PIMPING: Sealed with a Kiss by Lila Dubois

It's 1:21 am Friday morning here. That means that Samhain's August 31st releases are up and available. Why is this cause for celebration you ask? *snort* as if you need to ask... helloooooo NEW BOOKS! Always cause for celebration.

But today it's special because my friend, erotic romance author, and all-around kick-ass chick Lila Dubois has a short-story - SEALED WITH A KISS -available at Samhain.The BLURB:
When a man who isn’t human is accidentally enslaved by a woman who has no idea what he is, the result is magical.

A Midsummer Night’s Steam story

Signing up for a one-week adventure vacation, Helena expects to be kayaking in the Pacific, not having every sexual fantasy fulfilled in her guide’s bed.

Ocean is more than he seems, his kayaking business a cover for his deepest secret.

When Helena accidentally enacts old magic, enslaving Ocean, he doesn’t know if she is the luckiest girl on earth, or an enemy of his kind, bent on imprisoning him forever. Ocean’s strange behavior worries Helena but she’s distracted by the mind-blowing sex.

After the truth is revealed, will their budding love be Sealed with a Kiss?

OK, I don't like the cover but this story is really good! SEALED WITH A KISS is a sexy, vivid, and unique paranormal romance. How do I know? I got to be a.... beta reader, I think it's called. Is that right, Lila? Basically, I got to read an early version of it and then analyze the crap out of it (which we all know I love to do). I've got the final version now and it's just CALLING to me. I can't wait to re-visit Ocean (the sexy hero). Oh, yeah... and that heroine-type chick too.... what's her name? Well, it doesn't really matter since I'm going to have to kick her butt to keep Ocean for myself. *sigh* He's so FINE. Then I'm going to get the bungee cords from the back of my mom-mobile (aka minivan) and tie him naked to the.... oh, wait.... did I type that aloud?

Lila is in the process of changing and updating her website so be sure to check it out. In the BOOKS section you can find more information about the first book in Lila's wildly erotic paranormal romance series about the Zinahs. (not related to Sealed with a Kiss) There is also a FREE anthology available on the page.

Anyway, off to read now....

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW BOOK, LILA!!

My Immortal by Erin McCarthy

The BLURB:
In the late eighteenth century, plantation owner Damien du Bourg struck an unholy bargain with a fallen angel: an eternity of inspiring lust in others for the gift of immortality. But when Marley Turner stumbles upon Damien's plantation searching for her missing sister, for the first time in two hundred years it's Damien who can't resist the lure of a woman. But his past sins aren't so easily forgotten-or forgiven.

My Thoughts:
This book starts off on a sour note for me. The hero is a selfish bastard and I hated him.... in the beginning. For all of you who have picked up this book and abandoned it after reading the first little bit that focuses on Damien (I have a friend who did this) then pick it back up and keep slogging through the crap.... it does get better. It took me about 15 minutes and revealing a TON of spoilers to convince my friend of this fact but it REALLY does get better.

The storyline is pretty simple, and one that we romance-readers have seen about a hundred thousand times but rarely get tired of:

Older sister (aka THE MARTYR) rushes to the aid of younger sister (aka THE IRRESPONSIBLE SELFISH BRAT) because she feels it's her responsibility to 'rescue' said younger sister. Of course, the rescue doesn't go as planned because younger sister has taken off to party somewhere else but big sister doesn't know where and is horribly worried so she goes to the 'last known' location and tries to track her down.

Enter the big, bad, immortal (aka THE misunderstood BAD BOY). Immortal demon meets older sister and is wholly fascinated and entranced by her beauty and goodness as well as the fact that she is the ONLY woman who can resist him. Demon tries to stonewall older sister so that she will go away "for her own good" because he is BAD and dangerous but demon realizes that he wants her too much to let her go. Demon then says that he'll help older sister because he wants to get into her pants. Then he gets into her pants and finds love there (*snicker* - I couldn't resist) and revelations are made that help us readers (and later big sister) understand that demon isn't as bad as he seems. Of course, about this time irresponsible little sister shows up, is a vicious brat to older sister, then toddles off to 'play' again without regard for anyone else. Older sister's trip was a useless endeavor but she can't be THAT upset because she met the immortal demon. Oh, Yeah.... but she doesn't KNOW that he's a demon.... yet.

