If you’ve visited the Collections site before, you’ll notice things have changed. We revamped, but it’s still the place to go when I have a new collection to tell you about. Over the next few weeks the authors involved will be there chatting; there will be frequent contests and announcements of fun things coming, so be sure to drop by there often! For now, let’s talk about the new book…

Rogues: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology is the first in a series of bad boy collections. It’s a single volume anthology of short stories written by some terrific authors—some you know, some you’ll be meeting for the first time!

I love this cover—so intense! I love this book! It’s 62,000-words of yummy bad boys—pirates, thieves, highwaymen, tomb raiders, to name a few! The stories are set in modern and historical times. It’s available now for the astonishing price of $0.99! And if you’re a Kindle Unlimited customer, you’re going to get it for free. For those who love the printed page, we’ve got that too!

I was the first to read the stories, because I was the one who chose the stories. So, I know the delicious surprises awaiting your pleasure! Here’s another tease…

Rogues

Get your copy!

Rogues! Even the word conjures a special sort of hero–a playful bad boy with a heart of gold–at least when it comes to his lady love. This volume is filled with the Jack Sparrows of old–pirates sailing the high seas, Regency-era highway men, modern-day jewel thieves, like Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief–men doing bad things, bending or breaking the law, but in a very sexy way. With fourteen stories sure to satisfy the reader who craves that ultimate bad boy, prepare to have your heart stolen!

Swindled by Megan Mitcham — A newbie detective baits an international thief with her best assets and discovers she’s not the only one with tempting snares

Opals by Axa Lee — The queen of whores dares the king of thieves to make an impossible climb to win a treasure of opals

Her Heart’s Tomb by Jennifer Kacey — When a tomb raider finds herself trapped with the enemy, she unearths her most precious discovery in the only man she’s ever loved

The Highwayman’s Treasure by Emma Jay — A dashing rake with a secret life attempts to rescue a widow at the mercy of her husband’s family

Plunder by Delilah Night — Sparks fly when the Caribbean’s most fearsome pirate falls under the spell of a sexy spitfire who’d rather send him to Davy Jones’s locker

The Heat by Mia Hopkins — During a winter storm, a mysterious Irish bootlegger finds refuge in the house and bed of a widowed suffragette

The Highwayman Came Riding by Erzabet Bishop — Desire and a slip through time awaken passions between a highwayman and a sleepy romance reader

Queen High by Cela Winter — On board a Mississippi riverboat, a gentleman-turned-cardsharp and a strong-minded widow set the stakes high in a game where winner takes all

Rogue Hearts by Delilah Devlin — When a lonely shut-in’s online query is answered for a sexy rendezvous, she’s stunned when her handsome”escort” proves more adept than she’d dreamed

Lady of the House by T.G. Haynes — A cat burgling couple are taught a memorable lesson when confronted by the lady of the house which they have broken into

Billionaire and the Jewel Thief by Elle James — Temperatures rise in a penthouse suite when a jewel thief is caught testing a billionaire’s ultra-tight security system

An Eye for Love by Cynthia Young — A lady’s desires reawaken when she hires a private investigator to recover a treasured miniature art piece stolen from her collection

Roguishly Handsome, and Other Superhero Problems by Tray Ellis — Dashing out to rescue people and maintaining a stable career are incompatible choices for a reluctant superhero—even worse, she’s falling for a roguish villain

Glass Slippers, Hardly Worn by Bibi Rizer — An orphaned servant’s plans to attend the prince’s ball in a magical disguise are thwarted when she is spirited away by a masked highwayman

Contest

Details are on the Collections site! Today’s prize is an Amazon gift card!
Come help us celebrate!

Psst! Real quick. I woke up to see this! Whee!

Anyway, on last Thursday, our house switched our satellite TV companies from Direct TV to Dish. I had very few days’ warning. (We’d wanted to go back to Dish for a while, and when the genie box in the living room went south, we decided not to spend money on getting a Direct repairmen out to fix the problem; we ordered Dish!)

