Sizzling PR: The Zurian Child - Jessica E Subject - Guest Post/GIveaway

Lindsay Beckett longed to be reunited with her first love, Quinn Montgomery, until she learns the secret that sent him fleeing from her in the first place. He’s an alien, a Hemera, and she’s half-Hemera herself. As if that wasn’t enough to ruin her dreams of a perfect life, when their child is born, they discover she fulfills a prophesy told twenty light years away and many years ago. Lindsay wants to ignore it, until her husband is murdered and suddenly believing becomes a matter of survival.

Lindsay and her young daughter are forced to rely on another Hemera, her husband’s partner and best friend, Bryce Beuermann as more and more of the Hemera are slaughtered. Bryce will do anything to help his best friend’s widow—including suppressing his own deep feelings for her. But he must prove they can trust him, even pretending he doesn’t want her with all his heart.  

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The Zurian Child Playlist

Thank you so much, Liz, for hosting me on your blog today!

There are many things which inspire me while I’m writing, but I would have to say the biggest influence is the music I listen to. Not only does a single song spin many new ideas in my head, but it can also convey the mood I am looking to create in my own story.

So here are ten songs from my playlist for The Zurian Child:

Untouched by The Veronicas http://youtu.be/ykW4rtW2eu0

This Love by The Veronicas http://youtu.be/sW1vIg8JYjY

I Could Get Used to This by The Veronicas http://youtu.be/ILLW66JjHko

I’m Yours by Jason Mraz http://youtu.be/EkHTsc9PU2A

Afraid by Nelly Furtado http://youtu.be/7yo8IqaFcjw

Spaceman by Bif Naked http://youtu.be/7saoB6rLxYY

Breathless by The Corrs http://youtu.be/2eBkXXSbwlE

Wicked by Econoline Crush http://youtu.be/_7QcdX99YDk

Men In Black by Will Smith http://youtu.be/rRuHk6Drj2U

Before You by Chantal Kreviazuk http://youtu.be/XGCgdCl1gPk

So, that’s my list. Keep in mind I started writing this story a few years ago, so none of these songs are recent. They still have a lot of meaning to specific scenes in the story though.

The song Wicked by Econoline Crush helped to inspire this scene:

She waited until the sun had set before driving to the address he'd given her. She met the other alien—Jack—repulsed being in their presence. They said they wanted her to know the truth before she and Reid rekindled their relationship. While her husband left to use the washroom, the gray-haired alien left to gather information for her to read. There would be no discussion. She spiked their drinks with a small amount of the black liquid.

When they returned, she leaned forward in an attempt to look receptive to everything they had to say while watching the aliens drink their coffee. She would pull this off. They had to die.

Reid did most of the talking, so Jack drank his coffee faster. Jack started to twitch, his wrinkled face turning a sickly green color. A few seconds later, his eyes rolled back into his head. Oblivious, Reid kept talking until Jack choked on the foam spilling out of his mouth. By then he couldn't be saved.

As Reid brought his hands to his throat, his eyes met hers. "How could you?"

Beside him, Jack slumped over, already dead.

Isabel stood up and spun away from Reid as he thrashed on the couch, his hands clutching his neck. Only a couple of minutes passed before he ceased moving, black foam covering his face. She could no longer see his once tender eyes. A pang of guilt made her stumble, but the memories of the child she once carried renewed her focus. I have to do this.

Not wanting to leave fingerprints on the aliens, she checked for signs of life with a rubber glove. Finding no pulse from either of them, she snatched the papers from Jack's hand and the glass she had drank from. After pulling on a black hoody and making sure no snoopy neighbors had their eyes on the house, she left her husband and his friend without a backward glance. Three blocks down the street and around the corner, she found her car.

Available from Silver Publishing and other ebook retailers.

More information here: http://www.markofthestars.com/wp/?page_id=7702


Bio:
Jessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from anyone who has enjoyed her stories.

THE ZURIAN CHILD BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAY: 

Leave a comment with your email address for your chance to WIN a $25 AllRomanceEbook/OmniLit Gift Certificate. Be sure to follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://sizzlingpr.com/2012/03/13/the-zurian-child-by-jessica-e-subject-tour/

Please note that this giveaway is tourwide.  Fictional Candy is not responsible for notifying winner, or delivery of prize. 

