I’m on my way this morning with my sister, Myla Jackson, to attend the Diamond State Romance Authors meeting. Another kind of family meeting from the one you’ll read below! The Logans lives change from this pivotal moment when they come to a decision as a group. Has your family ever had one of those “pivotal” moments?

Post a comment today and win a free download of your choice of Lone Star Lovers stories!

“A FOUR-GONE CONCLUSION is a prime example on how a novella should be written; fast and fun, touching characters that pull you in and a story that is completely fulfilling.”

~ 4.5 Cherries, Long and Short Reviews

One devilish night…or a chance at heaven?

Sam Logan’s foster sons have a bad rep in Two Mule, Texas. Most of it earned. When it becomes clear they don’t plan on giving up scootin’ after ever pretty pair of boots in town anytime soon, he issues the one thing he knows they can’t resist: a challenge. Find a wife.

The oldest, Johnny, is actually grateful. He’s had his eye on Mean Ellie Harker for a long time, and Sam’s challenge is the kick in the pants he needed to ask her out. Except before he can make his move, his brothers kidnap her right out from under his nose. Now, instead of being one question away from victory, he has to compete for the woman of his dreams.

Ellie thought she’d be a dried up old spinster before Johnny finally untangled his tongue long enough to ask for a date. But instead of teaching him better uses for that tongue, his brothers have whisked her away to the ranch. At first she’s furious…then intrigued when she starts to wonder what it might be like…

Warning: Four handsome cowboys. Four choices. Would it be a single sordid night or a chance at heaven as she savors every luscious inch of the Logan brothers?

“It’s time you boys found yerselves a wife.” Sam Logan made his pronouncement then waited, watching the four younger men seated at the table from the corner of his eye. He didn’t have to wait long for his words to sink in. They exploded in the room with the force of a silent grenade.

Johnny’s jaw closed with a snap, and he laid his spoon down on the scarred oak table. His black winged brows drew together, nearly meeting over his dark eyes as he raised his head.

Sam suppressed a smile. That look could make the toughest hombre gulp, but Sam wasn’t the least bit concerned. Johnny tended to look mean when things changed. His oldest boy hated any kind of change.

If any other man had said what he had, Johnny would have cussed under his breath and aimed a piercing, silencing glare. However, he respected Sam, trusted him as much as he could anyone. That trust and respect were the only things that kept his butt on the bench beside his brother Killian.

For his part, Killian’s eyes narrowed. The corners of his lips twitched. Likely he was amused by Johnny’s reaction and didn’t want to let him off the hook too quickly, but was already lining up all the reasons why Sam’s idea was ludicrous. He was quick that way.

Sam calmly ladled the hearty stew he’d made into his mouth and let his gaze roam to the twins. Jason was coughing into his napkin while Mace gave him “helpful” taps between his shoulder blades.

Mace caught his stare and grinned. “A wife, did you say?”

Sam grunted, ignoring the one word that had caught his son’s attention. “This is the third time this week we’ve had stew,” he murmured. Not to change the subject, but to point out a glaring fact.

“I like stew just fine,” Johnny muttered.

“This house misses a woman’s touch.” There, he’d said it. Sat the big gorilla in the room right at the dinner table. Impossible to ignore.

“Gracie can’t be replaced,” Killian said softly.

The permanent ache next to his heart echoed that truth. Sam nodded. “She’s gone. Three years. I miss her every day. Know you do too. But life goes on. You’re men now. You have an obligation. Ranchin’s a family business. Y’all need families.”

Johnny cleared his throat. “No disrespect intended, Sam, but you didn’t get sons the old-fashioned way.”

“Not because Gracie and I didn’t try. And in the end, we had no regrets. We both loved you all like you was our own.”

“So, you’d rather saddle us with—”

Sam aimed a quelling stare. “Think I felt like Gracie was a noose around my neck?”

“No sir, but…” Johnny’s hands fisted on the tabletop. “Hell, how’re we to find someone like her?”

Sam understood what he meant. Gracie’s passing had left a hole in all their hearts. The boys had loved her. Took to her the very first day he’d brought each of them home. Gracie had been born to be a mother, and she’d showered them all with the things they’d needed most—acceptance and unconditional love.

“Boys, Gracie wasn’t born a rancher’s wife. Truth is, she didn’t know a bull from a cow and damn near poisoned me with the first meals she cooked. But she learned. Find a woman willin’ to learn, one you kin love and who’ll love you back.”

“You said, ‘a wife’.” Mace wasn’t gonna let that slip of the tongue go.

