Bring it Back(list) - The MIRACLE Trilogy by Linda Mooney

During the month of July, all 3 ebooks are just 99 cents each! (Available at all vendors and my website.)

MIRACLE 

Above All, Book 1
Paranormal/Supernatural/Contemporary Fantasy Romance
Word Count:  41.3K
$0.99 e / $9.99 p / $19.95 a

I died and was resurrected, and I don’t know why. 

My name is Casi Clarity. I was 26 years old when I died in 1969. Then I woke up in the 21st century—whole, sane, and unblemished. And at the same age I was when I died.

What's more, when I came back, I brought a friend with me. His name is Coheed. He's a corporeal spirit, and he is also my protector. Against what, you ask? Well, it seems that ever since my return, I've been chased by ghosts. Demons. Ancient evil. Monsters. You name it.

Why are they after me? Because they want to know my secret. They want to wreak havoc on mankind and bring about our ultimate destruction, and the only way they can accomplish that is by being fleshy beings again. To inhabit as many bodies as they can to cause untold horror. They are determined to discover how I returned from the dead, even if it means trapping me, torturing me, and ultimately killing me again to see if I'm resurrected a second time.

My name is Casi.

The undead call me Mouse.

Coheed calls me Miracle.

Warning! Contains a houseboat, explosions, a rain of ashes, invisibility, sanctuary, a forbidden testament, and a love that was prophesied thousands of years ago.

MIRACLE 
Beyond Measure, Book 2 
Paranormal/Supernatural/Contemporary Fantasy Romance
Word Count: 43.1K
$0.99 e / $9.99 p / $14.95 a

Life on the run is hard. Food is limited, and clothes are difficult to come by, but I’ll keep going. We’ll keep going. We have to. The world is depending on us.

My name is Casi Clarity, and there’s a prophecy that says I will be the one to save the world, along with my protector, Coheed. But we don’t know how, or when, or why. We just will.

Our travels have taken us to New Orleans, where the demons are getting stronger, smarter, and harder to evade. With new allies and enemies alike, who can I trust? Is my protector even who he says he is?

I’m in the fight of my life, with or without Coheed, but fighting without the help of my love is impossible to fathom. I’d rather die myself. But if I did, would I stay dead this time?

My name is Casi.

The undead call me Little Mouse.

Coheed calls me his Miracle.

Warning! Contains a special tea, a trailer in the swamp, deception, bitter cold, a lost testament, a new revelation, and the loss of a loved one that tears the heart apart.

MIRACLE 
of Hope, Book 3 
Paranormal/Supernatural/Contemporary Fantasy Romance
Word Count: 37.3K
$0.99 e / $9.99 p / $14.95 a

My name is Casi Clarity and I draw demons to me like flies to honey. They want me dead. Again. If only to see if I am resurrected a second time, and how. All I want to know is why me?

The road to Texas has been a hard one. I’ve seen some ghosts from my past that I thought were long gone, but learning secrets that were kept from me could explain why I was chosen.

I know it’s already been written. Coheed knows, Gilly knows, but apparently I have to figure it out on my own.

According to Coheed, though, what’s not written is exactly where, when, or who will triumph, but I know everything happens for a reason. I was resurrected for a reason. Coheed was sent to me for a reason. I just have to trust in God’s plan, and I do. I also know that if I die this time, I probably won’t be allowed another chance.

It’s time for the final showdown. I don’t know if I will survive, or if any of us will. But it’s God’s will, and we must fight regardless of the outcome.

My name is Casi.

The undead call me their angel mouse.

Coheed calls me Earth’s last miracle.

Warning! Contains semi-trailer trucks, a gold medallion, sleet, discovery of a long-preserved secret, ice cream, answered questions, and a final farewell that evolves into a happy forever after for all eternity.

Excerpt and Buy Links

Bring It Back(list) with PG Forte

I don’t remember what initially prompted me to write Edge of Heaven—the sexy, m/m story of two angels trapped in limbo. I don’t write a lot of stories in first person, but when I do most of the time what pulls me in is the character’s voice. And Edge (the main character) was no different. Edge...has issues. An “edge” if you will. He’s moody and irreverent. He has secrets, and hang-ups, and a whole closet-full of flaws—most of which he’s in denial about. All of which made him a fabulous character to write. So, I guess, as with most of my books, I wrote it to learn more about the story; to figure out who this nutty guy was, and what he wanted....beyond sex with his angel-in-training, of course. That part was pretty obvious.

One thing I never fell in love with was the cover. So when I got the chance to self-pub the paperback version, I jumped at the chance to change it. It’s still a work in progress, however. I'm still not sure it does the story--or Edge--justice.

Welcome to the afterlife, where men are men and the angels are fallen.

