Review – Riding On Instinct Jaci Burton

I was extremely fortunate to have received an ARC of Riding On Instinct by Jaci Burton. Riding on Instinct is the third book in her Wild Riders series that will release on April 7, 2009. In the first two books of the series Riding Wild and Riding Temptation readers were taken on thrilling adventures, breathtaking suspense, and blazing hot sex scenes. Riding On Instinct does not let readers down.

Riding On Instinct features Spencer (Spence) King and Shadoe Grayson, an agent for the Department of Justice. Spence is one of the Wild Riders a secretive government agency of bad boy bikes. Shadoe Grayson is a rookie with the Department of Justice and on her first assignment. To pose as a stripper in one of New Orleans hottest strip clubs with Spence posing as her body guard/boy friend to identify a corrupt DEA agent as well as the connection to the strip club.

Spence is the perfect bad boy hero he’s only dated women such as strippers who know he’s not into relationships. However once in meets Shadoe his walls start to crack and he doesn’t want to admit. As their undercover assignment continues and Spence and Shadoe grow closer, Spence does what any perfect bad boy hero would do. He gets grumpy, irritable, possessive one minute and aloof the next.

Shadoe has her own issues to overcome in that she wants to do such a good job that she will finally get recognition from her father, who thinks because she’s a girl she’s weaker and can’t the job a man could do. She also pretends that what she’s feeling for Spence is just in the moment, that once the case is over they can go their separate ways. Shadoe had a streak of sassiness in her that left poor Spence shaking his head and on his knees.

Riding on Instinct is my favorite and I believe her best book in the Wild Riders series. It delivers on all fronts – suspense, mystery, and intrigue. I lost sleep while reading this book I just could not bring myself to put it down. I hope this series continues because I only see this series getting stronger.

Department of Justice agent Shadoe Grayson is out to prove she’s no rookie, and eagerly accepts her first undercover assignment at a strip club in New Orleans. Working with the Wild Riders, a government agency of bad boy bikers, her goal is to bring down a corrupt DEA agent. All she has to do now is learn to strip like a pro.

Standing in her way is the arrogant and smokin’ hot Spencer King, her partner and one of the Wild Riders. Spence thinks she looks more like a schoolteacher than a stripper, and doubts her ability to do the job. But when he mockingly challenges Shadoe to strip just for him, he finds out there’s more to the surprisingly sexy agent than by-the-book rules and Government Issue pantsuits.

Now Spencer has to resist his baser instincts while Shadoe learns that taking off your clothes doesn’t always equal losing control…

for an excerpt

Riding On Instinct

Jaci Burton

April 7, 2009

ISBN-13: 9780425226452

ISBN-10: 042522645X

Available for pre-order

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders | Books-A-Million

Please welcome Jory Strong

Hi Jory, Thank you for agreeing to be a guest on my blog.

Thanks for asking me!

Can you tell everyone a little bit about yourself?

I’m married. We live out in the middle of nowhere (3 miles to our nearest neighbor) in rough country complete with rattlesnakes, coyotes, and the occasional golden eagle. We’ve got dogs, cats, parrots, and horses.

How long have you been writing?

All my life, though sporadically until about fifteen years ago when I got serious about it.

What is your writing process like?

It varies with each book. I used to be a total pantster. Now I spend a lot of time in pre-planning before I actually start a story. I don’t plot all the way through unless I’m working on a shorter story, a “Quickie” or “Novella.” I have daily word counts I try to meet, though that’s flexible. As long as I make my weekly goal, I’m happy. On the best days, I’m finished writing by early afternoon. Other days I’m not, though I still try to break away to ride one of my horses then walk dogs, then return to the writing.

I’d like to say writing is pure joy and inspiration for me, but most of the time it’s not, it’s hard work. I grind along, fully enmeshed in the scene I’m writing and agonizing about getting it right. It’s slow going, and I wish I could write faster, but in the end, I’m always glad I “suffered” during the writing phase, because when I’m finished with the story, it’s very close to being ready to turn in. My editing phase is more about polishing and refining than rewriting/revision. Somewhere during this phase, everything comes together and I usually feel amazed at having produced such a story. And with that wonderful high, all the remembered agony fades from my mind and I can hardly wait to get started on the next project!

