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Saturday, March 22, 2014

Spotlight Author; Alexa Bourne!

Please welcome Alexa Bourne, fellow Decadent author, to my blog today!



Alexa Bourne is a teacher by day and a romance writer by nights, weekends, and all school holidays. She also teaches online classes for writers throughout the year. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance and is thrilled to have the chance to share her stories with readers everywhere.
When she’s not concocting sinister plots and steamy love scenes or traveling and exploring new cultures, Alexa spends her time reading, watching brainless TV, and thinking about exercising. Okay, she also spends way too much time interacting with readers and writers on social media sites. But don’t tell her editors! Find out more about her and her books on her website, www.alexabourne.com.





Thank you to Teri for inviting me for a visit! Today I’m bringing with me some fascinating details of the heroine in my book, LIAR, LIAR. Here’s the blurb:
Unable to protect her mother from her father as a child, Devin McQueen has made it her mission as an adult to protect as many abused women and children as she can. The rare moments she’s not consumed with work as a victims’ advocate, she limits her involvements to safe, predictable men….until she meets bounty hunter Grady Cooper. He is big, bold, brash, and has no problem speaking his mind.
               Growing up in a broken home, Grady realized early on that good deeds had a price.  To survive, he learned to weigh every decision by what he could gain. Unfortunately, the successful, solitary life he’s worked so hard to create spins out of control when demons from his past shake his confidence. His boss has given him one last chance—bring in Devin’s latest client quickly, and quietly and maybe he’ll still have a job. It didn’t sound unreasonable until he met Devin.
 Suddenly, Grady must make a decision: save his career or follow his heart?

The heroine in my book LIAR, LIAR is a great role model for women… to some degree. She suffered mentally and physically as a child at the hands of her father, but she doesn’t let that keep her down. She’s chosen to overcome the fear and learn to take care of herself. She’s never taken pity from anyone and she never tried to hide her past. Devin and her mom believe the past is what makes you who you are and we decide which way our futures will go.
As Devin grew up and grew stronger, she decided to be the link to a new, safe life many other women need. With the help of some friends, she opened a business called Soul Survivors, which legally assists victims. (Okay, occasionally she has one toe on each side of the line of legality, but she’ll never apologize for that.) In her mind and heart, everyone deserves to feel safe.
In the opening scene of LIAR, LIAR, we (and the hero, Grady) walk into some disturbance in Soul Survivors. Grady thinks he might have to come to her rescue, but Devin quickly proves she can handle trouble herself.
But Devin also has some less than stellar qualities. She has difficulty trusting people, especially men, and needs to be in control. Sometimes she balks at plans if she’s not the one in charge. Wherever she is, she thinks about an exit strategy and scans her surroundings for anything to use as a weapon. She absolutely hates showing any fear or vulnerability. Although she’ll tell people she’s over the past, the only one she’s fooling is herself. So of course, throughout LIAR, LIAR she must again face her own demons and somehow put them to rest. Luckily, she doesn’t have to do it alone. Even if she’s not sure she wants him around, Grady stays by her side.
What about you? Do you believe your past makes you who you are and you shape your own future? I think I’m right there with Devin and her mom. But…can I have a Grady of my very own to help me through the rough times? J

 Today is DAY 3 of my LIAR, LIAR Blog Tour! Come follow me on this path, tweet about the tour and share the details on Facebook. For each comment you make (or tweet or Facebook post) along the way, you’ll move closer to winning one of three great prizes!



