UPDATE: The winner is…Colleen C.!
*~*~*

Reminder

These contests and offers are still active—but not for long!

1. Open Contests & FREE Short Story! — This offer ends soon! Get your FREE short story!
2. Thom Collins: The Anthem Box Set (Contest—3 Winners!) — This offer ends soon! Get a FREE box set of books!
3. Coming Tuesday! HOT SEAL, DECOY BRIDE, a SEALs in Paradise story! (Contest) — Win FREE SEALs in Paradise story!
4. Reina Torres: An Idea, Some Spare Parts, and a Little Bit of Magic (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
5. Diana Cosby: Nature – Amazing Muse Inspiration (Contest) — Win a SIGNED book!

Another Reminder!

I have a new release! If you love a funny, fast-paced, sexy story, this one’s for you!

A former Navy SEAL is teamed with a feisty ex-Marine to provide protection for a Greek tycoon’s daughter to make sure the bride gets safely to her destination wedding…

Former Navy SEAL, Trigger Matthews, now a special operator with Justin Ballard’s Black Knight Security in New Orleans, is teamed with a feisty ex-Marine as part of the protection detail for a Greek tycoon’s spoiled daughter. The prickly woman proves to be a challenge he’s eager to explore.

Due to her uncanny resemblance to their client’s daughter, Cassandra Locke is tasked with being a “decoy bride”, a job that sees her going through some matrimonial hoops while fighting her growing attraction for her partner for this operation. Together, they create diversions to make sure the real bride has a chance to prepare for her coming nuptials.

Both loners, and unaware of the fact that they are indeed lonely, Trigger and Cass find out they have many more qualities in common, including an inability to stay away from each other. As the real bride’s day draws closer, they learn that she’s more than a girl born with a silver spoon in her mouth and find unexpected friendships along the way.

When danger draws nearer, they must trust each other’s strengths to get them through it.

Get your copy now!
Read an excerpt!
Also available in print!

The Puzzle Contest!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle and then tell me a story about what you think the picture means!

As a lover of history, the line, “The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.” from William Faulkner’s Requiem for A Nun, thrills me. Why? Because I believe what has gone before is not only always present, but also has the power to control the present. When I look at this picture I took from the Brooklyn promenade where the World Trade Center used to stand, the truth of Faulkner’s line hits home. That sky isn’t empty. It’s full of the lives lost, the lives forever affected by those losses and will always be.

Having been a minister, I’m already predisposed to accept realities that go beyond the five senses. After all, the core belief of my religion is that over 2000 years ago a man named Jesus was crucified dead and was buried then rose again. It’s not just the knowledge of that sacrifice that gives the Christian power, but the belief that the energy released through that act reaches through time and enables me to heal through the laying on of hands or casting out demons by invoking Jesus’ name. It’s as if a nuclear bomb had been set off 2,000 years ago, and the aftershocks from the blast are still being experienced.

In Requiem For A Nun, one character tries to escape her past by claiming she’s no longer the person she was. But the lawyer who speaks the line is telling her you can’t escape the past. It’s always present. For my mind that’s not always bad. Energy from the past can be used for good or ill; which one depends on your level of awareness.

No wonder I enjoy writing ghost stories as Anna M. Taylor. Well, stories dealing with spirits or supernatural energy to be more accurate. Humans enter a situation, oblivious to or in denial about the past that is not dead, that is not past. Their level of awareness, i.e., ability to accept that alternate and concurrent reality, determines if things are going to end up good for them or ill.

That’s why in real life forgiving, repenting, remembering, and celebrating are such powerful and necessary acts. In these actions we name the past, which never died, and then harness the power of its presence for good. Think about it. When you feel guilty for something you’ve done wrong, don’t you feel weighed down? But let someone say, “That’s alright. I forgive you.” What happens to that weight? Aren’t you freed up emotionally, spiritually, and — in some cases because we can develop psychosomatic symptoms — physically, as well? The past while still present no longer has power over you. How about when you’re remembering an event, either sad or happy? Doesn’t the recollection bring an energy with it that has nothing to do with you? You’re engaged in the moment. It’s as if it’s happening right then and there. The ever-present spirit of the past is being tapped into. The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past. Never was.

Haunted Serenade

All the women in Anora Madison’s family have lived as “Poor Butterflies”: women still longing for but deserted by the men they loved. Determined to be the first to escape a life of abandonment, Anora fled Harlem for Brooklyn, severing her ties with her mother, Angela, and with the man who broke her heart, Winston Emerson, the father of her child.

