The winner (chosen by random number generator) of the free download
of Laying Down the Law is Chris Bails! Chris, congrats! And send me an email
so I’ll know where to send your story! ~DD

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This week’s snippet theme is all about the heartbreak of breaking up. Zuri and Colt from Laying Down the Law had a parting that haunted them for years. In this scene, you’ll meet both stubborn souls still too proud to admit they’ve never been able to forget their youthful romance and move on. Enjoy!

“With amazing suspense, and hot, dominant lovin’ this cowboy and his high school sweetheart take the reader on an amazing emotional journey. Mixed with a bit of humor, sizzling bedroom scenes, and cowboys that steal your heart, Ms. Devlin has created a beyond 5 Book worthy start of an incredible new series.” ~ 5/5 Books, Reviews by Molly

Seeking sanctuary could be the hottest mistake she ever made.

The TripleHorn Brand, Book 1

A lifetime ago, Zuri Prescott kicked the dirt off her boots and ditched her small-time small town for the glam city life—and lived to regret it. When she’s framed for a bank job, she lights out for home, seeking refuge with her old high school sweetheart while she figures out her next steps. Only she discovers that the boy she left behind is the last man she should trust.

Sheriff Colt Triplehorn knows trouble when he sees it, especially when it comes in the form of a familiar trespasser, caught naked between an angry bull and her underwear. Sure she’s up to her usual no good, he grants her sanctuary at his ranch—the better to keep an eye on her, and purge her from his system once and for all.

Reconnection is sweet and hot, but the heat can’t hide the truth. When Colt inevitably finds out what Zuri’s running from, it’s too late to put the fire out, and he’s got a career-compromising choice on his hands. Follow the letter of the law, or follow his heart.

Product Warnings: When a sheriff captures the girl who got away, expect revenge so hot it leaves brands on two lonely hearts…

The Grand Adventure Continues for Sabrina York. Also, Win A Tiara.

Long ago, in a time shrouded in myth and mystery (circa April 4^th, 2012), a virgin author, a tender soul, ventured out into the cold, hard world, unsure of what she would find. Would there be slavering wolves with long glistening fangs? Hideous trolls? Wicked witches cackling with glee at every misstep?

Oh, sure. There were a couple of those.

But to our heroine’s delight, she met come champions along the way, valiant souls who became companions, and then friends.

And Delilah Devlin is one of those souls.

Okay. Yeah. I am waxing poetic. But I’m in a poetic mood, damn it all.

It’s been a year since the release of my first book (Adam’s Obsession). A year since I dipped my toe into the publishing pond. A year since I wrote my very first blog (for one Delilah Devlin, in fact).

As I reflect on all the other firsts of the past year—the glorious triumphs as well as the…ickier moments—I can’t help but smile. It has been a rollercoaster ride, for sure—but a grand adventure. Now I have nearly a dozen titles with many more in the wings and, I am delighted to report, fans all over the world.

Who knew?

I wanted to thank you, Delilah, for welcoming me into your welkin, for embracing my work and encouraging me giving me opportunities to succeed. You are a champion. An inspiration.

And because of your encouragement, and that of many others, I am about to embark on another adventure (one that has me nibbling my fingernails to the nub).

I am releasing my first self-pubbed book.

There were a lot of reasons for trying this—not the least of which is the ability to offer a book for free once in a while to THANK MY READERS for their loyalty. But to be perfectly honest, my secret motivation is to prove to myself that I can.

Yep. Yet another grand adventure for a girl who always dreamed of being a writer but was told she was far too dyslexic to try.

There are always people willing to tell you reasons you shouldn’t take a dare.

It’s a good thing I never listen.

(Pssst! I had to include this screen shot! ~DD)

Sabrina’s First Novel-Without-A-Net…

Rebound is Book One of the Tryst Island Series—following the romantic adventures of a group of friends sharing a vacation house on the fictional Trystacomseh Island in Washington State’s San Juan archipelago. The series was inspired by my visits to a family cabin on the coast. I’ll share a picture of the view, so you get an idea why I couldn’t stop myself from writing these stories.

Sigh. I know. Right?

Here’s a taste of Rebound. It’s scheduled to come out April 4^th on Amazon. I hope you check it out.

