Mid Week Tease - Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack - Clarity of Hindsight

Welcome to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked for a new year of Mid Week Tease hosted by Sandra Bunino.

Authors: this is a great opportunity to spotlight a few lines or even a paragraph or two from a new release or backlisted title. Readers: you get to sample some delicious snippets! We’ll do our best to tease, titillate and tantalize you into the weekend.

Today I'm offering snippets from Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack, a paranormal romantic suspense. Julianna Morris has been chosen as a Luna candidate, the Alpha female hopeful, and Sabrina is helping her understand her Sister self, the wolf half of her. This is Julianna's first controlled shift.

The world had changed significantly. Every detail was sharper. Honeybees buzzed around the few flowers in the clearing wearing sharp jackets of gold and black while the rocks cast knife-edged shadows on individual blades of grass, waving gently in the breeze like green bristly hair. Everything seemed bigger or taller than she remembered. Even Sebrina looked down on her, though her face showed a satisfied smile.

“Very good, my daughter.” Her whisper carried like a normal voice to Julianna’s ears.

Sounds she’d been ignoring, such as the woodpecker pounding on a tree somewhere nearby or the patter of little rodent feet through the under growth, were as clear as if she’d put on headphones. She inhaled deeply and smelled the rodents and flowers and bees and the deer that had passed through this clearing earlier that morning. Sebrina’s scent wove its way into her awareness, a mixture of satisfaction, wolf, and pride. Before Julianna could savor the sights and scents, sharp surprise, sorrow, and regret tainted the air around the Paiute woman, and her smile disappeared.

Quick as lightning, the woman grabbed Julianna’s muzzle and turned her head sharply to the right, staring at her intently. Julianna had never seen herself in her wolf form so she had no idea what Sebrina was looking at, but whatever it was, the woman paled, and her hand shook where it touched Julianna’s muzzle.

Julianna whined uncertainly and thought, “What, Sebrina?”

The woman jerked as if she’d been slapped and stared at Julianna’s eyes with surprise and disbelief.

“It cannot be,” she whispered then, shaking her head in denial without letting Julianna free of her grip. “It cannot be.”

Julianna whined again. “What can’t be? I don’t understand.”

“Great Mother Moon, I never thought…to see…”

Julianna’s Sister didn’t like the scents coming from Sebrina and tucked her tail between her hind legs, trying to back away from the agonized Paiute woman. A whine full of fearful confusion escaped from Julianna’s chest, and she quailed at the loss of confidence in her inner wolf.

You must be your Sister’s leader, her protector. You must lead in your transformation from now on. It will keep you and your Sister safe. Sebrina’s instructions shot through Julianna’s awareness, and she pushed forward, taking the lead from her Sister.

Julianna tugged her head in Sebrina’s hand, pulling her lips back to bare her teeth, but the woman held fast for a few more moments. Sebrina appeared to be lost in whatever showed on Julianna’s face and the sorrow radiating from her overwhelmed her scent. Julianna’s Sister started to panic, and when Julianna growled like an animal cornered at the edge of fight or flight, Sebrina released her, dropping to her knees in the grass.

“I’m sorry, daughter, so sorry!” Sebrina wailed as she flattened her hands in the grass and placed her head between her arms until her forehead touch the ground. “I didn’t understand all those years ago, and I was afraid. Please forgive me.”

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Mid Week Tease - Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack - May the Best Wolf Win

Welcome to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked for a new year of Mid Week Tease hosted by Sandra Bunino.

Authors: this is a great opportunity to spotlight a few lines or even a paragraph or two from a new release or backlisted title. Readers: you get to sample some delicious snippets! We’ll do our best to tease, titillate and tantalize you into the weekend.

Today I'm offering snippets from Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack, a paranormal romantic suspense. Julianna Morris is invited to her high school crush's house for a party and meets up with the mysterious Sabrina. Then she finds out the town is a whole lot more furry than she originally thought, and she's at the alpha female selection party.

“Jeff is the next Alpha of the whole pack?”

Sebrina nodded with a satisfied smile. “He is. He has been groomed for this position since his birth some forty years ago.”

“Isn’t that a bit old to take over?”

Sebrina laughed, patting her hand again like an indulgent parent. “Oh my dear daughter, Moon Singers can live a hand of centuries, especially when they’re True Mated. Jefferson is quite young to take the reins.”

I’m going to live for centuries? “I see.”

“Tonight is a very special night because now the pack begins the search for the Luna.”