Thank you so much, Jessica, for an awesome post!  Best of luck to you on your tour, and Good Luck to everyone entering the giveaway!

Spotlight on The Memory of Roses - Blair McDowell

When renowned archaeologist Ian McQuaid dies, he leaves his daughter, Brit, a villa on the Greek island of Corfu. The only thing Ian asks is that Brit deliver a package to a woman he once loved there. The problem is Brit knew nothing about either the villa or the love affair. She thought her parents had been happily married all these years.

After a disastrous love affair of her own, Brit finally admits to herself that she's desperately unhappy. At thirty two and left with more questions about her life than answers, Brit has a dawning sense that to live her own life free of shadows, she must trace the path of her father's past. 
Brit's journey takes her from San Francisco to Athens, to the villa on Corfu, and finally to Venice, where she discovers a truth long hidden that holds the power to destroy lives. During the course of her odyssey Brit meets Andreas Leandros, a young Greek archaeologist, and while uncovering the secrets of her father's past, she discovers her own future.

Blair McDowell wrote her first short story when she was eleven and hasn’t stopped writing

since. After many years producing non-fiction professional books in her field, Blair decided to

exercise her rich imagination and write novels of mystery and romance set in places she knows and loves, peopled with characters drawn from her experiences in those locales.

One of her favorite places in the world is Greece, the setting for ‘The Memory of Roses’, Blair McDowell’s latest novel. While in Greece Blair was inspired by the ancient culture, friendly people and the picturesque settings, and the plot for the ‘Memory of Roses’ was born.

Blair has a home on a remote island in the Caribbean where the local lore of the ‘Jumbie’ (‘the dead who walk’) formed the basis for her novel ‘Delighting In Your Company’.

The setting for Blair McDowell’s book, ‘Sonata’, is the spectacular city of Vancouver with its

vibrant multicultural population and its rich musical life. In ‘Sonata’, Blair McDowell’s love of

music comes into play, and is intricately woven into this story of mystery and romance.

Blair is a member of the Romance Writers of America, Romance Writers of America (Greater

Vancouver Chapter), and the Romance Writers of America (Women's Fiction).

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Sizzling PR: Claiming Their Cat - Maggie O'Malley - Interview

Cat Watson managed to escape from the powerful drug lord Alvarez and right into the hands of the notorious killer—Rabid Rio. Rio promises to protect her and her baby if she becomes his mistress. With no money, what choice did she have?

Rio Wolff has found his mate, and she’s carrying another man’s child, not that it makes a difference to a werewolf. Cat’s running from the bastard, and only he can save her. It would help if she’d stop trying to run away every time he turns his back.

Creed Wolff gazes at the beauty standing in his kitchen and wonders why Rio has broken the rule never to bring a female home. She’s Creed’s mate so he can forgive his brother. Now he needs to replace Rio’s scent with his.

Cat can’t believe she lets both brothers pleasure her. Finally, she’s found a place where she feels safe, protected, and loved. But her world crashes when she finds out they have sold her to Alvarez.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Ménage (m/f/m), anal play/intercourse, sex with toys, and spanking.

And be sure to check out my review of this book HERE

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Hi Maggie!  Thank you so much for taking the time to interview with me today!

I just finished your book, Claiming Their Cat, and I was impressed!  It has a kind of gritty sensual feel to it that I really enjoyed.  What can you tell us about this book that isn’t part of the synopsis? 

                Hi Liz. Thanks for hosting me today.  This book is about 1 woman and 2 brothers. It’s about making difficult choices, learning to trust, and betrayal. Oh yeah, it has hot sex.

I really loved Rio.  He had so many layers, and he was full of surprises.  Sure, he was a mercenary with a brick wall for a body, but his heart was even bigger.  So who could play him in a movie? 

Hugh Jackman would work. I bet everyone thought I’d say Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black,) but he’s a little too young for my tastes. Jason Statham has a great bod. Chris Hemsworth from Thor. Maybe Ryan Renolds. Hum, I think I’d pick Hugh for Rio and Chris for Creed (drooling.)

