RomCon Reader - December 2014

Contemporary | Erotic | Historical | Inspirational | Paranormal | Romantic Suspense | Urban Fantasy | YA

December 2014

Suza Kates Call To THe East PLUS...

L.E. Gent | Jennifer Zane | Michele Callahan | Tammy Jo Burns | Vanessa Vale Maggie Mae Gallagher | Hanna Martine | Victoria Vane | Julia Klassen RomCon速 2015 | Interviews | Articles | Excerpts | Reader Recommendations | Top Rated Books

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ISSUE #4

Cover Spotlight: SUZA KATES An sneak peek excerpt from her soonto-be released book Call Of The East.

Genre Spotlights: 8

SCI-FI: MICHELE CALLAHAN

Book Excerpts: 32

Talking sci-fi nerdiness.

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PARANORMAL: MAGGIE MAE GALLAGHER Music To Plot By

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ROMANTIC SUSPENSE: JENNIFER ZANE Excerpt from Hot Pursuit 3

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CONTEMPORARY HANNA MARTINE Talks the love of all things Scot.

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CONTEMPORARY VICTORIA VANE Modern day knights in pick-up trucks.

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HISTORICAL TAMMY JO BURNS Insights into writing.

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INSPIRATIONAL JULIE KLASSEN Author’s luck of travel-- England!

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ROMANTIC SUSPENSE: L.E.GENT One Shade Of Black

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EROTIC ROMANCE: VANESSA VALE Claiming Catherine

Reader Rated Books: RomCon 2015: 24

NEWLY RATED BOOKS

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WRITER’S UNIVERSITY WORKSHOPS

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ROMCON JUDGES SAY...

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READER LUNCHEON 411

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ATTENDING AUTHOR LIST

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Editor’s Note From the Desk of Michele Callahan

T

he official day of Thanksgiving is behind us, but its spirit remains at RomCon. We’re all busy, but that’s when I love finding and curling up with a great book the most. It’s that special, secret few minutes I take just for myself. I know you all know exactly what I’m talking about. We all have our favorites, those books we’ve read many, many times. And we know just what chapter to turn to so that we can re-read our favorite scene. It’s a five minute mini-break that often times saves our sanity.

With the holidays upon us, we’re all going to be running around like crazy for the next few weeks. At times like this, it’s important to remember to be grateful for the amazing gifts in our lives. In that spirit, I’m going to share with you ten things I’m grateful for, and I hope you all take time to make your own lists. Because I truly believe we will all receive more of what we focus on the most. If we live in a mental headspacep filled with doom and gloom, jealousy and resentment, we’ll get more and more of it. But if we focus on the things that make us happy and whole, no matter how small they may seem, they will grow.

Ten Things I’m Thankful For: 1) My family 2) My dog Sam (He’s awesome. Seriously.)

3) Great books to read, and the ability to read them 4) My home (Some people don’t have one) 5) All the new friends I’ve met through RomCon (*waving!*) 6) My writing pals (Jen, Mary, Karen, Cindy, Cyndi, and Susan) They keep me honest and kick my tail when I need it.

7) The Internet (Honestly, I can barely remember life without it) 8) My love of writing. (Some people struggle to find their passion.)

9) Pajamas (I have a weird PJ obsession. LOL) 10) Coffee with Cream The list is simple, isn’t it? But I think, when we stop to consider what matters to all of us, it really is the simple things that bring us the most joy. People we care about, and the simple pleasures. That’s what it’s all about. And I’m happy to say that books make my short list.

What’s on your list?

Hugs and Happy Holidays!

Michele Callahan Michele Callahan is a certifiably obsessed romance fan, an author, and the founder and President of RomCon®.To find out more about Michele and her books visit her website: michelecallahan.com.

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RomCon® & The Readers’ Crown® are registered service marks of Romance Conventions Inc., 992 S. 4th Ave Ste. 100-422, Brighton, CO 80601 CORPORATE OFFICERS: Founder & President: Michele Callahan Vice President: Jennifer Zane RomCon® STAFF & VOLUNTEERS: Websites and Social Media: Blog Scheduling: Karen Docter Blog Winners: Cynthia Woolf Advertising: Heather Cole Book Cover Store: Heather Cole Stock Photography: Jennifer Zane Graphic Design: Tabatha Hansen, Jennifer Zane Content Editor: Michele Callahan Social Media Coordinator: Lori Kander Erotic Romance Group: Heather Cole Reader Rated Bookstore & Readers’ Crown: www.readerratedbookstore.com heather@romconinc.com Reader Judges: 500+ and counting Elite Level Reader Judges: In no particular order - (Thank you!)

Amy M., Janon S., Candace C., Debbie S., Lori Y., Lorie K., Jessica D., Rebecca C., Pua T., Elaine B., Toni L., Pat R., Jan K., Dottie A., Christina M., Anita M., Laura Y., Amy W., Sheila H., Wendy P. RomCon® 2015 Reader Weekend & RomCon® U - Convention Convention Director: Michele Callahan Programs and Author Liaison: Karen Docter Programs: Maggie Mae Gallagher, Cynthia Woolf Registration and Staff: Michele Callahan RomCon Stock Photos: www.romconstockphotos.com Art Director: Jennifer Zane Advertising: RomCon Reader eMagazine: Ciick here.

RomCon Website: Click here.

Questions: heather@romconinc.com

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Sci-Fi & Urban Fantasy

Sci-Fi

&

Urban Fantasy

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Sci-Fi & Urban Fantasy

MICHELE CALLAHAN

I

will admit it, I’m a total sci-fi nerd. From the day my dad took me to see Star Wars in kindergarten, I was hooked.

Buck Rodgers, Battlestar Gallactica, Star Trek, Dr.Who, Quantum Leap...it didn’t matter who the actors were, or how cheesy the script, I watched. I dreamed. And I asked the now classic question, ‘What if?’ What if we could travel through time? What if some future race invented the technology? Would they come back in time? Would they interfere in their own past? Or would that be too dangerous? The Timewalker Chronicles was born to answer these questions for me. And guess, what? They DO change things up. They’re trying to save us, but they need a little help to do it from us humans. So, buckle up and hang on for the ride. Black Gate is the 4th of 6 Timewalker stories and you get to meet the leader of the evil Triscani, find out the truth behind the Immortal forbidden sons, and meet the human military team trying to protect us all. But they don’t have all the facts, and this ride is about to get crazy.

Enjoy the ride. Hugs, and Happy Reading! - Michele

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Sci-Fi & Urban Fantasy

EXCERPT FROM: BLACK GATE Book 4 of the Timewalker Chronicles

Chapter One Present Day... atherine crept along the outer wall of the three-story mansion absolutely certain that every move she made was being watched through at least ten rifle scopes.The snipers had taken down most of the guards before she or her boys had gotten close to the house. She didn’t know how many people the two teams had been forced to battle inside the house, and she didn’t want to know. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered.

The raw power emanating from this place was too powerful to ignore. Based on the number of armed guards and surveillance equipment surrounding the house, the cult members knew exactly what they were hiding. They’d put up a hell of a fight, with the Casper Project team ordered to take them alive for questioning. But as Katherine had listened to the assault, it had quickly become apparent that the cult members were under orders to commit suicide rather than be taken alive. The artifact’s energy was too dangerous to leave in the hands of the asshole who had set up shop here. Official word was that the house was occupied by a cult loyal to its leader, the owner of the home, a man they referred to as The Dragon. Who knew what kind of alien weapon they were hiding, but its influence had woken Katherine from a dead sleep hundreds of miles away.

Whatever was hidden here was too dangerous to allow them to maintain control of it. She’d been the one to demand they come here and take the artifact.

Finding alien artifacts, weapons, and things that reeked of power was her job. It was the reason the Rear Admiral had recruited her in the first place. When she’d told him about this place, he’d listened. Thank God. Because if he hadn’t, she would have come alone to face this cult and their ‘Dragon’. She suspected the cult leader was an alien himself, but he’d eluded capture and was, even now, probably gathering reinforcements and preparing to return.

“I’m inside.” Katherine stepped through the door her boys had left open for her and blinked to allow her eyes to adjust to the dim interior of the home.

K

She shivered as heated air passed by her exposed face, reminding her of how cold she’d been crouched and waiting on the ground outside. It was nearly summer, but this high up there was still snow on the ground under the cover of shade, and warm days quickly turned into freezing-cold nights.

Katherine welcomed the approaching thunderstorm, but wouldn’t be able to use it for long. As soon as she entered the caves beneath the house, its power would be much harder to reach if she needed it. But if she had to, she could. And thank God for that.

Survival in this world was all about power.Who had it.

Who didn’t.

Power she had in spades. Leashed. Managed.

Disciplined. She had final say on this mission. On nearly every mission. She saw things no one else saw. Felt things no one else felt. She was the most valued asset the Rear Admiral possessed. And so he kept her out of every room until her boys cleared it. She was the loaded stick of dynamite that never got lit.

She hadn’t fully understood, not until Chicago.

She wasn’t military. Wasn’t a spy. She was something else, and that “else” tested the limits of her control more every day. It clawed up her spine like Crampons climbing a glacier. Pain she could deal with, but the rest? The dark power that had woken her and led her to this place, that filled her with both longing and dread? It summoned her now. A siren’s song that she couldn’t ignore.

“Move it, Katherine. We’re short on time.” Frank spoke in a clipped and precise voice through her earpiece.

“I’m at the top of the stairs.” Katherine spoke up so they wouldn’t shoot her and moved silently over the polished hardwood floors, past the flower-filled vases and strategically placed art. She loved these guys, but she didn’t do what she did for her boys, for the Rear Admiral, or for her country. There were monsters out there. Real monsters. Religious and political rhetoric were lost on her. She’d been to the dark side and it sucked.

“Katherine.” The bark of the Reader Admiral’s DECEMBER 2014

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Sci-Fi & Urban Fantasy voice in her earpiece brought her to a complete stop.

What the hell was he doing here? He was a man who believed that what he did was right. That he protected his country and his men. That every source of power in the world needed to be investigated and pursued.

Controlled.

He was a very dangerous kind of fool, but she needed him, needed his resources and his men, and so she played a very dangerous game of cat and mouse with the system, the military, and the spooks. She worked her ass off and she kept her secrets.

“Yes, Sir?” She purposely relaxed her body and continued to move silently down the darkened concrete stairwell. Despite her earlier chill, her dark French braid was soaked with sweat and stuck to the back of her neck before its long tail fell to hit her squarely between the shoulder blades.

“Be careful. The others can feel it now, too.””

“Understood.” A cold sense of dread squeezed her throat nearly closed. The others the Rear Admiral referred to were the lower level psychics embedded with each team outside. They had good instincts and helped make their missions successful, but none of them could touch her level of telepathy or her power to manipulate energy. Normally, she was the critical member on any retrieval. Today? As much as she hated to admit it, she was nothing but bad news. She needed a tranquilizer shot big enough to knock out a horse and about three days of unconsciousness to calm her nerve endings into some semblance of normalcy. She shouldn’t even be here and he knew it. She knew it.

Hell, her whole team knew it.

“Be very, very careful..” The Rear Admiral’s voice was gruff and more clipped than usual. The rest of her team remained silent, listening. Assessing and adapting, as they always did. Was it fear in his voice? Worry?

No. Resignation. He knew she was a mess, and still he sent her in after it…whatever it was. He was an ass, but he wouldn’t risk her if he didn’t desperately want whatever was hidden here. And she was the one who had led him right to it, demanded that they load the airplane and move. Today. Now. Palms cold and clammy with fear, Katherine passed through the doorway at the base of the stairs. It led below ground, into the hidden caves that hid secrets beneath the house. “Any luck with the scans? Have you located the object, Sir?” “No, but it’s down there.You are to find it, assess and advise. Nothing more. Do not touch it yourself. Is that 10

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understood?” The Rear Admiral’s voice drifted through her earpiece, but she wasn’t really listening anymore.

“Yes, Sir.” She lied easily. The thing she hunted was closer. It tugged on her mind, filled her body with renewed energy. She wanted it. Needed it.

Sci-Fi & Urban Fantasy

Author Bio Michele Callahan Sci-Fi Author

Contact Michele: http://michelecallahan.com https://www.facebook.com/michele. callahan.142 https://twitter.com/MicheleCallahan https://www.goodreads.com/ michele_callahan

M

ichele Callahan is a carpool mom who often makes emergency trips to the store for coffee, pickles, or a Twix candy bar. She suffers from a dangerous case of sci-fi/fantasy fever and never turns down an opportunity to sit through a Star Wars, True Blood, LOTR or Matrix marathon. Her favorite things in books? Hot heroes, superpowers, freakish things that can’t be explained by modern science, and true love! Her past jobs include fast-food drive through goddess, nurse’s aide, cashier, anatomy & physiology instructor, and bookworm. Her mother, an English Lit teacher, inspired her love of books and reading, and Michele is eternally grateful. michele@michelecallahan.com

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Sci-Fi & Urban Fantasy

Music To Plot By

with MAGGIE MAE GALLAGHER

A

little known fact about me was that I was a music major in college. To say music has played a big role in my life is putting it lightly. Music has been such a huge part of my life, I could give you lists of songs that tell the story of my life, from tastes to genres to time periods, if there is a beat I’ll enjoy it.

My palates have varied greatly over time and included everything from hard rock to pop to classic rock to classical to Broadway show tunes to rap. Granted, I’m on the lighter side of rap, like Will Smith Gettin’ Jiggy With It. Music has long been one of the main inspirations for my writing. I know that might sound strange, but some of my best ideas have come when I have been listening to music in the car or on a treadmill. In the first book of the Cantati Chronicles, the initial idea for Anointed was derived in part from two songs on that playlist: Muse’s Knights of Cydonia and The Killer’s A Dustland Fairytale. Each subsequent novel has its own playlist, it’s how the germ of an idea blossoms and opens up the creativity wheel for me. If you listen to the songs on the Ruptured playlist the story they tell follows the plot. And they are some great musical artists to boot.

