Countdown to Branded By Fire: 5 Days to Go!

Winners! The random winners are as follows:

Mech - Alyssa Day's Atlantis Unleashed
Maggie (thir...@yahoo) - Talk of the Ton

Congratulations! Please email me your addresses at nalinisinghwrites AT gmail DOT com.

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Branded By Fire releases next Tuesday! Here's what KMont at Lurv A La Mode had to say about Mercy and Riley's story:

Seeing them try to keep their alpha tendencies walled up and defending their emotions was both amusing and heart pounding when they began to crumble.

To read the full review, follow the link!

The cyber launch party continues today with the giveaway of a paranormal romance - Alyssa Day's Atlantis Unleashed, and a historical anthology - Talk of the Ton!

Entry rules are the same as Monday. Leave your answer to the burning question in the comments! And if you bring along a friend to the party, it'll give you another entry for the day's giveaways.

Today's burning question is inspired by the anthology above: If you could live in any time period, past, present or future, which would you choose?

Countdown to Branded By Fire: 6 days to go!

Winners: The random winners are:

Erika - Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan
JOYE (Anon #1) - Kiss & Hell by Dakota Cassidy

Congratulations! Please email me your addresses (nalinisinghwrites AT gmail DOT com)

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I'm over at the Book Smugglers talking about Inspirations and Influences, so come say hi. The Smugglers are also giving away a copy of Branded By Fire!

And talking of Branded By Fire, here's a snippet from Kati's review of the book for RNTV:

I have to say that I’ve always been very partial to the alphas in this series, Lucas (especially) and Hawke. But Riley’s tortured past; his deep well of feeling, so well hidden got all of my emotions working. The treat of the book, for me, was getting to know him, learning about his past, and how it’s shaped him as a man, and how hard he falls for Mercy. He flounders quite a bit, which is unnerving for someone as ordered as Riley.

Today's cyber launch giveaways are a copy of Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan and a copy of Kiss and Hell by Dakota Cassidy!

Entry rules are the same as Monday! In short, leave your answer to the day's burning question to go into the random draw. If you bring a friend, I'll give you an extra entry :) (Don't forget to tell me if you've already got one of the books).

Today's burning question is: We've talked about heroes, now it's time for the heroines. Which heroine would you like to be for a day or a week? Reasons why?

Oooh, so many choices...

Countdown to Branded By Fire: 7 days to go!

Winners! The random winners are:

Elizabeth G - Kissing Midnight by Emma Holly
Karah - Fair Game by Jasmine Haynes

Congratulations! Please email me your address (nalinisinghwrites AT gmail DOT com).
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Seven days to go until Branded By Fire hits the shelves! The Book Smugglers just put up their review of Mercy and Riley's story. Here's a snippet:

Notable Quotes/ Parts: Just about every single interaction between Riley and Mercy. Also, between Mercy and her pack members. Actually, make that all the scenes between Riley and his alpha, Hawke and between Hawke and Sienna. Crap. the whole book is freaking notable.

To read the full review, follow the link!

Today's cyber launch party giveaways are a copy of Kissing Midnight by Emma Holly and Fair Game by Jasmine Haynes.

Entry rules are same as Monday, so have a look at that post if you've just arrived at the party. And welcome! (Don't forget to note if you already have one of the books).

Now, onto today's burning question: Who are your favorite couple(s) from books? Why?

It doesn't have to be a romance. One of my friends really loves the hero & his dragon from the Temeraire books. As for me...hmm...

Hellhounds, Branded & More

If I could write odes to this little beauty, I would. If I could hang out under its balcony and sing it sweet songs, I would. If I could bake it a cake the size of Texas, draped in miles of frosting ribbons proclaiming Branded by Fire as the best Psy/Changling novel yet, I would. Then I’d eat it. The cake that is. Hmm, maybe the book, too.

