Thank you, Caridad, for letting us take over your blog today and share some information about our new release, Amazon Heat.  Since it’s Thursday Thirteen here on Caridad’s blog, we thought we’d stay on topic and share thirteen lines that were edited out of our story. While there were a few lines that Melinda and I really loved, in the end it created a strong book to either remove or revamp the text.
1.)               She wasn’t here. He should be glad. In his head he knew the odds that Elizabeth was still alive were astronomical. But his heart couldn’t let her go. His motives were entirely selfish.
2.)               Was Elizabeth was out there, somewhere? Alone. If she was he’d find her body and he’d bring her home if he had to spend the rest of his life digging in muddy holes like this one.
3.)               Half a dozen towering women, clad in warriors’ leather tunics, surrounded a gurney. Bows, quivers and spears draped muscular torsos. Despite the coolness of the cave, their bare limbs glistened with sweat. A hunting party, recently returned.
4.)               Areta, the Queen’s lieutenant, stepped out of the corridor. Her muscular six-foot frame was dressed in the simple leather tunic of a warrior, her jet hair pulled back in a thick braid.
5.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Amazon Queens rose through military ranks. As befitting a former warrior, Phoebe did not tolerant insubordination.
6.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Her independence, contrary to Amazon culture, set her apart from the rest of her clan.
7.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â What did Sherlock Holmes say? When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth… But all this brought new meaning to the word improbable.
8.)               Despite the very real fear the Amazons would hunt her down and kill her, she’d covertly searched for an exit with no success. Even if she did find the corridor, she wasn’t an Amazon. How would she get it to open? She simply had to find a way. She couldn’t let them do this to Logan. What they were planning was nothing less than imprisonment and rape.
9.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â He cannot be set free, but we have learned that caging such a brute for the long term presents difficulties. He looks to be intelligent.
10.)            He may have been unconscious, but he knew he’d been on death’s doorstep oh, say about an hour ago.
11.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â One dunk in the Sunny D and he was perfect, no rebuilding necessary. Steve Austin would be jealous as hell.
12.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Logan licked his lips. Heaven tasted like Sunny D.
13.)            The queen’s betrayal firmly slotted Elizabeth into her outsider role. The whole time they’d been calmly discussing Logan’s future, Phoebe neglected to mention she’d ordered him to be moved.
There were a variety of reasons these lines or portions of lines were deleted. Some were too telling, and we needed to rewrite the text to show the events more effectively. Others were repetition of something else we already said. Several times our editor simply opted to not use a particular pop culture/literary reference.
We’ve had a blast writing and editing this book together. Now let me tell you a little about what you will find in the book.
AMAZON HEAT released January 9th from Carina Press.
Two years ago, ethnobotanist Dr. Elizabeth DeMarco, driven by grief to find a cure for cancer, left her lover mid-proposal to accept a position on a research expedition to the Amazon Rainforest. Kidnapped by guerrillas, she was saved by warriors from the secret all-female civilization of the ancient Amazons. She has been kept prisoner since in the Amazon’s supernaturally hidden valley.
Despite Elizabeth’s rejection, anthropologist Logan Spencer never stopped searching for her.  While consulting on a mass grave uncovered in the remote Brazilian interior near the place Elizabeth was kidnapped, Logan falls from a cliff.  On the brink of death, he is collected by the Amazons and magically healed. When Logan wakes, the first person he sees is his beloved Elizabeth.  Unfortunately, their reunion is less than joyful. The mystical medicine is changing Logan.  But there’s no time to study the side-effects. The Amazons plan to steal Logan’s DNA, then kill him.  Logan and Elizabeth must escape before dawn or Logan is doomed.  Getting him out of the hidden valley won’t be easy.  The Amazon’s supernatural powers make the task all but impossible.
Buy it at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance EBooks
Melinda Leigh is a mom, a dog lover, and a second degree black belt in kenpo karate. In addition to writing paranormal romance for Carina Press, she is also the author of She Can Run, a kindle bestselling romantic suspense released in November 2011 from Montlake Romance. Find out more Melinda: website / facebook / twitter
Rayna Vause is fascinated by the paranormal and she loves a good romance as well, which probably explains why these two elements perpetually crop up in her writing. When she takes off her writer hat she is a martial artist, video game lover, Disney enthusiast, and a Pop Tart aficionado. Find out more about Rayna: website / facebook / twitter
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Melinda and Rayna blog together at http://AttackingThePage.com
What if I told you that for $40 you would get at least 7 free books from Avon, Grand Central Publishing and Samhain, samplers from Forever Romance and Penguin Books, a dessert reception at a very special Lady Jane’s Salon, readings and genre panels with bestselling authors, a karaoke party with hot finger foods, water bottle from Secret Cravings Publishing, pad folios from Carina Press, free raffle tickets for an assortment of gift baskets including one with a Kindle, courtesy of Secret Cravings Publishing, a book fair, plus lots of other swag? Also toss in there the ability to spend time with other readers and rub elbows with an assortment of authors at the reception and party?
I know we’ve been talking about discovering THE LOST energies within us and boy, could I stand to find some energy. I’m still struggling to battle whatever cold/flu I caught at RWA.