Minder by Sandra Cox Book Blurb Blitz and Giveaway

Minder
by Sandra Cox 

Upper YA paranormal

Format: ebook (373 kb)

Publisher: MuseItUp (June 2, 2012)

Blurb: Among the northern tribes there is a legend passed down from generation to generation about shape-shifting Minders—guardians of the innocents—and how they came to be.

It is said that nowadays only a handful of Minders exist, hunted to near extinction by a fearsome beast. Of the remaining Minders, only one wears a garnet-studded collar, the symbol of protection and royalty.

Even when my aunt told me the story, and handed me an ancient garnet-studded band, I had no idea the tale applied to me.

After all, it’s only a legend…

Excerpt: 

 Happy Birthday, Darling.”

“Aunt Gin, you’ve done too much already,” I scolded.

The bag felt soft and warm in my hand. Without thought, I clasped it to my chest and felt comfort, like holding a security blanket. I relaxed my grip and held it to the light. It looked old.

“Actually, it’s a gift from your mother.”

My eyes widened and I frowned in confusion. My heart tightened. Before I could reply, Mary came back with our drinks.

My aunt added sweetener to her steaming tea. “Open it,” she urged after Mary walked away.

I opened the drawstrings and shook the contents of the bag into my hand. An antique necklace glittered in my palm.

It appeared to be some sort of choker. The material was like nothing I’d ever seen, almost like stretchy soft leather glittering with fire opal dust, inlaid with oval garnets. I held it to the light. My eyes widened as prisms of color danced around the stones, breathtaking in their beauty.

As I examined it, I felt someone’s stare.

Drawn, I turned my head. My breath caught in my throat, my heart began to pound and my palm’s sweat. The buzz from the surrounding tables faded. People nearby became shadowy figures.

A golden glow bathed the room as I stared at the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. Thick, tawny, almost leonine hair capped his skull. His unusual amber eyes glowed like a cat’s. Skin stretched taut and smooth over high cheekbones. His lips made my mouth water.

My face must have reflected the same rapture I saw on his. Unfortunately, his gaze was on my necklace.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Multi-published author Sandra Cox writes YA fantasy, crossover YA, historic and paranormal romance and metaphysical nonfiction.

Sandra lives with her husband, a menagerie of pets, and an occasional foster cat in sunny North Carolina. She’s a vegetarian, enjoys kickboxing and loves nothing better than good book. 

You can find her at: Blog | Website | Twitter

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

 

This stop is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Sandra will be giving away a digital copy of her novel, "Vampire Bay" at every stop.  

(So make sure you leave an email address to be contacted at)

 Additionally, she's running a contest on her blog

(http://sandracox.blogspot.com) as follows: To enter the contest leave a comment on any posts in June, mention Minder and include your email address, and you're entered to win:

A set of butterfly pins
A Starbucks gift certificate
A book dedication
And a PDF download of Minder

(So don't forget to head over and check out this amazing giveaway on her blog)

For more chances to win follow the tour by clicking : here.

Guest Post and Giveaway with Candis Terry

HERO + EMOTION = TROUBLE

I had a tough time with Deputy James Harley, the hero in my new book, SOMEBODY LIKE YOU. He’d actually appeared in the first two Sugar Shack books and I always found him funny and charming. When he finally got his own story he did a one-eighty on me and I had to wonder what the heck was wrong with this guy? As he started to reveal more and more of himself I figured it all out. Kinda.

Men get angry a lot faster and harder than women. Blame it on testosterone. If a man is frightened, he acts angry. If he is frustrated, he acts angry. If he is hurt, he acts angry. Make sense? Maybe not to women, but in a man’s mental dictionary, anger is an expression of emotion, whether that emotion is fear, frustration, sadness, pain, humiliation, or defeat. Our culture has taught men that crying is unacceptable for them because it indicates weakness. Therefore, most men detest displaying any kind of weakness, especially in front of other men. Later in the relationship, a man may trust a woman enough to talk things through or even cry. But until trust is developed, an outward display of emotion will most likely be in some form of anger. I’ve come to the conclusion that this is why the alpha hero is so often written. He is far more realistic than the beta hero who listens sympathetically to the heroine as she rambles on about the rip she got in her pantyhose that morning.

