Guest tomorrow --- Nara Malone!

Hi all,
   I'm really please to let you all know that Nara Malone will be my blog guest tomorrow. She is celebrating her latest release. I hope you all stop by to give her a warm welcome and check out her new book. Her post, When Romance Research Gets Too Hot To Handle... discusses her adventures in Second Life to research her new release, Snatch Me from Ellora's Cave Publishing. Follow Nara's blog tour and comment - she's giving away a prize at the end of her tour!

Virtual Blog Tour - Harlow Coban's Life in Death

Hi everyone. I want to welcome guest author, Harlow Coban, who is joining me today to share information about her new book, Life in Death.

 Author Harlow Coban was born in Kansas City, MO, but grew up in Denver, CO. She relocated to North Carolina five years ago with her husband, two dogs, and 16-year old twins.

She shares a birthday with the notorious Napoleon Bonaparte. In keeping with his legacy, she is currently working on taking over the world. Harlow’s positive attitude and fresh take on life are her tools and conquest is certain.

She spends her free time writing, dancing, traveling and defending mailboxes from her 16-year-old twins’ driving.

 Her debut novel, LIFE IN DEATH (February 2012), is a murder mystery which pulls from real-life situations from her own family history. She felt compelled to share her story with the world while offering a thrilling, entertaining, and amusing escape for readers.

Harlow is on a virtual blog tour and you can follow her on all her stops at the Goddess Fish blog. There are prizes at each stop on her tour, so the more you comment, the more likely you are to win! Grin...

The author will be giving away one prize at every stop which may include (but isn’t limited to):

Amazon Gift Cards
Book Lover Note Cards
Journals
Kindle Cover
Book Tote
Hunger Games Trilogy

Additionally, she’ll be awarding a $50 Amazon GC to the host whose stop has the most comments (excluding the author’s and the host’s).

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In keeping with her commitment to improving the lives of children, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of her book will be donated to the Boys and Girls Club in her home state of North Carolina. Here's what Harlow has to say...

WHY DONATE TO THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS

It was a day like any other.  I’d just gotten home from work, grabbed the stack of mail, and rifled through it.  An oversized postcard with a scenic view of the mountains got my attention.  It was from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Denver.  I flipped the postcard over and read it:

Hi,

Thank you for sending me to camp. 

I really love it here.  It’s fun.

JC

I burst into tears. It was proof – tangible proof – that my donation had enriched the life of a child. That was several years go and I still have that postcard. 

I came from very humble beginnings so much of what I experienced growing up like going to plays, museums, amusement parks, and camping was through the generous donations of others. Those were some of the best times of my life and I never forgot it. 

The legacy I want to leave is of one who, in some small way, enriched the lives of children. Through donation to the Boys and Girls Clubs of North Carolina (http://ncclubs.org/), I can do that.

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

Life in Death
by Harlow Coban

Blurb:  When a girl that social worker Kari Marchant places in foster care is brutally murdered, she’s compelled to learn why. Her quest for the truth pits her against friends and coworkers. As Kari works to solve the horrific plot, more people die. She’s been targeted for death and she doesn’t even know it. How far should she go to learn the truth—even if it threatens her life?

When homicide detective Rance Nicolet meets Kari, his attraction to her is powerful—and the feeling is mutual. But things between them go terribly wrong when Kari’s old lover is found murdered with a letter from her in his pocket. The evidence against Kari is damning. Rance’s personal and professional lives collide. Does he blindly believe the woman he’s falling in love with or follow the evidence no matter where it leads?

Harlow  loves to connect with her readers and can be found on Twitter (@HarlowCoban), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Harlow-Coban/174596219285270), Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com) and her website (www.HarlowCoban.com).

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Excerpt:

"Where is she?" Luke Dolo, Patience’s father, pounded a fist on the table. His face had contorted into an ugly mask. His smooth, dark skin had a reddish tinge to it, either from alcohol, anger or both. 

 For the first time ever, Kari thought about alerting security. She weighed her options.

 “Mr. Dolo, please calm down. As I said before, you need to speak to the police.” She slid Detective Nicolet’s card over to him.

 He stared at it, eyes dull.

 “Just tell me what happened to her?” The veins in his neck bulged and pulsed.

 She didn’t respond. She couldn’t respond. It wasn’t her place to tell him his daughter was dead.

 He leaped across the table, hands closing around Kari’s throat like a vise. She struggled against his strength and they tumbled to the ground. He landed on top of her. The weight of his body coupled with the fall knocked the breath out of her, but she continued to struggle. She scratched and clawed at him to get free. His fetid breath nauseated her as she fought to take a gulp of air. Soon dots danced in front of her eyes and she felt dizzy.

 Detective Cobb had Luke on his stomach with his knee pressed into his back as he handcuffed him. “Looks like I showed up just in time.”

The Forbidden Bookshelf features the 1-800-DOM-help series

Hi all,
    I wanted to share with all of you that the Ellora's Cave series, 1-800-DOM help will be featured on The Forbidden Bookshelf dot net all week. Please stop by to read the interviews. Make a comment in my post and get a chance to win an electronic copy of Controlling Interest!

