Conquests is a collection of short stories from some very talented and celebrated ladies. If you loved my collections such as Cowboy Heat, Smokin’ Hot Firemen, and Hot Highlanders and Wild Warriors, you are going to love this book! Choosing the stories wasn’t a democracy—it was just me. But choosing a cover…? Let’s just say that getting agreement from 13 authors for a cover for our book is a lot like herding cats. We’ve been all over the place, but I think now we’re very, very close.
We’d love your help. Please cast a vote! (And comments would be appreciated!)
Which do you prefer for Conquests: An Anthology of Smoldering Viking Romance?
Some of the sexiest men I know live between the covers of a romance novel, contemporary or historical. These heroes don’t come any sexier than the men who ride rough and herd cattle and work the land.
Sometimes, these cowboys are also the hardest to get close to, because beneath their strong outer armor, they can be surprisingly vulnerable. In my romance novels, the heroine finds what that hero needs fixin’ and offers him understanding, healing, love—all things he’ll never ask for. All things he will never admit he needs.
What does the hero offer the heroine and us, as readers?
A man who keeps his promises, stands up for what’s right, and takes pride in what he does. A man who is tolerant and understanding of others and is kind to his elders, children, and animals—unless of course, the animal is a bull looking to buck him.
The cowboy hero offers us a man who is tough but fair and who lives by the Golden Rule.
And of course, a cowboy—at least in my books—always offers us some great-looking eye candy, as follows (from my latest release, The Cowboy’s Little Surprise):
In one startled, reflexive sweep, she took in almost everything about Cole Slater. The light brown hair showing beneath the brim of his battered hat. The firm mouth and jaw. Broad shoulders. Narrow hips. The well-worn jeans, silver belt buckle, and scuffed boots. In the next reluctant second, she turned her gaze to the one feature she had deliberately skipped over the first time.
A pair of blue eyes that made her think instantly of her son…
Yes, this is a secret baby story, one of my favorites.
But it’s also a lot of my favorite eye candy, all wrapped up in one package. 😉
~~~
Readers, I’m happy to chat!
And I’m giving away a book. To be entered to win a copy of one of my available backlist titles, tell me: what’s your favorite type of hero and why?
Note: the winner will receive an autographed print copy of the book. Due to postal regulations and international restrictions, the giveaway is open to entrants with US mailing addresses only. The winner’s name will be drawn from comments left here through March 29 and will be posted in a comment here on April 1—no foolin’! : )
~~~
Barbara White Daille lives with her husband in the sunny Southwest. Though they love the warm winters and the lizards in their front yard, they haven’t gotten used to the scorpions in the bathroom.
Barbara’s thrilled to share news about the debut of a brand-new series, The Hitching Post Hotel, about a matchmaking grandpa determined to see his three granddaughters wed. The series begins in April 2015 with The Cowboy’s Little Surprise, followed by A Rancher of Her Own in July and a third as-yet-untitled book in December.
The Cowboy’s Little Surprise – Barbara White Daille – April 2015
THE LONG WAY HOME
A guy like Cole Slater is hard to forget. Tina Sanchez should know—for years since high school she’s tried to bury the pain of Cole’s cruel betrayal. But it’s impossible to ignore the man she sees reflected in her young son’s eyes now that Cole is back in her life—and about to meet the child he never knew he had.
Returning home to New Mexico, Cole is determined to put his playboy reputation to rest. Especially now that he knows there’s a little boy looking up to him. And seeing Tina again reignites all the feelings Cole ran from as a teen. Despite his fear that he can’t be the man Tina deserves, he’s determined to try. For his son’s sake—and his own.
Excerpt:
She should have known better than to fall for Cole Slater. At the tender age of seven, she had already heard about his reputation as a sweet-talker. By junior high, he had progressed to a real player. And by senior high, he had turned love-‘em-and-leave-‘em into an art form, changing girlfriends as often as she replaced guest towels here at the Hitching Post.
Too bad she hadn’t remembered all that when he had finally turned his attention her way.
