St Swithun's day by Michelle Styles

Today, 15 July is St Swithun's Day. It is best known for predicting British Summer weather. A bit like Groundhog day. If it is fair on St Swithun's day, Britian is generally set for 40 days of sunshine. If it rains, we get 40 days of rain.
There is some truth to rumour as about this time, the weather pattern over Britain does seem to get stuck. And if it pours on 15 July, the rest of the summer is likely to be soggy.
It is beautiful sunshine at the moment (a rarity) and I am hopeful for the first truly pleasant summer Northumberland has had since 2006. We had a horribly cold spring and so fingers crossed.
Certainly it has been roasting for the last few days.
So who was St Swithun?
He was bishop of Winchester from about 852 - 862 which is just at the start of the Dane law. It should come as no surprise then, he is also venerated in Norway but for some reason has a saint's day of 2 July (the supposed date of his death). On his death bed, he asked to be buried outside so the rain could fall on his body.He is supposed to be the patron saint of rain (ie a saint you pray when it is a drought).
But basically he is remembered today because of the proverb. I suspect it also says a lot about the rainy British summer. (I grew up in  California where it rarely rains in the summertime...) It is just one bit of lore that has always intrigued me and as today is 15 July, I thought I'd share it as I like factiods.

I have put an excerpt for my next book --Paying the Viking's Price which takes place in Northumbria at few years after St Swithun's death up on my website.  The blurb reads:
ORDERED TO THE VIKING'S BED!

Feared warrior Brand Bjornson has finally got what he's striven for—lands of his own, granted to him by his king. But his new estate, Breckon, holds more than a few surprises—not least the intriguingly beautiful Edith, former Lady of Breckon.

Proud Edith refuses to abandon her lands to the mercy of Viking invaders, and impressed by her courage, Brand agrees she can stay. He has one condition—that she should become his concubine!

You can read the extract here

May your summer be fair with few showers or thumderstorms (unless of course you in a drought in which case may St Swithun intervene on your behalf!)

Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romance for Harlequin Historical. Her next book Paying the Viking's Price will be published in November 2013.

Steamed: A Maid in LA Mystery

Steamed: A Maid in LA Mystery

I've written more than 50 romances for Harlequin, Avalon and now Montlake Romance.  I've written straight up comedies, light humor and heavy emotional stories.  And this month, I've written something that's not quite any of those things.

Steamed isn't really a romance.  It isn't really a mystery.  It's Quincy Mac's story.  Who is Quincy?  She's a mother first and foremost.  She came to LA from Erie, PA (where else? LOL) with dreams of fortune and fame.  Instead she got married and had three sons, all one year apart.  Then she got divorced and she started a cleaning service with her best friend, Tiny.  Yes, being a maid might not be as glamorous as an award winning actress, but Quincy's built a wonderful life.  

Until... (Come on, you know there had to be an until!)
 the day she accidentally cleans a murder scene and a particularly hunky cop questions her.  Now, most people, even if they accidentally cleaned not only the murder scene, but the murder weapon, would sit back and let the cops figure out who the real murderer is.  But not Quincy. You see, she has an uncle who was wrongly accused of a crime and he spent two years in jail before the cops figured out he was innocent.

Quincy can't go to jail.  She has three boys to raise. She's going to be maid-of-honor in her best friend's wedding. And she's absolutely sure she's not someone who's meant to have a tattoo.  

So, she's on the scene.

I'm fortunate...I tend to sell a book, then write it.  But Quincy's story I wrote just for me, because the idea nagged at me.  I wrote her story on weekends around other contract and I'm thrilled to finally send her out in the world.  And I'm thrilled that the first reviews have been so good.  I hope you'll check out her story!  It's available on Amazon right now, and will hopefully be out sometime soon on other eBook platforms!

Holly

Witches, demons and vampires, oh my! THE ENTITY WITHIN by Cat Devon

When I first started writing THE ENTITY WITHIN, I knew that the heroine, Zoe Adams, was a witch.  I also knew the hero, Damon Thornheart, would be a vampire Demon Hunter who had recently come to Vamptown to take on the job of Head of Security.

 I realize that vampires and witches do not get along under normal circumstances. In the case of Zoe and Damon, the conflict is even more intense.  Damon hates witches.  One betrayed him with very bad results.  Zoe knows from the opening of the book that Damon is a vampire, just as he knows she is a witch.  But before she arrived in Vamptown, she had no idea that they would be moving to the center of a vampire enclave.  She knew nothing of Vamptown. She thought she and her grandmother were coming to a nice quiet Chicago neighborhood to stay at a friend’s empty rental house.  Her grandmother had left out any reference to the vampire thing.

