Cover Goodness – Bound By Night by Larissa Ione

A new series by Larissa Ione!

The Moonbound Clan Vampires, book 1

A WOMAN OUT FOR BLOOD…
Nicole Martin was only eight years old when the vampire slaves rose up in rebellion and killed her family. Now she devotes her life to finding a vaccine against vampirism, hoping to wipe out her memories—along with every bloodsucker on the planet. But there’s one thing she cannot destroy: her searing, undeniable attraction for the one man she should hate and fear the most . . .

A VAMPIRE OUT FOR REVENGE…
A member of the renegade vampire Moon Clan, Riker is haunted by demons of his own. When he recognizes Nicole and remembers how her family enslaved his loved ones, his heart burns for vengeance. But when he kidnaps Nicole and holds her in a secret lair, his mortal enemy becomes his soul obsession, his greatest temptation, and, perhaps, his only salvation—a hot-blooded lover who could heal him with her touch . . . or bury him forever.

September 24, 2013

larissaione.com

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The Line In The Sand: How Bad Is Too Bad? – Kris Kennedy

Irishman Kieran has a history of staggering successes and one truly awful failure.  For years he served as the ‘Piper,’ enticing wealthy, unscrupulous men into dealings with other wealthy, unscrupulous men.  It was a highly lucrative way of life for a man without a conscience, and he was very, very good. 

But now, he’s on a misson of revenge, and the men who once betrayed him are about to pay.  Everything has been put in place, every move scripted, from how he’ll lure them out, to how he’ll hammer the last nail into their coffins. 

He’s planned for everything.

Except the appearance of the woman who can bring the whole thing crashing down around him.

 

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

 

We love our bad boy heroes. It certainly true for me. But still, there’s bad and then there’s Bad. There’s a line in the sand there, a place the hero cannot go, a thing he cannot do. Everyone’s line might get drawn in a slightly different place, but I think we romance readers also have a lot of similarities.

 

What’s the line for a romance hero, or heroine for that matter?

 

I’ve noticed heroes can pretty much be as bad as Bad can be at the start of the story (or have a history of bad-as-bad-can-be behavior). As far as the past, there’s not too much a hero cannot have done and still be forgiven for by the reader, depending on his current, in-story actions. We’re generally more concerned with the Now, with the things we witness on the page.

 

I’ve also think we, as humans, have a pretty high moral tolerance for actions that fall under Wrong Thing For The Right Reason category. People who INTEND to do something they consider ‘good,’ to make the world somehow better, maybe to right a wrong, but the thing they’re doing is B.A.D. Clint Eastwood made an entire career out of this, as did a ton of other movie heroes did.

 

I think, in part, this is because we detect a sense of honor. The protagonist who risks everything to do a thing that can get him in trouble, but he does it because it matters that much to him. We might disagree with what he’s doing, but why he’s doing it? We tend to respect that.

 

We definitely also have a soft spot for Right Thing-Wrong Reason people too, though. Those people who’ve channeled their, well, let’s say “less socially acceptable urges” into socially constructive channels. This is often the warrior, the man who’s had a hard life but channels it in the service of something meaningful.

 

I think this is partly a survival instinct: we have an inherent attraction to power, and then to see it restrained, to see it channeled in the service of ‘good,’ um, YES.

 

We’ve also got pretty high acceptance for people who’ve done wrong because they’ve COME FROM wrong. i.e. If they’ve been dished a hard life, and have simply been dishing it back out again. As long as we see them change.

 

Yeah, we readers can tolerate a whole lot from our heroes, as long as they CHANGE before our eyes. We need to see a meaningful ‘arc.’ (Sometimes culminating in a grand bit of groveling.)

 

In other words, what we care most about (in general) is how much does the hero change over the course of the story, and why.

 

Because in the end, we’re suckers for redemption. And our bad boys can be pretty bad, as long as they transform in front of our eyes.

 

I write what I call the ‘good alpha,’ hero, but it has nothing to do with how ‘good’ or kind he is to the world at large. He’s the man confident enough in his own abilities that he’s not scared of other people’s strengths, in particular the heroine’s. And at heart, he’s got (or develops) a code of honor that he sticks to even when things get messy. Really messy.