RUPTURED PLAYLIST R.E.M. – Accelerate The Bangles – Hazy Shade of Winter Christina Perri – Jar of Hearts Muse – Resistance Aerosmith – Livin’ on the Edge Linkin Park - Wastelands 30 Seconds to Mars – The Kill Fuel – Hemorrhage My Chemical Romance – Fake Your Death Matchbox Twenty – Exile on Mainstream 30 Seconds to Mars – Do or Die

RUPTURED It has been eighty-three years since the walls between Earth and Infernus fell, and now our world stands upon the razor’s edge of extinction. Demon platoons are marching upon us. My home, one of humanity’s last bastions of existence, is under siege.

My name is Alana Devereaux. I am the resident demon detector of Cantati Forces and Platoon Commander. My job is to hunt down the vermin unleashed upon my world, and I love it. I live for the day I can kick every last demon’s ass out of this world. Except as enemy forces reign down terror upon us, the Densare Council sentences me to a fate worse than death.

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Sci-Fi & Urban Fantasy

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Sci-Fi & Urban Fantasy

ENJOY THIS EXCERPT FROM RUPTURED

“

Breeder.”

That word. The one thing I had attempted to escape my whole life. The dull gray walls of the Densare Council rang with impunity. I glanced around at the thirteen members, each sitting rigidly upon a stone chair that looked more like a small throne with intricately carved Celtic symbols paying tribute to a bygone era. They always reminded me of Celtic tombs.

The Densare Council ruled our world with an iron fist of justice created in the fiery destruction of the Mutari. When the Mutari hit Earth eighty-three years ago, mankind had been caught with their pants down around their knees. Drystan, Lord of Infernus, unleashed his demon armies upon the globe in a worldwide campaign to annihilate the human race. He almost succeeded.

The Densare Council, forged under an alliance of nations, sat in confident repose encased in their long white robes, their faces devoid of any remorse at my sentence. They governed and the people obeyed their orders without question.

I was never one for minding orders.

“But...my platoon. I’m the only one qualified to lead them.” Surely there were other Cantati women they could convert into Breeders. Our numbers were not that horrible. In fact, we had made a comeback from last year’s dismal head count. The human population stood at more than thirty thousand by our last estimates. My expertise was needed in the field, not the bed chamber.

What was the point of making a child if you could not protect him or her? Maybe if the Densare Council left the safe confines of the Compound once in a while

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they would see what their rulings mitigated.

“You are relieved of your command,” stated Amelia, the Coven Mother. Her blond hair flowed around her face as she rubbed the bulging ball in her abdomen.

Iain, the Cantati Forces’ staunchest ally on the Council, nodded his balding head in agreement, toppling the other eleven from any disagreement. They all did their part for the continuation of the species. This was the Coven Mother’s fourth pregnancy, and I knew she was only half a dozen years older than I. Would that be me in a few years? On my fourth pregnancy, my body no longer fit to fight? I hated them for this.

“Do I even get to choose the lucky guy?” While I was far from being a prude, I would like a little input on which man I spread my legs for. Granted, the pool to select from was relatively small, and of that tiny selection, there were but a choice few whom I would prefer.

“The Council has already made the decision for you.” By the gods, of course they had. They decided everything for us mere mortals. Apparently, we were incapable of selecting our mates.

Who would they give me to? The Council had already taken away that which mattered most: my freedom. It wasn’t like I could use Synaptic Pathways Diversion to wiggle my way out of this one. The Coven Mother would smell a spell from me a mile away.

“Who?” My body clenched. Please let it be Luke or Quinten. With one of those two, I would at least get some measure of freedom, and I was certain if I played my cards right, it would go much better than I hoped.

“Cade, lieutenant of Blue Squad and General

Sci-Fi & Urban Fantasy O’Hare’s second-in-command.”

Him? Over my dead body!

That behemoth had always watched me. He was a mountain of a man, a good soldier, and sadistic with a dash of insanity on the side. He liked killing demons for sport, and not just because the Densare ordered him to. He took pleasure in it, reveled in it, and even collected trophies from his kills. I had to submit my body to that. Kill me now. I would rather face a rampaging horde of Feronte demons, fireballs and all, than submit my body to Cade’s brutal ministrations.

Bloody hell, we would kill each other inside of a week.

“You may go now, Alana. You are to report to his chambers immediately.” The Coven Mother tapped her gavel, my prison bars slammed around me, and all before breakfast.

Contact Maggie Mae: http://www.maggiemaegallagher.com/ https://www.facebook.com/ pages/Maggie-Mae-Gallagher/107335792624944 https://twitter.com/ magmaegallagher

Author Bio Maggie Mae Gallagher Urban Fantasy Author

B

estselling Author Maggie Mae Gallagher doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. When she was a kid she acted out her favorite scenes, only better, with her brother and cousin.

As a teenager, she wrote reams of poetry, but realized her true love lay with creating characters and stories. A former music and history major, Maggie is a total geek at her core. When she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her two furry felines.

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PARANORMAL

PARANORMAL

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PARANORMAL

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PARANORMAL SNEAK PEEK: CALL TO THE EAST

herpetarium, Purvil tucked her arms close to her body and away from the shelving units. She avoided getting too near, lest she brush against any of the glass cages and Prologue disturb the coiled serpents inside.

Purvil excelled in her subcellular field of science, p.m. and all was quiet. In a research facility just west of New Orleans, Dr. Macario Thorne stepped where all things were tiny and neat, easy to control. inside his personal security room. The automatic Thorne had needed her particular expertise and so had invited her to join his cause. door closed behind him with a hiss.

Dr. Purvil desired prestige and, above all, greater Easing forward, he took time to examine the recognition.

For these reasons, she had agreed. monitoring station, pleased to see each room shadowed Still, she remained uncomfortable with the full-scale and inactive, the only light emitting from exit signs or sleeping electronics. Outside, the grounds were desolate results of what they’d achieved over the last two years. as well. The vacant brick buildings appeared rigid and As their studies yielded more advanced outcomes, Dr. bleak, and even the ancient live oaks stood hauntingly Purvil seemed to grow more nervous. She’d also become increasingly evasive, allocating fewer and fewer hours to still, absent any breeze from the rolling Mississippi.

Given the hour, all staff had long vacated the premises. their clinical trials.

Still observing their movements onscreen, Thorne Good little workers serving the watchful giant. A powerful giant known as Armistice, with a governing waited for Purvil and her research assistant, Ruark, to enter the storage room in the back of the herpetarium. body and corporate face.

In his time working for Armistice, Thorne had made a Once there, they made their way to a sleek black cabinet quick and efficient rise in the hierarchy. He’d been named with a permanent lock.

Thorne retrieved a remote from his pocket, and with Director before his thirty-fifth birthday, but the honor of a flick of a switch, the motorized cabinet slid to one side. the position had always been marginal to his mind.

Of all the properties and pursuits regulated by Purvil and Ruark were familiar with the routine, stepping Armistice, the sterile domain over which Thorne ruled through before the faux piece of furniture moved back into place to conceal the doorway again. was akin to little more than a bastard child.

Behind the walls, there existed an entirely different The corporation’s dirty little secret.

Movement drew his attention to two figures slipping type of laboratory. Here, in the silent and undisturbed evenings, Dr.Thorne and Dr. Purvil used their knowledge through a darkened laboratory.

He watched them skulk, and his thin smile formed in to push and manipulate the boundaries of natural science.

Hidden entrances. Codes. Walled off areas obscured the blue luminescence of the security room. to everyone else. Discretion was vital, not only because He had secrets of his own.

The couple, a man and woman, entered a hallway the work they performed here was unorthodox. But leading to the Venom Immunochemistry lab and its also, and more importantly, their experiments were adjoining herpetarium. This area was isolated for safety unsanctioned.

Thorne left the security room and traversed a reasons, entry permitted only to those trained in the corridor lit only by the crimson glow of emergency handling of poisonous reptiles.

Dr. Purvil, with her silver hair cut short as a man’s, runner lights along the floor. He would meet up with used the keycard on her lanyard to gain access. Thorne his guests in the testing lab where they usually worked, had granted her a higher clearance level, one he allowed a perfectly-calibrated and regimented space he found her in exchange for her contributions to his special rather soothing.

Once inside, he paused to appreciate the cleanliness projects.

As she and the man with her navigated the and organization. Beakers and tubes lined up like soldiers, steel worktables gleamed beneath luminaires, and ethanol freshened the air.

The heavy tread of another ruined his tranquil moment.

Purvil crossed the room in a clipped stride, as if in a hurry to be done with the night’s business and on

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COMING March ‘15

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PARANORMAL to better—perhaps safer—pursuits. Ruark strolled several steps behind her, apparently unmotivated by his supervisor’s haste.

Like Thorne, Ruark had brown eyes and black hair, but where the younger man’s features were rough yet handsome in a way women desired, Thorne’s face leaned toward hawkish. In addition to gaunt features and eyes once described to him as “predatory,” Thorne’s physique appeared lanky because of his height.

But underneath his white coat, his body was in prime physical condition. Despite impressions, he was strong. Lean and tight, like surgical wire. Or, he thought with wicked pleasure . . . like a garrote.

After Purvil’s recommendation and Thorne’s approval of his involvement, the assistant had proven himself trustworthy, intelligent, and above all—ruthless.

This last characteristic,Thorne approved of most of all. A kind of viciousness danced behind Ruark’s eyes, a rage in desperate need of purging.

This was where the two men connected. Where they understood each other.

Thorne touched the scar beneath his chin, the only disfigurement remaining after innumerable plastic surgeries. This particular cut had been too deep, the destruction of flesh too severe, leaving behind a slight dimpling of the skin. The imperfection would forever serve as a souvenir.

A reminder of innocent blood shed.

“Why the sudden meeting, Dr. Thorne?” Dr. Purvil’s question was brisk, her jaw clenched as a sign of her annoyance. Her obvious wish to be elsewhere. “I do have other demands on my time,” she continued. “My work on anti-inflammatory nanomolecules is to be published—” “It can wait.” Thorne’s tone was sharper than normal, but her equivocation had become a frustration of late. An issue he must address.

He was darkly pleased when her eyes flared, and though she was quick to shutter her reaction, Thorne caught a glimpse of her unease, a flash of apprehension.

“The serum is ready,” he said without preamble.

Purvil’s expression fell slack with surprise. Her chin wobbled but she didn’t speak.

Beside her, Ruark grinned.

After a heavy swallow, Purvil straightened her spine and rolled her shoulders. “How can you be sure? We decided to postpone further testing for the time being.”

The corners of Thorne’s eyes tightened. “No, Dr. Purvil. You suggested.” He breathed out through his 20

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nose. “I decided.”

Pursing her mouth, Purvil shifted her weight from one side to the other. “Your proposed plan is too dangerous. We should wait a little longer. When we reveal our work, we should choose something safer.

Something more . . . subtle.”

“Subtlety is too easily ignored,” he countered.

“Exactly what I mean.” Purvil wrung her hands.

“You’ll give us away if your serum works.” When Thorne only stared, unmoved, she flung her hands out as her face mottled with pink splotches. “You’ll bring them all down on our heads!”

Thorne remained impassive while Purvil walked in a small circle, still wringing her hands and occasionally mumbling under her breath. He counted seventeen unproductive seconds until his colleague managed to calm herself.

At last she returned to stand with Thorne and Ruark.

Eyes skimming around the lab, she released a querulous sigh. “How exactly do you plan to proceed?”

“Come with me,” Thorne said, turning to make his way to a solid metal door designated in red block letters as the Treatment Area. He punched in the required code on the number pad—silent, no needless beeping—and without revealing anything more, led the others to a section they’d never before been invited.

A long, narrow chamber expanded before them, a wide, empty passageway with a cement floor and individual rooms lining both sides. Each of the cells— Thorne thought of them as procedure rooms—was equipped with security doors and viewing windows made of ballistic glass.

As with the rest of his undisclosed workspace, he’d designed the procedure rooms himself. Per his direction, the windows were unbreakable.The cells impenetrable.

He stopped in front of one of the darkened cubicles.

Once his associates drew near, he flipped a switch on an exterior control panel, illuminating the small cell.

Inside, an unconscious man lay on a stretcher. At the head of the bed, an IV pole held a liter of saline and two smaller bags, all attached to a delivery system.

Purvil gasped, recognizing the bag of bright green fluid connected to the pump. “You already have a specimen chosen? You have him hooked up?” She whirled on him.

“What is this, Thorne? You didn’t confer with me first.”

“No, I didn’t. No further discussion was needed.” He ignored her growing anxiety and studied the slumbering man instead. Then he pushed another button to stop the flow of sedative from the second bag.

PARANORMAL The amount of medicine didn’t matter, though. Once the serum was administered . . .

Nothing would put the man back to sleep.

Thorne eased his hand to yet another button.

“Wait!” The pink arrow tip of Purvil’s tongue flicked out to wet her lips. Her eyes darted back and forth.The pulse point at her temple throbbed.

Her level of distress only confirmed Thorne’s suspicions. She was going to back out. Her weak mind was changing right in front of him.

“I support your agenda,” she whispered, “but this isn’t the way. It’s too drastic.” Her eyes locked onto the control panel. She lifted her arm, trembled as she reached forward, but finally dropped the limb to her side again.

Purvil was afraid.Yes, she was terrified of Thorne, and especially of what he was about to create, but there was something she feared even more. The ruling Goliath that was Armistice.

Disdain for the woman rushed through Thorne.

What a terrible waste of intellect.

