Saturday, November 29, 2014

Casting Call: Goddess, Spellbound

It feels like I've been waiting forever to reveal this cast for Goddess, Spellbound! Now that it's released, I finally can show you. This might be my favorite cast yet.

The main character, Sandy/Sanura goes through quite a change during the story. From insecure and somewhat shy to a true goddess. As a descendant of the goddess Bastet, Sanura has always envied the sleek grace of cats, and she can't go anywhere without cats surrounding her.

Sanura's obsessed with all things Egyptian, so when her museum scores a world-class exhibit of Egyptian artifacts, it's the thrill of a lifetime for her. Until the warrior mummy awakens, and a dead vizier tries to kill her.

Emma Stone can play fragile and fierce equally well, and would make a perfect Sanura.


Iker, the warrior who served under the queen pharaoh Hatshepsut, has been tasked with ensuring the queen pharaoh's soul finally sails off into the Afterlife, but first he has to convince Sanura that she's the only one who can perform the Pyramid Text spells to free Hatshepsut's soul.

Strong and sensitive, Iker was always Shemar Moore in my mind.


Sanura's intern, Howie, has a few surprises up his, er, sleeve. He's less interested in artifacts than revenge, and once he reveals his true self, Sanura's not sure which version of Howie she dislikes more.

I can't give away any more than that. You'll have to read the book to find out for yourself.

Matthew Gray Gubler was always Howie.


User, the vizier who returns through the false tomb door on exhibit at Sanura's museum, is the worst sort of villain. He's already dead, so there's no use trying to kill him. And he's been waiting for final victory over Hatshepsut since her death in 1548 B.C. He helped erase her from history, but won't rest until he makes certain the queen pharaoh's soul doesn't reach the Afterlife.

Sir Ben Kingsley would make a wonderful User.



Bastet is a multifaceted goddess. Not only is she the daughter of the sun god Ra, but she's the goddess of cats, a a warrior, but also a gentle protector of home and children, a healer and dancer, moon goddess, a goddess of pleasure. She goes by many names: Lady of Flame, Eye of Ra, Lady of the East, Goddess of the Rising Sun, The Sacred and All-Seeing Eye.

Another easy choice. No one but Angelina Jolie could play Bastet. 




Mrs. Allgood has a small but vital role in the story. She's a generous benefactor who donates more than money to the museum.

But she's another character I can't reveal too much about. She was a lot of fun to write, and especially when I imagined Dame Judi Dench as wielding her cloisonne walking cane.




Finally, the queen pharaoh herself.

Hatshepsut ruled from 1478 B.C. until her death twenty-two years or so later. Though Hatshepsut is generally considered one of the most successful rulers, history doesn't reveal much about her. After her death, her likenesses were chiseled from monuments, and her deeds stricken from pharaonic records. She was not buried in her official tomb, probably for fear of someone disturbing her remains.

She's the central part of this storyline, the wronged queen who seeks only justice and final release.

Minnie Driver would make an excellent Hatshepsut.


I love that there are so many strong female characters in this story. And the setting allowed me to explore ancient Egypt, which has fascinated me since I was little.

You can find out more about Goddess, Spellbound here.


Thursday, November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving

I've been taking a short break from blogging (I was sick, then the grandboys were sick). And yesterday's snow knocked out our cable and Internet for a bit, but today it makes everything look festive, doesn't it?

May your day be spent surrounded by those you love. Safe travels and Happy Thanksgiving.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Goddesses and cobras and mummies, oh my!

Egypt has fascinated me since I was a kid. I've wanted to see the Sphinx, ride a camel across the desert and most of all, visit the pyramids to see hieroglyphics in person. Cleopatra fascinated me even more - a strong female leader who had incredible charisma as well as power. I didn't learn about Hatshepsut until much later.

I came across a couple of articles a few years ago detailing the unearthing of important artifacts from that time, and saved them. Experts believed they'd discovered the queen pharaoh's real burial site, as her tomb contained someone else's remains. During her reign, Hatshepsut did much to advance Egypt but after her death, her legacy was destroyed, and she was all but erased from history.

So when I found another article about the discovery of one of her vizier's false tomb doors, I saved that too. The third article was fairly short, but no less important - the mummy of a warrior who served under Hatshepsut had also been found about the same time.

