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Hypertrophic Literary (AL) is open to submissions for upcoming issues. Looking for pieces that evoke a physical reaction, make readers feel something: joy, nausea, shock, desperation. Open to submissions of poetry, fiction, excerpts, and nonfiction. Hypertrophic accepts work in all genres and “[doesn’t] care who you are, if you’ve been published before, if it’s your first book or seventy-fourth.”

On this day in 1953, the New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary and Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest. In the following excerpt from his book, Exploration: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2015), Stewart A. Weaver discusses why we, as humans, want to explore and discover. For all the different forms it takes in different historical periods, for all the worthy and unworthy motives that lie behind it, exploration, travel for the sake of discovery and adventure, seems to be a human compulsion.

The post Exploring the final frontier appeared first on OUPblog.

There are currently about 7 billion people on Earth and by the middle of this century the number will most likely be between 9 and 10 billion. A greater proportion of these people will in real terms be wealthier than they are today and will demand a varied diet requiring greater resources in its production. Increasing demand for food will coincide with supply-side pressures: greater competition for water, land, and energy, and the accelerating effects of climate change.

The post Food security in the twenty-first century appeared first on OUPblog.

If you want to win votes and get elected in Britain, at least in general elections, then you had better get a party. The occasional and isolated exceptions only prove the rule. Before the 2010 general election, in the wake of the parliamentary expenses scandal, there was speculation that independent candidates might do unusually well, but in the event this did not happen. Elected politicians have a wonderful capacity for persuading themselves that their electoral success is to be explained by their obvious personal qualities, but the evidence is all against them.

The post How to win the 2015 General Election appeared first on OUPblog.

No one can discuss American history without talking about the prevalence of slavery. When the Europeans attempted to colonize America in its early days, Indians and Africans were enslaved because they were “different from them”. The excerpt below from American Slavery: A Very Short Introduction follows the dark past of colonial America and how slavery proceeded to root itself deeply into history:

America held promises of wealth and freedom for Europeans; in time, slavery became the key to the fulfillment of both. Those who ventured to the lands that became the United States of America arrived determined to extract wealth from the soil, and they soon began to rely on systems of unpaid labor to accomplish these goals. Some also came with dreams of acquiring freedoms denied them in Europe, and paradoxically slavery helped to make those freedoms possible as well. As European immigrants to the colonies initiated a system of slavery, they chose to enslave only those who were different from them—Indians and Africans. A developing racist ideology marked both Indians and Africans as heathens or savages, inferior to white Europeans and therefore suited for enslavement. When continued enslavement of Indians proved difficult or against colonists’ self-interest, Africans and their descendants alone constituted the category of slave, and their ancestry and color came to be virtually synonymous with slave.

Although Europeans primarily enslaved Africans and their descendants, in the early 1600s in both northern and southern colonies, Africans were not locked into the same sort of lifetime slavery that they later occupied. Their status in some of the early colonies was sometimes ambiguous, but by the time of the American Revolution, every English colony in America—from Virginia, where the English began their colonization project, to Massachusetts, where Puritans made claims for religious freedom—had people who were considered lifetime slaves. To understand how the enslavement of Africans came about, it is necessary to know something of the broader context of European settlement in America.

In the winter of 1606, the Virginia Company, owned by a group of merchants and wealthy gentry, sent 144 English men and boys on three ships to the East Coast of the North American continent. English explorers had established the colony of Roanoke in Carolina in 1585, but when a ship arrived to replenish supplies two years later, the colony was nowhere to be found. The would-be colonists had either died or become incorporated into Indian groups. The English failed in their first attempt to establish a permanent colony in North America. Now they were trying again, searching for a place that would sustain and enrich them.

By the time the English ships got to the site of the new colony in April 1607, only 105 men and boys were left. Despite the presence of thousands of Algonquian-speaking Indians in the area, the leader of the English group planted a cross and named the territory on behalf of James, the new king of England. They established the Jamestown Settlement as a profit-making venture of the Virginia Company, but the colony got off to a bad start. The settlers were poorly suited to the rigors of colonization. To add to their troubles, the colony was located in an unhealthy site on the edge of a swamp. The new arrivals were often ill, plagued by typhoid and dysentery from lack of proper hygiene. Human waste spilled into the water supply, the water was too salty for consumption at times, and mosquitoes and bugs were rampant. No one planted foodstuffs. The colonists entered winter unprepared and only gifts of food from the Powhatan Indians saved them.

In the winter of 1609/10, a period that colonist John Smith called the “starving time,” several of the colonists resorted to cannibalism. According to Smith, some of the colonists dug up the body of an Indian man they had killed, boiled him with roots and herbs, and ate him. One man chopped up his wife and ate her. John Smith feared that the colony would disappear much as Roanoke had, so he established a militarized regime, divided the men into work gangs with threats of severe discipline, and told them that they would either work or starve. Smith’s dramatic strategy worked. The original settlers did not all die, and more colonists, including women and children, arrived from England to help build the struggling colony.

The first dozen years of the Jamestown Colony saw hunger, disease, and violent conflicts with the Native People, but it also saw the beginnings of a cash crop that could generate wealth for the investors in the Virginia Company back in England, as well as for planters within the colony. In 1617, the colonist John Rolfe brought a new variety of tobacco from the West Indies to Jamestown. In tobacco the colonists found the saleable commodity for which they had been searching, and they shipped their first cargo to England later that year. The crop, however, made huge demands on the soil. Cultivation required large amounts of land because it quickly drained soil of its nutrients. This meant that colonists kept spreading out generating immense friction with the Powhatan Indians who had long occupied and used the land. Tobacco was also a labor-intensive crop, and clearing land for new fields every few years required a great deal of labor. The colony needed people who would do the work.

Into this unsettled situation came twenty Africans in 1619. According to one census there were already some Africans in the Jamestown colony, but August 1619, when a Dutch warship moored at Point Comfort on the James River, marks the first documented arrival of Africans in the colony. John Rolfe wrote, “About the last of August came in a dutch man of warre that sold us twenty Negars.” According to Rolfe, “the Governor and Cape Marchant bought [them] for victuals at the easiest rates they could.” Colonists who did not have much excess food thought it worthwhile to trade food for laborers.

The Africans occupied a status of “unfreeness”; officials of the colony had purchased them, yet they were not perpetual slaves in the way that Africans would later be in the colony. For the most part, they worked alongside the Europeans who had been brought into the colony as indentured servants, and who were expected to work usually for a period of seven years to pay off the cost of their passage from England, Scotland, Wales, the Netherlands, or elsewhere in Europe. For the first several decades of its existence, European indentured servants constituted the majority of workers in the Jamestown Colony. Living conditions were as harsh for them as it was for the Africans as noted in the desperate pleas of a young English indentured servant who begged his parents to get him back to England.

In March 1623, Richard Frethorne wrote from near Jamestown to his mother and father in England begging them to find a way to get him back to England. He was hungry, feared coming down with scurvy or the bloody flux, and described graphically the poor conditions under which he and others in the colony lived. He was worse off, he said, than the beggars who came to his family’s door in England. Frethorne’s letter is a rare document from either white or black servants in seventeenth-century Virginia, but it certainly reflects the conditions under which most of them lived. The Africans, captured inland, taken to the coast, put on ships, taken to the Caribbean, and captured again by another nation’s ships, were even farther removed from any hope of redemption than Frethorne. Even if they could have written, they would have had no way of sending an appeal for help. As it happens, Frethorne was not successful either. His letter made it to London but remained in the offices of the Virginia Company. His parents probably never heard his appeal.

Featured headline image: Cotton gin harpers. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The post Slavery, rooted in America’s early history appeared first on OUPblog.

        

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This morning I have an excerpt and giveaway for Nightingale by Cathy Maxwell.  Be sure to check out all of the stops on the tour so you can read all of the excerpts and increase you chances to win!

Excerpt:

“Please,” she said, not knowing what it was she was asking him for. To please understand? To please honor her wishes?

To please forgive her?

Dane shook his head. “You have wasted your time and mine, Lady Mosby. The challenge is not mine to withdraw. Your brother claims to be the offended party. He challenged me and I will not back down from meeting him. I have no quarrel if he wishes to withdraw, but I will not sacrifice my honor and my reputation on the likes of him.”

“He challenged you?” Jemma repeated, astounded.

“Yes.”

“But why—?” she started, then stopped. Why did Cris do anything? She had thought he was growing out of his wild stage. It had been a long time since he’d been rash and foolish, but the possibility was always there, bubbling beneath the veneer of manners. All it took was a little drink. . . .

At her abrupt silence, a muscle tightened in Dane’s jaw. In three long strides, he crossed to the door behind her and opened it. “Go home, Jemma. I can’t save your brother from himself any more than you can. And I’ll be damned before I sacrifice my pride for him.”

Or for any of them.

Jemma nodded to herself. He was right . . . and yet, what would become of her family? Cris was the last of their line, a line that stretched all the way back to Normandy, to before the Conqueror. Duty, honor, and obligation to her name had been drummed into her from the cradle. Dane had been her one defiance, and in the end, she had done what had been expected of her.

Just as she would do what she must now.

Nightingale

By: Cathy Maxwell

Releasing August 26th, 2014

Avon: Impulse

Fate has brought them together -again.

At one time, Jemma had meant the world to Dane Pendleton, but then she betrayed their young love by marrying another for his title and fortune.

Now Time has turned the tables. Dane is wealthy, respected, knighted and the widowed Jemma has nothing but her pride.

His honor for hers . . .

Dane’s name is on the lips of every beauty in London. They whisper he learned “tricks” while he was in the Orient. But has he forgotten Jemma, now Lady Mosby, and what they had once meant to each other? And will he accept her devil’s bargain?

In every woman’s life, there is that one love who slipped away. The man who makes her wonder “what if?”

But is this a momentary madness or a chance to rekindle a love that could last a lifetime?

Originally appeared in the print anthology THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2014/07/nightingale-by-cathy-maxwell.html

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22103882-nightingale?from_search=true

Buy Links

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nightingale-Originally-appeared-print-anthology-ebook/dp/B00JTYQIX6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406661266&sr=8-1&keywords=Nightingale+by+cathy+maxwell

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nightingale-cathy-maxwell/1119290961?ean=9780062367679

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/nightingale/id867234286?mt=11

Author Info

CATHY MAXWELL spends hours in front of her computer pondering the question, “Why do people fall in love?” It remains for her the great mystery of life and the secret to happiness. She lives in beautiful Virginia with children, horses, dogs, and cats.