 

In my new release, DECEPTION, a sexy medieval romance, the hero is Kier, a con man who’s lead a very dirty life, doing very underhanded things, and making a lot of money at it. Now he’s on a mission of revenge, and has devised a scheme that has everything required to make the men who betrayed him step forward to get a closer look at it. Then Kier will kick them in the back of the head and listen to their screams as they tumble into the abyss he’s devised just for them.

 

Unfortunately, that’s when the heroine steps into his schemes. And if she’s in the way, she’ll go tumbling in with all the rest.

 

So, now it’s simply a question of how bad Kier really is.

 

What’s the line of ‘bad’ for you, and how does a ‘bad boy’ hero redeem himself in YOUR eyes? What are some great ‘bad boy’ heroes you love form fiction or movies? One commenter wins a copy of DECEPTION!

 

 

Kris writes hot historical romances about dangerous alpha heroes who transform for their heroines, but only after lots of sexy drama. Her current release DECEPTION, received 4 1/2 stars from RT Book Reviews. Visit her website http://kriskennedy.net for excerpts, updates, newsletter sign-up, or just to drop Kris a note!

 

 

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Cindy Gerard – From first sale to Last Man Standing

A deadly mission.
A thirst for revenge.
One headstrong alpha hero
and one daring woman will
settle the score.

Special operative Joe Green has gone vigilante.  His mission, avenge his Black Ops.,Inc. brother’s death during a bloody ambush years ago in Sierra Leone.  He refuses to drag the BOI team or his lover, Stephanie Tompkins, into the hunt for the man responsible, so when he finds himself beaten, starving, and alone after being falsely imprisoned for the murder of a Freetown priest, he knows he’s as good as dead.

Joe meant to protect Stephanie when he walked out on their relationship, but he can’t stop her now from executing his escape.  Breaking him out of prison is the easy part.  After Joe’s explosive theory pans out and his cunning enemy emerges as the front runner for a high level presidential appointment, he and Stephanie must race to derail the traitor’s conspiracy if they are to save their loved ones, the nation and each other.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

I’m always being asked about my first sale so I thought I’d share the story with you at Novel thoughts today.

My first sale story probably mirrors a lot of authors.  The truth is, it falls into the ‘if I knew then what I know now’ category, I probably wouldn’t be published.  I was so naïve.  Such a baby – rhetorically speaking – and so ignorant of the business.  Long story short, I was in love with LaVryle Spencer’s work – who among us doesn’t love and miss LaVyrle??  Anyway, I’d exhausted her complete library – or so I thought until I discovered there were some older titles that I’d missed.  When I couldn’t get a hold of them, I wrote to her.  That was before the days of e-mail AND e-books (yes, Virginia, there is a pre-web era many of us survived, but just barely).  But I digress. She wrote back.  Told me she wrote to me personally because my letter was so articulate.  In my mind that equated to:  “LaVryle Spencer thinks I’m articulate.  I bet I could write a book.”

You laugh but that’s just how it all started.  I sat down with a portable manual typewriter with a sticky E and set out to write the great American novel.  From that moment on I was a gonner.  Bitten bad by the writing bug.  That manuscript was rejected by the best editors in the business (many of whom I enjoy seeing at RWA nationals these days) but the rejection letters were very encouraging so I kept at it.  I wrote two more books.  Farmed them all over NYC and finally got the call one pretty fall afternoon from an editor with Bantam Doubleday Dell’s now defunct Loveswept line.  My hubby was helping a farmer friend of his in the field so I was home alone.  I was screaming and buzzed with excitement so I hopped in the car, drove out to the farm, bounced across a fall plowed field or two until I found Tom behind the wheel of a HUGE combine picking corn.  He saw me coming, jumped out of the cab and ran to the car.  “Who died?”  he asked frantically.   In his mind, nothing else warranted the beating my poor car was taking.

We still laugh about that day but MAVERICK was my very first title and came out in July of 1991.  Now, wow, 20 years and 46 books later, I still get a little tickle of excitement when I think about that first sale.

And speaking of sales 🙂  LAST MAN STANDING, my January 31, 2012 release will be on the shelves tomorrow!  LMS is the 7^th and final book of my Black Ops Inc series and while I’m sad to see the series end, I’m so excited that I got to tell this story that features Joe Green, a strong, enigmatic alpha male, but even better, it features the most transformative heroine I’ve ever written.   Stephanie Tompkins has always wanted to be something she wasn’t.  Had never had the courage to pursue her dreams but then a set of circumstances force her to become the woman she had always hoped she could be.  Here’s a little snippet of Stephanie’s journey to her true self.

