My apologies for being so quiet lately. I’ve been working fast & furiously (oh, if only Vin had been working with me) to finish up my latest Fallen Angel book (this is book 4–AVENGING ANGEL). The rough draft is done now, and I’m working on edits.

This book features my first fallen angel heroine. In all the other books, the heroes were the angels. I figured it was time that I switched things up.

And, in addition to my writing, I’ve been a busy traveling girl. I recently visited New Orleans with my writing buddies Katie Reus and Jillian Chantal.  Since my Fallen series is set in New Orleans, I wanted to get some pictures of the city to coincide with the stories. I also wanted to take a few videos. 🙂  Those pictures and videos will be posted soon on my Facebook Fan Page.

Ah…and speaking of that Facebook page. There are some busy times coming for that page!  Thanks to the lovely folks from Open Road Media, that page will be hopping. Special ANGEL OF DARKNESS excerpts, contests, and angel quizzes will be posted there soon.  So if you are on Facebook, please be sure to like the page so that you can join the fun.

I hope you’ve been having a great October–and that you are gearing up for some fabulous Halloween fun.  Trick-or-treating. Ghost stories.  Candy.  Oh, I love this time of the year!!

(And, pssst…since I mentioned giveaways before, I wanted to let you know that I am offering up an ANGEL OF DARKNESS giveaway right now at the Brava Blog. Head over for your chance to win!)

Have a great day.

There’s a new romance blog in town. An awesome new blog that I plan to visit every day–and I hope you will find it equally awesome. It’s the Happy Ever After Blog at USA Today. The very talented Joyce Lamb is the mastermind behind the new blog, and she’s here to share all kinds of blog details with us today.  Welcome, Joyce, and congrats on the launch of the new blog!

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Thank you SO much for having me today!!! It’s a good day for romance, in my humble opinion. That’s because over at usatoday.com, there’s a brand-new blog devoted to the love of romance novels, the readers who read them and the writers who write them.

Happy Ever After will run lots and lots of book reviews, author interviews and other fun stuff. In fact, HEA is going to interview Cynthia for her upcoming release, ANGEL OF DARKNESS. We’re going to review it, too!

I’m happy to report, too, that the woman in charge of this new blog is an award-winning romance novelist herself. That’s some pretty decent street cred, don’t you think? Oh, and that woman is me. : ) The best part is that we can all now be assured that this blog is about romance novel LOVE. No haters or “bodice ripper” rhetoric allowed.

Here’s a taste of what you’ll find at HEA:

Today, there’s an interview with Lavinia Kent, author of the new Regency romance WHAT A DUKE WANTS. Sample question:

HEA: What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned about the Regency period that you didn’t already know?

Lavinia: “Much of what I found interesting was learning what didn’t happen.  There is no evidence that dance cards existed during the Regency, or that heroines ever dampened their skirts to make them cling.”

She also talks about her love of the TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Real Housewives of New York, as well as other Housewives shows. It’s pretty entertaining, if I do say so myself. A review of WHAT A DUKE WANTS will appear at HEA next week.

You’ll also find a review today of this summer’s RITA award-winning Jill Shalvis’ new ANIMAL ATTRACTION. Review snippet: Jill’s “Animal series is a fun, light romantic read. Definitely a good way to spend a few hours with some sexy characters.” If you haven’t seen the cover of this book, prepare for an “ooohhh” and an “awwww.” An interview with Jill will run next week.

Later today, HEA will talk with best-selling romantic suspense writer Christy Reece. And next week, we’ll run a review of her SWEET JUSTICE, followed shortly by a review of SWEET REVENGE. It’s going to be, well, sweet.

There’ll also be a review today of the new paranormal romance by Virna DePaul, CHOSEN BY FATE. You do NOT want to miss this book. It’s complex, it’s gritty and it’s un-put-downable. An interview with Virna will follow next week.

Other author interviews and book reviews coming up in the next few weeks: Erin Quinn (HAUNTING EMBRACE), Jane Graves (HEARTSTRINGS AND DIAMOND RINGS), Ann Christopher (DEADLY DESIRES), Mariah Stewart (HOMETOWN GIRL), Shawn Lane (DEVOTEDLY HIS), Keri Arthur (DARKNESS UNBOUND), Desiree Holt (BEDROOM EYES) and Jenny B. Jones (THERE YOU’LL FIND ME) — and that’s just in the next few weeks.

HEA has many, many more interviews and reviews on tap, such as HEART OF A KILLER by Jaci Burton, ALL THAT REMAINS by Janice Kay Davidson, READY FOR LOVE by Gwyneth Bolton, THE BAKER’S WIFE by Erin Healy and … well, I could go on, but I’m sure you’re eager to hop over to HEA to say hi. But before you go, you can leave a comment here and I’ll choose two random commenters to win the first book in my True trilogy, TRUE VISION. Please remember to leave your e-mail address!

When you’re done with that, here’s where to start with Happy Ever After: http://bit.ly/ouV32w. And you can find out more about the street cred of HEA’s mistress (that’s me!) at JoyceWrites.com.

Let the romance novel love begin.

