FALL INTO YOU Countdown - New Excerpt & Win My Backlist!

It's almost here! FALL INTO YOU will be out New Year's Eve! Woot! (Yes, I know my site says Jan. 1 but from all I've heard and seen, looks like it's going to be available a day early.)

So I thought to celebrate, I'd post a brand new excerpt AND have a giveaway. (See details at the bottom for contest.)

First, enjoy a little taste of Grant...

From FALL INTO YOU, Copyright 2012 All Rights Reserved Berkley Publishing Group

After another round of questions from the other officer and a tour of the damage, the policemen left with a promise to follow up with her if they found anything. She watched them turn off her street and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to fight a chill that wouldn’t seem to go away.

Grant, who’d stayed leaning against his truck like some silent sentinel, pushed to a stand and stepped in front of her, his hat pulled low over his eyes. Apparently noticing her goose bumps, he rubbed his palms along her chilled arms.

Somehow the little gesture of comfort had tears that had built up from the last twenty-four hours ready to burst free. But she wouldn’t cry. She could handle this.

“You okay, freckles?” he asked.

“Freckles?” She looked up at him, trying to muster up some I’m-totally-fine façade, even though having his hands on her had her thoughts fracturing and emotion trying to leak through. “Are you trying to get me back for calling you cowboy?”

“Just trying to make you smile,” he said, concern underlying that twang.

She pushed a finger to his chest and tried to manage an intimidating expression. “I’d normally punch a guy for calling me that. You’re lucky I’m too tired. And that you’re so fucking big.”

“Lucky, indeed.” He smiled, but those blue eyes remained serious. He grabbed her hand before she could move it away from his chest. His palm closed over her fist, the hold firm. “Now are you going to tell me what really happened last night? You’re shaking. And I know it’s over more than stolen computer equipment.”

She blinked at the change in subject and his grip on her hand. She stepped back, and he quickly let go of her. “What?”

His mouth dipped at the corners, and he eyed her in that knowing way he seemed to be so good at. “Fine. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. You can go on pretending that everything is sugar and sparkles to try to get me to go away and leave you to whatever mess you’re in alone. Not going to happen, by the way. Or you can be honest with me so that maybe I can offer some help.”

She groaned. “Look, I appreciate everything you’ve done. But I don’t need help. I’m on a story that apparently has ruffled someone’s feathers. I can handle it. After all this, I’m going to be on guard now and more aware.”

The displeasure that crossed his face was strong enough to steal breath. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Someone ran you off the road last night. And don’t lie and say I’m off base. You were yelling at them in your sleep.”

She glanced away and took a sudden interest in a crack in her driveway. “It was probably just kids messing around.”

“You don’t strike me as a stupid woman, Charli. Don’t talk like one.”

She clenched her jaw, frustration building. Who was he to make demands on her? Being a Good Samaritan gave him the right to a thank-you but not some right to all her business. But before she could lash out and take out her stress from the last twenty-fours hours on the man in front of her, another truck pulled into her driveway. A very familiar one.

“Son. Of. A. Bitch.” Her simmering frustration boiled over into outright anger. She sent a fiery look Grant’s way, as a ginger-headed man climbed out of the truck’s cab.

Grant shrugged. “Sorry, darlin’. He would’ve done the same for me.”

Suddenly, all the warm and fuzzy feelings she’d been harboring toward Grant earlier that morning dissipated into a red haze.

Read the entire first chapter here. 

Or, even better, pre-order it so that you can have it next week! I will love you forever. ;)

Giveaway: I'm giving away signed print copies of CRASH INTO YOU and MELT INTO YOU to one lucky commenter (U.S. and Canada only). Leave a comment answering the question below and include your email address below. I'll pick a winner on Monday.

FALL INTO YOU Review Copies Available: If you are a book blogger and would like to review FALL INTO YOU, please email me at ronilorenbooks(at)gmail(dot)com with the subject REVIEW. There are NetGalley and print options. Please let me know which format you would prefer and include a link to the site where the review would be posted.

QUESTION: What book are you most looking forward to reading in 2013?

Special Guest & Contest: Author Tori St. Claire - Lie To Me

Today I have the lovely Tori St. Claire here to talk about her newest release Lie to Me . Tori writes super sexy romantic suspense and is going to share with us a little about her heroes.

Thanks, Roni, for letting me come over today!  And congrats on your release!

I almost never associate a real face with a character, particularly in plotting a book.  Sometimes someone will leap out at me after the book is complete but, gosh, I can’t think of anyone who’s been with me from the beginning of a novel… except Alexei in LIE TO ME, my July 3^rd Berkley Heat release.

From the moment his name leapt into my head, way back as a mention in STRIPPED, he was Theo Theodoridis.  Which, actually, takes things on a very strange twist.

