Broken Pearl

The Story Behind Broken Pearl

Broken Pearl came about because I wanted to write a novel for my niece, Alison. She was in a car accident two years ago, and she struggled to not only survive, but thrive. It was something she dealt with every day. Her life was never the same. It bothered her that she couldn’t do a lot of the things she used to do, and yet she kept moving forward. So I got this idea to write a story about struggle and what happened when you came on the other side of it.

In my story, Rebecca realizes that she has a gift that could destroy her if she lets it. She has to find a way to control it and use it to help others. Her life is thrown deeper into chaos when war breaks out, and she loses some of the people she loves. It’s a difficult time for her, and she almost gives into the dark energy.  World War II is the backdrop of Broken Pearl. It was a time of both despair and triumph. It seemed like a good era to display all of the emotions I wanted to explore.

Ultimately this story is about survival and learning to lean on the people around you. That’s the underlying message I want everyone to take from this book. I would like to think Ali would have enjoyed the story. Sadly, she passed away in a fire in January and will never get a chance to read it. I still want that message out for everyone to enjoy. Don’t give up, even when it seems like the only option you have. The people who care about you are there for a reason. Lean on them and find your own support beam—sometimes strength comes from the strangest places.  If we are lucky, enough we have our own guardian angels looking out for us. I like to think Alison is the one leading them all around. Her bravery, perseverance, and ability to go beyond everyone expectations was awe inspiring.

 

 

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Broken Pearl

By: Dawn Brower

Release Date: April 16, 2015

Short Blurb: 

The death and destruction of war can destroy even the strongest among us. Will the loss and pain be too much for Rebecca to withstand?

 Long Blurb: 

The year is 1941 and paradise is a way of life in Hawaii. For Rebecca O'Shea things couldn’t be more perfect. She has her dream career as a naval nurse, and is in love with the man of her dreams—it seems she has it all.

 

An empathic gift she's had all her life starts to grow, showering her with emotions and premonitions that suggest a great darkness is near. Just when she thinks she cannot take anymore her guardian, Joel, arrives to help her.

 

Rebecca's life is thrown into chaos when war hits Hawaii's shore. As the Japanese bomb her home, her gift explodes within her. Loss and pain become her new way of life. She abandons all hope and shuts down her empathic abilities. With bodies littering the hospitals and seas, her calling as a nurse is put to good use, but her heart remains unreachable. Can she find her way out of the blackness and accept her true fate? Or will the prevailing death and destruction of war consume her?

 

Party With Dawn For The Release

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(April 16 11:30 am - April 17 11:45 pm US:EDT)

>>>HERE<<<

 

Teasers

 

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About Dawn

Dawn Brower holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, a Master of Arts in Education, and is currently working on a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts with concentrations in Literature, History, and Sociology. She works as a substitute teacher and enjoys the flexibility it gives her to concentrate on her other endeavors.

 

Growing up she was the only girl out of six children. She is a single mother of two teenage boys; there is never a dull moment in her life. Reading books is her favorite hobby. There is nothing like a nice glass of wine and a good book to relax with at the end of the day.

 

There are always stories inside her head; she just never thought she could make them come to life. That creativity has finally found an outlet.

Facebook|Twitter| Goodreads| Amazon| Newsletter|Webpage

 

Allison Merrit Her Heart's Surrender Cover Reveal

Hi :D Today I have another writer for Three World's Press, Allison Merrit. She's a newbie to me with another historical romance. I think we're going to single handedly bring back historical romance! And omniscient POV, if I have anything to say about it!! :D She's shared a bit with us, as well, so enjoy!

 

I'm a romance writer and a history lover, although my tastes have typically leaned toward mid to late 19th century. I owe my love of history and the written word to many teachers. Somehow they managed to bring the past and words to life. But still, I never thought it would lead to a Viking romance. That is something I owe to other people.

Last year, while I perusing books, I stumbled across Mark Lawrence's Prince of Fools. To make it short, it's about a cowardly, spoiled prince convinced he has everyone fooled into thinking he's a war hero who accidentally gets cursed along with another man. That man is a Viking who only wants to get revenge for the death of his wife and child. It sounds kind of sad, but really, it's hilarious and beautifully written. These two guys are bound together on this long journey trying to get the curse off of themselves. The stoic Viking and his band of friends really inspired me toward writing a Nordic hero. That and... Game of Thrones. I'm not even joking. I was able to watch the first three seasons pretty much back to back. I fell in love with the complicated almost soap opera-like plots and the feudal-type system the show has going.

