UPDATE: The winner is…Mary Ann Dean!
*~*~*

It’s Saturday after a long week of rushing to THE END of a book and finishing up edits for other authors. I took the last three days to clean my desk and office, re-jigger my calendar (so I’m ready for the next rush to THE END!), and make a really big To Do list.

I mentioned the string of bad luck we’ve had here at the Devlin house, right? Two long power outages, losing internet for an entire day, the AC crashing for days—well, add to that the dishwasher going on strike, too. Apparently, I’m the only one who knows how to wash dishes by hand. 🙄  I think I need to sage the entire house…

Anyways, today I plan to get two swims in, while cleaning our slightly greenish pool, work on a couple of sets of edits, and make some notes about what I want to have happen in the next MBH book—what funny takedowns my bounty hunters can do—wait, a second! Maybe you can help me with that…

Saturday Puzzle-Contest

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, give me an idea for a fun or exciting takedown of a criminal that my bounty hunters can do! Doesn’t have to be a good idea, doesn’t have to take much thought. This is for fun, folks!

In the meantime, you do know I have a book coming out next Tuesday, right? Victoria’s Six is set in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Get a feel for the setting of the book by solving this puzzle! And if you haven’t already pre-ordered your copy, follow this link: Victoria’s Six

Open Contests

1. Saturday Puzzle Contest! And More Open Contests! — Win an Amazon gift card!
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5. Cara North: Big Box of Paperbacks! (Contest) — Win a box of paperbacks!

Want a peek inside the book coming out on June 21st? It’s part of the Athena Project series, which includes these books written by the fabulous Desiree Holt, Reina Torres, Jen Talty, and Regan Black inside Elle James’s Brotherhood Protectors World!

(And yeah, I know the picture says June 28, but it’s the 21st!)

Victoria’s Six

Read an excerpt!

A hard shoulder butted against her belly, taking away her breath. Not that her adversary today had given her the full might of his movement. Still, he managed to fold her over that said hard shoulder as he straightened and swept her off her feet. As she sailed behind him, she forced herself to go with it instead of tensing in anticipation, tucking in her chin before landing. Her surrender to the move lessened the impact when her back slapped the mat.

Dragging in a deep breath, Victoria Cross gave her sparring partner a stern glare. “You could’ve warned me we were starting again.”

He arched an eyebrow.

Yeah, that had been the point. He’d wanted to surprise her and check out her moves. He’d already made his opinion of her fitness for close-in, hand-to-hand combat measures perfectly clear. If they ever faced that sort of attack, she was to let him lead. Step behind him. Let his superior size and strength take the lead. Always.

Logically, she could see the sense of it. He was an ex-SEAL, built big and tall, not an ounce of lazy flab on his muscular frame. At thirty-seven, he was still in his prime. Battle-hardened.

And dear Lord was he hard.

Shoving that thought aside, she accepted the hand he offered her and let him pull her up in front of him. “You were holding back,” she said, frowning. Something that irritated the shit out of her because it was becoming a pattern. One she was trying to break because he needed to learn to trust in her skills and abilities.

“I used an appropriate amount of force,” he said, one corner of his mouth kicking up.

That half-smile and the deliberate deepening of his southern drawl had her seeing red—he was patronizing “the little woman.” She shot out both hands, slamming them against his chest while at the same time sweeping out a foot to catch him behind the ankles.

He didn’t budge.

She’d used the same move when sparring with her last partner and had planted his butt on the mat numerous times.

Logan Tackett sighed, gripped one of her arms, and turned her, folding her into his embrace so tightly she couldn’t use her elbows to strike his gut. Further, he quickly kicked out and hooked a leg around her ankles, preventing her from stomping on his foot. He had her completely trapped and under his control.

His head lowered, and he spoke into her ear. “You done?”

Seeing as they’d already spent an hour beating punching bags and each other, she relaxed, glad none of her friends were there to see her so overmatched. They’d have laughed themselves silly. “You can let me go now.”

