The winner, chosen by random number generator, is…SR Roddy!

* * * * *

Sometimes, we writers write what we think others want. Sometimes, we write what we want. DD is the latter. I love fairy tales—the premises of the stories, anyway. I’m usually disappointed in the execution. I want to know how the curse works, what will break it, what it feels like to walk through life with the affliction. And then of course, I can’t help taking my “what if’s” to their sexy conclusions. That’s what Dragon’s Desire is. A big ole game of “What if…?” Hope you enjoy the excerpt!

I’ll post the winner of today’s contest Monday morning!

Post a comment and you’ll be entered to win a free download of this book!

His need becomes a knight’s quest and a virgin’s gift.

An ancient, cursed creature, Drago, Lord of Drakkenberg, dreads the anniversary that marks the moment he must devour a virgin or visit a plague of destruction on the world around him. Once every century, he becomes a dragon…

Only now that his castle has moved to the U.S. in a vain attempt to break the curse, suitably mature virgins are hard to come by. In the midst of his transformation, he sends his loyal knight, Guy D’Alba, in search of a woman during the Renaissance Faire they are hosting.

Guy understands his duty well, but chafes against the curse that binds him in servitude to the dragon.  Until he meets a sweet young reporter who meets his overlord’s requirements—young, blonde and beautiful—and lo and behold, a virgin. But the moment he discovers her fitness, he knows he must relinquish her to Drago or their small mountain community will suffer the dragon’s wrath.

Angela Bowman is smart, young…and a lonely virgin ready to find an adventure. The moment she sees Guy, she falls beneath the spell of his smoldering sensuality. When he asks her to meet Drago, and then produces a blindfold, she finds herself so intrigued she consents.

She’s ready to surrender her innocence—but to which man? The sexy and attentive Guy—or Drago, the mysterious and dominant man she hasn’t yet seen but whose dark aura calls to the woman inside her, yearning to break free?

Ragged wisps of clouds crawled across the face of the full moon, lightening then darkening the barren precipice. Local villagers called it The Dragon’s Atoll. The bürgermeister had given him directions, told him when to begin the climb, warning him the atoll only existed during the full moon before it disappeared for another hundred years.

An hour earlier, the knight had climbed the rocky precipice and now hid behind a stone pillar, sword drawn. He listened to the soft sobs of the girl the villagers had chained to the pillar according to rules handed down for a millennium, or so the elders had said. She was their sacrifice, their gift to the winged demon to pacify its hunger and spare them its wrath.

The knight had silently scoffed at their fear. He didn’t believe in dragons or demons. At least, not mythical beasts. He’d seen enough in his travels to Palestine and back to know evil existed. True evil resided in the hearts of greedy, bloodthirsty men.

Still, the purse filled with gold the villagers offered him to slay the dragon and rid them of their curse convinced him to remain where he was.

“I shall die,” the girl whispered, “savaged by the beast.”

“You will not die,” he whispered, casting her a sideways glance. “’Tis only a tale.”

“You weren’t raised on tales of the horror. Do you think they are only stories told to frighten children?” she said, her voice rising toward the end.

She was a comely thing with golden hair and gentle curves. He’d fought shock and disgust when the old men had cut her clothing from her body to leave her nude. The night was chilly and the sound of her teeth clacking as her body shivered had him reaching for his cloak. If they were bound to wait together, she needn’t freeze.

Come morning, he’d lead her from the mountain and deliver her to her father, the bürgermeister who’d hired him, safe and sound. He stepped around the pillar and bent over to slip the cloak around her.

Instead, she shook her head. “You mustn’t.”

“You are cold.”

“I’ll not be the reason my village suffers.” Read the rest of this entry »

I’d like to thank Delilah for offering me a guest spot on her blog so I can talk about my new contemporary romance Leave The Lights On.

