Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Incandescently by Sylvie Parizeau

Title: Incandescently
Author: Sylvie Parizeau
Series: Incandescent #1
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date: October 22, 2016

Summary:
LIAM O’SHEA, bestseller author of the SciFi saga, Eiloe.

All I knew was pain – a childhood filled with cruelty and villains who used and abused.

Until Éolie.

I first heard her sweet, angelical voice in the dark of night, when I lay bathed in my own impending death. Seventeen years later, it’s not the nightmare she pulled me out of that haunts me, but the glimpse of Happily Ever After she revealed just before disappearing.

They said she was a figment of my boundless imagination. A wish. A dream. Until I had no choice but to believe them, cherishing my imaginary savior the only way I knew how – in fiction and lore.

But fantasy has a way of transforming reality. When I finally tire of being a citizen of the world, I take an impromptu sabbatical as a professor at a small college on the coast of Maine. And there I see her, the girl with the sea-green eyes and angelic voice.

My world turns upside down. Turns out my girl is for real, and the pull between us is anything but imaginary.

Happily Ever After has a story … and this one is mine.

1. What is the biggest influence/interest that brought you to this genre?
As a paralegal by day, I delve too many times to count into the gray side of humanity. Civil litigations, while they run their course, have the uncanny ability to bring the worst out of anyone, no matter which side of opposing parties. And reading, or writing, heartwarming love stories consistently colors my way back to Life’s brilliant hues at the end of the day.

2. When writing a book, what is your favorite part of the creative process (outline, plot, character names, editing, etc)?
I would have to say as far as the creative process is concerned, “mind” plotting. I’m always plotting scenes in my head, seeing them unfolding in my mind in some sort of Technicolor movie. The quintessential daydreamer as most of these scenes will never make it into the book as more often than not it’s just my characters let loose, having fun outside the storyline. But as far as my favorite part of the whole process is concerned, what I really, really, really enjoy doing is ... Revisions. I know, I know. I get weird reactions (and many heartfelt groans) from fellow authors when I mention I’m blissfully happy while doing edits and revisions. But I love the finishing touches and the added layers of depth it brings to the story, buffing it to a shine.

3. When reading a book, what genre do you find most interesting/intriguing?
In case you’re left wondering by now ;), my absolute favorite genre is romance. Anything romance. I have so many authors past and present inspiring me to read, and read some more. A quick peek at Mes Coups de Coeur tab will certify it (or certify me, =) whichever comes first),

I am in awe, really, of this exuberant creativity where, depending on my mood; I get to fall in love all over again. Be it to a cute guy next door, a growly werewolf or a brilliant CEO, a sexy alien from another galaxy, a roguish Scottish laird or a most noble knight, a fierce dragon lord or a fairytale prince.

It’s of no matter. I love romance, period.

And romance authors across the universe fill me, as a reader, with gratitude as their words melded into stories ignite beautiful dreams, beautiful emotions, and a beautiful world. Ours for the taking.

And if one of my stories can touch one of you in the same way, you will have made my year. Seriously.

4. If you could co-author with any author, past or present, who would you choose?
That’s a tough one. I can think of 78 out of the top of my head right now, but one? Oh cruel, cruel one.

I will go with Kathleen E. Woodiwiss who is solely responsible for getting me hooked solid on romance at the tender age of fifteen.

5. Have you always wanted to write or did it come to you "later in life"?
That’s an interesting question.

Truth? For as long as I can remember, I have always been a bookworm. The shy one, the quiet one. I have older siblings and by the time I came around, I fortuitously had access to an extensive library already. Books fascinated me from then on, and even though I couldn’t read any of them yet, I used to get lost in stories I made up just from the images for hours on end. But the stories only lived in my head, again, the quintessential daydreamer. So, daydreamer/bookworm and all, I never really thought I’d be bitten by the writing bug. But it’s a pretty tenacious little bug that one, and once infected by it, it wouldn’t let go of me. It’s an incurable addiction. So here I am, “later in life”, typing away at my laptop, getting it all out there.

Keep on believing in Happily Ever After. I’m right there with you.

Season greetings from my winter wonderland, and happy reading holidays everyone!
Sylvie xo

Author Bio:
A paralegal by day and incurable romantic by night, Sylvie is a cross-genre, and she takes Happily Ever After very seriously. The End just isn’t in her vocabulary.

An incorrigible daydreamer, she now feeds her obsession with epilogues by concocting stories in which heroes deal with the happy from the get-go. Ready, or not. And she confesses under oath to loving every minute of it.

