romancebookworm

ART BLOG TOUR: Art is Life: Cover and Art Design by Danny Rei

March 22, 2013November 17, 2015 romancebookwormLeave a comment

DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT:

I’m Danny and I’m 21. I love beautiful book covers and posters. Ever since I was a child, I was very artistic and won several drawing competitions. As I grew up, my interest in art and design expanded somewhat. What started as something I enjoyed and was good at, became a passion.

My passion in art and design led me to start my own forum to satisfy my need to meet others with the same interests. As a result, I had to design my own buttons, banners, avatars and signatures.
Upgrading my skills came naturally, and soon I became fascinated with Photoshop and the endless possibilities I can discover with the program – from photo manipulating to digital painting from a plain white sheet.

I love reading books and seeing beautiful and creative cover designs inspires me. Not only to I enjoy the designing process, perfection is what I aim for.

I created my cover art service to help indie authors find the right cover artist for them. I have enjoyed working with several indie authors, as well as with a fantastic publisher – E.A.R. Publishing Company. Our collaboration has resulted in creating over 20 covers and other art works for the purpose of book promotion.

I do not have a specific way of working. Every client is special, unique and original, thus, my process is different every time. Usually, I ask the author if they have a specific vision of their cover art and go from there. And for those who are not sure what they want in particular, I ask for a sample of their book and the blurb. After I have digested the information, I suggest ideas and we go from there.
Art is Life really is a bespoke service that caters to the individual author’s needs.

SHOWCASE OF WORK:

‘Demonic Saviour’, by Author Katherine Rocholz, is one of my most favourite cover designs I have made so far. I know having favourites isn’t something I should do, because all of my cover designs are like my children, but I just love this one so much. I drew this personally and I especialy like the ‘dirty’ lines of the art.

The ‘UnForgotten’ anthology cover is also one of my favourite pieces. Maybe it is the theme of the writing contest organised by E.A.R. Publishing, or the calm, blue colours, but this definitely is something I enjoy looking at.

Aah, ‘Another Way to Bleed’ by Author Susan Harris! This one is special to me in its own way. The model on the cover is a personal friend of mine and her personality fits the main character in Susan’s debut novel perfectly.

Red Moon by Author J.V.K… I love this piece. Not only because it fits the second book perfectly, it is dear to me because the fragments of the compositions. A dear friend of mine is the model, and the dress she is wearing is my prom dress. So, naturally this cover means a lot to me. I love the simplicity of the colours: red – black – white. It is eye catching, simple, and in a way unique.

‘Of Gaea’ by Victoria Escobar is my most recent art work. I have to say that when I read the blurb, I was fascinated with the story and felt privileged that the Victoria chose me as her cover artist. I loved working with her.

And these are some of my pre-made cover designs for sale :

RECOMMENDATIONS:

“I had an idea, but no matter how hard I tried to make a reality it just wasn’t working for me. Getting a cover artist was the only option, but I wasn’t sure I would find something cost efficient for my meagre budget and exceptionally talented. It was with much reluctance I send out a bunch of emails to varying cover artists. I’m so glad I did.

Art is Life: Cover and Art Design is the greatest blessing any indie author (or author in general) could ask for. Not only is she massively cost efficient, she took my idea and created the most gorgeous cover I have ever seen. She really listened and took my input rather than just brushing away my thoughts. She was completely patient, and made changes every time I asked her to without hesitation. It was awesome.

I am 100 percent in love with my cover. I’ll never go to anyone else for cover art. Art is Life: Cover and Art Design has my business for the foreseeable future!”

-Victoria Escobar, Author

Art is life; cover and design is a brilliant, imaginative and creative company that provides quality work and an excellent service. Being an author myself, I had a clear imagine in my mind of what I would like for my debut novel’s book cover. Having given my publisher a sample of something I would like, the wonderful artist behind Art is Life: cover and design took my idea and blew it out of the water. In an instant the character whose voice was rambling around in my head came to life in a single image. And even when I asked for something to be included in the design, it was done to perfection. If you want a one of a kind cover for your book, I would urge to choose Art is Life; cover and design. You will not be disappointed with the end result….. and I can’t wait to work with them again when It’s time to sort out a cover for any future novels I am planning to write.

– Susan Harris, Author

LINKS

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Art-is-life-Cover-and-Art-Design/380159192078962?fref=ts

GIVEAWAY INFO

There are two giveaways being held to promote the amazing Art is Life: Cover and Art Design. One is specifically for authors, the second is for everyone.

Author Giveaway Prizes

1 x 30% off a pre-made cover design

or, 50% off a cover design

Click HERE for your chance to enter this Giveaway for Authors!

Fan Giveaway

Click HERE for your chance at an incredible fan Giveaway package!

