BOOK COVER FRIDAY: NOW AND FOREVER by Logan Belle

  
WELCOME TO BOOK COVER FRIDAYS!

Every week we bring you an exciting hot book cover from one of

New York's Leading Romance Authors. Enjoy!

 

 

NOW AND FOREVER:

A Last Chance Romance Part 2

by Logan Belle

(e-book originals)

www.loganbelle.com

 

 

BOOK COVER FRIDAY: MY KINKY VALENTINE!

  

Welcome to Book Cover Fridays!
Stop by every Friday and check out a new book cover from one of
New York's Leading Romance Authors.  They are all gorgeous.  Enjoy!

 Because Valentine's Day can come more than once.
(pun intended)

 

"Guilty Indulgence Book Club"

by Del Carmen

MY KINKY VALENTINE ANTHOLOGY

Ravenous Romance, February 2014

www.mydelcarmen.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

DREADED AUTHOR QUESTION: ARE YOU SUCCESSFUL?

by Isabo Kelly

 

Oh such a loaded question! Which is what makes it so tough to answer. Are you successful? Well, that depends entirely on your definition of suc­cess. And to answer that, you first have to ask yourself, what do you want from your writing career?

Maybe all you want is to finish a full length novel. Or you’re looking to brave the submissions market--a very scary thing to do. Perhaps you want to publish regularly and you just don’t care about the money. Then again, you could want the writing to be a full-time job that makes enough money to pay the mortgage. Do you want to win a specific award, get good reviews, make some important bestseller lists, simply get better as a writer with every book? What de­fines success for you?

A further complication is that success at one stage of your career will be viewed differently than it will during a different stage. How you define “success” changes over time. And that’s not a bad thing. We should always be changing and growing and developing through our careers.

Maybe the best way to think about “success” is in terms of very specific goals. You set a goal to submit to two new publishers this month, to learn something new about the craft, to publish one more book next year, to take a marketing class to help expand your brand... Whatever the next step is in your ever-evolving career, make that a goal. When you reach your goal, you’re a success! And then you move on to the next goal.

If you consider your career this way, then you’ve been a success from the very first moment you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, and started that very first story. Because just sitting down to write is more than so many people ever manage to do.

So, if you’ve finished a story, if you’ve risked submissions, if you’ve managed to get a book published or taken a chance on self-publishing, if you’ve worked at your craft, if you’ve kept publishing consistently over the years, if you’ve received one good review, if you’ve met your developing goals, one after the other, you are a success.

And that’s the answer to the question when someone asks. You say, “Yes, yes I am a success.”  Happy writing everyone!♥

Isabo Kelly is a mutli-award winning author of science fiction, fantasy and paranormal romances. Her newest release is the upcoming fantasy romance, THE DARKNESS OF GLENGOWYN, book 2 in the Fire and Tears series, due out April 29, 2014 from Samhain Publishing. You can find Isabo on her website: www.isabokelly. com, Twitter @IsaboKelly and Facebook at www.facebook.com/IsaboKelly.

BOOK COVER FRIDAY: THREADS OF DESIRE by K.M. Jackson

 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

and

 

Welcome to Book Cover Fridays!

Each Friday stop by and check out a new cover from one of

New York's Leading Romance Authors.

 

THREADS OF DESIRE

by K.M. Jackson

Crimson Romance

 

To learn more about this author and her books, visit her at www.kwana.com.

    

 

EIGHT REASONS TO LOVE NYC

by Julia Derek

 

I moved to NYC in 2001 and fell instantly in love. Like most relationships, NYC and I haven’t always had it easy. But I remain committed. Here are eight reasons why it’s so great.

1. So many single men and women! The U.S. average number of singles is 51.5%, NYC’s is 54.5!

2. You can find restaurants appealing to any culinary preference. Bars and clubs don’t close at two a.m., unlike in most other cities. Drugstores are open 24/7.

3. The city’s drop dead gorgeous and the streets easy to navigate. Returning in a cab from the boroughs is a treat because you get to experience the city’s iconic skyline.

4. You meet people from all over the world here. It’s wonderful to have friends of every ethnicity, age and sexual preference. You’ll make friends that will never bore you.

5. Shopping! You can buy anything here, and you can get it cheaper than in most other places since there’s always a sale going on.