Suddenly I couldn't not write a Viking romance. Because Prince of Fools and Game of Thrones are both fantasy, I considered creating a whole new world for these characters who didn't want to shut up inside my head. But I fell back on my love of history and started devouring everything I could find about Viking life. I admit, Her Heart's Surrender contains a lot of fiction, but I tried to keep it as factual as I could while weaving the type of story I needed to tell. I'm never for a second sorry I swayed from my 19th century.

Raven McAllan The Alpha's Challenge

Hi everyone! I'm doing NaNoWriMo. I promise to start posting regular updates for you all! In the meantime, my lovely and probably bestest friend in Scotland's beautiful land, Raven, has another cover reveal. This one really struck her heart, so I asked to write up a quick blog so I could show you her awesome cover that hit the spot and fits the characters so well. I know a lot of my followers are writers and will understand how meaningful it is when an artist gets it "just right" for our beloved characters. So, without further ado, Raven McAllan!

I never ever lose the thrill of a new cover. I see the email and my heart goes pitter patter, as I wonder what those talented cover artists will come up with.
I really don't have words enough to say how much I admire them, and my covers. In over 60 books I can count on one had those I've had to query, and some of them were down to me, and that weird 'one language separated by an ocean' thing we can all identify with.

However this one by Channing Harris, is spot on. And I'm not the best as describing my characters, I admit.
I opened the email, got goose bumps, shook cried a bit and then did a chair swivel jiggle and squeed everywhere.
The Alpha's Challenge will be out on 3rd December from Siren Bookstrand

Here's the awesome cover! Don't get too distracted because a blurb follows :)

Here's the blurb:

~ When human Ari Mackintosh lets wolf shifter Jacob Wolfe know she fancies him, fur and sparks fly. Especially, as Jacob isn't a mere shifter. He's the Alpha of his pack and a Dom to boot.
Jacob cannot believe his luck when he discovers that the woman he’s been lusting after from afar not only knows about shifters, but is turned on by seeing him shift. It becomes clear that Ari knows far more than she ought to when she recognized him in his wolf form.
It challenges Jacob, as it’s his duty to keep the pack safe. There are rules to follow—rules that he breaks one by one, as he cannot resist Ari’s natural submissiveness.
When push comes to shove and Jacob reveals his secrets, he is fully aware that they might send Ari away screaming. He has to take the chance and trust that she will stay.~

Sounds like another fantastic hot tale from her :D Congratulations!

Hello Rhiannon Wellman!

Please welcome a lovely friend and terrific author, Rhiannon Wellman. :) This is just a bit about her works in progress :D How fun to see into an author's "stash" of work! Soon, I'm going to entice her to come and talk about the difficulties she's overcome--and has to overcome each day!--in order to be an author. For now, enjoy your peek into a writer's mind. Hello, Rhiannon!!

 

 

Firstly, I'd like to say thank you very much for having me. This whole tour is very exciting for me. I've already filled up seventeen of the thirty dates of September which is very cool.

I think I'm going to kick things off by telling you about the four stories I've picked for this tour and where I am on each of them. I do a lot of writing by hand, but for the sake of this, anything not typed doesn't count.

 

Story One

Moon Bound:- This is the sequel to 'Red on the Moon' (which is currently on sale on allromanceebooks.com, I'll put the link at the bottom)

This one tells the story of Scott Donald, the younger brother of Lucas. A werewolf living in San Francisco and how a series of coincidental events leads him to find his mate. But there are forces trying to stop them.

I have lots of this written by hand but as yet words typed is a big fat Zero.

 

Story Two

A Dirty Weekend:- This story might sound self-explanatory, but it only starts with the weekend. There are twists and turns that mean it doesn't end when Monday rolls around. (I do promise what the title says is a big part of the story too, I had fun with this one.)

I've written up to the end of the weekend, but only typed 333 words

 

Story Three

Writers block:-  When writers block strikes, sometimes the best thing you can do is get away from the computer. When Mark (I might change this name) does just that in search of inspiration, he finds it in the form of Ben and his little boy.

