UPDATE: The winner is…Delaine!
*~*~*

Today’s forecast was for thundershowers. The weather guy wasn’t wrong. We already had a two-hour power outage this morning due to lightning/rain/hail. No hail in our yard, so we lucked out. I’m still waiting for April to warm up. Most years, I take my first dip in the pool in mid to late April, but we haven’t had enough warm, clear weather for us to even clean the pool properly!

We’ll get there. In the meantime, I’ve been tackling indoor projects, along with editing projects and trying to get some words written on my own story. It’s been tough. I don’t have a lot of git-up-n-go lately. Today, I’ll try to fool my body into believing better days are here by showering (always important) and then getting into a pair of shorts. Maybe I’ll do some light makeup, too. Then I’ll smile at myself in the mirror and repeat some inane aspirational saying, or… Maybe I’ll get out the sage and burn it while I imagine all the dark, lazifying (it’s a word—I just made it up) thoughts fleeing to the corners. Yeah. I like that last idea.

In the meantime, here’s something fun for you to do!

Solve the puzzle then let me know how your April is going for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Here’s a reminder! If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can download my latest bounty hunter story, Eli, for FREE. It leaves KU on April 24th, so don’t delay!

Eli

MONTANA BOUNTY HUNTERS: DEAD HORSE, MT
Authentic Men… Real Adventures…

An ex-SEAL sniper, who has spent his life experiencing everything from a distance, finds his self-imposed solitude challenged by the one woman in the world who might have been made just for him.

Eli Pope left the SEALs when he feared that he was losing his humanity. Now, he’s the latest new hire at the Dead Horse branch of the Montana Bounty Hunters. However, working with the tight-knit hunters hasn’t broken through his reserve. He’s still the man on the outside looking in.

Then a chance meeting with Sheriff’s Deputy Kira Ennis sets him on a new path, leaving him hopeful for a brighter future. She’s unlike any woman he’s ever met—independent, smart, brave, and strong in her own right. He begins to believe that she’s the one person in the world meant to end his loneliness, but he hesitates, wondering if it’s right to pursue her when she’s so much younger than he is.

Get your FREE copy here!

UPDATE: The winners are…Athena and Miki!
*~*~*

Before there were bounty hunters, there were SEALs. And I loved writing my Uncharted SEALs series. All those rugged, alpha heroes and strong heroines. Humor. Action. Spicy sex. All the ingredients that make stories fun for me to write, and hopefully, fun for you to read.

With Uncharted SEALs, I experimented a bit. For the first time, I did sequels with the same characters—for the simple reason I couldn’t say goodbye to them. I wanted to see inside their Happy-Ever-Afters. Through Her Eyes and Between a SEAL and a Hard Place share the same main characters, as do Dream of Me and Heart of a SEAL. Big Sky SEAL gave birth to my Montana Bounty Hunters, introducing Jamie and Reaper, who as a result of their work in Big Sky earned their own satellite office of MBH. A fun theme I used in two of the stories was a cruise ship. Both Before We Kiss and Hard SEAL to Love are set on the same ship and have the same supporting characters. Plus, Hard SEAL to Love features a disabled female vet!

This time, I’d like you to read the EXPLOSIVE opening scene of Heart of a SEAL. This story is shorter than most of the Uncharted stories, but I figured it was more of a revisiting with the characters, so readers might enjoy a slice of what happens in the happy-ever-after for Sam and Ash.

Enjoy!

   

   

  

Click on the covers to learn more!

Contest

Win your choice of one of my Uncharted SEALs stories! There will be 2 winners! All you have to do to enter is answer me this…

Do you like the idea of romances featuring married couples?

Heart of a SEAL

Aislinn Blalock is the lone survivor of the extraction team sent to rescue hostages in Cambodia from the vicious criminal gang holding them for ransom. After her helicopter crashes, she has to stay one step ahead of them to stay alive long enough for a rescue team to get to her.

Ash’s husband Sam watches the mission go sideways on a computer monitor, sidelined by management because one of the team happens to be his wife—but now, there’s no way in hell he’s sitting this one out. He’s getting to Ash before the armed gang can cause her any harm. He’ll risk everything to save the woman who holds his heart.

Excerpt from Heart of a SEAL…

What a difference six months made. Aislin Blalock lay in tall grass beside a withered rice paddy, staring up at a clear, starlit sky. A billion pinpricks of light scattered across a dark canvas. No moon, thank God. Beautiful, really. But the distant stars only deepened her sense of unreality. In the distance, she heard metallic creaks and groans, as well as the crackle of fire. She had yet to move, afraid adrenaline was giving her brain the wrong signals, masking the fact she’d been hurt. She had, after all, just fallen from the sky.