Can you tell us about your new release Ghostland?

Well, first I’d point out that Ghostland is a new direction for me. It’s a post-apocalyptic urban fantasy romance with erotic elements as opposed to my Ellora’s Cave titles which are all straight erotic romance.

In Ghostland, Aisling is forced to go to Oakland to perform a shaman’s service on behalf of an important man. In the course of doing it she summons Zurael, who she thinks is a demon (he’s actually a Djinn). He intends to kill her for calling and commanding him, but ends up needing to protect her instead as they both try to accomplish tasks they’ve agreed to undertake. There are powerful forces at work behind the scenes and larger goals, including the return of the Djinn and the reclaiming of Earth. Unknown to Aisling and Zurael, they are meant to play a part in preparing for the upcoming war between supernatural beings.

I was totally thrilled when Cindy Hwang, my Berkley editor asked me to write a Dear Reader letter for the Penguin Paranormal Special Interest web page. It’s up now at http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/specialinterests/paranormal/index.html.

This is your first release from a New York publisher, correct. Are you nervous?

Yes. It’s my first and I’m very nervous.

Do you have any other books coming out this year?

Spider-Touched, which is set in the same post-apocalyptic world as Ghostland releases August 4. The Fallon Mates book I’m just about to turn in will also come out this year.

What are you currently working on?

I’m finishing up a new book in my Fallon Mate series with EC. When it’s turned in, I’ll be moving to a third book for Berkley, also set in the world of Ghostland and Spider-Touched though this one will focus on shapeshifters, both those working in the brothels of the Oakland red zone and those who control wild territories beyond it. The hero is a jaguar shapeshifter, the heroine a gifted human healer.

Where do you get your ideas for your books?

Any more, most of them are character driven. A secondary character from one book pops up and demands his or her story be told. To which I say, “Okay, but what’s your story about? What question or reality does it explore? Or what answer does it reveal if it’s connected to an on-going plot arc from previous stories?”

As an author, you must be an avid reader. What books do you enjoy reading? Who are your auto-buy authors?

I read a wide range of fiction. Robert Crais, P.J. Tracy, J.D. Rob are auto-buys for me when it comes to mystery/suspense. Wen Spencer, Ilona Andrews and Michelle Sagara (Cast In series) when it comes to fantasy. Nalini Singh, Patricia Briggs when it comes to paranormal romance/urban fantasy. I also love Neil Gaiman, Carl Hiaasen, and Terry Pratchett.

What books are on your keeper shelf?

The books on my keeper shelves fall into two categories. The first is what I call comfort reads, books I go to when I don’t want to start something new or when I want to escape into a world I already know I love. The second type of books are the stories I want to reread and dissect in order to figure out why they are such great reads.

What was the first romance book you read?

I’m sure it was a Harlequin, one of the series books. My Aunt Hazel would go to the store the days they came out and buy all of them without even looking at the back covers.

If one of your books was made into a movie, which book would you like it to be and which actors would like to see as the lead characters?

Crime Tells: Lyric’s Cop, though I have no idea of who the leads should be. I’ll confess, I’m much more of a reader than a TV or movie watcher.

If you could switch lives with one of your characters who would if be & why?

Tough choice. I love Dante and Benito in Crime Tells: Calista’s Men, so being Calista would definitely be fun. But being Kiziah and having my very own vampire, like Fane, and sharing him with a guy like Cable in Carnival Tarot: Kiziah’s Reading would be great too. Of the two Berkley books I’ve written, I’d trade places with Aisling (and not just for Zurael). I’d love to be able to enter the spiritlands the way she can.

When you are not writing or reading, what do you enjoying doing in your spare time?

Riding my horses. Being outside, either doing a great imitation of a lizard lying in the sun 🙂 or walking with my dogs.

If you could ask readers anyone question, what would it be?

Of the books you’ve read in 2009, what genre dominates? And if it’s romance, is there one particular type you read more than any others? I’ll start this off by answering (very easy for me because I actually keep a list!) So far, it’s a three way tie between mystery, fantasy, and romance, with the urban fantasy tipping the scales to make “Fantasy” the winner if I throw them into that category instead of Romance.

