Update: The 5 lucky FLASH HEAT winners are…Carlyn McKechnie, Lora Patten, Vanessa N, Fedora, and Winnie. Congratulations!!

My next guest is DOUBLE RITA finalist Joyce Lamb. Joyce writes some incredible romantic suspense, and I am thrilled to have her visiting with me today. Welcome, Joyce!!! And congrats on your new release!

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Congratulations, Cynthia, on the release of Angel Betrayed! I hope you’re partying your heiny off. I’m lifting a virtual toast to you as we speak. (Mm, chocolate martini!)

So now I’m going to ride your very impressive coattails (whee!!) with news that I have a new release, too. FLASH HEAT, a never-before-published e-book, is now available for Kindle and Nook. This book features one of my favorite couples. Bailey and Cole’s banter constantly made me smile while I was writing. I’d like to think that’s because they’re so very entertaining, rather than I just happen to really amuse myself.

Here’s a snippet:

“Come on,” Cole said “You’re not chicken, are you?”

“Don’t even go there.”

“Don’t make me cluck.”

“God, I can’t stand it when grown men cluck.”

And another snippet:

“If you backpedal any faster, you’re going to leave a Cole-shaped hole in the wall.”

He grinned. “Kind of like the Road Runner, huh?”

“If you make that meep-meep sound, I’m going to be creeped out.”

“I try to keep my meep-meeping to a minimum.”

Here’s some info about the plot of FLASH HEAT:

Photographer Bailey Chase and reporter Cole Goodman only tolerate working with each other at a Southwest Florida newspaper. Cole knows Bailey’s ex, and he’s told Cole lots of lies about her. Not that Bailey cares. She’s still healing from that disastrous relationship and has far more important issues on her plate: such as keeping her recovering drug addict brother on the right track as a single dad to his 6-year-old son.

When Bailey gets slightly injured during a mugging while on assignment with Cole, she’s shocked that he sticks around to help her out. He’s kind and warm and caring … and when it soon becomes clear that the mugging wasn’t random, he reveals a protective streak that quickly turns into far more.

Cole has never loved a woman who didn’t let him down. His mother abandoned him as a child. His sister hasn’t been there for her own kids. And his ex-wife did something he can never forgive her for. So he has no interest whatsoever in getting involved with Bailey Chase, a woman who already has way too much baggage. Except he can’t seem to help himself. She’s just … so … hot. And exasperating. And amazing.

Now, someone is after a photo in Bailey’s possession, and he’ll clearly stop at nothing to get it. Worse, it appears her brother’s shady past is connected.

Cole and Bailey team up to crack this mystery before someone ends up dead. While they’re at it, they let the sparks fly …

***

If you wanna read an excerpt, you can find one at my blog, http://joycelamb.blogspot.com/. (My poor website is in the ICU at the moment.)

And, hey, if you love romance novels as much as I do, you might be interested in the blog I do for USA Today (the Nation’s Newspaper!) that’s dedicated entirely to romances. Happy Ever After celebrates all genres, from erotica to inspirational, and all methods of publication, including self-pubbed. HEA’s contributors include best-selling authors Pamela Clare, Michelle Monkou and Virna DePaul. I hope you’ll stop by Happy Ever After (happyeverafter.usatoday.com) and decide to visit regularly.

So, readers, are there romance heroes and heroines who’ve made you giggle? J.D. Robb’s Eve and Roarke never fail to make me smile. And, of course, all of Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ couples make me laugh out loud. You?
(Five commenters here will win a digital copy of FLASH HEAT! Please be sure to leave your e-mail address.)

Update:  The winner of SECRETS OF AN ACCIDENTAL DUCHESS is..Lucy Nina!

I’m trying to vary my book spotlights…sometimes featuring paranormals, romantic suspense tales, and…historicals.

Because she is one of my favorite historical authors, I wanted to spotlight Jennifer Haymore now.  And if you haven’t read Jennifer, then here is your chance!

Blurb time:

With her pale hair and slim figure, Olivia Donovan looks as fragile as fine china, and has been treated as such by her sisters ever since a childhood bout with malaria. But beneath her delicate facade, Olivia guards a bold, independent spirit and the kind of passionate desires proper young ladies must never confess…

It was a reckless wager, and one Max couldn’t resist: seduce the alluring Olivia or forfeit part of his fortune. Yet the wild, soon-to-be Duke never imagined he’d fall in love with this innocent beauty. Nor could he have guessed that a dangerously unpredictable rival would set out to destroy them both. Now, Max must beat a Madman at his own twisted game–or forever lose the only woman to have ever won his heart.

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Sounds awesome, huh? Want to win a copy?  (Winner’s choice–print or digital.)  Tell me…if you could go back and live in any historical period,  when and where would you go?  One winner will be randomly selected to win. Good luck!!!

Update: The winner of the $10 Barnes & Noble gift card is…Connie T!

Our next guest is very busy author Norah Wilson–Norah, thanks so much for coming by! I can’t wait to learn more about your vamps!

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First let me say I’m thrilled to be here during Cynthia’s launch of Angel Betrayed. Her paranormal romances rock out loud!

And I’m thrilled to share with you an excerpt from one of my own paranormal romances. Nightfall is the second in my Vampire Romance series. Nightfall really seems to be finding its audience, which makes me happy. Aiden and Sam might just be the best match I’ve ever made.

