It's Unofficial Release Day--Let's Have a Party!

Yay! Today's the day everyone who pre-ordered Where He Belongs gets to download it--a full 48 hours before the official release date of July 1. (It's not too late to "pre-order," by the way; any orders placed today or tomorrow can be downloaded instantly and you'll still be entered in the nifty pre-order prize drawings.) I've downloaded my own copy onto my Kindle, and boy does it look snazzy. The folks over at Storm Moon Press did a gorgeous job.

To celebrate, I've started a little blog hop, visiting some of my favorite places and giving away free ebooks and swag. So far I've talked about "the prequel problem" at Kari Gregg's place (while Kari heinously insulted me, natch), and brought Daniel over to do a character interview at Amara's Place. And today I'll be at Well Read doing an interview with Jenre. What all three of these things have in common--aside, of course, from my winning personality and charm--is free stuff. Go, leave a comment on each post, and you'll be entered to win a copy of Anchored: Belonging (the precursor to Where He Belongs, although you don't need to have read Anchored to enjoy WHB) or some neat swag.

I'll be hopping around for the rest of the week giving stuff away too. You can find that schedule here.

And just because I haven't posted one of these in, oh, twelve hours (the horror!), let's end today's post with some Fassavoy, beneath the jump.

Chat and Win with Lynda K. Scott

Happy Monday, all! My guest today is a lovely speculative fiction author, Lynda K. Scott, here to dish on all things writing and romance. She's also giving away a signed paperback copy of her recent release, Heartstone:

Eric d'Ebrur is out of time. He must find the legendary Heartstone and fulfill the ancient Gar'Ja bond he shares with the Stonebearer. But when he finds her, he discovers that love can be more dangerous than the Gawan threat. Eric can defeat the mind-controlling Gawan but will it cost him the woman he loves?

After terrifying episodes of hypersensitivity, Keriam Norton thinks she's losing her mind. When handsome shapeshifter Eric d'Ebrur saves her from the monstrous Gawan, she's sure of it. But insane or not, she'll find the Heartstone and, if she's lucky, a love to last a lifetime.


Beneath the jump is an excerpt for Heartstone and a nice long chat with Lynda.

Vampires, Hocky, and Blood & Bondage with Elizabeth Jewell

Greetings all! Today I'm welcoming Elizabeth Jewell to Fantasy Unbound to chat Vampires and a new flashfiction press. She'll also be giving away a free copy of her new book to one lucky commenter, so be sure to stop in and say hi.

As always, let's begin with a little blurb and cover for her new book, Blood and Bondage.

After decades of being “good” -- for vampires -- Alaric and his lover need more. When Seth brings home a pair of handcuffs, Alaric discovers he still needs it rough. Fortunately, so does his lover.

Sounds tasty, yeah? Let me turn the floor over to Elizabeth, who has some thoughts on vampires and an excerpt of Blood & Bondage beneath the jump.

Chat and Win with Adriana Kraft

This is a month of firsts at Fantasy Unbound--last week we featured our first YA romance writer, and today we're featuring our first F/F romance writer, Adriana Kraft! 

Adriana's here to talk all things writing with us, and also give away a free copy of her latest release to one lucky commenter. So, what's up for grabs? The Lady Wants More.

Janet Baxter keeps her post-divorce life neatly compartmentalized: Secure job, spacious Westchester County home, successful adult children, dependable community volunteer activities. Why is she drawn – for the first time ever – to attend her twenty-year college reunion in New York City?

Always a free spirit, Brenda Cassidy is comfortably bisexual and has no plans to ever settle down. But a fling? The reappearance of svelte, reserved Janet Baxter in Brenda’s life is nothing less than a gift, worthy of every enticement Brenda can conjure up. Can Brenda seduce Janet into an endless night of the lovemaking they enjoyed too briefly as college roommates? What if the lady wants more?


Excerpt 


Brenda spun around to face Janet when they got to the far corner of the dance floor. She knew Janet would prefer to be in the corner rather than on the front edge where bar patrons could easily gawk at them. She, herself, preferred center stage but—she grinned at her partner—tonight she’d cater to Janet’s desires. She just wished she could get a better read on her former roommate’s desires. Did they include her, yet? There was no need to rush things now that they’d reconnected after all these years.

Brenda had already decided that Janet needed, once again, to break out of her shell and get on with her life. Of course she’d often been accused of making quick judgments, if not rash ones. But surely the universe hadn’t crossed their paths just so they could share a drink and swap life stories. While she wasn’t looking for a permanent relationship, whatever that was, she was always on the lookout for a relationship that might offer enough challenge and spice to keep her going for more than a night or two.

Brenda grinned at Janet. She knew for certain this tall dark haired women with gorgeous long legs could provide ample challenge and spice for some time. She held out her hands, interlaced her fingers with Janet’s and picked up the beat to the fast paced hip hop music. At arm’s length they swayed and stepped to the music. They circled each other.