For more information on Jory Strong and her books, please visit her website at http://www.jorystrong.com/

***Jory has graciously offered to give away a book – winner’s choice of any available download book or print book.***

Need some suggestions

Okay I have recently developed a love for demons they get me hot and bothered. Jaci Burton – Demon Hunters, Larissa Ione – Demonica Series, and Gena Showalter – Lords of The Underworld. So I’m looking for other authors & books who write about demon heroes along the same lines as these three authors.

If you haven’t been voting in the DABWAHA tournament please go and vote now. The current poll ends at 6 p.m. EST

Winner – Jennifer St. Giles post

Congratulations!

Everyone was assigned a number and the winner chosen via random.org is:

LUANN MORGAN

Please contact me at gw12cats03 @ verizon.net (no spaces) with your mailing address. Please include “Jennifer St. Giles book winner” in the subject line.

Jennifer St. Giles is visiting today

Jennifer, Thanks for agreeing to be a guest on my blog.

Thank you, too.

Can you tell everyone a little bit about yourself?

In a nutshell?  I live in the South, love warm temperatures, sandy beaches, and lazy days.  I’ve had a career as a Registered Nurse, I’ve homeschooled my three kids and always have a house full of the neighborhood kids who think I am the best cook around (LOL hungry boys that eat just about anything are easily deceived).  I love travel and art and reading.  And to cap it off, I am obsessed with writing.

How long have you been writing?

Well, I always say my biggest regret is that I didn’t stick with it when I was younger.  I started writing a historical at 25 in the mid-eighties when publishing a book was easier, life intruded and I didn’t finish.  Then I started a romantic suspense at 28 and the same thing happened.  At 34 I started and finished a 600 page suspense in three months and I haven’t stopped writing since.  I didn’t sell my first book until age 43.

What is your writing process like?

First a spark of an idea that captures my imagination.  It can come from any area of life,.  A song, an article, an event, a character, then the story and the characters begin to emerge in my mind and the story flows.  Then I begin writing it all on paper and it never comes out to be as good as I want it to be, but each story comes closer to my ideal of it.

Can you tell us about your latest release Kiss of Darkness?

Kiss of Darkness is the third book in my Shadowmen Series.  Its release date is March 31, 2009 and I am very excited about it.   In the first book, Touch a Dark Wolf, you meet the Shadowmen.  They are spiritual warriors for the good, who for various reasons are forced to stay on earth to battle the evil threatening the world through a corrupt medical corporation and powerful Vladarian Vampires.  And in some cases, if the Shadowmen have been poisoned by the damned they must battle the evil within themselves.  Their spirit warrior gifts enable them to be shapeshifters and when on earth they are subject to the primal pull of nature.  This turns the Blood Hunter Shadowmen into werewolves, and the Pyrathian Shadowmen into dragons.

Kiss of Darkness, Book three, advances this complex world a little further because one of the human’s helping the Shadowmen, Sheriff Sam Sheridan, was bitten by a Vladarian Vampire at the end of Lure of the Wolf, book 2 in the series.  Sam’s soul, infected by the evil, is now on the fast track to hell.  He’s in love with Emerald Linton who is part angel.  If she can’t save Sam then she will have to kill him, because vampires crave angel blood and sooner or later, Sam will come after her blood or her daughter’s.

Do you have any other books coming out this year?

Yes, Bride of the Wolf, Book four in the Shadowmen Series will be out April 28^th 2009.  Navarre, a blind and injured Shadowman and a mortal woman, heiress Marissa Vasquez, are kidnapped by a Vladarian Vampire.  Their escape and the subsequent battle that unfolds, changes the dynamic of the fight against evil in the mortal realm.

Also I have a short story in The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romances : Book 2, coming out this year.

What are you currently working on?

The short story for that book and several proposals in both the paranormal and romantic suspense genres.

Where do you get your ideas for your books?

From everywhere in the world around me.  Just as my friends, something will happen, someone will say something, I’ll hear a song, read an article, see a person and the spark is born.

