Friday, February 20, 2015

Elite Metal (Guest post, review, and GIVEAWAY) ADULT titles GFT



Please remember that these are ADULT titles




For an insight into the story behind this exciting boxed set, please read the guest post below:


What was the most difficult thing to overcome on your path to publishing this set?



-        Keeping everything consistent in the world has been by FAR the most difficult thing to overcome. When writing a book every author works differently to keep everything and everyone straight in a story. Spreadsheets / flow charts / piles of sticky notes – each of us is very different. Now…multiply that by 8 stories and 7 different authors. That’s 16 characters to keep straight along with side characters and baddies. Not to mention all of the places we have to keep straight for architecture. The Elite Compound. Operation Phoenix. Bone Daddy’s. We actually drew these things out on paper and kept master spreadsheets with multiple tabs to make sure everything stayed consistent. That’s 270,000 words to keep within the parameters of the series. YOWZA!

-        This boxed set isn’t 8 random stories thrown together with a pretty cover and a snazzy tag line. Elite Metal is one cohesive set with one story feeding the next, feeding the next. Can each story be read and enjoyed individually? Of course!  Each story has its own ARC and character goals and issues to work through. But each story also has other characters from the world in it. And they’re all working toward taking down Enemy #1. Red Wolf.

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       This set’s taken us 8 months to put together. That’s an incredibly long time to work on a project. Especially when so many of us have written many many other stories during the same time frame. I told someone once that I think I have a filing system in my brain with the name of each of my books on the top of a different folder. I can put up project A and pull out project B. Never have trouble keeping them all straight. Not until this set. Even my memory got taxed on this one.

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      I sure hope all the hard work pays off and people find this set and devour it. It’s a work of love and heart and soul and each one of us believes in it.

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        And at the end, when you flip that last page over…we hope you’re eager for more!





Elite Metal
by Jennifer Kacey, Anna Alexander, Heather Long,  Rebecca Royce, Sabrina York, Saranna DeWylde, Roxie Rivera, 

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BLURB:


For decades the US Marines funded a top-secret unit known as Elite Recon. A deadly group of men and women sent to infiltrate dozens of countries completely undetected. Mission objectives so extreme casualties were not only probable, but expected.

The current batch of operatives had returned from hundreds of assignments unscathed…until one mission went horribly wrong. Several men lost their lives and the group disbanded. The remaining leathernecks were scattered in the wind with new identities. They were told to blend in. Be normal. Or face being forever silenced just like their fallen brothers.

Now, two years later, each living member of the group is kidnapped and given a chance to make things right. But this time they’re no longer under the thumb of Uncle Sam. A mysterious private backer who knows about their past has brought them back together. No longer are they forced to turn a blind eye to the lost and forsaken.

A new life. A new future…Elite Metal.

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Bound By Steele

By Anna Alexander and Jennifer Kacey


To save his Marine brothers and sister he must accept the past isn’t dead and buried. Reuniting survivors means he is forced to first forgive…the enemy.

Steele, the man he was, died. A civilian with a new name stands in his place in the wake of death. Everything he had, lost when his undercover contact, Venus, disappeared when it counted most. In the shadow of regret, Steele is reborn from the flames of a Phoenix. To right the wrongs that destroyed his military family, he must put his trust in the hands of a mysterious backer, and the woman who led his team to the slaughter.

Not knowing who sold her out at the final hour, Alayna Devlin, spent the last two years on the run. Then the mastermind behind Elite Metal tracked her down, and offered her the chance to atone for past mistakes. To cleanse her conscience requires a baptism by fire and submission to the man who will either put the final nail in her coffin or set her heart free.

The past. The future. Truth. Lies. Nothing is as it seems when two shattered hearts are finally given the chance to heal.





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Chrome’s Salvation

By Jennifer Kacey


A former leader of Elite Recon, reduced to nothing more than an apathetic existence.

Until his girl’s life hangs in the balance…now nothing will stand in the way of him coming back to life.





Chrome had it all. Exactly what he wanted. A career in the Marines he loved, fighting alongside his brothers and sisters to protect the US from everything set out to destroy it. Then on their last mission as Elite Recon they were double-crossed…and everything went horribly wrong.