Well, I tend to store of up a seasons’ worth of some of my favorite shows so that I can binge-watch them between books. I had Blacklist, Bones, Grimm, Once Upon a Time, and Supernatural saved. As soon as the Dish move date was made, I began watching my shows, in priority of what I’d regret most not seeing. I made it through Supernatural (God, I love Rowena!), Grimm (Poor Adelind!–can’t believe I’m saying that!), Blacklist (Liz can’t be dead!), but only watched the most recent episode of Bones (what’s bug-guy doing in a wheelchair?!). And that was it. Everything else I’d recorded was gone. 🙁

But the point is, it was kind of fun binge-watching my way through Sam, Dean’s, and Red’s trials and tribulations. For some of you, I imagine weekends are time for binge-reading your way through books. How may of you do that? Comment for a chance to win a free story! Your choice from among these two series…

Click on the memes below if you’d like to start your binge-reading now!

I’m writing this post on Mothers’ Day, so the topic and the feelings are at the front of my brain. And, before I start, let me say one thing – I don’t mean to trivialize being a mother or raising a child. At all. I’m not a mother, but I know a lot of them. I even have one. Raising a child is difficult, demanding, and terrifying. This post is meant to be fun, and nothing more.

Hello everyone, and thanks to Delilah for having me back.

I’m late getting this post done because I’ve been celebrating the birthday of my third book. You see the posts all the time during release week. “Happy book birthday!”  And in part, it is like my birthday because I’m getting all the presents and attention. But it’s also a birthday for the book. The time when it leaves my care and goes out into the world. So this post is about how books are like babies.

1. Good manuscripts take time. Not always nine months – sometimes less, most of the time more. During that period, they grow and shift. They keep me awake, rattling around in my head rather than my uterus.
2. I love to say that writing keeps me from snacking because my hands are busy. In part, that’s true. However, I still snack. This latest release will always be “the book where I gave up Diet Coke and craved kettle corn.” My new manuscript is “the cherry Pop-Tart one.” Seriously, the other night I had cherry Pop-Tarts and blush wine for dinner.
3. It’s harder than it looks. Enough said, I think.
4. Readers and friends ask me all the time which book is my favorite. I don’t have one. It’s impossible. They’re all different. Some get on my nerves, some make me laugh, some make me cry – some do it simultaneously.
5. They look like me – sort of. There are pieces of me in each book. A heroine’s nervous nature, a hero’s love of chocolate.
6. Showing them off. After I finish a manuscript, I hand it to my critique partners, my beta readers, and eventually an editor. I dress it as prettily as I can, and wait for feedback – which isn’t always positive, honestly.  At times it’s like hearing, “Is his nose going to straighten out? What’s that rash on her face? Is that a stain on his shirt?”
7. Letting them go. I’ve watched my friends and family agonize over leaving their children – at daycare, with a sitter, at school for the first day. At some point, the child is no longer solely theirs, and they worry. What if someone is mean to them and I’m not around to defend my baby? What if they get hurt and I’m not there? What if they don’t behave the way I’d hoped? As an author, there’s a point where I leave the book for the reader and I walk away, hoping that people actually like my “baby.”
8. They are yours forever. A book is never not I’ll worry about it, fuss over it, and brag about it for the rest of my life.
9. Doing it again. We’ve all heard new mothers say. “Nope. She’ll be an only child.” (See #3.) And then something makes them want to do it again. I’m the same way after each book. I wonder if I can do it again, if anyone will want me to. And, in the end, I can’t help it. Something pulls me back.
10. My mother has kept every school project my brothers and I did, including the book I made in second grade where I misspelled “pepole” and my ribbon for finishing a race in 17^th place (out of 18). I will always, always be proud of my books.

In continuing the post-Mothers’ Day theme, I’m going to wave wildly at my mother, who reads my books but worries about the language in them. And I’m going to share my latest release, which contains Wallis Quinn – the candidate for worst mother of the year.

***Give Away***

If you’ll share a story about your mom or your children, I’ll pick one contributor to receive a copy of Hard Silence. The giveaway will close at midnight tomorrow, and I’ll post the winner in the comment thread the next day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mia

***Excerpt***

They dug in, and Jeff rolled his eyes as he swallowed. “Jesus, that’s good. I’m glad you could get us in.”