BLOG TOUR STOP AND GIVEAWAY! REVIEW! Witch Weigh by Caroline Mickelson (#giveaway)

March 22, 2013January 8, 2019 romancebookworm1 Comment

BLURB:

Tessa Von Hellengaard is a real witch. Magical spells aside, she’s snarky and selfish, and the other witches in her silent spell coven are fed up with her. Their plan to reform Tessa involves taking away her magic, saddling her with one hundred extra pounds, and sending her to a weight loss spa. For good measure they call in Liam Kennedy, a charming and sexy fairy godfather, to teach her some manners. Desperate to regain her magic and determined to shed the weight, Tessa soon realizes that protecting her heart from Liam will prove to be her greatest challenge.

REVIEW:

This was something a little different. Tessa is a self-centered little witch. Literally. When her coven decides to teach her a lesson, they slap an extra hundred pounds on her and send her to fat camp with her hot fairy godfather. She starts off with being a condescending pain in the butt to everyone. When she does something nice by accident and realizes that is how she sheds the weight, she starts being nice all over the place. Like anything, if you do it long enough it becomes a habit.

This was a fun read and I see the potential for more good stories.

Rated 3 Bookworms

AUTHOR INFO:

Caroline Mickelson loves her family and loves to write. She also loves a good adventure, among her favorites thus far were attending graduate school in a Scottish castle, riding a camel around the Pyramids in Giza, and taking a best-in-a-lifetime road trip to Graceland. Caroline lives in the American southwest with her husband and their four children, affectionately known as The Miracles.

Click HERE for your chance at an awesome Giveaway!

BLURB TOUR!! Rhapsody by Sharon Clare (@TastyBookTours @SClareWriter)

March 21, 2013January 8, 2019 romancebookworm1 Comment

BLURB:

Isabelle plans to escape the real world when she takes a tropical vacation. But escape becomes too real when Paradise Resort disappears. To win her freedom, she must break an oath and out-play her opponent in a game of seduction. Her self-control is resolute until her traitorous body decides this is a game she wants to play.

Jonathan’s needs are simple: break down Isabelle’s resistance, win the game, and get back to the real world where an emergency waits. Desire grows between them as each roll of the die reveals secrets, truths and skin, until Jonathan is forced to confront his worst fear or forfeit Isabelle to the dark mastermind of the game.

EXCERPT:

Isabelle was vaguely aware of the stricken expression on Jonathan’s face as her knees buckled. Only with legs clenched tight did she keep herself from tottering over.
Impossible.
The sun was a blazing half disc hovering over the horizon, the trees, an ink smudge rimming the beach. Within minutes, the shore would be chilling, isolating, disorienting, all except for this one fire-lit area.
Jonathan’s gaze rose from the bizarre note she’d found. “It’s a joke, it has to be. We have to play a game to get back to the resort? Rhapsody? That’s insane.” He peered once again at the forest where ten minutes ago the resort had stretched over a few kilometers. Not a sound came from that site now, not even wind through the trees. Besides the flicker of fire, the night was still as a corpse.
“Did you find any sign of life out there?” She forced the words out evenly to tamp her panic and keep her voice from cracking.
“No, nothing. Did you know the resort has an invisible security fence? We won’t get past it if we go through the forest.”
“That’s odd. No, I didn’t hear anything about invisible security. Whoever wrote this note is playing games with us. Do you think this is a hoax put on by the resort?” Though she didn’t wish to admit it out loud, something about this scenario seemed . . . unearthly. A few feet from the fire lay a carpet with over-sized pillows placed for comfort and as the note suggested—pleasurable game play. She couldn’t kid herself into believing that display had been on the beach five minutes ago. The cozy fireside retreat seemed to have appeared from under the snap of a magician’s cloak.
“I doubt it.
“The note says we can’t escape the beach. ‘Play the game of Rhapsody to win your return to Serenity Resort.’ I don’t know who the lunatic is behind this, but we’re cut off from the hotel.” Jonathan checked his watch. As if the time mattered. With the sun sinking, it was light’s out any minute.
“I don’t have time for this,” he said.
Like she did? “Late for your date with the redhead?”
He shot her a wry look. “Not tonight.”
“Triplets?”
“I’ve got them lined up for Saturday.”
His dry sense of humor appealed to her from their first conversation. She couldn’t deny she’d behaved like his Monday night date until the redhead showed up. He’d been too easy to be with, like an old friend—they’d fit like parts clicking in perfect sequence. She could blame his good looks, the wine, the atmosphere, the conversation, but the truth was she’d gone to his room Monday night because she was too weak to keep to her relationship recovery program. But that was Monday. Today was a new day. “It’s some kind of magic trick. Mirrors?”
His gaze fell on the pillow arrangement. “I don’t think so. I see the game.”
She took a quick step back as he crossed in front of her, the thud of his footsteps a muted sound over the sand. Four torches rimmed the blanket sending shadows rippling over Jonathan’s features. “This is it—Rhapsody.” He read the words stamped across the box top before flipping the lid off.
“A board game? Are you kidding me?” Her panic subsided to a slow canter in her chest. This was nothing more than a silly hoax.
As Jonathan studied the board, she studied him. Her cast-away partner exuded some sort of undefined magnetic force that drew her closer, close enough to notice the mahogany highlights in his hair. The distinguished angles in his face knocked him up a level from handsome to devastatingly gorgeous.
Oh, sweet heaven.
He had a way of standing with his arms behind his back that made him appear open, receptive, with boyish, innocent appeal. His jaw was shadowed with a dark dusting under full lips with luscious curves turned in a pervasive grin. Luscious? She shouldn’t think luscious. He could have lips like sun-ripened peaches, it didn’t matter. She’d made herself a promise. No, stronger than a promise—a vow. No sexual relationships for one year. What was one year out of an entire life time?
She dropped her gaze when she realized he was watching her. That smile of his was infused with enough male heat to melt an iceberg. “What could there possibly be to smile about?”
“Guess what the objective of the game is?”

