Excerpt, Guest Post & Giveaway! Beauty and the Werewolf (San Francisco Wolf Pack #2) by Kristin Miller

Unmated werewolves don’t normally live past three hundred years old...and billionaire Jack MacGrath is cutting it close. Sure, he has almost everything—the respect of his peers, a mansion in San Francisco, a private jet, and fast cars. But without a mate, Jack's in trouble. Then he sees her. Gorgeous, proud...and his enemy.

Isabelle Connelly is good at hiding things from her father. Like her success as a painter, or the incredibly intense attraction she has to Jack MacGrath. After all, she's royalty and falling for anyone lesser—to say nothing of a rival pack—would be, er, unseemly. Now she must choose between her duty to her family and her pack...or her perfect fated mate.

Amazon • Amazon CA • Amazon UK • B&N • Kobo • iBooks

“Tell Mr. MacGrath that Isabelle Connelly is here to see him.” She spoke loudly into the intercom. “I’d like to make an offer on his newest piece of acquired art: Werewolf in Venice.”

Silence followed after a deafeningly loud crackling sound.

Five minutes dragged by. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and refused to move. Stared at the intricate ironwork on the gate.

“I’m not leaving,” she mumbled to herself. “Not until I get my painting.”

Nothing else mattered.

Billionaire or not, everything had a price.

She’d simply have to make him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Hell if she knew what that was, though. 

Without warning, the gates let out a groan, startling her. She jumped in her seat and watched them open slowly, revealing a winding stone-paved driveway. She put the Camry in gear and drove toward a towering fountain erected in the middle of the driveway. 

But the closer she got to the fountain, the slower she drove.

She gawked, mouth hanging open in disbelief.

Good God, the fountain was hideously phallic. Like a giant penis standing ramrod-straight in the middle of a gravel bed. Water bubbled up from the tip, making her throw up a little in her mouth.

Craning her neck around, Isabelle shook her head and scoffed.

It was a disgustingly perfect fountain for a guy like Jack MacGrath.

As she turned, veering away from the fountain—out of pure instinct—she realized she was now parked facing the stairs to his mansion. And took up the width of the driveway, hood to rear end. 

Damn it.

She should’ve just parked next to the damn thing.

Glancing in the rearview mirror, she reversed carefully. As she inched closer to the penis monolith, the unmistakable whop-whop-whop of a helicopter sounded in the distance. The racket increased.

Was a helicopter landing on the damn house?

She bent, craning to look beneath the doorframe. She searched the sky. One way, and then the other.

There it was. 

A freaking helicopter swooped over his house, making a low dive over her car.

She squealed, ducking low in her seat.

The thunderous flac-flac-flac of the blades drowned out everything—the rumble of the Camry’s engine and the drumming of her own heart—as it dropped out of the sky and hovered above the large lawn on the opposite end of the estate. The chopper was massive. Menacing. A door on the side slid open. A rope was flung out, hitting the grass.

What the hell?

With a jolt, the tires of her car ran over something crackly. Her car bumbled. Shook. And then backed into something solid.

“Oh, shit!” Isabelle gripped the wheel tight and slammed on the brakes. Whipping around, she glared out the back window…and caught the breath in her throat. She must’ve been inching back without realizing it. She’d rear-ended the giant penis. It wobbled, shook. The tip seemed loose, teetering on the thick base. “No, no, no, don’t—”

And then it fell. Dropped right to the ground with a thud.

Cue mortification.

Amazon • Amazon CA • Amazon UK • B&N • Kobo • iBooks

Melina Rosenthal worships at the altar of all things fashion. Her dream is to work for the crème de la crème fashion magazine, Eclipse, and she'll do much anything to get there. Even fixing up the image of a gorgeous, sexy public figure who's all playboy, all the time. Even if he's the guy who broke her heart a year ago...

Even if Hayden Dean is a werewolf.

