Tuesday Musings...Puppies and Sunshine

"Love isn't all puppies and sunshine. It makes you scared as hell."

Anya Bast, from Dark Enchantment

Just a sneek peak of my next review ;-)....

Holiday Giveaway #1

Happy Holidays! With all the craziness and zany times that the season brings, I have been a busy little bee. (My kitchen is designed, the cabinets are in...and a wall is gone. WHO DOES THIS DURING THE HOLIDAYS? Yep, that would be me.) To help spread the love and the the spirit of giving...it's contest time. I know, it has been a loooooong time. And so, here is the first of just a few surprises to help make the season even more, um, sparkly.

So, on the blog, there are two reviews posted here and here. In my review of Lauren Dane's To Do List, how may variations of the word Holiday are there? And, because I know you looked, what colors are the stripe of the candy cane on my scrumptious review of Sweet Enchantment by Anya Bast?

To enter, simply post your answer below with your email...two entries if you follow.

So, what will you win?



Contest ends December 20th...Happy entering!

Holdiay Review...Sweet Enchantment by Anya Bast

The thought of combining the holidays with paranormal romance may not seem like your perfect pairing. Given the season, I set myself out to find some. Okay, a small white lie. Literally, it stared out at me from the table at the library. In case you don't recall, allow me to refresh your memory...

It's all about the candy cane, don't you think? Or is it the stocking? Roaring fire, perhaps...
In Sweet Enchantment, Bella lives the life of the pampered Seelie court. She has her own quarters, every beautiful dress, drool worthy shoes...pampered in the glittering court. The only problem is, in Piefferburg, everyone has long memory. Especially considering the fact that the walls have been enchanted by the Phaedir to keep everyone snugly inside. Years before, the mage Ronan left the Unseelie court, and Bella fell...hard. The heat that ignited between the tow of them made her burn. Until he publicly humiliated her and walked away. Now, Bella finds herself in a hard position. Ronan has stolen an artifact for the Phaedir, facing the terrible wrath of the Seelie Queen. Hoping to save him from death, she bargains for his life, offering marriage in name only to save the man who once held her heart in the palm of his hand and then crushed it for all to see. Tis Yule, after all. But, can she ever trust the mage, and the darkness she feels?
Anya Bast has created a world that encompasses all that I have ever loved about paranormal romance...from the multi-layered world that somehow exists entirely on its own to characters that somehow seem more than they seem. Multi-dimensional, and, if I do say so, incredibly hot. Smoldering. Having two characters that have a history may seem as if their story is being told in the midst, but having already met them through the first full length novel, it felt right to meet Bella and Ronan where I did. (Drool...plus, you have to love the fact we meet the mage without his shirt, even given his circumstances). Don't expect much holiday cheer, it's more a piece of the background than a major contributing factor. Once Ronan knows that Bella still has feelings for him, no matter how buried she has kept them, he'll stop at nothing to protect her. Sounds like a match made, in well, Piefferburg. Warning...there may be just a little lingering smoldery-ness invading your sense along the way.
But,the journey is well worth the destination.
(P.S. Happy Holidays Celebration hint...keep this page in mind!)

Holiday Preview...Er, Previews

Holidays are here, and what better way to take your mini vacation and dive into your favorite or newly discovered author's holly jolly-ness? (And the crazy malls...baking cookies...putting up the tree...wrapping...sigh)

After you're done fanning yourself (Candy Cane, anyone?)...wha? Oh, sorry. Just the teeniest bit distracted here. Usually I stray from anthologies or novellas because I am just so darn greedy and need more. Yes, I may be high maintenance in my choices but I have found a way around my loophole. Series by two of my favorite authors in lil novellas!

Check off your paranormal romance wish list with Sweet Enchantment (from the above Hot for the Holidays Anthology) by Anya Bast. Seelie court member Bella is desperate to save the mage Ronan, who spurned and stepped all over her heart years before. Defying her Queen, who has decreed his life forfeit for assisting the Phaendir in stealing an artifact, Bella decides to make any sacrifice, no matter the consequences, to save the mage in spite of his ill treatment of her heart and the anguish he has caused her. But can she do so and save her heart once again from Ronan? In this first in the Dark Magic Series, set before the first full length novel Wicked Enchantment (LOVE LOVE LOVE) we get the back story not only of Bella and Ronan but a glimpse into the world of Piefferburg, during the magical season of Yuletide.

For the contemporary lover, ahem, in you...To Do List by Lauren Dane (Thanks to my Twitter pimps for shoving her into my life. Forever grateful!).

From Amazon.com:

He wasn't a part of her balance sheet. But one night in his bed could tip the scales. Since she could pick up a pencil, Belle Taylor has used lists and charts to map out her life. When she achieves a goal she marks it off her to do list. Simple. But now, just steps away from her corner-office, name-on-the-letterhead goal, she realizes that the life that she thought she wanted may come at too high a price. Exhausted, she retreats home for Christmas vacation to rethink her life, complete with all-new lists. What she hadn't expected is Rafe Bettencourt, her brother's best friend, the man who she thought only saw her as a pesky younger sister. But when he kisses her under the mistletoe, Belle finds herself with a whole new set of goals to balance with what she thought she always wanted.

Rafe knows Belle is trying to figure out what to do with her life. He also know he's done loving her from afar, and he's not beneath making it as hard as possible for her to choose to return to San Francisco.

Because Rafe can make to-do lists too--and his plan is to seduce Belle back home where she belongs. At his side. And in his bed.

Warning, this title contains the following: Smokin hot monkey love and naughty wish fulfillment, a few words you wouldn't say in your grandma's presence.

See you soon, lovies...Happy Holidays!