Author Brenda Joyce’s Tempting Time-Traveling Warriors

Are the Masters of Time dangerous… or desirable? Bestselling author Brenda Joyce tells us about these fierce time-traveling heroes and what readers can look forward to in Dark Embrace, the third book in her Masters of Time series from HQN Books…

by Brenda Joyce , author of Dark Embrace

Everyone fears the shadows of the night. No one likes walking down a deserted street after the sun goes down, not in 2008—and not in 1508. Of course, we think we’re being silly to start at every little sound we hear—when we know nothing is lying in wait for us out there in the dark. And violence and crime is on the upswing because our society has broken down—and not for any other reason….right?

Welcome to the world of the Masters of Time.

The Masters of Time are Highland warriors sworn to protect Innocence through the ages. They do not choose their destiny—it is chosen for them. The Masters are medieval men to the core—savage in war, ruthless in outlook, totally sexist in nature, and impossibly powerful—after all, they are descended from the old Celtic gods. And one of their greatest powers is the power to leap through time…

And then along comes a very modern and independent woman…

The romantic conflict is instantaneous. Imagine turning your street corner and coming face to face with the medieval hunk of all time—a Highlander who has more power than any mortal, a mandate to save the world, the knowledge he’s a cut above—and he wants you, big time! Passions arise, worlds collide, cultures and ideas clash! This is romance the way it should be!

Dark Embrace is the third book about the Masters of Time, following Dark Seduction and Dark Rival. Aidan of Awe has fallen. Once a Master, he is furious with the gods and he has forsaken his vows, abandoned the brotherhood, turning his back on everyone—family, friends, and mankind. He walks alone and wars alone, lusting for power and revenge. He is a Highlander without a clan, feared by all and trusted by none. And the evil that he is hunting, the evil that destroyed his son, is now trying to destroy him…

By day, Brianna Rose fights evil from the safety of her laptop on the basement of CDA, a government agency. But she is a Rose, and the Rose women have been fighting evil with their gifts for generations. By night, Brie wages the war on evil with her two cousins, Tabby and Sam, using her vision to defend and save the innocent. But Brie has a little secret. She met Aidan once briefly, when he was a Master, and has had a mad crush on him ever since. Which is fine with her—a crush is really safe. Because Brie is a computer geek with no interest in a real relationship—men never look at her and she doesn’t expect them to. Brie is also highly empathic. And then one night she wakes up consumed with Aidan’s pain, hearing his screams of anguish—in spite of the gulf of centuries which separate them. And she knows he is in danger.

Brie is instantly obsessed. She has to find him, help him, and when she does, she is unprepared for the near immortal facing her—a man so dark, so heartless, he doesn’t think twice about using her. And it doesn’t matter. Brie finds a courage she never knew she had, and she will do anything she has to in order to redeem him.

Dark Embrace is a story of fury, desperation, loss, and revenge—and love, and the redemption that can come from it. It is a story of faith—Brie never loses her faith in Aidan. It is also Book One of the Rose Trilogy, because every Rose woman has a destiny, and Sam and Tabby have their destinies, too, and their destiny is not exactly what either woman is expecting! Dark Victory is on sale in March 2009, followed by Sam’s story in September, Dark Lover.

Welcome to the Masters of Time!

Brenda Joyce’s Dark Embrace Book Trailer!

Dark Embrace, the third book in Brenda Joyce’s Masters of Time series and book 1 in The Rose Trilogy, is in stores tomorrow! Can’t wait until then? Watch the video Brenda had made for a taste of what to expect in Dark Embrace:

Find out more at www.mastersoftimebooks.com. And check back on the blog this week for a post by Brenda about her new book!

A Sexy Sea-Inspired Short from Nancy Holder

Author Nancy Holder continues to fill us in on the inspiration behind her series The Gifted. This time, Nancy tells us about her new Nocturne Bite, Son of the Sea…

by Nancy Holder, author of Son of the Sea

I love writing about my Gifted families so much that I jumped at the chance to write a Nocturne Bite, titled Son of the Sea. Erik, Guardian of the North Sea and a merman, must protect a beautiful Greek-American named Nia from death as they race to seize the magical Jar of Naxos. Erik has cut himself off from all loving contact, after his human fiancée drowned herself a hundred years before.