Six months ago, she would never have imagined she’d be here in Cambodia in December, participating in a mission to rescue wealthy tourists who’d been kidnapped for the fat ransom their families would pay. She’d been a cop, still suffering the loss of her boyfriend and partner during a robbery. Just met the man who would drag her out of hell and show her love was still possible. That guilt didn’t have to consume her. That she had the right—and the duty—to survive and find happiness. No longer did she drink herself into oblivion for the chance to dream of Marc and pretend he wasn’t gone. Now, she had Sam.

Sam…

Ash drew a deeper, sharper breath.  He hadn’t been happy about her being pulled from her training with Charter to be part of this team, but the company had wanted a woman along, and she was one of the first female operatives they’d hired. He’d been supportive of her decision to apply for a position with his company as a field operative. Naively, she’d believed that being part of Charter, rather than remaining with the New Orleans Police Department, would mean they’d see each other more often. And she’d needed a change. A new job. New home. Without constant reminders of what she’d lost or the time she’d nearly lost herself grieving after Marc’s death. When Charter had tapped her for this mission, she hadn’t hesitated.

Two of the hostages were nuns—not wealthy tourists like the rest. And Charter had decided she’d make the women more comfortable during the rescue and transit. But her team never made it to the drop zone, a click from the kidnapper’s jungle encampment. Although they’d flown well below radar, someone had alerted the well-organized, well-funded group holding the hostages.

Her helicopter had been in the lead. She’d already shuffled toward the open door, ready to drop down a rope when they’d been hit. She’d had a split second to react. Thought she’d heard a voice in her ear, telling her to jump. Marc’s voice, but that had to have been a dream. Her subconscious prodding her to take that leap of faith.

Her landing had been cushioned by deep, soft vegetation. She’d landed on her feet. Sort of. Her bottom making contact a split-second later. Even if she’d suffered a break or a spinal cord injury she couldn’t yet feel, she was far better off than the men who’d been aboard her helicopter. She’d had time to jump from the left door when the right side of the helo sustained a direct hit from an RPG. The rest of her team, whom she’d met only two weeks before, hadn’t been so lucky.

She drew deep, ragged breaths. Lungs expanded. No hitch, so her ribs were likely fine. Inside her combat boots, she wiggled her toes and felt them scrape hard leather. Time to move. But she was still afraid. After a few wasted moments, at last, she rolled to her right and came up on her knees. Everything appeared to be working, but maybe she’d sustained internal injuries. Gingerly, she dropped her pack and unlatched the cover, feeling inside for her headset. Her hands closed around thin bands. She donned her headset then the night vision goggles, set her mike beside her mouth, and tapped ON, using the team’s call sign to identify herself. All actions were performed by rote, because if she’d had to think, she would have frozen. “Do you read me?”

“Jesus, fuck!”

She almost smiled at hearing Sam’s break with protocol. But his curses, so harsh in her ear, relaxed her. For the moment, she felt his reassuring presence.

“We see one heat signature a distance from the helo. That you, babe?”

“Yes. I don’t think anyone else made it out.”

“The second helo just crossed back into Viet Nam.”

Which meant she was alone. If anything had gone awry with the mission, the pilots had been ordered to return to Charter’s base camp. She swallowed hard to still the panic rising in her throat.

“Are you hurt?”

She heard the soft note of hesitation in his voice. Knew he was bracing for the worst. Not sure, yet. “No,” she said, more firmly than she felt.

“Fuck. More heat signatures. Nine of them. Coming from the West.”

Her stomach clamped. Men from the kidnapper’s encampment. “Roger,” she said, her voice clipped. She knew what she had to do. Run.

“Head northeast. You’ll be in deep jungle. It’ll give you cover.”

She checked the illuminated dial of her wrist compass, took her direction, and pushed up into a crouch. As quickly and as quietly as she could, she streaked toward the tree line.

About fourteen years ago, I met Alexandra Riley, a woman who realized her entire life and identity was a lie. She discovers she’s not human but a half-breed werewolf, her father is a full-blooded werewolf, and she’s become a prize, sought after by male werewolves who want to mate her. Alexandra’s Legacy was the first werewolf book I ever wrote, and it began my love affair with these fascinating creatures.