…Talk about defining moments.  Talk about revelations.  Now that she had a moment to take a deep breath, sit back and assess, she was seeing herself in a whole new light – both literally and figuratively when she caught a glimpse of her reflection in a wavy, dust-streaked window pane.

Her hand flew to her throat and she leaned in, looked deeper.  It was her alright.  But a high octane version.  A messy one.  Her clothes were rumpled and damp.  Her usually tidy hair was a wild tumble of damp waves around her shoulders.  And her face … her facial appearance even seemed to have altered.  What she’d always seen as soft, unremarkable features had transformed somehow.  She looked … edgy, she finally decided.  Decisive.  Experienced and lean.

Kick ass, she thought with a ridiculous little smile and embraced the idea.

And she looked, she told herself, like a woman who did not need a man like Joe Green to complete her life, but like a woman who could damn well complete his.

They were getting out of this mess.  She was going to make it happen.  And when they did, Joe Green was going to find out that Stephanie Tompkins was a force to be reckoned with….

There you have it.  A little taste of the new improved Stephanie 🙂 .  I think you’re really going to like Stephanie’s journey.  And I KNOW you’re going to love her and Joe together.

Have questions? I’d love to hear from you.  I’m an open book so ask away to be eligible for a drawing to win an autographed book from my backlist.  BTW: Today is my birthday and I’m delighted to be sharing it with you!

Bio: Cindy Gerard

In addition to numerous industry awards, among them RT’s Reviewer’s Choice award for best Romantic Intrigue and 2 Reader’s Crowns for best Romantic Suspense, New York Times best-selling author Cindy Gerard is also a 5 time Daphne finalist, a 6 time Romance Writers of America Rita finalist and a 2 time RITA winner.

 

She’s currently writing book 1 of her new One-Eyed Jacks series, a spin-off of her NYT best-selling Black Ops, Inc. series for Pocket Books.

 

You can catch up on her news at www.cindygerard.com or on facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cindy-Gerard-New-York-Times-Best-selling-author/167877057439

 

Also available:

All Bodyguard and Black Ops Inc titles

SEAL of My Dreams – a collection of 18 Navy SEAL stories written by some of the hottest romantic suspense authors in the business.  All proceeds from the sale of SEAL of MY Dreams are pledged to Veteran’s Research Corp, a non profit organization supporting medical research for our returning military heroes. Cindy’s story – SEALed With A Kiss – features two Black Ops characters, Luke Coulter and his wife Valentina.

Cindy also contributed a BOI short story (Dying to Score) to the upcoming ITW Thriller 3 collection, Love Is Murder, edited by Sandra Brown and featuring contributions by Lee Child, Allison Brennan and many more.

*Giveaway sponsored by the author

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Cover Goodness: HUNTER OF SHADOWS by Nancy Gideon

New book by Nancy Gideon. HUNTER OF SHADOWS is Book #5 in her Midnight series. This one comes out November 29, 2011.

The secrets he knows about her could get him killed.

Transferring to the New Orleans Police Department, Detective Silas MacCreedy has a hidden agenda: to secure his clan’s place once again in the Shifter hierarchy. What he didn’t count on was stumbling upon a sexy assassin who could shred his best intentions and lead him into a dangerous dance that threatens to engage his heart.

But the ones he doesn’t know . . .

Monica Fraser knows just how to make a man beg—for his life. But she has no clue how to fight her attraction to the fiercely intense detective who seems determined to get in her way, both professionally and intimately.

. . . could kill them both.

When emotional attachments to the past and an unexpected glimpse of a different future have her questioning her deadly purpose, Nica must discover the truth about her secret abilities in order to free herself from the forces that control her. But that freedom comes with a price—trusting those she’s been ordered to eliminate.

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Paranormal . . . with a Little Something Extra by Nancy Gideon

IN THIS STUNNING FIRST BOOK FROM NANCY GIDEON’S SIZZLING NEW SERIES, A TENACIOUS COP AND HER SHAPE-SHIFTING ENEMY SACRIFICE EVERYTHING FOR FORBIDDEN DESIRE.

