Special July Contests!

We’re having not one, but two Jersey Shore Sin Hunter Summer Goody contests during the month of July!

Come down the shore with me for Christmas in July with my wonderful friends at Fresh Fiction.

From July 5 to July 26th you can enter the Jersey Shore SIN HUNTER Summer Goody contest to win a $25 B&N Gift Card, Autographed copy of SINS OF THE FLESH and SIN HUNTER Summer Goody bag which includes a STRONGER THAN SIN T-shirt & Tote bag, Jesse Bradford Rubber Football Ducky, Bath & Body Works Shower Gel, Mini-Beach Ball and Candy! Just click here for the contest or cut and paste this link in your browser: http://freshfiction.com/contest.php?id=2675

Join the fun at the Summer Beach Party with my amazing friends at Writerspace!

Register now for the July 18th event and a chance to win an assortment of prizes! If you’re lucky, you might win my prize which is:

Autographed ARC of STRONGER THAN SIN & SIN HUNTER Summer Goody bag which includes a STRONGER THAN SIN T-shirt & Tote bag, Jesse Bradford Rubber Football Ducky, Bath & Body Works Shower Gel, Mini-Beach Ball and Candy.

Click here to enter the 2010 Summer Beach Party Contest or cut and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.writerspace.com/beach/


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Happily Ever Afters

Photo Credit:  Microsoft Clip ArtAs a romance writer, even a paranormal romance writer, there is one thing that I cannot fail to do — deliver a Happily Ever After!

In books it’s easy to do if you set up the conflict correctly, know what issues need to be resolved and last, end the book while the couple are in the throes of that blissful true love moment.

In life, and in books, the Happily Ever After once that blissful moment is over is sometimes not so easy to maintain. It’s why I loved being able to revisit Diana and Ryder from DARKNESS CALLS in their second book – DEATH CALLS. It’s probably why I’ll write yet another story featuring them since readers understand that achieving that Happily Ever After can be difficult, but oh so joyous when it finally happens.

With the benefit of age and hopefully some wisdom, I look back at my marriage and realize that it hasn’t been easy staying married. There have been ups and down, most times caused by external pressures such as jobs, illnesses and deaths, but somehow through it all, we’ve not only persevered, we’ve stayed happy together.

Some might wonder how that’s possible. How do you slog through the rough times in life and still manage to keep alive the Happily Ever After?

I realized the other day that the answer was: Humor. Respect. Understanding.

Oh wait, that’s three answers, isn’t it! LOL!

But there it was, one way to Happily Ever After and not just in the books that I write, but in real life.

Find someone who can make you laugh and pick you up during the hard times. Someone who respects your opinions and your contributions to the relationship. Someone who understands your needs, both physical and mental. In reality, combine all those attributes and you will usually find Love and with Love comes the Happily Ever After.

How about you? For those of you who have been in long term relationships, what do you find keeps you going through good times and bad?

Wicked Wednesday – Kaye Manro, a Guest Blog and Contest!

I am so excited to have my friend and fellow author Kaye Manro here to tell us a little about her latest release. Plus, we’ve got a contest for you since I’m also doing a guest blog over with my friend JoJo to help her celebrate her birthday! So, if you leave a comment at JoJo’s blog, you have a chance to win an ARC of STRONGER THAN SIN, my November release, a copy of SINS OF THE FLESH, the first book in the SINS series as well as a T-shirt! Double your chances to win by leaving a comment here and also, if you’re selected at JoJo’s site and leave a comment here, you will also win a copy of your choice of either FURY CALLS or SEX AND THE SOUTH BEACH CHICAS!

So without further ado, here’s my buddy Kaye!

*****

FORBIDDEN LOVE by Kaye ManroThanks to the lovely Caridad Pineiro for inviting me, a new author, as a guest on her blog today! I’m so excited to be here, and to share my short ebook, FORBIDDEN LOVE, which is not a paranormal, but a science fiction romance!

