All things Footloose seem to be coming to roost at my house this year. The Kevin Bacon classic debuted in 1984. 12 years old at the time, I remember going to the opening day at a small theater, by myself, wearing white jeans and a multi-colored top. I wasn’t the only teen or pre-teen in the audience, and I wasn’t the only kid who got up to dance during a lot of the scenes.
Looking back on those days, three things stand out—the music, the freedom, and the rising tide of emotional nostalgia for when life was simply a battle between the desire to dance and the desire to keep kids safe. Yes, there’s a lot more to the argument, though admittedly the idea that dancing led to drinking and drugs was always a stretch for me.
Holding Out for a Hero
Let’s get back to the music, Bonnie Tyler’s Holding out for a Hero was a huge part of Footloose. Looking back, I have to wonder at the choice. The song served as the score for the showdown between Ren (Kevin Bacon) and Ariel’s (Lori Singer) abusive boyfriend, Chuck (Jim Youngs). So the song fits that aspect, but the showdown is played out as a glorified game of chicken on tractors.
Yep, tractors.
My 12 year old self thought that was badass, but my 45 year old self looks back and says, “Tractors? Really?” So was the showdown badass because of the tractors or the song?
Of course, flash forward a couple of decades to Shrek 2 and suddenly we have a new version of Holding out for a Hero courtesy of Jennifer Saunders. The music did for Shrek exactly what it did for Footloose, conveyed heroism on our erstwhile heroes whether they fit the “common” conception or not.
The Song Remains the Same
I’m pretty sure what made both scenes badass was the song. And from that point forward, Bonnie Tyler’s song was ever-present in the back of my mind from my first viewing to the present. The song suggested heroism whether you’re talking superheroes, military men, shifters, and more. It can’t come as any surprise that the song would then become background music for every single book I’ve written including When Danger Bites which married military and shifter romance into one novel.
The story is right there in the lyrics:
Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods
Where’s the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds
Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed
Late at night toss and turn and dream of what I need
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong
And he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
Are you singing it in your head? I know I am. I even cranked up both versions when I began writing this blog. So if you are holding out for a hero, who is strong and fast, and fresh from the fight? I present to you Captain Jax Raymond of Bravo Team WOLF.
Oh and the second Footloose connection? It’s the high school musical for Mini’s junior year. We’re going to be holding out for more than a hero, we’re going to be holding out for a part.
One lucky commentator will win a $10 GC from Amazon, so tell me, what about you? Are you holding out for a hero?
Bravo Team WOLF WHEN DANGER BITES
Buttoned-up Corporal Kaitlyn Amador is dangerous on every level. As a human, she poses a threat to Marine Captain Jax Raymond’s special Force Recon unit. Though the team has a reputation among the other recon units, only their commanding officer knows their secret. As a woman, the danger posed is entirely different. Jax can survive the temptation for only so long before his wolf takes over and pursues what it wants.
Military intelligence specialist Corporal Kaitlyn Amador is the first woman in the Marines to be assigned to a recon team. And everyone’s watching her. Her mission? Not only prove herself worthy of her place in the group, but uncover the mystery of why Bravo Team is so successful. A mission that gets more difficult every time she’s near Jax…
USA Today 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.
Heather is best known for her 18-book paranormal romance series Wolves of Willow Bend, which begins:
Prequel: Wolf at Law
1: Wolf Bite
2: Caged Wolf
3: Wolf Claim
3.5: Wolf Next Door
4: Rogue Wolf
5: Bayou Wolf
6: Untamed Wolf
Heather’s other fantasy romance series include the paranormal westerns Fevered Hearts starting with Marshal of Hel Dorado, Black Hill Wolves which start with What a Wolf Wants, Witches of Mane Street, Mongrels, and the forthcoming Bravo Team WOLF series.
Her contemporary romance series include: Always a Marine, Going Royal, Elite Warriors, The Love Thieves, beginning with Catch Me and Lone Star Leathernecks, beginning with Semper Fi Cowboy.
Heather is well-represented in fantasy with her superhero series Boomers, a sci-fi western called Space Cowboy Survival Guide, an urban fantasy series called the Chance Monroe Adventures, and a stand-alone ghost novel titled Haunt Me.
