Contests and blog hops

Randi Alexander has a wonderfully appropriate title out...Cowboy Jackpot:  St. Patrick's Day.  She has a contest on her blog to celebrate the new release at this link.

The Romance Reviews is still celebrating its 2nd Anniversary party at this link.

Shirley Hailstock has a nice blog tour to promote her book White Diamonds at this  link
I am reluctant to share it because I figure I would have a much better shot at the $20 GC, lol but it looks like she could use some love

Skhye Moncrief has a blog hop at this link.


Secret Cravings has a Just Desserts blog hop at this link.


Don't forget the regular contests at:

Night Owl Romance at this link.

Coffee Time Romance (a very long list, scroll down the page) at this link.

Writerspace contests at this link.

Fresh Fiction contests at this link.

(and don't forget to set your clocks forward if you live in a place that practices Daylight Savings)

Meanwhile, I am working on reviews for:

Julie Miller's fascinating romantic suspense, Always Faithful
Sharon Lee & Steve Miller's wonderful science fiction addition to their Liaden Universe, Necessity's Child
Jayne Krentz's  paranormal tale (sorry, no dust bunnies) Dream Eyes
Rob Thurman's urban fantasy Slashback
Sandra Leesmith's women's fiction tale about cycling The Price of Victory
Pamela Clare's American Historical romance Ride the Fire 
(as usual, I am reading them faster than I can write them up...but I 'm working on it!)

               





 

Night Blade by JC Daniels

Night Blade is the fantastic sequel to JC Daniels' exciting book, Blade Song.  Both are part of the 'Colbana Files' series.  Some of you may already know that JC Daniels is another side of Shiloh Walker.  I have enjoyed all of the stories I have read by this incarnation of one of my favorite authors but I really was enthralled by Night Blade although I cringed at some of the developments.  Personally, I needed several tissues while reading and I have re-read some of the sections multiple times.  My Amazon Review is at this link.  Don't forget to read the first in the series, Blade Song to get a true appreciation for what happens in this fast-moving story!    (FYI, UF=urban fantasy--I consider them the more gritty paranormal books, HEA=happy ever after--USUALLY an absolute requirement for me to enjoy a book but there are exceptions to every rule, lol)

NB:  There was some snafu at getting the right novel uploaded to the various outlets.  This was not the author's fault!  Please ignore the nimnerds who rated the book based on this problem.  As far as I know, it has been corrected.


I am delighted to have JC (aka Shiloh) visiting and answering a few questions!

1.  What is a decision about a storyline that you have regretted making and why?

Ah, honestly?  None, that I can think of.  I can think of ways to go back and improve a story, tighten it up and make it better, but I tell the story the way I see it playing out in my head…I can't regret telling the story as I see it coming together for me.  If I tried to change the story, I'd regret that.

2.  Which author(s) do you think most influenced you as you started writing.

I can't think of any who influenced me when I started…I've been writing since I was a kid and I guess the closest 'influence' I could claim as far as starting out goes would be when I decided I'd rewrite a comic book because I didn't like how it ended…that was in grade school.  I'm not positive but I think the comic was a Fantastic Four comic.

3.  What are the differences between your JC Daniels and your Shiloh Walker creations

Depends on what you're reading… at some point J.C. might have some more erotica coming out, but I don't know yet…she's an avenue/outlet for me because I write fast and that outlet is helpful under those circumstances.  As far as the UF stories go, they aren't romance.  You won't find a HEA and the story and life the main character, Kit, is pretty brutal.  She's has a hard life and it will take a while before things get easier for her.

4.  What do you do for relaxation?

Sleep...

5.  What place do you dream of visiting and why.

I'd like to take my family to Ireland.  My husband and I have been but I want to take the kids.  And I'd love to see Scotland.  I don't know why…it just calls to me.

Thanks so much for visiting JC/Shiloh!

Please continue reading below for a wonderful excerpt from the fantastic Night Blade....

Kit Colbana is always biting off more than she can chew. She has a knack for finding trouble. This time, though, trouble finds her. Someone from her past drops a case into her lap that she just can’t refuse…literally.
People on the Council are dying left and right and she’s been requested to investigate the deaths. The number one suspect? Her lover, Damon. If she doesn’t clear his name, he gets a death sentence. Even if she succeeds? They still might try to execute him. Oh, and she’s not allowed to tell him about the case, either.

