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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Guest Author Kayden McLeod--Take a walk with the Cornwalls

Dear Reader,

First off, thank you Cindy for having me here today! It’s always a blast to be here.
In January, the last two books of the Cornwall Coven trilogy were released, by Silver Publishing, Carnal Magnetism and Demonic Pandemonium.



I am completely thrilled about these books finally coming out and having them available to you. Writing about my hometown and areas that surround it was an interesting and rewarding experience. I’ve walked through the very same streets and places the characters have, participating in some of the activities, as they did in the books.

Let’s go to some of them. I’ve also included some websites that include pictures of the places that are mentioned in the books.

Downtown Vancouver
Downtown is filled with historical and modern buildings alike, bustling people and hotspots; of fashion, food, entertainment and shopping. You can walk down Granville Street to find something to catch everyone’s interest. It is this area of the Cornwall Coven’s territory that the trilogy’s main stage is set; the RedLine, a fetish club that is a creation of my world.

Granville Island
The marketplace sits just outside of downtown, over the Granville Street Bridge. In Carnal Magnetism, Ryder, Catalym, Kevlar and Kelly come here to go shopping and get away from their brewing troubles for a short while. It is one of her first tastes of true freedom, one that doesn’t last very long, before her enemy shows to take her back to imprisonment.
This is a great place to go for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s the marketplace itself, the art gallery, the dock or the pond that lies just at the mouth of Granville Island.

Stanley Park
It is here that Kevlar takes Pandora, in Demonic Pandemonium, to get away from the war that is only just starting around them. They drive through the roads that run through the sprawling forest, the sea wall and the spectacular views of the ocean. Stanley Park is lush with plant and wildlife. It can be accessed through downtown and North Vancouver (The Jericho Coven territory).
One of my most vivid memories of the park will always be the Vancouver Aquarium, with the displays and array of sea life. While I was still in high school, my class spent the night there, in sleeping bags in front of the beluga whale tank. It was sort of odd to say the least to wake up, roll over and see a whale staring back at you…

Playland
In Demonic Pandemonium, a group of the Cornwalls goes to the amusement park in Vancouver. It is here that Pandora shows up Kevlar at a game of his own making, while Marcus and Kelly begun to wonder at what Pandora really is—human or something else? They know she isn’t a vampire, but Pandora isn’t very forthcoming about why she is so different.
Throughout most of my life, Playland was a park I visited often. One of the first times was when my sister and her friends took me along with them. We’d go on rides, play games and eat the large variety of food they served. We went on the same rollercoaster named the Corkscrew that appeared in Final Destination III, which they called Devil’s Flight in the movie. For two weeks out of the summer season, the amusement park is expanded to include the PNE, a fair of various additional attractions, shopping and prizes, which is a 100 year old tradition in Vancouver.

The C-Fox Radio Station:
In Demonic Pandemonium, I wanted to do something a little different than just places and street names. 99.3 CFOX is a rock station I’ve listened to for years, especially the Jeff O’Neil Morning Show, which is what I wake up to every morning during the work week. They were gracious enough to give me permission to use their names to add another dimension of home, when I first started writing the third book.
In 2008, when Demonic Pandemonium is actually placed in the series and when I started writing it, the DJ’s were Jeff, Charis and Scotty, who appear in the third book. Recently, Charis relocated with her fiancé. Since then, Jen has joined the morning show with Jeff and Scotty. 
***

Thank you all so much! If you want to know more, feel free to visit the links below that contain the trailer, excerpts and my author bio:
To Buy Book One, Deadly Fetishes:
To Buy Book Two, Carnal Magnetism and Book Three, Demonic Pandemonium:

And I’ll be giving away a copy of The Cornwall Coven, Book One, Deadly Fetishes to one commenter on this post…

Good Luck…
Kayden McLeod 



Thursday, January 27, 2011

New Release by Lily Harlem--Mirror Music!

Please welcome my guest today, Lily Harlem! Her second book about the HAWT London rock and roll scene is available today! Take it away, Lily :)
                                                                                                         
My steamy novella focusing on the sexy London rock and roll scene – MIRROR MUSIC is out at Ellora’s Cave on the 27th of January. Its the second in a set of three novella’s focusing on the hot London rock and roll scene and gets its name from a VERY sexy bedroom!
Link – http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-9057-50-mirror-music.aspx

Blurb:
As Robbie Harding belts out hit song Jenny to a packed Wembley Stadium, my heart tears, my mind fudges and my insides heat to a lusty, pulsing boiling point.
Why me more than the other 90,000 screaming fans?
Because I’m Jenny—he’s singing about me.
The guy is sex on legs with a voice to match and has starred in all my hot dreams since the day boys became interesting. For three precious years, it was more than hot dreams. Turns out he wants me back in his life and his bed. How can I resist?
So with lots of naked, sweaty and downright dirty time to make up for, I wield my backstage pass, hunt him down and refuse to be starstruck by the boy next door. Seems Robbie agrees, as he insists on tuning in to my needs and rediscovering our rhythm before we even reach a bedroom.

Excerpt:
Copyright © LILY HARLEM, 2011
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.


My stomach tightened as I followed Sylvia down a brightly lit winding corridor. Several people rushed past us and we had to flatten ourselves against the wall to get out of their way. As we moved on again I patted my bubbles of blonde hair, frizzing because of the damp evening. I wore just the tiniest hint of makeup, a thin layer of waterproof mascara and sheer gloss.