He shoved his hands into his back pockets, which pulled his shirt taut against his chest. Now, she felt herself flushing as she recalled the one and only time—
There are many creative things I do to feed my creative soul. One of them I haven’t done in a while. The spark that lead to my pursuing this creative outlet once again came from my seeing someone with a sketch book and it made me miss drawing. It’s been a long while since my last sketch book was filled and I haven’t gotten a new one. I do create art in other ways using the computer but there is nothing like the feeling of the pencil in your hand and a blank page in a sketch book waiting to be filled. This made me promise to make a make a trip to buy some new art supplies and a new sketch book or a few of them. 🙂 I still haven’t gone yet but plan to soon. I’ll make sure to take pictures and post to my blog and Facebook when I do. 🙂
This got me to thinking of my many other creative outlets. There are many. I love to crochet, cross stitch and many other crafts. Love to cook and bake (I experiment to come up with my own spin). I also sew—I can draw to design my clothing including accessories and then make them. Then there is my passion— writing. This feeds my soul. No matter which I’m doing from the list of creative outlets I have it all fulfills me in various ways. I love having many creative pursuits—it feeds my creative soul.
Taige Crenshaw is a multi-published author with books available at Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, Loose Id, and Totally Bound. Taige has been enthralled with the written word from time she picked up her first book. It wasn’t long before she started to make up her own tales of romance. With novels set in today, in alternate dimensions, or in the future she writes with adventure, fun sassy heroine’s, and sexy hero’s. Always hard at work creating new and exciting places Taige can be found curled up with a hot novel with exciting characters when she is not creating her own. Join her in the fun, frolic, interesting people and far reaches of the world in her novels. You can find out more about Taige at her website: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com or blog: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/blog or on twitter: https://twitter.com/TaigeCrenshaw.
Firestorm Encounters
What do you do when you find a man who sets your senses aflame but being with him could cause repercussions?
UPDATE: The winner of the free download is…Shirley Long!
* * * * *
I wondered whether it was crazy to publish short stories, really short stories. This was an experiment to see whether readers would embrace them. I began at the end of January, and I’ve published a new short every week since. I had planned to quit April 3rd—no real reason, just because. However, for me, it’s been very interesting indeed.
People are buying them. And I’m getting more emails from readers than ever before. Most simply want more stories. Some want to see the story they just read novelized. Many had never read me before, but they’ve been gobbling up the shorts, and then moving onto my longer stories. I had hoped that would happen, but I also thought there would be a point where readers thought it was enough. So far, you’ve told me to keep them coming. So, I’m adding another month’s worth of releases, one per week, through the first Friday of May. So be watching for more!
For those of you who didn’t know, Amazon has a new program called Kindle Unlimited. It’s like Netflix for books. You pay one price, $9.99 for a subscription, and then you can download as many books as you can read that month. So for KU subscribers, my short stories are free. They are $0.99 for everyone else.
Here’s information about this week’s new release, Pitch Black. Why corrections officers you might ask? Well, my daughter was one for a while, and the stories she told me tempted me to write
And keep reading below, because I have a question for you, and you might just win a prize!
Passion lights the way for an ex-marine corrections officer rescuing a female CO trapped in a prison block during a blackout…
Note: This 5000-word short story was previously published as part of the HIGH OCTANE HEROES anthology. It may be short in length, but it’s not short in passion!
Excerpt:
Her bathroom door slammed open.
Still dressed in his uniform, his shoulders spanned the door frame. His short black hair skimmed the upper edge. His dark blue shirt, spattered with raindrops, reflected the stormy color of his eyes as he raked her with a glance. Anger simmered in the glance he gave her.
Her chin shot up. “No, hello darlin’?”
His hand shot out, grabbed her arm and yanked her against his chest. “Fight me.”
Her eyes widened. “What’s this about?”
He gave a sharp shake of his head. “Shut up. Fight me.”
She inserted her free hand between them and shoved at his chest. “Danny?”
“Think you could have fought Draper off if he’d been after you?” he said, his voice a deep, graveled growl.
She swallowed hard against a burning lump at the back of her throat. So that was what this was going to be. A lesson. Proof she wasn’t strong enough, mean enough to be on that barracks floor. “Stop this, right now.”
She pushed again, but he ducked down, shoved his shoulder against her abdomen, forcing her to crumple over him. Then he was backing out the door, striding toward her bed. He shrugged his shoulder, and she tumbled to the mattress, her towel flying open.
Before she could roll over the side to escape, he was on her, his superior weight sinking her deep into the mattress. Covered shoulder to toe by his large body, she could barely breathe. “Danny.”
He shook his head again, a grim set to his tight square jaw. “This ends, Jenn. Tomorrow, you’re gonna accept that transfer. Work in the warden’s office, guard the nurse, whatever, but you won’t be on that goddamn floor.”
“You have no right to dictate to me.”
“Don’t I? Wasn’t my ass on the line tonight?”
“I didn’t ask–”
“You didn’t have to! Dammit, I love you!”