Since his father's death, Hayden's the heir apparent to the San Francisco Wolf Pack—well, once he settles down. Hayden isn't interested in giving up his partying ways, except he's pretty sure he's found his fated mate, and the fact that she's a non-shifter is bad news. Now he must find a compromise between the traditions of his wolf world and his certainty that Melina is his...before fate (or another werewolf) bites them both in the butt. 

BEAUTY AND THE WEREWOLF’S PLAYLIST & GUEST POST by Kristin Miller

Music is such an inspiration for my wolf pack books. I listen to it every single day I write. Well, allow me to rephrase. I listen to the same songs on repeat as I write each day. Yeah, I just revealed my little bit of crazy.

My process may be odd, but it allows me to write and edit a category romance novel like BEAUTY AND THE WEREWOLF in four to six weeks. While it’s not perfect at that point, the first draft is produced much faster than ones where I didn’t listen to music at all.

I listen to Spotify radio (either David Gray or Otis Redding), and let the songs cycle through the station as I write. Then, when the pace naturally increases, I take whatever song was playing during that time and save it to the book’s playlist. I repeat the process until I have a core list of songs (three to ten, usually) that work for the book. 

I can’t explain why certain songs work and why others don’t. Maybe it’s the lyrics, the melody, or the message. I can’t say. By the end of the book though, I have a list of songs that solidly represent the book as it was written. They’re the lyrics that spoke to me as I breathed life into the characters. They’re the melodies that had me humming through fun scenes. These songs become the backdrop for the book—the soundtrack that was created organically rather than after-the-fact.

Want a peek into the songs that inspired BEAUTY AND THE WEREWOLF? Here they are in no particular order:

January Rain by David Gray

I Don’t Want to Change You by Damian Rice

Ain’t No Reason by Brett Dennen

Tears and Rain by James Blunt

Round Here by Counting Crows

Angel by Jack Johnson

Shelter by Ray LaMontagne

The Promise by Tracy Chapman

To Be Alone With You by Joshua James

Arms of a Woman by Amos Lee

What do you think? See any songs there you love? 

New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Kristin Miller writes sweet and sassy contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and paranormal romance of all varieties. Kristin has degrees in psychology, English, and education, and taught high school and middle school English before crossing over to a career in writing. She lives in Northern California with her alpha male husband and their two children. She loves chocolate way more than she should and the gym less. You can usually find her in the corner of a coffee shop, laptop in front of her and mocha in hand, using the guests around her as fuel for her next book.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Release Day Blitz! Empathy, The Complete Boxset by Ker Dukey

Amazon reviewers have been raving about this bestselling series. 

Now for the first time B&N and iBook users can see what kindle users have been saying is "one of the best mind f*ucks you'll ever read!" 

The box set is specially priced at 99¢/99p for release week ONLY. 

This is the entire Empathy series including, Empathy, Desolate, Vacant and Deadly.

I have always had a passion for storytelling, whether it be through lyrics or bed time stories with my sisters. I wanted to be an actress growing up so I could live many roles but I learned early on that my mind was too active… I would want to change the script.I would watch films and think of ways they could have improved the story if they took another direction so i thought it best that i tell my own.

My mum would always have a book in her hand when I was young and passed on her love for reading, inspiring me to venture into writing my own. I tend to have a darker edge to my writing. Not all love stories are made from light, some are created in darkness but are just as powerful and worth telling.

When I’m not lost in the world of characters I love spending time with my family. I’m a mum and that comes first in my life but when I do get down time I love attending music concerts or reading events with my younger sister.

You can find me on Facebook where I love interacting with my readers.

