Sunday, April 21, 2013

Friday, March 22, 2013

Krystal Shannan Features - Kim Carmichael



The Thin Line Between Good and Evil

At my very core I am a romance author.  Everything else aside, at the end of the day I believe in heroes to die for, heroines that give them a run for their money and a happily ever after.

Then The Promise crept into my mind.  I was taken with the idea of writing a hero who at his essence was evil personified – a demon.  How on Earth did one take an incubus and make him redeemable?  How could I make my readers cheer for him at the end? 

I started thinking about how so many things in life toggle that fine line between good and evil.  One person's favor is another person's burden.  Take The Wizard of Oz, in that story the Wicked Witch is exactly that, irredeemable, terrible to the core.  Flip the camera 180 degrees and you get the musical Wicked where the Wicked Witch (Elphaba) is anything but wicked, and in fact it was everyone else around her who was truly evil.

Many times, the villain is nothing more than the hero in his own story.  All you need do is look at things from another set of eyes.

So for my demon, I gave him something he never encountered as an incubus…a child.  Not just any child, but a crying child who just lost a parent.  I let him get to know her throughout her life. I let him experience the trials and tribulations of being human. In his world humans were nothing but useless mortal creatures to be used, but I let him encounter someone who used him right back.  I gave him a human who didn't know enough to be scared of him.  In fact, while my heroine couldn't even love herself, she learned to love him.

Hero to die for?  I am quite in love with Dolan, my torn up and miserable demon.

Heroine that gave him a run for his money?  Leora confounded him from the day he walked in on her.

Happily ever after?  Hey, at the end of the day I write romance.  

Kim Carmichael's newest release is The Promise:

Demon Dolan Ciar exists on three simple words: desire, denial, and destruction. Every four years, he is allowed one night of earthly passion to punish a deserving female. By the time he is finished, his victims are left as willing receptacles for demons yet to come.
Since she was four, a demon has been the only constant in Leora Desmond's life. He taught her how to seize control, to never give up, and to take whatever she wanted. At twenty-four, her self-centered existence is focused on one thing. She wants Dolan, and she won't be dissuaded.
A mistake brought Dolan to Leora. A promise bound him to her. Returning once again to ask for his freedom, he is faced with Leora demanding to be his next conquest. The ultimate retribution would be to take from her the ultimate symbol of her selfishness.
Now, Dolan must decide if he can doom her to life in living hell or face his own set of unearthly consequences, while Leora must choose between her pleasure and her heart.
The Promise blurs the line between good and evil, desire and love, and promises and commitment.
He tilted his head. "You look older."
She forced herself to blink and to remember her goal. "Then I assume I am at last old enough to be a fit for a demon." She stepped forward, stopping less than a foot away from him. The back of her throat dried out, and she swallowed.
He put his hand to his chin, his gaze taking her in. "This old song and dance. When will you use the brains you have and leave it alone?"
His words hit her, but rather than retreating, she moved closer. The energy, the tingle, the wafts of spice encompassed her and lured her toward him. "Never."
"You were smart last time. Why don't you release me so I can do what I came here for." He glanced down at her and then shifted his focus beyond her. "I have needs as well."
"Tonight I am the one you came here for." The mention of his last visit stung, but she willed herself to keep going. She ran her fingers up the buttons of his shirt. "You always told me to take control."
He shook his head. "A lesson you learned well."
She reached up and clenched his collar in her fist. "I let you go last time, but tonight I am the one you need."
He grabbed her wrist. "I spared you before. Never forget that."
She stared right into his eyes. No weakness was allowed tonight. "It's me, Dolan. Me, or you can be celibate until the decade I do you the favor of dying. I don't care about your pain." She tensed, preparing herself for his retaliation.
"I thought I taught you better than to make demands of a demon." He pressed his palm to the side of her face.
Heat radiated through her body, sending a warning to every one of her nerve endings. "A demon who comforts a child is a failure of a demon in my book."
His jaw tightened. "That was a mistake. An oversight."