He tightened the muscles of his stomach, refusing to show any outward emotion. Still facing the window, he hovered over the button that would initiate infusion. Then he pressed. The IV pump began its digital measurement of the flowing serum.

“No!” Purvil squawked. “You fool! You condemn us all!”

“Deborah,” Thorne said, his tone soft, almost intimate, “you’re going to be a problem, aren’t you?”

“What?” Her breathing was raspy now, shallow and labored. Her eyes were wilder still, and the artery at her temple hammered. With a quick shake of her head, she took a small step back.

Thorne turned to meet Ruark’s gaze.

The other man gave a barely-perceptible nod before swooping in behind Purvil. He looped his arms through hers and held her in place.

“What are you—? Stop! What are you doing?” She struggled to wrench free, but her assistant was much stronger. Even as she thrashed and bucked, as she mewled for release, Ruark ushered her toward the cell with a dispassionate expression on his handsome face.

Thorne pushed another of his handy switches, and the air-locked panel slid to one side.

Purvil’s low moan was thick with denial but rose to a sharp cry when Ruark shoved her through the open door. She stumbled toward the stretcher, righting herself by grabbing onto the rail.

But as soon as she regained balance, she froze. She took one cautious step away from the sleeping subject, and cast a horrified glance to Ruark and Thorne.

She held out a beseeching hand, as the door whooshed shut and sealed her inside.

Thorne and Ruark each chose an observation window. Purvil folded her hands gently across her abdomen. Her chest heaved. Her entire body quaked.

But she didn’t make any overt motions.

Until the man on the table opened his eyes.

THE FIRST THREE BOOKS OF THE SAVANNAH COVEN SERIES ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN A BOX SET.

AVAILABLE NOW FOR PRE-ORDER! DECEMBER 2014

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Author Bio Suza Kates

Paranormal Author

Contact Suza: http://www.suzakates.com https://www.pinterest.com/ suzakates/ https://www.facebook.com/ authorsuzakates https://twitter.com/ suzakates https://www.goodreads.com/ author/show/4094825.Suza_ Kates

S

uza Kates is a paranormal romance and romantic suspense writer best known for her Savannah Coven series. She is a member of RWA and Readers’ Crown finalist for 2014. She is currently working on the Watchtower Maidens series with the help of four feline writing partners who fight the laptop for lap space, steal sips of coffee when she isn’t looking, and randomly walk across the keyboard just to keep things fresh.

NEW READER RATED BOOKS Author: Book Title: Score: CONTEMPORARY Elley Arden Marriage By Design 9.7 Elley Arden Heal My Heart 8.6 Monica Tillery Adam’s Ambition 9.2 Monica Tillery A Sweet Deal 9.1 M.J. Wilson The Difference Of A Year 9.0 Nicole Flockton Bound By His Desire 9.2 Robyn Richards Her Knight In Shining Armour 9.7 Synithia Williams Just My Type 9.3 Susanne Williams Just For The Weekend 9.0 Ute Carbone Dancing In The White Room 8.0 Victoria Vane Slow Hand 8.6

PARANORMAL

Allison Merritt Wystan (The Heckmasters #1) 9.0 Holley Trent A Demon Bewitched 9.2 R.E. Mullins Vampire In The Scrying Glass 8.0 INSPIRATIONAL

Allie Pleiter Saved By The Fireman

9.6

HISTORICAL Cynthia Clements Pleasuring Emily 9.0 A.B. Michaels The Art Of Love 9.0 Tamara Hughes Once Upon A Masquerade 9.1 Tammy Jo Burns Seducing The Ruthless Rogue 9.1 YOUNG ADULT Kathryn Knight Divine Fall 8.6 NJ Damschroder Full Fusion 9.2 Sherry Ficklin Losing Logan 8.9

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Author: Book Title: Score: ROMANTIC SUSPENSE Alison Bliss Rules Of Protection 8.9 C.A. Szarek Calculated Decision 8.7 Natalie Gayle Finding Freedom 9.4 Susan Vaughan Primal Obsession 8.6

EROTIC ROMANCE Amelia James Home Is Where The Heart 9.4 Elisa Covert Spring Break Renegade 8.6 Honey Jans Once In Love With Laura 9.7 Jayne Rylon Swinger Style 9.4 Madison Sevier Scorpio Begins 8.5 Randi Alexander All Hat No Cattle 9.9 Randi Alexander Double Her Temptation 8.6 Randi Alexander Heart Of Steele 9.9 Randi Alexander Redneck Romeo 9.4 Rhiannon Ayers Demons Within 8.2 SCI-FI/TIME TRAVEL Cynthia A. Clements aHunter4Life 9.4 Hanna Martine The Isis Knot 8.9 CATEGORY ROMANCE Jamie Wesley Tell Me Something Good 9.2 Joan Kilby Mad About You 8.5 Robin Bielman Keeping Mr. Right Now 9.1 Robyn Neeley Batter Up 9.1 Sandy Loyd Dancing With An Angel 8.5 MYSTERY Lynn Cahoon

Guidebook To Murder

8.9

Only books with a Reader Rating Score of 8.0+ are listed.

All books that receive a score of 8.0+ are eligible for the Readers’ Crown contest. The top 10 books in each category for 2014 copyrighted books are finalists.

Finalists will be announced on May 15, 2015 and winners will be announced June 15, 2015.

DECEMBER 2014

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Romantic Suspense

Romantic Suspense

MAY/JUNE 2014 DECEMBER 2014

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Romantic Suspense

BY

JENNIFER ZANE

HOT PURSUIT 3 - EXCERPT

A

Grif nna wasn’t telling me something. I could see it in her eyes. I couldn’t even imagine how hard this was for her, reliving the one time she’d let someone in, let her emotions rule, and she was tossed aside, left to rot in jail. She hadn’t just been dumped, she was kept in jail by those she cared about, the men she believed cared about her. They’d just left her there. She’d been betrayed at a level even I couldn’t fathom. Nadine had betrayed me, left me for another man. It had bothered me for years. Perspective changed quite a bit. Nadine’s actions were nothing compared to Todd Lawton, to Grayson Edwards.

If Anna became Olivia again, she could be tried for killing her brother-in-law, just like she’d said. She hadn’t gone to trial. Double jeopardy couldn’t save her. To be released like she had , evidence had to be solid in her favor. Proof that she’d shot David Lawton in selfdefense. How could it change after all this time?

Was this the only reason she was still in hiding, or was there more? As I peeled back the layers that made up Anna, I recognized there was more she wasn’t sharing, something big, something that kept her fearful, paranoid even, even years later. I had to find out what it was. I’d texted Peters to look into it, carefully, without drawing attention to his search.

In the meantime, we had a day to set my plan in motion. I had a few key players I needed to pull in to accomplish it and— Anna’s intercom rang.

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“That’s going to be Carrie,” I told her as she walked over to answer it.

Anna tucked her hair behind her ears as she arched a brow in question. “Anything else you’ve got planned I should know about?” she asked before talking with the desk downstairs.

Not only had I moved into her place, I’d invited people over. If she liked her solitude, tough. She’d just have to deal. I was in her life now and it was something she’d have to get used to.

A minute later, Anna let Carrie in. My sister wore tan cargo shorts, a T-shirt with the Rangers logo on it and flip-flops. After a quick hug with Anna, who appeared completely surprised by the spontaneous gesture, Carrie turned to me, hand on hip. “Since when do you want to know about my boyfriend?”

“Since your latest just happens to be related to Frank Carmichael.”

Carrie’s mouth dropped open, and I reveled in the moment as I’d clearly figured out a secret of hers. Dating the nephew of a major crime boss would definitely be something she’d want to keep from her cop brother.

“How…?”

Anna just looked between the two of us.

“At lunch the other day, you told me what Uncle Frankie likes for lunch. Is the nephew named Huey, Dewey or Louie?”

Carrie rolled her eyes. “Ha, ha,” she said, her voice snarky as she slumped down on to my couch, propped her feet up on the coffee table. “His name is Adam and he’s very nice.”

“Nice. Nice?” I asked, full of brotherly exasperation.

Romantic Suspense “Does he work for his uncle?”

Carrie shook her head. “No, he’s a lawyer.”

“A lawyer in the family who’s not in the family?”

I wondered. “No way.” Not a chance little Adam Carmichael didn’t work for his uncle.

“He’s an ADA with the city, so fuck off,” Carrie grumbled.

“That’s one way to stay out of jail—well-placed relatives,” I scoffed.

“You’re one to talk,” she countered.

“It’s true, Nick. You work for Moretti and I seem to want you around,” Anna admitted. She moved to sit in the armchair.

I clenched my teeth. I was undercover, for Christ’s sake, not a blood relative of an East Coast crime boss.

“Fine. We’ll stay off that topic.”

I still couldn’t tell Anna I was a cop. She’d be pissed— understatement of the year—and probably run off and take on that new identity. At the moment, it was critical I made connections with the likes of Frank Carmichael and I couldn’t do that if I was a cop. He wouldn’t take a meeting from me then if I held up the last corned beef sandwich on the planet.

“You dragged me over here on a Sunday morning to talk about my dates?” Carrie wanted to know.

“You have more than one?”

I wanted her to line them all up so I could check them out. Carrie might be thirty-two years old, but it didn’t mean I wouldn’t shoot any asshole who treated her poorly.

“Save your alpha personality for Anna,” Carrie grumbled, letting her head fall back against the couch cushion.

Anna just arched a brow and her gaze flicked down my body. Just a look like that had me getting hard, which wasn’t good in front of my sister. Alpha with Anna was definitely working—for both of us.

To hide my eagerness for Anna, I walked to the kitchen to get a drink. My dick was running the show now and I needed that to stop. It wasn’t going to see any action until I saved Anna, so I needed to get my brain in gear and focus on the dangerous shit. “I need you to set up a meeting for me with Uncle Frank,” I called out.

Carrie sat up. I couldn’t see her, but I knew this because her feet hit the floor. “Why would you want me to do that?”

“Because he’s going to help me kill Anna.”

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Romantic Suspense

Author Bio Jennifer Zane

Romantic Suspense Author

Contact Jennifer http://www.jenniferzane.com http://www.facebook.com/ jenniferzanewriter http://www.twitter.com/ jenniferzane

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J

ennifer Zane has lived all over the country--from Georgia to Maryland, New York to Colorado, including an exciting five years in Montana.

Her time in Big Sky country was the basis for her Gnome series.

When she’s not writing, she savors the insanity of raising two boys, is figuring out how many meals she can make with a pressure cooker, and teaches a pretty mean karate class. She currently lives with her family in Colorado.

Romantic Suspense

L.E. GENT ONE SHADE OF BLACK SHADE INFINITY: SEASON ONE – EPISODE 1 Chapter 1

T

he whole world changed on a Wednesday.

Unfortunately, nobody knew it but me.

You see, that was the day I watched myself die.Then again, that was only the trigger for something larger. Much larger. Something big enough to bankrupt companies hundreds of years old, topple governments, and threaten the very idea of what it meant to be human.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Maybe it’s best if I started at the beginning so you can understand why I did what I did. Why I had no other choice.

That day started out like any other.

I woke up beside my husband to see him watching me in the faint light of the morning.

He smiled as soon as my eyes fluttered open.

“Morning sleepyhead,” he said as he pushed some stray hairs to one side of my face.

I smiled back up at him.

He leaned down and kissed me tenderly.

I welcomed the love and wrapped my arms around his neck, keeping him close. After nearly three years of marriage, there was still that spark that reminded me of why I fell in love with him.

His cell phone buzzed on the nightstand, its vibrating hum echoing in the hollow wood.

“Ugh,” he complained.

“Leave it,” I whispered and nibbled his ear.

He pulled away grudgingly. “I can’t.”

“Just this once,” I said as I batted my eyes at him.

He gave me a quick peck on the lips and rolled away to answer his phone. “This is Robert.”

His back straightened as the tinny reply came 32

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over the phone. He glanced at me and winked as he responded to the demanding voice.

“No, I’m already in the car.The traffic is heavy. Looks like some construction, so I might be a little late. Okay.

Hold the plane. Bye.” He switched off the phone and gave me a pitiful look as he stood up and started dressing.

“No,” I whined as my shoulders dropped.

“Somebody’s gotta pay the bills around here.”

“I could get a part time job.”

He knelt next to me on the bed as he buttoned up his shirt. “You already have a full time job.”

I sat up and slid my hands into his shirt, stopping him from finishing. “I can do both.”

He tenderly pulled my hands away and secured the final two buttons. “I want you to get better. I want you to remember us, like I remember us.”

“I’m trying.”

He smiled as he expertly whipped his tie into a perfect knot. “I know you are.”

He stood up and donned his jacket.

“I’ve got to get going. Promise me you will make it to the doctor’s on time this week.”

“I promise.”

He cocked his head to one side and smiled playfully.

“Say that one more time. And mean it.”

I sat up straight and held up three fingers together in the Boy Scout salute.

“I promise.”

He smiled and gave me another kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him in the kiss longer.

He pulled away slowly and peered into my eyes, the spark very much alive.

“I can’t miss my plane.”

“It’s a private jet. They’ll wait for you.”

Romantic Suspense He laughed as he stood up. “If only I had that kind of influence.”

He grabbed the handle of the suitcase he had packed the night before and paused at the bedroom door. “I’ll call you when I’m settled into the hotel.”

“I’ll miss you,” I said.

His smile returned. “Not as much as I’ll miss you.

Now, don’t be late for your appointment.”

“I won’t,” I said, and meant it.

Well, I meant it when I said it.

Chapter 2 As usual, I was late.

I was taking the detour through the park, the one I took only when I wanted to be very late. Ever since my car accident four years earlier, I had not held a driver’s license. There was some stupid rule about extended loss of consciousness and getting the “all clear” by a litany of doctors and psychiatrists before being allowed behind the wheel again.

