I have written a most unusual series, The Heiress Games. 3 books that all follow the same events, but each one tells the story from the point of view of different characters. Three women who are all competing for the family fortune. Each book in the series follows one of the couples. The third and final book in the series is out this month. THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS. Here’s the 411.

About the series…

Eccentric heiress, Victoria Armington, has died and left her vast fortune to her pet pig, Matilda. Now three Armington descendants have been chosen to compete for custody of the pig…and control of the money. Then there’s the lawyer in charge of overseeing the competition, and his two best friends, who arrive to make sure nothing goes wrong.

Heiress #3: Bailey Tenant – The Forgotten Heiress

Once upon a time, songwriter Bailey Tenant’s mother was cut off from the Armington family for daring to love the wrong person. Bailey doesn’t want anything to do with them now, but she has a mountain of medical debt, and without that fortune her grandchildren could still be paying it off. When Grammy-winning singer Jackson Stone shows up to escort her to Palm Cove, she agrees to compete. She just never expected the most dangerous aspect of the competition would be losing her heart to Jackson.

Jackson Stone lost the love of his life in a fiery plane crash and then he lost the music. He has to find a way to reawaken the muse, and helping his friend oversee The Heiress Games might work. Soon, Bailey Tenant is reviving his buried heart and tempting him to see forever again. Bailey and Jackson have both vowed to avoid love, but sometimes there’s no choice but to surrender to the promise of a fortune in love.

In the midst of it all, there’s a saboteur at work. Someone who might stop at nothing to make sure no one wins.

NOTE: Unlike the previous 2 books in the series, THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS finally reveals the winner of Armington fortune (and custody of Matilda the pig) and the identity of the saboteur.

Here’s an excerpt showing how Bailey & Jackson meet…it’s pretty great.

Chapter One

Jackson Stone watched in reluctant fascination as Marilyn Monroe slowly stripped right in front of him. The screen goddess reached up and removed her platinum-blonde wig, revealing a skullcap underneath. He found himself holding his breath as her arm rose again, this time to pluck the cap off her head. A few strategic bobby pins later and a mass of ginger-colored curls spilled across her creamy-white shoulders. It was like watching a curtain of cinnamon rain down on a frothy cappuccino.

Raining cinnamon? 

Where had that come from? He must be out of his mind.

The striptease continued as Marilyn reached under the hem of her iconic white dress. Jackson caught a glimpse of a shapely thigh as she flicked a fastener and began rolling a silk stocking down her leg.

Old-fashioned garters…

He shifted on the couch as a part of him that had mostly been dead for the last year stirred to life. Heat washed over him as a savage want surged through his veins.

Two days ago Jackson’s best friend, Cameron Reed, had asked for a favor. A high-priced lawyer with a large estate to probate, Cam needed help looking after three women who were possible heiresses to an immense fortune. Jackson didn’t know the whole story about the will. He did know there was some kind of competition…and a pig was involved…somehow.

Jackson had been cursing his friend for sending him on this fool’s mission ever since he left Miami, but now he didn’t know whether to be grateful…or run like hell. He hadn’t traveled to the outskirts of New Orleans expecting to take part in a peep show. Then again, he hadn’t expected to find a fake, long-dead actress taking off her clothes, either.

He should alert her to his presence.

Yeah…absolutely, positively should do that.

Then she raised both arms to her chest and Jackson forgot all about being a gentleman. Except, instead of untying the top, she reached inside and removed what looked like two huge, raw chicken breasts.

Jackson’s startled laughter filled the room.

Buy Links: 

https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Heiress-Games-Book-Tales-ebook/dp/B07BJMZVP8/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-forgotten-heiress/id1339788041?ls=1&mt=11

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-forgotten-heiress-the-heiress-games-book-3-kristin-wallace/1127882310

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-forgotten-heiress-2

You can also catch up on the Don’t forget to go back and read the first two books: LEAST LIKELY HEIRESS (Book 1 – Eve & Cam’s story); and NOT QUITE AN HEIRESS (Book 2 – Abby & Killian’s story).

About the Author

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of inspirational and contemporary romance, and women’s fiction filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. She is the author of two other best-selling series, Shellwater Key Tales (sweet contemporary romance) and Covington Falls Chronicles (inspirational romance).

UPDATE: The winner of is…Janelle Beaver! 
*~*~*

I think all writers are inherently curious people, ones who love figuring out all the different ways to answer a simple question that starts off, “Hey, what if…”

An example of that in my own writing career stems from a lifelong interest of mine. Although I was an English major in college, I’ve always found geology fascinating.

