I just got my new cover for my latest sale to Red Rose Publications and it's awesome. My friend and crit partner Merris Hawk is the genius behind this brainstorm.

Here's a little Blurb and excerpt to tease you with until my release.

Nature's Whims

Blurb

Ares had one goal, to become the most powerful of the old Gods. And now with Mother Nature missing, presumed dead, and the world in complete complete chaos, his wish was almost a reality. He never dreamed that the twenty first century could hold so much promise and power. Now was the time to act, he’d planned out ever contingency he could think of. Nothing could stop him. Nothing except her! How was he supposed to plan for something he neither saw coming nor ever expected to find. To make matters worse, he felt an attraction to her he couldn’t understand or resist, and he’d tried.


But Mother Nature was back. She’d been reincarnated into the body of a young woman with a quick wit and sharp tongue who didn’t have a clue. Now Ares had to make the most difficult decision of his immortal life. Does he help Desdemona Carpenter get both her powers and the elements under control or does he smite what could be true love and aim for the power he so desperately desires?



Excerpt : Unedited.

He walked to the opening of his tent and surveyed all that was his. Yes he missed the comforts of his home, but they held too many memories. Memories that even after months of planning and preparing still distracted him from his destiny. Yet he couldn’t deny that there was a pull, and urge to go after her that he fought with the iron will of a warrior.

Lightning flashed in a clear blue sky, and struck the only tree in the camp splitting it straight down the middle. The singed and burning wood reminded him that he had other more pressing things to worry about. For one he needed to find Gaia before she ruined all his carefully laid out plans. He needed to learn why she was working against him and where she received such power. It was time to return to Mount Olympus and speak with his family.

The earthquake hadn’t been the only disaster to hit the earth of late. Tornadoes, Tidal waves, Hurricanes and a record number of Volcanoes had become active all over the world. Always within his personal vicinity, and always killing his men just before they were ready to go to battle. He’d noted one other thing in his searches, the attacks always occurred while he was asleep and dreaming of her!

The dark circles under his eyes attested to the fact that he hadn’t been sleeping much of late. It was a good thing for him that a God needn’t much sleep. Those dreams always felt so real, so vibrant. Like Desi was there in the room with him.

Her lips would kiss him, her tongue teasingly run over his nipples, her teeth nipping him to distraction. Her hands would roam all over his ready and willing naked body beneath hers. She’d tease him to a fever pitch, her cries and moans of pleasure driving him insane with lust. Then when he’d be ready to scream in frustration she’d relinquish power to him to do with her as he pleased.

He always started the same way, he wasn’t sure why. But first he’d crush her to him and devour her mouth with a kiss of desperation, and only when he felt her desperation was as high as his, would he enter her. Thrusting deep inside of her, until he felt they’re bodies merge. Desi clinging to him with a desperation of her own whispering word of love and regret until they both climaxed together.

Ares shook himself out of the trance last night’s dream put him under. It was the first dream he’d allowed himself in weeks. Their lovemaking showed that. It had been quick and rough; like they’d both craved the others touch and couldn’t wait to come together. Once they caught their breaths, they’d come together again slowly this time, sensually.

He shook his head to dislodge the mental image; Desi was the last person he wanted to think about today. Today he needed to find Gaia! It was time to stop her from throwing her temper tantrums. He couldn’t rule the world as the supreme God if she destroyed it in her blind jealous rage.

Ares grabbed his cloak and left his tent. “Matius, I’m leaving you in charge of this group of recruits until I return. I want them ready; we put my plans into motion the moment I get back.

“Yes my God Ares.”

“No one is to enter my tent while I am away. If I sense a single presence in there I will kill the culprit with my bare hands. No matter the reason for their entrance.” To put weight behind his words with a wave of his hand Ares erected a barrier over the tent. He didn’t know how, but Desi came to him in that place and he didn’t want anyone desecrating the space in his absence.

Michael
Sons of Amber

Michael is a Dominant Son of Amber, commandant of the human fighting forces and in charge of Atlantia Station. When he hears a smuggling ring is kidnapping human women and transporting them to the jit’suku galaxy, he goes undercover with his executive officer to uncover the rats in their own kitchen. But playing the role of submissive female is something Leah, the competant XO, isn’t sure she can do. Michael proves to her she not only can, but will enjoy the Dominant games he plays so well for benefit of the smugglers they must convince.

Get your copy now from Phaze. Or click here for more information.

Bianca
Come over to the D'Arc side... www.biancadarc.com

Labels: Bianca D'Arc, sci fi

TO SUMMON A DEMON ~ Out today! *grin*

Step 1. Ensure that you’ve built your city on an island they once ruled.

