This month, my guest post on Delilah’s blog will be a few words plus a link to a FREE SHORT STORY, Emily’s Very Special Halloween.

What happened is that one afternoon I had this sketchy idea for writing a Halloween story. I thought, okay, something with dark mystery would be nice. I’d figure it out the next morning.

During the night, this idea came to me about a book and a magical man. Next morning, I could think of nothing else. I sat down at my desk and by noon, the story was finished.

I’ve never had that happen before.

So…I hope you enjoy it. I’m still a little creeped out by the whole process, and I’m absolutely not going out for Halloween. Anywhere. My two black cats are enough, thank you very much.

Usually, that’s how it works for me with a character appearing out of the shadows. They start talking, showing me the story. This one is spooky, which is not my norm. Rest assured there are plenty of others that will wet your panties and keep you up too late.

Here’s the first part of the story:

The book fell, quite literally, into Emily’s hands. Teetering on the tall ladder, she set down the duster and examined the small volume. Bound in blackened ancient leather, the book seemed unremarkable. The title, visible more from the indentation on the leather than by any surviving original lettering, said “Spells and Incantations.”

Briefly, she leafed through the brittle pages. Elaborate scrollwork ornamented the letters, which didn’t form words she knew. At one random page, she tried to read the text and succeeded only in mumbling nonsense phrases.

She’d never seen it before, but that wasn’t a particularly odd circumstance considering the thousands of books crammed onto the shelves along the narrow aisles of Taylor’s Used and Collectible Books. Mr. Taylor himself, a distracted older man with a pinched face and thick glasses, liked to joke that the books bred when the lights were out and he took no responsibility for the overflow that sometimes ended up in hopeless stacks partially blocking the aisles.

Then he’d look over his glasses and wink in an admission that yes, on his off hours from tending the store, he roamed through garage sales and flea markets and browsed the internet to find more books. As far as Emily was concerned, Mr. Taylor cared less about selling books than he did about acquiring them. She’d seen him become visibly pained when someone insisted on purchasing a book that he held in particular regard. Which more or less applied to a majority of the works in the store, a ramshackle red brick structure on the corner of a minor street on the edge of downtown.

Turning to replace the slender tome, Emily frowned at the crammed shelves. She tried pushing the books over where she’d dusted but there was absolutely no room for another book. Even more puzzling, additional books lay on top of the upright ones, filling every inch of space. She looked around wondering where the book actually fell from, then tucked it in her oversized apron pocket, stifled a sneeze, and climbed down.

At the front counter, she set the book down as a man walked up. There had been only a handful of people in the store this morning, not exactly one of their busier days. Somehow this guy had slipped by her. Had she not heard the bell ring?

“How can I help you?” she said, trying not to gape at his appearance.

He studied her with intensely dark eyes, almost frightening at first glance but then engaging in a fascinating way. Short dark hair and a slight after-five shadow set off his chiseled features, a combination of strong aquiline nose, stern brow, and sensual lips she couldn’t avoid noticing. His lips seemed to move slightly even though he wasn’t talking.

He cleared his throat. “I’m looking for a particular book,” he said. The corner of his mouth crooked in the hint of a smile. “Do you have a section for vintage and collectibles?”

His melodic baritone voice sent chills down her spine that collected at her nipples and pressed them to hard points. Almost breathless, she clutched the edge of the counter, pointing to the place she’d just been dusting.

“Aisle 5,” she said. “Halfway down. There’s a ladder if you need it.”

FREE READ

Download the full story at Smashwords and use coupon code CY64F.
Hurry! Coupon good only through October 12. 

P.S. My apologies to Delilah fans who are also subscribers to my newsletter. This free story offer was extended in the October issue of Liz’s Hot News, meaning you didn’t get anything new here. But stay tuned—more free stuff coming to newsletter subscribers! For those not yet subscribed, when you join the fun, you’ll get excerpts from forthcoming works, short stories, coupon deals, previews and more. You can unsubscribe at any time, and it’s FREE. Easy signup at https://eepurl.com/bHOyS9

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Thanks for having me here today, Delilah!

I have two new releases out this month. One is a follow-up to my sci-fi romance, Rege’s Rescue, and will be included in the Cosmic Cabaret set. The other is a steampunk romance.

What excites me so much about the steampunk is that I finally go to live in Victorian England for a short time while writing the story. I have always loved the Victorian Era. Don’t know why. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of my former lives was spent in that time period. I was so fascinated by Queen Victoria and her influence on the world that I wrote my senior paper on it.

