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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Scott Nova BBL Hunk




SCOTT NOVA
Cover model - EMT/Firefighter



Fun Facts about Scott
1. I drive with two feet; yes i'm sure you went and reread that one! :) I learned to drive in a '70 Nova at the drag strip before I even had a license (can drag race at 15 with parents consent) and the way the brake pedal and gas pedal were offset, I got used to using both feet and I continue to this day. It's incredibly efficient and allows for more control of the car.

2. Incredibly scared of spiders! No need to explain, they are friggin evil demons from the depths of hell!

3. VERY flat feet that even donald duck is jealous of!

4. Love to make people laugh & quote some of my favorite comedians; Jeff Dunham, Lewis Black, Dave Shapell(sp?) . I got a great knock knock joke....ok you start! :)

5. LOVE LOVE LOVE Captain Crunch!!!!! best cereal EVAH!

6. I have a purple 70 nova drag car! I grew up building race cars with my dad (some ours, some others' cars) and I absolutely LOVE all that I learned while doing it. I'm told being mechanically inclined is sexy! :)

7. My first cover was "Quicksilver" by Cindy Holby - right after competing for Mr. Romance in 2011 in LA. The first event was the welcoming party at RT. Cindy Walker walks us into a room full of about 300 women and says "ok boys, do what you do" and let me tell you that's intimidating.

8. I know my way around a hose pretty well - but that tends to happen when you train all the time as an active firefighter!

9. I can change a diaper in less than 10sec's - cause trust me...you do NOT want that thing letting loose from my son while it's out in the open.

10. I once put a dozen of roses, strategically placed with lit candles from the entrance of the house, to the bedroom where I stood holding the last rose for a certain special someone!




 FEATURE AUTHOR JAIME RUSH


Jaime was always drawn to the unexplained and strange, and to the dark side of human nature. She loved watching Unsolved Mysteries and true crime television. She devoured Alfred Hitchcock anthologies including the movies. Jaime has lived in Southwest Florida all her life, enjoys swimming, working out, meditating, reading, and spending time with the aforementioned friends and family. She has another identity, writing paranormal romantic suspense which were all her earlier works under the name Tina Wainscott. Her inspiration for the Offspring series came from shows like The X-Files, Lost, Highlander and Roswell.



Unforgivable By Tina Wainscott

As Katie emerged from the thicker part of the woods, she saw the house first, washed in light and rising out of the distance. Music floated through the air, a rock and roll station that faded in and out. She peered around the trunk of one of the oak trees that surrounded the old plantation home.


A man walked out of the house carrying a length of wood. Her heart reacted first, not a startled jump but a different kind of jolt. He was tall and lean, his brown wavy hair reaching just past his collar, a blue handkerchief as a headband. He wore jeans and a long-sleeved plaid shirt that was left unbuttoned. She glimpsed a hard chest and taut stomach as the shirt flapped opened with his movements.
Spooky Silas, the kids used to call him.
He stopped short of the circular saw and, amazingly, looked into the trees surrounding the house. She hadn’t made a sound. He set the wood against the sawhorses and turned down the radio. And he kept searching.
She was able to do nothing more than press closer against the tree.
Silas.

Could it be him, after all this time? It seemed a dream, a crazy dream that spun her insides and made breathing difficult. The last time she’d seen him had haunted her, Silas being taken away, all because he'd helped her so many years earlier. Even though he had been cleared of suspicion in his father’s death, he’d still been an orphaned minor. He’d been relegated to state protective services, and Katie had never seen him again.

Spooky and mysterious, yet tender and compassionate. He’d touched her little girl soul and left an imprint that hadn’t quite gone away.

Silas walked toward the edge of the encroaching trees, then turned back toward her. He closed his eyes for a moment. When he inhaled, the memory of the lanky teenager evaporated. He was still lean, but his chest and shoulders had broadened. He’d grown even taller. The last time she had seen him, he’d been an adult to her young eyes. Now he was all man, and the thought stirred her in some inexplicable way.

When he opened his eyes, he looked right at her. She was still certain, despite her hammering heartbeat, that he couldn’t see her. She shrank behind the trunk and waited for him to look elsewhere. Curly green mold that was plastered to the trunk pulled at her hair, but she didn’t even move to disentangle herself. This wasn’t the way she wanted to see him again. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see him at all, wasn’t sure it was wise. She’d wait him out, for as long as necessary, and go home.

She should turn around and leave. And she would have if he hadn’t been walking right toward her…


The Offspring Series: Book 6 
 Darkness Becomes Her by Jaime Rush 

Fifteen years earlier … 

"Wake up, Ally!"

Her daddy's voice, hands shaking her. Not a dream. Her eyes snapped open, finding his face, scared and desperate, hovering in front of her. "You've got to hide now."

She tumbled out of bed, heart squeezing her chest. "What's happening, Daddy?"

"The man I told you might hurt me, he’s here, Allybean."

She swiped up her penguin, the one with the special coin sewn inside it. She couldn’t breath all of a sudden. "Where's Mommy?"

"She's all right. He won’t hurt her."

“But he’ll hurt me?” The words squeaked out of her mouth.

“I don’t know what he’ll do. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

He tugged her hand down the hall to the closet and shoved aside the coats.

"How will I know when it's safe to come out?" Fear squeezed her voice into a whisper.

