Nickel Nasties Series #20: Romance Revisited by Misty Rayburn

Welcome to the Nickel Nasties series! In celebration of my first scathing Amazon review for A Ranger's Tale (1 in 58 ain't bad), I've decided to devote February to the stories that garner so much stereotype and ridicule, but still comprise one of the world's best-selling genres: ROMANCE! I hope you'll enjoy this series. Please leave comments for the wonderful contributors. And...don't forget to check out their books!

Romance Revisited 

by 

Misty Rayburn

I wasn’t always a romance fan.  Growing up, I LIVED in the library.  I think I read every book in that small trailer like building before they tore it down to make the bigger library, that doesn’t really seem that much bigger considering they took half the books out for a computer lab and there’s only books on that one floor.

I’m getting away from my point here though.  That’s a rant that I’ve already posted on their Facebook wall.

I was mostly an Adventure and Fantasy sort but I did try Romance and I hated it.  Now I have to explain that when I had “The talk” with my mom about the birds and the bees, she botched it horribly.  Sex was explained to me as two people hugging when they are in love.  Wow.. way to go there mom but now I get that talk is super awkward for any parent.  In my case thank goodness for sex ed class being in elementary school or else I probably would have never hugged anyone ever again.

However, my young self ( around 10 ) who was probably way too young to read Romance when I tried to ( even through I read Grisham’s The Client in third grade ) felt that sex had no place in books.  Why?  Blame my parents again.  OMG you should see her if she ever wakes up and dad leaves the TV on Cinemax after 11.  You’d be laughing hysterically. 

BUY IT HERE!

So yeah.. Sex had no place in books.  Then I grew up and realized that sex is a part of life so why not be in books?  What makes it so different that it’s okay about reading about a murder in a BDSM joint or a murder as a sexual act but reading about someone enjoying themselves in a BDSM joint or in a sexual act is wrong?

Comfort zones in my opinion equal to closed mindedness.  This is something I knew I had to get rid of as a reviewer.  I didn’t feel the same way anymore but I still didn’t read Romance. 

Then I met Valerie Maarten and her book The Gift of Joy started me down the road that led to the romance-a-thon I have every February.   I also met Ashlynn Monroe and her novella Slave to His Desires was the first ever piece of Erotica I had read.  I’ve also read Mysti’s book A Ranger’s Tale and I loved it.  Had I not stepped out of my comfort zone, I would have missed out on some great books and some great friends.

Robert Frost was right.  Taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.

With all my romance author friends on Facebook, I get man candy on Mondays! WOOO! 

****

Misty Rayburn is a graduate from Capital University with a BA in English Literature. She was a live event photographer, covering a lot of Columbus’ local scene but a back injury kept her out of the scene for two years. While recovering, she created The Top Shelf. Misty doesn’t have a TBR list, she has a mountain! Come visit us! Website: http://www.the-top-shelf.com Twitter: @topshelfebooksFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/topshelfebooks

Nickel Nasties Series #19: Where I've Been by Von Rupert

Welcome to the Nickel Nasties series! In celebration of my first scathing Amazon review for A Ranger's Tale (1 in 58 ain't bad), I've decided to devote February to the stories that garner so much stereotype and ridicule, but still comprise one of the world's best-selling genres: ROMANCE! I hope you'll enjoy this series. Please leave comments for the wonderful contributors. And...don't forget to check out their books!

Where I've Been

by 

Von Rupert

Trapped in a smoky Buick, my parents arguing at every light, I escaped into the books piled beside me on the duct-taped backseat.  While my dad drove us to Cleveland or Baltimore or Kmart a stack of romances transported me to London, New York, and Rome.  While my parents fought over speed limits, money, and ghosts from the past I fell in love with ranchers, moguls, artists, and happy endings. 

 

I was twelve.  The books were called sweet romances, rich in romance, light on sex.   My grandmother pulled them out for me, a few at a time, from a huge box she stored in her bedroom closet. Over the years, they had accumulated around her house like stray Barbie doll shoes and Lego bricks, left behind by the six granddaughters who had come before me. 

 

How many Spring and Summer afternoons did she and I spend on opposite ends of her front porch swing, each of us lost in a romance book--me escaping my youth, dreaming of where I was going, her escaping old age, remembering where she had been?  

 

Not nearly enough.

