Thursday, October 11, 2012

Night Thief Blog Tour ~ Guest Post and Giveaway with Lisa Kessler




Hi everyone – 

Thanks for having me on the United by Books blog! 

Night Thief is my new novella in the Night Series, featuring my immortal Night Walkers.  

What are Night Walkers?  They’re similar to vampires, but they’re descended from the Mayans.  Kane, the hero in Night Thief, is one of the original Night Walkers, born into immortality, and he would tell you that Night Walkers are in the mortal world to uphold and protect it.  

He would also tell you that immortality is not a gift.  Eternity is a responsibility.

Here’s the blurb for the book:

After the fall of the Mayan civilization, Kane, an immortal Night Walker, has taken refuge in France for over 800 years. The modern world holds little interest for him until the night he meets the Golden Thief and is robbed of much more than his pocket watch.


Marguerite Rousseau is living a double life. By day she is the assistant to an eccentric French artist, Antoine Berjon, and by night she dons elegant evening gowns to woo French dignitaries before lifting their wallets.


Sparks ignite when Kane captures the thief, but Marguerite harbors a dark secret that could ruin them both.


And here’s an excerpt…  This scene takes place after Marguerite has stolen Kane’s pocket watch and he tracks her…

She wore her golden hair up in a loose knot, with stray curls falling down her neck and framing her large round eyes and high cheekbones. Nothing about her was subtle or forgettable like a thief should be.
When he took the watch from her hand, he noticed a flush of color rising from beneath the velvet choker on her neck. Enticing. “You are a flamboyant thief.”
He never saw the slap coming.
“How dare you!” Her hands balled into fists at her sides.
Kane smiled and reached for her hand, drawingher soft fingers to his lips. Her struggles were nothing against his inhuman strength. Pressing a cool kiss to her knuckles, he stared into her eyes.
“Forgive me for being so rude,” he murmured.“You are the most lovely, delicate, and beautiful thief I have ever seen.”
This time, he caught her other wrist before herslap made contact with his cheek. Her bright blue eyes widened. “Let me go.”
“Not yet.” He tipped his head slightly. “I have aconfession to make.”
“You?”
He released her. “I have been watching you,waiting to make your acquaintance. I wore my watch tonight hoping you might take it from me.”
A crease marred her brow. “Why?”
“Because you intrigue me. I have never met a thief quite like you.”
Her eyes searched his, and for a moment, hethought she might apologize for taking his property.
“I did not steal your watch.” She set her chin. “Ifound it.”
Marguerite placed the watch in his palm, and she closed his fingers around it. Glancing at his hand, she frowned.
“Your skin is cold.” She released him. “Are yousick?”
He shook his head. “I am well.”
She went back to the table and gathered her other treasures. “It is good fortune that our paths crossed again so that I could return your watch. Sadly, I will still need to find the other owners.”
“We could give the items you found to the police.”
“No!” She snatched up the satchel and hid itbehind her skirt. He watched her clear her throat and her composure returned with her charm. “I could not trust another person with these valuables. Tomorrow, I will go back and inquire with the host to see which guests might be missing their belongings. It is the only way to ease my mind and know they will be returned to their rightful owners.”
“How thoughtful of you. With Le Voleur D’orstalking the streets of Paris, they probably fear their belongings are lost forever.”
Her back straightened and her lips pressedtogether as if she were a royal princess. It was all he could do not to kiss her. What was wrong with him? He should be angered, or in the least, willing to turn her over to the police.
His shoulders tensed at the thought of an officertouching her.
She cleared her throat. “What do you know of Le Voleur D’or?”
He stepped in closer to her and kept his voice low. “I have been told she has golden hair and her beauty is so blinding that no one notices her pluck their wallets from their pockets. I also understand that she charms her victims until they no longer care that she has lightened their coin purses.”
He tipped his head down. The scent of her hair and the sound of her heartbeat enticed him. Kane ached to taste her. Such an unusual woman. He bit back his desire and whispered near her ear. “Is my description far from the truth?”
She met his gaze. The candlelight flickered in the clear sea-blue of her eyes. “Perhaps you were not charmed enough, Monsieur Bordeaux.”
“In my rush to find you, I was nearly run down by a coach.”
She glanced down at the watch in his hand, thenmet his gaze again. “You do cherish that watch.”
He bent closer to her, until his lips nearly brushed hers. “It was not the watch that I was after.”

Thanks again for letting me visit, and I hope you were charmed enough to want more of Night Thief!  




Lisa Kessler
Don't be a stranger...










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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Winner of Nina Bangs Wicked Whispers Blog Tour


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Big congrats to Cheryl Stover Sanders for winning the your choice of autographed from The Castle of Dreams collection and $20 Gift card . I will be emailing you shortly. If you see this before I do go ahead and send a email to Lindseyhutchison605 (at) gmail (dot) com. I just need to get your snail mail and what book you chose as well as weather you prefer an Amazon or a B&N gift card and what email you would like it sent to . 

