Saturday, August 31, 2013

GLITTER and GUNFIRE by Cynthia Eden

GLITTER AND GUNFIRE

Miniseries: Shadow Agents
ISBN: 9780373697120 (#1445)

HE WAS ASSIGNED TO PROTECT HER—NOT MAKE HER HIS OWN— IN THIS INSTALLMENT OF USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR CYNTHIA EDEN'S SHADOW AGENTS SERIES.

Cale Lane had his orders: keep Cassidy Sherridan alive at all costs. But who sent six armed men storming the Rio ballroom to take her out? The gorgeous party girl wasn't giving it up. Now he had a more urgent mission: uncover Cassidy's secrets…one by one.

Cassidy didn't need the former Texas Ranger to play hero and blow her cover. Using herself as bait was the first step in bringing a killer to justice. How could she do that with Cale shadowing her every move…and awakening feelings that tempted her to put her life–and heart–on the line?

Read an Excerpt

Available at eHarlequin and other book retailers

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

THROUGH MY LENS

with Angi Morgan

My current work-in-progress involves a camera and one of my favorite settings in the Davis Mountains. It got me looking at the pictures we took out there in May 2012. But this particular picture is from our drive to Branson, MO. LOL






I really wish we'd had the better camera on all our hikes while in the Davis Mountains National Park. But we're planning another trip. Tim needs better photographs for the book trailers.









Another from Branson (or close to it).
This is a cove at Table Rock Lake.













This is from the opposite side of Table Rock on a different trip last December.










I have to say that I prefer the new camera...






...but the old one worked pretty well.










We've also gone to a lot of Texas Rangers games this season. I can see into the dugouts from across the stadium.


The zoom on the new camera is amazing.









Do you follow baseball? Ever root for the home team? Or have a favorite team picked for the World Series?

I'm giving away a book today to a random blog commenter. How about an autographed copy of CARLA CASSIDY'S Confessing To The Cowboy?

~ ~ ~ FIND ANGI ~ ~ ~
Website  Facebook Angi Morgan  Fan Page  Twitter@AngiMorganAuthr

Sunday, August 25, 2013

TASK FORCE BRIDE by Julie Miller

TASK FORCE BRIDE

ISBN: 9780373697113 (#1444)

USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR JULIE MILLER'S THE PRECINCT: TASK FORCE SERIES HEATS UP WHEN A PLAIN JANE AND AN EXPERIENCED COP POSE AS AN ENGAGED COUPLE.

Something about Hope Lockhart fascinated Officer Pike Taylor. The cop and his canine companion had been patrolling the neighborhood around Hope's bridal shop for months, trying to capture the criminal who targeted her. Was it the way she hid her voluptuous beauty beneath a plain Jane exterior?

Hope bore the scars of a troubling past. And despite a profession steeped in romance, she'd never known the love of a man. But when Pike is assigned to protect her by posing as her live-in fiancé, his tenderness may give Hope the courage to open her heart for the very first time.

Read an Excerpt

Available at eHarlequin and other book retailers.


Saturday, August 24, 2013

BRIDAL ARMOR by Debra Webb

BRIDAL ARMOR

ISBN: 9780373697106 (#1443)

TWO AGENTS' FORGOTTEN LOVE IS REKINDLED IN USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR DEBRA WEBB'S COLBY AGENCY: THE SPECIALISTS SERIES.

Someone was out to get Thomas Casey. His profession had taught him to trust no one. So when Johara di Rossi abducted him on his way to his beloved niece's wedding, Thomas assumed the worst—despite their intimate history.

Though attachments made him vulnerable, Thomas was haunted by regret for walking away from Jo years ago. No other woman had stirred such intense desire in him. Now, snowbound in an isolated cabin, with a determined enemy from his past closing in, suspicion begins to melt away as the embers of their passion reignite.

Read an Excerpt

Available at eHarlequin and other book retailers.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

PUSHING THE ENVELOPE

I’ve had writing partners before, and each time a different partner meant a different experience. Rebecca York and Ann Voss Peterson and I wrote several connected projects. Three books consisting of three novellas that had one suspense element, three romances and together told the whole story. And two projects that were author-generated mini-series. We created the world and characters of each project together and critiqued each other’s synopses before writing. Another partner and I plotted chapter by chapter together and each wrote half the book and the other person revised. And yet another partner and I plotted together, then he wrote all scenes from the hero’s and male villain’s points of view, while I wrote those from the heroine and female villain.

