UPDATE: The winner is…Tracy!

* * * * *

I used this image for a recent cover. Solve the puzzle, then send me an email naming the title of the book, and you’ll be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card! And no cheating! Have fun!

Send your answer to me privately at delilah@delilahdevlin.com!

The Question

I’m here at 5:30 AM writing this little blog. Family duties will pull me from my desk again in just an hour. I’m okay with that. If you saw the pics I posted on Facebook and Instagram yesterday, you understand how I can be pulled away. Have you ever seen a cuter 3-year-old? Even those who are baby-averse can’t help an involuntary ahhhh.  🙂

Anyway, since my mind isn’t organized enough at this early hour to come up with something brilliant to say, I’m resorting to quotes. Here’s one of my favorites…

“I dip my pen in the blackest ink, because I’m not afraid of falling in the inkpot.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

How does this apply to me today? Well, I am under a crunch to write the last chapter of a story I HAVE to have finished on Wednesday. I can do it, but I have to keep focused. Days like today, when I’m pulled away to play with the cutest 3-year-old in the whole wide world, make me nervous about meeting my deadline. But when I read that quote, I realize how silly my fear is. So, maybe I need to lose a little sleep to get it done.

My question to you is, what are you afraid of today
that you know is just plain silly?

The Request

This release is only a week away, and I’m hoping to get the word out to folks who don’t usually read me about the next book in my Night Fall series, Bad to the Bone. I’d love your support! All you have to do is follow this link and click. The day after the book releases, your tweet or Facebook notice will go out. You don’t have to write it, you don’t have to remember to do it—I wrote it and Thunderclap schedules it for you. So, here’s the link, and thanks for your support!

Thunderclap for Bad to the Bone

Good morning everyone! It’s a beautiful Sunday morning. To those who observe it, Happy Easter! To those who don’t, Happy Beautiful Sunday! Okay, now, on to a topic a little less…. Eastery!

My husband and I live in southern Louisiana, and I do mean southern. As in, Cajun Country. For those who don’t know, Cajun Country is anywhere south of Interstate 10 in southwest Louisiana and while it’s not all moss-covered-tree swamps, the majority of it is water-based. People down here move to their own beat, it’s called Zydeco – which is a blend of blues, R&B and the music indigenous to the Louisiana Creole and Native peoples of Louisiana. Zydeco blends guitar, accordion and washboard (yes, old-fashioned laundry scrub boards) and for those not used to the sound, may be an acquired taste. I love it!

There are always fun things to do around here, when the evil-day-job allows for such things. Our favorite thing has to be going to the Cameron Parish National Wildlife Refuge and driving their Pintail Wildlife Drive. Pintail is a 3 mile gravel drive though a wet-plains type of environment. They have a boardwalk you can enjoy. In the winter months, the area becomes host to millions (literally!) of birds. I now know to where all the birds fly south! It seemed that way this winter at least, because you saw more birds than water! We see all types of wildlife, from the birds, hatchlings, nutria rat, to the big ones – alligators! We think we even saw a bald eagle one day, but couldn’t get a close enough photo to decide either way.

We count gators as we do a slow cruise, and the highest we’ve counted is 105 in just that 3 mile loop. And no, we don’t get out of the vehicle! First, because it’s posted that you can only exit your vehicle at the boardwalk. Two, we aren’t idiots! Gators can move fast when they want to, and I’ve seen videos where they can rip the bumper off a truck, I’m not tempting them with my freakin’ legs! While I admire that gators are basically living dinosaurs, I give them much respect and a wide berth! (That photo? That’s taken from our truck which is about 20 feet or so away from them. Yeah, big boys!)

I have to state, here and now, a few facts about me… I was born and raised in the mid-west so I’m not a Cajun, not anywhere near a native, and my husband was raised in northern Louisiana so he can’t claim to be Cajun either. And I’m no expert on the subject, so come on down sometime and explore for yourselves! We’d love for you to visit!

http://www.bookstrand.com/book/the-dragons-soul-xan

So, have you read any of my Night Fall series? The 11th story in the series is set to release on April 25th! Woot! I promise if you start with that story, you won’t be lost, but wouldn’t you rather immerse yourself in the darkness? All the stories, except for Silent Knight and My Sweet Succubus are novellas. Those two are novelettes—slightly longer than short stories. So, you really do have time to blow through the books before Bad to the Bone arrives…

And it should go without my saying that ALL the stories are sexy as hell. Because I’m a tease, I’m letting you look inside the beginning of Bad to the Bone. Read all of chapter one below. See if you can resist ordering so you can have the rest of the story…  😉

For a chance to win your choice of one of my previously released
Night Fall series stories, answer me this!

Do you love paranormal romance? If so, what flavor of heroes
do you prefer—vampires, werewolves, other shifters, witches, fairies?

