Lessons in Seduction - Sandra Hyatt

As you all know, author Sandra Hyatt passed away suddenly earlier this year. However, Sandra left a wonderful legacy in her stories - her book, Lessons in Seduction, which received an awesome 4.5 star review from Romantic Times, is out December 1st, and her friends are all banding together to spread the world.

Here's the blurb:

A prince on a quest to find the perfect wife doesn't have time to trifle with a commoner. But Adam Marconi's longtime friend and sometime driver, Danielle St. Claire, has him contemplating a change in plans. Why can't the royal have a little fun before finally settling down? Then their supposedly quick affair suddenly turns serious.

And Prince Adam finds himself in a quandary. Say goodbye to the one woman who sets his heart and body on fire, or defy all the rules and cause the scandal of the century.

You can read a full excerpt here, but here's one of my favorite bits (I am already loving this heroine.)

His gaze didn't pause; it swept over hers as if she was invisible, or of no more importance than the back of her headrest. That was good. If only she could trust in it.

Because she wasn't supposed to be driving for him.

Because he'd banned her. Actually, it wasn't an official ban. He'd only intimated that he no longer wanted her to drive for him. But in palace circles an intimation by Adam was as good as a ban. Nothing official was necessary.

Though, honestly, no reasonable person would blame her for the coffee incident. The pothole had been unavoidable.

~ from Lessons in Seduction by Sandra Hyatt

Barnes& Noble, Amazon, Harlequin, Book Depository, Barbara's Books(NZ)

Kindle, Nook, eHarlequin

If you have a blog, Facebook page, Twitter account etc, and would like to help spread the word about Lessons in Seduction, please go ahead. The more the merrier. Here's to Sandy!

Friday Book Club

It's time to talk about your current reads. Me, I'm deep into Tangle of Need. =)

Anne McCaffrey

I posted last night on Facebook about how very sad I was to hear that Anne McCaffrey had died. I found her books as a teen, and never stopped reading and rereading them. Not a year goes by that I don't pull out a favorite Anne McCaffrey story and lose myself in the fantastic worlds of her imagination.

I have so many favorite Anne McCaffrey books. I wanted to post about just a few to share my love of her stories - and as a tribute to a storyteller who will be sorely missed. 

I love Dragonsdawn because it's a tale of survivors, and because of course, it shows the birth of the dragons that are at the heart of the Pern series.

The Rowan is a favorite for so many reasons. I'm still fascinated by the idea of telepaths and telekinetics as the engine for space exploration, and I loved the romance that develops across the vast distances of space.

Pegasus in Space is the third book in the Talent series, all of which have pride of place on my bookshelves. It's Peter's journey that compels me, but as with so many of Ms. McCaffrey's books, all the characters feel like friends. (I have a special soft spot for Tirla).

Then there's The Dolphins of Pern, The White Dragon, and so many more wonderful stories that I know I'll continue to treasure and reread in the years to come. 

If you haven't ever read an Anne McCaffrey book, you have such an amazing journey to look forward to. There are so many places you can start, but if you'd like a recommendation I think The Rowan and Dragonsdawn are both good jumping-in points.

For all of you who are fans - what are your favorite Anne McCaffrey books?

I saw this tweet quoted in the Los Angeles Times and thought it was a beautiful way to farewell a great storyteller: "Do you hear? The dragons mourn. The First Queen has passed Between. #AnneMcCaffrey" (@Lynoth).

Thank you Ms. McCaffrey for all the wonder you brought into my life.

Lord of the Abyss Now Out!

Micah and Liliana's story is now out! I hope you all enjoy it. 

Here's a review of the book from Saiqa, who often comments on the blog.

Short and sweet: A Review of Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh

First of  all can I just say how cool the title is.  I’ve always liked the titles of Nalini’s books.  This book is about Liliana and Micah.  It uses the beauty and the beast fairytale as its foundation.  The twist is that it is the woman who is physically ‘ugly’.  I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about this at first because it’s not something I’m used to.  However it was nice to have a heroine who wasn’t perfect and worried about her appearance.  The part I especially sympathised with was her beaky nose.  I have always despaired over my far from perfect nose.

As well as being based on the beauty and the beast theme, this book is the final in a quartet series by different authors.  I devoured the first one as it was from my other favourite author Gena Showalter.  However I admit to missing the middle two.  This book works great as a stand-alone though as Nalini fills you in with her usual efficient manner.  This is another reason Nalini is my favourite author; she does not ramble on.

So to try and write this without too much waffling; Liliana goes searching for Micah and finds him.  He is the lord of the abyss read the book if you want to know what that is ). She is the daughter of the sorcerer who killed Micah’s parents when he was a small child and seized their kingdom Elden ( yes that’s right, they’re royals).  Due to the spell Micah’s mother cast to protect her children, they were all scattered to different places and Micah has no memory of who he is or of the curse he is under. Liliana is on an undercover mission to help Micah remember his real identity and to get him back to Elden to fight her evil evil father before the deadline on the curse is reached and all are doomed.  Phew, that was kind of hard to explain, especially without giving away any spoilers.

My favourite parts of this story were the fairy-tale aspect, Micah’s cool black armour, the forbidding castle ( I just love castles full stop ) and the two secondary characters who kind of remind me of the candlestick and the clock ? in the Disney version ( was I hallucinating or were they really there?) I also loved the ending; happy ever after does it for me everytime!  My least favourite parts of the story; there weren’t any.  The heroine was brave, the hero was an alpha male and the villain was evil incarnate.  All in all, a delicious story.  You will probably gulp it all in one go, like I did!