As an author, you must be an avid reader. What books do you enjoy reading? Who are your auto-buy authors?

Yes, I read a lot and I read everything across genre lines.  Authors might be too many to name.  I love books where the characters come alive on the page.  Examples for me have been, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Johanna Lindsey, Jacquie D’Alessandro, Mary Stewart, Nora Roberts/JD Robb, Janye Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick, Suzanne Brockman, Karen Robards, Sandra Brown, JR Ward, Laura Adrian, Amy Fetzer, Barry Eisler, Harlan Coben, Lisa Gardner.  I could go on and on and I am sure I am forgetting someone very important.

What books are on your keeper shelf?

LOL, All of the above, plus Lone Survivor, Harry Potter Books, and So many more, I have shelves and shelves of books

What was the first romance book you read?

When I graduated from Nancy Drew and Trixie Beldon I went right to the big league.  I believe it was The Wolf and the Dove, by Kathleen Woodiwiss.

If one of your books was made into a movie, which book would you like it to be and which actors would like to see as the lead characters?

A hard question, but I think I would choose my first historical gothic. The Mistress of Trevelyan.  Gerard Butler in the role of the hero Benedict, dark, mysterious and oh so sexy .  For the heroine, Ann, I think Angelina Jolie, or Kate Winslette

If you could switch lives with one of your characters who would if be & why?

Another hard question.  I love all of my heroines.  They are smart women who meet and equal their men in and out of the bedroom.  So there are times that I would love to be each and every one of my heroines, especially when they empower themselves and take charge of life to make it what they want to be and don’t let circumstance weigh them down.  Oh and the moment they snag the hero’s attention all the way until they fulfill the promise of their love is pretty fantastic time to be one of my heroines, too.

When you are not writing or reading, what do you enjoying doing in your spare time?

I’m not sure there is such a thing as spare time in my life.  As I said before, I love travel, but can rarely go.  Starting in January 2009, I decided to indulge in a TV. show or two.  So now I am watching 24 for the first time and loving it. I may add another one.  I’ve heard Fringe is good.   I do like movies.  Loved Phantom of the Opera The Movie and PS I love you.  I like scrapbooking but don’t get around to it. Same with painting and needlepoint.  I love creating things.

If you could ask readers anyone question, what would it be?

LOL, would you take a chance on me and read one of my stories?

To find out more about Jennifer St. Giles and her books, please visit her website at: http://www.jenniferstgiles.com/.

***Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Kiss of Darkness. Winner will be chosen tomorrow.***

Review – Taking Care of Business by Megan Hart & Lauren Dane

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Taking Care of Business by Megan Hart and Lauren Dane. Taking Care of Business is one amazing book with two awesome stories by two amazing authors.

Individually Lauren Dane and Megan Hart have published several books in both print and e-published formats. Taking Care of Business is their first collaborative effort. I have read almost all of Lauren Dane’s books and she has never let me down. Megan Hart is a new to me author and I will definitely be buying her other books her in the near future.

Without revealing too much, the story follows two best friends Leah & Katherine to a conference at a hotel. Leah has just broken up with her boyfriend of nearly two years and is discovering who she is sexually. Brandon has no idea what hit him, except he knows it his job to please Leah. Katherine has been having an affair with one of her co-workers Dix, who has decided he wants Katherine and will stop as nothing. However, Katherine is unlike any woman he has dealt with in the past.

If Lauren and Megan had not publicized that Lauren wrote the story of Katherine and Dix and Megan wrote the story of Leah and Brandon, readers would have never known. The story flowed effortlessly and smoothly between both Katherine’s and Leah’s stories. I could not tell that there were two authors writing this book.

Taking Care of Business has everything I love in a contemporary erotic romance: hot, sensual and passionate love scenes, characters that I feel a connection to, tension, conflict and emotional angst that leaves me wishing for more.

Fortunately, we will be getting more. The writing team of Megan Hart & Lauren Dane continues with No Reservations, coming November 2009. By the way I do not want to wait for No Reservations I want the book now. 

One conference, two friends, two men who know how to take care of business.

