Aloha to Beach Blanket Bingo, Maggie Mae Gallagher, and ASCENDED (The Cantati Chronicles)

We are less than a week away from the RT Booklovers' Convention (link).  I'm packing up my goodies for Beach Blanket Bingo (link),

Join Annette Funicello (Kim Rocha) & Frankie Avalon (Kim Lowe) for a special edition of Book Cover Bingo. Expect spontaneous singing, dancing and flirting with lifeguards inspired by the beloved 60s film. Readers will join sun-loving authors at their favorite beaches and compete for the book laden gift baskets ... perfect for the sand and surf!

I am looking forward to seeing (again) my fellow college alumni, Maggie Mae Gallagher - she attended the University of Tampa several years after I graduated.  From her bio (link),

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Maggie grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Maggie never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in History.

Maggie is a bestselling and award-winning author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes erotic romance under the name Anya Summers. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the Midwest with her two furry felines.

Maggie attended the University of Tampa several years after I graduated.  Maggie recently celebrated the release of ASCENDED, Book 3 of the THE CANTATI CHRONICLES:

War. It’s here. The last war of mankind. The winner takes Earth as its prize. 

My name is Alana Devereaux. I am an elite Cantati Forces Lieutenant from Earth’s desolate future. I was sent back through time to save your world. My mission to stop the Mutari faltered. Demons infiltrated our world when the walls between Earth and Infernus fell. Millions died in the first volleys.

The Mutari changed me on an elemental level and my new powers scare the bloody daylights out of me. Formorian Hunters are closing in on my trail with a singular goal, to enact the death warrant placed on my head by their Queen. Now I am running for my life, on a quest to discover a way to kill an immortal on a power trip, stuck between mortal enemies, and everyone else wants me dead.

For the month of April, I am giving away a box of books from authors attending RT. To enter the giveaway,

1. Let's chat about baseball - my father, like Maggie, grew up listening to Cardinals' on the radio. My oldest son was born on Scott AFB, across the river from St. Louis, so he too is a Cardinals fan.  How about you?

2. Comments are open through Sunday, April 30, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I will be offline from Monday, May 1 - Sunday, May 7.

4. I'll post the winner on Sunday, May 8.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Books 1 and 2 in the series 

Aloha to St. Patrick's Day, Maggie Mae Gallagher, and CASKET GIRL

Public Domain (link) 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  We are counting down the days to the RT Booklovers' Convention and the Beach Blanket Bingo (link). It seems only fitting that I introduce you today to a participating author with an Irish name ... Maggie Mae Gallagher! I don't know if Maggie is Irish ... let's learn more about her. From her bio (link),

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Maggie grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Maggie never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in History.

Maggie is a bestselling and award-winning author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes erotic romance under the name Anya Summers. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the Midwest with her two furry felines.

Maggie also attended my alma mater, the University of Tampa!

Maggie Mae recently celebrated the release of CASKET GIRL, Book 2 in her Mystic Series ...

All he wants is to find a killer…

FBI Special Agent Josh Blake has seen some bizarre cases in his day. His latest case is one for the record books. He has multiple homicides, corpses drained of every ounce of blood, and no suspects. When rumors surface that the French Quarter may be hiding an insidious monster bent on drenching the streets in dead bodies, he must suspend logic and place his trust in the mystical.

She wants a fresh start…

Isabelle Toussánt left her family home in the bayou five year ago, cutting all ties with her abusive whiskey swilling stepfather, to forge a new life in the French Quarter. Now a successful business owner of Madam Toussánt’s Mystical Gifts in Jackson Square, and a Seer with voodoo roots. The foundation of her new life shatters when one of her employee’s winds up dead and she is dragged into a deadly game where she becomes the target of a serial killer.

A passion neither expected…

Determined to stop the brutal slayings, Josh must rely on the beautiful Isabelle who makes him question everything he has ever known about life and death all while surrendering to a desire hotter than a Bayou night. When Isabelle disappears without a trace, with tourists flocking to the party capital for Halloween, and the body count continues to mount, Josh will be forced to push beyond the boundaries of what he thinks is possible and rescue the woman he loves before it’s too late.

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1. Have you visited New Orleans?  If so, what is a favorite sight, sound, or food!  If not, what would you like to see in the Big Easy?

2. Comments are open through Sunday, March 19, 10 pm in Baltimore. 

3. I'll post the winner on Monday, March 20.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Check out my pictures from RT/14 in New Orleans at this link, link, and link.