Author Links

Website: http://www.cathymaxwell.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cathy-Maxwell-Fan-Page/144546442251787

Twitter: https://twitter.com/maxwellcathy

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/67037.Cathy_Maxwell

Rafflecopter Giveaway (Two Digital Copies of NIGHINGALE)

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The post Spotlight and Giveaway: Nightingale by Cathy Maxwell appeared first on Manga Maniac Cafe.

Oxford University Press is saddened to hear of the passing of Broadway legend Elaine Stritch. We’d like to present a brief extract from Eddie Shapiro’s interview with Elaine Stritch in November/December 2008 in Nothing Like a Dame that illustrates her tremendous life and vitality.

“What’s this all about, again?!” came Elaine Stritch’s unmistakable rattle of a voice, part Rosalind Russell, part dry martini, part cheese grater, on the other end of the phone. I was taken aback. After all, we had spoken the day before and the day before that. On the first call, she had told me that she was swamped but really wanted to get this interview out of the way. “Well,” I had offered, “there’s no great rush. I would rather you do this when you feel relaxed than when you are cramming it in.” “Don’t you worry about my disposition,” came the steely reply. “I’ll worry about my disposition.” She hated me, I thought, until the second call, during which she called me “dear” and apologized twice for her schedule. So now, on call number three, when it seemed we were back at square one, I didn’t know what to say. “Well, it’s the interview for my book, Nothing Like a Dame,” I explained. “You asked me to call today.” “And when did you want to do this,” came the deliberate reply. “Well, you asked me about today.” “Today? I can’t possibly do today.” “That’s fine. It’s just that when you called me on Friday, you said you wanted to get it done this weekend.” “I don’t recall saying that to anyone. Gee, Ed, I hate to leave you hanging like this. How about Thanksgiving?” “Thanksgiving Day?” “Yeah, before dinner. You could come for tea.” “That would be fine.” “But I tell you what, give me a call on Wednesday night after 11:00, just to confirm. And I promise I’ll remember.” And that is how I ended up having tea with irascible, cantankerous, outspoken, and utterly charming Elaine Stritch at The Carlyle Hotel on Thanksgiving Day.

Elaine Stritch was born outside of Detroit in 1925. She came to New York to study under Erwin Piscator at The New School, where her classmates included Marlon Brando and Bea Arthur (with whom she’d compete for a Tony Award sixty years later. And win.). She made her musical debut in Angel in the Wings, singing the absurd “Bongo, Bongo, Bongo (I Don’t Want to Leave the Congo)” before her long run as Ethel Merman’s understudy in Call Me Madam. Since Merman never missed a performance, Stritch never went on, and felt safe simultaneously taking a one-scene part in the hit 1952 revival of Pal Joey a block away. “I was close if they needed me,” she says, “which they never did.” When Call Me Madam went out on national tour, though, Stritch, all of twenty-five, was leading the company. Goldilocks followed, before Noel Coward wrote the role of Mimi Paragon in Sail Away just for Stritch. Mimi, like her inspiration, knew her way around an arched eyebrow and a sarcastic bon mot. Not surprisingly, Stritch was a sensation. It nonetheless took almost a decade for her next Broadway musical, but this one was legendary.

Elaine Stritch in her dressing room at the Savoy Theatre, London. 1973. Photo by Allan Warren, via WikiCommons.

As Joanne in Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company, Stritch bellowed the searing eleven o’clock number, “The Ladies Who Lunch.” To this day, it is considered one of the all-time greatest interpretations of any musical theater song. Hal Prince’s acclaimed 1994 revival of Show Boat was another triumph but the best was still to come. In 2001, under the direction of George C. Wolfe, Stritch premiered Elaine Stritch at Liberty, an autobiographical one-woman show in which Stritch gossiped, confessed, kvetched, cajoled, and reveled in a musical tour of her life and career. For At Liberty, she finally took home a Tony Award, before playing the show for years in New York, London, and on tour. In 2010, she successfully, if improbably, succeeded Angela Lansbury in A Little Night Music.

Of all the women in [Nothing Like a Dame], she was the only one I was scared to meet. The phone calls didn’t assuage my fears, nor did the Carlyle’s waiter who, upon hearing I was there to meet Stritch laughingly said, “Good luck!” But I needn’t have worried. Stritch isn’t mean, she’s just blunt to a degree that’s so unusual it’s occasionally unnerving. As Bebe Neuwirth says of her, “She doesn’t know how to lie, on or offstage.” And she doesn’t suffer fools well. But once she trusts, she’s delightful. And warm enough to have extended an invitation to Thanksgiving dinner.

…

In your show, Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, you said that you didn’t know why you wanted to be an actress. But you did choose to pursue acting over anything else. What gave you the instinct that you’d be any good?

I don’t think it’s an instinct, I don’t think that’s the right word. I don’t have an answer to that today.

Calling?

Those are all two-dollar words. I don’t believe in all of that, “calling” and “career.” I wasn’t thinking about . . . I think if I was really dead-honest, I was . . . everybody else was going away to college and I didn’t want to. I don’t know the reason why that was, either. I thought I’d rather learn by experience all of the subjects they were going to teach me in college. That’s a dumb statement. But I didn’t want to go to college. I wanted to be an actress but I still can’t tell you why. I think I’m . . . I don’t think I’m really a happy camper inside and I think it’s an escape for me. I’ve gotten to like myself a lot better as the years go by, but I’m still not hung up on myself.

You have actually said that it’s really hard for you to play yourself. During Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, you said that a vacation would be putting on a costume and playing someone else.

At the time I was doing Elaine Stritch: At Liberty I wasn’t thinking about philosophizing my position and what I would or wouldn’t like to do. This was a tremendously courageous thing for me to do, but it was good. Just like I read a good play—I read a Tennessee Williams play, an Edward Albee play—I read what I wrote and what John Lahr wrote and I liked it. I thought, “This is a good part for me.” That sounds like a joke but it was a good part for me to play. It was the first time I had an opportunity to put myself on the stage. Because I am a really true-blue actress. When I take on a part I play the part. Of course I bring Elaine Stritch to it, that’s why they hire me. But I am interpreting another, I am inside somebody else’s skin. So, you know, acting is . . . I don’t know what it is. I don’t think it’s given enough credit in the arts. I think it’s a real art form, acting. I don’t know. I don’t think a lot of people have the talent—my kind of talent—to be an actress. But there are a lot of good ones out there. I am always so thrilled when I go to the theater and see a performance. I just think that’s the best. There was a marvelous expression in the Times the other day in the review of Australia. They talked about all of the epic qualities of the movie but they said a very simple thing about Nicole Kidman, who I think is a very good actress. They said: “she gave a performance.” And I thought, “what a wonderful notice.” I hope she appreciates it.

I want to go back to your early days, you came to New York for whatever reason you . . .

For whatever reason. Look, it’s not as complicated as all that. I was not going steady with someone. My beau had already gone to New York to become an actor. He was a writer named James Lee. He wrote [the play] Career and he also wrote for television; he was one of the writers on Roots. So what was I gonna do? I didn’t want to go to college. I wasn’t in love. I mean, I loved Jimmy but I wasn’t interested in getting married. I wish it would stop there. I wanted to become an actress. Why? I don’t know. I think you deal with that better than I deal with it. I’d like to be able to answer it better. But I do think that I wasn’t too hung up on myself and I wanted to be everybody else I could think of.

The reason I used the word “instinct” is because I think sometimes people have a desire or gut feeling that isn’t calculated, but they know that something speaks to them.

Something stirring.

Yeah.

I see what you mean. Yes. And I also wanted out of Michigan. I love Michigan but I didn’t want to spend all my life there, I wanted to see the world. Another answer I’ve given to the question, “why did you want to become an actress” is that I wanted higher ceilings. It’s as good an answer as any. I once played a game at a party and we all had to give the best answer for “why did you become an actor.” Mine was, “to get a good table at 21.” Ho ho ho. I think “higher ceilings” would have won at that party but I hadn’t thought of that yet. [The actor] Marti Stevens gave the best answer ever. Actually, the question was, “why did you go on the stage” and Marti Stevens said, “to get out of the audience.” That’s a great answer.

Once you were in New York and at The New School, how did you get work and audition?

I was going to school.

Yes, but you were cast in Loco pretty quickly after school. Did that seem like a fluke to you or were your peers also getting work easily? Did it feel like a struggle?

I don’t know.

Did you have to work for money?

I waited tables at The New School, but I did it not because I needed the money; I did it for the experience.

The human experience?

Yeah.

Did it work?

Yeah. And I did it to show off to Marlon Brando.

Did that work?

Yeah. I was showing that I wasn’t just this rich girl from Michigan. I could be a waitress, too. You see there’s a little Joan Crawford/Mildred Pierce in all of us! It was all of those things. . . . I am very honest about things like that today. Then I wasn’t.

In what ways are you honest now that you were not then?

Well, I wish I could have laughed and told Marlon Brando that I was trying to influence him. But you don’t do that at seventeen. You wait ’til you’re in your eighties ’til you get that kind of honesty. I think I could do a lot of things today that I couldn’t do then as far as being straight- forward and on the level with people. I figured it out that none of us have anything to hide. There’s nothing about me that I couldn’t tell everybody in the world. There really isn’t. And that’s a good way to be. I love the expression “secrets are dangerous.” I really think they are. “Don’t tell anybody, but . . .” is the most boring line in the world. It really is. If you don’t want them to tell anybody, don’t tell them!

In saying secrets are dangerous, do you mean that the truth frees you?

Absolutely. And I think what has transpired without your knowing it is that you kind of, at last, dig yourself.

…

I need a Judy Garland story.

I’d have to look ’em up, Honey.

For people like me, it’s like sitting at my grandmother’s lap and listening to family legend.

I know, I know. Judy Garland, when she came to the opening night party of Sail Away, I made up my mind not to drink at all at that party. There were a lot of famous people there. Before I knew it I saw Judy leaving the Noel Coward suite, and she was going home. I thought, “My God, I haven’t talked to her, she hasn’t told me how she liked the show, and I really want to hear what she thought more than anyone.” They had those see-through elevators at the Savoy Hotel. I ran out to the hall and she was just on the elevator and it was starting to disappear. And before her head got out of view from me, she went, “Elaine, about your fucking timing . . . ” and then she disappeared. It was absolutely brilliant. She knew what she was doing! Her timing was divine! And music to my ears, of course.

Do you have any stories about working with George Abbott on Call Me Madam?

