When I inserted Testing Truth into my schedule two years ago, I had quite a few concerns about this story.

My cyborg series (both the first section and the cyborg space exploration section) is quite dark. It is set during war. Beings die (they ARE Romances and I believe in Happily EVER After so core couples and more are always safe). Bad things happen.

Truth, however, is a fun-loving cyborg warrior. He deals with darkness by making jokes and causing chaos. He has known loss and torture and horror but he chooses to focus on the good, the fun, the laughs.

This means any story featuring Truth won’t be overly dark in tone. He simply won’t allow that to happen. He’ll crack a joke and the tone will become light again.

I worried, two years ago, reading buddies wouldn’t embrace this lighter story.

Then the Great Pause happened.

I know I can’t deal with super dark-toned stories at the moment. The world is dark enough.

I’ve been reading lighter stories. And I suspect many reading buddies have been doing the same.

Testing Truth is definitely a lighter story. There is still a high death count. Bad things DO happen. But Truth’s reactions to these events keep the tone light, the jokes flowing and the chaos happening. His heroine is a princess. Her entourage is…unusual. There’s even a mini-dragon in this story. (grins)

And, of course, Testing Truth IS a romance. There are sexy times and love and those delicious aww… moments I adore in romances. Romance is all about love and hope and optimism, something everyone would benefit from having more of today.

I believe Testing Truth is the perfect Cynthia Sax story for this time. It is the story I was meant to write and the story reading buddies were meant to read. I hope you enjoy it!

Question:  Have YOUR reading habits changed during the Great Pause? Are you reading shorter stories, longer stories, lighter stories, darker stories, re-reading more, reading more new-to-you writers, etc?

Testing Truth

A fun-loving cyborg gets serious about love.

Truth lives each moment as though it were his last. The cyborg warrior rushes into danger, teases beings he shouldn’t provoke, accepts every call of adventure he encounters.

When a prissy little human princess floats into the Rebel structure Truth is occupying, seeking a mercenary to assist her and her unusual entourage, he volunteers to be her warrior. She claims their assignment is dangerous, warns him he might not survive the task.

That is exactly the type of fun he has been seeking.

Princess Nanette of the planet Royaume must rescue her estranged brother from an enemy prison ship. That is her duty, and she has been trained to always place the needs of her planet and her subjects before her own. Nancy doesn’t have the freedom to indulge her passions for a certain dark-haired, gray-skinned cyborg. Not permanently and not publicly.

But she is unable to resist the warrior. Truth, with his laughing eyes, smiling lips, and rough hands, tempts her as no one else ever has. He could be her one fleeting act of rebellion before she’s matched with the powerful ruler her planet requires.

If they survive their current mission.

Their love is doomed. Their lifespans are at risk. This cyborg and his princess will need the help of every ally they have if they wish to see another sunrise.

Buy Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BTYN7TT
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08BTYN7TT
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08BTYN7TT
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/testing-truth/id1520415369
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/testing-truth-cynthia-sax/1137237855
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/testing-truth
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1029497

About Cynthia Sax

USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Sax writes steamy Cyborg, Alien and Contemporary Romances. Her stories have been featured in Star Magazine, Real Time With Bill Maher, and numerous best of top ten lists.

Sign up for her dirty-joke-filled monthly newsletter and visit her on the web at www.CynthiaSax.com

Website:  https://cynthiasax.com/
Newsletter:   https://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/cynthiasax/
Twitter:  @CynthiaSax
Blog:  https://tasteofcyn.com/

UPDATE: The winner is Rachel Lerner!
*~*~*

My sincere thanks to Delilah for allowing me to return to her wonderful blog and share an update of Diana Cosby’s Romance Readers Build A Habitat For Humanity Home.

A bit of background.  Romance readers are AMAZING, and SO is Habitat For Humanity, a charity that I love supporting and volunteering for.  Several years ago I thought, why not pair the two and help a deserving family receive a home?  And, the Diana Cosby’s Romance Reader’s Build A Habitat For Humanity House fundraiser was born.

I contacted the Habitat For Humanity office in Grayson County, Texas, where I’ve had the honor of helping with several builds and spoke with Laurie Mealy, Executive Director.  She embraced the project and was thrilled at the thought of pairing romance readers, who love stories where heroes and heroines overcome challenges to make their dreams come true, with making the dream of homeownership for a deserving family a reality.

Goal:  Fund an entire home – $55,000. 