Aloha to Maggie Mae Gallagher and REMEMBER ME - A Mystic Novel

The Heart Never Forgets…

When world renowned psychic, Madelyn Rose, accepts a missing children’s case on the Navajo Reservation, she believes it is a case she is more than capable of solving. What she never expects is for Detective Bronx Daniels to dredge up images of their shared past life and challenge the foundation of her future. In the wide open spaces of the Arizona desert, Madelyn and Bronx are forced to rely upon each other for survival as they race to save the abducted boys from the will of a madman. But with her life on the line, will Madelyn risk it all for a love that crosses time?

Amazon
B&N
Kobo 

Bestselling author Maggie Mae Gallagher doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. When she was a kid she acted out her favorite scenes, only better, with her brother and cousin. As a teenager, she wrote reams of poetry, but realized her true love lay with creating characters and stories. A former music and history major, Maggie is a total geek at her core. When she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her two furry felines.

Maggiemaegallagher.com
Facebook
Twitter

Goodreads

Amazon

Maggie is giving away a digital copy of REMEMBER ME.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a commetn about the Arizona desert - have you visited it?  Or any desert?   

I enjoyed a Nile River Cruise from Luxor to Aswan.   In Aswan, we hopped on a bus trip through the desert to Abu Simbel where King Ramses II overlooks Lake Nasser - here's the official link.

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, April 11, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, April 12.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Maggie offers an excerpt from REMEMBER ME ....

“Come on, let’s go.”

She nodded, and followed Bronx the quarter mile distance back to his house. She trailed him, watching as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, liking the unheeded view of his backside in jeans.

“Jeff, contact the forensics team in Dilkon and have them meet me here on the double.” He hung up, his long legs eating up the short distance to his house. They didn’t stop until they stepped into his bathroom.

From the medicine cabinet above his sink, he removed antiseptic, peroxide and bandages then switched the faucet on. “Give me your hand.”

She prayed she wouldn’t have a vision when he touched her. Not now, when she was hurt. She extended her injured arm. He unwrapped his shirt from her wrist, tossing it on the counter. She hissed as the air hit the wound and blood seeped.

“Sorry.”

Very gently, with a soapy washcloth, he cleaned the cut, removing the blood from her wrist, yet he only touched her through the washcloth, which saved her from experiencing another past-life vision. She grimaced at the burning sting. Was that the key? That flesh-to-flesh contact made it happen? She tried to remember each place he had touched her. The gash was about three inches long but thankfully not deep enough to need stitches.

“This may hurt a bit,” Bronx murmured and poured hydrogen peroxide over the cut. The cool liquid hit her skin. She hissed at the searing sting. Blinking moisture from her eyes, she focused on his bare chest as a distraction from the white bubbling disinfectant.

“Sorry. Here.” Bronx bent and blew on the peroxide-covered wound as the liquid bubbled white. Her skin tingled, heating her blood, as his warm breath caressed her wrist. Bronx stopped blowing on her cut and stood straight. She watched the play of his muscles as they rippled when he turned, grabbing the antiseptic ointment. He lathered her cut with ointment before applying a bandage.

“Hold this in place for me,” he murmured. She placed her opposite hand on the bandage as he started wrapping up her wrist with gauze to keep the bandage in place. Their fingers tangled on a pass around her wrist. Glancing up at his face, Bronx’s image shifted, becoming Thunder Eagle for a moment.

As soon as their hands parted, his appearance shifted back to Bronx. Fascinated by the switch, she placed her hand upon his bare chest, testing her theory of skin contact. The picture shifted once again and she stared at Thunder Eagle. She did this a few times, putting her uninjured hand in the same spot and experienced the same results.

Bronx chuckled. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Maddie snatched her hand off Bronx’s chest. She glanced in his eyes. This close she noticed the tiny flecks of gold around his pupils. Embarrassed by her actions, her gaze dropped to his lips, which were surrounded by a day’s growth of dark stubble. She looked back up, an apology on the tip of her tongue. His expression had shifted, his brown eyes simmered. The air heated in the small confines of the tiny bathroom. In slow motion, he dipped his head toward her. He stared at her lips like they were a sumptuous feast and he was a starving man.

Her breath caught in her throat as her lips parted in anticipation. His mouth descended a hairsbreadth between his lips and hers. No sound except their twin heartbeats between them sounding like the drumbeat call. Each of them waited for the other to push forward. Maddie surrendered and closed her eyes as she felt her breath mingle with his.

