RAFFLE GIVEAWAY FOR LOVE IN A NUTSHELL BY JANET EVANOVICH AND DORIEN KELLY

Hi guys how are you?  Well read chapters 5 through 10 in the novel. Starting chapter 11 tomorrow.  Have to say this book is getting good.  Just so you know, I think there is definitely some interest in the main characters in the novel.

I read chapters five through ten and along the way found out that the culprit who damaged the property by leaving the freezer door open and spoiling the product still had to be found. But that Kate and  Matt’s relationship is developing.  However due to the fact that she doesn’t speak “beer” she is unable to work where she wanted too.  She has to learn the business.  At the event held at Woodsmen’s Hall everyone seemed to have a good time.  The Silent Auction was being prepared for and an employee named Laila hurt herself when her car exploded.  Is this a distraction from something more sinister? Or is it as it seems, an accident, that could have possibly been avoided?  The explosion shut down the bar/restaurant for the night costing him money.  But they also suspected arson as well.  And arson was a nasty crime.  Couple the possible arson, the spoiled food and destroyed freezer, you definitely had someone going after the business.  But who and why? 

Piece of trivia for you later on and it might help you win the novel in the raffle?  What is the name of the place that Matt Culhane would like to purchase?  It’s called the Nutshell.

Stay tuned for chapters 11 through 15 in the next entry. 

So what did you guys think so far of the story? I have to say that I like the style of writing and I like how the characters are portrayed.  What I like very much about this novel though is whatever romance there is; its more about the mystery then the romance. While it plays a part, it’s the actual finding of the person responsible for the damage that they are looking for in the novel. Its well written and descriptive. The scene in here where they start taste testing the beer was compared to wine taste testing.  So just think ladies and gents, who said culture was just for wine connoisseurs huh?  Still trying to figure out where the novel is going and who the culprit is but I am a little closer. My mind is working slowly but surely with a good dose of caffeine from coffee every now and then.

Did you know that you could win a free copy of the novel Love in a Nutshell from these two authors. All you have to do is the following:  from now until the end of the novel…

1.  Make a comment on each post.  Anything you would like to comment on including who your favorite author is or novel.

2.  Like this post as well.

3.  Include you email address if it doesn’t show up when you post your comment.

4.  Answer the trivia question to be asked at the end of the novel entry.

At the end of the novel, I will pick a winner and have the author mail them out a copy of the novel for free.

So hurry up guys and post your comments.

Interview of Dorien Kelly co-author of Love In a Nutshell

1. State your name, and your age.
My name is Dorien Kelly, and I’m old enough that that I don’t like to think about how old I am. Let’s put it this way: I have survived teenagers.
2. State the name of your spouse.
No spouse, but I do have world’s most wonderful boyfriend, Ken.
3. State the name of your children and ages.
Sean: 25, Caitlin: 23, and Erin: 19
4. State your educational background.
I graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature. I then attended Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State Law School). At that point I held the record of the highest LAST score and lowest GPA they had ever admitted. Luckily, I took to law school well and graduated third in my class. The practice of law was another thing altogether; I hated it.
5. When did you first decide to become a writer?
By the time my third child was a toddler, I knew I could no longer be a lawyer. I wanted to step off the crazy-go-round and be home with my children.
6. What was your first novel?
My first published novel was Designs on Jake, which Harlequin Books released in 2002.
7. Have you ever been a ghostwriter?
No.
8. When you first got approached to write with Janet Evanovich as a co-writer, what was your reaction?
Actually, I approached Janet. I was scared to death.
9. How do you two write? Do you each write a chapter based on the other or do you draft up an outline and write from the outline?
Sometimes examining a process too closely takes away its magic, and I like magic. 
10. Would you write a science fiction/fantasy based romance or mystery?
Sci Fi and Fantasy aren’t my cup of tea. I love reading them, but don’t think I’d make a very good writer in those genres.
11. Do you participate in book tours, signings and the like with her when the book comes out?
Nope. We’re at our respective homes, writing away.
12. Your website http://www.dorienkelly.com/- that does the upkeep for it? Is it an outside service?
I do have a wonderful web person who designs and does upkeep for me. There are only so many hours in a day, and I much prefer to spend mine on writing.
13. Would you and Janet like to donate a book to raffle off on the website for a lucky reader that may be autographed by either you or both of you?
I’d be happy to send a book.
14. Who are your favorite reads?
Anything by Janet. I also love Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Courtney Milan.
15. Who’s on your nightstand now to read?
I’m reading a lot of Irish history and general non-fiction right now. I’ll be heading to Ireland in March to begin research on more books in my Ballymuir series.
16. Final questions: What are your current projects now and when would they be published?
Just for fun, I’m self-publishing a novella in my contemporary Irish Ballymuir series. This past autumn, I took the original Ballymuir books, on which I own the rights, and self-published them in e-format at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, etc. The response has been a wonderful surprise! Readers want more, and I’m happy to give it to them. The Wedding Party will be out in February. After that, there will be more Ballymuir books. I need to decide whether to publish them myself or go the traditional route, though.