“You sure?” he asked, his breath stirring the hair sticking to her cheek that had come loose from her ponytail.

“We have a meeting with Jake Cogburn in the conference room,” she reminded him while gritting her teeth.

His leg released hers. His arms fell away. When he stepped back from her, she felt a stirring of cool air against her sweaty back and strangely missed his warmth. “I’m heading to the shower,” she said. “See you at the meeting.” Then she quickly moved away, trying to leave behind some conflicting feelings—irritation with herself for not meeting the moment because she’d been working hard to earn his respect and disappointment that he’d let her go.

That last realization had her shaking her head. Logan was her partner. She’d never go there. Besides, she’d noted that he tended to have some old-fashioned views about a woman’s place in this organization. He’d have been fine with her if she kept to her lane—something she’d never accept.

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This is just a quick note to let you know that Dark Seduction, a full-length erotic paranormal story, is out today! So, if you love a very erotic, very dark story, this one’s for you. 🙂

Get your copy here!
Available in the Amazon store, on Kindle Unlimited, and in print!

Ready for a meaty, sexy read (full-length novel)? Plenty of plot twists? Vampires, demons, and zombies? A yummy menage? A sexy, sexy hero (this one’s EROTIC!)? Well, it drops tonight after midnight!

Dark Seduction

A raging storm unleashes a tempest of desire and an ancient evil…

For nearly 800 years, Revenant Nicolas Mountfaucon has dedicated his life to ensuring an immortal monster never walks free. When a terrible storm unleashes the beast, Nicolas’s past rises to haunt him, taunting him with the memory of the death of his bride and the loss of his brother at the hands of the ancient demon known as “The Devourer.” Nicolas turns to the only person who can provide him emotional and physical solace, Born vampire Chessa Tomas, sure she will join the hunt for the evil creature.

Only Chessa wants nothing to do with hunting the “Big Bad”—she’s shed her responsibilities as a Born, refusing her seat on the council because she doesn’t trust their leader. However, Nic isn’t as easily dismissed—he appeals to the secret side of her nature that begs to be dominated.

Pre-order your copy here!

An excerpt from Dark Seduction…

Fresh from her shower, Chessa heard the heavy knock and glanced at her clock on the bedside stand. Still an hour before she had to be at work.

Not the super. She’d paid her rent. Besides, he’d fled with the rest of the building’s inhabitants when the Mayor had ordered evacuation.

And not her partner seeing whether she wanted to get a cup of coffee before reporting to duty. Her partner wasn’t coming today.

Or ever again.

Curious, she threaded through piles of discarded clothing to her front door and peered through the peephole into a hallway lit only by grayish, pre-dusk light from the landing window. The power had gone out sometime during the night. Just one more annoyance on top of the last hellish twenty-four hours.

A familiar man stood on her threshold. Broad shoulders, long dark hair—her body clenched. “Nic?” What was he doing in the city again so soon? How the hell had he gotten in? She’d heard most of the roads around the city were closed due to flooding.

“Chessa, open the door.”

Something in his voice had her gripping the doorknob tight. Her breath hitched. She didn’t want to know what had brought him here.

“Please,” he said, weariness and raw, aching need flavoring the rich timbre of his voice.

Although they’d sated their appetite for sex a few hours ago, Chessa’s body softened instantly, heat tightening her womb. She hated the way her body betrayed her.

They’d said their farewells, she reminded herself. “We had a deal, Nic. You stick to your turf—I’ll stick to mine.”

“Chessa, open the goddamn door.”

The “or else” he left unspoken in his lightly accented voice. She got the message and turned the knob, stepping aside to let him in as she wrapped her towel tightly around her body.

A quick, sweeping glance told her there was trouble. Big, fat vampire trouble. Nicolas looked a mess.

His long black-brown hair hung in damp, curling tendrils around his lean face. His exposed skin was grimy-looking, and he smelled of sewage and sour swamp water.