Sylvie lives her own Happily Ever After in the beautiful mountains of Les Laurentides in Northern Quebec, alongside her whole set of characters.

In between treks in their backyard wilderness, you can find them hanging out at website.


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Infamous by Lori Sizemore

Title: Infamous
Author: Lori Sizemore
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 14, 2016
Summary:
Justine Montgomery, daughter of a divorced beauty queen and TV magnate, is a tabloid disaster after her infamous sex tape. She’s so desperate to help save her family’s home she turns to her deal-making dad. Can she prove to him she’s cut out for a career in television or will she lose it all?

Sawyer has his own past and a successful career is his only goal. Seeing Justine fail would mean the promotion of a lifetime, but things get complicated when he develops feelings for her. Suddenly, the lines between work, life, sex, and love are blurry.

They will have to overcome the bitterness of a rejected ex, the controlling actions of her father, and the half-truths they’re telling one another to forge a lasting partnership both on the job and off the clock.



Justine put her fists on the bed and dipped her head until they were cheek to cheek. Turning to face him, she let her lips skim across the stubble on his cheek. A short sound escaped him at the touch. So like a growl, it inflamed her. She’d wanted to experience all of him, to touch and taste, a savage need to possess him took over. To take his mouth, to take him inside of her, until she drove all thought from him, the way he’d done to her. His scent flooded her senses, leaving her breathless, as she sought his kiss.

He pulled back to look at her, his eyes as unreadable as ever. He lifted his hand to her cheek and stroked her bottom lip with his thumb. “What is it?” she asked, her breath still coming in uneven bursts.

“I don’t want to give you the wrong idea.” His hand dropped and he eased himself from the mattress.

“About?”

He crossed behind her, to the door, and she twisted on the bed to look at him. Her robe gaped open with the movement, and she yanked it together with a hand, exposed now.

But he wouldn’t meet her gaze, wouldn’t look at her at all, so it didn’t much matter. He looked at the TV, the window, the floor. Everywhere but at her. “About us.” Finally, he let his gaze rest on her.

Justine flinched slightly, and she hoped he hadn’t noticed. She forced herself to maintain eye contact. “You should go now.”

Sawyer spoke her name, his voice soft and full of pity. For her.

“Don’t. Don’t say it like that. Pathetic Justine, so unwise when she chooses a lover.” Justine climbed off the bed and walked the ten steps across the room to stand in front of him. “You know, I never thought I’d meet anyone more emotionally broken than me.”

“I’m trying to do the right thing here, which is a pretty novel experience for me, so…give me a break.”

Justine whirled away, grabbed his jacket off the chair where he’d dropped it earlier, and threw it at his head. “Get. Out.”

Sawyer caught the jacket before it slapped him upside the head, which disappointed her. He opened the door and then wrenched back around to look at her. “This is twice I haven’t taken advantage of you when you threw yourself at me. Next time, I’m using you for sex. You couldn’t possibly be more pissed by that.”

“There won’t be a next time!”

The door slammed behind him, and she jumped, staring at it for the longest time. She couldn’t get back in that bed, not now. She’d been so foolish, attributing feelings to him he didn’t have, to rationalize her own desires were getting the best of her.


Tell the readers a little about you.
I’m a former social worker. I worked in mental health for ten years and have a B.S. in social and behavioural science, which I think helps me be a better writer. I’ve been married for 20 years and have three daughters.

What genre you mostly write in and why?
I mainly write contemporary romance with a healthy dose of rom-com. I can identify so much more with the struggles people face today than those of any other time period and I feel like I can tell really crunchy, interesting stories in this genre.

What inspired you to write your first book?
Infamous is my first book. I wanted to write about someone who seemed so unreal and out of touch with reality and show that she’s just a normal person, like everyone else. Her daily struggles came to me as I tried to compare her to what my life or a friend’s life would be like thrust into a situation that made our own painful secrets public fodder.

When did you first, without hesitation, call yourself a writer?
When I started writing every day, on a schedule. There’s this saying that gets thrown around a lot: writer’s write. You can call yourself one and not be one if you never put down words. Conversely, you can be scared to own the title, but if you write every day—you’re a writer. I was proud of my dedication and productivity so I decided I’d earned the title “writer.”

