Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Personal Protection--released in print

I can’t tell you the thrill of actually holding a book in my hands with my name on the cover. A book with a cover I can stroke—and yes, with the hotties on this cover, it’s been stroked a lot. Inside is even better, because Sam Watson is one of my favorite heroes, and the lady he falls in love with, Rosalinda Ramos, is a real spitfire who challenges him on all fronts.

There are several excerpts you can read, either on my website or my blog . Then you can follow the buy links on either site or at the bottom of this post.

Enjoy!

She can cover him with one hand tied behind her back. Maybe two.

Hauberk Protection, Book 2

Sam Watson excels at keeping other people safe. Now a stalker is targeting him, but so what? A few doctored photos and a couple threatening phone calls are no big deal. He can watch his own back. Then again, the view from behind the sexy spitfire assigned to protect him isn’t so bad…

Rosalinda Ramos has managed to keep her attraction to Hauberk Security’s owner tightly under wraps. It’s just as well he doesn’t know. One slip—in the bedroom or on the job—will cost her her heart and her career, so she’s got only one thing on her mind. Protect Sam, whether he wants it or not.

The stakes—and the heat—rise exponentially when she discovers Sam belongs to an exclusive sex club—one she must investigate for potential suspects. Suddenly she finds herself immersed in a world that pushes her boundaries.

Sam delights in leading Rosie deep into his sexual shadows—until they go one game too far. Making him wonder if he can allow the woman he loves to take a bullet for him.

Buy the Book

Love it or hate it, Steve's Story releases in print

Steve’s Story, Book 2 in the Circle of Friends series, released in print at the beginning of the month.

Now I confess, this book has received many mixed reviews. I’ve had readers who loved it to nth degree, who could not stop raving about it, and I’ve had readers who hated it so much, some could not even finish the book.

Which got me thinking how this might happen. Why would one book appeal to some readers and yet repel others? Truthfully? I’m not sure. But having given the reviews for Steve’s Story a lot of thought, I think I’ve figured it out.

Steve’s Story isn’t a fun ride from beginning to end. Yep, there are some funny lines and a couple of entertaining scenes, and yep, the sex is scorching. But underneath all of that lies a book steeped in reality. Yes, it is a romance, but it does not take place in a fantasy world. It stays true to the facts. And while the ending is a happy one, it’s also a terribly sad one. (Heck, I sobbed finishing the last chapter.)

While writing the warning in the blurb I made a big mistake. I focused on the sex instead of the story. The result? The warning makes the book sound like a sexy romp. Yes – it’s sexy and hot as hell. But it’s no romp. So I have taken the liberty here of rewriting the warning…

This is how it reads on the back cover:

Warning: This book might just make you cry, but it’ll make you smile as well. The story will probably get you all hot and bothered too. It contains naughty activities in the car, sex on the kitchen counter (and up against the wall), a quickie in the garden, a little experimenting with scarves – oh, and some hot loving in the bedroom.

This is how I now believe it should read:

Warning: The book is pretty sad. It’s also realistic and may not be everybody’s cup of tea. If you’re looking for a light-hearted, fun romance – this isn’t it. Yep, there’s a happy ending (helloooo? I write romance), but it’s certainly not your classic “And they lived happily ever after”.
If you’re looking for a hero who knows where his heart lies and refuses to give up on his heroine – no matter what obstacles they face – then this is the book for you!

So, you may love it or you may hate it, but until you’ve read it, you’ll never know.

STEVE’S STORY: THE BLURB

When love is threatened by truth, every moment counts…

Circle of Friends, Book 2

Steve Sommers is having a gut-wrenching week. His fiancée has left him, the woman who broke his heart is back in town – and they’re all gathered at the bedside of his best friend, who’s in a coma. The emotional ties between them are strained to the breaking point. Like it or not, it’s up to Steve to find the strength and compassion to support the four of them through the toughest ordeal of their lives.

In the midst of the turmoil and trauma, passion unexpectedly flares anew between Steve and the woman he loves. Suddenly the future he’d believed lost lies within his reach. But she still carries the secret that once tore them apart, and determined to protect Steve from the truth, she fights their rekindled relationship every step of the way.