And last, but certainly not least, add in a big helping of "EVIL PLOT" which only older sister can save bad-boy demon from, with a dash of "EVIL DEMON LORD-type" character, and a smidge of "SEMI-EVIL DAUGHTER OF EVIL DEMON LORD-type" and you get.....

TA DA!

My Immortal by Erin McCarthy

OK... so I'm in a silly mood. I think the brain is fried from studying. LOL!

Seriously now, while this book wasn't a fabulous read it was decent enough despite the rocky start with the hero. The plot flowed well and was enjoyable, if overly familiar, as were the characters. I had heard that it was supposed to be a new 'darker' direction for for her books but I REALLY don't think it was a dark book. Actually, in that respect I thought it was more equal to Katie Macallister's paranormal books. The writing style isn't the same and McCarthy's books don't have the humor that is normally an element of McAllister's writing, but I would recommend My Immortal to people who enjoy Katie MacAllister.

RATING: Library (I'm starting a new 'rating system' so I'll post next about what this means).

I've read all of McCarthy's books but my favorite continues to be Mouth to Mouth which is being re-released with a nice new cover in November.

Here's the cover of my copy:

Here's the NEW cover:

I like the new cover better but if I remember correctly the woman's hair color is wrong.... hmmmmmmm.... I think I need to re-read it but I thought she was blond-ish.

What do you all thing. Is the new cover hotter or is the more plain, first one better? Is it irritating when pubishers re-issue with a different cover? I've heard (and voiced) many a complaint about being foold by a new cover into thinking that it's a new book and buying it before realizing that it's a re-issue. Doesn't happen so much since I began keeping a database but every once in a while I get caught that way.

Tuesday is the day for HUNTING THE DEMON!

I'm book-pimping today......

Hunting the Demon
by Jaci Burton

The BLURB:
IN A WILDERNESS SEETHING WITH SIN AND SEDUCTION, THE CHASE IS ON.
Hunting demons for a living can have its moments. Especially when Shay Pearson’s latest quarry is the gorgeous bronzed surfer who just stepped out of the sea. Uncovering Nic Diavolo’s devilish side could prove Shay’s toughest assignment yet. Because while she’s acting as bait to snatch this sexy bad boy, Nic’s got a plan of seduction no woman—earthly or otherwise--can resist.
Caught between two warring realms, Nic needs to stay alive long enough to figure out who his enemies are. That includes the beautiful hunter who won’t let him out of her sight. And something far worse: A force of evil with an almost unimaginable goal – possessing Nic’s very soul. But the hunt really heats up when a guy who’s hotter than Hades and a woman who’s afraid to love join forces, igniting an inferno of lust and longing that could send them into mortal danger...or straight into each other’s arms…

MY SUMMARY:
Shay Pearson is a kick-ass demon hunter who volunteers to be 'bait' for Derek's long-lost younger brother Nic Diavolo. Because, like Derek, Nic is half-demon, she makes contact to assess him and whether he should be brought into their group or eliminated. Shay voluteers for the assignment because she feels a connection to Nic partially because of her psychic visions but is unprepared for the attraction between them which is instantaneous and electric. Circumstances force her to call the team in to kidnap Nic and, of course, he sees it as a betrayal and is enraged. Shay and the other demon hunters try to make Nic see the truth of his demon-family heritage not only because they need his help to stop the demons plans but also for his own safety.

Nic doesn't believe a word his 'kidnappers' say. His father wasn't evil, he has no brother and he certainly isn't half-demon. He knows he has to pretend to believe in order to escape and the only real part of his 'act' is the attraction and feelings he has for Shay. Before he can completely escape, he sees the reality of the demons for himself and knows that the demon-hunters were telling the truth. Now he must prove that he can be a part of the team and regain Shay's trust because her visions depict a horrifying possible future if he should lose control of the demon inside him - and he can't control it alone.

My Thoughts:
I have been eagerly anticipating this second book in the Demon Hunters series since Derek and Gina's book- Surviving Demon Island - came out in January and I wasn't disappointed with Nic & Shay's story.