Author Bio:

Sharon Clare lives in Ontario with her husband and three wonderful grown-up kids who come and go from the nest. She fell in love with writing at the University of Toronto where she graduated with a science degree in psychology and professional writing. She writes light paranormal romance and has published short stories, art reviews, newsletter and magazine articles. Her favourite place to write is outside under the maple trees beside the lily pond. Find out more at: http://www.sharonclare.com

Rhapsody buy links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, itunes

Follow the rest of the tour HERE! Click HERE for your chance to win a digital copy of Sharon’s book, Love of Her Lives!

COVER REVEALS FOR INGER IVERSEN!!! (@kris10inger)

March 21, 2013January 8, 2019 romancebookworm4 Comments

BLURB:

After a fatal hit and run accident, Ella Monroe fears that she’s lost more than her beloved parents. Horrifying visions of a past life and a disturbing voice in her head have psychiatric professionals convinced that she’s lost her sanity as well. But when Kale–a dark and handsome stranger with a mysterious past–reveals the true meaning of her visions and the tremendous power she wields through them, Ella must come to terms with the devastating truths of her own past, while eluding an ancient Dark Prince who seeks to control not only her future, but all of mankind’s, by means of abilities that Ella is only beginning to understand.

Enter the shrouded world of an age old battle between an ancient race known as the Immortals and their bitter enemy Laurent, the so-called Dark Prince, who commands an army of half-breed vampires known as Chorý. Both sides have been desperately searching for the prophesied emergence of the Arc, a clairvoyant with unparalleled power to recall the past and a soothsayer with clear vision into the future.

The Council of Immortals has sworn to protect the Arc, whom they have identified as young Ella Monroe, a college freshman from Virginia living quietly and unaware of her powers or her past. But a renegade Chorý has other plans for the protection of a girl he has loved through the ages. Can Kale convince Ella of who she is, what she is destined to become, and what he once meant to her? Is he truly the best protector to shield the world from the devastating misuse of her powers that Laurent is bent on controlling? Or will the forbidden love they share and Kale’s cursed condition as a wretched and hated Chorý be used against them both?

This paranormal romance told from the heroine’s perspective builds in intensity and intrigue to a finale you won’t see coming. Heart pounding action mixed with heartwarming friendships and heartbreaking romance will leave you breathless and begging for more.

AUTHOR INFO:

Inger Iversen lives in Virginia Beach with her tree-hugging boyfriend Joshua and her overweight lap cat Max. When not reading or writing she spends her time watching reruns of True Blood or killing zombies in Call Of Duty.

Twitter-http://www.twitter.com/kris10inger

Goodreads-http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5829788

Website- http://www.ingeriversen.com/

Facebook Fanpage –https://www.facebook.com/pages/Inger-Iversen/187900437937819?fref=ts

LINKS:

Goodreads- http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13634791-few-are-angels

Buy Links :

Amazon Kindle- http://www.amazon.com/Few-Are-Angels-Volume-ebook/dp/B0086Z2KT0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363728239&sr=8-2&keywords=few+are+angels

Amazon Paperback-

http://www.amazon.com/Few-Are-Angels-Inger-Iversen/dp/0615650430/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363728310&sr=8-1&keywords=few+are+angels

Barnes & Noble Paperback-

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/few-are-angels-inger-iversen/1111266976?ean=9780615650432

Barnes & Noble- Nook-

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/few-are-angels-inger-iversen/1111266976?ean=2940014369671

Smashwords-

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/166604

BLURB:

What must he overcome to protect her?

With no clue of what to do next and the responsibility of looking after Alex and Mia as promised, Kale is up to his ears in problems and no solutions. How will Kale save Ella, keep Alex and Mia safe, control Jace as well as control the Bloodlust that creeps beneath the surface waiting to be released? Will Kale be Ella’s savior or will he convict her to a fate worse than the one Laurent has already promised her?

What truths will she learn?

Ella knows that the choices she makes affects not only her but everyone else around her, but what about the choices made to find her? Ella learns the truth about the death of her parents, learns that the ones she thought she could trust aren’t so trustworthy after all.
How will Ella handle these betrayals, and will she be able to sacrifice what is necessary to obtain eternal life?