Cammie needs help rescuing her siblings from the clutches of a man determined to crush everything she holds dear. But she has no one to turn to. No one to lean on when she’s trapped in a world she never knew existed. Lost in a world of pseudo-normalcy Chrome’s reduced to nothing more than existing. Day in. Day out. Nothing to live for.

Until his girl’s life hangs in the balance. Now nothing will stand in his way of coming back to life.

Love at first sight is a myth. Or so Chrome thought. Everything he thinks is true disappears in the presence…of his salvation.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Adamantium’s Roar

By Anna Alexander


Adamantium left Beth to what he thought was a better life, only to find she had been living in hell. Now he’ll do anything, break any vow, to claim her as his for all time.

Adamantium feels right at home being back to what he does best with his Elite Metal buddies, especially if it keeps his mind off her. Beth Bradshaw. His best friend’s girl. But when their paths cross again, he discovers Beth is in the hands of a dangerous man. Vow or now vow to his Elite Metal family, Ant will do anything to claim the woman he loves.


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Pure Copper

By Heather Long

Copper will do whatever it takes to get the job done, even if it means seducing and betraying the one man who really sees her.



Former Marine special forces, Sachi “Copper” James is a chameleon. She thrives on being someone else. Her mission? Identify the rat who sold her team bad intel. Gabriel Danvers, ex-CIA analyst, is a master of disseminating the details. He wants to enjoy a normal life, retired from the game. His mission? Teach classes.

When Gabriel becomes the target of Copper’s investigation, he re-enters a world of danger and deception--all to claim the passion of the one woman who’s haunted him for years.


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Sterling’s Seduction

By Sabrina York

When a snoopy reporter threatens the Elite Metal, Sterling will do whatever it takes to kill her story about the team. Even if it means he has to tie her to his bed.





When Sterling spots a reporter masquerading as a waitress in a dingy bar in Deep Ellum, he suspects she’s investigating the team. And that’s something he just cannot allow to happen. Too many lives are at stake. He will do everything in his power to learn the truth—even seduce her. And to stop her story from coming out? He might even tie her to the bed.

Nothing is off the table when it comes to keeping his brothers safe. Nothing. It’s a damn shame she’s everything he’s ever wanted. It’s a damn shame her touch warms his cold, dead heart.


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Platinum’s Choice

By Rebecca Royce

Platinum left the life he had with Rose in New York to rejoin his team and silence the nightmares from Operation Phoenix. But when Rose is forced to go on the run with Platinum’s hidden son, he will have no choice but to return to his old life and reclaim what he has ached for every day since. Red Wolf’s sniper wants to nudge Plat’s underbelly and they’re going to find out quickly how deadly he can be.

Platinum was a man of few words before he changed his name and had his sniper rifle taken away. But as Elijah, he could start over, maybe even fall in love with his hidden son's Kindergarten teacher, Rose. But Platinum is reborn when Elijah is kidnapped, so he's left with no choice but to vanish, leaving Rose to wonder about his fate, broken-hearted.

Rose has spent the last year getting over the disappearance of the man she knew as Eli. Now, alone and terrified, she finds herself on the run from a sniper while trying to hide a scared little boy from certain death.

Red Wolf's crew isn't done with Plat, and his soft underbelly is just the place to nudge. Sniper vs. sniper, Platinum will reclaim what is his. That is, if she'll even have him back...

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Mercury’s Poison

By Saranna DeWylde

A scarred, mad genius more monster than man must protect the beauty he's become obsessed with from a beast more terrible than himself.


Serum 17 took his face, took his kindness and took his empathy. It took, in essence, all of John Thrace leaving only the Elite Metal operative "Mercury" in his place. A man marked with a biohazard tattoo because he knows he's incompatible with other living things. Until he becomes obsessed with the seemingly innocent doctor Hazel Brewer and a chance encounter changes everything.

Hazel knows the giant scarred man won't hurt her, even though she's in the business of saving lives and he'd rather take them. In fact, she's never felt safer or more alive than when she's with him. Even when a terrible biological weapon forces her into his arms for a night of hot passion she won't soon forget.

