UPDATE: The winner is Gail Siuba!
*~*~*

Here’s me wishing all dads a Happy Father’s Day! This is the second year I don’t have one to spoil with a gift or a card, so cherish yours! I can smell breakfast. I’m guessing my dd is going all-out for Father’s Day today. And the little ones are up—I can hear their voices and their feet, so they must be “decorating”. 🙂

I’ll be writing and editing today. Plenty to keep busy with. Enjoy your day!

The Puzzle-Contest

Solve the puzzle, and then tell me what story you see for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Enter these contests while you can!

1. What’s Her Fairytale CONTEST? Plus, check out all these open CONTESTS! — This one ends tomorrow! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Reina Torres: I Confess! I love Reality Shows! (Contest) — Win a first in a series book!!
3. Fun things to do in COVID-Times…? (Contest) — Win a download of your choice!

UPDATE: The winner is…Michelle Oxrider!
*~*~*

This was me with the fam yesterday (dd is taking the pic; the guy second from the left is my grandaughter’s boyfriend). While we have plenty to do to keep us busy around the old homestead to combat boredom, we really needed a break. Since we had our own innertubes, we loaded up and headed out early yesterday to avoid any crowds on the river. Other than some kayakers, we had the river to ourselves for four hours! Doing it on a weekend would have been out of the question because—too many people, and we’re still self-isolating as best we can.

Yes, self-isolation is still a thing here with numbers in Arkansas on the rise. We have way too many people who still think COVID is no worse than the flu, and who refuse to mask or keep their distance. Our schools are trying to figure out what next year will look like—whether they will offer at-home options to folks who’d rather not let their kids mingle and bring home the virus. We’re praying we’ll have a choice, or we might have to go the official homeschool route, which we really don’t want to do.

So, back to our tubing day… We brought water and snacks and plenty of sunscreen. The river is shallow in a lot of places, so we floated, hit the shallows, and picked up our tubes to walk to the deeper waters and floated again. I’m not as nimble getting in and out of a tube onto sifting, silty riverbed, but my SIL is a big guy and strong, so he helped me when I needed it. We laughed and paddled and lazed. The little ones had their tubes tied to the adults’ tubes. We’re all swimmers, so no vests. All in all, it was a lovely morning.

We’re already trying to map out our schedules to see when we can do it again. The kids are ready for more adventures. We’ve been trying to think out of the box. We’re lucky we live in the country, so there’s plenty of outdoor area for them to play. We have a pool—another huge plus. Still, we all get cabin fever.

We bought an outdoor projector to watch movies, but with mosquitoes already out in force, we can’t do an outside movie night until Fall.

Do you have any suggestions for things a family can do “out in the world” and still be safe? Answer for a chance to win your choice of a download of one of my books!

It’s been a stressful year and many of us will be staying closer to home this summer. If you expect to be spending more time in the backyard this season, here’s a cool and refreshing adult beverage you can make ahead of time and enjoy whenever you like.

Summer Slush

Ingredients:
1 – 12 oz can of frozen orange juice
1 – 12 oz can of frozen lemonade
¾ cup of sugar
5 cups of water
2 cups of vodka

In large freezer proof container, mix in order given and freeze.
Serve ½ glass of slush with 7 up or ginger ale.

Things you can do at home!

Now that you have your drink, here’s some things you can do at home this summer.

1. Throw an indoor picnic. On a rainy day, spread a blanket on the living room floor, thrown down some pillows and enjoy picnic foods—fruit, cheese, crackers, fried chicken, pasta salad, or whatever you desire. If it’s an adult picnic, you can throw in a bottle of wine, light a candle and make it romantic.

2. Have one night a week where you try a new recipe. Get your family involved and all of you take turns choosing. They don’t have to be complex recipes—unless you’re so inclined. Keep it simple and fun. Fire up the grill if you have one.

3. Dessert night! I’m sure you’re seeing a theme here. Spend a day baking some tasty treats and enjoy. Or recreate a traditional English tea, complete with scones and cream.

