Showing posts with label romantic fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label romantic fiction. Show all posts

Sunday, April 1, 2012

WHITE TIGER IS RELEASED TODAY IN PRINT!

WHITE TIGER, book one in the Chronicles of Kassouk series, was first published in eBook This multiple award-winning eBook is also being released TODAY IN PAPERBACK. Now that the series in eBooks is complete (with the publication today of the prequel, Noah's Ark), the books are coming out in paperback in the order they were originally published in eBooks, for those of you who do not yet read digitally.

WHITE TIGER:

On the frozen plains of Kassouk, where a few aliens rule a medieval Human world, Tora, Human warrior trained by tigers, seeks her father’s murderer. But what she finds at the point of her sword confuses her. How dare Dragomir, the handsome Mutant, question her bloodline and her loyalties? And could a new enemy control the savage hordes of the fringe?

Dragomir offers to help, but Humans and Mutants are forbidden to fraternize under penalty of death... Should Tora trust her mind, her instincts, or her heart?

In the vortex of war, treason and intrigue, among blizzards, avalanches and ambushes, will Tora solve the mystery of her father’s death and unveil the secret of her birth? Can she and Dragomir escape persecutions long enough to save their planet from the invaders and fulfill their destiny?

REVIEWS:
"...an exceptional tale that belongs in a place of honor on keeper shelves everywhere."
Johnna Flores - Coffee Time Romance - 5-cups rating

"...this is one futuristic that you do not want to miss!"
Naomi - Fallen Angels Reviews - 5 angels - Recommended Read

"...kept me enthralled from the first page...a thrilling science fiction romance"
Marlene Breakfield, Paranormal Romance Reviews

"I'm adding this to my 'keeper' shelf and on the 'to be re-read' list."
Niniri Theriault for The Road to Romance

The paperback is available from the publisher, Desert Breeze Publishing, and from Amazon, as well as B&N and other bookstores, online, and you can order it from your favorite bookstore.

Find all my books on Amazon:
HERE

Vijaya Schartz
Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick
Find all my books on Amazon: HERE

NOAH'S ARK - Prequel to the Chronicles of Kasouk - Sci-fi Romance by Vijaya Schartz

After my readers requested it, here is the sequel to the CHRONICLES OF KASSOUK romantic science fiction series, titled NOAH'S ARK. It's the story of what happened a few hundred years before White Tiger, the story of the very first Human settlers on New Earth. And it's being released today from Desert Breeze Publishing.

NOAH'S ARK

When Trixie's starfreighter, Noah's Ark, drops out of jump space in an uncharted part of the universe, she believes the M-class planet on her viewer represents hope and salvation for her motley crew and the ragtag settlers aboard her ship.
Kostas, ex Space Marine, the expert survivalist recruited for this expedition, doesn't believe in coincidences, and knows that when something looks too good to be true, it usually is.
Everyone on this voyage to seed a new planet with life, is running from something, and harbors dangerous secrets... including Trixie, who vowed to never let a man control her life again. As for Kostas, he would get lynched on the spot if anyone suspected who he really is.
But on this seemingly abandoned planet, others are watching, herding them for evil purposes... And when the truth emerges and secrets unravel, Trixie and Kostas will have to fight for survival, for freedom, and for the right to love...

The other books in the series are all available in eBooks everywhere. Here is the right chronology for the entire series:

NOAH'S ARK (prequel) - WHITE TIGER (Book One) - RED LEOPARD (Book Two) - BLACK JAGUAR (Book Three) - BLUE LIONESS (Book Four)

I believe this series is now complete, so if you were waiting to get it all at one time, do not hesitate anymore. Here is the link to the publisher's page for the book, but it is available (or will be in a day or two) everywhere eBooks are sold. For now you can find it on Amazon and at Desert Breeze Publishing HERE

Happy reading!

