Two weeks left to enter. What are you waiting for????

My guest today is author Sergeant Alex Shepard is all about getting the job done. That single-minded purpose helps him forget the fact he hates the jungle as he leads his Special Forces team in search of Honduran drug lord Santiago Saldana. His quarry eludes him, but the woman left behind in the compound is the next best thing. Saldana’s mistress—an American woman who clearly puts her own pleasure over right and wrong.

Isabella Canales has been Saldana’s prisoner for four long years. Worse, he’s taken away her most precious possession. Except Alex doesn’t believe a word of it. The clock is ticking, and she’s frantic to do anything to convince him to take her home. Even agree to serve as bait to draw Saldana out.

As they push through the tangled jungle dodging bullets and ambushes, Alex fights his growing respect for Isabella’s determination—and an attraction that’s impossible to resist, whatever she’s done. But Saldana never lets go of what’s his. And betrayal is his deadliest weapon…

MJ is giving away a copy of HOT SHOT to the person who can answer this question: Which of MJ’s books won an Eppie?

Welcome, MJ!!

***
The dh likes Rescue Me. I watch with him, but it makes me uncomfortable. I told the dh it’s because the characters aren’t heroic. He countered with, “They save lives, don’t they?”

Well, sure.

He continued by saying I just don’t like to think of men who do heroic jobs as not having other heroic qualities. I went to bed thinking about this and realized that wasn’t it.

The thing that bothers me is that the characters in Rescue Me don’t do the right thing. Ever. If they have two choices, they make the wrong one. Every. Time.

Yes, heroes make wrong choices sometimes. But they correct it, or they make up for it, and maybe they had a compelling reason to make that choice in the first place. Those are the characters I find sympathetic, that I can root for.

In Breaking Daylight, my January 5 release, Alex can be an ass. He has a reason for his reaction to Bella, but he’s not a nice guy.

BUT, he does the right thing. He could make the wrong choices, or even make the right choices for the wrong reasons, but he makes the right choices for the right reasons, most of the time, and the more he’s around Bella, the more human he becomes.

What are heroic qualities for you?

Click the widget to enter:

My guest today is author Paty Jager!

Wife, mother, grandmother, and the one who cleans pens and delivers the hay; award winning author Paty Jager has not only brought her husband of thirty years to maturity, but four children and over a hundred head of cattle and swine. She not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

She has four historical western romance novels and one contemporary western, which won the 2008 Best Contemporary Romance EPPIE. To learn more about Paty, her books, and to enter her website contest go to www.patyjager.net.

Paty’s latest release is MINER IN PETTICOATS:

Shouldering the burdens of his family and the mining community, Ethan Halsey devotes himself to providing for his brothers’ growing families. However, Aileen Miller, a widow, also looking out for her family’s interests, refuses to part with the land he needs. As they battle- one to push his dream to reality and the other to prove no man will hurt her again- their lives become enmeshed and their hearts collide.

Paty is giving away a copy of PERFECTLY GOOD NANNY, plus some other mystery goodies. Do be entered in her giveaway, simply answer this question: Which of Paty’s covers features a wolf?

Welcome, Paty!

***
As you can see by the titles on my website, I have a problem deciding what I want to write. The main constant is they are all western themed stories, but I can’t decide if I want to do historical, contemporary, or paranormal. Does it bother you to have an author skip around in genres? Or as long as the theme is the same are you okay with the different genres? If you had to pick historical, contemporary, or paranormal which would you prefer to read?

In case you haven’t heard, I’m here spreading the news! STOLEN SEDUCTION officially releases today, which means you should be able to find it, well, everywhere!

A missing bronze holds the key to a decade’s-old murder. To prove her innocence, she’ll have to partner up with the sexy homicide detective who has the power to steal more than her freedom—if she’s not careful, he may just steal her heart…

STOLEN SEDUCTION
Book Three
Release Date: December 29, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-505-52795-0

The individual who collects all six statues and deciphers the code locked within will be awarded controlling interest in Roarke Resorts.

YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS ENDEAVOR IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.