4. Have a movie marathon day. Pick a movie series, load up on snacks, and watch them back to back. Lord of the Rings, Die Hard, Bourne Identity, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Mummy. There are plenty to choose from. Or have a theme movie day—Disney, horror, comedy.

5. Take a walk or a drive somewhere different. Doesn’t have to be far. We all tend to be creatures of habit and take the same routes or go to the same places.

6. Read a book. Take yourself out to the backyard, the balcony, or walk to a park (maintaining social distancing) and enjoy a few hours.

And if you’re looking for something to read, you might want to check out ARCTIC BITE, the second book in my Forgotten Brotherhood series, out now.

Arctic Bite
Forgotten Brotherhood, Book Two

Being immortal doesn’t mean you can’t die. It just means you’re damn hard to kill.

When Alexei Medvedev joined the Forgotten Brotherhood—paranormals hired to assassinate other paranormals—he knew it wouldn’t be a cake walk. But his next target is one of Death’s own Reapers gone rogue. For the first time since he started this gig, “damn hard to kill” feels more like “damn near impossible.”

Tracking Cassie Dobbs brings him to a remote bar in small-town Alaska, where this hot-as-hell Reaper is casually serving drinks, as if she doesn’t have a bounty on her head from Death himself. Alexei is dangerously intrigued. Everyone in the Brotherhood knows the first rule: don’t fall for your target.

But Alexei soon has bigger problems to face than an unexpected attraction. They only send assassins after those who deserve to die…or so he’s been made to believe. Now that he’s met Cassie, though, he’s not so sure.

What if everything he’s been told is a lie, and the person he’s been sent to kill is the only one who knows the truth?

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0867QY8W2/
Entangled: https://entangledpublishing.com/artic-bite.html
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/arctic-bite-n-j-walters/1136703731
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/arctic-bite
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/arctic-bite/id1504086378

About the Author

N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit me at:
Website: https://www.njwalters.com
Blog: https://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
Newsletter Sign Up: https://eepurl.com/gdblg5
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/njwaltersauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/NJWalters
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-j-walters

UPDATE: The winner is…Charlotte!
*~*~*

Project Runway. Face Off. Skin Wars. Top Chef. Hell’s Kitchen (only while I’m editing). Bar Rescue.

Okay, I could go on, but I won’t. Because this episode of Binge Watch Confessions is about Bar Rescue.

It started at first because, apparently, my muse likes the soothing background music of men screaming. I’m sure there’s a lot for a therapist to unpack there, but that’s for another day.

But I was flipping channels, and there was Jon Taffer yelling at a beleaguered bar owner who is too stuck in his own way to get out of his own way.

That part wasn’t all that interesting, but then he brought in his bar experts. A mixologist for the drinks and a chef for the kitchen. Now, I get my fill of foodie stuff in other places, but the drinks.

Oh, that was interesting. Drink programs tailored to the bar, either by theme or location. Or both. It was fascinating and I ate it up. I watched as they explained why stirring a drink or shaking it made a difference. As they used fresh ingredients and explained the reason it made drinks better. For a person who got a degree in the background tech of theater, it spoke to me.

I like to craft. To make. I guess it’s not all that off base that I became an author. Crafting stories.

Well, in XAVIER, the heroine is True Sinclair, and she is a mixologist hired to craft a drink program for “The Majestic” a bar at a resort that caters to shapeshifters. It’s a resort that is being brought back to its heyday after years of being dormant.

The idea is to create a place where shapeshifters can just “be” and not worry that they have to protect themselves from humans or people who are curious. The entire town is a place where shifters have been open about their lives since its foundation.

So, when I was researching drinks to “transform” into shifter-themed drinks, I was shocked to find out that somehow I’d tied a plot point into a neat little bow. Without realizing it.

My hero, Xavier, is a panther shifter. He crafts his own moonshine for himself and his friends. During my research, I discovered that a slang name for moonshine is PANTHER’S BREATH.