From KMont at Lurv A La Mode's review of Branded By Fire! She loved Mercy and Riley's story so much, she's giving away a pre-order of the book. Go forth and enter :-)

Dear Author and SBTB are holding a giveaway, fundraiser and auction in memory of author Edith Layton. In honor of Ms. Layton's love of animals proceeds will go to support animal charities. One of the items up for auction is a bound galley of Must Love Hellhounds, which contains novellas by Charlaine Harris, Meljean Brook, Ilona Andrews & yours truly. Follow the links for more info.

There's a great profile of author Dean Koontz in USA Today.

The Knight Agency is having another Take Home Tuesday.

Jackie at Literary Escapism is hosting author Anna Katherine, giving away a copy of Salt and Silver and talking lies.

Deidre Knight and Gena Showalter are holding a Kiss & Seduce party here.

Bitten By Books is holding a "Who is your heroine?" poll.

And talking about polls, it seems like many of you think Kaleb isn't a bad guy. Interesting...

Release Day! & Website

Oct 7th is the official release day of THE MAGICAL CHRISTMAS CAT, so let's celebrate!

If you haven't checked out the excerpt for "Stroke of Enticement", follow the link above.

Both the anthology and Stroke of Enticement have been getting great reviews. Check out some of the review links below!

"I have loved every story in Nalini Singh’s PSY/CHANGELING series so far, but I do believe that Zach and Annie’s story is my new favorite! Everything about this tale totally worked for me." ~ Wild On Books

"And, can I say, OH MY about this hero. I wanted to lick him all over." ~ Gwen for TGTBU

"Honestly? It made me want a Leopard Changeling of my own." ~ Book Binge

"Zach is the kind of hero I love to read and dream about – devastatingly handsome, charming, intelligent, protective, and slightly mischievous...made me sigh and wonder where I could find a hero like him. ~ Shayna for Joyfully Reviewed

"Verdict: I love Nalini Singh’s love stories, and specially her male protagonists – the changelings that are so strong and yet so ready to die (and to kill) for their mates." ~ The Book Smugglers

"STROKE OF ENTICEMENT has sizzle, snap, and genuine joy." ~ Sarah W for Romance Junkies

"The Magical Christmas Cat is a fantastic holiday anthology...I absolutely adored getting to visit all these different worlds with all their different types of characters in one book." ~ ParaNormal Romance

Also the website has been updated with lots of great new info, especially on the Psy/Changeling Behind the Scenes page. The links for the BRANDED BY FIRE and ANGELS' BLOOD excerpts accidentally disappeared off the front page, but they'll be going back on. :)

Hope you're all having a great start to the week!

Excerpt - Hostage to Pleasure & Updates

As promised, here is an extra excerpt from Hostage to Pleasure. I chose a piece where you get to see Dorian and Ashaya together. It's not enormously long, so don't read it if you're made easily crazy ;-)

Also, I'm going to be kicking off a fun little contest next week, so make sure you swing by on Monday to read the details. And if you haven't dropped your name into the hat to go into the draw to win Susan Napier's Accidental Mistress, you've still got time.