Now the fragile bond they’ve developed hangs in the balance, threatened by a reality that love may not be strong enough to overcome…

Warning: REFER TO ABOVE.

Jess

ADDER in print

I’m very excited to have my novel Adder now available in good old-fashioned strokable print! Yay! I have already molested my copies :D Pick up your own to touch inappropriately — or just read, if you want — today! If you’re not sure, read on for the blurb and a PG-13 excerpt. Or, you can go straight to my website for a not-at-all-PG-13 excerpt. Heh. Enjoy!

Music. Sex. Fame. What’s missing? Surely not the “L” word…

Adder has a plan for his life: play his music for millions of adoring fans, who will reward him with money, fame and as much sex as he can handle. It’s a goal he’s been working toward since his teens and is on the cusp of achieving. The idea of a relationship never entered his mind—until a new drummer joins his band. One taste of Kalil, and all he wants is more.

For Kalil, playing drums for Adder is a dream come true, the creative connection he’s always wanted. What he never reckoned on is the deeper connection he finds with Adder. Kalil would rather avoid sexual involvement with a bandmate, but Adder seems just as determined to break through his resistance.

Attraction aside, music and sex are about the only things the hedonistic Adder and the increasingly jealous Kalil can agree on. Still, before they know it they’re on the brink of something deeper, something lasting.

And it scares the hell out of both of them.

(Warning: This book contains adult language, hot gay sex, weird bands, colorful prophylactics and unforgivable fashion crimes)

_**~*~*~*~*~
© Copyright 2010 Ally Blue
Buy the book

Tantalizing Secrets - Out in print!

The coach lurched to a halt and they were flung forward. Peter flung out a hand to stop Arabella hurting herself, and was rewarded by a handful of fabric and a brief contact with one soft breast. He took her arm and hauled her back on to the seat as the carriage pulled to a halt.
Breathlessly she stared at him and they both heard a gruff voice. “Stand and deliver!”
“Good Lord!” The gleam of battle sparked in him. Cautiously he settled the pistol in his pocket so it came easily to hand.
The door of the carriage was wrenched open. A heavily muffled figure stood outside. “Out,” the man commanded.

Wicked Fantasies?

Recently the third book in my Black & White Collection (named because of the beautiful covers created by Tuesday Dube and Dawn Seewer) was released at Samhain. Rough Cut is the latest installment in a series about wicked fantasies and it touches on a BDSM relationship. In the story, author Gwen Preston is contacted by Hollywood’s hottest property, Ty Ransome. Ty’s interested in turning Gwen’s book, Evening Songs, into a movie. She agrees to write the screenplay with him and during the course of the story, they discover they share very similar, dark desires in the bedroom.

The first book in the Black & White Collection, Erotic Research, delved into role playing—the hero and heroine acting out several sexual fantasies, including a harem slave girl scene and a pirate adventure! In the second book, Tequila Truth, the three main characters decide to spend one weekend exploring a menage a trois!

My editor and I have discussed ideas for future books. Some ideas have included a cougar story, m/m/f menage and a Domme book. I thought it might be fun to make an appeal here as well.

So…what wicked fantasies do you dream about? Read about? What dark desires would you like to see explored within the pages of an erotic romance?

The Character as Avatar

Today I have the pleasure of blogging to introduce my Science Fiction Romance, STARJACKED, which is new in print, and as blogging always makes me introspective, I got thinking about the nature of writing and reading.

Like most writers, I started out as a reader. I confess to having read thousands of books in my life. Each one has immersed me in a new and fantastic world, not unlike the characters in the movie Avatar, where men and women actually control alien bodies made using their own DNA.

When I am in a book, though my eyes are seeing text, my brain is seeing the scenery confronting the protagonists of the book and my heart is experiencing the emotions.

Writing is the same for me. Though I am not a tall gorgeous blonde like the heroine of STARJACKED, Tia, when I write from her point of view, I am her. Yes, I am a kick-ass space pirate with a deadly secret. I even do some gender-bending, because I am equally inside Rork, the hero, who is an uncercover agent of the Union of planets. His mission is to bring Tia and her comrades to justice, and he find himself a Tia’s slave.

