Sunday Reflections: Upcoming Books, Fun Stuff and Great Deals You Might Have Missed, December 15, 2013

Upcoming Books and Recent Releases

It’s well known that I feel Stephanie Laurens’ Cynster series is one of the best Regency romance series out there, so I’m pleased to see that Avon Publishing is cleverly releasing the first three books of it (and they are AWESOME) as a e-bundle for people wanting to try it. Available as of December 17th, Cynsters: The Beginning includes Devil’s Bride, A Rake’s Vow and Scandal’s Bride and will cost only $13.59, a massive discount from the $7.99 for each book which is the standard retail price.

Angela Knight announced the prequel to her successful Magverse series, Wicked Games, will be released as of April 1, 2014. Containing not only the story that started this fantastic reinterpretation of Arthurian tales (think sexy vampires as knights and plenty of magic), it also bundles several previously released e-tales which have been revised and expanded for this anthology.

Vivian Arend’s next novel in her Thompson & Son series, Baby, Be Mine, will be published on February 25, 2014. This book combines a friends to lovers trope along with a surprise baby and amnesia when Gage Jenick takes advantage of long-time friend and hottie Katy Thompson kicking her boyfriend to the curb, even if his work is going to make him incommunicado for a couple of months. What he didn’t anticipate was that his girlfriend would have no memory of him or their incredible night together after she is involved in a car crash. While Katy wonders why Gage returns acting so territorial around her, she’s way more interested in how on earth she could be pregnant? In Arend’s hands, this is bound to be pure gold, so pre-order now!

Arend is going to win the busy bee award in February, considering that earlier in the month she also has the next installment of her Adrenaline Search & Rescue series, High Seduction coming out on February 4th. Armchair adrenaline junkies will definitely want to pre-order this puppy, a sexy chopper pilot looking for someone else to take control in the bedroom and the old flame paramedic who is more than happy to give her exactly what she needs.

Contests and Giveaways

Hustle over to Goodreads today for a chance to enter the historical romance anthology At the Duke’s Wedding, featuring stories by such powerhouse authors as Caroline Linden, Katharine Ashe, Miranda Neville and Maya Rodale. Enter by December 15th for a chance at these stories in print form for the first time!

Vampire Book Club, a blog whose reviews can always be counted on to inform, is offering a fabulous Urban Fantasy giveaway, with books by Adrian Phoenix, Jess Haines, Christina Henry and Eileen Rendahl to populate your bookshelves. Get over there before December 19th to enter for your chance to win!

With a mid-week deadline, another giveaway worth entering is for the first book of Emma Barron‘s Tropical Nights series, Exposed, which ends on December 18th. When a reporter is assigned the interview of a reclusive CEO, she thinks it’s a run-of-the-mill assignment not realizing her boss has led the company to believe that it’s a write up for a major economics journal and not the gossip magazine she works for. But both this sexy businessman and determined reporter have had their heart burned before, so as they realize that this interview is revealing their desire for one another as well as the facts, the question remains if they can get past their trepidation to find something real together.

Contemporary author Leah Braemel is participating in the Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop, offering a $10 Amazon or B&N card as a present to a lucky visitor who participated in her Rafflecopter giveaway by December 19th. For an even bigger prize (and a bit of guide through the Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop) head to P. J. Schnyder‘s blog and look at her giveaway which garners you entries via tweeting and commenting at the various participants blogs. In addition to Braemel and Schnyder (two excellent authors) they’re joined by such wonderful authors as Laura Kaye (of Hard As It Gets fame), Christine d’Abo, Christi Barth, Cat Johnson, and Dana Marie Bell among others. Enter before December 20th to see if Santa is going to give you something electronic under your tree via a $200 gift card to Best Buy if you manage to win this one!

Speaking of the Cynster saga (see the Upcoming Books and New Releases entry above), Goodreads is having a giveaway of one of the spin-off books from that Regency saga, Where the Heart Leads, the first in The Casebook of Barnaby Adair series. Currently the only entry in that series, Laurens recently announced she’ll be adding several books to it and I’m elated, as Barnaby, the aristocrat with a penchant for investigation via London’s burgeoning police force is a favorite of mine! This book is the one where he falls for the cerebral yet beautiful Lady Penelope Ashford, and it’s a doozy with some of my favorite characters making appearances. Enter before December 20th for your chance to win!

