Saturday, April 28, 2012

Heart of the Valley ~ Cathryn Hein

Huge congratulations to my good writing buddy Cathryn Hein who is celebrating the release of her second rural romance from Penguin Australia, Heart of the Valley. I really enjoyed her first book Promises - and although I'm not a country or horsey girl, I ended up completely falling in love with the beautiful horses in the book. I also love the names Cathryn gives her wonderful equines - have a read of the blurb below to see what I mean!




Brooke Kingston is smart, capable and strongwilled ­ some might even say stubborn ­ and lives in the beautiful Hunter Valley on her family property. More at home on horseback than in heels, her life revolves around her beloved ‘boys’ ­ showjumpers Poddy, Oddy and Sod.
 
Then a tragic accident leaves Brooke a mess. Newcomer Lachie Cambridge is hired to manage the farm, and Brooke finds herself out of a job and out of luck. But she won¹t go without a fight.

What she doesn’t expect is Lachie himself ­ a handsome, gentle giant with a will to match her own. But with every day that Lachie stays, Brooke’s future on the farm is more uncertain. Will she be forced to 
 choose between her home and the man she’s falling for?

A vivid, moving and passionate story of love and redemption from the author of Promises.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

UNBOUND with April Vine

When my first novella was published a few years ago, I met up with a wonderful group of authors who all debuted round about the same time as I did. I'm absolutely delighted to showcase one of those lovely ladies on my blog today, as she celebrates the release of her debut novella from Ellora's Cave.

And what's more, today is also her birthday! Happy Birthday, April!!! And congratulations on the release of UNBOUND!! I've just read this book and it's a real scorcher :-)

Here is April's bio in her own words...

 April Vine writes erotic romance by night and is a professional dreamer by day. She has two precious sons who keep her sharp and one very tolerant husband who chivalrously and bravely defends her honour daily.




UNBOUND BY APRIL VINE

BLURB:

Staid and straitlaced Michelle Stein has two thoughts fueling her mind…

1. Floor the first man to walk into her antique shop.
2. Throttle her three witch-practicing aunts.

They promised her a tiny spell to fix her ridiculous inhibitions, but instead mischievously delivered a full-blown, sanity-squashing lust spell. The temporary curse apparently has no boundaries either…since the first man who walks through her door is the same man who broke her heart ten years ago. Despite Michelle’s vociferous resistance, Sebastian becomes the only man who can appease her unending physical hunger.

Thirty, heirless and restless, Sebastian Gray is drawn back home to Cape Town to claim the only girl he ever loved. What he finds in her place is a hotly bewitched erotic seductress. Now with the reparation spell her aunts cast gone awry, Sebastian might be on the losing end of a futile battle against a strength-ascending hex, no matter how hard he tries to keep Michelle satiated, alive…or even just human.

Excerpt 

Chapter One

Michelle leaped from the floral-embossed Victorian chair, gripped the edge of the walnut desk and dropped her chin to her chest. Labored breaths somersaulted from her mouth. Her heart beat with swift speed. Her skin screamed under a raging fire.

She was having an attack.

Not a panic attack.

A sex attack.

Oh how she vowed to strangle her aunts, wring their collective witches’ necks and put them on a diet of cabbage for as long as they lived. She thought they’d agreed with her terms and stipulations.

Obviously not, since they’d turned her into a raging sex fiend who without any hesitation would attack the first man who walked through the door of her antiquities shop. Not by her own doing, because how could she, twenty-six-year-old, staid, even-headed and collected Michelle Stein, sign up for such reckless sexual abandonment? Not ever.

She resisted the urge to squeeze her scorching nipples and the temptation to bunch up her cotton panties and pull them taut against her clit. She couldn’t give in. Not while her door remained opened for business.

She wobbled out of her office to the entrance of the store. Pressing her legs together, she chewed her lip in agony as the slightest movement ricocheted spasms of pleasure through her body. Her eyes fixed on the gold-plated sign hanging on the inside of the glass door meters away from her. Her mission to flip it around and keep out any possible victims until the crazy her aunts bestowed upon her evaporated.

Too late.

The door swung open. Eighteenth-century chimes hanging from the paneled ceiling danced in the afternoon breeze. Their former melodious jingle a sex-alert siren in her ear now.

