Excerpt from H.P. Mallory's New Book, "Witchful Thinking"

Thanks to Random House, I have another excerpt to share with you all today. This one is from her new paranormal romance, Witchful Thinking, the third book in her Jolie Wilkins series.

From H. P. Mallory—the exciting author of Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble—comes her new paranormal romance featuring the sassy, self-deprecating witch Jolie Wilkins.

 Jolie thinks she’s seen it all, but life continues to spring surprises. The latest shocker? She’s just been crowned Queen of the Underworld. Jolie may possess a rare gift for reanimating the dead, but she doesn’t know the first thing about governing disparate factions of supernatural creatures. She can barely maintain order in her own chaotic personal life, which is heading into a romantic tailspin.

 First there’s sexy warlock Rand, the love of her life, from whom Jolie is hiding a devastating secret. Then there’s Sinjin, a darkly seductive vampire and Jolie’s sworn protector—though others suspect he harbors ulterior motives. As the two polar opposite yet magnetic men vie for Jolie’s affection, she must keep her wits about her to balance affairs of state and affairs of her heart. Overwhelmed, under pressure, and longing for love, Jolie decides it’s time to take charge—and show everyone that this queen won’t take jack.

The book goes on sale February 28th. Enjoy the excerpt!
Witchful Thinking: A Jolie Wilkins Novel by H. P. Mallory (Free Excerpt)

In My Mailbox #18

In My Mailbox was started by The Story Siren. It's a way to share and highlight all the books we receive, even if we don't review them. l share books that I buy, that I receive for review, get from the library, borrow from a friend, etc.

I had a quiet book week, which was nice. I have a lot of reading to do and I took on more work at my part-time job. I did have several books come in at the library, but haven't had a chance to pick them up.

Click on the covers to see the goodreads descriptions.

Kindle Freebies

 

I've read Clarissa Yip before, but not S.J. MacIver. I like romances, and here I've got a nice mix: one inspirational and one erotic. :D

Review

Jax, Liz and I ALL want to read and review this book. The determining factor will be which of us has the time to do it. At the moment, I have possession. Mwahahaha

How was your week? What did you get?

Excerpt From The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the novel, The Legacy of Eden, by newcomer Nelle Davy. It's a multi-generational saga of a farm family in Iowa and their trials and tribulations. It is also the debut novel for author Nelle Davy. It's available now in trade from MIRA Books.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nelle was originally born in St George’s Grenada under the name Janelle (which she always hated and immediately shortened when she went to University). She moved to London when she was nine months old because her grandfather was English and her parents supposedly wanted a better life. She got a scholarship to Sir William Perkins School for girls where she had a wonderful English teacher Mrs. Wells who encouraged her constantly in her love for books. She went to Warwick University to study English with Creative Writing where after swearing she would never marry, she met her future husband. She did a masters in Creative Writing at Trinity College Dublin and then moved back to London in 2007 where she almost immediately began working in publishing. After working at Pan Macmillan she moved to work at a literary agency while also writing and pursuing a career as a novelist on the side.

She is 27 years old and The Legacy of Eden is her first novel. She has finished writing a second novel based on the civil rights movement in Louisiana in 1963. She still lives in London with her husband and still works full time in publishing.

So far, she has not had a meltdown…



For generations, Aurelia was the crowning glory of more than three thousand acres of Iowa farmland and golden cornfields. The estate was a monument to matriarch Lavinia Hathaway's dream to elevate the family name - no matter what relative or stranger she had to destroy in the process. It was a desperation that wrought the downfall of the Hathaways - and the once prosperous farm. 

Now the last inhabitant of the decaying old home has died - alone. None of the surviving members of the Hathaway family want anything to do with the farm, the land, or the memories.