New York Times Best-Selling author Donna Grant is having a Twelve Days of Christmas giveaway on her Facebook page where she is posting lovely daily prizes for commenters (like $50 bookseller gift cards!), so head over there and start contributing! I imagine they’ll just keep getting better and better the closer to Christmas we get. 🙂

It’s tough not to giggle at some of Harlequin’s titles and the Intrigue novels are usually the most chuckle-worthy. That does not stop this imprint from periodically hitting a home run, and I have to confess to putting Secret Agent Secretary , the second book in Melissa Cutler‘s ICE: Black Ops Defenders series, on my to-read list. When a desk jockey is catapulted into the arms of a handsome agent, they need to work together to foil a nefarious plan. Luckily for all of us, it’s also being offered in a Goodreads giveaway for people who enter prior to the end of December.

The erotic romance author group collectively known as the Smutketeers (R. G. Alexander, Eden Bradley, Rachel Grace, Eve Berlin and Robin L. Rotham) on their blog of the same name have begun their Twelve Days of Christmas giveaway with not only daily prizes and fabulous highlights of recent books you’ll want under your tree, but a cumulative prize of a $300 gift card for a dedicated reader who posts a comment on each day of the celebration. That’s a lot of books….

Fun Stuff

‘Tis the season for finding gifts for all the readers in your family, and game enthusiasts might want to take a gander at all the book-related board games out there geared toward readers. Flavorwire has a terrific list of 10 board games for book nerds (why are we always nerds?) including ones based on Pride & Prejudice and Beowulf, or you can get a classic like Bookopoly, geared toward middle school kids but great for readers of all ages.

I usually don’t post stuff about YA romance (probably because I think about it all the time in my day job as a young adult librarian) but I had to share the wonderful post by author Diana Peterfreund on the RITA awards and their perhaps misguided treatment of YA romance. Peterfreund has numerous successful books under the belt, many of which should be award-winners in multiple categories, but this thoughtful analysis of the Romance Writers’ Association and YA is worth a read and re-read.

Great Deals

The full-length erotic novel (gracious, that sounds dirty!) Sexual Persuasion by Maryn Sinclair is currently free on Amazon. When a woman is rescued from an uncomfortable encounter with an ex, she can’t deny the heat between her handsome rescuer and herself. But when that gorgeous man is revealed to be an attorney with one client (the local mob head), and she hears the rumors that this same man who is clearly interested in getting her in bed also was the lover of his male mob boss, she’s confused. Will his past come between them or can she be persuaded?

Erotic historical author Kate Pearce currently has the prequel to her Sinners Club series also available for free, The First Sinners. The series features men who belong to a private gentlemen’s club filled with men who have either sketchy pasts or specific predilictions – and the need to keep both quiet. In this novella, an Earl investigating possible treason deploys all his wiles at a house party in the hope of uncovering valuable evidence. What he is surprised to uncover is one innocent young miss determined to find a man who can teach her carnal pleasure (and his lordship knows exactly who can fulfill that role).

Following in today’s erotic historical romance bargains trend is Samantha Kane‘s Regency menage novel, The Courage to Love, the first of her Brothers in Arms series which is also available for free on Amazon as of right now. A dress shop owner is still recovering from a vicious rape but feels safe when surrounded by two men who served with her late husband on the Peninsula – two men she’s been in love with for quite some time. Shocked they feel the same toward her (and have a relationship with one another), her past nevertheless intrudes on them moving forward.

The holidays always come with bargains if you know where to look, and the A Naughty Little Christmas (Cowboys, Cops and Kilts) Bundle, featuring a smorgasbord of authors across genres (cowboy, romantic suspense, small town contemporary, paranormal, Highlander, etc.) is the ultimate bargain at $.99 for eight novellas. With authors like Paige Tyler, Ann Bruce and Dawn Halliday in this grouping, I’ve already got it sitting in my Kindle app to warm my holiday nights!

If you haven’t had a chance to run and buy The Theory of Attraction by erotic romance author Delphine Dryden, go run to Amazon and grab it while it’s free. With a slightly autistic scientist who happens to be a serious Dom (and definitely high on the hottie) scale and the next door neighbor who decides to help him get a promotion by being his girlfriend who can read departmental situations, this sexy nerd romance is simultaneously erotic and sweet. It would be worth paying full price for, but free? You don’t need a genius IQ to figure out that’s a bargain.