AUTHOR INFO:

Inger Iversen lives in Virginia Beach with her tree-hugging boyfriend Joshua and her overweight lap cat Max. When not reading or writing she spends her time watching reruns of True Blood or killing zombies in Call Of Duty.

AUTHOR LINKS:

Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/kris10inger

Goodreads- http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5829788

Website- http://www.ingeriversen.com/

Facebook Fanpage – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Inger-Iversen/187900437937819?fref=tS

LINKS:

Goodreads-http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15923170-awakened

BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle- http://www.amazon.com/Awakened-Few-Are-Angels-ebook/dp/B00BIX062U/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1362977537&sr=8-4&keywords=Inger+Iversen

Amazon Paperback- http://www.amazon.com/Awakened-Few-Are-Angels-Volume/dp/1480020141/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1362977537&sr=8-4

Barnes & Noble- Nook-

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/awakened-inger-iversen/1114669791?ean=2940016171494

Cover Art Designs by ©Phatpuppyart.com – Claudia McKinney and font designs by Catie Crehan.

BLOG TOUR STOP!! ADVENTURES WITH MAX AND LOUISE BY ELLYN OAKSMITH (@TastyBookTours, @avonbooks))

March 20, 2013January 8, 2019 romancebookworm4 Comments

SYNOPSIS:

This novel was originally published as an e-book in 2011 under the title Knockers.
If you like Sophie Kinsella, Meg Cabot, and Liza Palmer, you’ll love Ellyn Oaksmith!
Molly Gallagher does not like to be the center of attention. As the mysterious Diner X, her pseudonym for a restaurant review column, she thrives on blending in. But before you can say “medical malpractice,” she wakes up from a routine procedure to find that her chart got switched with someone else’s, and now her A cup runneth over.

Suddenly, unassuming Molly is turning heads wherever she goes. The man she’s been pining for since high school is sitting up and taking notice, a very handsome stranger has captured her attention, and her lifelong dream of publishing a cookbook is about to come true. But Molly feels like an imposter. Will some advice from avery strange place help her figure out how to navigate her new, full-figured world?

Molly realizes her revamped shape might change her life. She just doesn’t anticipate quite how much . . .

EXCERPT:

“Here we go,” says the anesthesiologist. Poking the needle into my arm, he withdraws a tiny bit of blood into the clear drug he’s about to shoot into my vein. Red blood blooms in the benzodiazepine. I squeeze Angeli’s hand, grateful to have an ally in the room. She squeezes back hard, too hard. From the bed where I rest, prone in my unisex surgery gown, I can see that Angeli’s brown eyes are scary huge, like melting chocolates. She stares at the needle, transfixed, her lush coffee-colored skin now ashy pale. She clasps my hand until my fingers tingle. I want to say something about my hand being strangled, but the drug is taking effect. My brain floats three feet above, watching Angeli wobble unsteadily. Her skin fades further to a weird hue, lips purplish white. I haven’t seen her this shade since high school, when we drank all my dad’s Crown Royal and threw up on my mom’s prize Tropicana rosebushes. She’s going to faint.

In the back of my drug-addled brain there is a tug of remembrance, a creeping sense of doom. Why did Angeli quit medical school? Because she was tired of her doctor parents pushing their profession, their immigrant drive, their Indian lives down her thoroughly Americanized throat. That was it, right? Then I remember: she quit because she fainted at the sight of blood.

“You’re squeezing my hand too hard,” I squeal.

This isn’t happening. I’m shot full of drugs, going down faster than the Hindenburg, and my best friend, the person who is supposed to drive me, tend me, and take the helm while I am out of commission, is teetering like a drunk. My lips numb Lovely soft fuzz fills my brain. I remember some comedian’s quip about why so many people become drug addicts: because drugs are fun. I give Angeli a squishy smile, trying to form a sentence in my soggy brain, something about how she’d better not faint because I need her to look after me. Then Angeli disappears from view. One minute she’s there, and the next, nothing but wall space and a dull thud.

I turn woozily to the anesthesiologist. He looks down at the floor, a deep frown creasing his brow.

“Nola, we got a fainter!” he yells.

Panicking, I realize that this surgery, which is supposed to rid me of the scars on my neck and chest, boost my confidence, expand my career, and maybe even jump-start my love life, isn’t going well. And I haven’t even left the pre-op room. The last thing that goes through my head is this: I’ve picked the wrong damn friend.

Medical errors occur in 17 percent of all hospital procedures. Most of them are caused by understaffing, fatigue, lack of communication, and staff error. My best friend caused mine. When it came time to pick my advocate during surgery, it came down to five people: my sisters, Trina and Denise; my best friends, Martin and Angeli; and my dad. Trina was out because I was using her plastic surgeon. She’d spend all her time agonizing over whether or not to get a quick shot of Botox instead of looking out for me. My younger sister Denise is too busy chaining herself to whaling ships and picketing outside the federal building. Besides, she’d view plastic surgery as antifeminist, lecturing me on embracing my scars and wearing them like a badge of courage. My dad, well, surgery would remind him of the worst night of his life, the night I got the scars. Martin was busy covering my job at the newspaper.