Well, goodness…wasn’t that…odd.

Xavier releases next Tuesday and is on a preorder sale that will continue for a short time after release.

Xavier

He thought he wanted his freedom and his solitude more than anything else in the world… until he met her.

Xavier Salazar lives the life that he wants. He has his friends and his home carved into Mystic Mountain. It’s his retreat, his refuge. When a gorgeous woman shows up in town to help make the resort’s bar a brilliant success, he’s torn. Xavier is determined to drive her away, but his panther wants to touch her all over, hide her away in their den, and add to the family that he was slowly creating around himself.

Oh, he was going to fight… hard. And yet, even he knew he was probably fighting a losing battle.

True Sinclair is at the top of her profession. Being a world-class mixologist means she knows how to blend all kinds of things together. She just can’t fathom why Xavier treats her like he’s oil and she’s water. There was no doubt that he was combustible around her.

At first, he can’t seem to force himself to be civil or even make an effort to share the same town, but she finds herself drawn to the dichotomy warring inside of him.

True knows what he is and she knows what she wants, but she won’t wait around forever if the man who makes her blind with love and drunk with passion won’t even meet her halfway.

Pre-order your copy here!

Contest

I’m happy to offer an ebook copy of Book 1 of the series WINTER.
All you have to do is tell us their favorite mixed drink and why you like it!

UPDATE: The winner is…Lindsay Ramos!
*~*~*

©Diana Cosby 2020

Along with writing, I enjoy photography, and I’m amazed at the variety of incredible nature that I see. I wanted to share a few recent photos that I took while walking at the marsh. I was thrilled to come upon this gorgeous young buck with his antlers just beginning to show. I remember seeing him and his sibling last spring when they were fawns.

The Osprey have built their nests throughout the marsh. The bond between the couples is amazing. A few days ago, I watched an Osprey eating a fish. When the bird had finished half of the catch, it flew back to the nest and the mate came and finished the meal.

One of the neatest things is to discover a new bird. This year I saw my first Ruddy Turnstone at the marsh. They’re about the size of a small dove, have feather coloring like a calico cat, and tend to travel around in small flocks.

Another bird I enjoy seeing is the Willet. These sleek, quick, and very vocal shore birds run up and down the beach in search of food.

Laughing Gulls are appropriately named. Their call sounds like someone laughing. Until I took this photo, I didn’t realize how ruby red the inside of their mouth is. I hope you’ve enjoyed some of the photos I’ve taken during my walks to the marsh. Take care, and I wish you the best.

About the Author

A retired Navy Chief, Diana Cosby is an international bestselling author of Scottish medieval romantic suspense. Books in her award-winning MacGruder Brothers series have been translated into five languages. Diana has spoken at the Library of Congress, Lady Jane’s Salon in NYC, and appeared in Woman’s Day, on USA Today’s romance blog, “Happy Ever After,” MSN.com, Atlantic County Women Magazine, and Texoma Living Magazine.

After her career in the Navy, Diana dove into her passion – writing romance novels. With 34 moves behind her, she was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people she’s met throughout the world. After the release of the bestselling MacGruder Brothers series, The Oath Trilogy, and the first four books of The Forbidden Series, she’s thrilled with the release of book #5, Forbidden Realm.

Diana looks forward to the years of writing ahead and meeting the amazing people who will share this journey.

Contest

ONE winner will be drawn from everyone who posts on my guest blog post about, ‘Nature’s Beauty – At The Marsh,’ on Delilah’s blog between 15 June 2020 – 21 June 2020. The winner will receive a signed copy of His Destiny.

