Thanks for commenting on my blog post.

I’ve picked two winners…

Barb P

Little Lamb Lost

Would you please email me at vivi@vivianna.net to claim your prize.  You have until March 15th to do so.

In April my next Nocturne comes out.  THE VAMPIRE’S QUEST was a struggle to write.  I knew from all the emails I gotten about this character, that I HAD to get Kellen Falcon’s story just right.  I think I was able to do that and more.  I love this story, and I love Kellen.

I am more than thrilled to say that Romantic Times Magazine came The Vampire’s Quest a TOP PICK.  This is my second for this series.  I’m tickled pink!

Here’s the review…

THE VAMPIRE’S QUEST (4.5) by Vivi Anna: When vampire bomb investigator Kellen Falcon travels to the European city of Nouveau Monde to visit a doctor working on a cure for his terminal illness, a bomb explodes in the office, killing the doctor and several others. Barely making it out alive, Kellen joins up with werewolf police officer Sophie St. Clair to investigate the bombing before someone else ends up dead. This is a fantastic supernatural thriller from start to finish. Anna takes two supernatural beings and makes us believe the romance and attraction between them are real.

Here’s a short excerpt from the book…

A few bars of a hardcore metal song thumped from his jean pocket.  He fished out his cell phone and flipped it open.  “Falcon.”

     “How’s Europe?  Are they trying to deport you, yet?”

     Kellen smirked at the humor in Caine’s voice.  The chief was usually not one for jokes.  “Not yet.  Give me a few more days.”

     Caine’s haughty chuckle suddenly made him feel homesick.

     “Monsieur.  Monsieur.”

     Kellen glanced at the receptionist.  She was motioning to him with the wave of her pen.

     “Hold on, Caine.”  He put his hand over the phone.  “Yeah?”

     “No cell phones, please.”  She pointed to the sign by her desk, the one with a big red X over a picture of a cell phone.

     Waving that he understood, Kellen stood and wandered out of the office and down the hall, then said into the phone, “Are you still there?”

     “Yes.  What happened?  Did you get kicked out of somewhere?”

     “Yeah, my doctor’s office.  I guess they don’t like cell phones around all their fancy electrical equipment.”

     The vampiress at the main reception desk smiled at him as he leaned against the wall near her.  He nodded at her.

     “How’s it going?”

     Kellen appreciated Caine’s query into his health.  They hadn’t parted on the best of terms after Caine had accused him of blowing up the lab.  “It’s my first appointment.  I’ll know more after I talk to this guy.”

     “Okay. You’ll call when you find out?”

     “Yeah.”  He ran a hand over his head, feeling strange about Caine’s concern.  Not exactly good friends, Kellen could count on one hand the number of times they’d ever engaged in a personal conversation.  But he had to admit, he liked that the chief had called with questions into his health.  Made him feel a little less alone.

     Static filled his ear.  Pushing away from the wall, Kellen turned the phone in his hand.  “Caine?”

     “Yeah, I’m here. I can barely hear you though.” More static crackled through the line.

     “There’s a lot of interference in here.  I’ll call you later.”  Kellen flipped his phone closed and slid it into his pants pocket.

     A loud piercing shrill echoed from the doctor’s office down the hall.  Everyone in the reception area looked up at the strident sound.

     “Looks like someone else didn’t turn their phone off,” Kellen said to the receptionist.

     She smiled at him, and then went back to her typing.

     He glanced at his watch.  He still had five minutes to kill before his appointment.  He squinted down at the watch face.  Something was wrong with it.

The second hand seemed to have stopped mid-tick.  He tapped the plastic covering.  No, it hadn’t stopped but it was barely moving, as if suspended in some kind of liquid.  Looking up, he noticed that other things in the lobby were off.

The clock on the wall over the receptionist’s desk displayed the same effect as his watch.  Even the vampiress seemed to be moving slower.  Her actions and reactions to things were about a second off in time.  There was a blur of motion over her body.  Like when a photograph is out of focus.

The hair on his arms rose.  A multitude of heartbeats from everyone on the floor thundered in his ears, making him wince.  All of them were in sync.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

All except for one.  He recognized that ticking for what it was.

WHEEEEE!  And since I’m in such a good mood and I just got a shipment of my new shiny book, I want to give a couple away.

Tell me in the comments your favorite movie, and I’ll put your name in a draw for two chances to win The Vampires’ Quest.

