Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Interstitial

My first novella with Samhain, Interstitial, is now out. You can buy it here. Blurb below.

Read An Excerpt Online

Love triangles. Alien monsters. Planetary war. Just another day in space.

Sebastien ven Hester, decorated war hero and captain of the sentient cargo ship Naurus, can face any danger—except his own feelings. Jason North, his pilot, finds out the hard way that Seb’s not ready for a relationship after his recent divorce. And Jatila Kan, their engineer, discovers her feelings for North aren’t returned—because her lover’s pining after another man.

Not the best situation for a crew starting a three-week run across the galaxy.

But there are bigger terrors in space than their messy love triangle. A ruthless, horrifying enemy stands ready to test them to their physical and emotional limits.

Failure means certain death not only to themselves and their passengers, but to the entire planetary alliance.

Warning: This title contains explicit sex, a messy love triangle, sniping, bad language and ravening space monsters.

---

My thanks to my editor at Samhain, Anne Scott, and to my friends and readers who have worked so patiently and graciously with me to bring this story out. It’s really been a joint effort, so feel proud of what you’ve done.

All royalties from this novella in 2008 will be going to Medecins sans Frontieres Australia. Please consider sending them a donation anyway, to help with their work around the world, including with the Burmese Cyclone victims

OUT OF THE DARK by JoAnn Smith Ainsworth

I am delighted to invite you to enter the world of Lynnet and Basil as they struggle against social condemnation and villainy.

OUT OF THE DARK (ISBN 1-59998-941-7) e-released today. The heroine is sight impaired. I love that her eyes are closed on the cover, blocking out what little sight she has. The artist, Anne Cain, did a marvelous job of expressing love by touch, don’t you agree?

My writing has been called “lushly sensual” because my historical settings are so vivid you can reach out and touch them. I grew up with grandparents in a rural neighborhood and was surrounded with tools and cooking implements from pioneering days. Having experienced canning in the heat of summer and growing our own vegetables and embroidering, I can bring them alive for you.

Go Beyond the Faerie Myst

Hey all,

I’m so excited to be a part of Samhain and having my release on Friday was like a dream come true. I had a great release party and I thank everyone who made my day such a special one. As most of you may know, The Mylari Chronicles: Eyes of Fire released last Friday. I’ve already had several wonderful reader reviews where it’s being sold at My Bookstore and More and that means the world to me.

Let me give you a brief blurb…

An ancient prophecy comes to life in an erotic tale of forbidden love.

Talia’s visit home turns upside down when dark, frightening creatures appear seemingly from nowhere and transport her to another world. The faerie world. In this mystical paradise, she finds her life and honor threatened for reasons she does not understand.

When Calion Sáralondë, Prince of the Calen’taur Elves, rescues the human female from an orcan stronghold, his attraction to her is immediate and strong. And the feeling is mutual. Though their love is sardai—taboo—Calion can’t bring himself to linksend her back to her world. Her presence sets a fire in his soul only mating with her can tame.

And their passion could be the answer to an ancient prophecy that saves his world.

Cool, huh? Wait till you read it! Reviewer and readers alike use words like, “beautiful writing”, “sensational”, “uniquely creative”, and “breathtaking imagery” to describe it.

I’ve also had a few emails asking me where I get my ideas, so I thought it might be interesting to show you where some of the ideas for beyond the faerie myst came from. From dark forests to painted valleys, our own earth holds a myriad of inspirations. Join me now as I take you to Beyond the Faerie Myst…in our own backyard.

Poison

My new book, a futuristic m/m romance entitled Poison is now on sale at My Bookstore and More!

Here’s the blurb:

In this world, trust is hard to find…and the one thing they need to survive.

Tobias Smator lives down his late father’s execution by avoiding the spotlight—and responsibility. He doesn’t mind what people think of him as long as they leave him alone. Still, in this unremarkable half-life he’s fashioned for himself on deceptively low-tech Rimania, he’s not safe from political intrigue. Someone wants him dead.

Alliance operative Geln Marac’s orders for his first assignment were simple: Stay uninvolved. Those orders go out the window, however, when he delivers an antidote to save Tobias from death by poisoning. His reward? Possible betrayal that lands him in the hands of police interrogators. To protect the Alliance, Geln resorts to a temporary mindwipe.

Tobias is fascinated by the amnesiac man who saved his life. But Geln has attracted the attention of the high-powered Lord Eberly, who would use him as a pawn. Rather than sacrifice Geln to the political wolves, Tobias chooses to embrace his heritage.

Geln’s memory reawakens to a precarious situation with no source of protection—except Tobias. There’s only one way forward for both of them.

Trust—or die.

Warning: this book contains hot nekkid otherplanetary manlove.

The Countess Takes a Lover Available Today

Countess Meredith du Chevalier, a widow with a reputation for being sexually adventurous, is intrigued when she is approached by a gentleman who wishes her to “make a man” of his son. Sensing a passionate man beneath Christopher Whitby’s reserved exterior, Meredith takes on the challenge, inviting the botanist to her country home to revitalize her abandoned greenhouse.

Chris finds people to be a chaotic, animalistic species, and has chosen to devote his life to the study of plants. One kiss from the vivacious countess, however, and his inner animal is aroused. But lust is only a fraction of what he feels for the vulnerable woman hiding behind a brittle façade. He resolves to coax her to grow until her petals unfurl in a glorious bloom.

To her surprise, Meredith finds Chris brings much more to life than just fallow soil. But just as their love begins to thrive, he learns about the secret arrangement. Meredith must risk her heart for the most dangerous lesson of all—love.