Now, onto the excerpt. Enjoy!

~~~

Excerpt from HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE - Out September 2nd!

He sat back on his haunches and watched her get back up into a sitting position. Her eyes went to his handiwork. “You’ve had some training.”

He bit back the urge to snarl at her frigid tone. The ice of it was a fist around his cock, arousing him against all reason, all sense. “First aid.” He shrugged, stuffed everything back into her pack, then paused. “You need anything from here?”

“Everything.”

“Tough.” He did up the straps. “I have to carry you as it is—”

“I can—”

“Yeah, you can crawl,” he snapped, “but that isn’t going to get me home in time to catch a few z’s.” And nowhere near fast enough to contain the leopard’s enraged attempts at exploding from within his skin. He couldn’t shift, had never been able to. But the cat didn’t know it was trapped. Right now, it wasn’t even sure if it wanted to savage Ashaya or fuck her. “Since I can’t dump you here, I might as well get rid of you as fast as I can.”

It was a deliberate attempt to provoke, but her face, a face that had haunted his dreams for two months, remained expressionless. Two damn months, he thought again. Endless nights of waking in a sweat, frustrated and hard. And angry, so angry. The sole thing that had kept him from going out and hunting her down had been an enraged defiance against a sexual pull that had begun to turn into an obsession.

Now here she sat, looking up at him with those eyes that were the wrong color—and that blatant lie only stoked his fury.

“You have a lot of antipathy toward me.”

No, what he had was a bad case of lust. But he wasn’t an animal in rut. And his one stupid, drunken mistake in college aside, he didn’t sleep with women who might just freeze his balls off in the night. “I’m going to stash your pack up in the branches. The lynx won’t come near it now that it has my scent on it. Someone can grab it for you tomorrow.”

Ashaya didn’t argue, knowing she had nothing with which to bargain. “Another debt?” She’d recognized his voice at once as that of the sniper. After all, she’d been hearing it in her dreams for eight long weeks.

“Don’t worry. We’ll collect.” With those words, he shrugged into the pack and began climbing.

She couldn’t believe the way he moved. It was so smooth, it appeared effortless. He was ten times faster than she had been, a hundred times more graceful. If she’d had any doubts as to what he was, they would’ve been wiped away by that display. “Changeling,” she said as he jumped back down. “Cat.”

He raised an eyebrow, his eyes a pitiless blue so true—even in this darkness—that she wondered at its existence. “Meow.”

Something hidden sparked to life in her mind, and she found herself thinking that the sniper was beautiful. Darkness, she’d always cloaked him in darkness, but he was a golden god. “How did you know I was here?” Her breath came in pants as she managed to get to her feet, one hand braced against the tree trunk. Her palm landed on something sticky. Her own blood, she realized.

“I’m an F-Psy.” A mocking answer. “You’re going to have to ride on my back. Try not to stab me while you’re at it.” He came to her, turned.

The instant she put her hands on his shoulders, she froze. She hadn’t had this much close contact with another being for longer than she could remember. Even with Keenan, she’d kept her distance, aware that only Silent coldness would keep him safe. But there was no point of comparison between her weakness where Keenan was concerned and this changeling who seemed to despise her.

And yet who fascinated her on a level it was madness to even consider.

(c) Copyright 2008 by Nalini Singh

Links to some reader reviews!

"Hostage to Pleasure has met all my expectations and Nalini has a fan and supporter of her books for life." ~ Katiebabs

“Singh…brings it in #5 with no letup in sight. Her characters get better and better, and the world is evolving in layers that feel realistic…” ~ Nicola O.

"I was on that reading high by the end of Hostage to Pleasure, overjoyed that book five was indeed holding the series strong, perhaps rising to become the best of them yet." ~ Lurv A La Mode (KMont)

"KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER!!!!" CindyS on Book Binge

Reviews & Books

Some good news to start the day - Mine to Possess got a Desert Isle Keeper review from AAR!!!! Clay and Tally's book also got an awesome review from Once Upon A Romance! Woohoo! :-)

Today's busy, busy, so I'm turning the blog over to you guys - how about comments on some great books you've read (recently or in the past), and what you liked about them?

Q&A and Reviews

I'm answering questions over at Book Binge today, so if you've got something you want to ask me, here's your chance! (Of course, I can't promise I'll answer all the questions *grin*)

~

Mine to Possess has been getting some amazing reviews - I just have to share!

"What makes this story so compelling is that each of them is completely individual, while still being shaped and influenced by their nature. And the intimacy between them, that was amazing."

Read full review at Rosario's Reading Journal

"What I like most about these alphas is not only their protectiveness, their hardness, but also their sensitive side that always come through in dealing with their mates.This series has become an all-time favorite. The writing is as fresh as ever."

Read the full review at TGTBU (Sandy M's Review)

"I had tears at the end. The characters are alive and the dialogue sparkles."

Read the full review at TGTBU (Alicia's Review)

"I devoured this book. While I always had faith in Nalini Singh’s ability to draw me into the story, I was unsure of her ability to make me love a human heroine...I should never have doubted Nalini’s ability to make me love this heroine. Tally was exactly the type of woman that Clay needed."

Read the full review at Book Binge

"Singh has done it again. MINE TO POSSESS grabs you and never lets you go. This may be the best book of an already outstanding series."

Read the full review at Fresh Fiction

"As readers I believe we are carried through stories by strong characters, and Tally and Clay are instantly compelling, hauling us along on their engrossing tale....Their story packs a powerful emotional punch from the first pages right through to the end. I believed I would be able to read a few chapters and put it aside. I read the entire book in one day."

Read the full review at author Saskia Walker's blog

"I devoured this book in about two hours...Once again Nalini Singh has taken us to new parts of the Psy-Changeling universe and shown us new heights and depths of emotion. Love, honor, emotion and coming to terms with decisions and events of the past to go on to a new future."

Read the full review at Realms of the Raven

"The emotions and chemistry of the characters brings tears of sadness and joy, laughter and lots of very breathlessly romantic moments. This is a highly action packed and sensual thriller, deep and intense, you will not be able to put it down!"

Read the full review at PNR

Good News!

My head is spinning. Why?

Publishers Weekly reviewed Mine to Possess and called it "...paranormal romance at its best..." Squee!!!!

I was still walking on air over that when I found out that Romantic Times gave MtP a 4.5 star Top Pick!!!!

But wait, there's more. Caressed By Ice was picked as one of the Hottest Books of 2007 by Michelle Buonfiglio's Romance B(u)y the Blog at Lifetime TV; and as I was about to write this blog, I was told that CBI's also been nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award!!

Hence the head spinning (and excessive use of exclamation marks)! I think I need to throw a cyber-party to celebrate. So, pull up a chair, bring your drink of choice and tell me what's made your head spin lately. :-)

Review & Bollywood

It's Christmas Eve!! That means it's Christmas tomorrow! Lots of sunshine down in New Zealand - I'm thinking the beaches will be packed for the holidays. :)

I've already gotten a very nice present - tugsduck, one of the winners of the ARC Contest, read and loved MtP. Here's what she said in the comments to Friday's post:

It was awesome! I read until my eyes wanted to pop out of my head (much to the chagrin of my boyfriend!).

This book is just as good if not better than those preceding it. It has humor, poignancy, and sensuality (much to the pleasure of my boyfriend once I was done reading!). Clay and Talin's story was the bomb!

This book will be added to my keepers to be enjoyed again and again... for all of you eagerly anticipating the release date, it will definitely be worth the wait!

Link to full Comment (#9)

Yippee!! Thanks tugsduck! And now, I have a present for all of you. I recently watched a Bollywood movie called Om Shanti Om. There's a lovely song in it - I won't translate it except to say that it's super-romantic, and the title line means (not an exact translation): "In your eyes, there is a kind of magic."

The video below is actually a trailer for the movie, but it uses the song (a really short version). If you want to hear the beautiful full version, search Ajab Si on YouTube (or better yet, go see if the movie's playing near you!) Also, in case you wonder about the costumes - the first half of the movie is set in the 70's, the second half in the present day. Enjoy! :)

Link to Trailer

MtP Review & Contest Update

Some good news to kick of the day: Mine to Possess was reviewed by Gail for the PW blog Beyond Her Book. Here's what she had to say:

This book was fast paced and riveting. I can truthfully say that once you start reading it, you'll find it impossible to put down!

Yay!!

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Also, an update on the MtP ARC Contest. There's been a slight delay - my poor publicist is in the region hit by the ice storm and so are the ARCs. Once I know when they might be able to be posted out, I'll notify the winners.

CBI's on TV & RWNZ Conference Photos

I'm so excited! Check out what Gina Bernal, editor for Rhapsody Book Club had to say about Caressed By Ice on Romance Novel TV!

Follow this link!

Also, as promised, here are a couple more photos from the RWNZ Conference!

First up, two more angels! Sharbee on the left, and Maree on the right. Maree was my roomie and a fabulous one at that!


And this is one of me with our fabulous speakers, Jenny Crusie and Anne Stuart. If you ever have a chance to hear either Jenny or Anne speak, grab it. They're just fantastic!

Caressed By Ice

I do believe this is the first online review of Caressed By Ice! (Scooper won the meme contest I ran for Visions of Heat and part of the prize package was an ARC of CBI). And she says she loved it!

I'm also going to send out another excerpt of CBI to newsletter subscribers today, but don't worry if you're not the newsletter-joining type. The excerpt will also be put up on the website as part of the July updates.

And the game's still going so join in!

Release Dates / DIK / Movie

Some cool news: Mine to Possess (Clay's story) now has an official release date of February 2008, so the current schedule stacks up like this:

Caressed By Ice - Sep 07
An Enchanted Season - Oct 07
Mine to Possess - Feb 08

Other good news, Visions of Heat got a Desert Isle Keeper review from AAR!! :)

I spent most of the weekend working but I did manage to see the movie, Inside Man, with Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster and Clive Owen. Have any of you seen it? It's about the perfect bank robbery. Very good movie. I thought I had it figured out, but nope.

So, what did you all get up to?

Reviews, Interview & Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Lots of things to talk about today - the official release of Visions of Heat is almost here! I'm counting down the hours now. As well as doing that, I'm also hanging out in a couple of other places today, including Writeminded and Dear Author. The latter is part of an interview series focusing on international authors.

And to start the day off on a high note, two more great reviews for Visions of Heat:

"...brace yourselves because the second installment of the Psy-Changeling series will set all your senses ablaze and leave your fingers singed with each turn of the page. VISIONS OF HEAT is that intense!..."

Romance Junkies, 5 Ribbons

This one's from LesleyW, one of the ARC winners. I think this is my favorite bit of the review. She says of Vaughn and Faith, that:

"..they fit, in a way I don't think either of them would be able to with anybody else...."

Check out her review if you'd like to see another reader's take on the book.

Now, onto what I was going to post today before I got all this good news I had to share.

MOON CALLED - Patricia Briggs

This is the book I took with me on the plane trip to Australia. I don't usually concentrate very well on planes, but Moon Called drew me in and wouldn't let go, it was that good. I'm coming late to the series as this was published last year, but that's all to the better - because soon as I was done with Moon Called, I ran out and grabbed Blood Bound, the second book. I'm halfway through it and OMG it's so good!

Okay, onto the book. This is the backcover blurb:

Mercy Thompson's sexy next-door neighbor is a werewolf.

She's tinkering with a VW bus at her mechanic shop that happens to belong to a vampire.

But then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly normal herself...and her connection to the world of things that go bump in the night is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble.

Usually it's the blurb that grabs me, but this time around it was the cover. I love the covers for both books in the series! But though the cover caught my eye, it was the story that kept me hooked. Mercy is a one-of-a-kind heroine. She's a mechanic to start with, and she's got her feet firmly planted in the ground, despite the fact that she knows that there really are a lot of things that go bump in the night.

One of those things is her neighbour, Adam, who happens to be the alpha of the local werewolf pack. Can you say yum?! Then there's Samuel, another dominant wolf and someone she loved as a teenager. Yum x 2. But it's not just the romantic angle that had been hooked, it was the whole world. All the secondary characters have roles to play and they're interesting in their own right, from Zee, Mercy's old boss, to Ben, the creepy werewolf.

This is an urban fantasy, but with a definite romantic thread - I love the interplay between Mercy and Adam/Samuel. Their interactions sometimes reminded me of Eve and Roarke in the JD Robb books. Eve and Mercy are very different, but they're both strong women going up against equally strong men. The resulting fireworks are oh-so-cool.

Seriously, I cannot gush enough about this book. It is beyond fabulous! So much so that I kept annoying my travelling companions on my trip to Australia by sneaking off to read a few pages each time they had their backs turned. And the second I was done, I started in on Blood Bound. I think I've just found an author to add to my favorites list! Recommended a gazillion times over!

Reviews & Photos

First up, over the past week, several wonderful new reviews for Visions of Heat have gone up around the Net. Here are links to those that I'm aware of. If you know of any others, please drop me a note.

Loonigrrl (ARC Winner)
Milady Insanity
Rosario's Reading Journal
NiceMommy-EvilEditor
Loving Every Moment (Scroll down to Feb 26th entries)
The Romance Readers Connection

I know several of the other ARC winners have done reviews in various locations. My thanks! (And if you've done a linkable review and I haven't linked to it, please send me the url!).

Secondly, I'm updating the list of Visions of Heat meme participants and will be pulling up the list to below this post. If you've done the meme and aren't on the list, let me know.

Third, photos! I went to Brisbane, Australia and it was my first time in that city. I admit I would've never thought of going to Brisbane were it not for a concert that was happening in that location. (What concert? Guess. *g*) But now that I've been there, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone thinking of travelling to Australia. It is the most beautiful river city and there is so much to do - most of it easily accessible through a public transport network of river ferries, trains and buses. Alright, onto the photos! (Click on them to see a bigger shot).

First photo: Brisbane city as taken from the ferry stop on the South Bank. I can't tell you how much I love the idea of a ferry ride to work!

Second photo: One of the cruise boats that go up and down the river. These look fabulous lit up at night. We didn't cruise but took a long ferry ride instead - the river is beautiful, no matter how you look at it.

Onto the wildlife!

Third photo: This not-so-little lizard fella was waiting for us on the steps down toward the river jetty. Just sitting there, watching the river go by. There's nothing for comparison in the photo but he was huge! Over a foot long - it would've taken both hands to pick him up. Not that we tried.

Fourth Photo: Was taken at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. These kangaroos are fairly tame but it's still exciting to get up close. And you do have to be careful - kangaroos are very strong.

Fifth photo was taken on Tangalooma Island, where we went to see the wild dolphins. The dolphin photos are on my friend's camera so I'll put them up when she shoots them to me. But check out the kookaburra. They just wander around freely on the island. We saw this one as we were going down to the beach.

Sixth photos: The koalas! I'm not usually one for animals in captivity but these sleepy guys need a helping hand with their habitat disappearing, and Lone Pine seems a pretty nice place.

And I'll leave you with this photo of the wild lorikeets at Lone Pine. Their colors are so brilliant that once they fly away, you can't imagine how they could be hiding up in the trees, but they are.

I have a ton more pictures but I figure that's enough for now! Hope you enjoyed the mini photo-tour of Brisbane!

Website Updates/Excerpt

The website updates have been done for February. We're still ironing out a few little problems but the second excerpt for Visions of Heat is now up.

And check out this awesome review for Visions from Fallen Angel Reviews (5 Angels, Recommended Read):

"Nalini Singh has done the enviable; she has written a sequel that lives up to its predecessor. I have a distinct feeling there are many more stories to be told in this universe and will be snatching up every single one I can."

Read the whole review.

Yay! And now I must go and convince myself to get into gear - don't you just love Mondays? *grin*

DIK, Website & Centaurs

Lots of news today.

First - StS just received a Desert Isle Keeper review from AAR!!!! Woohoo! These reviewers are tough so that was a verrry nice surprise.

Second - The website updates for Oct have been done. I not sure if the stars are active yet but for those of you who like hunting them, there are meant to be four new ones.

Also, I've added a page dedicated to FAQ etc about the Psy-Changeling series. It's relatively spoiler free right now but that will likely change as time goes by.

Third - the book drought is over! I just read Divine By Mistake by P.C. Cast and thoroughly enjoyed it. Fabulous book. She's a new-to-me author but not for long! This is a Luna book so heavy on the fantasy but I found the romance very compelling - I don't think romance fans would be disappointed. As an aside - what a lovely cover.

Short Synopsis: Shannon Parker is an English teacher who gets sucked into another world where she's treated as a Goddess Incarnate (the real GI has swapped places with her). Oh and she's betrothed to a centaur.

This is officially the first book I've ever read with a (sexy) centaur hero! Plus Shannon is a funny, smart and slightly offbeat heroine whom I liked immediately. Overall - highly recommended if you like your romance with lots of fantasy (and centaurs).