Kim will be awarding 3 Promise Swag Packs that include a promise button and Trading Card. Be sure to leave a comment and your email!






Thursday, March 21, 2013

Krystal Shannan Features - Red and the Wolf by Laura Lee Nutt #pnr


Red and the Wolf
Laura Lee Nutt

They said Little Red Riding Hood lived happily ever after. They lied.

Six years after the attack at her grandmother’s cottage, Blanchette still wilts at the sound of a wolf’s howl. The scent of pine rising from the Black Forest surrounding her home is a constant reminder of the beast’s assault and the injury it left on her finger. After years spent hiding away, Blanchette’s world tilts when she wakes--naked and without memory of the previous night--in the forest, instead of behind the safety of her closed shutters.
Since rescuing Blanchette and her grandmother, huntsman Heinrich has befriended her family by day, and keeps watch as a powerful wolf over his territory by night. Sinister otherworldly creatures constantly threaten his domain and the human village he protects.

When the emperor sends a hunter to investigate the attack and slay any inhuman beings, Heinrich must tread carefully and protect not only himself, but his newly-discovered mate, who prowls the moonlit nights alongside him. He must also determine who is responsible for a string of murdered villagers, proving he can control his lupine nature and offer protection to the village, rather than danger.

CONTENT WARNING: Vengeful fae, dark magic, vicious murder, moral quandaries, explicit sex, and tragic honor.
A Lyrical Press Fantasy Romance | Lyrical Press Once Upon
Series – Embracing Ever After

Excerpt:
Herr Kaismann’s soul-scouring gaze left Blanchette certain the man had memorized her every detail. He showed no regard for Herr Jaeger’s unconcealed aggression, yet an odd compassion in his gaze made her unsure whether or not he would inspire nightmares. Usually in her terrorizing dreams, strangers joined the wolf along the shaded woodland path where the flowers dripped fat drops of blood when she plucked them.
Breaking his stare and shifting his attention to Herr Jaeger, Herr Kaismann said, “I thought the girl was blond.”
“What?” Herr Jaeger asked, incredulous. “What does the color of Blanchette’s hair or your being some--” Herr Jaeger bit off whatever he had originally intended to say and glanced at her as if remembering she still clung to him. “What does any of this have to do with Fraulein Blanchette?”
Herr Kaismann folded his hands neatly before him. “The tales say Little Red Riding Hood was blond, and from everything I have seen, your Blanchette is the true Little Red Riding Hood.”
Herr Jaeger glanced at her, scowled, gray eyes igniting with the comforting protective anger of a man defending his woman. He shifted and turned on Herr Kaismann. “You speak of nothing more than a child’s tale. Do not harass our young women in its name.”
Only, it was true, at least in part. How had the man found her out of all the girls in the Holy Roman Empire? In the world? How had he realized she was the girl to whom the tales referred?
A thin smile turned Herr Kaismann’s lips. He stepped forward so less than a pace remained between the two men. “The emperor and I find the prospect of such simple stories being pure fancy rather…unbelievable. At the heart of every fable or children’s tale lies a grain of truth. In discovering it, we reveal the real danger. We cannot have man-eating wolves running loose, now can we?”


Red and the Wolf buy links:



I’d like to invite you and your readers to participate in the giveaway I’m hosting this month to celebrate the release of Red and the Wolf. On Monday, April 1, I’ll announce the winners on my website—no tricks for April Fools Day, I promise. You will have from 12:00 AM on Monday, March 11, central time, to 11:59 PM on Sunday, March 31, central time, to gain points. Each point counts as an additional time you will be entered in the drawing for a number of prizes such as a beautiful, illustrated edition of Andersen and Grimms’ fairy tales and Little Red Riding Hood’s basket complete with an assortment of goodies to brighten anyone’s day, even a grandmother’s whose house has just been burgled by a werewolf. For more details and how to earn points, visit my website. To earn your first point, comment on today’s post.