One of my favorite things about writing romance is that it gives me the opportunity to explore what happens when people get a second chance with someone they crushed on in the past. In this story Parker and Sophie were childhood friends who, for several reasons, never got together when they were younger. Now that they’re adults they find themselves neighbors once again. Their friendship is instantly rekindled, as are the old feelings of longing. Sophie is a wedding planner and she invites Parker to accompany her to a food show. He’s more than happy to have any excuse to spend more time with Sophie, so he accepts, wondering if it’s a date or if they’re just hanging out. After a day of sampling all sorts of decadent creations offered from the vendors at the expo they stop at one final dessert display where Sophie tempts Parker with a chocolate treat. Here’s an exclusive peek at what happens next…

When love throws you a curve, swing for the fences.

Parker Wood’s dreams of becoming a professional baseball player are shattered when he’s injured in a devastating car crash. After two years in hospitals and physical rehab facilities, he’s ready to move back to his childhood home and take over the family landscaping company. The house and business are his, now that his father has passed.

Sophie Vaughn has suffered through a hellishly public divorce from a husband who couldn’t manage to stay faithful for two months of marriage. Determined not to let her personal drama impact her successful wedding and party planning business, she buys her parents’ old house, hoping the comfort of familiar surroundings will help her heal.

When Parker and Sophie discover they’re neighbors once again, it’s as if time has stood still. Their friendship is quickly rekindled, along with the decade-long crush neither of them ever admitted having. Then the heat between them exposes a long-held secret that threatens to tear them apart…unless they can detach from their painful pasts and move forward—together.

Warning: Contains sultry summer nights, steamy pool-side encounters, and you’ll never look at a jar of peanut butter the same way again.

Excerpt from Leave The Lights On:

Caramel and sea salt flooded his mouth as soon as he bit into the dark chocolate shell. “Jesus. I’ve got to get myself invited to some weddings. This stuff’s amazing.”

Sophie laughed, the shimmery sound sending tingles through Parker’s limbs. “Or you can be extra nice to me, and maybe I’ll bring you home goodie bags from all the ones I go to.”

She grabbed two sample boxes off the table and tucked them into one of the tote bags.

Parker chuckled. “Now there’s officially more food in these bags than in my entire kitchen.”

“That’s just because I haven’t taken you grocery shopping yet. We’ll get your kitchen stocked soon enough.”

“Sounds good.” Anything that involved more time with Sophie sounded good. His gaze was drawn to the saunter of her hips as she made her way through the crowd. Jesus.

“I think we’ve hit every booth. You ready to go?”

“Sure.”

Parker held the door as they left the convention center. As they headed down the street, the sky darkened with deep blue clouds. Thunder rumbled long and deep. “Think we’ll make it to the car before the storm starts?”

No sooner did the words leave his mouth than the sky opened up.

Sophie shrieked, “No. Run.”

They tore down the sidewalk, fat raindrops pelting them faster by the second. One of Sophie’s sandals slipped off, and she started giggling. “Wait, my shoe.”

Parker stopped, slicking his hair back off his face. “Got it?”

“No.” She laughed harder, grabbing Parker’s arm to steady herself as she wiggled her foot back into the shoe. “There.”

Her eyes sparkled as she gazed up at him, her breath coming fast from laughter, her rain-soaked shirt clinging to her every curve. Parker smoothed her wet hair off her cheek. The feel of her skin, warm and inviting, was too much. He couldn’t wait another second.

His lips touched hers mid-giggle, for just a second. He held his breath, his fingers still woven into her hair, waiting to see if she’d pull away. She hesitated, the sweet scent of her making him dizzy, then her mouth was back on his.

Sophie went up on her toes, leaning in toward him, her lips parting beneath his. She tasted like the chocolate they’d had and red wine they hadn’t, a decadent blend of the richest flavors he’d ever savored. He no longer noticed the rain or heard the thunder—his whole world had condensed into the kiss. The only word his brain could form was Sophie.