I love books! What’s not to like, right? So it’s no little frustration that I simply don’t have enough room to keep all these books. With six releases out last year and seven this year, the boxes of books keep coming and my husband is starting to get a little perturbed about all these books laying about. Many I send off for review, to friends, family, through contests, then save more for future contests, and still I have a ton of books!

So how about I give some away?

I am attempting to pack up the girls and myself to leave in a couple hours for a weekend away at my parents, so I will make this really easy. To enter to win a signed copy of one my books–will leave which one up to the winners–just join my newsletter group. You can join by sending a blank email to: PassionPress-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com. I get a notice whenever new members arrive. Or if you already belong, just respond to this post with any ol’ comment at all.

I will post a half dozen winners or so when I return from the weekend. Until then, I hope yours is a great one!

~ jodi

www.JodiLynnCopeland.com

Fairy tales are wonderful stories to rip apart and put together again, your way.  I love messing around with them, putting a new creative spin, or turning something nice into something wicked and wild.

I’ve written a few reimagined fairy tale stories.  One of my first is coming out in ebook tomorrow from Ellora’s Cave.  I originally published it back in 2004, and its been rewritten and polished up and is coming out again.  I couldn’t be happier.  Red was my first kick-ass heroine.

Here’s an excerpt from IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES…

Red bolted up from the bed. Sweat poured off her face. It soaked the sheets beneath her.

After rubbing her hands over her face, she swung her legs over the bed and stood. She went to the dresser, picked up the bottle of vodka and took a long pull. She got dressed, wrapped up in her hooded black cloak and left the room. She needed some fresh air.

Red stood behind the boarding house in the rain. There was just open field and tall trees behind the house. That was the reason she picked the place. It afforded a quick escape route through the woods. Escape was always the first thing on her mind.

She raised her head to the cool rain and opened her mouth to let it pour in. She swallowed it down and opened for more, thirsting for the pure water. Hoping to be cleansed, she drank it in greedily. But no amount of water could wash away her sins. She had been too long alone with only black-hearted vengeance for a companion.

Red cocked her head to the side to listen to the night. Did she hear something?  The rain fell hard on the tin roof of the house. It was difficult to hear anything over the roar. She slowly turned to her right and stared hard into the shadows, narrowing her eyes. She saw a flash of something. Glowing eyes like those of an animal.

Red ran. She turned to the open field and sprinted. If she could make it to the trees, she would lose him. She’d had many years of training in the forest. As she ran, she felt for a weapon. Shit!  She left her knives in the room. What a fool!  She knew better than to leave her place unarmed. She’d have to double back to get to her arsenal.

When she made it to the trees, she glanced back over her shoulder. She saw no movement behind her. The Wolf was quick, she knew, so he may have entered the woods further down. She’d have to be sharp and use all her years of training to survive. This was the one night she had planned for, lived for, and she was not going to fail.

She moved into the foliage, hunkering down onto one knee. She put her hood up to cover her bright hair. She scanned the surrounded trees, letting her eyes adjust to the extreme dark. There was no moonlight to guide her way and she saw no immediate movement. Looking down at the forest floor, she searched for a weapon.

Lightning lit the sky and she was able to spy a small broken branch. It was jagged at one edge. It would be perfect for close encounters. She picked it up and held it firmly to her body. If she could get close enough to him, she could stab the wood into the soft part just under his chin on the side of his neck. He would bleed to death.

A branch snapped. Red stayed still and surveyed the woods. It could be just an animal searching for food. Another branch snapped. This time it was closer. Red held her breath and narrowed her eyes. She could see a shape inching toward her.

Red looked down and picked up a small stone. If she could get a good aim, she could hit him in the head to stun him, affording her time to come up on him. If she missed, then he would know her location. Either way was a risk. She stood up and pulled her arm back.

“Red?  It’s Jack.” His voice was soft and low.

Red hesitated and lowered her arm. “What are you doing?”

“I followed you outside. I saw you run into the trees. I was worried. Are you all right?”

Red sighed and moved closer to him. He was endangering her. Surely, The Wolf knew her location. Or had she imagined him?  Maybe she had only been running from Jack.

“You’re an idiot. I could have killed you.”

He laughed lowly, and something about it made her stomach clench. “Not without your knives.”

Pausing, her heart began to race. Adrenaline pumped through her body like wildfire. “What?”

“You’re unarmed, aren’t you?”

“Jack?” She saw the movement too late. “Watch out!”

Before the words were out of her mouth, The Wolf was on Jack. He came up from behind, grabbed Jack’s chin, lifted his head and sliced the knife across his throat in one swift stroke.

