Happy December! Yes, I write dark paranormals about vampires, shifters, and witches. But hey, just because they live in a dark and sexy world doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy the holiday season. The heroine of Claimed, Emma Paulsen, is a geneticist who finds herself mated to the king of the vampires. Although she’s rather busy, the woman loves Christmas. Here are the top five presents for Emma Paulsen:

1) A bat. Yeah, a Louisville slugger. The king is domineering and stubborn…his mate might need to clock him one once in a while.

2) A fan. The king is also sexier than heck. Dage can heat up a room.

3) Yoga for a Vampire Mate. The woman could use some down time. I mean, she’s been kidnapped by an evil vampire race, rescued by the sexiest vamp alive, and charged with creating a cure for a virus that may destroy her sister. Yoga might be good.

4) Immortality for Dummies. Emma is a scientist and thus feels the need to experiment a bit. In Claimed, she was rather curious about how quickly her thumb would heal if she broke it, not quite understanding that these things take time. One of the brothers…(well, you should read it). 

5) A personal shopper. Let’s just say that sometimes the king gets a little impatient when it comes to clothing. I’m not sure how many of Emma’s outfits hit the floor in Claimed, but there were a few!

Just a quick reminder (yes, it’s on the Latest News page, too).  If you’re in the area, I’d love to see you there!

Hi all!  First, CLAIMED is out in the wild today!  Emma and Dage’s story is available in bookstores starting today…go out and hunt it down!  I thought I’d run a fun contest since CLAIMED is out there, and the winner will be sent the first ARC of HUNTED, which is book 3 in the Dark Protector Series.  All you have to do is take  a picture of CLAIMED on your e-reader, or find a copy of CLAIMED in a store, take a picture, and email it as an attachment to:

Claimed_darkprotectors@yahoo.com

You have until I receive the ARCs of HUNTED for me to draw a name.  HUNTED will be released on May 1, 2012, so I should have ARCs several months before that.  I’ll also feature pictures with photo credit on my blog once in a while. 

The e-format of CLAIMED should be downloadable starting NOW next Tuesday, November 1st for your computer or e-reader.  (Mine just downloaded to my kindle).

Here’s the blurb for CLAIMED:

While geneticist Emma Paulsen appreciates vampire king Dage Kayrs rescuing her from the evil, pasty, creepy Kurjan leader who wanted to mate with her, she wouldn’t have needed rescuing had the vampires not gone to war.  And while she’s willing to spend one night fulfilling her fantasies with Dage, no way does she plan to stick around for good.  Whether the king happened to brand her flesh or not.

That is until her pregnant sister, Cara, contracts a Kurjan virus that will not only destroy the baby but strip Cara’s chromosomal pairs until she’s possibly less than human.  A virus that turns shifters into werewolves.  A bug that requires science, magic and physics to be quashed.  Emma will have to suspend her every belief in science and to trust the vampires in order to save her sister.

Dage Kayrs has waited three centuries to find his mate.  As King of the Realm, he’s accustomed to diplomacy and design, although he’d rather rip his enemy’s head off than negotiate.  He’s tired of hiding his true nature.  He’s tired of being alone.  But the greatest challenge of his long life will be in learning to compromise enough to keep Emma, his learning to bend during a time of war when his oldest friends might become his greatest enemies.

If you read CLAIMED, please drop me a line and let me know what you thought.  Also, feel free to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, B&N, Etc.  Thanks!

Excellent news, my friends.  The magnificent Megan just sent me the proposed cover for TEMPTED.  Isn’t it hot, hot, hot?!?  Tempted is an e-novella that will be released on March 27, 2012.  It’s about Max (Janie’s bodyguard) and a woman named Sarah Pringle.  Sarah just escaped from a mental institution.  You can buy Tempted on your kindle, nook, e-reader, computer, ipad…

Here’s a quick excerpt:

“Miss Pringle?  I’m coming in.”  The door opened on a gust of wind, and Max stepped inside.

“Wow.”  She could only gape.  Wet brown hair, thick and wavy, plastered to his head.  A soaked black t-shirt and jeans revealed rock hard muscle.  No injuries from the fight?  Perfectly healthy.  Not even winded.  He was the largest man she’d ever seen.  His face was rugged…strong.  Not handsome…but, well, masculine.  Yeah.  That was the term.  Deep, dark, and shielded brown eyes took her measure. 
A shiver slid down her spine—some fear—some intrigue.  “How did you find me?”

“You left a trail a first week Boy Scout could follow.  I saw you heading for the tower, so I just kept pace until you got here.”  He eyed her sopping clothing, dark gaze wandering up to her face.  “Your lips are blue.”  Three steps had him at the cabinets, yanking them open to grab a sealed bag.  Those large hands ripped open the bag and yanked out two wool blankets.  “Take your clothes off.”

“No.”  It came out on a croak.  How insulting.  He’d been tracking her, easily keeping her in sight.  So much for getting to freedom.  “We need to run.  If you’re here…they’re coming.”

He wiped his forehead with his arm.  “No, they’re not.”

Her mind spun.  If they weren’t coming—they were dead.  “You killed four of
them?”  She backed away, knees hitting the cot.  Her teeth chattered and she
clenched her lips together.  How had he survived?  “What the hell are you?” 

“A damn good fighter.”  One broad hand ripped his wet shirt over his head to hang on a nail. “We’ll wait the storm out—but you need to warm up.”

A good enough fighter to kill four deadly monsters?  That good of a fighter didn’t exist.  Neither did absolutely perfect, harder than granite, sculpted male chests.  Oh she
wished he’d put his shirt back on.  The breath heated in her lungs.  “No.”

“No to what?” 

“No to you beating the Kurjans.  No to there being Kurjans.   No to taking off clothes.  No to it all.”  Hysteria had her vision blurring.

“Stay calm, sweetheart.”  He moved toward her, slow and steady.  Like an animal stalking
prey.  Except he looked more like a mountain than an animal.  Not one of those rolling hills from home…but a real mountain.  Jagged and wild—yet solid with the earth.  Unmovable.

Instinct had her raising her fists, preparing to fight.

He stopped cold.  Those eyes warmed and he cocked his head to the side.  “Honey, take your thumbs out of your closed fists.”

1) Romance readers have some serious depth.  I spent several emails with one fan about the philosophy of good vs. evil and whether the Kurjans even had a chance to be good.  Loved it!

2)    Any jackass can leave a review on goodreads or amazon.  My favorite was the gal who sent people to buy her book instead.  Classy.

3)    Readers like the heartwarming stuff…even in a sexy book.  I’ve had more comments about how cute the big, bad, vamps are with little Janie. 

4)    People who tell you the ‘sex is too much’ in book one…have already preordered book 2.  Yeah.  You know who you are.  🙂

5)    If someone tells me how wonderful the “world building” was…the sex may have been too much for them.

6)    Getting stressed about aspiring authors dropping your name to your editor or agent is just silly…they’re used to it.

7)    It’s a high-low profession.  One day a national magazine recommends your
book…the next day another national magazine doesn’t like your characters.  Keep it steady by remembering…it’s all about the story.  Forget the rest.

8)    Promotion and social media are a must.  But writing the story should always come first.

9)    Your editor is on your side—completely.  Anyone who thinks it’s a battle between the author and the editor…probably doesn’t have an editor yet.

10)  It’s okay to say ‘no’…even if you’re a nice person and really do want to help people.  Unfortunately, there’s only so much time in the day, and hopefully you have a life too.  Protect that.