Words typed so far 178 (holy shit that's just pathetic)

 

Story Four

Out of Uniform and into Love:- Two service men on leave together are trapped in their tent to wait out a storm, a bottle or two of whiskey and a few confessions later lead to a whole new life neither expected.

This story was supposed to be finished, it was to be a little teaser story, but, well, I liked it so much I decided to tweak where I originally finished and turn it into a much longer story. So the word count for this one is a far more respectable 4504 words.

 

So those are the stories. What do you think? Is there one you'd like to hear more about? Each day I'll just post the title and word count. Now I'm rearing to go, hopefully we'll see a vast improvement in my counts.

Until tomorrow.

Rhiannon.

If you want to follow the daily posts you can find a list on my blog, I'll update links as we go, so if you miss a day, don't worry you can find it here:

http://rhiannonwellman.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html

Buy link:

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-redonthemoon-1414906-340.html

Faberge Nostromo, As Dreams Are Made On

Hi everyone :)

Today we have Faberge visiting us in his first ever f/f romance. And it's a doozy. He tells you a little about how the story came about, so I'll leave that to him. :)

*sniffs and grabs the hanky* Also a proud author moment for me. And he doesn't know it, but I'm currently writing another sci-fi, trying so hard to finish it by end of this weekend... *wails in happy author moment* Thank you Faberge!!

 Now for the star of this Succulent Saturday Stories. :D

It's so lovely to be here with Leona today. She's been enormously supportive of my writing and I am hugging her to bits over t'interweb.

So, I want to talk about As Dreams Are Made On, my sci-fi F/F update of Shakespeare's The Tempest (I like to think it's where the Bard might have taken it had he seen Star Trek) and the authors who've helped it on its way.

It was kicked off by a Facebook group floating the idea of a Shakespeare inspired anthology of short stories. The Tempest has long been a favourite of mine from when I saw the 50s SF movie 'Forbidden Planet' and someone explained that it was Shakespeare in space. I've seen the Royal Shakespeare Company do it with Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise) as Prospero.

I was also inspired by Leona's "The Captain's Christmas" but I've not told her that... yet. I wondered how romance in space might play so I read it to get a steer. My Captain Jane Ferdinand's not like Leona's Captain Faraway Hastings though, but I think they might get on.

As Dreams Are Made On also features a very adaptable android, R.E.L., and writing his interaction with both Captain Ferdinand and Miranda, my marooned alien girl, took me a few light years out of my comfort zone. Who better to check that with than Doris O'Connor, author of many, many books but especially "Man-Droid The Orgasmatron"? She didn't actually laugh out loud or suggest I bin it so I carried on.

I dived into Shakespeare on my kindle and hit Wikipedia and Google for dates, events and themes in Shakespeare and for images to inspire me. I also revisited Forbidden Planet and a lot of Star Trek. That wasn’t hard though as I am a total Trekkie and frankly, once I typed the word "bo'sun" it practically wrote itself.

Last, but soooo not least, port of call—or space port of call, I suppose—was Raven McAllan who, despite usually going nowhere near space, androids or starships in her work has written enough romance novels to stretch from here to the Andromeda nebula (and that's a long way). She really is the go-to girl on style, structure and steaminess. She snipped at a few –ing words here and there and also didn't laugh out loud.

Thank you all, ladies. As Dreams Are Made On wouldn’t have happened without you. I hope you like it.

 

BLURB -

A stricken starship, a captain lost in space; a beautiful alien girl, marooned and adrift in time; the perfect robotic servant. Can he help them come together and find the space and time for love?

Faberge Nostromo takes Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' far into the future and onto a world where two women find that love, with the aid of a very capable android, can be such a thing as dreams are made on.

EXCERPT -

 

"I am a woman, Miranda. Flesh and blood. The same as you."

Miranda breathed in slowly, her gaze flitting from Ferdinand's eyes to her lips.

"Yes. Yes. You are. Captain, kiss me again."

Ferdinand sought Miranda's mouth now, more eagerly, and darted her tongue inside. The kiss was full and deep, both girls probing and tussling with their tongues as Ferdinand ran her fingers through Miranda's long purple tresses. Miranda put a hand on the small of Ferdinand's back, pushing harder, and with her other hand stroked Ferdinand's neck. She used her hands to explore every inch of Ferdinand's back and shoulders, gently sliding over the silver of her uniform, tracing her spine and muscles through the tight material, kneading and caressing in turn.