What fairy tale do you think would be cool reimagined?  What are some of your favorites already done?  Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella?  

I have a couple of PDFs of IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES for giveaway.  I will pick two commenters.   I will announce the winners on Saturday.

Click to Play

You can read excerpts and advance reviews at my website.

In this erotic universe, passion knows no rank…

Since the first settlers came through the portals from Earth, fifteen Families have held the rule of the Federated Universes in their hands. There’s never been a better time than now to throw out the old and usher in a new order. Give voice to the unranked. Abbie Haws has spent her life battling the system. A fighter, she’s always been too busy and driven to pay much attention to finding love. But when she’s granted audience with Roman Lyons, the head of House Lyons, who stands for everything she hates, her instant attraction catches Abbie off-guard…

It’s common knowledge that the Known Universe revolves around Ravena—and that Ravena revolves around Roman Lyons, bred to lead since birth. Roman dreads his meeting with a defiant—if stunning—rabble-rouser. But, sometimes, headstrong personalities in the conference room make for hot-and-heavy, guilty trysts in private….

Now, Abbie will show Roman the parts of her world he wouldn’t otherwise get to see. And he’ll give her a glimpse of the Families’ age old tradition and unleash a sexuality he’d never given rein to before.

Now On To The Contest Details!!

This is an ARC contest for my upcoming Heat release, Relentless. The intent of an ARC is to get readers and reviewers talking about the book - so essentially what I’m asking people to do is talk about the book - review it at your blog or at your reader group or review site between April and May 5, when the book releases.

The winners just send the link with their review and agree let me quote it at my blog and website (with proper attribution, natch). I don’t require that you like the book although I hope you do!

THE RULES (please read carefully) All you need to do to enter is reply to this post and tell me where you’d be talking about the book if you win (urls are always helpful if you mean your blog!). I’ve got a limited amount of ARCS so I’ll choose winners based on that supply. I also have a limited number of electronic ARCs so if you’d be willing to read and review an electronic ARC, say so in the comments

I’ll announce the winners by Noon March 1 at my main blog and contact winners off list - please include an email so I can notify you and get your mailing address!

Good Luck!!

A bad boy is about to find out just how naughty a good girl can be.

After eight long years of pretending a horrible one-night stand hadn’t happened and wondering if it had been her fault, Charity Harris has finally coaxed handsome bad boy and lifelong friend, Gabriel Bettencourt, back into her bed. It’s not just good, it’s fanfreakingtastic! Trouble is, he’s persisting with his story about not wanting a relationship and not being good enough for her even as their friendship blooms into something looking a lot like love.

Gabriel has ached to make Charity his for years, and finally having her in his bed, not just enduring but enjoying his darker urges is more than he’d ever imagined it could be. Despite what she says, he knows she deserves candlelight and roses, not candle wax and ropes. He’ll enjoy her while he can and let go when she finds the right man.

Charity knows Gabriel’s game and she’s not having any of it. A man can like it rough in bed and still be good and kind. He’s exactly the kind of man she wants to marry and she will. She loves him and she knows he loves her and she’s not taking no for an answer.

So when he runs off “to think” just after Christmas, it’s up to her to let him know that good girls can like it dark and rough and bad boys can be good men.

My name is Lauren Dane and I love small town romance that feature families. I read across most genres but most often, when I want a comfort read, I pick up a contemporary set in a small town with a family in it. Probably because my own, deepest roots, come from small towns and big families.

So last year when it came time to write a holiday themed novella, I’d just completed my Chase Brothers series and wanted to return to a small town setting so I reached into my own background and decided on Davis, California. For me, holidays mean family and for me, family and holidays often meant small towns where my family lived.

Now, Davis is a town caught between being a university town and a small farming town. It’s both, which is a character I sort of like about it. It’s an interesting melding of influences and so I had a great time writing To Do List there and returning this month to it for Sweet Charity.

Both my parents grew up in small towns in California’s Central Valley (towns WAY smaller than Davis, actually). Both have roots in the earth, in farming and in small communities. I grew up for most of my life in a very large city but we kept our roots and spent lots of time with family back in the valley. If you’ve never thought of farmers as sexy, let me tell you, some of them aren’t, LOL. But men who work the earth, who work with their hands? Yes indeed, very nice bodies. They’re solid and sexy and eminently capable at their very best.

