BELONGING by Nancy Henderson

BELONGING
Historical Romance
Published by Champagne Books
ISBN: 18972

Butler Cross had a business to run. He has no patience for his new camp cook. She’s too young, too inexperienced, and too beautiful to be working around two hundred women-starved lumberjacks. Yet there’s something about her, and it’s too intriguing for him to ignore. She has a secret, a big one, and he intends to find out what it is.

Paige Anderson is determined to flee her pampered life and the man who rejected her. So what if she couldn’t cook? She could handle this job…even if she was just a little bit pregnant.

~*~EXCERPT~*~

Paige was picking an apple from the highest branch when he approached her. She had hiked up the front of her dress to act as a basket for the apples she’d already picked. Her dress was thin, and it outlined the shape of her thighs and rump. Heat curled in the pit of his stomach. It shot down his legs, slamming into his groin with the force of a sledgehammer.

He pulled his coat closed around himself and cleared his throat.

She whirled around and dropped her apples. “Oh, I didn’t—Look what I did.”

They both stooped down at the same time. She was too close. He inhaled the scent of her, sweet as spring apple blossoms. Or lilacs. He didn’t care which.

He looked up. She said something. He had no idea what. He didn’t care.

It had been too long since he’d been with a woman. Too long since he’d touched—

Her eyes were so big staring up at him. He couldn’t help it.

He bent toward her.

Buy BELONGING now at CHAMPAGNE BOOKS!

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GHOST OF A CHANCE by Nancy Henderson

Ghost Of A Chance
Published by Linden Bay Romance
ISBN #: 978-1-60202-005-4

4 Cups By Coffee Time Romance

What happens when ghost and mortal fall in love? Nothing short of upsetting the balance between heaven and hell...

Nathan McGraw thought death was bad. It's nothing to landing back on Earth or ticking off a demon. He intends to find out why Sarah Price is the only mortal who can see him, even if he has to break the laws of the hereafter.

Sarah Price isn't going to take it anymore. Not from her ex who is trying to financially destroy her. Not from her family who is making her business a circus. And certainly not from a ghost who claims she is the key to sending him back to heaven.

~*~EXCERPT~*~

“What’s wrong?”

Sarah jumped at the sound of the familiar voice. She turned to find Nathan standing only a few feet from her.

“How long have you been watching me?”

“Why are you crying?”

Sarah wiped her eyes. “It’s nothing.”

He closed the distance between them. “What are you running from?”

Life. Heartache. Chaos. Then it dawned on her that he was referring to her jogging. “Oh, this…this is just something I do sometimes. Used to do, anyway. It makes me feel better.”

He didn’t seem convinced.

Sarah wiped her eyes again. She spied a park bench in a secluded area next to a group of trees and sat down. Nathan followed her. He crouched on one knee in front of her.

“I don’t know why you cry, and it’s not my business to ask. I sought you out today to thank you…for helping me.”

Sarah looked at him. His eyes, now a brilliant shake of something—she still couldn’t put a name to the color—were focused on her. It was a look unlike anyone had ever given her. It made her feel…

Appreciated.

She hadn’t felt appreciated in she didn’t know how long.

“You didn’t have to go to my family’s grave,” he went on. “You didn’t have to read their epitaphs for me.”

“It wasn’t anything.”

“It was.” He touched her hand. “And I appreciate it.”

Sarah allowed his hand to remain over hers. His touch was ice cold, and any other time she would have pulled away, but today was different. Today it eased the loneliness.

Loneliness. The idea was foreign. She hadn’t even realized she was lonely, but she supposed it wasn’t out of the question, although she had no reason to be. She had her business, a bright future, good health, and now Mom and Uncle Stan.

But she still didn’t feel as though she had anyone to talk to. She’d had friends back home in Syracuse, and she’d talked to quite a few on the phone and via e-mail since she’d moved, but it wasn’t the same. Since getting divorced and moving, she had never felt more alone.

A new well of tears threatened again. For which exact reason, she wasn’t sure.

Nathan moved to sit on the bench beside her. Her never let go of her hand.

“I bought a bookstore in the middle of nowhere. I left my family, my friends, everything familiar to me.”

“Why?”

“Because it was my dream,” she answered matter-of-factly. “I’ve wanted to own a bookstore for…forever.”

“But why so far from your home? Didn’t you have family there?”

That set off a new brigade of tears. “Mom showed up yesterday.”

“Is that so terrible?”

“All she did was point out everything I’m doing wrong.”

“Likely because she cares about you.”

Sarah brushed away her tears with the back of her hand. She knew he was right, but it didn’t make her feel any better.