Sam shook his head and gave the twins a faint glimmer of a smile. Those two could always see the humor in any predicament. “Thought I’d give you two options. I know one can’t piss without the other goin’ too. And there are damn few single women to go around these parts. ’Nough said?” When all of them nodded, he cleared his throat. “I’ll be out of town for the next four days. Auction in Abilene. The house is yours.”

Be sure to check out the snippets on these other authors’ blogs:

Megan Hart:Read in bed!
Leah Braemel
Jody Wallace
Eliza Gayle
Mandy M Roth
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Shiloh Walker
HelenKay Dimon
Lauren Dane
TJ Michaels

The Four Year Rule

Hello! And thanks to Delilah for hosting me today!

Excuse my excessive use of exclamation points today, my book just came out this morning and I’m pretty excited. I mean, I know as an author I’m going to be excited about every book, but this is my first book in my first series, and it’s about something I really love.

Tattoos.

I know, looking at me you’d never guess I like a little ink, would you? I knew at a young age, probably around fourteen, that I wanted tattoos. Thankfully I did not share this almost certain knowledge with my parents. They’re still reeling from a very recent revelation that I have tattoos. And by recent, I mean they found out about a month ago, and I’ve had them since I was twenty-one.

There’s something about tattoos, the expression of art and personality on one’s very skin that’s always fascinated me. I knew from an early age what I wanted my first tattoo to be, but at about sixteen, I recognized that I was young and stupid and prone to making rash decisions. Somewhere in that time period I came up with a rule.

The rule.

The four year rule.

It’s simple really. I have to want a tattoo for four years before I get it. My reasoning has always been that if I can settle on an image for four years with only minor tweaking, it must be something I really want and will be happy with in the long run. A big part of this is also getting an artist who can not only execute what I want but also bring it to live on the skin.

To date I’ve gotten five (or seven depending on who you ask) tattoos. With the exception of one, the four year rule has held steady. The one that was not planned in detail was planned in spirit. I don’t suggest people get matching tattoos or names typically, but my brother and I did get matching tattoos located on our under arm. A very sensitive place!

So what tattoos do I have? I have what’s called a backpiece, one big tattoo that stretches from my hips to my shoulders. A half-sleeve, which is a single tattoo that goes from my shoulder to just above my elbow. My sibling tattoo that’s about the size of my palm. In the picture above you can see my two pair of tattoos. I have Hebrew on each shoulder, and in the hollow on each shoulder I have half of the claddagh. Each tattoo means something. I’m a fan of doing tattoos that mean something or tell a story. It’s always fun to be approached by a complete stranger interested in the stories on my skin. I guess in a way, ink was the first medium in which I published a book.

I have quite a few in the works for the future. I want to get my left half-sleeve done, and a smattering of smaller tattoos, only two of which have met the required four year rule. So who knows, maybe next year I’ll be sporting some new ink?

So what about you? Do you have tattoos? Do you like them? Do you want them?

Tell me about your tattoo dreams! One commenter will win an ebook copy of my book, Under His Skin.

Sidney Bristol

It can never be said that Sidney Bristol has had a ‘normal’ life.  She is a recovering roller derby queen, former missionary, and tattoo addict. She grew up in a motor-home on the US highways (with an occasional jaunt into Canada and Mexico), traveling the rodeo circuit with her parents. Sidney has lived abroad in both Russia and Thailand, working with children and teenagers. She now lives in Texas where she splits her time between a job she loves, writing, reading and belly dancing.

Website *~* Twitter *~* Facebook

Under His Skin, So Inked #1, Pricked Series   Ellora’s Cave | Barnes and Noble | Amazon

A woman who doesn’t believe she deserves love…

Toe-curling kisses and enough sex to fill a weekend were all Pandora wanted from a fling with her teenage crush. She’s never forgotten how he played the knight in shining armor to her damsel in distress. She’s ready to say thank you in several naughty ways, so long as she can walk away when it’s over with her heart intact.

A man moving on from tragedy…

Brian has no intention of allowing the feisty tattoo artist to leave him after one taste. He hasn’t had enough of her inked curves. The packaging might have changed, but Pandy is the woman he hasn’t been able to excise from his memory. He’s ready to put together a new life, one that includes her. But he’s not the only one vying for her attention. Someone else wants her, dead or alive.

Pandora swirled the glass of Tuaca and downed it in three gulps. The smooth brandy slid down her throat and sent warm fuzzies coursing through her body. She couldn’t get drunk fast enough.

“Hey.”

A weight settled against her waist. She squeezed her eyes shut, chanting, No, no, no! Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry I wasn’t here yesterday. I’ve been under the weather with a mother of a headache. But I’m back now!

The winners (by random number generator) of The Pretty Pendant Contest are…Karen Roma and Mary Preston! Congratulations, ladies! Be sure to hit the link and choose a pendant. Then send me your choice and your mailing address so I can get your prizes mailed!