WRITTEN IN THE STARS
WRITTEN IN THE STARS was even more unusual. Another former Intrigue author Sherrill Bodine (aka Lynn Leslie) and I each wrote half, Sherrill the half set in Elizabethan England, me in contemporary Florida Keys at a dive site. How can we have such disparate parts of the same story? Sherrill’s characters – hero, heroine, villain – are all reincarnated in my half.Our original intention was to offer Entangled Suspense two connected novellas. Our editor loved what she called an epic story, and she encouraged us to expand our novellas to novel length. We wondered how readers would feel about what would essentially be two mini-novels with hero, heroine and villain who were all different...and yet the same since they were reincarnated characters.

While Sherrill and I had some say in each other’s novella, that was mainly creating threads to connect them. On deciding to expand the stories, however, we plotted together more closely to make sure the two halves worked as a whole novel. I hope we’ve succeeded to any readers’ satisfaction. Here’s the back cover copy:

In 1601, Lady Elizabeth York's star-shaped birthmark proclaims her a child of magic. When she arrives at Dunham Castle to marry Carlyle, heir to the Duke of Lennox, she finds enchantment in the eyes and touch of Will Grey, the Duke's bastard son. Bewitched by Elizabeth, Will defies all for their love, and his jilted half-brother places a curse on them both.

Searching for a treasure ship sunk long ago, present-day marine archeologist Cordelia Ward is pursued romantically by both salvager Innis Foley and treasure hunter Morgan Murphy. She is haunted by a murderous nightmare where one man is the killer and the other the victim. But which man is her enemy--which one her soul mate? Can a journal that belonged to her ancestress, Lady Elizabeth York show her the answers...in time to save her true love?


Chased by evil, two women discover their own magic to fight a villain's curse on the Posey rings that draw them to the men they are destined to love.

Sherrill and I will be talking about our stories on a challenging blog tour for the next few weeks. Catch up to us – we’ll be giving away a piece of vintage jewelry to one lucky winner at the end of the tour.

 

In the meantime...how do you feel about books that push the envelope to give you a different reading experience, and can that envelope be pushed too far?


Monday, August 12, 2013

Vacation at Home


View from the Skyfari at the Omaha Zoo

Although it's still beastly hot with some wild summer storms, the seasons are changing where I live in Nebraska.  Teachers went back to school today; students start Wednesday.  The Miller clan had a full, fast, busy summer--mostly working on home projects, finishing up a book, traveling for work. But we did manage to work in a fun, week-long vacation. Juggling my son's work schedule, my mom's social calendar (she's a bridge playing ace!), being here for windows and furnace people, etc., the idea of a vacation was a last-minute, we've-got-this-one-week-free-can-you-make-it? time slot, kind of thing.  So with little time to plan, we decided to keep it simple.  Hubby & I drove down to Missouri to get Mom, then we visited some favorite places in Missouri on the way back to Nebraska, where we visited some wonderful local sites.  We ate fabulous, fun meals, learned stuff, shared great conversation and had a lot of fun just exploring the adventures in our own back yard.

Here are some of the highlights:

The Scandinavia Place.  One of my favorite shops ever! (they feature art/jewelry/gifts from Scandinavian countries--hubby is Norwegian descent, I've got Scottish and Viking blood, so lots of fun stuff--as well as Vera Bradley (love all the colors!) and local Independence/Kansas City merchandise) The staff is super fun and friendly. And... they had copies of my books on sale there as a local author!! My gran used to live just a couple of blocks from the shop, and I still have lots of family in the KC area.









In Nebraska, we also went to Morrill Hall in Lincoln, which is the home of the University of Nebraska State History Museum and Mueller Planetarium.  Saw an interesting star show at the planetarium (hubby & son love astronomy). And, we saw the largest complete mammoth skeleton in the world.  And it WAS huge! Scary to think of facing off against that thing with only clubs or spears. Eek!