“Luna? Is that some sort of…Moon Princess?”

Sebrina looked at her shrewdly, her smile full of approval. “In a manner of speaking, yes. The Luna is the female Alpha, the feminine energy that balances the masculine. To be an effective leader, the future Alpha must pick his Luna, the female to rule with him with the Lady Moon’s blessing.”

Julianna bit her bottom lip and smoothed a wrinkle in the tablecloth in front of her. “Will the Luna be the Alpha’s mate for life?”

“Yes. They are a life-mated pair.”

He is your True Mate. Your male.

“How is the Luna chosen?”

“In the first days of the Moon Singers, when the Lady walked this world, it was a simple matter of the Alpha finding his True Mate and she would be the Luna. But as time passed, and Moon Singers were outnumbered by humans, it became harder for the Alphas to find their True Mates. Balanced leadership was still necessary, so the elders of each pack decreed that the strongest alpha females would be presented for candidacy for Luna in hopes that one of them was the True Mate to the new Alpha.”

“Wait, wait. You said alpha too many times here. What’s the difference between alpha”—Julianna used air quotes—“and Alpha?”

At first, Sebrina looked at Julianna as if she’d lost her mind. Then she lifted her chin in understanding and smiled.

“It is like referring to the president. There are many presidents out there, those of companies or clubs. But only one President of the humans’ United States. For Moon Singers, there are many alpha members, but only one Alpha pair. This candidacy party is for the selection of the Alpha female.”

“So the candidates for Luna are selected in…a beauty pageant?” Julianna’s eyes narrowed in disgust.

“Well, not for beauty, but to find the strongest and most capable female to lead the pack with the Alpha.” Sebrina gestured to the colorful female guests milling under the tents. “That’s what this party is about. This is where the Luna candidates will be presented to the ruling Alpha and his Successor.”

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Mid Week Tease - Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack - Entrance Exam

Welcome to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked for a new year of Mid Week Tease hosted by Sandra Bunino.

Authors: this is a great opportunity to spotlight a few lines or even a paragraph or two from a new release or backlisted title. Readers: you get to sample some delicious snippets! We’ll do our best to tease, titillate and tantalize you into the weekend.

Today I'm offering snippets from Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack, a paranormal romantic suspense. Julianna Morris is invited to her high school crush's house for a party. But before the party, she sits down with the family for what she thinks is a social reconnection. Turns out to be something else.

“You didn’t like leadership or management?” Richard’s voice was sharp.

Julianna felt the warning underlying his words. She stifled a frown. What is that about?

“I liked aspects of it, but I’m really more of a team player than a lone leader. I prefer to be ‘second-in-command’, sharing the responsibility but not the one to make executive decisions. I liked working with a partner rather than doing it all myself.”

Jeff shared a look with his dad that made ice run down her back. Was her answer wrong? She’d told the truth. Why am I worried if I answered wrong or right? When did this become an entrance interview? She shrugged her disquiet away and sipped her tea.

“What did you finally settle on studying?” Jeff’s voice was reserved.

“I chose Native American anthropology, particularly the Nations historically found within Nevada’s boundaries. Most of what UNR taught undergrads was general anthro, but I managed to find an older professor close to retirement who had made his career in the oral traditions of the Nations around our country. He was willing to take me on as his research assistant, even though I wasn’t a graduate student. I was second author on the book about the myths and traditions of the Paiute, Shoshone, and Ute Nations.”

“That sounds interesting,” Richard mused, dismissive. “I assume you graduated?”

Was he just humoring her? She raised her chin with indignation as anger blossomed but clamped down on her temper in the face of his disinterest. “Yes, I did, summa cum laude, actually.”

“Wow,” Jeff murmured with appreciation, and pleasure eroded some of her anger. “That’s great. What did you do after you graduated from UNR?”

“I worked in the casinos while I figured out what I was going to do next. I took the opportunity to learn tai chi, how to hang-glide, play pool, and play the Irish Tam.”

“That’s quite a list. Did you learn anything useful?” Richard tilted his head and rested it on his fist as if bored.

Julianna flattened her lips before she said something stupid. What was the old man’s problem? Did he think women should just stay home and mind children? Or was he maligning her selection of activities? Who the hell was he to criticize her choices in life? It was her life, dammit!

Deep breath, stay calm. Don’t insult the “big man” in his own home. Just find the right words to tell him he’s being a shit and do it with a smile. She thought hard before she responded.

