Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The Dare by Rachel Van Dyken (Excerpt)

We'd like to share with you a special excerpt from Rachel Van Dyken's upcoming release, THE DARE!


The Dare (The Bet #3)
by Rachel Van Dyken
July 8th 2014

Boring Beth Lynn has always lived up to her nickname… until she wakes up in a hotel bed next to a sexy as sin state senator she re-connected with at a wedding the previous night.

The biggest problem? She can't seem to remember anything about the night before except for crying into a box of cookies, and she’s pretty sure Grandma Nadine slipped something in her drink. And what should have been a one night stand turns into a six day adventure when Grandma whisks them off to Hawaii to save them from the ensuing media firestorm.

Jace isn't looking for commitment — he believes he made that clear when he left the wedding with Beth. Then again, he can't remember much of anything other than the way her skin felt beneath his hands. Now he's stuck with her at some lame couple’s retreat and trying his hardest to fight the attraction only a woman like Beth could invoke.

He doesn’t think it can get any worse.
But one spider attack… A donkey ride from hell… And an unfortunate episode with Viagra tea — and there’s one thing Jace knows for sure: He should never have agreed to Grandma Nadine’s suggestion in the first place.Because if this isn’t paradise, and it isn’t a vacation — that only leaves one option.
Survival.
But to make it through alive… they might lose their hearts in the process.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

#BookReview: Vampire Trouble by Sara Humphreys - 4.5 Wine Glasses


18480399Title: Vampire Trouble
Series: Dead in the City #2
Author: Sara Humphreys
Format: eBook/Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
Publication: July 1st 2014 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | ARe
Source: NetGalley
Reviewer: Linda
Rating: 4.5/5

Shane Quesada, a four-century old vampire sentry, is known for cold, unemotional precision when hunting rogue vampires.
Maya Robertson is a youngling vampire who will not be controlled—and to prove it, she rejects Shane’s protection—only to find herself in over her head with an alpha werewolf.
Soon, a war between the coven and the werewolf clan ignites, and Maya and Shane flee to Louisiana, where their passion for each other grows—as does Maya’s power. When she finds herself at the center of the conflict, will she finally trust Shane with her life—and her heart?


Thoughts:
Vampires, Weres... from New York City to the Louisiana Bayou!  Oh My!

Curse of the Phoenix Bundle by Rachel Firasek (Guest Post/Giveaway)

Please give a warm welcome to author Rachel Firasek of CURSE OF THE PHOENIX!




Twisting the Myth

Okay, you got me. I’m horrible at research. Horrible. But…I do have a knack for taking a myth and twisting it just right to suit my purpose for a story. And that’s what I did for The Curse of the Phoenix. 

In ancient Egyptian lore, the phoenix was depicted by the Bennu bird which kind of looked like a big heron. Some stories described a fiery bird that flew into the sun. Others claimed that Osiris was the phoenix and rose from the ashes as a deity. 

Crimson Heart by Heather McCollum (Guest Post/Giveaway)

Please give a warm welcome to historical romance author, Heather McCollum! 



Thank you for having me here today on Reading Between the Wines! I’m thrilled to announce the release of CRIMSON HEART, my third full-length novel in the Highland Hearts series! The series takes place in 16th century Britain and all my heroes are Highland warriors (except for one raucous, but valiant, pirate in my novella, UNTAMED HEARTS). Having created and written the character arcs, adventures, and romances that make these men amazing, I’ve become an expert on what makes a Highland hero. Below are MY top five traits, with an excerpt example from my book, CRIMSON HEART.

1. Brawny Biceps

Release Day Blitz: Harder by Robin York (#Giveaway)

Harder RDL Banner
We are thrilled to bring you the Release Day Launch for Robin York's HARDER!! HARDER is a New Adult contemporary romance being published by Random House’s Bantam imprint and is the 2nd novel in Robin York’s Caroline & West Series. This book, y'all.


   
HarderHarder 
(Caroline & West #2)
by Robin York 
Paperback, 352 pages
Expected publication: July 1st 2014 by Bantam
ISBN 0804177031
Goodreads | Amazon | KindleB&N | ARe
In Robin York’s provocative new novel, two young ex-lovers find themselves together again in the shadow of tragedy—and an intense, undeniable attraction.  
Caroline still dreams about West. His warm skin, his taut muscles, his hand sliding down her stomach. Then she wakes up and she’s back to reality: West is gone. And before he left, he broke her heart. 
Then, out of the blue, West calls in crisis. A tragedy has hit his family—a family that’s already a fractured mess. Caroline knows what she has to do. Without discussion, without stopping to think, she’s on a plane, flying to his side to support him in any way he needs. 
They’re together again, but things are totally different. West looks edgy, angry at the world. Caroline doesn’t fit in. She should be back in Iowa, finalizing her civil suit against the ex-boyfriend who posted their explicit pictures on a revenge porn website. But here she is. Deeply into West, wrapped up in him, in love with him. Still.  
They fought the odds once. Losing each other was hard. But finding their way back to each other couldn’t be harder.


Release Day Blitz: DARK PARADISE by Angie Sandro (#Giveaway)

Happy book birthday to Angie Sandra's paranormal romance, DARK PARADISE!



Dark Paradise 
(Dark Paradise #1)
by Angie Sandro 
Paperback, 384 pages
Expected publication: July 1st 2014 by Forever Yours
ISBN 1455554820
Goodreads | Amazon | Kindle | B&N
DARK LEGACY

Mala LaCroix has spent her whole life trying to escape her destiny. As the last in a long line of "witch women," she rejects the notion of spirits and hoodoo and instead does her best to blend in. But when she finds a dead body floating in the bayou behind her house, Mala taps into powers she never knew she had. She's haunted by visions of the dead girl, demanding justice and vengeance.

DEADLY SECRETS

Landry Prince has always had a crush on Mala, but when Mala discovers his sister, murdered and marked in some sort of Satanic ritual, he wonders if all the rumors about the LaCroix family are true. Yet after Mala uses her connection to the spirit world to identify his sister's killer, he starts to form his own bond to her . . . a very physical one. As they move closer to each other and closer to the truth, Mala and Landry must risk everything—their families, their love, and even their lives.