Vixenwriter

First, I got a fabulous 4 1/2 star review from RT for Tri Mates. Gail says in part: Dane’s intricate world of werewolf culture and pack politics only gets better with each book. Her fans will love revisiting familiar characters and new readers will be hooked. The Warden family is so real that they jump off the page. Their teasing, bickering and overprotectiveness is endearing, but there’s plenty of heat as well. This story focuses on Tracy, who finds love with not one but two hot alphas. Their sexual encounters, whether as a couple or a threesome, are very erotic and tremendously arousing, and a glimpse of sexual interaction between the two alpha males is tantalizing. The secondary characters play important roles as well and fill in any back story. Readers will be panting for more.

Wow! I’m so excited and happy about this review.

And I also got a review for Chased from PNR that was unexpected but no less wonderful. Jan said in part: Chased is a great story. Liv and Marc’s relationship builds to such a peak that every woman will identify with. The characters are great. Liv is so sweet and her emotional battles are ones that I identified with right away. Marc would be any woman’s dream. He’s so thoughtful and watches the little things. The supporting characters of Marc’s family are great too. The changes that Liv and Marc go through pull the reader through this book by their heartstrings.

But best of all? One of my dearest friends finally met her daughter and she and her husband have completed their family. How wonderful is that? When I saw the pictures this morning when I got online I cried for them - they look beautiful together and it’s been a very long wait so their journey is just beginning. All my love goes to them!

OH! And speaking of dear friends and love - Today is Megan Hart’s birthday. I first met Megan online gosh, nearly three years ago and in person two years ago this June. Megan is just a wonderful person and an extremely talented writer. She’s been a wonderful friend, a fabulous crit partner and someone who makes me laugh on a regular basis. Happy Birthday, Sparkles!

Titilating Tuesday excerpts up at my messageboard, by the way!

Have a great day folks!!

2006 has been an amazing year for me. Probably the best year of my entire life. 2005 was hard, lots of high highs and very low lows but 2006 I think was the year I finally hit my stride and met a lot of goals I had for myself.

January - I spent a lot of time recovering from the end of 2005, LOL. I got a new website design from the most incredible Frauke and Croco Designs. I sent out Giving Chase to Samhain, got a cover for Sleight of Hand.

February - Sleight of Hand released from Whispers - my first release of 2006 and my first novella! I hit the first major block in writing Threat of Darkness (way back then) and I worked on Tri Mates.

March - went to Las Vegas with Megan and Anya and had such a great time. Celebrated Megan’s book deal with Spice, Anya landed an agent and shortly thereafter I did too. It’s been a very good year for the Mavericks! Got the idea for GWAB.

April - Cascadia Wolves: Enforcer released from EC. Tri Mates is contracted. I sent in Thrice United to my editor as well. Got some pretty covers as well.

May - Offered contracts on Thrice Bound and Reluctant. Got edits on multiple books. Finished Sword and Crown

June - Giving Chase releases! Sudden Desire releases - both are new arenas for me - romantic suspense and a contemporary quickie - both did very well but Giving Chase did so well it renewed my confidence. Anya Bast sold two books to Berkley - Witch Fire comes out in June of 07! Taking Chase was contracted.

July - my hard drive died and I lost pictures of my children. Oh that sucked! I wrote and wrote and wrote.

August - Vengeance Due released. I took my first solo vacation with my husband in over a decade - to Las Vegas. Got the idea for Stripped. Dealt with the death of our hard drive, took a family vacation. My four year old turned 5, my 1 year old turned 2. My agent hooked me up with Jodi Lynn Copeland and Anya Bast to pitch a Vegas themed anthology and I start writing Stripped.

September - Reluctant releases. I get deep into writing and editing. My agent pitches the What Happens in Vegas anthology and Goddess With a Blade.

October - Threat of Darkness and I continue to be at odds. I pick it up and put it down several times. Finally, at month’s end, I figure out the problem and finish up in relative ease and get it to my editor. Did edits for Sword and Crown and Taking Chase.