Website / Facebook / Newsletter / Twitter / Goodreads / Amazon /Tsu 

For SIGNED PAPERBACKS click here

Book Promo! Night's Surrender, Children of the Night #7 by Amanda Ashley

Aspiring actress Abbey Marie Cordova knows more than most people do about vampires—she was born among them, the only human child in a centuries-old family of the undead, and determined to stay that way. But a chance encounter with dark, mysterious Niccola Desanto rocks her to the core. Nick is a vampire, and he’s the only man who has ever made her feel so beautiful, so cherished, and so passionately desired …

Nick has spent hundreds of years on his own, and the decadent pleasures of the world have lost their appeal. Rumor has it the vampire who made him has regained her humanity—the temptation to find her and demand to know the secret is overwhelming. But one glance at innocently alluring Abbey changes everything. Drawn to her with dangerous, consuming passion, Nick will need more than a lifetime to love her…

Amazon B&N

Chapter Three

Tossing the want ads onto the kitchen table, Abbey blew a stray wisp of hair from her brow. She had learned to use a computer in high school, though she had no real aptitude for anything beyond the basics. She wished now she had paid more attention, since it seemed every job required at least some degree of computer savvy, and she was woefully lacking. All her friends were into the latest social media, but she had never gotten the hang of finding her way in the digital world. As for texting . . . Abbey shook her head. She much preferred talking to people face-to-face.

With a sigh of resignation, she phoned for a cab. Her father had offered to buy her a car, but she had no real need for one. Most of the places she had to go were within walking distance of her apartment.

Even after all the years she had lived in New York, the sights and sounds of the city filled Abbey with excitement. After paying the cab driver, she stepped out of the car and quickly became part of the crowd. These days, most stores were open 24/7, so whether it was day or night, the streets were swamped with cars that drove themselves, the sidewalks packed with people who were always in a hurry—rushing to get to work or eager to go home, dashing off to see a movie, a Broadway show, a free concert in the park.

Hitching her handbag over her shoulder, Abbey stared at the gleaming glass-fronted façade of the computer store. Her knowledge of digital devices started and ended with her iPod, which was nothing like the current high-tech phones, iPads, and computers. She could find music, text when she had to, and read the latest news on her iPod; anything else was beyond her.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped into a world that was totally unfamiliar to her.

A quick glance around showed computers in all types and sizes—small towers with enormous screens, monitors that didn’t need a tower, wireless laptops, and devices that were no bigger than a cell phone.

You could buy a keyboard if you were old-school, but newer computer models responded to voice commands. She had heard that, in another year or so, those would be obsolete and man and computer would communicate with thought waves.

Shelf after shelf held nothing but computers, monitors, keyboards, software programs and gadgets, and stacks of technical manuals. It looked like geek heaven, she mused. All around her, people chatted enthusiastically about the latest software, the newest addition to this or that. They might as well have been speaking a foreign language, because Abbey didn’t understand a word they were saying.

With a shake of her head, she turned and headed for the exit. Maybe she could get a job in Beverly Hills as a house sitter or a dog walker. Cash only. She wouldn’t need any computer skills for that! She could stay in Hollywood with Mara and Logan until she found a place of her own.

Lost in thought, Abbey didn’t see the man coming through the door until she slammed into him. It was like crashing into a mountain.

“Whoa, girl,” he exclaimed. “Are you on your way to a fire?”

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t . . .” Abbey glanced up—and up. He was a tall mountain. Blinking up at him, she took a step back. She was used to handsome men, but this guy . . .

He looked like the GQ Hunk of the Month with his long black hair, broad shoulders, trim waist, and vibrant blue eyes.

He reached out a hand to steady her. “Are you all right?”

“What? Yes. No. I mean, of course.”

He grinned, sending her temperature rising and her pulse racing. It was disconcerting, the effect he had on her. She had met a lot of good-looking men. None of them had made her feel like throwing herself into his arms.

“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked. “There’s a club just down the street. Dante’s. Do you know it?”

“Yes.” She knew it all too well. Dante’s catered mainly to out-of-work musicians and down-on-their-luck actors and screenwriters.

“Shall we?”

It was a tempting offer—sharing a drink with an incredibly handsome man. But gorgeous or not, he was a stranger.

He cocked his head to the side. “Is there a problem?”

“No.” What could go wrong? Dante’s was just two blocks down, the sidewalks were crowded with people. She had a .22 semi-automatic in her purse—a goingaway gift from her father. Smiling up at him, she said, “Lead the way.”

He took her hand as they threaded their way down the street to the club. The touch of his fingers twining with hers made her heart race and her toes curl with pleasure.

