Aloha to Julie Anne Long and IT STARTED WITH A SCANDAL

Lord Philippe Lavay once took to the high seas armed with charm as lethal as his sword and a stone-cold conviction: he’ll restore his family’s fortune and honor, no matter the cost. Victory is at last within reach—when a brutal attack snatches it from his grasp and lands him in Pennyroyal Green.

An afternoon of bliss brings a cascade of consequences for Elise Fountain. Shunned by her family and ousted from a job she loves, survival means a plummet down the social ladder to a position no woman has yet been able to keep: housekeeper to a frighteningly formidable prince.

The bold and gentle Elise sees past his battered body into Philippe’s barricaded heart . . . and her innate sensuality ignites his blood. Now a man who thought he could never love and a woman who thought she would never again trust must fight an incendiary passion that could be the ruin of them both.

HarperCollins: link
Amazon: link
Barnes and Noble: link
iTunes: link
Google Play: link 

USA Today bestselling author JULIE ANNE LONG originally set out to be a rock star when she grew up (and she has the guitars and fringed clothing stuffed in the back of her closet to prove it), but writing was always her first love. Since hanging up her guitar for the computer keyboard, her books frequently top reader and critic polls and have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Rita, Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice, and The Quills, and reviewers have been known to use words like “dazzling,” “brilliant,” and “impossible to put down” when describing them. Julie lives in Northern California.

Julieannelong.com

Facebook.com/AuthorJulieAnneLong
Twitter.com/JulieAnneLong

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Aloha to Cynthia Eden and BROKEN

The first novel in New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Eden's sizzling LOST series introduces the Last Option Search Team, an elite unit that must protect the only surviving victim of a serial killer.

Ex-SEAL and LOST founder Gabe Spencer is accustomed to the unusual in his job. But when knockout Eve Gray steps into his office, he's rattled. For the mysterious woman is a dead ringer for the heiress thought to be the latest prey of the serial killer who goes by the name Lady Killer.

When Eve awoke in an Atlanta hospital, her past was a blank slate. Then she recognized her own face in the newspaper and vowed to learn the truth. Determined to confront the nightmares hidden in her mind, she never expects to find a partner in Gabe.

As Gabe and Eve work together, their explosive attraction becomes irresistible. Gabe knows that his desire for Eve is growing too strong, bordering on a dangerous obsession, but nothing pulls him away from her. And when another Eve lookalike disappears, Gabe vows to protect Eve at all costs. While Eve may have forgotten the killer in her past, it's clear he hasn't forgotten her.

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Goodreads Link
Goodreads Series Link

Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo

Award-winning author CYNTHIA EDEN writes dark tales of paranormal romance and romantic suspense. She is a New York Times, USA Today, Digital Book World, and IndieReader best-seller. Cynthia is also a two-time finalist for the RITA® award (she was a finalist both in the romantic suspense category and in the paranormal romance category). Since she began writing full-time in 2005, Cynthia has written over thirty novels and novellas. Cynthia lives along the Alabama Gulf Coast. She loves romance novels, horror movies, and chocolate. Her favorite hobbies include hiking in the mountains (searching for waterfalls) and spelunking.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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Cynthia offers an excerpt from BROKEN ...

“Do you think I’m a con artist or a victim?”

“I think you’re a woman who has been hurt.” No denying that. “One of my team members, Wade Monroe, is contacting the Montgomery family. We’ll get DNA from them and find out—”

“If I’m Jessica.” There was hope in the words. Enough hope to break his heart.

Gabe nodded.

“When will we know?”

It would take a few days, even with the strings that he could pull. “As soon as possible,” he said, not wanting to give her a specific timetable.

“Thank you.” Then, just like that, she was across the car, giving him a tight hug. “Thank you.”

His arms wrapped around her, an instinctive response. She smelled faintly of flowers, a sweet scent that teased his nose, and her body was soft against his.

She tried to pull away, as if realizing what she’d just done.