Captain Jasper “Jax” Raymond leaned his motorcycle into the turn. The wind ripping past him filled him with a sense of exhilaration, and the engine’s roar satisfied a more primal urge, the growl echoing that of his inner animal. His wolf.
Heading back to base after leave always felt a little like shedding his wild freedom for a leash. Not his favorite analogy. Fortunately, Jax liked the other wolves assigned to his squad.
Training and fighting together had forged them into a cohesive team—a team he ran. At home, he was just a wolf, a member of the pack, a strong dominant with only his family to protect and his alpha to follow. When his alpha had asked Jax to serve and protect the pack, Jax had risen to the occasion. Leading had never been his goal in life, but now on base he was the alpha, and he was responsible for all of them.
As he came out of the curve, he zipped past an SUV on the side of the road. It took his mind a few seconds to process why the car had halted there. The vehicle had a flat tire and sat almost drunkenly in the grass off the blacktopped edge. A woman in full dress uniform had the rear of the SUV open and was reaching inside, presumably for the jack.
Slowing the bike, he checked the road behind him. No oncoming vehicles. He turned the bike around and headed back. No way an officer in Class As should be changing their tire on the side of the road. The fact she was a woman might have played into his desire to render aid, but mainly, he was in jeans and a T-shirt. If anyone should be getting dirty, it was him.
Parking the bike in front of her SUV, he shut off the engine then dismounted. “Afternoon, ma’am.” He kept his tone polite. Uniform or not, he was a big guy, and politeness went a long way to setting strangers at ease.
The officer in question stepped out from behind her SUV and eyed him. His wolf went on point the moment their gazes collided. She was gorgeous. But more, her deep, whiskey-brown eyes had a fierceness to them. His wolf recognized that ferocity, and it filled the man with the need to respond. The point of Class As was to provide a severe, if uniform, look to all officers and enlisted. From her buttoned-up jacket to her formfitting skirt, she proved alluringly female. The dark tan of her skin reminded him of a bronzed statue, but a hell of a lot warmer. Her dark hair held the promise of red where the sun struck it, but she had it all confined into a serviceable bun.
The image of freeing all that hair and satisfying his curiosity about the color and the texture flashed across his mind’s eye. Wolves were tactile creatures, and she was so damn put together. Reminding himself her bun wasn’t a ball of yarn and he wasn’t a cat didn’t a do damn thing for the mental suggestion.
“I’m fine,” she said, her clipped tone perfectly polite. The chill in her voice jerked him out of his gawking. “Thank you for stopping.”
“I’m sure you are…Corporal.” He zeroed in on the bars on her uniform. “It would be a shame to get the uniform messed up, especially since I’m right here, and I’d be happy to change the tire for you.”
Her brows raised a fraction, and the corners of her lips tightened. They were full, pretty lips with only the barest hint of gloss. Maybe she’d licked them? He liked the lower lip; it was plump and completely kissable… Why the fuck am I leering at her like some dumbass?
Pretty.
Yeah, his wolf had rather basic standards.
“I appreciate you making the offer, but I really can handle it.” Dismissal hung in her tone as she returned to the rear of the SUV, but a quick grin softened the sting. “Really, I can…” Were those last three words for him? Or herself?
She paused then blew out a breath.
One part of him said to leave it alone. If she thought she could change the tire without fucking up her uniform, fine. She was a big girl. The rest of him vibrated with the need to overcome her objection and take care of it for her.
The wolf won; it usually did in moments like this. Human or not, she was a Marine. It didn’t matter that he served because his alpha had asked for volunteers, he’d been a Marine for five years, and he had two more years on his contract. He’d always been a wolf, and the wolf would always win.
For all intents and purposes, the Marines were his pack. He wouldn’t leave a packmate to change her own damn tire, would he? Not when he was right there. The big question hovering in the back of his mind as he cleared the rear of her vehicle was, did he make it an order since he outranked her, or did he go for charm?
“You have trouble listening?” she asked him as she pulled the jack out and set it to the side. She had on a pair of work gloves. He admired the choice, but they clashed completely with the uniform and were a hell of a long way out of dress code. If she had the misfortune of encountering a senior officer—like him—she could get in trouble.