The relationship between Zoe and Damon really goes downhill when Zoe and her grandmother accidentally unleash demons by opening a mysterious spellbook.   In order to save Vamptown, Zoe has to work with Damon and he with her or all will be lost.

I must say that I really loved writing this story.  The dialogue between the hero and heroine is fast-paced, funny, and intense.  But the big surprise was Bella the cat.  Zoe’s cat.  The role of Bella was inspired by my own cat also named Bella. She demanded to be in the book and so she is, with plenty of attitude.

Yes, I am a cat person.  How about you?  Are you a cat or a dog person? Or both?

Cat Devon is the author of SLEEPING WITH THE ENTITY and THE ENTITY WITHIN. Both books are available now. Next up is the enovella THE ENTITY WHO CAME FOR CHRISTMAS (Oct 15) and LOVE YOUR ENTITY (Dec. 31). For more info please visit her website www.catdevon.com or Like her Facebook page www.facebook.com/catdevonauthor or follow her on Twitter @catdevonauthor.

Addison Fox: For The Fun Of It

As a writer of fiction, I often I end up in conversations with people about what they read. I find that most of the time, people fall into one of two camps: Those who read for pleasure and those who read to be educated/enlightened.

Before we go any further, I want to say that I could care less WHY someone reads – I love the fact that they do. Studies abound on how healthy reading is for the brain and how much reading enhances lives. Whether it’s a book or an encyclopedia, a magazine or a comic book, time spent with words and thoughts and language is time well-spent.

But the reason I bring up the two groups is more to make a broader point about entertainment. I’m tickled by how often a conversation about fiction can evolve into a broader conversation about entertainment.  And how often do we hear people make excuses for their entertainment choices.

From favorite TV shows to the latest thriller that has its intrepid hero on yet another death-defying adventure to an evening spent listening to pop music, too often we seem to feel we need to apologize for it.

I bring this up because I’ve recently been thinking about entertainment well beyond books and as a broader thought. I went to a Barry Manilow concert a few weeks ago. Aside from the fact that I’ve been a life-long Barry fan, the show meant something to me on a deeper level. The friend who organized the evening has been on an 18-month stretch of personal hell with the loss of both her parents. While I know time may eventually heal, I’ve also watched my fun, vibrant, warm friend live through more pain in a concentrated time than anyone should have to.

Yet as we sat there in the arena, screaming our heads off and singing to every song we knew, I saw smiles and happiness and for two hours, freedom from her pain.

In those two hours, I saw a small measure of joy return to someone who’s had far too little of it for far too long.

Barry gave that to her. His talent and his songs he’s likely sung hundreds of thousands of times and his ability to entertain a crowd for a few hours. His gift of creating entertaining moments meant something to my friend, to me and to every person sitting in that arena.

So let’s not be too hasty in thinking our time spent with entertainment is meaningless. Or frivolous. Or wasted. Of course we need to be productive in our productive hours of the day, but in the hours that are our own? I saw take those and enjoy them however makes you happy.