 Click for photo of Theo

You see… Theo reminds me of Duell McCall in Desperado. I had the hugest crush on Alex McArthur in school – his name adorned every one of my folders, surrounded by hearts, flourishes, and squigglies.

And as this connection hit me during the writing, I went looking up my old crush Alex McArthur.  Lo and behold, not only is the man drop-dead gorgeous twenty years later, but holy cow, he embodies the spitting image of how I picture Kevin Clarke, the Black Opal Director.

Click for photo Alex

So dear, sweet, hot and steamy felon Theo gave me two bangs for one buck!  All the more reason to be infatuated with this man.

But above all… it’s the eyes in both men. God help me, I’ll swoon for heartbreaker eyes.  What about you all?  What’s your swoonworthy part?

LIE TO ME Blurb:

A man of action…

After helping to break up a Russian human trafficking ring as part of the CIA’s elite Black Opal team, Alexei Nikanova’s newest assignment is to rescue one of the stolen women and return her to her father. When he arrives in Dubai, he discovers his target is Sasha Zablosky—a woman he knows all too well, and who has haunted him ever since their unforgettable time together in Moscow, two and a half years earlier. But he finds Sasha reluctant to leave her sheikh, the only true friend she’s ever known. Only Alexei can’t give her a choice.  

A woman of deception…

With their yearning roused by intrigue, Alexei and Sasha can no longer resist temptation, and spend night after night in forbidden pleasure. Soon Alexei finds himself falling for her, even as he battles a shadowy menace to protect her. But Sasha is no innocent. She has a past darker than she could ever admit, one that Alexei could never forgive. And it is about to explode into her life once more. As the lies they tell themselves—and each other—pull them deeper into a perilous desire, what began as simple passion becomes a love certain to destroy them and end the lives of countless innocents.

Excerpt:

 

Sasha rolled over, propped her head up on one elbow. “Who do you work for, Alexei?”

That was certainly the last question he’d ever prepared for. Chancing a glance at her upturned face, he debated how to answer. She’d told him she worked for FSB; she undoubtedly knew he was an American agent—virtually all of Dubai knew. But tell her about the Opals? Let her in?

What the hell. They’d already named themselves in front of her. She knew their director’s name. He stared at the television as he answered, “A special division within the CIA known as the Black Opals. We’re the ones they send when it’s real dicey and they need to delete someone with the press of a button.”

“Delete?”

More quietly he added, “We don’t exist.”

He crossed opposite ankles and folded his hands behind his head, leaning back against the headboard. Waiting for her to make the association between his vague explanation and the truth of his work. When she did, shock would stop her questions.

Instead, Sasha’s palm fitted over his belly, gentle sweeping motions that rumpled the fabric of his shirt and offered more comfort than Alexei had known could exist. “Isn’t that . . . difficult?” she asked softly.

“Difficult? The missions are never ea—” 

“No. Not existing.” That delightful little palm slid higher, caressing the lower part of his chest. “I mean, don’t you ever crave life? The simple things like owning a house and paying someone to rake your leaves.” The heel of her palm worked into his tense muscles. “Like sleeping in on a Saturday and having breakfast in bed.”

More than she could understand. He tensed. She was getting too close, treading too far into murky waters he didn’t want to disturb.

Dropping to an almost inaudible whisper, her voice washed over his body. “Have you ever been in love, Alexei?”

Danger. Combustion imminent. Alexei covered the sudden trip of his heart with a harsh chuckle. “Love’s not an option in my line of work, princess.”

She was silent for a blissful moment, leaving him with the conclusion he’d scared her off. As luck would have things, however, when she did speak, she didn’t traipse around uncomfortable, she plunged in headfirst. “You only call me princess when I’ve hit a nerve. So tell me, Agent Nikanova, are you afraid of the fall, or afraid of the loss?”

About Tori:

National Bestselling author Tori St. Claire grew up writing. Hobby quickly turned into passion, and when she discovered the world of romance as a teen, poems and short stories gave way to full length novels with sexy heroes and heroines waiting to be swept off their feet. She wrote her first romance novel at seventeen.

While that manuscript gathered dust-bunnies beneath the bed, she went on to establish herself as a contemporary, historical, and paranormal author under the pen name, Claire Ashgrove. Her writing, however, skirted a fine line between hot and steamy, and motivated by authors she admired, she pushed her boundaries and made the leap into erotica, using the darker side of human nature and on-the-edge suspense to drive grittier, sexier, stories.

Her erotic romantic suspense novels are searingly sensual experiences that unite passion with true emotion, and the all-consuming tie that binds -- love.

CONTEST DETAILS:

Tori will be giving away a $25.00 Amazon Gift Card to one random commenter during the month of July.  Two additional commenters will receive a basket of swag.  Follow the tour – the more times you comment the better your chances of winning!  Complete tour dates can be found here.

Thanks to Tori for stopping by! If you'd like to enter the contest, answer Tori's question in the comments and provide your email address.

