Tuesday, January 29, 2013

My Marshal's better than...

Lena Diaz and Angi Morgan have a lot in common. They're Unsinkable Sisters, both 2010 RWA® Golden Heart  finalists, are celebrating the release of their third books, both won the Daphne du Maurier (unpublished) and both have U.S. Marshal stories out in February: DANGEROUS MEMORIES & THE MARSHAL'S WITNESS (click on the title for an excerpt).

EXCITING !! So exciting they decided to share a blog today and talk about their heroes!

U.S. Marshals make great heroes. What's not to love about a man who's willing to die for someone? Criminal or innocent witness, Marshals put their lives on the line protecting people every day. And of course, in Angi and Lena's stories, Levi Cooper and Ryan Jackson are sexy protectors doing just that. Levi has known Jolene for several years, but Ryan has just been assigned Jessica Delaney. Reading these similar--yet completely different--stories should be lots of fun.

So Angi and Lena thought they'd compare Marshals in a fun way. 
Remember that old tune MY DOG'S BIGGER THAN YOUR DOG?  by Tom Paxton? Well the fun "sharing" became a very fun "comparison."  LOL

So Angi, why don't you start us off …

Well, I never claimed to be a song writer, but here goes.
My guy's bigger than Lena's guy,
My guy's bigger than yours,
My Marshal's bigger
and he chases big bad men,
My guy's bigger than yours.
So not a song writer.

Lena’s turn…
Size DOES matter Angi and I assure you my guy is the PERFECT size!
My guy’s tougher than Angi’s guy,
My guy’s gorgeous too,
My Marshal’s a former Green Beret (top that Angi!),
And a much better lover!
My guy’s tougher than yours.

A better lover, Lena? I don’t think so. One kiss rocked my heroine’s world for four years. LOL
Our train's faster than your car,
Our running's faster than yours,
We have sirens,
and murder and lots of guns,
Our train's faster than yours.
Just remember to smile while you’re reading this and think of the tune. LOL

Faster isn’t necessarily better, darlin’. Remember that better lover line above? Ha!
Our explosions are louder than yours are,
Our guns are louder than yours,
My heroine’s in trouble,
So my hero’s there on the double,
My Marshal’s bigger, tougher, louder than yours!
And he has stubble. Who can resist stubble???

Can anyone resist stubble? Angi?

My Marshal has stubble… and I think Lena's much better at song writing than me. (grin)
My Marshal's …umm. My Marshal's…well, darn. UNCLE. 
I give up since I'm making my Marshal sound, well… (grin)  


Marshal Levi Cooper is committed, loyal, dedicated and--of-course--gorgeous (did you see how cut he is on the cover?). He's the go-to guy in the Denver office. A work-a-holic who longs for more when he meets Jo. Deep down he knows his Sunday afternoon check-ins on the Atkins duo are more than routine visits. And then his witness, Jo's father, goes outside the program and is murdered. Levi vows to protect Jo no matter what and hates hurting her by dredging up buried memories. IF she remembers, he'll lose her to WITSEC. If she doesn't…she'll be killed. DANGEROUS MEMORIES was a cool story to write and I can't wait to hear from readers about their impression of Levi.


(Thank goodness she cried Uncle because I was so there, ready to cry off!)

Okay, Marshal Ryan Jackson would totally look cut on my cover if it weren’t for the long sleeves he’s wearing. But he’s smart enough not to wear short sleeves in the Smoky Mountains when it’s late fall. But come on, look at his face! He’s HOT. What I love the most is his sense of honor and justice. And since the heroine is a former criminal, it takes a LOT for him to move beyond his distrust of her and to allow himself to see past the crimes to the real person, and to understand why she made the choices she made. But even before that, because of his deep sense of honor and duty to the witness he’s sworn to protect, he risks explosions, fires, bullets, and bears to save our lovely heroine! I’m excited to see what readers think about THE MARSHAL’S WITNESS and my sexy, honorable hero.
~ ~ ~
LENA DIAZ is a romantic suspense author. Her debut novel, HE KILLS ME, HE KILLS ME NOT, released by Avon Impulse in 2011. The story was a finalist in the 2010 RWA Golden Heart and won both the 2009 TARA and the 2010 Daphne du Maurier awards.   