 

They lasted until the crocheted afghans tucked around our shoulders couldn’t protect us from the biting autumn air.   We were forced into our houses, me to my schoolwork, and her to reality.  They lasted until the fictional worlds couldn’t protect my grandmother from the Alzheimer’s that stalked her body like a vicious hunter.  She died the summer I turned sixteen. 

 

Two years later, I packed my clothes and crates of books and sped away to college. I changed my major three times before I found my direction in the English Department, falling in love with the cranky, white haired professors at the same time as I lost my heart to the classics.   I naively believed I could have both, my first love and my new love. 

 

I was wrong.  My professors scorned romance books and the students who read them. Eventually, I abandoned my collection in an empty closet at my parents’ house.  I cried when I returned to my dorm room without them.

 

This vintage Harlequin Silhouette collection
is on sale NOW at eBay!

Nearly ten years would pass before I shook off the influence of college, and embraced romances again.  I had given birth to my first baby, and was trapped in the darkness of Postpartum Depression.   One morning, yearning for my grandmother, I secured my daughter in her car seat and traveled back to my hometown.  I believed if I could read those books again, the ones my grandmother had touched, I would recover. 

 

But abandoned books end up in abandoned sheds with abandoned toasters, abandoned dishes, abandoned toys, and field mice. They become nature’s gray confetti, mildewed dust, rodent beds.  I couldn’t salvage a single book.

 

In desperation I guess, my husband won an auction on ebay, one hundred used Harlequin and Silhouette books from The 1980s.   I devoured each one, hardly sleeping, wrapped in Granny’s rainbow afghan, rocking in her favorite chair,  that first bewildering baby cuddled against my tender breasts.

 

Chapter followed chapter, book followed book, happy ending followed happy ending, my darkness slowly lifting as I remembered where I had been.

**** 

Von Rupert is a wife, mom, writer, and podcast producer.   She mentors other writers at http://writersvillage.com/f2k/.  Some day she’ll finish writing the stack of romance books she’s started over the years.  Her flash fiction stories have appeared at http://www.everydayfiction.com

Nickel Nasties Series #18: My Momma Made Me Read This by Lindsey R. Loucks

Welcome to the Nickel Nasties series! In celebration of my first scathing Amazon review for A Ranger's Tale (1 in 58 ain't bad), I've decided to devote February to the stories that garner so much stereotype and ridicule, but still comprise one of the world's best-selling genres: ROMANCE! I hope you'll enjoy this series. Please leave comments for the wonderful contributors. And...don't forget to check out their books!

My Momma Made Me Read This

I blame my spotty memory on pouring bags of sugar down my throat, but as I recall, my first romance book I ever read was Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I didn’t read it willingly. My mom, who was doing her best to feed my book addiction, told me I should read it. One look at the cover and the copyright date, and my preteen self said, “Oh. Yay.” But because I love my mom, I read the book.

And whoa! I wasn’t expecting Jane and Mr. Rochester’s love story to twist my heart so thoroughly into a pinwheel of emotions. Ouch! By the time I finished the book, my clothes were tear-soaked. Up until that point in my life, I’d never read anything that touched me so deeply.

DOWNLOAD THIS CLASSIC
FOR FREE AT AMAZON!

You would think that I would start a romance reading spree after that, but I didn’t. I think I needed a long break to recover. That, and lots and lots of sugar.

Now, nearly every book I read and write has some kind of romance in it. None of my characters are Janes or Mr. Rochesters, but if I can create a fraction of their love story for my characters, I can recapture that feeling I got when reading Jane Eyre, minus all the tears.

So, I guess I can blame a literary classic and my love for my mom that led me down a dangerous path filled with nickel nasties. Oh, well. I’m cool with it.

****

­­­­­­­­­­­

Lindsey R. Loucks works as a school librarian in rural Kansas. When she’s not discussing books with anyone who will listen, she’s dreaming up her own stories. Eventually her brain gives out, and she’ll play hide and seek with her cat, put herself in a chocolate induced coma, or watch scary movies alone in the dark to reenergize.

She’s been with her significant other for almost two decades.

Her debut YA paranormal fantasy romance, The Grave Winner, releases from Crescent Moon Press in May. Check out her website for more information.

Nickel Nasties Series #17: A Lopsided Grin by Jenny Twist

Welcome to the Nickel Nasties series! In celebration of my first scathing Amazon review for A Ranger's Tale (1 in 58 ain't bad), I've decided to devote February to the stories that garner so much stereotype and ridicule, but still comprise one of the world's best-selling genres: ROMANCE! I hope you'll enjoy this series. Please leave comments for the wonderful contributors. And...don't forget to check out their books!