I didn't fall instantly in love with Nic the way I did with Derek (the grouchy hard-ass) in the first book. In the beginning, Nic seemed to be a useless rich, pretty-boy surfer - I began to worry that I wasn't going to like this character which can ruin a whole book for me. I kept on reading and I began to see Ms. Burton's purpose in portraying Nic that way. The way he was at first served to accentuate the progression of his metomorphosis into a strong hero throughout the book. The core of determination inside Nic is tapped by his discovery of the existance of demons and he now has a purpose and a direction.

Shay was a good heroine, although the one major problem I had with this book has to do with her psychic ability. First, she fights the visions even when they could help them - OK, I know that they leave her feeling wrung out but I thought she should have been more open to them for the good of the team; Second, she has had these psychic visions since childhood but nobody else knows about them. My problem with this is: If she's so affected by them (left weakened or shaken by them) how can we believe that the whole group of highly observant demon-hunters, who spend almost all of their time together, wouldn't notice this about her? Third, suddenly in this book she is the one sensing the demons because of her psychic powers and the two people who usually sense them are suddenly 'unable' to. I could buy this if there were some explanation but there wasn't (or if there was I TOTALLY missed it).

Other than my beef with her psychic talent, I liked Shay. She was the perfect match for Nic - able to kick demon ass but still vulnerable and loving. I felt that this was a good combination for her because Nic needs someone to protect, as well as to be protected by. And despite his demon nature and his transformation into hero-material, he still had a bit of the playful surfer in him so Shay's loving personality fit.

Overall, I found Hunting the Demon to be well-paced, sexy, and engaging. I planned on skimming through it yesterday just to refresh and ended up re-reading it again... I got sucked into it. Surviving Demon Island is still my favorite - I loved Derek & Gina but this one is a solid addition to the series and book #3, The Demon's Touch, is due out in 2008 and will be on my 'buy' list.

Visit Jaci Burton's website
Pre-order Hunting the Demon

Glossary of PC Messages

It says: "Press Any Key"
It means: "Press any key you like but I'm not moving."

It says: "Press A Key"
(This one's a programmers joke. Nothing happens unless you press the "A" key.)

It says: "Fatal Error. Please contact technical support quoting error no. 1A4-2546512430E"
It means: "... where you will be kept on hold for 10 minutes, only to be told that it's a hardware problem."

It says: "Installing program to C:\...."
It means: "... And I'll also be writing a few files into c:\windows and c:\windows\system where you'll NEVER find them."

It says: "Please insert disk 11"
It means: "Because I know darn well there are only 10 disks."

It says: "Cannot read from drive D:...."
It means: "... However, if you put the CD in right side up..."

It says: "Please Wait...."
It means: "... Indefinitely."

It says: "Directory does not exist...."
It means: ".... any more. Whoops."

It says: "The application caused an error. Choose Ignore or Close."
It means: "....Makes no difference to me, you're still not getting your work back."

This post is sponsored by my damn computer which crashed AGAIN! I HATE MY COMPUTER! Either the devil has possessed it or HP has put out this particular model as a cruel, cruel joke on the customers.

A few books available early & my "To Buy" list

I was cruising through Border's bookstore looking for new books today (yeah, I'm like a squirrel with nuts - I KNOW I'm going to run out of new books to read so I'm always trying to stock & hoard. LOL!) and what do I spy sitting on the new release table as pretty as you please?
Yep, you guessed it. Caressed by Ice! *gasping* I was shocked! Stunned for a moment. Thinking.... wait, it's almost two weeks until this is supposed to be out! But alas, the book was out there. It was soooooo tempting. Although I already have the ARC, I was reflexively tempted to snatch the book up and run to the register with it (Hey, it's my favorite author, what can I say?) but I restrained myself to wait for the actual release date so that I can be sure my purchase will count towards any bestseller lists.

Why, you ask? Well, from what I've 'heard' from several sources and Jacki Frank confirmed with her editor - books purchased before the actual 'release date' don't count towards the author's sales when they're tallying totals to decide who belongs on the bestseller lists. Weird huh? In addition, because it's a little unclear as to whether online sales count, it's better to purchase them at an actual bookstore. It makes no sense to me why only specific purchases should count but whatever.