“Yes, I did,” she said with a tight smile. “I found almost everything taught me patience, persistence, and cadence. None of them were easy to learn, and all of them took discipline and focus. I’d say those two things were the most important.”

Richard rubbed his chin thoughtfully with one finger, a half-smile curling his lips. Julianna had the sudden realization she’d passed some kind of test or at least the first hurdle. She almost frowned, but she forced her muscles to remain still. She glanced at Jeff, and his smile matched his father’s. Did he know what was going on?

Who am I kidding? Of course he knows what’s going on…at least, I hope he does. Does everyone meeting this family need to have an entrance interview?

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Mid Week Tease - Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack - Mine, mine, mine

Welcome to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked for a new year of Mid Week Tease hosted by Sandra Bunino.

Authors: this is a great opportunity to spotlight a few lines or even a paragraph or two from a new release or backlisted title. Readers: you get to sample some delicious snippets! We’ll do our best to tease, titillate and tantalize you into the weekend.

Today I'm offering snippets from Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack, a paranormal romantic suspense. Jeff Lightfoot is the heir apparent to the Callowwood Pack and now Julianna Morris has returned to her hometown for her dad's funeral. This is his POV and he's getting a whole new perspective on things at a crucial time in the turnover of pack hierachy.

Mine! Mine! Mine!

Jeff watched the burgundy Camaro slide away through the sunshine and clenched his fists at his sides to keep from bounding after it. He was fast enough to catch up to Julianna Morris, but it wouldn’t be appropriate for the future packleader of the Callowwood Pack to run after a female like a rabid dog. Protocols had to be followed and appearances had to be upheld. He tried to remind his cock of that, but the damn thing had a mind of its own, and right now it told him to run after his True Mate, appearances be damned.

“Dammit, calm down!” he snarled, and pounded his fist against his thigh hard enough to divert his attention from his groin to the pain. “You have to go back inside and face all those bitches and their families.”

The idea made him snarl even harder as he ground his teeth. He didn’t want any of them. They might be alpha females, true enough, but most were simpering, self-aggrandizing whelps wanting him only for his position and the prestige it gave them and their families. Every one of them thought she deserved to be the Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack.

Emphasis on bitch, he thought nastily, gulping great breaths of air to settle not only his hard-on but also his primal fury.

Pack policies and leadership protocols required him to interview several alpha female candidates for the position of his mate and Luna, the top Alpha female, for the betterment of the pack. It was tradition, left over from a time when Mates were few and far between. The pack needed a balanced leadership of male and female protection by their Alphas, but the Alpha’s True Mate hadn’t always appeared. The elders of each pack decided, if the future Alpha’s Mate did not appear, the leadership would be chosen by competition, and the future Alpha would choose from a group of likely alpha female candidates who passed a series of tests.

Times had changed. More Moon Singers—werewolves—lived among the humans now and finding True Mates was much easier. However, the tradition of the Luna selection remained in place for the Alphas, and he was bound by his rank to follow it. Before Julianna Morris had returned to Callowwood, the political requirements hadn’t bothered him.

Now everything had changed.

Holy First Canid, even her scent beguiled him. The combination of climbing gardenia and heated ponderosa pine forest wrapped around him with sensuous fingers. His hard-on flared again, along with uncertainty. Why didn’t I know she was a Moon Singer before?

Jeff had been attracted to Julianna ever since she’d started to develop breasts and hips. She’d flaunted herself at him all through her high school years with her cute, tight shirts and pants, sexy summer dresses and flirty attitude. Raging hormones filled her scent, taunting him with her delicious feminine musk. It was all he could do to treat her like another little sister and stay away from her, throwing himself into cold showers and punishing exercise routines. He’d never been so buff.

Whenever his mind demanded he take her and fuck her hard, he only stopped himself with two thoughts. First, she was too young and not nearly ready for sex, despite her beauty and innocent flirting. Second, she wasn’t a Moon Singer. She hadn’t smelled like one or acted like one, and her parents were human.

When the hell had that changed?

And when had she become his True Mate?

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Mid Week Tease - Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack - Still Friends

Welcome to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked for a new year of Mid Week Tease hosted by Sandra Bunino.

Authors: this is a great opportunity to spotlight a few lines or even a paragraph or two from a new release or backlisted title. Readers: you get to sample some delicious snippets! We’ll do our best to tease, titillate and tantalize you into the weekend.