Their mouths parted, tongues teasing until Ferdinand leaned to one side and danced a series of butterfly kisses on the smooth blue skin of Miranda's neck and throat. Miranda gasped and slid her hand around from Ferdinand's back and inched toward the curve of her breast.

"Captain..." Miranda whispered.

"Jane. It's Jane," Ferdinand replied in between the pattern of kisses she was placing on Miranda's neck. Miranda inched her fingers toward Ferdinand's breast until they gently brushed the smooth lower curve. She stopped.

"Jane, should I..."

"Yes, Miranda," Ferdinand replied. She placed a hand on Miranda's and gently moved it up until Miranda's slim blue fingers covered her breast. "Let your emotions and desires tell you what to do."

Ferdinand's nipple hardened as Miranda gently explored the curve and outline of her breast through the tight silver of her uniform. Ferdinand released her hand and placed her own on Miranda's pert, firm breast, feeling her nipple already hard through the silk. She circled the tight button with her thumb and felt Miranda mirror her movements.

They kissed again, deeply, as each felt the other's soft curves and hard nipples, Miranda's fingers exploring, Ferdinand's confident and insistent. Ferdinand was wet now and wanted those smooth blue fingers to explore inside her. She knew she had to gently lead Miranda there, to teach her, guide her.

 

Buy Link -

http://www.breathlesspress.com/index.php?main_page=product_free_shipping_info&cPath=2&products_id=542&zenid=ad967b50531768ef0bc7d4da85c72363

 

Faberge Nostromo grew up in the East End of London before escaping to East Anglia. He has been a civil servant, a tea boy, sound engineer, a librarian and an IT consultant but always knew that he was a writer. He now lives deep in the heart of Suffolk with his wife, son and too many guitars.

http://fabergenostromo.blogspot.co.uk

https://twitter.com/FabergeNostromo

https://www.facebook.com/FabergeNostromo

http://www.pinterest.com/fabergenostromo/

Other great book by Faberge Nostromo and Breathless Press:

 

Muir Bhreatan ~ K. E. Shade

I have K. E. Shade today! She wrote a stunning ancient pirate story that will touch your heart and make you root hard for the hero. Pirates, ancient Irish Celts, hot blooded women, the high seas, what more could you possibly want! Ms. shade provides you with a ride you won't soon forget!

I asked her to do a guest blog and she has graciously said she will give away a copy of Muir Bhreatan to a lucky commenter. All commenters between now and February 20th, will get a chance! As a reminder, I assign numbers to all comments, put those numbers on post it notes, or other small paper, and have my kids draw them. That's as random as we get here folks. :)

Without further rambling about her awesomeness, here is our author for this week's Succulent Saturdays Stories.

Pirates.

I can't get enough of them. Even before Pirates of the Caribbean hit the big screen, I read books about them. Beyond Edward Teach, AKA Blackbeard, I got knowledge of the lesser known buccos sailing the seas. The lore of Chesapeake Bay was equally fascinating. I've been on a boat through there and just looking at all the nooks and crannies, I could see how the pirates in the Golden Age hid from the privateers and the British. But what about before then? When piracy almost went into obscurity?  The British Empire, much like the Romans, was spread across the globe. Not every citizen under their rule cared for it. So where to start?

I chose Ireland as the birthplace for my two pirate brothers. While they worked well together, they were polar opposites in personality. One had found the woman he wanted to be with the rest of his life. The other? Total man whore … or is he? That remains to be seen within the pages.

I struggled to finish this one, really. It wasn't until a trip overseas that I became inspired. Sailing through the Irish sea and St Georges Channel lit a fire in me. I pounded the keys and when I saw a group of islands in the middle of it all, my tale came to life. This certainly isn't the end of my pirate jaunts. It's not even my first. So look for more on the historical side. I'm not done weaving my yarns.

Blurb:

Liberators of gold from the British on the high seas, Aedan ó Loinsigh and his brother have never shied away from a challenge on the open waters. Aedan’s only tie to solid ground is the lovely Kaitlin who possesses him like no other. When the brothers are captured and awaiting execution, a mysterious man offers to free them if they pay off their debt aboard his ship. The brothers waste no time in agreeing to the proposal only to find their new lives are not much better than those of slaves. Desperate to reach Kaitlin again, Aedan must figure out a way to save not only the other indentured servants aboard the ship but get back to his true love. Salvation could come at a price. One that Aedan will have to live with for the rest of his life.