I grew up in Missouri and live in the Pacific Northwest, both of which have interesting geological features and forces at work. Missouri is famous for its caves while Seattle has its Underground, leftover from when the city was rebuilt after a fire in the late1880s.

Both states also have fault lines that sometimes shiver and shake, making life interesting. Those same fault lines gave rise to the volcanoes scattered along the western side of North America. There are five in Washington State alone.

About ten years ago, I got to thinking about the geology I found so interesting and how I could incorporate it into a paranormal romance. Answering that particular “Hey, what if?” gave rise to my Paladin series. I decided there was an energy barrier that separated our world from another one. That barrier collapsed whenever an earthquake or a volcano decided to act up. If that happened, the people from the other world would come streaming across in a murderous rage. The Paladins are the warriors who stand the line to defend against the invasion. Their headquarters are located in the caves in Missouri and in the Seattle Underground.

Just to make it more interesting, the Paladins have some very special abilities. They’re stronger and have more highly developed senses than normal humans. They heal faster and can even come back from death—but only some many times. And where did they get these gifts? From those very same aliens they’ve been fighting for centuries.

The Paladins have a lot of the characteristics I love in a paranormal hero. They’re bigger than life, have secrets they must protect, and a willingness to sacrifice themselves to save everyone else. I always say the women who love them have to find some way to convince them that it’s just as important that these guys be willing to live for the people they love as they are to die for them.

What other characteristics do you look for in a great romantic hero? Do you prefer a three-piece suit, jeans and a T-shirt, or a uniform?

Leave a comment for a chance to win an Amazon gift card.

Alexis Morgan

In Darkness Transformed

The USA TODAY bestselling author of the Paladin series returns with this sexy, original title featuring a man discovering the paranormal world of the paladins.

Dying hurts…but not as much as living.

Eli is lucky to survive the helicopter crash that killed the rest of the passengers. But when he notices his wounds healing before his eyes, it seems like his survival may have come from more than luck.

Safara knows what Eli does not—Eli is a paladin, a mortal enemy of someone like Safara, someone from Kalithia.

Still, after Eli saves Safara’s life, and Safara introduces Eli to a whole new world, they just can’t seem to treat each as enemies.

Get your copy here!
Amz: a.co/4UvqCQC | BN: bit.ly/2DGOmWC | iB: apple.co/2n42b7g | Kobo: bit.ly/2DGEiwI

About the Author

USA Today Best-selling author Alexis Morgan has always loved reading and now spends her days imagining worlds filled with strong alpha heroes and gutsy heroines. She is the author of over forty-five novels, novellas, and short stories that span a variety of genres: American West historicals; paranormal romances, fantasy romances, and contemporary romances. She is excited to say that next year will see the release of her first cozy mysteries series.

Thank you, Delilah, for letting me contribute to your blog.

I am Anna, and I am a writer. I write all the time and am published in non-fiction – not in what I want to write. I love to write romance, with a Happy Ever After (HEA), a good handsome hero, a smart heroine, and an entertaining villain who gets his/her comeuppance.

Not having a published romance – not yet I mean – does not stop me because, quite frankly, I am a writer – a romance writer. Whether I am tired or dealing with the kids, or even if I am simply not in the mood to write… I am still writing. A story will come at me no matter what I am doing. I am currently editing two books, with another five calling loudly for my for attention.

I joined Romance Writers of America because I wanted to be a better writer, and I have become one through practice, exercises, seminars, my chapter’s group writing meetings, and courses like those taught by Delilah. I study writing, grammar, plot lines – even the “eight-scene three-act plan”. Amazingly, I am able to take so much of what I have learned trying to improve my romance writing, and apply it to my non-fiction writing, also known as my “day job”.

Increasing my writing skills allow me to proofread proposals, editing them to achieve a sharp, interesting offer – and it is hard to make a database procedure attention-getting. Our job interviews have an “all hope is lost” dark moment section, with a redeemer explaining how we will work together to solve a candidate’s weakness, alluding to, “You should work for us.”

Using what I have learned from writing instructors, we now have Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that are clear, very easy to follow, and keep employees interested. Having been forced to use dull SOPs in the past, I take pride that my writing helps others, even though I wish I were writing my romances.

My “day job” allows me to watch and interact with people, observing their actions and interactions. Using what is probably too much of an analytical view, I will look at the people in a room and try to do a quick demographic outline, then compare that to my city’s statistics. I also make notes to include what a location really looks like, and how hard it is to both get there and park. I use these observations to build interesting characters, and the location descriptions to help move the story forward.

