Vixenwriter

As I haven’t figured out how to keep this at the top of the page, I’ll just keep dating it later so it stays here.

For two weeks, starting December 19, check out my blog (www.laurendane.com/blog) daily. There will be a bunny hidden in a total of four blog entries between the 19th and January 2. To enter, you’ll need to reply to those entries! Easy, no? All the entrants will be put into a drawing and the winners (yes, I’ll choose four winners) will be chosen January 3, 2008!

What do you win you ask? Print Books! I’ve had a number of books go to print this year, help me give some away.

And remember, look for the posts with the bunny in them. Like this one: (FYI - this one doesn’t count)

I was going to do both Riding Wild and Wicked on Friday but really, each book deserves its own day, I think and as I’m a reader as much as an author, I love, love, love it when I can share great books.

And make no mistake, Jaci Burton’s Riding Wild is a great book. First of all, it’s a really fantastic, action packed, well plotted suspense book. Secondly, it’s a great romance - reunion stories, wheee! Lastly, guh, just guh to the fabulous sex in the book. I think Jaci Burton’s Riding Wild is my favorite Jaci Burton title, which says a lot since I love her writing.

The tension between Mac and Lily is already in place due to a parting ten years prior. But Burton doesn’t rely on the past to tell you about it, she feeds it to the reader in incremental bits, drawing it out, making it taut and very believable. Romantic and sexual tension is hard to create effectively and really hard to sustain. But in Riding Wild, she does it quite handily.

It’s that thread of emotional heat between Lily and Mac that I felt threads the entire book together so solidly. The sex is wildly hot of course, but the sexual tension is what makes the entire book so sexy. The external threat, the way Burton has crafted a great tale of suspense and weaved it around the romantic elements - this is the books’ strength.

I loved the little bits that make the story ring true - the wonderful smattering of biker life just made me smile. Oh and *wipes brow* the other Wild Riders she introduces? Yum. I loved their camaderie, it lent a nice bit of family to the story.

In all, honestly, I think Jaci has seriously outdone herself here and has set a really high bar for erotic romantic suspense, hell for single title erotics period.

You can pre-order Riding Wild now. It comes out in February and hello, it’s the first in a series so I’m SO on board for the next book.

I chose three since so many folks entered! So the winners a la the randomizer are:

Comment #36 - Christine
Comment #16 - Sarah Piché-Choquette
Comment #27 - April Symes

Okay everyone - email me with your format choice and I’ll get your ARC your way. Congratulations and don’t forget about the other contest I’m running with Joyfully Reviews for more chances to win! Thanks to everyone for entering

I had a review of Jaci Burton’s Riding Wild ready to go up today but I just received my author copies of Cascadia Wolves: Wolf Unbound so I thought I’d do a contest for some ARCs and put up the review tomorrow.

Work for you?

Okay here’s the deal: I’ll choose a winner from the commenters on this post at 7 pm pacific/10 eastern tonight, December 29.

All I need is why you like any or all of the elements in the book - romance, paranormals, erotic romance, werewolves, shifters, BDSM or heck, even this particular series.

That’s it. I’ll choose at least one winner later today. Good luck everyone!

So I brazenly and totally unashamedly made it known to Sasha back when I read Trouble just how much I wanted to read Karl’s book. Like, as in early and stuff. She took pity on me and sent me Wicked and I read half of it, got slammed and couldn’t finish until very recently so I wanted to get a revew up because hello, it’s releasing soon and you should all run out and pre-order this book because, yet again, Sasha kicks ass and hits it out of the park (whoo, two cliched phrases for the price of one, I rule)

In Karl and Lara Sasha flips the trope around a bit. At first it appears it’s a matter of two people very much alike attracting, but really, it’s Lara who’s the one who does the running and Karl who realizes he wants something permanent with this woman.

Of course there’s hot sex, this is Sasha after all. There’s one scene which made me distinctly pissed off, but upon further reflection, it worked for who this couple is. For who Lara is.

We get into not just Lara’s head, but really into Karl’s head. He’s been a mystery for a while so I enjoyed this being as much his story as it was Lara’s. I like to get the hero’s POV in a romance and White does it well here.

One of the things I like best about Sasha White’s writing is her voice is very unique and young. Her books are not carbon copies of anything else and I always feel, as I read, that she’s very true to the story inside her.

Wicked releases January 2 and it’s another Sasha White book I can heartily recommend - especially to anyone looking for an atypical romance with some great emotion and really well written sex scenes.

