Release Day and other Friday Goodness

This is really random, but the first release (in August) I had under my alter ego, Savannah Stuart, my hubby was heading overseas and today I have my second release under that name and he's leaving again. And it's the same destination: Afghanistan. Awesome. I'm kinda afraid to write anything else under this name! Up until yesterday when we got the news that he'd be leaving I was writing 2500 plus words a day for the past week and a half and as soon as he's gone I plan to throw myself back into writing. It's definitely one of the only things that keeps me sane while he's gone. This trip is a little longer than the last one and he'll be missing my sister's wedding, Thanksgiving and Christmas, which pretty much sucks, but there's not much I can do about it :(

I don't have much time to blog today so here's the info for Unleashed Temptation by Savannah Stuart, my lovely alter ego:

Unleashed Temptation – Available Today from Ellora’s Cave

After finding out her boyfriend has been cheating on her with her boss, Carly decides her life needs a makeover. She trades in her winter coat for a bikini and heads south to Miami, Florida. Almost as soon as she arrives, she falls in lust with the sexiest man she’s ever laid eyes on. Too bad he’s her new boss.

Alpha werewolf Nick gave up hope of finding his mate a century ago. When sexy redhead Carly comes to work for him, she disrupts his entire world. Although he desperately wants to come clean about what he is, he keeps running into problems. Like the fact that an ancient enemy has set his sights on Carly. Nick discovers he’ll go to any lengths to keep her safe. Even if it means losing her in the process.


Read excerpt here.

Purchase digital version here.

For more titles from Savannah Stuart, click here.

For a chance to win a copy of Unleashed Temptation, visit Sarai J’s Blog here.

The Forbidden Chamber - Available from Samhain!

This is Ella Drake's first release from Samhain and it sounds super hot, so check it out!

The Forbidden Chamber, from Samhain Publishing, Available today.

“Your life is forfeit if you open that door.”

All her life, Lady Isabel Colven has followed the path laid out for her, content to look neither left nor right for excitement. Her future holds a dutiful, passionless marriage to some nice young man, and she’s content…until the exotic and compelling Lord Rukh Hayle threatens her maidenly reserve. Rumor paints him as a wife-murderer; desire tempts her to look past his aura of danger.

Rukh refuses to let his family’s curse kill a third bride, but Isabel awakens the Raven within him, compels him to take her to wife—and to bed—despite the secrets that live under his skin. That lie is locked in the darkest corners of the manor, waiting to be unleashed. Their lusty union arouses the curse, entangling Isabel in an erotic tug of war that can only end in her destruction. There is no escape for either of them. Not from his family’s shadowy history. Not from demons imagined and real. And not from the choice Rukh faces to save his bride from a fate worse than death…

Warning: This gothic contains heady kisses that lead to ruin, passionate sex on a desk chair, a mysterious husband who may be a murderer, a cursed family of raven shifters, and an unspeakable evil hidden in the closet.

Read the excerpt.
The Forbidden Chamber is available from Samhain at MBaM.

Writers Gone Wild

I'm at Writer's Gone Wild today and I've shared my favorite pumpkin bread recipe! Stop by and chat or just stop by and snag a yummy recipe!

Untamed by Crystal Jordan - Released Today!

UNTAMED by Crystal Jordan

The biological warfare of the twenty-first century changed the planet in astonishing ways, transforming humans into shape-shifters who love to walk on the wild side—reveling in danger and the explosive desire that consumes them…

Desire For A Price

Half-human, half-lynx, Delilah Chase makes her living as a professional thief. But when half-human, half-hawk Hunter Avery catches her trying to steal his priceless ruby, he makes her a proposition: spend a week in his bed, or take a trip to jail. What follows is seven days of unrelenting, primitive passion neither can live without…

Desire With No Limits

As the owner of Tail, the most notorious techno brothel in New Chicago, mink-shifter Lorelei Chase specializes in fulfilling all of her clients’ kinky fantasies. She just has one rule: Never sample the goods that her customers or workers offer. But every day, jaguar-shifter Nolan Angelo and wolf-shifter Pierce Vaughn tempt her to break that rule—until she ultimately gives in to a burning lust that knows no control…

Places to buy it: Amazon.com · Barnes & Noble · Chapters.ca · Borders · Books-A-Million · Kensington · Indiebound · Powell's Books

Monday Madness!