His hands reached for her.

Without time to sidestep, she found herself smashed against his chest, his strong hands clutching her close.

She leaned back in the circle of his arms and stared into his face. What she saw troubled her. His jaw was clenched tight, and his face was unnaturally pale—even by a vampire’s standards. “What’s happened?”

His throat tightened, but he shook his head and lowered it.

Only she’d just had a shower, and he stunk to high heaven. Besides, she needed space to calm the riot of feelings he aroused. Ones she was still uncomfortable acknowledging even existed. She pressed her palms against his chest to halt him.

She loved Rene. Although he’d chosen to enter a mage’s sanctuary with another Born vampire, Chessa wasn’t over him yet.

Her feelings for Nicolas were strictly carnal—and she needed to get her libido back under control. Unbridled passion had been unleashed by proximity to Natalie Lambert’s coming into season, as only a transforming Born could inspire. That arousal had spilled over onto Chessa and Nicolas—it was the only explanation Chessa would allow for the strength of the desire that even now made her body yearn toward his.

Nicolas’s chest heaved, and his eyes narrowed to feral slits. “Don’t deny me. Not now.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You stink.”

“Then we’ll shower,” he said, a dangerous edge to his voice.

As always, his first terse words had her melting. “Tell me why you’re here,” she said, searching for a way to put him off while she shored up her fading resistance.

Another shake of his head, this time sharp and violent. “Later,” he ground out.

Then she noted the wildness in his eyes. Something had rattled his cage. Nicolas was never anything but completely in control. Chessa felt the last bit of solid ground crumble beneath her. “All right,” she said softly and held up a hand to ward off a kiss. “But shower first.” He’d have to let her go to follow her.

However, Nicolas wasn’t giving her the space she needed to regroup. He grabbed the top of her towel and ripped it away then slammed his mouth on hers, backing her toward the bedroom.

Chessa’s bare feet skidded on her wood floor as she dug in her heels, but he swept her along, through her bedroom into the bathroom, all the while punishing her lips with a brutal kiss.

When the edge of the tub brought them up short, he reached behind her and yanked aside the shower curtain. “Turn it on.”

Dumbly, she reached behind her, fumbling to turn the knob, finally sending a spray of water that misted around them before he lifted her above the rim of her tub to set her inside.

Nicolas tore at his clothes, dropping them at his feet, then stepped beside her in the stall, crowding her against the cool tile walls with lukewarm water falling all around them. “Any more objections?” he asked, in his oddly rasping voice.

She shook her head, overwhelmed and mute with rising desire. Her body already strained toward his. Her breasts swelled, her nipples ruching tight and hard. Her legs trembled, and her sex released a trickle of fragrant moisture she couldn’t deny.

His hands reached around her and grasped her bottom, lifting her off her feet, crushing her breasts to his chest, her mound against the base of his rigid cock.

With his erection pressing into her belly, any objection was obliterated. She flung out her arms and gripped his shoulders, aiding him as he angled her body toward his and thrust his cock between her legs.

Chessa groaned as he slid inside her. “Bastard, we had a deal.”

His response was a flex of his hips to thrust hard inside her, tunneling deep, pressing higher until the strength of his hips and cock had her feet dangling above the porcelain bottom of the tub.

When he’d reached inside her as far as he could, he wrapped his arms around her, squeezing away her breath and laid his cheek alongside hers, his chest heaving.

She shivered from arousal so strong it nearly choked her and from fear of whatever had shaken Nicolas to his core. She’d never seen him like this. “What is it? What’s happened?”

His head drew away, and his gaze burned as it slid to her lips. “Later,” he groaned.

Again, the wildness in his gaze and the tension that gripped his broad shoulders and arms as he held her unsettled her. This wasn’t Nicolas with his sardonic quips and ever-watchful gaze. Accustomed of late to him showing up at unexpected times to tempt her, this was different.

