Monthly Archives: June 2007

List!

The Strength of the Pack is on the bestseller list at My Bookstore and More. I’m thrilled! Thank you to those who helped put it there!

Now, there are a lot of good books out this week and last week, so I’m not sure how long it will remain on the list. I had to do a screen capture in case it disappears. Here it is at #10!

ETA: Screenshot update to #8. Had to grab it before The Wolf’s Heart pushes The Strength of the Pack back up to #9, since Jenna Leigh’s book seems to be zooming up the charts.

ETA2: And, hey, I’m up to #7. Have to save that for posterity.

pack7.jpg

All About Samhain

This week from Samhain:

Best sellers at My Bookstore and More:

1. Making Chase by Lauren Dane
2. My Fair Captain by J. L. Langley
3. Take Me by Mackenzie McKade

Take Me was released last week, as was La Ceinture, which made it onto the list.

More reviews

I just can’t resist posting these reviews. Sorry, it must bore a few of you. But it’s still exciting for me, I’m afraid.

Fallen Angels gives The Strength of the Pack 5 angels! Thank you, Dana P.

Jorrie Spencer has written an enthralling story, I started The Strength of the Pack and couldn’t put it down until the very end. Her characters were totally involving; you felt their heartache and disappointment, as well as the joy and caring they resonated with.

And Robin S. at Book Cravings gives TSotP 5 roses.

Ms. Spencer did an awesome job with STRENGTH OF THE PACK. …All the pieces of a great read were woven together and I got that great read. It’s definitely a keeper!

Prologue from The Strength of the Pack

I actually had a tough time picking out excerpts from this book. Hard to say why. So I thought I’d post the prologue here. The prologue takes place a year before most of the story takes place. There is a connection between the hero and heroine, but the romance has not yet begun.

By the way, the links are up and working. You can buy The Strength of the Pack here.

—————-

Prologue

“You look lovely in the moonlight,” said Gordon Carver.

Jamie Buchner groaned. Not that she was ugly. She was fine. Whatever.

“And beautiful.” Gordon appeared to think generic flattery would affect her, but only the wine had gone to her head.

He touched her shoulder.

“Just leave me alone, will you?” She shrugged off his hand. Her husband might be Gordon’s employee but Derek’s duties did not include handing over his wife for the evening.

“Jamie,” crooned Gordon.

She cringed at his attempt to sound soothing.

“No,” she responded firmly, but he had drunk enough that he wasn’t going to listen to anything she said.

She sidestepped his next attempt to touch her. Where the hell was her husband? Derek was supposed to be with them in the backyard, admiring Gordon’s new gazebo.

Gordon clasped her forearm. She tried to jerk away and his grip tightened. Gordon, who had never done more than talk. Why was he coming on so strong now?

To her horror, he trapped her chin. His mouth fell on hers and she couldn’t escape his scotch-soaked tongue.

She swung hard. Her free arm came up, dislodging his grip. Wrenching free, she backed up, spitting in the space between them.

But Gordon backed away from her, too. Jamie’s scream lodged in her throat as she watched fear and revulsion play across Gordon’s face. She didn’t know what to make of his reaction.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Its trembling annoyed her. She refused to be frightened of this loathsome man. Who wasn’t even looking at her now. He stared into the shadows.

A growl, low and angry, made Jamie jump.

“I didn’t know you had a pet.” She tried to show she wasn’t shaken, though her voice was high and breathless. “Good dog.”

Without a word, Gordon turned and retreated to the house.

“Not yours then?” she whispered to his back. She rather wished the dog wasn’t between her and the house, but mostly she was overcome with relief. Gordon had never been so aggressive that she’d had to grapple with him. And to think that Derek, goddamn him, had told her to handle these episodes with his boss diplomatically.

The bushes rustled and she took a deep breath, peering into the shadows. After all, the dog had run Gordon off. He was her savior of sorts.

“Hey there. Great timing. I love you already.” Continue reading

All About Samhain

I’ll squee about my own release in a separate post, but this week from Samhain:

Best sellers at My Bookstore and More:

1. Hara’s Legacy by Bianca D’Arc
2. Male Call by Denise A. Agnew
3. Making Chase by Lauren Dane

Making Chase was released last week. My Fair Captain and Bad Moon Rising also hit the bestseller list.

Excerpt

In less than a week, The Strength of the Pack will be released. So I thought I’d post an excerpt here.

—————–

“Would you like whiskey in your coffee?” he asked over the burble of the coffee machine.

“No, thanks.”

He added a dollop to his mug, then stilled. She might not have recognized the tension in his body if she hadn’t been watching closely.

“I had a crush on you, you know,” he said abruptly. Continue reading

All About Samhain

This week from Samhain:

    Best sellers at My Bookstore and More:

    1. Hara’s Legacy by Bianca D’Arc
    2. Male Call by Denise A. Agnew
    3. Full Disclosure by Mary Wine

    Same as last week! From last week, Immortal Protector made it onto the bestseller list.

    New and reviews:

YA trilogy

I read this excellent YA trilogy by Megan Whalen Turner: The Thief, The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia. I highly recommend them. However, I can’t say much about them, because in each book are spoilers for the next book. Big spoilers. In fact, don’t read blurbs or the back of books or, well, anything about the books, if you wish to remain unspoiled.

I will say that The Thief is a tight, first-person narrative, very well done. The Queen of Attolia opens up the world with multiple third-person point of view. And that once you read these two, you’ll whip through The King of Attolia.

And I don’t think a romance reader will be disappointed in this trilogy either, though you have to be patient.

So, go read!

At the Back Fence

An interesting column of ATBF this week, by Sandy Coleman. Lots of quotables and here are a couple.

From Cindy Hwang:

Frankly, I’m not sure I’m going to be much help because from where I’m sitting, paranormal is still really popular, but I do think the historical romance is starting to make a comeback – but for already established authors, rather than new authors. For a brand new author, it’s probably easier to sell a paranormal romance to both booksellers and readers than a book from any other subgenre, and that, as well as the quality of authors and stories we’re seeing, will keep paranormal going strong. Erotic romance is still a strong subgenre, but has plateaued a bit.

From Charlotte Herscher:

I don’t think paranormal romance is played out, although the market is certainly crowded at this point. But there is so much crossover appeal to fans of other genres like sci-fi and fantasy, which helps. And the nature of the genre allows for continually fresh premises and world building. I do think certain subgenres, like vampires, are getting to be more difficult to break into since there are so many established authors writing vampire stories. I’ve heard many people say that the market for historicals is difficult right now, but we continue to do well with historicals and haven’t noticed a drop in sales in this area.

Also in the discussion area:

Carla Kelly says:

I get a little weary of the editor’s mantra: “Write the book you want to write, and it will sell.”

I do think it’s a little overdone, this sentiment. Writing the book you want to write—and admittedly editors will often qualify such a statement—guarantees nothing at all. Except that you will have written a book you wanted to write.

All About Samhain

This week from Samhain, we have lots of red hots. In part, because last Friday kicked off the first four stories from A Midsummer’s Night Steam collection.

Best sellers from My Bookstore and More:

1. Hara’s Legacy by Bianca D’Arc
2. Male Call by Denise A. Agnew
3. Full Disclosure by Mary Wine

Many of last week’s releases made it onto the bestseller list: the top three sellers listed above, as well as A Scorching Seduction, Catching a Buzz, Don’t Let Go and Susanna’s Seduction.

Also big news! Samhain has formed a partnership with Kensington. Details at Dear Author.