Bestselling Author Delilah Devlin
HomeMeet Delilah
BookshelfBlogExtrasEditorial ServicesContactDelilah's Collections

Blog

Tara Nina: Don’t Blink
Thursday, March 5th, 2015

For months, my youngest has been preparing to move to Florida. My hubby and I have joked about her leaving and how happy we’d be to have the house all to ourselves. I went along with him until now.

Now it’s a reality. She will be moving at the end of March. Her job transfer came through and she’s finishing packing. Not sure how I feel about this. Unhappy. Apprehensive. After all, she is my baby. When they said don’t blink, they’ll be grown in an instant.

It’s true.

Yesterday, we were bringing her home from the hospital all cute, tiny and cuddly, in need of our help to make her strong and teach her right from wrong.  We patched her skinned knees. Kissed her boo-boos. Watched every game of every sport she decided she wanted to play. Brushed the knots from her hair.

I’m not ready for her to leave. Where’s the handbook on how to let them go? Unfortunately, I know I have no choice. It’s a fact of life. Kids grow, mature and fly away. All I can do is hope she realizes the door is always open if she ever needs to come home. Any suggestions on how to make this easier? Besides wine. It’s not working. LOL.

Sincerely,

Tara Nina

*~*~*~*~*

tndualrelease_msr

Dual Release

Book five in the Cursed MacKinnons series.

A lead on a demonic cult lands Cait and Jenny in the arms of a pair of scrumptious twin Scottish lairds. Hot sex fueled by danger tightens their bonds with these men. But sunlight plays against them. Dour and Donnell MacKinnon are cursed. Just the girls’ luck—they finally find the perfect men and they’re gargoyles.

The cult wants the MacKinnons dead. Cait and Jenny want them in their beds. Men by night. Gargoyles by day. It’s a battle against evil these women are determined to win.

https://taranina.com
https://facebook.com/tara.nina1

Buy Link: https://www.ellorascave.com/dual-release.html

Corrina Lawson: Diversity and Phoenix Inheritance (Contest)
Wednesday, March 4th, 2015

My new paranormal romance release, Phoenix Inheritance has three things I’d never thought I’d write in a romance:

A cat, dogs, and a kid.

I suspect I’ve gone sentimental in my old age though, I promise, there is a moment when stuff blows up.  What it also has, and not for the first time, is a  main character who happens to be a person of color.

Daz Montoya, who is of mixed Filipino and African-American heritage, is the third non-white hero in my novels, joining African-American Aloysius James of Luminous and Ghosts of Christmas Past, and Gregor Sherringford, the Indian-British consulting detective in The Curse of the Brimstone Contract. One could argue Philip Drake of Phoenix Legacy is also a person of color, as he’s a quarter Native American, but if someone can pass for white, they don’t experience our society’s prejudice in the same way as one who’s recognizably the other.  Therefore, I don’t count Philip.

Daz has been around since I included him in the supporting cast for the first Phoenix Institute book, Phoenix Rising. By the time I started writing Phoenix Inheritance, I never thought “hey, I’m writing a POC as a hero.” I thought “I’m finally able to give Daz his own story. Awesome.”

However, Daz was originally part of a deliberate choice to include people of color to my Phoenix Institute universe after I’d talked to several friends who felt they weren’t being properly represented in romance. One friend, Rita-nominated author Karen Harbaugh, herself Japanese-American, is the reason the heroine of Phoenix Rising, Beth Nakamora, is Japanese-American. Why? Because Karen and the others were right: why was the fictional world so white if the real world is so diverse?

I grew up reading comics books and science fiction and fantasy novels and I know what it’s like to be missing from your favorite genre. Finding three-dimensional female characters at the heart of SF/F and superhero stories was like finding a diamond amidst mounds of coal dust.  I held close to my hear those few female characters who, even if they weren’t main characters, at least had powerful moments, like Eowyn in Lord of the Rings.  I nearly cried at 13 when I realized that Lessa in The DragonRiders of Pern was a main character. And I bought every single issue of Batman Family Comics that featured Batgirl.