Sunday Reflections: Upcoming Books, Fun Stuff and Great Deals You Might Have Missed, Week of November 3, 2013

Upcoming Books and New Releases

I think Tessa Bailey is one of contemporary romance’s hottest new writers, so I’m tapping my pretty foot waiting for the next book in her awesome Line of Duty series to come out. Thankfully Asking for Trouble will be published on November 25th (during my Thanksgiving Break, yay!!!) and features the couple I have been waiting to see. Since Brent and Hayden’s two best friends are head over heels in love they can’t help seeing a lot of each other, even though each rubs the other the wrong way. Hayden’s got a host of trouble coming from her Park Avenue family who are looking to have her get married to a rich and influential man and the rough and tumble cop who pushes her buttons is also um…pushing her buttons. After a taste of each other, Brent is determined to not let go, but Hayden wonders how on earth this hot affair could have a happy ending?

Grace Burrowes announced the final installment of the MacGregor Trilogy, The MacGregor’s Lady, will come out February 4, 2014. I love it that she dabbles with American heiresses thrown together with the aristocracy, in this case, a brooding Scottish earl mourning his secret wife who has died. When he’s forced to show a beautiful Bostonian the sights it’s the last thing he wants but he’s shocked to find she’s even less interested. Hannah Cooper simply wants her visit to end (minus a new ring on her left hand) so she can get home to prevent her stepfather from putting forth his own agenda with her family. When both are stranded on the moors, family difficulties and past loves dissolve in the heat of the passion between them.

May I point out that not only is the next book in Kristen Callihan’s awesome Darkest London series, Shadowdance, due out on December 17th, but that the paperback version of it is currently marked down to $4.80 on Amazon? Mary Chase has had a difficult life but her work for the Society of the Suppression of Supernaturals gives her a great deal of purpose, particularly chasing down a murderer loose on London’s streets. But when she’s forced to work with her most antagonistic rival, Jack Talent, she can tell that the last thing he wants is her as a partner. Yet as they spend time together both their pasts are revealed, drawing them together, that is if Jack can face the demons of his past and embrace a future with the woman who might just be perfect for him.

The latest book in Toni Aleo, Assassins series (an ice hockey team, not a romantic suspense series!) will be out on December 9th, so sports romance fans should pre-order Blue Lines. This addition features Aleo’s signature playboy hero who has the hottest one-night stand of his life only to have that same woman end up on his doorstep with a positive pregnancy test two months later. At only $2.99 for the Kindle edition, it’s a bargain!

Contests and Giveaways

I love it when Harlequin bundles its books into one package and this wintery duo has me wanting to curl up in front of my fireplace to read it. A Little Bit of Holiday Magic by Melissa McClone (which has it’s own giveaway which I featured last week) has been teamed with Sophie Pembroke’s Stranded with the Tycoon. The first features a widow with a young son and the firefighter who can’t seem to keep away from them despite his current moratorium on dating while the second gives us the always terrific trope of a powerful business tycoon who manages to get snowbound with the tempting woman who won’t give him the time of day. Enter by November 4th (TODAY!) for your chance to win.

Also under the “do it today!” column is the giveaway for Sara Lindsey’s A Rogue for All Seasons, the third book in her Weston series about seven siblings all named after Shakespearean characters. This book features Henry, loved by the ladies and admired by men, who picks a prim wallflower to have a sham courtship in order to get him out of a tight spot. He’s inflamed by the woman hidden beneath the surface but having been burned before, Diana Merriwether is going to take a lot of convincing. Deadline November 4th to enter on Goodreads.

Fans of contemporary romance involving aristocrats may want to take a look at Megan Mulry’s Unruly Royals series, particularly since she’s giving away the second book in the series, If the Shoe Fits, on a Goodreads giveaway ending November 7th. The rakish brother of a Duke, no stranger to scandal, finds himself at the wrong end of his reputation for womanizing and fast cars. Devon has done such a good job hiding his intelligence that when he becomes fascinated by an American businesswoman at a wedding, he’s shocked to be shot down. Following her back to the US, Devon discovers that he is going to have to show all those qualities he’s attempted to hide since Sarah Jones cares nothing for glitz and glamor.

Cristin Harber’s romantic suspense Titan series is undergoing giveaways for the first three books of the series, with an identical deadline of November 8th for all of them. Featuring alpha males tied to the private black ops Titan group, this series gets rave reviews on Goodreads! Take a look at the first book, Winter’s Heat, the second in the series, Garrison’s Creed, or the third book, Westin’s Chase, for descriptions and to enter before November 8th.