“This is the only pull I have, other than getting a discount at the farm supply.”

He choked on his tea, and then settled in for another bite. “How long have you lived here?”

“Twenty-three years.”

“You moved here?”

“Yes,” she said around a mouthful of tomato and feta, “from Tacoma.”

She heard the words leave her mouth, felt the air chill her skin. It’s okay. Nobody died in Washington. It’s not a secret. It’s on my records at school.

School. Buck had taken her into town and registered her for junior high. Wallis had slammed dishes and drawers for days afterward.

“So you grew up in Washington?” Jeff asked.

This was normal date chatter. She knew he’d grown up in Tennessee. He’d told her. He just wanted—

He can’t know.

She shook her head. “We. Bounced. Around. A lot.”

“After your father died?”

How did he know her father had died? She hadn’t said anything. She didn’t tell. She didn’t—

He put his hand over hers. “Sorry, professional hazard. You were so kind about my dad, I sort of guessed. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

See. There. Not my fault. He guessed. And he still didn’t know particulars.

“When did he die?”

“I was four.”

“Damn. How?”

I don’t know. I didn’t see it. All I know was the floor was all red like when I’d spilled Kool-Aid, and I was worried Mama would think I’d made a mess, but Papa was there. He was so still, and Mama was so mad. Her voice made me cry.

“Abby?”

She looked away from him, trying to catch her thoughts and to stop the words. And there, in the corner, with her back to them. There was a lady with chestnut-brown hair, just like hers, cut into the severe style Wallis had always liked. An expensive bag sat at her feet, which were clad in designer shoes, and she reached a manicured hand for her napkin. Diamonds glittered under the lights.

Only the best, Abby. I deserve the best, and I’m going to have it. No one’s going to stop me.

Oh God, oh God, oh God. She should’ve known better than to try this. Wallis always knew. She blinked across the table. She’d told Jeff a secret. She was here with him, holding his hand, enjoying dinner with her friends. They were all in danger, because she’d been happy.

I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

“Darlin’, what’s wrong?”

She stumbled to her feet. “I have to wash my hands.”

“Ooh-kay.” He smiled up at her. “I’ll be right here. Hurry back before I eat all the mozzarella.”

I’m so sorry.

Buy links: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Google Books

About the Author

Mia Kay spent years writing legal documents and keeping people out of trouble. Now she spends her days looking for ways to get her characters into trouble. She lives in Arkansas with her husband, who doesn’t mind discussing (and sometimes causing) mayhem over breakfast. She’s always worried her mother will stop by unannounced and find her in her pajamas until far too late on Saturday morning.

Find her at: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Newsletter

Destined or fated love is a popular theme in modern day romance. Almost every girl in America grew up hearing there is one someone-special special for everyone. Fairy tales speak of it. Songs are written about it.

But is it a “real” thing?

Destiny is defined as “the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events.”

Some people don’t like the idea that their life is pre-written. That someone is steering them to once specific path. That they don’t have a say in the outcome of their life.

But others, I think, like to believe that the person they fell in love with is so meaningful to their life that even the stars agree with and support their relationship. That no matter what else is going on in the world, their choice of partner is right. I suppose it’s a form of validation for their feelings.

Personally, I believe there are people in our lives that were destined to be there. Some were meant to guide us, some to help us grow, and still others to love and maybe even leave us. But I also believe that we have choices in our destiny. That our life is more like an Encyclopedia Brown book where the story varies based on the decisions we make along the way.

Have YOU experienced what you believe to be fated love? Tell me about it in the comments.

Even if you haven’t experienced fated love, I’d like to hear your thoughts. Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered in a drawing for a ribbon bookmark (picture at the end) and author swag.

Be sure to check out the Star Crossed box set. Eight USA Today and NY Times and Bestselling authors have put together a set of contemporary romance – just the way you love it! This collection is made up of spicy and extra spicy tales of fated love. Get swept away by stories of ordinary people getting extraordinary second chances, risking their hearts and finding true love. You’ll laugh, cry and lose your heart.  For a limited time it’s only $0.99!