I'm up ridiculously early, even for me. Actually, I've been up since 4:30. After staring at the ceiling for half an hour I figured I might as well get up and get some writing in. Six is a good time to start my writing day but I guess five works just as well too. This weekend I got some good writing done (yay!) and brought my word count up by about 7200. I also got to read, something I haven't done in a while! Normally I don't read any sort of erotic romance while I'm writing it, but I made an exception to my rule this weekend b/c I needed a break and nothing else on my shelf appealed to me. I'm glad I broke my 'rule'. :)


If you haven't read Sweet Ultimatum by new Author Naima Simone, you need to get yourself a copy! Here's a quick blurb:


Six years ago, Caitlin Madison broke off her relationship with Selig Richardson, sending him away disillusioned and bitter. Now, he has returned to New Eden, WA demanding retribution for her cruel rejection. The payment: her body. Unknown to Selig, Caitlin has harbored a deadly secret all these years. And as love awakens with each passionate encounter, so does the danger. Once again, Caitlin is forced to make a choice between a future with the man she's never stopped loving or crush his heart...and save his life.


Before I read this, I was unsure what to expect. From the blurb, I wasn't sure if the hero was going to be an alpha jerk. He was most definitely alpha, but he was not a jerk and he was never cruel to her (which is one of my big no-no's in romance). He was hot, yummy, and in some serious need of love. The chemistry between these two was smoking hot! Ms. Simone penned some wonderfully rounded characters who were incredibly flawed, but so likable, you won't help but rooting for them to find their HEA. The blurb pretty much tells you what it's about and I don't want to give away any spoilers so I'll just say that this is definitely a new author to take a chance on. You won't be disappointed!


What did y'all read this weekend? Anything worth talking about?

Yay for Friday!

It's finally Friday! This week has been looooooooonng and tiring but it's finally time for the weekend :) I actually got some decent new writing done as opposed to just editing this week so I can't complain too much. The cool weather is gone however and now it's back to 84 degrees but I guess that's better than 90+ with crazy humidity. On Sunday I'm going to one of my chapter mate's houses for a bag stuffing party to help get bags ready for my chapter's Romancing the Holidays book signing. It's not until November 7 so I'll post more info then.

Have a great weekend everyone!

What's in a Title?

I'm at Writers Gone Wild today chatting about titles in romance. Stop by if you get a chance!

Dark Secrets & Dead Bodies

Head over to Romance Divas October 22-24 for the Dark Secrets and Dead Bodies Workshop. It's being hosted by some fabulous authors! Even better, the workshop is free.
All you need to do is register!

It's a New Week

Yay for a new week! It's 60 degrees here in normally humid/hot Florida and I'm so loving it! Slipping on a coat and boots is a nice change of pace. Since the story I'm working on takes place in the Fall, it's even better :) My day job looks like it's shaping up to be vera busy this week so I probably won't be online much the next couple days.

I got a release date for Unleashed Temptation (being released under my alter ego, Savannah Stuart) and it's next Friday, October 30 so I'm excited about that! Other than that, no news to report on this end. How was everyone else's weekend?

Blah

For those of you who don't know, my hubby found a baby squirrel last week. Well, last night I don't know what happened, but he got sick and died in my hands. He threw up and started crying while he was in his box so I took him out and held and comforted him for a couple hours while he made these sad little chirping/crying sounds. Of course it happened while my hubby is out of town. I couldn't stop crying last night and even my dog (who's been trying to eat Edgar all week) must have known something was wrong b/c he sat mournfully by my side while Edgar cried against my chest. I know we hadn't had him long, but I got to see little Edgar open his eyes and take his first few tentative steps. I feel sick and I'm so sad I can't even put it into words. I found a tiny box and buried him in the back yard this morning. This weekend sucks.