"Either your mother or I will come get you. You'll be okay."

He didn't look as though he felt that way. He looked scared, and that made her even more scared. "I love you, Allybean." And he closed the door, shutting her in the dark.

Daddy had always seemed overprotective and kind of worried. When she turned nine a year ago, he told her there was a man who wanted to hurt him: his own brother, Russell. Daddy had shown her a picture, trained her to be on the lookout for him. He had something called the Darkness inside him. Daddy had promised to tell her more when she was old enough to understand.

Now Russell was here, and she didn’t understand, not at all. Minutes dragged by, each one so long, so painful. She squeezed her penguin and felt the coin her father had put inside. Through the fur she could barely make out the cross on it. The symbol was supposed to protect her, to hide her presence from the man who was hunting Daddy.

A thump froze her. Like someone being thrown against the wall. Loud, harsh voices, two men … and Mommy. They were screaming all at once, their words crashing on top of each other. Another thump. Tears filled her eyes. Please, don't die, Daddy.

She tried to peer through the slats in the bi-fold door but could only see the hallway. What if she crawled out but kept the penguin with her? It would only be for a few seconds.

Her mom cried out, the same way she did when she’d dropped a heavy pan on her foot last year.

Mommy!
The men's voices got even louder, but nothing from her mommy. Her ears were buzzing, making it hard to hear more than angry voices. Have to look.

She stretched through the opening. What she saw froze her heart. There was blood everywhere, splattered on the walls and puddling on the floor. And her mommy, she was lying on the floor. Not moving. Ally stifled a cry.

"I can heal her," one of the men said in a voice so thick, it was impossible to tell who was talking. "I can use Darkness to heal her, but then she’ll have it, too."

"Don’t touch her."

Those words, raw and hoarse.

The men moved into view, like two boxers, squaring off, punching, lunging like in the movies Daddy watched. She was in the dark, and she was pretty sure they couldn't see her. They fought, growling and shoving, moving in and out of her view.

The bad man said, "Does the child have Darkness, too?"

"No, she's normal. Leave her out of this."

The child? Her.

"My son inherited it,” Russell said. “Your daughter probably did, too. If she holds Darkness, she'll have to be … contained. Trained."

"The hell she does!" A loud sound, and a chair slid across the floor.

She'd stretched farther out into the hallway without even realizing it, and now saw Russell, his back to her, his foot on her father's chest. She wanted to burst out, to save him, but stopped herself. Anger and fear, it froze her, closing in her vision. No, not her vision. She saw blackness. Her father, turning into … she blinked. Couldn’t be. He was now a black blob of smoke.

Russell stepped back, facing the dark mist. "You've been trying to suppress Darkness, just like before. But I’ve been working with it, mastering it."

He became the same smoke. The blobs took shape, changing to something solid again, to huge, mean wolves. Her daddy's smoke was gray; Russell's was black. The wolves fought, snarling, and then the black wolf spun like the Tasmanian Devil in the cartoons and wrapped around her father's wolf. Terror gripped her, making her eyes water and her throat dry. Was she really seeing this?

Go back in!

The shadows became men again, and one of them fell to the floor. The bad man! Her daddy was okay!

She got to her feet. Her legs felt so wobbly, and she hardly had breath. She took a staggering step toward the kitchen, her fingers clutching the penguin. Her daddy knelt by her mommy's body on the floor. “No. You can’t be gone.” Such pain in his words. Smoke snaked out of his hands as he leaned over her, sending … sending the smoke into her mommy.

"No!" The word roared out of her throat.

He turned to her, and … his eyes were gray, not the green she knew. He wasn't her daddy. He looked like him, but she knew, knew in her heart, that he wasn't. Russell had gone into her daddy’s body.

“There you are.” He jumped up and grabbed for her.



                               BBL REVIEWS GIVEAWAY!!!


Actual prize pictured







 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Rescue my Heart by Jill Shalvis

http://jillshalvis.com/

Adam Connelly returns to Idaho and to the animal shelter he owns with his brothers Belle Haven, after a horrible stint in the National Guards. All he wanted was to be alone. Opening the door to the past, is the women whose heart he broke. She is still tough-as-nails, gorgeous as all hell, but is unusually vulnerable this time.

Learning the hard way, Holly knows to never depend on a man for anything. Now, she needs the last man she ever wanted to see. She needs someone with tracking skills to help find her father who is missing in the Bitterroot Mountains.

Each with their own ghosts, a trek this desperate, this unpredictable, and intimate, will have its own share of risks for both Holly and Adam, including opening their hearts once more.
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Jaw dropping, and absolutely well written! The title itself explains the story so well, both Holly and Adam having to rescue not only their own hearts but help each other doing so. I have never experienced a love that was taken away from me and then down the road I was able to try and get it back. But man oh man did Jill pull me in, I began to think about what I would have done in Holly’s position. Now I am drawn in to go back and learn about the others and looking forward to the upcoming book next year.
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EXCERPT:  There was a fine line between being exhausted and being comatose, and Adam Connelly had just about found it. He’d been two nights without sleep, half that without food, and his shoulder hurt like hell where his shirt was sticking to his open wound.