It was a reckless act of passion that ended Edge’s life and left him in Limbo -- literally. Now, he’s stuck here. While most of the other angels-in-training move quickly up the celestial ladder, Edge knows it can never be that simple for him. He’s dealing with issues that are a lot more complicated than a simple lack of closure.

While Edge doesn’t know for sure what it will take to get him into Heaven, there is one thing he’s certain won’t help -- his latest assignment guiding angel-baby Matteo Matinucci while the newbie find his wings.

But twenty-something Mattie -- sexy, beautiful, recently departed, and openly gay -- could turn out to be the answer to all of Edge’s prayers, as well as the fulfillment of all his fantasies, even the hot, sweaty, secret ones he’s never confided to anyone. And by helping to send Mattie to Heaven, Edge just might end up saving both their souls.

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EXCERPT:

“Is this a bad time?” Matteo asks, showing up on my beach unannounced. He’s gazing at me a little uncertainly, and I guess he’s responding to the look of shock on my face. At least I hope I look shocked. It’d beat looking panicked, disgusted, and dismayed, which is closer to how I’m really feeling. New as he is, there’s no way he should have been able to follow me here, so hell yes, it’s a bad time!

“Time doesn’t really exist,” I say, cleverly sidestepping the question. “And good and bad—those are also illusions.”

“I see.” Matt’s brow crinkles up. He looks around curiously. “So what is this place, anyway, Hindu hell?”

“What? Hell? No, it’s not hell, and…why Hindu?”

“Okay, Buddhist maybe. Same basic philosophy, isn’t it? Nothing you see is real. It’s all illusion, and everything’s the same: good and bad, pleasure and pain, action and inaction, blue and green.”

I blink at that last part. Now he’s got my attention. He’s nuts, but he’s got my attention. “Uh…blue and green?”

A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. “Well, yeah, you know, ’cause that’s how the world looks, right? From a distance?”

I don’t want to do it, but I can’t help laughing. “Cute, pal. But I’m pretty sure the Divine Miss M’s no Buddhist.”

Matteo grins. “My mistake, then.” He points at the log on which I’m sitting. “May I?”

I’d like to say no, but I’d have to have a reason to do that. A good reason I mean, one I’d be willing to admit to. Which I don’t. “Sure. Help yourself.”

It’s a big log, practically a whole tree. There’s plenty of room for us both. At least that’s what I tell myself. Still, it’s an effort to keep from moving away. I want to slide over to the very end to make sure he doesn’t sit right next to me. Which he does. Big surprise, huh? I don’t want to sound like a wuss or anything, but the guy’s clearly got no sense of personal boundaries. He’s sitting so close to me our shoulders are practically touching. I can feel the heat rising from his skin. It’s sensuous, tempting. I have to fight the urge to lean into it.

“So seriously, what is this place?” he asks, surveying the scenery.

I’m kind of wondering about that myself. I mean, I know what I see when I look around me, but I also know it’s a reflection of my own thoughts. None of it is actually real. Does Matteo see what I see? Or is he seeing something else? “What does it look like to you?”

He glances around again. “Somewhere along the West Coast would be my guess. Northern California, Pacific Northwest, something like that.”

“Yeah, that’s how it looks to me too.” I stare out at the ocean. Sunlight dances on the waves. A couple of gulls fly by. Who’s to say what’s real, anyhow? “This is the beach I used to go to as a kid.” I point at the rocky shore. “There are tide pools between those rocks. Man, I used to love messing around down there. And over that way”—I turn and point over his shoulder to that place where the beach ends in a fall of boulders and water laps at the base of the cliff—“is the entrance to a cave. It’s hard to find. You can only reach it at low tide. Sometimes not even then.”

“It seems like all of the best things in life are like that, aren’t they?” His voice is low, suggestive. I feel it in the pit of my stomach.

“Like what?”

“Hard to get.” He’s staring right at me. Our faces are just inches apart. I can see the gold flecks in his dark eyes and the fine gold stubble that lines his jaw. My fingers are tingling. It’s like I can already feel the sandpapery texture of his cheek sliding against my open palm. His lips are full, slightly parted. They look soft. They look inviting.

I put my hand in the center of his chest and push. “Tell me more about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?” he asks, lips twitching into a tiny smile. “I swear I’m clean. No drugs, no diseases. Or does that even matter here?”

I shake my head. “It’s none of my concern. And it’s also not what I’m talking about.” My hand is still pressed against his heart. He seems not to mind. I do, but I just can’t seem to move it away. “Tell me how you died.”

And there goes his smile, disappearing in a red-hot instant. He straightens—away from me, away from my hand—and looks out at the water once more. “It was so stupid, you know? So totally senseless.”