Oh, he was a marvelous director, a wonderful man and an extraordinary human being. I loved him. He did one great thing once with me. When I came down to get notes before opening night, I had a scotch and soda in a coffee mug. Of course I was making it very believable. ’Cause while he was giving the notes I was blowing on the coffee. I was blowing on the scotch. And all of sudden George Abbott said to me, “Can I have a taste of that Elaine? Is that coffee?” And my voice went up two octaves and I said, “Yes.” And he said, “Could I have a taste?” And I said, “Sure.” I’ll tell you what a great guy he was. He took the coffee mug from me and he blew on it and then he took a sip. And then he handed it back to me and said, “Man that’s good coffee.”

Do you have Richard Rodgers stories?

Oh, I loved him. But he didn’t like me. He was an alcoholic, you know, and alcoholics resent other alcoholics. He paid me a great compliment once, though. He said, “I would give her the lead in a show but I just don’t think she could handle it. Because when she does a number, it is so good that I never think she can do it again.” It’s a great compliment but it isn’t very conducive to working.

It is a back-handed compliment.

Well he was a back-handed kind of fellow. He is a hard person to talk about.

Did you think it was personal?

Oh no, he liked me very much. But I made him nervous because I drank. That would make any director or producer—but the funny thing with him was that he drank twice as much as I did.

Did he recognize that?

No, he didn’t at all.

Both Abbott and Rodgers knew that you were drinking . . .

It never bothered George Abbott because I didn’t drink too much. Well, I probably did drink too much, but I was never drunk on the stage in my life.

Was drinking in the theater more commonplace in general?

Absolutely. Everybody had booze in their dressing room. Nobody does anymore. In London, in the theater you have cocktail parties at intermission. It’s a big deal having a little sherry or a little of this or that. But too many people have abused the privilege in this country. All of our great actors were huge drinkers. Tallulah Bankhead, John Barrymore, Bela Lugosi. So many. Lots and lots of people.

The people you mention famously got seriously drunk. That was never you, though.

No, absolutely not. Maybe a couple of times my timing was off because I had three instead of two drinks, but nothing to write home about.

…

Do you read reviews?

Oh yes, I can’t wait. Terrified to read them and thrilled to death when they are good. I haven’t gotten a lot of bad reviews; I’ve gotten a few in my life but nothing that upset me terribly.

There are a lot of actors who . . .

I can’t believe that they don’t read their reviews.

Do you go to the theater today?

Yeah, I go. But I am not going to see The Little Mermaid if that’s what you mean. I like Jane Krakowski, I think she’s good. And I like Kristin Chenoweth. I’m getting very excited about the opening of Pal Joey because my good friend Stockard Channing is in it. The theater is not what it was. It’s the fabulous invalid. It’s having a tough time because of the economy but it will come back. I worry about Maxwell [her nephew, a twenty-nine-year-old actor who just moved to New York]. Nobody who comes here to get into the theater can get an agent. It takes years. You have to go on those cattle calls. This is a tough racket. It really is a tough racket.

…

If performing hadn’t worked out for you, do you have any notion of what you might have been doing?

Supposition is really boring but I’ll give it a shot: Stay home!!

Is there anyone you’ve never worked with who you wish you had?

If I am supposed to, it’ll happen. I reiterate: supposition to me is a long yawn.

I think the word is “boring.”

[Laughs] OK, whatever you think is fair.

Excerpted from Nothing Like a Dame: Conversations with the Great Women of Musical Theater by Eddie Shapiro. Shapiro is a freelance writer and theater journalist whose work has appeared in Out Magazine, Instinct, and Backstage West. He is the author of Queens in the Kingdom: The Ultimate Gay and Lesbian Guide to the Disney Theme Parks.

The post In remembrance of Elaine Stritch appeared first on OUPblog.

        

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Catching Cameron

A Love and Football Novel #3

By: Julie Brannagh

Releasing May 6th, 2014

Blurb

Julie Brannagh’s sexy, charming Love and Football series continues …
Star sports reporter Cameron Ondine has one firm rule: she does not date football players. Ever. She tangled with one years ago, and it did not end well. Been there, done that.

But when Cameron comes face-to-face with the very man who shattered her heart—on camera, no less—her world is upended for a second time by recklessly handsome Seattle Shark Zach Anderson.

Zach has never been able to forget the gorgeous blonde who stole his breath away when he was still just a rookie. They’ve managed to give each other a wide berth for years, but when their jobs suddenly bring them together again and again, he knows he has to face his past once and for all.

Because as they spend more time together, he becomes less focused on the action on the field and more concerned with catching Cameron.

Excerpt

Zach devises a surprisingly romantic late-night date with some homemade brownies by candelight…

He leaned over the table toward her. Their candlelit table for two was an oasis in the dimness of the huge cafeteria, and her heart rate picked up a little. She could see the twinkling lights of boats bobbing around on the lake outside of the facility. It was surprisingly romantic for the most inexpensive date she’d been on in her life.

Date? Oh, no. Not a date. What was she thinking? He was still the guy who’d left her, and he didn’t even have the courtesy to tell her why.

He reached out and patted her hand with his much bigger and warmer one. “You and I seem to rub each other the wrong way.”

She was shaking her head before he even finished his sentence. “No, we don’t. That’s not true. I stopped thinking about you a long time ago—”

“That’s why you went after me like a pit bull on a porterhouse the last time we saw each other, huh?”

“You took my cab.”

“You took my cab.” The timer on his phone went off, and he let out a long sigh. “Let me go get the stuff, and I’ll be right back.”

A few minutes later, he returned to the table with two bowls full of freshly-baked brownies, laced with chocolate sauce, and the can of whipped cream tucked under one arm.

“I told you I shouldn’t be eating this,” Cameron said.

“Just a few bites.” He held the can of whipped cream over his forearm like a waiter displaying a rare bottle of wine. “Want some?”

Buy Links

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Catching-Cameron-Love-Football-Novel-ebook/dp/B00DB3AANA

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/catching-cameron-julie-brannagh/1116759070?ean=9780062279736

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/catching-cameron/id660528732?mt=11

Link to Follow Tour: http://tastybooktours.blogspot.com/2014/04/now-booking-tasty-virtual-tour-for_7043.html

Author Info

Julie Brannagh has been writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil. She lives in a small town near Seattle, where she once served as a city council member and owned a yarn shop. She shares her home with a wonderful husband, two uncivilized Maine Coons and a rambunctious chocolate Lab.

Julie hasn’t quite achieved the goal of owning a pro football team, so she created a fictional one: The Seattle Sharks. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, or armchair-quarterbacking her favorite NFL team from the comfort of the family room couch. Julie is a Golden Heart finalist and the author of four contemporary sports romances.

Author Links

http://www.juliebrannagh.com/

https://www.facebook.com/JulieBrannagh

https://twitter.com/julieinduvall

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7127296.Julie_Brannagh

Rafflecopter Giveaway (Digital Set of Love and Football Series Books 1 & 2)

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The post Spotlight and Giveaway–Catching Cameron by Julie Brannagh appeared first on Manga Maniac Cafe.

A Girl Called Fearless is the debut novel by Catherine Linka.  It looks awesome, and I’ll have a review next week.  Check out the blurb; it hits shelves tomorrow.

Avie Reveare has the normal life of a privileged teen growing up in L.A., at least as normal as any girl’s life is these days. After a synthetic hormone in beef killed fifty million American women ten years ago, only young girls, old women, men, and boys are left to pick up the pieces. The death threat is past, but fathers still fear for their daughters’ safety, and the Paternalist Movement, begun to “protect” young women, is taking over the choices they make.

Like all her friends, Avie still mourns the loss of her mother, but she’s also dreaming about college and love and what she’ll make of her life. When her dad “contracts” her to marry a rich, older man to raise money to save his struggling company, her life suddenly narrows to two choices: Be trapped in a marriage with a controlling politician, or run. Her lifelong friend, student revolutionary Yates, urges her to run to freedom across the border to Canada. As their friendship turns to passion, the decision to leave becomes harder and harder. Running away is incredibly dangerous, and it’s possible Avie will never see Yates again. But staying could mean death.

From Catherine Linka comes this romantic, thought-provoking, and frighteningly real story, A Girl Called Fearless, about fighting for the most important things in life—freedom and love.

You can read an excerpt here

CATHERINE LINKA was almost thrown out of boarding school for being “too verbal.” Fortunately, she learned to channel her outspokenness and creative energy into writing. A passionate traveler who has visited Iceland, the Amazon, and the Arctic circle, Catherine has seen five types of whales in the wild, but no orcas. Yet. She doesn’t believe in fate, but she did fall in love with her husband on their first date when he laced up her boots, because she had a broken hand. A Girl Called Fearless is her debut novel.

The post Spotlight–A Girl Called Fearless by Catherine Linka appeared first on Manga Maniac Cafe.

To Charm a Naughty Countess by Theresa Romain

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Publishing Date: May 6, 2014

Back Cover:

CAN A RECLUSIVE DUKE…

Brilliant but rumored mad, Michael Layward, the impoverished Duke of Wyverne, has no success courting heiresses until widowed Lady Stratton takes up his cause–after first refusing his suit.

WIN LONDON’S MOST POWERFUL COUNTESS?

Caroline Graves, the popular Countess of Stratton, sits alone at the pinnacle of London society and has vowed never to remarry. When Michael–her counterpart in an old scandal–returns to town after a long absence, she finds herself as enthralled with him as ever. As she guides the anxiety-ridden duke through the trials of society, Caroline realizes that she’s lost her heart . But if she gives herself to the only man she’s ever loved, she’ll lose the hard-won independence she prizes above all.

Genre: Regency-set historical romance

Tone: Romantic, passionate, lighthearted

Heat Level: Love scenes with euphemisms

Elements/Tags: Pygmalion story, virgin hero, widowed heroine

Series, #: Matchmaker trilogy, book 2

Format: Mass market paperback, digital

Words: 87,000

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18480544-to-charm-a-naughty-countess?ac=1

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1tGcn39

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1f6SKgK

Books-a-Million: http://bit.ly/1jX1O3K

Book Depository: http://bit.ly/1hrmI9u

iBooks: http://bit.ly/1f6SX3q

Sourcebooks: http://bit.ly/1ii5oUu

Indiebound: http://bit.ly/RXWQ0m

Meet Author Theresa Romain:

Historical romance author Theresa Romain pursued an impractical education that allowed her to read everything she could get her hands on. She then worked for universities and libraries, where she got to read even more. Eventually she started writing, too. She lives with her family in the Midwest.

Social Media Links:

Website: http://theresaromain.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorTheresaRomain

Twitter: @TheresaRomain

Excerpt-

“I wanted you tonight,” she admitted. “I’ve wanted you for a long time. But I can’t be the wife you need.”