I enter each of my point of view characters, even the villians. I may not sympathize with his or her aims, but I do see through their eyes. Jeb, one of the antagonists from STARJACKED is not a likeable fellow. He’s clear about what he wants (power) and has no problem with what he must do to seize it (murder), but he is my avatar during the scenes from his poiint of view.

I love thinking of the perfect word, paring away unnessary words to get to the most expressive sentence, but that’s not my I write. I write to escape.
I write to enter other worlds and other lives. Each character is my avatar and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

How about you? Do you enter the characters of the books you read?
Do you have a character or person you wish were your avatar in life, or whose world you’d like to explore?

Happy reading!

Karin Shah
Click the following link for a free short story, as well as more about me and STARJACKED. link

Let's Have Fun with Titles II

Today I’m going to play a game I started this summer. Picking some new releases and several genre novels, I’m going to write what I think the book is about according to its title. Then I’m going to look at the summary and see what these authors have really written about. The books I’m doing this time are:
“The Soul Jar” by Jennifer Colgan, “Seducing the Sheriff” by Marie-Nicole Ryan, “My Christmas Wish” by Ember Case, “The Forbidden Chamber” by Ella Drake, & “The Role of a Lifetime” by Jennifer Shirk

Margo Lukas
Half Moon Rising
The Werewolf Romance is a Whole New Beast

Who Doesn't Love a Cowboy?

I grew up watching Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. Okay so those were the G rated cowboys I loved so much. Then I grew up and fell for the grittier side of the Old West. The HBO show Deadwood cinched it for me. I wanted to write an erotic historical western, and that was quite a departure for me to go from contemporary romantic suspense to historical anything. I had a lot of fun writing Star and Cord’s story, and I hope you’ll have as much fun reading it.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

I’m a moderate-weather sort of gal. The area I live in rarely gets exceptionally hot or exceptionally cold. I’m happy to reside in a locale where a snowfall makes the news and a stretch of days that are above 90 degrees is a shocker. Don’t get me wrong, I love the four seasons. But I’d much rather visit them, then return to my temperate zone home.

Which is why, when I checked the thermometer outside my kitchen this morning, I groaned. It read seven degrees. (F, not C.) Even more shocking, I’d woken up to sub-double-digit temperatures all week long. It’s the coldest stretch of days that I can remember.

Does. Not. Compute.

Venus In Blue Jeans – Now In Print

Venus In Blue Jeans, my first book for Samhain (and my first novel ever), has been released in print, and I still get a thrill just seeing the cover. Well, I mean, look at it. Isn’t it gorgeous? The week after Venus was released in print, I got the news that it was also a finalist for an EPIC Award in the Contemporary Category. Talk about your cup running over!

“Venus in Blue Jeans PRINT” by Meg Benjamin
Read An Excerpt Online

Genre: Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 978-1-60504-435-4

Length: 280 Pages

Price: 16.00

Publication Date: November 1, 2009

Cover art by Natalie Winters

A guy. A girl. A Chihuahua. Two of them will find the love of their lives.
Konigsburg, Texas, Book 1
Coming off a broken engagement to a lying charmer, all bookstore owner Docia Kent wants is a fling, not a long-term romance. And for her fabulously wealthy and fabulously nosy parents to butt out of her life for a while. The Texas Hill Country town of Konigsburg looks like the perfect place to get both. Especially when she gets a look at long, tall country vet Cal Toleffson.
Cal has other plans for Docia. One glance at the six-foot version of Botticelli’s Venus, and he knows he’s looking at the woman of his dreams. Now if he can just fend off the eccentric characters of Konigsburg long enough to convince her romance isn’t such a bad idea.
One night of mind-blowing sex isn’t the only thing that leaves them both stunned. With Docia’s bookstore under attack, Konigsburg suddenly doesn’t seem so welcoming. Once again she finds her trust tested—and is left wondering if she was ever meant to have a happily ever, after all.
Warning: Contains explicit sex, hot Texas nights, cool sarcastic friends, the world’s sweetest hero and the world’s saddest Chihuahua.

To find out more about me, my books and Konigsburg, Texas, please visit my Website.