Cocked & Loaded, Shootin' Stars & Blasting Giveaway Blog Hop!!

Are you ready to party?  I am!!  So here it is!  Our big blog hop to celebrate not only the birth of our glorious country's independence, but all the people who help protect it!!! Remember to stop by Queen Tutt's to enter in the the Kindle Fire Giveaway!!

Hop Details!

Hosted by:

Queentutt’s Word of Escapism

&

Close Encounters of the Night Kind

Sponsored by:

Bloggers: Rage, Sex, & Teddy Bears , Reading Between the Wines , Fictional Candy, Sam, E, and R’s Awesomness , The Jeep Diva, Salacious Reads Blog, As the Pages Turn

Authors:

Amy Gregory , Andrew Grey , Axel Howerton , Cassandra Carr , Cecilia M. Robert , Crymsyn Hart , Danielle D. Smith , Deena Remiel , Diana Castilleja , Diana DeRicci , Dominique Eastwick , Ednah Walters , Elaine Raco Chase , Evanne Lorraine , Eve Langlais , Felicity Heaton , Gabrielle Bisset , Gayle Donnelly , Jean Joachim , Jenna Jaxon , Karyn Gerrard , Keta Diablo , Leanora Elliott , Leia Shaw , Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy , Lindsay Downs , Lisa Beth Darling , Lynda Park Frazier , Melissa Craig , Michelle McCleod , Myra Nour , Natasha Blackthorne , Nora Weston , Paige W. Pendleton , Patricia Green , Rachel Van Dyken , Rayna Vause , Robin Badillo , Seraphine Donavan , Shannan Albright , Stephanie Burke , T.C. Archer , Tarah Scott , Verity Ant , Regan Walsh , Victoria Vane

Yes we are Cocked & Loaded with some amazingly great books, Shootin Stars with the Authors & Bloggers, and Blasting a Giveaway with TWO (2) KINDLE FIRES. Our Co-Sponsored Author’s will be donating various gifts to go along with the Kindle Fires such as either their book (,s), Gift Cards so you can choose which book you want, or other number of gifts to go along with this wonderful Grand Prize.

Cool Right! Not only that, there is more to this great hop besides the Grand Prize – at each stop on the hop you have more chances to win more great prizes. So hop along and lets have some fun.

So what can you win here? Faeries, Hot scottish lords, Vamps, and Wax!!

A print copy of (US only)

Swept away into a court of magic and beauty, she discovers she is Tania, the lost princess of Faerie: the youngest daughter of Oberon and Titania. Since Tania's mysterious disappearance on the eve of her wedding five hundred years before, Faerie has been sunk in darkness and gloom. The courtly Lord Gabriel Drake, who Tania was once to marry, has found her and brought her back.
With Tania's return, Faerie comes alive again as a land of winged children, glittering balls, and fantastic delights. But Tania can't forget Anita's world, or the boy she loved there.
Torn between two loves and between two worlds, Tania slowly comes to discover why she disappeared so long ago. She possesses a singular magical ability and she must use it to stop a sinister plan that threatens the entire world of Faerie.

Ecopy of your Choice of Suz de Mello's backlist (Int)

Agent Kathie Belmont has long lusted after her boss, Ross Guerrero, but has never plucked up the courage to even flirt with him. Could he be the strong but tender Master she craves?

Ross wants Kathie in his life—on her knees. But the constraints of their jobs with an ultra-secret US security agency have come between them.

Until the sadistic drug-trafficker El Silencio is tempted into a deal with Ross’s undercover persona—a deal that will go down at a BDSM party. With Kathie disguised as his sex slave, Ross sets out to bring down the criminal gang, and perhaps to tempt Kathie into performing her role for him…forever.

Ecopy of a yummy vamp read!!(Int)

On a business trip to Japan, Paige has just found happiness with Casey, an exciting, young man with a passionate interest in Paige. After a night of wild sex, feels like a new woman. Drawn to Casey, Paige can’t refuse him even though he says he wants to possess her and she learns he is a vampire. Then Paige's unfaithful husband, Dalton, shows up. He has supposedly broken off his affair, but Paige suspects he is still seeing his mistress. Soon, Paige begins to notice disturbing things happening around her and discovers she has become the center of a battle between covens who consider her The Chosen One. But when she faces the greatest peril of her life, and Casey shows up to help, Page realizes she is willing fight the covens side-by-side with him, if it means the chance of a future with this vampire she has come to love.