“Of course you can.” He looked puzzled, as though she’d misunderstood a simple command. Pass the salt. Be my wife. “I just told you that you could. Besides this, you ought to marry me now that we’ve—well.”

“What, you think you’ve ruined me?” She dug her fingernails into her sheet as passionately as she’d clutched for his body a few minutes before.

“‘Ruined’ isn’t the right word, exactly.” Those damnable eyes of his. They were so sharp but missed so much.

“Perhaps eventually I shall hit upon the right word for something. Until then, I thank you for your concern for my reputation. Or honor. Or whatever the right word might be. But as you’re not the first man who has come to my bed since my widowhood, the responsibility for my ruination is not yours.”

He looked as stunned as if she had clouted him. His lips parted, then closed again.

Damnable lips. Damnable eyes. Damnable chin and nose. He was too handsome to be so callous. It was impossible to keep up an icy guard when the sight of his face, so austere and yet so vulnerable, always melted her.

She hadn’t cried since the death of her elderly husband, a kind man who had doted on her and bequeathed her the cachet and money to remake her life. She could cry now, though, for the death of another fancy as improbable as the clergyman’s daughter marrying an earl. She might admire Michael for his honor, his dedication to duty, but he could offer her no more than this—not with his clockwork heart.

To help him save his dukedom, he needed a woman much like himself, a business partner who signed her name to a marriage license as she would any other contract, and who would be content never to be loved. Caroline could not be that person. Her heart was not clockwork, but human enough for two; twice tried and deeply bruised. She could only be ashamed that she had given herself away so cheaply, when she’d meant never again to give away anything at all.

Giveaway Details:

Theresa is generously gifting all five of her books to one lucky commenter!

*Season for Temptation

*Season for Surrender

*Season for Scandal

*It Takes Two to Tangle

*To Charm a Naughty Countess

Open internationally. Please follow the Rafflecopter directions.

Tour Stops:

http://events.litconnect.com/to-charm-a-naughty-countess-by-theresa-romain/

Important Additional Information:

Facebook Event:

May 6th ~ 8 – 10pm EST

More info at: http://events.litconnect.com/facebook-celebration-to-charm-a-naughty-countess-by-theresa-romain/

Twitter Party:

May 7th ~ 8 – 9pm EST

#NaughtyCountess

More info: http://events.litconnect.com/twitter-party-to-charm-a-naughty-countess-by-theresa-romain/

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The post Spotlight and Giveaway–To Charm a Naughty Countess by Theresa Romain appeared first on Manga Maniac Cafe.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] Good morning, Eliza!  Describe yourself in five words or less.

[Eliza Redgold] Bookish, romantic, curious, (mis)adventurous.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] Can you tell us a little about Hide & Seek?

[Eliza Redgold] It’s about the birds and the bees…
Hope Buchanan runs Hot Tropics Bird Sanctuary in steamy Broome, Western Australia. When American hotel developer Sullivan O’Dare arrives and threatens the birds’ natural habitat, she’ll fight him any way she can … but is her heart really in it? Or has it taken flight?

[Manga Maniac Cafe]  Can you share your favorite scene?

[Eliza Redgold] When a stranger appears unexpectedly in a bird hide at Hot Tropics Bird Sanctuary in Broome Western Australia, and ruins the publicity ‘pin-up’ photo Hope Buchanan is taking of a bowerbird, she doesn’t exactly give him a warm welcome. To her horror, she discovers the good-looking man is her arch nemesis, Sullivan O’Dare, the head of O’Dare Property Developers, who has just flown in from New York.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] What gave you the most trouble with the story?

[Eliza Redgold] Not putting in all the information I discovered during my bird watching research! Birders, also known as ‘twitchers’ and ‘bird nerds’ can become a bit obsessed, and I did too.  Bowerbirds and hummingbirds became my favorites, but don’t get me started.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] What’s one thing you won’t leave home without?

[Eliza Redgold] Binoculars

[Manga Maniac Cafe] Name three things on your desk right now.

[Eliza Redgold] I am in New York right now, and not at home in Australia, so I’ll just close my eyes: A painting of a bird with the word HOPE scrolled beneath it that I found while writing Hide and Seek (with my bird-watching heroine being called Hope it seemed like serendipity) a photo of my daughter, and a feather quill pen.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] If you could trade places with anyone for just one day, who would you be?

[Eliza Redgold] As I am here in New York city not far from the Algonquin Hotel where she used to hang out, I’d have to say Dorothy Parker. Who wouldn’t want to be that witty?

[Manga Maniac Cafe] You have been granted the use of one superpower for one week.  Which power would you choose, and what would you do with it?

[Eliza Redgold] To be able to fly! (Of course!) I’d love a bird’s eye view of the world. We could all do with a higher perspective sometimes.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] What are some books that you enjoyed recently?

[Eliza Redgold] At the moment I’m reading some old romances by Sophie Cole, who wrote the first ever romance novel for Harlequin Mills and Boon just over a hundred years ago. I found a dusty old copy of one of her books, ‘Witchery’ in a vintage shop. I’m reading the rest as e-books on Kindle.

[Manga Maniac Cafe] How can readers connect with you?

[Eliza Redgold] Webpage:
www.elizaredgold.com

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ElizaRedgoldAuthor

Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/elizaredgold/

Come and say hi!

Excerpt

Hope landed in Sullivan’s lap as if he was Santa Claus.

Water churned around them as he caught her in his arms. ‘It’s okay, I’ve got you.’

Helplessly Hope tried to find a grip with the soles of her feet. Her skin must have been as slippery as a fish as his hands glided over her hips and up to cinch her waist. For a moment she realised how neatly their bodies fit together, his lower body cupping hers from behind. Her toes slithering in the mud, she struggled to stand, but he kept hold, his fingers firm as they pressed into her bare flesh, before he plonked her back on her feet as easily as if she weighed no more than a small child asking for a pony.

Splashing to his feet he came around in front of her, his white teeth gleaming. A shout of laughter burst from between his lips, the same strong, confident laugh she’d heard when she first met him in the bird hide at Hot Tropics, arcing through the air as bold and raucous as a kookaburra.

The sound faded into the trees as their eyes met. The colour of his had turned from sea to sky, so clear and blue she wanted to soar into them.

She couldn’t say who took the first step beneath the waist high water. As they moved together his body pressed into hers, his hands wrenching her closer as their lips found each other. He tasted clean and water fresh, with another taste all his own that she hadn’t known she hungered for, until now. She opened her mouth; her hands sliding up his wet, muscled back and into the damp tendrils of hair at the base of his neck. In return his hands moved, his fingers tangling in her hair, and up to cradle her face, drinking her in like nectar from a flower.

Nothing mattered but that kiss just then, and what he told her with his lips.

He wanted her.

She wanted him too, she told him with her searching tongue, with something deeper than desire, more real, more powerful.

But this was Sullivan O’Dare.

Jagged breaths heaved through Hope’s body as she wrenched herself away. She couldn’t speak; she could only stare, as her hand went flying to her heart.

‘Hey — why are we stopping?’

His teeth flashed again, and his tone stayed light, but his eyes held a more serious emotion.

He’d felt it too.

‘I don’t think this is a good idea,’ Hope gasped.

His breathing sounded unsteady too. ‘No? It didn’t taste like such a bad idea to me. It tasted good. Very, very good.’

Hope hadn’t known she could flush when soaking wet. She discovered she could.

Drops of water went flying as she shook her head. ‘I don’t think we should…fraternise.’

Once more his laugh soared skyward. ‘Fraternise? Is that what we were doing?’

Around his muscled thighs water frothed up as he came closer. She backed away, keeping her arm diagonally across her chest, fending him off.

‘We should keep this trip professional.’ Sullivan O’Dare. O’Dare Luxury Developments. Silently she repeated the words to herself, as if they could halt her beating heart.

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Should we?’

‘Yes. No. I mean, it’s a business trip for both of us really, isn’t it? We don’t want to complicate things…’ Hot Tropics. She instructed herself. Think of Hot Tropics.

Laughter tilted his chin. ‘No indeed.’

Yet again his blue eyes searched hers without the laughter, sending her a signal that spelled more than desire.

Before he could mesmerise her again Hope turned and fled. Splashing through the water she clambered up the slippery stones and out of the hot springs.

Grabbing her towel and backpack she ran through the forest as fast as she could, away from Sullivan O’Dare.

About the book:

He thought he knew all there was to know about the birds and the bees, but he’s about to get schooled.

A little birdie tells Hope Buchanan that American hotel developer Sullivan O’Dare isn’t just in town for a holiday. As the manager of Hot Tropics Bird Sanctuary, Hope has more than a vested interest in protecting natural habitats.

Hope pulls out all the stops to convince Sullivan to come out with her to the WA bush, with its beautiful trees and unique wildlife. Surely the stunning scenery and a dose of ‘Broome time’ will show him what is at stake.  But what is initially about saving the Sanctuary soon becomes about finding a connection. Could it be that Hope has finally found the bird of a feather to form her own flock?

About QUICKSILVER SOUL

Nicola Tesla has never needed a man to complete her life. A gifted engineer, she has always had her experiments to keep her company-or she did, before her vile boss stole them. Now she’s working at the Archives in New London, where the memories of the dead are stored. But it isn’t long before Nicola discovers she’s being watched . . . by a most intriguing, sinfully sexy man.
Archivist Emmet Dennison should be busy extracting memories from the dead. Instead he’s been asked to keep an eye on the brazen, strikingly beautiful Nicola Tesla. Soon Emmet and Nicola are shaken by an attraction neither of them wants. Yet when a nefarious man takes them hostage, Nicola and Emmet will need to rely on their attraction, and the growing bond between them, to stop a madman hellbent on destroying New London forever.

Amazon

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About the Author

Multipublished author Christine d’Abo loves exploring the human condition through a romantic lens. She takes her characters on fantastical journeys that change their hearts and expand their minds. A self-professed sci-fi junkie, Christine can often be found chatting about her favorite shows and movies. When she’s not writing, she can be found chasing after her children, dogs or husband. Christine is published with Carina Press, Ellora’s Cave, Samhain Publishing, Cleis Press and Berkley. Please visit her at her blog and come chat with her on Twitter @Christine_dAbo.

Excerpt

Nicola barely managed to suppress a gasp at Emmet’s unexpected words against her ear. He’d moved up behind her while her attention had been focused on Keegan, and now his body was so close she could have swayed little more than an inch and they would be in complete contact. Her traitorous body reacted to his proximity in a way she wouldn’t have assumed herself capable of before now. Her nipples were hard and a warmth she’d never felt the result of being with another person, consumed the sensitive spot between her legs.