He was frightened.

Although tempted to argue, to chide him and try to drive him away, she wound her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, and pulled him close, dragging his head down to bury against her shoulder.

If she were honest with herself, she was glad he’d come.

Not that she was ready to be anybody’s rock. She had problems of her own. A life to sort out. One far away from the vampire enclave at Ardeal.

Nicolas was entrenched in that life, but she had broken free decades ago and had vowed she’d never go back. Whatever was bothering him now wasn’t her problem.

But she could hold him and let his warmth and strength provide her comfort as well. She had her own needs and a desolate loneliness that had filled her when she’d shut her apartment door hours earlier and realized the only friend she’d had in the world was lost to her forever.

“Stop thinking,” he growled.

“Just fuck me,” she bit out, meeting his hard gaze with a glare of her own.

Their hips churned together in a desperate coupling. Not at all the sexy, teasing pummeling she’d come to expect—that in itself was an indication of his upset. His movements lacked finesse. He gave no thought for her pleasure, which he was always so careful to draw out—torturing her with her own desire.

Instead, his hands gripped her ass hard, pushing her up and down his cock, grinding her back against the cool tiles as he powered into her.

When he came, his eyes squeezed tight, his body grew rigid, and he held his breath for one endless moment. After his pulsing release waned, he dropped his forehead against the tiles. “Get out.”

Surprised at the harshness of his voice, she didn’t question him, just unwound her legs from his waist and slid down his body. She stepped out of the tub to dry herself with a towel while he remained inside, drawing the curtain closed behind him.

She couldn’t think of a thing to say. Despite the humid air inside the room, she shivered.

Damn. It sure as hell felt like she cared about the fact he’d tossed her out of her own shower.

I have a new release! It’s sexy, features an ex-Army vampire, and it’s set in post-apocalyptical Texas! What more could you want? Oh right, did I tell you it’s sexy? And not terribly long if you’re looking for a quick afternoon read. Did I mention it’s FREE in KU Unlimited?

I hope you’ll give the story a read, and if you have time, review it. Readers trust other readers…

No Tender Mercy

Read an excerpt | Order your copy here!

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I’m busy writing to “The End” of No Tender Mercy! There’s no pressure like release dates to get my fingers moving!

If some of you missed the first Texas Vampires story, Her Sanctuary, it’s a great time now to pick up your copy. Kate and Ty are featured in this story too, but it’s Diego’s turn to find the human of his dreams. 🙂

Here’s the info about Book #1:

Get your copy here!

Both are set in Post-Apocalypse Texas where werewolves and vampires are thriving during a nuclear winter. I had fun with book #1, describing ranch-life, cowboys on horses, trying to survive. This time, the gang is at Fort Davis, Texas. So—vampire soldiers protecting human refugees. Did I mention the stories are erotic romances? Yes, fun times. These stories are shorter (and cheaper) than my bounty hunters—a quick afternoon’s read!

No Tender Mercy

Pre-order your copy here!

Who says the apocalypse has to be the end of good times?

For Diego, the career his father had insisted was his destiny turned out to be the perfect preparation for the end of times. The Army made him a warrior—and then it turned him into a monster.

Excerpt from No Tender Mercy…

Diego Salazar strode through the Operations Building, needing to get outside, needing the night air to revive him. He felt edgy, bordering on reckless. Deadly emotions—for anyone around him, that was. Worse, he was bored.

He passed the Comms room but didn’t glance inside. Kate McKinnon was manning the radio, flipping through channels, trying to find other survivors, who’d been like her—needful of rescue and protection. She’d found her calling since arriving at the post; Diego didn’t feel the same sense of urgency about finding lost souls in the wilderness. Hadn’t he offered enough to mankind?

He kept moving, walking swiftly past the Ops conference room, where his best friend, Ty Bennett, was giving the nightly briefing to the roving patrol. Same ole-same ole: watch for breaks in the fences, report any signs of infiltration, make sure no vampires abused their hosts, blah-blah-blah. He pushed through the exit, stepped outside, and took a deep breath.