Hailey Roarke was never interested in her family’s fortune. That’s why she became a cop. But with her father and now her cousin dead, she’s suddenly on the wrong side of a police interrogation. The only way to clear her name is to solve the riddle before the real killer. Without getting killed herself.

Detective Shane Maxwell can’t deny the spark of lust he feels every time Hailey is near. But the woman is clearly hiding something. Trusting his gut—and the heat in her eyes—he joins her on an elaborate global treasure hunt staged by her late father. Caught between a sizzling seduction and a maniacal murderer, for Hailey and Shane the biggest reward of all will be making it out alive.

***
EXCERPT:
As the music shifted from nice days to life on the docks and Hailey lifted her fists again to jab at the bag, Shane pulled the gym’s main door open and stepped inside. Sweet female sweat and just a hint of the lilac scent he always associated with her drifted toward his nose.

She didn’t stop punching. Left hook, left, right again. And his blood warmed the closer he got. It wasn’t until he reached the stereo and flicked the power button that she stopped abruptly and whipped his way.

Surprise registered in her sapphire eyes first. Then distrust. And finally, disgust.
Okay, after their run-in earlier, he had that coming. But she’d purposely left him hanging, and he wanted answers.

She didn’t say anything, but her chest rose and fell as she drew deep breaths. A bead of sweat rolled down her bruised temple, over her jaw, down the long, slender column of neck, heading straight for her breasts. Like an idiot, he watched the droplet, his body temperature growing hotter by the minute as it slid downward.

And that’s when he saw the yellowing bruises. Faint traces of what she’d been through before. On her ribs, on her thighs, on the soft skin of her arms. Near a bandage by her shoulder.

“How’d you get in here?” she asked in a breathless tone before he got two steps closer to her on the blue mats that matched her eyes.

He forced his gaze away from her fading injuries, told himself she was fine, healthy, that whatever she’d endured, she’d survived. But the urge to cold-cock whoever had done this to her was hard to overcome. And Kauffman was seriously dead meat.
“Janitor.”

“Did you come to arrest me or are you just having trouble sleeping, Maxwell?”

Her voice pulled his brain away from extracting revenge, and he focused on her face. He wasn’t about to tell her didn’t sleep, not much anyway. And the look in her eye warned him her little work-out session hadn’t done much to cool-out her temper. “Should I arrest you?”

She glanced past him to the windows, then looked at his face again. “Who’s playing good cop tonight?”

“No one. I’m here alone.”

One elegant brow lifted. “Inspector Clouseau know you’re going renegade?”

The muscles around his eyes tightened with humor. “No, he doesn’t. He’d tear into me if he did.”

“Then why are you here?”

“’Cause I’m not done with you yet.”

Her eyes never left his as she lifted her hand to mop up the sweat on her forehead. “I already told you I’m not answering any more questions without my lawyer.”

“I’m not here officially, Hailey.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he added, “I saw the surveillance tapes. Trust me when I say, you need a friend right now. And I may be all you’ve got.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”

“Answers. Unofficially,” he added before she could spout off anything else about her lawyer. “But mostly to help you.”

Those blue eyes of hers searched his face, and he could practically see the wheels turning in her mind. Along with a great big dose of I-don’t-think-so.

“You want answers?” she said. “Unofficial?”

He nodded slowly, thinking she was capitulating way too quickly, but thankful he wasn’t going to have to pry it out of her.

“Fine. I’ll answer whatever question you’ve got. But you’ve got to take me down first. I take you down, I get to ask the questions.”

She wanted to spar? With him? Here? Now? He glanced around the mats, back at her, slicked with sweat, bruises not yet healed from her last run-in and juiced up on endorphins. Yeah, he wanted answers, but he wouldn’t hurt her to get them. “I don’t think that’s such a good—”

“Scared?”

The look of utter confidence across her face stopped him. “No, I just—”

She took a step back and held out her hands. “How bad do you want your answers, Maxwell? Gimme your best shot.”

He wasn’t going to actually do this, was he?