Six years later, she comes back to Harlem to make peace, but a malignant spirit manifests itself during the homecoming, targeting her mother, her aunt, Winston, and their little girl. Determined to stop the evil now trying to destroy all she loves, Anora must finally turn to Winston for help. But will their efforts be too little too late?

Pre-order your copy!

Excerpt from Haunter Serenade

“I never understood how you and Elizabeth could stay here after Diana…” I couldn’t bring myself to say the word. My mother didn’t finish my sentence for me. Apparently she couldn’t say the word either.

Suicide.

We waited in the shared silence, unable more than unwilling to offer terms of peace.

“A person can will themselves to die,” my mother said. Her gaze drifted to the album cover in my hands. “It’s not so hard where unforgiving spirits reign.”

My gut clenched. “Do you really believe you’re dying, Ma?”

“According to my doctor, I’m sound as a dollar. But when you’ve got more days behind you than in front of you, that’s not saying much.” She directed her gaze to me. “That’s why Cammie is so important. She’s the future. I feel better just having been in her presence a little while.”

“I should have known.” I gripped the album cover with fingers trembling with anger and disappointment. “All that display of affection…you’re only using her to make you feel better.”

“No, Anora.” My mother came over and grabbed my arm with an earnestness that surprised me. “It’s not like that. I—I want the ghosts keeping us apart to die. Don’t you?”

I wanted it so much it hurt. I grimaced but nodded.

“Cammie took one look at this house and asked if it was haunted.”

My mother snorted. “Out of the mouths of babes.”

“Exactly what I thought.” I returned the album cover to its resting place.

Resting place.

The term troubled my mind. Can the spirit of anyone who dies the way my aunt died ever rest?

The question went unanswered, interrupted by my daughter’s screams.

*~*~*

Website: www.annamtaylor.webs.com
Facebook: @annamtaylorAuthor

Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/3aXifyu

I hate to be one more person talking about quarantine or lack of supplies on a store shelf. Like you, I’m sick and tired of hearing news reports or Facebook posts about the state of our world right now. I’m to the point where I actually mute the radio when a deejay comes on, because they always mention the importance of staying safe.

But I’m talking about staying SANE. For me, right now, that’s hard. Writing is my sanity. An escape, a place to go and be with new characters I love and become friends or fall in love with them. But lately, my focus is totally bombed. I look out the window and see yard work that needs doing, and I want to do that instead. I see a layer of dust in my office and groan out loud.

So many of my friends are spring cleaning. While I haven’t gotten that bored or crazy, I have to admit Goodwill might be overrun with all the bags I already purged from our hall closet and my son’s wardrobe. In the course of organizing the world around me into something I better understand, I realized it’s high time that I organized my bookshelf as well. No, not the ones holding paperback copies of all my books. I mean my backlist. MY ENTIRE BACKLIST.

After you’ve written many novels, you sometimes forget which one falls into what series. That got me thinking about why they’re part of that series in the first place. Mostly because years ago I wrote a book and said, hey this fits here. Lately, I wondered if that was true, so I started playing with my titles. That meant stripping down various series and seeing what exactly was going on. As well as asking myself…if I was a reader, what makes more sense?

In the end, I separated a huge grouping of ménage a trois novels—7 of them. Now those are the Ménage à Trouble series. I had a handful of novellas, all featuring cowboys, one of my all-time favorite heroes to write. Who doesn’t love a hat and those buns in Wranglers, hmmm? (I’ve gotten off track. See—I told you my focus is off.) The novellas fit together into the Hardworking Heroes Novellas series. And…that left 4 orphan books. Which broke my heart. All 4 books are solid romances featuring very rugged men. I love them all. So how to organize them…?

We think about organizing as grouping similar objects. All the sand toys go here and the pasta goes here on the pantry shelf. But books seemed harder to me. After days of fretting over these poor homeless books, I finally hit on what makes them all fit together. Each and every one is a second chance romance. BAM! Another Shot at Love series came to light, and I plopped 3 of those into the series, with one in the stages of a rewrite.

Finding a solution for this brain-twisting dilemma made me realize that maybe I’m not as unfocused as I thought. I’m focusing—just on different things right now. And you all are too, I’m sure. I think what I’m trying to convey here is that while you might feel very off-kilter in your methods right now, you are doing what you’re meant to be doing at this point in time.