Oh crap. There’s an unmistakable tinge of anger in his voice. Eerily familiar, it puts all my nerves on alert. My heart starts pounding. My jaw gets tight. I don’t want to ask it, but it’s my job. I have to know. “What did you do?”

7th Anniversary

In June, it’ll be seven years since my first book was published. I had almost given up on getting published (self-publishing was in its infancy back then) when I heard about a new imprint opening at Harlequin. Carina Press were reading anything and everything. They needed to fill a number of slots before their launch. I figured: What have I got to lose? After submitting, I eagerly checked the executive editor’s posts about how many manuscripts were being rejected and accepted…until one post where a huge number of rejections were being sent along with two acceptances. Was it possible? Could my book be one of the acceptances? The odds weren’t great, and as the days went on, that little seed of hope in my heart withered.

When I finally got the email from the executive editor, I braced myself for rejection. I had to read the email a dozen times before it finally sank in that, yes, they were offering to publish my debut novel. Then a weird kind of numbness set in. I'd been working toward this for a long time and now I was so shocked I couldn't even celebrate. When I awoke the next morning, I forgot I’d even been accepted. Then suddenly the memory rushed in, and my black-and-white world was transformed into glorious technicolor. I'll cherish that feeling as long as I live.

That first book was a huge learning experience. I was all kinds of nervous working with an editor, but Liz was, and continues to be, awesome. The biggest challenge for me was starting from scratch with social media. Things like setting up Facebook and Twitter, and organizing a website made my brain hurt. I made lots of mistakes. Was it worth it? Hell, yeah! Writing is one of the great joys of my life.

And here’s the book that started it all…

Allegra Fairweather here. Paranormal investigator. Got problems with specters? Shapeshifters? I'm the woman to call. Just don't call me a Ghostbuster. The last guy who did that ended up flat on his back with my boot at his throat.

With my 99.5% success rate, solving the mystery of a bleeding rose that has sprung up on the shores of Loch Furness should have been an easy gig. But already I've heard the shriek of the local banshee, discovered two bodies (and then lost two bodies), and had a near-death encounter with a three-hundred-year-old ghost. And perhaps most dangerous of all, the hot pub owner who hired me now wants to show me exactly what's under his kilt.

Luckily, I'm ably assisted by my very own guardian angel. I'm grateful for his help—but he's also drop-dead gorgeous. A bit distracting when I've got a mystery to solve, and the clock is ticking...

Available now

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Janni Nell writes fun paranormal mysteries. She is currently working on the first book in a new series.

Here Be News

New Releases

(Available Tomorrow!)

MIRACLE
Above All, Book 1
Paranormal / Supernatural / Contemporary Fantasy Romance
by Linda Mooney
Word Count: 41.3K
$2.99 e

I died and was resurrected, and I don’t know why.

My name is Casi Clarity. I was 26 years old when I died in 1969. Then I woke up in the 21st century—whole, sane, and unblemished. And at the same age I was when I died.

What's more, when I came back, I brought a friend with me. His name is Coheed. He's a corporeal spirit, and he is also my protector. Against what, you ask? Well, it seems that ever since my return, I've been chased by ghosts. Demons. Ancient evil. Monsters. You name it.

Why are they after me? Because they want to know my secret. They want to wreak havoc on mankind and bring about our ultimate destruction, and the only way they can accomplish that is by being fleshy beings again. To inhabit as many bodies as they can to cause untold horror. They are determined to discover how I returned from the dead, even if it means trapping me, torturing me, and ultimately killing me again to see if I'm resurrected a second time.

My name is Casi.

The undead call me Mouse.

Coheed calls me Miracle.

Warning! Contains a houseboat, explosions, a rain of ashes, invisibility, sanctuary, a forbidden testament, and a love that was prophesied thousands of years ago.

Excerpt and buy links.

DISRUPTOR

Runaway. Experiment. Superhero?

The streets were the safest place for Dani, until the night she was caught by traffickers who sold her to a laboratory. She survived five years of experiments: biotech implants, gene therapy, and other things she could barely comprehend. The pain, though, that she understood. The lab pushed her body past its limits, drove her mind to its darkest corners, but somehow her spirit remained unbroken. She escaped, and sought refuge on the streets once again. But this time she doesn’t run away from cries for help. Now, she runs toward them.

Playboy. Dilettante. Sidekick?

Kevin Moynihan is the youngest son of Point Sable’s most wealthy and storied family. A permanent fixture in the society pages, he’s known for his good looks, his charm, and his aversion to an honest day’s work. His life is a whirlwind of fast women, faster cars, all night parties and endless champagne – until his latest drunk and disorderly charge lands him a stint doing community service in the roughest part of town. The part of town where someone is always screaming for help.