She squeezed his hand. For the first time since he’d come into her life, she was glad he was here. “Why is this all happening to me? You…I mean.”

“I could ask the same thing.”

Right again. In fact, more crazy things were happening in his life—or death—than hers.

Available in E-book or Print
Found in Borders, Waldenbooks, or any bookstore using ISBN #.
Buy E-book Here
Buy Print Book Here
Want an autographed copy? Contact Nancy at: nancyhenderson2004@yahoo.com

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UNWRITTEN ROMANCE by Jenna Bayley-Burke

Unwritten Romance
$1.50
UNWRITTEN ROMANCE by Jenna Bayley-Burke
Sweetheart Rosette
from The Wild Rose Press

Given a second chance at life, Mindy Thomas swallows her fear and decides to tell her boss how she feels about him. Except Jared Salazar misunderstands, thinking she's after a promotion. Mindy uses the interview to ensure Jared understands she wants him, not the position.



excerpt ::

Benign.

The single word echoed through the receiver, and her soul bubbled over with excitement. The last three days seemed to last a lifetime. Every hour stretched on in slow motion since she’d found a pebble-like growth underneath her arm, endured the biopsy, and waited.

Waited.

The clinical voice on the phone explained medical technicalities about the type of cyst they’d found, but Mindy Thomas barely paid attention. She’d spent every second of the past three days thinking about what she would do, how she would live, if only she received this reprieve.

The world buzzed around her tiny cubicle at Salazar Advertising. Monitors hummed, keyboards clicked, the coffeepot gurgled, and conversations went on in hushed tones. Couldn’t anyone feel her joy? How could an emotion that strong not be noticed?

After scheduling a follow-up appointment, Mindy set the phone on its base, her hand trembling slightly. Excited, relieved, and completely terrified. Now she had the chance to live the life she’d stayed awake at night planning. She swiveled in her office chair, turning to see the closed doors of the corner office. Could she dare to do all she’d dreamed?

Jared Salazar emerged from his office with easy self-confidence. So powerful and free, Jared belonged to no one. But then, he did own Salazar Advertising.

Mindy had been inexplicably drawn to the dark-haired man from the moment she saw him at the new employee orientation. She wasn’t the only one. Every woman in the company eyed him with thinly veiled interest, to which he always seemed oblivious. Or maybe he was just smart enough to ignore it.

Excitement thrummed through her veins, propelling her to stand and follow him into the elevator. He might think her crazy, but she’d risk it. This new Mindy, the one who would steer the boat and not just enjoy the ride, wanted to know if Jared Salazar could live up to her imagination.

"You don’t know me," Mindy began once the doors closed, leaving them alone in the elevator.

"Sure I do. Mindy from Client Relations, right?" Jared’s hazel eyes sparkled with a magic more potent than the fear running through her veins.

"Right." She smoothed sweaty palms against her skirt. "This may sound strange, but I can’t let another day go by without saying something. I’d love to get to know you better."

His eyes, a kaleidoscopic collection of browns and greens, narrowed, then softened. "The door to my office is always open to employees, Mindy. You know that."

Her stomach dipped and she prayed the flip-flopping had something to do with the descending elevator. She couldn’t lose her nerve now. Mindy took a deep breath and plunged in headfirst. "I know this is out of the blue, but I was hoping we could get together, outside of work."

BAYOU SUMMONS ~ Available Friday!

BAYOU SUMMONS will be available on DARK EDEN PRESS Opening Day, Friday, June 22, 2007!



A warlock whose powers are hidden by the misty bayou. A necromancer who will stop at nothing to control the underworld and the only other who harbors dark gifts similar to his own........a woman who speaks to the dead.

Summer Peters knows paranormal, her life's work is to find it, study it and disprove it. Though, in her heart she secretly hopes to one day find the answers to the puzzling dreams that constantly plague her. Her next assignment is deep in the heart of the steamy bayou, with much more danger to be weary of than the gators that stalk the swamp. Her answers might very well be hidden amidst the fog-ridden town and Cayden, a sexy man with everything to hide might not only show her the answers she longs for, but could also be much more than an annoyingly handsome Cajun.

Visit DARK EDEN PRESS!

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DRAGON DANCE by Emily Ryan-Davis

 

DRAGON DANCE now available!

Click to purchase!

 

Self-preservation, not cowaradice, drove Cora Phillips to run from the supernatural intrigues surrounding Salim Aridi, Greg Cho, and their respective dragon aspects. She spent a year rebuilding a sense of normalcy, and she learned to cope with the residual nightmares that followed her brief collision with modern myth.