UPDATE:

Hey guys. I am still reading Love in a Nutshell but I have an update for you. Next week, I am hoping to post the interview with the other half of the writing team for this novel Dorien Kelly on January 17, 2013. I am also hoping to post the next five chapter review with questions for you as well. So guys stay tuned and thank you for following this blog so that we may continue writing. Hope you had a Happy New Year and continue to have a happy year.

5 Great Lines – Gemma Halliday, Deadly Cool

First I find out that my boyfriend is cheating on me. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And now he’s depending on me to clear his name. Seriously?

As much as I wouldn’t mind watching him squirm, I know that he’s innocent. So I’m brushing off my previously untapped detective skills and getting down to business. But I keep tripping over dead bodies and I’m still no closer to figuring out who did it. And what’s worse: all signs seem to point to me as the killer’s next victim. I really need to pick a better boyfriend next time.

5 Great Lines from Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

1

“That craptastical, gutless, son-of-a-cactus-humping butt monkey!!”

2

“In the immortal words of Mr. Burns…….eeeeexcellent.”

3

I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I lied, I like your Star Wars sheets, you’re not that bad of a driver, and I swear on my Very Cherry lip gloss that I will never lie to you again.”

4

“I’ll go,” he said.
“And that’s safer because?”
“I’m a guy.”
“Right, and having a pair of dingle balls makes you invincible how?”

5

She shot me a sugar-coated smile. I matched it calorie for calorie.

—
Ava Delany
The Fetish Club Series, The Homecoming Series, and The Beginnings Series.- on Kindle, Allromanceebooks, and many other places where ebooks are sold.
Look for my newest release- Dark Daze – Out now

Recap of Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly Week 2

Hi Fellow Readers- back for Week #2 for Love in a Nutshell. I am up to Chapter 5 now. A recap of the first four chapters has Kate Appleton losing her job and finding a job with Matt Culhane to find the person who is undermining his company and possibly putting him out of business. So she is “the snitch” and as such will be known as “the snitch” from now on. She believes that one of them had tampered with the cooler’s power switch causing him to lose money with the food because it spoiled. The cast of characters is being set. Kate Appleton, Matt Culhane, Laila, Jerry, Steve, Tinkerbell (Tink), Ginger, Travis, Bart, Amber and Betty. There is also Richard, Kate’s old boyfriend. The reason for Kate “the snitch” being hired is his new business venture in Florida where he is buying a hotel and turning it into a hotel/restaurant resort. He also planned to renovate another property which he believes will make him money. The “cooler incident” in reality had the “unit’s power switch to the right of the door turned off, but the door had been left open, too. From what she could gather from the brewery gossip, without both of those events, the cooler would have held its temperature within the allowable range until morning.” p 44 Also Kate has feelings for Matt which begin to be tested because- he may be the one who is taking her home from her and that is part of the reason she is taking the job. Her childhood home. ******************************************************** I still like the character of Kate. I like her even more as time goes on. Matt is a nice character as well. But a businessman who is about making money. And he wants to know who would hurt his chances at doing so. Although I believe he is developing feelings for her, I also believe those feelings will face something later on in the book- a decision on where he wants to be and does he want her in his life- her the same thing. So before I end this post, my question to you is the following: Is there ever a moment in your life, that you had to make a decision about someone in your life- whether they could or should stay or go? And what was the resolution of that decision? I think that a lot of us make that decision with our friends as well as romantic liasions. And we have to be cognizant of who is in our lives and who likes us as well. Personally for me- I know that I have to make that decision for me in a current relationship that has turned out to be beneficial for me and not beneficial for me. He had indicated that he liked me again more than I liked him. And I didn’t want to maintain the relationship knowing that he felt that way. I had been walking that minefield for a long time. So I just wanted to be his friend. So that decision for me is that he had to go. But as it was easier before its was not so easy now. That is because he is/was a nice guy and not a nice guy. And I fear that I would not be able to find a person who was willing to have that kind of conversation. I have found someone who says that he is willing but we never connected. So where am I to go on that one? So in your own personal life- where do you stand with that decision and conversation?

