Vixenwriter

Tomorrow, Standoff, the last book in this story arc of my Cascadia Wolves series, releases from Samhain.

I love this cover! Anne Caine does a great job but I must say I’ve loved every single cover in this series. They’ve all been so pretty and done so well - I’ve had great cover mojo.But it’s over. In the last year I’ve ended two series - this one, my Cascadia Wolves and my Chase Brothers books. I’ll continue on with both worlds. In fact I’ve already contracted Unexpected, Megan’s story for August and I really want to write Nathan Murphy’s story to revisit Petal. But while I love series and the sense of home I can build with a cast of characters readers can revisit time and again, I think it’s best if they don’t drag on too long. I want to end when readers want more, not when they’re reading and thinking, “Gah, she really neededed to stop this series two books ago!”

Series enable an author to really dig deep, to create a world built over many books. What that means is I can take a town like Petal and breathe real life into her. I can give Petal traditions like Homecoming, which I’ve come back to in every story. Or in the case of this particular family, the Christmas proposal or wedding. I love that. I love that as a reader! I love how I can take werewolves and create government. Law and order and lawlessness too. I’ve had four books to build a paranormal universe in, which has been a treat. Four books to build the suspense with the werewolf mafia. I’m spoiled and it’s been a great ride.

I think about Nora Roberts’ trilogies and I think she as the right idea. She builds enough to give readers a sense of something big and sweeping and yet intimate at the same time. Very few authors can take it more than four books in the same story setting and make it work over and over. Kim Harrison can (I just finished The Outlaw Demon Wails this last week and OMG! it was fab), Nora as JD Robb can do it with her In Death books - but in a fully realized romance world you don’t see it as often and after book five, it begins to seem all a big stretch (sister’s best friend’s baby sitter’s brother in law’s best friend). I do love spin offs though! Like I love cupcakes. I’ll eat up every book related to the family Jenny Cruisie introduces us to in Welcome To Temptation (and Davy’s story was so good!), or the Chesapeake books from Nora, or SEP’s Chicago Stars. There’s something really special about returning to a world you’ve loved so much.

What about you all? What do you like best about series? Do you read them? Which ones?

PS - I’ve been lucky enough to get early reviews on this one: 5 Nymphs - I’ll say up front that I loved this story. It has everything needed to make a great book…a well written and plotted ongoing storyline, great secondary characters well integrated from previous books and two sexy, determined and dedicated individuals as our hero and heroine. It’s a thrilling story that pulled me in from the very first words and kept me racing through its pages until I reached the action filled end.

4 1/2 stars from JERR: Lauren Dane has done a magnificent job of combining awesome characters and a sparkling plot. I only hope that this is not the last installment in the Cascadia Wolves series.

5 Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies: I loved the intensity of this storyline and the emotional connections between the characters, but I especially adored Grace’s honest reactions and willingness to stand up for herself. She does it with such style that I found myself immersed in each heated scene. If you’re reading this book solely for the romance, Ms. Dane doesn’t disappoint there either. There’s tons of red hot steamy sexy scenes and of course with a couple that butts heads as often as Cade and Grace do, there’s plenty of make up sex that’ll leave you hot and bothered. Beautifully written Ms. Dane. I’ll be anxiously awaiting more Cascadian Wolves tales in the near future.

How about an excerpt? Behind the jump…
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Up front, lest I be accused of hiding it, I know Ann Aguirre. I happen to think she’s fabulous and I talk to her pretty much daily via IM. I also happen to think she’s a really gifted writer and I’ve thought so before I IM’d her all the time.

She’s got a book coming out next week (although I’ve heard it’s on shelves already!) called Grimspace.

Cool cover huh? Penguin/Ace/Berkley does a fabulous job with covers I gotta say.

Anyway - Ann kindly sent me an early peek at Grimspace some months back and when I read it, it blew me away. It’s one of those books what you look at and think, first person? Present tense? But it works. It conveys a sense of urgency, of breathlessness but every once in while it slows, tensing, making that pause sort of delicious before speeding up again. Aguirre’s words are sharp and tensile and some of the passages are so gorgeous in their description that even alone they’d make Grimspace an above average read.

But there’s more of course by way of a story well matched to the breathless manner in which Aguirre delivers it to the reader.

The first time in the book when Jax sits in her chair and she’s describing how grimspace is indescrible? I was there. Aguirre leads me through as Jax prepares and then jumps. I’m now jumped into the book and the journey begins. I love science fiction and futuristics and I read across sub genres and authors but I tend toward the edgy sort of delivery you see with Gibson and Morgan and Grimspace has that. It’s lush in places but the pace keeps it stark at the same time. I loved the action element as well as the romantic storyline. March is as well drawn as Jax, even through Jax’s eyes and they’re well matched on the page. There’s a lot to March but he’s like an iceburg character - much of what he is is below the surface and so we learn it slowly but surely.