Rebound by Sabrina York

A Tryst Island Erotic Romance

Kristi Cross has had the hots for her friend, Cameron Jackson as long as she could remember, but she knows she’s not his type. She’s nothing like the women he dates. So when he suggests they play for a kiss over a game of Hearts, Kristi can’t resist. Even if she loses, she wins. Because she’s finally going to taste him.

Of course, one kiss can quickly become something altogether steamier, especially when both parties are on the rebound…

An Excerpt of Rebound

Cam nodded and dealt the cards. They were halfway through the first hand when he broke the silence.

“Do you remember the first time we played?”

“You had to teach me.”

“Took me all night.”

“That was hardly my fault.” She rearranged her cards. “You kept pouring me shots.”

“You’re the one who kept drinking them.” Read the rest of this entry »

Writing a Series

A friend recently suggested I read FOREIGNER by C.J. Cherryh, a popular sci/fi writer. It’s the first book in a series and has a fascinating premise. A spaceship from Earth has gone off course into an alien universe. A colony is sent down to live on a planet populated by the atevi, an intelligent group that resembles humans, but are taller, stronger, and have black skin and yellow eyes. The hero, Bren Cameron, is a human translator who has learned the atevi language and culture. He wants desperately to maintain the peace between the two diverse groups, but things never run smoothly. By the end of the book, he’s so badly injured he’s on his way to the hospital for surgery, but for the moment, he’s out of danger. The second book, INVADER, begins with Bren leaving the hospital and right back into deep trouble. I don’t usually read sci/fi, but this series is so fast-paced and exciting, it drew me right in. Bren is such a sympathetic character, I couldn’t stop after the first book!

Having one continuing character works well not only in sci/fi, but also in mysteries and thrillers. Sue Grafton has pushed Kinsey Millhone through the alphabet. Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum humorous mystery series is on NOTORIOUS NINETEEN. Fans know they won’t be disappointed when they read the next book in a popular series.

When a family friend married a bullfighter’s daughter, I thought it a great premise for a book, but I hadn’t anticipated a series when I began. Wealthy men often have multiple wives and create new families, and a matador was a perfect fit for the role. My goal in FIERCE LOVE was to tell the story of Magdalena Aragon, a young woman in her twenties who’s meeting her famous father for the first time. She’s the daughter born of his brief marriage to an American woman, and this is her first visit to Spain. That she has half brothers and half sisters she’d also never met added near endless complications to her reunion with her father. When she falls for a matador herself, he’s the very last man she wants to love. The story is set in Barcelona, a city I love, and the book was a joy to write.

When I sent the finished the book to my editor at Samhain, it proved impossible to leave Maggie’s eldest brother, Santos, behind. He’s the bullfighter’s son, and deserved a book of his own. FIERCE PRIDE is an entirely different story. He’s a matador himself and someone wants him dead. That he falls for Maggie’s half sister, Libby, strengthens the ties created in the first book and gives characters I’d grown to love a chance to come back for an encore.

You can probably see this coming, but Maggie’s father had a mistress, a super-model with an independent spirit, who demanded a book of her own, FIERCE PASSION. This series grew from the characters and their complicated relationships, and I had to run to keep up with them. I do believe the FIERCE series is complete as a trilogy, but Maggie has twin half sisters who may someday get a book of their own.

Do you love to read books in a series? I’ll be happy to send pdf copies of FIERCE LOVE and FIERCE PRIDE to someone who comments.

FIERCE LOVE is available in both ebook and print from Samhain. FIERCE PRIDE, a February 2013 ebook, and will be in print in February 2014. The beautiful mistress’s story, FIERCE PASSION will be a November 2013 release. Rest assured, no bulls were harmed in any way in the writing of these books.

Building a Community

When I started the UGLY STICK SALOON Series, I knew I wanted to build a whole community of characters where I could end one story and start another revisiting some of the same places and same characters. In the Ugly Stick Saloon Series, secondary characters get their stories. This gives the readers a chance to revisit some of their favorite characters like old friends.