6. The best in every field are here. Remember the adage: if you can make it in NYC, you can make it anywhere? It’s true!

7. We have the best subway system in the world that runs 24/7, unlike systems in Paris, Tokyo, London and Stockholm.

8. The abundance of coffee! NYC might not have the best coffee in the world, but it has the most! You can hardly walk ten steps before you run into a cart filled with coffee. ♥



Entangled Publishing will release Julia Derek’s romantic thriller UNDERCOVER LOVERS in July, 2014. It’s a story about a female rookie cop going undercover as a trainer to catch a drug lord only to fall for his right- hand man. When Julia doesn’t read or write, she spends her days whipping people into shape as a fitness instructor. You can find out more about Julia on her website/blog www.JuliaDerek.com or follow her on twitter @JuliaderekNY.

 

ROMANCE TIPS FOR ROMANCE WRITERS: YOU CAN TRY THESE AT HOME

By A. Charlotte Rose

There are simple elements to tantric sexuality you can use anytime to bring a little hot romance and intimacy into your home life (and to your characters, of course!). Tantra teacher and author Charles Muir suggests these ideas for couples:

Eye contact. When you look deeply into someone's eyes you connect with them intimately and immediately. That technique can help anyone develop immediate rapport in almost any situation, and is especially helpful to connect that way with the one you love (or the one you want to be loving).

Ten minute connects. At least once a day, couples should share a hug, touch, embrace or a roll on the bed for ten short minutes. This will help enhance intimacy in relationships and keep couples connected.

Takes turns. Partners can switch roles regularly so that initiating sensuality in a relationship is a shared experience. This way, no one has all responsibility, and each partner has a change to give, receive and experiment with what they want.

Experiment. Learn what really feels good and pleases your partner by trying different sensual strokes, caresses and techniques.

Kiss often. Use your lips to let your partner know how much you care. Alternate styles of softness, speed, pressure and playfulness.

Harmonize moods and energies. Lying down together quietly and breathing in unison is one way for couples to get on the same wave length.

Have fun trying these out. Sigh.

Click here to discover more about Tantric Sex and G Spot Orgasms



ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A.Charlotte Rose is a journalist specializing in love, sex, and the new erotic romance revolution, and she is also an author in the erotic romance genre. She pens the “Hot Romance” Column for The Three Tomatoes. Visit her at https://www.ACharlotteRose.com. Follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CharlotteRoseBooks.

WHAT DOES ROMANCE MEAN TO ME?

by Mimi Logsdon



Romance is a very ambiguous word for me, it falls into the same bowl as perfection, beauty and genius, it’s in the eyes of the beholder.

When I was a teen romance meant, a box with a friendship ring and a brochure featuring diamond rings that read A Diamond is Forever on my birthday, followed by a stuffed animal and Charlie perfume at Christmas and a box of chocolate covered cherries with a hand written card that claimed, I’ll love you forever.  Oh, to be young, naïve and romantic.

In my 20s it meant a hot guitar player in a black motorcycle jacket tearing my fishnet stocking down to my combat boots in one of the bathroom stalls at CBGB, as he whispered nasty compliments in my ear. Believing this was what real, raw, unrestricted romance was to a free spirit.

In my 30s, it was a blue eyed engineer from Massachusetts who put me on his shoulders during a free mike gig, my friends were playing, at Arlene Grocery in lower Manhattan.  Followed by a trip to his loft on Allen Street where we played trivial pursuit with a bottle of Sambuca and made love like rabbits until the sun came up.  It was making love in taboo places where you could feel the excitement that I believed then defined romance.  Like an ATM booth at 3am and during a down pour in the bushes of Central Park was romantic.  Looking back, it wasn’t, just messy.

Now romance means caring, loving someone without judgment, looking past their trials, tribulations, scars and bruises and just being with them.  Accepting that each other is flawed. It means lots of laughter, some excitement and loads of emotional support.  Romance means enjoying someone without needing material recognition.  It means wanting to just be with that one special person in the quiet…just together.

That is what I incorporate in my “Immortals in New York” series.  Jay and Mia have a lot of personal hurdles to jump through.  Both carry many scars and bruises both internally and externally but through it all there is laughter, there’s never a dull moment and they support each other thoroughly.  They need each other despite all the new things they learn about each other and the otherworld around them.