Their love could be the redemption he never thought he wanted, or something even more toxic: Mercury's poison.


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Forged in Silver


By Roxie Rivera


Rebel. Nomad. Troublemaker.

After surviving the double-cross during Operation Phoenix, Former Elite Recon Marine Silver embraces the underworld and builds a new life as one of the world's most renowned thieves. Jewels, paintings, corporate espionage--there's no job he won't take for the right price.

Until Poppy Jones orders her ghosts to snatch him up in Budapest and haul him back to Texas to face her brand of justice...

Forced to decide between a prison cell and signing on to Elite Metal, Silver chooses the latter. Quietly operating in the background of a team that no longer trusts or wants him, he completes all the dirty little jobs that keep the team alive and flush with new intel.

But when he learns Poppy plans to infiltrate a terrorist gathering, he refuses to hide in the shadows a moment longer. In a world of secrets and lies, Poppy Jones is his bright light of truth and trust.

And he'll brave the fires of hell--and the disdain of Steele and Chrome--to protect her.



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EXCERPT



Mercury’s Poison

Fucking fuck.

He shouldn’t have fucking touched her. Spoken to her. Gotten close enough to breathe the same air.

Goddamn it.

He wasn’t going to follow her home, but he had to make sure she got there okay. Or that’s what he told himself to reconcile the fact that he couldn’t turn away from her. That he was still starved for the sight of her.

And what a sight it was.

He knew he should’ve stopped watching when she began peeling her clothes off, but he couldn’t. She was too damn beautiful. He watched her touch herself, a violation to be sure. John had never been so hard, until he’d heard her whisper his name.

It sent a jolt of pleasure and pain through him.

He wanted it to end, he wanted it to last forever.

John didn’t feel these things, to have her ignite them both, well more was the pity. She’d never be free of him now. He knew he was obsessed. Knew his behaviors were unhealthy for him and for her.

But he couldn’t stop.

Didn’t want to stop.

He thought it would be okay as long as he didn’t touch her, didn’t affect her. But he did. He’d violated those rules and in doing so had violated her. This, now, even though she fantasized about him—and no mistake, he would hear his name on her lips from now until he stood at the gates of hell every time he came—but that didn’t mean it was invitation to watch her. He’d take a man’s head off for doing the same to her.

His cock strained against his fatigues, demanding to be taken in hand. He had to stop this, he couldn’t do this anymore because he knew now that there were no lines he wouldn’t cross when it came to her. He was going to smear his hands all over her pretty wings and he’d break her. Ruin her.

Hurt her.

The sound of another presence distracted him.

He held his position on her balcony, silent and still as he considered his options.

The man above was mostly silent, moved with some skill. He wore combat boots that had been shined so that they glinted in the moonlight. The sign of a professional. What had the pretty little doctor gotten herself into that warranted the attention of whomever jerked this guy’s chain?

He had a choice. Kill this guy now or watch him and see what he would do? He could take the chance that this was just a burglar, but if it wasn’t, they’d soon send someone else. Maybe when Merc wasn’t there.

He edged around to where the balcony opened into her living room and pressed himself against the wall. If he was discovered, he’d just have to kill him.

The man moved quickly, installing surveillance equipment—

Kill him.

No, find out why. Or they’ll just send another.

Kill him, too. Kill them all.

Mercury forced himself to stay still, to wait. This was why he was Mercury—this was why he was poison. His solution was kill first, talk later.

 “I see you there, you ugly bastard,” a voice whispered.

Mercury froze.

“I’m not afraid of you. I know who you are, John Thrace. Get your bitch on a leash if you want to keep her safe. We’ll be watching.”

He reached around the corner and grabbed nothing but air. The man leapt from level to level, adept at parkour. Merc would’ve pursued him, if not for the soft voice begging him to stay.

He turned to see her there, the light from inside a nimbus. “Please.” She reached out to him.

“You should fear me.”

“I don’t.”

He closed his eyes and breathed deep to steady himself. “You should let me find out what they want from you.”

“I know what they want from me. Come inside.”

Said the fly to the spider.