Ecopy of a yummy BDSM!!(Int)

Marie loves her husband Neil. He is her Dom too, the perfect Dom, for her, and her dream man. An unexpected package, a surpise that makes her so hot she just can't wait, so she rushes upstairs. If only Marie wasn't such a bratty kitten.

Neil arrives home, catching her in the act and she knows she's in trouble. With her love and trust, she accepts his punishment.

Sir takes her to new heights forcing orgasms, extended whip play and dripping wax. Join our couple on their latest adventure into their journey of BDSM.




Awesome line-up!!  Just feel out the rafflecopter and don't forget to stop by the rest of these great blogs!!  Good Luck!!

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Giveaway and Review of Pack of Lies By Staci Weber and Sara Dailey

Happy 4th of July my Close Encounter Minions!!!  I hope you all have an enjoyable holiday and try your best to find ways to keep cool!  Welcome to my stop on the Pack of Lies Tour.  I had the opportunity to review it and can't wait to share my thoughts with you.  But first, let's take a look at the authors and the book details:

Blurb:

The last thing Allison Wright ever expected when she moved to Red Ridge, New Mexico was to come muzzle to muzzle with the wolf of her dreams.

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Allison Wright is convinced she’s losing her mind. Uncontrollable mood swings, hot flashes, and the urge to punch anyone who gets in her way are suddenly becoming everyday occurrences. Before her erratic behavior gets out of hand, Allison’s mother finally comes clean about her dark secret. Mom is a werewolf, and soon Allison and her brother Aiden will suffer the same fate. When Allison reaches her breaking point, the family leaves their life in Texas to move to Red Ridge, New Mexico where they rejoin the pack that Allison’s mother left behind almost 20 years ago.

Unfortunately, not everyone in Red Ridge is thrilled about Allison’s arrival, especially when she attracts the attention of the very handsome, very taken, soon-to-be alpha, Cade Walker. Little does Allison know, her mere presence is causing a rift in a once unified pack. Not only has Cade been forbidden from being with Allison by his father, the pack’s alpha, Cade’s girlfriend, Kendall Stuart, will stop at nothing to get Allison out of the picture. Well on her way to becoming the next alpha’s mate, Kendall expects to rule the pack by Cade’s side even if it means teaming up with a rogue werewolf with an agenda of his own. Determined to get rid of Allison permanently, when Kendall and the rogue join forces, all hell breaks loose and no one in the pack is safe, especially not Cade and his true mate.  

Book excerpt:

“I picked up on a scent that stopped all thought, all movement, leaving me standing completely still, breathing in a smell that I would never forget. A mix of earth, and musk, and honeysuckle, and sandalwood filled my senses leaving me with a need, a need to find this thing that was suddenly making me salivate, suddenly making me ache with desperation.

            Without hesitation, my nose hit the ground as I began to track the enticing smell. I didn’t look up. I didn’t stop moving. I didn’t stop to think about what I might find. None of it mattered. I needed to find the source of that wonderful scent.

            In the near distance, I heard a rustling in the brush, which ceased the mission that had held me spellbound. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked around, spooked by what I might find, but what I saw was the last thing I expected.

            Peering out from behind a tall oak, a wolf was watching me. We just stood still, staring at each other, neither of us moving a muscle. His amazing green eyes were in sharp contrast to his deep, dark fur. He was a much bigger wolf than me, strong and lean, and the glint in his eyes told me that he was no ordinary wolf.”

Author Bio:

Both Sara Dailey and Staci Weber are avid readers, English teachers, friends, wives, and soccer moms. They have been teaching together for the past eight years, and writing together for four. Pack of Lies is the second young adult novel for this duo.

My Review:

Alli was your typical popular all American sweetheart, right up until about 6 months before her birthday, when everything changed.   Suddenly all of her friends wanted nothing to do with her, her boyfriend broke up with her, and she was getting in fights left and right.  No matter how hard she tried, she could not for the life of her figure out what had happened.  It was almost as if a curse had been put on her.  Her whole life dramatically changed and if it wasn't for her brother she would be absolutely alone.  Then mom breaks the big news: Honey, I'm a werewolf!  Alli's changes bring about one big move and a re-insertion for her mother in pack life.