So now, when I wanted to go anywhere, I had to walk, take the bus, or call a taxi.

It’s not terribly convenient, and it’s a slow way of getting around the city, but it’s not like I had much of a choice.

So there I was, walking over one of the hundreds of bridges in Pittsburgh on my way to my weekly appointment hoping that this was the week she finally signed off on me and I could start driving again.

And as usual, I was running late.

But that is not why my life changed that day.

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt and will seek out the rest of this exciting Romantic Suspense series at your favorite bookstore. – L.E. GENT Be the first to know when the next book in the Shade Infinity series comes out. Follow the URL below to subscribe to my Book Release Bulletin for free today! http://bit.ly/BookReleaseBulletin Ramblin’ Hearts - An Imprint of Ramblin’ Prose Publishing Copyright © 2014 Steve DeWinter All rights reserved. Used under authorization.

FREE IN DECEMBER!

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WRITER’S UNIVERSITY WORKSHOPS September 23 & 24, 2015 | Denver, CO Editing With Purpose with Meg Jacobs Aspiring and new authors will learn what it means to “Trim the Fat” from the initial drafts. Authors will learn the importance of the editing process and letting it go to outside editors in order to make it the best manuscript possible.The session will also include many activities to allow authors to face their fears about editing and ensure their writing is purposeful and their stories are told with fidelity. Participants will be given a number of resources to take away for immediate use in all current and future projects, including the purpose and necessity for beta readers and how to use them most effectively. Editing with Purpose is designed and crafted by two industry professionals with a passion for reading and writing who will ensure aspiring authors will walk away with tools and resources to make their drafts go from “Coal to Diamonds”.

Feel The Fight Scene with Thomas Casale An evening two hour event! Join 7th degree black belt Thomas Casale who will share insights into the internal thoughts and feelings of winners & losers, aggressors & victims, the mechanics of escalation of daily street violence & actual mortal combat.

To make it interesting, he will lead us through Lesson and Partner Exercises: Eye to eye, no contact, partner exercise to examine the aforementioned writing concepts and more. A fun, NO contact event!

Real Life CASTLE with Liliana Hart Join NYT bestseller and a real life SWAT expert to get the nitty-gritty details of real-life crime, crime fighting and how it applies to great writing. A two hour evening event!

DPI Is Not A Secret Government Agency! with David Gregg Enhance working with graphics designers and other media. Focusing on: Basic formats, specifications (Web, Print) and terms.

General overview graphics software programs used by most designers. Understanding the basics of statement of work or design briefs.

Branding and the Author with Maggie Mae Gallagher and Barbara Vey It’s important to look your best--even authors. Identify how to create your personal brand with tools to build it through a combination of traditional publicity, online publicity, and social media marketing. Whether it’s traditional print or online tweets, you’ll learn it here.

Taxes For The Author with Margaret Taylor This workshop will give an overview of Taxes as they relate to Authors. Topics covered will include the differences between a Corporation, an LLC, a Partnership, a Sole Proprietorship and what entity may be best for an Author; what types of industry specific expenses are deductible along with other topics geared toward helping Authors understand Taxes and their responsibilities.

Margaret Taylor is a former IRS Agent with 10 years experience as well as a best selling Author in the Fantasy and Paranormal Genres.

Social Media For Writers with Jamie Schmidt Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Livejournal, LinkedIn, Klout, Goodreads -- It’s enough to make you pull the covers over your head and pretend they don’t exist. But the fact remains that readers are looking to find new books and authors. Social media is a great way to reach them. This course will help you build your readership, without having hours upon hours to spend figuring out what each of these social media sites offer.This is also an introductory course on social media.You will learn how to set up a profile on each of these sites, the do’s and don’t’s, how to upload pictures and how to protect your privacy.We’ll also go over the terminology used (hashtag, poke, etc.), emoticons ( :D ) and text speak (tl;dr, smh).

Show vs. Tell and Deepen POV with Gina Ardito Method acting, developed by Academy Award® winner, Lee Strasberg, combines a series of exercises with relaxation and observation techniques to create a deeper understanding of characterization. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll employ those same ideals, used by some of the world’s greatest actors and actresses, to really know our characters, enhancing show vs. tell, and deepening point-of-view.

Co-Writing In’s and Out’s with Yelena Casale and Tina Moss Co-writing can be a tempting idea for both newbie and seasoned writers.The reasons are wide and varied – from dipping one’s toes into the writing world with a partner by their side, to putting two great minds together to see what may come of it, to just exploring a different facet of the writing experience.

Introduction to e-Book Self Publishing with Smashwords A discussion of trends that are impacting the publishing industry, the exciting advantages Indies have over their traditionally published peers, and a checklist of basics authors need to know when publishing an ebook like formatting, conversion, cover design, ISBN’s, copyrights and distribution.

Everything You Want To Know About Indie Publishing--If You’re Not Afraid to Ask Join Kallypso Masters, Liliana Hart, JM Madden, Red Phoenix and Debra Holland for an hour of ‘how did they do it?’

Plus...

Additional How Did They Do It? panels, Q&A sessions and more!

REGISTER NOW! *All workshops are subject to change without notice at any time.

Contemporary

CONTEMPORARY

HANNA M

T

“His smile widened, tilting even more to one side. Holy crap. He was far too easy on the eyes.”

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rue story: I got married in a haunted Scottish castle. On our honeymoon we drove all over the Scottish countryside, spending one day attending the local Highland Games. I fell completely in love with the community atmosphere of the games, the overall joy, and the history surrounding the various events.

For those who don’t know, Highland Games are local festivals that bring together aspects of Scottish culture: bagpipes and drums, highland dancing, sheepdogs/herding, and of course, the heavy athletic events, in which kilted strong men (and women!) heave ridiculously huge implements for sport.The most visible and most popular athletic event is the caber toss (that huge tree you balance upright in your hands, then toss and flip end over end).

Years later I found out that there’s an annual Highland Games near Chicago (where I live). They are authentic, the music is divine, and the party is super fun.

And because I’m a writer, I thought: This would be the perfect setting for a new kind of romance novel.

The first book in my contemporary Highland Games series, Long Shot, focuses on one of those heavy athletes, but for the second book, The Good Chase, I expanded the games’s world outward.

Whisky is an integral part of Scottish culture, and so I made my heroine, Shea, the preeminent U.S. expert on the “water of life.” Though she doesn’t want to be, she’s intrigued by the extraordinarily hot rugby player who shuns all the kilts and bagpipes she so loves about her Scottish heritage. Here’s more about the book, with a bonus excerpt!

CONTEMPORARY CONTEMPORARY

MARTINE

G

THE GOOD CHASE leann, New Hampshire’s annual Highland Games always deliver the best of Scottish culture—rowdiness, rugby, whiskey, and unexpected romance…

Even though Shea Montgomery’s swanky bar and distinguished palate have made her a highly regarded whiskey connoisseur, she’s happiest bringing her favorite spirit to various highland games around New England.

Her demanding ex made her wary of men obsessed with money and status, and she’s now more comfortable in the country than in the city. Still, when a gorgeous rugby player straight from Wall Street barrels into her whiskey tent, she’s tempted to change her mind…

J.P. Byrne went from poor beginnings to international high roller by using his charisma and wit, and holding fast to his dreams. A strong, independent woman like Shea is exactly what he’s looking for, only he has no idea how to prove he’s more than his three-piece suits— especially when he’s spent years doing just the opposite.

But as Shea and Byrne battle old demons, they discover together that the best remedy for past pain is a good, stiff shot of present pleasure…

DECEMBER 2014 MAY/JUNE 2014

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CONTEMPORARY EXCERPT FROM THE GOOD CHASE

S

hea spread her arms across the table and gave her four new whisky tasters a welcoming smile.

Educating newcomers about the drink was one of her favorite parts of her job.

“So what do these get us?” A drinker waved the yellow band on his wrist.

Always genial, always polite.“Tastes of three amazing whiskies and a walk-through of each, by yours truly.”

“That’s a big deal, my friend,” added the other man.

To Shea he gave a deep nod. “Saw you on the History Channel the other night.” He didn’t mention which special.

“Really? That’s always great to hear. Glad you came by.” Perfected responses to almost every comment from almost every type of customer.

She turned to her artful setup of bottles beneath the large banner with the Amber Lounge logo, and swung back around holding a tray of glasses. She flipped each glass over and slid it across the white tablecloth with smooth, practiced ease. One glass, two, three, four— A fifth yellow wristband appeared. This new wristband wrapped around an arm that was crusty with caked mud. The newcomer’s fingers and palm looked like he’d tried to wipe them somewhat clean, but black still clung under his nails. Shea followed that arm upward, which widened out significantly at the biceps. He wore a red-and-black-striped rugby shirt, soaked with the efforts of a recently completed match. His short, dark hair was sweat damp and stuck out all over the place in a way that shouldn’t have looked good, but did. His cheeks and forehead were sunburned, and he leaned his elbows on the table with drowsy ease, leaving mud smudges behind.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the wives nudge the other.

“Welcome,” Shea told Rugby.

“Hi,” he replied.

She nodded at his shirt. His perfectly fitted shirt.

“How’d you do?”

“Thirty-five to seventeen. We were not the higher number.”

She winced. “Ouch.You at least get a try?”

“I did, actually.” He blinked and straightened, looking pleasantly surprised that she knew rugby scoring terminology. “You know the game?”

“You could say that. So what I’m hearing is that you need a drink.”

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“Something a little finer than water, exactly.” Rugby let out a small laugh. He twisted one of the whisky bottles to read the label. “Whatcha got here? What does a hundred bucks buy—wow.”

“You know it?” Shea’s turn to be pleasantly surprised.

“Heard of it, yeah. So that’s why these things were so expensive.” He waved his wrist so the loose end of the yellow band flopped about. “Took out a second mortgage to buy one.”

Rugby was staring at her so hard she swore he might have been the source of all gravity.

“So,” he said, throwing her a bright smile that tipped heavily to one side, “do you remember me?”

She remembered regular faces, especially those who repeatedly visited the Amber Lounge, but with so many tastings and traveling and hired events and interviews these days, transient people tended to dissipate from her memory.

Yet there was something familiar about him. Something about his off-center smile set against the tanned skin layered with sweat and specks of dirt.

She gave him one of her careful, noncommittal smiles. “I’m sorry. I don’t.”

“I’m Byrne.”

A little cocky of him—but not quite obnoxious—to assume that she’d remember him based on one name.

She didn’t.

“Just Byrne?”

“Just Byrne.” His smile widened, tilting even more to one side. Holy crap. He was far too easy on the eyes.

“Shea Montgomery,” she replied blandly, then turned to select a bottle.

“Yes. I know,” said Just Byrne to her back. And then he chuckled.

The sound of that laugh, soft and low, slid an invisible hand around the nape of her neck, took a featherlight hold, then dragged itself seductively down her back.

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CONTEMPORARY CONTEMPORARY

Author Bio Hanna Martine

Contemporary Author

Contact Hanna:

H

anna Martine writes sexy, character-driven romance novels in several different sub-genres. Sometimes there’s magic (paranormal); sometimes there isn’t (contemporary). She left a decade of office work in order to show her daughter what it means to go after your dream. She loves bar stools, the imaginary world, travel, and her friends.

Though she and her family live outside Chicago, her heart resides in Australia.

http://www.hannamartine.com http://www.hannamartine.com/ contact.php#mailing-list http://www.facebook.com/ HannaMartineBooks http://www.twitter.com/ Hanna_Martine https://www.goodreads.com/ author/show/5335920.Hanna_ Martine

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CONTEMPORARY

MODERN DAY KNIGHTS IN PICK-UP TRUCKS BY

VICTORIA VANE A s an author best known for my steamy historical romances, I am often asked what prompted me to leap from 18th century rakes to 21st century cowboys. The “story behind the story” is that my beta reader hounded me for two years to write one. I kept telling her that contemporary romance wasn’t my thing and that I didn’t have the right voice for it, but she finally wore me down until I agreed to give it a try.

Why cowboys, you ask? For inspiration I naturally looked to my own loves which include horses and cowboys. As a lifelong horse owner, I have also known a number of cowboys. (My hero Wade is even named after my first cowboy crush.) Like the knights of old, even in this modern age, real cowboys still adhere to longstanding tradition and live by an inherent code of honor, one that includes respect, honesty, and old fashioned courtesy. In my hero’s own words: “Hate to burst your bubble, sweetheart, but a Stetson and a pair of Tony Lamas doesn’t make a man a cowboy.”

Yet, my heroine Nikki has sworn off cowboys after being burned by a man in boots too many times.

“Every damn time I’ve fallen for one it’s bitten me in the ass.”

“So you think one bad apple—” “One?” She laughed outright. “I’ve tried a whole crate full of apples, Wade. All bad. Worm-infested and rotten to the

core, every last one of ’em.” She struggled a bit with the l but thought she managed to keep the slur out of her reply.

Even her toes felt warm and tingly now.

“Sounds like a real challenge to overcome such a fierce dislike of apples.”

“Yeah. No more apples for me. Ever.”

Thankfully, Wade isn’t easily put off. He knows what he wants when he sees it.

“Why are you fighting me when all I want to do is prove this is real? That I want you?” He made an exasperated sound. “Damn it, Nicole! Do I look like a man who doesn’t know his own mind? Why can’t you trust in this, Nikki? Why can’t you trust me?”

Trust. How many times had she made that mistake before—trusted pretty words and promises? Though she wanted to believe Wade, she couldn’t suppress the doubts.

Nikki clenched her teeth, her protective instincts kicking in full force. Why would he want her when no one else ever had?

“Maybe because it’s too good to be true. Damsel in distress is rescued by a charming cowboy in his not-sogleaming white pickup and they live happily ever after?”