My interview will be up on MONDAY, MARCH 19. TOMORROW!!!! Stop by and show me some love. Or show me some like. I'm not picky. LOL

WINNER! Hot Valentine Lovin' February Contest

Congratulations to....drumroll....Ashley Applebee!  I'll email you today so I can get your information to mail the package to you! Thanks for participating in the contest!

 

RIP Whitney...

I remember when Whitney Houston hit big and her great talent and many videos on MTV. She had a lot of troubles with drugs and booze, but I'm sad that she's gone. I loved this video when it came out. I remember dancing to it back in the day too...

Rest in Peace, Whitney Houston.

I've Fallen in Love with Josh Lanyon

You should always listen to your critique partner. Or at least I should. I bow to her infinite wisdom. My aforementioned critique partner, Paris Brandon, has been telling me for months…MONTHS…that I should read Josh Lanyon. My reply was always, “I’ve got him on my TBR list. I really do. I’ll get there.”

Well, I finally got there. What does he write? Well, Mr. Lanyon has been writing gay mystery, adventure and romance fiction for over a decade and it shows. Oh wow.

So, I downloaded Josh’s Adrien English mystery series to my Nook Color last week and over the weekend (it was Thursday or Friday night) I opened my first book. It was not the last I opened all weekend. In fact I read all five of the Adrien (with an ‘e’) English series then downloaded the Holmes and Moriarity mystery series too. I finished Somebody Killed His Editor on Sunday night and  All She Wrote on Monday morning. This week I've also read Lone Star, Icecapade and I'm working on This Rough Magic.

Oh. Ma. Gah! They are the best!

Now when I opened the first Adrien book – Fatal Shadows  – I started reading and I groaned. It’s in first person. Generally, I hate reading first person stories. It has nothing to do with an author’s ability or anything else. I just don’t enjoy reading it. I think I finished page one then promptly forgot which “person” the story was being told in. It was that damn good and I was totally hooked.

I loved the voice. I loved the humor. And MAN did I love the characters. I also loved the romance and the sex. Josh writes very hot and deeply emotional stories. So I'm in love with Josh. Well, with his writing anyway. If you've never read a Josh Lanyon book, I highly recommend giving his work a shot. You'll be glad you did.

And you won't have to bow and scrape before your critique partner when she tells you, "I told you so." Yeah, Paris honey. I know you did. Sigh. You were totally right.

Obsessed with e-books

I'm officially obsessed with e-books. I'm also obsessed with my Nook Color e-reader. I love it and I carry it everywhere I go. I find myself trolling the Barnes and Noble site with great regularity.

I look for inexpensive books, sure. But I'm also looking for old favorites that I'd like to have on my reader. Agency pricing doesn't seem to deter me either. In fact, since I bought my Nooks (I have one of the original e-ink Nook readers too), I've spent more on books than I've done in years. Really!

I've also done more reading. Not only of books that I've bought, but my library subscribes to Overdrive so that I can check books out too. It's wonderful to be able to read a book I'm not sure I want to purchase. I get a taste for an author or the latest popular flavor (aka a book that's on the best seller list or whatever) and I can figure out if it belongs on my "keeper" shelf.

And the cool thing is that my "keeper" shelf weighs a WHOLE lot less than it used to. I love the fact that I can carry around my favorite books and they all weigh less than a pound (or the metric equivalent). I love that fact most of all because I have boxes and BOXES of books. Some are mine. Some were my mom's but I've kept them for sentimental reasons. Well, now I can replace the old paper copies with digital and it is so freeing. I love that.

I really didn't expect to prefer electronic reading. I'm definitely one of those people who love to curl up on the sofa with a book. To feel the weight of it in my hands. Hear the crinkle of the paper. But you know, I don't miss the crinkle as much as I thought I would.

Am I totally anti-paper? Nope. Not at all. Perish the thought. I'm a librarian (when I'm not writing). Most of my research books I still have in print and probably will continue to do that for the foreseeable future. But my pleasure reading will be on my e-reader from now on.

I'm still really irritated that there are some favorite books I can't get electronically - like The Belgariad, The Mallorean, The Elenium and The Tamuli  - ALL by David Eddings. Some of his books are available electronically but not my favorite-est of his series. I regularly send requests to have the books made available electronically but so far the publisher is ignoring me.

Are there any favorite books from your past that you'd like to read electronically? Do you - like me - want to kick the collective/figurative tushes of the publishers so they'd make your faves available? Let me know what you think.

Remember, I have a contest running all February long. Comment on my blog posts here, at Authors by Moonlight, Sweet and Sexy Divas, 1800DOMhelp, or anywhere else you see me (like Facebook) and each response will count as an entry for the contest.You can win gift cards and buy your favorite-est electronic reads or try out some new reads as a Valentine's gift from me!

On Monday, I'll be at Authors by Moonlight! Follow me there!