Black Friday Blog Hop

Welcome to the Black Friday blog hop!

I live in Australia and we don't have a Black Friday sale (we don't have a Thanksgiving celebration either, which is a shame). But I grew up in England, and remember how the sales would start on Boxing Day and they would be frenzied! Prices would be slashed and people would camp out to grab the best bargains. Since I hate being wet and cold (two things you're guaranteed to be at the end of December in England!) I never did this! I was much happier snuggled up in the warm :-)

There's only eleven days until Archangel of Mercy, my erotic paranormal romance from Berkley Heat, is released! I'm giving away some Archangel swag to one commenter on my blog.

Between an angel and a desperate woman comes salvation -

and a raw passion that challenges them at every turn... 

Over 18s Only Please!

Destined to fall... destined to love...

When Aurora Robinson attempts to open a rift between dimensions to embrace her true heritage, an arrogant Archangel is the only one who can save her from the jaws of hell. And while she owes Gabriel her life, she’s determined not to fall at his feet-despite the desire she feels whenever they’re together.

After his wings were brutally destroyed millennia ago, Gabriel has no compassion for humans like those who ruined him and betrayed the ones he loved. But when he inexplicably finds himself defying ancient protocols to rescue a woman from a fate worse than death, he is shocked by the searing attraction he feels for a mortal.

As the ancient forces that seek to punish Aurora for her actions close in, Gabriel offers the tempting woman protection at his private sanctuary. But as they both succumb to their desires, they discover an even deeper connection-one that threatens to consume them.

Pre-Order from

The Book Depository

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

 

Read Chapter One of Archangel of Mercy

Don't forget to check out all the other fabulous authors, reviewers and bloggers participating in this Hop! You can find a list of them at Carrie Ann's Black Friday Hop

But that's not all....

We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $75 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: 

A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!

All prizes are international except for the Swag Pack which is US only

To be entered into the Grand Prize draw and my own contest on this blog, just let me know what's your fave turkey leftover dish? (that's if there is any turkey leftovers!)

Freebie Friday Fun

As promised, I have a fun Friday freebie :-)

 But first!

If you'd like a sneak peek of some books I have in the pipeline, I've posted short extracts over at

Coffee Time Romance

There's a sexy snippet from the third book in my Forbidden series - the heroine is Nimue, who appeared at the end of Captive, and her gorgeous Roman Tribune hero, Tacitus.

There's also an excerpt from the first book in my new Highland Warrior series - Her Savage Scot.

And finally I posted the never-before-seen sexy meeting between Aurora and her Archangel, Gabriel, from my Berkley Heat December release Archangel of Mercy (written under my pen name of Christina Ashcroft)


And now for the fun giveaway! Just pop over to my Christina Phillips forum at CTR and follow the simple instructions!

An Author's Life... Double Trouble

Today I'm over at fellow Berkley author Kylie Griffin's blog where she grills me on An Author's Life. Actually both Christina Phillips and Christina Ashcroft were invited which was pretty cool! If you want to find out the down and dirty on my double life then pop on over and say hi!

ARCHANGEL OF MERCY - Cover Love!

I'm thrilled to show off the cover of my next release with Berkley Heat - Archangel of Mercy. The more I look at this cover, the more in awe I am of the art department. They took into account just about every request I suggested - including having both Gabriel and Aurora on the front in a romantic-but-with-a-touch-of-possessiveness pose, the blond hero and the forest background. Even the wings are perfect and in the larger version the individual feathers are awesome. My editor and I discussed whether or not wings should be on the cover, because in the book Gabriel's were destroyed millennia ago. However, we both decided a mystical hint of what he'd once possessed would be good. I'm also in love with the gorgeous little wings in the title! And OMG. His face!!! If you can enlarge the cover and zoom into his face let me know what you think, because I reckon he is to die for!!!

Welcome to Christina Ashcroft!

I'm very excited to share some news on the writing front. As well as my historical romances published as Christina Phillips, I'm also now writing hot paranormal romance for Berkley Heat under the pen name Christina Ashcroft. The first of my Fallen Archangel books, Archangel of Mercy, is scheduled for release in December 2012. This is the sizzling story of Gabriel and I'm in the middle of revisions for this book at the moment.

My new website is here.

I've added the blurb below - I hope you enjoy!

Between an angel and a desperate woman comes salvation-
and a raw passion that challenges them at every turn...

When Aurora Robinson attempts to open a rift between dimensions to embrace her true heritage, an arrogant Archangel is the only one who can save her from the jaws of hell. And while she owes Gabriel her life, she's determined not to fall at his feet-despite the desire she feels whenever they're together.

After his wings were brutally destroyed millennia ago, Gabriel has no compassion for humans like those who ruined him and betrayed the ones he loved. But when he inexplicably finds himself defying ancient protocols to rescue a woman from a fate worse than death, he is shocked by the searing attraction he feels for a mortal.

As the ancient forces that seek to punish Aurora for her actions close in, Gabriel offers the tempting woman protection at his private sanctuary. But as they both succumb to their desires, they discover an even deeper connection-one that threatens to consume them.