Here’s the blurb:
Aiden Afflack (a vampire) is as charming, sexy and easy-going as he is gorgeous. Unless you happen to be a rogue vampire, in which case he’s apt to be the last thing you see. Sam Shea is a wildly successful nature photographer whose prescient dreams lead her to some of the world’s most turbulent, awe-inspiring weather phenomena.

When their paths cross and Aiden discovers that his proximity to Sam warps her psychic power, causing her to hone in on vampire violence instead of violent weather, he knows he’s found a priceless tool in his fight to rid the world of rogues.

Sam has a deep-rooted aversion to having her powers exploited, but once her eyes have been opened to the lives she can help save, she can’t withhold her cooperation. But she can deny Aiden the other thing he wants from her, which makes her unique among women. And absolutely irresistible to Aiden!

***

And an excerpt:

She looked tired, he thought, as she swung the door open. Still beautiful, of course, but tired and nerved-up and edgy. Good. She’d been having the dreams.

“May I come in?”

“Good of you to ask, since we both know you could have been inside waiting for me.”

Oh, yeah, she was definitely feeling chippy. But she stepped aside and let him enter.

She locked the door and leaned back against it. “By the way, how did you get in here last time without setting off the alarm?”

“Second story window. They’re not wired into your security system.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “You’re sure you can’t fly?”

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Update: The winner of ABOUT THAT NIGHT is…Jolene A!

Have you read Julie James? Cause I have–and I love her! So I am very excited about this next giveaway! Julie James will give one commenter a copy of her awesome book, ABOUT THAT NIGHT.

Book blurb is:

HE’S PLAYING GAMES.

Though Rylann Pierce tried to fight the sparks she felt for billionaire heir Kyle Rhodes the night they met, their sizzling chemistry was undeniable. But after being stood up on their first date, Rylann never expected to see him again. So when she finds herself face-to-face with Kyle in a courthouse nine years later, she’s stunned. More troubling to the beautiful assistant U.S. attorney is that she’s still wildly attracted to him.

BUT SHE’S MAKING THE RULES.

Just released from prison, Kyle Rhodes isn’t thrilled to be the star witness in a high-profile criminal case—but when Rylann comes knocking at his door, he finds she may be the one lawyer he can’t say no to. Still as gorgeous and sharp-tongued as ever, she lays down the law: she doesn’t mix business with pleasure. But Kyle won’t give up on something he wants—and what he wants is the one woman he’s never forgotten. . .

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Now let’s check out that excerpt…

After she paid the bill, they walked out of the diner and stood momentarily underneath the L tracks.

“I plan to bring the matter to the grand jury next week,” Rylann told him, raising her voice to speak over an approaching train. “I’ll call you as soon as I have the exact date and time you’ll be testifying.”

She extended her hand in farewell, and Kyle closed his hand around hers.

“This is a good thing you’re doing, Kyle,” she said. “Just remember—”

The train roaring directly overhead made it impossible for him to hear her. Kyle gestured to his ear, shaking his head. She stepped close to him, and put her hand on his shoulder as she stood up on her toes to speak in his ear.

Her breath was a soft caress on his neck, her voice low in his ear. “—Don’t screw it up.”

He turned his head so that they were eye to eye, his lips mere inches from hers. He said nothing for a moment, and neither did she, and he became very aware of the catch in her breath, the warmth of her hand on his shoulder.

Kyle felt a sudden urge to pull her closer.  He’d teased her in the diner about their kiss, but unless he was wholly off his game after those four months in prison, the vibe he was getting from her right then was very real.  If he bent his head just the slightest, he could brush his lips over hers.  Find out if she tasted as good as she did in his memory.

“How are we doing on that eight-minute stretch of getting along?” he asked huskily.

Rylann stayed where she was at first, their lips still so close. Then she cocked her head and met his gaze.  “Time’s up.”

***

Want to win?  Then tell me your “dream” night.  One commenter will be randomly selected to win. Good luck!

Update: The winner of the $10 Amazon.com gift card is…Megan G! And the winner of BOUND TO SEDUCTION is…Saydee Fox.

I hope that you are enjoying the party! Thanks so much for coming by to help me celebrate. For our next giveaway, you have the chance to win two prizes. One commenter will receive a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate and another commenter will win a digital copy of Elisabeth Naughton‘s new release, BOUND TO SEDUCTION. And here’s a little more about BOUND TO SEDUCTION…

Bound to Seduction Blurb:

Firebrand Series #1

Careful what you wish for…

Sentenced as a pleasure slave, Djinn Prince Tariq of the Marid tribe has but one duty: travel into the human realm and corrupt souls by granting wishes to the women who possess the Firebrand opal, a gemstone of magical power. Ten years of imprisonment have left Tariq bitter, but to save his brothers’ lives, he’ll submit to his endless personal hell, even if it means giving up his own hope for freedom.

When Mira Dawson obtains the Firebrand opal, she’s sure the rumors about its magical qualities must be fiction. Until, that is, she touches the stone and a dark and dangerous warrior appears in her living room, offering to pleasure her beyond her wildest dreams. Soon, fantasy becomes a temptation she can’t deny. The only question left is…will the pleasure be worth the price? Because as Mira’s been warned, nothing…not even fantasies…are free.

Excerpt:

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