Why do I love werewolves? They straddle a line between the human and wolf sides of their nature. They live by a different set of rules, are guided by primal instincts. They’re rough and tough and protective as hell toward those they consider theirs. It opens up so many possibilities for me as a writer. I’ve created several worlds for my werewolves, each different in terms of the lore surrounding them, but underlying all the books is the wildness of the wolf. No matter how many stories I write, they continue to surprise and delight me.

I went on to write 7 books in the Legacy series—Alexandra’s Legacy, Isaiah’s Haven, Legacy Found, Quinn’s Quest, Finding Chrissten, Damek’s Redemption, and Craig’s Heart. While it’s primarily a werewolf series, the final two books feature vampires.

From there, I continued to write paranormal series—Hades’ Carnival, Salvation Pack, Blood of the Drakon, Forgotten Brotherhood, Salvation Pack: The Next Generation, and more. I love my werewolves but have branched out and written about many other kinds of shifters.

When the original publisher of the Legacy series closed its doors, I was lucky enough to have another publisher republish the series. This gave this series—and others—a second chance. And now the publisher has issued new covers.

I’ve been blessed with amazing covers for my entire career, and this time is no exception. I love the vibrancy of these new ones and hope you do too.

And if you’ve never given the Legacy series a look, I hope these new covers will make pique your interest.

Alexandra’s Legacy
Legacy, Book 1

The truth could get her killed.

Alexandra Riley’s predictable world is turned upside down when she discovers she’s the half-breed daughter of a legendary alpha werewolf—a sought-after prize to some, an abomination to others. The tall, dark stranger who bursts into her father’s garage shatters any illusion that she can continue with her normal life.

From the second Joshua Striker, enforcer for the Wolf Creek pack, sees Alex, she becomes a distraction he can’t afford. He’s come to the city to bring Alex to the safety of the pack. That’s it. But who is going to keep her safe from him? Because the wolf inside him is demanding he claim her—now.

From city streets to the mountains of North Carolina, the pair must evade bounty hunters out to kill any werewolf they can, wolves who want to claim Alex, and purists bent on eradicating half breeds. And with all this going on, Alex still has learn what it means to be a wolf and deal with the overbearing male determined to keep her safe.

Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073TSVJ61/
Entangled Publishing: https://entangledpublishing.com/books/alexandras-legacy
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/alexandras-legacy-n-j-walters/1101126416
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/alexandras-legacy/id1257658160
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/alexandra-s-legacy-2

And if you’d like to check out the entire series, click here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075V11M7Q/

About the Author

N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, assassins, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit her at:
Website: https://www.njwalters.com
Blog: https://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
Newsletter Sign Up: https://eepurl.com/gdblg5
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/njwaltersauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/NJWalters
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-j-walters

Okay, so no one’s sick, but the 13-year-old is going in for another surgery tomorrow. We made a hotel reservation for her and mom in the big city so they won’t have to drive through hail and tornadoes in the early hours tomorrow. So, that’s one thing less to worry about. I’ll be taking care of (ordering around!) the other kids while she’s gone, so my afternoon and evening will be blown. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

And since I’m scurrying through today’s To Do list because it just got longer, here’s a puzzle! Have fun with it! Yes, it’s topical! Tornadic, even. And if you saw the red truck in the tornado on social media, you will understand why this grabbed my attention—and why we popped for a room for my dd! And be sure to enter the contests that are still open! The list is below!

Open Contests

1. Tell me a story… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Flashback: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology (Contest–3 Winners!) — Win a FREE book! 3  winners!
3. Fill in the blank! (Puzzle-Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Diana Cosby: Exciting UPDATE about Diana Cosby’s – Romance Reader’s Help Build A Habitat For Humanity House!!! (Contest) — Win a SIGNED book!
5. A little bit of this, a little bit of that… (Contest) — Win a FREE book!

UPDATE: The winner is…Stacey Kinzebach!
*~*~*

I’m late posting. It happens. I’m part of a large family sharing a single house. Thank goodness it’s large enough we all have our own space! However, we pitch in to keep everything going—from housework to yardwork to…appointments.

That last was what had me late today. My SIL is a cop, and he’s working nights this month, so we have to keep our eight dogs quiet until early afternoon. My dd took the 13-year-old for a COVID test before her Wednesday surgery, which was over an hour away, so after I helped get the other kids off to school, I sat upstairs with the dogs all around me to keep them from barking. Why so many dogs? My mom and dad had four when they both passed and my dd had five, so when we combined houses to live together, well… One dog has since passed, and because we believe in forever homes, it will be FOREVER before we have a reasonable number of dogs. I didn’t even mention our four (it was five until a couple of months ago!) cats because they are ghosts and no problem at all. The horse and the three goats live in the pasture, so no problem there either. 🙂

Anyways, we’re getting ready for days of storms. It’s raining now. We expect thunderstorms. On Wednesday, we could very well see large hail and tornadoes added to the mix. The power flipped off last night for about an hour. That was just a precursor. So, we’re making sure we have the right provisions on hand in case we lose power for longer than that.