Today I'm offering snippets from Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack, a paranormal romantic suspense. Julianna Morris swore she was human until she shifted for the first time. Now she's returned to her hometown for her dad's funeral and has to hide it from the one guy she's crushed since high school. Jeff Lightfoot always treated her like another little sister and now that she's a werewolf she has another reason to stay away from him. Even if it's the last thing she wants.

“Actually, I’m a little tired.” Julianna turned to her mother. “Mom, I think I’m going to go.”

“What? Why?” Beth’s face creased with concern.

“I’m tired, and I just need to be alone.” She shrugged uncomfortably. “Too many people around for me.”

“Do you want a ride home?” Jeff’s voice promised comfort and sweet intimacy, but his expression showed only friendly concern.

“No, thank you, I can drive myself. But can you take my mom home? We came in my car.” She began to push her way out of the booth. Her mother moved aside, and Jeff followed, making her heart flutter with excitement despite her fatigue.

“Of course. I’d be happy to do that.”

“Thanks, Mr. Lightfoot.”

He stiffened with surprise at her formality and pulled her to face him. His nostrils flared as a tremor shifted through her body with his touch.

“Call me Jeff. ‘Mr. Lightfoot’ is too formal for friends.”

“Are we friends, Jeff?”

He cocked his head, thoughtfully. “I always thought we were. Didn’t you?”

Can we be friends with benefits?

“Sure.”

“‘Sure’ as in you’re humoring me, or ‘sure, you guessed it’?”

“The latter.”

His eyes narrowed. “But that isn’t what you want? To be friends?”

Boldness bubbled up and she lifted her chin. “No, it isn’t.”

“Ouch!” He thumped himself in the chest with one hand. “What do you want, then?”

“Do you really have to ask? I thought it was pretty obvious from my pathetic efforts to throw myself at you all those years ago.”

His eyes turned gold as he grasped one hand, squeezing unconsciously. “You were my little sister’s friend. It didn’t seem right to court you then.”

She raised her eyebrows dubiously. “Is that your excuse?”

He laughed. “Not an excuse, a reason. You’re still bold as ever, though.”

“I’m still six years younger, Jeff, even if I’m no longer your sister’s friend. Has anything really changed?”

“You have.” His hand squeezed hers again. “You’ve changed a lot.”

“Actually, I haven’t,” she stated with a disappointed smile. “I’m still the same girl who threw herself at you all those years ago. I’m just older.”

Julianna pulled her hand free and shook her head, sorrow sliding through her. She wished she was different, more exciting or glamorous. But at the end of the day, she was still Julianna Morris, the girl with the larger-than-life-crush on Jeff Lightfoot. If he hadn’t seen it then, why would he see it now? 

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Mid Week Tease - Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack - Not Quite Alone

Welcome to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked for a new year of Mid Week Tease hosted by Sandra Bunino.

Authors: this is a great opportunity to spotlight a few lines or even a paragraph or two from a new release or backlisted title. Readers: you get to sample some delicious snippets! We’ll do our best to tease, titillate and tantalize you into the weekend.

Today I'm offering snippets from Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack, a paranormal romantic suspense. Julianna Morris swore she was human until she shifted for the first time. Now she's been invited to her long time crush's home for a party and an older woman is trying to explain everything that's going on around Julianna. And she finds out she's not quite alone.

“Take me to my seat and sit beside me for a moment. I’ll try to explain as quickly as I can before you must play your part in this pageant.”

Sebrina directed them to the table closest to the podium and Julianna helped her into her seat . Reading the place cards, she noted Sebrina shared the table with Richard, Tawny, and Jeff. She spied her own name on a place card beside Sebrina’s and was grateful someone had seen to it she’d sit with the few people she knew, even if they were the hosts of the party.

 Julianna took her seat beside the older woman and smoothed her skirt in an effort to stave off her jitters. Still, her heart pounded, and she hoped she presented a serene and confident façade. Her gut told her something big and frightening barreled her way, a runaway train of events she couldn’t stop. She could see the light coming, but she felt tied to the track.

“Now then, daughter, there’s no reason to be so concerned.” Sebrina patted her hand where it unconsciously clenched in her lap, and Julianna forced it to relax. “I know you’ve only recently returned to Callowwood, so all of this will be a rude shock or worse, but the timing cannot be helped, and you must do the best you can with what’s presented to you.”

 “What’s going on, Sebrina?”

