Happy Friday!

First, I’d like to share some wonderful reviews that I’ve recently received:

I’ll start with the review for WHEN HE WAS BAD (my Kensington Brava anthology with Shelly Laurenston).  Amelia of Sensual eCataRomance wrote, “WHEN HE WAS BAD is magically original with blazingly scorching storylines and characters who will long be remembered.” Another snippet from Amelia’s review:  “These noteworthy authors give readers two mesmerizing stories packed with emotion, adventure and plenty of steamy sex.”   You can read the full review here.  (Thank you, Amelia!)

I also have a new review for HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT. Over at Nights and Weekends, Margaret Marr noted, “No matter how many books on supernatural beings I’ve read, I never seem to tire of them—especially when an author like Cynthia Eden throws in a different spin, creating likeable characters and making the genre feel new and unique each time. She writes with confidence and invigorating naturalness, making Hotter After Midnight enjoyable to read.”  the full review is posted on NightsAndWeekends.com.  (And a thank you to Margaret, too!)

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Now for the tagging.  Jeri Smith-Ready has tagged me with “The page 123 meme.”  The rules?

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to the person who tagged you once you’ve posted your three sentences.

The nearest book I have is LaDonna Paulette’s BUTTERFLY WISHES.  I opened the book,and one page 123 and here goes:

“It gets worse.” Sophia chuckled.

Cambell closed his eyes. “Don’t tell me. What I don’t know won’t hurt me.”

(Okay, so I broke the rules and posted a bit more than 3 lines. I’m a rule-breaker!)

Now for the tag part.  Hmmm…who shall be the victims, er, I mean lucky tagged folks?  I know…

1. LaDonna Paulette (I was reading your book–I have to pick you!)

2. Edie Ramer

3. Natasha Moore

4. Zoe Winters

5. Larissa Ione

I loved this book. Loved it. WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS is an absolutely fantastic, sexy anthology. The writers in this anthology–Anya Bast, Jodi Lynn Copeland, Lauren Dane, and Kit Tunstall–each bring a unique, intriguing tale to the mix. The characters are likeable, fully formed. The pages are steamy. The stories are great. (In the interest of full disclosure, these talented ladies are my “Bradford Sisters”–but even if they weren’t, I’d still be talking about the book. It is hot.)

And because I loved this book so much, I’m going to give a copy away to one commenter. Just leave a comment here and I’ll be back on Tuesday to select a winner. Easy huh? Well, here’s what you have to comment about: Have you ever been to Vegas? And if so, are you glad that the secrets of your trip “stayed in Vegas” or did you play it innocent in Sin City?

A big congratulations to the authors of this anthology. And, hey–they’ve got a second Vegas anthology coming out next year (WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS II), and it’s a paranormal anthology! You know I’ll be doing a serious advance order on that one.

Update:  A very good question has come up!  Okay, for this contest, you can post your responses here or on my blog over at MySpace (www.myspace.com/cynthiaeden).  I’ll put all the comments together and choose a winner.

Nick sent me this link yesterday and it was so odd, I knew I had to post.

The premise?  A guy poses as a kid and sends letters to famous folks (by famous, I mean leader-types…and convicted killers).  Acting as the kid, he asks for advice about such things as staying in school.

One of the weirdest things I noticed (okay, there were many weird things), Richard Ramirez, aka The Night Stalker, wrote back to the “kid” on his own letterhead.

HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT officially releases today. If you’d like to read my first Kensington Brava single-title release, then hop over to your nearest bookstore.

And if you have a copy of HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT and you’d like to receive an autographed bookplate to put in your book, please send an email to info@cynthiaeden.com and I’ll be happy to send you one!

To help celebrate my release, some wonderful people on the web have interviewed me–and posted contest giveaways! So if you’d like to possibly win a few autographed books, please check out:

Danette’s Chatting Lounge (A great blog site with some wonderful book information.)

Long and Short of It Reviews (Another site that I love–with tons of book reviews and author facts.)

Jeri Smith-Ready’s blog (Have you read Jeri’s books yet? You really, really should. EYES OF CROW is absolutely brilliant and I know that WICKED GAME will be just as fabulous.)

Thanks for stopping by today!

So, as I’m counting down the final hours before HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT‘s release (woo-hoo!), I thought I’d take a few moments and go back over the publishing timeline that has gotten me to this particular point:

April 07: I discover that Kensington is interested in my story!!! Yay! Serious excitement ensues when I’m offered a 3-book contract. At this time, the story is still called Touching the Darkness.

About two weeks later in April of 07: I attend my first RT Convention. I get to meet Kate Duffy and the Magnificient M (Megan Records) in person. Have a fabulous time.

May 07: Title options are flying around–the final verdict: HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT

June 12, 2007: A gorgeous surprise is waiting in my email box–the cover image for HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT. I celebrate because, honestly, I think you should celebrate every positive moment you have–and seeing that cover with my name (okay, my pseudonym–no one can pronounced my Greek last name right) was a pretty amazing moment.

June 20, 2007: Another fabulous surprise in my email. Seriously–at this point, I can’t wait to check my email each day. What did I have this time? My first cover quote:

“Highly sensual and definitely dangerous.” –Shannon McKenna

I am a HUGE Shannon McKenna fan–I’ve got all her books on my shelf. Books I reread every few months because they are just that good. And guess what? More celebrating ensued. Are you sensing a theme yet?

July 17, 2007: I get my first glimpse at the back cover copy for HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT. Oh, wow–it’s becoming real now.

July 23, 2007: Another quote. This time, from Jacquelyn Frank:

“A cross between CSI and Medium, only hotter and with a hero that truly has bite!”

Oh, yeah, I was over the moon.

October 2007: Copy-edit time.

December 2007/January 2008: Page proofs. I get to see the galley and make any last-minute changes.

January 16, 2008: ARCs are here!!!

February 04, 2008: My first review of HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT. Simply Romance Reviews gave the book an A+ rating.

After this…well, I sent out promo material (I’d been doing PR during this whole fun process), ran contests, and received additional reviews. And I counted down the days.

April 28, 2008: My author copies arrive. Nick opens them first. Fair enough.

Now…just a few hours to go.