People who love BDSM and vampires can’t ever get enough of Joey W. Hill’s Vampire Queen series, so she must be doing something great with that world and those characters! For readers who want to see if Hill’s steamy writing also makes their pulse beat a little faster, Goodreads is having a giveaway of Vampire Instinct, the seventh book in the series, ending on November 8th. This book focuses on a devoted vampire servant asked to do the one thing she can’t for her mistress and the Native American vampire to whom she turns for help.

Laura Griffin’s romantic suspense series, Tracers, features a crack FBI team and the bad guys they put behind bars. In her seventh book, Exposed, forensic photographer Maddie Callahan is in danger as she may have unknowingly captured a witnesses kidnapping on film. Agent Brian Beckman has spent time investigating the serial killer who would do anything to stay free, and with Maddie as his potential next victim, Brian realizes he would do anything to save this beautiful woman from such a fate. Enter before November 10th to win a copy!

Fans cannot get enough of Lisa Renee Jones’ Inside Out Trilogy, and if you’ve been wondering what all the fuss is about, considering entering the giveaway to win the first book of the trilogy, If I Were You. When Sara McMillan discovers journals containing one woman’s erotic life rendered in detail, she’s avidly turning every page, until the last one when she begins to suspect foul play regarding the woman’s disappearance. Deciding to do some investigating herself, Sara insinuates herself into this woman’s former life – in her job, with her friends…and with two sexy men who were both involved with the diarist. Enter by November 10th for your chance to win.

Fun Stuff

I’ve been thinking a lot about historical fiction recently (I’m taking an online MOOC through the University of Virigina about it via Coursera) and when I saw this video, I had to share it! One of the most challenging things about writing historical fiction is making a far distant location come alive, as if the reader were actually walking from a tavern to a church in a given period. While I’m glad there is no smell-a-vision for some books (!) the fact remains that it’s still hard to picture, but not so much now. In answer to a competition to combine historical artifacts with modern technology, Pudding Lane Productions has used a old map of 17th century London to reconstruct the city and its appearance around the time of the Great Fire of 1666, and the results are spectacular. Studying the topography, buildings which still exist from the time period and the writing of archeological historians, this group of programmers has really made the city (albeit one without people or animals) come alive. Take a look at the fly-through video to get a glimpse of true 17th century London.

Entangled Publishing, whose Brazen line I universally love, is making November even more fun by making it Dirty Talker Appreciation Month! From November 4th to the 30th, all you have to do is tweet your favorite quotes using hashtag #DirtyTalker, post those knee-weakening lines on Entangled Brazen’s Facebook page, or make some kickass quote graphics (using a site like QuotesCover or Chisel) on Pinterest using “Brazen’s Dirty Talker” in the description line. Entangled will be choosing their favorites every Monday and giving away prizes throughout the month. FYI, I used Keep-Calm-O-Matic to create the this Keep Calm custom image!

It’s November and that means writers all over the world are attempting NaNoWriMo, the National November Writing Month where people dedicate themselves to writing 50,000 words in 30 days. For those of you not sure if you’ve got a book living inside you, consider purchasing No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty. The ebook is a mere $1.99 and a fun, motiving guide to cranking out a first draft.

For giggles you might want to take a look at Book Riot’s collection of the most adorable literary pet costumes this Halloween season. While I certainly wouldn’t think of dressing my cat like Edward Cullen or Hester Prynne, the dog dressed as Christian Grey wins my best-dressed (or would it be undressed?) award!

Great Deals

Susan King’s first book of her Maiden trilogy, The Stone Maiden, is currently on sale for $.99 on Amazon. Set in the Scottish Highlands in the 12th century, a young woman asks the king to send a warrior who can help defend her home and people from the encroachment of an evil neighbor. Since the local legend dictates that her clan’s name must be carried on in order for the land to maintain its divine protection, she stipulates that her liege should send a knight who will be willing to take her name and marry her. What she gets is a strong knight from Brittany with no intention of marrying her or taking her name although he is content to handfast her and protect her people. But the heart has its own ideas, and both of them begin to succumb to stronger feelings which only complicate their situation.

Jessica Scott is putting out a heart-warming novella this holiday season, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, a tie in with the first book in her Coming Home series. Set immediately after her first book, Because of You, I’ll Be Home for Christmas stars Army Sergeant Vic Carponti who loves his wife and his country, and probably in that order. As he gets ready to deploy to Iraq, he wants nothing more than to shelter her from his daily reality in the sandbox and his darkest fears, but Nicole is made of tougher stuff than Vic imagines, and they might both be about to see her tested. This novella is only $.99 and will be published on November 5th.

Happy reading this week!