Angeli, who never mentioned anything about queasiness at the sight of blood, could easily get someone to cover for her at the Clinique counter at Nordstrom. She seemed the obvious choice.

I subscribe to the domino theory of life. One bad choice or event triggers a chain of events that then lead to an explosion in one’s life. In this case, Angeli was the first tilting tile. Nurse Nola, who rushed to pick Angeli off the floor, was holding someone else’s chart. In her haste, she dropped the chart on my bed. Three minutes later I was wheeled into surgery with another patient’s chart. I wake up in the recovery room three hours later feeling as if I’ve fallen off a cliff. It’s not so bad, though, because I’ve landed in a warm pile of drugs. A wan, tired Angeli is at my side, holding my hand, smiling in her surprisingly empathetic way. In a chemical haze, I tilt my head from side to side. The room swims pleasantly as though I’m underwater. Dimly aware of a faint ache in my chest and neck, I float above the pain, enjoying my little high. This isn’t so bad. My surgeon, Dr. Hupta, told me I’d have lots more pain after the drugs wear off. But then he’ll give me more to take home. Easy peasy.

Across from me is a teenage girl with bandages covering her cheeks and nose, sipping from a green juice box. Her mother, in a pink velour jogging suit, flips through a movie magazine. They watch me as I blink my eyes woozily, struggling to sit up. Angeli jumps from her chair to help me.

“Here, here, I got it.” She presses a button, lifting the bed. As my head becomes level with hers, she whispers in my ear, nodding at the teenager. “One guess what she’s in here for.”

Before I can answer, a nurse bustles in, her neon white smile fixed. “Well, hello there. And how are we feeling after our big day in surgery?”

I try to say, “Fine.” It comes out, “Fiiiiaaaay.”

The nurse takes my pulse, listens to my heart rate, and hands me a juice box. “We need to get your blood sugar up, or you’ll end up on the ground like your friend here when you try to walk.”

Angeli rolls her eyes behind the nurse’s back. As soon as she leaves, Angeli whispers about my roommate. “Nose job. High school graduation present. Can you imagine? Happy graduation; how’d you like a new schnoz?”

Slowly I drink my apple juice, my head clearing slightly. “I doubt it went like that. Nice disappearing act back there.”

She rolls her eyes and shrugs. “Now you know why I flunked premed.”

“You said blood used to make you queasy, not parallel.” I wince as the pain radiates into my neck and shoulders.

REVIEW:

Oh my goodness, Kittens! I laughed my butt off with this book! I can not even begin to imagine what I would do if I went in for cosmetic surgery and came out with something, well, more. When Molly realizes that she went from flat to fabulous, she is seriously bent out of shape…literally. Knowing that she has to wait to have her breasts fixed is something that nearly drives her insane and when they start talking to her, well let’s just say that is the kicker.

What Molly doesn’t expect is that the mistake that she thought would destroy her is what actually brings her to life. She gains the confidence she has always been lacking to get out there and take charge of her life. Her first stop is to get the guy from high school. We all know that is mistake but she has to learn.

Gotta say that when a Wolf is prowling at your door, you better pay attention! Love it and you all need to check it out!

Rated 4 Bookworms

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Adventures-With-Max-Louise-Ellyn-Oaksmith/?isbn=9780062268105

http://www.ellynoaksmith.com/

Follow the rest of the tour HERE!

BLOG TOUR STOP WITH SHAE! GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY! Fallow Heart by Linda Kage (@TastyBookTours)

March 19, 2013January 8, 2019 romancebookworm4 Comments

BLURB:

Ten years ago, an oil tycoon’s daughter and a farmer’s son shared a moment neither would ever forget. When she left town in disgrace, a piece of her stayed locked deep within his soul. And like the ground he tended, his emotions lay fallow for years. Cooper Gerhardt’s deeply buried feelings for Jo Ellen Rawlings grew more fertile over time, just waiting for the day she would return to release his deepest desires.
When she strolls back into Tommy Creek, Texas for her ten-year class reunion, Cooper shows her farm boy style exactly what she missed by leaving. Starting a short-term affair is simply unavoidable. But when the week is over, can either of them let go of the responsibilities and apprehensions keeping them apart? Or will their fallow hearts learn to flourish together?

EXCERPT:

Jo Ellen took a deep breath as she entered the tavern, paying careful attention to dropping her keys into her purse and clicking the latch closed.

She hated entering a social establishment alone. She should’ve just told Emma Leigh she’d meet her at their parents’ house where they were staying the entire week.

Thank God she heard her sister’s voice as soon as she tucked her purse under her arm. “Hey, Joey. Over here.”

She didn’t know what she would’ve done, loitering around the bar and looking pathetic all by her lonesome until Emma Leigh had arrived. Relieved she didn’t have to worry about any of that, she smiled and glanced toward the call to find Alexa and Dexter gathered around Branson and her sister. Her step faltered before she regained her momentum, forcing herself to suck it up. If she was going to be stuck as their fifth wheel for the entire week, she might as well get used to it now.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I ran into a traffic jam on the interstate and—”

“You’re not late.” Em checked the Rolex on her wrist. “You’re ten minutes early.”