It was hard to feel much past the heart-pounding adrenaline surge still making his limbs quiver, but the pain managed to creep through. The freezing burn of the sleet slapping him in the face didn’t help either as he opened his pack and shoved in his gear. Later, he’d have to take it all back out again and carefully repair, clean, and repack everything after the unexpected rescue, but for now he wasn’t particularly inclined toward much besides getting the hell out of there.

Milo stood at his side, still in his search and rescue vest, attentive to their surroundings even though he had to be as done in as Adam. Knowing it, Adam forced a few deep breaths to try and slow his heart rate. “What do you think?” he asked, pretending he wasn’t fighting his still knocking knees to hold him up. “Food, sleep . . . or a woman?”

Milo nudged the pocket of the daypack where his food was kept.

Adam shook his head, finding some humor in the day, after all. “You always vote for food.”

The ten-month-old yellow lab seemed to smile at that. He was a search-and-rescue dog now, but not too long ago, he’d been nothing more than a scrappy, unwanted pup. In Milo’s world, food still trumped everything else.

Adam got that. After all, like tended to recognize like. Besides, sleep was overrated, and it wasn’t as if a woman had been on his calendar, anyway. Hell, a woman hadn’t been even a glimmer of a possibility in too long to contemplate.

His own fault. “Food it is, then,” he said, and realized in spite of still shaking and sweating, he was starving, too. That was a good sign, he decided. It meant that the PTSD had been kicked down to a lowly 3 on the scale, when two years ago it would’ve been at a 10.5, not to mention wholly consuming him.

Progress.

The Lady Most Willig... by Julia Quinn

http://www.juliaquinn.com/

Who is The Lady Most Willing?

Laird Taran Feruson’s nephews is refusing to marry and secure his birthright, so he decides to take matters into his own hands, raiding a ball and kidnapping four likely brides; a rich English beauty, an heiress with a slight reputation problem, a bonny lass, and a maiden without a name or fortune. Which one is ready to fall in love with the Scottish lord? A fierce Highland storm, a decrepit castle and a very angry duke is holding all of Taran’s “guests” captive.

Readers will be transported to a world of passion, temptation and new, unexpected love. This historical romance is in three parts, a single story with three compelling voices. One will soon not be forgotten.
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WOW! There was definitely magic in the air and in the snow around that castle….hell maybe something in the water. I did not expect the end results, and it personally made me feel like love at first sight could really happen in real life. Julia Quinn and the other writers really brought the emotions off the page. And yes its true you get transported to this winter world and you don’t ever want to leave.
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EXCERPT:

Catriona Burns was a practical girl. One had to be, living as she did in the Highlands of Scotland. When it was December the twenty-second, and the sun rose for barely six hours per day, and temperature hovered somewhere between freezing and dead, one had to be prepared for anything.

But not this.

It was two in the miserable morning, she'd lost feeling in at least eight of her toes, and she was standing outside in three inches of snow. With an earl. And a French comte. And a duke. Who'd been kidnapped.

"Taran Ferguson, you insufferable miscreant," she practically yelled. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Aye, well, y'see..." He scratched his head, glanced at the carriage as if it might offer advice, and then shrugged.

"You're drunk," she accused.

His mouth twisted so far to the right it seemed to turn his head. "Just a wee bit."

"You kidnapped the Duke of Bretton!"

"Well now, that was a mistake..." He frowned, turning to his loyal retainers. "How did we end up with him?"


"Indeed," bit off the duke. Normally speaking, Catriona would not have found him terribly fearsome. He was a rather good-looking fellow, with thick dark hair and deep-set eyes, but there was nothing wild or untamed about him.

That said, when the Duke of Bretton speared Taran Ferguson with a furious stare, even Catriona took a step back.

"What were you doing in the carriage?" Taran demanded.

"It was my carriage!" roared the duke.

There was a moment of silence--well, except for the French comte, who wouldn't stop laughing-- and then Taran finally said, "Oh."

"Who," the duke demanded, "are you?"

"Taran Ferguson. I do apologize for the error." He motioned toward Lady Cecily, then waved his hand past both Chisholm sisters. "We only meant to snatch the women."

Marilla Chisholm let out a delicate cry of distress, leading Catriona to let out an indelicate grunt of annoyance. She'd known Marilla for every one of her twenty-one years, and there was no way she was the least bit distressed. She'd been trapped in a carriage with a duke, only to be deposited at the feet of two other titled gentlemen?

Please. This was Marilla's wildest dream, come true and then inflicted upon the rest of them. Catriona looked over at Marilla's older sister Fiona, but whatever she was thinking, it was well-hidden behind her spectacles.

"Bret," said one of the men--the stiff and serious one who had already apologized six times.

The duke's head snapped around, and Catriona saw his eyes widen. "Oakley?" he asked, sounding well and truly shocked.

Lord Oakley jerked his head toward Taran and said, "He's our uncle."

"Our?" the duke echoed.

Lord Rocheforte --or was it Mr. Rocheforte? Catriona didn't know, he was French, for heaven's sake, for all that he sounded British. Whoever he was, he clearly saw no gravity in the situation, for he just grinned and held up his hand. "Hallo, Bret," he said in a jolly voice.

"Good God," the duke swore. "You, too?"

Catriona looked back and forth between the trio of men. They had that air about them--five hundred years of breeding and a membership to White's. One didn't have to venture far beyond the highlands of Scotland to know that once one reached a certain social level, everyone knew everyone. These three had probably shared a room at Eton.