Especially Meredith Pincetti. Now living in New York City, for seventeen years Lavinia's youngest grandchild has tried to forget everything about her family and her past. But with the receipt of a pleading letter, Meredith is again thrust into conflict with the legacy that destroyed her family's once-great name. Back at Aurelia, Meredith must confront the rise and fall of the Hathaway family... and her own part in their mottled history. 

 "Our farm was like the world when people still thought it was flat. And when you left it, it was as if you had simply sailed too far and fallen off the surface into the void."

The Legacy Of Eden

By NELLE DAVY 

ISBN: 9780778329558

Published by: MIRA BOOKS

Genre: FICTION, GENERAL, WOMENS

Format: Trade

Length: 400 pages

Release Date: JANUARY 24, 2012

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There were times when I think she would have gladly allowed things to degenerate into the spectacle of recrimination and blame that I so desperately hoped to avoid, but she never pushed it. When the time came, and I think we always knew it would, she would have nothing to fear. She was the betrayed, not the betrayer.

And now, here we finally are, because the one time when she expected me to revert to type and walk away I wouldn’t. The irony was not lost on me as I put the phone back on its rest. I know what she thinks—that I’m being deliberately contrary, hurtful, cruel. The rational part of me knows I have no right to blame her for thinking this—haven’t I proved myself to be all these things already? But I am still furious with her, because I so want to be able to do what she is asking and leave the farm to its fate with no regrets, and I can’t. Then I could show that what happened—what I did—was a mistake, it wasn’t me. I can change. I have changed.

To read another excerpt, go here: http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/#axzz1jM00daMN
 

Review of Xavier's Loving Arms by KT Grant

Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Release Date: December 27, 2011
Series: Sweet and Sinful #3
Buying Links: Decadent Publishing     Amazon    


Book Blurb (from goodreads):


Xavier Marks has the looks, great job, and more than enough money to throw around. The only thing missing is a woman by his side. He hasn’t had much luck in love since he caught his fiancée cheating on him, and isn’t too happy about his current bachelor status. But that may all change when a cute barista from a coffee shop catches his eye. Perhaps she can help him lick his wounds? 

 Life hasn’t always been too kind to Rebecca Price. With a grandmother suffering from dementia, and the threat of foreclosure on her childhood home, she may have no choice but to turn to a possessive ex-boyfriend who won’t settle for anything less than marriage. She hides a shameful secret that still threatens to destroy her. She’s ready to give up all hope when a suave, yet seemingly kind-hearted man enters her life and comes to her rescue. 

Rebecca is wary of placing her trust in Xavier, who wants to be more than a shoulder for her to lean on. But as the two grow close, Rebecca’s guilt over her past discretions continue to haunt her. Xavier wants to show Rebecca that the one place she can feel whole and at peace is in his loving arms.


Reviewed by: Bea


Teaser: 

He'd tried his best to stay away, but couldn't give up his addiction to the Grounds coffee. And if his eyes happened to light upon the familiar face of a lean woman with shiny black hair and big gray eyes, whose ass he couldn't help but admire, all the better.

My thoughts:

I've read two of the three books in this series and enjoyed both. I'm not sure if there will be more in the series, but I hope so. I'd happily read them. Oh, and before I get, that model for Xavier on the cover? Whoa! I want to take him with me. It doesn't hurt that he bears a resemblance to a guy I had a crush on in college. Sigh.

OK, back to the book. :) Despite being a series, the books can be easily read as stand alones. However, they're fun and sweet, and you meet all of the main characters in book one, so why not read them all? Although "Xavier's Loving Arms" is a romance, Grant doesn't hesitate to tackle a serious subject, eating disorders. Though it plays a central part in the story and the romance, she never hits us over the head with the topic nor shoves it down our throats. It's simply an integral part of the story.

At times Xavier seems almost too good to be true; he's so understanding, so kind, that he doesn't feel real. Other than that though, I liked him very much, and I want to bring him home with me. Rebecca has a bit more depth to her and though I've never known anyone recovering from an eating disorder (that I'm aware of, anyway) she felt real to me, and both of them were likable. Not so likable was Rebecca's former flame, Devdan. He's mean, arrogant, rude, petty, and stalkerish. I hated him from the first time we meet him and although he's a bit nicer towards the end, I still hate him.

