EXITING CAIRO—JENYFER MATTHEWS

The Middle East is a beautiful place filled with the magic of the ancient world liberally mixed with modern. It’s filled with people good and bad—as with any place you visit in this world. Despite the political structures, scratch the surface of people, regardless of race, and there is a commonality; they want to be happy, have a good life, a secure place to live with plenty to eat, raise their children in safety to thrive and succeed. Unfortunately, that isn’t always possible due to political instability. Such is the case with Egypt and in January of 2011, a campaign of non-violent civil resistance which featured a series of demonstrations, marches, acts of civil disobedience, and labor strikes. Millions of protesters from a variety of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of the regime of Egyptian President Mubarak. It wasn’t a particularly safe time for westerners to be there. Various governments started evacuating their people living in Egypt.

My cyber friend, and romance author, Jenyfer Matthews and her family were among those evacuated. I knew she had lived in the Middle east for over ten years. It was home to her children. I was curious about the changes she and her family faced relocating back to the States and the effect on her writing career.

It’s been just over a year since my family evacuated Egypt, days after the first wave of the revolution. After we left, my children and I spent much of the year in limbo, staying with family and friends, waiting to see what would happen next – and whether or not we would be returning to Cairo. Just after summer vacation, days before I would have purchased tickets for us to return to Cairo, my husband was offered a job in Michigan.

About face!

If I had been paralyzed by anxiety and indecision in the first part of last year, suddenly I had too much to do in a very short period of time. My husband had already returned to Cairo after visiting us on his summer vacation and worked out his notice period and organized our personal things for shipping. I came to Michigan to find a rental house and then packed up my car for our move. The children and I arrived on Labor Day, the day before school started. We spent the first week on air mattresses, but they started school on time!

Being anxious and perpetually stressed out didn’t do much for my creativity last year either. I managed to get my backlist formatted for digital and paperback release but wasn’t able to add anything to my unfinished stories. Since returning to the US, I’ve had the opportunity to stretch my creative muscles by stalking garage sales and refinishing furniture that I find – a practical occupation as well since we lived in furnished housing while we were abroad and have very little furniture of our own. A pleasant side effect of that creative outlet was to find my mind wandering while sanding and telling me stories again.

Our transition to living in the US again after a decade abroad hasn’t been without its bumps. I’m a naturally chatty person and when you live abroad, you tend to make friends fast. It probably has something to do with being out of your own element, but I’ve met and bonded with people nearly instantly in my travels and am used to that sort of interaction now. However, I think my instantly familiar manner is a bit off-putting to the classic Midwest reserve if the people I’ve found myself chatting to in the produce section of the grocery store are anything to judge by! (That’s me, the talkative blond by the bananas)

I’ve also had to adjust my shopping habits. Having daily access to a Target is a dangerous thing! I’m used to what I call binge shopping – or trying to buy a year’s supply of “X” at a time because there was nothing that came close to Target in Cairo and I had to stock up on everything in the summers. Having a mall within ten minutes of my house doesn’t mean I need to visit it every day – I can shop at will, when needs arise now. Amazing.

One thing I love love love about Michigan is the number of weekly garage sales. I’ve always loved garage sales but it’s great to be able to use the bargaining skills I honed in the Middle East to get a great deal.

Do I miss Cairo? Of course. Cairo is a tremendously large and polluted city, but Egypt is the kind of place that gets under your skin. Life in Michigan isn’t as exciting or as challenging a place to live on a day-to-day basis as Cairo was – but when “exciting” is punctuated by the sound of gunfire, the constant threat of political instability, and rising crime rates then I’ll take the less exciting option, thanks!


If you want to read more about Jenyfer's thoughts on this and her life back here in the States, check out her blog

Three popular contemporary romance novels by Jenyfer Matthews together for the first time in one volume for one amazing low price. —Here to Stay, One Crazy Summer, and All the Way Home

BUY: Amazon, Smashwords

I am an American recently returned to the US after more than a decade in the Middle East, most recently living in Cairo, Egypt. Aside from writing, I'm a married mom of two, a decent (if reluctant) cook, an encyclopedia of random scientific / medical facts, a wine lover (but not a snob!), and a Capricorn. I love to travel, spend time with good friends, and laugh at life's surprises. View of life - definitely half full. You can find Jenyfer: Facebook and her website.