“I am?” Jo Ellen frowned and consulted her own slim, silver watch. “Then what’re you doing here?”

Her sister really had changed if she actually ran on time these days.
Emma Leigh tossed back her long, dark hair and laughed before explaining, “Oh no. I haven’t changed that much.” She hooked a loving thumb Branson’s way. “Even Mr. Dependable here can’t keep me on time for anything. This one is all Lexi’s fault. She was starving, which forced us to get here early.”

As they glanced in unison at Dexter’s wife, the bartender served her a plate of steaming barbeque. She grinned and waved before she picked up a sauce-dripping rib with her bare fingers and tore into the juicy meat.

Jo Ellen smiled fondly and neared Alexa to set her hand on the baby bump. “How’s my little goddaughter doing in there?” She stroked once before she felt an answering kick. The sign of growing life caught her in the throat, choking her up. So bittersweet, it had her blinking back tears as she dropped her fingers from Lexi’s abdomen.

Nearby, Dexter corrected her, saying, “Godson.”

She brightened. “Oh, you found out the gender?”

“Oops.” Emma Leigh cringed. “Forgot to tell you. They’re having a boy.”

Jo Ellen rolled her eyes. How typical of her sister to forget something so important. Setting her hand on her hip in a scolding manner, she angled a frown at Emma Leigh’s husband. “I thought we discussed this, Branson. You were supposed to work on her communication skills, remember?” She tried to look stern but was sure he could see the teasing glint in her eyes, not to mention the lips she tightened to keep from grinning.

He lifted his hands in surrender. “Hey, she has no problem communicating to me, telling me whenever I mess something up.” Then he grinned, showing how much he didn’t mind such communication.

Jo Ellen laughed, pleased to see her sister so happily married to a man who adored her. This was exactly the life she’d always dreamed of for her twin…and herself.

As the amused sound chimed from her vocal chords, she heard a sharp intake of breath nearby, from the man seated at the bar next to her group. She could make out a vague, blurry image of him from her peripheral vision. By his jeans, boots, and hat, he screamed local, which was exactly why she refused to glance over and focus on his face. From the instant she’d entered Rio’s, she’d been too nervous to look directly at anyone besides the four she’d come to see, too afraid she might recognize someone from years ago.

Cowardly move, sure, but she didn’t care. Her nerves had wadded themselves into a huge, messy ball and she was performing as well as could be expected, faking all her smiles.

But Emma Leigh just had to go and say, “Oh, hey. Look who we ran into as soon as we got here.”

She grabbed Jo Ellen’s arm and revolved her toward the man, practically shoving her into his lap, right between a pair of spread knees. Eyes widening, Jo Ellen gaped at those thick, masculine knees, covered by thin, fraying denim. Her eyes strayed up of their own will, taking in strong, muscled thighs and somehow landing on his crotch, where the fly of his jeans stretched over an impressive bulge nestled under a big shiny brass belt buckle.

She gulped as the man scooted upright, obviously also alarmed by Emma Leigh thrusting her so close.

“Coop’s here,” her sister announced.

Coop?

As in Cooper Gerhardt?

Cooper Thaddeus Gerhardt?

No.

Jo Ellen’s eyes widened on that denim-clad bulge, her face draining of color. If Travis Untermeyer was the number one person she didn’t want to run into, Cooper Gerhardt was the second. Didn’t even matter that he’d turned into a delicious hunk of heaven, which from what she’d seen so far, it looked as if he had.

She jerked her face up, her lips instantly parting with surprise as she came face to face with the grown-up version of Cooper Gerhardt.

Oh, Lord have mercy.

GUEST POST:

“How I Got Into Writing”

This journey started twenty-seven years ago when I was in the first grade. At the time, I wanted to milk cows like my mom or be an artist. Strange options, I know. But that’s me; strange.

Then it happened.

Mrs. Coltrane, my first grade teacher, asked us to write a poem. My poem totally sucked eggs sadly. It was about a rainbow and after I listed all the colors in a rainbow, I called it a pretty, pretty rainbow (did you see there, I used TWO pretties. It’s awesomeness astound me too!).

Well, not one to beat down her student’s fragile egos, Mrs. Coltrane actually praised my awful poem in front of the entire class. And from that day forward, I’ve always wanted to be a writer.

My love for the “romance genre” came when I was a freshman in high school. I was listening in on my older sisters talking about how much they loved Sandra Brown stories, so…I read one. Then I had to read another. And another, and before I knew it, I was a total romance junkie.

The short stories I had always written suddenly turned into romance stories and grew longer.

It was during the summer break before my senior year in high school that I finished writing my first full-length romance novel. I’d been working on it all morning and was printing out the last few pages when my mom came down to my room and started in on me for not cleaning up my space.

Instead of apologizing, I turned to her and showed her my book. “I just finished it,” I said. After that, she forgot all about my messy room. My wonderful mother praised me for being an artist!