For an instant he was tempted to hold her, to keep her close.

She’s a client. Focus.

He let her go, but his body ached.

“I … um … I should get inside.”

Yes, she should. While he was still clutching tight to his control. The control that said he shouldn’t push her. Shouldn’t want her so much. Not when she’d already been hurt so badly.

Her fingers reached for the door.

“Let me,” he said, voice rumbling, and Gabe climbed from the Jag. In seconds he was on the passenger side, opening her door for her. She rose, and her body brushed against his.

He stepped back. Distance. He seriously needed to put some distance between then. But even with some fast steps back, he could still smell that light and sexy scent that clung to her body. And he still wanted her.

“Your shrink asked me a lot of questions about you,” Eve told him as she stood temptingly close.

Gabe inclined his head. “I’m sure—”

“I think she wanted to know why I respond so much to you.”

Oh, hell, she’d just said … He cleared his throat even as part of his body surged in quick response to her. “It’s a tense situation, you’re—”

“You don’t look at me as if I’m a victim.”

He stopped talking.

“I mean, you know what I am, but you still look at me and seem to just see me … as a woman.”

“Others see you the same way.” Doc Tyler sure did. Bastard.

“It’s different with you,” she murmured as she stepped even closer to him. Her head had tilted back so she could look into his eyes. “I don’t know what I’ve felt for other men before.”

Why did the idea of others have his body knotting with tension?

“But I know that when I see you, I want.” A hushed confession. “I just … I needed to tell you that.”

And he needed to make his self-control a hell of a lot stronger. Her lips were just inches from his, and he wanted her mouth beneath his. Wanted her lips open. Needed to taste her.

“You’re the first man I’ve wanted since I opened my eyes in that hospital.”

He could actually feel his control splintering. Client. Cli—

“You probably don’t want me. I—I might not be your type.”

Now her gaze had fallen, as if in embarrassment. Had she really just asked if she was his type? She was probably every damn man’s type.

“But you make me feel normal again, so I had to tell you—”

His fingers curved under her chin. “Eve …”

Her smile was a little too big. Too bright. “I don’t think I can handle anything else right now, I’m …” She pulled away. Stumbled onto the sidewalk. “I just wanted to tell you how I felt,” she told him again.

Then she walked into the shelter, her steps hurried. As if she were running.

From him.

He stared after her. She wanted him.

Aloha to Grace Burrowes and THE DUKE'S DISASTER

We are one week away from the release of Grace Burrowes' THE DUKE'S DISASTER:

Noah Winters, Duke of Anselm, exercises the pragmatism for which he's infamous when his preferred choice of bride cries off, and her companion, Lady Thea Collins, becomes his next choice for his duchess. Lady Thea's mature, sensible and even rather attractive-what could possibly go wrong?

As a lady fallen on hard times, Thea doesn't expect tender sentiments from His Grace, but she does wish Noah had courted her trust, lest her past turn their hastily arranged marriage into a life of shared regrets. Is His Grace courting a convenient wife, or a beautiful disaster?

Goodreads link

Amazon: link

Barnes and Noble: link
iTunes: link

 

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes' bestsellers include The Heir, The Soldier, Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal, Lady Sophie's Christmas Wishand Lady Eve's Indiscretion. The Heir was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2010, The Soldier was a PW Best Spring Romance of 2011, Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish won Best Historical Romance of the Year in 2011 from RT Reviewers' Choice Awards, Lady Louisa's Christmas Knight was a Library Journal Best Book of 2012, and The Bridegroom Wore Plaid was a PW Best Book of 2012. Her Regency romances have received extensive praise, including starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Grace is branching out into short stories and Scotland-set Victorian romance with Sourcebooks. She is a practicing family law attorney and lives in rural Maryland.

graceburrowes.com
Goodreads: link

Facebook: link
twitter.com/GraceBurrowes

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Grace offers an excerpt from THE DUKE'S DISASTER:

The Duke and Duchess are having a rocky start to their marriage, also to their day…

“Your tea, Duchess.”

