Covers to Covet

My favorite author of the moment, Jill Shalvis has great news! With the success of her last three books in the Lucky Harbor series, Shalvis is contracted for three more books! Wheee!!! The next book will be called...drumroll, please!.. IT HAD TO BE YOU!! Such a great title!

IT HAD TO BE YOU is Luke's book and will release on May 28, 2013 (*whines*). Check out the cover!

*Annie makes grabby hands* WANNNNT!

Here's a fantastic teaser excerpt to further torture  indulge readers....

Lieutenant Detective Luke Hanover had been away from the San Francisco Police Department for exactly one day of his three week leave and already he’d lost his edge, walking into his grandma’s Lucky Harbor beach house to find a B&E perp standing in the kitchen. 

She sure as hell was the prettiest petty thief he’d ever come across, at least from the back since she was wearing nothing but a white lace bra and a tiny scrap of matching white lace panties. 

“You have some nerve you… you ratfink bastard,” she snapped into her cell phone, waving her free hand for emphasis, her long, wildly wavy brown hair flying around her head as she moved. 

And that wasn’t all that moved. She was a bombshell, all sweet, womanly curves, barely contained in her undies. 

“I want you to know,” she went on furiously, still not seeing Luke, “there’s no way in hell I’m accepting your break-up message. You hear me, Teddy? I’m not accepting it because I’m breaking up with you. And while we’re at it, who even does that? Who breaks up with someone by text? I’ll tell you who, Teddy, a real jerk, that’s who– Hello? Dammit!” 

 Pulling the phone from her ear, she stared at the screen and then punched a few keys before whipping it back up to her ear. “Your voice mail cut me off before I finished,” she said. “You having sex in your office while I was in the building? Totally cliché. But not telling me that you weren’t planning to resign the lease? That’s just rotten to the core, Teddy. And don’t bother calling me back on this. Oh, wait, that’s right, you don’t call – you text!” She punched the “off” button on her phone and tossed it to the counter, hands on hips, steam coming out her ears. Then she thunked her forehead against the refrigerator a few times before going stock still, her head pressed to the cool, steel door.

Had she knocked herself out? Luke wondered. 

“It’s just one bad day,” she whispered, still in the perfect position for him to pat her down for weapons. 

Not that she was carrying – well, except for that lethal bod. 

“Just one really rotten, badass day,” she repeated softly, and Luke had to disagree. 

“Not from where I’m standing,” he said.

*Excerpt courtesy of Jill Shalvis's blog.

If you haven't read this series, then I highly suggest you do. You are seriously missing out! Since I have my pimp hand out, I might as well point you in the direction of this....SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE, book 1 in the Lucky Harbor series is currently 99 cents!!!! You can purchase your copy now.

Simply Irresistible (A Lucky Harbor Novel)

In other great news, Sarah MacLean recently released the cover of book 2 in The Second Rule of Scoundrels series, ONE GOOD EARL DESERVES A LOVER. What do you think of the cover?

I think it's very elegant and pretty! I'm very much looking forward to this book! According to MacLean's website, ONE GOOD EARL DESERVES A LOVER is set to release on January 29, 2013.

Kitty Rocks the House is the 11th book in the Kitty Norville series, set to release March 26, 2013!  This might be my favorite "picture" of Kitty.  Can't wait to read what troubles Kitty will get into next.

And in HOT AS HELL cover news.... NIGHT RESURRECTED by Joss Ware will release February 26, 2013.6th book in her Envy Chronicles series and a "must-have-on-my-shelf" book because that guy is ...PERFECTION. *Francesca needs a moment*


And last but not least, Larissa Ione has revealed the NEW cover of ROGUE RIDER! This is Reseph's book set to release this November! What do you think of the brand new cover?

*New cover first revealed at Happy Ever After blog.

UTC Reports from the Liberty States Fiction Writers - Create Something Special Conference

Hello Maidens!!! Francesca here.  I am very excited to share with you my experiences this past weekend at the Liberty States Fiction Writers Create Something Special Conference.  This event was held at the Renaissance Hotel in Iselin, NJ on March 17, 2012!  Being the first year that it was open to readers, I think we had a nice little group and great interactions with the authors in attendance!