Since book number one totally reeked, I wrote another one. This one I submitted to Silhouette, and received a long, horrifying rejection letter. I was only eighteen, so it broke my heart. Oh, hell. Rejection letters still do that to me. It would’ve broken my heart if I had gotten it yesterday.

Anyway, moving along. I didn’t submit another story for another five years. I wrote some, but I had started college (with a creative fiction writing major) and met my soul mate, so I was a little busy and preoccupied in those years.

The sixth full-length story I finished was a young adult. My family absolutely loved it. So, I submitted it to a couple places. And received one hundred percent rejections back.

Three years passed and I completed my twelfth story before I decided to join Romance Writers of America. The closest chapter to me was over two hours away in Kansas City, but I joined anyway. And I have only actually been to a handful of their physical meetings to this day.

I really started pushing publication after that, submitting story after story, and learning what NOT to do through all my many rejection letters. I joined a critique group and learned about the ebook industry.

And after being in RWA for a little bit over a year, I finally sold the first Young Adult story I’d written to The Wild Rose Press. It remains to be my biggest seller to this day.

I fell in love with ebooks after that. I have Kindle and iBooks apps on my iPad, and the only physical books I read now are the ones given to me or that I win in a contest!

And that is the tale of my writing journey. Regret asking yet?! Oh, well. Thanks so much for stopping by anyway. I honestly believe the only reason I have any book published today is because I never gave up.

So that’s how I got into writing. I just kept at it because not-writing simply wasn’t an option!

Thank you so much for taking the time to join us, Linda!

REVIEW BY SHAE:

This book was amazing! I couldn’t put it down. I thoroughly enjoy books that stir all my emotions. Linda Kage wrote an emotionally amazing story of love and hope.

Cooper is a “farm boy” who was raised to be a gentleman. In a dog eat dog world, the good guys tend to finish last. With the love of his life within reach, he has to decide whether it is more important to put other’s feelings first or go after what he wants most in the world – Jo Ellen. Cooper and Jo Ellen learn that even in tragedy love can flourish and find a way to help heal the heart and soul.

Kage gives us glimpse into the past of the characters 10 years prior to the current events. This allows us to see how even over time, the heart can be “fallow” like a piece of land, but still flourish and produce a great harvest with time and healing.

This is a must add to all romantic reader’s libraries.

Rated 5 Stars

AUTHOR INFO

Linda grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now she lives in Kansas with her husband, toddler daughter, and their nine cuckoo clocks. She works a day job in the acquisitions department of a university library and feels her life has been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing’s always been a major part her world, and she’s thrilled to finally share some of her stories with other romance lovers.

Follow the rest of the tour HERE! Don’t forget to Enter the contest HERE for your chance to WIN A $20.00 GIFT CARD FROM AMAZON OR B&N!!

REVIEW!! EVE: TRAINING HER HUSBAND TO BE HER MASTER BY VIVIEN SPARX (@viviensparx, @beingnev)

March 19, 2013November 17, 2015 romancebookwormLeave a comment

BLURB:

‘Eve’ is a story for every woman who yearns to be submissive and wishes they knew ways to encourage their husband to be more dominant in the bedroom.

Warning! This is a Vivien Sparx story like you have never read before!
It contains explicit sex scenes and graphic language. It is for adult only readers who like their action sweaty, steamy and super hot!

‘Eve’ is the fifth story in the ‘Unleashed’ series…
Also available in the ‘Unleashed’ series are ‘Alicia’, ‘Becky’, ‘Claire’ and ‘Debbie’.
‘Eve’ is a story of approx. 22,000 words

Julia takes on a couple in their mid 30’s and over the course of 5 days shows them ways to re-ignite their sex life and turn the man into a Master for his wife.

REVIEW:

Wow! Hot and spicy is an understatement. I have read all the books in the Unleashed series and they were hot and arousing. This story though, actually touched me. It is the story of Eve and Daniel, who are a happily married couple, that is until Eve begins to think that she is a submissive.

They come to Julia in the hopes that she can help them figure out if Eve is a submissive and how to make Daniel a Master. This is not an easy task since Daniel doesn’t understand the lifestyle and what it entails.

A lot of relationships wouldn’t be able to make it through something like this and I am in awe of the love between these characters.

Vivien has expressed the down and dirty in the BDSM lifestyle and in this one she shows us the everyday part of the lifestyle. I loved it and wonder if I can get my husband to read it. LOL!

Rated 4 Kisses

Reviewers Wanted!

March 19, 2013November 17, 2015 romancebookwormLeave a comment

I am looking at taking on more bloggers here at Romancebookworm’s Reviews. If you think this is something that you would be interested in and can commit to 2 reviews a month, fill out the form below and I will get back to you.

I will get back to you within 48 hours. 🙂 I do not store or sell information from my blog.

