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Archive for September, 2013



Guest Blogger: Elle James
Monday, September 2nd, 2013

Current Events and Plots

Many people ask me where I get my ideas. Actually, they come from everywhere. Snippets of conversations, newscasts, newspapers, people watching, dreams and brainstorming. Current events are always a good place to start. I look at the world around me and there are ideas everywhere. Wars, political scandals, drug trafficking, human trafficking, murder, mayhem. It’s a wonder the human race survives! I chose the troubles we’ve been  having on the Texas borders with drug cartels, drug trafficking and human trafficking for the Covert Cowboys, Inc. stories. Then I added characters with real personal issues and gave them something to fight for and voila! Covert Cowboys, Inc! September’s release is the 3rd book in the series. Things are heating up for the team, join them in their fight for truth and justice.

ejCovertCowboysBooks 

And I hope you enjoy the following blurb and excerpt from:

BODYGUARD UNDER FIRE

Covert Cowboys Book #3

by Elle James aka Myla Jackson

 Amazon | Nook

92Bodyguard-Under-Fire200x316A Special Forces soldier meets the baby girl he never knew existed in this book in Elle James’s Covert Cowboys, Inc. series. 

In a small town in Texas, everyone has a secret. Especially Chuck Bolton. Formerly a Special Forces soldier, Chuck now poses as a ranch handyman. His real mission? To protect his ex-fiancée, and the baby girl he never knew they’d created, from a malevolent masked man.

Who is behind the attack—and what could they possibly want with Peggy Jane (“PJ”) Franks? While the answer remains unclear, one thing is certain: Chuck never stopped loving PJ after she left him. And PJ, afraid of falling for the same man who broke her heart, doesn’t want to repeat history. But that’s the least of her worries when her enemy’s motive is finally revealed.

After a quick shampoo and rinse, she ducked her head around the curtain and listened to the monitor. A reassuring staticky silence was all she heard. As she closed the shower curtain, a different sound carried over the speaker.

Click.

PJ strained her ears.

Click.

She shut off the water and listened more intently.

Click.

Then a sharp sound, like something falling, echoed through the monitor.

What the hell?

PJ pulled on her pajama bottoms and top, grabbed her key and flung the bathroom door open.

The door to her apartment stood open.

PJ’s heart slammed to a halt and then kicked into high gear. She had been careful to close and lock the door when she’d left. As she stared into her dark apartment, fear rooted her to the floor for only a moment.

Her baby daughter was in that room. Cold dread filled her and she shot forward, ready to take down anyone who threatened to harm…

“Charlie,” she said and launched forward.

When she stepped through the open door, a dark figure wearing a black ski mask grabbed her and flung her inside.

PJ screamed and scurried backward and then turned to run. She made it only one step before a hand latched on to her hair and yanked her backward. PJ screamed again, her cry cut off by a large gloved hand clamping down over her mouth. She bit into it, her teeth barely making a dent in the thick leather glove.

Elle James’s Bio:

Elle James spent twenty years livin’ and lovin’ in South Texas, ranching horses, cattle, goats, ostriches and emus. A former IT professional, Elle is proud to be writing full-time, penning intrigues and paranormal adventures that keep her readers on the edge of their seats. She has 39 works with Harlequin, self published works under pen name Elle James, over 40 works with other publishers including Samhain, Elloras’ Cave, Kensington and Avon and 18 works self-published under pen name Myla Jackson. Now living in northwest Arkansas, she isn’t wrangling cattle, she’s wrangling her muses, a malti-poo and yorkie. When she’s not at her computer, she’s traveling, out snow-skiing, boating, or riding her ATV, dreaming up new stories.

Social Media:

ELLE JAMES  Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

HIGH OCTANE HEROES Blog Tour, hosted by Goddess Fish
Monday, September 2nd, 2013

Don’t miss these blog dates! There will fun interviews and great prizes along the way (prizes listed below!). Join us!