Celebrating our 5th anniversary at SOS Aloha!

This week is the 5th anniversary of SOS Aloha!   I created SOS Aloha in March 2010 as a means to stay connected to Romanceland after moving to Hawaii.  I've tried different things along the way (author interviews, blog tours, and book reviews), giving me the opportunity to find my own voice.

I thank Mary, the Reading Reviewer (link), for encouraging to create this blog.   I also appreciate Terri, Bodice Ripper Novels (link), for teaching me how to format links and add pictures. Finally, I thank my followers for making SOS Aloha a fun place to visit!

Treasures in the sand 

To celebrate our fifth anniversary, I share five fun facts about me ....

1.  I hail from Safety Harbor, Florida (link).   Contemporary romance author Shirley Jump lives nearby (link), often posting pictures of the Tampa Bay area on Facebook.

2  I attended the University of Tampa (link).  Paranormal author Maggie Mae Gallagher (link) is also an UT alum.

3. I was a math major ... and so was Romantic suspense author Julie Anne Walker (link).  

4.  My first assignment was Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts (link).  Mia Marlowe also lived in the Boston area (link).  

5.  I traded my active duty dog tags for a military spouse ID card ... just like many members of the RomVets, veterans who write romance (link).

Lucky guards the books

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment with a fun fact about you.

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, March 14, 10 pm in Baltimore.  

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, March 15.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Check out my travel blog, ALOHA ON MY MIND, at this link although I have posted any recent travels.  Still, you can trade real snow for virtual sand in Hawaii.  

Sunset Beach

Aloha to Maggie Mae Gallagher and RUPTURED

Soldiers Make Me Swoon

by Maggie Mae Gallagher

I have always had a thing for men in uniform. What woman doesn’t? Although, I think it’s more than just the uniform or the fact that the men who wear them, happen to be in prime physical condition. There’s more to it than the cut of their dress blues or how well they wear their fatigues. I think part of what makes a man in uniform so attractive is what that uniform stands for. I’m talking about the things that make up a soldier, the honor they pride themselves on, the courage they imbue against mighty foes, and the brotherhood that the military creates.

It’s not only modern soldiers who have garnered my attention but warriors throughout history. Most people don’t know that I have a master’s degree in history. One of the areas in history that I have long been fascinated with was military history. I’ve studied ancient battles, the leaders, the various tactics, from the sacking of Rome to the trenches in World War I France. I think what has always fascinated me most, were the people, the soldiers, why they fought, and in many cases died for those causes, like in the case of Sullivan Ballou in the American Civil War. His poignant letter to his wife before he entered the field at the first Battle of Bull Run still brings me to tears every time I read it.

When it came time for me to build my paranormal world, it was not a far leap or any wonder that I chose to make my heroine a soldier amidst the backdrop of Armageddon, with a ton of superb male counterparts for her to choose from. In Ruptured, Alana is from a race of super-soldiers in a future where demons have terrorized much of the globe and her squad stands as some of humanity’s last hope for survival.

What are some of the things you like about men in uniform?

US Navy sailor in period costume
aboard the USS Constitution

Ruptured

It has been eighty-three years since the walls between Earth and Infernus fell, and now our world stands upon the razor’s edge of extinction. Demon platoons are marching upon us. My home, one of humanity’s last bastions of existence, is under siege.

My name is Alana Devereaux. I am the resident demon detector of Cantati Forces and Platoon Commander. My job is to hunt down the vermin unleashed upon my world, and I love it. I live for the day I can kick every last demon’s ass out of this world. Except as enemy forces reign down terror upon us, the Densare Council sentences me to a fate worse than death.
Available Now!

Amazon link 

Bestselling Author Maggie Mae Gallagher doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. When she was a kid she acted out her favorite scenes, only better, with her brother and cousin. As a teenager, she wrote reams of poetry, but realized her true love lay with creating characters and stories. A former music and history major, Maggie is a total geek at her core. When she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her two furry felines. She can be reached at her website, her Facebook page, or on Twitter.

My children with a French Sailor at RimPac

Mahalo, Maggie, for sharing your admiration of military heroes!  Maggie is giving away an ecopy of RUPTURED to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Answer Maggie's question, What are some of the things you like about men in uniform?