  

In Claiming Their Cat, we get a glimpse of how Cat became the object of Alvarez’s attention.  And then Brody is born, and there is some speculation on his future (trying to be a bit vague here to not ruin the surprise for the readers!).  Do you see a sequel or a prequel in the future for this book?

 That depends on if Brody starts talking to me. I’ve honestly never planned to write a particular story. I wake up and bam! It’s on my brain with the hero and heroine telling me what I’m supposed to write.

This book has both werewolves and vampires, do you have a favorite breed of paranormal?

 I’m a werewolf fanatic because I love wolves. They are beautiful creatures that move with grace and purpose. They’re strong and powerful. Now don’t get me wrong; vampires can be all that too, but I’m just attracted to wolves. To me, it’s easier to write werewolves instead of vampires because of that whole sleep when the sun sets thing.

How do you go about writing a book?  Like, do you construct an outline, or do the words just come out?  Something else entirely?

                 I dream the first chapter with my characters and how they meet. Most of the time I don’t even know who the bad guy is. I have no plan; I just write what the characters tell me to, which is a good thing, because when I have all the answers, it’s not fun anymore. The puzzle is solved, and other characters are invading my sleep.

  

Are you working on any other projects, what can we expect from you for 2012?

 This year, I plan to publish Taming Raven from my Kitty DuCane pen name. Then I’m starting a new series about 7 brothers who are werewolf/hybrids—the best of both worlds and no sleeping restrictions. The characters for the first two books are already talking to me.

Ok, some quick fire questions…

Day or night? Day.

Do you like candy, and what kind? Chocolate and more chocolate with chocolate on top.

Favorite season? 

Summer because I love the lake.

Favorite book genre? 

Erotic Paranormal.

Favorite movie? 

The Mummy with Brendon Fraser and Rachel Weisz.

Thank you so much, Maggie, for taking the time today.  I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading more from you in the future!

Sizzling PR: Claiming Their Cat - Maggie O'Malley - Review

Claiming Their Cat

Maggie O'Malley

From Goodreads:

Cat Watson managed to escape from the powerful drug lord Alvarez and right into the hands of the notorious killer—Rabid Rio. Rio promises to protect her and her baby if she becomes his mistress. With no money, what choice did she have? Then Rio's brother, Creed, shows up and vows his protection too. She finally feels safe, that she belongs only to discover they’ve betrayed her.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Ménage (m/f/m), anal play/intercourse, sex with toys, and spanking.

And also be sure to check out my interview with author Maggie O'Malley HERE

*****Review*****

Wow, what an interesting twist on …everything!  Rio is werewolf.  A hot, built, sexy, lethal mercenary werewolf.  He’s a loner, in a big huge way.  There are plenty of stories about Rio and the kills he’s done for money.  Rio is someone to be reckoned with.  You don’t mess with Rio.  So when he is in his friend’s diner having a cup of coffee, and obviously an obviously distressed woman named Cat comes in, he takes notice.  And when some goons who work for drug lord Alvarez come in looking for her, he takes bigger notice.  Oh, and let’s not forget she is pregnant, and no one really knows exactly whose baby it is!

“An eighteen wheeler skidded to a stop outside the diner, and a small woman threw herself from the cab, surely she wasn’t the cause of his uneasiness.  Anything was possible since women were nothing but a pain in the ass.”

Haha!  What a quote!!  But that sums up Rio.  So he was the last person you’d expect to fall for a woman.  But fall he did.  He rescues Cat, even if she is too stubborn and untrusting to see it.   She tries to escape, multiple times.  And ahem, that’s not the only thing she does multiple times.

This was a really good story.  You have a lot of factors during it that really grab your interest.  There is the slimy drug lord Alvarez, who is trying to get Cat back.  You have Rio who realizes Cat is his mate, so he is fiercely protective of her – except he’s yet to tell her that!  Then in walks Creed, sexy fine brother of Rio, who happens to be a military sniper.  He realizes Cat is his mate too. 