* * * * *

Author Info for Karen Stivali:

Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies and fictional British men. She is a multiple award winning author of contemporary and erotic romances for Ellora’s Cave, Turquoise Morning Press and Samhain Publishing.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | AllRomanceEbooks

Happy Halloween! I hope you all have your candy ready for the Trick-or-Treeting kids. I live in a rural area—behind a gate. If anyone shows up at our door, we’ll think we’re about to be robbed. So, needless to say, we have to take our own kidlets to Halloween “events” in order for them to have some fun. Hopefully, the strong storms we’re expecting today will be gone by tonight… So, tell me your Halloween plans…

October’s Winner

It’s the 31st, which also means it’s the end of my October contest! I promised one lucky winner a bracelet, one I’d make according to her color preferences. The winner can take a look around my Etsy store to see what I do and then we’ll talk. I’ll make a stretchy bracelet, something she’ll love wearing. But who is our lucky winner?

I chose the blog date and the name of the winner using a random number generator. October’s winner is…Danielle Estes (Oct. 12)! Congratulations, Danielle! I’ll be sending you an email!

New Contest for November

Let’s make this super easy. Since Christmas is just around the corner, I’ll help one reader with her gift budget!

What can you win? An Amazon gift card worth $20!

What do you have to do to win? Simple. Comment on my blog—on any posting, from now thru November 30th! I’ll choose a winner at random from among all the comments. Good luck!

Hi All! Cynthia D’Alba here. Mega thanks to Delilah Devlin for being the Kick-Off blog for my Texas Tango Release Tour.

Today is Halloween Eve. Growing up, Halloween was always one of my favorite holidays. I loved the dressing up, the becoming someone totally different from who you are every day. I’ve been everything from Jeanie from I Dream of Jeanie, to the standard hobo to Ms. Arkansas. Now, I have to confess, the year I played Ms. Arkansas I was twenty-five and teaching at a school of nursing! And before you ask…NO! I was never Ms. Arkansas. My singing and piano playing would have cleared the room…talk about scaring the poor children to death. 😀

Even today, I love to dress up in my cowboy hat, boots and denim. Makes this city girl feel just like a real cowgirl.

In TEXAS TANGO, both my hero and heroine are wearing masks to the outside world. Travis, as the long-suffering widower and Caroline, as the happy-go-lucky doctor with nothing to tie her down. Sometimes a costume can be fun, like the one I’m wearing in my picture for a book signing. But other times, the costume and mask are hiding true feelings from the world as well as the wearer, as in TEXAS TANGO. I wanted Travis and Caroline to have to face what they really want out of life and have to confess it to themselves as well as to the world.

TEXAS TANGO releases from Samhain Publishing in one week. It’s the second book in the Texas Montgomery Mavericks Series. Here’s a little more what it’s about.

Their wedding might be fake, but there’s no faking the mutual attraction.

Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 2

Dr. Caroline Graham is happy with her nomadic lifestyle fulfilling short-term medical contracts. No emotional commitments, no disappointments. She’s always the one to walk away, never the one left behind.

But now her great-uncle is gone and her grandmother is on her deathbed, more concerned about Caroline’s lack of a husband than her own demise. What’s the harm in a little white lie? If a wedding will give her grandmother peace, then a wedding she shall have.

Travis Montgomery has one dream left—to build the ranch he and his wife planned before he lost her to cancer. There’s just one thing standing between him and the last bit of acreage he needs—a last living heir who has one traveling foot out the door…and an unusual request that challenges his determination to never again place his heart at risk.

The land he wants in exchange for a faux marriage. Everyone wins. Until things start to snowball…and the hearts they stand to lose are their own.

Warning: This book contains a tortured widower who doesn’t want a wife and an independent doctor who doesn’t want a husband. Hot stuff between the sheets and failed efforts to avoid emotional involvements.

Want more? Click HERE for the opening of Chapter One.

TEXAS TANGO can be pre-order now from any of the stores listed below or check your favorite online store to purchase.