Diana Cosby, International Best-Selling Author
www.dianacosby.com
The Oath Trilogy
MacGruder Brother Series
The Forbidden Series

“I have three phobias which, could I mute them, would make my life as slick as a sonnet but as dull as ditchwater: I hate to go to bed, I hate to get up, and I hate to be alone…” ~Tallulah Bankhead

Last night, my daughter and I heard a very loud whomp while we were sitting outside in the dark gossiping about our day. Spooked, my dd told me to go upstairs and tell her big, brave hubby to take his high-powered flashlight and see what it was. I did. I found him already asleep, so I turned on my phone battery and wandered out into the front yard, checking the gate, fences. No bear (we have neighbors with pics of bears going through the trash). No intruders (we’re on hyper-alert due to warnings to LEO families of random attacks). So no, I’m not afraid of things that go bump in the night like she is.

Three things I am afraid of…?

I’m afraid of being normal. (I know it sounds silly, but it’s been my thing my entire life. I never wanted “ordinary”.)
I’m afraid of losing a child or grandchild.
I’m afraid of heights.

Now, how about you? What three things are you afraid of?

Enter while you can!

1. Ava Cuvay: The Tentacle Dilemma (Contest — 4 Winners!) — This ends soon! Win an anthology or a cool T-shirt!
2. Megan Ryder: Claiming Lyla (Contest–4 Winners!) — Win books or a gift card!
3. Okay, I’m officially tired of… (Plus, a Puzzle-Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. January George: Blackout (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winners are…gift cards: Colleen C and Mary Preston; and anthology: Debra Guyette and Becky Parsons!
*~*~*

Hi! My name is Megan Ryder, and thank you for having me back on the blog for another chance to talk about my books. Today, I’m thrilled to talk a little bit about making the transition between contemporary and paranormal romance.

I’ve been writing for a long time (longer than I care to admit) and I’ve been writing contemporary romance for most of that time. I’m published with a few books including sexy baseball heroes, a matchmaking bride and her bridesmaids, and lately, cowboys. While I love all of those, my first love has always been paranormal romances, especially shifters, but I was always hesitant to make the shift (pun intended) to a new genre. When I heard about this anthology, my short story popped into my head completely formed as a prequel to my series and the perfect way to test my skills.

My story centers around a female shifter who is trapped into running from a group of alpha males who want to forcibly claim her as a mate, only to run into another alpha who offers to save her. The only problem is – he really IS her mate and she doesn’t want a mate at all.

In paranormal romance, I wanted to deal with the concept of consent, because “fated mates” being a trope in the genre often blurs the lines for consent. In this story, I wanted her to be a strong alpha female and her mate to be willing to see her that way and accept her and look for her consent, even as their natures want them to mate.

It was fun playing with the paranormal world, setting up the shifter structure and society, and dealing with the biology, too. And I slipped in something I thought was relevant to our current times.

Check out the snippet below and let me know what you think.

Contest

For my giveaway, let me know if you like the “fated mates” trope, where characters have one and only one mate for them (and often they know it and can’t fight it for long). I’m giving away 2 electronic copies of the anthology – First Response (given on release day) – and 2 $10 gift cards to Amazon.

Excerpt from “Claiming Lyla”

A she-wolf being hunted by pack males during a claiming rite is rescued by a rogue alpha determined to make her his own, despite her desire to be independent…

Lyla folded her arms in front of her, a defensive gesture, closing herself off from him, while plumping up her full breasts so they strained against the lace. “What do you want?”

He cocked his head at the howls growing closer. “You don’t have much time, or much of a choice, sweetheart. You either deal with me or them. And trust me, I’m the lesser of your evils.”

A laugh broke from her throat, a raw, harsh sound that held no humor. “I’d prefer none of you. Why can’t you leave me alone, you bastards? You want me to just roll over and spread my legs like a good little bitch. Well, fuck that.”

He winced at her harsh tone and steeled himself. A breeze picked up her scent and tickled his senses with it, and his cock hardened further, painfully. His wrists burned hotter under the skin, prickling like a thousand fine needles that made him want to scratch an itch. Nothing would appease the sensation, he feared. He cursed under his breath. Fuck. Not the best time to find his mate. Not here. Not in this goddamn situation. This night had just gone to shit, and now the bonds were pulling him in even tighter.