“No trouble at all, ma’am.” Hoping a smile and a bit of a coaxing tone would charm her out of her reticence, he grinned. The temperature hovered somewhere in the mid-80s. Perfect for a ride on his bike, even better for hanging out to have a cool drink, but standing there in the sun while she changed the tire would have her sweating through the uniform. “If you’ll forgive me for not just leaving you here on the side of the road, I would be honored to render assistance. My mama would take my head off if I let you tell me no.”
Instead of being impressed, she gave him a sideways glance. “You’re not southern enough to pull off the mama, and I don’t think she would take your head off.”
Jax blinked. It was rare for anyone human to call him on one of his stories. The other wolves could smell a lie, but humans? They generally went with it. His mother had told him once he had a face made for sin and a mouth to go along with it—or at least to get him out of trouble.
Reclaiming the jack, she chuckled, and the sound teased along his spine like a caress. Following her, he wanted to growl when she squatted with care. She wore three-inch heels. Perfectly within regs, but the fact she could squat so gracefully in them did wonders for his libido. “Sorry, friend. You can’t bullshit a bullshitter.”
“Huh.” The wolf might want to pet her, but the man liked her. “Fair enough. My mother would kick my ass, though.” And then some. His mother had taught him to hunt—she could track circles around his father.
Some books take more time to write than others. I’m celebrating the release that took me years to write. We’re talking numerous rounds of edits where I thought I’d never get through the comments. I told myself to just forget it, I have other books to write. But I kept going back to it to write and rewrite the book that I couldn’t let go. Now, many versions and countless rounds of editing later, I am thrilled to announce my new release, When Darkness Whispers.
When Darkness Whispers
Some memories are better left forgotten…
Haunted by an unclear past, biologically enhanced Marine, Eva Montreaux, can’t be distracted from her mission. With American servicemen being brutally murdered on the island of Okinawa, it’s more than priority. It’s critical. But when her investigation brings her face to face with Marcos Delacruz, it triggers memories. Ones she lost. Memories that somehow include him.
Marcos Delacruz has tried to forget the woman who left him with nothing but empty promises. Even now, three years later, Eva doesn’t seem to express any guilt over breaking his heart. In truth, she seems to barely recognize him. This deployment has been challenging enough with too many restless spirits haunting the island. But when his own investigation forces him to cross paths with her once more, Marcos discovers there may be a deeper truth.
With the number of murders climbing rapidly and the rising need to track the murderer across the tropical island, Eva struggles to reclaim what she lost. But the island holds darker elements–a serial killer. One that doesn’t appear to be human.
Thrust into a world she can’t escape, Eva must discover a way to stop a murderer from destroying anyone else’s future, but how can she succeed if she can’t even remember what role Marcos played in her past?
When Darkness Whispers is a paranormal military romance you won’t want to put down! Go undercover with a supernatural team into a world of vampires, gargoyles, shifters, demons, and ghosts. If you like haunting mystery, spine-tingling suspense, and Japanese mythology, you’ll love When Darkness Whispers!
Why do we love vampires so much? Why do we find them endlessly fascinating? From the dark and creepy Nosferatu and Dracula, to Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, we can’t seem to get enough of these dark, compelling figures.
Depending on the mythology the author creates, vampires are either loathed or desired. They tap into our darker passions and fantasies where the normal rules of society do not apply. They are powerful, drawing their strength from blood, usually that of humans but not always. Sometimes they must feed from others of their own kind. There are endless possibilities when it comes to the world of the vampire. It is only limited by the imagination of the writer and the kind of story they want to tell.
Vampires are survivors. They hide among us, all the while keeping their true identities a heavily guarded secret. They often have skills beyond our human capabilities and understanding. Some are stronger and faster. Others can shapeshift. Yet almost all need our blood in order to survive. Deadly and dangerous, they lure us, willing or unwilling, into their sphere. They are often loners, walking in the shadows of our world. Sometimes, they band together to create a family of sorts. They are poets and warriors, rock stars and recluses. We fear them even as we are drawn to them. They allow us to examine and even delight in the darker aspects of our own nature.