Noah had woken up beside his wife—again, despite all plans to the contrary—creating another first for him. Thea had risen several times during the night to tend to herself. He hadn’t realized that monthly courses caused a woman’s rest to be interrupted.

Crashingly bad planning, for a lady’s sleep to be disturbed when she most needed rest.

“You’re not about to steal my tea?” Thea held out the cup, her gaze shy as she sat propped against the headboard.

“Where’s the fun in stealing what’s freely offered?” Noah settled in beside her and filched a bite of her cinnamon toast. “Would you rather have chocolate this morning?”

“Because?”

“You’re”— Noah waved a hand in the direction of her middle—“indisposed.”

“I am not indisposed.” Thea set her teacup down with a little clink. “The discomfort has passed, as it always does. You needn’t be concerned.”

“I am not concerned, Thea.” Not greatly concerned, now that she’d stopped ordering him to go away and was ready for a proper spat. “I am attempting in my bumbling way to dote. You will allow it.”

Drat. He’d given another order.

“You couldn’t bumble if one gave you written instructions, Anselm,” Thea said, looking a little less peaked for having run up her flags. “That was my toast you appropriated.”

“Appropriation is what happens when one’s wife can’t appreciate a little doting. You’re being stingy with the tea, just as you were stingy with the covers. How long does this indisposition last?”

Her chin came up. “I am the Duchess of Anselm. I am not stingy with anything, but you are a very presuming husband.”

“Doting.” Noah took Thea’s free hand to kiss her knuckles— lest she mistake his point. “Also in need of my duchess’s guidance on this one marital matter.”

“This is so personal.” Thea’s gaze was on their joined hands— for Noah would not have her haring off in a fit of mortification. “I didn’t think you’d be a personal sort of husband. You were supposed to appear in my dressing-room doorway a few nights a month, silently take a few marital liberties, and then leave me in peace. We’d trade sections of the Times over breakfast the next morning.”

“Prosaic.” Boring and exactly what Noah himself had envisioned. “Hard to see any doting going on, though.”

“Husband?” Thea’s tone was hesitant. “Thank you, for keeping me company last night. I would not have known how to ask.”

“I suppose that’s the definition of doting.” Noah lingered at the cart to assemble a plate. “It’s the little things you can’t bring yourself to ask for, that an attentive spouse will enjoy providing to you. Bacon or ham?”

“A little of both, please.”

“Feeling carnivorous?”

“I’m a trifle indisposed. I need the sustenance.”

Noah piled both ham and bacon on Thea’s plate, and stole better than half of it, because he needed the sustenance too.

Weekly Winners

I am a winner from the Liberty States Fiction Writers - I won a Kindle Fire HD!  

We have winners at SOS Aloha ...

Jennifer McQuiston's DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER
- Diane wins a print copy.

Erica Ridley's THE CAPTAIN'S BLUESTOCKING MISTRESS

-Debby wins a digital copy from Erica.

Robert H. Sholly's YOUNG SOLDIERS AMAZING WARRIORS

- Linda wins a book choice from my convention stash.

Elise Faber's PHOENIX RISING

- Dorothy wins a digital copy.

Authors connected to the military

- Karen C. wins a book choice from my convention stash.

From my travel blog, Military Heroes - Getting Ready for RT 

- Catslady wins a book choice from my convention stash.