Another thing I have developed from learning to write fiction, is the “what ifs” of people and situations. Writing “what ifs” helps us develop questions that shake up the interviewee and get them speaking. Developers and programmers can be very factual, and tend to use “yes and no” answers, when I want to hear about their passions. “What ifs” have become a standard interview tactic that has resulted in our company hiring the best “fit” from the candidate pool. On a side note, I helped write one of our engineer’s engagement speech; it was super romantic and his fiancé loved it, but it was, alas, more non-fiction.

I am fortunate to work with people who will indulge my quick “mind breaks”, where I look at someone and see a romance, or as I love romantic suspense, how they could die. An example of this is if a candidate lies on their resume, falsely claiming to be qualified for a position, and manages to get an interview, know this: At least one person in the interview wants to kill them for wasting our time. They, the “Resume Fluffer”, is going to fictionally be electrocuted when a pick-up truck bumps a power line and the explosion causes a bus to roll over their time-killing body. Since I write romance, the man they’ve been seeing will meet his HEA, and they live off of the insurance the Resume Fluffer forgot to cancel. I love happy endings. 🙂

I need to go back to work and write something new. Please know that no matter how many hours I work per day, even mostly writing non-fiction, I will write at least a little romance. One day, I will say, “Yes, I have three romance books out.” For now, I’ll continue to take courses, like those taught by Delilah Devlin, and use all I have learned – because I am a romance writer.

Readers, I hope you have lots of books on your To-Be-Read list this summer. What’s better than a book poolside, or on the beach, or even in the early morning with a good cup of coffee before the rest of the family gets up? Even in summer, though (or maybe especially in summer), time is at a premium, and that’s why I thought it would be the perfect time to put out a collection of short stories. Small Town Tease releases on all retailers in both ebook and print later this month, and I’m super excited to share the cover today. Want a peek at what’s inside?

A small town bad boy and a city girl in town for a wedding…

A teacher who’s sworn never to date a co-worker…

A high school playboy and a choir girl dreaming of her first kiss…

A stranded motorist and the hunk who stops to help her…

Enjoy all these and more in this collection of romantic short stories. From sweet to steamy, from first love to rediscovered love to heart-pounding lust. These stand-alone stories all provide the perfect happy-ever-after you’re craving. Read one in a few minutes to fill your need, or settle in and read all eight! Bonus: includes teasers to new works and never-before-seen extra scenes from my full-length novels.

Make sure you’re following me on social media or sign up for my newsletter to know when Small Town Tease is available—and to nab it at the release-week sale price before it goes up to regular retail pricing.

Happy summer and happy reading, everyone!

Allie’s Website
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I love time travel. It’s one of my favorite story concepts. The idea of going back in time and seeing some part of history is fascinating to me.  Imagine hearing Lincoln give the Gettysburg address or watching the Wright Brothers fly the first airplane.  There are so many events in the past that changed the course of history and so many interesting people.  But the past is also filled with a lot of horrors and difficulties. Popping in for a short visit would be one thing, but having to survive in the past while trying to get home is quite another.

This is the concept I explored in my first book in the Love through Time series, A Second Chance.  Journalist Jessica Winters finds herself in a small mining town in 1876 and has to survive while trying to find a way home.  She meets Captain Harlan Jefferson Baylor, a Civil War confederate cavalry officer and they fall in love, but she’s forced to return to her own time to save their unborn child.  In the second book of the series, A New Beginning, I explored the opposite concept, going forward in time.

When someone from the future ends up in the past, they at least have some knowledge or point of reference to work with.  Even if you slept through most of you history classes in school, you’d still have some sort of an idea what ancient Rome was like, or the Middle Ages, or the American wild west.  But if you traveled over 150 years into the future, especially if you were born at the time of the Civil War, you’d have no point of reference point at all.  How would you react to seeing your first car, or a helicopter, or an airplane?  How would you survive in the world of modern technology with no concept of a cell phone, television, a computer, or a radio? All the things we use every day and take for granted would appear as terrifying magic to someone from the distant past.  The other part of the problem is all the social changes.  Our language has evolved over the last 150 years, what is acceptable behavior and what is not has changed, not to mention the difference in clothing and hairstyles.

The future is a scary place, and personally I’d rather take the slow road to get there.

If you could time travel, where would you want to go?

A New Beginning

How do you pack for a trip through time?