You can find the Star Crossed box at:
Amazon  /  Kobo  /  iBooks  /  B&N
Amazon UK  /  Amazon CA  /  Amazon AU

Dena Garson ~ Snow Effect
When Randy walked away from Nicki eight years earlier, he shattered her heart. Now that fate -or maybe just a couple of scheming grandparents- has brought them together again he’ll have to convince her that he deserves a second chance.

Katalina Leon ~ Dark Sky
Dark hearts. Dark Sky. Since childhood, Severin and Avery’s love was meant to be. For eight years, tragedy has torn them apart but fate offers them a second chance.

Sabrina York ~ Smoking Holt
Bella’s secretly wanted Holt for years, and now…here’s her chance. Will his fiery dominance burn this willful heroine to a crisp?

Ann Mayburnn ~ Sodom and the Phoenix
Will shy Tanwen find the courage to embrace all the forbidden pleasures that Master Adam has to offer, or will she continue to be a ‘good girl’ and deny herself the satisfaction and love she truly desires.

Michelle Fox ~ Operation Burlesque
The last thing a burlesque dancer should do is fall in love with a sexy special ops agent, especially when that puts her on the radar of the terrorist network he’s taking down.

Rebecca Royce ~ Under The Lights
Despite the odds, their passion burns as the show must go on. Can these two see there is love to be had both under and away from the lights?

TL Reeve ~ Releasing Hannah
For Hannah, coming home is the easy part. Finding herself, while searching for the right Dom to release her inhibitions will push her heart to its limits.

Virginia Cavanaugh ~ Lovers By Night
Paige Sutton wants to play doctor with handsome Brandon Kline, a hot doctor that is sure to give any woman palpitations. This sizzling medical romance is just what the doctor ordered.

Just want a taste? Download the free teaser set: Amazon  /  ARe  /  B&N  /  Kobo

About Dena Garson

Dena Garson is an award winning author of contemporary, paranormal and fantasy romance. Her sixth book, Mystic’s Touch, won the 2015 Passionate Plume for Futuristic/Fantasy/Sci-Fi as well as the 2015 Reader’s Choice Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy/Time Travel. Ghostly Persuasion was a finalist in the 2014 Passionate Ink contest and the 2014 Reader’s Choice Award.

When she isn’t writing you can find her at her jewelry workbench playing with beads. She is also a devoted Whovian and Dallas Cowboys fan.

Social Media Links:
Website – https://www.denagarson.com/
Blog – https://denagarson.net/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/dena.garson.7
FB Author page – https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDenaGarson
Twitter – https://twitter.com/DenaGarson
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/dgarson
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/DenaGarson
Google+ – https://plus.google.com/+DenaGarson/
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/denagarson7

Here’s a picture of the ribbon book I’m giving away featuring Snow Effect – my book featured in the Star Crossed box set.

UPDATE: The winner is Colleen C!

* * * * *

I’ll admit it. I love watching TV more than I love reading books. For me, story is story—whether it’s told between pages or shown on a screen. I’m a very visual person. I daydream in brilliant Technicolor with a movie reel playing in my head that I can rewind if I’m dissatisfied with where my imagination took me. I can control those stories, to some extent, which can be dissatisfying in its own way. I give up control when I watch TV. And I get invested in my shows. I know these characters like I know friends.

There are two shows that worry me now. One, I’m afraid will be cancelled. And that won’t do. No, not at all. The other is a love I’ve invested in for years.

~*~*~*~*~

Sleepy Hollow

I’m very worried about Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod has lost his partner, Abby. A new witness must arise to help him do battle against the supernatural baddies in the world. Three seasons ago, he awoke from a mystical slumber after centuries at rest into a very different world. Abby was his anchor, his teacher of all things modern. How the hell is he going to support himself now? He doesn’t have a real job! I’m haunting Tom Mison sightings for hints of whether Sleepy Hollow will die a sudden TV death.