The stakes are high this time around, higher than they’ve ever been. Kit may be forced to pay the ultimate price to save her lover’s life…a price that could destroy her and everything she loves.

Excerpt (used with permission from Shiloh ©ShilohWalker)

      “Dunno where you are or when you’ll get this message, but I’m looking for you and I need to talk to you.  I have a job for you and you kind of have to take it.”
     I made a face.  Justin was a Banner cop now.   They’d seduced him with the promises of You get to kill things and we’ll give you lots of weapons.  He liked weapons almost as much as I did.  And he liked killing things…well, when they needed killing.  Justin was like a loaded gun, a good weapon and he was most efficient when he had a target.
     “Call me, set up a time, Kitty-kitty. Don’t make me track you down, okay?  You really do have to take this job…trust me.”
      I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck.
     Trust him.  That was a problem.  I did trust Justin.  There weren’t a lot of people I was willing to say that about but he was definitely one of them.
     The message ended and I sat there, staring at nothing.
      I trusted him, but I sure as hell didn’t want to take any job that he might have to offer.
      Jobs and Justin meant one thing.  A connection to the Banner unit.  The Banner units were exterminators.  Non-human exterminators.   Banner cops, slang for the Bureau of American Non-Human Affairs–were basically men and women like Justin, highly skilled, very deadly human who went out and eliminated the NHs who had been deemed too deadly to live.  Generally, they didn’t get to play much because us non-humans patrolled our own.  That was the job the packs, the clans, the order of witches and the Assembly in general.  But sometimes there were those who slipped past the ever-watchful eyes of the Assembly.
      Sometimes there were those the Assembly turned a blind eye to and the Banner cops stepped up to the plate.
      If Justin was calling me, it was entirely likely that he wanted my help in tracking somebody down.
      Damn it all to hell.



A little about JC:
J.C. Daniels is the alter ego of author Shiloh Walker and was created basically because Shiloh writes like a hyperactive bunny and an intervention was necessary.  J.C. is the intervention.  The name… J.C. Daniels is a play off of the three people who pretty much run Shiloh’s life.
J.C./Shiloh Walker has been writing since she was a kid. She fell in love with vampires with the book Bunnicula and has worked her way up to the more…ah…serious works of fiction. She loves reading and writing just about every kind of romance. Once upon a time she worked as a nurse, but now she writes full time and lives with her family in the Midwest.  She writes urban fantasy, romantic suspense and paranormal romance, among other things.

Learn more about JC/Shiloh here

Website: http://jcdanielsblog.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorShilohWalker
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shilohwalker

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5921279.J_C_Daniels




                           



and also by JC Daniels...

Still Moments Publishing titles

I was given the opportunity to read multiple titles from a new to me publisher.  I was not familiar with any of these authors and I was pleasantly surprised by the variety and quality of the stories.  I think that some of them would benefit from a little tighter editing because occasionally there were consistency errors but overall the stories were enjoyable reads.



            





Aspen Shift by Lindsay McFerrin was a great paranormal short story.  I really think this is an up and coming author and I look forward to reading more stories by her because I was impressed by her ability to create a vivid story.  My Amazon Review is at this link.

For the Love of a Sphynx by Heather Sharpe is a fun paranormal story.  The theme is a little predictable but there are nice scenes which give texture to the challenges faced by a man who ran afoul of a witch.  My Night Owl Review is at this link.

Jack and Jill, Volume One by Jennifer Eaton is a sweet contemporary romance.  My Night Owl Review is at this link.

Bullets and Buckets by Janelle Lee is a short cowboy romance.  My fellow blogger Crystal reviewed it at this link.

The Snow Globe by Donna Collins is a sweet short fairy tale that I featured in a post at this link.

Randi Alexander, Tara Lain & Duffy Brown and giveaways! and contests

Come to the Writerspace Chat today...Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 6:00 p.m.!  Get a chance to chat with the authors and MAYBE....win an e-book!