I admit I’m a sucker for a wounded hero. And who is more wounded than a vampire who is destined to be alone unless he can find that one special woman who completes him? And what will that vampire do to protect her when he finally finds her after centuries of searching?
Now you can find out, because the Dalakis vampires are back. They weren’t really dead, just gone for a few years from the online bookstores because of a publisher closure, but they’re getting a second life.
LUCIAN’S DELIGHT
Book Two in the sizzling Dalakis Passion vampire romance series!
For years Delight Deveraux suffered from a recurring nightmare of being savagely attacked and assaulted, until the night a mysterious stranger appears in her dream to rescue her. When the same scene plays itself out in real life just days later, with the same mesmerizing dream man coming to her rescue, Delight suddenly finds herself swirling in a haze of passion and confusion, between what’s real and what’s not. But Lucian Dalakis is real, and he intends not just to save her but to bind her to himself for all time.
Lucian is a creature of the dark and must endure the same curse as all Dalakis men: they love only once in their lives, and may search for all eternity without ever finding their mate. When Delight shows up unexpectedly in Lucian’s life, he knows immediately that he has found his one true love. But her life is still in danger from the same vicious attackers, and he will do everything in his power to protect her, even as he uses every one of his seductive powers to keep her close.
As Delight surrenders to the searing passion that erupts every time they’re together, she’s also torn by the fearful prospect of giving herself fully to a vampire—even as Lucian secretly knows that the one woman who could complete him and be his for all time also has the power to destroy him…
This is a revised edition of a previous published book.
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.
As always, I want to start by thanking Delilah for letting me come hang out here with you all. It’s always a lot of fun to play here.
It’s a shiny new season, which makes people sometimes want a fresh start in different areas, maybe something big like a job, or a new home, or smaller like a hobby, or just cleaning out a closet—my mom and grandma always did huge, empty-all-the-cupboards spring and fall cleaning every single year, and I never understood it; after all, who cleans things that are already clean. But sometimes that fresh start isn’t by choice. Maybe an employer has to down-size, or, worse, close. Maybe a family member far away needs a caregiver and there isn’t anyone else willing. Lots of us have experienced some of these fresh starts, by choice or by necessity. It’s part of life.
Spring seems like a good time to get some of the by-choice fresh starts underway. Mini-house cleaning (the windows always need a good scrub after winter, right?), or getting rid of old clothes we no longer wear to make room for a few new pieces. Culling a collection that doesn’t mean as much now as it did when we started it. Those are reasonable, I think. Some of us set bigger goals—redoing a room, or planning a vacation.
I’ve seen a lot of (and written some) books that start with one of the main characters undertaking a fresh start in their life, some voluntarily and others not, that sets them on a collision course with something they never planned for, sometimes something that turns their fresh start upside-down so they wind up with yet another fresh start. It’s one of the things that keep us reading, I think, watching how they adjust to the unplanned roadblocks that pop up and make the characters rethink what they thought they knew or wanted.
One of the things I’m starting over this year is my publishing plan–my publisher closed their doors a couple of months ago, so a whole lot of authors had to add some major tasks to their to-do lists for the year. I’m still trying to rework my writing goals for the year while I figure out what to do with Hunting Medusa and the other two unpublished books in the trilogy. I have a lot of (scary!) options on my plate so have been doing research to whittle down that list and make the best choice I can for my books.
In the manuscript I’m rewriting now, the heroine has chosen to make a fresh start—she’s accepted a new job in a state where she doesn’t know a single person. But she has a few months to wrap things up before she goes—sell the house where she grew up, find a place to stay in the new state, get in as much time with her BFF as she can. Romance is definitely not on the list for now, but when her BFF’s older brother sets his sights on her, what can she do? She’s had a crush on him since they were kids, but he never really saw her…until now. It’s sure going to make that fresh start a lot more difficult, though, when she has to leave.
What are some of your favorite ‘fresh start’ stories? I have a signed copy of Hunting Medusa to give away–everyone (US residents over 18) who comments will be entered into a drawing via RandomResult.com.