“Why not?” he said.

“Because it’s a fairy tale, Wade. I don’t believe in fairy tales.”

Nevertheless, my hero Wade proves to be very much Prince Charming to my damsel in distress, Nikki.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TRAILER FOR SLOW HAND.

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CONTEMPORARY CONTEMPORARY

EXCERPT SLOW HAND

“

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Don’t you have to be in court soon, Counselor?”

Nikki reminded him in a voice that came out breathless.

“Yeah, I do,” he replied.“Guess I got a bit sidetracked.

You’re turning out to be a big distraction, you know that?”

She bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be such an imposition.”

“I said a distraction not an imposition. There’s a big difference. I didn’t realize until now just how badly I’ve needed such a distraction.” He stepped away with a reluctant sigh.

Her pulse still hammering, Nikki exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized was trapped in her chest.

Wade spun toward his office. “Help yourself to the phone and anything else while I get cleaned up.”

He paused again on the threshold. “Of course, you’re welcome to use my office if you need greater privacy.”

He added over his shoulder with a look of devilment.

“Or in the event any wild impulse overtakes you while I shower.”

He went to work on his shirt buttons. His collar was soon wide open revealing a generous show of muscular chest that make her hands itch to rip it off him. She diverted her gaze and curled her itchy hands by her sides.

“Have no fear, cowboy,” Nikki replied in a cool tone meant to disguise the warm flush coming over her. “I corralled all my wild impulses long ago.”

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CONTEMPORARY “Did you, now?” He still stood in doorway, head cocked. “Somehow, I think you may have missed a few strays.”

“Maybe I need to make myself clearer. I have an aversion to cocky cowboys.”

Just keep telling yourself that, Nikki. Maybe if you repeat it often enough it’ll become true.

“Is that so?” His brows flew upward. “I can’t say I ever met a woman with an actual aversion to me.”

“Don’t take it personally. It’s nothing against you in particular, but your type.”

“And what do you think you know about my type?”

“Since I don’t have a pole handy, enough to keep you at arm’s length. Besides that, this whole line of conversation is entirely inappropriate in light of professional ethics, don’t you think? You are my attorney, after all.”

“Well, darlin’”—he scratched his unshaven jaw— “there’s a little hitch to that.”

“What do you mean? You said you’d help me.”

“And I will, but you can’t engage my professional services until I know who you are.”

“I’ve told you who I am!” she insisted.

“Sweetheart, I’m a lawyer, and according to the law, your claim don’t weigh without authentication.”

“Authentication?”

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“Proof.”

“So what are you saying? That you don’t believe me?”

“I’m not saying that at all. Only that our professional relationship will commence once you get your ID. In the interim”—his gaze slid over her in a way that threatened to melt her insides—“you’d best find yourself a nice, long, sturdy pole.”

PRAISE FOR SLOW HAND: “Historical romance author Vane takes a detour into contemporary settings with this redhot cowboy tale… Well-paced, scorching scenes and witty banter…” - Publishers Weekly

CONTEMPORARY CONTEMPORARY

Author Bio Victoria Vane

Contemporary Author

Contact Victoria: http://www.victoriavane.com

V

ictoria Vane is an awardwinning author of smart and sexy romance. Her works range from historical to contemporary settings and include everything from wild comedic romps to emotionally compelling erotic romance. Her books have received more than twenty reviewer awards and nominations to include the 2014 RONE Award for Treacherous Temptations and Library Journal Best E-Book romance of 2012 for The Devil DeVere series. She lives the beautiful upstate of South Carolina with her husband, two sons, a little black dog, and an Arabian horse.

http://www.embracingromance.com http://on.fb.me/YVeXrf

@authorvictoriav

http://bit.ly/1sccsM4

Email: victoria.vane@hotmail.com

http://bit.ly/1vONQZh

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Vanessa Vale #

1 EROTIC HISTORICAL WESTERN BESTSELLER

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randed a harlot for undoing a confining button on her blouse, Catherine Langton’s finds herself rejected by the man she is to marry, leaving her in a predicament: mail order bride or the poorhouse. Her decision is simple and she arrives in Liberty, Montana to marry a man she’s never seen, her only desire to be a pleasing wife.

Jake Bridger exceeds Catherine’s expectations at first glance. He looks as if he stepped from the pages of the Western romances she knows she shouldn’t read. But she’s about to find out that the men of Liberty are not like other men. Here, a wife is expected to make all of herself available to her husband, even parts a good girl like Catherine never expected a man to plunder. It’s not an easy adjustment, but Jake isn’t a man to take “no” for an answer, and sets about training his new bride using techniques that soon have Catherine wantonly eager for his attentions.

But can Catherine live with her new husband’s explicit requirements when it opposes everything she’s known?

If you’re looking for a smoking hot Western that breaks the mold, then this first book in the Montana Maidens Series won’t just leave you satisfied, but eagerly awaiting the continuation of the sexiest, most wildly explicit adventure to hit the open range of publishing in a very long time.

BUY NOW! CLICK HERE.

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RomCon 2015- READER WEEKEN Don't Miss Out! Register Today September 25-27, 2015 Denver, Colorado The Renaissance Hotel 3801 Quebec Street Denver, CO 80207

3 days you won't forget...

• 60+ Authors of all genres of romance- Contemporary, Erotic, Historical, Inspirational, Sci-Fi, Paranormal, & Suspense • 20 Author-led games and events- Interact and play with awesome authors!

• 15 Intimate Chats- Ask those burning questions!

• 4 After Hours events- Learn to line dance at Wild West Night, Sweet Saturday Night Bingo, Bachelorette Party, and Comedy Show!

• Chat Panels • 1 Epic Author Signing- Perfect Fan Girl Time • 1 Amazing Reader Appreciation Luncheon- Sit with your favorite author, listen to great speakers, and win one of their amazing gift baskets • Incredible vendors with lots of great stuff • Tons of author prizes, gift baskets, raffles and free books • Support Breast Cancer Research with our annual raffle

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Saturday Luncheon SpeakerNew York Times & USA Today Bestseller Jodi Thomas Jodi Thomas has published over 30 books in both the historical romance and contemporary genres, the majority of which are set in her home state of Texas. Publishers Weekly calls her novels "Distinctive...

Memorable," and that in her stories "[tension] rides high, mixed with humor and kisses more passionate than most full-on love scenes." In 2006, Romance Writers of America (RITA) inducted Thomas into the RWA Hall of Fame for winning her third RITA for THE TEXAN'S REWARD. She also received the National Readers' Choice Award in 2009 for TWISTED CREEK (2008) and TALL, DARK, AND TEXAN (2008).

While continuing to work as a novelist, Thomas also functions as Writer in Residence at the West Texas A&M University campus, where she inspires students and alumni in their own writing pursuits.

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RomCon Elite Judges say....

A ‘COULDN’T PUT DOWN’ BOOK THAT’S WORTH TALKING ABOUT!

Kathy

Ella

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MARRIAGE BY DESIGN

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FINDING FREEDOM

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Hoo wee...that was hot. I thought this book was great! I love Randi Alexander’s writing and she always hits it out of the park!

What an awesome story. Great plot, great characters, great pacing.

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aHUNTER4LIFE

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I love a great sci-fi and this series is great. It’s not often I find a series that pulls me in, book after book.

When I saw that Holley had submitted another book for a Reader Rating, I was very excited. I knew it was going to be good and she didn’t disappoint.

TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD

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Lana

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Book after book, Jane Rylon writes hot, intense books. She takes escapism to the extreme!

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Historical

Historical

Insights into Writing and Seducing the Ruthless Rogue

TAMMY JO BURNS W

hen I first wrote The Reluctant Lords Trilogy years ago, the director of the War Office was a crotchety old man. He was a bachelor that did not understand what happened when women became involved in his agent’s lives. Then I put the stories away. Now, years later, as I have revisited the books, I had a change of heart about Director McKenzie. He morphed into a man in his early thirties that was bitter about his heritage. He went from being a man who wasn’t supposed to have a story into a man that people kept asking me, “When is Mack getting his story?”

All of the other stories just kind of came to me. I had to drag Mack and Cassie’s story out. It was painful, but in the end it was wonderful. Mack met a woman who was definitely his match. She flipped him on head over heels more than once (literally and figuratively). And in the end they find that their love is powerful enough to overcome anything that threatens them, both physically and emotionally.

I love being a writer. It is an amazing experience to create characters, both charming and evil. Even better is getting to visit other times and places and getting to manipulate history to fit your needs. But the absolute best part of being a writer is manipulating two people among the pages of the story so that they overcome everything that stands in their way so that they may live happily ever after.

Happy reading!

Tammy Jo

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Historical Historical EXCERPT FROM SEDUCING THE RUTHLESS ROGUE

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BUY NOW! CLICK HERE.

ever in his life had Mack been more angry than when he heard Cassie slam that bolt into place. Not when his father had disowned him. Not even when Cassie had called him a bastard. No, when he had heard that telling snick, he had seen red. Before he knew what he was doing, he had raised his booted foot and slammed it into the door near the doorknob. Mack had felt great satisfaction when the door flew open, and even more when he witnessed the stunned expression on his wife’s face.

“You’re not going to get away from me,” he stalked her across the room.

“Don’t make me hurt you,” she threatened.

“I have studied your moves, Cassie darlin’.You’ll not be hurting me anymore.”

Cassie made a sharp move and found it countered.

She tried another one and found the same. He moved on her like a jungle cat. He pinned her against the wall, her hands above her head. He felt her breathing grow fast and labored and knew she was not unaffected by his touch.

Mack forced her legs wide so he could wedge himself between them. At first he did it to keep her from attempting to unman him, but as he settled against her, he felt some relief as his throbbing erection pressed against the span of softness between her pelvis.

“Do you feel what you do to me?” he whispered. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

Mack pulled back and saw that her eyes were tightly closed, and her lips were pursed shut. He dropped gentle kisses over each of her eyes, then her cheeks, and finally the upturned tip of her nose. His lips caressed hers, lightly, teasingly, but she remained the same, trying to block out what he did to her. Mack let the tip of his tongue glide against the seam of her lips and though her eyes flew open, her delectable mouth remained tightly shut against his invasion. She left him no choice.“Forgive me, darlin’,” he said before crushing his lips roughly against hers. *** “Ow!” Cassie managed to get out before she found Mack exploring the recesses of her mouth. Her lips throbbed where he had ground DECEMBER 2014

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Historical them against her teeth, but somehow he seemed to soothe even that small injury. She felt her heart beating heavily in her chest. Cassie would be lying if she said she was not the least excited about what her husband was doing to her.

Husband, she thought. She had never thought she would find herself married. The boys in the village had always thought her much too strange and learned for them. Then when their little family had moved to London after her mother’s death, she had not gone about looking for a husband or friends.

“Where are you?” he asked, resting his forehead against hers.

Cassie found herself staring into a pair of smokey silver eyes, rimmed with dark lashes.

Dark brows formed a ‘V’ from the way he scrutinized her. Cassie flexed her hands that were still pinned above her head because her fingers ached to rake through his short, dark hair. She wanted to test the texture. Was it silky or coarse?

“Do you know you have flecks of silver in your hair?” she asked curiously.

“I would say half of them have been caused by you.”

“Me? We haven’t even known each other that long.

How dare you accuse me…”

“Did you know your eyes flash when you’re angry?

They look like they are lit from within.”

“Let go of me.”

“Not on your life,” he said.

Cassie didn’t fight him as he plundered her mouth like a marauding pirate. This time there was no way her mind drifted. The things he was doing to her were making her insides melt. She began to respond, and she heard a deep groan.

“That’s it,” he said before returning to her mouth once more. This time he nibbled at her lips as if they were a fine delicacy. “You look so bloody beautiful,” he whispered as he moved to nibble on her right earlobe.

“No, I don’t,” she replied breathily. “I’m just plain.”

“Whoever told you that was a liar.” Mack bent down and lifted her up in his arms.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking you to bed.”

She started wiggling in his arms. “Put me down. You were going to sleep elsewhere.

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Besides it’s afternoon, you said so.”

“You put paid to me staying in another room when you bolted that door.” He held her tight in his arms. “As for the time of day, I can see you better this way.”

“That’s improper!” Cassie was flabbergasted at what he proposed. She knew what happened between a man and woman, but assumed it happened in the dark of night.

“Nothing is improper between a husband and wife.”

He sounded almost wicked and shivers ran up and down her spine. She found herself placed on her feet next to the bed and spun around so that her back was to Mack. Cool air hit her heated skin as buttons were slipped free.

“I don’t know know whether to thank Mikala or murder her.”

“Why’s that?” Cassie licked her dry lips, her breath raspy.

“Because she picked the most exquisite dress, but it also has too many bloody buttons.”

Cassie giggled.

“Did you just giggle? The staid and always serious Cassiopeia Elizabeth Graham McKenzie giggled?”

“No,” she denied, attempting to keep a straight face.

She jumped when she felt his lips brush her nape, and then lower until he reached the edge of her chemise. She tried to take a step away from him, but he just followed her.

“You’re not going to escape me, Cassie.”

She felt his lips brushing along one shoulder, then her nape again, and finally her other shoulder. His hand brushed along her spine, only the fine cloth of her chemise keeping her from fully feeling his touch on her heated skin. “Copulating will not erase the issues between us.”

“I agree, but it will ease some of this tension we feel around one another.”

Historical Historical

Author Bio Tammy Jo Burns Historical Author

Contact Tammy Jo: http:/www.tammyjoburns.com https://www.facebook.com/ tammyjoburnsfanpage @tammyjoburns

tammyjoburns

F

rom a young age I could always be found carrying around books to read while watching my grandmother’s soap operas with her. I read anything and everything I could get my hands on and even made up skits and stories for my friends and me to act out. Once I outgrew the children’s and YA books, my mom introduced me to an entirely new world -contemporary romance. Upon discovering I had a love for history I began devouring historical romances. One day, sitting in a college British History class, something the professor said made me think, I wonder. I quickly called mom (also a writer) and ran the idea by her. After being told, “Of course you can do it, you’re my daughter,” the rest, as they say, is history.

