Tuesday Teaser: Elysium (1Night Stand), by Thea Landen

I was hooked when I read the blurb. This is one of those stories you can't put down. You'll fall into the tale and experience it right along with the characters. Thea Landen certainly knows how to capture emotion! If you don't pick up the book today, I'll be handing out more tasty little teasers to real you in.

Will April ever be ready to love another man?

Two years have passed since April Patterson’s husband was shot and killed in the line of duty, and she’s trapped in a haze of grief and uncertainty. Having grown frustrated by all other efforts to engage her in activities where she could meet new people, her cousin pays for a date via 1Night Stand. Not thrilled with the idea, April nevertheless contacts Madame Eve and requests the impossible: a date with her deceased husband.

Brilliant software engineer Drew Monroe created his company, Elysium, to help give closure to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one, through the use of virtual reality. Though passionate about his work, being constantly surrounded by heartache and death has taken a toll on his mental health. When he accepts the case of a young widow referred to him by Madame Eve, her tragic tale depresses him further, but he commits himself to programming April the romantic date she desires.

April arrives at Elysium and prepares to enter Drew’s virtual realm. Will she find the solace she seeks within? Or will she discover she doesn’t need a fantasy world to discover happiness again?

Excerpt:

We sat in silence. It was the first time a client had asked me so many personal questions. On one hand, I worried about coming across as unprofessional, but on the other, it felt good to verbalize those thoughts for a change. Putting that aside, April hadn’t come to play psychiatrist with me. I had a job to do.

“Anything else before we get started?” I pushed off the edge of the desk and straightened.

She didn’t get up. “Do you ever go into your own virtual realities?”

“Actually, I don’t.” I ran a finger along the top of one of the screens. “First of all, it needs to be monitored from the outside. I can’t do both at the same time.”

“Got it.” She nodded. “What else?”

A clammy feeling crawled over me. “Nothing.”

“You said ‘first of all.’ That means there must be a second.”

She’d paid attention, I’d give her that. I tried to backtrack. “Forget it.”

Sliding her arm off the chair, she leaned forward, ginger hair spilling over her shoulders. “I want to know what I’m getting into. Tell me.” Face upturned, she stared at me and I struggled to breathe in a normal rhythm. “Please?”

Don’t say it, don’t admit to it, she doesn’t need to know…. Talking to her eased a little of the tension that had been twisting tighter and tighter over time. I ignored the voices telling me not to make a confession, but the words spilled out faster than I’d intended.

“With all the misery and heartache I see in the world, the temptation exists to disappear into a painless fantasy.” The chill spreading through me intensified. “I’m afraid I’d lose myself and never want to come out.”

April blinked her long lashes and straightened in the chair. “That’s one of the reasons I’m anxious about going in there.”

Buy Links:

Amazon

Kobo

iTunes

GooglePlay

Barnes& Noble

AllRomance

DecadentPublishing

Publisher:

Decadent Publishing

Date Published:

March 6, 2014

Genre(s):

Erotic Romance, Sci-Fi, Contemporary

Heat Rating:

4 out of 5 Flames

Review Excerpts:

“Judging from the pile of tissues, this short book is at least a five tissue book if you're a crier; however, it's laughter, as well!” – Amazon.com review

Author Bio:

Thea Landen lives in New York with her husband and a variety of houseplants. A former educator, she strives to encourage creativity and passion in all those around her, and uses writing to help inspire. Though she reads and writes in nearly all genres, she has a special fondness for science fiction, fantasy, and adventure and anything that pushes the imagination beyond its usual limits. When she’s not writing, or thinking about writing, her hands and mind are occupied by either yarn crafts or role-playing games.

Contact Details:

Email: thea@thealanden.com

Website: www.thealanden.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thealanden

Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheaLanden

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5782229.Thea_Landen

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00948YAXW

The Black Hills Wolves

It is always truly amazing what realy goes on at author converences.

The Black Hills Wolves line  is new from Decadent Publishing. 

The concept came about during an author conference in San Antonio 

and birthed from the mind of paranormal romance author Rebecca Royce.  

If you are a fan of shifter tales, I guarantee you'll like this line
packed full of romance, intrigue, a dash of mystery and super hot heroes.

Grab a copy of Wolf's Return and you'll be howling for more.

The first of many....

WOLF'S RETURN

by Rebecca Royce

A hidden wolf pack. Lies. Intrigue. And reluctant heroes. Get to know the Black Hills…

Drew Tao left the Black Hills in disgrace, banished by his father. He has spent the last ten years a lone wolf, living on his own. Called back home, he finally gets the chance to set things right. If such a thing is possible….