This was a rather inconvenient time to develop physical attraction to a man.

Doing her best to keep her body as still as possible, Nicola nodded. “I’ve only seen that state a few times before. I suspect he’ll have a difficult time sleeping, even if that’s the one thing he wants most in the world.”

“What do you think Edison wants him for? Surely, a boy of that age would have little to offer to an engineer.”

“Sometimes age doesn’t inform ability.” Did he know what he was doing to her by standing this close? She wanted nothing more than to turn around and slap him for eliciting this reaction from her. “Would you mind stepping back?”

His hot breath tickled the side of her neck as he chuckled. “It’s easier for me to speak quietly if we are close. What are you afraid of, Miss Tesla?”

SEDUCING MR. RIGHT by Rebecca Rose (April 1, 2014; Forever Yours E-Book; $2.99)

Only love can heal his wounds . . .

Gunnery Sergeant Jake Sanders made it through the war in Afghanistan, but he’s struggling to survive the peace at home. Still scarred by his experiences overseas, Jake now spends most of his time working out and tending to his brother’s bar and grill. He’s not looking for a girlfriend and avoids intimate relationships . . . until he meets the bar’s gorgeous new manager.

Ex-ballerina Sophie Agnés couldn’t take her eyes off Jake the moment she saw him—he was, after all, sleeping half-naked in her new office when she arrived on her first day of work. The chemistry between them is immediate, and soon it’s not clear who is seducing whom. But Sophie fears that something is keeping Jake from opening his heart to her. And a man with dark secrets may not be the right man for her after all.

About the author:

Once Rebecca Rose picked up her first romance novel she knew her destiny was typed on those pages. She lives to find romance in ordinary life doing everyday things, by believing you just need to be conscious enough to look for it.  While being slightly dyslexic has created some challenges for her, she feels compelled to write about the characters living in her head.
With multiple books out, she is a full-time writer with a nagging muse who even talks obsessively in the car. That is of course, when the voice can get a word in edgewise with her three children and husband of 17 years.

Social Media Links:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Buy Links:

Amazon

B&N

iTunes

Excerpt -

She took the heaping spoon of ice cream with her to the large picture window which faced the front of her home. The street was quiet, except for the taxi dropping some guy off. She nibbled on the dessert, appreciating every spoonful, when the stranger below turned into the street light.

“You have got to be kidding me.” In a rush, Sophie tossed her spoon on the counter and raced down the flight of stairs to the street. The buzzard rang just as she hit the last step. Joy swelled inside of her. Anticipation made her stumble with the locks. She opened the door and found the only person on this earth she wanted to see standing there.

“Jake, what are you doing here?”

“I needed to see you.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb and gave her a little smile, “Can I come in?”

Sophie leaned against the door jam and crossed her arms. “What makes you think I want to let you in?” she joked. Even in the dim of her hall light, Sophie could see the flush creep up his neck.

“Oh…I don’t know. If you want me to go, I will.” He bit his lower lip and Sophie felt hers twitch.

“You’re far too cute. A powerhouse of a man, with a marshmallow heart. I can’t believe you’d give up so easily? I was only kidding.”

Jake stepped forward when she fisted the material of his shirt and started to pull him in. For the first time ever, Sophie felt anticipation’s powerful grip. Her breath hitched, her body pulsed and the primal need to be with him, to love him, to share secret moments with him, washed over her. The ache in her heart made her head feel faint and mind giddy. For this wasn’t the beginning of a teenage crush, but the sensation of two apposed worlds pulled together with such force, the inevitable collision would be catastrophic to anyone in denial. She couldn’t calm her nerves from prickling in exhilaration.

“Oh, I wasn’t going to give up that easily,” Jake told her. His stare transfixed Sophie as he stepped into the front entryway then kicked the door shut behind him.

“You’ve been drinking.” Her voice shook, not from fear, but from her racing heart and sexually-charged body.

“Not as much as you think.” He pinned her against the wall, grasped her ass and hiked her up so she’d wrap her legs around his waist. “Four beers to be exact and only to convince myself not to come here.”

“I want you too, Jake. Please.” At her plead, he grasped the silk rope and nightie underneath, then tore. She cried out as Jake’s mouth and teeth assaulted her breasts.

“Good God, you’re built.”

“I’m all yours.” Fisting her hands in his hair he brought his mouth to hers. Their bodies heated the small entryway and Jake made a move for the stairs.

“Up, right?”

“Yea. Down the hall, bedroom on the left.” She pulled his shirt over his head then began a journey over his chest with her mouth. When she came to one of his nipples, Sophie bit. His body reacted by tensing under her mouth.

“Fuck it, honey. We’re not going to make it.”

Only a few steps up, he laid her on them. His mouth scorched her, his hands possessed her, and his greed for more seemed unquenchable. He tore the rest of her night clothes open. Then in one swift move, pulled her panties off. She felt the searing kisses start at her ankle and hastily move their way up.

“I just want to devour you, Sophie. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” His hands moved to her legs then opened them to taste. His tongue and fingers worked her body to a fury and she gripped the stairs to keep from bucking off. “You taste incredible.”

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This morning I have an excerpt from Susanna Carr’s latest release, Secrets of a Bollywood Marriage.  I have a fondness for Bollywood movies, so this book immediately hit my TBR pile.

Excerpt: 

Tina walked to the center of the large entryway and stared at the sight before her. As she inhaled the stench of alcohol, sweat and cigarette smoke, she recognized a few of the guests. They were celebrities and actors whose faces graced billboards and movie posters. They still looked gorgeous, their damp hair and clothes plastered to their skin, as they moved feverishly to the heavy beat of the drums.

She narrowed her eyes and watched as two guests competed in a drinking game at the bar. So this was how her husband had spent his days while she was away. After reading the weeks-old tabloid, it shouldn’t surprise her.

Tina wondered what the occasion was for the party. It had to be about business. The moment Dev was born he had been destined to reign this world. But it was not enough to take his rightful place at the top. He was driven to succeed, conquer new territories and gain incredible power. Money was secondary to this man yet every moment of Dev’s day was consumed with business.

Well, almost every moment. She had been the exception. Once she thought that the aberration meant he loved her. Now she knew differently.

Tina continued to walk through the house. She wondered if he would claim that it was her welcome-back party. He was bold enough to try. And why not? He could lie and break promises without suffering the consequences. Dev was untouchable.

But her return had been impulsive. She hadn’t known that she was coming back until yesterday. Now she wondered if that had been the wrong decision. Tina bit the inside of her lip as she walked further away from the main entrance. Her goal was to show that she was no longer vulnerable. That she was stronger than her husband could imagine.

Tina hesitated before she moved deeper into the house. Once she had felt safe and comfortable here. She had even considered it her home. Now she knew it had been an illusion. Instead of being protected, she had ultimately been stripped of her power and freedom. Her fingers flexed nervously against her purse strap as she looked around, trying to remember where the closest exit was located.

She heard a group of people clapping and chanting loudly in the direction of the billiards room. Tina pivoted and marched to the back of the house, certain that her husband would be there. With his stunning looks, raw masculinity and star power, Dev was always the center of attention.

Tina rolled her eyes when she recognized the song the men were chanting. It had been from Dev’s first hit movie. She had seen it countless times but she knew her husband was privately critical of his performance in it. He wouldn’t play the song unless it was a special request for someone important.

She suddenly remembered the scene also included an actress. Would he be dancing with a partner? A certain ingénue? Bile burned in her stomach at the thought, but Tina kept moving. She needed to see this herself and not rely on other sources. She needed to know.

Tina entered the billiards room unnoticed. She was invisible in this brand-name crowd. Her crumpled tunic and baggy jeans didn’t cause one head to turn. The only time the Hindi film elite noticed her was when she was on the arm of her husband.

Everyone was facing the center of the room, jumping up and down with their arms outstretched as they sang. She stumbled to a halt when she heard Dev’s bold laughter. The sound pierced her heart.

He sounded…carefree. Happy. Tina staggered back as the realization hit her like a fierce blow. How could he be like this after everything that had happened? Didn’t he feel anything? Or was it just a relief to him?

Tina hunched her shoulders. Perhaps it was a bad idea to return for one final confrontation. She had always suspected that she had been a burden to Dev. She’d thought they had been desperately in love, but now she realized he had felt obligated to marry her. It hadn’t helped that his parents had disapproved of the match. Of her.

Who could blame them? She was not worthy of him. His parents were Bollywood legends and she was from the slums. Dev had given up his parents’ grand plans and eventually he’d given up on her.

Everyone had known it was bound to happen, believing she’d tricked him into marriage. They confused her with the bad-girl roles she had in those low-budget masala films. Perhaps Dev did, too. It had soon become obvious that she wasn’t the brazen and sexy woman of his dreams. Dev had been ready to return to his playboy ways and he wasn’t going to let a wife stop him.

And she wasn’t going to let him have any more power over her. Determined to get this over with, Tina took a shaky breath and plunged into the crowd. She stopped, her heart lurching when she saw Dev standing alone in the center of the circle. He held the guests captive as he performed the intricate dance step with effortless grace.

Tina’s chest squeezed tight. Dev Arjun. Her first love. Her biggest mistake.

She stared breathlessly at her husband, unable to look away. Dev was lean and muscular thanks to years of training for his popular action adventure movies. Tina shivered as she remembered how his strong and athletic build felt under her fingertips. His golden skin had been warm and rough and she had enjoyed watching his rock-hard abdomen clench as she’d teased him.

She flushed, her skin tingling, as she watched Dev finish the iconic dance, encouraging the others to follow along. Yet no one could match his confident swagger or his bold and precise moves.

As he raised his hands up like a conquering hero, Dev appeared taller than she remembered. Larger than life. Tina noticed how his dark shirt couldn’t hide his broad chest and how his jeans encased his powerful thighs.

She wished she wasn’t aware of how good he looked, but this was a man in the prime of his life. His strength and vitality came off him in waves. In the past she had yearned to have those powerful arms encircle her. Now she knew to keep her distance.

As his audience roared with their approval, Tina dragged her gaze to Dev’s face. Only then did she notice the darker shadows and the deeper lines around his eyes. His angular features were harsh and mesmerizing. He looked older. Harder.

Dev bowed before he accepted a drink from one of his friends. He tilted his head back and her gaze locked with his. Dev froze. He held the glass midway as his eyes widened. Tina felt his shock quiver in the air.

“Tina?”

His husky question scraped at her taut nerves. She wanted to melt back into the protection of the crowd. She wanted to run. She wasn’t ready for this. She wasn’t ready for him. But it was too late.

