Saturday, August 31, 2013

Alison Henderson's UNWRITTEN RULES



What Do Spies, Bodyguards, and Meddling Grandmas Have in Common?

They’re all in the mix in my brand new book Unwritten Rules. After publishing three historical romances, this is my first contemporary, and I had a fantastic time writing it. I loved writing the kind of offbeat characters and snappy banter you usually don’t find in historicals. The story is one part romantic suspense and one part contemporary romance, with a big dollop of comedy thrown in for good measure.

Here’s the blurb:
Things aren’t going Madelyn Li’s way. Her bodyguard agency is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, her grandmother keeps hatching plots to marry her off, and someone is trying to kill her latest client. All she wants is to safely escort thriller writer and former CIA agent Carter Devlin on his cross country book tour and collect her check, but two obstacles stand in her way: a shadowy assailant and her own growing attraction to her dashing client.

Carter Devlin has agreed to accept the beautiful and determined Ms. Li as a bodyguard primarily to appease his publisher. After all, who would want to kill a beat-up, retired ex-spy on a book tour? But when the attacks turn deadly, he soon learns there’s more to Madelyn than a pretty face and tempting body. Will the spark become a flame before a killer snuffs it out?

And here’s a snippet to give you a taste:

“Come here.” The words hung between them in the still night air.
“I’m fine where I am.”
“I’m not. I need you closer.”
“I told you before—”
“I’ll be a perfect gentleman and keep my hands where you can see them.” He tapped his fingers on the rim of the spa.
Did she dare? Go on. Do it. Her pulse fluttered. She glided through the water like an otter, stopping just beyond arm’s reach.
“Closer.”
“Why?”
“I want to kiss you.”
“With your hands up there? That won’t be easy, even for you.”
“I don’t need my hands to kiss you. Of course you’ll have to do most of the work.” Challenge glittered in his eyes.
His proposition tantalized her. Emboldened, she drifted closer. “Close your eyes.”
He did as she ordered and waited. She touched his lips with a kiss as soft as dandelion fluff. When he tried to respond with more pressure, she floated out of reach. He stilled, and she returned, warming his cheek with her breath. Then she pressed a kiss to his earlobe.
He growled and gripped the side of the tub. Her breath caught in her throat. Had she pushed him too far? What was it Grandma Li used to say about teasing a dragon?
But Carter didn’t roar, and he didn’t bite. He waited.
Just one more. Then this madness must stop.
She returned to his lips and allowed herself a long, slow kiss. He met her halfway, and she didn’t back off. But kissing was difficult with nothing to hold onto. Before she could stop them, her hands grazed his ribs. The muscles tightened beneath her fingers, and she sucked in a sharp breath. She shot out of the water, snatched her robe, and wrapped it around herself with shaking hands. She’d come so close to risking everything.
His eyes flew open. “What are you—”
“No complaints. You got what you wanted.” She silently cursed the waver in her voice. She needed to stay strong, now more than ever.
“Not even close.”
“I stand corrected. You got what you asked for.”
“I’ll have to be more specific in the future.”
“I’ve told you why we can’t get involved. It’s not my fault you refuse to believe me.”
“You and your precious rules.”
“My rules keep everyone safe.”
“Safety can be overrated.”
“Not in my line of work.” She tightened her belt with a jerk.
“We’re not talking about work.”
“Yes, we are. Now get out of that tub before you turn into a lobster and go to bed.” She shoved the heavy glass door aside and headed for the bathroom.

Available for purchase: 
Amazon

I had tremendous fun writing this book, and I hope you’ll have just as much fun reading it! Thanks for stopping by.

Alison Henderson

Author Bio:
I haven't always been a writer, but I have always embraced creativity and relished new experiences. Seeking to expand my horizons beyond Kansas City, I chose a college in upstate New York. By the time I was twenty-one I had traveled the world from Tunisia to Japan. Little did I suspect I was collecting material for future characters and stories along the way.

I began writing when my daughter entered preschool (she's now a full-fledged adult) and became addicted to the challenge of translating the living, breathing images in my mind into words. I write romance because that's what I like to read. The world provides more than enough drama and tragedy. I want to give my readers the happily-ever-after we all crave.

I've been married to my personal hero for more than thirty years. After decades of living in the Midwest, we've recently heeded the siren call of sun and sea and moved to the most breathtakingly beautiful place imaginable - the gorgeous central coast of California. I look forward to the new stories this place inspires.

Where to find Alison Henderson on the Internet:


Friday, August 30, 2013

The Football Fantasy

Mr. Snark has spent the last week preparing for some sort of football fantasy league draft. Apparently, it has required hours of research every night. The "draft" starts tonight at 7PM PST so Mr. Snark returned home from work hours in advance to spend more time doing research.