VBT_HighOctaneHeroes_Banner

The Stops

September 2: MsRomanticReads
September 2: Books to Light Your Fire
September 3: Reviews by Crystal
September 4: The Reading Addict
September 5: Musings and Ramblings
September 6: Reading In Twilight
September 9: Queen of the Night Reviews
September 9: Literal Hotties Naughty Book Reviews – Promo Only
September 9: All I Want and More
September 10: Author Accomplice
September 10: Selena Illyria
September 11: Sharing Links and Wisdom
September 11: Wicked Readings by Tawania
September 12: The Divas of Desire
September 13: Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess

The Prizes

One randomly drawn commenter will win the grand prize package (US only):
* $50 Amazon gift cert, signed copies of Cowboy Lust and Smokin’ Hot Firemen from Delilah
* Tiara from Sabrina York
* A print copy of Under His Skin and a So Inked mug from Sidney Bristol

Individual blog day prizes for randomly drawn commenters will include:
Adele Dubois: a download of REV ME UP
Brindle Chase: an eBook copy of his book Dark is the Night awarded every day of the tour
Delilah: a hand-painted art pendant, a backlist download on her blog day
Elle James: a prize package of books and swag on her blog day
Jenny Lyn: $10 gift card to Amazon or B&N and a copy of her new book
Megan Mitcham: a “hot high-octane guy” calendar
Sabrina York: an eBook of choice from her backlist on the day she blogs
Sidney Bristol: an eBook of choice from her backlist on the day she blogs
Tahira Iqbal: a digital copy of The Merger.

Guest Blogger: Lexi Post (Contest)
Sunday, September 1st, 2013

Thank you, Delilah, for having me as a guest. I’m very excited about the release of Passion’s Poison. I mean, look at the cover! That’s Zach and he is a former logger turned chainsaw artist. He can pretty much tackle anything, except maybe Beatrice Rappaccini’s 6 fathers, but then again, to be fair, he was out numbered :-}

What Zach finds in Bea is a woman who is all about sex, but knows nothing about relationships. At first, that is fine with him, he doesn’t mind helping her explore new sexual horizons and explaining that she needs to return his calls. But what he doesn’t know is that his newest lover could kill him with her body’s toxins if he enjoys her too much.

Bea has to get creative if she wants to keep Zach and keep him alive. She finds herself willing to go to great lengths, even ignoring the anonymous letters telling her to stay away from him. Until things get ugly. Zach thinks the worst of her thanks to one of those letters, and she can’t go back to the one-night stands that keep her alive. For Bea, love is literally a death sentence.

I write erotic romances inspired by the classics. The inspiration for this story was Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” It was actually Hawthorne who created a poisonous Beatrice. I just made her life a bit more complicated. I’ve included an excerpt from my story that may just show exactly how complicated her life is. I hope you enjoy.

Always, Lexi

Leave a comment for a chance to win an ecopy of Passion’s Poison. Feel free to share your complicated life. I will definitely understand.

passionspoison_msr

Beatrice Rappaccini is tired of the one-night stands that keep her alive. Tired of the illness she causes when she releases her sexual poisons into her partners. But when she meets Zach Woodman, everything changes. Desperate for what she can’t have, she puts her heart and life on the line, ignoring the anonymous letters warning her to stay away from Zach.

Zach Woodman, logger turned chainsaw artist, has the perfect life, but no one to share it with after the deaths of the women he loved. Fascinated by the sexually experienced yet naïve Bea, he promises himself he will end their hot relationship before fate takes another beautiful woman from the world.

But he discovers Bea has no idea how to have a relationship, and he is perplexed by her strange behavior, hippie mother, six fathers and her request to give him every man’s sex fantasy. It is only when he might lose her that he realizes he must make a decision that will break his heart either way.

Bea’s brain kicked into gear at Zach’s words. She wanted him too, but not for just a night. Her pleasurable heat turned frosty. How could that be? She didn’t even know him, but her heart already named him hers. She pushed against his chest to break his embrace.

He let her go.

She staggered back, her knees shaky, her breaths coming fast. “I’m sorry if you got the wrong idea,” she rasped.

He stared at her quizzically. “What idea would that be? That you’re as attracted to me as I am to you? That this,” he motioned with his hand pointing between them, “is great?”

She shook her head, trying not to look at the large bulge in his jeans. “I-I don’t know. It’s too fast.”

He stared into her eyes. “You mean too hot, don’t you?”

She gulped as his words sent fire racing through her veins. She nodded.

He took a deep breath and jammed his hands into his front pockets. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But it’s not something we can ignore.”