But something struck me while writing Her Clockwork Heart like a slap upside the head. When I visualized myself in the heroine’s life and began to add details to the story to fit that time period, I discovered that I wouldn’t want to live there for long.

For starters, while I love steampunk clothing and costumes, have you ever worn a corset? As lovely as they are, and no matter how flattering they CAN be, they are not terribly comfortable. Corsets do wonders to support my back but they sure limit movement. Not to mention how much they get in the way when you need to use the bathroom.

Speaking of bathroom—that would be the number one reason I would never want to live in historic ANYTHING. We really do take for granted how good we have it with modern-day plumbing and waste disposal. Seriously. I heard horror stories while touring Edinburgh of how waste (yeah, human waste) used to be tossed out windows onto the city streets. Eeeww! And with most of the transportation being dependent on horses, imagine all of the horse droppings on the street. How did anyone or anything stay clean??? The answer: they didn’t. I’m betting it was a fragrant nightmare to go anywhere in a crowded city.

And don’t get me started on what women could or couldn’t do back then.

So… yeah. I’ll happily sit here, in my climate controlled home, wearing my soft and stretchy clothes, and simply read or write about the romantic side of times gone by. We’ll just ignore those ugly details of how things used to be.

London Calling

Three Scintillating Victorian Steampunk Tales
By Sorcha Mowbray, TL Reeve & Michelle Ryan, and Dena Garson
Release Date: October 17, 2017

Take a journey to Victorian London where an assassin meets her match, zombies invade, and top scientists go missing.

Four talented authors come together to bring you three BRAND NEW, full length Victorian steampunk novels of seduction, adventure, and mystery.

A look inside…

Seducing the Assassin (The Ladies League) by Sorcha Mowbray
Josephine Stanton, Madame and assassin, has another assignment to eliminate an enemy of the Queen. Too bad John Griffin, The Earl of Melton, has no intention of dying. Neither of the pair expects the heat that steams them up between the sheets and ultimately sets New Victorian London on its ear.

Darkness Rises by TL Reeve and Michele Ryan
A zombie horde has invaded London, England. Jonah McRae and his band of ghoulish Dreadfuls are London’s only hope. However, when Annabelle Craig threatens his mission he doesn’t know whether to kill her or claim her as his. Can the hunter and the huntee team together to take down the horde? Or will London be lost forever?

Her Clockwork Heart by Dena Garson
During her search for her missing brother, Trixie is reunited with Nathaniel, the man she never stopped loving. Sensing that Trixie might be in danger, Nathaniel lends his skills as an investigator to her efforts. Their love is rekindled as they race across the country looking for clues to more than one mystery.

Buy Links:
**Pre-Sale Special Pricing of $2.99**
Amazon – https://amzn.to/2gNEIYz
Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/london-calling-sorcha-mowbray/1126979054
Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/london-calling-38
iBooks – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/london-calling/id1271410373?mt=11
Teaser Book Trailer Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiU23CI5ZcM
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36311063-london-calling

About the Author

Dena Garson is an award-winning author of contemporary, paranormal, fantasy, and sci-fi romance. She holds a BBA and a MBA in Business and works in the wacky world of quality and process improvement. Making up her own reality on paper is what keeps her sane.

She is the mother of two rowdy boys, two rambunctious cats (AKA the fuzzy jerks), and a loving Labrador. When she isn’t writing you can find her at her at the sewing machine or stringing beads. She is also a devoted Whovian and Dallas Cowboys fan.

Website: https://www.denagarson.com/
Blog: https://www.denagarson.net/
Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/dena.garson.7
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDenaGarson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DenaGarson
Pintrest: https://www.pinterest.com/denagarson7
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/dgarson
Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/v7a2i6

Vector, the cyborg hero of Seeking Vector, my latest release, has a secret. That’s not unusual for anyone. Most people (in this case, most beings) have secrets, something they prefer no one else know.

The difference is… Vector is a cyborg. Cyborgs communicate everything to their brethren. Sharing knowledge and experiences is how they continually improve as warriors. They don’t keep secrets from each other.

Vector has been keeping this huge secret for many human lifespans. He’s the captain of a warship, the guardian of the border to their Homeland. He believes he’ll be deemed unfit if his brethren know his secret.

Kasia, the human heroine of Seeking Vector, is skilled at uncovering secrets. She’s on the run from the Humanoid Alliance because she hacked their systems and uncovered some of their secrets. The cyborg council has also deemed her a threat to be eliminated. Permanently. Vector knows, in his gut, that she could be a threat to himself personally, as well as to the beings he loves. She could find out HIS secret.