Brenda filled her lungs. Her body throbbed with the music. Her brain clicked into hypersensitive mode—once again, she’d become the huntress. “Are you ready for me?”

Janet grinned and nodded. She dropped her hands, spun around and reached for Brenda again.

* * * * *

And now my interview with Adriana, beneath the jump.

Where He Belongs Release Party (w/Prizes, Natch) Coming Up!

Happy Monday, folks! Where He Belongs will be releasing in just under two weeks, and I woke up today really feeling the excitement about that for the first time.

My gorgeous cover, let me show u it. Again, I know, but really, it's just that gorgeous :D (Click to embiggen for extra gorgeousness.)

I'll be doing a little mini release party for this, stopping at a few blogs/sites here and there over the next couple weeks. You can find me at:

June 24: Kari Gregg
June 28: Amara's Place, a.k.a. home of the Black Mamba :D
June 29: Well Read by Jenre
June 30: L.C. Chase
July 1: Taboo Indeed
July 2: Brita Addams
July 3: Marie Sexton
July 5 & 7: Reena Jacob's
July 7: Bryl Tyne
July 7: Amber Skyze

Hmm, maybe not so mini after all :-p Anyway, I'll be giving out a prize at every stop to one lucky commenter--some neat WHB swag, a free backlist book here and there--so be sure to visit all my lovely blog hosts. They're pretty awesome folks, so poke around their sites while you're there; you might discover a great many new authors to add to your TBR pile!

And now for the hard sell ;-) You can still pre-order Where He Belongs directly from the publisher for just $1.99 and get access to the book two full days before the official July 1 release date! Plus, each copy you pre-order gives you one entry into a raffle for some very cool prizes.

Okay, hard sell over. Let me make it up to you with some fan-service from McFassy. Because, let's face it, there's no such thing as too much of James McAvoy diving face-first into Michael Fassbender's lap.

        

"The End" FTMFW. And Free Stuff. Horray!

I'm thrilled to announce that at roughly 4 o'clock this morning, I typed the final words on the first draft of Crescendo. No, they were not "The end." But they could have been, as Crescendo marks the end of the 215,000-word journey Ayden and Freyrik started in Counterpoint and just finished on my laptop last night.

Now there will be edits, of course. Lots and lots of edits. But for the next day or two, I'm giving myself a break. I've been laboring hard under deadline for months now, and I'm looking forward to doing nothing for the next couple days but sleeping and reading Charles/Erik X-Men slashfic :D

And celebrating, of course. But what's a party without gifts? So I've got one for you folks. Here it is. (Click to embiggen.)

You're looking at one shiny canvas Crescendo tote bag; a lined, magnetic-backed Crescendo note pad, some Crescendo sticky notes, and two large Crescendo 2012 calendar magnets (one with full front-and-back artwork, and one with fonting).

Next Friday, I will happily ship this to one lucky winner anywhere in the world. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment (with your email, please!) telling me which character in the Song of the Fallen series is your favorite and why. Are you an Ayden gal like me? A Rik gal like my Counterpoint editor? Or maybe you loved the ever-staid Alfred Lord Lini, or the Disney princess Ella, or even the White Witch Lady Kona. Whoever it was, whatever the reason, leave it in the comments and I'll draw one winner at random from among all entries that follow this simple rule.

If the competition is fierce or your answer is particularly inspired, I'll throw in some other goodies as well, both from some of my other titles and from Kari Gregg and Aleks Voinov. (Yes, the three of us are all so internet!married to each other that we give out each other's swag.)

Oh, and one more thing before I go. My ridiculously brilliant Counterpoint editor has started up a fun new writing prompt blog called Creative Writing Prompts to help feed and inspire the muse in us all. It's brand new, but some creative prompts are up already, so go check it out!

Chat and Win with Ella Jade!

YA romance writer Ella Jade is at Fantasy Unbound today to tell us about--and give away a copy of--her very first novel, Jocelyn's Choice. This is also the very first young adult romance I've ever featured at Fantasy Unbound, and I'm very excited about that. Young love--isn't it sweet? :D

Anyway, as always, let's begin with cover art and a blurb. Beneath the jump is an interview and a nice long excerpt of Jocelyn's Choice for you all to sink your teeth into. And don't forget to leave a comment (with email address, please!) to enter into a drawing to win a free copy of Jocelyn's Choice, winner to be drawn on Sunday night.

Jocelyn Andrews, a shy, awkward, high school senior, has never even been on a date until she meets Alex Jordon, the older, more experienced brother of her best friend Evan. Jocelyn falls hard for the charming player and wants to explore all of the “firsts” that go along with young love. Alex has no problem showing her what she’s been missing.

Alex is captivated by young, innocent Jocelyn and to his own surprise, only has eyes for her. One night of careless passion leads to a life-altering dilemma. Alex must head back to Yale to finish an internship, having no idea what he’s left behind. Jocelyn must decide what to do on her own, forcing her to grow up much faster than she anticipated.