REMINDER: I'll be at RWA for the remainder of the week and won't be blogging.

Sexy Excerpt from Eden Bradley's FALLEN ANGEL and a Giveaway!

Hey, y'all. Today I have a special treat - Author Eden Bradly (aka Eve Berlin). I love, love her books. And I'm not just saying that because she's here today. I'm a fan. So if you haven't read her yet, get to it. Super sexy, smart books. 

And if her stopping by with a hawt excerpt wasn't enough, she's giving away books! Yay! One of which is Pleasure's Edge, which is a fab BDSM romance. So read on and don't forget to leave a comment to enter the contest.

Over to you Eden...

***

Thank you so much to the kind and fabulous Roni Loren for having me here today to celebrate the release of my HQN book FALLEN ANGEL!

This story was in my head for ten years before I wrote the book. The idea came to me while I was listening to a Fleetwood Mac song, Rhiannon. In my head I saw a woman lying naked on the bare earth, strange symbols painted on her body, a hand scattering rock salt in a circle around her in some sort of ritual. I smelled the acrid scent of burning incense, heard a low, murmuring chant…This is how I get my story ideas sometimes-in images and scents and sound, bits of dialogue. Usually it all comes attached to characters who are pretty well fully formed. Sometimes they even tell me their names. But this book was a little more challenging-just pictures and sensations for the first few years, and it wouldn’t leave me alone until I started to build a story around it.

And by story I really mean characters, because that’s what it’s always about for me-the people involved. Falling in love and broken hearts and histories of loss and grief-I like my characters complicated! But this time-sheesh! My hero, Declan, is a guy with a really tragic past, and while Angel, my heroin, has had a life of horror few can even begin to imagine, she was the one who was all sweetness and light-not what I expected when I began putting <strong>FALLEN ANGEL</strong> together. And then, of course, there’s the demon Asmodeus…but he’s not what I expected either-and won’t be quite what you expect, but I can’t say more about him or I’ll spoil the story, even though he would love for me to tell you all about him-demons are wicked that way.

This is an incredibly romantic story. And because it’s me, it’s also a li’l dirty, because I love to explore those intimate moments when my characters are their most vulnerable, primal selves. Isn’t that why we love to read about sex? Well-partly, anyway…;) Whether you like the romantic part or the dirty part-or both!-I hope you all enjoy my book FALLEN ANGEL.

He would move heaven and earth to protect her

Was she heaven-sent…or more heartbreak waiting to happen?

Haunted by a military mission that ended in personal tragedy, Declan Byrne still bears a soldier’s scars. As a park ranger on the secluded Mendocino coast, he guards his heart while standing ready for anything. Anything except a beautiful, ethereal woman with a mysterious past, falling from the cliffs to the rocks below. Angel, as Declan decides to call her, has no memory of what happened. But as her body heals, disturbing dreams emerge. In Declan’s protective care, Angel feels safe to act on the undeniable passion between them, without the threats from old, unnameable demons. And, in time, she senses Declan needs her as desperately as she needs him. But when her past returns with a vengeance, Declan must decide just how much he’s willing to risk in order to keep the woman he loves safe.

~~~~~~

 (WARNING! X-RATED Excerpt!):

He sat up. They were in his bed, the moonlight shimmering through the curtains, striping the room in light and shadow. But he could see her clearly, her naked body kneeling next to his, her long hair like a veil around her shoulders, flowing over the curve of her breasts.

He was still pulsing with his orgasm, his cock thrumming, his body hot. And she was really there. In his bed, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.

Jesus.

He was shaking. What the hell had just happened? What had he let happen?

“Angel. What’s going on? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to make you happy. To show you there is no reason to deny your desires. Or mine. Have I not made you happy? Your body is happy. But I still need you, Declan. I need you to touch me.”

“Jesus, Angel. I can’t believe this.”

“I’m real. I’m a woman, Declan, not a child. And I want you.”

She took his hand, and before he knew what she was going to do, she held his palm to her breast.

Jesus. Her flesh was warm, her nipple going hard beneath his fingers. He couldn’t force himself to pull away for a moment. When he finally tried to, she held on tighter.

“Please, Declan. Please don’t send me away again. I need you. And you need me. You cannot tell me you don’t.”

It was nearly impossible to think, his brain still half-dazed from coming. But he had to say something. Had to do something.

“Angel, this is not right. I can’t do this. We can’t do this.”

“We already have, Declan. And it was beautiful, as I knew it would be.”

He swore he could feel her pulse beating in the full flesh of her breast as she leaned into his touch.

“I’m here for you. For you, Declan. This is where I am supposed to be. You can’t tell me this is wrong. I won’t believe it. I love you, Declan.”

Love.

Jesus. Why did hearing her say that to him make his heart pound right out of his chest? His mind was going a hundred miles an hour. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Angel.”

“You cannot deny you feel something for me.”

He couldn’t.

God damn it.

“Of course I do! But this is...I don’t know anymore.”

“Feel this, Declan.” She held his hand closer, crushing her breast beneath their twined fingers. “Feel how my body heats for you. Feel my desire.”

She moved his hand down, over the soft cushion of her stomach. Lower still, in between her thighs. He was helpless to stop her. And when she slipped his fingers into her sweet, wet cleft, he was paralyzed.

“Ah, God...”

She sighed quietly, her breath coming out in a warm puff of air that grazed his cheek like a kiss.

“You are the first man to touch me, Declan. And it is better than anything I could have imagined. Your hand feels so different than mine. Larger. Stronger. And yours.”

She held him there, pressed against her mound. His heart was beating wildly. Totally out of control. He was out of control. Fucking helpless.

“I need you,” she said again. “I need you to touch me, Declan. I need you to quench this thirst. I feel as if I’ll die of it.”

Holding onto his hand with both of hers now, she slid it back and forth, over her cleft. Her flesh was soaking wet, slippery. And all he wanted was to touch her, taste her. Have her.

He knew in his head it was wrong. But his body felt right.

He couldn’t resist any longer. He could not do it.

“Declan, please have me. I will beg you until you do.”

Her hips were undulating against his hand, and he moved then of his own accord, sliding his fingers into her wet heat.

“Oh...” Her voice came out on a soft, whispered sigh.

“Angel.” His voice was gruff, thick with desire in his own ears.

“Yes...”

“I want you.”

“Yes, Declan. Now.”