Size 4, too fat?

Apparently hottie Filippa Hamilton is too fat to model for Ralph Lauren anymore. Good lord, if a 5'10", 120 pound beauty is too 'fat' what kind of message is that sending to women around the world?? I saw her interview on the Today show and thought she handled herself with class. It's pretty obvious when someone has a bone to pick with a company or if they're a disgruntled ex-employee, but that's not the vibe I got at all from her. She never spoke out when she was originally fired (in April) and only said something when a grotesque photo-shopped picture of her appeared in Japan. Thanks to some bozo at Ralph Lauren, she looked like an anorexic bobble head so I don't blame her for getting pissed. Click here for a more detailed story and to see the pictures.

I don't know about ya'll, but I'm so happy it's Friday! I'm meeting with one of the other bridesmaids in my sister's bridal party and we're going to start planning the bachelorette party! We've decided to do a beach weekend getaway so it should be fun. I also plan to get some writing done this weekend! Once I finish some edits that I absolutely need to get to, I hope to get 'new' writing done :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Oh, I don't think I ever mentioned it, but on Fridays I'm also blogging at Naughty Author Chicks under the name Savannah Stuart so if you ever want to stop by, feel free!

Writers Gone Wild

What do you do to celebrate the small things in life? Come share at Writers Gone Wild.

Adventures with Edgar

Okay, maybe adventures is too strong of a word. He still doesn't do much, not that I expect him to for another few weeks. He finally opened his eyes and he's a bit more adventurous, meaning he'll crawl up our arms on shaky legs before collapsing in a tired heap of cuteness and fur. Other than that, he eats, sleeps, and poops. Not very exciting, but extremely cute.


I finished lengthening my manuscript! All new scenes and characters have been added. Today I'll be combing it over making sure the new threads all tie together and everything is cleared up at the end and other general editing, but I'm finished! I love that feeling! I hope to finish edits in the next couple days and send it off to my agent this week. Hopefully this version will be what she's looking for. *Fingers crossed* Until I'm done with edits, I'll be limiting my online time today so I'm off!

Whew!

Little sister's bridal shower is over and I'm officially wiped for the rest of the weekend. More people than I expected showed up and I still have four bottles of champagne left over and a TON of food. We'll be eating leftovers for a while :)


Since last night, I somehow ended up adopting a baby squirrel. The man totally suckered me in. The little guy fell from one of our trees and since his mom never came to find him, we took him in. At first I was skeptical but when my hubby told me what a bitch nature would be to this little guy, I caved (and named him Edgar). The last thing we need in our house is a squirrel since our dog wants to eat him as a snack, but we're making it work. The little guy is sooooo tiny and we're guessing he's only three weeks old since his eyes aren't even open yet. He doesn't do a lot other than eat (i.e. drink baby milk) and sleep. As soon as he's grown, we'll release him, but until then he's kicking my maternal instinct into overdrive ;) I'll post pictures later. I'm too tired to think now. Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!

Thursday is the New Friday

Or at least it is this week :) I'm picking up the hubby from the airport in about an hour, and tomorrow I'm taking off work to prepare for my sister's bridal shower (which will be at my house). I came up with a cute how-well-do-you-know-the-couple game and a famous couples game. If the games are boring, hopefully everyone will be too tipsy on mimosas to notice ;) That's the plan anyway. The man has been gone for about a week and sadly for him, tomorrow he will be my slave. While I'm cleaning the inside of the house, he's going to have fun trimming the bushes, mowing the yard, and cleaning anything outside that needs it. I might even make him wash the dog. Yes, he's lucky to have me *g*