About the Author
Elizabeth Andrews has been a book lover since she was old enough to read. She read her copies of Little Women and the Little House series so many times, the books fell apart. As an adult, her book habit continues. She has a room overflowing with her literary collection right now, and still more spreading into other rooms. Almost as long as she’s been reading great stories, she’s been attempting to write her own. Thanks to a fifth grade teacher who started the class on creative writing, Elizabeth went from writing creative sentences to short stories and eventually full-length novels. Her father saved her poor, callused fingers from permanent damage when he brought home a used typewriter for her.
Elizabeth found her mother’s stash of romance novels as a teenager, and—though she loves horror—romance became her very favorite genre, making writing romances a natural progression. There are more than just a few manuscripts, however, tucked away in a filing cabinet that will never see the light of day.
Along with her enormous book stash, Elizabeth lives with her husband of more than twenty years and two young adult sons, though no one else in the house reads nearly as much as she does. When she’s not at work or buried in books or writing, there is a garden outside full of herbs, flowers and vegetables that requires occasional attention.
Hunting Medusa
The Medusa Trilogy, Book 1
When Kallan Tassos tracks down the current Medusa, he expects to find a monster. Instead he finds a wary, beautiful woman, shielded by a complicated web of spells that foils his plans for a quick kill and retrieval of her protective amulet.
Andrea Rosakis expects the handsome Harvester to go for the kill. Instead, his attempt to take the amulet imprinted on her skin without harming her takes her completely by surprise. And ends with the two of them in a magical bind—together. But Kallan isn’t the only Harvester on Andi’s trail…
Thank you so much for having me today, Delilah! I often have other authors send their characters to my couch for interviews, so I decided to do one today for Edward Bailey, the hero of Eros Element, the novel that I’m re-releasing today. It was originally published by Samhain Publishing in 2015. I’ve often wanted to sit and talk to Edward, or try to, so I decided to write a vignette rather than doing an interview.
Let’s pretend it’s 1870 in the alternate Aether Psychics universe, and I’m in a little university town in England. Across the pond the Civil War has raged on for almost ten years, and coal supplies are running short. Several scientists have unsuccessfully attempted to harness the power of the mysterious substance aether.
I’ve just made tea and am about to sit down with the latest journal to see what those crazy neuroticists – doctors who study and treat those with disorders of the mind – in Vienna have been up to when I hear a commotion in the waiting room.
“But he doesn’t have an appointment,” my office manager says, “and the doctor is busy.”
“It doesn’t matter, this is an emergency,” says a male voice. A deep, resonant male voice I recognize as belonging to Johann Bledsoe, the concertmaster for our town’s orchestra. His confidence – and the escapades it leads him into – are legendary, so I wonder what he could want with a neuroticist.
I hear another male voice, this one more of a tenor, “That’s all right, Johann. There’s nothing wrong with me.”
Bledsoe argues, “You’re about to head on an expedition to god knows where, and you still time your water closet trips to the minute – I apologize, Miss. You know that’s not going to work.”
Intrigued, I emerge. “I’ll see the young man.” They both turn to me. The one in question matches Bledsoe in height, although his build is more slender, and he has the beginnings of the shoulder slump seen in academics. His dark hair contrasts with Bledsoe’s blond locks, and his face is more narrow, although his eyes look familiar. Ah, the cornflower blue eyes the Bailey family is known for. This must be Edward, the brilliant younger brother of the Duke.
“Hello,” I say. “I’m Doctor Dominic. What can I do for you?”
“Oh,” Bledsoe says. “I’d heard Doctor Dominic was a man.” I can see the hesitation at my appearance warring with the concern for his friend in his eyes.
“You may be thinking of my father.” And then I try a gamble to see if I can engage Professor Bailey. “He is a scientist of some renown. People often assume it’s he when they hear the professional title.”
“Right,” Bledsoe says. He’s gripping Professor Bailey’s arm. “Come, Edward, let’s go talk to the nice doctor.”
They follow me to my office and both sit on the couch once I settle in my chair. Bledsoe leans back, one ankle across the other knee, and the professor sits rigidly.
I fold my hands in my lap. “Tell me what brings you here today.”