Add to your Goodreads list.

Purchase links:

Breathless Press

Where to find me:

Blog | Facebook | Goodreads

on Amazon

Panthers and Precincts ~ Deadra Krieger

Hi :)

It's time again for my Succulent Saturday Stories and I have my good friend and editor here today under her other hat: author! Great start to a series that will warm your hearts. And by the way, I'm not letting her around my dog or cat. The stories they would tell. She makes me go outside and pee or poop. She kicks me off the couch when I'm stealing her food. She spanks me when I eat the kids food. I mean, come on, we all know the kid isn't going to eat his broccoli. She made me get away from the stove when she was cooking. Was even rude about it! I never! Yeah, we'll hide the pets when she's here...

I give you, Deadra :D

A Little Magic in Us All

During edits, I brought up the fact that Magic is based on a cat I had the pleasure of living with (because let's face it, you never truly own a cat) a few years ago. The cat, large and black, sported the name Xerxes and could talk. "Yeah, no, Mom, down, uh-oh, rain, tuna, turkey, bath, now, pill (treat), and Frrrost (the name of my other cat who was his best friend)" are the words I heard him say most frequently. I'm not sure why Xerxes could talk so well, much less in context. Perhaps it was due to my son going through in-home speech therapy and Xerxes listening to them? Maybe it was because as a Siamese and Egyptian Mau mix, he was one of the more vocal breeds?

It could be that, like my character Zeara, I'm an animal empath.

There, I said it. I let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. How does one know they are an animal empath? Well, I didn't. Not at first. I spent the first seven years of my life believing everyone could understand the animals in the same way I can. I learned their language the same as any toddler learns their natural language. I had great teachers. My mother's cat, Theodin who was old and wise at the age of 12. My father's German Shephard mix, Necron, who was enthusiastic and talked all the time. And then there was Pepi—a border collie who watched over me from the moment I was born and who taught me many things. The woods are full of coyotes who will kill and eat you. The road is made of things that will smash you to pieces and kill you. The abandoned chicken house is full of snakes that will bite you and make you sick. Pepi drove me crazy as a child. He wouldn't let me go anywhere or do anything. I distinctly remember wailing in my backyard at the age of four because, once again, Pepi drug me away from the edge of the woods by the seat of my pants.

Now you are probably asking how I am able to understand animals. It's not Doctor Doolittle where the animal opens their mouth and speaks human. I've always explained it like this: if you are fluent in a secondary language, do you mentally translate it to your native tongue when you read or listen to someone speaking the second language? That's what I do. Every ear perk, every chatter or growl, every tail lift or lower has meaning in the language of animals. I can tell from looking at a cat's pupils if it is excited and ready to play, or frightened. I can tell from a dog's bark if it is bluffing about the bite, or if it honestly means to follow through. Then there are the pictures and emotions. I could go on and on about it, but if you truly wish to learn what it's like to live through the eyes of an animal empath, then I can only suggest reading the Faxfire Series. Otherwise, I'd end up high jacking poor Leona's blog, and as much as I love her company, I don't want to be rude.

As is, thank you for having me, Leona. And remember, be aware of what you say or do around your animals. You have no idea the things they blab about when someone like me visits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gorgeous cover! BP covers really do stand out, don't they? Now, if you're wanting to get social with her, or buy her books, you can STALK her here:

 

 

Social links:

 

Website: dfkrieger.com

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/D-F-Krieger/177107165643929

Faxfire Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FaxfireSeries

 

Buy Links:

Breathless Press: http://www.breathlesspress.com/index.php?main_page=product_free_shipping_info&cPath=13&products_id=531&zenid=0b5bb1524c39b159e630dcc39d90789b

ARe:

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-panthersandprecinctsfaxfireseriesbook1-1405502-143.html



Amy Lignor, The Heroe's Companion

 

 

 

 

Tallent & Lowery - The Perfect Couple

 

I love romance. I am always looking for the perfect couple whenever I pick up a book in any genre. Finding the perfect balance between personalities is something that truly makes a book memorable in my eyes.