The old woman settled herself in her chair. “Since you’ve been home, I’ve scented when you’ve changed into your Sister form, but she seems to have taken most of your choices from you when you changed.”

Julianna blinked. “My Sister form?”

“That of the Moon Singer, the dusky brown wolf who is the other half of your soul.”

Julianna felt all the blood leave her face. “How do you know about that?”

“Don’t look so worried, daughter. We all knew what you’d become the moment you returned.”

“All?” Julianna repeated weakly.

“Everyone here at this gathering.” Sebrina frowned a little, cocking her head to one side like a curious dog. “You’re now among more of your kind. Did you not know? Everyone here is a Moon Singer. You’re sitting with the members of the Callowwood Pack, the largest and strongest werewolf pack in the north central Basin and Range.”

The words hit Julianna like thrown stones: Everyone here, werewolf, your kind.

Julianna swallowed hard and gripped her chair tightly. Holy shit! All of them are werewolves.

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Mid Week Tease - Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack - Don't Be So Grabby

Welcome to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked for a new year of Mid Week Tease hosted by Sandra Bunino.

Authors: this is a great opportunity to spotlight a few lines or even a paragraph or two from a new release or backlisted title. Readers: you get to sample some delicious snippets! We’ll do our best to tease, titillate and tantalize you into the weekend.

Today I'm offering snippets from Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack, a paranormal romantic suspense. Julianna Morris swore she was human until she shifted for the first time. Now she's been introduced to the local pack as a Luna candidate (Alpha female prospect) and she's learned the females are often used as sex toys by higher ranked alpha males. Not her happiest moment. Her "Sister" self is the wolf side.

Julianna strode confidently through the house toward the front doors, her fury banked but still smoldering as she tightly gripped her purse, in which she’d dropped the token. She’d sought out Jeff, but he’d disappeared while Richard gave her the pendant, and he was nowhere to be found under the tents.

It figures he’d make me look for him so I can seek his approval for departure!

As she passed a darkened hallway to her right, a male arm reached out of the darkness and jerked her against a hard body. Rage blazed hot as she crashed into the wall of flesh with an unladylike grunt of surprise, but it dropped into icy fury as she slammed her elbow into her assailant’s gut.

Her Sister’s nature surged into the forefront of her awareness and she turned on her attacker with pent up ferocity.

He yelped as she stomped down on his instep, twisting in his arms. Then she shoved his shoulders back against the wall and slammed her knee into his groin. He collapsed, panting and groaning, when the irresistible scent of the desert rain penetrated her adrenaline rush.

Understanding dawned.

She’d just kneed Jeff Lightfoot in the balls! It would’ve been funny if she wasn’t so angry. His original grip had been sexually domineering, complete with raging hard-on.

“Jeff?” She grasped his shoulders. “What are you doing?”

“What the hell was that for?” he groaned, cupping his crotch protectively.

“Haven’t you learned never to grab a woman out of the darkness?” Julianna shook her head as some of her anger drained away. “I lived in the big city for a long time. More than one man tried to take me down. Are you okay?”

“No.” He sounded strangled, and she had to hide a smile. “Can’t breathe.”

“Sorry.”

“Damn, woman!”

“Damn, yourself! Why did you try to grab me?”

“I didn’t want you to leave yet,” he whispered as he slowly straightened up. His face looked a little gray, but it might have been the dim light. “I wanted to say a more private good-bye, but I think I’m only going to say good-bye to my balls. Shit!”

“I am sorry, even if I was defending myself.” She bit her bottom lip. “Do you want to sit down?”

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Big Cocks and Broomsticks Halloween Hop

Welcome to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked for the Big Cocks and Broomsticks Halloween Hop. Sounds naughty, doesn't it? It just might be.

Have you ever wondered how werewolves and vampires celebrate Halloween? What would they dress up as? What do they think are mythical creatures?

I stopped by the little town of Callowwood, Nevada last weekend and asked some of my favorite Moon Singer residents what their costumes would be this year.

Julianna Lightfoot nee Morris: "HAHAHAHAHAH. Holy Goddess, I haven't even thought about it. What happens when you are the monsters they've been warning you about?" *shakes head* "I think I'll go as Lady GaGa this year. She's sufficiently weird, and she's human...I think." *looks worried*

Jeff Lightfoot: "I'm going as a dog catcher. I get a kick out of the nervous looks from some of the betas when I walk around with my tranq gun and leash with collar." *winks*

Tawny Lightfoot: "I'm going as Elvira, Mistress of the Night. I'm pretty sure I can get my boobs to do that. Goddess knows I have to match my Luna." *grins*

Eloise Farkas: "I think I'll be a zombie bride. It's really the only way I'm likely to get married at this point." When I asked her what happened to her engagement to Tommy Scatterstone, she raised an indignant eyebrow at me and said, "Yeah, what do you suggest happened?"