A Lopsided Grin

by

Jenny Twist

As a child I had a very clear idea of romance, gleaned from Hollywood and my mother’s women’s magazines.

This is what happened, right. One day you would meet a devastatingly handsome man with a lopsided grin. (I don’t know why they all had lopsided grins. Maybe they’d all had strokes?) He would kiss you and you would know straight away that he was Mr Right because all these fireworks would go off and the kiss would be so exciting that you would find yourself standing on tiptoe on one leg, whilst the other leg was raised in the air (behind you, obviously. If you raised it in front the kiss would come to an abrupt end). Then you would get married and live happily ever after.

Real life romance was a bitter disappointment to me. The first boy who kissed me was not only not particularly handsome and lacking a lopsided grin, but he had buck teeth! I could feel them through his lips! The second one, who later became my first husband, attempted to seduce me with statistics. No, really! He said even the majority of Catholic girls were no longer virgins when they got married. He knew the percentages and everything. On reflection, I think he probably made them up.

Anyway, his idea of a romantic venue was a ploughed field in the middle of February. It wasn’t actually snowing, but it was bloody cold!

“Why did you marry him?” I hear you ask. Well he DID kiss nicely and his grin was very slightly lopsided.

The marriage was a disaster, by the way. I soon realised that a nice kiss and even a lopsided grin was simply not enough.

I should have known. The fireworks never happened and my leg did not automatically rise up.

Come to think of it, it never has. I’m beginning to suspect that it was invented by Hollywood.

BUY IT HERE! 

I’ve read loads of romance books since then and have noticed that a lot of them focus, if not on the lopsided grin, then on the handsome appearance of the hero and the effect he has on the heroine’s equilibrium. There is a distinct impression that when it comes to choosing a mate the most important thing is what he looks like, followed closely by how much he disturbs you.

 I ask myself is this really what we want people to expect? Should we be defining love as what basically boils down to sexual attraction?

I wonder whether I might have made better choices if romance had been represented to me as companionship, affection and respect, which is surely what most of us REALLY want from a relationship.

And as for 50 Shades, don’t start me off. That’s all I need, someone telling me that love is all about being tortured and dominated.

I try to write the kind of romance that really happens and which lasts. Several of my stories are about people who have been happily married for years or who find love late in life and know what to appreciate. It might not be spicy but I’d like to think it’s a rather better recipe for happiness. 

****

Bio: Jenny Twist left school at fifteen and went to work in an asbestos factory. After working in various jobs, including bacon-packer and an escapologist's assistant, she returned to full-time education and did a BA in history at Manchester and post-graduate studies at Oxford.

In 2001 she and her husband moved to Southern Spain where they live with their rather eccentric dog and cat.

Follow me on:
my Website: https://sites.google.com/site/jennytwistauthor/

Amazon: amazon.com/author/jennytwist
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenny-Twist-Author/291166404240446

Goodreads Blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4848320.Jenny_Twist/blog

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JennyTwist1

March Giveaway Madness!!!

Don't go stir-crazy waiting for spring! 

Win a free book to read instead!

READERS--Click the links below to access each giveaway! 

Scheduled authors:

March 1-Jenny Twist (Drawing 3/8/13 Winner: Alex!)
March 4-Cindy Borgne (Free Download!)
March 5-Andrew Saxsma (Drawing 3/12/13 Winners Cinta, Tori, Kris & Dale)
March 6-LMFields (Drawing 3/13/13 Winners TBA)
March 7-Gregory M. Thompson (Drawing 3/14/13 Winners Tori, Ilona, and Veronica)
March 8-JayR (Drawing 3/15/13 Ebook Winners: Tori, Lorrie, Iris, and Alex; Print winner: Andrew)
March 11-Jamie Marchant (Drawing 3/18/13 Winners: Lorrie (Ebook) & Denise (Print))
March 12-Bertena Varney (Drawing 3/19/13 Winner: Iris)
March 13-Dale Ibitz (Drawing 3/20/13 Winners: Andrew(Print) and L (Ebook))
March 14-Miles Gentry (Drawing 3/21/13 Winners: L & Leona)
March 15-Catharina Shields (Drawing 3/22/13 Winners L & Jessica)
March 18-Jo Anne Myers (Drawing 3/25/13 Winners Laxmi & Mary)
March 19-Karen A Wyle (Drawing 3/26/13 Winners: Andrew & Susan)
March 20-Tara Fox Hall (Drawing 3/27/13 Winner: Jessica)
March 21-Ian Hall (ONE DAY ONLY FREE DOWNLOAD!!!)
March 22-Katheryn Ragle (Drawing 3/29/13 Winner: Susan S)
March 25-Tori L Ridgewood (Drawing 3/28/13 Winner: L)
March 26-Elizabeth Lang (Rafflecopter Drawing 3/31/13)
March 27-Nicki Jacobs (Drawing 4/3/13 Winners: Mark & Misty)
March 28-John Steiner (Drawing 4/4/13)
March 29-Jody Kihara (Drawing 4/5/13)