Step 2. Use the Crystal that bound them to the Underworld. (It’s behind the Nine Thrones. You can’t miss it.)

Step 3. Have a traitorous second-in-command who has summoned one before. Oh and *please* ignore your need for this person. It's wrong. You know it. I know it.

Follow the above steps to have an 18 foot, rancid-breathed demon at your command.

One thing I should mention, before you go to draw out the summoning pattern…

DO NOT let the demon take the Crystal from you. Really. I mean it. That’ll get you into a whole world of trouble. Almost as bad as tangling up with your former second-in-command. Which you are not going to do... Are you?

Right, as long as that’s understood… and oh…

Happy Summoning!

TO SUMMON A DEMON releases today!

Go here for an excerpt... and there's a lovely buy button if you feel so inclined... hehe

Okay, so my story releases tomorrow, but so does Kim's and I don't want to compete with her for who gets the post on top ;)

So Mountain Rendezvous, the second in my Rendezvous series releases tomorrow. If you read book one you might be curious to see what happened to Caitlyn's sister...


Mountain Rendezvous
Available 8/21 from Loose Id

Blurb:
When Meredith killed her husband in self defense, she certainly didn’t expect to ever see him again. But if what Federal Agent Slade Jackson says is true, then Jake is alive and killing women several states away. What else can she do but help Slade catch the killer before any more women die. Including herself.

Excerpt:
“Hello, beautiful.”

A shiver raced up Meredith’s spine as someone breathed the soft words in her ear. She fought the uneasy feeling that crept into the pit of her belly and hovered there. The scent of aroused male tickled her nose, and she sniffed the air trying to figure out who stood behind her.

Spice and pine hit her first, then the more earthy scent of male. It intrigued her despite her unwillingness to feel anything again. Even without seeing him, desire flared in her belly. The emotion was not only unwanted, but a shock . She hadn’t felt this way since before she’d married Jake.

As she struggled to tamp down the sensation, Meredith plastered a neutral smile on her face. No matter how her body reacted, she couldn’t allow those emotions and feelings to rule her. It’d been a long, hard road, but traveling down it had taught her she wasn’t a good judge of men. The reminder quenched the silly girlish fluttering in her stomach.

She turned around and met a broad chest covered in black cotton. Then she looked up. Up. Up. Her admirer stood at least six and a half feet tall, if not more. Thick black waves of hair brushed against broad shoulders. Shoulders that looked as if they could carry the weight of the world on them. She needed someone to do that for her.

Meredith lowered her gaze, trying to ignore the way his black T-shirt clung to his hard abs and the way his tight jeans revealed his predicament. Holy monkey. He was huge and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight. Her knees grew weak until she finally tore her gaze away.

Who was this gorgeous male and why was he whispering in her ear? Meredith shifted her gaze to his face. Bright blue eyes darkened as they raked over her body.

Oh, man. She hadn’t dared examine him that thoroughly. Okay, maybe she had, but who was he and why did he make her feel this way? Dear God, she wanted to bite him. Her body hummed as she licked suddenly dry lips.

“Can I help you?”

Did she really sound so breathless and sexy? Stupid, Meredith. Don’t encourage him.

“I hope so,” he purred and leaned closer. “Is your boss around? I need to speak to
her.”

And I need to take you in the back room and have my wicked way with you, gorgeous. Meredith forced away those thoughts. He was an unknown, and therefore the enemy. It wouldn’t help that she was attracted to him. She looked him over again, but this time for weapons. She didn’t see anything obvious, but knew his type, and they never left home without one.

The way he held a black leather jacket draped over one shoulder drew her gaze to his firm biceps. Even though she knew it was wrong, Meredith let herself imagine what it would feel like to be held by him. Those strong arms wrapped around her, his large hands pulling her close, that delicious mouth lowering to hers. His mouth quirked into an irresistible grin as if he knew what she was thinking. That was impossible. No one could get through her shields.

http://www.loose-id.com/detail.aspx?ID=528

Michelle

and it's time to get ready for school. I'll miss sleeping in late, but I'll enjoy having only one child home and the other three in school. Momma needs a break!