***

Today I’m over at Writeminded giving away books, so join me over there to enter for freebies. But before you leave, scroll down and enter for a chance to win Emily Bryan’s A CHRISTMAS BALL!!

Happy Reading, all!

Today my guest is Emily Bryan!

Award-winning author Emily Bryan learned much of what she knows about writing from singing. A classically trained soprano, she gleaned the elements of storytelling while performing operatic roles. She describes her light-hearted stories as Gilbert & Sullivan . . . with sex!

Emily’s Distracting the Duchess received an RT Reviewers Choice, BookBuyers Best, and CORWA Award of Excellence nomination. Her Vexing the Viscount was a NightOwl Romance Reviewer Top Pick! Library Journal describes her novella in A Christmas Ball as “worthy of Shakespeare!” Her books have been translated into German, Dutch, Italian, Russian and Spanish. She regularly receives fan mail from around the globe. Emily Bryan and her husband have lived in nine different states, but she now makes her home in the heart of New England.

Emily’s latest release is A CHRISTMAS BALL:

“Although the title of this anthology sounds terribly traditional, this diverse trio is anything but. From Emily Bryan’s “My Lady Below Stairs,” the story of a bastard servant girl called in to impersonate her missing aristocratic half-sister with results worthy of Shakespeare, to Ashley’s “The Longest Night,” in which a shapeshifting nobleman attempts to win the heart of the wary woman he loves while on the trail of a spy, to Alissa Johnson’s “Traditions,” the tale of an earl who sets out to woo one woman and falls for her intriguing companion instead, these light, entertaining romps are not typical holiday fare.

VERDICT: A unique anthology of Regency holiday novellas that are risqué and diverting, making for an intriguingly off-beat addition to the seasonal slate.“

~ Library Journal

Emily is giving away a copy of A CHRISTMAS BALL to one lucky commenter today. To be entered into the drawing, simply answer this question: What is the title of Emily Bryan’s next release?

Here you go! If you are a winner, please send me your snail mail and email info at elisabeth@elisabethnaughton.com

Congrats to all the winners!!!

Winner of Christy Evan’s hand-knitted fingerless gloves:
Jane!

Winner of Cynthia Eden’s ETERNAL HUNTER:
limecello!

Winner of STOLEN FURY:
joder!

Winner of STOLEN HEAT:
Cybercliper!

Winner of Leanna Renee Hieber’s THE DARKLY LUMINOUS FIGHT FOR PERSEPHONE PARKER:
RKCharron!

Winner of STOLEN SEDUCTION:
lifehappens!

Winner of Beth Williamson’s THE REDEMPTION OF MICAH:
Robynl!

(Winners were picked by a random number generator.)

Enter, enter…

With her job gone and life plan wrecked, Leigh Strong takes a vacation from reality before she putting it all back together again. A shootout puts her in the sight of SWAT cop Craig MacGilvary, the man she is fiercely drawn to. She finds his strong and silent personality too uptight and decides he needs to live a little. She’s determined to discover if he’s really stoic, or if under all that starch burns a man of fire.

Leigh’s in-your-face style disturbs Craig’s desire for order, and the feral attraction he feels for her arouses a fierce need to protect. When her past and his catch up with them, and danger follows hot on their heels, the perils they’ll face apart and together will test all their resolve in both career and love.

Denise is giving away a Victoria’s Secret Gift Card to one lucky commenter today. All you have to do to enter is answer this question: What color is Jake Sullivan’s eyes in the book PRIVATE MANEUVERS?

Thanks so much for being here, Denise!

There’s still time to enter…
Sarah Spalding has learned to forge her own way and never to trust anyone – least of all a Yankee. But when her companion abandons her while on a train to Colorado, Sarah begrudgingly accepts the help of Whitman Kendrick – a Yankee, yes, but one with the most bewitching green eyes. Allowing Whit to be her traveling escort is one thing, taking him as a lover is another – even though she’s tempted beyond reason…Whit Kendrick isn’t quite sure what to make of the sharp-tongued, sassy woman sharing his train compartment. All he knows is that Sarah is refreshingly different from most women – and his urgent, primal attraction for her is unlike any he’s experienced. Breaking down Sarah’s wall of defense won’t be easy. But Whit is determined to prove to Sarah that they’re more alike than different – and loving each other is all they need.