Alli was so excited!  A new life and a chance to finally make some new friends, be introduced to her grandparents, and maybe start dating!  Politics reign supreme over pack life and even though Alli's hopes weren't completely dashed, it wasn't all she hoped it would be.  Then to make matters worse she goes through her first change and runs smack into the wolf of her dreams.  His smell is so intoxicating that she ends up playing with him for a few hours.  The glaring reality the next day points her wolfie date to be none other than the future alpha of the pack and the boyfriend of Alli's new nemesis.

I love a good were story and this one was definitely unique and chalked full of secrets!!  Pack of Lies was aptly titled.  I really like Alli.  She was completely relatable and you just feel for her throughout the story.  She seems to inadvertently attract trouble.  Another thing I enjoyed about this book was that it was written from different perspectives.  You always knew what the main characters were thinking. I really would like to see where this series is going.  I really enjoyed this first taste!!

So would you like a chance to meet these wonderful weres?  Just fill out the rafflecopter!!  Good Luck!!
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Giveaway and Review of Dreaming Montana By Kim Nathan

Hello and Welcome to my stop on Kim's tour of Dreaming Montana!  I had the privilege to review this delightful book, and will be sharing my thoughts on it in a bit.  Let's take a look at the book details and a little bit about our featured author:

In a single day, Cara Gallagher experiences an erotic dream about a man she doesn’t know and has a premonition of her identical twin—at the exact moment her sister dies in a car accident.  To escape her grief and a loveless marriage, Cara accepts a temporary job reassignment in Seattle, where she continues to have sensuous dreams of the unknown man. There she encounters an angel who claims to be sent by her dead sister to help her find the man in her dreams. Meanwhile, photographer Jay Amiens sees angel wings on his film and has recurring intimate dreams about a woman he doesn’t know—but would love to meet in person.  Set in 1993, Dreaming Montana invokes the spirit of Seattle at the height of the grunge era, with the city as the backdrop for Cara and Jay to potentially cross paths.

DREAMING MONTANA EXCERPT:

“Here she was back in Seattle, and the whole city lay before her like a giant maze. All she wanted to do was run to the center of it, where she would find him. Now she kept her head up when she walked, searching the faces of people passing by, looking for him everywhere in the crowd. Among the flower stalls at Pike Place Market, while she paused to admire the fresh bouquets, she wondered if he rambled these same aisles. She would see him; she had to believe that now. He was here somewhere, waiting for her. At any moment, she could meet him. Until then, she would walk the same city, breathe the same air, see the same stars in the same sky as he did. And she would wait.”

About the Author:

Kim Nathan is an American author of historical and contemporary romance fiction. Her first novel was Sterling Redmond, a historical romance. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, she relocated to Seattle, Washington in 1994, where she lives with her husband and cats. 

 

My Review:

If you are looking at the cover thinking what's the deal with that?  Don't worry.  It gets explained in the book and as you look back at it and go ahhh, you start to see the beauty in the simplicity. Actually, that's the case for the whole book.  If you are looking for action-packed sequences or studded leather collars, this isn't the book for you.  It's rather an everyday tale with divine intervention

Cara's life (or lack of it) consists of a normal everyday routine.  Same thing, every day, with no exceptions or surprises.  Until her twin sister dies.  Then Cara's life is turned upside down.  It took her sister dying for Cara to finally reach out and want to live.  The life that she had up until that point was not living. She needed change, so when her job offered her a position in the Seattle branch for a special project, Cara jumped at the offer.  She needed to leave the gloom behind her and decide if her marriage was fixable.

 As she settles more and more into her new life, she begins to realize all of the things that were wrong in her life in Baltimore.  She is also having dreams about a man.  A beautiful man who talks to her, shares things with her, and makes love to her almost every night.  He helped her more with her grief over her sister's death then any living person could.  But he isn't real...or is he?

This was a sweet romance, almost reminiscent of Sleepless in Seattle, which I really adored.  You go back and forth between Jay and Cara's point of view and follow them through their everyday lives. It seems that fate has a special plan for the two of them and they have sent messengers to assure them that everything goes as planned.  Would that we all had guardian angels such as these!!  The world would be a happier place.  It was a delightful read!!