"Didn't realize you were in Scotland," Mr. Lord Rocheforte said to the duke.

The duke cursed under his breath, following that up with: "Forgot the two of you were related."

"It still quite frequently comes as a shock to me, too," Lord Oakley said in a dry voice. Then he cleared his throat and added, "I must apologize on behalf of my uncle." He jerked his head furiously toward Taran. "Apparently, he--"

"I can speak for myself," Taran cut in.

"No," Lord Oakley said, "you can not."

"Don't you speak to me like that, boy!"

Oakley turned to Taran with a fury that even outstripped the duke's. "Your judgment--"

"He was asleep in the carriage," Catriona blurted out, jumping into the fray. The men went silent for long enough to stare at her, so she quickly added, "When you and your men threw us inside. His grace was already there, asleep."

"Did he wake up?" Mr. Lord Rocheforte murmured.

Catriona blinked, not sure if she was meant to actually answer. But she had a feeling that if she did not maintain control of the conversation the other three men would come to blows, so she said, "Not right away."

Rocheforte started laughing again.

"How can you find this funny?" Lord Oakley demanded.

"How can you not?" Rocheforte sputtered.

"I feel faint," Marilla twittered.

"You do not," Catriona snapped. Because really, the whole thing was bad enough without Marilla's nonsense.

Marilla gasped in outrage, and Catriona had no doubt that she would have hissed something monstrously insulting if they had not an audience of unmarried gentlemen.

"Might we go inside?" the Duke of Bretton asked, each syllable icy sharp.

"Of course," Lord Oakley replied quickly. "Come in, everyone. We will get this sorted out and have everyone back on their way home" --he glared at his uncle at that-- "posthaste."

"We can't go home," Catriona said.

"What do you mean?"

"The roads are impassable."

Lord Oakley stared at her.

"It's a miracle we even made it here," she told him. "We certainly cannot return tonight. There is no moon, and" --she looked up at the sky-- "it's going to snow again."

"How do you know?" Lord Oakley asked, with perhaps more than a touch of desperation.

She tried not to stare at him as if he were an idiot, she really did, but his white-blond hair was practically glowing in the moonlight, and with his mouth still open in horror, he looked like a traumatized owl. "I have lived here my entire life," she finally said. "I know when it's going to snow."

His reply was something that should never be uttered in front of a gently-born female, but given the circumstances, Catriona opted to take no offense.

"Let's get inside," he muttered, and after a moment of confusion, they all piled into the castle.

Catriona had been to Finovair Castle, of course; Taran Ferguson and his crumbling abode were the Burns's third-closest neighbor. But she'd never been so late at night, after most of the fires had been allowed to die down. It was so cold the air had teeth, and none of the young ladies was wearing a coat or pelisse. Catriona's gown had been sensibly tailored with long-sleeves, as had Fiona's, but Lady Cecily's powder blue confection had little cap sleeves, and Marilla's practically bared her shoulders.

"There's one in the drawing room," Lord Oakley said, hurrying everyone along. It was difficult to believe that he was related to Taran; they looked nothing alike, and as they passed the candlelit sconces, Catriona could see that Lord Oakley's features were uncommonly stern and severe.

As opposed to Mr. Lord Rocheforte, who had one of those faces that looked as if it didn't know how not to smile. He was chuckling as they made their way through the cavernous Great Hall, although Catriona did hear him say to the duke, "Oh, come now, Bret, surely you see the humor in this."

Catriona pricked up her ears, but she didn't hear "Bret's" response. She didn't dare steal a glance at the duke, not when they were all in such close proximity. There was something about him that made her feel uneasy, and it wasn't just the fact that he was certainly the highest ranking individual to whom she had ever been introduced.

Except she hadn't been introduced to him. She'd only watched him from across the Maycott ballroom, as had the rest of the local peons. The Earl of Maycott was one of the richest men in England, and heaven only knew why he had wanted his own Scottish castle, but want it he had, badly enough to spend a fortune restoring Bellemere to a level of magnificence that Catriona was fairly certain it had never enjoyed, even when it was in its supposed glory.

Once the work was completed, the Maycotts had decided to hold a ball, inviting a few of their London friends but, for the most part, the local gentry. Only so that their first annual Icicle Ball would be a crush, or so the local gossips claimed.

Or at least that was what the local gossips said. And while Catriona knew better to believe everything she heard, she always listened.

The Chisholm daughters had been brought to meet the duke, of course. They were heiresses, quite possibly the only heiresses this corner of Scotland had ever seen, and they'd each had a season in London. But not Catriona. Her father was a local squire, and her mother was the daughter of a local squire, and as Catriona fully expected to one day to marry a local squire, she didn't see much sense in begging an introduction to the visiting aristocracy.

Until.

Catriona still wasn't sure how she had come to be snatched up along with Lady Cecily and the Chisholm daughters, but she'd been the first to be tossed into the carriage. She'd landed squarely atop the duke, who responded first with a snore, and then with a frisky hand to her bottom.

Then he'd called her Delilah and started nuzzling her neck!

She'd jumped away before she could dwell upon the fact that it all felt rather nice, and then the duke had fallen back asleep.

Someone, Catriona had decided acerbically, had got into the Maycotts' good brandy.