All About Romance—Desert Isle Keeper, Reviewer Abi Bishop:
“Meredith and Chris’s relationship, based as it is on lust and sexual awakening, demanded a focus on the physical that would have become repetitive if not for the unique quality to each of their meetings, and Dee’s almost poetic attention to detail. In addition, the scenes weren’t there so we readers could get our jollies. Character and relationship development was happening there. I’m serious.”

Karen Scott’s blog, ReviewerAzteclady: “A welcome change from the usual run of romantic stories is that the hero is both the socially awkward and the inexperienced one in the relationship. It’s true that this doesn’t last very long, for one of the things that attracts Meredith to Christopher is the fact that behind his bookishness hides a strong and passionate personality. During their first lovemaking, Christopher’s reactions are lovely rendered. He is insecure and scared, surprised, amazed, moved, grateful. I could very well see him there.

Read on for an excerpt…

SOME KIND OF HERO by Michelle Cary

It was about this time last year when my amazingly talented editor Immi gave me the great news that she wanted this story. Let me tell you I was doing the Snoopy dance for days as at that point it was only the second story I’d ever contracted and both were with Samhain. Still, with the release date a year after the acceptance, I expcted my days to drag by while not so patiently waiting for the release day to get here. However, after a while I moved on to other project, went back to work, and dealt with life’s little inconveniences along the way. Suddenly my days seemed to zoom by at amazing speed and before I knew it the day had arrived.

I am thrilled to announce the release of Some Kind of Hero. It’s a story about a soldier trying to put his life back together after serving his time in Iraq and in the process finds love where he least expected it. I’m so very proud of this story and hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

I was going to post an excerpt, but I tend to be a little computer challenged sometimes and couldn’t figure out how to make the read more button work, so how about a link instead? http://samhainpublishing.com/excerpt/some-kind-of-hero

Even for Me Released! and an excerpt

I cannot describe to you how absent I’ve been from my day job I’ve been because my very first publication is now available through Samhain! I have had butterflies in my stomach and tried to write this blog a thousand times. I’ve always loved telling stories but grew up painfully shy. Writing seemed like the perfect occupation. No one ever saw you. They didn’t mock you or try to get you to be their picture perfect ideal of what they thought the story should be. But therein lies the rub, as Hamlet would say.

Nothing comes from nothing. The stories and characters that I create are all pieces of me that have come to life on a page through hope, blood, sweat and dreams. That’s why I’m so nervous. Perfect strangers are about to take a peak at what goes on in the dark recesses of my mind. I hope you like the ride as much as I do.

Even for Me by Taryn Blackthorne Excerpt

Tiger by the Tail

Today has been a wild day for me. Tiger by the Tail is now up and available.

The phone’s rang off the hook with friends and family wishing me well and sharing my excitement.

As a virgin author, the best way I can explain the thrill is – imagine you’re 16 and your parents surprised you with that first car. Closest feeling to what’s been going on today. Except you can’t drive Sasha and impress all your footbound friends.

grins

Still, it’s been quite a ride, just like Sasha. Sasha’s tale is an urban fantasy where shapeshifters live and work side-by-side with their human counterparts. Wait…when was the last time you were invited to go on girl’s night out on the night of a full moon? wink You might want to ask around and see if anyone has a fur coat just to see what they say. It might be a good idea to have a clear shot at the exit when you do, though. Never know how small things might start the ball rolling into something big and out of control.

In Sasha’s story, it is a case of how one tiny act of bravado can change the course of your life…with all sorts of unexpected consequences…like expectations, alphas, and men who think they can treat her like a figurehead.

How would you take that? Yeah, Sasha thinks the same way.

Sometimes, yanking the tiger by the tail simply means you’re going to become dinner…

Treasure Hunting - now on sale!

This was one of those stories that trickled slowly into my head. Meg appeared fully formed and poked, prodded, and cracked jokes until I broke down and wrote! She refused to be the proper damsel in distress, which is probably a good thing—she made me laugh, and I’m hoping she’ll make you laugh, too! Better than that, she made Santiago laugh; I’m pretty sure it’s why he kept sticking around…

Synopsis:
A good tromp through the jungle fending off giant bugs and hunting for long-lost ruins in South America is exactly Meg’s idea of a great vacation. She takes the sudden appearance of a wounded jaguar in stride, thinking it’ll make an interesting story. But when she wakes up to find a man in place of a cat, she wonders who’s going to believe it!

Santiago has learned the hard way that he and human women just don’t mix. When you can change into an animal at will, it tends to upset people. But despite his best intentions, he finds himself falling hard for the little blonde who saved his life.

It’ll take a leap of faith-and of love. Or this treasure will slip through his fingers.

Excerpt:

Rachel's Totem, Now Available!!!

Rachel’s Totem introduces Rachel Penny to the funny little town of Cougar Falls, where the people seem more animal than human, and a rude stranger does more than put her back up, but pins her against a wall for some unexpectedly delicious… interaction.

Cougar Falls is much more than a small town, and to Rachel Penny, it might very well provide a new beginning to a life she’s happy to leave behind. Recovering from an ugly divorce, Rachel has no intention of falling for a “pretty face” ever again, so her attraction to a rude Adonis in the local diner makes no sense. But then, nothing has made sense since she’s stepped foot in Cougar Falls. Having just arrived for a reading of her aunt’s will, Rachel quickly finds herself embroiled with brawling mountain men that seem more animal than man, orgasmic from a scorching sexual encounter with the rude stranger from the diner, and up to her eyeballs in town mysticism and tales of the Ac-taw, Shifters—people with the ability to transform into animals. But the Ac-taw aren’t just legend, they’re real. And Rachel soon finds she’s inherited much more from her aunt than some property, but a destiny to protect her newfound home, and a love she’s been waiting for her entire life.