November - Tri Mates releases and I find out Thrice United will also release. On the same day Taking Chase releases. November was a very, very busy month. I SOLD STRIPPED TO HARLEQUIN SPICE! I sold Ascension and Threat of Darkness to EC and I got started on Chased. All told, I wrote right about 90K words in the month of November between original wip, edits, etc. November was a month that was incredibly productive and also gave me so much to be thankful for. It fueled me and got me back on track.

December - Finished Chased, finished a revision of Enclave - crits, more revision, off to editor and agent. Nearly done with partial of The Others, started revision of the next book after Ascension that is currently without a title. Wonderful holidays with my friends and family. Three CAPA nominations.

All in all, I’ve got a whole hell of a lot to be thankful and grateful for. Yes, I have worked damned hard, but without my family, without my readers and my friends, without my editors and my agent who all believe in me and support me - I don’t know where I’d be, but not here, looking back at a year of wonderful moments and successes.

As a way to say thank you, I’m going to do a contest. All you need to do is comment on the blog. Between now and January 3 - I’ll take the commenters and toss em into the randomizer and pick three winners who’ll win one of their choice of my available titles - including paper. Good luck!

The always saucy Ciar Cullen is having a poll at her blog for Book of The Year and I’ve been told Tri Mates is on it. I went to look and lo and behold it is!

There are several other fine books in the poll as well so if you’re so inclined, please go and take a gander.

Finished Threat of Darkness last night and it’s off to beta this morning! I’d originally meant for this to be a foray into the world of the Fae but I think in the end it’s more a foray into the world of these warriors I’ve written. There are some familiar faces here and there - Aine, the queen of the Fae, Jayce, Con and Em and at the end we see Lee, Alex and Kael so that was fun.

Then I got back to Chased and I’m about 3K in now. I like Marc a lot and he’s fun to write dialog for.

Got two very lovely reviews for Tri Mates in JERR this morning! Both Five stars…

Tallyn gives TM an O and says: Lauren Dane has created an intriguing, suspenseful and erotic romantic tale about two dominating alpha males and their even more domineering mate. Tracy is a sassy, highly independent, intellectual, tattoo and piercing fanatic female who can hold her own. Nick is a clean cut, high maintenance second-in-command, while Gabe is a confident, self-assured, very professional high ranking alpha wolf. Both men are drawn to high maintenance women until they meet the very spirited Tracy. I found Tracy’s edgy and mischievous presence a likeable quality in a heroine and I can see why both men were drawn to her. The physical connection between the three characters is erotically explosive. Nick and Gabe’s need to protect, conquer and seduce just makes me envious of Tracy! The intimacy and love between Tracy, Nick and Gabe will have you prolonging your playtime with your partner. Definitely hot, hot, hot! I enjoyed the complexity of the political aspect of the storyline; it was quite fascinating and easy to follow. I found the interesting secondary and villainous characters to have depth and definitely added to my enjoyment of this story. Cascadia Wolves: Tri Mates can be read independently but I would suggest reading the first installment to better understand the unique and exciting world Ms. Dane has created. I look forward to reading future installments of this captivating series. A definite keeper!

and LT gives TM an H and says: Tri Mates has everything that I love about a book - werewolves, lots of sex, action, and two men to one female. HOT! I just loved this story. Tracy is a young woman not afraid of her sexuality. She has the nice girl appearance with the sex kitten appeal. Nick Lawrence is one sexy man and he was confident enough to know it without being arrogant. The sexual chemistry between Nick and Tracy was just plain hot. The friction between the Alphas from the Pacific clan against Tracy coming in as Nick’s mate and second was believable and fit with the plot. When Gabe volunteers to be Tracy’s anchor, I was a little disappointed because I was expecting a triad always and not just once. Ms. Dane is a master of her craft. The sex was so good between Gabe and Tracy that you felt their guilt and began to feel sorry for Nick. It isn’t until later when Tracy’s grandmother points out the Tri Mate bond that I lost the guilt and the triad became very real. All of the characters played a major part in the story and I couldn’t imagine any of them being left out. I am looking forward to how the series will end and can’t wait to read more about the Cascadia, Pacifica and National packs.