So what about you? Where do you fall on the entertainment spectrum? And how do you relax at the end of a hard day or when the weekend rolls around.

~~~~~~~~~~

Despite early ambitions of being a diver, a drummer or a doctor, Addison Fox happily discovered she was more suited to life as a writer. She lives in Dallas and - thankfully - doesn't have to operate on anyone. You can find her at her home on the web at www.addisonfox.com. Her latest book, THE PARIS ASSIGNMENT, is out now from Harlequin Romantic Suspense.

You can visit her at her website at www.addisonfox.com or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/addisonfoxauthor or on Twitter: www.twitter.com/addisonfox

Taking a Rosy View of Things!

by Anna Campbell

I have a new release this month. Hooray!

So I thought I'd celebrate with a GIVEAWAY here!

DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES is being billed as Sons of Sin 1.5 (love that!). It's an e-novella featuring Lydia, the Duke of Sedgemoor's younger sister, and her childhood sweetheart Simon.

Even better, it's available at all the usual suspects like Amazon and Barnes and Noble for the BARGAIN price of 99 cents!

By the way, don't you just adore that cover? 

Here's the blurb:

Lady Lydia Rothermere has spent the past decade trying to make up for a single, youthful moment of passion. Now the image of propriety, Lydia knows her future rests on never straying outside society's rigid rules; but hiding away the desire that runs through her is harder than she could have ever dreamed. Now as Lydia prepares for a marriage that will suit her family, but not her heart, Lydia must decide what's more important: propriety or passion?

Simon Metcalf is a rake and adventurer. But for all his experience, nothing can compare to the kiss he stole from the captivating Lydia Rothermere ten years ago. Simon can scarcely believe he's about to lose the one woman he's never forgotten. The attraction between them is irresistible, yet Lydia refuses to forsake her engagement. With his heart on the line, will Simon prove that love is a risk worth taking?

You can read an excerpt here: http://annacampbell.info/daysofrakes.html

The events in the novella take place before those in SEVEN NIGHTS IN A ROGUE'S BED (Sons of Sin 1) so Jonas is still in curmudgeon mode and Sidonie hasn't yet appeared in the characters' lives. But we get to see quite a bit of Sir Richard Harmsworth, the hero of Sons of Sin 2, A RAKE'S MIDNIGHT KISS, which is out on 27th August. And we get to see even more of Camden Rothermere, the Duke of Sedgemoor, a man who is the subject of my current writerly crush.

Prior to writing DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES, I had only written one reunion story (my e-novella THE WINTER WIFE), although as a reader, I love them. There's something really life-affirming about giving two people a second chance when either fate or their own mistakes have separated them.

In Simon and Lydia's case, her ambitious father is to blame for breaking them up in the first place, but ten years apart and Lydia's recent engagement make for a stormy homecoming for our wandering rake. Scandal has shadowed the Rothermere family and Lydia has learned through bitter experience to toe the line - can she risk everything to follow her heart? And is the man she fell in love with so many years ago worthy of her trust? After so long apart, he should be merely a handsome stranger.

How does it work out for our two star-crossed lovers? You'll have to read the story to find out!

So are you a fan of reunion romances? Do you have a favorite? 

I've got a download of DAYS OF RAKES AND ROSES for one commenter today. If an international reader wins, for reasons of geographical restrictions, the prize is your choice from my indie novellas, THESE HAUNTED HEARTS or THE WINTER WIFE.

Family Reunion, part II : : Anne McAllister

Last month, if you were around, I wrote my blog entry from somewhere in Darkest Minnesota where we (ten adults, ten kids) were in the throes of our First Family Reunion.

If we survived, I promised I’d let you know how it went.

We survived. We even hope to do it again sometime.  There were real highlights:

kids learning to canoe and kayak and having the time of their lives

kids fishing and building sand castles and forts and moats

• one marathon game of chess between Grandpa (that’s my husband) and oldest granddaughter, in which both kings seemed to owe a lot to Henry VIII: they had multiple queens.  We never heard who won, but it went on and on and on.
• kids playing hundreds, literally, of games of Chinese Checkers – and we came home with all the marbles!
• our middle son, on his birthday, catching the biggest large-mouth bass he’d ever caught. It was gi-normous. Made his day.
• two birthdays, two cakes, lots of great meals
• good conversations around the campfire at night
• my daughter, the six-year veteran Girl Scout leader coming prepared for rainy days with all manner of crafty type stuff that all the kids got into
• an afternoon in the laundromat which was actually a nice break for just the two of us who went
• gorgeous sunsets
• a cell phone signal if you stood in the middle of the road and held your phone over your head
• an internet connection for about half an hour every morning – if you didn’t miss it
• the family all together in one photo – minus that one missing grandson
• everyone’s desire to do it again in three years – only probably in Montana next time