The romance is not all flowers and rainbows, it has problems and I like that Grant took the time to build the relationship. By the time they finally had sex, the tension was thick and I was as ready as they were, lol. One thing I didn't like was how much was going wrong with Rebecca's life, it felt over the top and soap operaish. I know, people get slammed in real life, but it just felt like Grant was piling it on. Still, there's a sweet, realistic romance; hot sex; humor and a hot guy; and there's meat to the story line. I read part of it during the Super Bowl and part of it at the airport, waiting for my plane flight back home, and it was perfect for both occasions.

I received a PDF from the author for review.

Spotlight On: Snowbound Valentines (Touch of Love Anthology) by JL Oiler, a CBLS Blog Barrage

Today's spotlight is a short story, "Snowbound Valentines" by JL Oiler, part of a romance anthology, "Touch of Love". It's a hot, spicy erotic romance that will help warm you up this winter.

 

JL Oiler grew up in the mountains of West Virginia where she still lives with her husband and children. She is a graduate of Fairmont State University in Fairmont West Virginia, and holds a Masters degree from Ball State University in Muncie Indiana. She always possessed a passion to create stories to entertain her friends and family, but life led her on a variety of paths before she found the opportunity to return to the dream of writing stories to share.

JL currently has stories with Rebel Ink Press and Silver Publishing. She enjoys the Erotic Paranormal genre, but has dabbled in other areas of romance as well. Her first release came in January of 2010, since that time she has had multiple individual releases as well as the opportunity to work on several anthologies. She can often be found chatting about upcoming events or releases on Facebook.

 Book Blurb (from the author):
 

Morgan Phelps finds herself living in a small West Virginia town after her car decided it could go no further. Thankfully, the local café needs a waitress as badly a Morgan is needing a job. Now six months later, she finds herself working the midnight shift on Valentine’s Day and as though things didn’t already suck, the weatherman has predicted a major snowstorm heading straight for them. Lucky for her, she won’t be working the late shift alone.

 

Trey and Christian are not only best friends and notorious ladies men, but they are also secret lovers. This dynamic duo have both been attracted to the pretty red head working at the café with them since she started and a slow valentines night and a snowstorm might be the perfect opportunity to turn their twosome into a threesome.

 

If cupid works his magic, these three snowbound lovers might just discover they are a perfect combination for happily ever after.

Snowbound Valentines (Touch of Love Anthology

By: JL Oiler 

ISBN: 9781614953890 

Publisher:  Silver Publishing

Genre: Romance, Erotica, M/M/F Format: ebook

Length: 176 pages, 33,431 Words (Entire Anthology)

Release Date: Available Now

Website:  http://joiler.weebly.com/

Facebook: Jeanne L Oiler

Barrage Blog Tour Schedule: http://cblspromotions.blogspot.com/2012/02/blog-barrage-snowbound-valentines-touch.html

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Excerpt **This is for adults, 18+**

Christen came out of the back, wiping his hands on a faded blue dishtowel, as the only customer in the place finished paying at the register and departed. His dirty blond hair looked like he just climbed out of bed. The thirty-year-old fry cook drew women into the small establishment with his rugged good looks and cut muscles. Every woman in town and a few of the men seemed to venture to Molly's just for a peek. Morgan often wondered how many he gave private "cooking" lessons. He looked big, bad, and bulging like some sort of god. In fact, a tribal tattoo representing the god Ares circled his left bicep, and Morgan often thought he might be the god reincarnated.