Beneath my hoody I had on a small cream t-shirt with a V-neck. Within the V sat the tiny butterfly necklace Robbie had bought me the last Christmas we’d spent together. It wasn’t an expensive piece of jewelry. Neither of us had much money then. But it had meant a lot that Christmas morning, especially when he said that he knew I needed to spread my wings and fulfill my dreams of university.

We stopped outside a shiny white door. A burly security guy stood against it with his thick arms crossed over his colossal chest. He gave Sylvia the smallest of nods and stepped aside as she reached for the handle.
Beneath my faded denim jeans, my knees turned watery. I didn’t know if I could go through with this, seeing Robbie after all this time. He wasn’t the boy next door anymore. The guy I’d lost my virginity to in the tent at the bottom of his garden. He was an international musician, known all overthe world for his talent and his good looks. He dated supermodels and Oscar winners. He wasn’t “my” Robbie Harding anymore. He belonged to millions of adoring fans.

I tugged at my bottom lip with my teeth and dragged in a deep breath. I was a little dizzy, a little nauseous.
He’d lost his virginity to me too. We’d traded. We’d done it so we were even. We both wanted to be each other’s first—and last, if I remembered the conversation correctly.

Sylvia pushed open the door and took a step inside. I stayed still. Out in the corridor where the lights were harsh and the air stuffy.

But I wasn’t the girl next door either. Not anymore. I was “Dr.” Calahan and I’d just been involved in important research into the prevention of malaria. My name along with the results of my study had been splashed about several medical journals. I no longer collected butterflies in jam jars any more than he still had a snail farm in an old fish tank in his garage.

We’d both changed.

“Come in,” Sylvia called to me. “Come in, they don’t bite.”

I knew for a fact one of them did when he got carried away. In the heat of the moment he’d been known to give my inner thighs quite a nip.

I swallowed and felt the burly security man’s gaze on me. I looked up. His eyes were a piercing glacial blue.

“You okay, Miss?” he asked. “You look kind of starstruck.”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. Not starstruck though, this is more like coming face to face with a ghost.”
                                                                                         


If it tickles your fancy check out MATTRESS MUSIC
http://www.jasminejade.com/pm-8777-640-mattress-music.aspx , also coming soon, the last in the set, MÈNAGE Á MUSIC.

Please stop by my website and let me know what you think. I love hearing from readers.
Lily x
Winner of the 2009 Love Honey Award for Erotic Fiction
http://www.lilyharlem.weebly.com/

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Pleasant Surprise!

My child home with a fever of 100.7 and my left hip singing the blues (as it does whenever we're going to get precipitation), I'd written the day off...then I checked my email. My Ellora's Cave Quickie® titled Leap has been nominated for Siren Book Reviews best contemporary romance of 2010! Smile on my face, I did a jig around the living room--aching hip be damned. Now I know what actors mean when they say it's an honor just to be nominated. Here's the link if you'd like to vote:
http://sirenbookreviews.weebly.com/nominees-contemporary-romance.html
Congrats to everyone who was nominated and a special thanks to Siren Book Reviews staff who thought so much of my book. *Happy dance...slowly* I'm still a little stiff today. Oh, and here's the link to Leap if you'd like a copy for yourself: http://www.jasminejade.com/m-683-cindy-jacks.aspx

Monday, January 10, 2011

Bringing in the New Year with Books and CTR (and me!)

Happy New Year readers! I'm please to participate in Coffee Time Romance's Bringing in the New Year with Books event so yep, there's a heart some where on my site: http://cindyjacks.com . Also, I'll be on the forums Jan. 27th with my fellow Ellora's Cave authors. Haven't heard about the event or want to know more? Check out the info below. Happy hunting!






It is time to let the winning begin!  Yes, tons of fun and prizes heading your way.

There are hearts on Coffee Time Romance & More.  
There are hearts on author's websites.
There are hearts on publisher's websites.

Remember if you want to get the clues to find those hearts, you will need to have our toolbar to receive the clues every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday!

This will help you be enter to win a new Pandigital color e-reader!

To read all about how this works and the legal junk, click here.
This week's schedule

These events are located in our forums. 

If you are not a member yet, put Coffee Crew in the referral box and we will speed you through the lines! So here is the schedule and prizes that are up for grabs! See, told you that you did not want to miss it! So you want to stop by, chat with the authors, and win their prize!

Jan.10
  • Lisa Marie Wilkinson - Autographed copy of Fire at Midnight and Stolen Promise
  • Lisa Fox - An eBook copy of my novella Sculpting a Demon
  • Mocha Memoirs Press - Autographed poster size image of the cover for A Healer's Bond, a Mocha Memoirs Press totebag, and a Mocha Memoirs Press tee-shirt
Jan. 11
  • Paige Tyler
     
  • Deanna Jewel - winner's choice of Never Surrender or No Turning Back
  • Zumaya Publications - gift basket, which will include neat Zumaya stuff and five (count 'em) signed books from Zumaya authors. :-) It's a good way to kick off our year-long fifth anniversary party
Jan.12
Jan.13
  • Charlie Cochrane - Winners choice of one of the Cambridge Fellows print books
  • jj Keller - $10 B&N card, two free e-books,Undercover Housewife and Love Hurts
  • Lyrical Press - eBook of Prey For Mercy by A.E. Rought.
Jan. 14
  • Nicole Gestalt - an ebook from my published ebooks - winners choice, as well as a pack of cards done in an encaustic style
  • Tracey Kitts - eBook (pdf) of Bitten
  • Miss Mae - autographed copy of my P&E 2009 winner YA, When the Bough Breaks
Jan. 15
Good Luck and have fun!