Betty Holden has hated her mate every day for the last ten years for abandoning her and their pack. She’s been running things in Los Lobos, and she has no intention of letting Drew Tao slip back into her life like nothing has changed—even if she has never been able to resist him .

Can there be forgiveness? And can he protect her when another enemy arrives?

Available from:
Decadent | All Romance | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | iBooks | Kobo

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE

International Women's Day #MakeItHappen

All around the world, International Women's Day represents an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women while calling for greater equality.

Each year International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8. The first International Women's Day was held in 1911. Thousands of events occur to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women. Organisations, governments, charities, educational institutions, women's groups, corporations and the media celebrate the day.

Various organisations identify their own International Women's Day theme, specific to their local context and interests. Many charities, NGOs and Governments also adopt a relevant theme or campaign to mark the day. For example, organisations like the UN, Oxfam, Women for Women, Care International, Plan, World Association of Girl Guides & Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and more - run exciting and powerful campaigns that raise awareness and encourage donations for good causes.

From 1908, the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in Great Britain adopted the colour scheme of purple, white and green to symbolise the plight of the Suffragettes. Purple symbolised justice and dignity - two values strongly associated with women's equality. The three colours were used for banners, flags, rosettes and badges to show solidarity.

See what you can do in your own community. Check with your church and women's shelters. See if their are clubs at local schools to educate young women and sports to give them equal opportunities. 

Being a 48yr Old Sex Kitten

Today I am celebrating the second anniversary of my 24nd birthday.   So does that mean I'm old?  Over the hill?  At the end of my youth?  With life expectancy around 86... I guess I've only passed the middle.

I've discussed this "age issue" with my friends and we have agreed on several points.  The kids are growing, hubby is still sexy, secrets are safe with friends, the grass is greener, the sky is bluer, and life is great!  We ARE like fine wine. We are much smarter and don't waste time with silly people.

I feel sexier now than I did when I was 24.  I've worked on being a woman for 48 years and I'm getting better at it.  The girls are still perky and I like my curves. I'm a warrior in the battle with my hormones as I approach the infamous “change”. 

40-something is the new 20-something!  According to relationship psychologist Susan Quilliam, co-author of The Joy of Sex, "There's plenty of research that shows sex gets better for women as they get older. It's one of the best-kept secrets of women's lives." 

Keep a positive attitude and be the creature of experience. Take pleasure in each other, laugh, explore, and be sensitive to each other’s needs as well as point of exhaustion. Orgasms may become more frequent and intense, touch may feel more sensitive, and sex may become more playful and more meaningful. Enjoy it, live it, and love it.  Pull out those silk scarves, handcuffs, and all those things you were too afraid to try 10 years ago! 

Jane Polden, a psychotherapist who specializes in working with middle-aged women, says “Older women are more confident of who they are, and it's a deep-seated confidence, which means they're not scared of intimacy, and they're not scared of going all out for what they need to feel satisfied."

A woman in her 40's can be a provocative sex kitten (or a cougar - a lot of young men are excited about being with a 40+ woman. Think of the film, The Graduate, released in 1967.)  She is sure of herself and the skin she lives in.  Sex is fun, life is good... it only gets better.

In conclusion to my meanderings, I think being 40-something is hot.  Hubby thinks so too.  

Friday Fun - Meet Author Kristen Strassel

How cool would it be to share the same birthday as Steven Tyler and Diana Ross? Our guest today certainly does! I think the stars were in a musical line for her when she created her rock-n-roll stories in the Night Songs Collection and the Spotlight Series. A member of my street team loves her just because they share BonJovi as their all-time favorite band.

Give a special welcome to author Kristen Strassel!

Thanks for joining us today, Kristen. Many know you write New Adult (NA), comtemporary, and paranormal stories. Love those hot vamps and shifters! So tell us a little about your work. 

How long have you been writing? 

I’ve been writing all my life. My writing partner, Julie Hutchings, and I grew up together. I won’t say that I’m old, but there was no internet.  We used to entertain ourselves by passing a notebook back and forth, each adding a couple of paragraphs to a story.  I’d tried to write the book that became Because the Night for years. I even moved to Vegas to do it! But I didn’t know how to write a book yet. I couldn’t get past the first few chapters.

 Fast forward to the summer of 2011 when Julie told me she’d been working on her first book, Running Home. We worked together, and both books are now published.

How many books have you published?

The voices in my head talk a lot. There are four and a half books available in The Night Songs Collection: Seasons in the Sun (novella), Because the Night, Night Moves, We Own the Night, and Silent Night. Secondhand Heart is the first book in my contemporary series, The Spotlight, with The Trouble with Bree (novella) and Too Many Reasons both releasing in the first two months of 2015.  I also have a couple of shifter novellas available: Lion and the Doe and Doe and the Hunter.