What?!!?  Two werewolves find a mate in the same woman??  Yep!!  That’s what I said.  What a big twist on a werewolf story.  Maggie O’Malley did a fine job of illustrating how it would work too.  And this is where I would insert my big wink so you know I mean there is definitely more than what I can tell you in this review.  There is some kink in nearly every intimate scene in this book.  The developing relationship between the three of these people definitely warrants the Publishers warning.  However, if you dig some major heat in your romance, then this will definitely spark your fire!

So what else is in this book?  Well, there is a seer, and she is always right.  Oh, and vampires.  Vampires that are freakishly awesome!!  Mainly, his name is Draco.  Draco is bad ass!  He can do all kinds of mind trickery and other magical things that you don’t see too often in vampire stories.  I just loved him.  He is suave and cool, and I totally hope he gets a book of his own someday!

I think the author did a really good job with this story, and I’d definitely recommend it.  There were a few things that bothered me – like Cat’s stubbornness to see what an awesome position she landed in.  But that was her personality, and I guess you aren’t supposed to get mad at a fictional character because you don’t agree with their decisions.  Because we never do that, right??  Heheh.  Overall I really enjoyed all of the characters.  They were written very well and you felt their emotions and their struggles were your own.  The story had an urgency to it, and you knew the clock was ticking.  It was an exciting and interesting read, and I think you should give it a chance!

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Sizzling PR: Guest Post: Sarah Ballance - Unforgiven

Today I am very lucky to welcome Sarah Ballance to the stage, to talk about writing sex scenes! I can completely imagine how difficult it must be to write one, so lets sit back and see what she has to say! Welcome, Sarah! Take it away!

Riley Beckett's past just came back to haunt her . . . and this time, he's got a gun. 

When Gage Lawton finds his brother shot dead on his back porch, every shred of evidence points to one person: Gage's former lover, Riley. He and she didn't part ways on good terms, and he's not planning to rekindle anything now--not when he's got a revolver pointed at her head and a finger on the trigger.

A year after Riley swore she and Gage were over, he returns in a hail of gunfire. One look into those achingly familiar blue eyes and she knows how wrong she was to let him go, but now far more than their heated past stands in the way. A twist of fate puts them in the crosshairs of a killer, leaving Riley with two slim options: trust her greatest betrayer or face a murderer on her own.

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Sarah Ballance: Sex in the Middle

Okay, I admit it. Sex scenes hate me. I don't force them onto the page—heck, they're as natural as, well, sex—but the fact is, like me or not, they belong in my stories. Most of my writing is in the romantic suspense genre, and there's something about the marriage of life-on-the-line intrigue with sexual tension that always comes to a rather explosive culmination of needs. But seriously, that's on paper. Because in real life (if I get to call made-up things "real life"), when we get to the good stuff my characters are suddenly all too aware that I'm in the room, staring, waiting to jot down whatever they're about to do. Can you say awkward?

But the problem isn't so much my characters. It actually stems elsewhere. Fact is, I'm incapable of writing explicit sex. There's a list of words I just can't use in every day conversation, and a lot of them are used in the writing of uber hot sex. And it's not that I have anything against erotica, because I love it . . . in every aspect but the one preventing me from writing it.

Of course, there's always the flipside. No sex at all. I've done that once. (Writing, I mean. Not IRL, because that would be unconscionable. *glares at you for even thinking such a thing*) My novella HAWTHORNE is utterly sex free, and darn if it didn't make the Amazon best seller list for ghost stories. Absolutely there is a market for "clean" fiction—and it's one of which I'm proud to have a very small part—but my characters demand action, and I can't say I blame them.

Which leaves me in a bit of a pickle. (Don't go Freudian on me. I just mean "pickle," although I have no idea what pickles have to do with rocks and hard places. 

In the ain't-nobody-effen-anybody middle.