My favorite place we visited was probably the Omaha Zoo.  We spent a day there, and still didn’t get to see all the wonderful exhibits.  It enjoys the reputation of being one of the finest zoos in the world, and I can see why.  It features exhibits based on different types of habits—the Desert Dome, the Scott Aquarium, The Lied Jungle (rainforests), Kingdoms of the Night (saw an albino alligator!), the African savanna, and so on. Loved the Skyfari ride where we rode above the African animals.  We were taller than the giraffes!  But my favorite were the gorillas—they put on quite a show for us.  One silverback charged the window and slapped it, leaving a handprint bigger than a man’s foot (the zoo people said he was just “establishing his territory”).
My son and I in the Lied Jungle

Hubby, Mom and son at Scott Aquarium (sharks swimming overhead)
What are the hidden “adventures” close to your home that you’d recommend to someone who wants to take a quick mini-vacation?  Please share your thoughts. (I’m always looking for interesting places where I can travel)

Tomorrow I’ll pick a winner and I’ll give away a copy of my brand new release, TASK FORCE BRIDE, to one lucky poster!
Best,
Julie Miller

Sunday, August 11, 2013

FALCON'S RUN by Aimee Thurlo

AimĂ©e Thurlo takes readers on a thrilling ride through Copper Canyon…  


Detective Preston Bowman had a Navajo gift for sensing danger. And the danger stalking Abby Langdon was undeniable. But nothing could force her off the Sitting Tall Ranch she'd built for disabled children—not even her own near-death experience…. 

Alone on her isolated ranch, she had no one to trust—no one but Preston. And as the risk intensified, so did her desire for the strong, silent lawman. But Preston was from a different world. Even if he could keep everyone on the ranch safe…she couldn't say the same for her heart.


available at Harlequin and all major retailers

Saturday, August 10, 2013

THE ACCUSED by Jana DeLeon

USA TODAY bestselling author Jana DeLeon has a new trilogy—Mystere Parish: Family Inheritance  


After working as a cop in New Orleans, Carter Trahan is back in Mystere Parish, where his latest assignment seems like a joke: making sure Alaina LeBeau lives in her childhood home for two weeks to comply with her mother's will. But soon the sexy sheriff isn't laughing. Someone—or something—is stalking the beautiful defense lawyer, turning her once-grand mansion into a house of horrors. 

But as he searches for the truth, Carter must face ghosts of his own past lurking in the bayou. Most troubling of all is his unprofessional attraction to the woman he's protecting, as Alaina's allure haunts him as no specter ever could….


available at Harlequin and all major retailers

Sunday, August 4, 2013

RUTHLESS by HelenKay Dimon

What happens when the only man who can protect you is also your best customer? Find out in HelenKay Dimon's Corcoran Team series. 

Kelsey Moore looked forward to her daily visit from Paxton Weeks. Watching the broad-shouldered, quiet man led to some wonderful daydreams. But for real? That was downright dangerous…. 

It was no mistake Paxton visited Kelsey's shop every morning. This was his first mission back from injury and he had something to prove: stake out the shop for a wanted man and take him in. But when two robbers hold Kelsey at gunpoint, Paxton blows his cover to save her life—and adds bodyguard to his list of duties. Now, with his secret out in the open—and her life in danger—the days have just become far from routine….


available at Harlequin and all major retailers

Saturday, August 3, 2013

TAKING AIM by Elle James

A kidnapping offers an FBI agent a second chance at redemption in Elle James's Covert Cowboys, Inc. miniseries.

After witnessing the murder of his partner, former FBI agent Zach Adams suffers the weight of his own guilt. An unexpected assignment hunting down the members of the Texas gang responsible--who have kidnapped a local woman--could offer long-awaited revenge.

Zach understands the danger of tracking the cartel, but it's his desire for the sister of the missing person that he fails to anticipate. Determined to find her twin, Jacie Kosart is as strong-willed as she is alluring. But when Zach's ruthless search for the kidnappers lands Jacie in the crosshairs of deadly enemies, Zach realizes he'll risk everything to keep her alive...even if it means confronting the demons of his own past.


Available at Harlequin.com and all retailers.