All of these lovely ladies will be (hopefully) at this link.  Fair warning, there has been some issue recently with either logging in or remaining in the chat so please make sure your computer cache is clear and keep trying if the 'connect failed' message comes up when you try to log in.  IF we are on protocol, please remember to type a question mark (?) and wait to be called on before asking your question.  The chat is an hour long but you are welcome to come before or stay a little longer if you wish to do so. 

Randi Alexander has a post about it today at this link.


There are a lot of lovely blog hops taking place right now as well as the regular contests...some to celebrate St. Patrick's Day (although in my household, it is better known as the hubby's birthday, lol).

This one looked fun, I started at Mari Carr's blog at this link.  Unfortunately, don't have time to run around to all of the blogs but looks like there are some great prizes!

The Romance Reviews is having its 2nd Anniversary party at this link.

Don't forget the regular contests at

Night Owl Romance at this link.

Coffee Time Romance (a very long list, scroll down the page) at this link.

Writerspace contests at this link.

Fresh Fiction contests at this link.

Shiloh Walker's Wreck of a blog tour!

*****

Shiloh’s WRECK OF A BLOG TOUR!

Enter to win a date with Shiloh Walker** (drinks at RT 2013 or Lori Foster/Duffy Brown RAGT)

She’s out to wreck her life…he’s out to remake it…check out Shiloh Walker’s WRECKED.

Excerpt

“What in the hell just happened?”

Zach’s lips touched the back of her neck. “Well, I’m no expert, but I think you kissed me,” he said, his voice teasing. “And I’m pretty sure we both enjoyed it. But maybe we should try again.”

And then she found herself on her back, staring up into a pair of dark blue eyes that she knew very, very well. They’d always seemed to glint with mischief, or trouble . . . but she’d never realized just how much they glinted with that kind of trouble.

Not until now.

As his mouth came down on hers again, Abby barely had time to catch her breath. Then she was wondering why she’d even bothered. He stole the oxygen right out of her with his kiss. His tongue stroked along hers, moving into her mouth with an easy assurance that belied his words.
I’m no expert.

Oh, yes. Yes, he was…

A WRECKED OF A BLOG TOUR mini interview

Q: Do you have a tattoo?

A: Yep…it’s a feather quill on the back of my right shoulder.  Quills…writers.  Made sense to me.

Q: How do you feel about friends to lovers romances?

A: I’m very partial to them…I married a guy I’d been mostly friends with all my life (I say mostly because I’d had a crush on him since I was 11.)

Q: Have you ever used the WRECK THIS JOURNAL thing?

A:I bought one…it inspired the idea behind WRECKED.

Q: Do you journal?  

A: I played with the WRECK journal, and still have it sitting on my shelf.  Did a few ideas inside it while I was writing the book, but I’m not much of a journaler.  I do most of my writing in my books and my blog.

Q: Are you more like Zach (just let life happen) or Abby (try to plan things out)?

A: Mostly Zach…I let life happen, but I do tend to try and control stuff.  I can’t plan worth crap, though and organization evades me.  That would drive Abby nuts.
Answer the Qs and play along!  Win a date with me & my laptop…or a copy of WRECK THIS JOURNAL.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
(I am technologically challenged so I have NO idea why this didn't work so please go to this link to access the Rafflecopter!)

 

**The Fine Print**

**I’ll buy you a drink ~I can’t buy you alcohol if you’re under 21, though~ we’ll sit there and chat and while we drink, you can have ten minutes to poke around on my laptop (FYI, you won’t have access to all my books…but the winner gets a sneak peak at coming soon projects…ten minutes, max, and there will be no pictures, no copying, etc…)
If the winner isn’t able to attend either function, I’ll send you a GC for the cost of two drinks (approximate value is probably about $30 ~going by RT drink prices ~to BN or Amazon).

Birthday freebies! (and my ever expanding TBR pile)

I am blessed and cursed with having a birthday that is identical to that of my husband's mom.  This way he never can forget when it is...but often it means that we celebrate my birthday on a different day so that she can have the spotlight on the day itself.  I don't mind postponing my celebration but I DO expect to celebrate it...something that it took a minor eruption on my part to impress upon my dear husband about 12 years ago, lol.  (He finally apologized very prettily and I enjoyed quite a few boxes of See's candy throughout that year!)