He opened his eyes and centered his hard stare on the tiny camera. He yanked it from its perch and crushed it beneath his boot. If they knew who he was, that was a problem that would have to be addressed.

Her small hand on his arm was all it took to fell him. Like a giant redwood, he toppled to her will and stepped inside her apartment. “Why didn’t you ask how I know where you live?”

She’d wrapped a pink silk robe around her delectable body and he couldn’t stop wondering what that silk would feel like. If he’d even be able to feel it.

“I know you watch me always.”

“That’s fucked up, Hazel.”

She looked up at him, her eyes guileless. “I know. But probably no more fucked up that you’re always watching.”

“I don’t just watch you. I stalk you. I’m dangerous.” He couldn’t seem to make her understand.

“I know that, too.” Her hand was still on his arm.

“You should stop touching me.”

“I like touching you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Jennifer Kacey

Jennifer Kacey is a writer, mother, and business owner living with her family in Texas. She sings in the shower, plays piano in her dreams, and has to have a different color of nail polish every week. She’s the Amazon top seller and award winning author of the Members Only Series and the Surrender Series along with several standalone novels and novellas. The best advice she’s ever been given? Find the real you and never settle for anything less.

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Anna Alexander

Anna Alexander's literary world changed at age thirteen when a friend gave her a copy of Kathleen Woodiwiss's "A Rose in Winter." With her mind thoroughly blown, she decided that one day she too would be a romance writer. With Hugh Jackman's abs and Christopher Reeve's blue eyes as inspiration, she loves spinning tales about superheroes finding love.
Sign up to receive news about Anna's latest releases at this link

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Heather Long

National bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas summertime. From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories—her characters drive the books. When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them; you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.

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Rebecca Royce

As a teenager, Rebecca would hide in her room to read her favorite romance novels when she was supposed to be doing her homework.

She is the mother of three adorable boys and is fortunate to be married to her best friend. They are transplants from the northeastern part of the United States to the great state of Texas, specifically Austin.

She is in love with science fiction, fantasy and the paranormal and tries to use all these elements in her writing. In her world anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect that it will.

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Sabrina York

Her Royal Hotness, Sabrina York, is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of hot, humorous stories for smart and sexy readers. Her titles range from sweet & sexy to scorching erotic romance.  Connect with her on twitter @sabrina_york, on Facebook or on Pintrest. Check out Sabrina’s books and read an excerpt on Amazon or wherever e-books are sold. Visit her webpage at www.sabrinayork.com to check out her books, excerpts and contests. Free Teaser Book: http://sabrinayork.com/home-2/sabrina-yorks-teaser-book/ And don’t forget to enter to win the royal tiara!


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Saranna De Wylde
Saranna De Wylde has always been fascinated by things better left in the dark. She wrote her first story after watching The Exorcist at a slumber party. Since then, she's published horror, romance and narrative nonfiction. Like all writers, Saranna has held a variety of jobs, from operations supervisor for an airline, to an assistant for a call girl, to a corrections officer. But like Hemingway said, "Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure, only death can stop it." So she traded in her cuffs for a full-time keyboard. She loves to hear from her readers.

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Roxie Rivera

A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, I like to write super sexy romances and scorching hot erotica. I live in Texas with my red-bearded Viking husband and a sweet but rowdy preschool-aged daughter with autism and heart defects. We also have two wildly rambunctious Great Danes named Hannibal and Murdock.

My other book writing alter ego--Lolita Lopez--was named one of Latina Magazine's Eight Erotic Latina Authors To Check Out. Lo writes deliciously steamy tales for Forever Yours/Grand Central, Mischief/Harper Collins UK, Siren Publishing and Cleis Press.

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GIVEAWAY




a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Review




Elite Metal:  Eight Novel Cohesive Military Romance Boxed Set" is the introductory collection to the 'Elite Warriors' series.  These eight tales are unified by the backstory which involves a group of highly trained operatives who are the survivors of an op that went horribly wrong and decimated their numbers.  Relocated, renamed, and disbanded, the survivors have been eking out an existence, only to be thrust back into action by a mysterious figure who has dangled the carrot of revenge in front of them.  These stories detail the beginning of their respective recoveries as each spotlighted soldier finds a person who helps them deal with the ever-present darkness that prevents them from beginning to heal from the wounds to their spirits and psyches.

