Welcome Guest Author Imogene Nix!

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Guest Author

I’d like to welcome the wonderful Imogene Nix as my guest today. Imogene had been a busy woman in 2012 with the releases of her SciFi romance series, Warriors of the Elector, and she hasn’t seemed to slow down for 2013. She has recently published another book and has 3 more titles publishing over the next three months – two of which are from Total-E-Bound – Blame the Wine (which she’ll be discussing with us today) and The Blood Bride.

Whew! Dang, Imogene, that’s a lot. Congrats!

So, everyone please give Imogene a warm welcome as she tells us a little bit about herself and her upcoming release, Blame the Wine. And feel free to leave a comment or two. 🙂

When and why did you begin writing?

That is easy.  I came home from the Australian Romance Readers Convention in Bondi in March 2011.  Initially it was one of those… “I can do this” things, that kind of snowballed.

What is your favorite thing about writing?

World building.  I love being able to create worlds, peoples and situations that I can manipulate (the more the better.) 

Do you have a specific writing style?

I’m a total pantster.  I can have a vague idea what is going to happen, who will end up with whom… but that’s about as far as it goes.  I would have to say I like a bit of comedic relief but I love broken characters, whose issues I can delve into.

What do you find is the hardest thing about being an author?

There’s actually 2 things.

1.  Have you tried everything out.  Well given that I don’t know any vampires, Celtic goddesses or brownies and am unlikely to go into space, I can honestly say no.
2. Do I write porn – like FSOG.  Sigh…

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Nora Roberts writing as JD Robb – I like that she can have a hard hitting female lead.  Who has had to learn to be able to admit she can’t cope.  There’s something in her style, maybe it’s because she breaks the rules and it works, maybe it’s the depth of characters… It’s just something that is there but hard to put your finger on.

What inspired you to write Blame the Wine?

Blame the Wine started off as something completely different.  Initially it was meant to be a 5K Erotic story – heavy on the erotic content.  It didn’t fit the bill though… as the back story kept flowing.  It was something I kind of was afraid to go back to, but I realised it had merit… with a little judicious editing.  I wanted to write an essentially contemporary story with a little paranormal aspects… One that featured characters that didn’t get as much airplay… hence I chose the celtic pantheon.

How did you come up with the title Blame the Wine?

Story naming is something that comes fairly easily.  Given that the first major intimate scene sees them slightly tipsy, it just made sense to me to “Blame The Wine.”

If you were to give your book a Heat Rating, (lowest) 1—simmering, 2—sizzling, 3—on fire, or 4—blazing (highest), which would it be and why?

It’s a 1 – sizzling 🙂  I’m not a prude, I just find that is where my scenes seem to fit.  I don’t really like the idea of writing ménage or some of the more adventurous antics 🙂

What’s next for you?

I have another book due out in June 2013 with TEB called The Blood Bride.  It’s the first in a trilogy (The Blood Secrets Series) featuring vampires and a hierarchy that is old and well… I can’t tell you the rest, otherwise I might have to bite you 🙂

Book Blurb

Cara is stuck.  A job going nowhere and a hankering for the sexy gorgeous boss who doesn’t even know she exists.  Fate, in the guise of a temp position arrives… Where will it lead?

Dillon is a geek.  No other word could possibly describe him.  He may be sexy and super brainy, but he’s totally clueless with women and especially the sexy plus size Cara.  But when his PA takes emergency leave before her wedding, the luscious Cara is the best applicant for the position.  It’s an opportunity he can’t pass up.

What will happen when two clueless, wannabe lovers get a little divine intervention?

Excerpt

The elevator pinged once, loudly.  It pierced the cool silence of the marbled lobby while the door slid open with a grind and he stepped in feeling the slight rock of the small box.  He noted with amazement she was also waiting for the elevator, and had been waiting patiently behind him. 