Gotta love those voices, they can get pretty demanding at times or throw curves at us.  Now let's get to the dirt of things. How naughty do you get with your writing?  

 Pretty naughty! I think one reviewer recently called one of my scenes “downright dirty.” I’m not sure if she meant it as a compliment, but it made me smile. Even better, the reader never “saw” what she was referring to. While some scenes, like that particular one, do fade to black, the reader does come into the bedroom with my characters. My characters explore some very light fetish type stuff, but most of it is good old fashioned sex.

It sounds like the love and romance in your stories will appeal to a wide range of readers. Tell us about something that stands out more than others. What’s the best thing you’ve ever written—the best line? 

I still enjoy “I’d just had unprotected sex with the world’s most irresponsible vampire.” But a new favorite of mine is in Too Many Reasons, wrapping up a sex scene: Like we’d entered the eye of the storm. That beautiful, peaceful place that we could lay together in the soft breeze and watch the thunder and lightning go off all around us.

Ahhh.... sorry, I was carried away for a moment. Say, if you could have any movie star take on a role as one of your heroes, who would it be? 

I actually have no opinion about this!  I’m totally oblivious when it comes to movie stars. I know, I’m weird.  Even better: I work in the film industry.

Oops, I almost feel off my chair laughing. Don't feel bad, I can never remember names of hotties and their movies. Maybe our brains just don't catalog hotness like some do. 

What are the hardest scenes to write for you?

I struggle with the beginning of every book. I don’t know my characters yet, and I find the place that I start writing isn’t always the beginning of the story.  Once I figure out what the characters are trying to say, things flow much better. If a scene is really a struggle, I consider how much value it actually adds to the story. Everything happens for a reason, right?

I'm a firm believer of that! 

Many authors do a bit of research for character building or story lines. What is the strangest thing you’ve Googled while working on a story?

I’ve googled the color that people turn when they’ve been strangled, a lot of things about witchcraft and freakshows, premature babies, what would cause a person to die from a car accident, weaponry….whoever’s been assigned to watching over my file in the CIA is definitely entertained.

Oh, I'm sure. LOL 

One of our readers just tweeted a question for you. "How close in real life have you gotten to one of your fantasies?"  

I have to plead the fifth on SOME things. LOL I’ve lived a pretty cool life so far. I do makeup for film and television. I’ve had a chance to meet some really cool people and see some really cool things. I’ve never been shy, and I’ve always been ambitious, so if I want something, I go for it.

You go girl!!!  Whoot-whoot!

And finally… anything you would like to share with us, an excerpt, a tidbit, or anything else about yourself?

Let’s see…two things I still want to learn: how to read tarot, and roller derby.

Fun stuff:

Favorite drink:  Coffee. I’m also a fan of wheat beer.

Favorite candy: dark chocolate covered cherries.

Favorite food: Lobster. But I will brake for avocado.

Favorite article of clothing or jewelry:  I love wearing boots, and I also always wear hoop earrings.

Favorite place to read: Laying in the sun. Heaven.

Place you want to visit some day: Iceland and Morocco. 

Thank you so much author Kristen Strassel for joining us today. I have a brand spanking new box of dark chocolate covered cherries here. I say let's put our booted feet up and enjoy a little decadence. 

Please visit Kristen on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

Check out her latest books for your weekend reading.

The trouble with Bree is... 

Bree Farrell is ready to turn her life around. A twenty-one-year-old mother of two, she's not sure where to start. She could use a little help, but her string of horrible ex-boyfriends keep setting her back. First step: she's swearing off men forever. Or at least until she gets back on her feet. 

Josh Maxwell got a second chance at life, and now he wants to help kids who are in the same situation he was in. His new job as the coordinator at a preschool for underprivileged kids is the perfect place to do that. 

On paper, the school policy for staff not to get involved with the families of the students makes perfect sense. But when Bree meets the new coordinator of her son's school, she and Josh learn that some rules are made to be broken, no matter what the consequences.

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Abby Gauthier is close to getting everything she's worked so hard for. The band she manages, Sinister Riot, has been offered a major record contract. But it comes with a catch: the band must add Eli Jamison, winner of the talent show The Spotlight, to the lineup. 

Devon Sinclair is the singer of Sinister Riot, and he's Abby's best friend. She's in love with him, but fears she'll lose him if she makes the first move. Devon thinks adding Eli to the band is dangerous, and he's right. Eli's interested in more than just making an album. He wants to take control of the band, and he wants to get to know Abby better. A lot better. When tensions between Devon and Eli threaten to destroy Sinister Riot, Abby must act on her true feelings or lose everything she's ever wanted. 

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