Trey and Christen were darn near inseparable friends. They even shared a house together about two miles outside town. So naturally, Molly scheduled them to work the same shift. Lately that shift included Morgan as well. The three amigos handled the evening shift together five out of seven days a week. Working with those two was the highlight of her world at the moment. Morgan could spend hours just watching them as they moved about the small café. If anything in this town seemed worth staying for, the sight of both men horsing around and laughing together happened to be it. What Morgan would not give for a night of hot sex with either of them. Too bad they treated her more like a little sister than a potential lover.

"Looks like it's just us three tonight," Christen said, hopping up on one of the silver and red stools surrounding the counter.

"Most likely won't have any customers this evening." Trey said with a wink. "Tonight being Valentine’s, and with what the television said would be a pretty good storm blowing in, we might be stuck here alone all night." He added while moving up to stand only a few inches from the blond cook.

"Well then," Christen responded, a broad smile on his chiseled face, which revealed his perfect white teeth. "We should make ourselves comfortable and settle in for a long hard night."

Morgan's jaw dropped to the floor as she watched Christen run his hands around Trey's waist then up his back intimately before the smaller male leaned down and kissed him. Not just a peck, but a full out tongue-down-his-throat-make-you-weak-in-the-knees kiss.

When finally the two broke away from one another, Christen sighed and Morgan could tell he was smitten with the owner's son. This was not something she expected—she understood the two were close, but Morgan witnessed firsthand both dating women. Hell, their sexcapades were legendary in the small town. Morgan heard Molly just three months ago complain about yet one more paternity test the court ordered her beloved son to take, and then rejoice when the test came back negative.

"Hey Morgan," Trey said, awaking her out of her state of shock. "When you can close your mouth, would you mind keeping an eye on things out here while me and Chris go back into the office and fuck?"

"Or you could join us if you like." Christen offered with a suggestive wag of his perfectly sculpted eyebrows.

Morgan could not move. She thought perhaps someone glued her feet to the floor and cut out her tongue. After looking at her a moment, both men chuckled.

Dusty Reads #6

Dusty Reads is a weekly meme hosted by Giselle at Xpresso Reads where we spotlight a book sitting in our TBR pile. My TBR breeds when I'm not looking, I swear. Ok, I add to it, I confess. I just can't resist. Between ebooks (darn those kindle freebies, lol)  and print books, I have somewhere around four hundred that I haven't yet read. Eeep. And yet, I keep buying and borrowing books. And occasionally, winning them. :)

 

 

Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy #6) by Richelle Mead.

The astonishing final novel in Richelle Mead's epic series!

Murder. Love. Jealousy. And the ultimate sacrifice. Now, with Rose on trial for her life and Lissa first in line for the Royal Throne, 
nothing will ever be the same between them.
 

I bought this in hardcover when the Borders Bookstore near me had it's closing sale. I love this series SOOO much but I can't bring myself to read this book because it's the last book in the series. If I don't read it, then it hasn't ended. :P Why yes, I am part ostrich, why do you ask? :D I know there's a spin off and I haven't started that yet. It's on my To Do list.

Review of Going the Distance by Angela Addams

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Release Date: December 26, 2011

Series: Cupid's Conquests #2
Buying Links: Amazon    Evernight Publishing

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Ronan’s been in love with Steph Randell since they were teenagers. Pierced by Cupid’s arrow as a teen, the country boy fell hard for her. 

As an award-winning actress, Steph has a mind of her own and is blinded by her ambition. Yet, for all her money and fame, the only time she truly finds peace is in Ronan’s arms. But she thinks that all she needs is a friend with benefits. 


Cupid messed up and needs to fix things—an incredible boon if he can succeed. All he has to do is show Steph what she is missing and prove to Ronan that Steph is worth fighting for. What will Steph risk for love? And what is Ronan willing to give up to get his girl?

Reviewed by: Bea 

Teaser:

She needed this. She needed him. He was the only real thing in her life. The only one she could trust and count on. He was always there when she needed him to be and gone when she didn't. Her Ronan.