Readers may not know exactly how sci-fi relates to the romance genre. So let me show you. In the subgenre of science fiction romance, authors use technology and not magic. Rather than fantasy characters such as shape shifters, the characters are alien or human. The settings are anywhere, but it is common to see stories taking place on alien worlds or on advanced spaceships. For an author, this genre, called SFR can be very exciting and fun to explore. I have to say it was for me.

Forbidden Love released at Red Rose Publishing on May 13, and has consistently stayed on the bestseller lists. Here’s a little of what you’ll find in the story:

Forbidden Love is a futuristic sci-fi romance. There is space travel at FTL (faster than light). But there is also lots of sensual exploring between the hero T’Kon and the heroine Maya, who hail from different galaxies and evolutionary paths. Rules on T’Kon’s planet forbid interspecies mating. Yet when he crashes his spacecraft on Maya’s world close to her desert home, what else is he to do but let this audacious alien tend his injuries?

For those who are new to this exciting genre, I have included a Science Fiction Lexicon on my Website. You can find phrases that may be unfamiliar to you there. The terms relate directly to those used in Forbidden Love.

For example, FTL is the ability a spacecraft has to travel in deep space far exceeding the speed of light. While in FTL, your ship could essentially reach billions of miles per second or more.

Now back to Forbidden Love, which is first and foremost a romance even though the subplot is science fiction. Here’s an excerpt so you can get a feel for the Forbidden Love romantic elements:

…She was upon him so near he could feel her breath, sense her warmth. She reached out and ran a hand through the air, searching the length of him.

“Maya,” he blew her name on a sigh.

“Take me with you,” she implored, as tears filled her astounding tawny eyes. “I want to be with you, T’Kon.” She melded her body against his invisible one.

“You know nothing of me or my world.”

“Teach me, show me everything.”

He felt her heat burning inside him, yet the absurdity of her request burned brighter. “What you ask is not possible.”

“Will you please become visible so I can look at you?” She asked. “We need to talk about this before you go flying off into the universe.”

He unshielded his body so she could see him. “I cannot take you.”

“Why not? You can’t say it was coincidence that you happened to crash land in my back yard.”

No, an unfortunate accident. The truthful certainty traced across his mind. Yet his arms enclosed her and he lifted her up. Her legs straddled his waist, and he held her close against his body. A fit so right he could not deny it.

“I wish it were not so, but it is,” he whispered, breathing in her pungent scent. “You would not survive on my world.” He dropped his head to taste her lips before she had a chance to counter his words. “Just one last kiss.” Her mouth opened to allow his tongue entry and he explored the soft moistness, losing himself in her tang.

The stars help him. He did not want to leave her.

Without warning, a sudden and dangerous noise yanked T’Kon from his enamored stupor. He sensed peril approaching. In a rapid-fire move, he raised his palm. A copper arch flashed and shimmered before them revealing the entryway to his concealed spacecraft. He dragged her inside. Tapping a pad the opening closed leaving them hidden behind an undetectable shield.

* * ***

I hope you enjoy reading Forbidden love as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Kaye’s Bio: As a romance author, I lean toward the adventuresome in my writing. I love science fiction and all the enticing quantum theories surrounding it. Where characters rush through outer space at FTL, or teleport into another time, and even slipstream into an alternate reality. I like creating sizzling love scenes too with sexy heroes, and captivating heroines. It just seemed natural to combine all these elements together in my stories.

Kaye Manro

You can purchase FORBIDDEN LOVE by clicking here or visiting this page:
http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?products_id=772

For more information on Kaye, please visit her Website at http://www.sfr.kayemanro.com or Kaye’s blog at http://kayemanro.blogspot.com/.

Thanks so much!

Fun Friday – Arts, Crafts & News

This weekend will be hopping for me! First there is the Liberty States Fiction Writers Mayke It Happen get together! Can’t wait to go and hang out with all of my buds and talking about our writing projects.