Instantly, he felt alive, alert. Freed by the darkness. His glance shot upward.

Moonlight glowed silver behind a black cloud, the only illumination in an otherwise dark sky. Although meager, the moonlight bathed his face, giving him calm as well as a surge of energy.

Diego stared at the sky, admiring the way the moon’s rays backlit the thinner wisps of cloud cover then disappeared completely behind the thick tufts of charcoal gray. Clouds that rarely held rain. He had always loved looking at the night sky. When he’d been younger, he’d owned a telescope and had spent many late nights searching for the objects on Messier’s list of astronomical objects, trying to tick them off because finding them all would’ve proven to himself that his future held more than his father had already decided. In this endless night, he missed seeing stars. Before the world had gone to shit, he’d taken for granted the glorious sight of the Milky Way stretched across the sky. What he wouldn’t give for a glimpse of that majesty…

Glimpses of a starry sky had been few and far between for years now.

Feeling tense again, Diego patted his jacket pockets, found his pack, and shook out a cigarette. Once it was lit, he took long drags off the cigarette, pulling until the glowing ring reached the filter. He didn’t like wasting a millimeter of a smoke because, soon, the stash he’d squirreled away over months of supply heists would be gone. Smoking was the one last guilty pleasure he allowed himself. A middle finger thrust straight into the air at life. Once upon a time, he’d denied himself this particular sin because he’d cared about his health. However, dying of cancer was no longer a concern—one good thing that had come of the decision he’d made in the final days before The Apocalypse had created an eternal night.

The career his father had insisted was his destiny as a Salazar had turned out to be the perfect preparation for the End of Times. The Army had made him a warrior—and then it had turned him into a monster so that he could fight other monsters.

He dropped the cigarette then ground it beneath the heel of his boot. He was sure Ty, the elected commander of this regiment, although they no longer used their military titles, would be looking for his sitrep soon. While no longer part of the U.S. Army, they had to maintain the same discipline and order. Without rules, they could easily devolve. Their altered natures already tempted them to push against the bounds of civilized behavior. More than one of their unit had been “put down” when they’d surrendered to their darker appetites.

When the keys to the fortress had been handed to them as the Army abandoned this western post, they’d made the decision to continue their mission. Partially to protect innocents trapped in this wasteland but mostly to give themselves a purpose, so they’d stay on the narrower path. They were the last outpost in the New Frontier. While the civilian populations had congregated for safety in the eastern cities, they’d remained to protect any last vestiges of human populations from the wolves and the human predators that roamed the West.

Just a week ago, they’d left the safety of their post to rescue stragglers to the south from a ranch near Tierney, Texas. Kate, a few of her ranch hands, and three families had accepted their offer of shelter. Kate was now Ty’s woman. She’d brought horses and a breeding pair of cattle to begin a new herd inside the fence. How they’d feed the animals was still to be determined. The sky remained filled with dark clouds, and the grass within the fort’s boundaries was sparse and withered. At least, the rabbits the mess unit bred in cages had vegetable scraps from the indoor greenhouse they kept lit in a helicopter hangar, powered by the wind. No humans would die from lack of food here. In addition to the rabbits and vegetables they grew, they had a storage warehouse full of old rations. The hope was that the skies would clear enough to let sunshine pierce the gray clouds, so that, one day, life could return to a semblance of normal for the humans. Then they could grow gardens and raise livestock in greater abundance to survive until civilization returned.

The thought neither Ty nor Diego ignored was that sunshine would likely spell the end of the vampires when humans no longer needed their protection.

The vampires outside the post’s fences weren’t winning any popularity contests. As feral as the wolves, their indiscriminate killing kept the humans inside from fully trusting the soldiers, even those who had remained human and understood why some of their brothers had been turned; they were all treated with suspicion by the refugees.