Mai Ling’s legs tremble as she steps out into the unknown. But step she must. One group of miners in a rough nineteenth century town is out for blood, including hers. Carrying her few possessions and her family’s precious secret, Mai Ling leaves her mother and the world she knows to venture into a new century. Her escort is Captain Harlan Jefferson Baylor, who is joining his wife and his unborn child in the 21st century. They step through a crack in time, not knowing what they will find. Will Harley be able to reunite with Jessica, even though he has no idea of how to drive a car or use a telephone? Will Mai Ling survive in this strange time and find the love that has eluded her so far?

The answers are in A NEW BEGINNING, book two in the Love through Time series.  Coming June 28^th.

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Augustina Van Hoven’s Social Media Links

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A year ago, Bravo Team WOLF faced the challenge of discovery when Corporal Kaitlyn Amador was assigned to their unit. The wolves serving as a special unit of Force Recon Marines come from different packs as part of a negotiated agreement between the U.S. packs and the U.S. government. Bravo Team WOLF serves their country and the packs maintain their autonomy and secrecy. Kaitlyn’s presence threatens that agreement, but Captain Jax Raymond’s interest in her is an even greater threat to his peace of mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwSKMCe5NP0

Now, Sergeant Carlos “Cage” Castillo faces a new challenge when he leads a small contingent of the team to rescue a kidnapped child in Costa Rica. It’s just another day at the office until he accidentally bites aid worker Bianca Devlin who invested herself in saving the kid, too.

What happens in the jungle doesn’t stay there, and now Cage must stick close to Bianca in case his bite turns her—falling in love wasn’t in the mission statement, nor was turning her life upside down.

Wolves

When you’re writing wolves you know a lot about the characters before you start:

1. They’re loyal.
2. They’re tough.
3. They want to protect.
4. They are fierce and passionate.
5. Dominance games aren’t always played through physical action

These wolves come from different packs, different backgrounds—so much, that while they have a lot in common, they have different socio-cultures that come into play. Serving together, however, has also given them bonds of brotherhood. Immersing myself in that world is always a thrill.

Marines

These guys will go the distance to serve their country, their packs, and each other. What makes them a team is their loyalty, toughness, fierce protectiveness and their innate desire to serve. It also gives the term hard-headed a whole new meaning. Every single one of them volunteered. They train together. They work together. And they balance their differences with a common goal—getting the job done.

Cage kicks this book off with a lot to prove—to himself. Bianca is a woman who grew up in the service of others, and she thrives on saving people. Sure, they seem like a match made in wolf heaven, but what if being a wolf isn’t what she wants? And what if all the secrets Cage is keeping costs him more than he knew he could want?

All of this and more comes into play in Bitten Under Fire, releasing on May 28. May is Military Appreciation Month, and Monday the 28^this Memorial Day. While Bravo Team WOLF is a work of fiction, it’s also a love story to those who serve in all walks of life.

Contest

In honor of all of these, I’m giving away an e-copy of When Danger Bites, book 1 of Bravo Team WOLF. Just tell me what your favorite part of wolf or military stories are…what do love about these kind of heroes?  C’mon, take a walk on the wolf side and discover Bravo Team WOLF today!

Here’s a sneak peek at Bitten Under Fire:

Cage gave up on even the pretense of sleep and rolled out of the too-soft bed at four a.m. His body clock, still tuned to East Coast time and training, told him he should be out with the team. He could be on a run with the guys, alternating their training between wolf and human forms. Hell, if he timed it right, he could be out in the hill country and running free for the sheer joy of it. Instead, he stood in a dark bedroom, on a hilly suburban street near Austin, staring broodingly at the house across the street.

Bracing one hand against the window edge, he debated the next step. Spending time with Bianca was not a hardship; in fact, he’d half forgotten his purpose over dinner the night before. Watching her eat the ice cream aroused him and left him lusting hard. So much so, he’d been sure his erection would have a permanent zipper imprint.

His wolf didn’t help, not one bit. In fact, the beast settled in her presence and wanted to take root. The animal hated leaving. Between her tantalizing scent and absent-minded licking of her lips, Cage had to admit he found it difficult to bid her good night and walk out her front door.

Once outside, he’d noticed her windows were still open, upstairs and down. She hadn’t turned on any external lights, and he was pretty sure if he navigated his way over the back wall and leapt onto the deck, he’d find her French doors still wide open.

They’d eaten on her deck. She seemed more comfortable outdoors than in. He could get inside, maybe even steal a kiss before telling her to lock up for her own safety.