• We all went home with the right shoes – and there were no leftovers. Socks? Well, that’s a different story!
• our second youngest grandson, almost 4, on his way home across the endless North Dakota plains, staring out the truck window for hours and then saying wistfully to no one in particular, “I loved living next to my cousins.”  (We did, too, buddy. And we’ll do it again).

I didn’t get any writing done the whole week.  I barely got an email answered. I realize in retrospect how lucky I was to get that blog post uploaded during one of those tiny windows of connectivity.

There weren’t any real lowlights.  A good time was had by all.  If you haven’t done a family reunion, give it a try. We loved it. 

And if you have, tell me about yours. I’d love to hear about others’ experiences.

Kitty excitement - Kandy Shepherd

Two exciting events for me in the last month:

EXCITING EVENT No. 1

I joined the ranks of the Harlequin Romance authors, with my first book to be published by Harlequin Mills & Boon, UK, early next year. I am, needless to say, thrilled and looking forward to sharing the details of my new story over the next months.

Meet Alfie and Ivy, the cause of great excitement in our household!

EXCITING EVENT No. 2

The excitement of adopting two little rescue kitties took some of the pain of losing my beloved Ancient Albert, who died last month just short of his 22^nd birthday.

A few weeks after Albert died—and I was feeling utterly miserable—our vet called. “We’ve just found a litter of kittens living rough in a McDonald’s car-park—and they look very like Albert.”

It was love at first sight for my daughter and Alfie

We rushed across to the vet almost straight away. Some part of me was hesitant, thinking we should choose a new cat completely different to Albert and his beautiful sister, Kira, who we lost age 18.

Alfie is such a handsome little boy!

But when we saw the kitties, and their poor little mother who was just skin and bones from looking after her babies under such adverse conditions, we knew it was the right thing. We decided to take two, brother and sister, so they had company in the scary new world (of being utterly spoiled!) we were taking them to.

Ivy, age 11 weeks,  keeps me company as I write

Meet Alfie and Ivy (the very apt names chosen by my daughter) who came home with us a week after we saw them, age eight weeks. They were terrified of us, and spent most of the first week under the bed, treating us to ferocious kitty hissings that made us smile.

They soon took over the bed!

Three weeks on, they are getting friendlier and happier with us every day. Is there anything more amusing than kitten antics? I spend half the day laughing—and being distracted from writing. I particularly love it when they leap up in to the air from all four paws, as if they had springs in them, turn around in mid-air, and pounce.

Animals who have had a bad start to life, and who have perhaps had cruel treatment from humans, are a little more difficult to settle in than those born into loving environments. But when they trust us enough to snuggle and purr with us, we feel honored...

In case you don't like cats but do like chocolate, I thought I'd share this!

What about you? Have you adopted a rescue animal—cat, dog or other? Was it a rewarding experience? Please leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction.

Her new contemporary womens fiction e-book, Reinventing Rose, is available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, and other e-book retailers. (And, yes, there’s a cat or two in it!)

Kandy’s romances include the Amazon bestseller The Castaway Bride, Something About Joe, and the award-winners Love is a Four-Legged Word and Home Is Where the Bark Is.

Watch out for her first release from Harlequin Romance in 2014.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

"If you have a garden..."

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero 

I have a library that overflows into every room in the house. Two bookshelves in the conservatory, one in the living room, two on the landing, piles of books in bedrooms and bathrooms, more shelves in the dh’s workroom and 50 feet of shelves in my study. Plus the stuff piled up underneath them. I did a little sifting and culling before I moved, but what I have mostly came with me from the old house.

The garden is something else. We moved last year, downsizing - there comes a time when you just don’t need an acre of grass to cut - but the garden we moved into had been neglected. The front was overgrown with weeds, the lawn a mess and since it fronted onto the road, was what everyone saw as they walked past, we sorted that out first.

Serious clearance work, a new lawn, a lavender hedge against the footpath and three standard roses went in first. The bones. This week the lavender (despite the attention of neighbourhood cats which killed off three of the plants) is in flower and looking pretty gorgeous. The roses have made an appearance, too and the scent is just stunning. And we’ve filled in with geraniums, dahlias and begonias. We should have hanging baskets but they have been delayed by the shockingly bad spring. Fingers crossed they should be here by the end of the month.

The back was also a mess. We had to hack through grass that had grown a foot high and fallen into a thick mat. Remove weeds and plants run wild and the paved part of the yard needed a makeover. After that came the fun part. Choosing the climbing roses (the first buds are just showing colour), the fruit trees – nothing this year, although the blueberries are full of fruit and a raised bed on the yard that has been a non-stop treat since early spring.