Vijaya Schartz
Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com/
Vijaya's books on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Vijaya-Schartz/e/B001JP7UJ4
You may have to search for Noah's Ark, which may not yet be on my Amazon Author Page yet but is available if you search Amazon by title.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Lorelei Confer



Good morning! Since this is my first time here I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Lorelei Confer and I write romantic suspense.
I wrote my first story in the fourth grade in the form of a play which actually was produced by my teacher for parents and students. I continued writing and majored
in English in College. I practice every day to improve my craft.
An author of romantic suspense I love reading almost as much as writing. I have filled my book shelves with my favorites, i.e. Harlan Colban, Eliza March, Johanna Lindsey, Kathy Carmichael, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Andrew Gross, Terri Garey, Karen Rose, LuAnn Rice, and Bobbi Smith just to mention a few, as well as all the classics.
I live on a peninsula in the mid west coast of Florida with my husband, two cats, and AJ, my long haired Chihuahua.
I love hearing from readers so please visit my website: http://www.loreleiconfer.com/ or blog at http://www.loreleiconfer.blogspot.com/.
In doing research for my first book, Deadly Deception, I learned so much about Human Sex Trafficking and I really wanted to get the message out that this horrific crime is happening in your own backyard. I met with an undercover detective assigned to our local task force for human trafficking and from all the information I gleaned from him and numerous other interviews I have been able to put together realistic stories.
My second book, Deadly Revenge, happens in the North Carolina mountains which is the eighth likely state for human trafficking due to their interstate going north and south and east and west. Who knew?
The third book in the ‘Deadly’ series, http://www.bookstrand.com/deadly-deliverance Deadly Deliverance, is also about human sex trafficking but from an investigators point of view. It’s primarily located in the Washington, DC area and is available from Siren Bookstrand Jan 17th, 2012.
I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy researching and writing them.

Things get personal for Sam Brower, undercover task force detective for human trafficking, when his niece, Autumn, goes missing. To make matters worse, he’s forced to work with his ex-girlfriend, Lisa Conover, former DC cop, when she’s assigned to a cold case involving his long lost brother.

After infiltrating the gang responsible for the multiple abductions, Sam and Lisa try to unravel the stories behind the kidnapping of Autumn and the disappearance of Luke before their cover is blown.

Undercover work doesn’t lend well to trust. Even if they work together like a fine tuned
instrument, will Lisa and Sam be able to salvage love after all they’ve been through?

Story Excerpt:

“Ahh!! Oh!! Yes! Yes! It feels so good! Right there! Please, don’t stop, please,” Lisa Conover
muttered. “Harder, harder! No! Don’t leave now!” She groaned as she pounded her fists into the hardwood floor. “Damn it! Why did you stop?” she asked Godiva, her twenty-two pound silver tabby cat, who had jumped off her back and now sauntered over to a sunny spot on the carpet, flopping down in a very unladylike manner. Just like Sam used to do years ago, gets me feeling comfortable and then he takes off.
Lisa’s aching back muscles were so tight from hunching over her computer ten to twelve hours a day every day for the past weeks. She needed a massage. Better yet, she needed a vacation. She rolled over onto her back and stared above at the open-beamed ceiling of her log cabin in the North Carolina Mountains outside Hickoryville. She studied the accumulation of dust bunnies along the beams.
The setting sun cast shadows across the room as she gazed out the two-story floor to ceiling
windows on one wall. The view of the tranquil scenic mountains in its resplendent fall glory replaced some of the angst she felt about her work. She relaxed and stretched her arms above her head. Her stomach growled, reminding her she hadn’t had any lunch today.
She stood, trying to stretch her still-aching muscles by turning side to side at the waist, touching her toes—or attempting to anyway.
Then maybe she could get a few more hours of work done before bedtime.
After putting down fresh water and food for Godiva she opened the fridge hoping to find something for dinner. She knew what she would find but she looked anyway. It was empty except for a couple of eggs, and an older-than-she-knew container of yogurt she couldn’t trust anymore.
She glimpsed down at Godiva who had already finished her dinner.
“I think I’ll run down to The Barn and get something to eat. You can hold down the fort here for a while, right?” she asked Godiva who sauntered away licking her lips.
She walked the short distance from the kitchen to the corner of the large open room to her
desk which held her state-of-the-art computer system with three screens and a laptop. She sat down to start turning everything off when the phone on her desk rang.
“Conover Investigations, Lisa speaking.”
“Hi, is Sam Brower there?”
“Sorry, but I haven’t heard from Sam in years. How did you get my number?”
“This is the last number I had for him. I really need to talk to him ASAP.”
“Maybe I can help you. What’s the problem?”
“No, I need to talk to Sam.”
“I’m sorry I can’t help you. Give me your name and a number where he can reach you, and if I hear from him I’ll let him know you’re trying to get in touch with him, okay?”
“My name’s Luke and he can reach me at …” Then the phone line went dead. He had hung up.
What is it about men? They never say good-bye.
ADULT Excerpt:

“Sam, have you really thought this through?” Lisa asked as she pulled her hair away from her
face.
“Of course I have. Do you think I really want to give up what we’ve just renewed?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, back the truck up,” Lisa said as she pushed away from him, her hands on his
chest. “What do you think has been renewed? Yes, we shared a couple of ‘hello’
kisses for old time’s sake, but that’s all.”
Sam turned and moved closer to her.
“Let’s take care of that right now. I know I want more out of our relationship, maybe even something permanent, don’t you?” He put his hands on her shoulders and attempted to pull her closer. She resisted.
He leaned in and kissed her shoulders, moving to her neck. She moved away. He pulled her closer and continued kissing her long neck, ears, and cheeks, moving toward her open and groaning mouth. Her hands moved to his elbows and then up to his shoulders until they were around his neck where she hung on for dear life.
His mouth moved to encompass hers, his tongue tangling with hers. He groaned as he pulled her
closer to rub against his erection. He walked her backwards toward the bed until the back of her legs could go no farther. They slowly tumbled to the bed without breaking the kiss. He held her in his arms, plundering her mouth. His hands moved up her side and found her breast. She wiggled. His fingers found her nipple and gently squeezed until it became erect and hard. He pulled up her blouse and broke the kiss to take his wet mouth to her breast. He moved her satin-and-lace bra out of the way and plundered her nipple. She groaned and arched toward him. His hand pulled up her skirt and reached for her feminine curls finding soft, satin-and-lace matching panties. He pulled them aside and reached for her hot wet spot waiting and ready for him.
His hand slid between her legs and brushed the dewy petals of her damp folds, sending a zing
of electricity through her entire body. Working a finger inside her, he growled, “Keep going,” with a jerk of his chin at her still hands.
He worked two fingers into her wet passage and stretched her wide. Her back arched as
delicious tremors and hot shocks of pleasure streaked through her body. His eyes as deep and dark as night, his gaze caressed her, traveling over her body to rest where his hand had disappeared between her legs.
Eyes heavy-lidded, he murmured, “I want to lick you all over like an ice cream cone.”
His heated look inflamed her blood, and a film of perspiration covered her skin. She tried to
fill her restricted lungs, but there wasn’t enough air in the room.
He moved his fingers inside her. He was huge, jutting past his belly button, a network of
veins distended in stark relief along the length.
He was stroking himself while he was pleasuring her. He rolled on top of her and, finding the
exact spot, he thrust inside her. She arched her hips toward him, wanting more, and he thrust deeper. In and out, in and out, their rhythm soon matched until they both spiraled out of control and into ecstasy.
Sam moved off her but lay close beside her, wrapping his arms tightly around her. He didn’t want
to let her go.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

The power of music and names.

Curious to discover the impact music has on people and animals David Merrill set up an experiment using mice.  He wanted to know whether different types of music would impede or enhance the animals learning patterns and behaviour.

For one group of mice he played classical music twenty-four-seven, and the second group listened to heavy metal over the same time period.

He released the first group into a maze and studied their learning abilities and social behaviour patterns. At the same time he released the second group of mice into a similar maze.  Unfortunately the second group of mice never reached the end of the experiment because they set about and killed each other.  Needless to say David Merrill abandoned the experiment.

The film industry has known about the impact of music on human behaviour for decades.  They use it to add influence to their scenes and, to a certain extent, to control their audiences’ reactions.  You only have to ‘listen to the kind of music used in horror, Halloween, ghost and other paranormal films.

This powerful tool is not available to authors so what can they do to subliminally influence their reader’s attitude towards certain characters?  Obviously actions, physical appearance and attitudes all play a part, but in the real world not all antagonists are ugly, badly educated, ignorant, and uncouth.  Many are suave and sophisticated, and use their looks and charms to play their victims.

But there is another tool in a writers’ arsenal.

Names!

In my debut novel, The Brat, published by The Wild Rose Press, Denny Cadmore was ‘the baddie’.  With a name like Cadmore what other part could he play?  The use of an old fashioned term ‘cad’ subliminally inserts the information they’ve met the antagonist and then verifies it as the reader progresses into the story.