I kicked off the challenge by donating $200.  As I write this, we’ve raised $22,135, which includes donations from several countries.  Romance readers are amazing, and I have complete faith that as the stories they love, they will continue to join together to raise the amount necessary to give a deserving family a home.

How it works:

As readers send donations to Habitat for Humanity of Grayson County for the ‘Diana Cosby’s Readers Build A Habitat For Humanity House of Love,’ the total contributions are updated below the house graphic on the upper right side of their homepage.  Donations can be sent via PayPal by ‘clicking’ on the house, which takes you to the donation page, or by mailing a check or money order to:

Habitat for Humanity of Grayson County
901 N. Grand Avenue
P.O. Box 2725
Sherman, TX 75091

*Please note on your donation: ‘For Diana Cosby’s Romance Readers Build A Habitat For Humanity House.’

Again, my sincere thanks to Delilah for allowing me to return to her blog, and another huge thanks to everyone for helping make an incredible difference in a deserving family’s life.  For when they walk into a Habitat For Humanity house, it’s more thank mortar and wood, but a place where they can call home.

*Photos used with permission of Habitat For Humanity Grayson County, TX.

Contest

***ONE winner will be drawn from everyone who posts on my Habitat For Humanity post on Delilah’s blog between 18 September 2020 – 27 September 2020.  The winner will receive a Mug & Tote.

About the Author

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 and The Oath Trilogy, she released the bestselling The Forbidden Series.

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

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

The winners are…Candi Kandelas, Colleen C, and Amanda Zook!
*~*~*

Protect: keep safe from harm or injury; what real men do

I guess I have a hero complex because my favorite stories are the ones with strong heroes who have a soft spot and who also will do anything they can to protect women, especially those they love. Protecting Maddie kicked off a series for me in  Susan Stoker’s Special Forces World, and brought to life Hawkeye St. John, one of my favorite heroes. Readers loved the story so much I was urged to keep it going. Well, of course! Writing about real heroes is one of the best things to do. And Maddie’s success brought readers to the other stories.

So here, for you, is a taste of all five books in the series:

Leave a comment for your choice of one of these books!

Get all the links here: desireeholt.com

Protecting Maddie

When Maddie Winslow talked a student out of his gun in her classroom, she never figured it would set off a chain of events that put her life in grave danger, and the lives of her parents.

Hiding in WitSec for thirty years, her parents thought they had beaten the odds—until the image of Maddie, an identical replica of her mother—hits the television airwaves and the people who have been seeking revenge all these years find her. Intent on learning where her mother is hiding, they break into her home and then try to kidnap her. Frightened, she goes to her friend, Zee, who once dated someone in Delta Force. She calls him to explain her friend’s situation, but he’s prepping for a mission and can’t leave the base.

Hunter “Hawkeye” St. John, a Delta Force team member, is on medical leave recuperating in Tampa and chafing for some action. When the he and Maddie meet, the sparks flying between them sizzle the air. But if Hawkeye wants to move forward with Maddie he first has to keep her safe and then eliminate the bad guys.

Protecting Cassie

Injured and discharged, he is lost…

Sam Alvarez is newly discharged from SEALs that had been his entire life. Without the Team he is lost, but a bad injury to his left arm ended his career. His rehab is slow and he resents everything. The tiny isolated cabin in Maine former SEAL John “Tex” Keenan found for him is just what he wants.

Frightened and in hiding…

Physical therapist Cassie Malone had a job she loved, great friends and a man in her life she thought was Prince Charming. Until by accident she discovered he’s one of Boston’s drug kingpins. Now she’s hiding out in tiny Castile and scared he’ll find her.

When Fate throws Cassie and Sam together, it’s a battle for him to let her help him relearn everything. His surliness is in high gear and she’s always looking over her shoulder. But neither of them counted on or expected the hot, hot attraction blazing between them.

When drug smugglers show up and put everyone in danger, including Cassie, it’s up to Sam to use his skills to take them down and save the woman he’s come to love. But can he do it before it’s too late?

Protecting Amy

She thought her past was firmly behind her…

Amy Ressler was a vivacious, outgoing person, looking forward to her first job after graduating college. Until the night her stepbrother slaughtered her entire family and thought she was dead, too. For ten years she’d been living under an assumed name in a house in Tampa with security guards and a security system. Her agoraphobia keeps her a prisoner in the house where she designs sought after video games.