So to be safe and because it's not really a hardship since my beautiful Caressed by Ice ARC is sitting on my bookshelf RIGHT NOW (OK, I know that was just downright mean-hearted but I can't help but rub it in just a bit more! *snicker*), I'll wait to buy my regular copy until September 4th when it's released.

I also saw Janelle Denison's book Born to be Wilde which has a release date of September 4th too. That's on my buy-list.

And Highland Thirst by Lynsay Sands & Hannah Howell was out - it's only a few days early though.

Other books on my "To Buy" list coming out within the next couple of weeks:
Dark Possession by Christine Feehan
Silver Master by Jayne Castle
My Immortal by Erin McCarthy
Strength of Three by Annemarie McKenna
Wicked Magic by Cheyenne McCray
Warlord by Angela Knight

I'm also considering Coming Undone by Susan Anderson. I liked her earlier romantic suspenses but haven't been terribly impressed with the most recent so I'm 'waiting' on that.

Tomorrow I'll be blogging about Jaci Burton's book Hunting the Demon which is due out on Tuesday. *using best TV announcer voice* Stay tuned.

Psy/Changeling Hero

He's mine.... ALL MINE!
Here's my results of a quiz from Nalini Singh’s Blog called "Which Psy/Changeling Hero is for You?"

So here's my changeling honey....

Which Psy-Changeling Hero Is For You?

Your Psy/Changeling Hero: Clay

Intense, silent and beautiful in his masculine grace, Clay Bennett is a leopard who prefers the shadows. For the woman he considers his, he'll move heaven and earth...but first, you'll have to be willing to walk into the shadows to find him.Find out more about Clay and the series at www.nalinisingh.com
Take this quiz!








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AND, my results said out of 73, 0% had gotten this result. So Clay is MINE and mine alone! *evil laugh* OK, so maybe I'll share him with his heroine when the book comes out but he'll still be all mine until February!

On a related note: My Caressed by Ice review will be up later this week so be sure to stop back and check it out!

Denise A. Agnew

I'm hooked.
I'm a junkie.
I CANNOT seem to stop buying and reading and loving this author's books!

I know I recommended her in another post but I've been on a real Denise A. Agnew binge so I want to share it with you all. She writes paranormal romance with suspense and some contemporary romantic suspense.

So far I've read:
Over the Line (SIA)
Primordial (SIA)
Night Scream - Novella (SIA)
Impetuous (SIA) -- one of THE worst covers... UGH!
Sins & Secrets (SIA)
Shadows & Ruins (SIA)
Jungle Fever (SIA)
Hideaway (SIA)
Clandestine (SIA)
Instinct (SIA) -- HOTTEST cover!! YUMMY!
and Male Call which I reviewed for RORR. Unfortunately, you can't view that review because it's not posted yet.

I've also got Dark Fire sitting on my shelf waiting, The Dare loaded onto my PDA just begging to be read - hey, any book that starts with the heroine seeing the hero through the window buck naked has my vote!!!

The only one so far that's been a 'stinker' to me was Hideaway. It was just kinda slow and boring. I found myself skimming parts and not really connecting with the characters.

My favorite is probably Instinct because of the characters (Lucas and Mina are HOT!) but as far as storyline goes Over the Line and Sins & Secrets take first and second.

All of them are available from Ellora’s Cave except Male Call which is published by Samhain. SIA is short for Special Investigations Agency and the books in that series are about people who work for a highly secretive agency that specializes in dealing with supernatural threats/beings/investigations. Some of them are heavier on the suspense than the paranormal but they're highly enjoyable and well-written IMO. Ms. Agnew has a talent for characterizations which make even the novellas (which I don't normally like as much) great.

So now I've got a new author addiction... I'm sure I'll be reading ALL of her books within.... oh, the next week or so at the rate I'm going. LOL!

I really recommend this author to lovers of suspense and paranormal romance. Now I'm off to read more. I've also got Serati's Flame, the newest book by T.J. Michaels waiting for me... it's been calling to me for the last hour in addition to the Agnew books. It's so hard to decide where to start!

Happy reading!