The moment Salim loses control, however, the dragons demonstrate just how meaningless human distance really is, and return to remind Cora that dragon ties are not so easily broken.





Now available for download!

If you haven't read MATING CALL, the first book in the Dragon Queen trilogy, you can read an excerpt and download here!

MATING CALL and DRAGON DANCE receive 5 Champagne Flutes from Cocktail Reviews




"I LOVE these two books." - Wilga Hill Boomerang of Cocktail Reviews

THE SPIRIT WITHIN by Shonna Brannon

The Spirit Within

by Shonna Brannon

ISBN: 978-1-60088-130-5

Alyssa Carrington's spirit must search out the man who tried to kill her before her body’s taken off life support and she moves on to the other side.

Sam Carson’s a detective whose sister was murdered the night Alyssa was attacked. When he hears a voice claiming to be the spirit of Alyssa, he thinks he’s going crazy. Can he go against the rules and track down his sister’s killer and get Alyssa back in her body or will his feelings for her spirit get in the way and send her to the other side, making him lose his chance with her forever.

To buy visit Cobblestone Press!

OASIS OF MY HEART by Tara S. Nichols

Oasis of My Heart

by Tara S Nichols

Release Date May 25th 2007

Sadie Davies is running away for the second time in her life. The first time she wanted stardom. This time she is running from it. Intending to keep a low profile she sets up for a solitary life, but with sexy, know-it-all, neighbour Dustin Reed she finds it rather difficult. Moving in next door to playboy Dustin Reed wasn’t Sadie Davies idea of keeping a low profile. With ex-manager Horace Bigelow hunting her down the last thing Sadie wants is a distraction.

Now she has to decide whether to let this lady-killer into her life for fear of attracting a real killer.

Available May 25th from Cobblestone Press!

GOTHIC BLUE by Portia Da Costa

GOTHIC BLUE - Portia Da Costa

'What are you going to do to me?' Belinda asked defiantly. 'Beat me or something?

Smack my bottom? I'm sure that's what you decadent aristocrats live for - a chance to humiliate the lower orders.' Even as she was speaking, this idea - which should have seemed horrendous - was becoming highly exciting.

At an archduke's reception, a handsome young nobleman falls under the spell of a malevolent but irresistible sorceress.

Two hundred years later, Belinda Seward also falls prey to sensual forces she can neither understand nor control. Stranded by a thunderstorm at a remote Gothic priory, Belinda and her boyfriend are drawn into an enclosed world of luxurious decadence and sexual alchemy.

Their host is the courteous but melancholic Andre Von Kastel; a beautiful aristocrat who mourns his lost love. He has plans for Belinda - plans which take her into the realms of obsessive love and the erotic paranormal.

"Above all else, Gothic Blue is a romance. There are plenty of supernatural elements, and more than plenty erotic interludes. Portia Da Costa does many things very well: plot, characterisation and (in the case of this title) she injects a credible suggestion of the supernatural in a realistic world. She's renowned for writing sex scenes that are so hot they sizzle and, in Gothic Blue, she does not disappoint." ~ Ashley Lister, Erotica Readers and Writers Association

"Packed with sex and kink, this is a novel that still retains a mysterious and powerful air. A hint of the supernatural is mixed with a fun gothic setting as a tale of intertwining romances is told by Da Costa with aplomb. A highly recommended novel" ~ E.T.O – Issue 44 March 07"the sex is relentlessly intense!" ~ Forum

ISBN 0352330759

Originally published by Black Lace in 1996 - new reprint April 2007 [US]

Read an excerpt at Portia's Prose [NB. excerpt is NC 17 and suitable for adults only]

Gothic Blue is available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

PORTIA DA COSTA
intense.passionate.erotic.romance
http://wendyportia.blogspot.com
http://www.portiadacosta.com

ONE WICKED WINTER by Cassidy Kent

ONE WICKED WINTER is now available!

It's a three novella anthology...

Published By: Amber Quill Press
Release Date: April 2007
Written as: Cassidy Kent

A sexy first date, an unexpected encounter, and a torrid reunion. Three smoldering stories of reckless passion stoke the fires of one very wicked winter…

Dear John

In her last year of high school, Dane Harley, a foster kid with no direction, met John Stratton, a Pittsburgh rich kid with a penchant for trouble. She visits him a decade after disappearing from his life, only to discover he’s moved on. Their subsequent affair speaks of the torrent of passion and love that still binds them.

Santa’s Helper

CEO Noel grants a boy’s Christmas wish by escorting sexy single mother Maura around Manhattan on Christmas Eve. The spark between them is immediate, but the distance between Park Avenue and the Jersey suburbs is immense. Are their worlds too dissimilar to merge or can they bridge the distance with love?