Quinn Molloy couldn’t seem to find a place for himself when he left the SEALS…

He has been part of the teams for eighteen years and suddenly an injury left him with no place to go, except to visit his friends Melody and Tex Keenan. Where they introduce him online to KitCat, Amy in her online disguise, a terrified woman who needs a bodyguard.

The killer is loose…

When Matthew Baker escapes from jail the hunt is on, led by the US Marshals. But with Amy helpless in her self-imposed prison, Quinn accepts the job as her personal bodyguard, and they discover that what starts online can explode n the bedroom. As long as he can keep her alive.

Protecting Arizona

She wasn’t a no-name sex kind of woman but stress had gotten the better of her…

She’d never see him again so she could indulge every need and desire she had with this hot, sexy, intense, troubled man. Now she has to put it out of her mind as the DEA task force she’s on prepares to take down dangerous drug kingpin Luca Vasquez, coincidentally her brother-in-law. When her sister is murdered and her niece disappears, se leaves he task force to find her.

He couldn’t get the memories of the woman out of his mind…

Being a SEAL was the only thing Clint “Razor” DaCosta had known for twenty years until a disastrous mission ended his career. Now dreams of the raw sex with the passionate redhead are the only things that keep the nightmares of that mission at bay. He’s still trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life when a phone call from a friend brings him to a shocking meeting.

Passion…danger…murder…a lethal combination

No one is more shocked than Razor and Arizona when he answers her call for help. The heat is still there and it’s hard to put aside the memories of their scorching sex. But first, they must find her niece and avenge her sister’s murder. And hope they both don’t get killed in the takedown.

And the newest…

Protecting Terra

When Terra Oenning and Griffin Dunne were paired in a Department of Homeland Security Op, neither of them expected the heat that exploded between them like the cabin they were surveilling. Personal relationships have no place in their lives. Ever. Period. That’s it. Except the night the cabin blows up so does their restraint, the sex between them so hot it sets fire to the sheets.

When the trail they are following takes them to the frozen north of Maine, even that isn’t enough to cool them down, but like experienced DHS agents, they never take their eyes off their assignment. Terrorists, computer hackers and the Croatian Mafia are combining to destroy the United States and Terra and must focus on destroying them. No problem. Despite the addictive, off-the-charts sex, they are trained agents who do their job, surveilling key players and helping to set up the takedown.

But when it goes awry and Terra is caught in the crosshairs, it will be up to Griffin to rescue her, a wake-up call for both of them that maybe, just maybe, what they have between them is real.

During Facebook parties to celebrate book releases, I sometimes ask the readers, “What do you want to know about Hawaii?” As someone who was born and raised here in the islands, I know a few things…

I thought it might be fun to turn it into a weekly thing that I post in my reader group on Facebook each Wednesday and call it Wiki Wednesdays.

I’ve noticed a change over the past couple of years in romance publishing (including YA romance) with regards to the way contemporary romance is being branded. Where previously illustrated covers were mostly reserved for rather chaste “chick-lit”—a usually slightly more “literary” twist on romance novels aimed at young professional women—now illustrated covers are popping up on the covers of mainstream contemporary romance, even that which leans decidedly into the hot and explicit category.

Take FIX HER UP by Tessa Bailey with its very cute and rather innocent looking cover. I read a review that claimed it had “some of the most explicit sex I have ever read on the page”. Of course this made me buy it and heck, that reviewer is not wrong! GET A LIFE CHLOE BROWN by Talia Hibbert is another quite sexy book with this this new kind of fun illustrated cover.

So for contemporary romance, and even some historical romance (see the gorgeous cover of A ROGUE OF ONE’S OWN by Evie Dunmore), illustrated covers are the latest big trend. It doesn’t look like this will change soon. What does this mean for indie authors? Suddenly the affordable old standard stock photographic covers are competing with this fresh new look. If an author is writing indie contemporary, historical or YA romance what are their options if they want to get in on this trend?

The original illustrations used on covers like FIX HER UP cost anywhere from $500 and up. They’re just not economical for many indie authors.

This is where stock illustrations come in. Stock illustrations can be mixed and manipulated to make the covers unique and evocative of your story while still fitting current trends.  A recent cover from Cover Your Dreams, HOW TO LASSO A BILLIONAIRE, by Katharine Sadler is one example.  The price of this cover was Under $150.

If you’d like to know more about illustrated covers from Cover Your Dreams please get in touch by emailing info@coveryourdreams.net  or visit www.coveryourdreams.net.