Catriona had only a minute alone with the sleeping duke before the other three ladies were tossed into the carriage, and then he had woken up. She shuddered to think how much brandy he'd have had to drink to sleep through that. Marilla was shrieking, Lady Cecily was banging on the ceiling with her fist, and Fiona was yelling at Marilla, trying to get her to shut up.

Sisters the Chisholm girls might be, but there had never been any love lost there.

The duke had tried to get everyone to be quiet, but even he wasn't able to break through the din until he bellowed, "Silence!"

It was at that moment that Catriona realized that the other ladies had not yet noticed he was in the carriage. Lady Cecily's jaw dropped so fast Catriona was surprised it stayed hinged. And Marilla --good Lord, but Catriona had never liked Marilla-- she had been immediately tossed onto his lap by a nonexistent bump in the road.

He had not, Catriona had noticed with some satisfaction, responded by squeezing her bottom.

She wasn't certain how long they'd been trapped in the swiftly-moving carriage. Ninety minutes at least, perhaps two hours. Long enough for the duke to announce that no one was to utter a sound until they arrived at their godforsaken destination. Then he went back to sleep.

Or if not sleep, then a crackingly good imitation of it. Even Marilla had not dared to disturb him.

But whatever good sense Marilla possessed had fled when she'd stepped out of the carriage, because now she was chattering to the duke like an outraged magpie, clutching his arm --his arm!-- as she went on about "shocking this" and "insupportable that."

The duke gave a little tug, but Marilla had no intention of releasing her prey, and he gave up. Catriona could only think that he'd decided the heat of her hand was worth the annoyance.

Catriona couldn't fault him for that. She'd have cuddled up to Marilla just then if it meant raising her temperature a few degrees. The only people who didn't seem to be shivering madly were Taran's two nephews, who, it had to be said, were almost as pleasing to the eye as the duke, and not the sort of men one would think would need to have women snatched from a party.

Then again, Taran Ferguson was as eccentric as the summer day was long. And the last time she'd seen him he'd been going on about the fate of Finovair after he was dead and in the ground, so she supposed she shouldn't be too surprised that he'd go to such lengths to secure brides for his nephews.

Lord Oakley led the entire crowd into a small sitting room off the great hall. It was shabby but clean, just like most of Finovair, and most importantly, there was a fire in the grate. Everyone rushed forward, desperate to warm their limbs.

"We'll need blankets," Oakley directed.

"Got some in that trunk," Taran replied, jerking his head toward an ancient chest near the wall. His nephews went to retrieve them, and soon they were passing the blankets along like a chain until everyone had one draped across their shoulders. The wool was rough and scratchy, and Catriona wouldn't have been surprised if a flotilla of moths had come spewing forth, but she didn't care. She would have donned a hairshirt for warmth at that point.

"Once again," Lord Oakley said to the ladies, "I must apologize on behalf of my uncle. I can't even begin to imagine what he might have been thinking--"

"You know what I was thinking," Taran cut in. "Robin's dragging his feet, pussyfooting around--"

"Uncle," Oakley said warningly.

"As no one is going anywhere tonight," Mr. Rocheforte said. "We might as get some sleep."

"Oh, but we must all be introduced," Marilla said grandly.

"Of course," Taran said, with great enthusiasm. "Where are my manners?"

"There are so many possible replies I can hardly bring myself to choose," the duke said.

"I am, as you all know, the laird of Finovair," Taran announced. "And these are my two nephews, Oakley and Rocheforte, but I call them Byron and Robin."

"Byron?" Fiona Chisholm murmured.

Lord Oakley glared at her.

"You seem to be the Duke of Bretton," Taran continued, "although I don't know why you're here."

"It was my carriage," Bretton growled.

Taran looked back at his men, one of whom was still toting his claymore. "That's what I don't understand. Didn't we bring a carriage of our own?"

"Uncle," Rocheforte reminded him, "the introductions?"

"Right. Maycott's probably busted it up for kindling by now, anyway." Taran let out a sorrowful sigh. "Speaking of Maycott, though, this one is his daughter Cecilia."

"Cecily," Lady Cecily corrected. It was the first word she had spoken since their arrival.

Taran blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Really," Lady Cecily confirmed, one of her brows lifting in a delicately wry arch.

"Hmmph. So sorry about that. It's a lovely name."

"Thank you," she replied, with a gracious tilt of her head. She was remarkably pretty, Catriona thought, although not in a flashy, intimidating way like Marilla, whose blond curls and sparkling blue eyes were the stuff of legend.

"These two are the Chisholm sisters," Taran continued, motioning to Fiona and Marilla. "Fiona's the elder and Marilla's the younger. They're good Scottish ladies, but they have been down to London. Got a little a polish, I hear. And that's about it."

Catriona cleared her throat.

"Oh, right!" Taran exclaimed. "So sorry. This one is Catriona Burns. We took her by mistake."


Sunday, December 16, 2012

2012 BBLR Hunk Jimmy Thomas

                     JIMMY THOMAS

     International Cover Model / Entrepreneur

Jimmy Thomas, cover model, and creator/owner of the first and only romance novel profile networking website www.RomanceNovelCenter.com (RNC) and the first romance novel stock image website www.RomanceNovelCovers.com (RNC).

