Love by Premonition, Holly Trent (Giveaway/Guest Post/Review)
I asked author Holly Trent about writing across genres and she answered. Also Scroll down for more on her new book. Love by Premonition. I loved it, which is great since I had reviewed it anticipation of her book tour. It is always awkward to have a guest author and not like their book. Well that was not the case, which was lucky for me!
Channeling Janet
Shortly after my husband and I bought our house in Durham, I signed up for my first library card of my adult life. Mostly, I kept returning every week in hopes people had returned books by my favorite Southern authors—Clyde Edgerton and Fannie Flagg.
While trawling that E/F section, I kept passing a clump of interestingly-titled books by an author named Janet Evanovich. I liked series books and wanted to start a new one, but I wanted to read them in order. The library never had the first few books on the shelves, and I hadn’t at that point figured out the library hold system (duh, Holley).
For lack of anything else to grab my attention, one week I picked up one of the mid-series books and gave it a go.
I was hooked. I think I plowed through that entire series in just a couple of months. I’m not ashamed to admit I appreciate lowbrow humor, and those books had me doing belly laughs in bed. Before those books, I didn’t know writers could get away with that. The prose wasn’t all that sophisticated (which actually works well for audiobooks), but man, was the storytelling engaging. I fell in love with the voice, and I started to think, “Hey…maybe I could get away with that, too.”
So, when I wrote Love by Premonition—my cross-genre novel (it’s a light paranormal romantic comedy with a mystery element), I had the lessons I learned from Ms. E in mind.
1) I wrote it in first person so the reader could bond quickly to my heroine Marcia.
2) I gave Marcia a large supporting to enhance the world-building.
3) I set the story in places I’m very familiar (Halifax County, North Carolina and The Triangle) and spotlighted those places’ unique quirks.
4) I made the cast look and act like the people I know from back home…and had some lighthearted fun at their expenses. Yeah, they’re caricatures of a sort, but definitely grounded in real life.
Marcia and her sister Shane are loosely based on me and my sister. Their interplay is what you’d witness if the two of us were in a room together. …and their ethnic mix? That’s something I shook out of my own family tree—theirs is blurry, because that how mine is.
5) I interwove a few subplots so the book is a slice of life about Marcia, and not one straight-shot plot. [Which is why the book is hard to categorize. It’s more like an episodic sitcom and not so much a “pure” romance.]
6) I purposefully developed Marcia into a sort of kook, and gave her a man who’d love her in spite of it. And a man with an accent, at that. No idea why I decided to make McCoy Scottish. That’s just the way he came to me, and I can’t imagine him any other way now.
Love by Premonition is the only book I’ve written thus far that has this sort of style. The rest of my books are more in the realm of true romance and in third-person. And I’ve got to say, although it was the most fun of my books to write, it was the hardest to revise and make digestible (humor is a tough nut to crack).
I don’t know how Janet Evanovich does it book after book. I’d like some of whatever she’s got in her coffee.
Love by Premonition
Holley Trent
Genre: Light Paranormal Romance
Marcia Andrews is a freelance psychic consultant. Sick of living hand to mouth, she accepts a contract with Raleigh Police. A new gang called The Cardinals is terrorizing The Triangle, and Marcia gives the department an edge in tracking them. Help that she is, one cop isn’t so keen on her involvement, and makes sure she knows it.
Detective Nat McCoy would rather see Marcia in his bedroom than the bullpen. The gorgeous Scotsman isn’t the typical chauvinist pig, though. He’s keeping a secret that even the psychic doesn’t anticipate.
A close encounter with a Cardinal’s bullet knocks Marcia off her game when the police need her most. She loses hours to trances and ghosts haunt her sleep. She can hardly function, and everything she thought she knew about playboy McCoy suddenly seems questionable. McCoy thinks he knows the cure for what ails her—him. But can she trust him?
Giveaway: Holly Trent is giving away tour wide 5 ebook copies of Love by Premonition enter a Rafflecopter giveaway
Bookswagger Marcia: Five Crowns, major swagger a must read. I loved, loved this story. It is a light paranormal but the cast is what keeps you involved. All the characters, even the bad guys have layers. I loved, did I say loved the fact Mrs. Trent’s characters were so realistic. I love reads with unique and multicultural characters. Unfortunately they are easily done wrong or just over the top dot com. Well these are my friends and family if you take away the psychic ability I could easily see these people in my family tree. The lingo was on point and made the read very funny and as someone who lives in North Carolina I can really tell Holly Trent grew up in the area. You have Marcia (Marsha) a normal woman who through life choices is not what she went to school for, in debt and has a weird family but normal to her and a hot perspective boyfriend who happens to be her best friend’s partner. Nat is hot and women are drawn to him (there is a secret reason why beyond him just being a hot Scottie). He knows Marcia is meant to be his and it is fun watching the tension and him applying his charm (or inappropriate jokes) to Marcia. This romance is actually about the romance and solving the crime of course. This story showcases the tension between Marcia and Nat, you feel the pull of attraction…You find yourself on the end of your page wondering is this it, is this the time they take it to the bedroom.