I’m charging up my laptop and making sure the files are all updated with the latest versions—in case I have to switch to it to keep working. We have a generator to keep our fridge going. When we need it, we unplug that, make coffee, and charge our devices. We live in the country, so we know how to do this.

So, it’s only Monday. What’s your week look like? For a chance to win a FREE download from my backlist of books, let me know!

UPDATE: The winner is…bn100!
*~*~*
©Diana Cosby 2022

My sincere thanks to Delilah for allowing me to return to her wonderful blog and share an exciting update of Diana Cosby’s Romance Readers Help Build A Habitat For Humanity Home.

A bit of background.  Romance readers are AMAZING, and SO is Habitat For Humanity, a charity that I love supporting and volunteering for.  Several years ago, I thought, why not pair the two and help a deserving family receive a home?  And, the Diana Cosby’s Romance Reader’s Help Build A Habitat For Humanity House fundraiser was born.

I contacted the Habitat For Humanity office in Grayson County, Texas, where I’ve had the honor of helping with several builds and spoke with Laurie Mealy, Executive Director.  She embraced the project and was thrilled at the thought of pairing romance readers, who love stories where heroes and heroines overcome challenges to make their dreams come true, with making the dream of home ownership for a deserving family a reality.

Goal:  Raise $55,000 for Grayson County, Texas, Habitat For Humanity to help build a Habitat For Humanity Home.

I kicked off the challenge by donating $200.  As I write this, we’ve raised $27,542, and we’re now OVER ½ WAY TO OUR GOAL to raise $55,000!!!  Romance readers are amazing, and I have complete faith that like stories they love, they will continue to join together to raise the remainder of the amount necessary to help give a deserving family a home.

How it works…

As readers send donations to Habitat for Humanity of Grayson County for the ‘Diana Cosby’s Readers Build A Habitat For Humanity House of Love,’ the total contributions are updated below the house graphic on the upper right side of their homepage near the top.  Donations can be sent via PayPal by ‘clicking’ on the house, which takes you to the donation page, or by mailing a check or money order to:

Habitat for Humanity of Grayson County
901 N. Grand Avenue
P.O. Box 2725
Sherman, TX 75091

*Please note on your donation: ‘For Diana Cosby’s Romance Readers Build A Habitat For Humanity House.’

Again, my sincere thanks to Delilah for allowing me to return to her blog, and another HUGE thanks to everyone for helping make an incredible difference in a deserving family’s life.  For when they walk into a Habitat For Humanity house, it’s more thank mortar and wood, but a place they can call home.

*Photos used with permission of Habitat For Humanity Grayson County, TX.

Contest

***ONE winner will be drawn from everyone who posts on my “Exciting UPDATE about Diana Cosby’s – Romance Reader’s Help Build A Habitat For Humanity House” blog on Delilah Devlin’s blogsite between 10 April 2022 – 17 April 2022.  The winner will receive a signed copy of His Destiny.

About Diana Cosby

A retired Navy Chief, Diana Cosby is an international bestselling author of Scottish medieval romantic suspense. Books in her award-winning MacGruder Brothers series have been translated into five languages. Diana has spoken at the Library of Congress, Lady Jane’s Salon in NYC, and appeared in Woman’s Day, on USA Today’s romance blog, “Happy Ever After,” MSN.com, Atlantic County Women Magazine, and Texoma Living Magazine.

After her career in the Navy, Diana dove into her passion – writing romance novels. With 34 moves behind her, she was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people she’s met throughout the world. After the release of the bestselling MacGruder Brothers series and The Oath Trilogy, she released the bestselling The Forbidden Series.

Diana looks forward to the years of writing ahead and meeting the amazing people who will share this journey.

God bless,

Diana Cosby, International Best-Selling Author
www.dianacosby.com
The Oath Trilogy
MacGruder Brother Series
The Forbidden Series

Social Media
Website:  https://www.dianacosby.com/
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/978803.Diana_Cosby
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Diana-Cosby/e/B003YJ1MR4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1417447922&sr=8-1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Diana-Cosby-Romance-Author-150109024636/?ref=ts