He HAS to deal with her.

I LOVE secrets. I’m terrible at keeping my own secrets (as I consider almost everyone to be my friend) but I will take the secrets of others to the grave. The sharing of secrets is an act of trust and I would never knowingly betray someone else’s trust.

That’s why I love it, in romances, when couples (or more) finally reveal their secrets to each other. It signals a huge step in their relationship. They are being vulnerable, giving the other person (or being) a possible weapon against them, trusting that other person not to hurt them.

So what happens if the big secret is shared BEFORE the couple (or more) reaches that state of complete trust? We find out one possible outcome in Seeking Vector.

Do you love it when characters have secrets? Of all of the stories you’ve read, which story had the biggest secret revealed?

(Please don’t mention this secret ‘cause that will be a spoiler but I’d love to know the title and author of the story.)

***

Seeking Vector

A cyborg with a secret… A female seeking the truth…

Vector, the C Model captain of the Freedom, is a cyborg many warriors wish to emulate. He fights fiercely, leads with honor, has earned the respect and loyalty of his crew. But no being, not even a cyborg, is perfect. Since arriving at the Homeland, Vector has been hiding a dark truth about his past. If his secret is exposed, he could lose everything – his position, his ship, and his life.

Kasia excels at uncovering secrets. Half a lifespan ago, her curiosity placed her on the Humanoid Alliance’s kill list. Now she has accessed information the cyborg council would prefer remain hidden. Their warriors are hunting her and won’t rest until she’s dead.

When Vector arrives on her battle station, all grim determination, gray skin, and bulging muscles, Kasia knows he has been sent to kill her. That doesn’t stop her from wanting the dominant cyborg. She senses the savage nature under the male’s controlled exterior, sees the mysteries in his brilliant blue eyes, craves the roughness of his touch. She will risk all she has to experience his embrace.

Kasia braved the cyborg council’s ire for a reason. If she doesn’t convince Vector to act on the information she uncovered, the enemy could destroy his home planet and render every cyborg in the universe immobile.

Can a doubting C Model warrior learn to trust and to love before it is too late?

Seeking Vector is Book 10 in the Cyborg Sizzle series and is a STAND-ALONE story.

It is also a Cyborg SciFi Romance.

Buy Links:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Seeking-Vector-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B075FHBW87/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seeking-Vector-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B075FHBW87/
Apple iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/seeking-vector/id1280185990
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seeking-vector-cynthia-sax/1127072529
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/seeking-vector
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/746717

About Cynthia Sax

USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Sax writes contemporary, SciFi and paranormal erotic romances. Her stories have been featured in Star Magazine, Real Time With Bill Maher, and numerous best of erotic romance top ten lists.

Sign up for her dirty-joke-filled release day newsletter and visit her on the web at www.CynthiaSax.com

Website:  https://cynthiasax.com/
Newsletter:   https://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Facebook:  facebook.com/cynthia.sax
Twitter:  @CynthiaSax
Blog:  https://tasteofcyn.com/

Who doesn’t love a bachelor auction? All for a good cause, of course. Add to that a sexy ménage and you have a wild ride ahead.

Welcome back to the Ugly Stick Saloon. For those who haven’t delved into this little bar in Texas, here’s your chance to catch up. BOOTS & ROSES is the 8th book in the series and there are more to come in my effort to re-release these stories after getting my rights back from Samhain Publishing. As I release them, this will be the first time they are in print! Next year, I hope to add new stories to the series, as I love coming back to the characters that made these stories so much fun.

BOOTS & ROSES

Amazon | Nook | Kobo | IBooks | GooglePlay

SOLD! One word buys her two men…

Near the eve of her ex-husband’s wedding to the woman he cheated on her for, Bunny Leigh takes a step on the wild side and bids on a cowboy and a cop at the annual Ugly Stick Saloon cowboy auction for charity. One date. That’s all she bargained for. For the flower shop owner, who hasn’t been on a date in years, it’s terrifying.

Cory McBride, a college graduate and former stripper, teams with his best buddy and also former stripper-turned -sheriff’s-deputy, Jack Monahan, to win the heart of the beautiful flower girl with whom they’re both in love. Rigging the auction so that Bunny has the winning bid, they embark on a mission to woo the pretty lady despite all the barriers that stand in the way. Willing to share her, the two cowboys must convince her one woman can handle both men.

Thank you, Delilah, for this opportunity to be a guest on your blog. It’s exciting for me to be here because I am a fan.