When I think about the best memories of my childhood, I realize I often put them into my books. In Always there’s a scene where Eamon takes Caitlin to Olvera Street. I grew up in Los Angeles and we used to go out to Olvera Street several times a year. But in To Do List and in Sweet Charity, I take part of my growing up, my dad’s Portuguese heritage and I give it to Charity and Gabriel (and Rafe too). The Festas with their courts and parades, with the feasts and all the preparation are a huge part of Charity’s childhood as well as Gabriel’s.

Charity has gone away, gone to college at UCLA but she returned to Davis to run a small business. For her, even though she loved Los Angeles, it wasn’t a real question that she’d come back to where her family and her roots lay. And it’s also where Gabriel Bettencourt is.

Charity and Gabriel have known each other since childhood. She’s close friends with his sister and with his sister in law. She shares his roots on many levels and this is something that holds them together and also keeps their connection alive. They’ve already got the basis for a lifetime of love when the book opens.

This is also why I absolutely love friends to lovers stories! I love that the couple has a strong foundation before the first kiss. I love that usually there’s been some sexual chemistry and tension building up as they deny their attraction and watch the other with other people.

So we end up back in Davis and with Charity who has had enough of Gabriel’s dancing around and sending mixed signals. She means to have him with her and she declares and all out war to get him. Gabriel has, of course, wanted her for a decade and after a disastrous one night stand with her eight years before, has decided he’s not good enough for her because he likes his sex on the dark and rough side.

In Sweet Charity we get glimpses of who each of the characters are not just to each other, but to their family and friends. And this is extremely important to both of them, which heightens their allure to the other.

Of course there’s a Happily Ever After – it’s romance after all and some people are simply meant to be together, no matter how hard they fight it. Charity is a nice girl, as nice as Gabriel thinks she is, but being nice doesn’t mean she can’t be a bit dirty and being a bit dirty doesn’t mean you don’t have a good heart.

I hope folks enjoy Sweet Charity as much as I enjoyed writing it! And yes, I do hope to go back to Davis and revisit some of the characters I’ve introduced in To Do List and Sweet Charity. And I will most definitely be back to small towns and big families again. (or big towns and big families too – I write families into most of my books, LOL)

Now, for the contest part…Elisabeth Naughton has a book coming out (you can read about it just below as a matter of fact). So, I’m going to give a copy away on Wednesday! All you need to do to enter is tell me what your favorite comfort trope is - friends to lovers, vampires, small towns, shieks, greek millionaires, whatever and if you have a particular favorite title you reach for time and again. I’ll choose a winner from the comments and have the book shipped directly to you from Amazon!

Good luck! I’ll pick a winner at noon pacific on Wednesday December 31.

WINNER a’la Random.org is commenter #12! Dana - email me your mailing address so I can get this sent to you via Amazon! Congrats.

I’m hoping that a late post qualifies as being better than no post at all. A handful of times today it occurred to me I needed to get a post up, but a couple little girls kept delaying my good intentions. While this post is arriving a bit late, I’m overjoyed to share that my second daughter arrived early, both in the early morning hours at 3:00 AM on Tuesday and early in terms of her due date. We are home as of Wednesday afternoon and doing quite well. Now comes the challenge of adjusting daughter number one, who is three and developing quite the bossy ‘tude. But she seems to love baby, so I hold out hope all will go smooth on that front.

I also had a second (clearly not nearly so wonderful) gift arrive this week in the form of a check I wasn’t expecting. It made for a very nice present in that it allowed me to finish some much-needed Christmas and household shopping just on time to be mostly homebound for several weeks.

Then, finally, came a third gift. Yes, I had a very good week to be sure! I received a boxful of author copies of my late January Kensington Aphrodisia release, Escape To Ecstasy. I hadn’t planned on seeing these copies until early to mid January, so the box came as a real shocker. Of course it also means I now have copies to share and, for once, quite a ways in advance.

Interested in receiving a signed copy of Ecstasy? Just respond to this post and I’ll pick a few commentors at random to send a book along to. Good luck and a good weekend to all!

~ Jodi

www.JodiLynnCopeland.com

************WINNER OF MICHELE’S FAB PRIZE PACK IS****************

MARGAY

Please email me with your contact info, so I can forward it on to Michele.  vivi@vivianna.net

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Michele for I guess over a year now. But I’ve known her work for much much longer. Some of my favorite fantasy books are hers…Seraphim, Gossamer, and Rhiana, are still much loved and re-read in my house. So when I got to hang out with Michele when the Nocturne line first opened, I totally jumped at the opportunity. And then last year, she emailed me and asked if I wanted to do a project with her. Well, hell, you know I leaped at that. So we did WINTER KISSED together, and now well, we have a few other things on the go… but that’s a secret…

It’s my pleasure to introduce Michele Hauf…

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost nipping at your…

Hmm… Now where exactly would I like to imagine a sexy six-foot-plus, silver-haired winter god nipping at my body? His initial touch may be surprisingly cool, but trust me, he takes on human body heat fast. And he’s really curious about warm things, and making them even warmer.