A chance meeting will bring two unlikely people together – first as reluctant allies, then friends, and finally partners.

Excerpt and buy links. 

Other News

Cover Reveal!

Jeffe Kennedy's The Tides of Bára, #3 in the Sorcerous Moons fantasy romance series, will be out October 29. and the books in the series can be found here on Amazon, or here on her website. The pre-order Amazon is here! 

Looking Back Plus Discounted Books

 As I near completion of the first book in a brand new paranormal mystery series, I’m looking back to the first book I had published. Towards the end of 2009, Harlequin announced that their new imprint Carina Press was open to submissions. I submitted a manuscript that had attracted interest from agents but never quite got the golden ticket. Honestly, I was almost ready to abandon my dream of publication (this was just before self-publishing was really seen as a legitimate option). Anyways I had a few nail-biting weeks before Allegra Fairweather: Paranormal Investigator was accepted as one of the Carina Press launch books. Then I kind of went into shock and took a bit longer than I should have to accept the offer.

I went on to write five books in the Allegra series working with two terrific editors. Mostly with Liz Bass, but briefly with Deb Nemeth, who edited the anthology: Carina Press Presents: Editor’s Choice Vol II. I learned a lot from both of them.

At the time of writing this, all the Allegra Fairweather books are heavily discounted. The first book is a mere 49c at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and direct through Carina Press.

To give you a little taste of Allegra, here’s an excerpt from an interview: 

Janni Nell: What was your life like growing up?

Allegra Fairweather: My family put the ‘dys’ in dysfunctional. There were Dad’s frequent work trips followed by his disappearance when I was fifteen. Then there was my failure to win Mom’s approval, and the less than ideal relationship with my sister, Lily. Let’s not even mention my step-father Senator Hampton. Still, I had my guardian angel, Casper, so it wasn’t all bad.

JN: Do you have a motto or code you live by?

AF: Punch first, ask questions later.

JN: What one thing would you take to a deserted island?

AF: My guardian angel, Casper, who would double as a means to get off. I’d get sooo bored on a deserted island.

JN: Where would you go on vacation?

AF: I work all over the world so I prefer to ‘vacation’ at home.

JN: What is your most distinguishing characteristic?

AF: My bright red hair. Yes, it is natural. What? You don’t believe me?

JN: What is your major skill or talent?

AF: My right big toe itches when I’m near the paranormal. Oh, and I have a mean left hook.

JN: If you had to pick another career, what would it be?

AF: Are you kidding? This is the only thing I know how to do.

JN: What is your favorite food?

AF: Pina colada, oh wait that’s not a food. I like all food.

JN: Who do you love?

AF: Sshh, it’s a secret.

Allegra Fairweather here. Paranormal investigator. Got problems with specters? Shapeshifters? I'm the woman to call. Just don't call me a Ghostbuster. The last guy who did that ended up flat on his back with my boot at his throat.

With my 99.5% success rate, solving the mystery of a bleeding rose that has sprung up on the shores of Loch Furness should have been an easy gig. But already I've heard the shriek of the local banshee, discovered two bodies (and then lost to bodies), and had a near-death encounter with a three-hundred-year-old ghost. And perhaps most dangerous of all, the hot pub owner who hired me now wants to show me exactly what's under his kilt.

Luckily, I'm ably assisted by my very own guardian angel. I'm grateful for his help--but he's also drop-dead gorgeous. A bit distracting when I've got a mystery to solve, and the clock is ticking...

Amazon

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Carina Press

Follow Janni on Facebook and Twitter.

www.janninell.com

When is a Beach Not a Beach?

When is a beach not a beach? When it's a projection of your thoughts! Or at least that's how it works out in my M/M fantasy story, Edge of Heaven. My main characters are angels (or angels in training, if you like) stuck in Limbo, a place where what you see is what you get...and what you think about is what you see. 

Edge, my viewpoint character (and perpetually bad-tempered angel trainer) has been in Limbo a long, long time--mostly due to the fact that he's really good at ignoring his own issues, but his newest assignment is bringing those issues front and center. In this scene, Edge gets to know his newest trainee a little bit better...

“Is this a bad time?” Matteo asks, showing up on my beach unannounced. He’s gazing at me a little uncertainly, and I guess he’s responding to the look of shock on my face. At least I hope I look shocked. It’d beat looking panicked, disgusted, and dismayed, which is closer to how I’m really feeling. New as he is, there’s no way he should have been able to follow me here, so hell yes, it’s a bad time!

“Time doesn’t really exist,” I say, cleverly sidestepping the question. “And good and bad—those are also illusions.”

“I see.” Matt’s brow crinkles up. He looks around curiously. “So what is this place, anyway, Hindu hell?”