In my current novel Duty Calls, published by Black Opal Books, the hero insisted on the name ‘Hawk’.  Eventually we agreed on Rafe Hawk.  A Hawk is a bird of prey, tenacious, patient and goes for what it perceives as beneficial to it.  i.e. Its wits and intelligence to catch  its prey to feed and stay alive in times of adversity.



In my upcoming novella, From Now Until Forever, published by Astraea Press, my hero is a prince.  After all there’s been a spate of royal weddings around the world, while the interest is high.  I gave my prince the surname Gasquet, simply because Henri Gasquet, the French tennis player is amazing to watch.  I gave him the name Liam because the second in line to the British throne, Prince William, married his Kate just a few days before I began writing From Now until Forever, and I saw no reason for not following the trend and cashing in while I could. LOL.




Amazon, Kindle, Nook and several other e-outlets.

The Cost of Halloween?

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $5.8bn (£3.6bn) on Halloween last year. In times of spending cuts and job insecurity that is a staggering amount of money.
In some instances, according to a survey by market research firm Mintel, preparations begin weeks before the event and discovered 23% of Americans would buy special decorations for their home, the second largest proportion for any holiday, after Christmas.
Welcome to the world of the "home haunters", enthusiasts who dedicate months every year putting together awesome Halloween displays in their front gardens.
For most there is no commercial element. They do it because they can and they enjoy both the preparation and the reactions of the legions of parents and young trick-or-treaters who turn up at suburban front gardens to see how far a hobby can go.
In some instances fame spread so far and wide arrangement had to be put in place to control the sight-seers such as closing off roads.  In some cases home owners have had to move if they wanted to maintain their annual displays, while others raise funds for charity.
For some, their love of Halloween has created businesses.  Such as for the man who spends most of his year carving custom ordered tombstones!
Lesley Bannatyne, author of Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History, explains that while it originated in the UK, Halloween started took on an important, communal element in the early 20th Century when it was something that could be celebrated by a range of immigrant communities. Although the UK is taking Halloween more seriously it has to compete with Bonfire Night just a few days later. But it would be hard to argue that the UK even comes close to matching the US in the sheer visible exuberance of Halloween.


You can find out about Romance author Sherry Gloag at her website
or visit her blog at
You'll find reviews for all her books

Click HERE to read the Blurb for
From Now Until Forever

Sunday, October 2, 2011

WELCOME TO THE BOREALIS SPACE STATION

BLACK DRAGON is only one of the novellas set in the BOREALIS universe. But if you are a fan of sci-fi and you like romance, you'll love this series. After two BOREALIS anthologies, come two single title novellas from DESERT Breeze Publishing this month. Here is the complete series so far:

In orbit around Sestus-3, a minor star in a dying system half way between Corabora Prime and Pith, hovering at the edge of conquered space sits an aging space station under the control of the Trans Planetary Protectorate. The Borealis is slowly falling apart as the Protectorate funnels its massive resources into the border wars and keeping the outlaying systems in line, as insurrections break out and a subversive group known as The Rebellion gather and organize to take back what TPP has taken away.

The Borealis is a hive of villainy where anything can be bought or sold -- anything or anyone -- if the price is right. Boasting the slogan 'The last stop for debauchery before falling off the edge of the universe', the station and its inhabitants do their best to live up to the motto.

Once intended to function as a city unto itself when the universe first began to 'shrink' and Mankind spread out into the stars. Exploration turned into domination. Nearly a hundred years have passed since then, and now the Trans Planetary Protectorate governs all. The Borealis, once a thriving station, is now little more than a slum town, decrepit and crumbling.

When the last stop to nowhere is the first stop to rebellion, the lives of a few outcasts are the only thing standing between the Universe and all out war.

BOREALIS  ANTHOLOGY  BOOK ONE:
Contains novellas by

BOREALIS  ANTHOLOGY BOOK TWO
Contains novellas by:



BOREALIS - THIS SINCING FEELING
by Michelle Levigne - October 15, 2011 

HAPPY READING.
Vijaya Schartz
Romantic Science Fiction with a Kick

BLACK DRAGON - a romantic novella of the Borealis Space Station Universe - by Vijaya Schartz

BLACK DRAGON
A Borealis Novella
Romantic Science Fiction
by Vijaya Schartz
Desert Breeze Publishing
October 1, 2011
A gambler is cheating in a den of the Borealis space station, and Lieutenant Zara  Frankel intends to catch him in the act. She always gets her man, but this one could prove more than she can handle.