Men are pretty straightforward, except when it comes to their emotions. Keeping this in mind, while writing romance, a writer must remember that romance is about intimacy, love, and trust. It’s an adventure in the emotional travels of the hero and heroine. While love may be universal, each couple experiences it differently. Creating realistic well-rounded characters bringsuniqueness to each and every romance. Do you have a favorite alpha hero?

I’m celebrating the return to the Sugar Shack with a contest and giveaway of a Sugar Shack inspired gift basket. Please check my Facebook page for details. Contest is open to U.S. and International readers.

URLs

Website: www.candisterry.com

Twitter: @CandisTerry

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Candis-Terry/131817443567853

BIO

Candis Terry is the author of the Sugar Shack novels—a trio of small town romances rich with memorable love stories, quirky characters, and tons of fun. Born and raised near the sunny beaches of Southern California, Candis now makes her home on an Idaho farm. She’s experienced life in such diverse ways as working in a Hollywood recording studio to chasing down wayward steers to working as a graphic designer. Only one thing has remained constant: Candis’ passion for writing stories about relationships, the push and pull in the search for love, and the security one finds in their own happily ever after.

*********GIVEAWAY********** 

There is an eBook of Somebody Like You up for grabs. Just fill out the rafflecopter below to be entered.

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Winner of Donya Lynne's Promo Post

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Big congrats to Laurie Facchini  for winning your choice of either Rise of the Fallen or Heart of the Warrior. You are in for a treat which ever you choose. I will be emailing you shortly. If you see this before I send you the email go ahead and shoot an email to Lindseyhutchison605 (at) aol (dot) com. 

I will need you to confirm the email you would like the book sent to and your choice of ebook. 

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

Winner of Jaime Rush's Interview and Giveaway

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Big congrats to Jowanna Delong Kestner for winning the eBook of Darkness Becomes Her. 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 confirm your email to forward on. 

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

Interview and Giveaway with Alice Gaines

United By Books is very pleased to have Alice Gaines on the blog today so we can learn a bit more about her and her amazing books......

  1 ~  First share with us a little about yourself?

I live in Oakland, California in a fixer-upper I never fixed up.  When I’m at home, I’m a total hermit, and no one sees me except for my pet snake and the stray cat who lives in the back yard.  I have a PhD in psychology, although I haven’t used it for many, many years.  I enjoy writing fiction more than doing research.

2 ~  Please tell us a little about your newest release (Heat Rises 6/12) ?

The story is about two people who were almost lovers in the past.  Laura was always to shy to let Ethan know she was interested in him until she had a bit too much to drink at a party.  Then, she came onto him in no uncertain terms.  As a gentleman, Ethan couldn’t take her up on her offer, no matter how much he wanted to.  He hoped and hoped for another chance, but Laura was too embarrassed by what she saw as his rejection to face him again.

All that has percolated inside both of them for six years when they meet again in the mountains in a snowstorm.  When they’re isolated in a romantic cabin, they work through all the kinks from six years before and more.

3 ~ What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

I bought an…ahem…item from a…ahem…adult catalogue.  I ended up using it in three different stories.  That isn’t the weirdest thing, though.  I deducted the cost of the item on my taxes.  All I can say is, I wasn’t audited.

4 ~ How do you describe your writing style?

I’m a disciplined pantser.  That probably sounds dirty, but a pantser is someone who writes by the seat of her pants.  Before I was published, I’d sit down on page one and keep writing until the story was over.  Only then would I write a synopsis.  Now I have to write synopses before the story is done, and I hate it.  I have no idea what’s going to happen until it happens.