What Lies in Winter

Workaholic Hayley vacations in the mountains and meets author, Nicholas. He might be a solitary beast but Hayley is hell-bent on disrupting his peaceful balance. A blizzard makes them share quarters and their fiery personalities melt the ice caps off the mountains.

SNAP! by Shelley Munro

The Time to SNAP! is now

Snap! by Shelley Munro

An inheritance should be something pleasant, like money or jewelry or a personal memento. That's exactly what accountant Alice Beasley is expecting the lawyer to announce at the reading of her aunt's will--a nice surprise to ensure her future security.

Instead Alice inherits a condom company called Fancy Free along with numerous associated problems: elderly board members who are more preoccupied with cake, coffee, knitting and frank discussions of sex; worrying troubles with production and design; the attentions of a stalker with a costume fetish, and then there's the manager--James AKA Mr. Dashing. He makes her very nervous indeed.

It's clear to Alice she has fallen down a rabbit hole into a chaotic Wonderland, and she's waiting for someone to pinch her awake. Alice wants normal, she wants security and love, but what she gets is fun and passion and physical pleasure while bad boy James teaches her about managing a condom company...

Read an excerpt here

Purchase in print from Amazon or from your favorite bookstore. Also available in e-format

Adventure into Romance with Shelley Munro

FROM THE ASHES by Aurelia Abbott

From the Ashes is now available at Twilight Fantasies Publications.

FROM THE ASHES is the story of Hannah Reed, a mortal in love with Will Caldwell, a pyreweld demon. Hannah and Will make a sexual commitment to one another only to have Will leave when another pyreweld—a female—passes through town.

Two years pass and Hannah is haunted by her unresolved feelings for Will. Just when she believes she is capable of entering into a new relationship with Michael Parker, Will returns to Jasper—alone. The pressure of Will’s return and his eagerness to pick things up where they left off, as well as her confusion about her feelings toward Michael, causes Hannah to leave Jasper in the hopes of achieving some much needed mental clarity.

Read an excerpt here.

Innocent Evil Excerpt

This is an excerpt from one of my works in progress. Feel free to post your comments and critique!

Prologue

There are a lot of ways a soul can be stained. Abuse, neglect, and mistreatment are a few. Any one of these can turn good into evil, twisting and bending it into an unrecognizable feature. After all, everything is good in the beginning. Nobody and nothing starts out that way, climbing out of the womb with malice on their minds. Out of all things dangerous, nothing is more so when the righteous are driven down the path to insanity, barely clinging to the side of them that once spoke to angels. Screaming at the injustice, they flee, with a tail of fleet-footed retribution wagging steadily behind them. Indeed, there is a thin line between good and evil. For only when two wrongs make a right, can a tormented soul live with themselves.

Being innocent can only take someone so far. Once that point of no return has been reached, they must step freely over it, giving their pure and golden hearts to the dank and putrid darkness. Yes, good can overcome evil, it most often does. But, what happens when the good that is triumphing is also, concerning some elements, evil itself?

Chapter 1

Alessa McFee stepped from the void, licking her lips as she did so. The darkness that fell from her body revealed a slender, petite frame adorned with a soldier’s muscles. Curls that mirrored the ebony she had slipped from fell to rest against the small of her back. Flexing her right fist, she brought it to her mouth, uncurling her fingers. She would test the wind to find her prey. Slowly, she licked the tip of her slim index finger, displaying it in front of her pale features to gauge the breeze. East. Turning towards the current, she sniffed the air with her head tilted to one side. The scent of moss, from the lake nearby and freshly bailed hay filled her nostrils. Picking the scents apart, she honed in on her target. The stench of evil, the fragrance she had been tracking for three hours now through the woods.

Aggravated that a mere human could avoid her reckoning for so long, she clenched her teeth, causing her lips to curl and reveal two sharp teeth. Following, she cursed the human. Thinking of the others she had taken out, she quickly followed, her boots crunching on the worn path that led to the farm she had found him on. It was so familiar, this scene. It made her eyes sting and her throat constrict.

The panic she had kept at bay by hunting evil for so long was threatening to consume her. Images dashed in and out of her mind, making her shake her head to clear them. Arrogant demons clothed in a human’s body, feeding on the pain inflicted on an innocent. Every scream they tore from the throats of women and children echoing their pleas, forever there, forever embedded in Alessa’s own rage.

This disease, this human capability, pitiless and quick to condemn, was becoming an epidemic. She would be the cure. She would be there when the last one fell, writhing in agony as every nasty thing they had ever done came back upon them tenfold.