Hump Day Hook #HDH Giveaway! – Love Redeems (A Redcliffe Novel)

Hello and welcome to the Hump Day Hook. This week we are feeling generous, perhaps with the true beginning of summer as we head into the beautiful month of May. Anyway, our Hump Day Hook bloggers are offering giveaways today! For my part I am offering a signed paperback copy of my newly released third book in the series, Love Redeems (A Redcliffe Novel). Here is an excerpt, to give you a taster of what to expect from my adult paranormal romance series:

      Jack was silent beside me, concentrating on the road ahead.  His energy was still strong and the atmosphere inside the car was cool and angry.  He was angry with me; I knew that.  He was also confused about my powers and he was wondering just how strong and dangerous I would prove to be.  Jack couldn’t help but worry that I had hidden my true abilities from him and Danny in order to carry out some elaborate plan to assassinate them.  He hadn’t said as much, but I knew the truth.  My mother, Lillian, had visited me during the day, speaking inside my mind.  She had told me what I needed to know.  The Mason brothers lived in a state of perpetual alert for enemies.  They trusted very few people, and now I was teetering between the list of people they trusted, and people they were wary of.  Sighing again, I roused myself and shook my head, breathing slowly in and out to try and ease the pressure I felt in my chest. 

 Now for the competition rules. All I ask is for you to comment on this post and tell me why it is that Jessica (our heroine) might prove to be a threat to the safety of the Mason brothers. You can check out the details about the Redcliffe novels on the pages at the top of my blog, or on their dedicated website. You can also read the first book, Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel) free on Wattpad for a limited time only. Tell me why Jessica is dangerous, and I will award a free signed copy of Love Redeems (A Redcliffe Novel) to the winner. If there are several correct answers, I will choose one at random. Good luck!

If you enjoyed this excerpt, why not pop over to our dedicated Hump Day Hook blog and get yourself some more freebies? We write about romance, love, science fiction, fantasy, erotica and everything in-between, so you are sure to find something that delights the senses. You can also find us on Facebook. Happy Humping! 

A Mysterious Case of Writers Block

I have just returned from a holiday. It was much-needed, and I was hoping to use my time to work on a manuscript that I have been limping through for about the last six months or so. I signed up to Camp NaNoWriMo for the first time this month, and set myself a target of 50,000 words. I already had 20,000 words written, so how difficult could it be? Quite a task, as it turns out. So far this month I have barely written 6000 words on the manuscript. But, I am not despairing yet. There is still time to perform a miracle!

My holiday took me to the west coast of Scotland, and a beautiful town called Ayr. I have never visited before, but looking at a few photos online piqued my interest. I was not expecting the town to be quite so large. In fact, I fell in love with the place! It has a fantastic sandy beach that stretches for at least a couple of miles. There is a harbour that we didn't get round to exploring, and I was curious to follow the rocky coastline and see what treasures could be found in either direction heading out of town. Unfortunately, with two toddlers in tow, it was difficult to explore properly.

My friend and I took our children to a family caravan park for a week, and we had a wonderful time. We went treasure hunting on the beach, the children rode their bike and scooter along the seafront, we found a fun indoor soft play centre for when it rained, and we spent the day at a chocolate factory. I took the opportunity to look around me at the scenery, and tried to picture what kind of supernatural creatures might run wild up there. Usually when I visit a place like that I am flooded with inspiration and my Muse goes into overdrive. Not so this week. I never once had the urge to scribble in my notebook, much to my dismay.

I was telling my friend about my dilemma one evening after I had tried to force myself to do some writing on my manuscript. The words are flowing, but in a stuttering and disjointed manner. Gone are the repeating scenes and sequences that fill my head until I write them down. My Muse seems to have emigrated! My friend then suggested perhaps there was an explanation behind my writer's block. I am currently six months pregnant, and my daughter is two years old. Oh yes, perhaps I am a little distracted! I hope that my Muse returns once the baby is born, but in the meantime I refuse to give up on my project. My vampire hunter story needs to be written, so I will power through until it is done.

Hump Day Hook #HDH – The Vampire of Blackpool

Today I will share just one more excerpt from my unpublished manuscript, The Vampire of Blackpool. This is an exchange between our protagonist, Meredith Hanson, and a vampire hunter she fought with on Blackpool promenade.

    “You will not defeat me, hunter,” I said, “I know all of your tricks.”
    He stared at me, and I refused to look away under his scrutiny.  Instead I stared back, showing him my glowing silver eyes and my gleaming fangs, wet with his blood where I had bitten and nipped him during our fight.  He licked his lips, his body tense beneath me.  I felt his confusion as his mental barrier began to weaken.  My smile widened and I leaned down, my lips a mere inch away from his.
    “You want me, hunter,” I purred, “Admit it.  You want me to kiss you, and you want to taste your blood on my lips.  I know how it works.  You are all the same.”
    I crushed my lips to his and he struggled to push me away, but not before he opened his mouth for me, and our tongues entwined for a moment.  Then he managed to force me back, and I stood up, laughing.
    “Mmm,” I murmured, “Delicious.  I will leave you to recover.  We will meet again.”
    Stepping back slowly and licking my lips, I gave him time to scramble to his feet.