Kyle Howler: "I'll be dressing up as a werewolf - you know, the goofy kind, wearing torn up clothes and a cheesey mask that looks vaguely like an ape. That should piss off a few folks."

Sabrina Westwind: "I'll be dressing up as Siobhan Muir, paranormal romance author." *winks* "I hope this gets her on the ball to write Kyle and Eloise's story."

Eep! And on that note, I'd best get after it. But first, here's the blurb to Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack.

Julianna Morris didn’t know werewolves existed…until she became one.

Hiding her new identity, Julianna returns home only to find her teenage crush, Jeff Lightfoot, is the future Alpha of the Callowwood werewolf pack. She’s unexpectedly chosen as a candidate for the pack’s next Luna, the Alpha female—and Jeff’s mate. This is perfect, except Julianna knows nothing about being a werewolf, and someone’s determined to make her fail the Seven Tests of the Luna.

Jeff Lightfoot lusted after Julianna for years, even when he thought she was human. Now she’s home and all his—if she passes the tests. She’s his True Mate and he wants no one else, but pack politics trump Mother Nature and will prevent him from choosing Julianna if she fails.

For the future she wants, Julianna must pass the tests to become Queen Bitch of Callowwood—or watch Jeff take another woman as his mate.

You can find Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack at:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Bookstrand | Kobo Books

Now for the Giveaway. I'm giving away some Hot Mojave Knights conference swag with goodies from Starla Kaye, Jacelyn Rye, Shannan Albright, Sabrina Devonshire, Lexi Ryan, Morgan Kearns, and many more who came to the con. To win, answer this question: What will you be for Halloween? Just leave your answer with a valid email address or Twitter handle. You must be 18 years or older to win, and please void where prohibited. It's open internationally, and ends 11:59 pm Pacific US time on November 11, 2013.

Plus there is a grand prize of $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble card, winner's choice!

Second place: $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble card,

Third place: $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble card.

Just sign up in the raffle copter below and follow the linky list to have more chances to win. Thanks for stopping by and happy hopping!

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Mid Week Tease - Jeff's Mistake

Welcome to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked for this week's Mid Week Tease hosted by Sandra Bunino.

Authors: this is a great opportunity to spotlight a few lines or even a paragraph or two from a new release or backlisted title. Readers: you get to sample some delicious snippets! We’ll do our best to tease, titillate and tantalize you into the weekend.

My Mid Week Tease is from Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack. Jeff thinks because he's the Alpha-heir-to-be, anything goes, even with Luna candidate, Julianna. She has a very different perspective. :)

He yelped as Julianna stomped down on his instep, twisting in his arms. Then she shoved his shoulders back against the wall and slammed her knee into his groin. He collapsed, panting and groaning, when the irresistible scent of the desert rain penetrated her adrenaline rush.

Understanding dawned.

She’d just kneed Jeff Lightfoot in the balls! It would’ve been funny if she wasn’t so angry. His original grip had been sexually domineering, complete with raging hard-on.

“Jeff?” She grasped his shoulders. “What are you doing?”

“What the hell was that for?” he groaned, cupping his crotch protectively.

“Haven’t you learned never to grab a woman out of the darkness?” Julianna shook her head as some of her anger drained away. “I lived in the big city for a long time. More than one man tried to take me down. Are you okay?”

“No.” He sounded strangled, and she had to hide a smile. “Can’t breathe.”

“Sorry.”

“Damn, woman!”

“Damn, yourself! Why did you try to grab me?”

“I didn’t want you to leave yet,” he whispered as he slowly straightened up. His face looked a little gray, but it might have been the dim light. “I wanted to say a more private good-bye, but I think I’m only going to say good-bye to my balls. Shit!”

“I am sorry, even if I was defending myself.” She bit her bottom lip. “Do you want to sit down?”

He nodded, and she slid one arm around his waist, lowering him to the floor.

“Goddess above, you smell wonderful. How did you hide it for so long?” He dropped his head and nuzzled her neck and jawline as she sat beside him. Arousal pushed through her chagrin, tightening her nipples.

