EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY - Toying with His Affections by Laura K. Curtis

Today it's my pleasure to have author Laura K. Curtis here today, sharing an excerpt from her newest book, "Toying With His Affections". While she's best known for writing romantic suspense, she also writes straight up romance as evidenced by this story. I have followed Laura for a while now on Twitter, she's interesting and lots of fun. I have "TWHA" in my TBR pile and I've read and enjoyed her RS, "Twisted". I hope you'll enjoy this excerpt from "Toying With His Affections".

Laura K. Curtis does everything backwards. As a child, she was extremely serious, so now that she’s chronologically an adult, she feels perfectly justified in acting the fool. She started teaching at age fifteen, then decided to go back to school herself at thirty.

Laura has taught middle school social studies, high school literature, and college-level rhetoric, all with relative success. She’s also a full-on Mac geek who spent years as a consultant and running an academic computing lab. The only thing she completely failed at in the field of education was attempting to teach obedience to her pack of Irish Terriers. Currently, she lives in Westchester, NY, with her husband and two insane Irish Terriers who have taught her how easily love can coincide with the desire to kill.

Laura wrote her first book in first grade. You can see it right here:

It was released (in paperback, naturally) to rave reviews, and she’s been trying to achieve the same level of success ever since.

Steph Reviews Freed by Stacey Kennedy

Publisher: Loveswept
Series: Club Sin #3.5
Format Read: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Release Date: November 4, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | ARe* | Barnes & Noble |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Mary Schmidt knows only too well how thrilling a Master’s touch can be. Her husband, Charles, had been her ultimate fantasy, a seducer in the erotic dance of dominance and submission. She misses the sensual lifestyle they shared, but mourns him so deeply she cannot bear to embrace her submissive needs with another Dom—until a man who exudes temptation reawakens desires she can no longer deny.

Elliott Foster is dazzled by Mary. He instantly knows that she’s the woman he’s been waiting for—a woman who turns games into need. As her Master, he dares to unlock the deepest pleasures of her flesh, releasing her from pain and healing her mind. When Mary’s lithe body comes to life under his, he knows their connection goes beyond sex. Now that he has found the perfect woman, the perfect partner, the perfect submissive, he desires only to give her everything she craves.

NOTE: Freed is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences

Cat Thursday - Cat in the Basket

 Welcome to the weekly meme hosted by The True Book Addict that celebrates cats; their foibles and humorousness and the joy they bring. You can join in by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you made or came across, cat art or share with us pics of your own felines, then post your link up at The True Book Addict.

Claude's favorite place to sleep is in my laundry basket. Here, he looks like he's thinking "No, mine. Get your own." Sorry dude, those are MY clean clothes you're sleeping on. You have a bed, use it. :D

EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY: The Murders at Astaire Castle by Lauren Carr

Welcome to my stop on Lauren Carr's THE MURDERS AT ASTAIRE CASTLE Book Blitz tour!

Guest Review of French Pastry Murder by Leslie Meier

Publisher: Kensington
Series: Lucy Stone #21
Format Read: hardcover
Source: PR firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 30, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Tinker's Cove is abuzz with excitement when Norah, the queen of daytime TV, comes to town and selects Lucy and her pals to be featured in her "Women Who Make a Difference" episode. In recognition for their charitable work, the ladies and their husbands are awarded a dream vacation in Paris, complete with classes at Le Cooking School with renowned pastry chef Larry Bruneau. But their bon voyage is cut short when Lucy discovers the chef in a pool of blood on the second day of class... If she's going to enjoy her vacation, she'll have to unpack her sleuthing skills and clear her name. But will she be able to track down a killer more elusive than the perfect macaron?

Blog Ahead Challenge!

Why yes, that is another challenge picture; why yes, I'm doing another challenge; why yes, I'm nuts. You should know that by now.  :P

This one is practical - get ahead on blogging  by writing and scheduling posts ahead of time. I'm much better at that these these days. A year ago, I rarely scheduled posts ahead, waiting until the last minute. When I first started blogging, it took me months to figure out how to schedule a post. While I still procrastinate on many posts, I do it less often as life is just too busy these days. So this challenge is perfect while not too easy - getting 30 posts done will keep me busy but the end result will be well worth it. At the moment I have 8 posts scheduled and about 5 in drafts (not including some that are permanently in drafts such as templates). :D

Bea Reviews Seeing the Light by E.C. Bell

Publisher: Tyche Books
Series: Marie Jenner #1
Format Read: eGalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 29, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords*
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Marie Jenner has never had much luck. Her job sucks. Her apartment — the one with the unbreakable lease — has a ghost. And worst of all, her mother won’t let up about her joining the “family business.” Since that business is moving the spirits of the dead on to the next plane of existence and doesn’t pay at all, Marie’s not interested. She wants a normal job — a normal life. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

Apparently, it is. Even when she applies for the job of her dreams, Marie doesn’t get what she wants. Well, not entirely. She does get the job — but she also gets another ghost. Farley Hewitt, the newly dead caretaker of the building, wants her to prove his death is not an accident, and she’s pretty sure he’s going to haunt her until she does.

All she wants is normal. She isn’t going to get it.