Currently on 4068 romance novel covers; more covers than anyone in history (Fabio's on about 230) . He produces and direct all his RNC photo shoots, as well as personally select all the images for it to give the romance novel industry what they want and need for cover images. From shooting every genre, look, theme, feeling, pose and expression, while personally choosing his female co-models, photographers, wardrobe, locations, settings and props, to coming up with the ideas of what poses, what theme and what styles, then personally selecting the most marketable images from each set within each shoot, then cleaning, editing and cropping all those selected images myself, where he then uploads them to his RNC stock image website for you to download and use either 'as is', or to alter as you see fit to produce the novel cover art, website design, banner art, trading cards, promotional material, novel trailer stills, etc., that you desire.


For self-publishing authors, feel free to select your own images from RNC for your covers, or look through his posted Pre-Made Covers on RNC that are already graphically designed and just need your book title and your name sent to him to put it on your new book (font is already chosen along with the design of the book).

So now you know he's real and he answers all his emails and comments personally, He also do many interviews, so don't be shy on contacting him, as responses are given as soon as possible.


 10 FUN FACTS ABOUT JIMMY

1.) I was hit by a train while a passenger in a car and walked away with just bruises.
2.) I was the Key Designer on patented, low-income homes made out of retired shipping containers that the 'Afghanistan World Foundation' want to use for their 'Rebuilding Afghanistan' project (see final credits):http://www.afghanistanworldfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=162:awf-announces-housing-project-initiative&catid=1:press&Itemid=98
3.) I've left my body.
4.) I haven't worked a 9 to 5 job since the mid 90's.
5.) I only need to workout twice a week to maintain my physique.
6.) I wept like a baby during the movie 'My Girl' back in 1991 when the little girl 'Vada' finally came downstairs and into Macaulay Culkin's wake (then again, so did everyone else in the entire movie theater ;)):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFr3BkrjGhU
7.) The 1st book I ever read was 'Old Man and the Sea' in middle school. The 2nd book was 'Jurassic Park' (1993) and thought it would make the best movie! Two weeks later the previews for the movie came out.
8.) I only sleep about 5 hours. This has been my entire life, and because I sleep in a DEEP sleep, which allows me to get the proper rest needed compared to most who toss and turn all night, who wake up from common sounds, while I'll sleep sound in a tent outside during a category 5 hurricane 
9.) My father's birthday (January 8th) is the same as Elvis Presley's birthday and my mother's birthday (May 24th) is the same as his wife, Priscilla Presley's birthday.
10.) My birthday (March 15th) is the same as Fabio's birthday... but NOT the same year 

Featured Author Patricia Watters:

Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Patricia Watters gave up the glamour and pageantry of the city, and now writes novels from a hand-built log house nestled in the evergreen forests of Oregon. An author with Harlequin and Avon-Harper Collins in the past, and a long-time member of Romance Writers of America, Patricia specializes in romance, and she invites you to visit her website and drop her a line. She responds to all notes, but please allow a couple of weeks for her to do so. 

 Visit Patricia Watters at: www.patriciawattersromances.com


BOOK 1: JUSTIFIED DECEPTION
Ruth Crawford's on a quest to find and reclaim her daughter, who was kidnapped four years before. Ruth's private investigator is all but certain that ranch owner, Matt Kincaid's, adopted daughter Annie is Ruth's own little Beth. But Matt's the maverick in a powerful family of lawyers and politicians, so even though Ruth manages to land the job as nanny to Matt's willful, six-year-old daughter, she must tread carefully. She can't predict what Matt or his family might do if the adoption is challenged. However, Ruth's carefully laid plans go awry when she finds herself falling in love with the man who might have stolen her child.


Featured Author Paige Tyler:

Paige Tyler is a full-time, multi-published, award-winning writer of erotic romance. She and her research assistant (otherwise known as her husband!) live on the beautiful Florida coast with their easy going dog and their lazy, I-refuse-to-get-off-the-couch-for-anything-but-food cat. When not working on her latest book, Paige enjoys reading, jogging, doing Pilates, going to the beach, watching Pro football, and vacationing with her husband at Disney. She loves writing about strong, sexy, alpha males and the feisty, independent women who fall for them. From verbal foreplay to sexual heat, her wickedly hot stories of romance, adventure, passion and true love will bring a blush to your cheeks and leave you breathlessly panting for more!

Visit Paige Tyler at: paigetylerofficial.com


Book Blurb: SADIE AND HER COWBOY
When a ruthless cattle baron is determined to do anything to get his hands on Sadie Buchanan's ranch, including running off her ranch hands and killing her cattle, she hires the infamous gunslinger Jake Wagner to protect her property. Despite the fact that they butt heads right from the start, Sadie is helplessly drawn to the ruggedly handsome cowboy, even when he warms her bottom repeatedly for her willful and sometimes reckless behavior. But all the cards are put on the table when Sadie bets the cattle baron that she, Jake and her small band of cowpokes can get more cattle to market than anyone in their right mind would attempt. It's all or nothing for Sadie, her ranch and the dangerous cowboy she's fallen for hard. 





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Friday, December 14, 2012

Holiday Gifts of Love


The Holiday Season is the period of time from Thanksgiving until New Year, including such festivals as Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.