That's me in the middle (yes, with heels) along with

the members of the Book Obsessed Chicks Book Club

Kicking it off: Luncheon with Larissa Ione (Keynote Speaker)
Even though Larissa was a bit nervous (or a lot!) she gave a wonderful speech!  As advised by her good friend, author Stephanie Tyler, she had to have a theme for a speech, and she chose to talk about fear.  I was very impressed with what she had to say.  She shared lot of things about her life that I wasn't aware of, maybe some of you are.  She was actually in the military, in the Air Force, mainly due to her fear of flying.  She became an EMT because of her fear of blood and those sort of things.  She has always faced her fears head on.  This is a quality that I can't help but admire profoundly as I generally tend to take the easy way out of things.
Then came Hurricane Katrina, and took everything from her.  She was one of the unlucky people that lost everything during that storm.  I cannot imagine the toll that would take on someone to experience, and at that time she also still had to face rejection with her work.  At that point she almost gave up on her dreams of writing.

We have Stephanie Tyler to thank for pulling her back in.  She wrote a short scene and sent it to Larissa, told her to write the next scene.  It was up to Larissa to figure out who was the naked chick in this guys' shower during a storm.  And so the back and forth of scenes started happening and Riding the Storm was born.  Now Stephanie and Larissa have finished the ACRO series, which they write together as Sydney Croft, and this was what gave Larissa the extra push she needed to write her own work, which is now the very popular Demonica world.

Murder, Monsters and Mayhem:
Melinda Leigh, Jonathan Maberry, Chris Redding and Lois Winston

The first panel I attended I was most impressed with an author that I've never heard of, and he writes zombies of all things.  Not usually my cup of tea.  Jonathan Maberry was definitely my favorite of this bunch, with his knowledge and personality, the way he talked about all the research that goes into his books.  Just amazing.  And if humor is your thing, and you've enjoyed, like me, the Stephanie Plum series, you might also be interested in Lois Winston.  This group talked weapons, from your regular type weapons to converting any household item into a weapon.

Chat with Larissa Ione

Ahhhh yes!  We had her all to ourselves and I was sitting on first row!  We got to ask her all kinds of general questions and here are the key points:

• She just sold the next two Demonica books.  After she finishes the Lords of Deliverance series with Reseph's book she will go back to the Demonica series.
• The first book in the "going back to Demonica" will be Reaver! *squeeeeeee*  And on a side note, BIG REAVER SURPRISES AHEAD!!!
• Of all her demons she would like to date Eidolon
• Her favorite sex scenes (and she has quite a bit to choose from) was the losing of virginity scene in Passion Unleashed
• Passion Unleashed was the easiest book to write
• She gets quite a bit of hate mail! =(
• Her husband has read all her books, and he actually makes the guys on his ship (Coast Guard) read them as well!  He gets asked a lot "Sooooooo, you and your wife practice these sex scenes???"
• He also seems to think he writes her books when an idea he had is in them.
• He designed the Lords of Deliverance symbol.  Go figure, now he writes and designs her books ;)
• They did not rehearse the upside down tree scene.
• Sin and Limos are her favorite heroines
• She can't have any music when she's writing or she can't concentrate

Beyond Werewolves and Vampires:
Caridad Pineiro, Larissa Ione, Virginia Kantra, Judi Fennell, Jenna Kernan

This panel was a lot of fun all the authors were very open about their writing process, some are planners some are pansters.  Some start out with an end in mind while others just start writing and see what happens.  The timelines for writing a book where all between 3-6 months for some to 6-9 months for others.  I think we also got a great feel for their personalities and what they write about.  Virgina Kantra and Judi Fennell who both write about seapeople but in very different ways, Caridad Pineiro who writes about vampires and more (while still working full time!), Jenna Kernan who mixes historical and paranormal, and of course Larissa who writes about demons and angels.
Book Fair
I got to meet a lot of nice authors and get lots of signed books, here are some pics I was able to take with some of the authors in attendance.

Caridad Pineiro

Larissa Ione

Sarah MacLean

Virginia Kantra

Maria V. Snyder

Jenna Kernan

Stephanie Julian

The After-Party

Yes!!!  This party was awesome!  We managed to kidnap Larissa Ione and Caridad Pineiro for a PJ party and although I can't really tell you all that went down or was talked about, I'll leave you with just some pics.

I want to thank all the wonderful authors that participated in the event for making it so much fun, to Caridad Pineiro and Larissa Ione for being so wonderful and such good sports, to all the Book Obsessed Chicks from Long Island, you girls rock and I had an amazing time, and last but certainly nost least, to the wonderful Kimberly Rocha, who I have to give a big thank you for letting me tag along as well as taking all these wonderful pictures I'm sharing with you today!