5 Great Lines – Darynda Jones, Second Grave on the Left

When Charley is rudely awakened in the middle of the night by her best friend who tells her to get dressed quickly and tosses clothes out of the closet at her, she can’t help but wonder what Cookie’s up to. Leather scrunch boots with a floral miniskirt? Together? Seriously? Cookie explains that a friend of hers named Mimi disappeared five days earlier and that she just got a text from her setting up a meet at a coffee shop downtown. They show up at the coffee shop, but no Mimi. But Charley finds a message on the bathroom wall. Mimi left a clue, a woman’s name. Mimi’s husband explains that his wife had been acting strange since she found out an old friend of hers from high school had been found murdered a couple weeks prior. The same woman Mimi had named in her message. Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally) has left his corporeal body and is haunting Charley. He’s left his body because he’s being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can’t let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they’ll have a portal to heaven. And if they have a portal to heaven…well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be pretty. Can Charley handle hot nights with Reyes and even hotter days tracking down a missing woman? Will Cookie ever get a true fashion sense? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel them as they do?

Here is your signpost for the most hilarious read of the summer: Second Grave On The Left.

5 Great Lines from Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones

1

She shook her head then took off again, and I found myself struggling to keep up with her in my bunny slippers. With a sigh, I realized I was getting way too much exercise. I’d just have to counteract it later with cake.

2

Crap. “Men in black are at the office?”
“Well, yes, but they’re actually in more of a navy.”
Crapola. I so don’t have time for men. In any color. “Okay, two questions. Do they look mad, and are they hot?”
After a long, long, pause, Cookie said, “One, not really. Two, no comment at this time. And three, you’re on speakerphone.”
After another long, long pause, I said, “Okie dokie then. Be there in a jiff.”

3

I’m Charlotte Davidson: private investigator, police consultant, all -around badass. Or I could’ve been a badass, had I stuck with those lessons in mixed martial arts. I was only in that class to learn how to kill people with paper.

4

His gaze slid over me like a veil of fire. He could ignite my deepest desires with a single glance. I decided right then and there no more reading romance novels by candelight.

5

“I do not,” I felt oddly appalled by her statement. “I’m an excellent liar. Ask my dentist. He swears I floss regularly.”

—
Ava Delany
The Fetish Club Series, The Homecoming Series, and The Beginnings Series.- on Kindle, Allromanceebooks, and many other places where ebooks are sold.
Look for my newest release- Dark Daze – Out now

A Review of Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly

Hey guys- sorry for the lateness. Just finished a book review for a person that I had gotten paid for and I have to do one more for him which is also paid for-so now you have my attention.
Summary to Date:
So far I am almost through Chapter 2 of the novel. First off let me say I think I am going to like Kate Appleton. She is in need of a job because she got fired from her former job due to another associate’s actions. How many can relate to that huh? She got asked by an interviewer to be his “snitch” with the other employees. To befriend them and to give him what they are saying so that he may know what they are doing, thinking and saying. His reasoning is that he, the owner, Matt Culhane believes that someone is sabotaging the business and he needs to find out who it is as soon as possible. So she took the job and now works for him as a private investigator for his company masquerading as an employee.
Blog Entry
For those who have read Janet Evanovich you are no stranger to her novels, nor to her character. In fact I believe the unknown for me here is Dorien Kelly. She has graciously agreed to grant an interview which I will post her responses when I receive them. I am sending them out Christmas week, so please take into account that we are busy with the holidays and the responses may lag.
I was unable to find any questions to go along with this novel but I thought I would start out with how many of us had been fired or have been fired due to an action noted and mentioned by another employee- personally I don’t know names but I have heard of people losing their jobs as a result of that. Most reactions tend to be angry but they get over them because they need to work. Note- never bad mouth a former employer or employee because you never know who they talk with in regards to your future. What would you do if that happened to you like Kate Appleton and got a chance to work but had to be a snitch to do it? Would you take the position? And how would you approach the job- with what type of attitude?
Another question that came to mind as I read the beginning of the novel was how to handle the job interview and explaining how you once again lost another job-even I have problems doing this and am and have been in this situation. What do you say and how do you turn it in your favor? I think this lady was lucky because for me it was never easy trying to explain how I lost the jobs that I lost in quick succession. My goal is to not lose any more jobs. Or to get fired. But you know how that goes-you get fired for no reason except that they no longer want you to work there.
So stay tuned for the next installment and hopefully the interview will be responded to by then of Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly.