Today she wore a bronze colored top of some silky material with cutwork at the top shadowing her pale skin, teamed with matching pants.  Spiky nude shoes completed the look and her gorgeous black hair was swept back into a ponytail leaving her swan like throat bared for his scrutiny.  Her luscious breasts, full and high filled the fitted top to perfection and he hand to control the urge to step forward and kiss her pale glossy painted lips.  He peeked a glance at her fingers, just as he always did.  Still bare.  He breathed a grateful sigh of relief knowing she remained single, for now, anyway.  Or at least her lack of rings showed no visible signs of a relationship.  The thought ricocheted through his mind and he had to control himself, otherwise he knew he would have blurted out a question as to her current status.

“Can you press ten, please?”  Her voice filled the air.  Its breathy quality heating him from within and he wanted to close his eyes, as the pleasure curled through his gut.

“Sure.”  He reached over to depress the button watching her body’s graceful movement toward the back of the cubicle and he nearly fell over, losing his centre of balance with the heavy briefcase in one hand.  He was such a klutz.

“Are you okay?”  The concern in her voice called to him as he pressed the close button .  Her fingers touched him, offering support, but he shook his head in silence.  Instead of being a friendly touch, they warmed him at the point of contact with a little zing of electricity.  Oh God!  Here he was with the woman he dreamed of and he still couldn’t get it together.  His heart thudded in his chest.  He wanted to close his eyes and cringe in embarrassment.

“Yeah, I just lost my balance a little.”  She smiled at his words and stepped back against the wall, her lips curving upwards.  He wanted to lean forward and touch them, but couldn’t.  Wouldn’t , really.  What if she thinks I’m a nut?  He was so much better off concentrating on what he knew best.  His business.  He nodded silently in his head, congratulating himself slightly on the cool-headed thoughts.  But it didn’t ease the ache in his chest that here lay an opportunity.  One he was too craven to accept, he privately admitted.

Buy link: Total-E-Bound

Author bio

Wife, mother and nutty bookstore owner all describe Imogene Nix, but the real secret is Science Fiction, Paranormal Romance with a hefty dose of Romantic Suspense is what she adores. Dedicated to high quality romance, with a dollop of erotic interactions, Imogene has dipped her toes into Science Fiction, Contemporary Rural Romance and Paranormal Romance featuring feisty headstrong female leads.

You can find Imogene at: Website * Blog * Google+ * Goodreads * Facebook * Twitter

25% Off One Day Only – Take Advantage of the Savings!

In celebration of the Promoted by the Billionaire anthology, Total-E-Bound is offering 25% off all Gay eBook titles tomorrow, Monday April 29th!

Click HERE to browse the site. Be sure to check out my two novels Pavarus and Morvea. 😉

*Please note that the Promoted by the Billionaire anthology will not be included in the offer.

Blackout by Joey Jameson

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book review

Title: Blackout

Author: Joey Jameson

Publisher: Chances Press

Buy links: Amazon US * Amazon UK * Barnes & Noble * Rainbow eBooks

Genre: Crime-Mystery/ Romance

Length: Novel

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book blurb

He’s the one you dream about. 

He’s the one you obsess over. 

He’s the one you’d kill for.

Dice Valentine was born to strip. With the body of a god that drips with sex appeal, his dance moves leave his male clients breathless and begging for more. But lost in a dark world of hedonism and indulgence, Dice is beginning to want out. That is until a night of mind-blowing sex with a mysterious lover takes a grim, shocking turn, and he finds himself in a desperate attempt to clear his name…as the hunter becomes the hunted. 

“Blackout” is a haunting dark tale of sex and betrayal that raises doubts about what exactly is the truth.

My review

Blackout is definitely not what I had expected – quite pleasantly so, though. I knew that there was going to be a mystery to the story, I just hadn’t thought that it’d be as in depth as it was. The passion, the crime, the worries and the wonders really do keep you intrigued the entire time.

It can be hard, sometimes, to mix sex and crime. There were a couple of times where I wasn’t quite sure the two went well together, but for the most part Joey Jameson did an excellent job at giving the reader a good combination of passion and action. I will say that Joey’s main talent with his writing is his descriptions. His ability with giving details is phenomenal. Every move, every feeling, every speck of lust or fear was laid out in such a way that it felt as if you were there, maybe even experiencing it yourself. 😉 Sometimes too much detail or descriptions can be overwhelming or bothersome, but not in Blackout – this time it fits and is just right.