I currently share my love of reading with the next generation as a high school librarian, and share my personal life with my demanding dog trapped in a cat’s body, Ajax. tammy@tammyjoburns.com

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RomCon 2015- READER WEEKEND ATTENDING A Jerrie Alexander- ROMANTIC SUSPENSE- A student of creative writing in her youth, Jerrie set aside her passion when life presented her with a John Wayne husband, and two wonderful children.

A career in logistics offered her the opportunity to travel to many beautiful locations in America, and she revisits them in her romantic suspense novels. But the characters went with her, talked to her, and insisted she share their dark, sexy stories with others. She writes alpha males and kick-ass women who weave their way through death and fear to emerge stronger because of, and on occasion in spite of, their love for each other. She likes to torture people, make them suffer, and if they’re strong enough, they live happily ever after. Jerrie lives in Texas, loves sunshine, children’s laughter, sugar (human and granulated), and researching for her heroes and heroines.

Sheila Athens- CONTEMPORARY- Sheila grew up in the Ozarks, vacillating between climbing trees, reading books and neurotically working toward straight A’s. Many years later—after marriage, two sons, a couple of careers, and a Master’s Degree—she discovered her first romance novel in the gift shop of a hotel when she was supposed to be networking with fellow conventioneers. Now, she’s got a bright red study filled with romance novels. She’s a creative lefty who loves quiet spaces and eccentric people. She’s lived in the coastal south for more than twenty-five years, but looks forward to one day moving to the serene mountaintop cabin she and her husband have built at the edge of a national forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Aidy Award- EROTIC ROMANCE- Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived to write stories of happy ever after. During the day. But at night, oh at night, her world transforms into one of dark desires, deep passions and the forbidden.This duality is what makes her so interesting. She combines the two sides of her imagination by penning stories of romance and true love. Read the delicious fantasies of heroes and heroines you want to be or want to be with, come to life under the covers and between the pages of Aidy’s books.

Michele Callahan- PARANORMAL- Amazon Bestseller- Michele Callahan is a wife, mother, romance and science fiction addict, and founder of RomCon, the only Fan Convention geared toward women who read romance and genre fiction. She suffers from a dangerous case of sci-fi/fantasy fever and never turns down an opportunity to sit through a Star Wars, True Blood, or Matrix marathon. Her favorite things in books; hot heroes, superpowers, freakish things that can’t be explained by modern science, and true love! Her past jobs include fast-food drive through goddess, nurse’s aide, cashier, anatomy & physiology instructor, medical office manager, and entrepreneur. When she’s at home her life is ruled by her family plus two 100 pound rescue dogs and their wagging tails (which should really be classified as dangerous weapons).

Yelena Casale- URBAN FANTASY- Yelena Casale is an award-winning author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Yelena was born in Kiev, Ukraine and moved to New York at 13. Being very curious and inquisitive, she has been a devoted reader and writer since childhood. As a 2nd degree black belt and instructor in Shotokan karate, an avid traveler and history and art enthusiast, she weaves universal themes with martial arts philosophies into her stories. She lives with her amazing, super supportive husband and the best Siamese cat. In her spare time, she reads, paints, watches cool shows on TV and tries to get more sleep. Like the samurai of the old, as well as the ultimate Renaissance man and Yelena’s favorite historical figure, Leonardo da Vinci, she believes that nothing is greater than mastery of oneself.

Misty Dietz- PARANORMAL- Misty’s love affair with words started in middle school with moody stories set in exotic locations she’d never been to. In college, her boy-angst erupted in disturbing reams of poetry. After grad school, the writing went into hibernation until she found her own happily-everafter with an ultra linear man who is the long-suffering counter-balance to her zig-zagging ways. Now, she spends her days writing sexy, adrenaline-fueled stories, teaching Zumba, enjoying family and friends, and praying her children don’t come home with math homework.

AUTHORS Karen DocterCONTEMPORARY/ ROMANTIC SUSPENSEKaren Docter, also writing as K.L. Docter, writes two different kinds of romance novels.... K.L.’s romantic suspense novels are filled with romance, although the dangers the hero and heroine face are intense, usually because a serial killer is bent on ending one or both of their lives before they can fall in love. Her contemporaries (written as Karen Docter) are cute & spicy romances.

She loves writing about real men and women with dreams and goals that don’t allow for a relationship just so she can throw them in each other’s path...with a tickle and a smile. When she’s not saving her characters from death and destruction or helping them fall in love, she loves camping and fishing with her family, reading, gardening & cooking. If she can do most of those things over a campfire, all the better!

Maggie Mae Gallagher- URBAN FANTASY- Bestselling Author Maggie Mae Gallagher doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t writing. When she was a kid she acted out her favorite scenes, only better, with her brother and cousin. As a teenager, she wrote reams of poetry, but realized her true love lay with creating characters and stories. A former music and history major, Maggie is a total geek at her core. When she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She lives in St. Louis with her two furry felines.

JoAnna Grace- PARANORMAL- From the time I started holding a crayon I began creating magical worlds. My very first book was a series of pictures about a puppy princess.

The story changed each time I told it, but there was always a happy ending! My first written story was about girls who changed into tigers. Hmmm.... I guess some concepts stick with you. Now my stories have become a bit more complex! And I’m glad to share them with you. My tales are spun in my home in East Texas where I live with my husband, three kids, a couple dogs and a few fish. When I’m not hiding behind my computer screen you can find me camping, boating, and shopping. I’m active in ministry and hope to pass on the unconditional love given to me to others. Occasionally I get to sing and no one runs screaming, so I guess it’s not too bad!

Joni Hahn- PARANORMAL- By day, Joni Hahn keeps her secret decoder ring hidden while she works as a mild-mannered HR manager and accounting generalist. She believes the world can never have too many superheroes, and anxiously waits for the call when one will need help saving the world... or getting into his costume. Joni was born with a hopelessly tender heart and believes there is nothing on earth more exhilarating than falling in love (Other than the rear shot of Chris Evans in The Avengers - that was pretty darn exhilarating).

A native Texan, she thinks cowboys are the epitome of masculinity, and that country music is the other soul music.

RomCon 2015- READER WEEKEND ATTENDING A Sharon Hamilton- CONTEMPORARY/MILITARY ROMANTIC SUSPENSENew York Times Bestseller- Known for her award-winning SEAL Brotherhood series, Sharon also writes hot paranormals with her Golden Vampires of Tuscany and Guardians series.A lifelong organic gardener, Sharon lives with her husband in the Wine Country of Northern California, where most of her stories take place. When she’s not writing, she’s getting verra verra dirty in the mud, or wandering Farmer’s Markets looking for new Heirloom varieties of vegetables and flowers.

Liliana Hart- CONTEMPORARY- New York Times & USA Today Bestseller- Liliana Hart spent five years teaching music in the public education system. She molded America’s youth, busted kids for smoking pot in the restrooms, and broke up illicit affairs behind the stage on a regular basis. She finally decided to hang up her hat and let someone else have all the fun. (Liliana’s Addison Holmes Mystery Series, about a small town teacher who gets into a whole lot of trouble, is somewhat autobiographical, but she won’t confess to which parts). Liliana began reading romance novels with all her new found free time, and when she ran out of things to read, she decided to write her own novels. The result was a 150,000 word thriller—a dazzling adventure—where the heroine was a thirty-year-old virgin assassin (Yes, you read that right).

She couldn’t imagine why people weren’t knocking down her door to read it, but she persevered and began writing a second book. She finally got the hang of things, and eventually learned that losing one’s virginity wasn’t all that romantic after all. All of her books involve some kind of suspense (she just can’t help herself), laughter, and a lot of steamy sex.

Debra Holland- HISTORICAL- New York Times & USA Today bestseller- Debra Holland wears several hats when it comes to writing. As a psychotherapist, she writes nonfiction books. The Essential Guide to Grief and Grieving is her first nonfiction book. More nonfiction books about grieving, boundary setting with difficult people, and relationships, are forthcoming. Debra also writes fiction-Historial Western Romance, Contemporary Romance, Fantasy Romance, and Science Fiction. Her Montana Sky series, sweet historical Western romances, is published by Amazon Montlake. The Gods’ Dream Trilogy (fantasy romance) is available on Kindle. Debra lives in Southern California and has one dogs and two cats. She’s a second degree blackbelt and teaches martial arts. She also is a corporate crisis/grief counselor.

Michelle Howard- PARANORMAL/CONTEMPORARY- Michelle Howard enjoys a crazy life that involves wild kids, a loud dog, and a husband who tolerates the madness. Like many authors, she’s dreamed of writing since reading her first romance novel many years ago. She loves paranormal and contemporary romances and is a fan of the classic romances, such as Judith McNaught and Julie Garwood. Michelle’s novel Pack Justice (as yet unreleased), placed first in the paranormal category of the 2013 Duel on the Delta hosted by River City Romance Writers. Her first published novel No Reason to Run is currently available.

Jenna Jacob- EROTIC ROMANCE- Bestselling Author Jenna Jacob’s erotic romance comes from the heart of submission.With over twenty years experience in the dynamics of the BDSM lifestyle, Jenna strives to portray Dominance and submission with a passionate and comprehensive voice. Her stories will make you laugh, cry, and may leave you with a better understanding of the fulfillment found in the BDSM power exchange. A married mom of four grown children, Jenna and her husband lives in Kansas. Her passions include her family, reading, camping, cooking, music, and riding Harleys. She loves to make people laugh with her outgoing and warped sense of humor. If you’re looking for hot romance with a kinky twist, pick up one of Jenna’s books.

AUTHORS Amelia JamesEROTIC ROMANCE- I got hooked on trashy romance novels in junior high, but my mom took them away from me, But she couldn’t stop me from daydreaming. After I got married, I wrote some of my naughtier daydreams down and sent them to Playgirl magazine. Two of them got published. I kept daydreaming and writing stories until my dirty stories turned into trashy books. I live in Colorado, but I’ll always be a loyal Wisconsin Cheesehead.

When I’m not lusting after my next bad boy hero, I’m looking for inspiration in sci-fi and action movies, football players, morally ambiguous lawyers, muscle cars, and kick-butt chicks.

Silk Jones- EROTIC ROMANCE- Silk Jones writes erotica, erotic romance and erotic poetry. Although she began writing poetry, song lyrics and fiction as a child, Silk wrote her first novel during National November Writing Month in 2007. Since then, she has written three novels (outside the erotica genre) and several erotic spanking stories to entertain her friends. She hopes that you enjoy her sexy stories and her journey to publication.

Tonya Kappes- CONTEMPORARY- USA Today bestseller- She writes fun humorous fiction, some with romance and some with a little mystery. More than anything she loves to connect with readers! She’s a huge fan of them and LOVES getting to know them. Making readers smile, and remember not to take life to seriously is how she likes to write. An addict to coffee, McDonald’s Diet Coke, and Red Hots Candy keep her going! When Tonya not writing about quirky characters and even quirkier situations, she’s busy being the princess, queen and jester of her domain which includes her BFF husband, three teenage boys and two dogs.

Suza Kates- PARANORMAL- Suza Kates writes the Savannah Coven Series along with other romantic suspense and paranormal novels and was a 2014 Readers’ Crown finalist. As a self-proclaimed twisted romantic, she enjoys magic, danger, and love in equal measure. She lives in Savannah with her family and four imperialistic cats and is working on her next two series.

Megan Kelly- CONTEMPORARY- Megan Kelly writes contemporary romance. Whether set in Missouri, Illinois or Montana, all feature matters of the heart, family dilemmas and quirky citizens.

She lives in the Midwest where the weather has an imagination (and sense of humor) of its own.

Sandra Kerns- CONTEMPORARY- Born in upstate New York, Sandra is officially the only Yankee in her family (and yes, a die-hard Yankees fan), as the rest were born in Kentucky. If you ever speak to her in person, don’t be surprised when a “y’all” pops out. Sandra has always loved words.

By seventh grade she should have known she would be a writer, when much to the regret of her classmates, she chose idiosyncrasies as a spelling word. One of the high points of her life was the first time she beat her mother at Scrabble! Sandra now lives in Northern Colorado where she writes her stories of love from a sweetheart-of-a-town. With the majestic Rocky Mountains, family, and friends to inspire her she never lacks for ideas.

RomCon 2015- READER WEEKEND ATTENDING A Jody A Kessler- PARANORMAL- When Jody isn’t navigating the terrain of her imagination and writing it down, she can be found exploring the wilderness of Colorado with her family, or in the kitchen baking cookies & brownies – and then trying not to eat them all. She’s passionate about continuing to learn and reads anything and everything that catches her interest. Jody is a full time mom, a Reiki Master, and has taught Hatha yoga for over a decade.

Eve Langlais- PARANORMAL- New York Times & USA Today Bestseller- Hello, my name is Eve and I am a Canadian author who loves to write hot romance, usually with werewolves, cyborgs or aliens. I should warn you that I possess a twisted imagination and a sarcastic sense of humor something I like to let loose in my writing. I enjoy strong alpha males, and shifters. Lots of big, overprotective shifters. I am also extremely partial to aliens, the kind who like to abduct humans and then drive them insane...with pleasure. Do you like something a little darker? Then check out my cyborgs whose battle with humanity have captivated readers worldwide.

