So as it happens, I’m lucky enough to be in possession of some Advance Reader Copies of my upcoming paranormal romance, HEART OF DARKNESS so I thought I’d run a contest for them 🙂

So here’s what I’m going to do – if you’d like to win an ARC, please send me an email by midnight pacific time September 17. Write HOD ARC CONTEST in the subject line. I’ll choose winners on September 18th and email each one.

All I ask is that because this is an ARC contest, that you write up a review of the book when you finish sometime between the day you get the book and the release date (November 1, 2011). The location (and the content of course) is up to you – your blog, goodreads, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc.

Some questions answered:

What is an ARC you ask? An ARC is an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book. It’s one step away from the final book you’ll see on shelves so there may be errors in it you won’t see in the final copy.

What is Heart of Darkness about? It’s a brand new paranormal romance, first in a new series, out from Berkley Sensation. You can read an excerpt at my website. Here’s the blurb:

From national bestselling author Lauren Dane comes a white-hot new series of a dangerous family legacy, and sensual paranormal passions played to the death on the knife-edge of darkness…

Meriel Owen, next in line to control the largest organization of witches in the country, is asked to investigate the owner of a notorious club reportedly siphoning magic from the font of the Clan. It’s a direct violation of the Clan Code of Conduct, but one look at Dominic Bright and Meriel’s willing to make a deal. One taste of the sexually feral outlaw witch, and she’s eager to go further: he’s her bond mate, a legal conduit into the world of Clan witches and their magic.

Playing by the rules isn’t Dominic’s style, but bonding with Meriel—night after explosive night—is. However, Meriel has unwittingly invited someone else into her world: Dominic’s mother, a dangerous and poisonously influential magic addict whose lust for death and power corrupts all she touches. Now her shadow is closing in on Meriel, her Clan, and the man Meriel loves, and it’s casting them all into the inescapable heart of darkness.

Is the contest open to international entries? Yes.