P.S: I have seen there is some criticism of the ending in other reviews, but to me the ending was perfect. I don’t think we had to see more of the other siblings as it wasn’t their book. The focus was on Liliana and Micah, as it should be.

By Saiqa.

Amazon, B&N, BookDepo, B-A-M, Chapters, Powells, eHarlequin
Kindle, Nook

Wild & Steamy Anthology

I was originally interested in this ebook anthology for Meljean Brook's The Blushing Bounder, as it's set in her Iron Seas world (which I love with a mad passion). However, I really enjoyed all three stories.

The reason I'm posting about this today is because the anthology is currently free at most retailers, so check it out! As far as I know, there are no geographical restrictions.

If you don't have a e-reader, the anthology is short enough that I think you'd have no trouble reading it on your computer, or printing it out to read.

Wild & Steamy

 

The Blushing Bound by Meljean Brook - While the search for a killer puts Constable Newberry’s life in danger, he faces a danger of another kind: to his heart, by the woman forced to marry him. What will it take for this prudish bounder to convince his wife to stay?

Vixen by Jill Myles – Miko’s denied her were-fox nature for far too long and turned her back on her vixen heritage. But when she meets two very sexy cat-shifters, she has to decide if she truly wants to give up on her frisky side, or embrace it. Because the were-fox in her doesn’t want to choose between both men…it wants them both.

Kitten-tiger & the Monk by Carolyn Crane – A Disillusionists novella: Sophia Sidway, Midcity’s most dangerous memory revisionist, seeks out the mysterious Monk in the wasteland beneath the Tangle turnpike, hoping for redemption…but it turns out that the Monk is not all that pious, and the turnpike is no turnpike at all.

Kindle | Nook | Smashwords | All Romance Ebooks

Friday Book Club

Time to talk books! What are you reading and loving at the moment?
 

Lord of the Abyss Excerpt & Release Dates!

First, a little glimpse of Micah and Liliana:

Shaking his head to erase that haunting voice that made things in his chest tear and break, he stared at Liliana, spoke in the gentle tone that made the villagers tremble. “Where’s my breakfast?” He ran the sharp tips of his gauntlet along her jaw. “I do not smell meat.”
    “Your breakfast is right here,” she said, her face going white…but she didn’t back down. “And it’s quite delicious, as you’d know if you’d stop trying to terrify me.” Reaching out, she touched him, her hand curving over the black armor of his upper arm. “Please sit.”
    He was so startled that anyone dared touch him, he obeyed without realizing what he was doing. When he would’ve snarled, she seduced him into silence by serving him bread studded with fruit and sprinkled with honey and sugar and…cinnamon.
    This time, when the scent threatened to ensorcel him, he fought it.

From Lord of the Abyss

If you'd like to read some more short excerpts, check out this great review at Heroes and Heartbreakers.

As promised, here's the complete release date information for Lord of the Abyss. 

North America 

The single paperback edition is now out! 

Amazon, B&N, BookDepo, B-A-M
Chapters, IndBnd, eHarlequin, Powells

Paperback and ebook duo edition (with a copy of Desert Warrior my first ever published book), out November 22nd.

Amazon, B&N, BookDepo, B-A-M, Chapters, Powells, eHarlequin
Kindle, Nook

Single ebook edition

Adobe format - out as an early release from eHarlequin
Kindle/Nook - out December 1st

UK 

January 2012 

Australia/NZ

Australia is publishing the first two titles (Gena and Jill) in January 2012 and the second two titles (Jessica and me) in March 2012. 

Lord of the Abyss

I'm blogging about the dark, dangerous and delicious hero from Lord of the Abyss today at the Paranormal Romance blog. Swing by and say hi!

I'll have complete release info for you tomorrow. :-)

Photos from India

The Taj Mahal is incredibly lovely in real life. Even though it's such a large building, it is so graceful and delicate, you almost don't notice the size.

Taken in front of what were once government offices in Old Delhi

I love how many different forms of transport are visible in this shot!

And one more from another angle!

Red Fort, Delhi

Diwali Lights in Jaipur

Jaipur

Our hot air balloons prior to take off in Jaipur!

Lake Palace, Jaipur

I have a ton more photos to go through, so I'll be posting more over the next few weeks. I've also got some  on my Facebook author page. It's a public album, so just click through and you'll be able to see the images. :-)

Friday Book Club

The Friday Book Club is now open! What are you reading and loving at the moment?

Deleted Scenes: Kiss of Snow

The seven deleted scenes from Kiss of Snow are now available on the website. Hope you enjoy!! (If you spot the typo that crept in during upload, just ignore - it'll be fixed soon :-)).

India & Awards

I'm back in NZ after an awesome trip to India. Photos to come!

I had some great news come in while I was away.

Kiss of Snow has been nominated in the Favorite Romance section of the Goodreads Choice Awards, so if you're are GR member, don't forget to vote.

I've also been nominated in the RT Reviewers Choice Awards in the Vampire Romance (Archangel's Blade), Paranormal Romance (Kiss of Snow), Harlequin Nocturne (Lord of the Abyss), and Career Achievement (Paranormal) categories. 

Morgan Doremus of RT recently did a wonderful blog post focusing on Lord of the Abyss, and the timeless appeal of the Beauty and the Beast theme - do check it out!

And talking of timeless appeal, here is one of my favorite tv/movie kisses of all time. It's a huge, ginormous spoiler for the ending so if you plan to watch North & South, look away (or don't...because this will make you sigh). =)

Kiss of Snow Paperback

Quick heads up that the paperback edition of Kiss of Snow is now out, complete with bonus deleted scenes. If you have the hardcover edition, you won't miss out - the scenes will be up on the website soon as I return home. :-)