Reality sets in, decisions are made and Jocelyn has to live with her choices. Alex returns home to more than he ever bargained for. Young love has never been more complicated as they deal with a teen pregnancy, social barriers, and concerned family members. Life sometimes throws a curve ball, but the unexpected isn’t always bad.

And now let's turn the floor over to Ella, beneath the jump.

Slasharific!

Yup, still wrapping up Crescendo. But I did take a brief break from writing this week to go see X-Men: First Class. And if you've seen it too, or if you hang with the M/M crowd on Twitter, then you know it probably should have been called "Charles and Erik Get a Room" :-p

So in honor of the slashiest not-actually-intended-to-be-gay movie of all time (heck, even James McAvoy thought Charles and Erik should "have sex and become married"), and given my unhealthy perfectly normal and understandable desire to kidnap and do unspeakable things to obsession with Michael Fassbender, I thought I'd engage in a little picspam some gifs of the finest order today. Oh, and also a fiction rec. If you want to read some smokin hot NSFW Charles/Erik action, you will find it here.

Photos beneath the jump.

Charity Auction, Writerly Style

We interrupt the usual Saturday quiet to bring this to your attention: Charity Auction to Save Kitty Kolya.

The auction has just gone up, but there are already some lovely things for offer, including three items from me (digital copies of my entire backlist, a swag bag, and an autographed copy of Counterpoint). If you're a writer, editor, artist, agent, or other creative-type folk who would like to donate something, you can help save a beloved pet's life with your generosity. If you're a reader or writer, you'll find many wonderful things to bid on over the coming days, and the dollars you spend on the bid items will help save a beloved pet's life.

One thing that's just continuously amazed me since I joined the romance community last summer is just how much of a community it is. One of our own is hurting, and needs help. Let's not disappoint. 

Thank you.

**UPDATE** Offers are starting to come in, and we've got some great ones, including all three Infected books from Andrea Speed (Infected: Prey, Infected: Bloodlines, and the brand new Infected: Life after Death), any two digital titles from the Storm Moon Press store, any five backlist titles from Aleksandr Voinov, the entirety of the Sapphire Club series from Brita Adams, a beta read for your own work, and a tarot reading! Go--check it out!

Giveaway and Favorites Round-up

Happy Friday, folks! Pollage indicated--much to my surprise, I must admit--that a surprisingly large percentage of you were interested in me continuing book reviews on this blog. Being as I know so many of the authors in the genre now, and am or will be published with so many of the houses, I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of posting negative reviews (though it's quite possible that sometimes I just won't be able to help myself ;-p), but I'm happy to share some positive ones. I thought I'd do something a little bit different today, though, and point you all to recent releases from two of my favorite authors. Since I've been head-down finishing Crescendo, I've only had time to read one of these, but the one I haven't read yet is at the very top of my Looking Forward To It Like Whoa pile.

First, though, a quick contest notice: The lovely Amara is doing a giveaway for Counterpoint: Book I of Song of the Fallen over at Amara's Place. All you have to do to enter is comment, so go, give her some love. She deserves it :-D

And now a short round-up of new releases I can't wait to get my grubby hands on, beneath the jump.

Chatting with S.R. Claridge - ATRS Guest Interview

Let's all give a warm welcome to S.R. Claridge, who's here today to talk writing, happily ever afters, and her latest release, Tetterbaum's Truth.

As always, let's begin with a blurb and some lovely cover art--I'm a big fan of this one. We also have a video book trailer today :-)

Angel Martin plans to marry Tony and live happily ever after… until Tony disappears.  Nursing a broken heart, she takes a job at Tetterbaum’s Pub, unaware it is the most prestigious Mafia hangout in Chicago. Through an unlikely turn of events, Angel finds  herself in the middle of a revengeful scheme from a past she’s never known and a Mafia blackmail scandal that’s already left several dead.

Racing to find answers, she discovers her entire life has been one carefully orchestrated lie.  No one is who they say they are and everyone has an agenda of their own. 

The closer she gets to uncovering hidden evidence the more the crime families want her out of the way. 

With her true identity now exposed, learning who she can trust becomes a matter of life and death and unraveling the past becomes her only hope for staying alive.

And now I'll turn the floor over to S.R., beneath the jump.

It's Poll Time!

What sort of posts would you be interested in reading here in the future? You can select multiple answers.

Crescendo Sneak Peek #5: Jewish Mothers Are Everywhere ;-)

I'm coming down to the home stretch on Crescendo (at Goodreads here). This time next week, I hope to be able to report to you all that I'm done with it. In the meanwhile, I'm very focused on writing and not so much on blogging, so I thought I'd share another short excerpt with you. As always, beware spoilers. And Jewish mothers, whom of course I love dearly (Hi, mom!), even if the Big Bad Elven Soldier thinks maybe his is worrying a little too much :-D

Six-hundred hot-off-the-keyboard words, beneath the jump.