(Click on a cover if you’d like to learn more!)

Bad to the Bone

One night of pleasure…

His name is Viper–a dark mysterious enigma who rules the seedy, dangerous vampiric underworld. For one night, he will escape his murky prison and tempt an innocent.

…can last a lifetime…

Beautiful Mariah haunts him. Lures him from his den with a glimpse of his past. One she doesn’t remember. This night, he’ll be her dream lover. He’ll seduce her, make her fall in love with him–then leave her. Again.

One night of pleasure is all they must know.

But Viper leaves her a clue. One he hopes deep down will lead her back to him although he dreads the consequences, because he’s not the same man he was. He’s not a man at all…

Pre-order your copy here!

Excerpt from Bad to the Bone…

One week ago…

Slim hips swished beneath a short, flirty skirt, drawing his gaze like iron filings to a magnet. The splash of large pink flowers on white stood out like a beacon in the darkness. Beneath the hem stretched a pair of nude legs, toned, and nicely curved at the ankles. Perfectly made to lightly clasp a man’s waist as he slid into moist heat…

He suppressed a low, rumbling growl from the beast rising inside. Something he rarely bothered to do in the squalid dens he roamed most nights. The creature lurking deep within was a sexual animal, a lustful, ravenous host who found partners only too willing to let him feast. But this woman was different. Her soul was pure. Her mind unawakened to the darkness.

He followed her as she left her apartment, sticking to the shadows, ducking into stairwells when she looked behind her as though checking whether someone followed. A frown marred her smooth brow, and her lips tightened. The clip of her heels on the pavement quickened.

Shoulder-length, flyaway brown hair bobbed across the tops of slender shoulders. The creamy skin of her exposed arms and legs swung in a rhythm that his heart picked up and matched, beat for stride.

Feeling more than ever like the true predator he was, he tamped down the shame that burned like battery acid in his stomach and continued stalking the woman who walked more briskly now along the darkened sidewalk.

When she turned onto a crowded walkway, her shoulders sank and her footsteps slowed as she relaxed.

Now, as she mingled with others strolling along the promenade, she believed herself safe. Little did she know, but her “spontaneous” decision to leave her apartment had been at his suggestion—a message telegraphed with tantalizing snippets of the smell of fresh salt air, the caress of a soft breeze, and a glimpse of sensual pleasure.

She hadn’t heeded her own natural inhibition. Hadn’t paused to check the clock and note the waning evening hours. Instead, she’d made her decision, wriggled into a sexy little skirt and snug pink tee, slid her feet into strapless sandals and bounded down the stairs, ready to kick off winter’s gloom in an unseasonably warm spring night.

He’d made sure she didn’t glance even once at the calendar resting on the bureau in her foyer. Nothing would trigger a fleeting memory. And while he’d provided himself the opportunity to see her, he’d decided days ago he wouldn’t use his persuasive gifts to bring her straight into his arms.

Tonight, he wanted to savor a natural seduction. Read the rest of this entry »

As a special thank you, Delilah for inviting me onto your blog, I am offering my latest boxed set, Men of the West Books 1-4 (usually $6.99), to her followers for $1.99.

(FOUR full-length novels for 50 cents each for a limited time only!)

Since I live in Texas and adore all things western, I enjoy fantasizing and writing about hot alpha cowboys and the women they love.   You won’t want to miss these four passionate tales while they are on sale.

Wild Lady
Just when Texas bride Kit Jackson has her life all planned out: the perfect wedding, the perfect husband, the perfect future, Ted, the man she loved and lost returns…with his small motherless daughter.

The Fairy Tale Girl
When a woman on the run falls for her new neighbor, a rancher with a wounded heart, neither can resist the other. But will shocking secrets from their pasts threaten their second chance at love?

Meant to Be
Leslie knows too well the dangers of falling for a man who can’t care for her. So, why did she invite this rugged stranger into her bed the first night she met him? Worse, what should she do to salvage her fresh start when she discovers he’s her new boss and he’s determined to fire her?

Golden Man
Prim and proper Jenny Zachery was the small, Texas town’s preacher’s daughter. Blade Taylor, her brother-in-law, was the local bad boy. What nobody knew was that he’d always been her secret desire.

When she becomes a widow faces financial ruin, Blade comes home for good. But will she give their love a second chance?

Order now:
https://www.amazon.com/Men-West-Books-1-4-Major-ebook/dp/B06X1GGSSS/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/men-of-the-west-books-1-4-ann-major/1125827099?ean=2940154193198
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1208154631
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/men-of-the-west-books-1-4

About Ann Major

USA Today bestselling author writes spicy contemporary romances and westerns. She loves hot Alpha guys who wear cowboy hats…and cats…cats with or without cowboy hats.