FIND LENA
Website   Facebook   Twitter @LenaDiaz    Goodreads
~ ~ ~
Angi Morgan writes “Intrigues where honor and danger collide with love.” She combines actual Texas settings with characters who are in realistic and dangerous situations. Angi has been a finalist in the Bookseller’s Best Award, Romantic Times Best First Series, Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence and the Daphne du Maurier.

FIND ANGI
Website   Connect on Facebook   FB Fan Page   Twitter @AngiMorganAuthr
A Picture A Day   Goodreads  (separate book give away)

ENTER TO WIN Angi’s January monthly contest.  The January Giveaway ends on January 31st, winner announced February 2nd. Registration is through Rafflecopter.

Angi's giving a copy of Lena's book to a lucky blog commenter today (don't forget your email).
WHAT DO YOU THINK about our Marshals? Or can you add a verse to the impromptu song?

39 comments:

  1. I do appreciate our US Marshals. Also a fan of the show In Plain Sight.

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    1. I LOVED IN PLAIN SIGHT. I still watch it. The writing was great and acting superb. I had the idea for DANGEROUS MEMORIES before the series (yay). And since I wasn't actually within the realm of WITSEC procedures...whew--I think my story's original. :-)

      Thanks for stopping by Jane.
      ~Angi

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  2. U.S. Marshals do make great heroes I must say.

    I'll leave the creative verse writing to others thank you.

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    1. I think I've loved all the U.S. Marshal shows on television or in the movies. So I totally agree, Mary. That verse...wow, much harder than it appears.
      ~Angi

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  3. Since I am Canadian, I'm always fascinated by all the different levels of law enforcement in the USA.I'm going to love reading about these two marshals.

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    1. HEY KAELEE !! It is amazing. And every state is different. We have RANGERS here in Texas--always have. Do they have anything special in your state, Lena?

      ~Angi

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  4. I like US Marshalls. Give me Raylen Givens from Justified anytime.

    Angi - I won your book I am pretty sure - Can;t wait to get it

    Lena - I would love to win your book too.

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    1. I have been waiting to see JUSTIFIED, Tammy. I need a rainy day without deadlines to watch episodes back to back, starting from the beginning. Can't wait.
      ~Angi

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    2. Hi Tammy! Sorry I'm so late to the game today. Had a busy crazy day. I haven't seen Justified. I'll have to look into it.

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  5. Singing your song made me think what the faces of those U.S. Marshalls must look like if they heard you. LOL. Love the Harlequin Intrigue line and am looking forward to reading these two books. Thanks for sharing.
    grandmabkr at yahoo dot com

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    1. OH MY, Brenda...I didn't think of their faces at all. :-)
      Glad we stopped when we did.
      ~Angi

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    2. Thanks for stopping by Brenda. I'm so glad you love the Intrigue line. It's such a joy to write for that line. It's the absolute perfect blend of suspense and romance IMHO!

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  6. Oh, I just love this! I never realized, well I never put the two of you side by side, that is to see how much you have in common. Now stop fighting over who's marshal is bigger and better and give each other a high five! You're both wonderful!!! And thanks a lot... Now I have that song in my head!

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    1. HEY DONNELL !! Each time I come check on comments, I start singing the song again. I didn't realize how much Lena and I had in common either. I just know that we chatted one day at the 2010 RWA conference...and we were friends. Thanks for dropping by!
      ~Angi

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    2. Hi Donnell! You are totally one of my favorite suspense authors, and of course a friend. Thank you so much for stopping by. Angi has been WONDERFUL to me and so welcoming. She really has helped me acclimate to being an Intrigue author since she's been doing it a little longer than me (my first books are with Avon). It were her idea for the song/rhymes. I was quite skeptical but had a blast. She's so creative!

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    3. Um, it *WAS* not it *WERE*. Ugh. Hate it when I type too fast and do things like that!