For now, the turned soldiers and the humans shared a symbiotic relationship. The living fed the vampires. The vampires provided their superior senses, speed, and strength to keep the humans alive.

Which reminded him that he needed to eat. His stomach felt hollow, which made his mood dark. Until he was replenished, he’d snap out of irritation at the slightest provocation. He strode toward the mess hall. A room to the side of the cafeteria was kept for feedings. Human guards supervised the vampires’ meals to ensure the safety of those who volunteered their blood.

He wondered who’d be available. Ty was fortunate to have his own blood whore, although Diego would never call her that in front of him. Kate provided some of his friend’s needs, but Ty still needed other donors so he didn’t sap her strength.

The families that had come from Sanctuary Ranch had been leery of the arrangement, at first, and since Ty had promised that no one would be forced to provide for them, they’d been slow to volunteer.

Until they’d learned from the human soldiers that there was pleasure in giving. At first, the males had volunteered, “sacrificing” for their families. Then one husband had brought his wife, and they’d shared the pleasure. Now, all three families donated regularly. Only the children were left completely off-limits. A rule that was strictly enforced. If a vampire were to drink from a child, the penalty was death.

The door to the “blood mess” was open, and light from a gas lantern beckoned. When he stepped inside, he found a lone female sitting in an armchair, a book opened on her lap. She glanced up as he entered, and a pretty blush crept up from her neck to fill her cheeks.

She was a plain woman—full hips, small breasts, hair neither blond nor brown. Late thirties, he’d have guessed, but knowing the hardships she’d faced to survive, she could be younger.

Already, her heart thudded loudly.

The guard was asleep with his head thrown back and his mouth open. Diego would make sure his squad leader handled that problem, but for now, he liked that they wouldn’t have a witness.

“Melissa, isn’t it?” he asked softly.

She nodded, glanced quickly at the still sleeping guard then back at Diego. Was she afraid?

When she tilted her head toward the doorway, he understood. She wanted a little something more in return for her “gift.”

His mouth stretched into a smile, and he held out his hand to help her up from her chair. The moment her warm fingers slid across his skin he started getting hard.

She’d showered. Her hair and body smelled like strawberries. Her blond-brown hair gleamed in the golden light, but he led her through the doorway into the darkened cafeteria.

“I haven’t seen you here before,” he said.

“It’s my first time,” she whispered.

He chuckled to put her at ease. “A virgin?”

“Hardly, but…yes.”

“I’ll be gentle.”

Her fingers pressed against his, and her pulse sped. “You don’t have to be.”

Diego grinned in the dark.

Sometimes, he enjoyed being the apex predator. Who said The Apocalypse couldn’t be fun?

At last, at last!

I hope you enjoy reading about Eli falling in love and finding his “fated mate”. Yes, it’s a contemporary romance, but sometimes, a guy really does have just one woman who can reach inside his chest and squeeze the hell out of his heart. Eli finds her in this story.

I’m six books into this series, and I’m still having a blast writing about bounty hunters, but, as I’ve said before, the secret has been making sure I have unique characters every time. No cookie cutters. This time around, my hero is a very reserved man. Someone accustomed to experiencing life at a distance. He’s a former sniper for the SEALs and has closed off his emotions and his ability to connect with the people around him. That is, until he meets his perfect match—a fiercely independent sheriff’s deputy, who with the arch of an eyebrow and a direct, unwavering stare captures his attention. He’s the first “silver fox” of the series, so I enjoyed that aspect as well. In the meantime, there are lots of sexy times, lots of funny shit happening, and of course, we have the Dead Horse crew and townsfolk to add dimension to the excitement.

I hope you enjoy reading about my silver fox! And if you have time, I’d really appreciate it if you’d leave a review. Reviews aren’t for me, they’re for other readers who need to know about your experience with the story. I can say it’s sexy and fun, but readers believe other readers.

Eli

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.

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Plus, it’ll be FREE in KU!