A homicide detective who is also the Prime (King) of the beast shifters, just beginning to understand the secrets of his upbringing and getting comfortable with the immortal he is; and a clairvoyant with a mysterious family history, who connected in the most unusual way.  They are hopelessly in love with each other and determined to battle the constant circumstances that stand in their way in order to stay together. 

They work together to find a way to stop a family curse that predicts Mia will kill Jay, to find an immortal serial killer who’s kidnapping college students and stop another who killed an escort.  They understand each other emotionally, loving each other in spite of all the differences and mistakes they make along the way. Most of all, they always bring out the best in each other...now that’s romance.♥


 

Mimi Logsdon has been writing romance stories since her teens and loves the Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Paranormal genres. She has worked in the media industry for over 25 years, and currently works at HBO, Inc. She lives in New York with her husband and pets. One of them, an eccentric cat named George she features in her current romance series, "Immortals In New York."

  

THE BIOLOGY OF LOVE: The Truth About Love at First Sight

by Mac Perry

We all know how important it is, that first meet-cute. For a romance novel, it is arguably the make or break component of the entire book. Typically, our heroes and heroines become star-crossed at a moment of conflict (if you want your book to sell), and that conflict is complicated by an undeniable physical attraction. A sensual chem­istry that is impossible to ignore, struggle as they might. But what is the root of this chemistry? What makes one person feel dumb struck, and the other hold back? Is there such a thing as love at first sight? According to neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author, Dr. Amen, there are four phases of love: attraction, infatuation, commitment, and detachment.

1)  Attraction: Attraction is a craving for sexual gratification and is primarily driven by male and female hor­mones (testosterone and estrogen), the chemical nitric oxide, and potentially pheromones. Men tend to be attracted to symmetrical, fertile, healthy, younger-looking women (big surprise), and the visual system is sensu­ally dominant in men. Studies have shown when men are exposed to pictures of beautiful women, their limbic system fires up (controlling emotion and motivation) and their pre frontal cortex heads south (abandoning the areas controlling judgment). In other words, beautiful women make men stupid. Interestingly, when women were exposed to images of attractive men, their brain activity showed no changes in judgement, though they may have reported an equal level of interest. Women are more concerned with how a man thinks and acts. So despite the myth of the fairer sex being “overly romantic” (or overly emotional), according to Dr. Amen, men are more likely to fall in love at first sight, than women.

2)  Infatuation: Infatuation is not so much of an emotion as it is a “motivational drive” fueled by the chemicals involved in the brain’s reward system; epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, and phenylethylamine (PEA). Epinephrine and norepinephrine are produced in the adrenal glands, spinal cord and brain and are con­sidered excitatory neurotransmitters causing an “adrenaline rush” after the initial phase of attraction. Dopamine is associated with pleasure, motivation, and concentration (“Why can’t I get him out of my head?”). Seretonin is the “feel good” chemical producing feelings of satisfaction with a partner. And PEA is an adrenaline-like sub­stance known as the “love molecule” that initiates the flood of chemicals, creating that euphoric feeling.

3) Commitment: After a period of six months to two years, the brain eventually downshifts from infatuation into a desire to commit (otherwise, people would collapse from maintaining a lust-crazed state). Oxytocin and Vasopressin are the chemicals involved in this drop off. Oxytocin is related to feelings of closeness and being “in love.” Higher levels of oxytocin are also associated with increased feelings of trust. Vasopressin is involved in regulating sexual persistence, assertiveness, dominance, and territorial markings. Notably, while men might be attracted and fall in love more quickly than women, this chemical switch-over into committed feelings is more likely to occur in women first.

4) Detachment: Sometimes when the infatuation chemicals drop off, people mistake the lack of intensity and euphoria with falling out of love. Also, because they feel the withdrawal from infatuation chemicals, they seek other partners or stimulating substances to re-create that feeling.


When we fall in love with someone, they become imbedded in the Limbic part of our brains. When we cannot interact with our love object as we are used to, that part of the brain becomes inflamed looking for him/her. This inflammation is associated with low seretonin levels which leads to depression, trouble sleeping, feeling ob­sessed, loss of appetite, and wanting to isolate ourselves. Additionally, a deficit in endorphins, which modulates pain and pleasure pathways in the brain, may be responsible for why we feel physical pain during a breakup. You’re heart, quite literally, aches.