 

One of my biggest and most important goals when it came to creating Leah Tallent and Gareth Lowery was to make them unique. Their banter, their wit, their hearts and what they believe in, their families and career choices - I wanted all of these factions to meld extremely well. And I wanted to make sure that  between all the thrill rides, chases and puzzle solving, their relationship continued to grow and shock readers with new revelations in every book.

 

With 13, Leah Tallent came into mind in an instant; it helps that her brain operates the same as mine. She has the job I would kill for. I’ve said in many blogs that I would beg the NYPL to let me live in their basement. That building, all those books, Patience and Fortitude outside on the steps - that is the perfect location for me. Leah doesn’t live in the basement, of course. She’s the Head of Research and has such a passion for that library she even spends Sunday mornings there reading and drinking coffee from a coffee pot that had to have served King Arthur at one time…it’s that old. She enjoys the ‘smell’ of the books, and that’s what I call paradise.

 

Leah is also ‘fun’ sarcastic (as opposed to mean). On the first page, readers find that out as she stands outside the library with a teenage tour group who roll their eyes and stick their gum on the regal back of Fortitude. Leah tells the absolute truth. She’s an honest woman, sometimes brutally and always funny. (And when you meet her family in The Sapphire Storm, you end up laughing because you finally see exactly why she is how she is).

 

When she meets Gareth, who has the nerve to be in her library one Sunday morning ruining the cornerstone of the historical building to retrieve a book that was placed there by Andrew Carnegie back in 1901, Leah basically wants to call the cops and have the stranger carted off to prison. But even though she’s set in her ways, Leah has the ability to bend. When Gareth begins speaking about why he’s there, and the huge puzzle he’s trying to solve - the librarian comes back full force and her love of research takes over.

 

The friendship between them opens the doors for them to lean on one another, and the love and passion that forms effects them both in their own individual ways. But when Tallent & Lowery succeed, readers will be thrilled for them and, hopefully, pick up ‘The Sapphire Storm’ just to see what the duo will have to face the next time around.

 

With ‘The Hero’s Companion’, Leah & Gareth get involved in their most personal puzzle yet. And fans will be amazed by the twists and turns in their relationship as more ‘secret’ doors from both their pasts begin to open.

 

They are alluring and addictive to me, to fans, and to each other. And that’s what makes Tallent & Lowery the perfect couple.

 

Until Next Time, Everybody,

Amy

The Cover Story, Nemesis

Today's guest is someone fun!! And this story, rocks!! As do CJ Redwine and Sharon Gerlach. In other words, a great story about a great story! :D Come say high!

 

Finding Nemesis

No, this isn’t the story of a lost little clownfish, though I love that movie.

A little over four years ago, I went to a photo shoot some friends of mine were doing. It was all pin-up girls and biker-gangster-ish guys—lots of tattoos—with some great shots of girls on cars and guys on or next to motorcycles, and everyone had a gun in their hands. I’d already started writing Nemesis—on November 15^th, in fact—and was just barely into the story. I remember the date because it was that same night I’d realized that NaNoWriMo had already begun and I’d wanted to participate that year, 2008, so I started a bit late. I went a little over the deadline, writing a 91,000-word book in two and a half months. That literary baby became gi-normous through several edits, and she cost me a lot in sacrifice—blood, sleep, and tears, among other things. Nemesis grew to 116,000 words, namely because CJ Redwine, in the midst of her synopsis workshop in 2010, pointed out to me that I had a HUGE plot hole in the story. I was able to shed over 10,000 words after a thorough edit via Sharon Gerlach.

I remember standing in the alley, the car parked at an angle, and my friend Aleks (aka the Dirty Russian) climbing up a ladder to take the shot of his future wife Rita lying across the top of an old car. I stood off to Aleks’ right, near the bottom of that cover photo, and remember thinking, “Oh my God, that shot is going to be spectacular.” And then I thought, “I wonder if I could use it for something,” not realizing at the time that it would end up as a book cover, and especially not realizing it would be the cover for Nemesis.

When the time came, nearly a year and a half later, to design the cover for Nemesis, I emailed Aleks with a photo that I really liked but couldn’t find the original copyright owner, and asked him if he could do something similar. We got to talking and I finally asked him what he did with the photo of Rita on the car. He replied that he hadn’t done anything with it other than a calendar and some prints, and asked if I wanted to use that. After discussing price, and having Brandon do some Photoshop work on the image, the photo was mine.