I’ll be down the shore and hoping to see some sun! But just in case it’s rainy, I’m sharing a fun project with you from my friend Kathy Cano-Murilla, the Crafty Chica aka the Goddess of Glitter! As writers and readers, we always seem to have a vast collection of pens and I thought this crazy pencil cup would be fun to share with you!

If it is sunny, I hope to get some time in along the boardwalk, researching some more spots for . . .

BOOKS 3 and 4 IN THE SINS SERIES!


Yes, you heard it here first! I’ve accepted an offer from Grand Central Publishing for two more books in the SINS series. Not only that, you won’t have to wait that long to read about the continuing adventures of the Carrera clan as well as some new and very dangerous people that will enter their lives (can we say some non-human people with very unusual and deadly powers?)

As you know, STRONGER THAN SIN will be out in November 2010 and you’ll be able to read both Books 3 and 4 in 2011 if all goes as planned! I can’t wait to share these exciting paranormal romance stories with you and I know you’ll all like to see what’s up with Mick, Caterina and Liliana as well as find out more about the dark creatures who will threaten the Carrera clan. As for who will be the hero and heroine in book 3 — here’s a hint: You’ve read about them already in one of the SINS-related books/prequels and you’ll see more of them in STRONGER THAN SIN!

That’s all the beans I’m spilling for now! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Wicked Wednesday – FURY CALLS

First of all, congrats to PC Cast for winning the RT Best Nocturne of 2009! It was an honor to have FURY CALLS nominated with her novel and those of my other Nocturne buddies.

FURY CALLS is a book of my heart and on its way to being out-of-print. I wanted to share this excerpt with you from the novel, which was selected by CATAROMANCE as the Best Nocturne of 2009.

In this scene we meet the villain of the piece, a wicked vampire by the name of Sun-Tze Lee. For over a century he has been controlling Foley, the apparent owner of The Blood Bank, that dark and dangerous hangout in The Calling Vampire novels. I loved crafting such an awful villain and I mean truly truly awful. I know the violence was a little too much for some, but I thought it essential for the story since I wanted to show to readers how both Blake and Foley survive situations that would break lesser men (or should I say vamps?)

I hope you enjoy this excerpt from FURY CALLS! If you cannot see the excerpt below, you can also click on this link to read the excerpt and/or download the excerpt to your computer and/or Iphone, PDA, smartphone, etc.

You can also cut and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.scribd.com/full/30928222?access_key=key-1ktd0stobpao5e9dslde

FURY CALLS Excerpt by Caridad Pineiro

Fun Friday – Greetings from Columbus, Ohio

I am so sorry that I haven’t posted the last two days, but I was having issues getting a clean Internet connection as I am on the road again . . .

This time I am in lovely Columbus, Ohio at the 2010 RT BookReview Convention. Having a wonderful time meeting both new and old friends. You can see me here with my lovely editor Selina Mclemore and some of those friends.

Seriously though, those are some of the fabulous Ellora’s Cave Men at the Wednesday night ball.

I’ve been busy doing a number of panels and also taking the time to interview some of favorite authors and friends. Take a moment to watch this interview with USA Today Bestselling paranormal romance author Angela Knight as she chats about her current and upcoming releases. Look for more interviews over the next few days!

Fun Friday – Contest Winner!

I want to thank all of you who dropped by on Wednesday to wish Rene Colato good luck with his wonderful children’s book! It was much appreciated.

Also – many many thanks for all the b’day wishes! I had a great day that weekend as well as last weekend when we had our first ever Liberty States Fiction Writers conference. I had a wonderful time and met so many nice people.

As for the b’day wishes, I’d like to announce the winner of my b’day contest!

Sherry is the lucky winner of a $25 Godiva Gift Card, copy of FURY CALLS and a SINS OF THE FLESH lunch bag. Congratulations, Sherry. Please e-mail your postal address to cpsromance at att dot net .

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Here in the NY/NJ Metro area we are getting a glimpse of our first taste of Spring! Bulbs are coming up, crocuses are in bloom and we’re supposed to have weather in the 60s. I so can’t wait!!