What do you imagine Little Red Riding Hood carried in her basket to her grandmother's house?



About the Author:
In elementary school, Laura Lee Nutt checked out every fairy tale in the library so often, if she picked something else, it was cause for curiosity. Even into adulthood, she nurtured her imagination with stories of fairies, true love, monsters, especially werewolves, and the fantastic, but she wondered what happened after “happily ever after.”

This curiosity and catching an illness one chill winter day brought her before a blank computer screen, desperately desiring to write something new. Heinrich, Blanchette, and Karl swiftly spun the tale you just read. Laura feverishly typed, barely fast enough to keep up.

Once Red and the Wolf was born, other stories coalesced in Laura’s mind, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, all asking the same questions: What might happen if the end of these tales wasn’t really the end? What were these characters’ lives really like after the harrowing events of the fairy tale? What if achieving true love and happiness required something extra? Thus came the idea for this series, Embracing Ever After, where achieving true love requires something special and happily ever after isn’t really the end.

Contact links:


Saturday, March 16, 2013

I'm Moving! Please come with me!


My fabulous subscribers! I'm MOVING!

My blog will slowly be moving to a new address, built into my author website.

If you are looking for my Sneak Peek Sunday snippet with Darren and Eshe, please follow the link below and subscribe to the new blog feed.

This blog will continue to be active through March with tour stops. On April 1st all blog posts will move to the new address.

Follow me here!!!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

@KrystalShannan Features - Ashlynne Laynne



The Progeny (The Progeny Series #1)
           
“No fate other than the one I choose.”

The timeless creed, and tattoo, bore by the Rousseaus— a vampire clan with the purest bloodline of any vampire family. Out of this clandestine group came one who was different, yet the same: Ascher-a half-bloodling— half- human, half vampire.

Ascher questions the purpose for his existence and which world he truly belongs to: the human world or the vampire world. Two months from sealing to Ursula— a prearranged union to a woman he abhors — he’s at his wit’s end. He knows if he calls off the sealing, the Romanian clan will strike with deadly force, but he cannot see eternity with a cold empty shell of a woman like Ursula.

Just when he thought life was complicated enough, he meets Shauna— a beautiful, bi-racial human Wiccan — and immediately develops an unshakable attraction to her. She makes him feel alive and vital despite his origins and Ascher makes a decision that turns his immortal world upside down.

Blood Bonds (The Progeny Series #2)

“Forever. For always. For eternity.”

The ties that bind two hearts are powerful. For Ascher Rousseau and Shauna McCutchin, it’s more than just a blood bond. Their union is that of vampire legend. Their love is a predestined prophecy foretold centuries ago.

It’s a week before Ascher and Shauna's sealing and the couple is making final preparations for their eternity, but Ascher's ex has other plans. Ursula is hell-bent on revenge—revenge fueled by lover's scorn and her father's death—and she begins breeding a fresh army of newborn darklings to do her bidding.

When Ursula finds a new weapon—an ally with the capability to dismantle the Rousseau clan— Ascher and Shauna's bond is tested and they must stand together against Ursula or lose each other for eternity.

Blood Promise (The Progeny Series #3)

“Their love is fated by an ancient prophecy. Now the promise is fulfilled.”

Ascher Rousseau is a half-human, half vampire whose life has been a series of prophecies and predictions. After finding incredible love and passion with Shauna—a Wiccan with powers beyond anything he’s ever known—he seals to her and hopes for happiness. But his enemies seek to destroy all that he loves, and he finds that happiness never lasts for long.

Darkness is descending and a vampiric revolution is nearing. A new brood of hatchlings is born to join their darkling brothers, in preparation for war. A preordained chain of events is set into motion that could lead to the rise of the demonic “cloaked one” and his half-human fallen children, while ending humanity—as we know it.