If you would like to see more fantastic new novels from lots of different authors, check out our dedicated Hump Day Hook website and the Facebook group. There you will find anything from traditional romance, BDSM, erotica, sci-fi and fantasy.

*Vampire image courtesy of Pinterest

I'm Taking a Holiday!

Good day my friends! This is just a quick post to say I will be quiet on the blog this week, since I am off on a holiday (or vacation if you prefer). I will take the laptop, because I am taking the opportunity to do some research for a future Redcliffe novel...

I am visiting the Ayrshire coast in Scotland, and my friend and I will take our children for a daytrip to Glasgow while we are in the vicinity. It is the perfect chance for me to research a little about the location for the Mason brothers' undercover police job that took them away from Redcliffe just before they met Jessica Stone...

An author never sleeps as they say!

My novels are adult paranormal with equal amounts of dark romance and contemporary English Gothic. Sign up now for special offers and book release news.

*Image courtesy of Pinterest via Visit Scotland

Vampires and Lattes Online Today! #FreeBooks

Hello! Join the authors of the Vampire Book Realm live today in the Latte Lounge at Coffee Time Romance. We are hosting a spectacular event where you can find new books, new authors, and get your hands on some free novels and merchandise. Come along and join the fun now! Event runs until midnight 20th April.

If you catch me online, you might even get yourself a free copy of my third novel and new release, Love Redeems (A Redcliffe Novel). Here's the blurb, just to pique your interest:

Adjusting to life with vampires and werewolves, Jessica Stone is learning about being a witch. Love is painful. Life is difficult. It is never boring.

Life has changed forever in Redcliffe, Cornwall. Jessica Stone used to be a normal, happy human. Now she is an angry, conflicted and confused witch. It all happened when she met Detective Jack Mason and his identical twin brother Danny. Jessica almost died twice, fell into a love triangle, and she became a murderer. Now she faces the ultimate challenge as she continues the fight to save the man she loves, while simultaneously struggling with her lust for his werewolf brother and their vampire friend. Can she survive, or will love finally end her life completely?

Review: Trails of Love I Crawl, Part 2 by Ciaran Dwynvil

I recently read Trails of Love I Crawl, part 2 by Ciaran Dwynvil. Here is my review.

I have mixed feelings after reading this book. In the beginning I really enjoyed the prose, the use of language, and the classic romanticism of the whole story. I knew it was a gay erotic novel, and truthfully it is the first of its kind that I have read. Perhaps that is where my mixed feelings came from. I enjoyed the romance and the love story, although I feel that there could have been more emphasis on the passion between Victor and his lover. I certainly felt Amadee’s pain and torment, and I was intrigued with Belial. I recommend this novel if you like something that pushes the boundaries of convention, but be warned, there are some explicitly unpleasant physical scenes that made for very uncomfortable reading.

Aside from the book review, I would just like to recommend Ciaran Dwynvil’s blog website. Ciaran has a wonderful aptitude for prose, and every blog post is a delight for those who appreciate reading in the ‘old fashioned’ sense. Take a look, and you will see what I mean… 

Hump Day Hook #HDH – The Vampire of Blackpool

Hello and welcome to the Hump Day Hook. Today I share another excerpt from my NaNoWriMo 2012 novel, The Vampire of Blackpool. I have yet to return to the project for edits, but I certainly plan to have this one published in the future. This excerpt is a conversation between our protagonist, Meredith Hanson, and a young witch called Samantha Morris.

            “Hi,” she said nervously, “Um, I thought maybe we could talk?”

            I frowned.  This was highly irregular.

            “About what?” I replied coldly, and I saw her shiver at my icy tone.

            She swallowed, and when she spoke again her voice trembled.

            “Um,” she said, “I don’t know.  Stuff.”

            She waved her free hand vaguely in the air, as though I should understand what she was indicating.  I simply stared at her, unmoving once again.

            “We have nothing to discuss,” I said in the same cold tone.

            The girl chewed her lip.  I tried to enter her mind to discover why she had taken an interest in me.  At first her thoughts were a jumble of everyday nuances, but she quickly felt my presence, and she threw up a rather impressive shield against me.  I inclined my head, unable to hide my surprise.  She smiled, realising my reaction.

            “Yes,” she said more confidently, “I might be new to this, but I know how to protect my thoughts from vampires.”
            I smiled faintly, showing my amusement.

            “Very well,” I said.

If you enjoyed this one, why not pop over to our dedicated Hump Day Hook blog and peruse some new and exciting authors. We write about romance, love, science fiction, fantasy, erotica and everything in-between, so you are sure to find something that delights the senses. You can also find us on Facebook. Happy Humping! 

*Gothic image courtesy of Pinterest