Beth’s giving away a copy of The Redemption of Micah to one lucky commenter today. To be entered into the drawing, find the answer to this question: What’s the family name in the series of 7 books that begins with The Bounty?

Welcome, Beth!

***
Dark Secrets or Embarrassing Truths
Many guest blog posts are about books, writing, heroes, heroines, etc. Today I’m going to step away from that (although I have a new release next Tuesday – yay!), and tell y’all some dark secrets… or embarrassing truths.

You know we go through life with a face we show the world. It might be a happy face, an angry face, a cynical face or perhaps even an apathetic face. I’d like to think I have an optimistic face, whether or not I have reason to be optimistic.

However, my life is not always rosy. I find myself in daily battles with my two teenage sons (13 and 17) and stand-offs with my DH (also an alpha who tends to have an opposite opinion from me). And then of course, there’s my battles with myself. Therein lies my dark secret.

My self-confidence sucks. *sigh* I’ve always struggled with it, since I was a kid really. It was lost in the shuffle of marriage, kids in my twenties, and then a job to stay afloat in the tough world of reality. I finally got a boost up with my first book publication, which promptly took a nose dive when I found out I sold 26 copies. LOL.

It’s a long hard road to believe in yourself, m’dears. I know that for a fact. I’ve been on the mountain of loose dirt for a long time. With each foot I climb up, I’ll slide back a bit. Hanging on gets really hard some days but with help from my friends and family, I continue to climb.

What?? You might be shocked to think I have little self-confidence, or you might be nodding your head in agreement, stuck in the same boat. I envy people who are so amazingly self-confident they can forge ahead and climb the mountain without any safety gear. I’m so wrapped up in harnesses, ropes and carabiners, I can feel the weight of them.

The announcement a few weeks ago that I had been nominated for a Career Achievement award in Erotic Romance by Romantic Times magazine simply blew me away (http://www.rtbookreviews.com/temp/RT.09.Nominees.pdf). I mean, my first thought was, did they maybe accidently nominate me? Really, me??? I don’t mind telling you I cried a little. It was as if I could see the top of the mountain, still not quite in reach, but achievable.

It’s a struggle to be optimistic when you find yourself doubting your own abilities, but I put on my optimistic face every day. What’s life without hoping and dreaming for something? That’s why we read and write romance right? I always hope, always dream, and always hang onto the slope. Someday I’m gonna reach the top.

I hope you’re all having a fabulous holiday! In honor of Christmas, I’ve got a copy of my new release, STOLEN SEDUCTION, to give away! And this time there’s no treasure hunt. (I’m making this easy!) Just tell me what your plans are for today and you’re entered!!

Merry Christmas!

Keep Entering!What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Considering how few of Queen Victoria’s Londoners knew of it, the great Romanesque fortress was dreadfully imposing, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met the powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadow, the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She knew simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow-white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gifts. But this arched stone doorway offered a portal to a new life, an education far from the convent—and an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death…

Welcome Leanna Renee!

***
What are your “Strangely Beautiful” holiday traditions? What’s something unique to your holiday season that might be out-of-the-box yet special? Any crazy family rites and rituals? Favourite, most blessed things about the holidays? I want to wish all of you a blessed Holiday Season and a prosperous 2010!

Please join me and the Strangely Beautiful series:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/leannarenee
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/sbsfan
Blog: www.leannareneebooks.blogspot.com
Website: www.leannareneehieber.com

Keep the entries coming. Did I mention you could win a $100 Amazon gift card?!

So this whole treasure hunting thing is so fun, I’ve decided I want to play!!! I’ve got a copy of STOLEN FURY and STOLEN HEAT to give away – two prizes, for two winners! All you have to do is find the answer to this question…

Who are the main characters in the 3rd Stolen book – STOLEN SEDUCTION – which releases on 12.29.09 (and is, by the way, already available on Amazon!)