Darkest Caress: The Empowered Series
I promised I’d post the cover and blurb for Darkest Caress, which is due out April 23rd from Carina Press. This book is a bit of a departure for me, since it’s a paranormal romance, and many readers have asked me why I chose to write something outside of romantic suspense.
The short answer is, I wanted to find an agent to represent me, and since the few military romantic suspense titles I’d submitted to agents didn’t get me anywhere, I thought I’d try a “hotter” genre and see if that helped. At the time paranormal romance was very hot, and after taking a trip to the Baltic States, some folklore I learned about in Lithuania piqued my interest enough that it inspired an idea for a new series. Hence, the idea for the Empowered was born, and Darkest Caress is the first installment. The manuscript did not garner me an agent after all, but I was lucky enough that my current publisher wanted to acquire it.
I don’t plan to stop writing military romance, though I’m not sure yet whether I’ll write the remaining books in the Empowered series. I intend to finish Danger Close (2nd Bagram Special Ops book, Ace and Ryan’s story) as soon as possible, then simultaneously work on book three of that series, along with the 2nd Empowered book (Cade’s story). Right now it’s a case of wait and see on the paranormal stories, to find out if there’s even any reader interest for more Empowered books.
For those of you waiting for word on Ace and Ryan’s story, I hope to have news about Danger Close within the next few months. Fingers crossed! In the meantime, here’s what Darkest Caress is all about. The story is dark and the hero extremely yummy, but the Baltic mythology woven into the book is what inspired me to write it in the first place.
Blurb: Two-hundred-year-old Daegan Blackwell is one of the last remaining Empowered, an ancient magical race. Daegan’s duty is to lead and protect his remaining Brethren in the coming war foretold by prophecy. The last thing he expects is to meet the one woman who will either save or destroy him—his destined mate. Fiercely independent Realtor Olivia Farrell believes darkly handsome Daegan is simply a prospective client. Until she’s attacked by a man with a strange aura—and Daegan fights him off, taking away her pain with just his touch. At first, Olivia refuses to believe she’s part of a magical race, yet mounting evidence and her powerful chemistry with Daegan are too strong to deny.
But as Daegan’s partner, Olivia becomes a target in the battle between good and evil that threatens her life, as well as the very existence of the Empowered. And the only one who can save her is the man claiming to be her destiny…
Luke Won!!!
I’m so excited to announce that Absolution has won the EPIC Award for best romantic suspense of 2011!
I actually found out by accident while I was on holiday. I happened to be on Twitter, checking to see if I had any messages, and saw my name mentioned with the EPIC convention. No one sent me an email or anything, so I had to check on my own to see if I really had won, and indeed I had! I had a mojito to celebrate at dinner that night 🙂
You all know how much I adore Luke, so this win really tickled me. I think it’s my best book (along with Relentless), although I heartily agree it’s not a stand alone book. Without reading at least a few other books in the series, Absolution won’t have nearly the same emotional impact for the reader. At least in my opinion.
I also just found out that Deadly Descent is a finalist in the New England Romance Writer’s published contest, though it didn’t final in the RITA Awards (aww…). Fingers crossed that Dev and Cam place in the top three.
That’s my news for now; I’ll post the cover for Darkest Caress next week. Have a great weekend!
Get Ready To Meet the Heroes of AFSOC
I feel like I’ve been waiting for this forever, but on Monday Deadly Descent is finally “out” in the world. I’m so excited for you all to meet Air Force Tech Sgt Cam Munro, my delicious PJ hero. I cannot tell you how much I admire and respect these men and what they do.
Blurb: Devon Crawford is an officer; Air Force Pararescueman Cam Munro is enlisted. Dev flies medical evacuations; Cam jumps into danger zones to save lives. Dev wants to return home from Afghanistan with her heart untouched; Cam will do anything to win the woman he loves.
Reaching for happiness in a war zone is the last thing Captain Devon Crawford plans, but she can’t ignore the feelings she’s hidden for so long. Cam’s sexy charm and wicked kisses weaken her resistance, but she’s too afraid of losing him to give in.
When Dev’s helicopter and crew are shot down and set up as bait by a notorious warlord, Cam risks all to save the team. What he doesn’t know is that the trap is set for him.
This week is nuts for me (in a good way), so here’s a list of places and dates where you can find me if you’d like to try and win a copy of Deadly Descent.
Monday, September 5th: Fresh Fiction
Tuesday, September 6th: Carina Press blog, SOS Aloha blog
Wednesday, September 7th: Smexy Books, Writers Gone Wild
Friday, September 9th: Cynthia Eden’s blog
Monday, September 12th: Book Lovers Inc.
Whew! That’s a lot, huh? Plus both my kids are starting school Tuesday, and I have another set of edits due back by the end of next week.
I hope you’ll enjoy Cam and Dev’s story. PJs truly are amazing. They live and die by their motto “That Others May Live”, and deserve our respect and our gratitude.
Reinforcements
Know what those are? Those are reinforcements, but today I’m talking about reinforcements of a different sort. It’s week two of summer vacation, and I’ve finally caved and called in backup. Her name is Meaghan, and she lives across the street. She’s coming twice this week for a couple hours in the afternoon to give me time to write. Five to six hours total, which might not sound like a whole lot, but it’s a lot more than I’ve carved out since school finished. Don’t get me wrong–I love my kids, and I want to spend lots of time with them this summer, but I also need time to get some writing done for me to feel good about myself. The mom guilt complex is a very tricky business, and it cripples my muse.
The weasels are in swimming lessons and a morning bike camp next week, so I’ll take my computer with me and hopefully get something done while I’m waiting for them. With my other pen name dominating most of my writing time right now, I haven’t written anything for Kaylea Cross in a long, long while. This means there will most likely be a long gap between Deadly Descent and the next release, but it’s not for lack of effort in trying to get another book published!
I didn’t make it to RWA Nationals in NYC, and neither Cover of Darkness nor No Turning Back won the awards they were nominated for, but I hear my name was mentioned at least a couple times in public, so that’s pretty neat 🙂
I’ve got a blog tour set up for early September when Deadly Descent comes out, and it looks like my first release under my alter ego will be out August 26th, followed by another November 21st.
Over at Writers Gone Wild we’re having a hero party in the middle of July, and I’ll be featuring some very cool guests there as well in August/September, including Roxanne St. Claire, Anne Calhoun and Denise A. Agnew. I’ll be sure to post the dates so you can come by and say hello and ask questions.
Hope everyone is having a safe and happy summer so far!