Mrs. Snark has been commanded to deliver her man's dinner two hours in advance of the normal dining time so that he is free by 7.

GET THIS: the clincher.  It's not even real football. He's playing on a computer!

It's sheer insanity and yet so totally laughable. Does anyone else have a hubby/SO engaged in this nonsense?

WICKED FIRSTS Book Blast/Excerpt Tour & Excerpt




WICKED FIRSTS
Publication Date:  August 19, 2013
99 cent SALE for FIRST week only!
Order Now!

Six New York Times and USA Today Bestselling authors bring you six all-new contemporary and super sexy suspense stories of first loves, first attractions, first temptations, first times and first obsessions.

FIRST EXPOSURE by Elisabeth Naughton
A film that could make her career. A weekend that will change her life…

When actress Avery Scott’s assistant goes missing researching a role for Avery at an exclusive adults-only resort, Avery finds herself with only one choice: travel to the resort herself and look for clues. She hires an elite operative from Aegis Security to accompany her. She just doesn’t expect to get former undercover FBI agent Cade Blackwell—the man who ripped out her teenage heart twelve years before. One weekend at the sexiest resort in the world with the only man she’s ever loved will expose her to more than just a kinky new lifestyle. It’ll expose her to numerous wicked firsts that will test every ounce of her self-control. And if she’s not careful, she could lose her heart—and her life—in the process.

Visit Elisabeth's website to find more of her incredible books.  http://www.elisabethnaughton.com/

FIRST RAPTURE by Alexandra Ivy
Madison Philips has only one reason to return to Las Vegas: Luc Angeli. The tall, dark bad boy took her virginity on her eighteenth birthday and then walked away, now she’s back, and ready for revenge. Luc Angeli spent his youth trying to earn the approval of his philandering father. Now he’s his own man, but there’s still something missing from his life. He doesn’t know what it is until he catches sight of Madison across a balcony. Suddenly he knows this woman is what he’s been searching for, and this time he’s not walking away.

Visit Alexandra's website to find more of her incredible books. http://www.alexandraivy.com/

FIRST TASTE OF DARKNESS by Cynthia Eden
Hot sex. No regrets. Jess Delaney has spent her life playing the role of the good-girl. On a trip to Vegas, she decides to walk on the wild side when she meets mysterious Blake Landon. Rich, powerful, and carrying plenty of secrets, Blake is unlike any man she has ever met before. But as the passion burns between them, danger waits in the darkness…a danger that may just claim Jess’s life…

Visit Cynthia's website to find more of her incredible books. http://www.cynthiaeden.com/


EXCERPT FROM FIRST TASTE OF DARKNESS by Cynthia Eden
Her gaze searched his. “Does anything scare you?”
“There isn’t room for fear in my life.”  A simple truth.  No room and no time. 
“What do you have room for?”
“You.”  He bent his head and kissed her.  Not softly. Not lightly. But hard and fierce, showing her the hunger that coursed through his veins. The lust and the need that were consuming him.  
During the car-ride over, she’d nearly driven him out of his mind. The rush of adrenaline from the attack and the white-hot tide of lust that he felt for her had left him on a razor’s edge of control.
FIRST INK by Laura Wright
Rush
Women in his bed, celebs and rockers in his chair, life is pretty freaking swell. Then she walks back into it again. Not for pleasure, but for pain. For Ink. A bleeding heart to match the one she left him with five years ago.

Addison
She can’t forget him or the pain she caused him. All she has is a hope for redemption. But it’ll only work if he lets her inside his exclusive world, under his famous artist’s needle and into his bed—once again.

Visit Laura's website to find more of her incredible books http://laurawright.com/

FIRST SURRENDER by Katie Reus
He’s dangerous, sexy, and everything she wants. And he’s about to make his claim…

Hayden, the dangerously sexy, tattooed ex-SEAL is one of the best friends Sierra has ever had—and the main star in her wildest fantasies. But he doesn’t see her that way. And she’d die of embarrassment if he found out she was still a virgin.

Hayden’s struggled to keep his attraction to the beautiful, dark haired casino chef a secret. But when an attacker targets Sierra, Hayden’s protective instincts go into overdrive. With the attraction between them burning out of control, he’ll do whatever it takes to protect her and make her his.

Visit Katie's website to find more of her incredible books.  http://katiereus.com/

FIRST TEMPTATION by Joan Swan

Counterterrorist agent Taft Walker is up for the challenge of posing as an adult store owner with a new female undercover partner who is also a sex-toy virgin. At least until he sees the real woman beneath her tough façade.