(and isn't it lovely!! ~LB)

 

What I love more than anything is that not only were these friends of mine and I attended the photo shoot, which made it so very personal already, but that Rita didn’t have any tattoos showing on her upper body at the time of the shoot, and Brandon not only added the tattoos, but the one on her arm in the image you see on the cover is the exact tattoo on her arm now.

Rita came by last week to pick up three copies of Nemesis, and it was the first time she’d seen the book cover in person. When I told her people raved about the cover, she actually got embarrassed. Shh, don’t tell anyone. It’d mess with her tough girl image. We hugged, said goodbye, and she drove off on her motorcycle with a copy for herself, her husband, and Brandon the Photoshop genius. And I went to work with a smile because, finally, they had their copies that I’d been trying to get to them forever.

 

Prince Charming was a putz.

Prince Charming number two was even worse. 

After the last prince ran off without any notice, breaking her heart and their engagement along the way, Nemesis Mussolini swore off men and passed the time kicking ass and slinging drinks, something her mafia father would never approve of. But, when her boss Clancy ups his flirtations, it's difficult to remember she's not interested, especially when he gets that delicious evil glint in his eye that has her melting. Just when Nemy starts to think all men might not be bad, she hears whispers about Clancy's less than legal past, and wants to run like hell from the idea that he could be just like her father.

Great . . . Prince Charming number three may possibly be on FBI's Most Wanted.

While Nemy and Clancy tumble down the romance road, hitting potholes every step of the way, Nemy discovers how much of her heart already belongs to Clancy, and how much of a Don's daughter she really is. But she must learn to trust again. Can Nemy surrender in time to get her happily ever after, or is she hell-bent on letting her past keep her from the one man who could be her true Prince Charming?

 

NL “Jinxie” Gervasio is a creator and destroyer of worlds. She is both editor and author, and discovered she’s quite good at the romance thing—writing it, that is—along with vampires, werewolves, zombies, angels and demons. Jinxie is the CEO and Founder of Just Ink Press, her second publishing company, and she also owns and operates Forever Nocturne e-zine, a bi-annual literary magazine. Jinxie reviews books in her spare time, of which she rarely has any.

Jinxie was born on Friday the 13th. Her dad wanted to call her Jinx. Her mom said no. It took 34 years for her to discover the nickname, and she's grown quite attached to it. She lives in Tempe, Arizona with Umi (her mother), whom she cares for. She enjoys riding her beach cruiser "The Betty" around downtown Tempe, loves a good pub crawl, and has had the pleasure and the heartache of experiencing a love far greater than she could have ever imagined.

She welcomes you to her worlds.

Jinxie is the author of the Kick-Ass Girls Club series book NEMESIS and the Prophecy series books THE DRACOVE and GODS & VAMPYRES.

Twitter │ Facebook │ Just Ink Press │ Forever Nocturne │ Zombie Survival Crew

Blog tour day two

Hi everyone!! I'm so excited!! Lots happening this week! First off, I had made it up to #22 in M/F category as of last night at one all romance book provider site :) Don't forget to check yesterday's post for Day one on the blog tour. Today's is here and you want to comment! All commenters are entered in for a chance at a $20 gift card :)

And don't forget my guest blog post. Today's the last day to enter the contest! Even if you've already bought my book, please comment anywhere you see them doing these interviews/hostings. If you win my book, I will send it to whomever you wish. What a neat gift! I love books. My standard gift is a book--or two. LOL

In fact, I have two book on their way already for Christmas presents :) See? I love books LOL I've had a nutso morning, and not yet had caffeine. Can't there be some universal law which says no bad can happen before morning caffeine? It's absolutely driving me batty.

OY and I've just been reminded we're leaving for the day. But I might not go. I have too much to do. WOW. What a day. When I tried to comment on today's blog tour, I was told my javascript was disabled...WTH??? So I did an update, installed it, (which meant had to shut all internet windows) then rebooted. Sigh. I'd already had all my stuff set up for work for the day. What a headache!

Okay, it's been decided that I'm going. I can run down to hot spot with my tablet if my phone doesn't get working. Sigh. Time to go :) Have a great day!