Captain Czerno Drake, code name Black Dragon, has come under cover to break his innocent uncle from the most secure penitentiary in the galaxy, on the Borealis space station. He will stop at nothing to succeed, even enrolling the help of the lovely straight arrow TPP enforcer. When Zara realizes that she's been used by a shrewd but seductive rebel, her reaction surprises everyone, most of all herself.

EXCERPT:

When she breezed through the doors of the crowded and noisy casino, Zara glided straight to the private area behind the row of tall greenery and searched the high stakes tables for her suspected cheater. The owner said he wore a tan and yellow outfit and flaunted a white fluffy Terran cat. An ostentatious luxury.
She easily spotted the caramel overcoat and the sleeping white fluff on the pink gambling table. From the back, as she walked toward the table, she studied the square shoulders stretching the expensive velvet, strong shoulders for a pleasure-seeking dandy. The gleaming dark hair tied at the nape with a yellow silk scarf denoted a rare degree of refinement for a human male, and as she neared him, the musky scent of his cologne made her best perfume seem cheap in comparison.
Just before she reached him, he turned around, rose from his chair, and smiled down at her. He stood taller than she expected, muscular, with strong thighs bulging under the caramel velvet pants tucked into soft brown boots.
"Captain Czerno Drake, of the Providence. Lucky Drake to the ladies." The deep baritone voice rumbled low, like a sexy promise. The regular planes of his face, the square jaw, high forehead, dark brow, and the sparkle in his deep topaz eyes under thick eyelashes screamed of perfect genes and high-born society.
         When he took her hand and kissed her fingers lightly, a frisson crossed her spine and her legs melted like chocolate in a solar flare. Despite the extraordinary refinement of his garb and manners, this man was alpha-male through and through, and as wild as they came. Eye candy in caramel velvet and yellow silk wrapping. All she could think about was unwrapping him, like a present at yuletide.

Find it and other titles by Vijaya Schartz at:

AMAZON VIJAYA - B&N Vijaya Nooks - All Romance eBooks

Find out more on Vijaya's website at:
http://www.vijayaschartz.com/

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Cupid ~ by any other name...

Say ‘Cupid’ and everyone thinks of cubby cherubs, hearts and flowers and Valentine’s day.

Say EROS, or even KAMA, and I think most would give you a blank stare and say ‘Huh?’  And yet they are, as the saying goes, ‘A rose by any other name…’ or to be exact A Cupid by another name.
Take EROS, good old Greek Eros, who just happens to be the same little guy as the Romans call Cupid.  In ancient paintings Eros is depicted as either a handsome youth or as a child. His attributes were varied: from the usual bow and arrows, to the gifts of a lover.
Like Cupid Eros had/has a penchant for letting fly with his bow and arrows, but few people think of hearts and flowers in relation to Eros.  In romance fiction they are more likely to equate Eros with erotica, a whole sub genre of the romance book scene.
According to WikipediA ‘Erotic literature comprises fictional and factual stories and accounts of human sexual relationships which have the power to or are intended to arouse the reader sexually.’
Given EROS is often described as the mischievous god of love, a minion and constant companion of the goddess Aphrodite, it’s not really surprising.

Look up KAMA, the Hindu equivalent of Cupid and Eros, and you will come across the Kamasutra, often described as 'the bible for good sexual relationships'.

It seems that each, in their own way, has contributed to love, romance, and soul mates.  But only Cupid bagged the single purpose-day-holiday when people all over the world celebrate, renew and remember why they need love in their lives.

Is it any wonder that so many authors enjoy weaving such wonderful stories around Cupid in all his guises?

The Wrong Target by Sherry Gloag is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk and many other places online



You can find Sherry Gloag at
Website: www.sherrygloag.com
Blogspot: http://tinyurl.com/68oomm6

Her latest books can be found here and other places online:-
The Wrong Target - http://tinyurl.com/5vadzhq
And
The Brat, her debut novel - http://tinyurl.com/5spkumm