Even if it’s different, roll with it and be kind to yourselves. In the end, you might look back and find that all your homeless ideas have found a very good spot to live inside your brain.

Much love to all and be sure to escape in books!
Em Petrova

His to Shelter

Eighteen years is a long time to never forget…

Retired Navy SEAL Oswald “Oz” Morgon assembled an elite team of men with skills far surpassing those of ordinary bodyguards. To save and protect is a creed that goes beyond simply guarding their wards—it’s a way of life. And these guys are his heart and soul, his brothers…and the family he’ll never have. Now, his next call is to find the one woman who always had a grip on his heart. Eighteen years ago, he walked away from her. But she’s thrown back into his arms—and under his protection.

As a JAG Corps Officer, Rose Kilbourn never expected to be kidnapped for doing her job. And there’s only one man who can save her. Back in the day, she believed Oz was the man for her. Then he vanished, leaving her with a secret she can’t confide to another soul on Earth.

If Oz had chosen a different path, he might have Rose now. But a man who’s lied, cheated and killed to save those he guards doesn’t deserve the sweetness of a woman like Rose. Still, he can’t help but steal moments while he can, and Rose can’t bring herself to walk away from the happily ever after she always wanted. Now she must decide whether or not to use her secret to ensnare the wild man who must protect her or die trying.

Get your copy here!

About Em Petrova

Em Petrova was raised by hippies in the wilds of Pennsylvania but told her parents at the age of four she wanted to be a gypsy when she grew up. She has a soft spot for babies, puppies and 90s Grunge music and believes in Bigfoot and aliens. She started writing at the age of twelve and prides herself on making her characters larger than life and her sex scenes hotter than hot.

She burst into the world of publishing in 2010 after having five beautiful bambinos and figuring they were old enough to get their own snacks while she pounds away at the keys. In her not-so-spare time, she is fur-mommy to a Labradoodle named Daisy Hasselhoff.

Find More Books by Em Petrova on her Website.
And Follow On:
Goodreads
Amazon Author Page
FB Fan Page
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SUBSCRIBE
Bookbub

UPDATE: The winner is…Linda Richter!
*~*~*

©Diana Cosby 2020

As a writer, refilling my muse is important, and I’ve found that walks in nature are amazing muse inspiration.

Surrounded by flowers, lush grass at the pond, the cool breeze through the trees in the woods, or the tang of salty air at the marsh, each journey is special.

With the birds migrating, it’s exciting as each day, I never know what I’m going to see.

During spring, birds are building nests, while other animals are tending to their young.

Nature is magical, and I’m continually in awe of the incredible wildlife that I see.

Each day as I step outside, I can’t wait to see what inspiration nature will offer my muse.

About the Author

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

After her career in the Navy, Diana dove into her passion – writing romance novels. With 34 moves behind her, she was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people she’s met throughout the world. After the release of the bestselling MacGruder Brothers series, The Oath Trilogy, and the first four books of The Forbidden Series, she’s thrilled with the release of book #5, Forbidden Realm.

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

Contest

***ONE winner will be drawn from everyone who posts on my guest blog post about, ‘Nature – Amazing Muse Inspiration,’ on Delilah’s blog between 20 May 2020 – 31 May 2020. The winner will receive a signed copy of His Woman.

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

The second book in the Wedding Editions of the SEALs in Paradise series is out! Elle James’s Bachelor Party was first! In Decoy Bride, you’ll see familiar faces, although you don’t have to have read the first story to enjoy it! I hope you’ll pick up a copy! And when you’re finished, I’d really appreciate it if you left a review of the story. Let me know also whether there are characters inside the story that you’d love to see more of. I think there are a few… 🙂

Hot SEAL, Decoy Bride

A former Navy SEAL is teamed with a feisty ex-Marine to provide protection for a Greek tycoon’s daughter to make sure the bride gets safely to her destination wedding…

Former Navy SEAL, Trigger Matthews, now a special operator with Justin Ballard’s Black Knight Security in New Orleans, is teamed with a feisty ex-Marine as part of the protection detail for a Greek tycoon’s spoiled daughter. The prickly woman proves to be a challenge he’s eager to explore.

Due to her uncanny resemblance to their client’s daughter, Cassandra Locke is tasked with being a “decoy bride”, a job that sees her going through some matrimonial hoops while fighting her growing attraction for her partner for this operation. Together, they create diversions to make sure the real bride has a chance to prepare for her coming nuptials.