The discipline part also isn’t sexy.  I write according to a schedule that allows me to produce 5,000 words per week.  If something happens to that schedule, I add more words per day until I catch up.  I’m fanatical about deadlines, even the ones I impose on myself.  In fact, I have a story due next Monday, and I’m going to put off getting my water heat fixed until the story is written.  Before I let someone into my house, I need to clean the kitchen floor, and before I do that, I’m finishing this story, darn it!

5~ Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing?

Shoes.  My heroine strips my hero out of his shirt and drops it to the floor.  She eases his zipper down.  Really cool.  Kneeling, she slides his pants and boxers down, and what does she find?  His shoes.  Dammit.  So, she either has to take his shoes off first, which isn’t exactly romantic.  Or, she has to deal with them now, while his pants are stuck around his ankles.  Does he put his hand on her head for balance while she’s taking first one shoe off and then the other?  What are the most important bits doing while all this is taking place?  I love humor in books, but this isn’t the time for it.

Sure, that’s a tongue in cheek answer, but it’s often the little details that bog me down while I’m writing.  I once tried to have a woman hide a vial of medicine on her while she was wearing a loose nightgown.  She’d already emptied her hands of what she’d carried into the room, but I wanted one extra little bottle.  Her gown didn’t have a bodice or bra, so she couldn’t hide it in there.  I ended up sticking it in her hair behind her ear.  I spent valuable minutes trying to figure out where that little bottle could be.

 6~ Please tell the Readers in two sentences why they should check out  Heat Rises .

It’s about nice people having outrageous sex, which is true of all of my writing.  It’s short, but it’s also reasonably priced.

7~ How would you describe yourself in three words?

Funny, loyal, sloppy.

8~ What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I love to cook.  I watch all the PBS cooking shows and love to try new things.  My idea of a heavenly non-writing day would to sit in front of the TV making something fun while I watched America’s Test Kitchen and Lidia Bastianich.  In line with that, I grow vegetables in my back yard.  I make pesto and tomato sauce all through the summer so I can have them in winter.

My other major passion is East Bay soul band, Tower of Power.  I see them whenever they’re at Yoshi’s in Oakland or in Las Vegas.  My friends get together for long TOP weekends in Vegas.  We’ve been talking about following the band to Europe some time, and I might just show up at one of their concerts in Amsterdam.

9~ Say a reader needed to get their smut fix..... Which one of your books would you recommend?

Heat Rises is a lot of fun.  If you’d like to get a feel for my writing at no cost, you can download the free short story, Brief Encounter.  Please be aware that it’s very short (only a chapter).

10~ How many licks does it take to get to the center of a lollipop ?

I don’t lick. I suck.

11 ~ What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?

Write, write, write.  Don’t let anyone discourage you.  It’s an oddity of the universe that most agents and editors are delightful people who seem hell bent on rejecting you.  Don’t let it get you down.  Keep writing no matter what.

12~ What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

I’m a practicing Christian.  I serve on the altar guild at my church, and yes, my rector knows what I write.

13~ How did you celebrate the sale of your first book?

It was so long ago, I honestly don’t remember.  I got “the call” at work and immediately called my husband.  I remember vaguely that when I got home, I got the car into the driveway, just barely, and ran into the house.

I think the first thing we all do (after we kiss the dh) is jump onto e-mail and tell all our friends.  “OMG, OMG, they bought my book!  They bought my book!  Squeeeee, they bought my book!  OMG, OMG, I forgot how to breathe!”  That’s usually followed by chocolate and alcoholic beverages.

14 ~ Is there anything special you would like to say to your readers while we have you here today?

I hope you enjoy Heat Rises.  We do work very hard on our stories, and so do our editors.  Every book isn’t to every reader’s taste.  I’ve hated things my friends have loved and vice versa.

More than anything else, we love to hear from readers that they’ve enjoyed our stories.  We are writing for you.  If money were the only goal, we could find much, much easier ways to earn it.  There’s nothing better in the world that to have a stranger fall in love with our characters.  They’re our creations and a part of ourselves.

My blog/website is http://www.alicegaines.blogspot.com, and you can reach me at wryter2000@yahoo.com.