Postscript: Contrary to pretty much everything just mentioned, the naughty bits of UNFORGIVEN were unbelievably easy to write. Was this change on the horizon ? Nope. Along came TIDE OF LIES, releasing April 2, and I'm *still* picking plaster out of my head from beating my skull against the wall. Which, by the way, is not conducive to character sex. Kills the mood a little.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah and her husband of over fourteen years live on the mid-Atlantic coast with their six young children, all of whom are perfectly adorable when they're asleep. She often jokes that she writes to be around people who will listen to her, but her characters aren't much better than her kids. Fortunately, her husband is quite supportive, having generously offered to help her research "the good parts." She's never had to ask twice.

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Sizzling PR - Eve Langlais - C791 - Excerpt/Giveaway

Yay!  I get to feature Eve Langlais new book, C791, today and offer you a chance to win a copy!!  This is for people 18 and over - so if you are not over 18 do not proceed!

Machines aren’t supposed to feel, but this cyborg can’t help falling in love.

Assigned as a specimen collector for a captured cyborg, Chloe is intrigued by the machine disguised as a man. Kidnapped during his daring escape, he takes her on an erotic adventure and shows her that despite the chip in his brain, his humanity is not completely lost.

Formerly known as unit X109GI, Joe is on a quest to discover his origin. While he doesn’t find the answers he’s looking for, he does discover that affection and lust aren’t just for humans. But when it comes to a battle between logic and love, which side will the cybernetic organism--once a man--choose?

Evaluating his feelings will have to wait though, because the military isn’t done with Joe. When they threaten the one thing he wants above all else, he’ll discover something shocking that will rock the new cyborg nation—and fuel a desire for vengeance.       

Excerpt (Adult Content Ahead):

The sight of Chloe and Seth so at ease with each other, and worse, touching each other set something off inside Joe, a combination of irrational anger sprinkled with a covetousness he’d not experienced but had heard of. Jealousy.

Whatever the name for the emotion, he found himself unable to halt it as he ripped Seth away from Chloe’s side and sent his fist into the grinning face. He maintained enough control to not beat his friend to a pulp — barely — but he couldn’t stop himself from slinging Chloe over his shoulder and stomping off to their room.

“What the heck was that about?” she exclaimed as she dangled down his back.

“You seem to have forgotten who you belong to.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment. “Are you jealous?”

“No.” Yes!

“It’s normal to feel that way. It just never occurred to me you would.”

“I don’t. Jealousy is a human emotion. I am a cyborg. We are above such petty wastes of our time.”

“Really. Well then, someone should probably explain that to Seth’s face,” she drawled.

“This is not entertaining. You were practically inviting him to take ownership of your body.”

“I was not,” she exclaimed, and a small rational part of him knew she spoke truly, but he’d lost the ability to decipher logic from madness where she was concerned.

Arriving at their room, he tossed her onto the bed and quickly tore at his clothes.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her eyes wide, but not with trepidation if the protruding nipples through her shirt were any indication.

“Showing you who owns your body.”

“Me.”

“Wrong answer,” he growled. “I do. And it seems I must show you.”

He fell on her, and despite her previous defiant answer, she welcomed him with open arms and a fierce kiss. Her legs spread wide to accommodate his body, but while he’d denuded his frame, she remained dressed. Their hands met at the closing to her pants, their impatient battle to remove them more of a fumbling parody. When he finally managed to strip them from her, he was ready to sink himself into her. He retained enough wits though to realize she required preparation for his penetration. With sex bots, that never proved a concern as they arrived to service pre-lubed. Human females however, according to his studies, required stimulation to achieve the same state. He slid a hand between her thighs and, to his relief, found her already soaking wet. It pleased him, on a level he did not understand, that Chloe achieved this state around him without means of manipulation.

He wasted no more time. He propped himself above her and thrust into her sex. Oh, the exquisite, unexplainable feel of her channel clamping tightly around his cock. He would never tire of it. Never tire of her. But did she feel the same about him? He had to know.

“Tell me who you belong to.”

Her eyes opened part way, her lids heavy with arousal. “Why do you care?”

He rammed into her hard. She gasped.

A growl left him. “Do not toy with me. You are my female. Not Seth’s. Not anyone else’s. Say you belong to me.” He almost roared the words, desperate to hear her say it.

For a moment defiance flashed in her gaze. “And if I don’t?”