5 Great Lines – Emery Lee, The Highest Stakes

WHAT WOULD YOU WAGER FOR LOVE???
In the high stakes gentleman’s world of 18th century horseracing, when the blood of the “desert kings” ruled the English turf, a hero returns from war to claim the girl he has loved since he first spied her riding hell-for-leather over the Doncaster heath. Determined to have her at any cost, he will risk everything.

A story of star-crossed lovers and horseracing, THE HIGHEST STAKES transports the reader to 18th century England, an era infamous for corruption, arranged marriages, and high stakes gambling; when racing and breeding became the obsession of the uppermost elite, and a match race might replace a duel in settling a point of honor.

Through the fictional love story of Robert Devington and Charlottte Wallace, a tale of drama, danger, thwarted love, and retribution unfurles…

5 Great Lines from The Highest Stakes by Emery Lee

1

“Finally, mutually, and completely, they released all doubts, abandoned all fears, unwilling and unable to deny this overpowering love.”

2

“Go bugger yer mother and lick yer boots clean!”

3

“Yes, my boy, you are indeed much faster, bigger, and stronger than me and an altogether superior speciman of God’s creation, but I have seen your like before. Only one of us can be master, and it won’t be you.”

4

“Try as you may, you can never defy love.”

5

“Son of a beast tried to bite me when I turned my back to the billets!”…
Nostrils flaring and ears pinned, the grey repeated the offense.
“He wants another go at it. Be a sport ol’ man!” Robert chortled. The indignant Scotsman threw the reins in his face, tromping off to collect the major’s horse.
“I wonder was it reward or punishment Winthrop had in mind in allowing you to keep that brute?” Drake innocently inquired.
“He only eats Scotsman,” Robert quipped.”

—
Ava Delany
The Fetish Club Series, The Homecoming Series, and The Beginnings Series.- on Kindle, Allromanceebooks, and many other places where ebooks are sold.
Look for my newest release- Dark Daze – Out now

IN SEARCH OF THE ELUSIVE ANSWER

Each time I lost someone that was reading the blog I would get unhappy and try to figure out why I am losing the reader. Each time I would write another blog post I would try to figure that out. But how can you figure that on a blog you contribute too? And what about what I write- do you like what I write- would you buy my novel if it was a stand-alone novel?
I am in search of the elusive answer from you the reader. I am however making several assumptions- first that you read most if not all of the authors that contribute here; two that you like to read romance novels and three that you more than likely subscribe to this blog. Based on those three assumptions, I made the premise that you – contain my answer.
So I have a proposition or proposal/request for you the reader to participate in an exercise with me the contributing author. I request that you all purchase or borrow the novel Love in a Nutshell
by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly. It is a novel I am reading for fun and join the conversation with me about that elusive answer-who are my readers and why do you like to read my blog? What I propose to do for the duration of the read is for the next couple of posts I will recap what I have read and pose some questions and some answers. Hopefully, those who wish to participate will also respond. I will pull some information from her webpage and also see if I can find some interviews with both her and Ms. Dorien Kelly as well.
The hope is that by the end of this novel, somewhere in that conversation someone’s response either to a question or a topic they start on their own will help me move towards finding that answer as to why readers come and go on the blog. I have part of my answer already and I will share that with you. People like the same old thing and don’t like change or too much deviation from what is/was normal for your blog. You will lose the reader because they don’t find it as interesting as they had once. The reader will choose to read another blog that gave them once what they had. So lesson learned for me in regards to that blog. I have to stick to what got me you the reader in the first place and not deviate. For my blog that I am discussing with you right now- it is all about writing, publishing in the industry, other writers, new novels and blogs as well as some of my own personal problems. I also showcase interviews and poetry as well as other writings that people allow me to publish on the internet. So I hope that you and the others will continue that journey with me.
However as this blog is Lets Talk Romance- I want to discuss romance with you and continue that conversation with you. So please join, I will not post the first blog entry for two weeks. In other words, it will not be the upcoming week of December 20, 2012 or the week of Christmas on December 27th, 2012 but the first Thursday in the New Year 2013- January 3, 2013. So hopefully for those who are going to participate you will be able to buy, borrow or download the novel. To help out, I am going to give you some links for that. Please check out below:

http://www.evanovich.com

http://www.amazon.com/Janet-Evanovich/e/B000APXTY4 (shows Plum Series but plug in the name and should bring it up)
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Nutshell-Janet-Evanovich/dp/1427214964/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355413409&sr=1-1&keywords=love+in+a+nutshell+janet+evanovich+and+dorien+kelly (direct link at www. Amazon.com)

And if you are looking in the Nook:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-in-a-nutshell-janet-evanovich/1104154935?ean=9781250010391 ($2.99 I believe on the Nook)

So hopefully ladies and gentlemen, you join me in my reading.

5 Great Lines – Rachel Gibson, See Jane Score

THIS IS JANE

A little subdued. A little stubborn. A little tired of going out on blind dates with men who drive vans with sofas in the back, Jane Alcott is living the Single Girl existence in the big city. She is also leading a double life. By day, she’s a reporter covering the raucous Seattle Chinooks hockey team—especially their notorious goalie Luc Martineau. By night, she’s a writer, secretly creating the scandalous adventures of “Honey Pie”…the magazine series that has all the men talking.

SEE JANE SPAR

Luc has made his feelings about parasite reporters—and Jane—perfectly clear. But if he thinks he’s going to make her life a misery, he’d better think again.

SEE JANE ATTRACT

For as long as he can remember, Luc has been single minded about his career. The last thing he needs is a smart mouthed, pain in the backside, reporter digging into his past and getting in his way. But once the little reporter shed her black and gray clothes in favor of a sexy red dress, Luc sees that there is more to Jane than originally meets the eye.

Maybe it’s time to take a risk. Maybe it’s time to live out fantasies. Maybe it’s time to….

SEE JANE SCORE!

5 Great Lines from See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson

1

“I love you, and I want to be with you because you make my life better.” He pushed her hair behind her ear. “You asked me once what I see when I look into my future.” He slid his palm down her shoulder and took her hand. “I see you,” he said and kissed her knuckles.

2

“I want to make love to you, and if you don’t stop me now, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

3

“Between the lapels of his subdued charcoal suit, he’d worn a silky red tie. A gold Rolex had circled his wrist, and an overblown blonde had been bonded on his side like a suction cup. The man clearly liked to accessorize.”

4

If ever there was something she needed to stick around and fight for, Luc was that something.

5

“I have friends. I want more from you than that. I’m a selfish guy, Jane. If I can’t be your lover, if I can’t have all of you, then I don’t want anything.”

—
Ava Delany
The Fetish Club Series, The Homecoming Series, and The Beginnings Series.- on Kindle, Allromanceebooks, and many other places where ebooks are sold.
Look for my newest release- Dark Daze – Out now

5 Great Lines – Susan Mallery, Only Mine

Her town’s lack of men may make headlines, but it isn’t news to Dakota Hendrix. The beautiful blonde has bigger problems to deal with, such as overseeing the romance reality competition filming in Fool’s Gold. Screening eligible bachelors is a difficult enough task, but Dakota hits an unexpected snag when a sexy stranger comes to town. Finn Anderssen will do anything to keep his twin brothers — the perfect contestants — off the show. Despite Dakota’s better judgment, she finds herself drawn to the mysterious outsider. Like her, Finn knows about heartbreak and how a family can fall apart, so she doesn’t dare to hope for anything more than a fling. After all, even in the Land of Happy Endings, finding true love is never as easy as it looks on TV.

5 Great Lines from Only Mine by Susan Mallery

1

“Because sometimes when things are going really well, we find the one thing we’re pretending we’re not looking for.”

2

“I thought I was looking for something. Now I get that I was looking for someone. You. I’ll go back to school and get my degree because it will make you happy. But also because it will make me the kind of man you want. This all about you, Aurelia. Don’t you get that?”

3

“I’m not sure you need protecting.”
“Everyone needs protecting now and then.”