In one of my first UGLY STICK SALOON books, SEX ED, I introduced Ed and Kendall’s story. But Lacey Lambert played a big secondary role in that story. She’s finally getting her story in BOOTS AND LACE. The reader gets to learn why Lacey acts the way she does and how Nick McBride wins her over. It’s been over a year since SEX ED came out. It’s about time Lacey got her man!

***Leave a comment for a chance to win a download of Sex Ed ***

Author Bio

Myla Jackson spent twenty years in South Central Texas, ranching horses, cattle, goats, ostriches and emus. A former IT professional, retired Army and Air Force Reservist, she’s proud to be writing full-time, penning intrigues and paranormal adventures that keep her readers on the edge of their seats or laughing out loud. Now, living in northwest Arkansas, she’s given up wrangling cattle and exotic birds to wrangle her muses, a malti-poo and a yorkie. When she’s not at her computer, she’s traveling, out snow skiing, boating, or riding her four-wheeler, dreaming up new stories. Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Welcome back to the Ugly Stick Saloon!

She wants no strings…but he wants it all.

After her philandering husband left her, Lacey Lambert found sanctuary, and a better class of friends, at the Ugly Stick Saloon. Where she learned that the best revenge—against her ex, and the “friends” who kicked her out of the Temptation Garden Club—is to live life to the fullest.

Now that her best friend is moving out of her apartment building, she’s feeling a little lonely. And more than ready for a little commitment-free sex with the hot new downstairs tenant.

Freshly divorced, Nick McBride isn’t looking for another failed relationship. But when the luscious brunette offers no-strings sex—with him and his brother—he can’t come up with a good reason to refuse.

After he gets over the shock that she likes it loud, long, and in front of an open window, he finds himself wanting more time with her. Maybe even on a permanent basis. But it’ll take every ounce of his cowboy charms to convince her to let him sweep her off her feet.

Samhain Publishing
Barnes & Noble Nook
Amazon Kindle

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a hopeless romantic. Yes, it’s cliché, but I am a dreamy idealist to the core. Fresh picked flowers and slow walks holding hands with my man light up my day. Gentle kisses and endearments whispered while sharing ice cream warm my heart.

Everlasting love…

As a young girl, I lived on a ranch at the outskirts of Elk Grove, California. Nestled along the base of the sierra foothills, our ranch was about five miles out of town. Every once in a while, I’d ride my horse to my girlfriend’s house through acres of wheat fields, past a quince orchard and cat-fish farm, and across two country roads to arrive in town. After securing my horse, we’d walk to Hilltop Cemetery, established in 1878, to explore.

In the 1980’s the cemetery’s cracked earth and summer-dried grass surrounded numerous embedded markers. Some of the upright headstones had fallen over, but many still graced the departed. While exploring, I’d conjure up stories in my mind about the deceased, their struggles and triumphs, marriages and births and love, religious beliefs, and such. I’d pretend their whispers rode the breeze.

One plot in particular drew my attention: the double plot of a husband that had preceded his wife’s death by decades. Now at peace, I would imagine them returned to their youth-filled selves, reuniting, embracing, and skipping off toward the Cosumnes River in the distance bliss-filled.

Everlasting love…

In 2005, the cemetery received a makeover. The headstones are upright again and surrounded by manicured lawns, new trees, and concrete pathways. A wrought iron fence wraps around the site and an archway welcomes guests. Many visitors place balloons and flowers, and stop to pay their respects to people they never knew in life.

Everlasting love…

In my debut short story A Promise Worth Keeping, which hit No.1 in free kindle Short Romance and the Top 100 paid lists, my childhood imagination sprang to life as I explored the irrevocability of lasting love through a newly hired groundskeeper’s predicament.

Clayton has a real mess on his hands. Not only have garden vandals threatened the Remy Estate’s Valentine’s Day celebration, but Clayton’s girlfriend, Sarah, has proposed to him despite knowing he doesn’t believe in lasting love.

By hunkering down in the garden all night, Clayton hopes to at least solve one of his problems and catch the vandals in the act. Instead, will Clayton finally face his fears and become a man worth loving?

Do you believe in everlasting love?

Leave a comment for a chance at a $5 Amazon gift card.

