Friday, May 25, 2012

How do you pick your next book to read?



As I said before in the first post I ever wrote here, my love of reading initially came from both of my Grandmothers (one a 1st grade teacher & the other had a collection of romance books like none I have ever seen) My Mom would also always have a book in her hand.






I started my serious reading around age 9 or 10 with Nancy Drew, The Bobsey Twins, Beverly Cleary, any & all by Judy Blume. Then moved on to titles by Stephen King and my all time favorites Gone With the Wind and North & South. These last 2 are the books that sent me off into the world of Historical Romance.


















I spent many years reading Julie Garwood, Hannah Howell, Gaelen Foley, & Elizabeth Lowell, just to name a few. It wasn't until just recently (the past 5 yrs or so) That I have expanded my literary horizons and broken off into paranormal, mysteries, thrillers, and yes even erotica.













I don't think I would have ever expanded into other genres if social networking sites were not in my life. I connected with other readers, writers, and many other people out there in the great big world who, like me, doesn't go anywhere or do anything without a book in hand. By connecting with other blogs, book sites, Twitter, FB etc I have come across so many new to me authors, stories, & series that I now have a hard time keeping up. I have notebooks with lists, I have sticky notes all over my desk, computer, & the wall behind it. These sticky notes have authors & series I have read and info about new releases coming up. I have wishlists a mile long on Amazon all of these things just to keep track of my next great read.




So my question to you is how do you keep track and find new books or authors to read? Do you pick a great looking cover? Do you read reviews? Friend reccomendations? Check out author websites? What is the best way to discover your next great read?

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

A local up & coming author makes her mark for the animals!



Miss Anna Rose Rudy is a remarkable young lady who lives just one town over from me. Anna has taken her love of animals to a level above & beyond most 8 yr olds.


In 2009, with the help of her mom, Anna made & sold animal bookmarks to help raise money for the WWF.


Then in 2010 Anna went walking for wildlife. She walked 9 miles along the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary and raised money to help the animals effected by the oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico.






Now in 2012, Anna has written her own book about our local zoo. The proceeds from the sale of these books are going back to the zoo to help the animals.
















Animals, books, 8 yr old young ladies (my daughter is 8 also), & the Stone zoo are all an important part of my life too. I grew up right down the road from the Stone Zoo and now my children get to go there with me. So, I wanted to share this young authors story with you and hope you check out her website and maybe even purchase the book for your special 8 yr old.






Website: Anna4animals.net


Submission Call!!!





Christmas Anthology





Here is a submission call for Ruby Lioness Press for their Christmas anthology.


Ruby Lioness Press is currently looking for submissions for its Christmas Anthology, Under the Mistletoe.
This anthology is open to all romance genres with a Christmas theme
Any heat level is welcome, including Menage and GLBT. Stories must be romance with a HEA or Happily-for-now ending.


Stories should be:
5,000-15,000 words
Times New Roman
12pt Type
Double Spaced
.doc or .rtf format












Please send submissions to submissions@rubylionesspress.com on or before August 31st, 2012













Military Romance






Here is a submission call for Ruby Lioness Press for Military romance novella's.

Military Romance
Ruby Lioness Press is currently looking for military romance novella submissions to be released around Veteran’s Day (November 11, 2012).
Any heat level is welcome, including Menage and GLBT. Stories must be romance with a HEA or Happy-for-now ending.










Stories should be:


•3,000-15,000 words


•Times New Roman


•12pt Type


•Double Spaced


•.doc or .rtf format












Please send submissions to submissions@rubylionesspress.com on or before August 31st, 2012

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Sinful Sirens Giveaway Hop!!



Are you a Sinful Siren?

Do you love reading about Sinful Sirens?

I know do!!!


















Here are just a couple of my favorite Sinful Sirens:



The Darkest Surrender by Gina Showalter


(Yes I know Kaia is a Harpy not a Siren, but she has Siren qualities!)






Possessed by the demon of Defeat, Strider cannot lose a challenge without suffering unimaginable pain. For him, nothing stands in the way of victory. Until Kaia, an enchanting Harpy, tempts him to the razor’s edge of surrender.