UPDATE: The winner is… Rachelle Lerner!
*~*~*

First up, let me say thanks to Delilah for hosting me on her site today. It’s very much appreciated.

Now, let’s get into what I really want to talk about – Sci-Fi Television Shows!

If it’s out there, I’ve probably watched it. Though, I never could get into Babylon Five. I’m not sure why. I mean, it stars Kevin Sorbo.

I’m going to discuss a few of my favs, and I hope you’ll tell me in the comments what your favorites are. Show, character, movie, trope… any of it counts.

My favorite of all time, that I’ve watched too much, is probably Star Trek Voyager. I can hear the lamentations from here in my small house, but it’s my absolute fav. I love Captain Janeway. In ways, I can argue for days on how she had to face far more challenging situations than her counterparts and was under more scrutiny. Often the male captains of Star Trek had relationships, even with co-workers. Janeway held herself to a different standard, since the only humans for possible relationships were all her subordinates.

The exploration and storylines involving Amelia Earhart, the Borg, and even the possibility of the evolution of dinosaurs provided tons of interesting episodes. Add in the overarching goal of getting back to Earth and there wasn’t a season you were rooting for the crew.

Do you like Star Trek? Who’s your favorite Captain?

Speaking of aliens, let’s talk Farscape! This show came on my radar long after it stopped airing on Syfy. I didn’t have the Syfy channel as a kid, so missed out on this gem. Then I grew up and got regular cable, catching up with the series right before the final movie aired. I love John Crichton. He’s one of the smartest humans on planet Earth, but quickly finds out he’s not the smartest species around, or the most evolved. But he always has a plan. This show was filled with memorable characters, emotional moments, constant action, and great growth. Not too mention, romance.

Crichton and all the characters grow in big ways over the series, and I appreciated this in the writing since, often, shows don’t show that kind of change. The best ones do, and I often wish for more episodes, more adventures.

Did you have a favorite episode? Mine was always the multi-episode adventure where Crichton and crew visit the planet of Sebaceans, and he accidently gets engaged to a princess.

All right…now the debate… Do I talk Dark Matter or Firefly? I’m going to go with the inspiration for my ongoing series: Firefly.

Firefly is the series of my heart. Expertly crafted with amazing characters and a fabulous story. It was super short-lived and became famous too late. Cowboys in space. That’s the pitch in a nutshell. With influences of Chinese culture throughout, implying that at some point Earth was ruled by China. Add in space travel, colonization of other planets, a civil war between the ruling government and outliers gives a great back story to a band of smugglers who come from all walks of life. Their adventures stem around trying to survive, and each story is just a small piece of survival.

Everyone loves the Captain, but my favorite is probably his right hand, Zoe. She’s the woman you don’t want to mess with. Tough, beautiful, intelligent, and knows her way around weapons. She didn’t speak often, but when she did people listened.

Did you ever watch Firefly or its companion movie, Serenity? Who was your favorite character?

Contest

I asked a lot of questions today, feel free to answer them all or just one. I’m running a giveaway. One lucky commenter will win a free ebook copy of my first book in the Bad Boys of Space series, A Talent For Trouble.

The Body Collector
Book #3, Bad Boys of Space

Alexander ‘Big Al’ Smith signed on as a government body collector, illegal black marketing of body organs was supposed to be a path to early retirement… until he got caught. Loyda Miles, government investigator, seeks the truth and she’ll blackmail Al to help her capture the culprits behind the disappearances of thousands from the Saturn ring jails. In a deadly race against time, Al and Loyda must outrun government forces and discover the mastermind behind this conspiracy if they don’t want to ‘disappear’ like all the others.

Where can you buy it? https://books2read.com/u/47XBJa

Where you can find me?
Website: https://landragraf.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LandraGrafAuthor/

I Have a Secret

I read my first BDSM novel not long after getting my first e-reader.  Annabel Joseph’s novel, Molly’s Lips, changed my life.  I was pulled into the world of dominance and submission through the extreme Master/slave relationship between Molly and Mephisto.  Needless to say, I bought the first book in the series and subsequently the final book in the trilogy.  Then I went on to buy every book Annabel has ever written.  I wasn’t just a fan, I was a superfan.  I even got to meet Annabel in person—a meeting that changed my life.