Can a supernatural love and the loyal bond of a family save the Rousseaus and the world from certain extinction?

About The Progeny Series
At its core, The Progeny is simply a story about a man and woman who fall in love, and the fact that he’s a half-blood (half-human, half vampire) and she’s a Wiccan human are secondary factors. When we meet Ascher, he’s grumpy. Frankly, who could blame him? He’s engaged to seal to Ursula—a cold and careless vampire who wants nothing more than to get her hands on a bloodstone— and he feels conflicted about his existence.

All of that changes when he meets Shawnette McCutchin. She’s beautiful, intriguing and possesses some of the most potent blood that he’s ever smelled. A war immediately begins inside Ascher. He craves Shauna’s blood just as much as he craves her body and the closer they get, the harder it is for him to control his urges. After Ascher calls off the sealing to Ursula, the trouble begins. His family’s peaceful period ends when Ursula’s army attacks the Rousseaus.

This series encompasses a family dynamic of which we’ve never seen. The Rousseaus share a common mortal and immortal bloodline, but loyalty is the thread binding this clan. Shauna and Ascher’s dissuaded love only strengthens the family bonds. Their unique union transcends bloodlines and completes the prophecy, defying the archaic beliefs of centuries old covenants while shattering the wall between the Wiccan and vampire worlds that has existed for ages. This series is erotic paranormal romance intended for adults, as it contains adult sensuality, language and themes.

Sniplet from Blood Promise...
The distant sound of running water came from the master of the two-bedroom penthouse suite. Glancing out the arched floor to ceiling windows, she marveled at how even this late at night, there was a sea of people crowding the streets. Distracted and completely absorbed in the view, she never even heard Ascher return and startled when his arms banded around her neck.
His hands smoothed down her sides. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Enclosing her within the protective confines of his circled arms, his hands splayed across her stomach, bonding them.
As if by instinct, her body obeyed its rhythmic demands, moving fluidly with his. He knew her body—every curve, mark and hollow—and she felt each hard inch of him, even through the boundary of his silky pajama pants. The swaying of their bodies was achingly familiar, the movements mirroring the motions of their lovemaking.
Grasping her hand with his, he led her into the double doors and sweeping archway of the spacious bedroom. More candlelight and flowers accented the decorative cream and white color scheme. The room possessed a surreal sexuality that heightened her awareness of his mood, thus quickening her pulse. She took an exaggerated breath as her lungs struggled to keep pace with her pounding heart.
Four days of worry and mental distance had all but leached the lust from her body, leaving their brutally hot sex life in ruins. The seductive lighting and sight of him gloriously half-dressed coupled with two glasses of Rousseau Red now fueled her hormones, further driving her wild desire for him.
Ascher disappeared behind a huge beige column separating the bedroom from a massive, candle-lined Jacuzzi-style spa tub. The sound of flowing water ended, and he returned nude.




The Progeny Series is available for purchase worldwide at Amazon US  Amazon UK   BN  Amazon Spain  Amazon France  Amazon Austria  Amazon Italy  Amazon Germany      Smashwords