“I don’t know why I’m here,” Professor Bailey says. “I haven’t had any problems since seven years ago, when I decided to order my life according to scientific principles.”
“Can you give me an example?” I ask, hoping he won’t tell me about bathroom habits.
“Yes, I can.” He jerks his head at his friend as if to say, so there. “I keep a strict schedule. I eat the same things at the same time every day, and, well, it works.”
“I see. And your routine is about to be disrupted.”
“Yes,” Bledsoe says, leaning out of his relaxed posture. “We’re going on an expedition. I can’t tell you any more details, but Professor Bailey’s preferences will not be accommodated.”
“What prompted you to adopt these principles to your life?” I ask the professor.
He turns to his friend with a sigh. “Do I really have to go through this?”
“Yes, if you want to prove to her you’re as sane as you claim.”
“Fine,” the professor huffs. “A woman mistook me for my brother, and when she found out I’m the spare, not the heir, she dumped me.”
“Do you still have feelings for this woman?”
“No. But the incident demonstrated how people are messy and unpredictable, so I make the rest of my life neat and orderly.”
Obviously this is the only time I’ll see him, so I dispense some advice, although I typically prefer to wait until later sessions to do so.
“But as you’ve seen, life isn’t always going to cooperate with your efforts to make it orderly. I would recommend you face what you fear the most. And if that’s having your heart broken, then you may want to start with talking to women.”
I suspect he won’t have much of a chance to do so on an expedition, but his friend claps him on the back.
“Oh, this will be perfect, Edward. You can chat up that nice archaeologist Iris McTavish.”
I raise my eyebrows at the notion of a female archaeologist and mentally applaud her accomplishment at breaking through the male barriers of academia.
The professor stands. “You’re both being ridiculous. She’s so…”
“Pretty?” Bledsoe asks and rises, as do I.
“You leave her alone,” the professor says. “She’s not one of your actresses.”
I turn my head to hide my amusement. The professor may already be further on his way to attraction to this Iris McTavish than he realizes.
We say our goodbyes, and I assure Maestro Bledsoe that it will all work out. But as they leave, I have a little chill down my spine, like that of foreboding, and I suspect their adventure will not be as safe and orderly as the professor would like.
About Eros Element
The scientific method: Love doesn’t obey it. Secrets skew the results.
After a dishonest woman broke his heart, renowned aetherist Edward Bailey buried the pieces under a strict routine built on solid, scientific predictability. Any deviation doesn’t just bother him—it short circuits his carefully cultivated balance.
A routine faculty meeting unexpectedly presents a twin challenge to his comfort zone. Not only does the beautiful Iris McTavish appear in her famous archeologist father’s place, Edward is forced to accompany her on an undercover expedition to find an element that will harness the power of aether.
Iris is determined to prove her worth as a scholar and scientist, and save the financially ruined house of McTavish without accepting an unwanted marriage proposal. But keeping her secret is difficult when she’s faced with Edward’s compelling gaze and unrelenting logic.
Amid clockwork spy devices, threats from a mysterious society who’ll stop at nothing to conceal their secrets, and plots from a guild bent on stealing them, Edward and Iris’s attraction sparks and gains momentum. But betrayal awaits them on the road from Paris to Rome—and the revolutionary discovery they seek could grind their hearts to pieces.
Warning: Contains a brilliant professor with a white-knuckle case of anxiety, a woman with an ahead-of-her-time spirit of adventure, real and made-up history, and a Grand Tour that serves up murder plots and secret temples along with wine, tea, and cream puffs. You may wish to pack your shovel along with your silks.
Grab your copy for 99 cents – this re-release sale is only for a limited time.
Author Cecilia Dominic, became a clinical psychologist because she’s fascinated by people and their stories, but she couldn’t stop making stuff up. By day, she helps people cure their insomnia in her private practice. By night, she writes fiction that keeps her readers turning pages past bedtime. Yes, she recognizes the conflict of interest between her two careers, but she prefers to be called versatile, not conflicted. Cecilia has been published in short and novel-length fiction as well as full-length nonfiction, and currently writes steampunk, urban fantasy, and chick lit. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with one husband and two cats, which, she’s been told, is a good number of each.