“What? Hell? No, it’s not hell, and…why Hindu?”

“Okay, Buddhist maybe. Same basic philosophy, isn’t it? Nothing you see is real. It’s all illusion, and everything’s the same: good and bad, pleasure and pain, action and inaction, blue and green.”

I blink at that last part. Now he’s got my attention. He’s nuts, but he’s got my attention. “Uh…blue and green?”

A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. “Well, yeah, you know, ’cause that’s how the world looks, right? From a distance?”

I don’t want to do it, but I can’t help laughing. “Cute, pal. But I’m pretty sure the Divine Miss M’s no Buddhist.”

Matteo grins. “My mistake, then.” He points at the log on which I’m sitting. “May I?”

I’d like to say no, but I’d have to have a reason to do that. A good reason I mean, one I’d be willing to admit to. Which I don’t. “Sure. Help yourself.”

It’s a big log, practically a whole tree. There’s plenty of room for us both. At least that’s what I tell myself. Still, it’s an effort to keep from moving away. I want to slide over to the very end to make sure he doesn’t sit right next to me. Which he does. Big surprise, huh? I don’t want to sound like a wuss or anything, but the guy’s clearly got no sense of personal boundaries. He’s sitting so close to me our shoulders are practically touching. I can feel the heat rising from his skin. It’s sensuous, tempting. I have to fight the urge to lean into it.

“So seriously, what is this place?” he asks, surveying the scenery.

I’m kind of wondering about that myself. I mean, I know what I see when I look around me, but I also know it’s a reflection of my own thoughts. None of it is actually real. Does Matteo see what I see? Or is he seeing something else? “What does it look like to you?”

He glances around again. “Somewhere along the West Coast would be my guess. Northern California, Pacific Northwest, something like that.”

“Yeah, that’s how it looks to me too.” I stare out at the ocean. Sunlight dances on the waves. A couple of gulls fly by. Who’s to say what’s real, anyhow? “This is the beach I used to go to as a kid.” 

I point at the rocky shore. “There are tide pools between those rocks. Man, I used to love messing around down there. And over that way”—I turn and point over his shoulder to that place where the beach ends in a fall of boulders and water laps at the base of the cliff—“is the entrance to a cave. It’s hard to find. You can only reach it at low tide. Sometimes not even then.”

“It seems like all of the best things in life are like that, aren’t they?” His voice is low, suggestive. I feel it in the pit of my stomach.

“Like what?”

“Hard to get.” He’s staring right at me. Our faces are just inches apart. I can see the gold flecks in his dark eyes and the fine gold stubble that lines his jaw. My fingers are tingling. It’s like I can already feel the sandpapery texture of his cheek sliding against my open palm. His lips are full, slightly parted. They look soft. They look inviting.

I put my hand in the center of his chest and push. “Tell me more about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?” he asks, lips twitching into a tiny smile. “I swear I’m clean. No drugs, no diseases. Or does that even matter here?”

I shake my head. “It’s none of my concern. And it’s also not what I’m talking about.” My hand is still pressed against his heart. He seems not to mind. I do, but I just can’t seem to move it away. “Tell me how you died.”

And there goes his smile, disappearing in a red-hot instant. He straightens—away from me, away from my hand—and looks out at the water once more. “It was so stupid, you know? So totally senseless.”

Oh crap. There’s an unmistakable tinge of anger in his voice. Eerily familiar, it puts all my nerves on alert. My heart starts pounding. My jaw gets tight. I don’t want to ask it, but it’s my job. I have to know. “What did you do?”

“Me? Nothing. It was an accident.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it was. So tell me about it.”

“Damn car came out of nowhere.”

I blink in surprise. “Car?” Okay, not what I was thinking, then.

Matteo nods. “I was out for my morning run along the beach in Santa Monica. Only it was Saturday and I’d slept in, so it was later in the day than I generally go. On my way back, I noticed the stores along the Promenade were open—which they usually aren’t when I pass them. There was this kiosk with the cutest baby mobile hanging up in it. My best friend and her partner are trying for a baby. It’s been a couple of months, and it hasn’t happened yet. It will, though, you know? I mean, they’ve done all the tests, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t. I wanted to give them something to help keep their spirits up, and this mobile was so perfect I couldn’t resist. I just had to have it. So I crossed the street, and…I was waiting while the sales clerk wrapped it, when it happened.”

“When what happened? I thought you were killed by a car?”

“I was. Driver must have had a heart attack or something. Car jumped the curb and plowed right into us. It was my bad luck that I had my back to it at the time. If I’d had a little more warning, I might have had a chance to get out of the way.”

“You were hit by a car while you were shopping.” It’s not really a question—I’m just trying to wrap my mind around the absurdity of the idea. “While you were buying a gift for your friend’s baby.”