Blurb: After leaving the wrong man, Leah Griffin’s not ready to look for the right one. All she wants is to survive the conference she’s planning and spend some time with her best friend Kate Edwards. She’s not expecting the conference services manager to be so tall, dark and handsome…or so eager to please. It’s Brandon Long’s job to make Leah happy, but after a scorching interlude in her hotel room, neither can deny business has become pleasure.

Smart, driven and successful attorney, Katherine Edwards has spent her life making the right choices. Directly counter to those right choices, she’s involved in a long distance, secret love affair with a co-worker. Charles Dixon is a bad choice she can’t help but make – over and over. A conference and a promotion bring Kate back to Pennsylvania and suddenly, Dix wants far more than a few nights in random hotel rooms. He wants something permanent and Katherine has to figure out if sometimes a wrong choice isn’t exactly what a woman needs.

to read an excerpt

Taking Care of Business

Megan Hart

Lauren Dane

March 31, 2009

ISBN-13: 9780352345028

ISBN-10: 0352345020

Available for pre-order at:

Amazon | Borders | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million

Welcome Myla Jackson

Myla, Thanks for agreeing to be a guest on my blog.

Can you tell everyone a little bit about yourself?

Hi! I’m Myla Jackson and I write sexy romances for Ellora’s Cave, Kensington Aphrodisia and Avon Red. I love writing for these companies because I get pretty much free-rein on what I write as long as it’s sexy!

How long have you been writing?

My sister, Delilah Devlin, and I began our writing journey at the turn of the century (2000). When we challenged each other to write a romance. Needless to say, it was a little harder than we originally thought. We combined our talents and co-authored five books before we felt sufficiently educated in how to produce a manuscript and branched out on our own.

What is your writing process like?

I like to start with an idea, a title or whatever sparks my interest. I might brainstorm with my sister if I need to flesh out the idea a little more. Then I lay out my characters and discover who they are and why they act the way they do. I list their goals and the conflicts that get in the way of them obtaining their goals. Then I sit down and start cranking out the pages!

Can you tell us about your latest release Naked Prey?

Coming March 25, 2009 from Ellora’s Cave!

After his release from captivity in a secret gene-alteration hospital, Former Special Forces soldier, Ramone Osceola, retreats to his home in the Big Cypress Swamp of Florida. It’s the only place he can get away from a society to which he no longer belongs. A society that wouldn’t understand him in the form of a black panther.

Dr. Hannah Smith escapes Hell Hospital to find the only man who can help save her daughter, one of the very men whose genes she altered. Will he help her despite what she did to him? Or will he seek revenge and kill her for changing his life forever? Together, they search for Hannah’s daughter and answers, and find them in a love that crosses the boundaries of man and beast.

Do you have any other books coming out this year?

These are all the books in the Altered States series from Ellora’s Cave:

Night Prowler by Layla Chase – available now

Beast Within by Betty Hanawa – available now

Naked Prey by Myla Jackson – Mar 25 (Today!)

Unleashing the Tiger by Delilah Devlin – Apr 24th

What are you currently working on?

I’m working on the next book in the City of Wolves series about my werewolves living in Memphis.

Where do you get your ideas for your books?

I get ideas from newspaper articles, television news, brainstorming with my sister and writer friends, a great title, an overheard conversation, an interesting place, a different spin on a current genre, a fairytale. Ideas are everywhere. You just have to be receptive them when they hit!

As an author, you must be an avid reader. What books do you enjoy reading? Who are your auto-buy authors?

I love anything by my sister, Delilah Devlin. She’s fabulous! Gena Showalter, Emma Holly, Cheyenne McCray.

What books are on your keeper shelf?

I don’t have enough room in my office to keep many books. Mostly research and writing craft books occupy the shelves in my office.

Do you read books other than romance books?

I read thrillers, paranormal, some sci-fi.

What was the first romance book you read?

Harlequin romances my mother brought home for me. I read so much I’d get headaches. It’s like an addiction. Can’t get enough!

If one of your books was made into a movie, which book would you like it to be and which actors would like to see as the lead characters?

I’d love to see the Trouble series made into a movie. They’re action adventure like the old Indiana Jones movies.

If you could switch lives with one of your characters who would if be & why?