But, as usual, I digress.  I tend to sign up for freebies and this is always a fun time of year for me because many eating establishments offer a birthday meal.  Some of them require that you purchase another meal (Black Angus, Hometown Buffet), any purchase (Baja Fresh), simply give you a free meal (Rubio's, Denny's, IHOP) or give a small incentive (Pick Up Stix) or a discount on your meal (Marie Callender's).  These are the offers that hit my mailbox this evening...about a week before the great day...it's even more entertaining because my husband's birthday is a week after mine...so we get twice the offers for some of the restaurants.  Lest you think that you have pinpointed what restaurants we tend to patronize, some of these offers came for the MIL!  We never get around to using all of the coupons but it's fun to have a wide variety to choose and I still expect a few more to appear over the next few days.  So, don't hesitate to fill out those little forms at your favorite restaurants...they do pay off sometimes!

I have been fortunate to have received multiple editing jobs over the past few weeks so I have pushed things aside to get them done therefore I am terribly behind in writing reviews.  Those which are nearest to being written up (i.e., I have read them but not done the review yet) are:

Maya Banks' Fever (an erotic, emotional tale written with her usual flair)
Roni Loren's Fall Into You (the first I have read by this author but I will certainly be on the lookout for other of her titles)
Jeri Smith-Ready's Lust for Live (the wonderful conclusion to her WVMP Radio series featuring vampire dj's)
Cowboy Lust ed. by Delilah Devlin (a nice collection of short erotic cowboy romance stories)
Diana Pharaoh Francis' Shadow City (an urban fantasy that I actually read to remind me of what happened before I read Blood Winter)
Delilah Devlin's In Too Deep (an erotic cowboy romance novella in her Triplehorn Brand series)
Elle James' The Witch's Initiation (a Harlequin Nocturne romance that I was pleasantly surprised by)
Vivian Arend's Rocky Mountain Rebel (okay, so I have been enjoying a lot of erotic cowboy romances, what can I say?)
Randi Alexander's Cowboy Jackpot:  St. Patrick's Day
Cheyenne McCray's Tying You Down



What can I say...it's an ADDICTION!

So...if you are an author and I have promised you a review...I will get there eventually...but don't hold your breath!

Come to the Writerspace Chat!

A New Releases Chat will be held Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 6:00 PST at this link!


Careful...rant to follow...just skip to the end if you want to know some of the authors who hopefully will be at this chat.


I am sometimes disappointed by the advertising for the chats on this site because it took me awhile to understand that ... 'invited to chat' is NOT the same thing as actually being present at the chat!  It seems to me that when we as readers are making it a point to scramble and take the time to show up for a chat, the authors should actually appear.  After all, despite the fact that those of us in the audience tend to see each other around and enjoy a chance to catch up on what is going on in our respective worlds...we are there to chat with the AUTHORS!  There have been several chats that I have attended where no author showed up and once when I asked one author who I see there only rarely whether she was going to be at a chat, she defensively said that there were only so many hours and she was determined to have family time that this would interfere with and she couldn't speak for the others in her group.  I completely understand that...but if there is a regular spot for a particular group one day out of  EVERY MONTH and there are 4 or 5 authors in that group, I think it behooves them to arrange for at least ONE of them to show up...otherwise, perhaps they should give up that spot.  They are not alone in this and I understand that authors have lives and get immersed in their writing and have plenty of responsibilities but it just seems a little disrespectful to me when no authors show up.  I realize that it probably would help if they are reminded ahead of time but I see a vicious cycle spiraling downward...fewer readers come to the chat because authors don't show up and authors don't want to come because there aren't many readers...hopefully this will change this year!

Ok...barring unforeseen complications the following authors have said they will attend:

Randi Alexander
         




Tara Lain

                 






Duffy Brown

     



That should be an interesting mixture of genres....cowboy erotic romance, m/m romance and cozy mystery.  There will hopefully be other authors as well.  Come by and chat, learn about new books and maybe win an e-book!
IF the chat is on protocol, please remember to type a question mark (?) and wait to be called on before asking your question.  Usually I start typing my question but don't hit the send (or return key) until I am called upon.  Please be patient, some of us type relatively slowly and it can get pretty hectic if several people ask questions at once.

Hope to see you there!