4

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” she blurted. “I never wanted to be someone you would regret. I’m not afraid for me. I’m afraid for you.”

5

“The last time I dated, dinosaurs roamed the earth. We didn’t even have electricity.”

—
Ava Delany
The Fetish Club Series, The Homecoming Series, and The Beginnings Series.- on Kindle, Allromanceebooks, and many other places where ebooks are sold.
Look for my newest release- Dark Daze – Out now

5 Great Lines – Deeanne Gist, A Bride Most Begrudging

When Lady Constance Morrow finds herself held against her will aboard a ship bound for the American colonies–a ship filled with “tobacco brides” and felons–she is quite sure that as soon as she arrives she will find a reasonable man who will believe her father is an earl and send her back on the next ship to England. Instead she meets Drew O’Connor, a determined Colonial farmer who is nearly as headstrong as she is. Drew wins Constance as his bride but soon realizes he has taken on much more than he bargained for.

5 Great Lines from A Bride Most Begrudging by Deeanne Gist

1

“That first scream, my lord, was indeed your daughter, my wife, and if you kill me, your grandchild will be quite without a father.”

2

“Oh, they’ll never believe a woman could solve such puzzles. They’ll just assume I’m humoring you by editing it myself and allowing you to put your name to it.”
She raised her eyebrows. “But you wouldn’t be.”
He humphed. “They’ll never hear me admit it.”
“I will,” she said, a smile curving her lips.
He shrugged. “They’ll believe me, not you.”

3

“Ho! Wise men say, ‘He who hath not a good and ready memory should never meddle in telling lies.’”
Drew smiled. “I have a good and ready memory.”

4

“Look. Isn’t he beautiful?”
Drew’s expression softened. “Ah, Nellie. He’s bald, pink, and has no teeth. What’s so beautiful about that?”

5

“You could have arrived atop a wildcat and no one would have said a word. They will adore you.”

—
Ava Delany
The Fetish Club Series, The Homecoming Series, and The Beginnings Series.- on Kindle, Allromanceebooks, and many other places where ebooks are sold.
Look for my newest release- Dark Daze – Out now

5 Great Lines – Alyxandra Harvey, Blood Feud

It’s been centuries since Isabeau St. Croix barely survived the French Revolution. Now she’s made her way back to the living and she must face the ultimate test by confronting the evil British lord who left her for dead the day she turned into a vampire. That’s if she can control her affection for Logan Drake, a vampire whose bite is as sweet as the revenge she seeks.
The clans are gathering for Helena’s royal coronation as the next vampire queen, and new alliances are beginning to form now that the old rifts of Lady Natasha’s reign have started to heal. But with a new common enemy, Leander Montmarte—a vicious leader who hopes to force Solange to marry him and usurp the power of the throne for himself—the clans must stand together to preserve the peace he threatens to destroy.
This second adventure in the Drake Chronicles—told from both Logan’s and Isabeau’s perspectives—has all the same butt-kicking action, heart-pounding romances and snarky humor that readers loved in Hearts at Stake, as well as exciting new revelations about the vampire dynasties to keep readers coming back for more.

5 Great Lines from Blood Feud by Alyxandra Harvey

1

“Love is the best revenge”

2

“My parents want to do things differently. Dad’s big on treaties.”
“And your mother?” Isabeau inquired.
“She’s big on making grown men cry.”

3

“You are precious” I insisted. “Stubborn and secretive and independent to a fault, but precious.”

4

I might have been more worried if I hadn’t been defending myself against six brothers my whole life. And if I didn’t have a mother who thought she was a ninja.

5

“You’re like a runaway train,” Logan groaned at her. “Can’t you shut her up?” he asked his brother pleadingly.
“How?” Nicholas said somewhat helplessly.
“Kiss her, you idiot.”

—
Ava Delany
The Fetish Club Series, The Homecoming Series, and The Beginnings Series.- on Kindle, Allromanceebooks, and many other places where ebooks are sold.
Look for my newest release- Dark Daze – Out now

JEALOUS PERSONS NEED NOT APPLY

Hey guys- how is your week this week? It has been a hectic two weeks for us in my neck of the woods. We had both Hurricane Sandy and the Nor-Easter. Needless to say, the cable and internet just came back on today and i am frantically trying to get all of the posts up that I missed the last two weeks. Hope you guys are doing well and I hope that it is a beautiful week where you are.