Happy reading and writing,

Cyndi Faria

Leading the way to happily ever after…

Cyndi Faria is an engineer turned romance writer whose craving for structure is satisfied by plotting emotional and cozy paranormal romance stories about cursed spirits, lost souls, harbingers, and even a haunted coastal town. “Cyndi Faria writes with passion and her stories touch the heart,” says Virna DePaul, Bestselling Author of paranormal romance and romantic suspense. On and off Cyndi’s sexy romance pages, this California country girl isn’t afraid to dirty her hands fighting for the underdog and caretaking rescued pets. Find her helping fellow writers and leading readers to happily ever after at www.cyndifaria.com.

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Good Morning Everyone,

I’m so excited to show a peek at my upcoming 1NS Trading Up Releasing 4/18/13!

If you haven’t ever read a 1NS series book you are missing out! I don’t even know the exact number of books out from various authors we have at this point. I’d like to say well over a hundred stories as we have a 1NS Paranormal and 1NS GBLT line as well.  I never thought I could work off of a detail sheet with to create a story….but here I am on my third 1NS. My previous 1NS stories are Tell Me No Lies a paranormal 1NS and Burn Me if You Can, an IR 1NS.

There is just something so mystical about Madame Eve that makes me want to keep creating characters that need her assistance in finding love, and if not finding the love of their live, opening themselves for a chance to find love in the future.

I also wanted to do a story with some sensory deprivation, and I’d never done more than a short scene with one sense taken away. I really enjoyed the challenge of taking it to the next level and really having fun.  Not to mention taking away the first moment a couple meets in person where they decide prematurely what will and won’t happen with the date.

Camilla’s deal breakers make finding a man to fit her wants, needs, and desires darn near impossible. For years she’s been primped and primed to be the perfect political daughter, when all she really wants to do is let loose a little without her world collapsing.  When a friend sends her Madam Eve’s way she figures she may just have the chance to explore a bit without being outed.

Jonah Black’s career is heading for a change. While his friends have dubbed him married to the military, he can’t deny that his focus has been off centered. While they enjoy the pleasures of life and wives, he has nothing to come home to.  When offered the chance for a 1NS, he signs up and is unprepared for the exotic woman picked for him.

The flames licking inside her were too much to take, along with his roaming hand.  She leaned forward and grasped the chilled wine goblet as a lifeline. When he nudged her lips to take a second taste, she pressed the together, holding her finger up and then laughing because he couldn’t see it in the dark. She took a long cool sip, more from Jonah’s effect on her than the food. She licked her lips then tucked herself against him, momentarily satisfied.

“Better?

“Mmm.” Cam sighed. “When’s it your turn? I’m having all the fun.”

“I’m having a good time feeding you.”

“You’re not hungry?” In the dark, his heart pounded against her cheek.“I’m hungry, all right. Ravenous, even.” Jonah caressed her thigh. Cam had no doubt his eyes would scorch her to her very soul. His lazy trail along her skin left her smoldering in need. She let him ply her with another skewer to distract from the throb at the apex of her thighs. She sucked a piece of pineapple he held between his fingers. Juices trickled down her chin. He mopped the stream of liquid with the pad of his thumb and heard him  nosily sucked it off.  Holy bananas, she wanted a taste of him now. Her mind kept rewinding to the feel of his finger parting her lips.

“I uh- need to use the ladies room.” Cam pressed the button on the table for assistance. Cesaire instructed.  Seconds later, her guide assisted her out of her chair and slid it back in.

“Here we go, Ms. Knox.”

She stepped awkwardly away from the table.  Along the way, she heard soft sighs and giggles. Definitely some hard-core kissing action. The idea of giving in to the dark side and making out in public heightened her ardor. A loud bang startled her. She jumped, almost losing Cesaire’s grasp.

“Don’t worry Ms. Knox. Almost there.” A few more steps and he ushered her into a space where dim lighting burned her dilated pupils for a moment before her eyes adjusted. He sat on a lounge chair between two doors marked Men and Women. The dim glow brought her normal self-conscious thoughts raging forward. In the dark Jonah couldn’t see her physical flaws. Would that change once he saw the real her?

Comment and leave an email address I’ll pick a winner for some swag!

This bundle of Mahalia’s books is available now for only $5.88!