The Fugly Bottle Contest

What can you win?
This bottle is so hideous I almost hate giving it away! I have a thing for oddities, and all my friends know it. So when this one popped up in her consignment shop, Christi knew just who would want it!

It’s from Bolivia, is a real bottle with a cork stopper, and has real cowhide around the back. I imagine it’s the face of a Chupacabra. Don’t you just have to have it for your very own? Or doesn’t your mother-in-law need this resting on her mantle?

How can you win it?
Post a comment on any blog posting until the contest ends. Each entry counts as another chance to win!

This contest ends July 31st!

The Question

Have you ever “drunk-dialed” or “butt-dialed” someone and said
something you wished you could take back?

Today’s round of snippets is all about the bad boys. They’re sexy as sin and know it. They wade into danger with a flare. They tempt good girls into doing very naughty things. My favorite bad boy is Quentin. In this scene the heroine meets him, up close and personal. Enjoy!

Post a comment today, and you’ll be entered in a drawing for a free download of any of my backlisted Ellora’s Cave books!

“…congratulations to Ms. Devlin for creating a masterpiece. This story has all the elements that a Gold Star book has in it. The novel has intense suspense that was thrilling and delightful…”
~Gold Star Award, Susan Holly, JERR

“… LOVE BITES is a delicious, emotional romp of a story, a tale that builds powerfully on the old, often-used love triangle and succeeds beautifully in creating something new and exciting.”
~Ann Leveille, Sensual Romance

On the trail of a serial killer, vampire Quentin Albermarle is mistaken for the killer by a police special task force. Once the smoke clears, Quentin finds himself in a delicious position-atop one of the unit’s crack officers, Darcy Henry.

In need of Quentin’s access to the vampire sub-culture, the task force leadership invites Quentin to join the crime unit as a special advisor, much to the chagrin of the men in the unit, and especially, of Darcy.

A no-nonsense cop with no time for romance, Darcy suddenly finds herself embroiled in a steamy love triangle between her mortal partner, Joe, and the handsome vampire. Going from abstinence to wantonness, she is unable to resist the two men’s relentless seduction or her own sensual curiosity about a vampire’s special “kiss”.

When the real killer threatens the life of someone close to her, Darcy makes a choice that forever binds the three of them together.

“He’s coming in. Get ready,” Joe’s voice jerked Darcy Henry to wakefulness.

Berating herself for dozing off during a stakeout, she fumbled for the switch on her night vision goggles. Instantly, the landscape before her was awash in shades of luminescent green. She scanned the water’s edge. The crests of the ebbing tides rolled onto the beach, unbroken by any sign of “Bat-boy.” Had she already missed her opportunity?

“Where do you see him?” she whispered into the mike on her headset, glad the roar of the incoming surf masked their voices.

“Ten o’clock. Get cocked.”

She reached for her crossbow and drew back the linen cord with both hands and latched it in the spring clip. Then she slid a steel-tipped arrow onto the track. Sighting down the shaft of the arrow, she braced the bow in her left palm and dug her elbow into the sand. With the stock snug against her shoulder, her right forefinger slid around the trigger and she turned her sights back to the water’s edge—just in time to see a tall figure stride out of the surf.

He fit the description of the new vamp in town she’d purchased from the barman at the “blood bank.” Only the barman hadn’t filled in all the details. Darcy stiffened against her body’s sudden surge of attraction and firmly reminded herself the vamp’s body was like any other man’s. Yeah, right.

Her gaze flickered over him, inventorying his characteristics—for her After Action Report. Broad-shouldered, leanly muscled, just over six feet tall. Blond, she could tell, despite the fact his hair was plastered to his head. Handsome, too. With broad prominent cheekbones, a longish straight nose, and lips that appeared permanently curved in a smirk.

Unable to resist the temptation, she adjusted the lenses of her goggles to zoom, and her gaze slipped lower. His package was as fine arriving as his ass had been going into the water. His long, uncircumcised cock dangled between his legs. Something not mentioned in the barman’s description—and definitely not something that would make it into her AAR.

“Cease!” Joe said, impatience clipping his words. “A civilian’s in your line of sight.”

Darcy lowered the bow, cursing under her breath. “Where? And how the hell did we miss that?” she whispered angrily.

“She had to have been here when we arrived,” Joe replied. “If I hadn’t seen her hand rise above the dune…” Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday’s winners (I decided to choose 2) are named at the bottom of this post!

I’m a blog-hoppin’ babe!

I’m going to be doing some blog hops in the coming weeks to celebrate the releases of three books: Fournicopia, She Shifters, and Cowboy Lust! Be sure to stay tuned to this blog, my Facebook page and Twitter, for news about where I’ll be.