“Yeah. Can you believe it? And now…I’m never even going to see the kid, never know if it’s a boy or a girl or what they name it, who it looks like…”

I nod, but I’m not really listening. To be honest, I’m feeling a little bit jealous. My death was stupid and senseless and largely accidental too. I left stuff unfinished. I left people behind. But there’s one big difference. My death was my own damn fault.

*****

Welcome to the afterlife, where men are men and the angels are fallen.

It was a reckless act of passion that ended Edge’s life and left him in Limbo—literally. Now, he’s stuck here. While most of the other angels-in-training move quickly up the celestial ladder, Edge knows it can never be that simple for him. He’s dealing with issues that are a lot more complicated than a simple lack of closure.

While Edge doesn’t know for sure what it will take to get him into Heaven, there is one thing he’s certain won’t help – his latest assignment guiding angel-baby Matteo Matinucci while the newbie find his wings.

But twenty-something Mattie—sexy, beautiful, recently departed, and openly gay—could turn out to be the answer to all of Edge’s prayers, as well as the fulfillment of all his fantasies, even the hot, sweaty, secret ones he’s never confided to anyone. And by helping to send Mattie to Heaven, Edge just might end up saving both their souls.

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Win-A-Book Wednesday with...Jane Kindred!

Jane Kindred

Jane Kindred is the author of The House of Arkhangel’sk trilogy, the Demons of Elysium series, and The Devil’s Garden. Born in Billings, Montana, she spent her formative years ruining her eyes reading romance novels in the Tucson sun and watching Star Trek marathons in the dark. She now writes to the sound of San Francisco foghorns while two cats slowly but surely edge her off the side of the bed.

You can find Jane on her Twitter account and Facebook page—both of which are aptly named “janekindred"—and on her website, www.janekindred.com.

Master of the Game*

Master of the Game, available August 5 from Samhain Publishing, is the third and final book in the Demons of Elysium series: a blend of m/m BDSM erotic romance and epic fantasy with a paranormal contemporary twist. This is your chance to win an Advance Copy!

Here's what people are saying about Demons:

“A spicy erotic fantasy that submerges the reader into a tempestuous relationship that speaks of dark desires and wicked delights. Kindred tucks her burgeoning romance inside an intriguing story filled with deception and betrayal as luscious angels and demons all vie for the ultimate prize. Drenched in a decadent haze of pleasure, pain, discipline and punishment, Kindred’s voice captures readers, leaving them panting for more.” ★★★★  — RT Book Reviews

“This world is freaking awesome. ... Once I thought I had a hold on where Kindred was going with this story it would take another turn. I was glued to the pages of this book till the very end.” 4.25 stars — Crissy, Joyfully Jay

“What a seductive, devilishly delicious tale... Steamy, solid entertainment!” ★★★★★ — Rainbow Book Reviews

“The second installment in Kindred's wickedly erotic, BDSM-based Demons of Elysium series immerses the reader in the dark and tempestuous relationship of Belphagor and his fire demon lover. Pain and pleasure vie for dominance as Kindred takes their relationship to a new level—a level that will make or break the fragile love that exists between them. Kindred does a splendid job of balancing the decadent romance with an engaging conflict filled with lust, lies and revelations.” ★★★★ — RT Book Reviews

*Note: If new to the series, winner of the giveaway has the option to receive Book 1 (Prince of Tricks) instead.

Love is the ultimate game changer…and this time it’s winner take all.

 

Now that his lover is back in his arms, Belphagor is taking his own sweet time to say the words Vasily longs to hear: “You’re my boy.” And savoring the sweet torture of driving the firespirit into a frenzy of unfulfilled need.

As the undisputed master of Heaven’s gaming tables, Belphagor never plays unless he’s certain of winning. But this time, political machinations send the game—and Vasily—tumbling to the brink of even his formidable control.

Vasily can’t deny enjoying their delightfully edgy play—until the airspirit auctions him off for a night to the one demon with a gift for taking things too far. Seductive Silk, tight-lipped about the end of his relationship with the sweet submissive Phaleg, may also be involved with a new faction threatening the pregnant queen of Heaven.

Belphagor couldn’t be less interested in the games angels play, but when angelic and demonic intrigues overlap, he’s drawn in against his will. And forced to break his one inviolable rule: Never gamble what you can’t afford to lose.

Warning: Contains more than a mouthful of m/m ménage, with intense D/s situations featuring intricate rope work, balaklavas, and a flurry of snow.

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Win-a-Book Wednesday with Jody Wallace!