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  7. I do value our U.S marshals and I love the movie U.S Marshals.

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    1. I REALLY enjoyed that movie, too, Kim. You couldn't go wrong with that cast. Awesome that they followed up with THE FUGITIVE in such a logical way.
      ~Angi

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    2. Loved those movies too! Of course you can't go wrong with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones!

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  8. Both book sound totally intriguing! And I know y'all didn't mean it this way, but...

    Faster isn’t necessarily better, darlin’. Remember that better lover line above? Ha!

    Our explosions are louder than yours are...

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    1. ABIGAIL...that's why I had to stop. I kept setting her up and Lena would knock it out of the bedroom!
      ~Angi

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    2. Ha, ha, ha! You're both cracking me up. This was such a fun blog to do together! Thanks for stopping by Abigail.

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  9. I have not had the pleasure of reading Lena Diaz before... have to visit her site and look around.
    Love the look and sound of both Marshals...I have enough reading love to go around, LOL.
    greenshamrock AT cox DOT net

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    1. COLLEEN, I'm reading THE MARSHAL'S WITNESS today and wow... Explosive start (literally) and just keeps going. Congrats to Lena !
      ~Angi

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    2. (blush) Thanks so much Angi. I'm reading yours too and loving it! Colleen, thanks so much for stopping by. I really hope you read both our books and let us know what you think. I LOVE hearing from readers! You can always drop me a line through my website www.LenaDiaz.com! Take care.

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  10. They sound good.

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  11. Laura AKA Loves 2 Read RomanceJanuary 29, 2013 at 6:45 PM

    I love U.S. Marshal stories! I know I won a copy of Dangerous Memories earlier and can't wait to read it. I will have to check out The Marshal's Witness.

    Everyone was mentioning their love of stories with marshals as the heroes and back in 2010 Love Inspired Suspense had a six book continuity call Protecting the Witness. I really enjoyed the series and have posted a link to the first book of the series on amazon below.
    http://www.amazon.com/Twin-Targets-Inspired-Suspense-ebook/dp/B002WEPCKA/ref=pd_sim_kstore_5

    fantum2004ATsbcglobalDOTnet

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    1. Hi Laura! I love continuities. Thanks so much for sending the link. I'll check it out. And I think you'll really enjoy Dangerous Memories. I'm only on Chapter Three so far but it has totally pulled me in. Lots of action and really emotional, exactly the kind of book I enjoy.

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    2. I'm sooo glad you love Marshals, Laura! And thanks for that continuity link !

      And Lena, whew...I'm relieved DANGEROUS MEMORIES is holding your interest. I am returning to Ryan and Jessica right now! WOOT WOOT!
      ~Angi

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  12. Okay Lena... No Tuesday night TV for me. Nine chapters down and racing through more pages.
    ~Angi

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    1. Go Angi, go! So glad you are enjoying The Marshal's Witness!

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  13. I'm late to the Marshal fight--but it was FUN. Can't wait to read both books and make my own decision. I'm so proud of you both and honored to be one of your Unsinkable sisters.
    Congrats my friends!!

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    1. Thanks so much Liz! I've been enjoying your quilting pics on facebook. My mom is a quilter too. My favorite pattern is the drunkard's path. Oh, and I love the wedding ring pattern too.

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    2. Thanks Liz. The post was fun to write. I always wanted to quilt. Never had the time or opportunity. But I defintiely admire the craftmanship.
      ~Angi

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  14. All finished with THE MARSHAL'S WITNESS. Wow... wow...and triple wow.

    GREAT JOB LENA !
    ~Angi

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    1. Thank you so much Angi! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I've been slammed with work and have had little reading time but I can't wait to get back to your book. So far it is freaking awesome!

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    2. "Stroking" aside. I'm relieved you're enjoying it. :-)
      ~Angi

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  15. CONGRATULATIONS, KIM.
    You've won a copy of Lena's THE MARSHAL'S WITNESS.
    Please contact me at Angi@AngiMorgan.com.

    ~Angi

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