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

There is an E-ARC of Heat Rises up for grabs to one lucky winner ... just fill out the rafflecopter below to be entered.

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Felicity Heaton Masquerade Blog Tour Guest Post and Giveaway

Welcome to The Blog Tour for Felicity Heaton's Masquerade. Felicity has taken over United By Books today with some insight on Vampire Realm Series......

 Writing the Vampires Realm romance series

It’s fantastic to be here at United by Books for the next stop on the virtual book tour for my new vampire romance, Masquerade. Masquerade is the tenth book in my ongoing Vampires Realm romance series. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the others, as Masquerade does stand alone.

Today, I want to talk a little about the series and why I love to write it.

Vampires are sexy. They’re dark, mysterious, and dangerous. The ultimate bad boys. The ones who send our hearts racing and adrenaline pumping. Of course, that isn’t to say that their furry counterparts can’t be just as devastatingly handsome. The alpha werewolf is a force to be reckoned with. Rugged, rough, and commanding, he’s a man who will bend the heroine to his will and claim her for his own.

That’s the sort of vampire and werewolf that I love to write. I don’t apologize for how brutal or dangerous they can be. Vampires and werewolves are killers. They’re top of the food chain and they know it. I always stay true to their nature, although I like to change a few aspects of them in each of my stories to spice things up a little. I don’t do redemption or the non-human blood drinking vampire. I want to read about vampires and werewolves who are deadly, and of course, dead sexy, so I write that sort of hero and heroine so others can read about them too.

A vampire who refuses to drink human blood, to embrace their nature, is a real turn off to me. We’re attracted to the myth of the vampire because of their bloodlust and their powers, and their desire to sink those luscious fangs into our lovely necks. Without those things, they’re just not as interesting.

Each of my stand alone stories has a different take on vampires and werewolves. I have vampires with powers, and those without. Vampires who are born and age, and those who are turned and don’t. I love to toy with the myth and make them unique. The purest of my vampires are those in my Vampires Realm series.

Vampires Realm is a work of passion for me. I love to world build and I’ve spent a long time thinking about the way the series will work, and the world it’s set in, and the type of creatures who inhabit it. The series is set in Europe, and follows vampires of the seven ancient pure bloodlines. Each bloodline rules a different city, although there is conflict in St. Petersburg and Prague as two vampire bloodlines reside in both of those. There are laws governing the bloodlines, and Law Keepers who deal with any who break them. There are hunters who would like to eradicate the pure bloods, but they’re not strong enough to fight such superior creatures, and often end up fighting weaker mixed blood vampires that infest the continent. A fight with a pure blood would end pretty quickly. These are the elite. They’re powerful, deadly, and unafraid of hunting human prey. They live in their own world. A world within our world. They rarely interact with humans, and keep to themselves, living in near-harmony with us without our knowledge of their existence. Their interest lies in governing their people and continuing their existence, and they have laid down strict laws to ensure this happens.

There are werewolves in the series too. Although most of them are slaves kept in compounds by the pure blood vampire families, there are those who have escaped and have struck out on their own. There are even those who have gathered other werewolves to them and created a stronghold for their kind, a place where they can live without fear of the vampires.

It’s a dark world, one full of threats as the hunters begin to advance themselves through genetic manipulation, becoming dangerous to the pure bloodlines. It’s a world on the edge, full of conflict between the bloodlines, and prophecies that threaten to destroy everything. But it’s also a world where love grows, regardless of the laws that forbid certain relationships, and where heroes and heroines do incredible acts of bravery to protect both vampirekind and humankind. It’s a world that I love to write and explore, to bring to life in the imagination of the reader, and to share with them, and I hope that you will enjoy it too.

The Vampires Realm series currently encompasses ten stories, the most recent of which is out now. There are seven novels, including a trilogy, two novellas (one of which is free), and a free short story.