His gaze changed from polite to possessive. “I want you, Beatrice Rappaccini. I want you naked in my bed. Once you’re there I want to taste you, smell you, feel you and pump into you until I lose myself.”

At his words, Bea’s legs turned to slush and she sank into the nearest chair.

He hunkered down in front of her and took her hands. “Bea, is there any reason why we shouldn’t get together?”

Oh, was there. But none she could tell him. He wouldn’t believe her if she did. Her last long-term relationship back in high school ended with her boyfriend in a coma. Despite his eventual recovery, she still carried a pile of guilt around with her. As much as she wanted Zach, she couldn’t be happy with one night. This wasn’t about her need to cleanse the toxins she produced. This was about the idea of having one special man in her life. The only obstacle standing in her way was her deadly body.

Zach dropped her hands. “What is it? You hesitated for too long.” He stood abruptly. “Are you already seeing someone?”

She jerked her head up, surprised by the anger in his tone. “No, I’m not. It’s complicated.”

He walked away from her and stood behind the other couch. “Why do people always have to make things complicated? This is simple human nature, two adults who are attracted to each other. What’s so complicated about that?”

She straightened her shoulders. “First, I’m supposed to be here on business. I don’t think it appropriate to kiss a vendor on company time. Second, I don’t know anything about you except that you can create amazing statues with a chainsaw and you used to be a logger from Maine. I like to know a lot more about a person before I have sex with him.”

How little she knew about her one-night stands stabbed at her conscience, but she ignored it.

He grinned and came around to sit on the couch perpendicular to her chair. He took her hand again. “If those are your only concerns, I can work with that. You’re being very reasonable and I’m being impatient. Forgive me. You’re so damn beautiful, it’s hard for me to control myself.”

Heat rose in her cheeks and she looked down to see his big calloused hand holding hers. She wished it were so simple.

He raised her chin with his other hand. “Bea, I’ll try to be patient if you’re willing to give it a chance.”

She stared at him, this incredible man that her body and her heart seemed to crave. A man who would suffer if she gave in to her own needs, but she was weak. Her head nodded of its own accord while her mind screamed no.

He leaned forward and brushed a featherlight kiss upon her lips.

She wanted to cry at his tenderness and she silently cursed her deranged ancestor again for the poisonous nature he had inflicted on her, on so many Rappaccinis. “I better go.”

He stood with her hand still in his. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

She let him help her up, wishing she could figure out some way for a relationship to work, but a deep-rooted fruitlessness settled deep in her stomach.

He let go of her hand to cup her face in his palms. “You look as if you’re going to cry.”

She put her hands on his chest. “No, I—oh no.”

His brows drew together in concern and his hold tightened on her face. “What’s wrong?”

She stared at the scene over his shoulder. “I don’t think I’m going anywhere now.”

He turned toward the great windows, his arm coming around her, but he remained silent. He squeezed her waist.

Outside the snow fell hard, and on his massive deck a foot of the beautiful white flakes announced her imprisonment. The Tamwick roads would be impassable. How could she stay in his house overnight without sleeping with him? “Maybe, it’s not as bad as it appears. You must have gusts up here, right?”

He raised his brow. “Study the snow. It’s falling straight down. There’s no way you’ll make it back to Meriden in your vehicle.”

She stared at her silent jailer, unable to fault the large white flakes defined against the dark grayness outside. He was right. In his home with the snow piling up, it was as if they were the only two people on earth. But if that were the case, he would be dead within the week.

She shook herself and the foreboding that flooded her body. They weren’t the only two people in the world. In fact, she needed to call Craig. “I better make a few calls. Let people know where I am.”

He stepped away, the energy in his body palatable. “Sure, I’ll go downstairs and get wood for the fireplace. I’m thinking it’s going to be a cold one.”

Zach gave her a reassuring smile that did everything but reassure her. Then he headed downstairs, leaving her body in jitters, her heart aching and her mind frantically searching for answers like a chickadee caught inside a house, desperate to find a way out and accomplishing nothing but harm to itself.

Passion’s Poison is available in electronic formats:
Amazon | Ellora’s Cave

For more information about Lexi Post:

websitehttp://www.lexipostbooks.com/
Bloghttp://www.happilyeverafterthoughts.com/
twitter:   https://twitter.com/LexiPost
Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/lexipostbooks
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6915542.Lexi_Post