I have been writing as much as I can this summer. I had a rejection or two that hit me kind of hard. Hell ANY rejection hurts, even if it's just 'This isn't right for us.' or like my friend got 'You are a talented writer.' yada yada rejection means they pass for now, not rejection. I tell myself and tell myself and tell myself. But you know, it still sucks. They didn't want it. For whatever reason, you did not make it. There is one publisher that rejects every single thing I send to them. I have no hope of ever selling to them. But at this point I figure I might as well make them suffer through reading my 'crap'. LOL

The good news is that I was selected in the Vampire Oracle contest from Cobblestone Press. My entry for The Moon was chosen, and I have a temporary cover, but am not allowed to share it. The fabulous artist isn't quite finished and I'll respect her wishes even though I'm dying to post it. I've also sold more to Loose and Aspen this summer. Kate's Muse is coming out whenever...I had to resend the contract as my mail man must have eaten it. And The Bodyguard: Nash...I had to resend the contract as they had a new one for us to use and I had an older version. (I liked the newer one better-hehehe) I also sold Irish Dreams, a story I finished in Feb and was sitting on. I also sent in two proposals that were accepted but not contract yet. Sooo my summer looks like this: Rejections: 1 Sales: 5 and I currently only have one submission out there. I need to finish up some of these contracted things and get my patootie moving! I need more subs out there.

Thank you Kim, for that addiction!

Michelle

This week has been a mixture of science fiction and science fact for me. On the one hand, I'm gearing up for the release of my next sci fi romance novella, Sons of Amber: Michael. On the other, I've been watching the live feeds from NASA TV of the current space shuttle mission pretty much non-stop. I love watching what's going on up there live, from the comfort of my computer. How cool!

A lot of the action in my newest installment in the Sons of Amber series takes place on space stations and shuttle vehicles, not precisely like the ones we're engineering now, but probably a lot like the ones in our future. I love the idea that I'm seeing the beginnings of space exploration in my lifetime. Can you just imagine what future generations will see and do? Perhaps they'll be living in space or traveling to distant planets, galaxies and beyond. It fires the imagination!

But in the meantime, here on Earth, I do want to get out a little bad news about my blog presence: Blogger saw fit to eat my original blog for no apparent reason, so I've had to rebuild from scratch. If anyone is linking to me now, please make sure you've got the new address: http://biancadarc.com/blog/

If you want to be added to my new blogroll and are willing to add me to yours, please send me an email at BIANCADARC AT GMAIL.COM with your link and I'll add you. This is a real pain and I know a lot of folks can't find my blog, so I've been running a contest on the new blog. I don't have a lot of entries right now, so if you enter, you have a good chance! Check it out here and good luck!

Labels: Bianca D'Arc, contests, sci fi, space

The Perfect Hero By Aline de Chevigny
Available Now from Red Rose Publications: http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?products_id=39



Blurb

Experiencing the worst case of writer’s block she’d ever faced, Cassandra Daniels feared she’d never finish her novel by deadline. In walked Nicolas Henry making her hopes rise. Will he be the answer to her Hero problems?

Or the end of her career and hope that true love actually exists.

Excerpts # 1

“So how shall we start this? Seeing how prepared you’ve been in the past, I’ll bet you have a list of questions ready for me.”
A list, damn, why hadn’t she thought of that? Looking up into Nicolas’s sea green eyes she knew the answer. He’d distracted her into forgetting and the only way that could happen would be if she were attracted to this man. With him in her life and preferably her bed, she could write the most amazing and highly erotic stories. Seeing the grin spreading across his face, Cassandra settled herself comfortably onto the nearest seat to gather her thoughts. “Let’s start with a series of questions.”
Nicolas sat across from her and leaned back in the chair. “What’s your first question? For you, I hold nothing back.”
Taking a deep breath, she opened her notebook and pulled out her pen. She hoped he didn’t notice she was winging it,. “Question one, if you saw a woman and were instantly attracted to her, what would you do to meet her? How far would you go?”
Nicolas grinned wolfishly, making her heart race in suspicion and desire. “I’d start by seeing if I knew anyone who knew her. If I did then I’d ask them to help me meet her. If they refused, I’d blackmail them into helping me.”
“If you didn’t know anyone?” She chose to ignore everything but his answers, it was safer while they were alone together. She couldn’t do anything she might regret later this way. Cassie knew she could process the information she gathered later tonight when she was safely at home.
“If I didn’t know anyone, then I’d create a situation to bring us together. No woman can resist me for long, my beautiful Cassandra.”
“Create how?” Cassie leaned forward so she wouldn’t miss a single word.
“For example, I could offer to help her with her research.”
Her pen slipped out of nerveless fingers at the direct hint. It stunned her that anyone could be so arrogant. She watched as Nicolas leaned forward to pick up the pen and hand it back to her. His lips close enough to kiss. With a quick shake of her head she leaned back to continue her questioning. “Question two, once you had said woman’s attention what would you do next?”
Nicolas eyed her thoughtfully for a few minutes before answering. “I’d get her alone and slowly charm my way into her every thought.”
Oh my! Fanning herself with her notebook Cassandra reminder herself to breathe. The man’s voice may be as soft as silk and caressed her every time he spoke, but he was research, nothing more. “Let’s say for… research purposes, that you’ve succeeded. How do you know you’ve reached your goal and what would you do next?”
Nicolas got up in one fluid movement and crossed to sit on the arm of her love seat, narrowing the distance between them until she was ready to either bolt or jump him. He ran his fingers seductively down the side of her face and leaned in close. “I’d tell her how beautiful she is and how much I’d like to get to know her better.”
Cassie started frantically writing, nervously in her notebook to distract herself from his nearness. “You never said how you’d know she was ready to hear that information?”
Nicolas chuckled and moved to sit beside her on the love seat. Cassandra couldn’t quite catch her breath with him sitting so close. She couldn’t decide if he was too close or not quite close enough.