The room went silent. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, as Dev tossed down his drink and pounced. He moved with a swiftness that stole her breath. Her throat tightened as her heart thumped against her ribs. She suddenly felt cold as her muscles locked violently.

Dev captured her in his arms and gathered her tightly against him. She was trapped. She inhaled his spicy scent and tears sprang in the corner of her eyes as their most intimate memories assailed her.

Tina had imagined how she would act when she was finally in the same room as Dev. This was not part of the plan. She was supposed to be aloof. Icy cold. Untouched. Just like he had been during the last days they were together. This was the moment when she would take back her power and make her demands.

Instead, she remained silent as he slid his large fingers through her short hair. She stared at him as he firmly tilted her head back. Her mouth trembled with anticipation. She knew he was going to claim her with a hard and possessive kiss.

About the book:

After the glitter settles… 

Tina Sharma and Dev Arjun’s whirlwind romance made them Bollywood royalty, but beneath the glitz and glamour there’s trouble—Tina is about to demand a divorce! 

But Dev won’t give in without a fight, so he proposes a deal: play the dutiful wife for two months, then he’ll let her go. Tina is furious! He clearly regrets their shotgun wedding, so why stay together a day longer? But it isn’t the days she should be worried about…. 

As Dev turns up the heat, Tina may just find herself wishing for a lifetime of pleasure with her devilishly delicious husband!

Read along to celebrate the print release of Jessica Lemmon’s Hard to Handle!

About HARD TO HANDLE:

ONCE BURNED

Sadie Howard never dates a guy more than once-but Fate has other plans for her when it comes to Aiden Downey, the one that got away. Aiden loved her, left her, and broke her heart. Yet suddenly she’s bumping into him at every turn, driven to distraction by his wicked grin and rock-hard body. Now she can’t resist finishing what they started-as long as she doesn’t let herself fall in love . . .

TWICE AS TEMPTING

Aiden Downey threw away the best thing he ever had when he let Sadie go, and now he’s determined to win back the woman he’s always wanted. Sadie agrees to let him into her life-and her bed-as long as there are no strings attached. But Aiden’s not about to make the same mistake again. Can he convince her to take a second chance on a once-in-a-lifetime love?

About Jessica Lemmon:

Jessica Lemmon has always been a dreamer. At some point, she decided head-in-the-clouds thinking was childish, went out, and got herself a job . . . and then she got another one because that one was lousy. And when that one stopped being fulfilling, she went out and got another . . . and another. Soon it became apparent she’d only be truly happy doing what she loved. And since “eating potato chips” isn’t a viable career, she opted to become a writer. With fire in her heart, she dusted off a book she’d started years prior, finished it, and submitted it. It may have been the worst book ever, but it didn’t stop her from writing another one. Now she has several books finished, several more started, and even more marinating in her brain (which currently resides in the clouds, thankyouverymuch), and she couldn’t be happier. She firmly believes God gifts us with talents for a purpose, and with His help, you can create the life you want. (While eating potato chips.)

Social Media:

http://www.jessicalemmon.com/

@lemmony

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJessicaLemmon

Buy Links:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

IndieBound

Excerpt

“Sadie!” He caught her easily, snagging her elbow and pulling her into the one of the open, unoccupied rooms along the hallway. The room was dark, the only light came from the hall and sliced across the floor at an arc. Aiden steered her behind the open door, out of sight from any passersby.

He released her arm. She wouldn’t look at him. “Sadie.”

It took every drop of her dwindling courage, but she finally lifted her eyes to his.

“That’s it?” he asked, his mouth a grim line.

She blinked at him, feeling a flash of fear and regret that soon morphed into anger. “You asked, I said no,” she said, her voice shaking.

“Actually, you said you were sorry.”

She sighed. “I am.” Because she couldn’t marry Aiden. She couldn’t marry anyone. She was a hopeless wreck where men were concerned and—

“So my only options are to take you to bed or lose you forever?”

She blinked at him. “Are you quoting Top Gun?”

“Maybe.” The corner of her lip tipped into a cautious smile. “Are those my only options?” he asked, his voice quiet.

“I can’t marry you, Aiden,” she whispered, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at the disappointment swimming in his.

She felt his hand caress her shoulder and a moment later was enveloped in heat as he stepped into her comfort zone. Only, when Aiden was in it, she felt more comfortable, not less.

“Okay,” he said, stroking her face.

She opened her eyes.

“You win.”

His eyes held no clue as to what he meant by that. “What?”

“Did you mean it when you asked me to take you to bed tonight?”

Her heart slammed into third gear. He wasn’t serious…was he? She made the mistake of challenging how serious he was moments ago. She’d been dead wrong. Now he was suggesting…oh. Wow. But that was before…before he’d proposed to her. Before he’d forced her into a tight, dark corner where she couldn’t breathe. “Aiden—”

“I want you to ask me again.” He walked her one step backward. Then two. She allowed him to advance until her butt bumped against the wall.

She shook her head, but there was no conviction in it.

“Ask me again,” he repeated, looking scarily serious. His hands were heating her hips through the material of her dress. He kept his stormy eyes on hers, refusing to allow her to escape. “But only if you still want me.”

Her breaths came in short pants. “I do.”

“Then ask.”

When he was this close, she couldn’t fight. But maybe…maybe she didn’t want to fight. Not about this. She wanted him; she hadn’t lied about that. And he’d be worth it, she knew. Being with Aiden here, or anywhere, would be better than going home alone and reliving the pain of turning him down. But Aiden wasn’t arguing about his proposal. Which made this decision that much easier.

Sadie licked her lips, took a breath, and asked the damn question. “Will you…take me to bed?”

His hold tightened on her hips. “Yes” came his gravelly response. “To bed.” He kissed her lips. “To your car.” He kissed her neck. “Up against this wall.” He leaned into her body, his erection pressing firmly against her belly.

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Lori WIlde fans will be happy to see this bind up of You Only Love Twice and License to Thrill. That’s two complete novels in one convenient package!  If you are a fan, share your favorite Lori Wilde read with us! 

LICENSE TO THRILL

Las Vegas private eye Charlee Champagne is absolutely fearless. But when handsome Mason Gentry strides into her office, demanding to know where his grandfather is, she can’t control the goosebumps. It’s not like Mason to be in Sin City while the biggest deal of his banking career wraps up without him, but one moment with Charlee brings out his wild side. Before he knows it, Mason is on a mission, driving pedal to the metal across the desert with the toughest, sexiest woman he has ever met . . .

YOU ONLY LOVE TWICE

Comic book creator Marlie Montague’s life isn’t as exciting as her heroine’s . . . until someone points the business end of a pistol right at her. Now she needs help from a real-life action hero: her rock-hard Navy secret-agent neighbor, Joel Hunter. Soon he and the beautiful Marlie are blowing the doors off a full-blown conspiracy with more double agents than a Bond flick. But the real mystery is: How does Marlie manage to leave Joel both shaken and stirred?

In stores March 25!

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iTunes

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About Lori Wilde

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lori Wilde has written sixty novels. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Texas Christian University and a certificate in forensics. She volunteers as a sexual assault first responder for Freedom House, a shelter for battered women. Lori is a past RITA finalist and has been nominated four times for the Romantic TimesReviewers’ Choice Award. She’s won the Colorado Award of Excellence, the Wisconsin Write Touch Award, the Lories, the More Than Maggie, the Golden Quill, the Laurel Wreath, and the Best Books of 2006 Book Award. Her books have been translated into twenty-five languages and featured in Cosmopolitan,Redbook, Complete Woman, All You, TIME, and Quick and Simple magazines. She lives in Texas with her husband, Bill.
You can learn more at:
LoriWilde.com
Twitter @LoriWilde
Facebook.com/Lori.Wilde

EXCERPT:

“You live your entire life by someone else’s rules, is what you do,” she mumbled.

“What?” He cocked his head. “I didn’t quite catch what you said.”

“Nothing.”

“You muttered something. Let’s hear it.” Charlee folded her arms over her chest. “I said, lest you forget, we’re being followed.”

“That’s not what you said.”

“Pretend it is.”

He knew exactly what she’d said and she was right. He was a law- abiding man. Where would society be if everyone threw the rules of civilized behavior out the window? Charlee probably went for those swaggering bad boy types who broke the law and broke her heart with equal ease.

“So let them follow us.”

“Need I remind you my grandmother’s trailer was ransacked, we were shot at, and someone torched my father’s apartment complex?”

“Your father did that.”

“No he didn’t.”

“Whatever you say.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m tired of arguing with you.” The woman could wear a professional filibuster into the ground.

“Oh, no, no, no.” She shook a finger. “You don’t believe me and simply saying you do doesn’t change your mind. You can’t just give in because you don’t want to argue.”

“Yes I can. See, I’m shutting up. No more arguing with you.”

Gleefully, Charlee found the chink in his logic. “Good, then let’s ditch the Bentley.”

“No.”

“Thought you weren’t going to argue.”

“Sit back and hush.”

He wondered if he was going to have to kiss her in order to shut her up. Why was kissing her such an appealing idea?

This had to stop. He was almost engaged.

Think of Daphne.

Determined, he tried to call up Daphne’s image and his mind went blank. He struggled to summon her scent but instead of the fl oral aroma of Daphne’s expensive perfume, he could only smell Charlee’s fresh soap scent. Instead of mentally seeing Daphne’s sleekly coiffed blond hair, he saw long, jet- black tresses twisted in beguiling braids. Instead of hearing Daphne’s dulcet acquiescence, his ears vibrated with the sound of Charlee’s deep, throaty- voiced firmly held opinions. Something about Charlee called to that wildness inside of him he’d buried along with Kip. The wildness that scared him because he knew what trouble it could cause. The wildness he missed and feared with equal intensity

Here’s an excerpt from Jessica Lemmon’s Hard to Handle.  I love second chance tropes, so I’m curious about this book.

About Hard To Handle:

ONCE BURNED

Sadie Howard never dates a guy more than once-but Fate has other plans for her when it comes to Aiden Downey, the one that got away. Aiden loved her, left her, and broke her heart. Yet suddenly she’s bumping into him at every turn, driven to distraction by his wicked grin and rock-hard body. Now she can’t resist finishing what they started-as long as she doesn’t let herself fall in love . . .

TWICE AS TEMPTING

Aiden Downey threw away the best thing he ever had when he let Sadie go, and now he’s determined to win back the woman he’s always wanted. Sadie agrees to let him into her life-and her bed-as long as there are no strings attached. But Aiden’s not about to make the same mistake again. Can he convince her to take a second chance on a once-in-a-lifetime love?