“I didn’t.” She snorted. “I threw myself at you for years, and you ignored me the whole time, remember?”

Get your werewolf fix here:

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Rites of Spring Blog Hop - Falling for the First Time

Welcome to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked for the Rites of Spring Blog Hop. I love this time of year because I can open the doors and windows of my house and enjoy the breezes that come through. I also get to see new growth on the trees and flowers in the garden. New beginnings. The best time of year.

This blog hop is all about firsts, and I'm happy to say I've just celebrated my FIRST publishing anniversary. Woot! So exciting.

I write paranormal stories because the very first book I remember my father reading to me was the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Have you ever enjoyed his work? It's where I learned how the Elephant's Child got his trunk, how the Camel got his hump, how the Leopard got his spots, and the song of Old-Man Kangaroo. I whiled away many a night dreaming of the great gray-green greasy Limpopo River and the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake, and danced to dreams of the Dingo-Yellow Dog Dingo and Old Man Kangaroo. The animals could speak and had adventures of their own. Better than Disney, it set me on my path writing about werewolves, dragons, goblins, and the magic of the Fae.

If you haven't ready Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, I highly recommend them, and they're great bedtime stories for your kids if you have them. I've introduced my kids to the Camel already and The Elephant's Child is next. :)

As for my own stories, the first book in the Callowwood Pack series, Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack, is out and available for your pleasure. It introduces my werewolves and how the wolves learned to walk like a man. ;) Oh yes, Best Beloved, you can learn this tale along with Julianna Morris as she trains to be the Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack. Here is the blurb:

Julianna Morris didn’t know werewolves existed…until she became one.

Hiding her new identity, Julianna returns home only to find her teenage crush, Jeff Lightfoot, is the future Alpha of the Callowwood werewolf pack. She’s unexpectedly chosen as a candidate for the pack’s next Luna, the Alpha female—and Jeff’s mate. This is perfect, except Julianna knows nothing about being a werewolf, and someone’s determined to make her fail the Seven Tests of the Luna.

Jeff Lightfoot lusted after Julianna for years, even when he thought she was human. Now she’s home and all his—if she passes the tests. She’s his True Mate and he wants no one else, but pack politics trump Mother Nature and will prevent him from choosing Julianna if she fails.

For the future she wants, Julianna must pass the tests to become Queen Bitch of Callowwood—or watch Jeff take another woman as his mate.

For this blog hop, I'm offering a Siobhan Muir tote bag full of swag (internationally), and there is also a Grand Prize of a Kindle Fire (offered international), and a First Prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card for the overall blog hop. The more places you hop to, the more chances you have to win. The hop runs from 12:01 am Pacific time March 20th until 11:58 pm Pacific time March 23rd. The winner will be announced on the blog on Sunday, March 24th.

Siobhan Muir Tote (the mug is there for scale)

To be entered for the Siobhan Muir Tote, you have to tell me what was the first bedtime story you remember that fired your imagination? Please leave a valid email address or Twitter handle in your comment so I can find you to let you know if you won. If you don't post your email or Twitter handle, you won't be included in the drawing.

To be entered to win the Kindle Fire or the Amazong Gift Card, please enter through the Rafflecopter:

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Thank you for stopping by. Don't forget to hop to the other blogs and see what firsts they're offering. Have a great spring and happy reading! :)

HAPPY PUBLISHING ANNIVERSARY PARTY!

Woot! It's my first anniversary as a published author! *Throws confetti and pours champagne*

One year ago Her Devoted Vampire erupted on the publishing scene and has thrilled readers ever since. It's the introduction to my whole world of vampires, werewolves, dragons, goblins, and the Morukai, who you'll meet soon. ;)

I wrote it on a dare. My husband, Mr. SM, said romance was bunk, so I said I'd try to write one. He has graciously admitted I convinced him it's not bunk. :)

To that end, I'm offering a little excerpt of one of my favorite parts in the story, and a giveaway, since there are always gifts and goodies at anniversary parties. First the excerpt:

Bridget immediately recognized the handsome man from Snickerdoodles and her heart fluttered with excitement. He was here in her bedroom. Wait, what was he doing in her bedroom? Her eyes snapped to the bedspread again. This wasn’t her bedroom!

            “Where am I?” she asked as she struggled to sit up, but aborted the effort when pain shot through her side.

“Just rest for now. You aren’t ready yet.” His familiar voice settled some of her uncertainty and fright.