The precise definition of feasts and festival days that are encompassed by the Christmas and holiday season has become controversial in the U.S. over recent decades. While in other countries the only holidays included in the "season" are Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, St. Stephen's Day/Boxing day, New Years Eve, New Year's Day and Epiphany, in recent times, this definition in the U.S. has begun to expand to include Yule, Hanukkah,
Kwanza, Thanksgivign and Black Friday.


Too Much Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
1 (18.25 oz) package devil’s food cake mix
1 (5.9 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cram
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
½ cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.


It's a Happy Holiday from your favorite Authors and Bloggers. While we know everyone celebrates a different way, we wanted to make sure that you guys knew how much we treasure you all. So from Dec 14th to Dec 17th, all 200 or so of us will be blogging about the holidays and what they mean to us. We may talk about our favorite holiday traditions, recipes, gifts, reads, heroes, and so much more. We want to hear about what you do for the holidays, what you read, and who you'll spend it with. We hope to see you here and happy hopping!

And while we do that, we are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 200 giveaways on each blog hosted by that Author or Blogger.

But that's not all....

We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand Prize: A $200 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!

http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=164243

https://www.facebook.com/groups/409551725763827/


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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

C J Hollenbach BBL Hunk

CJ Hollenbach graduated w/ a degree in Graphic Design and was told “we aren‘t looking for models today…” His last interviewer told him “if you‘re not a model you should be! Come back with pictures…” He has done Midwestern print work including; Tool catalogues, Father’s Day Sale ads, Trucker’s wear catalogue. His television appearances include: Entertainment Tonight, The Joan Rivers Show, Gordon Elliott, CNN, M-TV. First romance novel cover “The Stone Maiden” in 1999 for author Susan King. He writes for romance periodicals “I’ll Take Romance” and “Romantic Times” and is currently writing a screenplay. His latest book cover is for Kate Hoffman’s Golden Heir, the latest release in the Golden series, CJ is the main model for this series.

Fun Facts:
  1. My original birth name was “Nickolas.” I was born on St. Nickolas Day, Dec. 6th
  2. I was voted “Funniest” & “Most Talanted” in high school
  3. I have been in BOTH Playboy & Playgirl(twice) magazines
  4. I was asked to be on Meatloaf’s comeback album cover, but had to turn it down…OUCH!
  5. Was the first male model to appear on an Ellora’s Cave Publishing’s novel
  6. Was a teen reported for a newspaper while still in high school
  7. I was originally a Fine Arts major in college-Painting
  8. I met and worked with one of the last living Munchkins from the “Wizard Of Oz”, Mickey Carroll
  9. Was the first ever “Mr. Romance Novel Cover Model Pageant” in San Diego at a Romantic Times convention
  10. Was one of the oldest(Ouch again!) competitors on The American Gladiators Show

Golden Heir

When Cristiano discovers he is the next ruling prince of Concordia-a small principality between Italy and Austria-he is dismayed, liking his life as an art dealer in Florida. His mother tries to force him to accept, but he will not listen. His dilemma becomes more serious when he falls in love with Sophia, owner of several flourishing boutiques. Will Cristiano change his mind once he spends some time in his new country, and will Sophia support him? A distant cousin who covets the Concordia throne tries to drive Cristiano away by various sneaky plots. Will he succeed or will his schemes sharpen Cristiano's determination to be a good prince to his people?

BUY LINKS:
http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Heir-Kate-Hofman/dp/0985468246/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346862307&sr=8-1&keywords=golden+heir+by+kate+hofman

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/golden-heir-kate-hofman/1112033806?ean=9780985468248

About the Author
Kate Hofman was born in The Netherlands, lived in London, England when she was eighteen. Majored in Art History w/ a minor in Interior Design. Moved to Montreal, Canada where she could get paid for being fluent in French. She owned and operated an art gallery for twelve years. Her friend Nina Bruhns urged her to write and in five years wrote two dozen books. Rose Brungard used her own expertise and sent long teaching e-mails, which helped a lot. Thea Devine taught her to play “What If” when writing isn’t going well. Most recently, she has been giving generous help, encouragement and advice to Jennifer Mueller, who provided the stunning cover art for all her books published by Romance At Heart.

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Monday, December 10, 2012

Long Time Coming Tour



 Long Time Coming by Jennifer James

One scorching weekend of no-stings sex? Or the first of two days of something special...Going home for his older sister's wedding has been a real pain. Unable to get a room at the local hotel, he's stuck in his parents' spare bedroom, in a twin bed too short for his six-foot frame, with nothing to do but fantasize about his sister's maid of honor and her little purple bikini. Joey Sanchez: the women who he's had a crush on for the last ten years. All grown up in all the right places. And it just so happens she's had a crush on him too.

Lucky for him, Joey knows what she wants. In the pool, in the movie theater, with some very hot text messages, she quenches his desire and demands no promises. She's married to her career, and that's the way she likes it. But with the weekend winding down, Rob realizes she's only left him wanting more. And he doesn't want to spend the next ten years without her...

BUY LINKS:
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/long-time-coming-jennifer-james/1112437445?ean=2940014828598

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Long-Time-Coming-ebook/dp/B008VG0TDS/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1355097165&sr=1-3&keywords=Long+time+coming

All Romance Ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-longtimecoming-907752-149.html

Author Bio:
Jennifer James never thought she would be a multi-published author of erotica and erotic romance. What she likes best are happy endings -- whatever that might mean for the characters.

