I consider myself a voracious reader. Growing up, I lugged countless stacks of books from my hometown library. I cannot tell you how many pages my face creased because I fell asleep while reading in bed. I was the child who snuck a flashlight under the cover so I could finish reading a book. I burned quite a few batteries (not for that reason…at least not at that age). And don’t ask how many paperbacks I’ve dropped in the bath water over the years. Who knew my elbows required that much room?

Recently, I settled in for a wait at the doctor office. Hooray! A perfect opportunity to read. I search my cavernous tote bag for my iPad. Wait a minute. I know I had it when I left home. A sense of doom rolls over me quick as a dust storm. I rummage through my bag again. I can’t have lost it. Oh, Lord! Not my books. How on earth will I make it through the day without the wonderful stories I lose myself in at every opportunity?

My palms dampen. Sweat trickles between my breasts.  My throat constricts. I stand up, eager to escape the office and retrace my steps. Hopefully, I can locate my reader before someone else considers this his or her lucky day.

“Ma’am?”

I look over my shoulder.

An older lady two chairs away from me smiles and gestures at the floor. “You dropped something.”

God bless her. I want to kiss her, but it is a doctor’s office. She’s probably sick. I know I am.

Blood roars in my ears and I feel faint with relief. I pick up my precious piece of real estate which apparently rested on my lap beneath the huge tote. That’s it. I’m carrying a backpack from now on.

When I’m finally called back to see the doctor, she kindly informs me that I have the flu.

“Fantastic.” I smile from ear to ear, giving the Joker a run for his money. When the doc stares at me with a frown then writes additional notes in her file, I wonder if she’s recommending me for a psych exam.

My body can fall to pieces but as long as I have my beloved stories, all is right with the world. This passion for books is similar to the passion my heroine, Trella Arnold, has for painting.  What do you feel passionately about?

*~*~*~*~*

PAINTED PASSION
ISBN:  9781419949395

Excerpt Choice #1

Trella’s luminous eyes searched his as if seeking reassurance. “I’m not a damsel in distress,” she muttered.

Carlos cradled her face in his hands. “Far from it.” He touched his lips to the space between her arched eyebrows. The kiss was meant to be comforting, but as soon as his mouth made contact with her soft skin, his body’s wiring sputtered from shock.

“I know you’re strong, but we have to be smart.” Incapable of avoiding her heat, he kissed the bridge of her nose. He needed to stop before he did something he couldn’t take back.

Her fingers entwined with his. “Hector won’t get away with this.”

He kissed her right temple. “I agree.”

“We’ll take him down and anyone working for him, too.”

Her words, uttered without an ounce of mercy, fueled his arousal. Carlos was beyond ready to be turned out, burned and fried by the release of her passion. He kissed her left cheek. “He’ll have no idea what hit him.”

“We’ll nail his ass to the wall.”

He wanted, no needed to taste her. “No one pisses off my girl,” he whispered. He didn’t know when he began thinking of her in such a manner.

He touched his lips to hers, his entire being fusing with the spirit of this amazing woman. He didn’t bother fighting what he’d wanted to do since he’d arrived yesterday. He nibbled at her softness, wishing he was feasting on every inch of her.

She tensed for a second then relaxed as her mouth moved against his. She parted her lips, permitting him entrance.

He groaned at her submission. She tasted of citrus fruit, juicy and luscious. The patio, the pool, the night—everything around them disappeared, leaving him aware of nothing but her. Their tongues touched and met, and the softness of hers, sliding over his, triggered an erection that spurred him on.

He moved his hands to her waist, lifting her off the ground, their bodies melding, pelvis to pelvis. Ever since he saw her again, kissing her had been in the back of his mind. Being around each other, it was bound to happen sooner or later. He much preferred sooner.

He wanted to carry her upstairs, but the timing was wrong. He didn’t care if she kissed him out of shock. He’d take her lips on his for any reason.

Buy Links

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Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/1x7Rgcz
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There are two black Arabian horses that figure prominently in Taking Fire.  US Marine Corps Sergeant Khatereh (Khat) Shinwari, uses them to cause havoc, attack the Taliban, protect her father’s village along the Afghan border with Pakistan.  She had two full sisters, two Arabian mares, Mina and Zorah.  Mina is her main riding horse.  Zorah is a pack-horse, carrying supplies and medicines to the villages that Khat takes care of.  She is a paramedic, as part of her training.