His shout reverberated in the room and had her jaw clamping shut. Bitter tears filled her eyes.
His eyes squeezed shut. Then before she could draw the next shattered breath, he rolled off her to sit at the edge of the bed, his back to her. His shoulders were slumped. “I can’t do this again.”
Contest
I’ve published a variety of genres for these short stories. The two that have sold the most were the first, a cowboy story, One Track Cowboy, and The Pleasure in Surrender, which was a medieval knight story. If you’ve had a chance to read some of the shorties (you can peruse the carousel to sample the covers), I’d love to know what you’d like to see more of. Which story appealed the most to you? Comment for a chance to win your choice of any of my self-pubbed shorts or Wet Down.
As a reader of romance you may not realize what an author has gone through before their book is published. Particularly if it’s their first book—ever. You may also not realize that most every writer’s journey to publishing, whether it’s to self-publish or go with a traditional publisher, is vastly different and can be loaded with rejection. As much as we would love it to be true, and often dream of, a ready-to-be-published book just doesn’t happen.
Authors go through rejections from agents, editors, beta readers, neighbors, the kind lady at the library who offered to read your book but then refused to look you in the eye the next time you came in to check out the latest Delilah Devlin blockbuster. We fret over the horror stories bandied about such as, “It took me eleven years before I received my first book contract.” Or my personal favorite, “I had a hundred and fifty rejections before I received my first yes.” Oh. My.
Others have experienced rejections from other writers (those meanies) and contest judges. As aspiring writers we often use contests to help us test the waters so to speak. Sometimes we receive encouragement and constructive criticism, but often we find rejection there as well. Because there’s nothing better an author loves more than entering a contest only to receive this little gem in the notes, “Am I supposed to hate your heroine?” Yes, folks that was written about my first paranormal heroine. That puppy is now hidden underneath my bed hanging out with the dust bunnies and forgotten Christmas presents.
How do we deal with the rejections? Chocolate. Cookies. Sometimes a nip of wine, or two or hell, just pass the bottle. Why not just give up you ask? Because we HAVE to write. The voices in our head won’t let us stop and if they catch wind of our self-doubt, they follow us everywhere and nag us until we get back to the computer, notebook, or a napkin, whatever is handy when inspiration strikes. Rest assured that your favorite author at some point in their career has sweated over every single word, each comma placement to get it just right. For you. Our awesome readers.
Every writer you meet will have a war story or two. And for those that keep going, and listen to the voices in their head by not giving up, success does happen. It doesn’t mean New York Times Bestseller success right out of the gate (although that would be AWEsome), it means finishing the book, getting it published and receiving positive feedback from readers…OMG! Someone reeeally likes my book!
As much as we all dream of scoring that big contract our first time out, it rarely happens. But what makes the journey bearable is by surrounding ourselves with other writers. A group of creative souls who relish storytelling and the impact it has on our readers. When we find a writing group, critique partner or even a beta reader who is in our corner, cheering us on and challenging us to write to the height of our writing ability, that’s gold baby.
I’m still in the trenches, receiving rejections, but not giving up. Who knows? This time next year, you could be reading my sexy contemporary SAVING MAVERICK. Or my romantic suspense about this undercover female FBI agent who can’t stand her new pretend husband or maybe I’ll brush off the dust bunnies from my paranormal. Whichever one it happens to be, one thing is for sure, all it takes is one yes and I’ll have my own happily ever after.
Some writers who inspire me are Jill Shalvis, Rebecca Zanetti, Lara Adrian and Gena Showalter to name but a few of the outstanding authors in our industry today. Who is one of your favorite authors? If you’re also a writer, which author made you say “I want to write stories like that?”
Authors are strange people. We look at a harmless, everyday item and wonder how to kill a character with it, like Jason Bourne wasting a bad guy with a washcloth. We eavesdrop on conversations at Starbucks and ponder how we can use them in our novels. (So be careful what you say while in line for your latte!) I suffer from insomnia because my characters think bedtime is an ideal opportunity to get chatty about all the things they want to do in their stories. On one hand, I get some fabulous lines when I can’t sleep, on the other hand, I can’t sleep.
When I started writing Bite Me, it became clear that my heroine had a similar problem. But instead of her muse keeping her up all night, Lizzy hears her inner demon. Every vampire has a bit of demon inside them, and Lizzy’s is a succubus—a lust demon. Lizzy constantly battles her demon’s constant lustful urges and ongoing inappropriate commentary, and that struggle is only made worse when the zombie apocalypse happens.