I love it when the universe sends me little gifts like that. It played in perfectly with my (then) new idea for the Goddess Connection series. All I needed was an Egyptian goddess...  

Bastet seemed a perfect choice. There are tons of Egyptian gods and goddesses, but many of them have some connection to death. Bastet is most famously known as the goddess of cats. She's a warrior, but also a gentle protector of home and children, a healer and dancer, moon goddess, a goddess of pleasure. She goes by many names: Lady of Flame, Eye of Ra, Lady of the East, Goddess of the Rising Sun, The Sacred and All-Seeing Eye.

As a daughter of the sun god Ra, she would also be a target for her father's enemies - especially the serpent Apep. Which made it all the more fun when writing, and one of my characters surprised me by becoming a cobra shifter!

 And so, I'm thrilled that nearly two years after starting to write Goddess, Spellbound, it's finally available.

Here's the blurb: 

Ancient pyramid tomb doors. Mummified warriors. Artifacts appearing from nowhere.  And that’s just Sandy Whitaker’s work as museum curator. When spells become curses, and the dead return for vengeance, her dream job turns into a living nightmare.

The warrior Iker’s triumphed over difficult pharaohs and returned from battles victorious, but dealing with Sandy Whitaker is his hardest task yet. A descendant of Egyptian goddess Bastet, she’s headstrong, naïve and completely alluring. Can he convince her to perform the ritual spells to save the Queen Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s eternal soul? More importantly, can he help her realize she doesn’t need to be descended from a goddess to be one herself?

Sandy reluctantly embraces her heritage as Sanura, demi-goddess of cats. But even with her new powers, can she fulfill her destiny? If she can survive being kidnapped by a cobra shifter, she’ll do her best to perform the Pyramid Texts ritual spells so Hatshepsut can sail into the Afterlife at long last. But once the queen pharaoh is gone forever, will Iker leave her too?

Goddess, Spellbound
The Goddess Connection, Book 3
Fantasy/paranormal romance novel
Heat level: Sensual
About 68,400 words




You can read the first chapter on WattPad. I hope it leaves you spellbound!



Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Cover reveal for Twice In A Blue Moon!

It's finally here! I can finally show you the gorgeous cover for Twice In A Blue Moon, releasing Jan. 19 from Kensington's Lyrical Press.

Thanks to these Kensington klovers, who are participating in the cover reveal:

 http://www.ktbookreviews.com/
 Musings and Ramblings
Delhia (www.betweendandr.com)
 Pinkindle

And thanks to ARe Cafe for posting the cover too!

The ebook's actually been available for preorder for a few weeks, but I did my best to keep it under wraps. :) You can preorder from:

Kensington Publishing
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Now all that's left is the waiting - the hardest part of all.


Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Double cover reveal: Sealed in Sin and Bound in Black by Juliette Cross


SEALED IN SIN


The Vessel Trilogy, Book 2

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Release Date: April 21, 2015



Blurb

Sin can look an awful lot like heaven.

One demon prince may be festering in the bowels of the soul eater Cocytus, but Genevieve’s troubles are far from over. Prince Bamal, demon lord of New York City, still wants her. But this time, he wants her alive, to control her inherent power as a Vessel of Light.
With Jude Delacroix off searching for the prophecy, Thomas—a guardian angel with sea-green eyes and an aura of winter woods—steps into the gap, offering her the power to protect herself.

Yet she hesitates, for the transfer of that power comes through a kiss. While Gen’s love for Jude is true, Thomas stirs a desire where there should be none. Thomas also knows Jude’s darkest secret and plans to use it, if necessary, to win Gen for his own.
While her Vessel power grows and more demon spawn creep from every dark corner of the world, one thing is certain—the Great War between the angels and demons is quickly approaching. And Gen is in a race against time to awaken her full power before the storm breaks.



Warning: Contains a demon hunter with dark secrets, a sexy angel with ulterior motives, and demonic creatures running amok.



SiS on Goodreads



BOUND IN BLACK



The Vessel Trilogy, Book 3

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Release Date: July 21, 2015



Blurb

In the belly of the beast, strategy is useless.

Genevieve Drake is on a dangerous mission to find the soul collector, Lethe, and enter the deepest, darkest level of the underworld. No one has ever returned alive from the belly of a soul collector, but she will let nothing stop her from going after the precious treasure Lethe stole from her.