Khat has learned to be a shadow warrior using her sturdy, endurance trained mounts.  Mina is the one that she rides and sets up ambushes as well as sniper attacks, up in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan, near the Pak border.  With a black horse at night, it won’t be seen by the Taliban or Al-Queda soldiers.  During the daylight hours as she operates as a Shadow Warrior creating havoc for her vaunted enemy, Mina may gallop for miles along rough, narrow trails used only by goats.   Khat relies on her nimble, swift mare to carry her away from the enemy before they can find and capture her.  She has evaded her enemy for five years, lives in any number of caves to escape detection, takes care of her hardy, brave Arabians, who in turn, take care of her.

Because Khat is half Afghani, she had the blood of these warriors in her DNA.  And utilizing the Arabian horse is part of her black ops life.  Mina gets her to an ambush, and helps her escape it.  Khat cares and adores her brave and beautiful horses.  And they love her in return.

Khat needed this breed because of it’s well-known endurance.  First bred in the Middle East, the Egyptian Arabians are well known for their delicate beauty.  But their beauty is molded by thousands of years of being bred and living in the hot deserts of many countries.  There is no breed more intelligent than an Arabian.  Even today, among the Bedouins, their horses are cherished  At night, the horses come and stay with the family in their tent, an accepted part of the human household.  Over these thousands of years, because of this tight human-animal connection, Arabians are considered “people” horse breed.  The bond between people and Arabians is one of legend nowadays.  But it’s true.  I know because I bred, raised and sold Arabians in Ohio for ten years when we had our farm.  As you read Taking Fire, just know that the information on these wonderful four-legged secondary characters is all true.

Lindsay McKenna Links:
Website: http://www.lindsaymckenna.com
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* * * * *

This never happens. Me, here at the end of the month. But it does give me a great opportunity to recap. 🙂

What’s my February been like? Snow, snow and more snow. Oh, and ice. And babysitting kids who should have been in school. Good news there is that menopausal women who babysit little ones have less chance of developing dementia. The problem is, if I spend any more time with them, I’ll want dementia!

But February’s been productive. Lots of stories spinning in my mind. Not any new stories actually started, but I did revise/expand/polish some things I’ve had lying around doin’ nuttin. If you missed them, here’s what released in February!

Short Stories!

One a week, as promised. Free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers and just $.099 for everyone else! And more are coming in March! So if you like a quick romantic/erotic fix—a story that gets straight to the point (er,his point), then these are for you!

The Obedient Wife: Find out what really happened between The Beauty and The Beast. Hint: It’s not your children’s fairytale!

Drive Me Crazy: She’s out for one night of passion in a trucker’s big rig…

Dr. Mullaley: She’d been warned the doctor was eccentric, but this nurse discovers his cures are of a mechanical nature…

Dreaming by the Sea: A mysterious man rising from the sea awakens a woman to her past…

Longer Stories!

Rules of Engagement (Lone Star Lovers)

This SEAL’s back in Texas and asking her to marry him one last time…

Callie Murphy’s never been one to moon over a man. Fairytale romances don’t exist outside of books and she’s seen first-hand how transitory love can be after watching her mother fall in and out of marriage.

Derek Tilden hammered home that truth when he joined the Navy to become a SEAL—he was the boy who couldn’t wait to see the world and she was the girl ready to plant deep roots. Now he’s back and asking her to marry him one last time…

Buy at Amazon — More venues coming!

Sweeter Than Honey

Something’s on the rise in Two-Mule, Texas. And it ain’t just the temperature.

1880, West Texas

Honey Cafferty lives a happy, if precarious, existence as a traveling saleswoman. She sells her elixirs and potions while searching for the one thing she hasn’t been able to brew from the back of her colorful wagon—a sense of belonging. She arrives in Two Mule, Texas, with her Elixir of Love, a potion that improves a man’s libido but might just get her run out of town.

Sheriff Joe Tanner is protective of his little town. Downright hostile toward anyone who might take advantage of the fine folk under his protection. Any snake-oil salesman who rolls into town better just keep right on rolling.

Honey isn’t what Joe expected, from her vibrant red hair and cat-green eyes to her curvy mouth and hips. And when the men of the town begin to plead exhaustion—and place the blame squarely on her sweet-smelling shoulders—Joe has no choice but to launch an investigation. A very, very deep investigation…

Buy at: Samhain | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Contest

Because I’m lazy like this, my contest is going to be super simple!

Answer me this (I love this ungrammatical phrase!) for a chance to win a free download from among all my currently available short stories listed here:

Have you been dreaming of summer—hot days with sweat trickling down a cold glass of tea, you in a swimsuit beside a pool/the lake/the beach?

Wolves of Willow Bend
Rogue Wolf
Releasing February 27, 2015

The Italian Alpha, Salvatore Esposito, crossed an ocean and dared to venture into unfriendly territory to hunt for his missing sister in Willow Bend. He’ll do anything to get her back, even if it means he must resist chasing the fierce enforcer who wakens his primal beast…anything.