So would you like a chance to win your own copy?   Just fill out the rafflecopter!!!  Good Luck!!

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Winners!!

I know you have been eargerly awaiting this post!!  LOL!!  So let's get to it!!

And the winner is...Marla C.!!!

And the winner is Solange!!!

And the winner is ....Sandy Lions!!!!!

And the winner is...... Cassandra Graham!!!

And the winner is... Videlia Hastings!!

And the winners are.... Elizabeth Kotkiewicz Hyatt, Lilian Cheng, Jolene A,  and Dawn Froggy Saenz!!

And the winner is....DeeDee Brinkman Griffin!!

Congrads to all of these winners!!!  I'm still working on the blogoversary winners!!  They will be up soon!!

Guest Post with Donna Del Oro

Happy Monday CEWTNK!!  Today I have Donna with me and she will be telling us about her new book!  Take it away Donna!!

Behind THE DELPHI BLOODLINE: ESP/PSI and What Inquiring Minds Want to Know              by Donna Del Oro

Psi is a fascinating field to study, and so the research for my romantic thriller enthralled me every step of the way. I’d been interested in ESP phenomena since early adulthood. My cousin was a full-time, practicing psychic who claimed an approximately 85% accuracy rate in her readings. I’d had a number of experiences that proved to me that I was highly intuitive. But Psi is its own right is fascinating because it calls so many basic beliefs, scientific and otherwise, into question.

Researchers of Psi divide psychic phenomena into several primary areas, and then tend to pick one on which to focus their study. Those areas of research and testing are: Telepathy, the study of mind-to-mind communication; Precognition, the transfer of knowledge about future events that cannot be inferred through any known way; Clairvoyance, studying the transfer of information about faraway places without using the normal senses; Psychokinesis, the mental interaction with material items, whether animate or inanimate; and Biological psychokinesis, the mental interaction with living systems (for example, healing from a distance or the communication with living creatures of different species).

In THE DELPHI BLOODLINE, my heroine Athena Butler, the modern-day descendant of the powerful and ancient Delphi bloodline, displays abilities of telepathy, clairvoyance and biological psychokinesis. Her mother and grandmother all show similar abilities, as does the mother of the hero, Kas Skoros. They are heirs to the bloodline, women whose ancestry can be traced back to the clairvoyant and healing priestesses of ancient Greece.  The problem in my story is that a ruthless tycoon finds out about the bloodline and wants to exploit and if necessary enslave them. To stay free and alive, they must turn vigilant and use all their talents to trap the mastermind’s minions—and try to ensnare the mastermind as well.

Until recent decades, many psychologists and psychiatrists viewed psi with skepticism. Today, the field is open to the connections between psi and psychology, neuroscience and physics. Many top-notch, international academic institutions, such as Cambridge, Princeton, the University of Virginia and SRI (Stanford Research Institute), have psi labs. The same natural laws that apply to physics and other sciences also apply to psi. It can be tested in the lab and has been for decades, the results of which gave rise to the Department of Defense’s Stargate Program.

Many scientists agree that psi might actually be a type of mental process or state, such as memory, learning or consciousness. The psychic women in THE DELPHI BLOODLINE exemplify the extraordinary mental processes that science labs all over the world are now studying.

Now let's take a look at the book details:

Athena Butler is the modern-day descendant of an ancient bloodline of gifted clairvoyants. She’s trying to live a “normal” life as an artist, but with the disappearance of her mother and other notable psychics, she finds herself dragged into danger. She, too, is a target.

Kas Skoros, the son of a psychic, is a Guardian, one of a secret society whose task is protecting the Delphi bloodline. He rushes to rescue Athena and uncover the mastermind behind the kidnapping plot.

Athena and Kas stay one step ahead with Athena’s psychic abilities and Kas’s training in law enforcement. When they seek refuge at the Skoros compound in the Sierra Nevada foothills, the FBI convinces them that the only way to stop the kidnappers and trap the mastermind is for Athena to offer herself as bait. 

Giveaway and Review of Seduced by Three By Sylvia Ryan

Happy Sunday my Decadent Devotees!!  Do I have a yummy treat for you to take a glance at today!! Just take a look at the video and then we will get down to the book details and my opinion on it!