So how could I write stories excluding whole swaths of people? Answer: I can’t.

But you shouldn’t buy Phoenix Inheritance because it’s a blow for diversity. You should buy the book because Daz is an awesome hero that anyone can love.

That he breaks the mold is just a bonus. Below, I hope you’ll see why I adore Daz. And you can enter to win a copy of Phoenix Inheritance by commenting here or liking my Facebook page.

PhoenixInheritance72lg

EXCERPT: CHAPTER ONE, Phoenix Inheritance.

Daz Montoya’s lungs burned with the need for air. The fifty pounds of dead weight in his backpack pushed down on his shoulders and his belly scraped the bottom of the pool. He kicked several times, short, sharp strokes designed to close the distance to his goal: the far wall. Read the rest of this entry »

Things that make me happy…
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015

IMG_7663

I was bleary-eyed this morning until I looked at my little desk companion here. Her arms were busy lifting up and down. Her only purpose—to make me smile. I’m not one of those who loves a clean desk, as you can see. I need clutter and little gadgets and toys. They all make my desk feel lived in and cozy. It’s a welcoming place, not a sterile one.

Which got me thinking about the things that make me happy, in general. I’ll list the first ones that pop into my head. Then I’d love for you to share yours!

Things that make me happy…. hearing the three girls giggling together, a cup of coffee on the porch with my dd, the fresh smell of a newly made bed, the wave of ladybugs from my flowery friend, a really spicy meal, reaching THE END in a story, giving one of my girls a piece of jewelry I made and seeing them wear it again and again, following a sign along the road to discover something I haven’t seen before, finding treasure at the flea market.

It’s not long. Most are simple things. Now, how about you?

Tamara Hunter: My Passion for Reading
Monday, March 2nd, 2015

I consider myself a voracious reader. Growing up, I lugged countless stacks of books from my hometown library. I cannot tell you how many pages my face creased because I fell asleep while reading in bed. I was the child who snuck a flashlight under the cover so I could finish reading a book. I burned quite a few batteries (not for that reason…at least not at that age). And don’t ask how many paperbacks I’ve dropped in the bath water over the years. Who knew my elbows required that much room?

Recently, I settled in for a wait at the doctor office. Hooray! A perfect opportunity to read. I search my cavernous tote bag for my iPad. Wait a minute. I know I had it when I left home. A sense of doom rolls over me quick as a dust storm. I rummage through my bag again. I can’t have lost it. Oh, Lord! Not my books. How on earth will I make it through the day without the wonderful stories I lose myself in at every opportunity?

My palms dampen. Sweat trickles between my breasts.  My throat constricts. I stand up, eager to escape the office and retrace my steps. Hopefully, I can locate my reader before someone else considers this his or her lucky day.

“Ma’am?”

I look over my shoulder.

An older lady two chairs away from me smiles and gestures at the floor. “You dropped something.”

God bless her. I want to kiss her, but it is a doctor’s office. She’s probably sick. I know I am.

Blood roars in my ears and I feel faint with relief. I pick up my precious piece of real estate which apparently rested on my lap beneath the huge tote. That’s it. I’m carrying a backpack from now on.

When I’m finally called back to see the doctor, she kindly informs me that I have the flu.

“Fantastic.” I smile from ear to ear, giving the Joker a run for his money. When the doc stares at me with a frown then writes additional notes in her file, I wonder if she’s recommending me for a psych exam.

My body can fall to pieces but as long as I have my beloved stories, all is right with the world. This passion for books is similar to the passion my heroine, Trella Arnold, has for painting.  What do you feel passionately about?

*~*~*~*~*

PaintedPassion_200x300

 

PAINTED PASSION
ISBN:  9781419949395

Excerpt Choice #1

Trella’s luminous eyes searched his as if seeking reassurance. “I’m not a damsel in distress,” she muttered.