I’m not here to seduce her.Having to repeat the mantra after a sleepless night didn’t improve his mood. Bianca had accepted his reasoning for being across the street, but her suspicions filled him with pride. She wasn’t the type to just take a story at face value. Then again, he hadn’t been 100 percent honest with her.

There was no easy way to say, “I might have just changed your life forever…by the way, how do you feel about becoming an animal?” The wolf didn’t give a damn about Cage’s reasons for why they were there. The wolf liked Bianca, enjoyed her scent, and her husky voice. So do I.

Movement by her front door attracted his attention, and he let the wolf peek out. The shift of his eyes was a controlled move, and it allowed his night vision to expand. Bianca exited her place wearing a pair of denim shorts with frayed hems, an open button-down shirt over a tank top, and her feet were encased in pair of sneakers. She paused to lock the door, a bit of a struggle with her splinted wrist.

Hair swept back into a ponytail, she looked fresh and bright—if one discounted the bruise on her cheek or the scrapes visible on her forearms and long legs. Where the hell was she going at four in the morning?

Leaving, she moved slowly and deliberately down the steps, favoring her right leg. Her feet had been scratched, bruised, and damaged. Even last evening when she sat on her deck, bare feet stretched out to rest on the rail, he’d seen the angry marks on them.

As she reached the sidewalk, she paused, hands on her hips, and looked left then right. Her gaze swept back and forth, and it was then he realized her lips were moving. Even with his superior night vision, he couldn’t read what she said. Finally, she turned toward the uphill rise on her right and began walking.

At four in the morning.

In a city she didn’t know.

In a neighborhood she’d just moved to.

Cage growled then hurried to throw on shorts, a T-shirt, and running shoes. In less than three minutes, he’d dressed, descended the stairs, and let himself out of the front. Jogging, he followed her scent easily. Even at her limping walk, she’d made it to the end of the block and continued around the curve.

He’d almost caught up to her when it occurred to him that running at her in the dark might not be the wisest course. Slowing, he opened his mouth to warn her he was there, when she spun and slammed a taser into his side. The voltage sent a cascade through his nervous system. One minute he was standing, the next he lay on the ground staring at her dumbly.

“Oh, shit!” Bianca cursed, then turned off the flickering taser. Kneeling, she grimaced and touched his arm. “Are you okay?”

“No,” he said, slowly, not sure he trusted his voice. His wolf felt as stunned as he was. The shocks rioting along his nerve endings zapped him in lessening increments. Tingles spread throughout his limbs. His tongue seemed permanently rooted to the roof of his mouth. “No.”

The weight of her hand on his arm riveted him, helping to ground out the solid scrambling she’d sent through his system. Wolves were hardy beings, and they could take a solid beating. Most minor injuries they could heal in a short time. More serious wounds—bullet wounds, knife stabs, even claw rips—they could heal by shifting.

Electricity ripping through them? That hurt on multiple levels, and not even a wolf could recover from the stunning effect swiftly. Maybe it had something to do with the disconnect he felt with his wolf right now. The animal seemed dazed and distant.

“Cage?”

He’d almost forgotten Bianca was there; her fingers traced over his arm.

“I’m really sorry, I just heard someone coming at me, and it’s dark and…”

And she took his ass out with a taser.

Who Heather Long?

USA Today 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.

Heather is best known for her 18-book paranormal romance series Wolves of Willow Bend, which begins:

Prequel: Wolf at Law
1: Wolf Bite
2: Caged Wolf
3: Wolf Claim
3.5: Wolf Next Door
4: Rogue Wolf
5: Bayou Wolf
6: Untamed Wolf

Heather’s other fantasy romance series include the paranormal westerns Fevered Hearts starting with Marshal of Hel Dorado, Black Hill Wolves which start with What a Wolf Wants, Witches of Mane Street, Mongrels, and the forthcoming Bravo Team WOLF series.

Her contemporary romance series include: Always a Marine, Going Royal, Elite Warriors, The Love Thieves, beginning with Catch Me and Lone Star Leathernecks, beginning with Semper Fi Cowboy.

Heather is well-represented in fantasy wither her superhero series Boomers, a sci-fi western called Space Cowboy Survival Guide, an urban fantasy series called the Chance Monroe Adventures, and a stand-alone ghost novel titled Haunt Me.

Contact Details:

Website: http://www.heatherlong.net
Email:heather@heatherlong.net
Bookbub:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/heather-long
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Heather-Long/e/B002BMBCUC/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HeatherLongAuthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/HVLong
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