This group of stories will provide hours of entertainment as exciting action and mystery is combined with intensely erotic and sensual interludes.  The fascinating melding of various authors' styles with a unifying theme and characters who carry over from one story to the next makes this a delightful concept that I can only hope engenders many more volumes in this series.  There is a fun super-hero quality to many of the individuals featured in these stories while the poignancy of the horrific experiences that have shaped them makes one ache for what they have gone through. 

I particularly enjoyed Heather Long's "Pure Copper" because I like my heroines to be just as capable as their partners and the back and forth between the very efficient and lethal Copper/Sachi James and the sexy and equally capable Gabriel Danvers reminded me of the movie, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith".  

 One of my favorite erotic romance authors, Sabrina York, has a delightful story in "Sterling's Seduction" that pits a nosy reporter against a honed killing-machine who unwillingly succumbs to the pigtail-wearing woman.  Ms. York provides her trademark quirky visuals with statements such as:  "His cock understood it immediately; it perked up like a meerkat on the Serengeti."   

Jennifer Kasey's "Bound by Steele" (co-written with Anna Alexander) and "Chrome's Salvation" provide a drool-worthy but gut-wrenching introduction to the men who serve as the leaders to the resurrected group and the rest of the stories do a great job of enhancing the mystique behind this unique group.  I look forward to reading even more of their adventures!


 

27 comments:

  1. I don't remember ever seeing this concept in any books I've ever read or heard about. I've read a series of stories set around a central them but each author had their own characters and story line that didn't intermingle with those of the other authors and those were fun. I read an anthology with 4 stories written by 2 authors. Two stories were set in current time and the other two were set back in time. That was also very interesting because it dealt with generations of a family through time.

    Enjoyed your review too, BTW.

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    1. I loved seeing various characters pop up in other stories and I imagine that this took quite a bit of coordination to achieve. Sounds like that was an interesting combination of stories that you read, thank you for sharing (and thanks for the compliment)! I appreciate you taking the time to visit and comment, Karen.

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  2. This looks like a good box set. Great contest--Rae

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    1. It's a great combination and such a fantastic bargain! Thanks for visiting, Rae.

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  3. I like military stories and some of the authors are new to me!

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    1. I think you are in for a treat, Catherine. Come back and let us know what you thought after you read the stories! Thank you for dropping by.

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  4. I like the blurbs!

    Trix, vitajex@aol dot com

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    1. Glad you liked them, thanks for visiting, Trix!

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    1. Hi Anna! I deleted the duplicate reply since I figure Blogger was giving you issues. Thank you for taking the time to visit and congrats on your story, "Adamantium's Roar", he's quite a sexy hero! Good luck with the release!

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  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Happy you liked it, Rita. Thank you for visiting!

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  8. <3 Thank you so much for sharing the hotness. And heavens, I am so delighted you enjoyed the adventure!

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    1. What a yummy collection of folks and I am sure these stories can help warm up some of these cold nights, lol. Thank you for taking the time to visit, Sabrina, and congrats on another great story, "Sterling's Seduction" was definitely a fun read!

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  9. I always love reading about the writers and getting to know them on a more personal level :D and I actually know one of them too! *waves to Saranna*!

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    1. Great of you to come by and support Saranna, her story about Mercury was delicious! Thanks for visiting, Chelsea.

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    1. Glad you liked it, Mary. Thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment!

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  11. Oh wow, that was a great post. Loved the excerpt. I love reading excerpts from books so I can see if the writing style is something I might like. Sounds like a great story too.

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    1. Hi Mary! That is why I always request excerpts...I like to figure out whether I can appreciate the style. I have to say that I really liked almost every one of these stories...and the one that I wasn't as fond of was still very well-written, I just didn't resonate with the characters. I hope you get a chance to read them and I look forward to reading your review when you do! Thank you for visiting!

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    1. Happy to have you all, kudos to you for a wonderful concept and execution! Thank you for taking the time to visit, Jennifer!

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