In October, I always enjoy experimenting with different, fun Halloween recipes. Sometimes,my experiments turn out well–and sometimes, not so much (my son still laughs about the green witch cake gone terribly, terribly wrong). Here are a few new recipes that I hope to try this year (picked up from around the web):

First up, Funny Bones from FamilyFun.Go.Com. (Click the link to see the recipe.)

These look like tasty fun. Marshmallows, pretzel sticks, white chocolate–that all sounds easy enough to me! And they look cool. Can’t wait to try this one out.

And for ghoulishly cool cupcakes, you can follow these instructions:

But desserts aren’t the only fun treats–how about some Halloween fun for breakfast?

If you want to try this frightful breakfast, here’s the recipe link for No Bones About It.

And if you’ve got a fun recipe to share, please do!

As of today, my Christmas anthology, THE NAUGHTY LIST, is now available in mass market form (re-release!). Yay! Just in time to curl up and have a sexy read for the holidays.

Originally released last September, THE NAUGHTY LIST includes holiday stories from Donna Kauffman, Susan Fox, and, yep, me:

Deck the halls with white-hot passion!

Donna Kauffman: Naughty But Nice

Businessman Griffin’s never believed in luck…until sassy-sweet small-town baker Melody turns his world around. Except there’s a catch: There’s no way he’ll be able to build his empire and hold on to her. His new “lucky charm” could destroy all his dreams…or make this Christmas better than he ever imagined possible…

Cynthia Eden: All I Want for Christmas

Good girl toy inventor Christie takes a walk on the naughty side when she sparks a no-strings fling with Santa—actually, sexy cop Jonas in a Santa suit. She loves her new “bad girl” persona, except as the holidays approach, she starts falling, and hard, for this known’ “love ’em and leave ’em” ladies man…

Susan Fox: Tattoos and Mistletoe

Charlie returns to her hometown to fix up her aunt’s B&B, but she doesn’t count on LJ handling the renovations. Nerdy LJ pined for her in school, but now he’s grown into the town’s hottest bachelor. Charlie’s been burned before and won’t let him get close. But LJ’s determined to break down her walls and make her dearest Christmas wish come true.

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The re-release of this book now has me humming holiday carols.  Who knows what will happen next? The book might put me in the mood to tackle some early Christmas shopping!

Hope you have a fantastic day!

Okay, I know…that is a crazy subject line, right? But it’s October and I LOVE October.  There’s a chill in the air, spooky stories are spilling from everyone’s lips, and Halloween fun is just waiting to be had! Since I am such a Halloween fan, expect lots of paranormal posts this month. Guest authors, prizes, Halloween recipes, scary movie recaps.  Party time. 🙂

And to get the Halloween fun going, my guest today is the very talented Katie Reus. I love Katie’s work, and I adore Katie–she’s a sweetheart and soon to be my ghost hunting partner-in-crime (ahem, more about that later). For now…here’s Katie!

Thank you so much to the wonderful Cynthia Eden for having me here today! As a fellow paranormal author and ghost hunting buddy, it’s always fun to blog at her place. 😉

I fell in love with romance through romantic suspense so it’s only natural that once I figured out writing was for me, that would be the genre I started out writing. But the more I wrote, the more I read and a few years ago I discovered there was more to romance than suspense (seriously, I had no idea!). Once I discovered paranormal romance, this amazing world opened up to me. But I never in a million years (that’s what I get for using the word never) thought I would write paranormal. I mean, yeah, I loved reading it, but actually writing it? Luckily, the more I fought it, the more I craved writing about paranormal creatures. It was the world building that eventually sucked me in. I love the research part of romantic suspense (and still have to research for paranormal romance) but actually getting to create my own world with my own rules? I finally caved and I’m so glad I did. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have written DESTINED MATE, my first release from Harlequin Nocturne Cravings (the second comes out next year). So what’s it about?

Almost a century ago, Angela Lavigne and Alpha werewolf Knox had a shared passion neither could control. Then Angela was turned into a vampire and disappeared.

The last thing Knox expects is for Angela to show up on his doorstep on a rescue mission, as sexy and irresistible as ever. And he can sense how much she still wants him, too. She’s gone against both their species’ rules and trespassed on his land. By law he can keep her as long as he wants—and Knox doesn’t intend to let her go ever again.

As their desire explodes once again, Knox is more sure than ever that he’s must claim her forever. But as vampire and werewolf, they are natural born enemies. Can she truly be his destined mate?

Warning: Expect a red-hot shower scene, a smartass heroine who isn’t afraid to use her teeth and an alpha wolf who’s willing to fight anyone and anything to keep his vampire lover by his side.

What’s your favorite thing about paranormal romance? One commenter will win a copy of Destined Mate. (Contest open to all readers, 18 years or older, who are legally allowed to participate in such a contest as allowed by their local laws. By participating in the contest, participants agree to be bound by the decision of the contest sponsor, Katie Reus.)

A little about me: I’ve been reading romance since I discovered my mom’s hidden stash at a young age and the addiction stayed with me into adulthood. I write paranormal romance and sexy romantic suspense. My publishing houses include Carina Press, Harlequin Nocturne, and in early 2012 the first book in my paranormal series will release from NAL/Signet Eclipse. To learn more about me please visit my website, my blog, facebook or find me on twitter @katiereus.

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And by the way…Katie will be hosting some an awesome Halloween party over at her blog.  Here are the details hope you can join the fun!