Inside, he guided her to a small table in the back, held her chair as she sat down. “I’m Nick.” His voice, deep and whiskey-rough, moved over her like a caress.

“Abbey.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Abbey.”

“Even though I almost knocked you down?”

A laugh rumbled deep in his throat. “I don’t think I was in any real danger from a little thing like you.”

She would have been offended if any other man had called her a “little thing,” but the way he said it, the admiration in his dark blue eyes, made it sound like high praise.

Their waitress arrived then. Abbey ordered a dry martini, Nick ordered a glass of Pinot Noir.

When the waitress left to turn in their order, Nick leaned forward, his forearms crossed on the table, his gaze intent upon Abbey’s face. “Tell me about yourself.”

“There’s not much to tell. I wasted the last five years trying to be something I’m not cut out for.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“I thought I wanted to be an actress, but I recently came to the realization that I just don’t have what it takes.” She shrugged, thinking how good it felt to finally admit it out loud. “I guess I just don’t want it bad enough to make the tough choices.”

He nodded. “So, what are you going to do now?”

“I’m not sure. Go back home, I guess.”

“Where’s home?”

“Northern California. My parents have a ranch there. But enough about me. What about you? What do you do?”

“Nothing much. You might say I’m footloose and fancy free. No job. No family. No prospects.”

Abbey bit down on her lower lip, uncertain how to reply. Was he recovering from some horrible tragedy? An entrepreneur down on his luck? Or just some incredibly handsome drifter with no goals and no ambition?

She was still trying to think of a suitable response when the waitress arrived with their drinks. Nick smiled at the woman, tossed twenty-five dollars on the tray, and told her to keep the change.

He might be a drifter, Abbey thought, but he didn’t appear to be strapped for cash.

“What were you looking for in the computer store?” he asked.

“Nothing, really. I was thinking about getting a job and thought I should try to get up-to-date on the latest technology, but . . .” She smiled self-consciously. “I have no talent in that area, either. It’s all Greek to me. I have trouble remembering to charge my cell phone. The new computers . . .” She shook her head.

He laughed softly. “Maybe I can help with that. I know a bit about computers and software.”

“You do?”

“I was a computer programmer in another life.”

“Really?” She would never have pegged him as a computer nerd. “Well, I’d appreciate any help you could give me. Of course, I’ll have to buy a new computer first. I’m afraid mine is woefully archaic and past repair.”

“Well, when you’re ready to make the plunge, just let me know.”

Abbey sipped her drink. Who was this man, really? He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, yet there was something about him that made her think he was older. Perhaps it was his eyes—they seemed world-weary, and wise beyond his years.

The silence between them made her uncomfortable. She was scrambling for something witty to say when the DJ selected a love song.

Nick set his glass aside. “Care to dance?”

Abbey’s heartbeat kicked up a notch at the thought of being in his arms. She nodded, her throat suddenly dry as he took her by the hand and led her onto the tiny dance floor.

He drew her into his arms, holding her far closer than was proper between strangers. His arm around her waist was solid—protective, not imprisoning. His thighs brushed hers, his breath was warm when it caressed her cheek.

She looked up and his gaze met hers—intense and deep blue. For a moment, she imagined him probing her mind, uncovering her deepest secrets. For a moment, she imagined she could read his thoughts in return, imagined that he was alone and lonely, that only she could ease his pain.

Blinking rapidly, she looked away, and now she was acutely aware of his body pressed so close to hers, of how intimately he held her. Only a breath apart, she mused. And it was too far. His hand lightly stroked her back, up and down, and she sighed with the sheer pleasure of his touch, of being in his arms. She felt warm and achy in the deepest part of her being and she wished suddenly that they were alone in her apartment. In her bed . . .

Blushing furiously, she glanced up at him, grateful that he couldn’t read her mind.

He smiled at her, his arm tightening around her waist as the music ended and they returned to their table. “If I asked you out, what would you say?”