There’s something deliciously flawed in Sirantha Jax. Deeply wounded. Prickly, bitchy at times, defensive and guilt ridden. But you know why. You’re in her head, no one holds her more accountable than she does herself. But there’s a resilience in her. She tells herself she doesn’t need anyone else but she does. She tells herself not to take a risk in reaching out but she does. I just really liked her.

Anyway, as you can tell, I dug Grimspace. I think it’s a great mixture of action, emotion, romance with some startlingly wonderful and memorable characters.

The basics: As the carrier of a rare gene, Jax has the ability to jump ships through grimspace—a talent which cuts into her life expectancy, but makes her a highly prized navigator for the Corp. But then the ship she’s navigating crash-lands, and she’s accused of killing everyone on board. It’s hard for Jax to defend herself: she has no memory of the crash.

Now imprisoned and the subject of a ruthless interrogation, Jax is on the verge of madness. Then a mysterious man breaks into her cell, offering her freedom—for a price. March needs Jax to help his small band of rogue fighters break the Corp monopoly on interstellar travel—and establish a new breed of jumper.

Jax is only good at one thing—grimspace—and it will eventually kill her. So she may as well have some fun in the meantime…

Okay so because I think Grimspace is such a fabulous book - I’m going to give one away via Amazon.com. All you need to do is comment and I’ll draw at random on Friday afternoon and order it to send it your way as soon as Amazon ships!

I finished my part of Taking Care of Business yesterday and now it’s on to blending my part with Megan’s in as seamless a manner as possible. I’m actually quite happy with how it turned out, which is nice, LOL.

Now I need to finish a few synopses this weekend - two are totally done but need slight tweaks, one is 3/4 done and I got an idea late last wee, something I’d been sort of kicking around for a while but I want to get it written while I’m thinking about it. After that, I need to start Sensual Magic, my novella in the second Spice anthology.

In further happy news - Shelley Munro’s Playing To Win - released this week from Cerridwen. If you haven’t read Shell yet, you really need to!

Blurb: Professional rugby player Lane Gerrard is used to women throwing themselves at him, but a scurrilous tabloid article naming him as father of a child sends his temper soaring. The woman he confronts doesn’t fit the blackmailer profile. Kate Alexander is attractive with an enchanting innocence, enticing. A total stranger. Her feistiness draws his unwilling admiration, but the child…he is the image of Lane.

Kate can’t deny her son’s similarity to the sexy man at her door but no way will she hand him over without a fight. Kate doesn’t possess money but she can shower her son with love. With public speculation rife, Kate reluctantly works with Lane to discover the truth. They grow closer as distrust slowly turns to mutual fascination, but the tabloid articles bring out a stalker. Mild pranks escalate into danger, and suddenly Lane realizes Kate is a woman he could love. With Kate and her son, he could have a family. Now, with his heart on the line, this is one game he’s playing to win.

I’ve got it in my hard drive right now and I’m hoping to sneak some time to read it this weekend.

Have a good day, all and if you live round here, stay dry!!

Book Three in my Cascadia Wolves series is now available from Samhain Publishing!

First, to correct my horrible oversight in my dedication I want to thank Angie James, editor most fabulous for helping me always write a better book.

An excerpt after the jump!

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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!

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Since she could pick up a pencil, Belle Taylor has used lists and charts to map out her life. When she achieves a goal, she marks it off her to do list. Simple. But now, just steps away from her corner-office, name-on-the-letterhead goal, she realizes that the life she thought she wanted may come at too high a price.

Exhausted, she retreats home for Christmas vacation to rethink her life, complete with all-new lists. What she hadn’t expected is Rafe Bettencourt, her brother’s best friend, the man who she thought only saw her as a pesky younger sister. But when he kisses her under the mistletoe, Belle finds herself with a whole new set of goals to balance with what she thought she always wanted.

Rafe knows Belle is trying to figure out what to do with her life. He also knows he’s done loving her from afar, and he’s not beneath making it as hard as possible for her to choose to return to San Francisco.

Because Rafe can make to-do lists too—and his plan is to seduce Belle back home where she belongs. At his side. And in his bed.

I got my author copies so wheee! This one comes out December 11 and it’s a holiday themed red hot. Wanna win an ARC? Easy enough - just reply to me with your favorite type of romance set up - this one is friends to lovers with that hot guy crush you’ve had since you were twelve for instance. I’ll choose a winner at random on Tuesday the 4th at noon pacific!

Blurb:
Since she could pick up a pencil, Belle Taylor has used lists and charts to map out her life. When she achieves a goal, she marks it off her to do list. Simple. But now, just steps away from her corner-office, name-on-the-letterhead goal, she realizes that the life she thought she wanted may come at too high a price.