How much of your books are realistic?
While this first book (that’s part of a coming trilogy) is set in a New York television studio with celebrities, I’d still call it a realistic look at life. There are problems, some that all of us face, like paying bills, and others that are more in-character (like how everyone has seen the main character naked and how difficult it is to go to the drug store knowing that). But it’s a real look at life.

What book are you reading now?
I just finished Hold Me by Courtney Milan. I felt it was a realistic look at being different, and how that changes everything.

What are your current projects?
Currently, I’m editing the second Infamous book, tentatively titled Unexpected. I’m also editing a trilogy of novellas I wrote set in 1958 Las Vegas. There will hopefully be a lot of new published stories from me in 2017 as these stories finish edits.

Do you see writing as a career?
Writing is my career. It’s my passion as well as the thorn in my side on a daily basis. It’s the best job I’ve ever had and I’m so fortunate to be able to pursue it to the exclusion of other jobs.

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Everything comes back to family, for nearly everyone. They’re not perfect and sometimes their love can be constricting and hurtful, but if you bang your head on the wall enough, those walls will eventually crumble and you're left with the people who loved you all along.

What were your goals and intentions in your books, and how well do you feel you achieved them? 
My goal is to show real people, with real problems, sometimes serious issues who find out that they’re perfect exactly as they are. It’s to show that love isn’t supposed to change us, but help us be our best selves. I think I achieve that and if I didn’t, I’d consider my story a complete fail.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
The glamour. I researched real designer clothing, real five-star restaurant menus, real fancy homes in New York. It’s a world away from my daily life, in rural West Virginia. I wouldn’t know a designer tag in my own clothes, but I knew exactly what Justine and company would wear to any given occasion.

Author Bio:
Lori Sizemore grew up in the mountains of West Virginia and never quite managed to escape them. Lori lives at home with her husband of twenty-plus years and two of her three daughters. She also lives with two dogs, a cat, and five hermit crabs. Yes, five of them. This menagerie and her family keep her busy. She worked in mental health as a social worker for ten years before making the choice to write full-time.


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Two Princes by Victoria Danann

Author: Victoria Danann
Series: Sons of Sanctuary MC #1 & 2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Title: Two Princes
Release Date: June 16, 2015
Title: The Biker's Brother
Expected Release Date: December 28, 2016

Two Princes #1
Summary:
Two brothers, unknown to each other, are on a crash trajectory with destiny and two broken hearts.

New York Times and USA Today BESTSELLING AUTHOR, Victoria Danann, dishes up the sizzle with a new biker romance series.

"A hot, sweet romance that will make you laugh and sigh." - Cafeworld

Brigid was a graduate student at the University of Texas. It wasn't hard getting her thesis approved, but finding a Hill Country motorcycle club willing to give her access to their lifestyle was starting to look impossible. Then she got a lead. A friend of a friend had a cousin with family ties to The Sons of Sanctuary. Perfect. Or so she thought.

What she wanted was information to prove a scholarly proposition. The last thing she had in mind was falling for one of the members of the club. Especially since she was a feminist academic out to prove that motorcycle clubs are organized according to the same structure as primitive tribal society.

Brash was standing in line at the H.E.B. Market when his world tipped on its axis. While waiting his turn to check out, his gaze had wandered to the magazine display and settled on the new issue of "NOW". The image on the cover, although GQ'd up in an insanely urbane way, was... him.

After reading the article, he threw some stuff in a duffle and left his only home, a room at The Sons of Sanctuary clubhouse, with a vague explanation about needing a couple of days away. He left his truck at the Austin airport and caught a plane for New York, on a mission to find a mysterious guy walking around with his face.

INCLUDES BONUS NOVELLA: Intro to the Sons of Sanctuary MC, A Season in Gemini

"She couldn't live in my world. I couldn't live in hers." - Brant Fornight

Get your copy TODAY and find out why readers call Two Princes awesome sexy, fantabulous, and sentimental in the juiciest way!


The Biker's Brother #2
Summary:
Brand takes a job nobody wants to earn the respect of club members. Being third generation SSMC doesn't go very far in biker cred.

Camden Carmichael is running from a psycho ex. Lucky for her that her father has the means to hire Sanctuary Security to protect her until the divorce is finalized.

Two strangers set out on a road trip together. At the end of it, neither will ever be the same again.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Victoria Danann, adds a sizzling and surprising second book to the SSMC contemporary romance series.