Border Patrol Agent Zoe Brooks is ready to get off the front lines. She’s willing to tolerate a swaggering partner like Taft for a new opportunity. But she’s not prepared for the way he understands her deepest, sexiest desires.

Visit Joan's website to find more of her incredible books.  http://joanswan.com/



99 cent SALE for FIRST week only!
Order Now!


GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
TWO $100.00 Amazon gift cards will be given away at the end of the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, August 29, 2013

State of The Snarkology

I took August off but now I'm back. Forgive me if I ramble for a moment...

Writing news:
  • In July, I signed a contract for a paranormal erotica novel with The Wild Rose Press. THE MATING GAME is a 79,000 word novel, which should be available in paperback as well as ebook. No release date yet.
  • My first blog tour with Goddess Fish is scheduled for September. I'll be touring my paranormal series, Loki's Wolves. More on the tour schedule to follow.
  • HUNGER MOON is now available in paperback:  Amazon  Createspace
  • To celebrate, I'm dropped the price of the HUNGER MOON ebook on Amazon to 99 cents for a short time.

Mr. Snark:
  • In a truly memorable, one-of-a-kind moment, Mr. Snark found a bottle of teriyaki sauce in the fridge that his wife could not locate. Mr. Snark performed a victory dance while chanting "I found something you couldn't!" The celebration continued for a month afterward.
  • As it happens, Mr. Snark has just over a month left to realize that our 5th Anniversary is almost here. This year I don't intend to tell him what I want. Instead, I'm going to blog about it and see if he's paying attention. What do my readers think? Will Mr. Snark forget?  Will he buy the wrong present?  Will he finally go out for beer and never come back? Stay tuned to find out more!
Miss Bear:
  • Miss Bear has made some early career decisions. She has chosen to become either a doctor or a dog when she grows up. Since Miss Bear started carrying around a pink med kit and barking in public, Mrs. Snark has begun telling people that her daughter wants to become a veterinarian as it cuts down on confusion.
  • Miss Bear has developed a fanatical devotion to The Micky Mouse Clubhouse and Jake and the Never Land Pirates, which are shown primarily on cable. Prior to this, the majority of Miss Bear's entertainment experience involved DVDs and streaming video (Netflix). The transition to live television led to Miss Bear's first encounter with commercials. At first the traumatic interruptions to her programming resulted in much boo-hoo'ing. Miss Bear ran to her father shouting "HELP!" whenever commercials came on. Tears were shed. She saw a therapist. However, eventually, Miss Bear grew accustomed to the inconvenience. Mr. and Mrs. Snark have tried to ease the transition. "In our day, there was no pause or fast forward options, Missy."
The Snark Boys:
  •  The Snark boys, now eleven and fourteen, have entered Middle School and High School. More on the return to school in a future post.

The Cats:
  • As some may recall, an unpleasant civil dispute erupted in the Snark household last spring when The Cats hired an attorney and threatened to sue. An ugly exchange of letters between our respective attorneys degraded into mudslinging. In July, the cats filed suit and a California judge ordered us into family counseling. I'm pleased to report that our cat/human family counseling seems to be going quite well.


Blog update:

Snarkology Paranormal Blog Hop. I'm putting together a Paranormal Blog Hop to run Oct. 28-31.  More information is posted here.  Please leave a comment and join my loop if you're an interested author or host site.

RSS Feed.  After shedding many tears, spilling blood and ripping my hair out, I've finally managed to set up an RSS feed to the Snarkology. Readers who don't want to risk missing their daily snark can can now follow via email. It's the box to the left below my ADvert widget and Where To Find Melissa Snark, titled "Follow by Email".

First Week in September. The first week of the month marks my return to active blogging. On Tuesday/Wednesday, be sure to look forward to an author interview with Wild Rose author AJ Nuest along with my review of her contemporary romance novel "She's Got Dibs".

My Blog Tour Schedule:



Virtual Book Tour:
September 9:  Literal Hotties Naughty Books Reviews
September 10:  Andi's Book Reviews
September 11:  The Dan O'Brien Project
September 12:  Crazy Four Books
September 13:  Susana's Parlour
September 16:  Musings and Ramblings
September 17:  Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
September 18:  Straight from the Library
September 19:  Fantasy Powered by Love
September 20:  Danita Minnis
September 20: Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews

Review Tour:
September 23:  The Crafty Cauldron
September 24: The Simple Things in Life
September 25:  Dalene's Book Reviews
September 26:  Wicked Readings by Tawania
September 27:  Reader Girls

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Book Monster Presents: Matchpoint by Elise Sax



Author Interview:

What does your writing space look like?