Evelyn Lederman- PARANORMAL- When Evelyn Lederman retired from her career as an insurance executive, she cheerfully anticipated the freedom to finally spend as much time reading as she’d always wanted. The twist in her story came when as -yet unwritten characters started cropping up in her thoughts, asking her to tell their stories. Now, she spends her days in Florida on the beach… with her laptop.‘The Chameleon Soul Mate’ is the first book in her paranormal romance series,‘Worlds Apart’.

Dianna Love- ROMANTIC SUSPENSE/FANTASY- New York Times bestseller- Dianna Love once dangled over a hundred feet in the air to create unusual marketing projects for Fortune 500 companies. She now writes high-octane romantic thrillers, young adult (as USA Today bestseller Micah Caida) and urban fantasy. Fans of the bestselling Belador urban fantasy series are anxiously awaiting book 5 - DEMON STORM - on October 20, 2014. Dianna’s Slye Temp romantic thriller series launched to rave reviews with five books so far and more coming in 2015. Look for her books in print, e-book and audio. On the rare occasions Dianna is out of her writing cave, she tours the country on her BMW motorcycle searching for new story locations. Dianna lives in the Atlanta, GA area with her husband who is a motorcycle instructor and with a tank full of unruly saltwater critters.

JM Madden- CONTEMPORARY- New York Times and USA Today Bestseller- J.M. Madden writes compelling romances between ‘combat modified’ military men and the women who love them. J.M. (the J stands for Jennifer, not Jim as she’s been asked MANY times!) loves any and all good love stories, most particularly her own. She has two beautiful children and a husband who always keeps her on her toes. J.M. was a Deputy Sheriff in Ohio for nine years, until hubby moved the clan to Kentucky. When not chasing the family around, she’s at the computer, reading and writing, perfecting her craft. She occasionally takes breaks to feed her animal horde and is trying to control her office-supply addiction, but both tasks are uphill battles. Happily, she is writing full-time and always has several projects in the works. She also dearly loves to hear from readers! So, drop her a line. She’ll respond.

Kallypso Masters- CONTEMPORARY- USA Today Bestseller- Kallypso Masters writes emotional, realistic Romance novels with dominant males (for the most part) and the women who can bring them to their knees. She also has brought many readers to their knees—having them experience the stories right along with her characters in the Rescue Me series. Kally knows that Happily Ever After takes maintenance, so her couples don’t solve all their problems and disappear at “the end” of their Romance, but will continue to work on real problems in their relationships in later books in the series. Kally has been writing full-time since May 2011, having quit her “day job” the month before. Kally lives in rural Kentucky and has been married for almost 30 years to the man who provided her own Happily Ever After.

AUTHORS Sylvia McDaniel- HISTORICALSylvia McDaniel is a best-selling, awardwinning author of historical romance and contemporary romance novels. Known for her sweet, funny, family-oriented romances, Sylvia is the author of The Burnett Brides, a western historical western series, The Cuvier Widows, a Louisiana historical series, and several short contemporary romances. Former President of the Dallas Area Romance Authors, a member of the Romance Writers of America®, and a member of Novelists Inc, her novel, A Hero’s Heart was a 1996 Golden Heart Finalist. Several other books have placed or won in the San Antonio Romance Authors Contest, LERA Contest, and she was a Golden Network Finalist.

Misha McKenzie- PARANORMAL- I have always loved to read. It’s said in my family that I refused to start kindergarten because I didn’t know how. So my grandfather sat me down, at four years old, and showed me how all those words became amazing stories. All these years later, and I still love to loose myself in the pages of a book. After graduating from high school, I attended college and earned an Associates Degree in Business Administration. I married the man I met in high school and we had two handsome boys. For the next few years worked and took care of my family. Our oldest son now has a baby of his own, our granddaughter, Claire, and the youngest is in 11th grade and driving. The writing bug didn’t hit me until much, much later. It was shortly after I started working as an office manager in a construction company that a family of witches started clamoring for attention. The next thing I knew, I was writing my first novel. And because these witches insisted on having their stories told, it turned into The Magic of the Heart Series: MAGIC FOUND, MAGIC HIDDEN, MAGIC LOST, & MAGIC REVEALED. Most days my writing is done with at least one of my two little Shorky’s in my lap competing for space with my laptop. They’re only a little bit spoiled, lol.

Tina Moss- URBAN FANTASY- Tina Moss is an award-winning author of urban fantasy, paranormal romance, romantic suspense, and New Adult novels. She lives in NYC with a supportive husband and alpha corgi, though both males hog the bed and refuse to share the covers. When not writing, she enjoys reading, watching cheesy horror flicks, traveling, and karate. As a 5’1” Shotokan black belt, she firmly believes that fierce things come in small packages.

Nancy Naigle- CONTEMPORARY- USA Today bestseller- Nancy Naigle whips up small-town love stories with a dash of suspense and a whole lot of heart. She began her contemporary romance series, Adams Grove, while juggling a successful career in finance and life on a seventy-six-acre goat farm. Now happily retired, she devotes her time to writing, antiquing, cooking, and the occasional spa day with friends. A native of Virginia Beach, she now calls North Carolina home.

Erin Nicholas- CONTEMPORARY- I’ve been reading romance since my mom first let me into her book cupboard when I was about fourteen. Many a family car trip was spent with my head bent over a spiral notebook in the back seat. I’ll confess that my very first attempts at fiction were fantasy and paranormals, influenced by my father’s love of the Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the original Alice in Wonderland. If Harry Potter had been around, I’m sure he would have been on the bedtime story shelf as well. But it wasn’t long until I started writing about true love and that’s where I’ve been ever since. I’m so thrilled to be able to share these stories with you! I hope that they make you smile, sigh, maybe even choke up a little.

RomCon 2015- READER WEEKEND ATTENDING A Kristen Painter- PARANORMAL- I’m a former college English teacher, but I’ve held a crazy mix of other jobs including maitre’d for Wolfgang Puck, personal trainer, and sales for Christian Dior Bijoux.

On the writing side of things, I’m a two-time Golden Heart finalist and have been on the board of three different RWA chapters.What can I say? I like getting involved. I’m not adverse to bossing people around either. I have a *slight* shoe addiction and occasionally indulge in an unnecessary handbag. Hah! That was a joke. There is no such thing as an unnecessary handbag. I love make up and jewelry and spa days.

Yes, I’m a girly girl. But don’t think that makes me weak. I can (and do) kill off characters with the best of them. Speaking of which…My forays into writing have been as varied as the jobs I’ve held. I’ve written poetry, articles for magazines, short stories, paranormal romances (that include fantasy, contemporary and steampunk genres) and now I’ve found a home with urban fantasy. I love worldbuilding and few genres give you the kind of license urban fantasy does.

Bonnie Phelps- CONTEMPORARY- Bonnie used her writing skills throughout her professional life as a fundraiser and marketer for several nonprofits. She enjoyed the chance to tell and share the story of worthy organizations. In the late 1980s, Bonnie authored a syndicated column in several California newspapers in which she shared the experiences and misadventures of life as a wife and mother. The jury is out on whether or not her children always appreciated her candor. Because Bonnie has romance in her soul, she also worked as a Wedding Planner for several years. Absolutely loved it!! She craves anything sweet, revels in any chance to travel, is addicted to Ancestry.com and sees a family saga novel somewhere in her future featuring her German immigrant great grandparents. A native Californian, the author lives in Northern California with her husband.

Red Phoenix- EROTIC ROMANCE- USA Today Bestseller- Red Phoenix is an award-winning erotica author who gained popularity with her book, Brie Learns the Art of Submission - #1 Best Seller in Erotica. Brie Embraces the Heart of Submission: After Graduation is the second book in the series.

She has won 3 reader choice awards at the Indie Romance Convention in 2013 for her various novels and continues to inspire couples with her writing.

Caridad Pineiro- CONTEMPORARY- New York Times & USA Today Bestseller- Caridad was born in Havana, Cuba, and settled in the New York Metropolitan area. She attended Villanova University on a Presidential Scholarship and graduated magna cum laude. Caridad earned her juris doctor from St. John’s University and became the first female partner of Abelman, Frayne & Schwab, an intellectual property firm in midtown Manhattan.

Allie Pleiter- CONTEMPORARY/INSPIRATIONAL - An avid knitter, coffee junkie, and devoted chocoholic, Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction. The enthusiastic but slightly untidy mother of two,Allie spends her days writing books, buying yarn, and finding new ways to avoid housework.

Allie hails from Connecticut, moved to the midwest to attend Northwestern University, and currently lives outside Chicago, Illinois. The “dare from a friend” to begin writing has produced two parenting books, twelve novels, and various national speaking engagements on faith, women’s issues, and writing.

Michel Prince- CONTEMPORARY- Michel Prince is an author who graduated with a bachelor degree in History and Political Science. Michel writes new adult and adult paranormal romance as well as contemporary romance. With characters yelling “It’s my turn damn it!!!” She tries to explain to them that alas, she can only type a hundred and twenty words a minute and they will have wait their turn. She knows eventually they find their way out of her head and to her fingertips and she looks forward to sharing them with you. When Michel can suppress the voices in her head she can be found at a scouting event or cheering for her son in a variety of sports. She would like to thank her family for always being in her corner and especially her husband for supporting her every dream and never letting her give up. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, cat and new puppy.

AUTHORS Jewel Quinlan- CONTEMPORARYJewel Quinlan had an abundant imagination and strong desire to write novels since she was very young. She has a passion for writing paranormal and fantasy romance but often finds herself straying into new areas like contemporary and suspense because her imagination just won’t let up. An avid traveler, she has visited fifteen countries so far (which she enjoys using as setting in her novels) and has plans to see more of the world. She has a particular fondness for Bavaria and studies the German language as one of her hobbies. During the day, she work as a pharmaceutical sales representative and, at night, she writes romance.

She currently lives in Orange County, California with her dog Penny. Jewel is kept in shape by Penny’s frequent demands for walks and squeak toy time.

Diane J. Reed- PARANORMAL- Diane J. Reed is a multi-award winning author who writes novels that are infused with enchantment, where characters dare to break through boundaries & believe in true love.

She has a soft spot for artisans & outlaws of the heart, those of us who burn brightly to live each day as a gift--because it is! Along with her passion for books, she enjoys hiking, painting, chocolate & spending time with her family in the Rocky Mountains.

Teri Riggs- ROMANTIC SUSPENSE- Teri Riggs was destined to be a writer.

As a small girl she didn’t read bedtime stories, she made up her own. Who needed Little Red Riding Hood or The Three Little Pigs when there were so many great tales bouncing around in her head? When she grew up and became a mother to three little girls, she continued the tradition of making up bedtime stories. On the occasions she chose to tell conventional fairytales, Teri usually gave them a bit of tweaking here and there or added a new ending. Her girls loved it. After her daughters had the nerve to actually grow up and leave home, Teri discovered she had a passion for writing and jumped right in. It came as no surprise she chose to write mysteries and happily-ever-after’s since that’s the genres she loves to read.Teri lives in Marietta, Georgia with her husband, one of her daughters and two dogs that seem to think they rule the world.

And some days Teri thinks maybe they do.Teri still frequently tells herself stories as she falls asleep.The only difference now is she wakes up the next morning and turns her bedtime stories into books.

Kym Roberts- MYSTERY- Three career paths resonated for Kym during her early childhood: a detective, an investigative reporter, and...a nun. Being a nun, however, dropped by the wayside when she became aware of boys--they were the spice of life she couldn’t deny. In high school her path was forged when she took her first job at a dry cleaners and met every cop in town, especially the lone female police officer in patrol. From that point on there was no stopping Kym’s pursuit of a career in law enforcement--even if she had to duct tape rolls of coins to her waist to meet the weight requirements to be hired. Kym followed her dream and became a detective that fulfilled her desire to be an investigative reporter, with one extra perk--a badge. Promoted to sergeant Kym spent the majority of her career in SVU. She retired from the job reluctantly when her husband drug her kicking and screaming to another state, but writing continued to call her name, at least in her head.

RomCon 2015- READER WEEKEND ATTENDING A Cate Rowan- FANTASY- Cate has washed laundry in a crocodile-infested African lake, parasailed over a Mexican beach, swum with dolphins in the Florida Keys and had Costa Rican monkeys poop in her hair, but her favorite adventures are in story worlds.Writing became a force in her life when clever elementary school teachers assigned weekly creative writing projects. She wrote through high school, particularly when bored in class. (Rumor has it those early pages consisted of fantasies about Duran Duran, but she is silent on the issue and keeps those notebooks from prying eyes.) She put fiction aside to earn a Ph.D.--but her muse, even while stuffed in a dark closet, never shut up. Now her lush fantasy romances about magical deeds, kismet, and true love in realms near and far have won more than thirty awards. At RomCon2014, Cate wore medieval gowns and hip-length purple and red wigs. (Yes, the wigs hurt her head, but sometimes fantasy fashion is worth the pain.) She might do the same in 2015, so keep an eye out for unusual hair and garb!

Pat Simmons- CONTEMPORARY/INSPIRATIONAL- Amazon Bestseller- Pat Simmons is a self-proclaimed genealogy sleuth. She is passionate about researching her ancestors, then casting them in starring roles in her novels, in hopes of tracking down distant relatives who happen to pick up her books. She has been a genealogy enthusiast since her great-grandmother died at the young age of ninety-seven in 1988. Pat describes the evidence of the gift of the Holy Ghost as an amazing, unforgettable, life-altering experience. She believes God is the Author who advances the stories she writes. Pat has a B.S. in mass communications from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. She has worked in various positions in radio, television, and print media for more than twenty years. Currently, she oversees the media publicity for the annual RT Booklovers Conventions. In addition to researching her roots and sewing, she has been a featured speaker and workshop presenter at various venues across the country.