“Ask me and see.” She had intended for her reply to be saucy and flirtatious; instead, it emerged as a husky whisper. What was there about this man that she found so irresistible? It was more than his devastating good looks, more than the rich timbre of his voice. Something primal within him called to something wild and untouched within the deepest part of her being in ways she recognized but didn’t understand. She was meant to be his, she thought, as he was meant to be hers.

“Would you go out with me tomorrow night, Abbey Marie?”

“I’d love to.”

“Pick you up at eight?”

Nodding, she pulled one of her business cards from her wallet and handed it to him. His fingers brushed hers as he took the card.

“Eight,” she said breathlessly.

It wasn’t until Nick had put her in a cab and she was on her way home that Abbey stopped to wonder how he knew her middle name.

Amanda Ashley is one of those rare birds – a California native. She’s lived in Southern California her whole life and loves it (except for the earthquakes). She and her husband share a home with a fluffy Pomeranian named Lady, a tortoise named Buddy, and a wild sparrow named Tweety.

Amanda and her alter ego, Madeline Baker, have written over 50 books, many of which have appeared on various bestseller lists, including the New York Times List, the Waldenbooks Bestseller list, and the USA Today list. Not bad for someone who started writing just for the fun of it.

Website  Facebook

Book Blitz & Giveaway! Fates Divided, Halven Rising #1 by Jules Barnard

Elena Rosales has busted her ass to get into a good college. She’s the only one in her family ever to attend, and expectations are high. No pressure. But Elena’s got this one in the bag, because she’s as dependable as the molecules she studies, as reliable as the chemical reactions that comfort her in their predictability. Until they don’t.

Elena has always wondered why her mother abandoned her on her first birthday. It’s not until she turns eighteen and her chemistry experiments go berserk that she learns the truth: Her mother wasn’t human, and the Fae are willing to harm those Elena loves if she doesn’t use her power over the elements to cure them of a deadly disease. Derek, Elena’s brooding neighbor, isn’t the friendliest guy, but he has access to an off-hours lab and is willing to help Elena create the antivirus. He has his own secrets to keep, and this business Elena is mixed up in could blow his cover. But when Elena and Derek get together, more than chemicals spark fire-and they soon discover just how complicated attraction can get when they find themselves on the other side of the portal, fighting for survival. Lives collide, and allegiance and love are tested, in Fates Divided.

Amazon • Nook • Kobo • iBooks • Google Play

Before turning to storytelling, Jules earned a master’s degree in public health and spent many an hour running statistical analysis–until she realized her favorite part of the job was writing reports. She decided to cut out the math and add in some hot guys, and so began her career as a novelist. Jules is a Northern California native living on the coast with her husband and two children. She has no impulse control around cupcakes and credits herself with the ability to read while running on the treadmill or burning dinner. 

Website • Blog • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Promo!! Love Always, by Candace Knoebel and Sonya Loveday

I’ve met boys like him before. Rich. Bored. Always wearing a silver-spooned smile. But there is something different about him that piques my curiosity. The way he looks at me, like he is staring through the bars of a gilded cage he’s never left. Like he is one breath away from suffocating beneath a mound of responsibilities. He is different from the rest because he doesn’t wear his money… his money wears him. I just don’t think he knows it yet.

She’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. She’s everything I’ve never been able to be. Carefree. Whimsical. A dreamer. Her laugh is infectious. She is irresistible. I can’t help but be drawn to her with an intensity that steals my breath and muddles my senses. I want to know her, need to know her, but how can I allow myself that liberty when I don’t have the freedom to make my own choices?

Phillip and Maggie think they have it all. Even though they come from opposite backgrounds, they each have bright futures paved out, with no distractions holding them back.

Until the fateful day they meet each other.

After a brief, adventurous time together in The Hamptons, Maggie and Phillip find themselves saying goodbye just as the spark of love flashes intensely between them. Can their budding connection be enough to survive the pulling tides of change, or will they drift apart before they even have a chance to explore what could have been?

Amazon Amazon CA Amazon UK Amazon AU iTunes Kobo

a Rafflecopter giveaway