Join the Facebook Event Page here: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/146515272180691/

Each giveaway will run for ONE WEEK from date of posting, unless otherwise noted. Please consider leaving reviews for the books you win on Amazon, B&N, and/or Goodreads. Thank you!!!

Nickel Nasties Series #16: Ten Tips for Indie Authors by Sandy Loyd

Welcome to the Nickel Nasties series! In celebration of my first scathing Amazon review for A Ranger's Tale (1 in 58 ain't bad), I've decided to devote February to the stories that garner so much stereotype and ridicule, but still comprise one of the world's best-selling genres: ROMANCE! I hope you'll enjoy this series. Please leave comments for the wonderful contributors. And...don't forget to check out their books!

Ten Tips for Indie Authors

by

Sandy Loyd

   1.      This is a business venture you are undertaking, so consider it as such. Take all emotion off the table.

   2.      Prepare financially for it. That means putting aside funds for producing the final product, i.e. editing, formatting and the cover. Make sure you have money left over for advertising and promoting once the final product is for sale. If no one knows about it, no one will buy it.

   3.      Make sure your story is as polished as you can make it. Use critique partners or other writers for feedback. Also, find a good editor. This is the best advice I can give. Having a well-written first book ensures future sales of following books.

   4.      Have a fantastic cover to grab attention. Make sure it looks good as a thumbnail, since that’s what readers see.

5.      Write a good, concise blurb. You have only seconds to entice someone. Think of the blurb as a pitch to an editor or agent. Let the reader know why they should buy your book.

6.      Join independent writing loops like Indieromance@yahoo.com, Selfpublish@yahoo.com, & Authornetwork@yahoo.com. They provide a fountain of necessary information.

BUY it HERE! 

7.      Promote, promote, promote, but be a subtle promoter. E-publishing is getting more competitive by the day. There are so many good stories out there by such talented writers that it’s hard to be noticed. Go on blogs to talk about your work. Use giveaways to entice readers. Use social media to announce releases and hype your books, but don’t over-hype, which can be self-defeating. My best advice for an author with no following is to wait until you have a series before publishing and then consider putting the first in the series in Amazon’s KDP Select. This gives Amazon exclusive rights to e-pub it for 90 days. In return Amazon gives you 5 days to give it away for free and your book can also be borrowed and you get money for those borrows.  If you’ve followed steps one through four, sales for those second and third books will trickle in once readers ‘discover’ you. Also, you’ll collect reviews. Good reviews are like gold because they allow you to advertise on the bigger websites that draw readers. Bookbub, ENT, POI are three of the biggest. But they are also the most competitive.

8.      Give it time. Your books don’t have a shelf life, so you have time to build your audience.

9.      Do not look at your sales more than once a day. Some authors say once a week, but I like to have a better idea of what’s what, so I record sales once a day in the morning.

10.  Keep writing. A year ago it took three books to get consistent sales. Now it takes six or seven, and due to rising competition, that number will continue to go up. You need to continue adding new work to stay viable. 

****

      Sandy Loyd is a Western girl through and through. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, she's worked and lived in some fabulous places in the US, including South Florida. She now resides in Kentucky and writes full time. As much as she loves her current hometown, she misses the mountains and has to go back to her roots to get her mountain and skiing fix at least once a year.

      As a sales rep for a major manufacturer, she’s traveled extensively throughout the US, so she has a million stored memories to draw from for her stories. She spent her single years in San Francisco and considers that city one of America's treasures, comparable to no other city in the world. Her California Series, starting out with Winter Interlude, are all set in the Bay Area.  