SARAH HUMPHREYS—A LEAP OF FAITH

What do you do when your schedule is full to bursting and the juggling act is next to impossible? My guest, para-romance author Sara Humphreys faced just such a situation. But, I'll let her tell you about it.

For the past few years I’ve been juggling my family (I’m married and we have four boys), a full-time job, side gigs from time-to-time with Taney Speaker Training (my company) and a writing career.  It’s been exhausting but exhilarating as well. However, the grind of doing it all was taking a toll on me and I realized that something had to give.

So what are the options?

1. Give up the family. Not in this lifetime. Not in any scenario. Family is everything. 

            Ok…clearly not giving up the family. What else?

2. Give up writing. Not happening. First of all, I’m contracted for two series and I’ve got    more books to deliver. Secondly, I love writing. I adore creating new characters and weaving a unique world for the readers to get lost in. 

            Ok…not giving up the writing. What else?

3. Resign from my full-time job and build Taney Speaker Training into the company I know it can be. Hmmmm. This one had possibilities. Let’s look at the pros and cons.
Pros:  Work for myself doing something I love. Work out of my home office, which will give me both the time and flexibility to accommodate my family and write.             Cons: No steady paycheck.

          Yikes. That’s a big-ass con.

My husband and I sat down for a major heart-to-heart and discussed the options.  Our boys are in middle school and high school and they’re going to need me around now more than ever. Time is flying by and I don’t want to miss out on this special time in their lives but I still need to make a living.  No matter how many times we went over it…we kept coming back to the same thing.

Option #3.

The interesting thing is that once we decided that #3 was the obvious choice…doors began to open for my company, Taney Speaker Training.  Within about two weeks, I had four or five potential gigs come my way and proposals starting to go out. Funny how that happens, isn’t it? The universe seemed to be sending signals that I’m making the right choice.

I’ll be honest and admit that I’m terrified.  I’m aware of the risks. I vacillate between being excited about what the future holds and wanting to vomit for not knowing what exactly that might be.

I worry that my books won’t sell or that my company won’t get proposals but on the other hand…I can envision success and feel as though it’s within my reach.

At the end of the day, this is an enormous leap of faith. I’m going to practice what I preach and follow my passion.  If I don’t try…then I’ll never know.

Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and leap.

• How about you? Have you ever made a giant leap of faith?

BUY: AMAZON, B&N,
INDIGO ca

UNTOUCHED BY SARA HUMPHREYS – IN STORES APRIL 2012 

She should be seen, but never touched… 

Kerry Smithson's modeling career ensures that she will be admired from afar, which is essential since mere human touch sparks blinding pain and terrifying visions. 

Every good model needs a heavenly bodyguard… 

Dante Coltari is hired to protect Kerry from those who know who she is—or more importantly what she is—and want her dead because of it. Nothing could have prepared him for the challenge of keeping her safe. But, strangely, his lightest touch brings her exquisite pleasure rather than pain, and Dante and Kerry have an otherwordly connection that might just pull them through. EXCERPT

Red-hot love scenes punctuate a well-plotted suspense story that will keep readers turning pages as fast as they can.

—Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Sara Humphreys has been attracted to the fantasies of science fiction, paranormal, and romance since her adolescence when she had a mad crush on Captain Kirk. An actress and public speaker, Sara lives with her husband--who is very considerate of her double life--and four amazing boys, in Bronxville, New York. For more information, please visit http://sarahumphreys.com, Website. http://www.facebook.com/Amoveo Like her on Facebook 

https://twitter.com/#!/authorsara. Follow her on Twitter.

MONDAY MUSINGS—Tiger's Eye

As a kid, I always had a absorption for eyes—the sheen of them, the size and shape, and what they tell you about the creature they’re attached to. I drew them constantly. All sizes and shapes. I go back and look at some of my school notebooks and there are all sorts of eye pictures in the margins—human and animal. I still catch myself drawing them.

A curious young Bengal tiger, taken by Swamidu

The big cat’s eyes have a particular allure for me. Which probably explains my fascination for the gem called Tiger-Eye. The luster and shades of colors they come in is amazing.

Polished Tiger-eye gemstones in various colors.

Tiger-eye is in the quartz family. What makes them different from many quartz gemstones is they’re metamorphic—meaning they start out as one thing and through great heat and pressure become something different, something beautiful. They tend to be golden in color—all shades of amber and brown because of the iron oxide. As you can see from the picture, some do come in blue, green, and some rare reds (and they can be dyed other colors and there are simulated tiger-eye gems, too).