Known among her people as The Disappointment, Kaia must bring home the gold in the Harpy Games or die. Strider is a distraction she can’t afford because he as an agenda of his own – steal first prize, an ancient godly artifact, before the winner can be named. But as the competition heats up, only one prize will matter – the love neither had thought possible…












Demons Not Included by Cheyenne McCray


















Meet Nyx. This half-human, half-Drow private eye investigates paranormal crimes by day and is an elite Tracker of demons by night. She prefers working solo—and playing rough. So when a terrifying force starts murdering innocent humans and paranorms, and leaving strange demonic symbols burned into their buildings, it's a case Nyx takes very personally...


Meanwhile, Nyx's fellow Trackers are being killed one by one—and a sexy new Tracker named Torin is shadowing her every move. Torin has powers Nyx can't read, and sometimes she wonders whose side he's on. Nyx's instincts tell her something's brewing in the city's meanest supernatural streets, and that it's ready to unleash hell on Earth. Who can she trust? Now it's five minutes to permanent midnight...and Nyx's last chance means risking everything—even her own life.














Immortal Rider by Larissa Ione




Arik Wagner, a soldier with the U.S. Army's paranormal unit, the R-XR, kissed a girl and liked it. And then he went to hell as punishment. Where he's spent weeks being tortured…and plotting revenge.


Limos, Horsewoman of the Apocalypse, isn't your average girl. She's immortal, dangerous, and her fiancĂ© is Satan himself. In a moment of weakness, she gave in to her desire and kissed Arik, triggering her fiancĂ©'s wrath – and his claim on her. In order to save Arik, and the world, Limos must make a dangerous pact with her recently turned evil brother, Pestilence. A deal that might just cost her her soul…and her heart.






I am giving away a $10 GC to Amazon so that you may be able to check out some Sinful Sirens yourself!


Please fill out the Rafflecopter form below for your chance to win!






My thanks to


Under The Covers & Guilty Pleasures


for hosting this great hop!!






Don't forget to click on the badge above or anyone on the list below to check out the other fantastic blog stops on this hop for their great giveaways too!

Happy Hopping!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, May 14, 2012

Satisfying The Curse by Kelly Gendron Spotlight & Review




Satisfying the Curse







Kelly Gendron







Juliana Pratt is cursed. Her father's warned her many times she's destined to be a wanton just like her adulteress mother. It's why he's kept her in all-girls schools, hidden away from his elite society. However, when her father's arrested for murder, he needs Juliana to come into the spotlight to portray the doting daughter. Juliana agrees to the interviews and talk shows, but before she goes on the two-week tour of lies about her father, and with him behind bars and unable to stop her, she must first take care of her starving curse.







And Juliana picks the perfect man to get the job done. She secures him to a bed, but fails terribly at finishing the task. Her thoroughly teased curse is left famished. Later, Juliana discovers that the man she'd chosen to fulfill her every fantasy is also the agent assigned to protect her for the next two weeks. Her curse becomes relentless and will stop at nothing until the delectable NESA Agent T. Ryker has satisfied its hunger.







Agent T. Ryker prides himself on his discipline-that is, until his new assignment, Juliana Pratt, puts that renowned discipline to the ultimate test. Once he discovers that Juliana is the woman who drugged and handcuffed him to the bed in his hotel room, he also finds out her true identity. Ryker agrees to satisfy Juliana's ravenous curse, but he has his own reasons for doing it, and it's not just to give Juliana's body what it craves... for there is something else Agent T. Ryker wants from Juliana Pratt...



















Excerpt: (adult content)







It was dark. He was groggy. His body was heavy and exhausted. Something sweet, like the scent of lavender and pumpkin pie, wafted to Ryker's nose. He couldn't help but inhale deeply, taking in more of the arousing aroma. It almost soothed the throbbing in his head. He tried to lift his hand to massage the pulsating ache, but a strong bond stopped his wrists. He tried to open his weighty lids. The light stung his eyes. It took a few minutes for his eyes to adjust. Finally he saw her, a woman dressed as if she were going to a masquerade ball. The little black feathers didn't hide the bright green eyes peering back at him through the mask. Her hair was dark with auburn highlights. It was unruly, long, and tousled, but in a most alluring way. He scanned her tall, slender body that was covered only by a thin, black, silky dress. It was like a lingerie teaser on the cover of Playboy, something to lure you to buy the magazine so you could see the nude centerfolds. Hmm. Green eyes and dark hair? Well, this certainly is not little Miss Mindy, he thought, imagining that the sexy little blue-eyed blonde was probably sitting at the bar still waiting for him, thinking she'd been stood up.