This isn’t your usual romance story, but you do get a good dose of all the sexual tension, desire, and steamy scenes that you need. The crime and mystery part by no means takes a back seat in the book. Like any good mystery, you get to play detective as well, and just when you think you’ve got it figured out another clue or event happens that throw’s you for a loop again.

Blackout is one that I definitely recommend, and I look forward to reading more of Joey Jameson’s work.

I’m At Normandie Alleman’s Today

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Finding Home Series, giveaway, Guest Author, Morvea

I have the great pleasure of being a guest at Normandie’s today.

Come on by and check out the interview, read a action-packed excerpt, and take a chance at winning a copy of Morvea!

http://normandiealleman.com/2013/04/jen-wright-talks-about-morvea-cheetas-and-candy/

Deadlines and Discipline….Welcome Guest Author Jorja Lovett!

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Guest Author

I’d like to welcome the wonderful Jorja Lovett as my guest today! While Jorja is a virgin to Total-E-Bound Publishing, she does have 3 other books published and is a part of 4 anthologies. So if her new book from TEB, The Wolf on the Hill, strikes your fancy, you may want to check out her others. 🙂

Today, Jorja will be sharing with us her thoughts on a subject that surely plagues all of us writers. She’s also sharing with us a very tantalizing excerpt that you don’t want to pass up.

Deadlines and Discipline by Jorja Lovett

Everyone writes differently. Some people can dutifully write their 1k a day, others have that magnificent ability to just keep writing until the story is finished. Me? I’m as disorganized in my writing as I am in the rest of my life. If I don’t have a deadline, the writing is sporadic. I’ll sit down with the best intentions but after a few thousand words I’ll get distracted by pretty much anything, and develop a sudden interest in sports or news. Actually, that’s lies, I’ll just go and raid the fridge instead.

I have a great admiration for those authors that turn out book after book. I wouldn’t say churn out because that implies there is no thought or heart put into their work and I know several of such prolific authors who treat every one of their releases with great respect. I’m green with envy at the rate they can write. I spend more time mulling over plot and scenes than I do actually getting it down on paper.

Take the book I’m writing now as an example. It’s taken me months to complete it. Time I was sure I needed to work out the story in my head first. But last weekend I was given a tight deadline. I needed to turn around 15k in two days, and I did it. I just sat down and typed my little heart out, pushing myself until I reached the magic number.

I’d convinced myself I could never be a full time author if I had the chance. Now, I realize it’s a matter of self-discipline and I can do anything if I put my mind to it. So if anyone has any tips, or a whip handy, to keep me motivated I’d appreciate it J

I’ll leave you with the details of my new release, The Wolf on the Hill, while I crack on with the writing…

Book blurb

The Wolf on the Hill

Lone wolf Caleb Jackson is only back in town long enough to sell his late father’s house, and the bad memories with it. He never expected to find his mate.

Good girl Mia Blake never behaves badly. Except for the time she shifts into her wolf, chases a stranger through Olcan Hills, and has the hottest sex of her life on the forest floor.

He has no desire to settle down. She is afraid to upset her family. But, with someone determined to destroy Caleb’s inheritance, and his secret fling with Mia getting hot and heavy, moving on isn’t as easy as he’d hoped.

Can either of them let down their guards long enough to take a chance on love?

Excerpt (R)

Rain soaked Mia’s fur as she bounded through the woods bordering the Olcan Hills, relishing every inch of earth mashed beneath her claws. Trees became nothing more than a blur as she raced by, running to find her release out here where she answered to no one but nature. This was freedom.

When she reached the top of the hill she came to a standstill and released her primal scream of frustration in a howl, unleashing everything she couldn’t say to her overbearing family, pouring every hidden truth of who she really was into one long mournful call.

In the distance, another wolf echoed her cry and answered with one of his own. This was the reason her mother despised her shifting into her wolf form. She went kind of crazy and forgot all sense of danger in the excitement. Exactly the reason why she did it in secret. And now, here she was, totally exposed in the Northern Irish countryside, crouched and listening out for the intruder’s approach.