As she is tested against demon spawn and foul creatures of the underworld, each triumph strengthens her Vessel power—and drags her closer to a breaking point that could forever doom her to the abyss.

Meanwhile, with the full prophecy hurtling toward completion, the Dominus Daemonum strategize for the day Gen will battle Prince Bamal’s Vessel to the death, when the Great War between heaven and hell will begin.

But Bamal has a secret weapon. When he reveals it—and Thomas reveals his own hidden agenda—Gen may not have the strength to resist the temptation to fall into darkness, forsaking the fate of the world for her broken heart.

Warning: Contains malicious demons, sinister spawn, and a vengeful heroine with plans to send them all back to burning hell.

BiB on Goodreads





Author Bio— Juliette calls lush, moss-laden Louisiana home where the landscape curls into her imagination, creating mystical settings for her stories. She has a B.A. in creative writing from Louisiana State University, a M.Ed. in gifted education, and was privileged to study under the award-winning author Ernest J. Gaines in grad school. Her love of mythology, legends, and art serve as constant inspiration for her works. From the moment she read JANE EYRE as a teenager, she fell in love with the Gothic romance—brooding characters, mysterious settings, persevering heroines, and dark, sexy heroes. Even then, she not only longed to read more novels set in Gothic worlds, she wanted to create her own.



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Monday, November 10, 2014

Spotlight: Exposed to Passion by Gemma Brocato

Exposed To Passion
Five Senses Series Book #3
Gemma Brocato
           
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: Kensington Books/Lyrical Press, Inc
Date of Publication: October 20, 2014
eISBN-13: 978-1-61650-616-2
eISBN-10: 1-61650-616-4
ASIN:
Number of pages: 329
Word Count: approx. 85,000
Cover Artist: Renee Rocco
Available in Digital and Print Formats

Book Description

They walked through the shadows individually. Will they emerge into the light together?

Leading a vagabond life as a curator for a traveling photography exhibit translates to a lot of bad days for Rikki Salerno. But her trouble doubles when a careless high school student shoves her into a marsh. Being rescued by teacher Sam Kerrigan should have made things better, but Rikki’s inability to confess her true identity casts a shadow over their budding affair.
When Sam refuses an overly aggressive parent’s marriage proposal, she’s determined to ruin him. Not only does she doctor photos to make it look like Sam’s behaved inappropriately in front of students, she hacks the foundation website to reveal Rikki’s true identity. Faster than the blink of a shutter, Rikki’s focus changes from pursuing her full-color future to the black and white necessity of clearing Sam’s name.

Excerpt
“Holy cow! Consider me seduced.” She didn’t recognize her own voice. Desire rasped through it, whispery and thick at the same time. Allowing her finger to slip from the steamy confines of his mouth, he pressed a kiss to her palm, then released his hold. She curled her hand into a fist around the kiss he’d left, hoping to hold onto the heat and lingering sensation.
 “Oh, Jesus. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you like that. It was too fast, wasn’t it? I mean, we only just met…but I thought, I mean, you seemed to want…and you didn’t say no. Christ, I’m so sorry.” Sam’s tone rattled with a misplaced apology. “I have no excuse. I’m a horndog.”
He eased her away from his chest and helped her to sit up, then pushed himself upright and scooted a respectful distance from her.
The apology in his tone and the loss of his body heat hit her like a cold slap. His words stung. He regretted kissing her. The tingly pulses zipping from her fingertip to her heart did nothing to tamp down the hurt. She hadn’t wanted him to stop. Normally the queen of snarky retorts, words failed her now.

Buy Links


About the Author
Gemma's favorite desk accessories for many years were a circular wooden token, better known as a 'round tuit,' and a slip of paper from a fortune cookie proclaiming her a lover of words; some day she'd write a book. All it took was a transfer to the United Kingdom, the lovely English springtime, and a huge dose of homesickness to write her first novel. Once it was completed and sent off with a kiss, even the rejections addressed to 'Dear Author' were gratifying.
After returning to America, she spent a number of years as a copywriter, dedicating her skills to making insurance and the agents who sell them sound sexy. Eventually, her full-time job as a writer interfered with her desire to be a writer full-time and she left the world of financial products behind to pursue an avocation as a romance author.
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Also By Gemma Brocato
Cooking Up Love
Hearts In Harmony