Tigers eye is one of the most popular chatoyant gemstone. In gemology, chatoyancy, or chatoyance is an optical reflectance effect seen in certain gemstones and the amount of color or luster depends upon the angle of light when being cut and shaped. Aquamarines, tourmalines, moonstone, and some beryl quartz are chatoyant gemstones.

Polished Tiger-eye gem-easy to
see the reason for the name. 

The word Chatoyant comes from the French word, chatoyer and means to shimmer like a cat's eyes. Chat is French for Cat.


Most Tiger-eye gems are found in South Africa but are also found in places like Australia and the US. 

One Tiger Eye meaning assures the correct use of power, courage, grace and the ability to see clearly without illusion. It was a stone carried by soldiers to enable them to see clearly in the heat of battle. Shamans and healers carry tiger-eye for grounding in metaphysical work and healing. 

In business, the Tiger-eye is supposed to draw the qualities of the tiger into the wearer—patience, focus, and determination. Tiger-eye is a popular gem for men’s jewelry and there are those in business who carry the gem as a talisman for clear thinking and insight in to the situations. 

Another Tiger Eye meaning was to restore peace and harmony to the wearer.

I don’t wear the Tiger’s Eye for it’s supposed mystical properties or what it represents. I wear it because it’s a beautiful gemstone when cut and polished properly, and placed in the right setting. Like a pendant. :-)

Romeo and Juliet— Happily Ever After

Paranormal Romance and NYT bestselling author, Caridad Piñeiro, is my guest today. Her topic is about her fascination with the story of Romeo and Juliet and her new Sin Hunters series, and The Claimed. 

                When I wrote THE LOST, I knew it was intended to be a story about two people who were both coming to terms with who they were.  For Adam Bruno, it was about finding out why he had unusual powers and what to do with them.  For Bobbie Carrera, it was about finding her place in life now that she’s come home wounded from Iraq.

                As I was putting the finishing touches on THE LOST, I had no doubt who would be the hero of the next book in the series – THE CLAIMED.  I loved Christopher Sombrosa and knew that even though he was a Shadow Hunter, there was goodness within him.  I also knew that his role as the leader of the Shadows would not be an easy one.  In fact, it would be life threatening.

                But I also knew that the woman Christopher would come to love would also present a major challenge.  Why?  Because as I let the story ideas for THE CLAIMED percolate in my head, it occurred to me that this story had to be a paranormal, modern-day version of Romeo and Juliet.

                I guess that makes sense since over the years, I’ve loved multiple versions of Shakespeare’s tragedy.  My first love of it was Zefferilli’s Romeo and Juliet with Len Whiting (one of my first crushes).  Len could really fill out those tights nicely.

Then there was West Side Story, a more modern tale of based on the Bard’s famous play.  I loved the Sharks and the Jets and all that singing, even if there was no happily-ever-after.

Last but not least, Shakespeare in Love.  So funny and sexy and smart.  More love for men in tights since John Fiennes was sooooo sexy.

With all those sad tales of woe in my brain, I had no doubt that Shadow Hunter Christopher could only fall in love with the absolute worst woman for him – Light Huntress Victoria Johnson – a woman who is supposed to be Christopher’s mortal enemy.

There’s just one big difference between all those other tragedies and THE CLAIMED – a happily-ever-after.  But that happily-ever-after doesn’t come without a lot of war, death and huge sacrifices by many Light and Shadow Hunters.

I hope you’ll enjoy the tender and emotional scenes between two enemies who come to love one another, as well as the action-packed fight scenes between the Light and Shadow Hunters.  I had a blast of a time, literally, showing you all the different powers that the Hunters possess, including some very sexy powers!

Thanks for coming by.

 

• Since I’ve shared some of my favorite movies, take a moment to share with me some of yours.

BUY: AMAZON, B&N, BAM

THE CLAIMED (Sin Hunters)

Victoria Johnson loves her life. She's her own boss in a quaint beachside town, and has great friends who keep her grounded. If only they knew who she really is: an heiress to an ancient race who possesses astonishing superhuman powers. It's Victoria's duty to restore her clan of Light Hunters to their former glory by choosing the perfect mate. In Christopher Sombrosa, she just may have found him. Strong, smart, and successful, Christopher exudes a powerful energy. Their connection is sensual, irresistible-and forbidden. 