He tried to sit up, but all of his extremities were pinned down. When he realized he couldn't move, he looked to his feet, then quickly to his hands. They were bound by leather straps, and a sheet was draped over the lower half of his body. He wiggled, and damn it, his bare ass slid against the mattress. What the hell is going on here? He was tied to a bed, naked, and he had no idea how he got there.







The last thing he remembered was going back to his hotel room for a shower. He was jetlagged from the plane trip and exhausted from the fight. He remembered sitting down on the chair just for a second to take a rest and... Wait! Had she drugged him? Is that where his headache was coming from? The fogginess? The water bottle. Ryker recalled only one in the fridge, so that he'd had to take that one. It must have been meant for him. Son of a fucking bitch!







"Don't be afraid." The woman's voice was low and provocative, but reassuring.







Ryker scowled at her accusation. "Afraid? I'm not afraid," he snapped. Pissed, he thought, but not afraid.







"It's a natural reaction," she pointedly stated. "You're vulnerable right now, and vulnerability comes from being unable to protect yourself." She took a few steps toward him. "But do you know what you're trying to protect yourself from?" She stopped beside the bed and tapped her finger against the leather restraint on his wrist.







"You're afraid because you fear what we all fear... pain. But I'm not going to hurt you."







Ryker suspiciously examined her, trying to figure out who the hell she was. He chuckled. "You've got me confused with the general population. It takes a lot more than some chick tying me up to scare me, and as for pain..."Ryker sneered at her, wishing he had some idea who his captor was.







"Pain is nothing more than a challenge. I find it easy to defeat."







"Hmm." She thoughtfully studied him. "After seeing you fight, I'm almost inclined to believe you."







"You were at the fight?" He asked the question nonchalantly, not wanting to give away his confusion. He tried to recall if he'd seen her there, but he decided that she wasn't exactly the forgettable type. She was definitely not a woman he'd pass by without a second glance, especially since he was a sucker for long legs and auburn hair. The cat-green eyes were enticing too.







"Yes. That's why I tied you up. You're very strong."







"Listen, sweetheart-"







She raised a finger as if to hush him, and Ryker-strangely enough-found himself hushed, wanting to hear what she had to say. "I want to touch you," she said.







His cock disobediently thumped.







She dropped her finger and crossed her arms over her breasts. "With your permission, of course. I have no intentions of raping you, and-"







Really? Did she just say that? Ryker snorted at the thought. "Raping me? You fucking drugged me and tied me up!" He shook his wrists. "Doll, if you're worried about violating my body without my damn permission, I think you're already guilty." He was no longer enticed by the idea of her touching him. His libido was silenced by the extreme anger coursing through his body.







"Yes. As I said you are very strong."







"Look, pumpkin..." Pumpkin? Did I really just call her that? Fuck! It was all he could smell. Ryker lifted his chest from the bed, getting as close to her as his restraints would possibly allow. "If you wanted to get laid, all you needed to do was ask," he seethed, speaking for his cock, for at that moment, anger was filling the head connected to his neck. And he wasn't a fan of being shackled to a hotel bed, no matter how hot she was. She didn't even flinch or back away from his aggression, and oddly enough, both of his heads were pleased about that. Ryker preferred a woman with a little gumption, and this one clearly had more than her fair share.







"I'm not entirely sure I want to have sex with you, and as I was trying to explain to you, that is why I needed to tie you up."