 If you didn't win this time no worries more prizes to come and more winners to be announced.

Winner of Deborah Cooke's Interview and Giveaway


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Big congrats to Michelle Mcmichael for winning the signed paperback of Embers Kiss . I will be emailing you shortly. If you see this before I do go ahead and send a email to Lindseyhutchison605 (at) gmail (dot) com. I just need to get your snail mail . 

 If you didn't win this time no worries more prizes to come and more winners to be announced.
 

Winner of Joan Swan's Interview and Giveaway




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Big congrats to Tina Becker for winning the paperback of Blaze . I will be emailing you shortly. If you see this before I do go ahead and send a email to Lindseyhutchison605 (at) gmail (dot) com. I just need to get your snail mail . 

 If you didn't win this time no worries more prizes to come and more winners to be announced.
 

Immortal Surrender Blog Tour ~ Guest Post and Giveaway with Claire Ashgrove







Good morning everyone! I’m so excited to be here today and celebrating the release of Immortal Surrender.

Everyone knows romance concludes with a Happy Ever After. Our characters have fought, stood at opposite odds, likely had amazing sex, and they end up together forever, thoroughly in love.

But getting there isn’t just a matter of an author saying “this happens and it leads to love.” It’s more than that. There’s a journey for the character. He or she can jump into bed, have their world rocked, and there’s nothing different the morning after if the experience didn’t have more than a physical effect.

Each encounter the characters have, must impact the other character somehow, and usually it contributes to a growth arc. Take the conservationist arguing with a land developer – the argument may not be resolved, but the developer is now at least thinking about another ramification of cutting down a corner of a rainforest. Whatever that argument includes forces the developer tothink.

In Immortal Surrender, Noelle, a confirmed atheist, is thrust into a world that’s in direct opposition of what she believes. Beliefs are core elements of a person’s composition. Altering them isn’t easily done. As such, everything that happens to her has to impact her in some way that she begins to question what she understands about the world around her.

Farran, on the other hand, required more of a nudge, not a huge shove off a cliff. (Or rooftop as the case may be.) He’s not changing his overall scope, he’s embracing a new outlook on one particular aspect – women. He doesn’t want to, and he fights like hell to hang on to his safe perceptions. But every time he interacts with Noelle, his foundations are rattled.

The impact of the events affecting both Noelle and Farran is what bonds them, not the events themselves. The push-pull of excitement and fear, the satisfaction of secret yearnings, not being kidnapped or forced into a role by an archangel.

And it’s that emotional journey that leaves us readers believing in the eternal happily ever after, not because the author said it would be. It’s why we laugh aloud, why we grimace, and why we cry alongside the characters. We feel their journey and we believe in the hurdles they have overcome.


 Farran de Clare, loyal member of the cursed Knights Templar, wants nothing to do with predestined mates. Even the Almighty won’t turn him into a fool again—he’d rather sacrifice his soul. Yet in the scientist Noelle Keane, a devout atheist, Farran meets the seraph designed for him.

Ordered by the archangel Gabriel to protect Noelle, the possessor of a sacred relic that could give Azazel incredible power, Farran swears to do his duty—but in name only. Fighting an attraction that grows with each day, he’s determined that he’ll never pledge himself to her.

As they war over her future, their mutual passion ignites a conflict far more damning. But before Noelle will agree to eternity with him, she demands the ultimate sacrifice – his heart


“This series (The Curse of the Templars) is explosive, sexy, riveting, and Claire Ashgrove is a master of her craft.” ~ NYTimes Bestselling Author, Maggie Shayne

********* Excerpt *********

Farran stared up at Noelle, cursing her bad luck, the Almighty, and his fate. He well knew how terror could trap a person, had seen it countless times with unseasoned knights. In her unmoving position, he recognized the signs too clearly. This was no act meant to gain his sympathy.’Twas no ploy to soften his anger over her attempt at escape. She was truly terrified.

“Damnation,” he muttered beneath his breath.

He closed his eyes with an inward prayer his stomach would not revolt and made the mark of the cross over his chest. Eyeing her, he strode to the ladder. She would pay for this later. He would find a way to make certain she came to regret her attempt at escape.

Do not look down. He chanted the mantra as he climbed the icy rungs. In less time than he had imagined, he arrived at her feet. Holding on with one hand, he placed the other on her calf. “I am here. Climb down.”

’Twas then he noticed the shaking of her shoulders, heard her muffled tears. When she did not move, he gave her leg a squeeze. “Noelle, come down. I will not let you fall.”

“I’m scared,” she murmured.