A member of the Shadow Hunter clan, Christopher has defied his own father to lead his people away from affliction and violence. Yet he cannot ignore his duty to carry on his ancient bloodline. Stunningly beautiful and brimming with an erotic life force, Victoria is everything Christopher ever hoped for in a mate . . . but as a Light Hunter, she's his mortal enemy. Together, they could unite their warring tribes. But murderous factions on both sides don't want peace-and they'll stop at nothing to keep light and darkness apart forever . . . EXCERPT

~*~*~

Caridad Piñeiro is the NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of paranormal romance and romantic suspense. Look for STRONGER THAN SIN, the second book in an exciting new paranormal romance series, on November 1 2010 from Grand Central Publishing. In 2007, a year marked by six releases from Harlequin and Pocket Books, Caridad was selected as the 2007 Golden Apple Author of the Year by the New York City Romance Writers. Caridad's novels have been lauded as the Best Short Contemporary Romance of 2001 in the NJ Romance Writers Golden Leaf Contest, Top Fantasy Books of 2005 and 2006 by CATALINA Magazine and Top Nocturne of 2006 by Cataromance. Caridad has appeared on various television shows, such as the FOX News Early Edition in New York, and articles featuring her novels have been published in several leading newspapers and magazines, such as CATALINA, the New York Daily News, NJ Monthly and the Star Ledger. For more information on Caridad, please visit http://www.caridad.com/ or http://www.thecallingvampirenovels.com/. Facebook Fan Page

READING OUTSIDE MY COMFORT ZONE—The Irish Healer

Plenty interesting topics to read today: A-Z Blogfest. Today's letter is P. You can find a list of participants Here.

Occasionally, when I can persuade her, author Kat Sheridan—lover of lush historicals—will contribute something for my readers. I love reading her reviews, articles, short stories, and I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.

           In the interest of my almost pathological honesty, I should say I’m not the target audience for this book. Well, it IS romance (which I love), and every page is rich with historical detail and lush writing (which I also love), and it’s a tale of loss and redemption and yearning and passion and all those other sorts of things I ALSO adore in a book.

So why is The Irish Healer, the stunningly beautiful debut novel from NancyHerriman, not a novel I’d ordinarily read? Because it’s billed as “inspirational/Christian romance”. To the uneducated (like I was), that meant this book would be filled with the Bible, and Christian values, and I would be preached at on every page. Although I’m a spiritual person, I’m not a Christian. I’m also a published author of erotic romance. How much more “NOTD” (Not Our Type, Darling) could this book be? Therefore, this book was not for me.

            And I couldn't have been more wrong. 

Rachel Dunne—the Irish healer of the title—is running away. Although acquitted of murdering a child under her care, she’s come to London to escape the scandal of her past, vowing to give up her gift of healing, believing it’s really a curse. She finds work with Dr. James Edmunds, a man with tragedies of his own in his past, a physician who is also in the process of giving up his medical practice. Rachel vows only to work as a sort of secretary for him. She will not help him in medical matters, will not sit at the bedside of patients, will not trust or use her own special gifts.

James and Rachel have each in their own way given up on God, as they believe God has abandoned them. Here is one of my favorite scenes:

BUY:Amazon, B&N, Powells 

“I understand loss and trials and difficulties, Dr. Edmunds. I understand struggling to hold onto hope that tomorrow will be better than today. I understand how hard it is to watch a child suffer and feel powerless to help her. I understand wanting to believe that God will perform a miracle and feeling lost and disillusioned when He does not.” Old, sad bitterness tainted her words. “That is what I understand, Dr. Edmunds.”

His gaze searched her face, looked directly into her eyes, straight into her soul. “So what do we do now?”

Confused by his question, Rachel answered the only way she could. “We go forward.”

“But what if you don’t have the strength to go forward? What if you don’t have the courage?”

“Somehow, you have to find it.” (you can read an excerpt of Chapter one.)

Note the subtle way inspirational reference is woven in, without browbeating the reader with it (which was what I had feared from an inspirational romance. Again, I could not have been more wrong.) This is a book about the universal themes of loss and forgiveness, about finding redemption, and most powerfully, about finding love. It transcends a specific, single belief system. It’s about learning to forgive yourself, and love yourself; about accepting love and forgiveness from others. It is also about understanding—accepting—the always-present love and forgiveness of something—someone—greater than you.