*Please note this book contains dark material that may be unwelcome by sensitive readers.*

Brandon St. Germaine was at the top of the billionaire playboy heap when he learned about a side of the family that had been kept in secret. He left New York, moved to Texas, and took most of the corporate empire with him, restructuring so that he could spend time learning about the Texas motorcycle club branch of his family that had formed its own kind of dynasty.

His dad, president of the club his grandfather founded, spent three decades converting the club's income sources to legitimate business dealings. One of the biggest earners was the security service. When a ridiculously wealthy, but justifiably frightened father hires the SSMC to protect his daughter from the psycho she's divorcing, Brand gets the job.

Get it today and find out why people are calling this series heart-throbbing!



Two Princes #1
“Sir?” Brash Fornight gradually became aware that someone behind him in the grocery checkout line was trying to get his attention. “Sir?” He refocused and glanced behind him. The woman leaning on a cart overflowing with chip bags and cookie boxes nodded toward the cashier indicating that it was his turn to move forward. Brash looked her in the eye and had to give her props. Most people wouldn’t have the balls to try to herd a guy wearing Sons of Sanctuary MC leather.

The club employed a woman who cooked and did grocery shopping several times a week as part of her job description, but Brash didn’t like to explain his relentless craving for peanuts and he liked being teased about it even less. He didn’t know whether it was the Vitamin B or the fat or just because he liked the taste, but he couldn’t imagine going a day without them.


That’s how he came to be standing statue still In the grocery checkout line, being prompted by some woman with more nerve than sense. While he was waiting, his eyes drifted over the magazine display and settled on the cover of “NOW”, on the Most Eligible Bachelor edition no less. The debonair figure staring back was wearing Brash’s own face and body. He looked different with short hair and a four thousand dollar suit with the shirt fashionably open at the neckline, but the similarity was inescapable.


On impulse he grabbed the magazine and tossed it onto the conveyor belt with his week’s stash of peanuts.


He stuffed the bags into the saddlebags of his bike and roared toward home, nervously tapping his fingers on handlebars at red lights, riding on shoulders to keep from slowing down. He was anxious to get to the privacy of his own room and read about Branach St. Germaine.


Two beers, one jar of peanuts, and one “NOW” article later, Brash was sitting on the edge of his bed looking at the wall, seeing nothing but his own heavy thoughts. He pulled out his phone, looked up a website, and waited on hold for ten minutes to hear the time of the next flight from Austin to New York.


There was a flight to Newark in a little over three hours. He looked at his watch and calculated the time it would take to drive from Dripping Springs at that time of day. As he booked the flight, he stood up, walked to the small closet, grabbed a duffel bag, and began shoving stuff into it. Ten minutes later, he closed his door and locked it, threw the duffel over his shoulder, and headed straight for the office downstairs. He dropped the duffel on the hallway floor beside the closed door and knocked.


“Yeah?” Brash looked inside, glad that his dad was by himself, and stepped in. “What’s up?”


“I’m takin’ personal time, Pop. Gonna be gone for a couple of days.”


“What the hell is ‘personal time’?”


The gruffness made Brash smile. “It means I’m not gonna be here if you call and I’m not tellin’ you why.”


The Sons of Sanctuary President looked up at Brash, over the top of his readers, and narrowed his eyes. “You got a secret?”


“Everybody’s got secrets.”


Brandon Fornight studied his son for a minute. “True enough. Is it the kind of secret that could affect this club?”


Brash shook his head. “Don’t see how.”


“Well, then. See you… When did you say you’d be back?”


“I didn’t.”


“Bein’ purposefully vague, are you?”


Brash grinned. “That’s why they call it personal time. But I expect to be back Friday.”


“You gonna have your phone with you?” When Brash nodded, Bran looked back down at his ledger in a deliberately dismissive gesture. “Well, get outta here then.”


Brash parked his bike in the airplane hangar. The structure had already been on the property when the club had bought it and turned it into a compound twenty years earlier. They used part of it for vehicle maintenance and repair and part for parking.


Some of the guys who were working looked over and shot curious glances his way when Brash threw his duffel into his pickup and started it up, but it wasn’t their way to ask questions. The Sons figured that if somebody wanted you to know something, they’d tell you.


Brash took a cab to a midtown hotel, wondering all the way why human beings would choose to live in such a place. As he slid his credit card across the hotel counter to the agent on duty, he glanced at the name, Brandon Fornight. It seemed unlikely that it was a coincidence that that the mysterious look-alike’s first name began with the same four letters. He ordered room service and pulled out his laptop.