            “Why do I hurt? What’s wrong with me?”

The pain felt like she’d literally been hit by a baseball bat beneath her ribs on the left side. What was wrong with her? She hadn’t felt this bad, even after the British had come to the farm in her dream. She slid her hand down to test her injury, but she couldn’t feel anything.

            “Do you remember me, Bridget? I met you at Snickerdoodles.”

            Oh, she remembered, all right. She remembered the scent of his skin and the warmth of his body beside her. At least, she thought she did. He’d wrapped his cloak around her, hadn’t he?

            She closed her eyes and shook her head to clear the cobwebs of mixed memories.

            “I returned your book and tried to hail a cab for you. Do you remember that?”

            No. Wait. Yes, she remembered the terrible kidnapping scene in the book and how she’d left it on the table in the coffee shop. Her memories played out in a reel until it ended with red eyes and searing pain.

            Bridget’s eyes flew open and she stared at her companion with dawning unease. His expression filled with concern and compassion, his eyes a deep chocolate brown. No sign of red anywhere. They weren’t even bloodshot.

            “You’re Fredrick MacGregor.”

            “That’s right.” A smile flitted over his lips.

            “And you smell like spiced apples and vanilla.”

            His black eyebrows disappeared into his hairline, one tendril falling across an eye. It looked soft and smooth and she wanted to push it behind his ear for him, but his smug look banished any tender feelings that might have developed.

            “You were stabbed in the side and I brought you to my home here in Gloucester to take care of you.”

            Stabbed? She’d been stabbed? Gasping, she wrenched the bedclothes away from her body and scanned the skin of her belly. The bruised pain she felt directed her eyes to her left side but there was nothing there, not even discoloration. If she’d been stabbed, where was the scar, the scab?

Is he just teasing me? What kind of a jerk does that? Then the rest of his words sank in.

            “Gloucester?”

            “Yes. It was the safest place I could think to take you.”

            Bridget narrowed her eyes as she raised her gaze to meet his again, her hands still holding the bedclothes up.

            Safe for whom, you chocolate-eyed kidnapper?

“Normally you take injured people, like those with stab wounds, to the hospital. Or at least call the paramedics.” What was she doing in Gloucester in a richly decorated bedroom? Was it his bedroom?

There are worse places to be, a traitorous voice remarked.

“There was no time and I knew I could care for you as well or better than any hospital,” Fredrick replied to her unasked questions.

Riiiiggghhhtt, that’s what all the sociopaths say to their victims.

            “I have to go,” she croaked out as she tried to sit up again. She’d make it home come hell or high water. Goosebumps zinged along her leg when it appeared out of the covers.

“Whoa!” She jerked her legs back under the bedclothes and stared incredulously at the man sitting next to her on the bed. “Where are my clothes?”

            “I haven’t had time to get any from your apartment,” he explained, his eyes never dropping from hers. “I’ll send someone presently.”

            She raised her eyebrows. “Presently? Who uses words like ‘presently’? And how do you know where I live–” She groaned, frowning. “You looked in my wallet from my coat.”

            “That seemed to be the most logical place to look for your name and home address.”

            “That’s just great. A perfect ending to a perfect day,” she growled, slumping back in the bed. “Stabbed, kidnapped, and naked in a stranger’s bed. It just doesn’t get much worse.”

            “Except, perhaps, being kidnapped by a vampire with a house full of werewolves,” he suggested, a half-smile curling his kissable lips.

            She snorted. “Thank God there’s no such thing as vampires or werewolves.”

           He stilled as if the life within him bled away, leaving nothing but a quiet, waxen shell, and his face lost the humor in it. Unease crept through her as she stared hard at him, clutching the covers so tightly her knuckles turned white. The scent of spiced apples shifted to a dirt smell, like moist earth or the desert after the rain, and her stomach cramped with visceral fear.

Oh, poor Bridget. She has no idea what world she's stumbled across. So now it's time for goodies. I'm offering a Print copy of Her Devoted Vampire and an e-copy of Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack to two lucky commenters who fill out the rafflecopter below and leave me a comment with your email address or Twitter handle. The giveaway will run from Feb. 22 2013 until midnight Thursday, Feb. 28th 2013. It is open internationally, but you must be 18 years or older to win and please void where prohibited.

Don't forget to tweet and share the giveaway! Let's celebrate the stories getting out there and more to come - one at the end of March and another in May! Woot. :D Thanks for visiting and happy reading. :)


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