Exhausted, she retreats home for Christmas vacation to rethink her life, complete with all-new lists. What she hadn’t expected is Rafe Bettencourt, her brother’s best friend, the man who she thought only saw her as a pesky younger sister. But when he kisses her under the mistletoe, Belle finds herself with a whole new set of goals to balance with what she thought she always wanted.

Rafe knows Belle is trying to figure out what to do with her life. He also knows he’s done loving her from afar, and he’s not beneath making it as hard as possible for her to choose to return to San Francisco.

Because Rafe can make to-do lists too—and his plan is to seduce Belle back home where she belongs. At his side. And in his bed.

TO DO LIST BY LAUREN DANE
Copyright 2007, Lauren Dane
All Rights Reserved, Samhain Publishing
Releasing December 11~

He heard her muttering and tapped on her door. When she opened it, she stood there tousled and holding a legal pad and three different colored pens.

“Hi.”

“Hi there. You want to come in?” She stood back and he took the bottle of tequila and the shot glasses in with him.

“You look stressed. I say we do a few shots, make out a lot, you let me get to, oh say third base and we call it a night.”

Her brow furrowed and the cutest little line etched between her eyes. “Really?”

“Belle Taylor, I know you’re not offended. You get a totally different look on your face when you’re offended. Why are you confused?” He put the bottle and glasses down before tossing himself on the bed.

She put the pad on the desk on the far side of the room and lined her pens up, horizontally, one by one, in a neat and orderly row. Then she exhaled and pursed the lips he knew tasted like heaven.

“I’m confused because you’ve always treated me like Brian’s pesky little sister and tonight out of the blue you kiss me and then tease me and talk about sex and show up in my room and suggest third base!”

“I did indeed. I’d suggest more but I want to drag that out. At least for another day or so.” He laughed, loving the way she snorted at him.

“I could use a drink. Move over. Jeez, you’re a bed hog.” She smoothed out the blankets before she sat. “What? No salt or lime?”

“If I had it, you could lick it off my belly.” Wait, that wasn’t a tease, that sounded just fine to him as a matter of fact.

“Well do you?” One of her regal eyebrows slid upward and her mouth struggled against a smile.

He sat up and filled both glasses with the tawny liquid. “Go on, you first. God knows you look like you could use it.” He could too after her little tease.

She took the glass and drained it, her eyes watering a bit as she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand very characteristically.

“Belle Taylor, did you just wipe tequila off your mouth with the back of your hand like, oh I don’t know, like me?” He laughed before doing the same thing and refilling their glasses.

“When does the kissing start?” Her eyes widened and she quickly drained the next shot. “Crap, I can’t even blame that on the alcohol yet.”

“You want another?”

“Why not?”

Ah time flies. My oldest child turns ten today. Holy cow, how did that happen? He happily scarfed down four pancakes before scampering off to school with popsicles for his birthday treat thingy. Tonight it’ll be cake and ice cream and the meal of his choosing? Chicken nuggets, fries and mac and cheese. Sigh. Whatever, as long as I don’t have to eat it, everything is fine.

What else? Hmm, oh I finished edits and a revision and got back to Standoff last night and got 2500 words written.

I’m addicted to lolcats. I giggle to myself all day. I have issues. Clearly.

moarfunny pictures

Why is it penis enlargement spam is so gross? I mean, it’s all, overstatement with yucky verbage - lots of jamming and choking and all sorts of stuff women don’t really like. Seriously. Also, flooding the neighborhood with your, um, byproduct? Not sexy. Just sayin. I will say I’m endlessly amused with the spam emailer names. I may use some in a book someday.

OH! Feral Fixation - the anthology which has Reluctant (a prequel quickie featuring Layla Warden from the Cascadia Woves books) is now available in print from the Ellora’s Cave Print store. There are some great stories in this antho!

  Celtic language expert Haley O’Brian is thrilled when she gets the chance to translate a scroll written in Ogham, an ancient Celtic text used in magic and divination. While translating the text, she unwittingly frees Conall macCormac’s Fae soul from a millennia-old curse that kept him imprisoned in a human body, lifetime after lifetime.

The end of the curse is just the beginning of the magic for Haley and the ridiculously sexy Conall. He takes her into the world of his people, the Daoine Sidhe, where she begins to learn of her own Fae heritage, carve out a new path for herself, and embrace her new-found power.

But their happiness is marred by Ninane, the jealous Fae who cursed Conall a thousand years ago. She will stop at nothing to have him for her own, including the murder of Haley’s family.

Determined to bring Ninane to justice, Haley must ask Conall to undergo the ultimate test of love-to stand aside and let her fight her own battles.
 

I’m doing a List Mom day to celebrate the upcoming release of READING BETWEEN THE LINES from 10 eastern until 3 eastern on Monday October 1 at the Samhain Café! (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/samhaincafe/)

Come join us for a fun afternoon!