So, yes, it is possible to fall in love at first sight, but it is more likely to happen to men. Unfortunately, men are less likely to commit before a woman (how’s that for a horny, thorny rose?). While bonding chemicals are essential for a relationship to develop, Dr. Amen also emphasizes that communication and mutual support are essential for pushing initial attraction into the realm of commitment. But if you happen to find yourself caught up in the “fishhooks” of detachment, be sure to stay healthy and avoid idealizing your past partner. As Dr. Amen states, “Being well is not only the best revenge, it’s the best way to be.” ♥

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:   Mac Perry is a Creative Arts Therapist, adjunct professor, and aspiring author of urban fantasy. When she is not corralling her three-year-old son, she is blogging and working on her passion’s pursuit. To learn more, check out her web site at www.macperry.com, or her blog at www.macperrysblog.blogspot.com.

BOOK COVER FRIDAY & BOOK DEBUT: THE BULL RIDER WEARS PINK by Jeanine McAdam

Welcome to Book Cover Fridays!

Stop by every Friday and check out a new book cover from one of New York's Leading Romance Authors. They are all gorgeous. Enjoy.

 

THE BULL RIDER WEARS PINK

by Jeanine McAdam

Secret Cravings Publishing

This is the third and final book in The Skirts and the Spurs trilogy.  To learn more about Jeanine and her cowboy series, visit her at www.jeaninemcadam.com.  Happy Friday!
  

RAINBOW ROMANCE: SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

by Kate McMurray

 

I have such a mind-boggling backlog of things to read that I don’t need any more recommendations—if my unread ebooks could be converted to paper books in­stantly, I’d probably be crushed under their weight—but I found myself browsing the Best of 2013 lists anyway. I was curious about what books people enjoyed. I looked for the names of my favorite authors or author friends. I scanned the list for books I also thought were the best I read this year to see if my tastes aligned with popular opinion. I also work in the Dread Traditional Publishing Industrial Com­plex by day, so I like to keep abreast of trends, and Best Of lists, particularly in genre fiction, can tell you a lot about where the market might be headed.

I follow a couple dozen romance review blogs as well. I do a lot of binge book buying based on reviews, because I am weak, and all it takes now is the passing thought of, “Hey, that looks like an interesting premise,” and two clicks later that book is ready to go on my tablet. (With, like, 347 others. I have a problem.) So this year, I saw a lot of Best of 2013 lists and as I scanned all of them a few interesting things struck me.

Mainly, there weren’t a lot of universally-agreed upon Best Books this year, at least not for romance readers. There were a few stand-outs, sure. To my mind, LOVER AT LAST by J.R. Ward was 2013’s landmark book, not because it’s an amazing book—I mean, it’s a good book, though I had mixed feelings despite being a slav­ish fan of Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series—but because it was a major bestseller which was primarily about the romance between two men. Well, two male vampires. The book went on to win the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance. That’s astonishing to me, and also proves how receptive the market is to romance novels that feature, let’s say, less traditional pairings.

But other than the two or three books that made just about everyone’s Best Romance Novels of 2013 lists, the lists were wildly different from each other.

I have theories! I suspect part of this is that there is just so much out there and each list compiler has his or her own preferences. Some reviewers gravitate toward certain tropes, some read almost exclusively books in the burgeoning New Adult genre this year, some are experiencing fatigue with certain character archetypes and historical settings. (Although you will have to pry the Regencies from my cold, dead hands, because I love and continue to read them. Maybe historical romance is slumping, but I’ll buy all the books to keep the sub-genre afloat by myself if I have to.)

I saw perhaps the most variety over on the LGBT romance blogs. You could look at five different lists and not see any books in common. The big names in the genre—authors like Abigail Roux, Heidi Cullinan, and debut author Alexis Hall—all had good years, but otherwise, there was a ton of variance. That surprised me. It used to be that Best Of lists in gay (male/male) romance in particular had a sort of monolithic quality to them, like everyone who read the genre only read the same fifteen books each year. That is no longer the case.