ARC Review: A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean

 

A Rogue by Any Other Name

(The First Rule of Scoundrels # 1)

by Sarah Maclean

A ROGUE BY ANY OTHER NAME is the first book in a new series called The First Rule of Scoundrels. In this book, the Marquess of Bourne lost everything but his title in a gaming hell. His land, servants, clothes, everything was taken away from him. So Michael vows revenge; his aim to one day retrieve everything that was taken away from him.

Ten years later, Michael is now one of the owners of London’s most exclusive gaming hell. His life holds excitement and success, but there is still one thing that Michael wants desperately. He wants his land back. And he will do anything to gain it.

However, when he learns that his land is now owned by The Marquess of Needham and Dolby and will be added to Lady Penelope Marbury’s dowry, Michael makes it his personal goal to marry Penelope, just so he can gain back his land.

For most of the book, Michael aka Bourne was a jerk. There were moments when I could appreciate his determination and ruthless perusal of something that was rightfully his, however, I did not see the reason why he was so mean to Penelope sometimes. They have a history. They were childhood friends who wrote letters to each other until their youth. These letters scattered throughout the book were sweet and highly entertaining, sometimes bringing a smile to my lips as I read them. But it was because of these letters that I felt that Penelope was often mistreated by Bourne. How could he totally disregard her after all they have been through?

I am having a difficult time rating this book because there were scenes in this book that were brilliant, just absolutely thrilling and engaging. However, I did feel that towards the middle of the book, it lost some of its allure. The pacing wasn’t always consistent, sometimes brilliant and sometimes a little lacklustre.

But it was Penelope that really made this book for me. I loved her attitude towards life. She was quite sheltered, had a broken engagement and several disappointing courtships, but she was always open to anything. And that’s a quality that I have to admire in a heroine.

And, as she stood there, staring into the darkness, thinking on her future, she realized just how little she wanted a quiet life of pastel colors and quadrilles and tepid lemonade.
She wanted more.
The word whispered through her thoughts on a wave of sadness.
More.

Penelope was such a selfless woman, putting her own happiness on hold so that Bourne and her sisters could live the life they wanted. She would really wager it all for them. But the question is, would Bourne wager his heart for her?

Sarah MacLean continues to enchant readers with her writing. As the first book in a new series, the First Rule of Scoundrels looks promising. Who can deny a scoundrel of what he wants? It’s as they say, “What a scoundrel wants, a scoundrel gets...”

*ARC provided by publisher

 

  

 

 Purchase Links: Amazon

Review: Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

by Sarah MacLean

(Love by Numbers # 1)

I really loved this book! I loved the idea of the list of forbidden activities, the lovable rake and the unconventional heroine.

It all starts when 27 year old spinster Callie hears her younger sister having a romantic liaison with her fiancee at their betrothal dinner and hears herself described as passive. This instigates her to make a list of activities that she has always wanted to do, such as gamble at a gentleman's club and attend a duel. She actions her first item on the list a passionate kiss, that very night. And who better to kiss then Ralston, the man she has been in love with for 10 years, but who has never noticed her. Notice her he does when she gets into his bedroom and asks for her first kiss, he obliges her but for a price. She must help Ralston introduce his sister into society.

I think everyone at some point has had a similar list to Callie, a list of things they have always wanted to do and hope one day they will be able to pluck up the courage to actually go through with them. The first thing I love about Callie was that she was going to act on her list, she was going to seek out adventure after ten years of waiting for it to come to her.

The infamous list leads Callie and Ralston into a number of both funny and passionate encounters, which gradually makes Ralston rethink his opinion of the seemingly very proper, plump and plain Callie. The budding relationship between them was funny and sweet, Ms Maclean wrote the banter between them perfectly.

Ralston was a good hero, although I wouldn't put him under the category of tortured hero, he did have a painful past that had him distrusting love. He was also wicked enough to be intriguing but not disgustingly debauched. For those of you who have read The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas, he sometimes reminded me of a more responsible older brother of St. Vincent. However, as much as I liked Ralston, I found that, for a change, it is Callie that I remember this book for her, her transformation to passive wallflower to adventurous beauty was entertaining to watch unfurl as the romance.

The cast of secondary characters were also fantastic, they were well rounded and each had their own small story. Juliana and Nicholas, Ralston's siblings also have books in this series, and I can't wait to read them! 

Purchase Links: Amazon