hero who is not only a demon, but an assassin.

Now, for most people, the word, “assassin,” does not conjure images of a cuddly, gentle teddy bear of a hero.

But I love them. I eat up Anne Stuart novels like popcorn with danger-flavored butter.

I recently said this about the assassin hero:

I love the promise of a dark, dangerous, alpha male who can take care of himself – and the woman he loves. I love how he’ll fight to the death for those to whom he’s loyal. I love how he’s the silent soldier, the highly-trained behind-the-scenes guy who does work others don’t have the stomach to do. He’s the guard dog we tread carefully around because he’s a little scary, but we also respect him because those very traits that make us fear him are the ones that keep the wolves (and, in my hero’s case, werewolves!) at bay.

We might not be able to do his job, but we are thankful that he can.

So yes, he may walk a fine moral line, but that’s what makes him so fascinating.  That’s what makes him the type to fall hard when he finally does fall for the strong heroine who stands up to him.

So, in Ecstasy Unveiled, I bring a demon assassin to the table, a man whose moral line is something he’s struggled with. When Idess, an angel who makes him confront the not the bad person he’s been, but the good person he could be, he sees something in himself he never thought existed.

And he realizes he can finally have something he’d been afraid to hope for; love.

What about you? As a reader, do you enjoy reading about heroes who struggle with their morals. I love them, so I’d love some reading suggestions if you have them!

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Thank you, Ms Ione!

Leave a comment to enter a drawing for a signed copy of Ecstasy Unveiled, the latest in Ms Ione’s Demonica series. You can check the previous titles in Ms Ione’s website.

Jennifer Ashley: the birth of a series.

Twenty years ago, shape shifters of all kinds banded together and announced themselves to the world, only to be shunted to areas no human wanted (“Shiftertowns”). They are forced to wear Collars that control their hunting and fighting instincts (referred to by Shifters as “Taking the Collar”).

Liam Morrissey is currently liaison between the Shifters of Austin, TX, and the humans of the city. Kim Fraser, attorney, finds herself in the unique position of having to defend a Shifter on a murder charge.

She ventures to Shiftertown to seek out Liam’s help, and there stumbles across too many secrets the Shifters want kept secret. The un-mated Liam is forced to protect Kim against the wrath of his clan leader and his own father, and to his surprise he discovers a powerful attraction to the sassy, sexy lady.

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I’m so thrilled this week to launch the first book in a new shape shifter series. Pride Mates started with a germ of an idea I got while driving to the airport to attend the Emerald City conference in Seattle in October of 2008.

What happened was, I saw a couple of good-looking construction workers working on the side of the road (hey, if you’re going to be inspired, what a way to go). I started imagining them as brothers, as a close family that lived together and worked together. All males, several generations of them, but no women. Why? I wondered. What happened in this family?