      Sandy is now an empty nester. To date, she has published eight books – four contemporary romances, four romantic mystery/suspense /thrillers. All of her stories are heartwarming and consist of fun characters, who, like single people everywhere, are seeking that someone special to share their lives with among thousands of eligible candidates.  She always tries to weave a warm love story into her work, while providing enough twists and turns to entertain any reader. 

      Currently, she’s working on a time travel novel that takes her heroine back to Louisville, KY just before Churchill Downs came into being and the Kentucky Derby was formed. She hopes to have Time Will Tell out in April.  To see a list of her current books, check out her Amazon page at http://www.amazon.com/author/sandyloyd.

     Website: www.Sandyloyd.com 

NEW RELEASE! 

A Matter of Trust by Sandy Loyd

BUY it HERE!

      Tired of living in fear of an abusive ex-husband, Cat Tyler is taking charge of life by learning to fly. Unfortunately, she discovers what true fear really is when her cross-country flight ends in a forced landing. Now she’s trapped in the Montana wilderness with her flight instructor, Josh Buchannan—a jerk who’s been riding her butt since she first stepped into the cockpit.  She definitely doesn’t like the attraction that has sprung up between them. Worse, someone is trying to kill them.

      Josh doesn’t wait to find out why they’ve become a target—or who’s behind it. Instinct takes over and Josh spirits Cat away to safety.  Yet, while on the run, he discovers that an incident from his past, one he’s tried to forget, connects him to Cat.  He was in charge of a failed mission in which her parents lost their lives.  Is this her twisted way of getting revenge? Josh can’t trust Cat, but he protects her as they narrowly escape fiery graves, not once but twice. 

      Unwittingly, the two are fighting more than trust or attraction.  An unknown terrorist cell has unleashed its secret weapon—a human Trojan horse—which gives a new meaning to terror. 

      As Cat and Josh struggle to stay alive, their trust in each other is threatened at every turn. Josh senses Cat’s somehow involved in this mess and works doubly hard to keep his attraction to her under control.  Still, he craves her belief in his innocence, impossible once she discovers the truth about his involvement in her parents’ deaths.

      As they work together to uncover the plot that threatens western civilization, they must come to grips with the past in order to create a relationship built on mutual trust in the future.

Nickel Nasties Series #15: Captive Reader by Cristina Rehn

Welcome to the Nickel Nasties series! In celebration of my first scathing Amazon review for A Ranger's Tale (1 in 58 ain't bad), I've decided to devote February to the stories that garner so much stereotype and ridicule, but still comprise one of the world's best-selling genres: ROMANCE! I hope you'll enjoy this series. Please leave comments for the wonderful contributors. And...don't forget to check out their books!

Captive Reader

by

Cristina Rehn

Buy it HERE! 

Captive Passions – I still recall the title.  Elegant red lettering graced the book’s lurid cover, featuring a heroine with heaving cleavage and a hero with sculpted pecs.  I discovered the book while babysitting.  The kids were in bed.  TV was boring. My homework was done.  I was far too young to be reading a book like that, which is exactly why I chose it.

The story opened on a ship bound for the Dutch East Indies, time period late 1600s to early 1700s, carrying two passengers - sisters, virginal Spanish beauties.  Saintly Maria, the elder, was betrothed, sight unseen, to a Dutch shipping magnate.  Saucy Sirena was the dowry’s door prize.

And then: PIRATES!  They abused and murdered pious Maria.  But fate intervened for the sinful Sirena, some sort of a rescue or, perhaps, a storm.  Regardless, she arrived on the island, traumatized and believing her sister’s fiancée to be the villain behind the pirates’ attack.

Delivered to the Dutchman’s house, Sirena pretended to be the promised bride and wed Rhys, the blond, handsome, lusty, domineering businessman, even as she plotted revenge.  She created a secret double life, as Sirena, demure wife, and the Sea Siren, a sword-wielding Pirate Captainess, hell-bent on ruining her husband. Retribution was complicated by the lust that seized her in Rhys’ presence.  Sex ensued, far more graphic than I should have been reading at that age.  I loved it!

There was a scheming blowsy blonde slut and an oily, sexy Spaniard, for color and plot complications.  Lust turned to love.  Misunderstandings cleared up.  The true villain and villainess were exposed and destroyed - by a wonderfully Freudian volcanic eruption that sent them to a fiery doom, leaving our lovers alive, together, grateful - and mostly naked.