The Third Book in the Cascadia Wolves Series is Out!!

Werewolves mate for life. For every wolf, there’s a mate out there. So Tracy Warden is thrilled when she discovers Nick Lawrence, the sexy Enforcer for another Pack, is her mate.

But sometimes lucky wolves get to double dip in the form of the extremely rare Tri-Mate-Bond. And so it is when Tracy discovers that her Anchor bond with National Pack Mediator Gabe Murphy is far more. Suddenly Tracy finds herself with two alpha males whose hunger for her never seems to wane. But their bliss is marred by the heavy hand of the werewolf mafia whose reach goes very high up indeed.

Money laundering, kidnapping, assault and other general mayhem can’t mar the intensity of their bond, but it sure can threaten their lives.

I’ve just come from the EC Readerchat where we rocked the Cave all day long! i’m tired but happy, y’all make me smile.

Cascadia Wolves: Tri Mates releases tomorrow from Ellora’s Cave. I’m pretty excited about that. It’s my first published menage since Triad (I’ve got another coming January 3!) and I do so love the Warden family and Tracy is probably my favorite of them all. I hope you all enjoy meeting Tracy, Gabe and Nick. If you’d like to read an excerpt, head on over to my website! Or you can also check out the EC Readerchat files where three of them were uploaded today (THANK YOU TO RENEE, FABULOUS READER MOD!)

Because I’m still feeling festive (If not a wee bit tired,LOL) I’m going to give away an ARC of Tri Mates. Comment here and I’ll choose a winner by 7 pm my time/10 pm eastern. I know this is late in the day but giving stuff away is almost as fun as winning it!!

So last night I’m upstairs working on edits and my husband is putting the wee monster to sleep when I hear the alarm on the front door go off and then nothing. I rush down and the door is standing wide open and he’s nowhere in sight. I step outside and he’s not out there. I don’t see wee monster and I call my dude’s name and nothing. It’s really, and I mean like 20 degrees really, cold and I hear a noise as he comes jogging back holding the crushed remains of two of the kids’ pumpkins.

Turns out some little dipshits who need an ass kicking strolled up to our porch and walked away with two pumpkins. But my husband heard them and put a sleeping M down and ran after him. They dropped the pumpkins and ran their little asses off. My husband was worried that he’d left the door open and broke off after three blocks and came home.

Seriously? Who steals a pumpkin from a 2 year old? It’s too late to carve another, even if the pumpkin patch wasn’t picked clean so we’re all sharing our pumpkins but there’s a bit of sadness over it.

Still, we’ve got two darth vaders and a ladybug fairy and a whole bunch of candy so we’ll have a good time anyway. It’s freezing though! I’ll have to bundle the boys up under their costumes because, “moooom! If I wear a coat, no one will see my costume.” Eye roll.

I finished up second round edits on Sword and Crown last night and some last bit comma and clarification stuff on Taking Chase so I’m back to Threat of Darkness tonight, yay!

Speaking of Threat of Darkness, I’ve put up a very sneaky peek of it, Wolf Unbound and Sword and Crown at my messageboard. If you’re not a member, why not?

Another early review of Tri Mates! Holly at Two Lips Reviews gives Tri Mates 4 1/2 lips and says in part: Tri Mates is another wonderful book in the Cascadia Wolves series by Lauren Dane. The intrigue gives these books a whole new dimension. There were so many twists and turns in the plot that I never knew what was coming next. Nick is such a charming playboy that you can’t help but love. Gabe is a much quieter Alpha male, yet he is intriguing in ways Nick is not. Tracy is just a kick butt woman who loves to let her men have control in bed, but only in bed. She is funny, loyal, loving and forgiving. They make a fascinating set and you’re left wanting more of their story. I literally can’t decide if the next in the series should continue their story or move on to the next couple. Of course, I’m waiting impatiently for Cade’s story who is Alpha of Cascadia pack…. Lauren Dane is on my auto buy list and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Thanks, Holly!!