Psst! Rhonda, you won the Venetian mask! Please contact Lexi at lexi.post@yahoo.com to arrange delivery of your prize!

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Wherefore art thou, Inspiration?

Writers find their inspiration in many places.  For some of my friends, they have a dream and ta-da, the beginnings of a story. All they need to do is get to the computer and write it down.  For my critique partner, EVERYTHING is inspiring.  She sees two people interacting in the park and she gets idea. She takes a tour and she gets another idea.  An item in a gift shop, a page on an historical website, a song on the radio, an old John Wayne movie and she’s got four more stories! For me, it is a lot more controlled, but no less exciting.  For my erotic stories, I find inspiration in the classics.

Yup, I do. Now before you shake your head, let me explain. For example, my debut release with Ellora’s Cave is called MASQUE. This story was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” first published in 1842. In Poe’s story, Prince Prospero seeks to escape the Red Death by gathering his aristocratic friends and sealing them off from the rest of the town in a great abbey, leaving his other subjects to live or die as fate decrees. On the night of the prince’s Masque, which is held in his seven colored entertainment rooms, when the great clock in the Black Room strikes midnight, a figure enters the party in a mask resembling a victim of the Red Death. When the prince attempts to kill the intruder for such audacity as to remind them all of the sad state of affairs outside, the prince falls dead, as does everyone else in the abbey, and the clock ceases.

So my thought was, what if the intruder had been a friend who hoped to sway the prince to do what was right by his people, only to have everything go wrong? How would that friend feel when everyone dropped dead around him? I’m thinking he might feel just a tad bit of guilt. But what if it was made worse by the fact that 73 inhabitants, all except the Prince, weren’t able to cross over and continued to exist in a ghostlike state becoming more solid with the full moon and disappearing all together with the waning moon.

And don’t forget that the Prince, in Poe’s story, had seven entertainment rooms, each of which was a different color. I couldn’t ignore that, because to me, it appeared that those rooms were made specifically for a different sexual experience that a live woman, let’s call her Rena, would need to experience to complete the Masque which would allow the trapped souls to cross over.  See where I’m going here? But that might make it too easy. I mean, who wouldn’t want to complete the Masque with the hero, Synn, a Mr. Darcy with more muscles and longer hair? So I thought, what if Rena must turn the abbey into a haunted bed-and-breakfast to prove to herself she can and to solidify her income.  Ah, now here we have a problem.

So you see, there really can be inspiration in classic literature. My current, almost ready-to-go, WIP is based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” What is fun for my readers is that they can read my erotic romance knowing nothing (except what is in the author’s note) about the classic piece and still enjoy it.  And for those readers interested in reading the original, they will find another whole level of meaning in the happily ever after.  So you see, finding inspiration in the classics really isn’t that strange, is it?

For a chance to win this beautiful Venetian mask made in Italy, leave a comment.

I’ve included a short excerpt from MASQUE. Enjoy. Lexi

Rena Mills plans to turn an abandoned abbey into a haunted bed-and-breakfast to prove she can be successful without her ex-fiancé. What she finds inside is Synn MacAllistair, the distinguished, self-proclaimed Ghost Keeper. Her dreams soon fill with sexual cravings for him. But are they dreams?

Synn, born in 1828, is determined to free the souls of the resident spirits, blaming himself for bringing the Red Death that killed them. When Rena steps into the old Pleasure Palace, he’s sure he can take her through the after-midnight Pleasure Rooms and stoke her passion to complete the Masque so the souls can cross over. Her innocent fire makes him crave more, but it’s far too late for him.

As Rena begins her erotic journey, her heart becomes more involved with every sensual caress until she discovers by completing the Masque she would lose her ghosts. Synn’s betrayal wars with her compassion for her ghostly friends. Torn, she must make a choice between her financial security and freeing seventy-three trapped souls. Either way, she could lose her Synn.

Buy Links: Amazon | Ellora’s Cave | Goodreads

An image of the lone man standing on the battlements crowded her head. “Do you mind if I run upstairs? I really want to see the sunset.”

Valerie took three loaves of bread from the first bag. “Yeah, yeah, go. But don’t expect me to make dinner.”