About Jessica Lemmon:

Jessica Lemmon has always been a dreamer. At some point, she decided head-in-the-clouds thinking was childish, went out, and got herself a job . . . and then she got another one because that one was lousy. And when that one stopped being fulfilling, she went out and got another . . . and another. Soon it became apparent she’d only be truly happy doing what she loved. And since "eating potato chips" isn’t a viable career, she opted to become a writer. With fire in her heart, she dusted off a book she’d started years prior, finished it, and submitted it. It may have been the worst book ever, but it didn’t stop her from writing another one. Now she has several books finished, several more started, and even more marinating in her brain (which currently resides in the clouds, thankyouverymuch), and she couldn’t be happier. She firmly believes God gifts us with talents for a purpose, and with His help, you can create the life you want. (While eating potato chips.)

Excerpt:

“Sadie!” He caught her easily, snagging her elbow and pulling her into the one of the open, unoccupied rooms along the hallway. The room was dark, the only light came from the hall and sliced across the floor at an arc. Aiden steered her behind the open door, out of sight from any passersby.

He released her arm. She wouldn’t look at him. “Sadie.”

It took every drop of her dwindling courage, but she finally lifted her eyes to his.

“That’s it?” he asked, his mouth a grim line.

She blinked at him, feeling a flash of fear and regret that soon morphed into anger. “You asked, I said no,” she said, her voice shaking.

“Actually, you said you were sorry.”

She sighed. “I am.” Because she couldn’t marry Aiden. She couldn’t marry anyone. She was a hopeless wreck where men were concerned and—

“So my only options are to take you to bed or lose you forever?”

She blinked at him. “Are you quoting Top Gun?”

“Maybe.” The corner of her lip tipped into a cautious smile. “Are those my only options?” he asked, his voice quiet.

“I can’t marry you, Aiden,” she whispered, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at the disappointment swimming in his.

She felt his hand caress her shoulder and a moment later was enveloped in heat as he stepped into her comfort zone. Only, when Aiden was in it, she felt more comfortable, not less.

“Okay,” he said, stroking her face.

She opened her eyes.

“You win.”

His eyes held no clue as to what he meant by that. “What?”

“Did you mean it when you asked me to take you to bed tonight?”

Her heart slammed into third gear. He wasn’t serious…was he? She made the mistake of challenging how serious he was moments ago. She’d been dead wrong. Now he was suggesting…oh. Wow. But that was before…before he’d proposed to her. Before he’d forced her into a tight, dark corner where she couldn’t breathe. “Aiden—”

“I want you to ask me again.” He walked her one step backward. Then two. She allowed him to advance until her butt bumped against the wall.

She shook her head, but there was no conviction in it.

“Ask me again,” he repeated, looking scarily serious. His hands were heating her hips through the material of her dress. He kept his stormy eyes on hers, refusing to allow her to escape. “But only if you still want me.”

Her breaths came in short pants. “I do.”

“Then ask.”

When he was this close, she couldn’t fight. But maybe…maybe she didn’t want to fight. Not about this. She wanted him; she hadn’t lied about that. And he’d be worth it, she knew. Being with Aiden here, or anywhere, would be better than going home alone and reliving the pain of turning him down. But Aiden wasn’t arguing about his proposal. Which made this decision that much easier.

Sadie licked her lips, took a breath, and asked the damn question. “Will you…take me to bed?”

His hold tightened on her hips. “Yes” came his gravelly response. “To bed.” He kissed her lips. “To your car.” He kissed her neck. “Up against this wall.” He leaned into her body, his erection pressing firmly against her belly.

Buy links:

Amazon

Barnes and Nobel

iBooks

Click here to enter the Kindle Fire Storytellers release day giveaway!

Fictional Candy is posting an exclusive excerpt today. Click here to read!

Thanks for joining the party! And because if how many of you commented yesterday, I’ve posted the first five pages of THE STORYTELLERS here. 

Random House has another excerpt to share! This time, check out a sample from Lara Adrian’s Edge of Dawn.

Edge of Dawn by Lara Adrian (Excerpt) by

If you enjoyed reading this excerpt, you can order Edge of Dawn from your favorite bookseller or by clicking the links below.

About the Book:

Ashlyn Macnamara visited the virtual offices last week, and now Random House has an excerpt from A Most Scandalous Proposal to share with you! 

A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn Macnamara (Excerpt)

If you enjoyed this excerpt, you can purchase A Most Scandalous Proposal from your favorite bookseller or by clicking the links below:

About the book:

About the author:

Ashlyn Macnamara writes Regency romance with a dash of wit and a hint of wicked. She considers writing her mid-life crisis but reckons producing romance novels is a lot less dangerous than skydiving or rock climbing. She lives outside Montreal with her husband, two teenage daughters and a cat. When not thinking about ballrooms and gentleman’s clubs, she looks for other excuses to neglect the housework, among them knitting, reading and wasting time on the internet in the guise of doing research.

I have an excerpt from Bronwen Evans’ The Reluctant Wife to share.  After reading it, you can enter for a chance to win Bronwen’s 2012 Regency Invitation to Scandal!

Excerpt from The Reluctant Wife-

Abby had completely deceived him. He’d thought her naïveté would make her easy to manage. He’d quickly learned that Abby had more backbone than any woman he’d ever met. Her readiness to challenge him seemed to add to her allure. Now, again, here she was asserting her wishes, taking command…

Abby licked her lips. “I don’t owe you anything. And, as we’re divorcing, I’m the last woman you should have a child with. Besides, I don’t care what you do in your personal life.”

She lied. Her arms were folded across her stomach as if she were warding off a blow.

“You care. You know I could always read your body as well as a blind man reads braille.”

Abby shook her head, the emphatic movement flinging her thick blond hair over one shoulder. Her eyes narrowed. “Can you read what I’m thinking now?”

He searched Abby’s drawn face, recognizing the marks of strain in the bluish shadows beneath her eyes and the set of her delicate jaw. She had the strength of fine bone china, and the fragility.

“I know exactly what you’re thinking.” He tilted his head and tapped his chin with a finger. After a theatrical pause he spoke deliberately. “You wish you’d waited until the morning to meet with me. You’re angry with yourself for still wanting me, and you’re wondering whether one kiss from my lips can still make you come.”

He felt rather than saw her body tremble across the room, and heard her soft gasp.

“Of all the arrogant, conceited…”

“Most of all, you’re remembering the first night you were in this room, how you let me seduce you, how I made love to you into the small hours of the morning.”

The hazel of her eyes glittered almost golden as he watched her fight tears. He tried to keep his heart unresponsive, but the beauty of her pale face, the dark circles under her eyes, and above all her stricken look of profound loss assailed his protective barrier.

“You want a favor from me. I want a favor—or two—from you. I’d call it a mutually beneficial business proposition. I know you need money and I’m happy to help. For a price. You are my wife, this is where you belong.” A traitorous pulse flickered fast just below her collarbone, calling attention to the delicate skin of her throat. His body shuddered into life, with total recall of the addictive taste of her skin.

She quivered as his eyes roamed her small frame. Every detail screamed at him—the dark of her dilated pupils, the flush on her cheeks, the moist pink of her parted lips. She wanted him and though she shook with the effort, she couldn’t hide the giveaway signals. Cursing inwardly, he felt his body respond to the recalled pleasure of their days and nights of intimacy.

“But I’m not yours. Not anymore.”

“Legally you are still mine!”

“I am not a possession, Dante. As I said four years ago, I’m a flesh-and-blood woman with feelings and desires.”

“Come here.” He patted the couch beside him. “I’ll satisfy those feelings and desires.”

About the book:

GIVEAWAY TIME!!

Thanks to Bronwen, I have a copy of Invitation to Scandal for one of you to win!  Entering is easy!  Just answer Bronwen’s question in the comments section below.

Giveaway: Now, tell me what you’d most want to do if you visit Italy and I’ll draw one lucky winner who’ll receive a copy of my May 2012 Regency historical, Invitation to Scandal, in book or eBook format.

About Invitation to Scandal:

Her secrets are coming undone…
Plagued by scandalous rumors, Rheda Kerrich will stop at nothing to restore her reputation and make an honest living for herself—and she’s determined to do it without a husband. But times are hard, and smuggling is a risky though profitable trade. So when a dashing agent for the English government catches her in the act, she desperately resists his charms and conceals her illicit profession. Until she realizes he may be the key to her ultimate freedom—and unbridled passion…
Rufus Knight, Viscount Strathmore, has never had trouble beguiling the ladies of Kent. When his search for “Dark Shadow,” a cunningly elusive smuggler, leads him to alluring and headstrong Rhe, her objections to his amorous advances merely incite a tantalizing game of cat and mouse. Soon, they’ll find the very secrets driving them apart could ensnare them in a love they can’t escape…

Adrian Faulkner and his publisher, Anarchy Books want to share an excerpt from The Four Realms with you.  After the excerpt, enter to win the entire Anarchy Books catalog – digital books and albums – on a CD!  What an awesome giveaway!  That will keep you busy for quite a while!

Excerpt: The Four Realms by Adrian Faulkner

It was snowing in New York. The thick storm clouds overhead had turned afternoon into evening and filled the streets and avenues with their cargo. On news of the storm’s approach, most of the city had emptied, workers leaving their offices before the journey home became impassable.

Broadway was practically empty. The clothing sellers who normally crowded the sidewalk were gone, having shut up and left hours ago, leaving a solitary figure making his way south through the shin deep snow. He seemed unprepared for the weather. His trousers were a size too big for him and his shirt was partly untucked.

Winds whipped around the city blocks like a serpent, striking from every direction with icy blasts, causing Mr West to draw his jacket ever tighter and vow to couple his plans with the weather forecast next time.

There were much easier ways to get from New Jersey to the meeting place in the heart of New York City. However, Mr West had ‘chosen’ to take the Transit in, and walk, rather than take a cab, down from Penn Station. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. "Know your enemy," the training programs had told him, and he felt that by experiencing choice, he better understood the inhabitants of this world.

Choice was abhorrent to him. Yes, he told himself, decisions often needed to be made, but that should only be done by those whose job function it was to make them for individuals, and then only after careful analysis and consultation. Otherwise, you had what you had here… a chaotic system.

Of course the humans and dwarves, and even the elves would argue that without choice there was no freedom, but what use was freedom when all that was stopping people killing you or stealing from you was a thinly guised code of moral conduct. With choice, it gave people the right to do bad things to others. Where was the freedom from crime, the freedom of job security, the freedom of not having to worry about the course of your life?

No, Mr West told himself, the amount of choice here was bad. Even worse it was so unproductive. It made their enemies unpredictable and irrational, something that the data models still needed to take into account.