~*~*~*~*~

Supernatural

I’m currently binge-watching last season’s Supernatural. Man, those Winchester boys can get themselves into pickles! Right now, Crowley’s hiding The Darkness (Imara), and the boys are trying to figure out how to defeat her, because she’s basically a goddess—the sister of God—and she’s going to destroy the world. I can easily slip into that world and get lost there for hours and hours…

And dare I admit it, as much as I love the Winchester boys, I adore Crowley, the King of Hell. He’s such a conflicted character. He’s evil, evil, evil, but he has these glimmers of humanity. And he’s smart. He knows the world needs good and bad or it would be very, very boring. And, I think, he genuinely loves Dean. Not a man-love thing, but he wishes they could be friends. I feel bad for him. He has a horrible mother (Rowena the witch is really a glorious character!), stupid minions. Who else can he cozy up to for company? Now, when Supernatural ends, I’ll go into deep, deep mourning.

~*~*~*~*~

So, my question to you is: What are your Top Two TV Worries?

P.S. A comment here, will count as another entry in yesterday’s contest!

UPDATE: The winner is…Sandra Rodriquez!

* * * * *

Representation matters.  Seeing yourself and identifying with characters in media of all flavors is important. This is a really important topic and I could probably write volumes on how representation has intersected with my life and those of my loved ones, and academics break it down on a larger scale. But today I’m going to focus on one small aspect of how my life and quest for representation has played out in my writing—interracial couples.

I’m a white woman married to an Indian-American man. As someone in an interracial marriage, I want to see couples like mine hooking up in romances. As a writer, I can make that happen. Capturing the Moment is my sixth story with an interracial couple, five of which feature a character who is Indian-American.

As a white woman, my representations of non-white characters are always going to be flawed. Despite being part of my husband’s family for a decade, a mother to two multiracial children, and a friend of persons of color, I have no live experience to inform my writing. I need to be very careful in my choices when writing non-white characters.

When writing Arjun, my male lead in Capturing the Moment, I made a deliberate choice to make him Indian-American. The experience of being Indian-American is very different than that of a person growing up in India (which is not to imply that there is a monolithic experience of growing up in India). Friends and family members have a wide variety of experience as to whether or not they speak any of the twenty-three official languages of India, eat Indian food, watch Bollywood films, like Indian clothes, and so forth. Arjun has an Indian first name and an Americanized nickname. He speak Punjabi. He has strong ties to his family, which is very important culturally. That said, by virtue of growing up in the US he has the same cultural touchstones as Meg, myself, my husband and friends, and so forth. In other words, I had more wiggle room to create an authentic character.

My beta reading team also includes several Indian Americans, and my primary beta reader is my husband. Whether on this story or others, they have helped me improve with each piece. A beta sent me an article (https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/95955707903/skin-writing-with-color-has-received-several)  discussing why using food words like “chocolate-colored eyes” can be seen as offensive, and I have tried to ensure that I no longer do that (or fix it in edits). I once had a character speak in Hindi, and it was just awkward. In retrospect, a friend was right, and I was doing it to make them seem more “Indian.” They aren’t afraid to call me out and educate me, and I don’t give them white tears over it, although I have to sometimes make difficult choices because they have different opinions (for example, my husband has no issue with the food allegories, but I still chose to omit them). I even asked a friend to look over this blog post!

I was more nervous about writing Darany, the Cambodian tuk tuk driver, than I was about writing RJ. I erred on the side of Darany having stronger English skills than my drivers in Cambodia. Using dialects can reinforce racial stereotypes, even if that isn’t the intent of the author. I kept him in the background, in part, because he isn’t central to the story—I wasn’t writing a triad, and, in part, because one long weekend in Cambodia means I have no understanding of his culture beyond what my conversations with my drivers taught me. Not including him would be inauthentic as well—writing a story in a setting without including anyone from that culture, as well as ignoring that tuk tuks are the means of transportation for tourists.