As an enforcer, Margo Montgomery monitors the lone wolves. She is in the middle of investigating missing wolves from multiple territories when the order comes in to escort the Salvatore to Willow Bend. There’s bad blood between her and the current Alpha of Willow Bend, but they soon discover a new danger—a lone wolf gone rogue.

Now Margo must hunt the rogue—a pursuit made all the more dangerous because it becomes readily apparent the rogue they seek isn’t alone and Salvatore refuses to be left behind—not when wolves are vanishing without a trace… 

Rogue Wolf

Book #4 in the Wolves of Willow Bend Series

Amazon | All Romance | Kobo | iTunes  

Series Reading Order:

Wolf at Law (Prequel)
Book 1: Wolf Bite
Book 2: Caged Wolf
Book 3: Wolf Claim
Book 4: Rogue Wolf

About the Author:

Heather Long

National bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas summertime. From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories—her characters drive the books. When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.

Contact Details:

Website: http://www.heatherlong.net
Email: heather@heatherlong.net
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HeatherLongAuthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/HVLong

Excerpt:

Five cups of coffee and over a thousand miles later, she waited against the wall in the international arrivals area of Midway airport. Julian came through with the name of the airline—a flight via Canada—and the time of arrival. They had no photo of the Alpha and only his name. Plenty of humans stood around holding placards with names written on them. Margo didn’t bother.

The number of scents trailing around her—from the over-perfumed to the under-bathed—threatened to give her a headache. She’d taken an hour at a hotel to shower and change into fresh clothes. Fortunately, she hadn’t bloodied any clothes on her current assignment. Jeans, boots and a denim jacket over a dark green turtleneck fit for the current weather outside. She didn’t stand out, though a number of human males gave her a lingering look. Ignoring them, she scanned the new arrivals passing through the sliding glass doors with their bags.

Arms folded, she braced one foot against the wall. More arrivals spilled through the doors into the early morning light. She dismissed three men immediately. One dripped sweat, the second dripped illness, and the third—her nostrils flared—he avoided looking at anyone. She may not know her target’s appearance, but no Alpha walked with their head down and their gaze on the path in front of them.

A collection of women came through, all chattering about the delicious passenger—his height, his accent, his eyes—on their flight. Home from a holiday it would seem, and apparently the view on the plane trumped anything they’d seen on the ground.

The doors swished apart and fresh odors wafted toward her. Sampling the air, she scented him before she saw him. The hint of sweet-floral fragrance with an element of citrus, but beneath it all a distinctly masculine bite of hot sun on fur, and something her wolf couldn’t sort out.

A stream of businessmen waded through the travelers. Their suits were a dead giveaway, though so were the harried looks, cell phones in hand and rumpled appearances. Dismissing one after another, she stilled.

Awareness swept over her and she canted her head slowly to find one man had stopped a half-dozen feet away. Well over six feet in height, he towered over her five-foot-ten frame. Jet black hair crowned a deeply tanned face. Black eyes—true black, so dark she couldn’t make out a pupil—stared at her. Read the rest of this entry »

The current batch of operatives had returned from hundreds of assignments unscathed…until one mission went horribly wrong. Several men lost their lives and the group disbanded. The remaining leathernecks were scattered in the wind with new identities. They were told to blend in. Be normal. Or face being forever silenced just like their fallen brothers.

Now, two years later, each living member of the group is kidnapped and given a chance to make things right. But this time they’re no longer under the thumb of Uncle Sam. A mysterious private backer who knows about their past has brought them back together. No longer are they forced to turn a blind eye to the lost and forsaken.

A new life. A new future…Elite Metal.

Anna Alexander, Jennifer Kacey, Heather Long, Sabrina York Rebecca Royce, Saranna DeWylde and Roxie Rivera

About Sabrina’s Story

Sterling’s Seduction

When Sterling spots a reporter masquerading as a waitress in a dingy bar in Deep Ellum, he suspects she’s investigating the team. And that’s something he just cannot allow to happen. Too many lives are at stake. He will do everything in his power to learn the truth—even seduce her. And to stop her story from coming out? He might even tie her to the bed.

Nothing is off the table when it comes to keeping his brothers safe. Nothing. It’s a damn shame she’s everything he’s ever wanted. It’s a damn shame her touch warms his cold, dead heart.

Sterling’s Seduction EXCERPT

As she rounded the corner, her steps stalled.

Because there he was, leaning against his bike. Waiting for her.

Well, she hoped he was waiting for her. When he saw her, he unfolded his long legs and stood.