Romance novels – they are the lead story in this week’s New York Times Book Review section. Titled “In the Mood for Love”, the story is not the usual review of a single book. Rather, writer Robert Gottlieb synthesizes a dozen romance novels. His review is a little tongue in cheek initially, denigrating each of the books and the genre as a whole. Ultimately, Gottlieb gives romance readers his permission to read romance. “…it’s a healthy genre, not trapped in its inflexibility. Its readership is vast, its satisfaction apparently limitless, its profitability incontestable. And its effect? Harmless.”

Despite the attitudes of people like Mr. Gottlieb, romance continues to be the top selling genre in the world. One in three books sold on Amazon last year was a romance. Often considered frivolous, romances continue to provide escape when that is what you need. Perhaps this accounts for the success of my own series, where slightly flawed but incredibly sexy heroes among the top .001% of America’s society happen to live with wealth and connections beyond Mr. Darcy’s dreams.

Contemporary romance doesn’t skirt life’s tough realities. It often addresses difficulties with work, finances, raising children, or managing family issues, to say nothing of the frustration brought about by the many things the characters cannot change – illness or family circumstance for example. These heroines don’t just survive, they thrive. That is now part of the happily ever after – good sex, great career opportunities, self-actualization.

Romance has grown as opportunities for women have grown. I have read novels with women wielding guns, snapping whips, using their brains and waving their pocketbooks – all brandishing their version of power. Plus, unlike the days of Barbara Cartland novels, women over 30, 40 or 50 can now find love.

My female characters are armed with their educations, their confidence and their talents as well as their independence – from Keeli, a struggling jewelry designer, to Sloane who holds a place at the boardroom table, to Charlotte, Director of Finance for a female CEO. These strong and smart characters are often based on women I know and love in real life. These women still want love, they still want the fantasy and – in my novels – they get it.

OODLES OF ROMANCE FOR 99 CENTS

For a limited time, you can get a taste of my Beguiling Bachelors series for just 99 cents. For less than a cup of coffee you can get my full length novel, Bedeviled, along with works from 21 other talented authors in Sultry Nights, a romance collection.

Here’s a brief description of Bedeviled:

Can a love be built on lies?

Charlotte Roche is escaping a menacing threat in Boston when she moves to Chicago for a new job and a new man. Alex is smart, sexy and quickly getting under Charlotte’s skin. A shared love of running gives the sassy beauty an excuse to be near her heart’s desire, but can Charlotte run Alex from the track to the bedroom without divulging her past and risking everything?

Alex Gaines, wealthy banker and philanthropist, has held women at arm’s length all his life to protect long-held secrets of his own. Now he is torn between loving the alluring Charlotte and protecting his dual lives. Can Alex trust Charlotte with the truth or is risking his fortune and family to pursue her? Can the two fall in love when they are bedeviled by lies and half-truths?

When danger follows Charlotte to Chicago threatening her safety and their futures, Charlotte and Alex a forced to make a hard decision – choose the secrets of their past or a future together.

Bedeviled is the third novel in the Beguiling Bachelor series, a trio of steamy contemporary romances set amidst the luxury of Chicago’s elite society.

BUY LINKS: For a limited time, Bedeviled is available in Sultry Nights. Grab a copy of Sultry Nights here or Bedeviled on Amazon standalone here or in Sultry Nights here.

About the Author

Madison Michael is the author of the Beguiling Bachelor Series, smart, sexy novels with complex characters set against the backdrop of Chicago’s elite society. Maddy loves exploring her native Chicago to discover new sites, new restaurants and new elegant events for future stories. Follow Maddy on Facebook or learn more about her and her friends by subscribing to her blog.

Website www.madisonmichael.net
Blog www.madisonmichael.net/category/maddys-blog
Twitter www.twitter.com/madisonmichael
Facebook www.facebook.com/madisonmichaelromance
Pinterest www.pinterest.com/madisonmichaelromance
Goodreads www.goodreads.com/author/show/15221601.Madison_Michael
Amazon Author Page www.amazon.com/Madison-Michael/e/B01EVUGG6G

Seize the day. Put no trust in tomorrow. ~ Horace

Did you know there was a second part to the phrase Carpe diem? The whole phrase is:  Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero. Try fitting that on a coffee cup!

I do love Carpe diem. It’s something you have to say with a raised fist. Every schoolteacher entering a classroom, every commuter entering the train, every mother entering the kitchen to start breakfast—shake that fist! Carpe diem! Say it like Bruce Willis in Die Hard, “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!”