I was hooked.  I indulged my guilty pleasure on the sly.  My best friend’s mom was a Harlequin junkie, making it easy to obtain books on the down-low.  But over time, I developed a snobby attitude about the genre.  Romances were clichéd, the women poor role models, the endings unrealistic.  Who lived happily ever after, after all?

But a few years back, the stars realigned.  I started writing. I got an e-reader.  I had a mid-life crisis, consisting of an obsession with a certain sparkly vampire series. 

Many writers I met - creative, talented individuals - wrote romance.  The E-reader meant no naughty covers to out me to the literary snobs.  The sparkly vampires? I plead the fifth.  Let’s just say, I soon purchased an adult romance novel, then another, and another…you get the picture. 

I discovered modern heroines were, well, modern.  Sea Sirens, taking charge of their destinies.  A heroine lived happily ever after, not because a man(or men), made her future perfect and easy, but because she made a choice to claim the future she wanted, and roll with what life threw at her.

So don’t hate the Nickel Nasties.  Pick one up.  Let it inspire you.  Let it captivate you.  And don’t forget your sword.

****

Cristina Rehn lives in the Schoharie Valley in upstate New York with her husband, who in true romance novel fashion, is her brother's best friend.  Their daughter, two stalker cats, and Cristina's' mom, round out the household and keep it lively.

In addition to her full-time job and full-time family, she's working on polishing up her National Novel Writing Month 2012 Novel, a paranormal romance, in hopes of turning it into something readable. Her hobbies are writing and reading, and eking out as much solitude and silence as she can to do both.  You can check out her writing and random musings at her oft-neglected blog, http://cristinarehn.blogspot.com/

Nickel Nasties Series #14: The Thin Red Line by Tara Fox Hall

Welcome to the Nickel Nasties series! In celebration of my first scathing Amazon review for A Ranger's Tale (1 in 58 ain't bad), I've decided to devote February to the stories that garner so much stereotype and ridicule, but still comprise one of the world's best-selling genres: ROMANCE! I hope you'll enjoy this series. Please leave comments for the wonderful contributors. And...don't forget to check out their books!

THE THIN RED LINE, PART 1: THE “BAD BOY”

There are many romance books where the bad boy alpha male breaks all the rules, is viewed as a terrible person, etc... and is eventually revealed to be a truly gentle soul with a heart of gold. That is totally—and sadly, for us women who find them attractive—unrealistic. 

Men who are dangerous in multiple aspects of their life do not possess a heart of gold. If they take delight in doing bad things to people, odds are at some point, you’ll find yourself on the receiving end, not because they don’t love you, but that the way that they love is different from what “normal” society recognizes as love. Understand, I am not defending men who hurt women in any way (or the reversed roles, either). I’m saying that some men are only capable of that kind of love, and that the danger inherent to them never goes away. These men cannot be tamed by being loved. 

BUY it HERE!

There are a great deal of women who think that their love can make such a man change. This is playing with fire—especially as many dangerous men recognize full well the attraction they have for such women, and exploit that to its fullest potential. How many of us have friends who date great guys, then break up with them because they were “too nice, boring, or too straight-laced”? I’ve heard that before. Usually those same friends are often treated badly by the men that they do allow into their lives, sometimes horrifically. 

Some of bad boy attraction results from movies and fiction…which might have come about because of a kind of “mistaken identity.” There are two types of dangerous men – those that became dangerous out of necessity, and those that chose to become dangerous. The difference is that a man taken out of a situation who became dangerous to deal with said dangerous situation will revert back to how he was, with a good deal of effort on his part and help from those around him. We see this in wartime, or other social situations. But there are those that seek out the thrill of being bad and revel in it, no matter what situation they are in. No amount of TLC is going to cure these latter men, because they already ARE exactly who they want to be. In short, they don’t want to change.

BUY it HERE!

There are strict rules for romance novels: HEA, etc. In upcoming Promise Me novels, that thin red line will sometimes be crossed, when the story dictates it is necessary…because my “bad boys” are realistic. When you have characters that refuse to bend in their desires or listen to their conscience, explosive conflict and tragedy is the result.

Taken in the Night is the last Promise Me Series Book to qualify as vampire romance. Beginning with Taken for His Own, subsequent books will be labeled paranormal fiction because of certain story arcs. Stay tuned for romantic elements, steamy sex, and keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat action and suspense!

****

Tara Fox Hall’s writing credits include nonfiction, horror, suspense, action-adventure, erotica, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. She is the author of the paranormal action-adventure Lash series and the vampire romantic suspense Promise Me series. Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice.