I had a ton of fun writing Lizzy’s conversations with her demon, giving voice to her snarky inner monologue and generally driving Lizzy crazy. It’s like a little revenge for all the sleepless nights my characters have gifted me with. 😉 I hope readers enjoy reading Bite Me as much as I did writing it.
Consumed by the need to feed…
After an out-of-control spell triggers the zombie apocalypse, Lizzy Addams is left in the ruins of Chicago with only the slightly unhinged commentary—and endless erotic appetites—of her inner demon for company. Her blood supply dwindling, she is forced to find survivors to feed from, or die trying.
Officer Angela Kinney was on duty when hungry corpses overwhelmed the city. The survivors look to her for leadership, but nothing prepared her for a beautiful monster who offers safety in exchange for blood.
Sean MacMillan never expected to see Lizzy again after she rejected his attempts to lure her back to the vampire fold. But with his flock threatened by the horde and his murderous vampire brother, Lizzy is the only one he can trust to keep them safe.
The veil of secrecy shrouding the supernatural world torn apart, humanity’s only hope is to forge an alliance with vampires, werewolves, and things that go bump in the night. Though accepting their aid could be a devil’s bargain that puts humans at the bottom of the food chain.
Warning: Contains vampire orgies, angsty demon sex, a frisky lesbian werewolf, light kink, and enough sex toys to start a store.
I don’t know about you, but I love biker romances. One of the things I love about bikers is their hot, sexy tattoos! I love researching them to get ideas for my characters’ tattoos. I’ve included a number of the pictures that inspired some of the tattoos for my Ready To Ride bikers.
I think my favourite is the thorn tattoo that looks like it’s piercing the skin. This inspired the tattoo for Magic, one of my biker heroes, who has a thorny tattoo around his right wrist, where the thorns seemed to pierce his skin and bleed. Words in script spiral up his arm within a thorny vine, then the vine coils over his shoulder and around his heart. The thorns seem to pierce his skin and the artwork makes it look like there is a tear across his chest, revealing his heart beneath.
During FB parties, I sometimes ask my readers if they have tattoos and, if so, why they get them. Often, a tattoo holds great meaning to the person and I love hearing why they do it. Here are the top 5 reasons I’ve heard from fans and friends about why they’ve gotten a tattoo.
As a commemoration.
Often these are to commemorate a loved one who has been lost. A dear friend of mine recently lost her mother and she and her sisters were thinking of getting a matching tattoo in remembrance of their beloved mother. Many readers have told me about tattoos for lost children, which is especially heartbreaking. I can see where having a tattoo, which keeps the memory of a loved one close, could bring some comfort.
To show a belief or goal.
Whether to show a spiritual or religious belief, or something inspirational for other reasons, these tattoos serve as reminders of something important to us. Sometimes it’s a symbol, a few words from a poem, or even just a single word like Hope, Courage, or Imagination. My son was inspired by a story that has shaped many of his beliefs and has given him a direction in life, encouraging him to explore a higher realm of consciousness. He has a tattoo on his wrist of a special symbol from the story that represents many facets of this belief.
To celebrate a special goal achieved.
When we finally achieve a dream we have been striving for, sometimes we crave a way to bring it close to us and be reminded every day that dreams can come true. A friend of mine who hit the New York Times bestsellers list at the same time as me, decided she wanted to get a tattoo to commemorate the event. Believe me, if I was brave enough to get a tattoo, I would do it for that in a flash!
Aesthetics
Sometimes we just want something beautiful on our body. (Haha! Besides the fun stuff!) I love a beautiful fairy tattoo, or a delicate curlicue, or a beautiful flower. And stylized hearts! And Celtic designs!
To show uniqueness or rebellion.
Sometimes we want something that shows our own unique style, and makes us stand out from the crowd in some way. I like to do this by dying my hair bright pink, or purple, or crimson. (That’s not uncommon these days, but I was doing it twenty years ago.)
What about you? What kind of tattoos do you like? Everyone who comments will be put in a draw to win a copy of Hot Ride!
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Riding Steele (Ready To Ride series)
Opal’s latest book, Riding Steele, was released yesterday (March 17th). It’s on sale right now for $3.99 (down from $9.99).
In the arms of an outlaw, she found the freedom to live out her wildest fantasies.