Meanwhile, I started to do research into the BDSM lifestyle.  I was fascinated, and somehow knew, this was more than just a passing interest.  I wrote my In Their Eyes trilogy before I’d ever heard of Fifty Shades of Grey.  Amber Eyes is the first book in the trilogy, and I don’t think I ever believed the book would be published.

In January 2015, I went to my first munch.  A munch is a vanilla event for kinky people.  You go to a restaurant wearing street clothes, but hang out with people who are curious about or into BDSM.  Although I was nervous, I also was instantly comfortable, sensing I had met my people.  I met a woman who became my protector.  She watched out for me and guided me as I moved further and further into the lifestyle.  Pretty soon, I was attending conferences and dungeons.  Eventually, I got involved in scenes.

Shhh.  My parents don’t know.

Eventually, I revisited the trilogy I’d written, and I realized there were scenes needing to be rewritten.  Personal experience, as well as discussions I’d embarked upon, had opened my eyes.  Now, I knew what it was like to, uh, partake in scenes.  I’ll leave it to your imagination, but there are several scenes in my book that come from personal experience.

After all the changes in the book, and after extensive edits, I found a home for the book at The Wild Rose Press.  I found an editor who understood my vision, and who saw the potential in the story. I owe her for helping me make it a better book.  One I hope readers will enjoy.

So now you know my secret.

Amber Eyes

She needs a firm hand.
He needs a challenge.

School principal Gage Clayton is still grieving the death of his wife and submissive, yet he can’t ignore his Dominant needs. As he enters Club Kink, he’s inexplicably drawn to a newly released sub with an intriguing proposition and the most captivating amber eyes. But she has disturbing baggage and her expectations prove quite a challenge, one that would necessitate a commitment he’s not ready for.

Rielle Reid needs a Dom while she waits for her former Master to return. When she invites a handsome stranger to her home dungeon for a night of play, she’s surprised at his gentle dominance—and her response to it. But in the light of day, his demand for equal footing confounds her. After living four years as a twenty-four/seven slave, she has no concept of how to be anything other than property.

Gage must find a way to master Rielle to free them both from the shackles of the past.

Exclusive Excerpt

She released his hand, rose, and stretched. Leaning down, she placed a kiss to his cheek. “Come to bed soon. You’re looking as tired as I’m feeling.” Then she was gone.

In her wake, however, a wave of desire swept over him.

Come to bed soon, she said. As in, come to our bed soon? There had been no talk of sleeping arrangements, and the room she’d used the previous weekend had been cleaned, sheets laundered, everything put to rights. Sex was out of the question, but sleeping with someone? For the whole night? That held almost as much appeal.

Almost.

Cleanup was simple, and within a few minutes, he headed to the bathroom. The steam from her earlier shower had dissipated, but her scent lingered. He’d yet to put his finger on the exact scent of body spray she used, but he liked trying to guess. He loved the mystery and allure that came with the not knowing.

When he stepped into his bedroom, one of the bedside lamps was on, casting the room in shadows. She was already in bed, covers pulled up. He stripped out of his clothes and slid in beside her, cradling her against him, spoon-style. She extended a hand to switch off the light, and he stopped her.

“I don’t mind sleeping with the light on.”

“With you next to me, I don’t need the light.”

He was moved almost to the point beyond words. “I’ll always protect you. You know that, right?”

Instead of responding, she cuddled closer to him, burrowing herself under the blankets. It wasn’t long before her breath evened out and even less time after that before his did.

Links:
Amazon US:  https://amzn.to/3jf4oJd
Amazon CA:  https://amzn.to/2CasIeT
Banes and Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/amber-eyes-gabbi-black/1137343876
Google Play:  https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Gabbi_Black_Amber_Eyes?id=g-33DwAAQBAJ
KOBO:  https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/amber-eyes-11
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/amber-eyes/id1526064524?
Publisher:  https://www.thewildrosepress.com/books/amber-eyes
Add it to GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54920296-amber-eyes

About Gabbi Black

Even though Gabbi Black is a firm believer in happy endings, she makes her characters work for it in every romance she writes, no matter what the genre.  From contemporary to BDSM, they are penned late at night in her home on a beautiful British Columbia mountain surrounded by magnificent trees and every conceivable woodland creature—including bears.  She also writes gay romances as Gabbi Grey.

Personal links:
Website:   https://gabbiblack.com/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbiblack/
Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/Author-Gabbi-Black-106666354460589/
Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.ca/authorgabbiblack/boards/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/GabbiAuthor
Bookbub:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/2763198834