So here’s my take on this phenomenon, for what it’s worth: the explosion of the genre over the last couple of years means there are more books and more readers than ever before. So not everyone is reading the same books.

One of the awesome things about romance is that there’s something for everyone. You want to read a romance between two female bear shifters who fall in love in Victorian England while having steam-powered adven­tures? That book probably exists. (And if it doesn’t, someone should write that right now. You’re welcome.) It means readers can fall into whatever niche they enjoy—shifters, BDSM, historicals, hurt/comfort, cops, fire­fighters, cowboys, all of the above—and find a plethora of books to enjoy. It used to be gay romance fans only had a limited number of books to choose from because not much had been published yet, so everyone did read the same books. Now there are hundreds published each month.

That’s a boon to readers. It’s a tricky thing for authors trying to get heard above the cacophony of new voices joining the fray every day—a topic for another column perhaps—but it’s great if you’re a romance fan because there’s no shortage of new books to try.

LGBT romance has also gained a great number of new readers recently. I’ve talked to readers, online and in person, who only picked up their first gay romance within the last year. Now they’re hooked and gobbling up as many books as they can get their hands on. Some are new books discovered by chance. Some are genre “clas­sics,” books beloved by readers who have been fans of gay romance since its inception.

I think there’s a tendency to assume that readers are fans of a particular thing and stick with that thing for a long time. Sure, there are definitely readers who only read m/m romance or who only read paranormal or YA or Regency-set stories. But the influx of new gay romance readers tells me that there are a great number of readers who, like me, read a bit of everything and were willing to give gay romance a shot. At the end of the day, a good love story is a good love story. My favorite Best of 2013 lists contained books that had a little bit of everything on them, because that’s roughly how my own Best Of list shook out for last year.

That’s all really exciting to me. It means that if you write a book that’s maybe a little weird or out there or doesn’t fit the mold of other romances you’ve read, you have the potential to find readers who are as passion­ate about that book as you are. And that’s the dream, right? To write the book of your heart and make enough money from it to write another. The marketplace is wide open for writers to do just that. ♥



Kate McMurray is an award-winning author of gay romance and an unabashed romance fan. When she’s not writing, she works as a nonfic­tion editor, dabbles in various crafts, and is maybe a tiny bit obsessed with baseball. She’s currently serving as President of Rainbow Romance Writers, the LGBT romance chapter of Romance Writers of America. She lives in Brooklyn, NY. Visit her at www.katemcmurray.com.

PURSUING OTHER INTERESTS

  
by Ursula Renée

I told a relative I was interested in taking an oil painting class and he replied, “It’d be waste of time. You need to focus on your writing.”

On one hand, I was touched that he wanted me to focus on my dream. I have read stories of authors whose family members rolled their eyes and snickered when they announced they wanted to write. Therefore, I cherished my relative’s encouragement, but that did not mean I agreed with him.

In school, students are required to take a variety of courses outside their major. Some of the classes are necessary to improve skills the student need in life. The others are used to expose students to the world outside the one they already know.

Once a student graduates, the learning should not stop. There is so much the world has to offer, a person should not limit her experience. Instead, she should step outside the boundaries and explore new areas.

It may seem like a waste of time to pursue a hobby for many, outside jobs and family commitments do take up a lot of time. Therefore, they believe what little time is left over should be devoted to writing. However, taking two hours out of the one hundred sixty-eight hours in the week to concentrate on a hobby can help further a writing career.

An author suffering from writer’s block or working through a complicated scene can benefit from stepping away from the novel for an hour or two. Concentrating on another project can help clear a mind and enable the author to return to her work with new ideas.

Also, an author may be able to incorporate her hobby into the novel. A character who paints, fish, or hikes may be more interesting than someone who goes to work then returns home and stares at the computer. Even if the character does not use her skill in the story, the knowledge she possesses from her interest will make her more dimensional.

Do not believe that pursuing a hobby is a waste of time. A hobby will not only help you grow as a person, but it can help you in your pursuit of a writing career.♥



Ursula Renée is the President of RWA/NYC. She recently sold SWEET JAZZ, a historical romance, to The Wild Rose Press. When she is not writing, she enjoys photography, drawing and stone carving. Visit her at www.ursularenee.com.