Not long ago I turned in a second manuscript to my agent (my first one is still awaiting news from publishers...rejection, acceptance, something, just please put me out of my misery). Anywho, I wrote this next one targeted toward a category line, but after her incredibly helpful advice, I'm turning it into a single title. I've had to put down the other manuscript I'm working on, which kinda sucks, but I can't work on two big projects at once. I'll occasionally work on a short erotic piece while I'm writing a full, non-erotic romance, but the longer stories generally have more complex plot twists and I'm just not focused enough (or insane enough to kill my brain like that) to try. I've officially added about 15K to the story, and even though I've got about 15K more to go, it's been a very liberating experience. I've mentioned in earlier posts that I've always been worried whether or not I could finish a single-title and now I know I can. And I LOVE where this story is going. It's meatier and the characters are more complex (and hopefully more likable), so keep your fingers crossed that the newish plot keeps unfolding.


I'm pretty sure I won't be online much tomorrow so I hope everyone has a good weekend.

New Ways to Procrastinate

In case you didn't notice, I changed my background once again. The darker background was too hard to read and I think this is cuter. Now that I've wasted the past hour doing this, I've seriously got to get back to writing today!


Oh, I would like to add that my pet peeve for this lovely Tuesday is women with washboard abs complaining about being 'fat' during the first trimester of pregnancy when in reality, they don't even have a bump yet and are in fact, simply looking for compliments. It's nauseating.

Title Help!

The weekend is over and I'm actually excited! My sister has been out of town and she's coming back today. We work together so I get verrrrryyy bored without her. I'm hosting her bridal shower this upcoming weekend and I didn't realize how much would go into actually hosting a party for 30-50 women. Yikes. Luckily I have a super mom who really helped me out!! I think I would have gone insane without her. We got almost everything we're going to need for Saturday except the cake, etc. that I will be making super hubby pick up the morning of ;) Somehow I also got some writing done too. About 3K. Couldv'e been a lot more but I'm not complaining.


Okay, I need some help. I SUCK at titles and this doesn't come as a surprise, but my new editor at Loose Id told me that I'm going to need to come up with a new title for my first manuscript with them (this will be under my pen name, Savannah Stuart). Here's the blurb and if you have any ideas, I would be forever grateful: Oh, and the story takes place in Miami if that helps.


When Madison Dubois witnesses a terrible crime, she goes to the only place she knows she’ll be safe, Detective Rafe Jackson’s house. Rafe has been in love with Madison Dubois for longer than he cares to admit. Unfortunately for him, she views him as a big brother. When she shows up on his doorstep terrified for her life, he has no choice but to keep her safe. Undeniable sparks fly when they’re forced to share a roof but unless he can keep her alive, their relationship might not have a chance to even start.


If I end up using your title, I'm offering a downloadable copy of one of my books (anything from my backlist). Thanks in advance for your help!!

Strange Neighbors

My dog woke me up up @ 3 am this morning really sick. Of course it happened when my hubby is out of town. Safe is a relative word, but I live in a fairly safe neighborhood so I didn't mind taking her out that early by myself. I took her out in the front yard so she could take care of business and I see one of my neighbors (who is very strange) rolling a mattress across his front yard. There wasn't a lot of light other than the moon and street lamp but I saw his face so I knew who it was. I tried to hide in the shadows b/c I seriously didn't want to get stuck talking to Mr. Weirdo in the middle of the night. Luckily I didn't have to worry about that. When he saw me, he froze, then hid behind the mattress and didn't move (as if he was invisible or something). Um, okay then. I had to wait until my sick puppy got everything out of her system before rushing back inside. I peeked through the window once I was back in and he started rolling the mattress again. Very strange.


The hubby's out of town all weekend so I'm taking advantage of the quiet time. Writing, editing, and going to my chapter meeting are what I have planned. There's been a slight shift in the weather and times like this I miss living up north so bad! I don't like snow, but I do love it when cooler weather strikes. So, I might even get some bike riding time in :)


What are your plans for the weekend?