JODY WALLACE

Jody Wallace grew up in the South in a very rural area. She went to school a long time and ended up with a Master's Degree in Creative Writing. Her resume includes college English instructor, technical documents editor, market analyst, web designer, and general, all around pain in the butt. She resides in Tennessee with one husband, two children, two cats, and a lot of junk. In fact, she has always lived with cats, and they have always been mean.

To discover other books by Ms. Wallace, visit her website at http://www.jodywallace.com.  You can also find her at Twitter: https://twitter.com/jodywallace  and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JodyWallaceAuthor.  To discover meankitties, visit the cat’s website at http://www.meankitty.com .

If you are an author or reader and would like to be interviewed by the damn cat, just email Jody and Meankitty!

He’s no angel…

Gregori’s last mission is to save Earth from the demons threatening to take control. He doesn’t care if he survives as long as he averts the impending apocalypse—until he meets Adelita, a human refugee, whose spirit and determination give him a renewed reason to fight. And live. He’s falling for her, despite the fact he’s told her nothing but lies and there can’t possibly be a future for them.

Adelita can hardly believe the archangel Gregori, sent to save mankind, has lost his faith and his edge. After he saves her from a demon attack, she vows to help him recover both by any means necessary. But can she keep her own faith when she learns the truth about who and what Gregori really is?

“Angeli has it all—a valiant hero, a smart heroine, delicious sexual tension, and an eerie apocalyptic world. This humorous, action-packed story is a refreshing take on alien invasion sci-fi romance!” – Heather Massey of The Galaxy Express (the internet’s primary site for SFR fiction fans)

“Reminiscent of Linnea Sinclair’s The Down Home Zombie Blues, Angeli is part apocalyptic save-the-world thriller and part science fiction adventure. Set against the majestic backdrop of the West, it’s full of Wallace’s signature wit and quirky, multi-faceted characters. If you like your blasters hot and your heroes hotter, not to mention a heroine who can save the day—and the world—don’t miss Angeli!” – NY Times/USA Today bestselling author Jenna Bennett

“A spicy, clever twist on post-apocalyptic science fiction that gives us pulse-pounding action and heroes worth dying for.” – Natalie Damschroder, author of A Kiss of Revenge

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ELYSIUM: A Not Very Short Review

My SFR that just came out, ANGELI, deals with what happens when the "Chosen One" doesn't stop the apocalypse, so the other night, the hubs and I decided we'd watch ELYSIUM, since it's all dystopian and science-fictiony. I thought for tonight's post I'd talk about our varied, and not so varied, reactions to the film.

Me: I heard this got meh reviews.
DH: ------- (he doesn't talk much)
*credits roll*
DH: Hey, it's the same guy that did District 9.
Me: Uh-oh. Not that I didn't like District 9, but, you know, it was depressing and dark and it didn't really have a good ending and...can you pause it?
DH: *pauses it while I write stuff down*
Me: So what does that make you expect about this film?
DH: It'll be gritty.

The film begins. Pans across a dirty earth, overpopulated, full of factories and skyscrapers and poor people. Then it pans to the Elysium space station which looks a bit like a giant Stargate.

Hero/heroine meet as kids. They're BFFs. I notice the hero (Matt Damon) is in an orphanage where they speak Spanish.

Scene switches to his adult life. He's not wearing a shirt! He's built and has tats! Wheee, eyecandy!

DH: *rolls eyes*

Now our hero has to go to work at some (gritty) job, and I notice pretty quickly that the characters are his tall Caucasian self and a bunch of smaller, darker, Spanish-speaking people. When we switch to Elysium, there are lots of white colors, pale clothing, Jodie Foster with blond hair, and people speaking French. Ok, so Spanish is for poor dark people and French is for rich people, though we do find out later that there are non-Caucasians on Elysium. Just not many of them.

Me: Hey, I think there's some social commentary.
DH: Do I have to pause it again?
Me: Nah, just keep going. I want to see if he takes off his shirt again.
DH: *rolls eyes*

So Dirty Bald Matt Damon, former car thief, runs into the heroine, now grown, when he has to go to the grubby, gritty poor person hospital to treat a broken arm inflicted upon him by robot cops. She's a nurse and he tries to ask her out but she says her life is too complicated.

Me: She totally has a sick kid or an abusive husband. Probably a sick kid. But she'll get threatened with rape at some point in here.
DH: -------
Me: Thanks for not rolling your eyes. Isn't that starting to hurt?
DH: *rolls eyes*

So, love interest isn't Caucasian. Basically only Dirty Matt Damon is. Eventually we switch back to Matt Damon working at the horrible factory.

DH: Hey, look, he makes the robot cops that beat him up.
Me: Robots are evil.
DH: You don't need to write that down, do you?
Me: He's still wearing a shirt. I'm good.