Website: www.Annmajor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annmajorauthor/?ref=hl
Twitter: @AnnMajor
Blog: http://www.annmajor.com/blog/

What are you looking forward to this Spring?

I always look forward to the flowers and the great weather.  It’s my favorite thing about spring.  I am an avid photographer and makeup artist in my spare time.  I have worked many fashion shows and photoshoots in the St Louis area.  I’ve had my photos in magazines and in Art Galleries but the most fun I have is just going out with my camera in hand and taking photos.  Be it street photography or pictures of flowers to doing fashion or cosplay shoots.  Photography is creating a story in picture much like creating a story from one idea or even a photo.

Much of my stories come from personal experiences or just images that pop in my head and some are a combination of both.  I love the Art of writing and I love the Art of photography.

What is something you love that inspires you? 

I was recently signed to a publisher and have been over the moon excited I think my writing and storytelling skills will only get better.  It is all a new experience for me but one I am looking forward to.  With spring everything is new and I am looking forward to this new Chapter in my life.

I wrote a Novella back in Feb that released Feb 28^th that is somewhat considered a new start.  Although it’s called Snowed In Its about getting away and reflecting on your past and moving forward with a future.

The Bryant’s of Milwaukee, Wisconsin were famous for their wealth, their brewing skills and the exploits of their oldest son – the infamous Andrew Bryant, Jr. Andrew was the heir apparent to the family business and fought the title every chance he got. Doing anything he could by any means possible to avoid becoming his father he did the opposite of what they wanted. His parents had always planned that Andrew Jr take over just as Andrew Sr had. His parents plan- once Andrew Jr graduated from college, they would retire and enjoy their life knowing the family business would be in their son’s capable hands and would continue for many more generations.

Andrew Jr. had plans of his own, it was just his parents didn’t know them yet. He, like his grandfather, would join the Army and run as far away from the brewery and his family as possible. The problem was leaving his younger sister Annabelle; although, he knew Annabelle would be ok she was a Bryant for God’s sake and a Bryant through and through. Annabelle, a strong-willed and intelligent girl with a mind of her own. It seemed Janice and Andrew Sr. had raised the independent thinkers they had so desperately wanted. But for Andrew Jr leaving Annabelle to face their parents alone was not the easiest decision he would have to make he didn’t know it yet. When the day arrived, he had to be selfish and do what made him happy not what made his parents happy.

Get your copy here! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N36FNW3

Add to your Goodreads TBR:
 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34016961?source=ebfg_fb

Can you believe it? My sister and I started this writing journey back in 2000. That’s right! We’ve been at it for 17 years and are still going strong. After many years of languishing under the bed, we’ve had the pleasure of releasing several of our co-authored stories in the Texas Billionaires Club series. WHO’S YOUR DADDY is the 3^rd in the series and we have one more! LOVE & WAR. These books are different from my usual action and suspense, but they show the lighter, funnier side of our personalities. You see, when my sister and I get together, we love to laugh. And when we do, we sound like cackling hens, which makes us laugh more. To some it might sound ridiculous, to us, it’s joyful and leaves us in happy tears. I challenge each of you to find something to laugh about today. Make it a deep, belly-laugh. They’re the best kind. And if you like to laugh, give WHO’S YOUR DADDY a try!

Who’s Your Daddy?

Amazon | Nook | Kobo | IBooks | GooglePlay

Rachel Taylor is an advertising executive who wants a baby without the complications of a husband. Jesse Jordan is just the cowboy to complicate Rachel’s neatly laid plans.

Feeling her biological alarm clock ticking, Rachel single-mindedly embarks on a search for a suitable sperm donor.  She begins her search by engaging the services of Date-Your-Mate dating service. Yet, even with the less exacting scrutiny of her best friend, Genie, she doesn’t find that certain man to spark her interest enough to be willing to procreate with him. Her next move is to place an ad in a singles column, arranging to meet each of the candidates in the neutral zone of a bar. But after a discouraging round of interviews with her hopefuls, and consuming a few too many drinks, she declares that the next man who walks through the door will be the father of her child.

In walks Jesse, the golden-haired, billionaire cowboy, whose charm and good looks automatically inspire fairy tale dreams.  Rachel’s only objection is that he is one of her clients at her advertising agency and she refuses to mix business with her personal life. He’s also one of Texas’s most eligible bachelors, who has a reputation for playing fast and loose with his women. The fastidious Rachel refuses to consider him as a possible donor.

Jesse isn’t nearly the bad boy the tabloids paint him to be. One look into Rachel’s soft brown eyes, and he finds a powerful attraction to the starchy ad executive. Her apparent disinterest only increases the challenge of the chase.

Join my newsletter to hear about my latest releases!
Elle James’s Newsletter