Sort of connected to an “End of Year” post. I’ve had a lot to be thankful for this last year. Hell, I’ve got a lot to be thankful for every year so without further ado…

1. My husband. I can’t say this enough because he’s just the best person in the world. He’s intelligent, compassionate, loving, passionate, funny, a great dad, supportive, a rockstar between the sheets and just an all around fabulous person. We’re going into our 22nd year together and we’ve faced some major challenges and thank goodness we continue to make it through.

2. My Kids. Three more unruly, wild and unmanageable people I’ve never met. They’re a challenge every day. But they’re also amazing and I love them more than I can articulate.

3. My parents. They’re good, solid, kind people who are wonderful parents and really excellent grandparents. I’m forever grateful to them for being such good parents. They’re a great example of how you can be individuals but still place parenting as a priority. Not all parents are like that. I’ve never heard my mom make an excuse or blame her behavior on anyone else. My dad came into my life when I was 4 and he’s consistently shown that parenting isn’t about biology but what you DO.

4. My friends. How freaking blessed am I in the friend department? You all know who you are. I’m thankful for you every day. Thank you Megan for reading and critting, for listening to me whine and for kicking my butt when I need it. Anya, you too! Angie - what a wonderful editor and friend you are. Laura Bradford you rockstar. Thank you for believing in me and for being such an articulate pest on my behalf.

5. My readers. Some of you have been with me since day one, others come along with each new release. My deepest gratitude to you for taking the time to read my books and for being such staunch supporters of romance in general.

6. My publishers - Ellora’s Cave for giving me a place to make a name for myself. Samhain for taking a chance on me in a new genre and for being so incredibly author focused and supportive of me. Harlequin for opening the door to New York and for, well, being Harlequin. Berkley - for being my dream publisher and giving me my first ST deal. Black Lace - wow, for *getting* erotica in a way that makes me so freaking happy! Each one of you lets me use a different part of my writerly brain and skill - I’m so grateful for that.

Some Moments in 2007 I’m Thankful For:

February - my Harlequin contract arrives. Holy crap, it’s actually happening!
March - Reading at Babeland, 4 1/2 star RT review for Tri Mates, Anya and her husband go to China to meet their daughter
April - RT - Had a freaking blast with Megan, Laura and Amelia. Met Sasha, Vivi, KKT and a multitude of other super fun people, including the extra fabulous Renee Meyer, Joy and Danny who came all the freaking way from Germany!!
May - Angst because really, if you don’t have the pain is the victory as sweet? I contracted the last two Cascadia Wolves books with Samhain. Wolf Unbound is out January 1 and Standoff March 4!
June: Lori Foster gathering and hanging out with Anya! Meeting Badbarb, Pam, Anne, Karen, and a whole host of other folks! Ascension releases. Making Chase releases. Bradford Bunch Blog starts up. We did the Susan Komen cancer walk as a family along with tens of thousands of others.
July - First 70 Days of Sweat and it helped me finish multiple projects!
August - Vegas trip with my husband! Two of my brood have birthdays. Contracted To Do List
September - School finally back in session, my youngest starts kindy, my oldest is now a 4th grader! Sold the second anthology to Spice!
October - My dude and I celebrate 21 years together! The second round of Sven is pushing me into an incredibly productive space. I’m ahead of my schedule. Halloween, whee! Gorgeous cover for Vegas anthology.
November - MY SALE TO BERKLEY! Oldest kiddo turns ten. Vegas anthology goes up for presale.
December - MEGAN AND I SELL TO BLACK LACE! Three CAPA nominations. Finish round one and two revisions on Undercover. Get back cover copy and it’s fab.

Yep - I’m a fortunate woman. I hope you all had a great 2007 and here’s wishing us all a truly fabulous 2008!!!

Writing Playlist:

Feist: My Moon , My Man
Feist: Inside and Out
LCD Soundsystem: Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
LCD Soundsystem: All My Friends
Sara Barielles: Love Song
Bat for Lashes: What’s a Girl To Do?
Pipettes: Pull Shapes
The Bird and The Bee: Fucking Boyfriend (Peaches cover)
Madonna: Frozen
Natasha Bedingfield: I Wanna Have Your Babies
Kate Nash (And oh my god do I LOVE her): Foundations
Kate Nash: Birds
Kate Nash: Mouthwash
Band of Horses: Is There a Ghost
Band of Horses: No One’s Gonna Love You
Miranda Lambert: Gunpowder and Lead (DUDE, I love this woman. She’s the best thing to come from country music in years)
Amy Winehouse: Tears Dry On Their Own
Plasticines: Loser (don’t know what they’re saying, it’s in French, but I love them)
Psychedelic Furs: Heaven
REM: Strange Currencies
Robin Thicke: Lost Without U
Yin Yang Twins: Salt Shaker
Alice In Chains: Would
Depeche Mode: Walking In My Shoes
Chaka Khan: Ain’t Nobody
Donna Summer: I Feel Love
Echo and The Bunnymen: Lips Like Sugar
Foo Fighters: The Pretender
Goldfrapp: Strict Machine
Gwen Stefani: Yummy
Interpol: Public Pervert
Kelis: In Public
Mazzy Star: Fade Into You
NIN: Closer

Because I love Kate Nash so much..