Both loners, and unaware of the fact that they are indeed lonely, Trigger and Cass find out they have many more qualities in common, including an inability to stay away from each other. As the real bride’s day draws closer, they learn that she’s more than a girl born with a silver spoon in her mouth and find unexpected friendships along the way.

When danger draws nearer, they must trust each other’s strengths to get them through it.

Get your copy now!
Read an excerpt!
Also available in print!

More Hot SEALS on the way! Pre-order now!

Hot SEAL, Bachelor Party by Elle James
Amazon: https://bit.ly/BPHSBPAMZ
iBooks: https://bit.ly/BPHSBPAPPLE
Nook: https://bit.ly/BPHSBPNOOK
Kobo: https://bit.ly/BPHSBPKOBO

Hot SEAL, Decoy Bride by Delilah Devlin
Amazon: https://amzn.to/36Ks291
APPLE: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1497210586
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hot-seal-decoy-bride-delilah-devlin/1136286286
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hot-seal-decoy-bride

Hot SEAL, Runaway Bride by Cat Johnson
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hot-SEAL-Runaway-Bride-Romantic-ebook/dp/B07XB3J3QJ/
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/hot-seal-runaway-bride/id1462469622
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hot-seal-runaway-bride-cat-johnson/1132250756?ean=2940161402375
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hot-seal-runaway-bride

Hot SEAL, Cold Feet by Becca Jameson
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084D76SXM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i31
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hot-seal-cold-feet
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hot-seal-cold-feet-becca-jameson/1136295939?ean=2940163059751
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/hot-seal-cold-feet/id1497397358

Hot SEAL, Best Man by Parker Kincade
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2uTjL5m
Apple: https://smarturl.it/HSBMAPPLE
Nook: https://smarturl.it/HSBMBN
Kobo: https://smarturl.it/HSBMKOBO

Hot SEAL, Confirmed Bachelor by Cynthia D’Alba
Amazon: https://amzn.to/37L3U7B
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hot-seal-confirmed-bachelor
books2read.com: https://books2read.com/u/bpOKgk (THIS ONE LINKS TO ALL OF THEM)
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w?ean=2940163031887
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/hot-seal-confirmed-bachelor/id1497356729

Hot SEAL, Taking the Plunge by Teresa Reasor
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3b0zv7i
Apple: https://apple.co/2UiSZxV
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2UgX0TR
Nook: https://bit.ly/2RPwteo

Hot SEAL, Undercover Groom by MaryAnn Jordan
Amazon: https://smarturl.it/MaJGroomSSAmazon
Apple: https://smarturl.it/MaJGroomSSApple
Kobo: https://smarturl.it/MaJGroomSSKobo
Nook: https://smarturl.it/MaJGroomSSNook

It’s been a tough couple of months for all of us. We all need an escape, something to help us relax. I’ve been reading a lot—it’s what I do. But it’s also a great time to watch movies, especially older movie series. Maybe you’ve them, maybe you haven’t. Either way, pop some corn, grab some chocolate, and watch them for the first time or enjoy them again.

Lord of the Rings—If you haven’t seen these films, you really need to. I’ve seen them over a half dozen times…probably more. They are amazing feats of cinematic magic. Fantasy, epic battles, good versus evil, unforgettable characters, and a beautiful love story. And let’s not forget Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn.

In order: The Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.

Underworld—If you’re a fan of the paranormal, you have to see these films. The heroine is kickass. The first three movies are the best. The final two lack the punch of the original two.)

In order: Underworld, Underworld: Evolution, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Underworld Awakening, Underworld: Blood Wars.

The Bourne series—You have to love Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. Lots of amazing action.

In order: The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Legacy (with Jeremy Renner) and Jason Bourne.

Pirates of the Caribbean—I love Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. These films are action-packed and filled with so much fun, not to mention a wonderful love story.

In order: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End, On Stranger Tides, and Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Indiana Jones—Harrison Ford makes us all want to be archeologists in these amazing movies. Drama, adventure, good versus evil, and so much fun. (The first three were wonderful, but I didn’t enjoy the last one as much.)

In order: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

If these don’t suit, here are a few more you might check out: Star Wars, Rocky, Die Hard, Terminator, Hunger Games, John Wick, and Rambo. And if you’re feeling really ambitious, why not go back to the beginning and watch all the Avengers movies.