She zeroed in on a musky scent mingled with the clean, self-assured aroma of pure red-blooded male. Her senses hummed. She licked her lips then swerved to a dead halt.

Bedeviled with the worst kind of heat known to any man, woman or animal for that matter, and who chose to walk into her ordinarily sedate but presently doggoned world?

Sebastian Gray.

He who broke her heart in two.

“Glitterbug.” His gravel-and-silk voice spiked and inebriated her nerves. She tore her gaze away from his killer smile and stared into his wicked green-tinged blue eyes, which teased her the same way they did ten years ago.

Only one thought shot through her mind.

Oh dear, I’m going to molest Sebastian Gray.


WEB DETAILS:
Website

Available from Ellora’s Cave:

Available from Amazon:









Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Proud Grandma Alert!

I've been a bit distracted lately and for a very good reason - I'm thrilled to show off my darling little grandson, Vincent Alexander, who was born on 14th April! He is completely adorable and I could cuddle him all day!





Vincent enjoying his first bath at home with my daughter and her partner- six month old Theo found the proceedings fascinating!!

So it's now official - I am an erotic writing Grandma!!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

New Christina Ashcroft Website is now Live

I've been building a new website for Christina Ashcroft over the last month or so, and having great fun with it (fun being relative, if you call pulling out your hair and screaming at the computer fun!!!) My clever (and very patient) husband sorted out the last few hiccups this afternoon and I'm very happy to unveil the new Christina Ashcroft website!

I'd love to know what you think of it!

And yes, since I obviously delight in torturing myself the next project on my To-Do list is rebuilding my Christina Phillips website! Watch this space...

Friday, April 13, 2012

Friday 13th - Download some Dark Demon Lovin'!






It's Friday 13th! What better day to have a little promo for my Touch of the Demon novella? The hero is a bad ass dark angel, the heroine a reluctant assassin and when their paths cross the lust that sizzles between them quickly escalates into a full blown firestorm of passion!

Review:

"Rafe is hot,passionate and deadly. He's on a mission to destroy a woman of mixed celestial parentage because her descendants will create havoc. What he doesn't expect is to fall in love with Celeste. Phillips writes the most erotic love scenes I have read. What I especially love is her dialogue. The feistiness of the heroine matches her hero, leaving the reader really wanting them to get together, but how they will do that is elusive right until the end."  5 Stars.  Cathleen Ross, award winning author

Touch of the Demon is available from Smashwords and Amazon for only $0.99. A perfect coffee break read!




Monday, April 09, 2012

Sophie's Mixed-Up Magic Goodreads Giveaway

My good friend and CP, Penguin author Amanda Ashby, is holding a Goodreads giveaway this month for the first book in her new MG series, Sophie's Mixed-Up Magic: Wishful Thinking out next month! Lucky me as I've read the three books and they are all sorts of awesome and the covers are so true to the books it's uncanny!

So here's the skinny culled direct from Amanda's blog - just hop on over and enter to be in with a chance to win!

My very last arc of Sophie’s Mixed-Up Magic: Wishful Thinking is up for grabs over on Goodreads. Well, go on, off you go and enter!!!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wishful Thinking by Amanda Ashby

Wishful Thinking

by Amanda Ashby

Giveaway ends April 30, 2012.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enter to win

Thursday, April 05, 2012

Cover Stories with Forbidden

If you've ever wondered what goes on behind-the-scenes between the author, agent, editor and marketing when it comes to creating that perfect cover, then pop on over to the Barnes & Noble Community where the lovely Melissa Walker has featured the Cover Story of my debut novel, Forbidden.

Reading through the post again it's brought back all the excitement of that amazing week, and the absolute thrill I experienced when I finally saw the finished cover for the very first time. Even two years later I haven't got tired of looking at Maximus in his Roman regalia and Carys in her gorgeous gown!


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

"Set in the time of the Roman Empire, Phillips' wonderful story of the romance between a Roman soldier and a Celt is more than entertaining"
 
Romantic Times BOOK Reviews, 4 Stars

"I dare you to put down Forbidden until you reach the last page. Compelling, passionate and fascinating."
 
Anna Campbell, Award Winning Author