Win a Copy of Captive for Christmas!

Over at Dear Author today is the Berkley Winter giveaway with masses of awesome books up for grabs - including a couple of copies of Captive! So if you'd like to be in with a chance of winning any of the books on offer, hop on over and leave a comment. It's that easy!!

Awakened by a Kiss ~ Release Day!

How gorgeous is this cover!

Lila DiPasqua, fellow Berkley and debut author, is celebrating the release of the first book in her Fiery Tales series, and I am soo looking forward to getting my hands on it! Awakened by a Kiss is the steamy retelling of three classic fairy tales:

Sleeping Beau: Five years ago, the notorious rake, Adrien d’Aspe, Marquis de Beaulain, was awakened by a sensuous kiss—and experienced a night of raw ecstasy that was branded into his memory. Years later, he spots his mysterious seductress—and this time, he has no intention of letting her go…

Little Red Writing: Nicolas de Savignac, Comte de Lambelle, has been assigned by the King to uncover the secret identity of the author writing scandalous stories about powerful courtiers. He never expected his investigation would lead to his grandmother's house, or to a ravishing woman who would stir his deepest hunger…

Bewitching in Boots: Elisabeth de Roussel, daughter of the King, is accustomed to getting what she wants—and she wants Tristan de Tiersonnier, Comte de Saint-Marcel, an ex-commander of the King’s private Guard. A recent injury has forced Tristan to leave his distinguished position, but Elisabeth is determined to make him see he's every bit the man he once was—and more than man enough for her..

You can read an Excerpt here!

Erotic Passion...

I just heard from Amanda Ashby that Forbidden is up on Amazon for pre-order! Much squealing ensued!! And the release date, according to Amazon, is 7th September ~ less than six months away!!

Here's the official back cover copy:

Between a warrior and a princess comes an erotic passion as all-consuming as the hatred between their warring worlds…

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’ 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.

FORBIDDEN ~ The Cover!!!

At last I can show off the gorgeous cover for FORBIDDEN! It absolutely captures the essence of the book and I'm madly in love with it! The fabulous art department at Berkley incorporated all the suggestions my agent and I made - and although it's difficult to see with the smaller version even the heroine's eyes are the exact colours I requested.

I'd love to know - what do you think?

Insights from an Editor

I'm always fascinated to read about other sides of the publishing business (possibly because I'm just plain nosy!!) While blog hopping earlier today I came across a very interesting interview with the fabulous Kate Seaver, Senior Editor at Berkley (who truly is fabulous and I love the fact she's my editor!!!) over at the Witchy Chicks.

Kate chats about the most common mistakes she sees from those pitching their work to her at conferences and offers tips to aspiring writers. She also gives insights into her typical (and dream!) working day.

And a quick update on my wip, CAPTIVE. Just hit 80k. From now on I'm counting down... so I have 10k to go. I'm hoping to wrap it up next weekend!!

"Forbidden"

I received a lovely email today from my editor *squee*! She suggested shortening the title His Forbidden Princess, which might give the wrong impression of the book, to Forbidden.

After I thought about it for a few moments, I realised she was completely right. Much as I love the previous title it doesn't immediately conjure up the essence of the story, whereas Forbidden sounds dark and powerful and sexy! When I told my husband (who generally offers no opinion on such matters!!) he made a point of telling me that he really liked it.

What do you think?

And also I'm thrilled that Berkley are bringing forward the release date to September 2010! OMG. That's not far off at all!!!

SOLD!!! To Berkley Heat!!!

I'm thrilled to announce my fabulous agent has sold my darling Roman in a two book deal to Kate Seaver at Berkley Heat!

The books are scheduled for release in 2011.

Here's the scoop from Publisher's Marketplace:

Christina Phillips's HIS FORBIDDEN PRINCESS, in which a Roman centurion leads an invasion into Cambria, and the druid princess who both defies and enthralls him, to Kate Seaver at Berkley Heat, in a two-book deal, by Emmanuelle Alspaugh at Judith Ehrlich Literary Management.

And here's a slightly longer blurb!

As Rome conquers Cymru, Centurion Maximus falls under the spell of ethereal Druid princess, Carys. Charged by his Emperor to eliminate all cursed Druids before they rise up against their new masters, Maximus is unaware of her heritage and is determined to possess her and discover where she and her kin are hiding from the might of the Eagle.

Despite knowing he's the enemy of her people, Carys is fascinated by this commanding foreign invader, a barbarian who displays unexpected honor, and willingly meets him in secret to satisfy her desire for sexual pleasures. But when Maximus captures her heart her loyalties are twisted and freedom from Rome is no longer her single-minded obsession.

As the summer solstice approaches Aeron, the High Druid and ex-lover of Carys, gathers the dark gods to crush the enemy into oblivion, the Druids into submission and Carys to his will. Maximus and Carys must defeat the encroaching devastation, overcome the prejudice of their warring gods and opposing cultures and find a way for their love to survive.

Now I just have to write book two!!!