Today, I’m at Fictional Candy. Be sure to drop by to enter to win a free book. I’m talking about titles. And you know I have fun with those!

Live radio chat this week!

Yeah, I’m doing a live web/radio chat on Thursday. And I’d love for you to tune in, and if you’d like, phone in questions. Ask me anything. I can plead the 5th if I think my answer will get me into trouble. 🙂

Here’s the link so you can learn more: BlogTalkRadio

Two books releasing this week!

Both books release, officially, on Tuesday, July 10th, although She Shifters is already shipping from Amazon!

Click on the covers to read an excerpt or for “buy” information! And if you happen to head to Amazon to take a peek, please “like” and “tag” the books. If you’re amenable to posting a review, I’d be forever grateful too!

The Pretty Pendant Contest continues!

Don’t forget! Every comment on this blog until July 17th counts as an entry in the contest. Two luck winners will get a pendant! Check here for details: The Pretty Pendant Contest

* * * * *

Sunday Report Card

This week has been stone-cold crazy!

* I wrapped up all the editing for the short stories I included in my draft of Smokin’ Hot Firemen for Cleis Press. And no, I can’t tell you which stories made my first cut, because Cleis gets the final approval. There were soooo many great stories I had to leave out due to word count issues. I also wrote my short for the collection, “Johnny Blaze.” It took me months to come up with an idea, but between all the hoopla over the Magic Mike film and my own daughter insisting I should tell the story of her 18th birthday party at a male strip club, I created the perfect tease of a story.

* I finished the final draft of Laying Down the Law—my next Western for Samhain—and shipped it to my editor! It’s the first of a trilogy of TripleHorn Ranch stories, has a very exciting suspense plot, and no, sorry pervs, not a ménage.

And now, I’ve moved on to the next big book. A sexy BDSM novel set in southern Louisiana. I have the rough of the first chapter complete. This week, I’ll be adding pages to that WIP (Work-in-Progress), and maybe playing with a short story, as well as tackling deep edits for a book my sister and I co-wrote that we’ll publish with Samhain. Have a taste for wealthy Texans and romantic comedy? Well, you’ll just have to wait.

And that’s all folks. I’m housesitting for my daughter while her family’s in DC. Other than taking care of her 4 dogs and 4 cats, I’m treating this time like a retreat—nothing by writing. Be thinking of me, my stubby fingers curled over the typewriter…

Have a great week! ~DD

The Pretty Pendant Contest

What can you win?
Two people will win their choice of a domino pendant from among those offered below! (Psst! My dd and I made them.)

How can you win it?
Post a comment on any blog posting until the contest ends. Each entry counts as another chance to win!

This contest ends July 17th!!

A Question

Need a question to get this party started?

What is one piece of advice that you wish you could pass along to everyone else?

[Sorry—photos removed!]

Bad Boys = Real Good Men

There’s just something about a bad boy, isn’t there? A dark-n-dangerous man, tall, handsome and covered in tats just gets my libido going and my juices flowing. I completely lose my head, and my mind is over run by images of me doing bad, bad things with the bad, bad boys.

And I put every ounce of my intense yearning into the hero of my just-released Ellora’s Cave novel, His Forbidden Submissive.

Brock Michaels is everything I’ve ever wanted in a bad boy—the heroine too. He wears his tats like a second skin. He doesn’t take shit from anyone. His shaved head makes me want to rub my hands over all that sexy smoothness and direct his mouth to, um, certain places on my body…

Oh, and did I mention he’s a Dom too?

Mmm. Am I the only one who just shivered? Don’t lie! You know you want some of that! How could any hot-blooded woman not? Which begs one question.

What is it about bad boys that draw us in like kids to a candy store? I have a few ideas…

Bad boys are confident and adventurous. They’re a challenge to even the most headstrong woman. And oh god, they ooze masculinity like a marathon runner oozes sweat, and bad boys can turn that oozing masculinity into a string of perfect words so intensely perfect they could quite easily charm the panties of a nun. But most importantly, in my opinion, bad boys are broken—and we want to fix them.

Okay, okay, I know they’re not really broken. It’s just a perception thing. They’re thugs, they’re outsiders. In other words, they’re not what society “says” is normal or politically correct, and they don’t care. It’s that aspect that makes them more addictive than crack.

At least for me. *grin*

But what do YOU think of bad boys? Do they make the private places between your legs do funny things? Or do you give a wide berth when you see a leather-clad, tattoo-sporting hottie heading your way?

Let me known and you’ll be entered for a chance to win a copy of any book from my backlist. (Click here to go to my book page.)

Later, Lovelies!

~Brandi

His Forbidden Submissive, out NOW from Ellora’s Cave!