Okay, so maybe you guessed it. I need a little motivation today, and I’m going a little overboard. Shouldn’t be though. I actually got a great night’s sleep. I woke up 5 minutes before my alarm. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I shuffled to my office, cleared a spot on my desk for my phone (Lordy, you should see the stack of shit sitting in the center. Before too long I will have to raise my desk chair to see over it!), and brought my computer to life with a righteous right click.

And that quickly, I saw today’s To Do and sighed. I have a lot of words to write. A shit-ton. I’m cussing a lot today, aren’t I? You can say carpe diem without saying quam minimum credula postero, but you can’t say yippee-ki-yay without saying motherfucker. And frankly, I need to cuss to “gird my loins” before I settle down to the task at hand.

Are you with me? Want to raise that fist and shake it? Got any words of inspiration? I don’t mind if you cuss. 🙂

I love books in series. I enjoy spending time in a story world with characters I’ve come to know and care about over multiple books. It’s satisfying to discover that a character I’ve liked since book one finally gets his own happy ending in book six. And it’s also satisfying to get a peek into the lives of the couple from book one in subsequent books to find they are still living happily ever after.

I have many favorite romance series, so it’s difficult to choose. I loved Lisa Kleypas’ Wallflower series, the FBI/US Attorney series from Julie James, and Suzanne Brockmann’s Navy Seals. All wonderful books. But if I have to choose just two favorite series, I’m going with Nora Roberts Chesapeake Bay series, and Mary Balogh’s Huxtable series. Both of these authors have so many great series that it’s difficult to pick just one from each, but I’ve got my reasons for choosing these two.

The Chesapeake Bay series from Nora Roberts consists of Sea Swept, Rising Tides, and Inner Harbor. And, I just discovered as I was writing this, that there is also a fourth book called Chesapeake Blue. Can’t believe I missed Seth’s story, but I will certainly be checking it out. When their adoptive father dies, the Quinn brothers, Cam, Ethan and Phil, return to Maryland’s Eastern shore to honor his last request, and to look after the boy Seth, a boy who looks a lot like their father Ray. But if Seth is their father’s biological son, it means he cheated on their deceased mother, something the brothers never thought possible. Ray and Stella Quinn took in the three troubled boys when no one else would, forging a strong and loving family for them. In return, the brothers had always been devoted to Ray and Stella, and it’s hurtful to suspect their father wasn’t the man they believed him to be. Through the events of the first three stories, the brothers find love and discover the truth about their parents.

One of the reasons I love this series is because there’s an overarching mystery running through the first three books. I used a similar technique in the series I’m currently writing and editing. My Love at Solace Lake series is the story of the Lindquist sisters, Harper, Scarlet and Maggie, who inherit their grandfather’s crumbling fishing lodge in north-central Minnesota. Like the Quinn brothers who are trying to make a go of their boat building business, the Lindquist sisters are trying to resurrect the Solace Lake Lodge and save the legacy handed down to them. Like the Quinn brothers, they are also faced with the consequences of family secrets. Since childhood, the Lindquist sisters have lived with the belief that their father killed their mother. But they discover their grandparents kept many secrets from them. Deciphering the truth from the lies is nearly impossible.

I adore Mary Balogh’s writing and I particularly adored the Huxtable series because each of the Huxtables falls in love with someone totally unsuitable. Each match creates a scandal that threatens to ruin them. But rather than walk away and give in to society’s expectations, they fight for love. Having to go through so much adversity makes the resulting relationship that much sweeter. I hope I’ve made my characters path to love just as sweet.

Do you have a favorite series? I hope you enjoy the blurb from HER BEST MAN, the first book in my Left at the Altar series. Happy reading!

HER BEST MAN

Sarah Stevens experiences a bride’s worst nightmare; being dumped at the altar. When she goes on the Caribbean cruise meant to be her honeymoon in order to lick her wounds, she discovers her ex-fiancé has sent his brother, Will Marshall, the former best man, on the cruise as well. Everyone on board thinks they’re newlyweds, and Sarah is too embarrassed to set them straight. How is she supposed to share a tiny cabin with a man she barely knows? How is she supposed to pretend that she and Will are on their honeymoon? Even worse, how can she keep from falling in love with him? Sarah discovers the best man for her really is the best man.

Buy Links:

 Uncial Press | Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA
| B & N | Google Play | Kobo | Untreed Reads | iBooks | Chapters/Indigo

BUY in Print: Create Space