Carlos cradled her face in his hands. “Far from it.” He touched his lips to the space between her arched eyebrows. The kiss was meant to be comforting, but as soon as his mouth made contact with her soft skin, his body’s wiring sputtered from shock.

“I know you’re strong, but we have to be smart.” Incapable of avoiding her heat, he kissed the bridge of her nose. He needed to stop before he did something he couldn’t take back.

Her fingers entwined with his. “Hector won’t get away with this.”

He kissed her right temple. “I agree.”

“We’ll take him down and anyone working for him, too.”

Her words, uttered without an ounce of mercy, fueled his arousal. Carlos was beyond ready to be turned out, burned and fried by the release of her passion. He kissed her left cheek. “He’ll have no idea what hit him.”

“We’ll nail his ass to the wall.”

He wanted, no needed to taste her. “No one pisses off my girl,” he whispered. He didn’t know when he began thinking of her in such a manner.

He touched his lips to hers, his entire being fusing with the spirit of this amazing woman. He didn’t bother fighting what he’d wanted to do since he’d arrived yesterday. He nibbled at her softness, wishing he was feasting on every inch of her.

She tensed for a second then relaxed as her mouth moved against his. She parted her lips, permitting him entrance.

He groaned at her submission. She tasted of citrus fruit, juicy and luscious. The patio, the pool, the night—everything around them disappeared, leaving him aware of nothing but her. Their tongues touched and met, and the softness of hers, sliding over his, triggered an erection that spurred him on.

He moved his hands to her waist, lifting her off the ground, their bodies melding, pelvis to pelvis. Ever since he saw her again, kissing her had been in the back of his mind. Being around each other, it was bound to happen sooner or later. He much preferred sooner.

He wanted to carry her upstairs, but the timing was wrong. He didn’t care if she kissed him out of shock. He’d take her lips on his for any reason.

Buy Links

Amazon: https://amzn.to/1xuBeeZ
Barnes and Noble: https://bit.ly/1x7Rgcz
Ellora’s Cave: https://bit.ly/1wjHxe9
All Romance Ebooks: https://bit.ly/1tK6qFT

Social Media Links
Website
Blog
Email
Twitter
Pinterest
Goodreads

Lindsay McKenna: Taking Fire — releases today!
Sunday, March 1st, 2015

lmFire

There are two black Arabian horses that figure prominently in Taking Fire.  US Marine Corps Sergeant Khatereh (Khat) Shinwari, uses them to cause havoc, attack the Taliban, protect her father’s village along the Afghan border with Pakistan.  She had two full sisters, two Arabian mares, Mina and Zorah.  Mina is her main riding horse.  Zorah is a pack-horse, carrying supplies and medicines to the villages that Khat takes care of.  She is a paramedic, as part of her training.

Khat has learned to be a shadow warrior using her sturdy, endurance trained mounts.  Mina is the one that she rides and sets up ambushes as well as sniper attacks, up in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan, near the Pak border.  With a black horse at night, it won’t be seen by the Taliban or Al-Queda soldiers.  During the daylight hours as she operates as a Shadow Warrior creating havoc for her vaunted enemy, Mina may gallop for miles along rough, narrow trails used only by goats.   Khat relies on her nimble, swift mare to carry her away from the enemy before they can find and capture her.  She has evaded her enemy for five years, lives in any number of caves to escape detection, takes care of her hardy, brave Arabians, who in turn, take care of her.

Because Khat is half Afghani, she had the blood of these warriors in her DNA.  And utilizing the Arabian horse is part of her black ops life.  Mina gets her to an ambush, and helps her escape it.  Khat cares and adores her brave and beautiful horses.  And they love her in return.