Excerpt:
If Grady Cooper had any hope of salvaging his professional reputation, he needed to charm Devin McQueen into giving him what she’d never given any other man.
He tucked his keys into his cargo shorts, stared up at the five-story office building and cursed the humidity.
And his dilemma.
Needing anyone was bad enough. Being forced to rely on a complete stranger to help prove he wasn’t a menace to society was as appealing as the Red Sox using his head for batting practice. If she refused to help him, he’d lose his job for sure.
“That’s not going to happen,” he whispered. He’d do whatever he had to, promise her the world even, to get himself out of this mess and restore his reputation. By the time she realized he had no intention of honoring his pledge, he’d be a free man and he could get back to chasing the bad guys instead of being labeled one.
Whatever it took.
He pushed the glass door open and flew up the stairs two at a time to the third floor. As he walked down the hallway, he glanced at the business names on the doors: law offices, non-profit offices, save the bleeding heart offices. Rooms of people he’d probably chased a bail jumper for at one time or another.
Loud thumps filtered into the hallway from somewhere up ahead.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Trade rule number one: Always expect the worst. Still, the noises could have been any number of things: a fallen chair, a muffled voicemail message, boxes of printer paper being dropped. It could have been nothing connected to this woman.
As he got closer to the door with Soul Survivors carved on it, the name of McQueen’s business, the noises got louder. Glass shattered. A series of thumps passed from behind the door. A woman’s voice flew through the walls like a high-pitched war cry.
What if someone wanted Devin McQueen even more than Grady did?
Too bad. He had to put his own needs first.
Adrenaline pushed him. He turned the doorknob.
Damn it. Locked.
He shoved his shoulder against the wooden door. It budged. Barely. Inside, more glass broke. A male voice growled through a string of swear words.
Whoever stood on the other side of this door could not have her.
Grady gritted his teeth and jammed his shoulder against the door again. This time, it flew open and hurled him into the office.
Silence reigned across the room. With his shoulder throbbing, he scanned the scene. One upended chair, one thug cradling his nuts, the other, older one, bleeding from his nose and one wild-eyed woman in the center of it all. The bleeding man had his arms wrapped around the woman’s chest, crushing her…assets under his forearms.
Grady bit back a grin. If this was Devin McQueen, then some of the rumors were true. She could hold her own. But now she didn’t need to. “What’s the matter, guys? Couldn’t find anyone your own size to pick on?”

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Do you want a chance to win a $25 gift card to Amazon?

Attention Romance Readers!
Fill out a survey for a chance to win a $25 gift card for Amazon!
Hi Kara,
There's a fun contest going on from me.
Here's what you do:
  • Go to http://teri-riggs.com/survey
  • Click the bright green 'feedback' tab on the left side of the screen
  • Fill out the survey!
  • Be automatically entered to win a $25 gift card for Amazon!
Your feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you so much,
        Teri Riggs

Monday, March 17, 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


My mom was a Kennedy and the Ireland in my blood calls me to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day. Back in my younger days I spent many of the shamrock holidays at the closest Irish Pub rejoicing in my Celtic roots. The festivities mostly involved green beer, loud singing, and the occasional hang over.
When I became a mom my St. Patrick’s Day revelries evolved into searching for four-leaf clovers and building Leprechaun traps with my wee daughters. Some of the traps were extremely elaborate, but even so we were never able to capture the elusive little man with the silly beard and hat. Fortunately, the girls always managed to snag a pile of his gold in the form of chocolate coins wrapped golden foil.
Some years my girls would find a small fragment of green material stuck inside  the traps. Ah, pieces of the Leprechaun’s suit. They were so close to a capture! After a breakfast of gold (chocolate) and Lucky Charms in green milk, (what else do you serve for breakfast on SPD?) I’d send them off to school with PBJ’s on green bread, a baggie full of green grapes, and a couple green cookies in their lunch boxes.

No St. Paddy’s day is complete without a corned beef and cabbage dinner. Toss in a few potatoes and carrots and you’ve got yourself a wee piece of heaven. I shouldn’t brag, but what the heck, I make one mean pot of corned beef and cabbage that always puts a smile on hubby’s face.
As I said earlier, my mother’s maiden name was Kennedy. My grandpa was Edward Kennedy—no, not the famous one. In honor of my mother, I named the heroine in my book, The Eyes Die Last, Kennedy Marie O’Brien. Kennedy for Momma’s surname. Marie for Momma’s middle name. And O’Brien? Well it just doesn’t get more Irish than an O’Brien.
Kennedy comes from a long line of Irish cops. I let her grandpa and ex-cop, Tommy O’Brien, keep his Irish accent, but Kennedy’s Irish cadence rarely comes across and only when she’s extremely angry or emotional. Nick Campenelli, one of her leading suspects and a man she’s attracted to, loves when the Irish lilt slips through. Nick’s pet name for Kennedy is Irish, and it drives her crazy when he calls her by the nickname.
I have Irish roots and I loved inserting them into The Eyes Die Last. You’ll never find me searching for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, because at the end of the day, I’ve already found it…in my family.