SE Smith- SCI-FI- New York Times & USA Today Bestseller and #1 Amazon Bestseller- Susan enjoys sharing her amazing worlds filled with action, adventure, love, laughter and tears with her readers. Her stories focus on strong characters and the dynamics of their relationships as they deal with diverse situations. She is known for her world building that takes readers away. She is a true dreamer who believes in HEA. Tiffany Snow- ROMANTIC SUSPENSE- Tiffany attended the University of Missouri – Columbia, attaining two degrees in History and Social Studies Education. After working many years as an instructor and consultant in the Information Technology field, Tiffany now writes full-time. Tiffany loves to read and has been reading romance novels since she was way too young to read such things.

She has an unhealthy obsession for all things Doctor Who, prefers Pepsi to Coke and Absolut to both, thinks men who drink girly cocktails are wusses, has learned to never stop believing in her beloved St. Louis Cardinals, and can recite the entire scripts of When Harry Met Sally and Apollo 13. George Washington is cool, Bon Jovi still rocks the house, and Bruce Willis is the ultimate alpha-male hero. Married with two wonderful daughters, Tiffany and her family make their home in Kansas City, Missouri, not far from where she was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri.

Sandy Sullivan- EROTIC ROMANCE- My journey to being a published author began when I was in between jobs a few years ago and sat down to write. I’d thought about it for years and just decided to do it. It took me about 2 months to write Texas Lady. I sent it off to a couple of friends and asked for some feedback.All I got was,“you need to get this published!” So off it went. I got the standard rejections so I decided to self-publish it. I did the same thing with two other books before I broke down and sent one of them out to a publisher again. I live in Middle Tennessee on my 6 acre farm with my husband, 4 horses, 3 dogs and 2 cats who are more spoiled than kids. When I die, I want to come back as a spoiled cat.

Mine do nothing but lay around, sleep, eat and use the litter box. I’m also a registered nurse by education and usually work the emergency room, medical/surgical floor or cardiac floor and you’ll find lots of medical information within my storylines.

AUTHORS CA Szarek- PARANORMAL/ ROMANTIC SUSPENSE- Bestselling, award winning author of romantic suspense and epic fantasy romance, C.A. loves to dabble in different genres. If it’s a good story, she’ll write it, no matter where it seems to fit! She’s a hopeless romantic and always will be. Risking it all for Happily Ever After is what she lives by! She’s originally from Ohio, but got to Texas as soon as she could.

She’s happily married and has a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. She works with kids when she’s not writing.

Jodi Thomas- CONTEMPORARY/HISTORICALNew York Times & USA Today Bestseller- Jodi Thomas has published over 30 books in both the historical romance and contemporary genres, the majority of which are set in her home state of Texas.

Publishers Weekly calls her novels “Distinctive...Memorable,” and that in her stories “[tension] rides high, mixed with humor and kisses more passionate than most full-on love scenes.” In 2006, Romance Writers of America (RITA) inducted Thomas into the RWA Hall of Fame for winning her third RITA for THE TEXAN’S REWARD. She also received the National Readers’ Choice Award in 2009 for TWISTED CREEK (2008) and TALL, DARK, AND TEXAN (2008). While continuing to work as a novelist, Thomas also functions as Writer in Residence at the West Texas A&M University campus, where she inspires students and alumni in their own writing pursuits.

LaVerne Thompson- CONTEMPORARY/FANTASY- I am an award winning, bestselling, multi-published author, an avid reader and a writer of contemporary, fantasy, and sci/fi sensual romances with interracial characters. I also write romantic suspense and new adult under the pen name Ursula Sinclair my alter ego who likes her relationships a little more complicated.

Marie Tuhart- EROTIC ROMANCE- Marie Tuhart can’t remember a time when she didn’t have a book in her hands. A voracious reader since childhood, she has a TBR pile so big that she finally gave up and rented storage space!

Though her family doesn’t really understand the stacks of books in her study, or the way Marie will stare off into space when she’s thinking of yet another sexy scene between her hero and heroine, they support her completely in her writing endeavors. She began writing at 19, and in 1994 decided to join RWA and get serious about publishing.When she isn’t reading or writing, Marie loves to spend time in bookstores. A world traveler, she enjoys searching out corners of the glove she hasn’t experienced yet.While still totally open to finding her own tall, dark and handsome, she is certainly enjoying the journey. Her Aries Sun makes her impatient, courageous, and something of a daredevil. Her Virgo Moon makes her exacting and a perfectionist for that telling detail.

Julie Ann Walker- ROMANTIC SUSPENSE- New York Times & USA Today Bestseller- Julie Ann Walker is the author of the award-winning Black Knights Inc. romantic suspense series. She has won the Book Buyers Best Award, been nominated for the National Readers Choice Award and the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award. Julie is prone to spouting movie quotes and song lyrics.

She’ll never say no to sharing a glass of wine or going for a long walk. She prefers impromptu travel over the scheduled kind, and she takes her coffee with milk. You can find her on her bicycle along the lake shore in Chicago or blasting away at her keyboard, trying to wrangle her capricious imagination into submission.

RomCon 2015- READER WEEKEND ATTENDING AUTHORS Lisa Watson- CONTEMPORARY- Amazon Bestseller- A native of Washington D.C., Lisa Watson writes multicultural novels. Having her debut novel nominated for Best Contemporary Fiction, sparked Lisa to continue creating engaging storylines, strong characters with universal appeal, and a keen sense of humor. Lisa loves traveling, so weaving beautiful destinations into the pages of her novels as lush backdrops, or the heritage of her characters is not uncommon. Lisa works at a technology consulting firm, is the co-publicist for RT BookReview Magazine’s annual RT Booklovers Conventions, and the host for Reader’s Entertainment Radio show. Married for eighteen years, with two teenagers, and a Maltipoo, Brinkley, Lisa lives outside Raleigh, NC and is avidly working on her next series.

Marsha R. West- CONTEMPORARY- A retired elementary school principal, is also a former school board member and theatre arts teacher. She writes romantic suspense where experience is required. Her heroes and heroines, struggling with life and loss, are surprised to discover second chances at love. Marsha, who loves to travel, lives in Texas with her supportive lawyer husband. They’ve raised two daughters who’ve presented them with three delightful grandchildren. All of them live nearby.

Jude Willhoff- CONTEMPORARY- Some of Jude Willhoff’s earliest and happiest memories are of reading and writing. She started reading at an early age. Being an only daughter and living out in the country far from friends, she had to find other outlets for entertainment. In good weather, she’d climb into her treehouse with a book and be content for hours hidden amoung the branches. In lousy weather, she was happy to spend time in her room, reading, or writing in her journal.At one time, she thought she’d like to be an investigative reporter, but became sidetracked in college. A husband, children and life have a way of changing things. Currently, Jude resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado with her beloved husband, Rob and their longhaired, tabby, attack cat. She is the mother of four and grandmother to six precious granddaughters who keep her busy when she’s not writing.

Cynthia Woolf- HISTORICAL- Amazon Bestseller- Cynthia Woolf is the author of six historical western romance books and one short story with more books on the way. She was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the mountains west of Golden. She spent her early years running wild around the mountain side with her friends. Cynthia was and is an avid reader. Her mother was a librarian and brought new books home each week.This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug. She wrote her first story at the age of ten. Cynthia loves writing and reading romance. Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she’s made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.

Jennifer Zane- CONTEMPORARY/ROMANTIC SUSPENSE- Jennifer Zane has lived all over the country--from Georgia to Maryland, New York to Colorado, including an exciting five years in Montana. Her time in Big Sky country was the basis for her Gnome series. When she’s not writing, she savors the insanity of raising two boys, is figuring out how many meals she can make with a pressure cooker, and teaches a pretty mean karate class. She currently lives with her family in Colorado.

Rebecca Zanetti- CONTEMPORARY/ROMANTIC SUSPENSE- New York Times and USA Today Bestseller- Rebecca Zanetti has worked as an art curator, Senate aide, lawyer, college professor, and a hearing examiner - only to culminate it all in stories about Alpha males and the women who claim them. She writes dark paranormals, romantic suspense, and sexy contemporary romances. Growing up amid the glorious backdrops and winter wonderlands of the Pacific Northwest has given Rebecca fantastic scenery and adventures to weave into her stories. She resides in the wild north with her husband, children, and extended family who inspire her every day--or at the very least give her plenty of characters to write about.

CONTEST Entries due: January 15, 2015 To enter: Get a Reader Rating!

Hurry! Click here to submit your book.

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INSPI RAT I ON A L S P OT L

JULIE K

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ne of the blessings of writing fiction set in England is being able to justify my long-held desire to go to there--three times now. Nine books from three trips—that’s a pretty good return on investment, I’d say.

(Or at least that’s what I tell my husband, who replies, “Sure honey, you’re going there for research…”)

One of the places I looked forward to visiting in May 2014 was Great Chalfield Manor, which inspired the manor in my new book The Secret of Pembrooke Park. When we finally arrived there, we were told by a man and woman at the entrance that the tours were all sold out for the day. The man resolutely explained that some of the rooms were quite small and they had to limit numbers for safety reasons. (He delivered the same apology to a few others who arrived after us). Such a disappointment after coming so far! Then the woman said officiously, “Follow me.” We did, and when we reached one of the outbuildings she told us to wait. A few minutes later, she came back, and with a wary look around, pressed two tour tickets into my hand. “I’ve been very naughty,” she said with a secret smile. I hugged her, thanked her, and asked if I might give her a book in return. She adamantly replied, “By all means. Go and get it!” I happily did so.

The tour was quite crowded. Either the man had not been exaggerating, or we were not the first for whom the dear woman had sneaked extra tickets!

Volunteer tour guides took us around the house, entertaining us with historical anecdotes and pointing out fascinating architectural details that will no doubt make their way into future novels. (Visit julieklassen.com to see photos.)

After the tour, we attended Evensong in the small estate church. I had looked forward to doing so, because the church (and a fictional clergyman) play an important role in The Secret of Pembrooke Park.What a pleasure to meet the rector, as well as his small but friendly congregation. I don’t remember when I have enjoyed a church service more.

Another historic manor we visited was Chastleton House in the Cotswolds with its secret room, because a hidden room features significantly in the book.

Readers may notice that The Secret of Pembrooke Park has stronger mystery elements than some of my other novels. I suppose it’s because I grew up reading The Trixie Belden Mysteries, and to this day I love atmospheric stories with twists and clues to figure out. The novel also includes a long-abandoned manor, treasure hunters, and a figure in a hooded cloak.

And of course, romance! William Chapman is a handsome young clergyman who manages to be both godly and a true man’s man. He is a new favorite hero of mine. I hope you will enjoy him, too. I’m excited for readers to dive into this book—reviewers are saying it’s my best yet!

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EXCERPT FROM THE SECRET OF PEMBROOKE PARK

O

n his way home, a heavy rain began to fall.

William put up his umbrella and braced himself for a damp walk. He drew up short at the sight of Abigail Foster standing huddled beneath a mulberry tree.

“Miss Foster?” He diverted from the road, stepping over a puddle to reach her. As he neared, he noticed the rain had curled the hair around her face into spirals. She looked both miserable and charming. His eyes were drawn to her lips, stained dark red. The sight of those unusually red lips, in such contrast with her fair skin, captivated him. He found himself staring. Wishing he might kiss her.

Instead he asked, “Are you all right?”

She nodded. “I went out for a walk and wasn’t paying attention to the sky. This tree doesn’t offer much protection, but some.”

“But it does offer refreshment, I see.”

“Oh. Yes.” She ducked her head and tucked stained fingers behind her back. “I did eat a few mulberries.

Well, more than a few.” She glanced down at a stained hand. “I didn’t want to spoil my gloves. This will come out, won’t it?”

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“Eventually.”

“I must look ridiculous.”

“On the contrary. You look charming. I confess I’ve never eaten mulberries. But on you they look delicious.” Good heavens, had he just said that aloud? He felt his ears heat.

He collected himself. “Would you care to share my umbrella, Miss Foster? I hate to see you catch your death.”

“Thank you.” She took a step nearer, and he repositioned his umbrella over the both of them.

He should have simply given her his umbrella, or walked her directly home. But he was enjoying her company too much to do the practical thing. The rain fell around them like a curtain, blurring out the landscape around them.

His eyes again lingered on those berry-stained lips.

“Do you know, I have always thought of mulberries as bird feed.”

“You’ve really never eaten them?”

He shook his head.

“Then you must try one.” She reached out and plucked another from the tree.

“Oh no.” He held up his last pair of good gloves in defense.

“Allow me. My hands are already stained.”

Who could resist such an offer? He allowed her to feed him a berry, enjoying the intimate act of her delicate fingers near his lips.

“Well?” she asked in eager anticipation.

He chewed, concentrating as though very serious.

“Difficult to tell. A bit sour, and crunchy. Consistency of a grub.”

“That’s the seeds. But it shouldn’t be sour. I must have given you one that wasn’t quite ripe.” She searched until she found a deep purple berry. “Here, try this one.

It will be delicious, I promise.”

He ate the berry.Then, unable to resist, he captured her upraised hand in his, bringing her purple fingers to his lips for a slow, lingering kiss.

She sucked in a little gasp of surprise, but not, he thought, displeasure.

“You’re perfectly right,” he said. “Delicious.”

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Inspirational

Author Bio Julie Klassen

Inspirational Regency Author

Contact Julie: http:/www.julieklassen.com https://www.facebook.com/ pages/Author-Julie-Klassen/102060596587055 https://twitter.com/Julie_Klassen

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ULIE KLASSEN loves all things Jane— Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. Three of her books, The Silent Governess, The Girl in the Gatehouse, and The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. She has also won the Midwest Book Award, Christian Retailing’s BEST Award, and has been a finalist in the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Awards, Minnesota Book Awards, and ACFW’s Carol Awards. Julie and her husband have two teenaged sons and live in St. Paul, Minnesota.

julie@julieklassen.com

DECEMBER 2014

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