I would also like to take this moment to mention that there is a grand giveaway running throughout the whole of the Masquerade Book Tour. The top prize is a KINDLE TOUCH plus bundle of Vampires Realm series ebooks 1-9 (doesn’t include Masquerade), and it’s open internationally. You can find all the details at the Masquerade Book Tour page:http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/masquerade-book-tour.php  

If you would like to find out more about Masquerade or the Vampires Realm series, you can visit the official Vampires Realm website at http://www.vampiresrealm.com

Masquerade is available now at Amazon Kindle stores, Smashwords and All Romance eBooks. It will soon be availablefor Nook, Apple devices, Sony Reader, and Kobo Books, but you can get it in epub from other retailers like Smashwords and my own website.

 Masquerade
F E Heaton
Ten years have passed since Sophis and Vivek, two vampires of the Venia bloodline, came close to death at the hands of twin hunters Aleksis and Izabella Romanov. The events of that night turned Sophis and Vivek against each other, shattering their close friendship and driving them apart.

Now, on the eve of a centenary Creator Day masquerade and at a time when things between them are dangerously close to separating them forever, they uncover a small army of vampire hunters in Saint Petersburg, led by their nemeses, Aleksis and Izabella.

With the safety of the rulers of the seven pure vampire bloodlines in their hands and their chance for vengeance hanging in the balance, can Sophis and Vivek face their past and overcome their differences? Will they realise their true feelings for each other before it’s too late or will the hunters finally claim their lives as their deadly plot to destroy the bloodlines unfolds?

Read an excerpt:http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Masquerade

Available in e-book from:
Author's website:http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Masquerade
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00838118Q/ 

Amazon Kindle UK:http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00838118Q/ 

Amazon Kindle Germany:http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00838118Q/
Amazon Kindle France:http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00838118Q/
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=9781476013022
Smashwords:https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/161982
All Romance eBooks:https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-masquerade-791165-139.html

Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1477537511/ 

Amazon.co.uk:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1477537511/

Biography

Felicity Heaton writes passionate paranormal romance books as Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. In her books she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!

If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.

If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, Felicity Heaton’s best selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series she writes as F E Heaton or any of her stand alone vampire romance books she writes as Felicity Heaton. Or if you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try Felicity Heaton’s new Vampire Erotic Theatre series.

In 2011, four of her six paranormal romance books received Top Pick awards from Night Owl Reviews, Forbidden Blood was nominated as Best PNR Vampire Romance 2011 at The Romance Reviews, and many of her releases received five star reviews from numerous websites.

If you want to know more about me, or want to get in touch, you can find me at the following places:

My website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk

Vampires Realm official website:http://www.vampiresrealm.com

My blog: http://www.indieparanormalromancebooks.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/felicityheaton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/felicityheaton

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/felicityheaton

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

Felicity has generously offered up a Signed copy of Winter's Kiss and swag this is an international giveaway....just fill out the rafflecopter below to be entered for that prize. I would also like to remind you to click the link to the tour , that will take you to the Grand Prize Giveaway of a Kindle Fire

Winter's Kiss
F E Heaton
Their lord drinks blood and they are dead men walking. The tales of the mansion don’t stop Nika from falling for one of the guards, but when wolves attack her and he rides to her rescue, she discovers that her knight is anything but saintly. He is a vampire and she is becoming a werewolf, and love between their species is forbidden—the penalty death.

Winter’s world is shaken beyond salvation and his allegiance to his bloodline tested as he watches the woman he’s fallen for turn into a werewolf. His heart demands vengeance and that he protects her, both from the werewolf now hunting for her and from himself, but she tempts him more than he can bear and it isn't long into their journey before he’s torn between upholding the law and succumbing to desire.

Will Nika be able to convince Winter to leave his world and stay with her or will she spend eternity dreaming of Winter's kiss?

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Winner of Deborah Cooke's Guest Post and Giveaway

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Big congrats to Tawnya W for winning the paperback of Blaze The Trail by Deborah Cooke. I will be emailing you shortly. If you see this before I do then feel free to email me at Lindseyhutchison605 (at) gmail (dot) com .

I will need your snail mail so i can pass it along to get your prize in the mail. 

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