Khat needed this breed because of it’s well-known endurance.  First bred in the Middle East, the Egyptian Arabians are well known for their delicate beauty.  But their beauty is molded by thousands of years of being bred and living in the hot deserts of many countries.  There is no breed more intelligent than an Arabian.  Even today, among the Bedouins, their horses are cherished  At night, the horses come and stay with the family in their tent, an accepted part of the human household.  Over these thousands of years, because of this tight human-animal connection, Arabians are considered “people” horse breed.  The bond between people and Arabians is one of legend nowadays.  But it’s true.  I know because I bred, raised and sold Arabians in Ohio for ten years when we had our farm.  As you read Taking Fire, just know that the information on these wonderful four-legged secondary characters is all true.

Lindsay McKenna Links:
Website: https://www.lindsaymckenna.com
Blog:  https://lindsaymckenna.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lindsay-McKenna/504139729714132?ref_type=bookmark
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/lindsaymckenna
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/LindsayMcKenna
Book trailer:  https://vimeo.com/lindsaymckenna/breakingpoint/
Amazon: amazon.com/author/lindsaymckenna
Instagram:  www.instagram.com  (Lindsay McKenna)
Lindsay McKenna Newsletter:  https://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/subscription?username=lindsay.mckenna
audible.com:  The complete Wyoming Series
https://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_mn_at_ano_tseft__galileo/183-3253016-9714910?advsearchKeywords=Lindsay+Mckenna&x=0&y=0

Where did February go? (Contest)
Saturday, February 28th, 2015

Psst! If you haven’t subscribed to my newsletter, now’s the time!
A new one’s coming today! Signup

* * * * *

This never happens. Me, here at the end of the month. But it does give me a great opportunity to recap. 🙂

What’s my February been like? Snow, snow and more snow. Oh, and ice. And babysitting kids who should have been in school. Good news there is that menopausal women who babysit little ones have less chance of developing dementia. The problem is, if I spend any more time with them, I’ll want dementia!

But February’s been productive. Lots of stories spinning in my mind. Not any new stories actually started, but I did revise/expand/polish some things I’ve had lying around doin’ nuttin. If you missed them, here’s what released in February!

Short Stories!

One a week, as promised. Free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers and just $.099 for everyone else! And more are coming in March! So if you like a quick romantic/erotic fix—a story that gets straight to the point (er,his point), then these are for you!

The Obedient Wife Drive Me Crazy

The Obedient Wife: Find out what really happened between The Beauty and The Beast. Hint: It’s not your children’s fairytale!

Drive Me CrazyShe’s out for one night of passion in a trucker’s big rig…

Dr. Mullalley's Cure Dreaming by the Sea

Dr. MullaleyShe’d been warned the doctor was eccentric, but this nurse discovers his cures are of a mechanical nature…

Dreaming by the SeaA mysterious man rising from the sea awakens a woman to her past…

Longer Stories!

RulesofEngagemen_600t

Rules of Engagement (Lone Star Lovers)

This SEAL’s back in Texas and asking her to marry him one last time…

Callie Murphy’s never been one to moon over a man. Fairytale romances don’t exist outside of books and she’s seen first-hand how transitory love can be after watching her mother fall in and out of marriage.

Derek Tilden hammered home that truth when he joined the Navy to become a SEAL—he was the boy who couldn’t wait to see the world and she was the girl ready to plant deep roots. Now he’s back and asking her to marry him one last time…

Buy at Amazon — More venues coming!

Sweeter Than Honey

Sweeter Than Honey

Something’s on the rise in Two-Mule, Texas. And it ain’t just the temperature.

1880, West Texas

Honey Cafferty lives a happy, if precarious, existence as a traveling saleswoman. She sells her elixirs and potions while searching for the one thing she hasn’t been able to brew from the back of her colorful wagon—a sense of belonging. She arrives in Two Mule, Texas, with her Elixir of Love, a potion that improves a man’s libido but might just get her run out of town.

Sheriff Joe Tanner is protective of his little town. Downright hostile toward anyone who might take advantage of the fine folk under his protection. Any snake-oil salesman who rolls into town better just keep right on rolling.