Amazon | Samhain  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo

Thanks again to the Delicious Delilah Devlin for having me here today. I love love love to hear from readers and there are lots of ways to find me. Online, you can find me most days at my website or my group blog.

Follow me at Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Goodreads or Pinterest. Or email me at cynthia@cynthiadalba.com

To send me snail mail, write to:
Cynthia D’Alba   PO Box 2116     Hot Springs, AR71914

Now for the fun stuff! I have an exclusive two-day giveaway running today and tomorrow. Tomorrow I’ll be here. You can sign up both days. So what might you win? Check out the Rafflecopter below! Good luck.

A Rafflecopter Giveaway

AND as my Release Tour moves into November, I have incredible jewelry prizes and some personalized prizes. So be sure to check my personal blog every day. It’ll remind you where I am that day so you can earn lots of entries.

And last, but not least, I have freebies for the asking. Texas Tango Cowboy Hat jar openers, Texas Two Step Cowboy boot jar openers, pens, postcards, trading cards. Drop by my contact page and let your request there.

One lucky person who leaves a comment here today will pick up a western-themed Christmas ornament, so be sure to leave an email address so I can find you.

Thanks Delilah for inviting me over today! Hope to see some of you on my upcoming tour stops.

I can’t believe it’s almost November! Where did the year go? And all you writers out there know what November is, right? It’s National Novel Writing Month!

According to NaNoWriMo’s website: “National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 p.m. on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel. Here’s a little more about how it all works.”

I love the annual challenge. When I’m dragging my feet about writing those darn words, and letting my confidence sag at the thought of writing a long story, I remind myself about what I learn every year in NaNoWriMo—50,000 words a month is doable. I like breaking it down by day: 50,000 words in 30 days is just 1667 words a day. That doesn’t sound so insurmountable now, right?

I’ve already updated my NaNo page. Yes, if you join the NaNo challenge, you set up a page on their website. I love seeing the NaNo-meter increase every day. And I love seeing my friends’ progress too! If you’re thinking of joining the challenge, be sure to add me. My NaNo name is DelilahDevlin.

Are you joining the challenge? If so, let me know your NaNo name!

I’m heading to the big city of Little Rock (just kidding, I think it’s only about 100k folks there!), but will be checking back in with y’all later this afternoon.

The winner of Saturday’s Flashback contest is…#14, Rachelle Lerner! Congratulations, Rachelle! I’ll be in touch to arrange delivery of your free download!

Don’t forget, everyone—my monthly blog contest ends this Thursday! Be sure to check out the rules (Pssst! All you have to do to win is comment on a blog!). Stuck for something to say about today’s blog? Just congratulate Rachelle. Or tell me how much you like or dislike Mondays! I sure hate this Monday, because I’ll be stuck in a doctor’s office having her read me the riot act about my weight. 🙁

Ghosts and Haunted Houses

Let me start by saying thanks to Delilah for having me on the blog today!

Since Halloween is right around the corner,  I wanted to talk about ghosts and haunted houses.  I lived in a haunted house for numerous years.  It was a very beautiful, historical house, but never really felt like a true home.  Over the years several visitors had said they’d seen or felt the presence of someone standing in their room at night.  We didn’t talk much about these events until after I had moved to a new house. That’s when the stories were confirmed by relatives and friends.

There were two places, specifically, that visitors had had these experiences.  The first one was the guest room. The door leading to the sitting room was originally an outside door.  Everyone who stayed in that room said they’d been awakened in the middle of the night due to hearing the door slam. But it never opened.  I had heard the noise myself on numerous nights, but never spoke about it.

The second hot spot in the house was the upstairs.  In my bedroom, I ‘felt’ the presence of what I perceived to be a young woman in a long white gown standing by the windows.  I also felt her in the master bedroom turret, again by the windows.  What confirmed her existence was a conversation I had with my grandmother who  lived next door.  I had never discussed this ‘woman’ before with anyone.  But one day, my grandmother asked me if I had any idea who was the woman in the white gown at the windows.  She had seen her.  I had only felt her.  And despite me never telling my grandmother this, she saw what I had sensed.