“Did you change your mind?” she asked, trying for a flippant tone.

His beautiful eyebrow arched. “About what?”

“Taking me home?” Might as well be brash.

He gestured to his bike. “My alternator is shot. I’m waiting for a ride.”

“Ah.” Why disappointment flooded her was a mystery. Or not.

“Was there…an offer on the table?” His voice was a low melody that danced on the skeins of air. It was annoying. And not.

“Hey. I’m not the one who walked away.” She tried not to let her petulance show. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a story of US Navy SEAL, Mike Tarik, who is an American citizen, but 1/2 Saudi and 1/2 American, through his mother.  His father is a world renown cardiac surgeon.  Dr. Bedir Tarik met his wife, Annie, over in Saudi Arabia where she was an American school teacher.  Bedir, who is Sufi, believes firmly that love is the only way to peace and harmony in the world.  He falls in love with Annie, and they marry in Riyadh.  Later, she gets pregnant with Mike and he is born in San Diego, California.

Bedir takes his young son over to Saudi Arabia for three weeks every year.  He has a charity in Riyadh, and he and Mike take a pickup and distribute clothes, food and money to the poor at the fringes of that city, as well as to  many others.  He teaches his son generosity, giving back and being grateful for what he has.

Mike grows up wanting to become a Navy SEAL.  Bedir has already shown him his family’s lineage and tells his warrior son that he has the genes of his warrior great-grandfather.  Mike’s view on it is that he wants to help the poor and oppressed, to rid them of tyrants who kill or make their lives miserable.  When he deploys to Afghanistan with Seal Team 3, he works with NGO charities to bring food, clothing, and shoes to the desperately poor Afghan villages near where his team is located.

He carries on his father’s belief in always helping those who have less.  But on one mission, he finds himself in need.  He and his four-man SEAL team are out on a mission.   And it is a black ops US Marine Corps sniper who saves his team and him from a deadly ambush.  And she’s a woman!  Mike’s entire life changes in the moment he is injured and saved by this mysterious operator who cares for him deep in the cave systems of the Hindu Kush Mountains near the Pakistan border.

Sergeant Khatera Shinwari is wary of this SEAL, must maintain her deep black ops cover and although she’s powerfully drawn to Mike, there is no way she can act upon it.  Mike, before he’s picked up by a Night Stalker helicopter once he’s ready to leave her care for FOB Bravo, promises her, he will see her again.

Khat doesn’t believe him, as much as she wished she could.  Her life is not her own.  Her loyalty is to her Afghan people, not to a single man like Mike.  But life has a funny way of changing up, and Mike isn’t about to just let this enigmatic, beautiful woman disappear out of his life.  No way…..

I had great fun creating this story and it’s unlike anything my readers have read.  I’m very excited about it, about the sympathetic characters that you are sure to cheer on!  And toward that end?  I’ve created a “Director’s Cut” of a much longer ending to TAKING FIRE.    Don’t worry, the book you’ve bought is complete with an HEA ending.  But if you want to know “what else” happened?  Then ON FIRE, HQN, 5.1.2015, digital only, 40,000 words long and $2.99, will be available to you to continue their twisting and dangerous destiny with one another!

TAKING FIRE, HQN, 2.25.2015.
This is a Shadow Warriors series pocket book and ebook.
ISBN-10: 0373785054
ISBN-13: 978-0373785056
ASIN: B00OYCW3SC

Coming…

ON FIRE, HQN, Ebook only, Director’s Cut to TAKING FIRE
Pub. date: 3.1.2015
On all major ebook platforms
ASIN: B00QXN8J3S

Lindsay

Hey, dearest readers!

I was going to post something pithy today, but friends of mine have a brand new book, and they asked me if I could help get the word out. They have this awesome contest accompanying the release. They are giving away an iPad Mini and it will be loaded with books. So if you want a chance to win—look at the picture below! And get the book—The Other Brother! ~DD

The Other Brother: Forbidden, part 1

From two New York Times bestselling authors comes a stunning tale of betrayal and blood…

Simple. The consummate good girl, this is the word I used to describe my life… until my stepbrother Seth came to live with us. Until that point, I’d been a very good girl… but my older, emotionally blocked stepbrother made me want to do very bad things.

With him.

In the course of one night everything changed, and my simple world was torn to shreds. I wanted to hate him. I did hate him. Mostly.

But now he’s back. And nothing will ever be simple again.

The Other Brother is a novel told in three parts. This is part one of three.

Buy links:
Amazon – http://amzn.to/17sRfWU
B&N – http://bit.ly/1FmvlzF
Kobo – http://bit.ly/1LxVj5z