The thing is, you don’t have to subscribe to certain beliefs in order to become immersed in a beautiful story. I can read about dragons and genies and mermaids, witches and voodoo priestesses and shamans, and if the story is well done, the characters believable and right for the tale, that writing a feast for the senses, that’s all that really matters. The Irish Healer is that kind of book.

And make no mistake, this is first and foremost, a romance, as sweet and delicious and sexy and yummy as you could ever want. There is no overt sex in this book; there’s barely a single kiss. But oh, the yearning! The longing! Ms. Herriman beautifully, powerfully builds the tension, page by page, a glance, a touch, a sigh at a time, until the reader is as wound up as Rachel and James, an ember about to burst into a conflagration. This is a truly romantic romance.

The power of faith is the backbone of this feast of a novel, but love—God’s and man’s—is the heart and soul of it. I’ve never been happier to have been wrong about something. Missing out on this wonderful book would have been a tragedy indeed.

Question: 

• Inspirational romance is way outside my usual comfort zone of reading. Have you ever read outside your comfort zone? 

• Did you find something new and wonderful?

Kat Sheridan is a recovering project manager and business analyst whose hard-bitten persona has always hidden a secret romantic. She likes her stories with a dark and dangerous flavor, so long as the villains are vanquished and true love triumphs in the end. She is inordinately fond of glitter nail polish, shiny things, bourbon, and any comestibles on which frosting can be placed. Kat splits her time between the Midwest in the summer and the South in the winter. Her peripatetic life is shared with her own real-life hero who shows her every day what happily ever after means. Connect to her on Facebook at or visit her website: Kat Sheridan 

MONDAY’S MUSINGS: Nuances Of Labradorite

I love nuances. The subtle layers of meanings or even alternate meanings of things. Like Labradorite.


Labra—what?

Is that a dog or something? 


Oops, wrong visual.

It falls into a something category. It’s a gemstone. An unusual one. 

Once upon a time, as legend has it, a northern hunter was stalking game on St. Paul Island, when he came upon a stone and earth bank. In it was a multitude of dazzling colors. He stabbed it with his spear and was amazed at the flow of beautiful colors escaping from the dull bank. Try as he might, he couldn’t release all the colors and that made him sad. Still, he rejoiced for those brilliant colors that did escape. The colors were grateful and forever more show their gratitude by decorating the night sky with radiant displays of color. 

And that, my friends, is the tale of how we got the aurora borealis.

Joshua Strang

And Labradorite.

Labradorite in the rough.

Labradorite is a spectrum or or translucent feldspar and falls into the category of what is known as iridescent gemstones. It means a gem displaying rainbow-like colors. The iridescence is caused by the reflection of light from the gem. Opals are and iridescent stone. Mother of Pearl is another example of iridescence.

Finnish Spectrolite

Another name for Labradorite is Spectrolite. The Finnish have dibs on the most brilliant and sought after forms of Labradorite. The gem takes its name from where it was found in the 1700s in Labrador. But it can be found in India, Madagascar, Newfoundland, and Russia.

Why am I interested in Labradorite?

Because it is also thought to be a stone of power (just as last week’s Heliotrope was), which is of particular interest to me for a series of stories I’m writing. It just so happens one of my main characters wears a pair of favorite earrings and they’re made from Labradorite.


I didn't even realize she wore earrings and I’m writing the story (Don't you just love it when characters do that to you?). I happen to take a nap and in that between state of sleep and awake, I saw her with a pair of earrings and knew her mother gave them to her. I went searching through my research and bingo! There they were. Funny how things work out, isn’t it? And it made me chuckle when I realized another facet of mystical meaning for Labradorite. 


It’s called a stone of destiny.

Labradorite is supposed to allow you to see through illusions and determine the actual form of your dreams. Its power gives the holder perseverance, strength, and enhanced intuition when experiencing conflict and change. 

I love it when research plays out.

Gemstones come with many layers of meaning beyond the obvious and Labradorite is no different. Now you know some of the mystical nuances of the stone beyond what it is and where it's found. J   

LOVING YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS

It's our love of reading that has us visiting (or haunting) libraries, bookstores, book blogs, and online bookstores. Personally, for me, I would add visiting their websites because you can find amazing deals, excerpts, contests, and all sorts of extra goodies. If you're a writer, you first learned to love reading before you even considered writing.


What can we, readers, do to show love of our favorite author's work? Elisabeth Naughton shares some ways we can make a difference and ensure we're able to continue reading more from our favorites.