Winners, please send your mailing address to sos.aloha@yahoo.com.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Aloha to the Liberty States Fiction Writers and Create Something Magical Conference

Today I'm attending the Liberty States Fiction Writers (link) Create Something Magical Conference, including the book fair:

Alice Orr, Ben Lieberman, Caridad Pineiro, Cat Johnson, Catherine Greenfeder, Cathy Tully, Christi Barth, Cris Anson, Damon Suede, Dan Mayland, Dana Marton, Deborah A Bailey, Donna Galanti, Elizabeth Staab, Eliza Knight, Holly Bush, J. Gregory Smith, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Judi Fennell, Karen Cin, Kate McMurray, Kate Quinn, Kathryn Craft, KM Fawcett, KT Grant, LG O'Connor, Lea Nolan, Linda Parisi, Lois Winston, M. Kate Quinn, Maria V Snyder, Melinsa Leigh, Penelope Marzec, Roz Lee, Ruth A. Casie, Sara Humphreys, Shelley Freydont Nobel, Shiloh Walker, Stephanie Draven, Susan Scott Shelley, Sylvia Day, Tanya Goodwin, Tere Michaels, and Veronica Forand.

I'll share pictures next week!  I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about New Jersey - have you visited the Garden State?

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, March 28, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, March 29.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Aloha to Authors connect to the Military

Navy Vet Siera London is a guest on Babbling About Books, sharing how Pinterest inspires her writing at this link.  Her debut book, CHASING AVA, is available next week:

Ava Walters is a pediatric nurse who doesn’t do relationships. An abusive past has left her wounded, but determined to pursue her dream of becoming as a Navy Nurse. Ava is in the midst of rebuilding her life, when she is targeted by a sexual harasser who wields the power to destroy her dream before it sets sail.

Logan Masters, is an ambitious specialty surgeon whose past is riddled with betrayal. His trust in women is conditional- no secrets and no boundaries. When he comes to Ava’s rescue, there is no denying the spark of attraction. Things get complicated when Logan pursues Ava, rather than the arranged relationship that holds the key to his future.

After years of being alone Ava starts to believe that love is possible under Logan’s skillful touch. But Ava is harboring a secret she doesn’t want exposed. Determined to guard her heart, Ava soon discovers Logan is as focused on winning her heart as she is at shielding it.

When secrets and broken alliances threaten to torpedo both their futures, how will they learn to trust and chart a new course to lasting love?

Air Force Vet Leah Marie Brown is getting ready for her Kensington release in May, FAKING IT:

Haven't you ever told a little lie in the name of love?

Vivia Grant couldn’t be happier. She has her dream job and is about to marry her dream man. Does it really matter that she’s led him to believe she’s a virgin? After all, being in love makes every experience feel like the first time anyway! But an unexpected encounter with an ex-lover is about to expose her embarrassing lie…

When Vivia’s fiancé discovers the truth, he ends their engagement—via text—and uses his connections to get her fired. Unemployed and heartbroken, Vivia begins planning her new future—as a homeless spinster. But her best friend has a better idea. They’ll skip the Ben & Jerry’s binge and go on Vivia’s honeymoon instead. Two weeks cycling through Provence and Tuscany, with Luc de Caumont, a sexy French bike guide. Too bad Vivia’s not a big fan of biking. And she’s abysmal at languages. Will she fib her way through the adventure, or finally learn to love herself—and Luc—flaws and all?


Check out the giveaway at this link.  Leah Marie Brown joins us here at SOS Aloha on May 12 for Release Day!

Navy spouse Becky Hepinstall shares how she balances military deployments with a writer's life on USA Today's HEA blog at this link.  Becky and her sister Kathy wrote SISTERS OF SHILOH:

In a war pitting brother against brother, two sisters choose their own battle.

Joseph and Thomas are fresh recruits for the Confederate Army, daring to join the wild fray that has become the seemingly endless Civil War, sharing everything with their fellow soldiers—except the secret that would mean their undoing: they are sisters.

Before the war, Joseph and Thomas were Josephine and Libby. But that bloodiest battle, Antietam, leaves Libby to find her husband, Arden, dead. She vows vengeance, dons Arden’s clothes, and sneaks off to enlist with the Stonewall Brigade, swearing to kill one Yankee for every year of his too-short life. Desperate to protect her grief-crazed sister, Josephine insists on joining her. Surrounded by flying bullets, deprivation, and illness, the sisters are found by other dangers: Libby is hurtling toward madness, haunted and urged on by her husband’s ghost; Josephine is falling in love with a fellow soldier. She lives in fear both of revealing their disguise and of losing her first love before she can make her heart known to him.