Saints’ blood, she did not intend to make this easy. Aye, indeed, he would lock her in her rooms at the temple for a week.

He assessed her position, made note of the little space her tiny body occupied. Carefully, he tucked his feet between hers and the side rails and eased his body up her legs. When he had pinned her between the ladder and his chest, he stopped. “Grab on to me.”

She let go with one hand, then clutched at the rail with a fierce shake of her head. “I can’t. I can’t, Farran.”

At the sound of her broken voice, all his defenses shuddered like a door under the barrage of a battering ram. The anger her defiance provoked dissolved with her sniffle. Deep in his gut, a heavy knot unwound. He pressed his body into hers, molded his thighs around her legs. Holding on with one hand, he pried her fingers off the metal and guided her hand to his shoulder. “Turn around, damsel,” he encouraged quietly. “Wind your arms around my neck, and we shall descend together. I swear to you, I will not let you fall.”

 Author Bio:  

CLAIRE ASHGROVE HAS BEEN WRITING SINCE HER EARLY TEENS AND MAINTAINED THE HOBBY FOR TWENTY YEARS BEFORE DECIDING TO LEAP INTO THE PROFESSIONAL WORLD. HER FIRST CONTEMPORARY NOVEL, SEDUCTION'S STAKES, SOLD TO THE WILD ROSE PRESS IN 2008, WHERE SHE CONTINUES TO WRITE STEAMY, SEXY STORIES FOR THE CHAMPAGNE AND BLACK ROSE LINES. ADDING TO THESE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ROMANCES, CLAIRE’S PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES, THE CURSE OF THE TEMPLARS DEBUTED WITH TOR IN JANUARY 2012. FOR THOSE WHO PREFER THE MORE EROTIC SIDE OF ROMANCE, SHE ALSO WRITES FOR BERKLEY HEAT AS THE NATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR TORI ST. CLAIRE.

She is an active member of Romance Writers of America, and her local RWA chapters, Heartland Romance Authors,Midwest Romance Writers, Midwest Romance Writers, North Texas Romance Writers of America, and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers.

Claire lives in Missouri with her two toddler sons, and too-many horses, cats, and dogs. In her “free” time, she enjoys cooking, winning at Rummy, studying Ancient Civilizations, and spending quiet moments with her family, including the critters. She credits her success to her family's constant support and endless patience.

To learn more about Claire, visit her on the web at www.claireashgrove.com, or www.toristclaire.com.

********* GIVEAWAY DETAILS *********

Claire is giving away one digital copy of any one of her backlist books, excepting those in the Templar series, to one randomly drawn commenter at each stop on the blog tour.  In addition, commenters’ names will be added into the tour-end drawing of a 25.00 Amazon gift card.  Follow the tour – the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.  Complete tour dates can be found here. 

Make sure to leave your email address in case you are the lucky commenter to win. That way Claire will know how to reach you.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Guest Post and Giveaway with Caridad Pineiro

What do you think of when you hear the words “South Beach”?  Sultry.  Sexy.  Sinful.

As a kid, we used to stay in South Beach when we were visiting friends and family in Miami.  It was affordable and right on the beach.  Lincoln Road was this cool pedestrian mall with a little tram to take you from one end to the other.  Then the hotels and stores started to get really rundown and the area got a little scary so we stopped going and went somewhere else.

Funny thing how so many years later my family and I would head down to a very different South Beach.  One that was glitzy and glamorous and more importantly, restored the beauty of the Art Deco landmarks all along Ocean Drive and brought new life to Lincoln Road.

It was these visits to South Beach that had me thinking that it was time for a change of pace for THE CALLING/REBORN series, especially since the heroine in the new book, KISSED BY A VAMPIRE, really needed a very unique locale to match her very different personality.

You see Stacia is a 2000 year old vampire who has seen too much of life and finds it boring and lonely.  To her South Beach is an easy place to find some sexy nights and easy bites.  The last thing she expects is to find a man who will challenge everything she believes is possible in her undead life.

The South Beach setting really let me give you a different taste in THE CALLING/REBORN series.  I chose Manhattan for the series because it provided a location where the vampires could remain anonymous amidst the skyscrapers and unique neighborhoods in Manhattan.

In Miami there are fewer vampires and the sun creates its own issues for the undead.  Of course the nightlife in Miami makes some things easier as Stacia discovers, but easier isn’t always better.  Especially when all those easy bites are nowhere near as intriguing as DEA Agent Alex Garcia.  LOL!

Thank you for letting me share a little bit about my new release.  I hope you’ll enjoy Stacia’s story as well as the South Beach locale.

Have you had a chance to visit South Beach?  Are there any places you’ve been that you think would be good for a vampire story and if so, why?  I’d love to hear from you!