ALL SHE WANTS IS REVENGE.

New Orleans homicide detective Charlotte Caissie is dedicated to bringing down the crime boss responsible for her father’s murder. Using Jimmy Legere’s mysterious and irresistible right-hand man is a dangerous gamble, and not only due to his reputation as more monster than man. Because her feelings for Max Savoie are . . . complicated.

THEN HE RISKS HIS LIFE TO SAVE HERS.

Rescued from the swamps as a child, Max exists silently in Legere’s shadow, heeding only his voice—until Charlotte Caissie awakens his emotions and tests his loyalties. Stepping outside his cautious rules threatens more than just his heart. He could expose his darkest secret.

NOW THEY’RE BOTH IN OVER THEIR HEADS.

Testing boundaries they weren’t meant to cross means facing the truth about who and what they are—and what they need from each other. If Max is the murderer she seeks, Charlotte could be his next victim. She can’t afford to trust any man. Good thing Max isn’t one.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“MASKED BY MOONLIGHT is more than a scary werewolf tale.  It is a steamy romance; a whodunit; a story of intrigue and power.” Romance Reader at Heart Top Pick review

 

I like to get a little something extra, a little lagniappe, as they say in New Orleans, where I recently spent a week immersed in research.  It’s that extra that makes you feel special, like you got an unexpected bonus. 

When I pick up a paranormal, I know what I’m getting.  A hot-hot-hot Alpha male with preternatural tendencies.  A cool-headed kick butt heroine who can hold her own against anything but her hormones where the hero is concerned.  A world that defies reality but inspires belief while you devour the pages like movie theatre popcorn.  And best of all, despite all odds, overcoming impossible difficulties, the happily-ever-after ending.

My new MOONLIGHT dark paranormal series for Pocket Books has all those things…and more.

I purposefully chose a broad canvas on which to paint my characters.  I gave Max Savoie and Charlotte Caissie huge, insurmountable obstacles:  He’s an enforcer for a crime boss.  She’s a police detective.  She’s hunting down the man responsible for her father’s murder.  He’ll protect that man even if it means his life. She’s determined to destroy the only security he’s ever known and yet he risks everything to save her.

Okay, so far, so good. A taut romantic suspense thriller surrounding two reluctant lovers on opposite sides of mysterious murders—until you throw in the something extra:  She can’t afford to trust any man…and he isn’t one.

I’m of the School of Tortured Characters.  Confront them with the most horrible, devastating situation…and then raise the stakes.  If it weren’t bad enough to have them troubled by secrets, torn by loyalties and tormented by the attraction they can’t resist in the natural world, toss in an unnatural world belonging to a clan of shadowy shape-shifters searching for their prophesied leader.  And Max Savoie, who was rescued by his mob boss mentor as a child and has no idea who…or what he is, fills the bill.

I call it Beauty and the Beast Meets the Sopranos in the Big Easy.

Sometimes mixing in something extra increases the volume of a project beyond the projected page numbers.  Make that three more books beyond.  With life and death conflicts, rollercoaster action, and so much character baggage it would cost more than chartering a private jet to check it through, I let Max and Charlotte’s romantic adventure develop over the course of four out of six books in my series (six so far), with their relationship evolving even as the plot line unfolds. Books five and six will have them as strong secondaries but will feature new hero and heroines, some introduced in earlier books, some surprises.

Another extra treat.  MASKED BY MOONLIGHT is on the stands now.  And you won’t have to wait for installments two and three.  CHASED BY MOONLIGHT and CAPTURED BY MOONLIGHT follow at the ends of June and July consecutively.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

 

To learn more about me and for excerpts from my MOONLIGHT series visit:  www.nancygideon.com

And in the meantime, enjoy a little taste of MASKED BY MOONLIGHT . . .

Do you like your paranormals with a little something extra or straight up?  What kind of spice do you like added to the otherworldly mix? 

A winner for an autographed copy of MASKED BY MOONLIGHT will be picked at random from those who comment.

Nancy Gideon is the author of over fifty romance novels ranging from historicals to paranormal and romantic suspense.  She’s a “Career Achievement for Historical Adventure” award winner and has a screen play credit on an indie horror film.  She works full time as a legal assistant.

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