That’s Jal Frosti for you, my latest hero of “A Kiss Of Frost”, a short story in the WINTER KISSED collection (also featuring Vivi Anna’s awesome “Icebound”).

I wanted to do a different hero from the dark, brooding, blood-sucking vampires I’d done so far for Nocturne, and I love winter, so it was easy enough to decide on a Jack Frost type of character. He’s a shapeshifter. He is usually made of frost but can assume human shape and form after he
touches warm mortal flesh. And his touch can be deadly (he is an assassin, after all).

As for the heroine, I think she’s a bit like me (except I gave up running around in my underthings in twenty degree weather decades ago). A self-styled snowflakologist, the heroine photographs snowflakes. Yeah, she really likes snow. (So what if I carry a magnifying glass around with me to look at snowflakes. What’s so odd about that? Hey, you live in MN all your life, snow either drives you mad or you learn to embrace it.)

So combine a frost god and a snowflake zealot and what do you get? Well, it’s a lot more steamy than you might imagine. To start the season out right, and read all about my snow obsession, start a crackling fire, snuggle into your favorite chenille blanket with a cup of hot chocolate and check out WINTER KISSED!

So it’s coming, it’s inevitable: Winter. What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Tolerate it? Have you ever looked at a snowflake under a magnifying glass? It’s so cool!

For giveaway I have a copy of WINTER KISSED, some snowflakes chocolates and a rhinestone snowflake necklace to one lucky commentor!!

Michele

Wishing a very Happy Halloween to all! Of course, the kids are just as anxious as can be to get to the trick or treating. With the time change not until tomorrow night, most of the T&T will be in the light this year, but I figure that can only be a good thing in helping my daughter not to fear all those ghouls and goblins out and about. And, of course, I cannot wait to go digging through their bag of goodies for mommy treats. Seriously, they encourage letting mommy share. Really, they do… After all, what would happen to all those succulent twixs and snickers and dots and all that other goodness otherwise? Even when I do go digging through, it seems we end up throwing out half the stuff each year as no one family can possibly eat that many sweets. But oh what fun (and cavities) to be had in the trying!

I got an early treat this year with the trade paperback release of In English Arms. This is the only historical erotic romance I’ve published to date, but it’s also one of my favorite stories. I love history and getting to spend lots of time researching just makes my day. For now In English Arms is available to order exclusively through the Ellora’s Cave print title website. Then in about another two weeks it should be available on most of the online vendors and also showing up in various bookstores that stock EC titles. You can check out the yummy cover on the left-side blog column. Early on in the print production, I had been shown a different cover which was truly delish, but this one will do quite nicely as well.

So how about you? Are you gearing up for a night of monsters and witches galore? Do you get to do the “T&T goodie walk” with the kidlets? Got any favorite Halloween memories to share?

One particular H-Day that sticks in my mind is when I was about 7 or 8. I grew up in the very rural country and we had to drive from house to house to garner our goodie stash. We were at a house a few miles from my own when our long-lost cat appeared. I was overjoyed! Then came the part of taking kitty home. She did not appreciate the car ride one bit. She spent the ride home, which took about 15 minutes for all the shouting and hissing, jumping from lap to lap, head to head, steering wheel to seat back, digging her nails in all the while. I’m not sure what it is about my family and animals on H-Day, but the year before my sister was cornered by a large dog and knocked backward into a garbage can that swallowed her right up, until little wiggling feet were all that was visible.

I’d love to hear your H-Day tale, be it very old or very new. From those who comment, I will pick someone to receive a signed copy of In English Arms. One note of warning, I am told I won’t be able to get my author copies for a couple more weeks, but I promise to send out the winner’s book just as soon as I have those copies in hand.

Happy Haunting!

~ jodi

www.JodiLynnCopeland.com

Thanks for everyone that commented on my post. Because everyone rocks so much, I’m giving everyone that commented on that thread a download of my Nocturne BITE, Mahina’s Storm.

Juliana
Denise
Tina B
Pam P
Margay
Cheryl M
Crystal GB
Jane

Please email me at vivi@vivianna.net, and I will send you the coupon code you need to download the BITE.