Getting intel on the guy didn’t take advanced ops. Within an hour Brash knew where Brannach St. Germaine worked, what kind of car he drove, what kind of women he dated, who his tailor was, and where he liked to dine. There was no shortage of photos online, but the one that grabbed his attention wasn’t one of the many with starlets or debutantes on his arm. It was the one taken with his arm around his mother as they were arriving together for some red carpet fundraiser. Brash had an almost irresistible compulsion to reach up and touch her face on the screen in front of him.



The knock on the door signaled that room service had arrived. It cost a fortune, but looked and tasted like shit. So he closed the computer and went out for a walk to clear his head and find something edible.

The Biker's Brother #2
Brant shrugged a big shoulder. “Too much green to turn away even if I need to do it myself. Arnold said the dad could have taken out a contract for what he’s paying us. And he’s right. It’s a chunk of change.”

When Arnold had blurted that out in meeting, he’d gotten several awkward minutes of silent stares from around the club table. They were bikers, but they weren’t killers. Even back in the days when they operated outside the law, they hadn’t been killers. At present they were businessmen who happened to like bikes and hold a certain disdain for authority and rules of all kinds.

“What’s involved? Pick her up and fly her here?”

Brant laughed and shook his head. “If that was all there was to it, guys wouldn’t be ducking around corners avoiding me. The man has hired the club to execute the disappearance of his daughter and keep her in the wind until after the divorce is final.”

“Why does she need to disappear until after the divorce is finalized?”

“The soon-to-be ex-husband is dangerous and greedy. The girl’s father thinks he may try to have her killed before the divorce goes through. He suspects this man of devising some clever means that would give him an airtight alibi while also making him eligible to inherit her trust fund.”

“Who is it?”

“The client?”

“Yes.”

“Severn Carmichael.” Brand’s eyebrows went up and he whistled. “I suspected you’d know who he is.”

“Our enterprises have touched circuits now and then.”

“He know who you are?”

“He probably knows who I am, just like I know who he is, but we’ve never met.”

Brant seemed satisfied with that. “What do you think?”

“Let me make sure I’ve got this straight. I need to pick her up somewhere in New York, bring her to you, and make sure she’s not seen or followed on the way.”

“In a nutshell.”

“What aren’t you telling me? Why isn’t it safer to shelter in place wherever she is?”

“He’s scared. Really scared. Thinks this guy can get through any defense he can mount.”

Brandon nodded thoughtfully. “When did you tell him we’d get her?”

“Day after tomorrow.”

“Day after tomorrow? Forty eight hours to come up with a plan and make arrangements to be away from the office?”

“Security will work with you on a plan. Taking time off work? Come on. You’re the boss, aren’t you? You want the job or not? If you do, I’ll call a meeting and get a vote on patching you.”

Brandon hadn’t realized how badly he wanted that until it was offered. He’d thought it was something that would never be within his grasp, but suddenly there it was. He didn’t really have a choice. Once in a lifetime offer to get the only thing he wanted that he didn’t already have?

Hell, yes.

“Hell, yes.”

Brant smiled as they stood up. He slapped Brandon on the shoulder and it made Brand’s heart ache for the years he’d missed not having his father in his life.

“I’ll call you later with the verdict,” Brant said.

They mounted their rides and ignited the engines. The noise made all the patrons of Chuy’s turn and look. The men wished they were on those bikes. The women wished they were sitting behind the men on those bikes.

Brant turned west on Bee Caves. Brandon saluted as he turned east.

Author Bio:
New York Times bestselling author of thirteen romances. Victoria's Knights of Black Swan series won BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES for the past THREE YEARS IN A ROW. Reviewers Choice Awards, The Paranormal Romance Guild.

Her paranormal romances come with uniquely fresh perspectives on "imaginary" creatures, characters, and themes. She adds a dash of scifi, a flourish of fantasy, enough humor to make you laugh out loud, and, occasionally, enough steam to make you squirm in your chair. Her heroines are independent femmes with flaws and minds of their own whether they are aliens, witches, demonologists, werewolves, hybrids, psychics, or past life therapists. Her heroes are hot and hunky, but they also have brains, character, and good manners... usually.

The rich characterizations come from being a lifelong student of behavior, casually, and a serious student of behavior academically. She also studied comparative religion, myths, and Dark Ages history.

Victoria lives in The Woodlands, Texas with her husband and a very smart, mostly black German Shepherd dog.


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EMAIL: vdanann@gmail.com



Two Princes #1
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The Biker's Brother #2
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