Snapping twigs and rustling leaves marked his stealthy journey towards her but she stood her ground, regardless of how loudly her heart was beating in her ears. The wind carried his scent and raised the hackles along her spine when she sniffed the air. Another shifter, but one she didn’t recognise. Big bro would use her pelt for a rug if he found out she’d strayed beyond the boundary.

Amber eyes glowed in the dark shadows as the large grey wolf stalked through the forest. She bowed in submission. Even if she had a clue how to fight, he was double her size and twice as powerful. He growled a low warning and sniffed her with interest, his wet nose nudging her clammy fur. Did he expect her to roll over and show her belly? Pride wouldn’t let her, but she was careful not to make eye contact as he circled around her twice in case he took it as a challenge.

She only lifted her head when she saw him pad away, heading back to the cover of the trees. He stopped, looked back at her, and cocked his head to one side. When she didn’t move he returned and nipped her ear. She yelped in surprise and indignation. Of all the nerve!

The rules of engagement were abandoned in the heat of her outrage and, in a snarling frenzy, she launched herself at him. For an animal so large, the grey wolf moved gracefully, dodging her attack to race ahead and leaving Mia in dogged pursuit.

Tree branches tore at her skin as she ploughed heedlessly into the woodland, but the pain dulled in the exhilaration of the chase. As they wove their way through the undergrowth, Mia’s anger subsided to let her long-neglected sense of fun take over.

He wanted her to follow him. She knew that from the glances he kept throwing back at her. So she stopped and slipped quietly behind the stump of an uprooted oak, waiting to see what he would do. White wisps of steam escaped from her nostrils as she fought to get her breath back and suddenly the area seemed too quiet.

With a thud Grey leapt onto the tree stump, and leant back onto his haunches ready to pounce. Mia took off again and this time she was the hunted. She didn’t get very far before he sprang and knocked her off her feet.

In a tangle of limbs they rolled through the leafy debris of the forest floor, shifting into their human form as they came to rest, with her pinned to the ground by a hard, muscular, naked body.

“Well, that was fun.” He grinned down at her, making no attempt to get off her, his green eyes full of mischief.

“If you say so.” Mia’s heart still raced but she was at enough of a disadvantage wedged underneath him without admitting she enjoyed the capture as much as the chase.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” He bent his head to kiss the scratches marking her shoulder and suddenly the only ache she felt was hidden deep inside.

“No.” She swallowed hard as he ventured closer to her already puckered nipples.

“Do you want me to stop?” His hot breath on her sensitive skin engulfed her in a tide of hormones she hadn’t been ruled by in a long time, if ever.

Maybe a piece of her wolf was still in her system, thriving on the excitement and danger, but she was horny, and ripe for the picking. “No.”

With a need to touch, to taste this handsome stranger on her tongue, she manoeuvred enough room to free her hands and wind them into his dark blond hair, pulling him down into a kiss.

He massaged her breasts, first with his hand, quickly followed by his mouth. The sucking and licking around her straining pink tips made her arousal too great to bear. She writhed against him, wet and waiting, but he let her suffer further still whilst he covered her mounds in tiny, exquisite bites.

Bewitched by the woods and her fantasy lover, she swapped the dull reality of her life for this moment, cavorting like the sort of woodland nymph she longed to be. Someone who lived without fear of consequences or judgement.

She wanted him. Prim and proper Mia Blake, who never stepped out of line, was lying naked in the woods with a stranger’s erection pressing into her abdomen, and she loved it. A restlessness seized hold as her body cried out with need. Her limbs trembled, her fingers and toes curled, waiting for that final act of completion. As dusk settled around them and an ethereal fog swirled between the trees, she lost herself in the erotic dream and let him sink into her.

Buy link: Total-E-Bound

Author bio

Jorja Lovett is a British author with both Irish and Scottish roots, which makes for a very dry sense of humour. Writing since she was old enough to wield a pen, it wasn’t until she joined her crit group, UCW, that she pursued her passion seriously.

Now, with Joe Manganiello as her permanent muse, if she can leave the pause button on her Magic Mike dvd long enough, she hopes to spend the rest of her days writing steamy romances.

You can find Jorja at her: Website * Blog * Facebook * Twitter