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

1.  Leave a comment about Ben and Jerry's ice cream - what's your favorite flavor?

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, March 21, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, March 22.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City  

Check out the military panels at the RT Booklovers Convention at this link, link, and link. 

 

Aloha to Elise Faber, Phoenix Rising, and Dark Phoenix

Over on my travel blog, I am featuring parties and workshops scheduled for the RT Booklovers' Convention - here, here, here, here, and here.   I am also looking forward to meeting authors new to me, including Elise Faber.   She joins me for a cozy chat ...

Despite moonlighting as a zookeeper and then a dog trainer, Elise decided that the only mammals she wanted to work with were her dark and sexy heroes and heroines. She inherited her love of reading from her mother and grandmother who dutifully kept stacks of romances where her teenaged fingers could easily pilfer them. She lives in Northern California with her three dogs, two energetic (read crazy) boys, and her awesome (see prior comment) husband. Visit elisefaber.com or facebook.com/elisefaberauthor for more information.

Kim:  We love travel here at SOS Aloha ... what is your favorite sight, sound, and smell of Northern California?

Elise:  I love this question! My favorite spot is a small bluff overlooking Muir Woods, just north of San Francisco. The redwoods grow almost all the way to the cliff's edge and the scent of the salt of the ocean mixes with the moist smell of earth and trees. In one breath, you can hear the crash of waves, the squawks of seagulls, and the rustling of redwood needles. It's so easy to get lost in the utter baseness of the place, to appreciate how powerful nature is.... and that little bluff holds an extra special meaning to me because it's where my husband proposed almost ten years ago. :)

Kim:  Can you share a funny story about moonlighting as zookeeper?

Elise:  The zoo I worked at had a pair of very amorous camels (to the tune of getting frisky at the same time every day, so loudly that they could be heard on the other side of the zoo). Some of my favorite memories are walking by the exhibit at that time and listening to children ask their parents what was happening. One day — in moment's lull in the noise — I heard a little boy, quite proudly, tell his mother: "That's what you and daddy were doing last night!"

Kim:  I can't help but think of the Geico commercial ... who or what helped you along the path to publishing?

Elise:  I wouldn't have been published if not for my super encouraging husband and if I hadn't been willing to risk putting my heart — my work — out there on a platter. But a lot people helped me along the path. Patricia Netzley (my husband's aunt, a many times over published nonfiction author) edited my really, really bad initial drafts and encouraged me to keep writing. Then last year I met Anne Elizabeth purely by chance on a plane en route to a writing convention and she helped me fine-tune my pitch for Phoenix Rising (my first published novel). Finally, Rachel van Dyken is with my publisher and she has been all things marketing guru, blurb editor, encourager and everything in between!

Kim:  Yes, that Anne Elizabeth is a kind soul to us all!  Tell us about your books - what inspires them?

Elise:  Mostly they come from things that just pop into my mind — an image or a snippet of dialogue and the scene develop from there. But sometimes there are things so funny in real life that I have to incorporate — a silly scenario with the hubs and my kids or something klutzy I did — and I think, "Wouldn't it be awesome if so and so did that?" Then in they go!

Kim:  What's next for Elise Faber?

Elise:  I have a few things in the pipeline! A novella set in the world of my Phoenix novels will be released in May and the third Phoenix books is planned for mid-July. I also have another series — CSI meets Warehouse 13 — called Sands of Time, and hopefully the first book in that line will be released toward the end of the year. In the meantime, I continue to work, write, play ice hockey and drink copious amounts of Diet Coke in order to keep up with my two busy boys!

Mahalo, Elise, for sharing your adventures with us!  I am giving away a digital copy of PHOENIX RISING to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about your favorite animal at the zoo.  I'm partial to the big cats.

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, March 21, 10 pm in Baltimore.  

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, March 22.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City