I’d love to be one of the heroines from my Trouble series. Life as a tomb raider would be fun and exciting!

When you are not writing or reading, what do you enjoying doing in your spare time?

I love to travel when I get the chance. I admit I’m an American Idol fan. Sadly. I also love to walk and play with my two dogs.

If you could ask readers anyone question, what would it be?

What would you like to see more of from me? Which of my books made you want more?

You can find out more about Myla Jackson and her books at her website: http://www.mylajackson.com/

Winner – Cynthia Eden post

Congratulations!

Everyone who commented was assigned a number and the winner chosen through random.org was:

ANGELA!

Please contact me at gw12cats03 @ verizon.net (no spaces) with your mailing address so that we can get your book to you. Please include “Cynthia Eden book winner” in the subject line.

Connecting characters with Cynthia Eden

Connecting Characters

Hi, everyone!  Greta-thank you so much for having me over at your blog today. I am very happy to be here!

For my blog topic, I’m going to talk about connecting characters (and it is fun to connect them!).   My first two novel-length books for Kensington Brava contained connected storylines (and, of course, linked characters).  HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT and MIDNIGHT SINS are both part of my Midnight trilogy, and in these stories,  the characters from the two stories cross-over in the books. .  My monster doctor (from HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT) and her demon shifter lover are the secondary characters in MIDNIGHT SINS.  Hey, if there is a paranormal killer on the loose, the monster doctor won’t be far away! 

Sometimes, it is easy to connect characters-it’s particularly easy if you’re writing a series during a close timeframe and the characters all play important sub-roles in the stories. For example, in my Midnight trilogy, readers were introduced to the demon Niol in my first book. A dark, very dangerous guy-Niol appears again to tempt folks in MIDNIGHT SINS. His appearance links the books and sets up Niol for his own story, MIDNIGHT’S MASTER (a book due out in July of 09).

But other books…well, the character link isn’t as direct.  My next release is IMMORTAL DANGER, a paranormal novel that is set in the same “world” as my Midnight books, but this story focuses on different characters.  Characters who haven’t been in the Midnight books because these folks are far, far away from Atlanta.  In the case of IMMORTAL DANGER,  the link  is the world building. The paranormal rules that the characters must follow. Like the cast from my Midnight books, the hero and heroine of IMMORTAL DANGER live in a world full of shadows and death.  Magic is possible, death is likely, and if you’re weak, you’re expendable. 

My heroine, Maya Black, is a vampire. She’s strong, she’s tough, and she doesn’t take crap from anyone.  While Maya has never made an appearance in one of my novels, if you happened to read  my novella “Wicked Ways” in WHEN HE WAS BAD, then you’ve seen a snippet about Maya.  🙂  She was mentioned by another character in that story.  You see, Maya Black was the human cop turned vampire-the woman who now hunts her own kind. Actually, she hunts any kind that gets in her way. 

Was mentioning Maya in this novella deliberate?  Well, it was a small mention, but it was definitely intentional.  Because at that point, my vampires were generally very evil. Emotionless.  Perfect predators.  And since I am an equal opportunity paranormal woman, I wanted to let readers know that they wouldn’t just be getting one-dimensional evil vampires from me. There would be another vampire out there, and Maya, well, she’d be different.

So…there was a method to my madness! LOL.

Authors often include subtle character connections in books, and not-so-subtle (usually in trilogies) links, too. 

How do you feel about connected storylines?  Do you love ’em? Hate ’em? Why?

Greta, again, thank you for inviting me to your blog! And thanks for letting me chat about connecting characters!

Cynthia Eden

http://www.cynthiaeden.com/

IMMORTAL DANGER-03/31/09 from Kensington Brava

Believe in monsters. They believe in you. 

***Leave a comment one lucky commenter will win an autographed copy of IMMORTAL DANGER. Winner will be announced tomorrow.*** 

Winner – Pat White post

Congratulations!

Everyone who commented was assigned a number and the winner chosen via random. org was:

CINDY W

Please contact me at gw12cats03 @ verizon.net (without the spaces) with your mailing address – subject line “Pat White book winner” so I can get your information to Pat.