My first young adult paranormal romance–THE BETTER TO BITE–is out! I had such a wonderful time writing this story…it’s my Veronica Mars meets Little Red Riding Hood (with werewolves).  The story contains 60,000 words and is on sale as an Amazon Kindle (digital) release for $2.99.

Don’t go into the woods.

Sixteen-year-old Anna Lambert knows that the woods near her new home aren’t safe. She’s seen the wolves that stalk through that dark forest, but Anna doesn’t scare easily.
Anna is cursed–or gifted, depending on how you look at it–with the ability to find anyone or anything that is lost. So when folks start disappearing in the small town of Haven, Anna’s father, the sheriff, has to use her special skills as they begin to hunt for a killer.

But the killer isn’t exactly human. As Anna is pulled deeper into the secrets of Haven–a town that is truly cursed–she finds herself falling for two, equally mysterious boys. With the danger closing in, one of those boys may just turn out to be her savior. And the other? He could be a very big, very bad…beast.

Beware of beasts…and boys…with bite.

***

You can read an excerpt from THE BETTER TO BITE here.

I will be running one of my “Spread The Word” contests for THE BETTER TO BITE starting tomorrow. Right now, I’m just trying to decide on prizes. What are you in the mood for? Gift certificates? Kindles? Chocolate? Feel free to leave your prize suggestions below, and be sure to come back for the contest tomorrow!

And–a quick note–THE BETTER TO BITE is available as an exclusive release with Amazon. If you don’t have a Kindle and you want to read the book, you can download the Free Kindle for PC App. And, actually, here’s a link to a ton of Free Kindle Reading Apps (that you can use on all sorts of devices).

Thanks so much for coming by today!!

Update: The winners of MIAMI, MISTLETOE, AND MURDER are…

jerri mooring

Crystal Dillon

Rosemary Krejsa

JenniferK

Tegan

Congrats! I will send an email to the winners with prize information.  

My friend Katie Reus has a new book out–and, I thought, hey, why not share the book love?  So I am going to giveaway 5 digital copies of her new release, MIAMI, MISTLETOE, AND MURDER:

Blurb:

Fierce and sexy, former Marine Travis Sanchez has always held himself back from the rest of the world, using his tattoos and piercings as armor. But when the woman he’s wanted for months is threatened, he knows it’s time to strip away the bad boy image and show her just how much he wants to be with her. As one of Red Stone Security’s best contractors, Travis is trained for almost any situation. But nothing prepares him for the most dangerous threat of all: the one to his heart.

Kind-hearted Noel Baskov’s only wish for the holidays is that her Miami coffee shop has a successful Christmas season. But her focus on work is interrupted when the family of the young girl she mentors is threatened, and the man she’s been lusting after for months steps in to handle it. Unfortunately the danger is far from over. Can this sexy and mysterious warrior protect Noel? Or will he be the one to shatter her heart.

Warning: features a heroine determined to fight for those she cares about, a protective hero with a very interesting piercing, and some holiday magic.

***

Want to win? Then just tell me an item that is at the top of your holiday wish list!  I’ll let the contest stay open until noon on 11/5/12, then I will randomly select the 5 winners.  Good luck!

Thank you all so much for the costume comments on my ANGEL IN CHAINS giveaway! I selected 5 winners and those commenters are:

Kara Nix

Irene Jackson

Lisa Uranker

Diana Brown

angel_grace

I’ll email the winners now with prize details.  And stay tuned for more contests!

May your day be filled with only good tricks and awesome treats!

Since this is the scariest day of the year, I thought it would be the prefect time to share the prologue from my upcoming romantic suspense novel, DIE FOR ME. If you enjoyed my Deadly romantic suspense books (or if you enjoy the suspense elements in my paranormal stories), then I sure hope you will like this book, too! DIE FOR ME will be out on 2/5/13–I can’t wait!

You can read the prologue on my Facebook Fan Page–I try to put up sneak peeks and exclusive info for fans there, so if you aren’t already a fan, please like the page.

Enjoy your Halloween! Have fun with all the little goblins and all the big ones. 😉

Happy Halloween!

Today’s guest is the fabulous Mina Khan–a truly kind and funny lady (she always makes me smile) and a fabulous writer. Welcome, Mina!

***

Woot! It’s so great to be here at Cynthia’s blog in October because one of many fun things we bonded over is our crazy-love of Halloween. The more spooky thrills and chills, the more varieties of candy, the better it gets! Not surprising given I write genie romances, with supernatural beings who can melt into shadows and grant the most hidden wishes. So to celebrate, I’m giving away Halloween-themed bookmarks, bags of dark chocolate and signed postcards to two readers who leave comments here.

I also have an unusual ghost story to share. My multicultural short, “DEAD: A Ghost Story,” was released in October. Oh yeah! A chilling ghostly tale is perfect for Halloween, don’t you think? Check out the cover:

Unlike my other published stories, DEAD is NOT a romance. In it, Nasreen – the Indian-American protagonist grapples with her life and death in West Texas.

DEAD was inspired by the many immigrant wives I met during my time as a business reporter in West Texas. For the most part these women are invisible to the mainstream society for various reasons – language barriers, isolation, and unfamiliarity with their adopted country’s laws and social mores etc. So this story was written to recognize them and to highlight a usually hush-hush part of the immigrant story.

I have readers who love my genie romances, so why not write another one instead of trying on a completely different genre? Because the idea of all the invisible Nasreens in the world sort of haunted me until I’d written the story. In doing so, I discovered a different side of myself, a new voice inside.

If you’d like to check DEAD out, here’s the Amazon link.

 So what’s your favorite Halloween read and why? Share and you could be one of the two lucky, randomly chosen people to win the prizes mentioned above.

Oh! My debut story, THE DJINN’S DILEMMA is turning a year of existence in November. Don’t miss my DJINN’S DILEMMA BIRTHDAY BASH with prizes and surprises galore. Several of my author friends (including our wonderful hostess) are joining in the celebrations by giving away their books, and there will be gift certificates, peacock-themed prizes (genies & peacocks go together, right?), art, chocolate and more! The bash starts Nov. 1 and will continue throughout the month.

To make sure you don’t miss the genie-licious giveaways, like my Facebook Author Page.

More information about Mina’s books

Author Bio:

Mina Khan is a Texas-based writer and food enthusiast. She grew up in Bangladesh on stories of djinns (pronounced “gins”), ghosts and monsters.

These childhood fancies now color her fiction. She daydreams of hunky paranormal heroes, magic, mayhem and mischief and writes them down as tales of romance and adventure.

Her first published work, The Djinn’s Dilemma, won the novella category of the 2012 Romance Through The Ages (published) contest.

Fifty percent of the proceeds from her second novella, A Tale of Two Djinns, is donated to UNICEF for education. Two Djinns is a Romeo & Juliet tale with genies, feminists and a happy ending.

Her newest release, DEAD: A Ghost story, is NOT a romance. It’s a multicultural ghost-story that highlights a little known aspect of the immigrant experience.

Other contacts:

Goodreads Author Page

Blog: http://minakhan.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @SpiceBites