You ever read a really good romance novel- and it says to you: Jealous Persons Need Not Apply. I have read such a novel and I have to say it was damn good. First off, it was male/male sex and a story of lost virginity. The story line itself was a very good story. Far better than the last one I read. I am not a fan of erotica per se but I happened to think this was a good novel. See link to book review. http://yougottaread.com/review-geisha-for-hire-by-shawn-bailey/
Now another novel that may also fit this bill is one about a strip joint dancer trying to make a living and stay alive while fending off the groping hands of the patrons. See link to book review. This story though is a little closer to home because I met a woman who tried out for a dancer position at the bar on Route 1 in Elizabeth. If you know the establishment then I need not name it. Anyway, what I liked about this story is how it actually does show some jealousy in the writing just as the above story does as well. They both manifest themselves in different ways but always due to some romantic and protective inclinations.
Here is why I say jealous persons need not apply-because in every romance novel they either die or go to prison for their feelings of jealousy. The other party involved in that threesome, being a cop, a bodyguard, a business man or just a neighbor, has these big feelings of protecting their women and so they have to rid their women of that problem- hence the jealous person goes away.
But doesn’t jealousy make the novel go `round? If not for the jealous person on either side there may be no conflict in the novel. In other words you have a nice, easygoing read with no major stress except for that of a relationship learning itself until marriage. But who wants to read a novel like that all the time? Not even I want to read a novel like that all the time. As I have gotten older, I move more towards romantic suspense and thrillers as well as contemporary romance and young adult romance. All have in common, conflict- jealousy, money and other problems. These take my mind and yours I am sure off of your own daily problems and into their problems. I wouldn’t change the stories for the world. But maybe a little written differently but it is because I would prefer the story to go a different way.
Recently, I had a guy try to talk to me and he thought I had said to him that I didn’t know him. The reason for me relating this will be apparent shortly. At the same time, since I have no television and no internet I am watching the remainder of the Beauty and the Beast DVD set that I had gotten as a present from a friend. And it’s because of this guy who had the main protagonist/heroine kidnapped to steal her child after it’s born. Later I found out his name was Pope. Meanwhile it took me three to four episodes to figure this out. It would have been a lot easier just to have his name on a plate at the door but that would defeat the secrecy of his actions. Back to the beginning, the guy must have thought I said it about him but I hadn’t. Now take it further, had it been a romance novel and we were in a relationship or the beginning of the relationship would you consider that jealousy on my part because he is a man who has many women or because I was inadequate or just plain angriness on his part because I denied knowing him? Jealous persons need not apply in some relationships they cause more problems than anything else and the other party doesn’t want a lot to do with them. Because they are forever looking over their shoulder waiting for the other shoe to drop. This you see in a lot of true life stories that end up in murder and they always start out romantic and end up a nightmare.
To sum up, jealous persons need not apply is my motto when it comes to reading some novels. But the stories that show their actions and reactions to the jealousy make for a very interesting and tasty read.
So fellow readers and authors, all you fans out there, whether romance or not, I entice you to pick up a romance novel this weekend or the rest of the week you are unable to do anything due to Hurricane Sandy, and pour a glass of your favorite drink, pull up an afghan on your lap in your favorite chair and read. Oh, and you might want to do the same for your little one.
A Bientôt Mes Amies!

5 Great Lines – Lia Habel, Dearly, Departed

Love can never die.Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.

5 Great Lines from Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel

1

“Real ladies can give orders, Real gentlemen can take them, and Real zombies don’t eat brains.”

2

The fact that she made this beeline for me both warmed my soul and made me want to turn around, walk out the door, and find a cliff to fling myself off of.

3

I ran this through my “girl talk” translator and said, “I could eat him, if either of you’d like. Seems like it might be the easiest thing to do.”

4

“Seriously,let me talk to her when she wakes up. Girl-to-girl.”
“No offense, Chas, but you’d scare the crap out of her.”
“Want to say that to my face, Coalhouse?”
“What’s left of it.”

5

I wondered if there was a crazy person’s license you had to apply for, some seminar you had to attend, or if you could just walk out of the house one day and get started.

 

—
Ava Delany
The Fetish Club Series, The Homecoming Series, and The Beginnings Series.- on Kindle, Allromanceebooks, and many other places where ebooks are sold.
Look for my newest release- Dark Daze – Out now