*The second book in the Kennedy O’Brien series, The Eyes of Vengeance, will be released in summer, 2014.



CELEBRATE!!
Resolutions’ six month book-birthday was last week! If you’d like to enter the drawing for a $50 Amazon Gift Card, cupcakes, and an e-copy of Resolutions, answer this month's trivia question! And for more entries you can like Teri on Facebook, follow @TeriLRiggs on Twitter, and tweet about the contest! Make sure to sign up for the newsletter, too!

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Saturday, March 15, 2014

Spotlight Author; Becky Flade


Codename Diana
CIA field agent Paige Aster hides a cunning intelligence and lethal skill behind a mask of golden beauty. It serves her well as she moves from one undercover assignment to the next.
Current Mission
Retrieve a stolen United States military defense program from a terrorist cell in Dublin, Ireland, before they trade it to Islamic extremists in exchange for munitions. Her only back up on this time-sensitive mission is a deeply embedded MI-6 operative.
Her Asset
Eoin Fitzpatrick has sacrificed everyone he holds dear to bring these terrorists to justice. He’ll sacrifice Diana, too, if she threatens to compromise his mission or his cover. He has orders to do just that – his agency is only doing hers a favor.
Compromised or Comprising?
Paige expects danger, but welcomes passion—taking her pleasure where and when it’s offered. She’s not prepared for the effect Eoin has on her. Or what happens when she surrenders to him—Paige burns for Eoin but will he leave her burned…
Goddess of the Hunt
Covert Passions




GODDESS OF THE HUNT by Becky Flade http://youtu.be/nvO0OJd6YhA
Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/BeckyFlade/goddess-of-the-hunt/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20747715-goddess-of-the-hunt
 

What Readers are saying:

There's a great plot line, an interesting twist to the story, and I think although it's not a cliffhanger you'll be left wanting more…Kinky Book Klub

About the Author:
A city girl, born and bred, I place my stories in and around southeast Pennsylvania, or at least have a character or two from the area. Home is where the heart is and I make mine with my very own knight in slightly tarnished armor. When I’m not busy living my own happily ever after, I’m writing about someone else’s.

Contact Details:
beckyfladeauthor@gmail.com
http://beckyfladeauthor.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BeckyFlade
https://twitter.com/beckyflade



Enjoy the following excerpt from Goddess of the Hunt:

“Is it done? Do you and the others in the house bring in sex partners from time to time?” She straightened and stared at him.
“Yes.” He hissed the answer.
“I’m travelling; you and I meet at a pub and go to your place to hook up. It’s simple and happens all the time. Believable, even.” She thought of Michel and her lips tilted at the corners. Then, casting her eyes over Eoin, she deliberately arched a brow and tucked her tongue in her cheek. “Well, for most people, anyway.”
His lips thinned and the muscles in his cheek ticked as he worked to control the flare of temper. It delighted her. “Fine, we’ll do it your way.” Eoin pushed himself from the chair he’d been perched on and nearly charged for the door. “I’ll be here at seven-thirty tomorrow morning, be ready.”
Paige grabbed his arm as he passed her. “What are you so worked up about? If it goes wrong, you can just leave me hanging and you know it. This costs you nothing, Paddy-boy; it’s my ass on the line.”
He grabbed her shirt and pushed her against the closet door. She didn’t fight it and he had his mouth on her in seconds. His tongue delved and demanded she respond; she arched up into the kiss. Delight, desire, and anger thrummed through her as she both succumbed and made demands of her own. His hands molded to her hips and pinned her between the hard planes of his body and the wall behind her. Then he abruptly pulled away. They stood inches apart; the air crackled around them. Their gazes locked. He opened his mouth, then shook his head and left without a word.
       Tie score.