Still at the gritty, dirty robot factory. Some white dude in a suit from Elysium stares down at the dirty workers in the factory, and also white Dirty Matt Damon. Suit guy is being all elitist and shit. He's eventually in some plot with white, clean, French speaking Jodie Foster, but I won't spoil it for you. Suffice to say, he's not very sympathetic when the foreman (who's--hey! short and white and a bit less dirty!) forces Dirty Matt Damon to try to fix some equipment. Poor Dirty Matt Damon ends up getting a full dose of radiation that can't be cured unless he can get himself to the magical medical bed on Elysium.

That'll be hard because white, clean Jodie Foster likes to have dirty refugees who just want 2 minutes in a magical medical bed shot out of the sky...oddly, by a scary, dirty Caucasian AUSTRALIAN guy who looks like Road Warrior ran over him. Dude shoots a big gun from the surface of the planet to take out the refugee ships. And this is necessary because Elysium has a brown guy pacifist at the helm and Jodie Foster hates him because she has kids and he won't take the threat of refugees seriously. Like you do.

Shortly thereafter, Dirty Matt Damon also finds out his BFF love interest the nurse has a daughter dying of leukemia (NAILED IT) who can only be saved by a magical medical bed. He also has a male BFF who keeps saying things like, "We've always been friends" and "I'm with you to the end."

Me: That dude is so dead.
DH: --------

Thus begins Dirty Matt Damon's quest to get his irradiated self, his love interest, the child, some other dirty poor people (but not his male BFF because the guy gets killed, NAILED IT!), and a bunch of stolen seekrit evil plans saved in the organic matrix that is his brain to Elysium, where he always promised the love interest he'd take her. Also the scary Aussie and his cohorts are out to get them and want to rape the love interest (NAILED IT!)

Now, since this was by the guy who did District 9, you can guess about the cinematography, the violence, the dirt everywhere, the depressingness, and so on and so forth, as well as the ending I won't spoil in case you want to watch it. Not that you can't guess most of it because...NAILED IT!

Yeah, I guess I'm saying this movie was pretty predictable. Gritty, shaky-cam, and a heavy-handed indictment of rich-white-people-are-evil, it requires a bald, tall, dirty white guy amongst a bunch of small brown people to save the world. Mixed messages much?

Anybody else catch this one?

Jody W.
www.jodywallace.com * www.meankitty.com

PS Here's the stuff about my new release! It's less gritty and happier than Elysium, and a brown, Spanish speaking heroine saves the world :).

ANGELI (Book 1 of the Maelstrom Chronicles)
by Jody Wallace
Release Date: January 27, 2014
Genre: SF romance
Length: Shortish Novel
Rating: R (profanity, violence, sex–all the good stuff)
From: Entangled Ignite
Buy Links: Amazon, B&N, All Romance eBooks, Kobo
Add it to your Goodreads list!
Party with the Ignite Authors on January 30

Readers: Are you tired of paranormal romance yet?

Besides being an author, I am also a reader, and like any good reader of romance novels, I often turn to reviewers to help me field my options. You might not realize that two of the biggest review sites – Dear Author and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books – also come together and do a regular podcast, which I must say is always hilarious and probably shouldn’t be listened to while you’re working (or pretending to work). Trust me on this. You will laugh. Out loud. A lot.

Anywho, Sarah and Jane were recently answering letters from readers, and the question was posed, “Do you think we’ve finally reached the saturation point on paranormals, or will it simply undergo some sort of change?” The question was prompted because best-selling author Linda Howard announced on her Facebook page not too long ago that her paranormal “Warrior Rising” has been put on indefinite hold. Linda went on to explain that “the bottom has dropped out of the vampire market, and (the publisher doesn’t) want to risk the book.”

Not too long ago on Twitter, agent and author Mandy Hubbard tweeted, “I've never had a ‘do not send me x’ list on my guidelines, but guys: I can't imagine being able to sell vampires or werewolves now. #pubtip”

I know this topic has been discussed before, but as someone who writes primarily paranormal stories, so far based on werewolves, I find this trend – if true – to be a little unsettling. But as a reader, I find it even more disturbing.

I still love reading paranormals! I love vampires and werewolves and angels and…you name it. In fact, the last book I read was the vampire anthology “A Vampire for Christmas” published by Harlequin, and I loved all of the stories in it.

Both Jane (of Dear Author) and Sarah (of Smart Bitches) agreed they believe that paranormals are still going strong, with the trend leaning toward angels and demons and paranormal mashups these days. Hey, sounds great to me, but seriously, publishers? Don’t get rid of all the vampire and werewolf stories. I do love me a good bloodsucking romance, you know?

But that’s just my opinion. I’d love to know yours. Are you sick to death of paranormals yet, or are you still rubbing your hands together and murmuring, “Keep ‘em coming, guys?”