First of all, thanks so much for inviting me to stop by during my blog tour for ENRAPTURED. ENRAPTURED is the fourth book in my Eternal Guardians series and recently garnered a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and was named a Top Ten Romance for Spring 2012.

One of the things authors struggle with is how to get their books into the hands of readers who want to read them. There are so many books out there right now to choose from–especially with the boom in the Indie market. Does online advertising work? Do blog tours work? Do giveaways work? We’re constantly asking ourselves this question because all of these things—as fun as they can be—take away from what writers love and want to do, which is write that next book. For me the hardest part of being a published author is balancing the promotion side of writing with the actual writing. It’s so easy to use up a whole day (like today!) doing promo for my most recent book when what I need to be doing is writing the next book in the series.

I get a lot of fan mail from readers telling me how much they love my books, and while I truly enjoy hearing from them and appreciate the fact they’ve taken the time to email me, I’ve started passing on information telling them what they can do to help me out. Whether readers want to “see” it or not, publishing is a business. Publishers don’t buy and publish books, series and authors that aren’t selling. And the only way for an author to increase her readership and guarantee there will be additional books down the line is to sell more books.

If you’re a reader (or a writer who also loves to read…which we all are), there are a number of things you can do to help your favorite author sell more books, thereby guaranteeing he/she will continue to write the stories you love.

1. Post a Review! Reviews help new readers find and buy books. If you love a series and want to see it continue, write a review so NEW readers can find the book too. Then publish your review at Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, etc. to guarantee it will be seen.

2. "Like" books on retail sites like Amazon. Overall rankings are based on a combination of "likes" and sales. The higher the ranking, the better odds new readers have to find the book and author.

3. Tell your friends! Give them a book to borrow, tell them about an amazing story or series. Talk about it via social media sites like Twitter and Facebook and your own blog (if you have one).

4.  Sign up for the Author's newsletter so you can find out when the next great book is released. If you already get an author's newsletter, forward it to a friend you think might be interested. 

5. Like the Author's Facebook page. Follow the author on Twitter. Get involved in their online community and spread your interest to your friends.

6. Join the Author's readers group - if the Author has one.

7. Form a street team – a group of readers who spread promo materials like bookmarks and trading cards to readers they think will love an author’s work.

Any and all of these things help authors spread the word about books AND guarantee those authors will keep writing the books you love. They also help cut down on the amount of promo authors have to do from one book to the next so they can focus on writing that next story you’re so eagerly waiting for.  If you’re a reader who wants to help an author continue writing, you can pick and choose from the list. All efforts are appreciated on the author’s side. Trust me!

Thank you so much to all the readers who have found my books, loved them and spread the word! And thanks to all the readers who have bought ENRAPTURED so far! For those who haven’t…what are you waiting for? Run out and buy it today!

Sourcebooks is giving away two copies of my latest release, ENRAPTURED, to two lucky commenters today. 

• Simply tell me what you've done lately to help spread the word about your favorite author or series.

ENRAPTURED BY ELISABETH NAUGHTON – IN STORES APRIL 2012

Orpheus—To most he's an enigma, a devil-may-care rogue who does whatever he pleases whenever he wants. Now this loose cannon is part of the Eternal Guardians—elite warriors assigned to protect the human realm—whether he likes it or not.

Orpheus has just one goal: to rescue his brother from the Underworld. He's not expecting a woman to get in the way. Especially not a Siren as gorgeous as Skyla. He has no idea she's an assassin sent by Zeus to seduce, entrap, and ultimately destroy him.

Yet Skyla herself might have the most to lose. There's a reason Orpheus feels so familiar to her, a reason her body seems to crave him. Perhaps he's not the man everyone thinks... The truth could reveal a deadly secret as old as the Eternal Guardians themselves. EXCERPT

><:><:><

A former junior high science teacher, Elisabeth Naughton traded in her red pen and test-tube set for a laptop and research books. She now writes sexy romantic adventure and paranormal novels full-time from her home in western Oregon, where she lives with her husband and three children. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards, including the prestigious RITA Awards of Romance Writers of America, the Australian Romance Reader Awards, the Golden Leaf, and the Golden Heart. When not writing, Elisabeth can be found running, hanging out at the ball park, or dreaming up new and exciting adventures.
Visit her:
www.elisabethnaughton.com to learn more about her and her books. Her next book in the Eternal Guardians series, Enslaved, will be in stores in November 2012.

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