I think the rain is making mush out of my brain as I've been happily been watching this for 20 minutes:



My other half saw it this afternoon and now I want to go and see it too. Just watching it revolve is relaxing *sigh*

I'm a third of way through the school holidays, counting down the 4/5th September when the monsters go back to Nursey and School, LOL It might mean I get back on track with eveything, including my wips, which are, very oddly, breeding like rabbits.

One wip has been bugging me for a couple of weeks. LOST GODS is an sf romance (yes, I know I should be writing a contemporary right now, but sf and urban fantasy ~ with a good dollop of romance, has me by the scruff of the neck). I couldn't work out why it was so flat. I sorted out my motivation, gave my characters histories, but they were still flat. I couldn't work it out. They were about to die( they still are, actually hehe). You can't get a more motivating idea than trying not to die... and then I realised what it was.

My conflict was external. I'd lost the conflict between the characters; why they really cannot get on. They were happily working together to survive. Bad. Bad. Bad. So I'm looking forward to writing general sniping into the scene *grin*

The other wip, which jumped out of the ether because of the appalling Spike-ness of vampires when they're British (really, don't get me started... LOL), is THE RESURRECTIONISTS As yet I only have a general mish-mash of history, main characters and a prologue. But it looks like it's going to be fun *grin*

I'm also starting the count down to the release of TO SUMMON A DEMON

13 days and falling...

Labels: Kim Knox / Kim Rees

Today Celtic Love Knots Vol. 3 is released!!!
It's available at www.whiskeycreekpresstorrid.com (e-book)

My story, Through a Magic Mist is featured. It's a time travel to Ireland where Druids, Gods and Goddesses were a part of everyday life.
I hope you enjoy and don't forget to pick up your copy.

Here's an excerpt of Through a Magic Mist:
Damn, she needed a man.
Kelly Farrell needed sex. Desperately. Virginity, ha! Who needs it? She wanted a real man in her life. Not the selfish assholes she found herself entangled with repeatedly.
Last night the Goddess Danu had appeared in her dreams and promised tonight her sex problems would be solved if she performed a specific ritual.
In her garden, she gathered the herbs needed for the spell: three sprigs of rosemary and catnip. With precise steps, she trod the small stone labyrinth thrice. Then crushed the herbs while chanting—“Bring to me, my eternal love. Bless this request, goddess of love.”
Kelly wanted to give her virginity to her soulmate, but after all this time this, he’d better be a fantastic fuck. By the Goddess, she was tired of waiting, damn it! Her spells never worked before, which is why she contacted the Goddess for help. Her lips puckered in annoyance. In the past few days, she doubted her druidic training was the path for her life. Truth be told, it had been difficult to think past the driving, intense horniness that held her in its grasp.
A light breeze stirred, releasing the scent of gardenias. The Goddess! She remembered the same fragrance from last night. As she turned around, not two feet from her, a sparkling cloud appeared and illuminated the twilight bringing the essence of magic. A ghostly figure appeared and stepped from the vapor. He beckoned to her from the silvery cloud.
“Come with me.”
She blinked and his form solidified. The sensual energy he emitted made her gasp from the strength of its power. Her body tingled and warmed.
What the hell is going on? The man is a Sex God. Why is he wearing the amulet and tattoo of a high Druid? She could only stare since her brain refused to function.Oh. My. Goddess. Here stood the perfect man, tall and muscular with the abs of an athlete. She wanted to run her hands over every delicious inch of him. Long dark hair framed a sculpted jaw. His lips were sensually full while his eyes were the color of whiskey.
copyright 2007/Tambra Kendall

Take care and I'll see you next month!
Tambra