He stepped off the sidewalk to cross 27th street and jarred himself as the drop, hidden in snow, was more than he expected. The snow soaked his trouser leg up to above the knee. He hated New York, even their sidewalks weren’t uniform. No wonder they needed so many lawyers.

He was surprised to see that the Pizza restaurant was still open, and despite feeling slightly uncomfortable about it, ‘chose’ to stop and buy a slice. If there was one redeeming feature of New York, and indeed, the whole of this realm, it was Pizza. Since the start of the operation here, he had tried just about every variety. He ignored his logic which told him he did not need to eat and ordered a slice of pepperoni. Pizza heated and bagged to go, Mr West left the relative warmth of the parlour and stepped out into the snow once again.

He didn’t have far to go. The awning of the next building marked his destination. The shivering doorman saw him, swung into action, opening the door, and upon noticing the pizza, asked Mr West: "You get that from next door?"

Mr West nodded.

"Best Pizza in the city," the doorman exclaimed as Mr West shook himself off and stamped the snow from his feet. He walked up the narrow passageway toward the lobby and elevator. A member of cleaning staff was busy fighting a losing battle trying to mop the floor of melted snow the guests had brought in.

Mr West took the elevator to the twelfth floor, and knocked on door 1203. He was expected and the door opened almost instantaneously. Three men dressed immaculately in black suits and white shirts stood on the other side; so alike in every such way that it would be easy to confuse them for identical triplets. They looked slightly nervous as Mr West entered. The one who had answered the door closed it quickly behind West, whilst the other two stood up from the twin beds they had been sitting on. Mr West grabbed the chair from the writing desk and sat down to face the huge window that looked out over the city. Standing in front of it was a fourth man, much older than the other three but similarly dressed. His cropped hair and beard were as white as the snow outside and his face was etched with a scowl as deep as his wrinkles.

"You’re late, Mr West," the older man growled.

"Sorry," West replied nonchalantly, beginning to eat his pizza slice. "Traffic was terrible."

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Ready for a chance to win The Four Realms and the ENTIRE Anarchy Books catalog – digital books and albums – on a CD? Fill out the widget below! Earn extra entries for following.

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Entangled Publishing and Victoria James wanted to share an excerpt from Victoria’s holiday romance The Billionaire’s Christmas Baby.  Enjoy!

Excerpt: The Billionaire’s Christmas Baby by Victoria James

Jackson poked the logs in the fire a little too harshly and muffled his cough as a cloud of smoke engulfed his face. He tried to appear calm and natural even though he felt like he’d been backed against a wall by letting this woman and the baby into his home. How had he gotten into this mess? He could tell Hannah was trying to figure him out, and the look in her eyes was unsettling, like she was pleased when he told her about Charlie being a stray. He glanced over at her as she pulled off her red hat and a mass of caramel colored hair came tumbling out. He didn’t want to notice how shiny and soft it looked. He turned his attention to the fireplace again, but watched from the corner of his eye as Hannah straightened out her clothing.

Hannah was definitely beautiful—not in a made up, high-maintenance sort of way. She had high cheekbones and full, rosy lips. And even though he didn’t want to notice, her eyes were like dark emeralds, large and almond shaped, with impossibly thick black eyelashes. Even more perplexing than their indisputable beauty was the emotion and the warmth they held in them. They weren’t vacant, they weren’t flirty, and they weren’t the eyes of someone who had been friends with his sister. They were clear and sharp, not hollow like someone who was stoned all the time. No, she was too pulled together to have been friends with Louise. So then who the hell was she?

He willed himself not to look lower than her chin. Dammit. Too late. She was curvy and slender in all the right places. He felt himself fighting back a surge of complete and total unwanted desire that gripped him out of nowhere. What was going on with him? Must be a natural reaction to a woman who wasn’t thinner than a twig. The last woman he’d slept with had been so skinny he wondered if she had ever eaten a carb in her entire life. But this Hannah woman was off-limits. He didn’t date women with children or people associated with his family. And even though there wasn’t a wedding band on her hand, she was probably with some guy. Not that it mattered. Not in the least, because he wanted nothing to do with her. Anyone connected to his family was the enemy.

“Look, I really am sorry for barging in like this.” She folded her hands in front of her and bit gently on her lower lip. Why were her lips to appealing? Focus buddy, focus. He shrugged, dragging his eyes away from her mouth. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I really wasn’t planning on getting here so late—”

“How did you know I was going to be here? No one knows about this place except my business partner and PA.” He saw the exact moment that her embarrassment turned to discomfort.

She waved a hand dismissively, but her voice sounded forced. “Oh, you can find anything online these days.”

He crossed his arms in front of him. She wasn’t looking so confident now. “No, you can’t. You can’t find anything about this cabin online.”

She averted her eyes. “It wasn’t her fault. I was probably a tad dramatic.” Maybe it was the sudden change in tone or the softening of her expression that made him get defensive.

Jackson narrowed his eyes. “Whose fault?”

“I think her name was Ann,” she said, biting her lip and looking away. Jackson tried to hide his shock. In all the years Ann had worked for him, she’d never released any personal details about him.

“What did you tell her?” He was genuinely interested in knowing how the hell this woman had managed to get the address of his cabin.

“I may have said it was a matter of life or death.”

He rolled his eyes. He was surprised Ann fell for that. “You seem to use that line as a catch-all, don’t you?”

“Well, I really did need to find you. And she was quite concerned when I mentioned the death part,” she said, lifting her chin. Something about the way she stood, the way she wouldn’t stop looking at him made him uneasy.

But no matter what, he knew she was here to tell him something he didn’t want to know. Not that it should matter. Nothing she could tell him would make him change his mind about his family. He turned his back to her, focusing on the fire that didn’t need his attention at all. He heard her shuffling around and then the quiet padding of her feet across the wood floor.

“I’m sorry to bombard you with this.”

He ignored her attempt to open up the conversation. He turned to look at her, eyeing her snow-soaked pants. “Do you want to take off your jeans?”

Her green eyes grew comically large. “Pardon me?”

He almost laughed out loud at her expression. “I mean, you’re soaked. I can get you a blanket or something and you can put your jeans in the dryer.”

“Uh, no, I’ll stand here for a few minutes. I’m sure they’ll dry quickly by the fire.” Her face was still red as she moved closer to the fire.

Why should he care if she wanted to stay in wet jeans all night? “Why don’t I show you and uh—” He motioned to the baby with his chin. “—the baby your room?”

You can learn more about Victoria by visiting the following:

Visit Victoria James: www.victoriajames.ca

Twitter: @vicjames101

Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/pages/Victoria-James/412431258807271

You can learn more about Entangled by visiting their website.

If you enjoyed the excerpt, you can order The Billionaire’s Christmas Baby from your favorite bookseller or by clicking the cover below

About The Billionaire’s Christmas Baby:

About Victoria James:

Victoria James is a romance writer living near Toronto, Canada. Victoria is a mother to two young children, and one very disorderly feline. Victoria attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and graduated with a degree in English Literature, where she met and then later married, her own hero. After Queen’s, Victoria earned a degree in Interior Design. After the birth of her first child she began pursuing her life-long passion of writing. Her dream of being a published romance author was realized last February, 2012, when Entangled Publishing bought her manuscript. Victoria is living her dream-staying home with her children and conjuring up happy endings for her characters.

Jena Leigh wants to share an excerpt from Revival, as well as a digital copy of her book!  If you enjoy the excerpt below, please fill out the widget for a chance  to win a copy!

Excerpt:

Babysitting.

Declan O’Connell had been reduced to babysitting.

This was so humiliating. He was going to have to have a talk with Grayson when he got home. Surely his punishment for last month’s misunderstanding should be nearing an end.

It wasn’t his fault they needed a new roof in the atrium. That had been entirely Nathaniel’s doing. Declan had merely supplied a little motivation. It was the Golden Boy that did the glass breaking.

So how was it that the Golden Boy kept picking up all the choice jobs, while Declan was stuck trailing around after high schoolers?

He leaned heavily against the brick wall of the alley and watched as his target disappeared into a restaurant across the street, only to reappear a few moments later on the wraparound patio, trailing after a hostess. They settled in at a table overlooking the water.

At least with this vantage point he wouldn’t have to follow them into the restaurant.

She’d spotted him twice already. Not that he was particularly trying to hide from her at this point. It made things easier when the target didn’t know he was there, sure, but there wasn’t any hard and fast rule about it.

Declan had been shadowing the pair for nearly an hour before he’d realized that something was off.

Usually, his job involved protecting innocent humans from the monsters that walked amongst them unnoticed. From the things that went bump in the night. Things a whole lot like him, just without the charm … or a functioning moral compass.

Judging from the haze of static electricity that followed the girl around like a rain cloud, however, there was something very different about this mark.

Playing a hunch, he’d broken his cover and followed the two girls into a clothing shop. Ten minutes later the store’s registers were toast and his suspicions had been confirmed.

He wondered if the girl knew what she was.

Better yet, he wondered if Grayson had known when he’d given Declan the assignment and just hadn’t said anything.

“I want you to keep an eye on the girl, Declan.”

“No other specifics?”

“Just keep her away from bookstores, if you can.”

Bookstores.

Thanks, Grayson. That helps.

Apparently whoever said, “no harm ever came from reading a book” hadn’t met this girl.

Grayson’s orders were usually pretty detailed. The fact that these weren’t could mean a couple of things. Either Grayson didn’t know the specifics of the danger the girl was facing, or he did, but for whatever reason, he felt Declan didn’t need to know.

It was the second possibility that worried him.

He didn’t think that Grayson would ever intentionally send him out on an assignment at a disadvantage—but if Grayson felt like he couldn’t trust Declan with the details, then Declan wanted to know why.

The cell phone tucked in his jacket pocket began to vibrate. He fished it out and checked the screen.

The caller ID read “GRAYSON.”

Declan narrowed his eyes at the shuddering phone. Weird. Grayson never called anyone while they were in the field. He knew better.

Returning his gaze to the restaurant patio, Declan answered the call. “Miss me already?”

“I want an update on the girl.”

Declan considered telling him what he’d learned about her, and then thought the better of it. That could wait. “She’s spending the day shopping with a friend.”

“Shopping?”

“Clothes shopping. No bookstores in sight. Not so far, anyway.”

“Hmm.”

“You going to tell me why this girl is so special you’re calling me for updates? My next check-in’s not for another two hours.”

“Just do your job, Declan. Keep her safe.”

The line went dead.

If Declan had been suspicious before, now he was outright convinced that something was up.

What was so important about this girl?

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