Sinful Sirens Giveaway Hop
Ok we are talking sinful reads…I know we romance readers make up the majority of book sales, but we do not get any respect. Remember when you came out as a romance reader. Were you always up front about it, even if you started reading romance at a very young age? Well I read my first Harlequin in middle school and my first sweeping romance novel saga. Although looking back it would not have been considered a romance, since there was a whole lot of people dying and I found out I hated that mess. Well what was your sinful read? What book, subgenre or romance in general had your family, friends or strangers giving you the side eye. My best friend calls my books soft P*$n. Which makes me hot (as in good and mad), not that I will ever tell her, the non romance reader, she will never understand, some of them are, but not all of them!
Giveaway: $ 10 Amazon GC, I am calling you out! Tell me when did you know you were a sinful romance reader?
To keep hopping:
Her Master’s Voice, Vivien Sparx (Guest Post/Giveaway/Review)
Her Master’s Voice, Vivien Sparx
I asked Vivien author of short BDSM romance Her Master’s Voice, what makes a short BDSM romance effective and why we like them so much and she was kind enough to give me a response.
I think, first and foremost, the story has to be good – regardless of the format the author chooses to tell the story.
I write erotic romance stories generally between 20,000 to 45,000 words. I find that I am able to tell the characters stories without the need for pages and pages of trivial information. To me, the story is everything! I don’t believe in padding a story in order to make it longer; if it takes 30,000 words to convey the sexy tension, the drama, the emotion and the challenges the characters face, then that is how long the story is.
I do feel there is a legitimate need for shorter erotica. We live busy lives; we never seem to have enough time for anything, balancing work and family responsibilities with our own need to relax and escape. So for that reason alone, shorter erotic romance stories give the reader the opportunity to escape from the every-day without the sense that they need to make a major investment. A thick, weighty book requires commitment from the reader – and that might take several days or weeks to be completed. The shorter erotica format allows me to take someone away to another world and hold their attention, engage their senses, and keep them spellbound right through to a story’s completion. In that way, it becomes a bit like a great movie… as opposed to a long mini-series!
If you would like to check out her current release Her Master’s Voice check out her provided book blurb below, she is also giving away 5 ebook copies to winners along her tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Book Blurb:
When young Kate receives an anonymous text message she doesn’t realize how much her world is about to change. Surrendering to her inner most desires Kate soon finds herself submitting to the erotic, sensual and sensitive demands of her mysterious Master.
Drawn into a world of erotic love Kate quickly realizes all that matters in her world is Her Master’s Voice.JUST A TASTE…
Kate got to her knees on the living room floor and tied the red scarf around her head to blindfold herself.In the sudden darkness Kate’s senses seemed heightened. Every small sound made her flinch, and her mind quickly became overwhelmed with erotic images. Her naked skin felt cool, and yet she felt as though she was on fire. She rested her hands on her thighs. Her palms were sweating.
The silence seemed to slow time. She became aware of every new sound, and each small noise took on greater importance. Her attention was tuned to the sound of the front door, and when she heard the scrape of distant shuffling her body suddenly tensed in anticipation. A shudder thrilled through her body and her breath caught in the back of her throat.Then she heard the door swinging slowly open.
He was here!
Kate’s body tensed. She heard his soft footsteps as he crossed the room. She could feel him nearby, standing somewhere in front of her. She gulped and licked her lips nervously.“You are perfectly safe,” her Master said, and Kate felt herself literally melting at the deep confident assurance in his voice.
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
More footsteps. Kate sensed him walking around her, as if he was inspecting his new property. She straightened her back.
“You are beautiful,” he said. By the sound of his voice, Kate knew he was standing close behind her. She stayed silent, and now he was here, now it was all really happening… her mind was blank. Her whole focus was on the sound of his voice and the sense of him being near her.