Honey isn’t what Joe expected, from her vibrant red hair and cat-green eyes to her curvy mouth and hips. And when the men of the town begin to plead exhaustion—and place the blame squarely on her sweet-smelling shoulders—Joe has no choice but to launch an investigation. A very, very deep investigation…

Buy at: Samhain | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Contest

Because I’m lazy like this, my contest is going to be super simple!

Answer me this (I love this ungrammatical phrase!) for a chance to win a free download from among all my currently available short stories listed here:

Have you been dreaming of summer—hot days with sweat trickling down a cold glass of tea, you in a swimsuit beside a pool/the lake/the beach?

Heather Long: Rogue Wolf
Friday, February 27th, 2015

Heather Long

Wolves of Willow Bend
Rogue Wolf
Releasing February 27, 2015

The Italian Alpha, Salvatore Esposito, crossed an ocean and dared to venture into unfriendly territory to hunt for his missing sister in Willow Bend. He’ll do anything to get her back, even if it means he must resist chasing the fierce enforcer who wakens his primal beast…anything.

As an enforcer, Margo Montgomery monitors the lone wolves. She is in the middle of investigating missing wolves from multiple territories when the order comes in to escort the Salvatore to Willow Bend. There’s bad blood between her and the current Alpha of Willow Bend, but they soon discover a new danger—a lone wolf gone rogue.

Now Margo must hunt the rogue—a pursuit made all the more dangerous because it becomes readily apparent the rogue they seek isn’t alone and Salvatore refuses to be left behind—not when wolves are vanishing without a trace… 

Rogue Wolf

Book #4 in the Wolves of Willow Bend Series

Amazon | All Romance | Kobo | iTunes  

Series Reading Order:

Wolf at Law (Prequel)
Book 1: Wolf Bite
Book 2: Caged Wolf
Book 3: Wolf Claim
Book 4: Rogue Wolf

About the Author:

Heather Long

National bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas summertime. From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories—her characters drive the books. When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.

Contact Details:

Website: https://www.heatherlong.net
Email: heather@heatherlong.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherLongAuthor
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/HVLong

Excerpt:

Five cups of coffee and over a thousand miles later, she waited against the wall in the international arrivals area of Midway airport. Julian came through with the name of the airline—a flight via Canada—and the time of arrival. They had no photo of the Alpha and only his name. Plenty of humans stood around holding placards with names written on them. Margo didn’t bother.

The number of scents trailing around her—from the over-perfumed to the under-bathed—threatened to give her a headache. She’d taken an hour at a hotel to shower and change into fresh clothes. Fortunately, she hadn’t bloodied any clothes on her current assignment. Jeans, boots and a denim jacket over a dark green turtleneck fit for the current weather outside. She didn’t stand out, though a number of human males gave her a lingering look. Ignoring them, she scanned the new arrivals passing through the sliding glass doors with their bags.

Arms folded, she braced one foot against the wall. More arrivals spilled through the doors into the early morning light. She dismissed three men immediately. One dripped sweat, the second dripped illness, and the third—her nostrils flared—he avoided looking at anyone. She may not know her target’s appearance, but no Alpha walked with their head down and their gaze on the path in front of them.

A collection of women came through, all chattering about the delicious passenger—his height, his accent, his eyes—on their flight. Home from a holiday it would seem, and apparently the view on the plane trumped anything they’d seen on the ground.

The doors swished apart and fresh odors wafted toward her. Sampling the air, she scented him before she saw him. The hint of sweet-floral fragrance with an element of citrus, but beneath it all a distinctly masculine bite of hot sun on fur, and something her wolf couldn’t sort out.

A stream of businessmen waded through the travelers. Their suits were a dead giveaway, though so were the harried looks, cell phones in hand and rumpled appearances. Dismissing one after another, she stilled.

Awareness swept over her and she canted her head slowly to find one man had stopped a half-dozen feet away. Well over six feet in height, he towered over her five-foot-ten frame. Jet black hair crowned a deeply tanned face. Black eyes—true black, so dark she couldn’t make out a pupil—stared at her. Read the rest of this entry »