 Kissed by a Vampire
by Caridad Pineiro
October 16, 2012
Harlequin Nocturne

A vampire who has given up on love gets a second chance from a most unlikely mortal…For two thousand years, vampire elder Stacia has roamed on her own, haunted by the betrayal that turned her into a creature of the night. Her nights looming empty and eternal, Stacia longs for love, but settles for quick bites and sinful pleasures in South Beach. Until she comes face-to-face with the unforgettable DEA agent she once brought back from the brink of death.Alex Garcia knows that demons exist-the real kind, the kind that are kidnapping women and selling them into slavery. Finding those victims is his focus-not a beautiful seductress whose otherworldly abilities can’t possibly be real. But when Stacia summons all her powers to prove what she really is, Alex will summon all his to believe in the vampire’s kiss….

Order ~  Amazon / B&N 


You can follow the tour here:  
Kissed By A Vampire Blog Tour

10/06/12 - All Things Books
10/07/12 - Literal Addiction
10/08/12 - Books-n-Kisses
10/09/12 - United by Books
10/12/12 - Sizzling Hot Books
10/13/12 - Grave Tells
10/14/12 - The Jeep Diva 
10/15/12 - The Reading Cafe
10/16/12 - Book Lovin' Mamas
10/17/12 - Riverina Romantics
10/18/12 - Romancing The Book
10/21/12 - Book Monster


********* GIVEAWAY *********

Caridad has generously offered up a paperback of THE CLAIMED along with some SWAG. Contest is open to international. Just fill out the rafflecopter below to be entered.

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Monday, October 8, 2012

Claiming Magique by Tina Donahue Blurb Blitz Tour and Giveaway







A man at the center of power. A woman who won’t be ruled. They call her Magique.

Sought out by the District’s elite, she’s no ordinary call girl, deciding who will pleasure her for the evening. Her preference is for several men at once. Games of bondage and submission heighten her arousal and desire to have a strong male take her.

Hunter is only looking for a good time, not a woman who unleashes a hunger so deep it changes his world. He won’t stop until Magique is his alone, a prisoner of his lust, powerless against his growing need for her body and heart.

With this man, resistance isn’t allowed. For this woman, he’ll create a world of sensual delight and yearning like none she’s ever known.

Reader Advisory: Magique’s sensual journey includes some brief ménage and BDSM elements.


********* EXCERPT *********
Hunt waited, counting the seconds. When he’d reached three minutes, she made her move as he sensed she would, leaving her table, heading into the restaurant.


He followed, tailing her to the restrooms all the way in the back. His server gave Hunt an ‘all clear’ nod. With nothing to stop him, Hunt placed his hand on her before she could open the door to the ladies’ lounge.

She didn’t flinch or utter a cry of surprise. She’d expected him to do this.

If ever there’d been a moment in his life when he’d wanted to sigh, it was now. Her scent surrounded him. Its intoxicating fragrance coupled with her musk made him forget everything except having her. Hunt edged closer, his chest touching her back.
She didn’t move away. He hadn’t figured she would.

Leaning down, he whispered, “You’ve been following me.”

She turned as well as she could given their proximity, her face a mask of feigned outrage. “What?”

“You heard me. What I want to know is why? We don’t need to play games. I want you and I know you want me.”

Before she could contradict him, Hunt captured her mouth, slipping his tongue inside.

She sagged against him. All fight forgotten.

He couldn’t have planned for this moment to be as good. Turning her to face him, Hunt held her as he’d wanted to for days, kissing away any future protests that might surface. She tasted better than he recalled, fresh and minty, hot and willing. She drove her fingers through his hair, keeping him to her.

He wasn’t about to leave her again.


Author Bio: Tina Donahue is an award-winning, bestselling novelist in erotic, paranormal, contemporary and historical romance for Samhain Publishing, Ellora’s Cave, and Kensington. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Romantic Times and numerous online sites have praised her work. Three of her erotic romances (Adored, Lush Velvet Nights, and Deep, Dark, Delicious)were named finalists in the 2011 EPIC competition. The French review site, Blue Moon reviews, chose her erotic romance Sensual Stranger as their Book of the Year 2010 (erotic category). The Golden Nib Award at Miz Love Loves Books was created specifically for Lush Velvet Nights, and two of her titles (The Yearning and Deep, Dark, Delicious)received an Award of Merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competition (2011 and 2012). Take Me Away and Adoredboth won second place in the NEC RWA contest (different years). Tina is featured in the 2012 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. She was the editor of an award–winning Midwestern newspaper and worked in Story Direction for a Hollywood production company.

Website/blog: www.tinadonahue.com

********* GIVEAWAY *********

Tina will be awarding the winner's choice of a backlist eBook to one randomly drawn commenter at every stop. You can find all the tour stops HERE 

Please make sure you leave an email address to be entered so Tina will be able to contact you should you be the lucky winner.