Another Fabulous Cover!

I have to be one of the luckiest authors in existence! Not only have ALL of my book covers to date been beautiful, but this time I got Jimmy Thomas! If you're not familiar with his face maybe you've been too distracted by his body. He's been on over thirteen-hundred romance novel covers and now he's on mine too :-D

I'm currently in edits for this book but as soon as I know the release date I'll post it here.

Character Reviews

Today is Monday and this is where you should be seeing another one of my weekly character reviews. They have been fun for me because I love discussing books and especially characters that leave an impression on me. However, the response has been lackluster and the whole process takes precious time. I've weighed the pros and cons and decided to put any more character reviews on hold for now. Don't worry, I'll be doing another Birthday Blog Tour this year during my birthday month of June. There will be plenty of chances for my readers to win prizes all month, including the cool coffee cup pictured to the left.
Until then, happy reading!

Character Review #6: Queen Adara

First off, let me apologize for the tardiness of this post. Character Review #6 was supposed to run along the same schedule as the first five reviews. However, Mother's Day arrived and with it a day of decadent laziness highly encouraged by my hubby. So you see, it's his fault (don't tell him I said that). I do normally write the posts on Sunday (usually at the last minute) and schedule them to post first thing Monday morning for your viewing pleasure. Well, as I said, with Mother's Day falling on this past Sunday I did nothing but read all day long and by the time I was ready for bed there was no getting any writing out of me.

But alas, here I am, only a few days late and ready to tell you all about Queen Adara of Taagaria, the abandoned wife of Christian of Acre, in Kinley MacGregor's Return of the Warrior. First off, even if you've never read Kinley MacGregor you may have read her. She is the alter ego of Sherrilyn Kenyon, better known for paranormal romance than historical. One thing both authors have in common is hot, strong men and their equally strong women. That is something that draws me back to her work time and again. Off the top of my head I don't think I've ever read a TSTL (too stupid to live) heroine in any of her work. Queen Adara absolutely doesn't fit into that category either. She is a queen after all. She is noble, beautiful, brave and strong...and has the balls to travel through hostile lands to find her husband.

In this installment of the Brotherhood of the Sword series, we meet Christian of Acre. He is a wounded hero wanting nothing more than to fulfill the moral obligations he placed on himself when imprisoned alongside other brave men. They formed the brotherhood to stay alive and aid each other, and now nothing and no one has his loyalty but them. Until he steps into a room to find a beautiful, naked woman claiming to be his wife. He refuses her but decides to help return her to her kingdom through harsh, dangerous lands. Adara is no fool. She quickly realizes she is in serious danger of not returning home in one piece. She also decides not to give up on the tormented warrior she married as a child. She shows strength of will as well as true courage and feminine stubbornness. She easily became one of my favorite female characters.
Though she is cunning and fighting for the strength to care for her people, she isn't an over-the-top, kick-ass heroine. She knows when to hold back and let the hero have his pride.

Do you prefer the kick-ass heroine that takes over from the start? Or is the more subtle femme fatale more to your reading taste? Tell me in a comment below or just recommend a female character that stayed with you long after the story ended. One reader will win a slightly used (but in VERY good condition) copy of Return of the Warrior. Be sure to include your email addy.

Ah Helll...

So I obviously never got the post written that was supposed to be up yesterday. But, never fear! You can still win a book from me today! Go to JoJos Bookcorner, where I'm a guest blogger and read my post about Adrian Paul. Then leave a comment and you could win Men In Kilts by Katie MacAlister.
Good Luck!

Jotting a Quick Note...

...and then I'm off to bed. I hope all of my mommy readers had a fabulous, relaxing day today. I did! In fact, it was so relaxing that I completely forgot I was supposed to be writing a blog post on my next character review. Oops! Therefore the contest will start a little bit later than usual, but I promise to have Character Review #6 posted tomorrow evening.
Here's hoping you had a wonderful Mother's Day, Sunday and entire weekend!

<~~~One of my gifts :-)

Character Review #5: Quinn O'Conor

Welcome to my fifth character review where I discuss Keri Arthur's HOT vampire Quinn O'Conor. If you have no clue who he is, then you obviously haven't picked up any books in the Riley Jensen series. Riley herself is half vampire, half werewolf, and a sexy, female guardian that can kick ass with the best of them. In the very first book of her series, Full Moon Rising, we get to meet Quinn, a much older vampire that has all kinds of secrets.

I have to admit that once we got to know Quinn I didn't like him very much. He wasn't very nice to Riley and made it pretty damn obvious that he was using her. His reluctant desire for her just pissed me off and every time she gave in I wanted to take away her bad-ass chic card. However, losing her seemed to be the best thing for him (sorry for the spoiler). I haven't read the entire series. In fact the book I'm giving away is the last one I bought but never actually read. Why have I "broken up" with this series? I honestly don't know. My tastes as a reader have changed and at the moment I'm not curious enough about what happens next to read Deadly Desire. However, Keri Arthur is an awesome writer and I highly recommend her to every reader of paranormal romance and hot urban fantasy. Most likely I'll decide in a couple of months that I must know what happens and buy the last three books.

So, let's talk about Quinn. He is a standard vampire in that he drinks blood, avoids the sun and is centuries old. He is intelligent and cunning which can be frustrating when he uses Riley for what he believes to be a higher purpose. He has lots of money, lots of charm and he is HOT! As I stated earlier he does eventually redeem himself (well, as far as I read in the series) and treats Riley better. He turns from asshole to hero and is the character that stood out to me the most in this series. If you haven't met him yet, I recommend you pick up at least the first book to do so.

Has there been a character that made you mad at the beginning of a series, only to redeem him or herself later on? Comment below with your answer and include your email address. You may win a copy of Deadly Desire! I'll pick my winner on Tuesday evening. Good luck!