Wednesday, March 13, 2013

@KrystalShannan Features - Nancy Adams - Excerpt Tour


The Bannockburn Spell
by Nancy Adams

~~~~~~~~~~~~~




With the help of a bet, an eight-hundred-year-old marriage contract, and a spell, ex-SBS soldier Will might just have enough in his arsenal to capture Meghan’s heart.

Since arriving in Little Glen, Scotland, Meghan Kennedy’s life has got decidedly more interesting. She enters into a bet with hunky ex-SBS soldier, William MacKenzie, discovers an ancient marriage contract and to top it all off, she learns that she had a spell cast on her…eight hundred years before she was even born. None of it matters, because she refuses to make the same mistake twice. Will’s hard body and sexy grin don’t matter, his beautiful hypnotic eyes don’t matter, and it doesn’t matter that every time they kiss her body calls out for his, as though denied of his touch for hundreds of years.

Ex-SBS soldier William MacKenzie is disciplined, trained to be an efficient soldier and he takes the same approach with his life as he does his business. Then Meghan arrives, with her fiery temper and hair to match, all he can think about is Meghan. Her feisty temper bemuses him, her beauty astounds him and her stubbornness annoys the hell out of him. Lucky for him, he doesn’t know how to quit, he can be just as stubborn and occasionally ruthless, and he will use any means necessary to get her. Of course the ‘means’ at his disposal just happen to be a bet, a marriage contract and an ancient spell, but if in the end Meghan belongs to him, who is he to argue?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Funny, I’m not scared by either one of you. Thanks for the water, Will.” She gave him a wink, then turned.
            Will watched as she started to walk away, he couldn’t hold it back any longer and threw his head back and laughed. It wasn’t the answer he had been expecting. He wanted her to blush as she had yesterday in the airport. Nevertheless, this feisty side was more to his liking, and that wink. She was playful too. Very, very nice.
            “Meghan!” he called out before he could stop himself. She turned to face him, just as she had taken another swallow from her bottle. He almost groaned out loud as he watched her lick the water from her lips.
            “Yes?”
            “How about letting me try to rattle you tonight over drinks?”
            He thought he saw doubt cross her face but she raised her chin, just a little, then nodded. “Okay. Duncan and I will meet you at The Black Ale. Around seven?”
            Trying to turn him off by dragging Duncan along wouldn’t work, he happened to enjoy Duncan’s company, so the joke would be on her.
            “Great, I’ll see you both then.” He grinned back at her. She gave him a confused smile, shook her head, then continued with her run.
            Will stood rooted to the spot watching her. The sway of her hips held his attention until she was out of sight. He knew now how she must have come to have such a nice backside—running up hills would do it. He was surprised that she’d tackled his road first.
            Before turning back to the house, he glanced at the old keep. A thick grey mist hovered along the bottom of the great wall, giving the impression the ruins were floating on a cloud.
            The old castle had been in his family for over a thousand years, and they still owned it today, though now it was a pile of stones. Tourists would come every once in a while to see it but would leave shortly after, as it didn’t offer much in the way of grandeur. There were other castles in Scotland that offered more, which was fine with him. He couldn’t care less if the tourists came or not. He liked it just the way it was and had always felt drawn to the old keep and would usually end each of his runs up there. Meghan must’ve felt that same pull. Why else would she try his hill on her first day here?
            A memory he never knew he had flashed before his eyes. A woman with long red hair and a long green gown was waving to him from the top of the great wall of the keep. A sudden fear pulled at his chest as he waved back, a fear that he would never see her beautiful face again.
            Will blinked and the memory was gone. He walked back towards the house with Lucy at his side and stopped to look back up at the wall. Even though he couldn’t see the redhead’s face clearly, he knew with his entire being that it was Meghan standing on that wall waving to him.



Buy Links


Nancy will be awarding a $20 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a $20 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn host. Be sure to leave a comment and your email to enter to win!!!



AUTHOR Bio and Links:

I am a full-blooded Canadian, right down to the maple syrup running through my veins. I enjoy watching hockey, but despise skating...and the cold.  I enjoy a good helping of Tourtiere with a side of Poutine as must as the next person, yet I am only bilingual when it comes to swear words.  I am proud to say I survived my token shot of Newfie Screech, although I did refuse to kiss the Cod - that is never going to happen - and I openly admit, that I fell in love with the Rocky Mountains the first time I saw them.

I have many occupations written down in my passport, mom, wife, author...zookeeper!  However, I have to say that writing is by far the easiest part of my day.

I have three small -but legal- addictions: bed lines, lavender, and books.  All of which, are replenished on a regular basis.  Reading into the wee hours of the morning, is one of many bad habits, next to spontaneously rearranging furniture and randomly painting rooms in my house.

Author Links