Bookswagger Marcia: Three Crowns, swagger jacked, decent read. I wavered a bit while reading Her Master’s Voice only because I was not able to connect with the hero as much as I would like and I was strongly on the heroines Kate side. I think I had my big sister instead of best friend lets dish hat on. I don’t want to give the story away because Kate’s Master and that is how I am going to refer to him lol, had been hurt before, he put Kate through tests. Kate passed except for one major let down, which caused him to issue one big test. The BIG test did not bother me as I have read FF stories before, I want to give more but since this is a short story and the author did such a great job of building the tension and hiding the Masters identity I would hate to spoil it for you. If you like reads where what the master says truly goes and like the age/power gaps as well (although NO age play, I don’t want you to get that from my words, people!) then this might be a good shortie read for you. The story was truly unique.
EXTRAS: If you want more
As a writer of erotic romance, the beauty of the genre is not in creating lavish settings for my stories.
Nor is my fascination for erotic romance drawn from the opportunity to create handsome heroes and beautiful heroines.
My real love for the genre stems from the opportunity to take my readers on a journey and engage as many of their emotions as possible.
I believe writing erotic romance gives authors the most influence over how a reader feels as we engage them in our stories.
Writers of action books, or horror books certainly can create compelling situations, but with erotic romance we writers can immerse our readers in a multitude of emotions unprecedented in any other form of creative fiction.
I can frustrate readers, make them laugh, make them cry, delight them, intrigue them, inform them – erotic fiction is a total emotional experience, and it is gratifying to hear readers respond to stories with passion.
I believe readers want to be engaged and drawn into the pages of a story, and as a writer of erotic romance, we have the greatest opportunity because our stories are always relatable. They may be fictional worlds and fictional characters, but the themes of love and romance and erotica are so universal, and so personal to each of us that we all respond to stories in different ways.
But we all respond.
And that’s the true joy of writing erotic romance. It matters not so much how you respond as you read… it matters only that you do respond. If a writer can engage you and make you feel, then the story’s journey is one well worth taking.
Author Links:
Website/Blog: http://viviensparx.blogspot.com.au/p/about-me.html
Twitter: https://twitter.com/viviensparx
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/viviensparxauthor?fref=ts
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6433429.Vivien_Sparx
Stranger at the Hell Gate, Ash Krafton (Free Amazon Download 05/14-05/18)
I have not read Stranger at the Hell Gate but I will be adding it to my TBR pile, it sounded great and I knew it was going to be free so I thought I would share the love with all my fellow readers who love books with swagger.
Stranger at the Hell Gate, Ash Krafton
Book Description (provided):
Jagger Sintallon, a half-demon warrior, has dedicated his existence to fighting demons who enter the world through Hell gates. A loner of conflicting ideals, he offers shelter to a troubled woman but knows he is too rough, too dangerous, and too cocky for her delicate nature.
Dedicated to Divine Will, Sonya Camael, a Seraph, is determined to discover why she is drawn to Jagger’s doorstep and the reason behind her mission. She needs the demon’s help but fears he may get himself killed before she can figure it out and the world slips into Hell’s dominion.Sonya faces grave danger with evil stalking her every move, and Jagger shouldn’t care but realizes he cares more than he’d likely admit. Sonya knows Jagger cannot win this war alone, but will her divine intervention mean his imminent end? Or will just the right combination of Heaven and Hell set the world right once again?
Short Excerpt:
Jagger hung his head, looking very much out of patience. With an exasperated huff, he turned in place, his boots clomping. Cocky stance, head back, and eyes daring her to say something. But these things she only partially registered because when he turned to face her, his entire upper body—chest, face, arms—glowed with the marks of past insult and injury. And that sickle shape burned into the skin over his heart—
She whimpered, heart-sick to see him in this way. Her mother’s blood cried out at the thought of what agony he must have endured to stand here now, so marred and wounded. Covering her eyes, she dispelled the Seraph sight and fought the tears.
“Hey.” He was in front of her within moments, pulling her hands down and leaning to peer at her downturned face. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“You. You’ve been through so much. Just look at you.”
“I’d rather not. I’m not a pretty guy.”
“Jagger. These scars. You have countless hurts. I can’t see a part of you that isn’t injured.” She raised her eyes, tears brimming on her lower lashes. “Let me help you.”
“What, you’re a plastic surgeon?”
She swallowed and regained part of her composure. “Better.”
He looked alarmed and rocked back on his heels. “You don’t mean—”
“Yes, I do.” She held onto his hands and kept him from backing away. This felt right, this decision.
His eyes shifted. “Ah, I don’t think it’s a good idea, doll. Our kinds don’t mix well.”