BLOG TOUR SPOTLIGHT! EMBRACING SCANDAL BY SUZI LOVE (@TastyBookTours @Crimson_Romance @suzilove)

March 18, 2013January 8, 2019 romancebookworm2 Comments

Book Blurb:

The first in my scandal series with heroines whose scientific knowledge and intellect are an affront to increasingly prudish early Victorian society.

After Lady Rebecca Jamison, a mathematical genius, saves her family from financial ruin by secretly investing in railway stocks on the London stock exchange, a greedy syndicate, desperate for Becca’s calculations and predictions, murders her friend and threatens the Jamison family, forcing Becca to beg assistance from her childhood friend, Cayle St. Martin.

The newly titled Duke of Sherwyn has returned to London after five years on the continent extending his family’s shipping interests. He’s shunned his privileged London life and his father’s unbending attitudes, and becomes committed to employing the spying tactics he learned on the continent to help Becca indict the syndicate -and using his skills as a lover to seduce her into his bed.

But how will Cayle be able to convince Becca, a determinedly self-sufficient spinster, that he can be more to her than just a protector?

Book Excerpt:

Lady Rebecca Jamison watched Cayle. Under the rules of etiquette, she must remember to address him as Your Grace or Sherwyn in public, despite knowing he’d abhorred the bowing and scraping expected by dukes, including his father.Becca tried to judge his level of inebriation and his reaction to her news, though she was wise enough to stay out of arm’s reach. In the past, her knight in shining armour had constantly overreacted if he thought her adventures, or misadventures, placed her in harm’s way.
“Please, my dear.” The new duke’s fists unfurled as he flung his arms wide in a dramatic gesture. “Go ahead and clarify that terrifying statement.” His voice lifted another octave.“Before my hair turns completely white. Or my legs give out.”
Neither Cayle’s fury nor his towering size frightened Becca. But she was terrified that the city would awaken and the streets fill with people before he became calm and rational and listened to her plea for his help in collecting the final proof that would send at least a dozen of their peers to prison for illegal trading practices.
“Or even worse.” He voice was a low snarl as he pointed at the floor. “I misplace the contents of my heaving stomach all over the duchess’s prized carpet.”
Becca winced. For the tenth time she listed to herself the reasons she’d bravely bearded this particular panther in his lair.
To protect her family.
To secure the nest eggs saved by the fallen women at the shelter.
To save her own life.
As the new Duke of Sherwyn, Cayle was her best, or possibly only, chance to do all that and to keep her promise to Scotland Yard. She hoped he’d listen with an open mind. Hoped he’d comprehend how much danger her family and friends were in without realising how close she had come to also being murdered.
“I’d gone to Peggy’s cottage to collect some letters she’d written on behalf of our Women’s Society. The door was ajar. I knocked but Peggy didn’t answer so I went inside.”
Peggy had been sprawled across the floor, her sturdy legs protruding at odd angles from her yellowing nightgown. Her hair had been matted with blood and tangled in the strings of her dislodged nightcap and her plait had been a rusty red mess instead of a neat tail of plain brown.
“I can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see the murderer standing over Peggy’s battered body. But he runs towards me. Not away.” She shuddered and closed her eyes.
Fingers brushed her cheek. “Becca, I’ll not let anyone harm you.”
“If I’d only arrived at Peggy’s cottage a few minutes earlier.”
“Stop it. You mustn’t blame yourself.”
“How can I not? One life has already been destroyed because of me. My friend was killed. Her body discarded like a tattered rag doll.”
His bloodshot gaze narrowed on her face. “So, knowing how your mind works, you’ll try to focus the consortium on yourself, and thereby keep everyone else out of danger.” He raised a brow. “Am I correct?”
Damned man was still a mind reading menace. “You’re wrong. I’ve little wish to confront those men by myself. But neither will I allow anyone else to be hurt.”
“And who protects you from the current set of fire–breathing dragons?”
She raised her chin. “I’ve outgrown such childishness.” She lowered herself to the closest settee, a demonstration of ladylike maturity and a reprieve for her trembling knees.

Author Bio:

Suzi Love now lives in a sunny part of Australia after spending many years in developing countries in the South Pacific. Her greatest loves are traveling, anywhere and everywhere, meeting crazy characters, and visiting the Australian outback. She adores history, especially the many-layered society of the late Regency to early Victorian eras. In and around London, her titled heroes and heroines may live a privileged and gay life but Suzi also likes to dig deeper into the grittier and seamier levels of British life and writes about the heroes and heroines who challenge traditional manners, morals, and occupations, either through necessity or desire.

Book Buying Places

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Embracing Scandal

Publisher -Crimson Romance

Publication Date -February 18th, 2013

ISBN-1440560498(ISBN13:9781440560491)

Read about Suzi Love -Author Bio at Crimson Romance

Read about Embracing Scandal -Goodreads

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Suzi Love’s Blogging Places

Historical Hearts -Australian historical romance – http://historicalhearts.blogspot.com

Sultry Scribes -Australian romance authors -http://sultryscribes.wordpress.com

Ladies in Red -Crimson Romance authors -http://crimsonromanceauthors.com/
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