The dh created a fabulous gothic window for one shady corner and the honeysuckle and winter flowering clematis are now swarming over it. And he made a heart-shaped raised bed in the lawn which we’re still having a think about. I’m up for patio roses, all in one colour, but can’t decide what to under plant it with. Something for winter interest. Vinca, maybe, or violets.  

We planted antirrhinums this spring and they are now a mass of colour, the sweet peas are breaking out and there’s a whole lot of interesting stuff on the corner bed that will just get better as the years go by. Oh, and I bought a chocolate cosmos from a charity stall when I was in Lacock last week for an RNA chapter meeting and it already has buds.

This week we’ve been ordering climbers and shrubs for the mixed border on the other side of the garden — the last major work (and expense!) Hopefully, by the end of July we’ll be able to just sit and watch the bees, a glass of something cold in our hand, and relax.

If you want something to read in your garden, Harlequin Mills & Boon have released a three-in-one anthology – The Sheikh Who Loved Me – in the UK and Australia, where I’m cwched up with the lovely Susan Stephens and Kate Hardy.

This link will take you to Amazon where ever you are -  http://bookShow.me/B00D7DYB9S

40 for 40 with Kate Walker

If you've visited my blog lately you'll see that I'm  running a special celebration.   If you haven't visited in a while, then you might like to get over there and join in the fun - there's a cyber party  going on, a lot of guests, and a lot of giveaways.

So what am I celebrating? Well the clue is in the title of this blog - I have 40 guests helping me  and my DH Steve (aka the Babe Magnet) celebrate a very special wedding anniversary.  Our 40th.

 (Yes, I really was a child bride – I can’t possibly be old enough to have a wedding anniversary with a Ruby in it! ) Well, yes, I admit it, we will have been married for 40 years on July 14th (and all the jokes about the storming of the Bastille were done at our wedding back then.)

Anyway  - I thought it was  something worth celebrating and I’m running a  cyber party on my blog.  So I'm asking friends – hopefully 40 of them! -  if they'll contribute a small blog post – maybe a giveaway if they want.

So that's the public celebration - but people keep asking me if we are going to have special anniversary presents. And of course, because this is our 'Ruby Wedding'  - they want to know if I'm going to be showered in rubies!

Er - well, the problem is that I'm not very fond of rubies.  We've looked at jewellery  but I haven't seen anything (rubies or not) that I like specially.  And the Babe Magnet isn't a jewellery wearing  sort of man.  So finding a special gift is really quite a task.

And a party? Apart from the one on my blog – are we going to hold a big party to celebrate? Well, we thought about it but  getting everyone together in the summer – in July when we are both really busy with the RNA conference and Writers’  Holiday at Caerleon  as going to be tricky. Besides, one big celebration and it would all be over.  So instead we’ve made a list – 40 lovely things that we both want to do , some big, some small, m– and we’ve spread that out over some months so that we have something to look forward to and enjoy through this special year.  Last week we had a weekend away in a lovely Yorkshire town. We have two  great theatre trips booked  . . . . I’m really looking forward to it.

But this made me think about writing   romance – and about my heroes and heroines. If they got to their wedding anniversary, what would they give each other as gifts? I know red roses, jewellery, gold . .. that sort of thing is traditional, but are they really special, really personal to the one they love?  What would make a gift really special? 

I had a look at some of the sites about wedding anniversary gifts and found these  sorts of ideas -

Anniversary   Traditional   Modern

    1st  Paper  Clocks, Plastic, Gold Jewellery

  2nd  Cotton  China, Cotton, Calico, Garnet

  3rd  Leather  Crystal, Glass, Pearls

  4th  Fruit, Flowers  Appliances, Linen, Silk, Nylon, Blue Topaz

 5th  Wood  Silverware, Sapphire

 6th  Sugar, Iron  Wood, Candy, Amethyst

  7th  Wool, Copper  Brass, Desk Sets, Onyx

 8th  Bronze, Pottery     Appliances, Linens, Lace, Tourmaline Jewellery

 9th  Pottery, Willow  Leather, Lapis Jewellery

 10th  Tin, Aluminum  Diamond Jewelry   

  11th  Steel  Fashion, Turquoise Jewellery

 12th  Silk, Linen  Pearls, Jade

 13th  Lace  Textiles, Furs, Citrine

 14th  Ivory  Gold Jewellery, Opal

 15th  Crystal  Glass, Watches, Ruby

 16th     Silver hollowware, Peridot

 17th     Furniture, Watch

18th     Porcelain, Cat's Eye Jewelry

  19th     Bronze, Aquamarine

20th  China  Platinum, Emerald

  21st     Brass, Nickel

  22nd     Copper

23rd     Silver plate

24th     Musical instruments

  25th  Silver  Sterling silver

There are more – right up to the 75^th wedding anniversary. 
So what do you think? What sort of really special gift could a hero give to a heroine – or vice versa? Would you like to see him /her stick to tradition or come up with something totally new?

I have a giveaway today  - a signed copy of my latest book A Throne for The Taking (or some other book from my backlist if you’ve already read that one) for the commenter who gives me a the most romantic idea. And you never know I might use it in a book sometime.

 

 