~~~~~~

CONTEST! We can’t have a real celebration without giving something away, so how about I hand out to one lucky winner an ARC (advance reader copy) of the first in my ‘Edge’ series, PLEASURE’S EDGE, written under my alter ego, Eve Berlin, and a copy of my e-book WINTER SOLSTICE. Just comment here and let me know what you love about reading about love! I’ll choose a winner and announce it here in the comments section tomorrow night.

If you’d like more information about my books, visit my websites: EdenBradley.com EveBerlin.com or my group blog Smutketeers.com You can buy FALLEN ANGEL now at Amazon, B&N, Chapters.ca, Books-a-Million and other outlets! Hope to chat with you all soon! Eden aka Eve

Thanks so much to Eden for stopping by! And remember y'all, you need to comment for a chance to win. :)

STILL INTO YOU is out today! Three Days. No Rings. Will their marriage survive?

So hopefully y'all will forgive me for the blatant promotional post today in lieu of Boyfriend of the Week. But it's my book's birthday! Yay!

And don't despair, there is still a Boyfriend of the Week to be had. I'm over at Romancing Rakes For the Love of Romance with photos of the inspiration for Seth, the hero for STILL INTO YOU! 

Blurb (in case you missed it the hundred other times I posted it):

Three days, no rings...

Seth and Leila used to have trouble keeping their hands off each other. Passion, desire, love—it was all there. Yet, eight years after their whirlwind marriage and kids, they’ve settled into a life where choosing Letterman over Leno is considered a wild night.

Seth knows things need to change. But when he hears his wife call into a relationship radio show and admit she’s been tempted to cheat, he realizes how far off course they’ve gotten. He comes up with a dramatic plan. Three days. No rings. He’ll take Leila to The Ranch, a resort where any sexual fantasy can be had, and give her the freedom to have whatever or whomever she wants.

However, Seth doesn’t intend to simply stand by and watch other men fulfill Leila’s dark desires. He has a lot more bad boy in him than his wife suspects and he knows there’s only one man who can give her what she needs. Now he has to show her why that man is him.

Now here are your instructions:

1. Buy book in your preferred format (Kindle or Nook) because of any or all of the following reasons:

a) It's a kickass story and only $2.99

b) the cover will look pretty on your e-reader

c) you love me

d) you just want to see a little more of Jace from Crash Into You

e) you want to help fund my iced tea and fancy cheese addiction

2. Read the story.

-Keep a significant other readily available.

3. If you love it...

a) Tell everyone you know

b) Review it online

c) Lend it to a friend

4. If you hate it...

a) Uh, just send me a private email berating me. ;)

b) All right, I can take it, you can review it too.

5. Rinse. Repeat in July when MELT INTO YOU releases. (<--told you, I'm shameless.)

All right, now off with you, you've got important work to do today!

Love you guys! *hugs*

Parenting and a Chance to Get a Copy of CRASH INTO YOU

 Just poking my head out of my writer's cave for a few updates...

Today I'm over at the new parenting blog I've joined - Peanut Butter on the Keyboard - talking about a mommy fail: The Too Observant Child

Also, author Carly Phillips has given her take on the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and is giving away a number of books from some erotic romance authors--including mine! So go check it out for a chance to win. : )