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, September 27, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, September 28.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

My children with a Russian sailor at RimPac 12

Weekly Winners

We have winners at SOS Aloha!

Maggie Mae Gallagher's ANOINTED
- Debby wins an ecopy from Maggie

Mary Behre's SPIRITED

- Annwitch wins a copy from Mary

Kimberly Kincaid's TURN UP THE HEAT

- Elizabeth H. wins a print copy from me

Winners, please claim your prize by sending your mailing address to sos.aloha@yahoo.com.

Giveaways still open through Saturday, March 15:

Máire Claremont and THE DARK AFFAIR (link)
Kate McKinley and A NIGHT WITH A BRIDE (link)
Jane Ashford and THE BRIDE INSISTS (link)

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Aloha to Maggie Mae Gallagher and ANOINTED

Isn't this cover incredible?   Maggie Mae Gallagher joins us today with a special guest post ...

First Crushes

The first Hollywood guy I fell in love with was Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. What girl could resist his no-holds-barred passion for historical artifacts or his disarming charm with a dash of devil-may-care bad boy skimming the edges, not to mention his deftness with a whip made you wonder how those hands would feel with you in them. I was five when I fell for Indy. It’s a love affair that has tempered and forged what I look for in a hero: passion, drive, determination, and honor.

As I grew, my tastes matured, but I still wanted heroes who would transport me on some marvelous adventure Goonies style and risk everything he wanted for the woman he loved. Yet, I still couldn’t shake loving the bad boy. Most Buffy fans wanted her to end up with Angel, and I wanted her to shove Angel aside for Spike. True Blood fans adored Bill, while I wanted her with Eric. If I admit it, I even loved The Mummy. I mean come on, he cursed his soul for the woman he loved. Besides, Arnold Vosloo in nothing but a skimpy skirt was mega-hot.

When Gaelen first strutted onto the pages of ANOINTED I finally realized why I had loved all these men. The answer, I adore Epic love stories. I’m not the flowers, candy, and Mayberry Lane type, not that there is anything wrong with that. But I want to a hero who will barrel in, upend order, and take me on a voyage to the edge of Mordor to defeat Sauron’s forces or travel on a train into the heart of Egypt to stop a curse from ending the world.

Gaelen has a touch of the bad boy I have always had a crush on, with a larger-than-life attitude. There were times I wanted to strangle him, almost as much as Alana did; although, that tends to happen when you put two confident people together. However, I couldn’t help but fall head over heels for Gaelen.

While my tastes in Hollywood leading men have changed as new stars have been christened, Chris Hemsworth or ahem, actor dressed as Thorin Oakenshield, call me maybe, they still have the underlying element of dangerous, unrepentant, bad boy to them. And as for my first love, he may be seventy but he’s still a hunk!

Who was your favorite Hollywood crush?

About the Author

Maggie doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. When she was a kid she acted out her favorite scenes, only better, with her brother and cousin. As a teenager, she wrote reams of poetry, but realized her true love lay with creating characters and stories. A former music and history major, Maggie is a total geek at her core. When she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her two furry felines.

Website: maggiemaegallagher.com

Facebook: link

Twitter:  twitter.com/magmaegallagher

Mahalo, Maggie, for being my guest today.   I fell in love with Harrison Ford in STAR WARS (a few years before INDIANA JONES).   When I lived in Hawaii, I often wrote about Alex O'Loughlin aka Steve McGarrett.  It was a Five O thing.  But I truly admire Gary Sinise for his work with the USO.

usoonpatrol.org

Maggie is giving away an autographed copy of ANNOINTED:

My name is Alana Devereaux. I enjoy the simple things in life, walks in the park, sky gazing, and ripping a demon's heart out though its chest. I am a demon slayer, the last of my kind, and I have been sent back through time to save your world. How am I doing so far? My time travel went haywire, all the signs I needed to stop the prophecy have passed, and the only way I can save my world is by keeping yours from ending.  Then there's Gaelen, most days I want to deck him. He hides his true motives and if it was not for the intel he had, I would be rid of him. Any day in my life without a demon attack is a good day; I haven't had a whole lot of those lately. The only problem is, if I don’t stop the Mutari, this world will burn.

To enter the giveaway,

1.  Answer Maggie's question - who was your favorite Hollywood crush?

2.  This giveaway is open to US readers.

3.  Comments are open through Saturday, March 8, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, March 9.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

I had to fight off the other spouses to pose with Alex.