Kate’s latest hero is Alexei Sarova, that black sheep prince who has to face up to a new and unexpected destiny with his heroine Honoria Escalona (Ria) as the woman he wants as his queen.

A kingdom's safety...
Betrayed by those she loves, Honoria Escalona must now face the only man capable of bringing stability to the Mediterranean kingdom of Mecjoria. A cold, hard man who once called her his friend... Alexei Sarova-the true King of Mecjoria.
In exchange for her happiness

 

But Alexei's tortuous past has changed him into someone she hardly knows. He blames Ria's family
A Throne For the Taking will be published in the Royal and Ruthless miniseries in both Harlequin Presents and Mills & Boon Modern in June.

Other up to date news and details of all Kate’s books can be found on her web site and in her blog.

And my winner is DI  - Di please email me kate AT kate-walker dot com (or through the link on my web pages  giving me your postal address so that I can get the book  in the mail to you.

 

 

 

Jessa Slade: Sexy Men, Strong Women – Who's in Charge Around Here?

When I realized I was writing my first werewolf story (you'd think my subconscious would've sent a memo ahead of time) I immediately started wondering, “Who has the power here?”

The first two stories in my Steel Born series are about dark fey folk who are growing restless in their exile. Their magic is strong but often subtle, tending toward illusion, glamour, and the irresistible allure of dreams instead of brute strength. My heroes and heroines are well matched in their power. But werewolves... That's almost the textbook definition of brute strength, isn't it? Doesn't that always give the male the advantage?

No way could I let that happen! Sure, I played with Barbie when I was a kid and she had a fabulous wardrobe, but she went on some pretty damn epic adventures in those high heels. Ken wasn't going to have all the fun.

So I knew my Alpha male werewolf wasn't going to rule the day unopposed, even if he had much more defined abs than Ken. I knew I wanted my Alpha male to face not just the bad guys but his own understanding of what it means to be a leader and a protector.

But putting him up against an Alpha female had its own problems. After all, who's going to end up on top? Turns out, answering that question was quite... enjoyable for both of them. Here’s a little snippet from when they are still working out their differences:

Feeling the subtle prickle of a watchful gaze sweep over his skin, Beck faced the darkness. “I know you’re out there.”

The darkness held its breath, but it had been a long night—a long time—and frustration grated on him like the parking lot gravel.

“Quit hiding, little girl.” He knew that would work.

From the pitch-black under the pines glided a lean shape that did not give up its sable darkness despite stepping into the moonlight.

At a distance, the shape screamed wolf. Sometimes outsiders literally screamed wolf. But the faint glimmer of the verita luna lingering around her was a clue to anyone who knew to look that this was no ordinary canid.

She chuffed at him, a reprimand for the little girl remark.

He was in no mood to be scolded. “You forgot to pay for the beer.”

Quick as a thought, she dodged at him. Her shining teeth caught his pant leg and tugged him off balance before she jumped away.

He staggered and almost went down. “What, you left without a word, and now you want to play? You can’t have it both ways.”

She growled. Werelings in the verita luna were always more volatile, their human-style principles and filters stripped away.

He knew his complaint was stupid—werelings lived two ways every day—but the sight of her all dolled up had reminded him of the distance between them. And how easily she always walked away, whether in high heels or barefoot. “Go home. I’m done with your games.”

She stared at him. The moonlight couldn’t catch her plush, dark fur but it glimmered in her pale eyes.

“Shoo,” he said.

She charged.

In today's world where we often discuss equality, do you think there's still room for Alphas? I know I'll always have a place for them in my stories! Leave a comment for a chance to win a pair of “Alpha's Heart” Swarovski dangle earrings.

***

MATED BY MOONLIGHT

Steel Born #3, Harlequin Nocturne Cravings

As the latest in a long line of female Alphas, Merrilee Delemont lives by the code be strong always. While she will never forsake her duty to her pack, she sometimes longs for a mate to share her life with. At least she's found someone to share her bed: Beck Villanova, leader of the neighboring wolf pack.

Their red-hot attraction and struggle for dominance leads to wild sex, but any chance of a real relationship goes up in smoke. Until phae invaders threaten the peace of their remote valley, forcing Merrille and Beck to finally decide which is more important: vying for power, or a passionate partnership that could change their lives forever.

***

Jessa Slade writes paranormal romance, urban fantasy romance and science fiction romance. Basically, anything with woo-woo and woo-hoo! The third book in her Steel Born series—and her first werewolf book!—MATED BY MOONLIGHT, is out now.

JessaSlade.com | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest

***Jessa's winner is Lil!  Please email totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your mailing information!***