Website: www.tarafoxhall.com

Email: tarafoxhallATgmailDOTcom

 Tara's Blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5286654.Tara_Fox_Hall/blog

 Tara's Facebook Page:

 www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Fox-Hall/151813374904903

 Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/TerrorFoxHall

Taken in the Night (Promise Me Series, Book 3)by Tara Fox Hall: 

When Theo disappears, Sar is left bereft, the uncertain guardian of Theo's newly born werecougar daughter, Elle. As months pass, clues emerge about Theo's disappearance, yet the twisting trail ends repeatedly without answer. In her grief, Sar turns to Danial and hesitantly begins to build a life with him and Elle.

Buy it now at: 

AMAZON US

                           

 AMAZON UK

 Smashwords

Print copies-Lulu

          

Melange Books (HTML and PDF)

Nickel Nasties Series #13: Won't You Be My Romance Novel Valentine? by Ruth J Hartman

Welcome to the Nickel Nasties series! In celebration of my first scathing Amazon review for A Ranger's Tale (1 in 58 ain't bad), I've decided to devote February to the stories that garner so much stereotype and ridicule, but still comprise one of the world's best-selling genres: ROMANCE! I hope you'll enjoy this series. Please leave comments for the wonderful contributors. And...don't forget to check out their books!

Won't You Be My Romance Novel Valentine?

We’re only a few days past Valentine’s Day. The flowers have wilted. The candy consumed. The cards put away in a drawer somewhere. It’s a wonderful, romantic holiday, if it could only last longer! A co-worker of mine had roses delivered to her at work. All the other women, of course, wished they’d been delivered for them.

 My sweet husband didn’t get me flowers. But he did bring home a pizza. And after I’d worked all day cleaning teeth in the dental office, that pizza tasted like heaven. Even so, the evening spent with my Valentine was over too quickly. Back to the everyday work and housework. Back to the humdrum routine.

But…

A romance book is something different. Unlike flowers, it never wilts. Unlike candy (or pizza) it isn’t edible, and unlike a card, it may get read several times over if it’s one of my favorites.

Who doesn’t love sitting down under a blanket with a romance that melts your heart, and sends warm fuzzies all the way to your toenails? Makes your heart race and your lips smile?

Seems to me, more people should be getting books for Valentine’s Day. Hey, why not any holiday? Wouldn’t it be fun to receive a romance novel on National Potato Day? And the book wouldn’t even have to mention vegetables!!!

Or the best yet, if you receive a book as a just because present. And there’s nothing stopping you from getting yourself a gift!

Now let’s be honest, it doesn’t get much better than that, right?

So run out and grab a romance story for yourself. It lasts longer than pizza and doesn’t have any calories!

****

Ruth J. Hartman spends her days cleaning teeth, and her nights spinning sweet romantic tales that make you giggle, laugh, and all-out guffaw. She, her husband, and their three cats, love to spend time curled up in their recliners watching old Cary Grant movies. Well, the cats, Maxwell, Roxy and Remmie, sit in the people's recliners. Not that the cats couldn't get their own furniture. They just choose to shed on someone else's. You know how selfish those little furry creatures can be.

Ruth, a left-handed, tooth-scraping, Jeep driving, farmhouse-dwelling romance writer uses her goofy sense of humor as she writes tales of lovable, klutzy women and the men who adore them. Ruth's husband and best friend, Garry, reads her manuscripts, rolls his eyes at her weird story ideas, and loves her in spite of her penchant for insisting all of her books have at least one cat in them. Or twelve. But hey, who's counting?

Visit me at: www.ruthjhartman.blogspot.com

Rescued by a Duke by Ruth J Hartman:

Sasha Douglas has hit rock bottom. Literally. Left all alone after her brother's murder, she thought things couldn't possibly get worse. Until she finds herself trapped, injured, and frightened with no hope of escape after falling into an abandoned well.

Garrett Rothchild Cantlebury, the 5th Duke of Ravensworth, is shocked to discover a woman trapped in his abandoned well. The place that holds reminders of horrible loss for him. Determined to save the poor girl, he pushes those thoughts aside, refusing to dwell on them. But the rescued damsel in distress ends up making him face a darker truth. One that threatens both their futures.

Can Sasha and Garrett put family tragedy behind them and find love together?

Pick up your copy at Amazon or Barnes & Noble!