What are some of your favorite movie series?

And if you’re looking for something to read, you might want to check out ARCTIC BITE, the second book in my Forgotten Brotherhood series, out now.

Arctic Bite
Forgotten Brotherhood, Book Two

Being immortal doesn’t mean you can’t die. It just means you’re damn hard to kill.

When Alexei Medvedev joined the Forgotten Brotherhood—paranormals hired to assassinate other paranormals—he knew it wouldn’t be a cake walk. But his next target is one of Death’s own Reapers gone rogue. For the first time since he started this gig, “damn hard to kill” feels more like “damn near impossible.”

Tracking Cassie Dobbs brings him to a remote bar in small-town Alaska, where this hot-as-hell Reaper is casually serving drinks, as if she doesn’t have a bounty on her head from Death himself. Alexei is dangerously intrigued. Everyone in the Brotherhood knows the first rule: don’t fall for your target.

But Alexei soon has bigger problems to face than an unexpected attraction. They only send assassins after those who deserve to die…or so he’s been made to believe. Now that he’s met Cassie, though, he’s not so sure.

What if everything he’s been told is a lie, and the person he’s been sent to kill is the only one who knows the truth?

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0867QY8W2/
Entangled: https://entangledpublishing.com/artic-bite.html
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/arctic-bite-n-j-walters/1136703731
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/arctic-bite
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/arctic-bite/id1504086378

About the Author

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

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

UPDATE: The winner is…Pansy Petal!
*~*~*

My degree is in Costume Design and Construction, so I make the BIG MONEY! Just kidding, but you knew that already. What I love about costuming, especially on a big scale with a small budget, is just how creative you have to be.

I guess, when you look back at my life, my passion has been in the arts. I was a type-A student for the academics stuff, but I loved the arts. As I grew older, it wasn’t just being a dancer or an actress, the background/technical theater “stuff” became my new focus.

Now, I never made a living as a costumer, but when my son was in middle school, they did a small scale production of Pirates of Penzance. There was already a costumer on the show, but I enjoyed finding cheap alternatives for costumes… and that continued on into my son’s high school years. When they did a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I had a blast!

But I also had a huge headache!

How do you take $600 dollars and make a complete production with one seamstress (me) and my costume assistant (my son)? Well, my mother’s curtains became Peaseblossom’s bodice and hood, a bag of ripped T-shirts from Goodwill were cut into leaves for Oberon’s costume so he could hide as part of the forest…and on and on…

But my biggest “make it work” moment was Bottom’s donkey head. It started out as a random concept of putting foam on a hat and then adding the “skin.” So out I went to get foam scrap, some super glue, a yard of grey felt, and a few random odds and ends.

I had to chop the foam and stick it here and there on the baseball cap from my son’s peewee days, and then carve away the mound of foam until it looked like a donkey head. It’s a random, learn-as-you-go process, but that head cost me less than ten dollars and it was a complete labor of love…and creativity.

Now, why am I telling you all of this?

Well, writing a short story, for me, follows the same process.

Get the idea, gather some parts (plot points), and start adding in the magic. For the First Response: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology I started with the idea…a rescue.

Firefighters. Good one.

Oh, a firefighter rescuing a firefighter. Okay…then what?

Rival firehouses? Okay…that’s good for conflict!

Maybe they knew each other in the Academy? And they were almost a thing? Okay, okay, keep it coming. And now that he…no, now that she pulled his hot ass from the frying pan…oh…someone’s getting lucky! Oh, wait! No, they both are!

Once I had those pieces together, I realized I needed more pieces. I went to a talk done by Kristin Higgins’ husband about firefighters, and when I asked him for his advice about what kind of an accident would require time off but not endanger his job or career, he answered and I’m so grateful.

All of this for a short story?

Yep! Absolutely! And writers? We do it over and over again. It’s a rush, it’s a drudge, it’s a crazy random happenstance sometimes! So, here’s hoping you’ll order your copy of First Response: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology and discover the rollercoaster that I took Webb & Gina on!

You’ll also see them in my Center City First Responders Series! So make friends with them now!

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope you’ll enter the giveaway, too!

Contest

Sometimes, we have to create on the fly. A missing ingredient in a recipe. Or a Halloween costume created from some bedsheets and bungee chord? Tell me what’s a moment that made you celebrate your own creativity!!

Win your choice of one of my books, like Justice for Sloane!