Wife, mother of two Tiny Divas, and college student, when not writting Jenn enjoys the outdoors, adventures of all sorts, horror movies, and the occasional comic book.

Links:
Website: http://www.authorjenniferjames.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/jennifer-james#!/pages/Jennifer-James/212335188856799

GoodReads:http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6444267.Jennifer_James

Twitter: @JenniferJames34

The Para-Posse: http://paraposse.blogspot.com/


 COMING SOON!
Excerpt:
"Were you going to eat or just flirt with Gregory all night?"

A plate with delicious smelling sandwhich hit the counter. The surly tone drew my attention to Daniel. Gregory coughed to hide a chuckle, but I couldn't help feeling bad. I picked up the sandwhich and took a big bite. It was heavenly. A groan of pleasure left my lips.

"Oh man. Mouthgasm." I looked up, disturbed by the sensation of eyes boring into me. Daniel held himself stiffly a few feet away. Gregory grinned and look back and forth between us. I raised an eyebrow in Gregory's direction, and he shrugged. Great. Loads of help there. I put the remains of my sandwhich down. The pantry seemed like a good idea, so I opened it and found my bag of jelly beans. I took out a healthy handful before holding it out in offering to Gregory. He shook his head no, so I dug out Daniel's M&M's. He held his hand out. I tossed it to him. Daniel had wrapped a rubber band around the bag when he put it away the last time so they didn't
spill all over the floor.

I picked out the flavors of raspberry mocha and sidled up next to Daniel. I'd have to re-christen him Mr. Cranky Pants if he didn't lighten up. He didn't resist when I slid the candy between his lips, just kept his arms crossed and glared at the floor.

Sexual tension pourd off him in waves, but I didn't know what to do.

"Raspberry and coffee? And chocolate?"

"Yep. Raspberry mocha. Here, try this one. You're in luck. This was a good bag." I popped four jelly beans in his mouth and waited for his reaction.

"Tiramisu?"

"Yep."

"I am beginning to see the appeal." Some of the tension left his shoulders. "Gregory, if you insist on eating all my chocolate, you'd better be just as determined to replace it."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

I stood on tiptoe and gave Daniel a quick kiss on the cheek. He tensed visibly when my breasts brushed against his arm.

"How do you feel about her?" Gregory asked the question with his eyes on the bag of candy, but his attention focused entirely on Daniel.

He laughed: hollow, empty, almost despairing to my ears. "As if you could describe it so easily. This women who makes me want to throw away the vows I have kept for the past five hundred years? To completely besmirch my honor, lose all I have been for so long? I barely know her, and yet..."

Gregory nodded. "The Council is not what it once was. Neither are we."

He rattled off a couple of phrases in Italian.

"What am I to become? She calls to me, a siren's song that will surely dash me on the rocks of desire and wash the pieces out to sea. I am left broken in her arms."
 
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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

A Royal Pain by Megan Mulry



http://www.meganmulry.com/

Bronte Talbott loves to follow the exploits of British royals. They all are the world’s preeminent dysfunctional family. But who is she to judge? Poor Bronte’s own love life isn’t going to hot, after her smooth-talking Texan boyfriend leaves her in the dust one random day. She decides the best thing to do to get over her broken heart is to have a rebound relationship and then she meets Max Heyworth, she is sure he is the perfect transition man. Down the road she discovers he is a duke, and now has to decide if she wants to stay by his side for the long haul and deal with the opportunities and challenges of being a royal.

This is definitely one of those Cinderella stories where the peasant gets the Prince. I enjoyed Megan Mulry’s story, she brings out the true turmoil and confusion when it comes to leaving everything you’ve known to try and be something else. Both Max and Bronte have to deal with family drama, only of course with Bronte it is a little more intense since she is a very emotional women. So if your wanting to see if maybe you would feel and react the same way as Bronte does going from Cinderella to a Princess then grab this book.


PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Debut Novel Brings an American Perspective and a Fresh, Witty Voice to Our Never-Ending Fascination with British Royalty

A Royal Pain, by debut author Megan Mulry, is first in a new women’s fiction series imagining what it might be like for an average modern American woman who falls in love with a British royal.

Bronte Talbott is a smart, ambitious advertising executive, but after a disastrous breakup that leaves her confidence in shreds, she vows to embrace brutal honesty in all future skirmishes with men. No forays into emotional minefields. No grand gestures.

Soon after swearing off messy entanglements, she meets the ideal Transitional Man: Max Heyworth, an irresistibly handsome British doctoral student. She figures by the time he goes back to London, she’ll have gotten her heartbreak out of her system and be ready to move on.

But when their carefree affair turns meaningful, Bronte panics. And then she discovers her casual fling was with British royalty. Max failed to mention that he happens to be the nineteenth Duke of Northrop. Max sets about convincing Bronte that together they can have their happily-ever-after, despite false starts, familial duties, and a very disapproving duchess. Even as she’s falling for Max, Bronte is going to have to decide if she wants to stay with him for the long haul and deal with the opportunities—and challenges—of becoming a royal.

A Royal Pain by Megan Mulry
November 13, 2012; Sourcebooks Landmark
ISBN 9781402269974; $14.99 U.S.; 352 pages; Trade Paper Original