When the little feline admitted so matter-of-factly that she wasn't sure she wanted to get laid, both of his heads agreed that it came as a bit of a disappointment. Ryker settled back on the bed, his body still fatigued from the fight and whatever drug she'd spiked his water with. He inspected her. Was she trying to tell him she tied him up for her own safety? He was sure that she didn't really know him, because if she did, she would have known that there was no need for that, his discipline was indestructible. He had needs and urges just like everybody else, but even he'd never take a woman without her consent-not to say that once consent was established, the woman wouldn't find herself in a bad way, crying and writhing beneath his relentless body. "If you don't want to fuck, then what the hell do you want?"







She sighed. "As I said, I want to touch you."







Ryker was leery, not sure how to respond. What man wouldn't want this chick to touch him? Already, his rod bellowed to let her do it, but his loss of power was berating him, demanding that he regain control over the situation. He wasn't at all comfortable in the submissive position, something he'd never experienced before nor wanted to, and lying there like a shark without its teeth, he knew why. He needed to regain control while maintaining his strict discipline. That was what he prided himself on. After all, he had to. His blood was contaminated.







"Tell you what..." he said, nodding toward her dress. Cuffed or not, it was time for Ryker to grab a hold of the reigns. "Why don't you take that dress off, and we'll see how my body reacts to you," he said, drawing his gaze back up to her jade eyes, "and then I'll let you know if you may touch me."







She tilted her head considerately and turned to the door, perhaps thinking of running. Ryker hoped she wouldn't, because he didn't need to be left in that awkwardly helpless position, still tied to the hotel room bed. Her head slowly twisted back. She moved her hands to the bottom of the thin material and lifted.







Ryker held his breath. Beneath that teasing little dress, she wore a black lace push-up bra. A sneak peek of the start of her blushing nipples filled his eyes, but they were quickly drawn down to her flat stomach, where there was a small tattoo with some type of Chinese symbol arced above her belly button. He averted to her panties, which were also skimpy and black. Thump, thump. His cock responded fiercely beneath the sheet, demanding that Ryker allow her to touch him.







He glimpsed down at the lift in the sheet between his legs, and she followed his eyes. She lifted her chin, and a noticeable sly smile turned up her sweet, plump lips. "It appears your body is reacting appropriately."







Ryker groaned. There's nothing appropriate about getting turned on by a bitch who drugged me and kidnapped me...

































About the Author:







Kelly resides in a quiet suburb somewhere between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY. Her backyard is small but secluded. During the summer you'll find Kelly in her sunroom. The winter months, she sits in her writing room. Her two favorites places to go and write after she gets home from her other job- representing a group of nursing facilities in the WNY area. The weekends are when she really gets lost. She forgets about the dishes, laundry and the family tends to ask her the same question twice. You can usually find her peeking up from her laptop saying "what?" as she tries to pull herself away from her story and come back to the world going on around her.







Writing, what other way is there to describe it- it's Kelly's conviction. After working in the human health field profession for nearly two decades, Kelly's aware of how deficient many people's daily lives are of true human connection. Through her writing she strives to reconnect readers with those all-too-rare feelings of unquenchable desire, heated passion and splendid euphoria.







Kelly has been faithfully writing for three years but did write her first book ten years ago. She put it down to raise her son as a single mom and then picked it back up when she and her son finally grew up. That's when she settled into her adult life and started to seriously write again. She's dabbled with paranormal stories, but recently she's been on a Romantic Suspense kick. The recipe for the men in her stories: dark and mysterious, strong and confident and, of course, besides magnificent bodies, and shameless aptitudes, they must have a heart you want to rip out of the pages (or your e-Reader) and take to bed with you at night.







Website / Blog / Facebook







My Review




I really enjoyed this story. Juliana is very "book" smart but is naive about the "real" world. I liked this character very much, she wasn't helpless, like the way some heroines are written, she could handle her own, her thought process was a blast to follow. Agent T Ryker, what a hottie! When Ryker figured out about Juliana's naivety, he did not take advantage of her, now that's a good man. The interaction between these two was spot-on. Yes, there was the lie between them but, it was a lie by omission, not an outright lie (this makes a huge difference to me) Their push & pull was perfect. I was so not expecting the revelations near the end about Ryker (nope, I'm not gonna tell!) I was very pleased to read a story that I didn't have it all figured out by chapter 3. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this story & I hope you will take the time & check it out for yourself.




-Kerry