My Thoughts:

I like a friends to lovers story, and while this doesn't fit that niche exactly, it's close enough for me. Steph and Ronan were a couple in high school but they had different dreams and she left immediately after graduation. But neither forgot the other and over the years, as Steph has become a Hollywood star and Ronan has struggled to make his ranch thrive, they have always reconnected. Steph periodically sneaks away from Hollywood and hooks up with Ronan at his ranch in their hometown. Steph blows in whenever she feels like it and just expects Ronan to be available. He desperately loves her and makes himself available.

I wanted to kick Ronan for being Steph's doormat; seriously bub, grow a pair! I wanted to smack Steph for being so spoiled, selfish, and manipulative. I had a hard time warming up to Steph, she seemed very selfish, arrogant, and shallow. Both she and Ronan have some growing up to do, and with a little help from Cupid, they manage it. I enjoyed watching their relationship change and develop a more equal footing. The sex scenes were hot, the story flowed, and it had a happy ending. Go read!

Some quotes:

And just like that, he was lost. She was his drug of choice.

The days when Steph came were always bittersweet for Ronan. He loved to have her there, in his home, acting like a domesticated little housewife, his little housewife, and yet, he knew it was all a fantasy. She was no housewife, and she was not his, no matter how much he wanted it to be otherwise.

 He slid his mouth down her neck, trailing kisses over her collarbone to her breast, latching onto her nipple without pause. She jolted up when he nipped her, exquisite pain there and gone as he smoothed her aching nub with his tongue, rolling it, flicking it, sucking it deep into his warm mouth.

I received a Kindle copy from the author for review. 

RWA Kiss of Death Tour: A Guest Post by Jane Toombs & A Giveaway

Kiss of Death is a chapter of the Romance Writers of America. The Kiss of Death Chapter of Romance Writers of America is committed to promoting and supporting mystery/suspense fiction with romantic elements by providing and supporting education, and committed volunteers who champion good writing and marketing of mystery/suspense works. By bringing attention to the field, KOD produces understanding and respect among writers and the publishing community.

At Kiss of Death they believe that every great romance should include suspense. Whether a spy thriller in Regency times, a paranormal romance with a revenge-seeking zombie, or a traditional serial killer after the heroine, romance relies on suspense, leading the reader through the trials of the heroine and hero to see if they will get their happily ever after ending. If you can call your writing suspenseful, then the Kiss of Death has something for you! Find out more and join at http://www.rwamysterysuspense.org and follow us on Twitter at @RWAKissofDeath.

Today I have author Jane Toombs, a member of Kiss of Death, talking about what genre could be more perfect than romantic suspense.Thank you Jane, for taking the time to sit down and share your thoughts with us.

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What Could Be More Perfect Than Romantic Suspense?

 

Take romance.  What is it?  There is more than one meaning,  but to writers and readers, it means  a story where two people are  going to fall in love. For my stories they are always m/f, but for  others readers they also can be m/m and f/f or combinations  thereof.

I feel I can address my  preference only, so my remarks will be  about  male/female,  however I believe they apply to anyone who falls in love.

Romantic love is an emotion every human wants to feel, which makes it popular with readers.  Many of us also want a bit of  danger mixed in, hence suspense.

The suspense can be light or darkly menacing.  I favor the latter. and my stories often contain it.  Suspense can come from one or  both of  the  characters’ emotions or backgrounds or from outside  sources and from paranormal forces. 

So what is the writer combining here?  She or he is mixing the  human drive to love and be loved with fear--another human  universal emotion.  So we have two basic human emotions in a  romantic suspense works to pique the interest of readers.  What  could be more perfect?

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TAKEN IN

By JANE TOOMBS 

ASIN: B006TRX5XM

Published by: CHAMPAGNE BOOKS

Genre: FICTION, ROMANCE, MYSTERY 

Format: EBOOK

Length: 168 KB

Release Date: JANUARY 2, 2012

Author Website: http://www.janetoombs.com/

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