Let's take a look at the book details and wet your appetite some more:




Grace Hunter is trained in survival and doesn't need anyone to protect her from the anarchy that results after the EMP. But still, she is stuck confined in an underground shelter with three men—Steven "Sarge" Connelley, Van Goodwin, and Luke Evers—all totally different, all powerfully sexy. Together, the group faces the threats of the deadly city above ground. Individually, each man succeeds in seducing her. And before long, all three want Grace for himself alone. Animosity inside the shelter grows unbearable until Grace finally resolves to end it once and for all…and simply vanishes without a trace.

It takes months for the men to eventually realize that Grace left them willingly. When they do, hostilities flare between them again. They fight each other, and then fight together to muddle through the complexities of sex, love, and their own egos to forge an arrangement that could make them all happy.


My Review:

Let me just start by saying that I could never be this freakin lucky!! If this scenario came to pass, I would have probably been one of the people killed early on. Not shacked up with three incredibly hot men! So yeah, this would have been my wish if I could foresee the end of time coming..LOL!! We start off with Sarge (MY Fav!!) who has promised Grace's father that if anything were to happen while he was out of town, that Sarge would take care of his daughter. Sarge is your ultimate alpha; you know the kind of guy who could fix a flat tire with some string and super glue? Always prepared and Always in charge. He was definitely the more than enough man for me! So he goes and procures Grace. I can't say rescues, because she is just not that kind of girl that needs it, so I will go with procures. Sparks fly between them and Grace is determined to keep him at arm’s length. She has some baggage of her own. Then she meets Van when she sneaks away to take a bath and he makes her heart flip-flop. Then Lucas sort of finds her looking for Sarge. The situation gets edgy and complicated. Grace feels like she has complicated their situation and is unable to stand the pressure. So she takes off. How can she love three guys in the best of situations, let alone the worst? Can the four of them come to an agreement?

 

 

This was a super hot read. It is something that is clearly out of my fantasies, minus the end of the world drama and lack of running water. There are some surprising twists thrown in there and ends up with quite a likeable plot. I would definitely read another book by this author. This book was very enjoyable and hot!!

 So would you like to win a copy?  Of course you would!!  Just fill out the rafflecopter!!  Good Luck!

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Review: Even Villains Fall in Love By: Liana Brooks

If you believe the rumors you know that Doctor Charm, the wickedly sexy super villain, retired in shame seven years ago after his last fight with the superhero Zephyr Girl. The fact that the charming Evan Smith - father of four and husband of the too-beautiful-to-be-real Tabitha - bears a resemblance to the defeated Doctor is pure coincidence. And, please, ignore the minions.

Everything is perfect in the Smith household until Tabitha announces her return to work as a superhero. Evan was hoping to keep her distracted until after he rigged the 2012 presidential election, but – genius that he is – Evan has a backup plan. In his basement lab Evan has a machine whose sole purpose is keeping Tabitha hungry for him.

But children and labs don’t mix. The machine is broken, and Tabitha storms out, claiming she no longer knows him. World domination takes a back seat to meeting his daughters’ demands to get Mommy back right now. This time his genius isn’t going to be enough – he’s going to need both his evil alter-ego and the blooming super abilities of his children to save his wife. But even his most charming self might not be enough to save their marriage.

My Review:

I have always had a thing for villains :) I mean come-on they are the fun ones!! Who wants to be surrounded by a glorious do-gooder ALL the time? This story was absolutely fantastic!! It had that evil villain over-confidence humor and world’s greatest dad mixed up all together. Everything was perfect in the "retired" Dr. Charms house until his wife announced that she wanted to go back to work. Being a villain who was married to a super-hero obviously had its draw backs, but his wife had been content with her stay at home mother role up until now. And timing couldn't be worse. He had been just about to put the finishing touches on his newest development that would assure everyone of a steady source of income, and him control of the US. It was a great start! But as he becomes the daddy-sitter by day and his children start playing in the lab, well accidents do happen, and children break things. Everything seems to go wrong from there. His wife comes home in a foul mood and leaves him the next day. He begins to search for her frantically trying to figure out what has happened. And, unbelievably, stumbles upon a plot from a super-hero!

This story was so cute!! I laughed all the way through it because he really does handle things well and it is so obvious that he loves his family. There is a surprising twist at the end of the story that melts your heart. This is a MUST read!! It will delight every aspect of your being and have you wishing that it would not end! Excellent Read!!!