I have a nice office, which is the front bedroom of my house, with a nice desk and bookshelves. However, I wrote MATCHPOINT, entirely while lying in bed and watching TV. Should I tell you that? It’s not very impressive, I know. I’m sure Nora Roberts doesn’t do it that way.

Do you have a process for coming up with character names and book titles?

Between you and me…I leave clues in the names of the murder victims! I also leave clues in some of the other characters. If you figure them out, contact me, and I’ll tell you if you’re right!


What inspired your current book?

My father was a dentist—not at all like the dentist in MATCHPOINT—and I thought of all the anxiety that goes along with going to the dentist, and then I thought: How could I ratchet up the anxiety even more (because I’m mean like that), and so I decided to have Gladie wake up to a dead dentist. Dead in a really bad way.

Do you write with music going in the background? What are some of your favorite types/bands?

The crazy thing is that I can’t have any music playing while I write the majority of the Matchmaker series because comedy has its own rhythm. That’s why I have the TV on in the background. The rhythm of people speaking helps me write comedy. However, I love, love, love music, and when I write the scary scenes or the love scenes, then I get to listen to music. Soundtracks are great for writing these scenes, like Batman or Lord of the Rings for scary and Pride and Prejudice for love scenes.

Is there anything else you'd really like our readers to know?

Yes! MATCHPOINT is a fun ride and perfect summer read. I really hope you enjoy it, and please contact me. I love hearing from readers.

What's your dream car?
 
Normally, I’m not a car person, but have you seen the Tesla? I want one!
Tesla has wings!
SERIES SPOTLIGHT:

An Affair to Dismember
Book One of the Matchmaker Series

Three months has been Gladie Burger's limit when it comes to staying in one place: She's always been a temp agency kind of girl, ever ready to move on. That's why Gladie is more than a little skeptical when her eccentric Grandma Zelda recruits her to the family business in the quaint small town of Cannes, California. Gladie is also highly unqualified: Her beloved grandmother's business is matchmaking, and Gladie has a terrible track record with romance. Still, despite evidence to the contrary, Zelda is convinced that her granddaughter has "the gift." But when the going gets tough, Gladie wonders if this gift has a return policy.

When Zelda's neighbor drops dead in his kitchen, Gladie is swept into his bizarre family's drama. Despite warnings from the (distractingly gorgeous) chief of police to steer clear of his investigation, Gladie is out to prove that her neighbor's death was murder. It's not too long before she's in way over her head—with the hunky police chief, a dysfunctional family full of possible killers, and yet another mysterious and handsome man, whose attentions she's unable to ignore. Gladie is clearly being pursued—either by true love or by a murderer. Who will catch her first?

AVAILABLE AT:  Amazon | B&N | Indie Bound | BAM | iTunes

Matchpoint
Book Two of the Matchmaker Series

Lovably troublesome Gladie Burger runs into sizzling danger and a fiery love triangle in the second installment of Elise Sax's hilarious and sexy Matchmaker romance series.
Since joining the family matchmaking business run by her eccentric Grandma Zelda, Gladie is always looking for love. But when an unbearable toothache knocks her out of commission and into the dentist's chair, she prays only for relief. No such luck. Emerging from an anesthetic haze, Gladie awakes to find that not only is her tooth still throbbing, but her dentist is dead—and the lead suspect in the murder, office receptionist Belinda, just so happens to be Gladie's first real client. Now it's up to Gladie to find Belinda a manand keep her from being locked up behind bars.
As if that weren't enough distraction, two gorgeous men are vying for Gladie's attention: Spencer, the playboy chief of police, and Holden, Gladie's secretive, gorgeously muscled neighbor. Still, Gladie's not complaining about having a helping hand or two when the case leads her to a dangerously bizarre cult. She may have met her match—and if she's not careful, it could be her last.

AVAILABLE AT:  Amazon | B&N | Indie Bound | BAM | iTunes

Check out the MATCHPOINT trailer:  http://youtu.be/HIO1MTit7Ww
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Elise Sax worked as a journalist for fifteen years, mostly in Paris, France. She took a detour from journalism and became a private investigator before trying her hand at writing fiction. She lives in Southern California with her two sons. An Affair to Dismember is her first novel.

Connect with Elise:







TOUR GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Elise is giving away the following prizes at the end of her tour:
GRAND PRIZE:  $50.00 Amazon gift card
2nd Prize:  $10.00 Amazon gift card
3rd Prize:  $10.00 Amazon gift card

Tour dates found here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway