Forbidden - Christina Phillips

A slight change from the usual programming today, as I wanted to give you a heads-up about a new Berkley Heat author from down under.

I haven't had a chance to read Christina Phillips' Forbidden yet, but it's got centurions, druids, emperors - sounds awesome!

Here's more info on the book and the launch party direct from Christina.

__________________________

FORBIDDEN
Christina Phillips

He was a master of seduction - but no match for the magical allure of the woman he wanted most...

Carys knew from the moment she first spied on Maximus in his naked barbarian glory that he was a dangerous Roman centurion - his taut, battle-scarred flesh marking him as a fearless warrior. But her desire for him was as undeniable as it was illicit.

Charged by his emperor to eliminate a clan of powerful Druids in Britain, Maximus never expects his mission to be thwarted by the clan's ethereal princess, Carys, his daring voyeur. Falling under her spell, he doesn't realize her true heritage - until he captures her heart as well as her body.

As Carys's loyalties are twisted, and freedom is no longer her single-minded obsession, an avenging former lover threatens to crush Maximus's people into oblivion. Now Carys and Maximus must overcome the devastation of war and face the ultimate sacrifice if their forbidden love is to survive.

Excerpt (Over 18s only)
Website

To help celebrate the release of Forbidden, Christina Phillips's debut Roman/Druid Ancient Historical Romance from Berkley Heat, she's holding a launch party with lots of amazing authors and fabulous giveaways!

In addition, Christina's giving away a signed copy of Forbidden to one lucky person who helps spread the love. All you have to do is mention the party (you can copy and paste this blurb), being held from 1st to 6th September at http://christinaphillips.blogspot.com.

You can Tweet about it, blog, Facebook, MySpace or anything! And then drop her an email at ChristinapPh @ gmail dot com (no spaces) to let her know. Please put Forbidden Launch Party (or something similar) in the subject line. The winner will be drawn for that on Monday 6th September.

And if you'd like to also put the trailer up on your sites, please do!!! The YouTube link to embed is here

(The book club will return tomorrow!)

Berkley's Fall Giveaway

...is now open at Dear Author, and includes two copies of Play of Passion! Swing by and enter before the contest closes on Saturday.

Catchup

What's everyone up to today? :-)

Cover Love: Archangel's Consort (UK)

Another gorgeous cover from Gollancz!!

I love it!! It goes beautifully with the UK covers for the first two books. Thank you to the Gollancz Art Dept.!

Also, if you're in the UK or Ireland, Gollancz is currently giving away five sets of the first three Psy-Changeling books. For full details, check out the Gollancz Dark Fantasy page on Facebook.

There will be a full chapter excerpt from Archangel's Consort in back of Play of Passion. I'll also post up the complete backcover blurb soon!

Friday Book Club

Time to talk books! I'm currently reading an upcoming release for a possible cover blurb and really enjoying it. (Will post more about it once I'm done.)

What're you reading and loving this week?

Cover Love: Archangel's Consort

I adore this cover!!!! ADORE!!

Huge thanks to the Berkley Art Dept. and artist Tony Mauro!!

Guest Author: Robin D. Owens

I'm delighted to host the lovely and talented Robin D. Owens on the blog today! Please give Robin a warm welcome everyone!

_______________

Celta – And Telepathic Animal Companions

Hi, I’m Robin D. Owens and I write futuristic/fantasy romance for Berkley and women’s fantasy with romantic subplot for Luna.

I’m best known for the "Heart" series set on a planet colonized by Earth people with psi powers. After 400 years, those psi powers are more like magic – in any event, the Celtans call it Flair. Animals, too, have evolved, enough that they are telepathic to their companions. I use the Fam companions mostly as comic relief, but also as mentors and friends.

Why "Celta"? Well, the name is Owens. My ancestors came from Wales. Celtic music was big when I started writing HeartMate, and no one had done something like Celta.

As for why I set the stories on another planet, there are a couple of reasons. My second and third manuscripts (let’s forget about book 1), were romantic suspenses set in the Regency time period of England. They didn’t sell. I was discouraged and just began fooling around for myself and my critique buddies.

I had a macho hero throw divination dice. And I had him BELIEVING the prophecy..."Today you will meet your HeartMate." Now this is not something that I felt would occur in the here and now...and as I wrote, T’Ash and Zanth, his FamCat (Familiar Cat, though of course Zanth believes T’Ash is HIS FamMan), and Celta evolved...

Why HeartMates? HeartMates are fated mates, soul mate stories. When you bond with your HeartMate (the actual bond comes during sex and is a choice), you become so close that should one person die, the other will follow in a year. I’m not sure why I did this. Again, just messing around. I certainly wasn’t thinking that I’d have a whole series! So HeartMate rules evolved, too. Like the magic Flair, the Fams...the intelligent houses....

Since it IS a fated mate series, I’ve tried very hard to make it fresh every book, with new twists as to why the hero and heroine have problems and may not actually end up together. Usually one of the pair knows who their partner/HeartMate is and either woos or avoids her/him. It is illegal to tell your HeartMate that they are yours because it can take away freedom of choice for them.

Why Fams? One day I was talking to my cat Maddox as he lurked in the Main Strategic Point of the house – the hallway between stairs, office, bedroom and bathroom. "Maddox, please don’t pounce on Muse when she walks by...." As if 1) he could understand me 2) he would listen to me and 3) he would do what I wanted anyway. Maddox was the template for Zanth, and I’m sure Zanth sold the book. I’ve since written bunnies (housefluffs), cats, a puppy, cats, a Noble Hound, cats, foxes, cats, the occasional mole, and...cats.

You can find excerpts of all my work (Zanth appears on page 2 of HeartMate as he strolls in complaining of the chef) on my READS page on my website http://www.robindowens.com/reads/reads.htm . I have some cut scenes, etc. My WORLDS page has interviews with my characters – T’Ash before and after he had the tatt that the art dept put on the front cover of the reissue – maps, pics that inspired me.

Many thanks for letting me burble about Celta at you. Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again,

Robin

Kiss of Snow

...is the tentative title for Hawke's book. I think it's beautiful. I hope you all like it!

RWNZ Conference

I had a fantastic time at the RWNZ conference this weekend - the speakers were amazing, and it was wonderful being able to hang out with my writing buds, both old and new.

It's back to work today - on Hawke's book - and I can't wait! I have the current draft printed out and I'll be editing on paper. This is still a rough working draft, so I won't have any excerpts for you just yet.

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Friday Book Club

Time to talk about the books you love! What've you been reading and enjoying recently?

Aww....

One of my (awesome) friends posted this on her Facebook page, and I had to grab it and repost. How adorable are these two?!

I've actually seen them nuzzling at each other - they really are best buds!

Also, if you are on FB, and haven't seen my new author page, here's the link.

So, any cute pet stories to share?

Conference Photos

Some more photos from the Orlando RWA Conference! Included are shots of several of the RITA winners who passed by the fountain where I was hanging out with the NZ/Aussie contingent.

Julia Quinn with her two RITAs!


Sherry Thomas and Tracy Wolff, looking fabulous.


With the lovely Jodi Thomas at the Berkley signing.

Roxanne St. Clair and Kresley Cole celebrating Kresley's RITA win.

And one of the highlights of my conference - being able to meet the wonderful Lisa Kleypas, who not only writes awesome books, but is incredibly gracious in person. (I had a total fangirl moment, I confess).

I hope you're enjoying the photos. Question for today - if you had a chance, which author would you absolutely love to meet?

I'm back!

I had an amazing time in Australia - it was so great to meet all of you who came to the signings, and/or the conference. I also want to say a huge thank you to the booksellers who hosted the (fantastic) signings!

Today, it's all about putting the pedal to the metal and getting back to work on Hawke's book. I can't wait!

Also, I'm giving away three mass market copies of Must Love Hellhounds (out in September) over on Oddshots, so if you haven't yet read this anthology, make sure to go on over and drop your name in the hat.

Friday Book Club

Time to talk about your favorite reads this week!

I'm off to the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Sydney - I look forward to seeing some of you at the conference, and at the signings! Follow this link for a list of the times and locations where I'll be signing.

Now, onto the book club! :)

Good News!

The Burning Up anthology has hit both the NYT and USA Today Bestseller lists! Thanks for the support everyone!

Conference Photos

Today, I thought I'd share some photos from RomCon (Denver) and RWA (Orlando). The shot above is from the Literacy Signing at RWA before the doors opened.

With the wonderful Christine Feehan after the RomCon signing.

With reader, Sotheara, after RomCon.

With Romance Diva buddy Jax Cassidy by the fountain at the Dophin hotel during RWA. The fountain was the central hub of the conference - it was a really great spot. There were sofas in little seating areas all around, and lots of space where everyone could mingle.

Open air performers at Downtown Disney (there was a shuttle from the hotel, so a lot of attendees hopped over to Downtown for dinner / shopping).

Nora Roberts & Karen Rose in between workshops at RWA.

Ann Aguirre dancing at RWA after receiving some good news.

Lego dragon at Downtown Disney. See the Ghirardelli ice-cream/chocolate shop behind it? I may possibly have visited that and come away with a giant ice-cream. *g*


Celebrating with Erica Hayes and Kylie Griffin after Kylie's Golden Heart win. Go Kylie!! (Yes, those are cartons of milk that we're holding *grin*).

I have a ton more photos, so I'll post up some more once I've downloaded and sorted them!

Guest Author: Jess Granger

I'm delighted to host Jess Granger on the blog today.

As I mentioned in Friday's Book Club post, I read Jess Granger's Beyond the Rain while traveling. I absolutely loved it - the world was complex and intriguing, the characters beautifully realized, and the story just sucked me in and didn't let go. It's a book I highly recommend. Follow this link if you'd like to read an excerpt.

Please give Jess a warm welcome everyone!

The Joy of a Good Series

Hi everyone,

I am so thrilled to be here on Nalini’s blog. I’ve got a confession. I’m hugely addicted to the Psy/Changeling series. I think my addiction is getting a little out of hand. I picked up BONDS OF JUSTICE at the Berkley Book Signing at the RWA National convention, and by the end of the day, I was on chapter seven. The next morning instead of getting out of bed at the alarm and taking a shower so I could meet my editor, I picked up the book.

A half an hour later, my booty was numb from sitting on the floor of the bathroom so the light wouldn’t bother my roommate, and I still hadn’t gotten my shower. I knew I had to put it down. Fifteen minutes later, the shower went right out the window. I’d taken one the night before and my hair looked okay, right?

I rushed out the door, book in hand, only to resume reading as I waited for my editor by the fountain. That’s addiction.

So why am I so addicted? I think it’s in the nature of a series. (Or it could just be Nalini.)

The thing I love about series is that they give an author room to get complicated. In romance, so much of the arc of the story is rightly filled by the romance. A series gives an author room to flesh out the background and give you more of the world.

I had so much fun returning to Azra for BEYOND THE SHADOWS.

Here’s the blurb:

His renegade wit. Her rigid code of honor. And a betrayal so deep it could tear their world apart.

Commander Yara knows perfect leadership requires perfect control and discipline. She has spent years living without the distraction of caring for anything—or anyone. It’s a sacrifice she’s willing to make. Yara has honed herself into the perfect heir to the Azralen throne, but a bloody coup could destroy everything she’s worked so hard for. She must return home to prevent war. Unfortunately the only ship available belongs to an Earthlen trader with no regard for authority—especially hers.

Cyn is a rebel, driven to protect those suffering at the hands of the Elite leaders of Azra. Using his alias to manipulate the lovely but icy commander onto his ship, he has to keep her from Azra long enough to ignite the revolution. But when he awakens a vibrant and feeling woman beneath that icy exterior, he gets more than he bargained for—love. He must find a way to convince Yara to join him, before they get caught in a web of deception that could tear their world apart.

In the first book, I didn’t have much time to go into detail about the hows and whys of Azralen culture. I was able to explore the nature of Azra in greater depth in the second book. It was fun, and I find I still have more I’d like to reveal if the publishing gods let me.

So I’m afraid I’m always going to be a series reader. I’m already looking forward to Nalini’s next book. I can’t wait to see what happens. What about you guys? What are some of your favorite series? Happy reading! Jess Granger

Links:
http://www.jessgranger.com
http://www.jessgranger.com/books/beyondtheshadows

Nalini: As I was at the RWA Conference, I was able to stalk meet Jess in person. Here's a photo from the night of the RITA Ceremony (Angie Fox, Jess & Me).

Now, let's talk series! As you might guess, I adore them :)

New Zealand: "Burning Up" ebook - Whitcoulls

A heads-up for NZ readers. The ebook for Burning Up is now available at the Whitcoulls ebook store!

Update on the Kindle edition: Here's the link! (Not sure if it's active yet, but if not, it should be very soon. Apologies for the delay everyone - there was a technical issue with the files so they had to be resent).

Australian Booksignings: 13 August - 16 August

I'm going to be in Sydney, Australia next weekend, and I'll be doing some booksignings in and around the area. I hope to see some of you there! Details below.

Friday 13th August 2010 @ 12-1pm

Angus & Robertson Castle Hill

Castle Towers
Shop 390
Old Castle Hill Rd

Friday 13th August 2010 @ 4:30-6pm
ARRA Signing - follow link for full details
Crowne Plaza Hotel
242 Arden St
Coogee Beach

Saturday 14th August 2010 @11:30-12:30pm

Borders Bondi Junction

Shop 4064-4066
500 Oxford St
Westfield
Bondi Junction

Sunday 15th August 2010 @2-3pm

Galaxy Books

143 York St
Sydney

Monday 16th August 2010 @1-2pm
Infinitas
Shop 22
Civic Arcade
48-50 George St
Parramatta

Friday Book Club

It's book club time! What've you been reading and loving this week?

I actually didn't do too much reading while I was traveling, but I did read the fantastic Beyond the Rain by Jess Granger. Jess is going to be guest-blogging with me very soon, so we'll chat more about the book then, but if you enjoy science fiction romance, check this one out.

Okay, your turn!

Burning Up is out!!

Burning up is out! My story is "Whisper of Sin" which features Lucas's admin assistant, Ria, and her wickedly sexy hero, Emmett.

It's an awesome anthology - but you don't have to take my word for it. There's a detailed review of it over at Dear Author if you'd like to have a read.

Also, I noticed a few emails in the inbox about the ebook edition of Burning Up - here's where the ebook edition is available so far (list blatantly stolen from Meljean's blog) and I expect it'll be up on all the usual sites within a few days: BN.com, the Sony ebook store, Diesel, Books on Board, and iBooks.

I landed in New Zealand early this morning, and am now in catchup mode. More later, after my head stops spinning!

Orlando

I'm in Orlando at moment, attending the RWA National Conference. The Literacy Signing was last night, and it went wonderfully. I loved meeting all of you that were able to come. Next year, it'll be in New York, so if that's close to you, make a note in your diary!

Today, I'm planning to attend the keynote speech by Nora Roberts, which should be fantastic.

Also, if you're at RWA, don't forget to come to the Berkley signing 3-4.30pm, Friday. Free books!

Hope you're all having a great week :-)

Friday Book Club

What's on your bookshelf this week?

Beautiful Tahoe

How are you all? I've still got my traveling shoes on - I took the above photo at Lake Tahoe yesterday. It was an absolutely stunning day.

Guest Author: Cory Daniells

I'm delighted to welcome fantasy author Cory Daniells to the blog today! Please give Cory a warm welcome everyone (and don't forget to enter her giveaway).

___________________________

Kissing Cousins, by Cory Daniells

(or why I think bookshops and publishers put too much emphasis on genre tags)

Did you know adventure fiction stories used to be called romances, because of the ‘romance’ of adventure?

Just as I don’t eat only salads, I don’t read only one genre. And from what I’ve seen most readers are like this. They pick their book according to their moods.

I read paranormal romances, dark urban fantasies, regency romances, traditional fantasies and science fiction, as well as children’s books -- I love a good children’s book -- and then there are all the factual books I devour because I’m just fascinated by the world. To be frank, if something looks interesting, I read it. The back of cereal packets, the back of people’s newspapers when they sit opposite me on the train … yes, I’m a sad case.

I’m the sort of person who goes into an independent bookstore and asks ‘Do you have anything obscure and interesting that pushes the boundaries of genre?’

Not that my new trilogy pushes the boundaries of genre. King Rolen’s Kin, is a traditional fantasy, with lashings of rivalry, magic and betrayal.

(Click on the image to see larger version)

I set out to write the kind of book that you curl up with as a reward to yourself after a tough week at work. It will sweep you away (at least I hope so). It certainly swept me away while I wrote it.

The genres I read across are all kissing cousins (even regency romance, which I’ve been hooked on since I discovered Georgette Heyer). The books are only one step removed from each other, with some the focus might be on the adventure rather than the romance, but human beings are motivated by love and there is nothing as powerful as this primal passion.

I’m guessing you are devoted readers (if not of cereal packets), so I’m doing a give-away of the first book of King Rolen’s Kin. To enter, leave a comment with your answer to this question:

What’s the name of the kingdom where the story takes place?

I’ll leave the competition open for 48 hours and announce the winner in the comments.

On that note, I’d like to thank Nalini for welcoming a ‘cousin’ onto her blog. Warning, Gushing Fan-girl Moment -- I have all Nalini’s books. Currently, I’m working my way through them for the second time. (I’ve read the one about Mercy and Riley three times).

My blog.
My website.

KRKhd from Daryl Lindquist on Vimeo.

Friday Book Club

Book club time! What've you been reading and loving this week?

Denver, Colorado

Breaking News: I just found out that Bonds of Justice is to be on the New York Times Bestseller list! Thanks to all of you for your support!

___________

It's been all go since I arrived in the U.S. I had a fantastic time at RomCon! I posted some photos from it over at Oddshots if you'd like to have a look - I plan to post up some more (likely when I'm back in NZ).

For today, I've got an image from the stunning Rocky Mountain National Park. It's an amazing, amazing place and I'm so glad I got the chance to visit.


Talking about amazing things - I've seen the cover for Archangel's Consort and it is wicked-awesome. I can't share it just yet as it's not quite final, but trust me, you will all love it!

Also, I wanted to post up a link - this week's Book Chat over at Bitten By Books is about the Psy/Changeling Series, so swing by and join in the discussion.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

Guest Author - Tessa Adams

I'm delighted to welcome Tessa Adams to the blog today. I read Dark Embers as an ARC and thought Tessa's new world of dragon shifters was dark and sexy and intriguing. You can check out an excerpt on Tessa's website.

Please give Tessa a warm welcome everyone, and don't forget to enter her contest!
___________

Tessa Adams

Before I start, I have to have a fangirl moment here. Nalini is my absolutely favorite paranormal writer and has been since I read Slave to Sensation many, many moons ago. I am so thrilled that she invited me to post on her blog!

I spent a long time trying to decide what it is I wanted to write about for today and since my latest cover for Dark Embers has generated a lot of comments— and because Nalini has some of the most beautiful covers I’ve ever seen--I thought I’d spend a few minutes talking about how books get their covers.

To begin with, I have to say that I have been incredibly lucky at NAL— they have given me beautiful, sexy, provocative covers for all of my books and I could not be happier. In fact, I just got the cover for Hidden Embers, my second dragon book as Tessa Adams, and I am very excited about it.

Now, I can’t tell you about everyone’s experience with covers—as I think each publishing house does things a little differently—but at NAL, the cover art really is a collaboration—between the author, her editor, her agent, marketing, the artist, and the art director. Wow, when I lay it all out like that it sounds like a lot of work. But then again, that sounds about right. Trying to get a great cover is a lot of work.

Sometimes an author just gets lucky, as I did with my first book, Full Exposure. I had almost no input on that cover—I said I wanted something to reflect the heat (Louisiana bayou in the summertime and Kevin is an iron sculptor who welds his pieces together) and something that reflected Serena hiding away and Kevin slowly stripping her defenses from her. And voila, I got the absolutely GORGEOUS cover for Full Exposure (one of my favorite parts is Serena peering out from the spine of the book).

My Tie Me Down cover, however, took a lot more work. My editor wanted to shake things up a bit, and though one major theme in the book is Cole’s sexual domination of Genevieve, there is one scene where she turns the tables on him. My editor wanted to exploit that scene on the cover—to make the book really stand out from others of its kind (which is why Cole is the one tied up here). But when we first got the cover, the title was in huge white block letters, Cole (with his arms tied behind his back) was dead center and the whole background was dark shades of brown.

It was an interesting cover, but both my agent and I—and to some extent my editor—felt that it wasn’t really catering to the audience (in other words, it looked like M/M erotica and we were afraid that people who bought it and found out it that it wasn’t would be upset). Plus the whole cover just looked really harsh and forbidding and didn’t appeal to us as women at all (a problem since romance novels are geared toward women). So we took our concerns back to the artist, who came up with the present cover—he added a layer of cursive underneath the title, added blood to the white letters to signify the serial killings that are the book’s subplots, moved Cole to the left and put Genevieve in the upper right corner. Of course, now the cover looks like a fem dom book (which it definitely isn’t) and my Genevieve has blonde hair, not brown, but at least the overall cover is really striking and beautiful—and has a subtle feminine touch that I really, really like.

I think my Tease Me cover is absolutely beautiful. The color scheme is an interesting cross between Full Exposure and Tie Me Down, which I love. When my editor came to me, we had originally envisioned the first scene from the book, where the two main characters are on facing balconies in a beautiful New Orleans courtyard. But no matter what the art department did, they—and marketing—just weren’t happy with the finished look. So they went back to the drawing board and the very sexy cover for Tease Me was born. I love it and was glad to hear that readers do as well :-)

Which brings me to my Dark Embers cover, which was another one that was nearly perfect when we got it. When my editor asked what I wanted, I told her a desert scene (my dragons live in the modern day, in the caves under the New Mexico desert) and a hot guy with a dragon tattoo—and what I got was exactly that. But when the original version came back, both my editor and the marketing department were concerned that it wasn’t dragony enough, so she had the art department add the belt buckle and my Dark Embers cover was complete.

So in the spirit of my blog entry, I thought I’d ask what some of your favorite covers have been? Some of my recent favorites are Maya Banks’s cover for Sweet Temptation, Unspeakable by Laura Griffin, Larissa Ione’s for Sin Undone, Nalini’s for Archangel’s Kiss, and Lauren Dane’s Inside Out. Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of my first Dragon’s Heat novel, Dark Embers.*

*Tessa will close the contest and announce the winner in the comments.

Friday Book Club

...coming to you on Saturday today.

It's time to talk books. What've you been reading and enjoying this week?

Guest Author: Shiloh Walker

I'm delighted to host the lovely Shiloh Walker on the blog today. Please give her a warm welcome everyone, and don't forget to enter her contest!

Stuck

Hello…and thanks to Nalini for letting me drop in on her blog!

Where do you get your ideas?

Writers get that question a lot. I can’t speak for other writers but my ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere in between—a documentary, a random conversation with my husband, a book. And sometimes, I just wake up and there an idea is—like it was waiting for me.

That’s what happened with my current release, The Missing.

Actually, it was more like there was a character stuck in my head. Just there, waiting for me.

The first character to come into my head wasn’t the hero or the heroine, though.

It was Jillian—the hero’s daughter.

I had this little girl’s image in my head, the entire scene, really.

She was sitting in an airport, drawing a picture. When she was done, she shows it to her dad.

She’s drawn three kids, one in each corner of the page. He asks her who they are, and she says, “I don’t know…they are the missing…”

That was the start of the idea. The whole idea emerged from that, and this is one of those ideas that kind of bubbled and brewed in the back of my head for a while before I even attempted to write it. I think it was a year or two.

By then, the characters for the hero, Cullen and the heroine, Taige, had also started to form in my head, too, and once they were there, the story came pretty easily.

But it all started with the germ of an idea—that scene with Jillian, and I don’t know really know where Jillian came from. Of course, Jillian likes to hang out in my head, because not long after that idea popped into my head, another one came.

And this one involves a story where Jillian is grown up. That one won’t be written for at least a few more years, I know—in my mind, she’s still just a kid and I can’t write her story until I stop seeing her as a kid. She’s still in my head, though, and it’s just a matter of time, I think, until I write her story.

And since I’ve got a book out and I should probably do the standard author promo bit…here it is… (and stay tuned, I’m giving away a prize…)

The Missing is now out in mass market…

LOVE LOST

As a teenager, Taige Branch was able to do things with her psychic gift that others couldn’t understand—except for Cullen Morgan, the boy her stole her heart. He did his best to accept her abilities, until his mother was brutally murdered—and he couldn’t forgive Taige for not preventing her death.

PASSION FOUND

Now a widowed father, Cullen Morgan has never forgotten Taige. But what brings her back into his life is another tragic event. His beloved little girl has been kidnapped, and Taige is his only hope of finding her.

A LOVE THAT NEVER DIED

Working together against the clock, Cullen and Taige can’t help but wonder whether—if they find his daughter in time—it isn’t too late for the overpowering love that still burns between them…

And now here’s the prize. I get characters stuck in my head. A lot. Sometimes they are mine…like Jillian. Sometimes they are belong to other authors…like SL Viehl’s Cherijo & Duncan from the Stardoc books, or Nalini’s Elena & Raphael, Jeaniene Frost’s Cat & Bones, or JD Robb’s Roarke & Eve. They get stuck in my head, and not just a particular story, but the characters themselves.

This ever happen to you? What characters get stuck in your head and why? Leave your answer in the comments and everybody who enters will get entered for a $15 GC to Amazon. I will draw a winner from the comments and post the name here in the comments sometime during the next week. Contest open across the globe!

Shiloh Walker

http://www.shilohwalker.com

Website Updated

The website's been updated - including with the first chapter excerpt from Play of Passion. Enjoy!

Bonds of Justice is out!!

To celebrate the release, here's an excerpt!

___________

Excerpt from Bonds of Justice

The door opened at that moment, revealing the woman at the center of his thoughts. She’d changed into jeans and a gray sweatshirt that covered those curves he was starting to obsess over. He could see the edge of a white T-shirt beneath the sweatshirt, while plain black sneakers peeked out from under the hem of her jeans.

“Is this appropriate?” she asked. “I assumed we might have time to go to the garage as well.”

He ran his gaze not over her clothing, but over the soft curls of her shoulder-length hair. A rich, charcoal black, those curls tempted a man to fist his hands in the softness, tug her close, and sink his teeth—deliciously carefully—into that full lower lip. “Yes.” It came out husky.

She hesitated, as if she’d caught the edge in his tone, but her words when they came were pragmatic. “I’ll e-mail the Councilor from the car, ensure the chief mechanic knows we’ll be coming.” Locking her door after picking up that little computronic gadget that seemed to be surgically attached to her hand, she fell into step beside him, her head not even reaching his shoulder.

“You’re short.” He could tuck her under his arm, and against his body, without any problem whatsoever.

Sophia almost halted. “That kind of observation is rude in all cultures.”

He shrugged, but he’d noted the jerky movement before she smoothed out her stride, considered the implications—Psy made it a point to react as little as possible, regardless of the provocation. And Max was very, very good at provocation when he was in the mood. “I didn’t say you didn’t look good short.”

“I am what is termed a ‘throwback’ to my great-great-grandmother,” Sophia said, her tone pure feminine frost. “She had the identical body type. I will never be slender.”

“From where I’m standing”—Max couldn’t help himself, the devil in him taking over—“slender is overrated.”

Ignoring him with a focus that made his lips curve into a slow, satisfied smile, Sophia pressed her finger to the touch pad for the elevator.

(c) Copyright 2010 by Nalini Singh

_______________

I hope you all enjoy Max and Sophia's story!!

RomCon

I've got my traveling shoes on and am off to the RomCon conference in Denver! If you're attending, please come on over and say hi!

I'll only be posting sporadically during the next few weeks, but I've got several guest authors scheduled to post through that time, so keep an eye out for them!

Friday Book Club

Before we dive into the book club, I have some more linkage for you.

More great reviews are coming in for Bonds of Justice. Here's a snippet from a review by Leontine of Realms on Our Bookshelves.

There is an everlasting quality to the storytelling that makes Bonds Of Justice a one-sitting-read....BONDS OF JUSTICE gave all that is important to me as a reader along with two memorable characters I got to fall in love with.

Follow the link to read the full review. I'm getting so excited about the release!

I've also got an interview up at Kylie Griffin's blog, talking travel, books and dolls. (Curious? check out the interview!)

Kiwi author Helen Lowe has just joined The Supernatural Underground, so swing by and say hi.

And fellow authors Jaci Burton and Anya Bast are talking new releases and giving them away, including one you might recognize :)

Now, onto the book club! I've been reading this fascinating book called Play of Passion *grin* What've you been reading and loving this week?