I know lots of families in the U.S. will be heading out today–traveling to beaches or lakes as they gear up for a long 4th of July weekend. If you’re celebrating, I hope you have a fantastic time!  I’m going to pull out the old ice cream maker and see what kind of damage I can do.   If you want to try your hand at homemade ice cream making this weekend, then I’d suggest these recipe sites:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/desserts/frozen-treats/ice-cream/main.aspx

http://www.southernliving.com/food/entertaining/homemade-ice-cream-recipes-00417000068176/

And, if you should be in the mood to *win* a book this weekend…then I’d suggest you head over to Book Addicts. I’m sharing a post there about why I love the romance genre.  One commenter at Book Addicts will win a copy of NEVER CRY WOLF.

Speaking of NEVER CRY WOLF…THANK YOU so much to everyone who has read this book so far! I’ve been getting some wonderful emails from readers. I am very happy that people are enjoying Lucas and Sarah’s story–Thank you!  Thank you!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

All of the release party winners have now been selected. Wow–there were over 2000 comments at the party.  You all seriously rock!  Thank you so much for coming to my party! 🙂

Four additional winners were selected to receive gift certificates (their choice–either Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble)–those winners each will receive a $10 gift certificate.  The gift certificate winners are:

Bobbie B

CrystalGB

Tiffany K

Julia-Yen

Congratulations to all of the winners!

THANK YOU to everyone who commented to the party.  I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to come by and comment.  It means so much to me that you all helped me to celebrate.

Thank you.

I am busy picking all of the giveaway winners right now. 😉 Yay!! As soon as winners are picked for each post, I am putting those names at the top of the post and then emailing the winners. (This is with the exception of Mary Wine’s giveaway–she posted on Facebook for her winners.)  All winners will be posted by the end of the day.  There were so many wonderful comments–thank you all!! I am making sure that I include all the comments before winners are randomly selected for each giveaway.

Thanks so much for coming to my NEVER CRY WOLF release party!

Update:  Thank you for all the wonderful comments!  Seems like there sure is a lot to celebrate out there.  🙂  I randomly picked the two winners from all the comments, and those winners are:  Patti Silva and Tina W. Congrats, ladies!  And if you didn’t win, don’t worry–I’ll have more giveaways soon!

Thank you for coming to my NEVER CRY WOLF release party. I sure appreciate you taking the time out of yoru day to come by for the celebration. Thanks for all the great comments–I had a blast reading through them today.  (And thanks to the authors who donated so many books!)

This is the last post for the day.  That makes me sad. I had such a good time! But…the party must end (for now, anyway!).  As a reminder, all of the contests/giveaways will be open until noon tomorrow. So please read back through the posts and leave comments if you want to win some of the prizes. Tomorrow, I will also go in and randomly pick some commenters to win gift certificates (these prizes weren’t listed–they’re just bonus for commenters). I do enjoy some gift certificate fun.

But, for now…I have one last prize that I’d like to offer tonight. It’s an IOU prize…because, you see, I don’t have this prize yet. I should have it in a few weeks, though.  It’s an Advanced Reader’s Copy of my December release, ANGEL OF DARKNESS.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the blurb for ANGEL OF DARKNESS:

As an angel of death, Keenan’s job is to collect the souls on his list. He’s carried out his duty for two thousand years and never faltered once. Until he meets Nicole St. James.  When the moment of death comes, Keenan hesitates, and instead of taking Nicole, Keenan touches the vampire who’s attacking her.

Cast out of heaven for disobedience, Keenan plummets to earth. Six months later, he finally manages to track Nicole to a bar in Mexico. He’s stunned to discover that the woman he remembers has undergone a dramatic change—she’s become a vampire. And when
he realizes that she’s the target of all manner of enemies—other vampires, demons, even shifters—he’ll do whatever it takes to protect her, even if all hell breaks loose…

***

Want to win an ARC?  I’m going to give 2 away (as IOUs–as soon as I receive the ARCs from my lovely editor, I will ship them right to you. You will read the book months before anyone else does.)  To win…just tell me one good thing that’s happening in your life. Today was a day of celebration–so celebrate with me.  What is making you happy?  All of the wonderful readers in my life are making me happy. 🙂

The contest will run until noon on 6/29/11. (Noon Central Time)  Have a great night!  And, again, thank you!!

Update: So many great responses–thank you!!! The winner of CHANGELING MOON, CHANGELING DREAM and that cute plush wolf is…Keisha Talley. Congrats, Keisha!

Okay, this giveaway is just fun.  (Thank you, Dani!)  Our next guest is Dani Harper, author of some great paranormal romances with Kensington Brava. Ah…I do love paranormals. 🙂  She’s sharing a cool post about wolves, and one commenter will win two of Dani’s books (one is a hot-off-the-presses release!) AND a plush wolf that is in need of a home. See–told you it was a fun giveaway. Welcome, Dani! And congrats on your release!

RUNNING WITH THE WOLVES …  Dani Harper

Happy Release Day, Cynthia, and thanks for allowing me to share it with you!  Today, the second book in my shapeshifter series is released from Kensington-Brava, CHANGELING DREAM.

In my world, Changelings walk among us, and can change from human to wolf at will. But they were inspired by a real event.

I owned a small farm in northern Canada and one morning I was stunned to see a pack of wolves – about 7 or 8 – run across my yard. No mistake about what these big dark creatures were – I’d seen hundreds of coyotes before and these clearly dwarfed them. The wolves ran with ease and grace, seeming to float along rather than touch the ground. Teeth gleamed white from grinning black lips, their tails were great plumed banners and they ran with purpose.

And then they were gone. They vanished like smoke into the timber that flanked my property. I have never felt such a wild yearning in my life. A wish that they would come back? A wish that I might go with them? I didn’t know. I still don’t.

Ever since, however, I’ve run with the wolves on paper. And the result is my new series, beginning with Changeling Moon which was released May 31st. Book Two, Changeling Dream, is out TODAY, June 28^th!  Book Three, Changeling Dawn, will be released in January. I’m working on Book Four right now. www.daniharper.com

TODAY’S GIVEAWAY

One lucky commenter is going to get a wolf in their mailbox! Really, I have a cute plush wolf that needs a home, and he’s bringing along a copy of CHANGELING MOON (Book 1) and my newly released CHANGELING DREAM (Book 2).   To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment and tell me..would you like to be a changeling? Would you like to run with wolves?

EXCERPT FROM CHANGELING DREAM (Kensington-Brava, ISBN 978-0758265166)

The full moon called and the Pack answered. The lights of the town of Dunvegan were left behind as seven creatures ran silently, effortlessly, mile after mile. Nothing could cover distance as efficiently as a wolf’s perfect form. Charcoal and tawny, gray and silver, gold and black, the wolves were a diverse group, yet they moved as one with the smooth grace of long practice. Eventually a white wolf joined them, easing into the band without a ripple.

Read the rest of this entry–>