That said, reading my stories isn’t a substitute for reading the work of actual authors of color.  If you want to read truly authentic Indian American characters, I highly recommend the Serving Pleasure series by Alisha Rai. (https://alisharai.net/) Other authors of color I recommend are Beverly Jenkins (https://beverlyjenkins.net/), K. A. Smith (https://authorka.wordpress.com/), Cathy Yardley (https://cathyyardley.com/about-2), Rebekah Weatherspoon (https://www.rebekahweatherspoon.com/blog/), Milly Taiden (https://millytaiden.com/), and K.M. Jackson (https://www.kmjackson.com/). You can also check out #weneeddiverseromance on Twitter (https://twitter.com/hashtag/weneeddiverseromance)

Exclusive Excerpt (set in Preah Khan, the temple pictured above)

It was a ten-minute walk down a jungle lane to the entrance of Preah Khan. The only sound was birdsong and the whisper of wind in the leaves overhead. If there hadn’t been scaffolding on the exterior walls, it would be easy to imagine they were the first to rediscover the temple.

“I feel like Indiana Jones,” RJ said.

“I know what you mean.” Meg smiled. “Although, I wouldn’t trust you with a whip. Instead of the Holy Grail, you’d discover the nearest emergency room.” She pulled a guidebook out of the backpack he was carrying and opened to the appropriate page. “Luckily, I have a map. It looks like a big complex. If we follow the central path from this entrance, it’s a straight shot through. We can explore a little on either side and not lose the path.”

RJ blocked her view of the guidebook with his hand. “Don’t be so practical. What does Impulsive Tattoo Meg think?”

“Impulsive Tattoo Meg doesn’t want to spend the day lost, either.” She put the book away.

“Killjoy.”

“Ground Rule Number Four, Arjun. My game plan is law,” she said smugly.

“Given that Rule Number One has been tossed out the window, doesn’t that make it Rule Number Three?” He gave her a light smack on the butt, then stepped out of her reach. Meg had been known to retaliate.

She shook her head in amusement and lifted her camera. She aimed at him instead of the temple and pressed the shutter release.

“What was that for?” he asked, surprised.

“I want to remember you like this, here,” she said, reviewing the picture.

“When do I get to take a picture of you?” Not that he hadn’t been sneaking pictures all morning.

“What’s stopping you?”

He ran a finger along the neckline of her T-shirt. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s not going to happen. No nude photos of me can be the new Rule Number One.”

You never forget your first love…

Meg and RJ were passionately in love. But that was six years and a broken engagement ago.

Meg has only one day in Siem Reap, Cambodia, before she must leave for her sister’s wedding in Bali. She fulfills her dream of taking a photograph of the sun rising behind Angkor Wat, one of the oldest temples in the world. But her joy is short-lived when she turns around to see RJ standing behind her.

RJ threw himself into work after Meg ended their relationship. He’s built a successful business, but it’s a hollow victory. He’s come to Siem Reap to win back the woman he’s never stopped loving. But first he has to convince her to spend the day with him.

Meg is as physically attracted to RJ as she ever was. Maybe the secret to finally getting over him is a one day only, no strings attached fling.

Can RJ win Meg back, or will she love him and leave him?

Capturing the Moment is now available everywhere!

• Amazon kindle https://www.amazon.com/Capturing-Moment-Sexy-Delilah-Night-ebook/dp/B01D1LT2VM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458900787&sr=8-1&keywords=9781786510204
• iBooks https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/capturing-the-moment/id1093426579?mt=11
• Google Books https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=eZC_CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT4&lpg=PT4&dq=capturing+the+moment+delilah+night&source=bl&ots=RXN8VpLCtY&sig=ShhNkhSpQsV2ohKfuae68ffkyn4&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=capturing%20the%20moment%20delilah%20night&f=false
• Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/capturing-the-moment
• Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/capturing-the-moment-delilah-night/1123563542?ean=9781786510204

• Totally Bound (https://www.totallybound.com/book/capturing-the-moment)

About the Author

After 30 years of snowy New England winters, Delilah Night moved to steamy southeast Asia. While she doesn’t miss shovelling snow, she does miss shopping for bargains at Target.

In 2014, Delilah visited Cambodia for the first time and fell in love with Siem Reap. Many of her misadventures from that vacation (including the one with the monkey) made their way into this story.

Connect with Delilah on her blog (delilahnight.com), Twitter (https://twitter.com/Delilah_Night), or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DelilahNight?ref=hl&ref_type=bookmark)

Contest

Contest—Win a free copy of Capturing the Moment!

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