You can find her at:
Web page: www.ceciliadominic.com
Wine blog: www.randomoenophile.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CeciliaDominicAuthor
Twitter: @CeciliaDominic Newsletter list (sign up for a free short story): https://eepurl.com/bjz2yf
Nothing can make us as crazy as family can. I’m not talking about your spouse or significant other, but the people you grew up surrounded by—parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. They know us so well. They know all the buttons to push to make us laugh or to make us scream. Sometimes they make us cry and other times they’re there to console us when we cry. They’re the people we share holidays and accomplishments with, that help create the fabric of our life.
I think that no family relation is as potentially volatile as the bond of siblings. Love them or hate them, they make us who we are. I have a sister who is less than two years older than me. Surprisingly, we were close growing up, maybe because we were such total opposites. We never borrowed each other’s clothes. If she loved something, there is a 99% chance I hated it. She was a night owl and I’m a morning person. Still, in spite of our differences, or maybe because of them, we grew up spending a lot of our time together as sisters and friends. I also have a much younger brother. Our relationship has evolved over the years. When he was younger, I had more of a parental role in his life. Now that we’re both older, we’ve become great friends and enjoy spending time together.
Family relationships play a big role in my Blood of the Drakon series. There are four brothers, each different in their own way, but alike in others. But the fact that remains is there isn’t anything they won’t do to protect the other. Their enemies are about to find that out in Drakon’s Prey.
Drakon’s Prey
Blood of the Drakon, Book 2
Valeriya Azarov turned her back on the family business to write and illustrate children’s books. But with a sister who leads the Knights of the Dragon, it’s impossible to get away from the secret society whose mission is to destroy and enslave dragons. When information falls into her hands along with the opportunity to save at least one of the ancient creatures, she can’t turn away any longer.
When a woman moves into the cabin above Tarrant Cooper’s secret underground lair, he’s both suspicious and intrigued. He hasn’t lasted four thousand years being careless, so when he suspects her of being a part of the Knights, the plan is to kidnap her and find out how much the organization knows about him and his brothers.
He’s drawn to Valeriya, but trusting her could get him killed. Even if she’s a pawn in the war between drakons and Knights, giving her his heart would mean forever.
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.
Short fiction is fun to write and a good way for authors to experiment with romance subgenres. Though my published stories are typically contemporary romances, I like to write the occasional paranormal, also set in the contemporary world. In Her Immortal Viking, a warrior cast into eternal servitude by an angry god returns to earth in the modern world to help a woman in need. Lip Service features an overprotective ghostly aunt who stands in the way of true love. My new release, Kisses From Lillith, is a steamy vampire short story and my third paranormal romance.
Though much of the action in Kisses From Lillith takes place inside a cave as old as the earth, what happens there is…well, you’ll have to read the story to find out. And I hope you will! For only 99 cents and an hour of your time, you can immerse yourself in paranormal entertainment with a twist.
KISSES FROM LILLITH
A sizzling short story with bite…
When Hunter receives an invitation for a group tour of an ancient cave to celebrate his cousin’s birthday, he and his girlfriend Rosa unwittingly attend a party…with unusual refreshments.
“Wow! For a short story, this was a long, thrilling ride.” 5 Stars! ~Will Work For Books
“Kisses From Lillith…has everything you want in a paranormal romance. I found myself on the edge of my seat. Adele Downs…has a way of bringing a story to life…she always leaves you wanting more.” 5 Stars! ~Girl With Pen
Adele Downs is the best-selling, award-winning author of more than 20 romance titles, including those written under another pen name, and a former journalist with hundreds of articles to her credit. When not writing in her home office in rural Pennsylvania, she can be found reading a book on the nearest beach, taking photographs, or riding in her convertible.
Thank you so much for having me today, Delilah! I often have other authors send their characters to my couch for interviews, so I decided to do one today for Edward Bailey, the hero of Eros Element, the novel that I’m re-releasing today. It was originally published by Samhain Publishing in 2015. I’ve often wanted to sit and talk to Edward, or try to, so I decided to write a vignette rather than doing an interview.