This’ll be a quick one because it’s Christmas Eve and the children are whipped up like that last day at Disneyland when my parents thought it’d be a great idea to get them all cotton candy. It’s only a matter of time before the weeping begins and I start wondering what time is too early to have a glass of wine.

I did learn yesterday I’ve been nominated for three CAPAs! A very nice way to end the year I think.

Contemporary Romance for Making Chase
Fantasy Erotic Romance for Sword and Crown
Paranormal Erotic Romance for Fire and Rain

I’m up against some really excellent authors in every category and truly, I know people say this and all, but it’s an honor to see my name up there. Good luck to everyone nominated!

I need to scamper off, well, not scamper, I’m to old to scamper. But I need to get moving.

Merry Christmas to those to celebrate~

Taking a break from revisions for Undercover to pop in and get my post up. I hope everyone can take a moment to breathe and appreciate the close of 2007. For those of you celebrating Christmas, I hope your upcoming week is a good one! I’m done with my shopping and most of my wrapping so it’s really just a matter of hanging out with my family and finishing up some work.

Speaking of work - I just realized today my fourth Cascadia Wolves book Wolf Unbound is coming out in eight days! Yep, January 1.

I’m so in love with this cover! I think Dawn Seewer did an amazing job and my Cascadia covers are all so beautiful so I’m thrilled to have another one that’s so fabulous.

I’ve loved this series. It’s the first I’ve plotted as a meta story and it’s been really fun to see where these characters have ended up as they’ve dealt with not just their mates but the werewolf mafia too.

Blurb:

Werewolf Enforcer Tegan Warden has been alone since the death of her mate four years ago. Until she meets Ben Stoner at a local club and she feels something she thought died inside her. Things move very quickly and she finds herself mated to a human man who’s not altogether sure he wants a forever kind of love with a woman he’s just met.

Ben realizes in short order Tegan is not only worth forever love, but a woman who’ll stand at his side without tolerating anything other than a full partnership.

In the bedroom it’s another story, as Ben has finally found a sexual submissive with a spark, and Tegan a man worthy of her submission. Together they work toward building a permanent relationship even as the specter of danger from the Pellini Group grows in the world of wolves.

All around them, the rising violence threatens the Packs and the only thing they know for certain is one another.

An excerpt after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry ?

Blurb: I had everything a woman could want…
My husband, James. The house on the lake.

But I wasn’t the only one.

Temped by Megan Hart is shipping from Amazon and Barnes and Noble already! This is the third of Megan’s Spice books and like Dirty and Broken, it’s a disturbing, engaging, intense and emotional read. It could just be me but I don’t really think that blurb does the book justice. The book isn’t about James and Alex so much although they’re both integral to the plot. It’s about Anne.

Anne is a compelling character because she’s so real. She’s a wife, she’s got to deal with her in-laws, her household, her job, her life, her husband. She loves her life and then something gets tossed into the mix and it turns her universe upside down. The strength of the book is Anne’s journey. Who she is, what happens to her. How the addition of Alex into her universe upsets the balance.

Tempted is about unintended consequences. It’s about love and connection and in many ways, it’s about what happens when you take a fantasy and make it real. It’s never what you expect and quite often you realize it changes you in ways you can’t take back, you can’t forget.

It’s a beautiful book in many ways. Smart, sexy. Megan is an amazing writer (and yes, she’s my friend but I’m certainly not the only one who thinks so and even if I did, it’s still my opinion). Tempted takes risks. It’s not a typical romance novel at all. In fact, I’d say it’s more a novel with strong romantic elements because the HEA is more Anne’s than anyone else’s.

Anyway, I quite honestly can’t think of too many authors right now with the kind of talent Megan has. It’s pretty awe inspiring sometimes to read something so intensely beautiful and to know from my perspective as a crit partner, just how she constructs her books.

Tempted isn’t lighthearted. It’s intense so it’s not an afternoon of lazy happy reading. It’s not a downer either, it’s just, well intense. It needs some time and attention. But you won’t be sorry.