“That’s a deal.” Spinning around, Rena ran up the stairs to her wing of the Abbey. Striding through the hallway toward the back, she found another set of stairs leading to the floor above, which had a similar hall. By the time she reached the end of that hall, she was at the front of the Abbey again, only here there was a stone spiral staircase. Carefully, she ascended.

At the top, a wooden door stood open and she stepped outside into the fading light of day, but it wasn’t the sunset that arrested her attention. Synn stood, one foot braced on an embrasure, one hand resting on the crenellated stone of the battlement. The breeze lifted his long brown hair away from his face and off his shoulders…his very bare shoulders.

Oh shit. She hadn’t expected his back to be so broad and muscular. His biceps stood in stark relief as if he worked construction. Below his narrow waist, his firm ass and muscular thighs were outlined by his tight gray pantaloons, if she had the term right. She’d bet the boots he wore were Hessians because those were the only nineteenth-century boots she’d heard of that rose to the knee. To call the man handsome would be to belittle his sculpted perfection, and her heart increased its beat as raw, sexual attraction rifled through her limbs.

He brought his arm down, causing the muscles in his back to ripple before he turned to catch her staring.

Her gaze shifted to his eyes and for a moment they revealed such heartbreaking anguish that all sexual heat fled and her stomach tightened into a sorrowful knot. He shuttered his gaze and smirked. “Were you looking for something?”

Confused, and more than a little distracted by the man’s emotions and his highly defined pectoral muscles, one of which had a fist-sized dark spot, she grasped for logic. “Yes, the sunset.”

“Ah, then you are just in time.” He stepped to the side, bowed and swept his hand toward the battlement. “It’s ready for you, my lady.”

She searched his eyes for any sign that he made fun of her, but found only sincerity. “Thank you.”

She stepped up to the place next to him as indicated and gazed across the town. As she suspected, the ocean was a few blocks past the shops and it glittered red as the setting sun shimmered off its dark surface, its waves lifting and lowering the dazzling color as it moved.

“This is breathtaking.”

“Yes, it is.”

His tone made her glance up, and she found him staring at her. She swallowed.

He released her hair from its clip and the breeze swept it from her face. She couldn’t have looked away from his eyes even if the sun had turned green.

He cupped her jaw with his hand. “You are exquisite.”

Her breath hitched at his words, but her mouth parted as his face drew closer to hers. When their lips were but a breath away, he spoke again. “You are made for passion, Rena.”

She let her eyes close, his words shooting pure desire through her, and then his full lips were upon hers. It was not a gentle kiss, but neither was it harsh or demanding, simply controlled. The hand holding her face encouraged her to open her lips and she did.

She grasped his biceps as his tongue swept into her mouth to explore. He tasted like cinnamon spice but not sweet. When his arm snaked around her waist and pulled her closer, she entwined her arms around his neck, her body tight against his hard one. Unable to stem the growing need building inside her, she pressed her hips into his. A long, hard cock greeted her. She wanted him.

Synn groaned and released her, stepping away.

She grabbed at the embrasure to keep herself from falling on her ass. What the hell was that?

He turned toward the sunset again, his body in perfect profile, his hands clenched at his sides.

Not sure if she was upset because he stopped the kiss or because he started it in the first place, she gritted her teeth. Her body ached for release and she wanted him to provide it, no matter what her mind said. Her sexual frustration gave her a bravery she rarely had. “Why did you stop kissing me?” She had hoped to sound matter-of-fact, but hurt crept into her voice. Did he find her beneath him?

He remained motionless, speaking to the horizon. “If I didn’t stop now, I wouldn’t be able to. You are not ready for me yet.”

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Bio of Lexi Post

Lexi Post spent years in higher education taking and teaching courses about classical literature. From the Medieval work “The Pearl” to the 20th century American epic The Grapes of Wrath, from War and Peace to the Bhagavad Gita, she’s read, studied, and taught great classic literature.

But Lexi’s first love is romance novels. In an effort to marry her two first loves, she started writing erotic romance inspired by the classics and found she loved it.  Lexi feels there is no end to the romantic inspiration she can find in great classic literature.

Lexi lives with her husband and cat in the Caribbean where gorgeous sunsets, warm weather, and driving on the left are the norm.

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