There were other ghost tales from the house as well, including a old, bearded man seen in the kitchen, a civil war era ghost in the hallway,  and a ghost in my brother’s room.

I had one cat who refused to go into the guest room at night. She would stand at the step leading up to the room from the family room and hiss.

I did discuss the situation of my haunted house, including additional details, with one of the founders of T.A.P.S. / Ghost Hunters.  It was a very interesting conversation. He felt the same as I did, that the spirits in the house were not bad, but I did have a connection with them.

Nothing bad was ever felt in the house, but it was strange knowing we weren’t the only family/inhabitants there.

In my book SHADOWS OF THE SOUL I have a little ghost girl.  I enjoyed writing her into the plot.  Perhaps living in a haunted house sparked the idea for this character.

Do you have a haunted house or ghost story to share?  I’d love to hear it.

Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Have a Happy Halloween!

SHADOWS OF THE SOUL
(Book 1 of the Paradisian Chronicles)
By Angelique Armae
ISBN: 978-0-9845151-4-1
Publisher: Diversion Books

When Hell’s sexiest bad boy–Nicolai Valentine–defied Lucifer, he lost everything.

Now Heaven’s fearless human warrior–Isabel Heart–has come to Nicolai’s rescue.

When the two meet…

A haunting past is reborn…

Isabel Godfroie Heart is a Paradisian Scholar-an immortal human trained in the ways of Heaven and Hell-who’s suffering from memory loss. During her last battle, a dark force erased specific portions of her past life memories. Now she remembers little of times past, save for the fact she’s a demon slayer mentored by the archangel Gabriel. When ordered to a new post to help translate a volume of ancient text from a forbidden verse, Isabel is forced to work with the dark prince Nicolai Valentine, a soul who may or may not be responsible for her memory loss. If only she didn’t find the tempting creature so hard to resist…

Born to a fallen angel and a mortal mother, Nicolai Valentine is a prince of the Grigorcov, the children of the fallen sons of God. Searching for the lost chalice that will save his kin from eternal damnation, Nicky unknowingly unleashes the Hadean Virus, a dark entity targeting members of the Grigorcov. Now the entity has been unleashed on man’s world and Nicky’s in a race against time to find the antidote that will stop this deadly parasite. But in order to keep the Hadean virus from attacking again, Nicolai must enlist the help of Isabel Godfroie Heart, the Paradisian Scholar he was unable to save from the wrath of Hell centuries ago…

Buy Links:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Giveaway:   A set of book cover  magnets for Shadows of the Soul and The Bride Wore Demon Dust 

Send your name and email address to:  aarmae@angeliquearmae.com  to enter the drawing.  Please put ‘magnet contest’ in the subject line. One winner will be chosen at random from the list of entries.  US and Canada residents only, please.

Website Links:
Website:  https://www.angeliquearmae.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngeliqueArmaeFans
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AArmae

Author bio:

Angelique Armae is a native New Yorker who’s as zany as the city she grew up in. As a child her favorite toy was Emerald The Witch, a small doll with green eyes, green hair and purple skin.

Miss Armae is published with Diversion Books and ImaJinn Books.  Her books have garnered numerous awards and nominations, including the Sapphire Award, P.E.A.R.L. Award and Word Weaving Award. Angelique’s first novel, COME THE NIGHT, made Fictionwise’s Best of the Best list, rounding out the top five best selling dark fantasy books of the year.  Her current book SHADOWS OF THE SOUL, a novel about angels, demons, vampires and the humans who interact with them, made Amazon’s Kindle Bestsellers list.

Aside from writing, Angelique also dabbles in digital art. She is the recipient and two time nominee of the Dream Realm Award for best cover art.

When not working, Ms. Armae enjoys traveling, learning about the ancient Celts, exploring history and learning new languages. Angelique studied history and French literature at SkidmoreCollege.