When Laurie is kidnapped by bikers, she has no idea her life is about to change forever. From the moment she meets Steele–their sinfully sexy leader–she can’t deny their fierce attraction. Even though she’s completely at his mercy, his eyes soften when he looks at her, and the others in his gang know she’s strictly hands off. But the more time she spends with Steele, the more her body insists she wants his powerful hands all over her.
Now she’s about to discover a new life on the open road…and what it means to be part of a gang that shares everything. At first their wanton lifestyle shocks her senses–but once she’s had a taste of life on the edge, will she ever want to leave?
Excerpt:
A sound jarred Laurie from the light, fitful sleep she’d fallen into and she clutched the big fluffy comforter closer around her with her unbound hand. She was covered from head to toe, peering out from inside the cocoon.
Was the biker coming back to take her?
The door opened and the light flicked on. In the doorway stood an even bigger, tougher looking biker. He didn’t even glance her way, just closed the door behind him and stripped off his black leather jacket. He pulled something out of the pocket and tossed the garment on the dresser, then opened the doors of the armoire at the end of the bed to reveal a big TV. He turned it on, then put a disc in the player below it.
Images of naked people appeared on the screen. It was obviously lead-in credits for a porn film. He watched for a few moments, then pulled his T-shirt over his head, revealing bulging muscles and a snake tattoo coiling around his bicep then across his chest. Her heart raced as he unzipped his jeans and dropped them to the floor, then stepped out of them.
She held her breath when she saw him hook his thumbs in the elastic of his boxers, then push them down. Oh, God, he was going to get into bed with her and . . . He was going to force her to—
Her breath caught when he stood up.
God, she’d never seen a cock that big. She’d never even imagined a cock that big. Even though it was just starting to swell with need, it was gigantic. And frightening. Impressive. And intimidating.
He turned toward the bed and she sucked in a breath.
His eyes narrowed as his gaze jerked to her.
“What the hell?” He grabbed the covers and tossed them back, ripping away her only protection.
* * *
Steele stared at the woman lying in his bed. The sight of her long, shapely legs and slim, but curvy body sent blood straight to his groin. She shifted back and a chain clinked. That’s when he realized one of her wrists was handcuffed to the headboard.
Fuck, this was why Shock had suggested he turn in. Not to watch porn, but to enjoy the birthday present awaiting him in his bed!
He smiled. “Well, hello there.”
Should he slide his cock in her sweet, luscious mouth first, or glide into her hot, melting pussy?
What the fuck? She was here for the night. He could fuck her right now, relieving his ache, then have her revive him with a blow job and start all over again.
He chuckled and climbed into bed beside her, then shifted closer. He reached for her hand to pull it to his cock, wanting to feel her soft feminine fingers wrapped around him, but as soon as he touched her, she jerked away.
“No, please . . .” Panic flashed in her wide, blue eyes and she was practically panting in fear.
“What the fuck?”
Then he saw the sparkle of diamonds around her neck. It was the choker Craig’s sister had received as a gift from her boyfriend at the bar earlier tonight.
What the hell was going on here? Steele rolled away from her and sat up, placing his feet on the floor. He stared at the frightened woman, who was sucking in air, panic showing in her widened eyes.
He raked his hand through his hair. “How the hell did you get here?”
Someone started pounding on his door.
“Steele, it’s Wild Card.”
Then the door swung open and Wild Card burst inside. “I fell asleep on the couch. I didn’t mean to . . .”
His gaze fell on Steele’s naked form, then darted to the woman in the bed. Then he shook his head, holding up his hands, palms toward Steele, in a defensive gesture. “Steele, you gotta listen to me.”
Anger surged through Steele and he lurched to his feet. “Wild Card, what the fuck did you do?”
“I didn’t mean to—”
Steele strode toward him. “How the hell did you miss the fact that the plan was not to kidnap the woman?”
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A man who keeps his promises, stands up for what’s right, and takes pride in what he does. A man who is tolerant and understanding of others and is kind to his elders, children, and animals—unless of course, the animal is a bull looking to buck him.
Taige Crenshaw is a multi-published author with books available at Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, Loose Id, and Totally Bound. Taige has been enthralled with the written word from time she picked up her first book. It wasn’t long before she started to make up her own tales of romance. With novels set in today, in alternate dimensions, or in the future she writes with adventure, fun sassy heroine’s, and sexy hero’s. Always hard at work creating new and exciting places Taige can be found curled up with a hot novel with exciting characters when she is not creating her own. Join her in the fun, frolic, interesting people and far reaches of the world in her novels. You can find out more about Taige at her website: 
What do you do when you find a man who sets your senses aflame but being with him could cause repercussions?