Romance Book Club, Michelle Hughes (Book Blast)
Join Michelle Hughes, author of the contemporary romance novel, Romance Book Club, as she tours the blogosphere May 10 through May 15 on her first Book Blast with Pump Up Your Book! Michelle will be giving away a $25 Amazon GC/Paypal Cash to one lucky reader! To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form on the participating blogs below anytime during the tour and good luck!
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ABOUT ROMANCE BOOK CLUB
A book club, a romance novel, and a group of professional women in Atlanta, Georgia. That might bring to mind a nice enjoyable evening of companionship and fun, but what if the women in question wanted to take things just a step further than the safety of a cozy living room meeting? When Jessie’s book club decided to put some real-time research into the background of their latest reading topic, she had no idea it would land her right in the middle of Sensation’s Dungeon!
Chase Davenport had seen dozens of women walk into his dungeon, curious about what his lifestyle entailed. Never had one ran for the door and looked on in abject horror like a certain petite little brunette. Challenge, that’s what he considered when he stared into eyes the color of a Caribbean sea at sunset filled with fear.
The sexy club owner fit the description of a sexy alpha male romance character to a tee, and to Jessie that wasn’t a compliment. When he offered to give her a tour of his dungeon, and discuss the reality of his lifestyle, she should have ignored the temptation. But how did anyone resist a chance to talk with a man that had a body built for sin and a smile that made her knees tremble?
Determined to give the tempting beauty just a little education about his world, he had no idea unlocking her mind would result in his own need to stake his claim. He was a man accustomed to having women beg for his attention, but there was something about Jessie that called out the true alpha in him. Would she be able to accept what he really wanted from her, or walk out his dungeon never to return?
It began with a love of reading romance behind the pages of a book… but in the end, reality would show a different world awaited if either of them were willing to take the chance.
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ABOUT MICHELLE HUGHES
Michelle Hughes is an international bestselling independent author. She currently resides in Alabama with her husband and her five children. Hughes began her career in entertainment as a singer and host for a nationally televised satellite talent program and continued to perform across the United States until she decided to move home and start her family.
Hughes owns Tears of Crimson. The website began as role-play and fan fiction base and has since become the home of Tears of Crimson Books. Hughes states her love of writing comes from her muse Rafe, who has given her dreams of fantasy worlds since she was a young girl.
Hughes started reading Harlequin romance books at eight years old, sneaking them from her grandmother. It instilled in her a love of romance that is still with her today. Her grandmother was raised on a cotton farm and only completed a sixth grade education, it was through watching her struggles with reading that Hughes states gave her the love of the written word.
Connect with Michelle!
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Pump Up Your Book and Michelle Hughes are teaming up to give you a chance to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash!
Here’s how it works:
Each person will enter this giveaway by liking, following, subscribing and tweeting about this giveaway through the Rafflecopter form placed on blogs throughout the tour. This promotion will run from May 10 through May 15. The winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter and announced on May 16. Each blogger who participates is eligible to enter and win. Visit each blog stop to gain more entries as the Rafflecopter widget will be placed on each blog.
ENTER TO WIN!
Rubenesque Rapture (The Endurers Book 1), Rose Wynters
Rubenesque Rapture (The Endurers Book 1), Rose Wynters
Book Description (provided):
From author Rose Wynters comes an erotic new paranormal series featuring the Endurers.
The world is on the very brink of Armageddon.
Can these immortal warriors fight the demons infiltrating our world while saving their soul mates?
Bookswagger Marcia: Three Crowns, swagger jacked, decent read. Ok people, the heroine is actually rubenesque and not the size 10 or 12 maybe a 14 we commonly read about when authors go curvy. I refer to them as the fashion world definition of plus size (FWD). This heroine was a size 24 which was extremely refreshing. Anna Andrews is special and she does not begin to find out just how much until after she meets Enforcer Shayne McLoughlin. There was a lot of action in the story and some lag when the two were getting to know each other once they arrived at Shayne’s home. We are basically in a world where Demons want to take over earth led by the, yes THE fallen angel who rules Hell, Anna will play a big part according to the leader of the enforcers which might happen later on in the series just not in this book. The plot is interesting and there are some wonderful places this series can go. Religion is mentioned in Rubenesque Rapture as part of the world, for instance sacred ground and crosses causing demons physical pain but it was all safe stuff nothing to be offended by. This was a good read. Some of you may find this book reminds you or at least the premise reminds you of a popular series but I won’t say who. Bottom line I would read book two.
Note: I do not think the book description did the title justice, check out the 1 minute book trailer.