As the daughter of a Navy doctor, I have lived near the sea almost all of my life. While working on Son of the Sea, I remembered the hours I spent pretending to be a mermaid in my parents’ black-bottom pool here in San Diego. I still remember the lull of the waves and the cries of the seagulls during my year on a houseboat in San Diego Bay.

I created a play list of sea sounds and songs to listen to while I wrote Son of the Sea. I included two versions of Smetana’s theme from Die Moldau, When I saw the cover image for Son of the Sea at Comic-con, I immediately heard that piece, and returned to Erik’s domain beneath the cold, tumultuous North Sea. I can’t wait to go back there again.

Son of the Shadows and Son of the Sea are my first two stories for Nocturne. I hope to write many, many more…and to chat about them at Comicon next year.

Author Nancy Holder’s Dark Magic and Mayhem

Nancy Holder’s series The Gifted delivers steamy dark fantasy, complete with an ancient feud, dark magic, sizzling sexual tension, and a tortured — literally — hero. Nancy fills us in on the world of The Gifted and what readers can expect from the third book in her series, Son of the Shadows….

by Nancy Holder, author of Son of the Shadows (Silhouette Nocturne)

I met a couple of hundred thousand of my closest friends during the San Diego Comic-Con, and a lot of them love paranormal romance! So I was able to talk in depth with fellow romance fans about my world of the Gifted—long-lived magic users who exist under the radar of us normal, Ungifted folk.

In my Nocturne novel, Son of the Shadows, three ancient magical families go to war with each other—the House of the Flames, the House of the Blood, and the House of the Shadows. The soul of the hero, sexy French-Canadian Jean-Marc de Devereaux, is mangled by Lilliane, the mad twin sister of his beloved Isabelle de Marco, known as Izzy.

All three Houses are descended from French noble families that rose to power during the Hundred Years’ War, when Joan of Arc fought against the Dauphin’s enemies, lost, and was burned at the stake for heresy. St. Joan has always favored Izzy’s House of the Flames, until one terrible day, Izzy must use dark magicks to save the lives of those she loves. In response, Joan abandons her.

Jean-Marc, Lilliane, and Isabelle are the Guardians of their Houses—fierce protectors and the first line of defense against rival Gifted factions and Supernaturals alike. Vampires and werewolves hunt in the dark shadows, and it is up to those who have sworn to protect the innocent to hold them in check.

After his torture at Lilliane’s hands, Jean-Marc’s soul is filled with dark impulses he can barely control. Izzy has been stripped of all her magical powers as well as her memory. Yet the two must travel to Haiti to stop Lilliane from unleashing unspeakable evil on the world. Their sexual tension and Izzy’s fear of Jean-Marc torment them both as they face death, and worse…and are changed forever by love.

While talking to Nocturne fans about the Gifted, I relived my trips to France and Montreal, two of the important homes of the Gifted. I’ve walked the streets of Carcassonne, the ancient French medieval walled city, and slept in a fourteenth century farmhouse near Cahors. I’ve lit candles to St. Joan at Notre Dame, and found her in a tiny village chapel, where one of the devout had laid fresh roses at her feet. I’ve ridden in a horse-drawn carriage through Old Montreal, and dined in an ancient wine cellar while the rain pounded the slate roof. France and Quebec are two magical places, surely.

Check out the first two books in the Gifted series, Daughter of the Flames and Daughter of the Blood, now available as eBooks at eHarlequin.com. Or download the entire series — including Nancy’s Nocturne Bite, Son of the Sea — in The Gifted Bundle.

More Seductive Shifters from Karen Whiddon

Author Karen Whiddon gives us a tantalizing look at what’s to come in Dance of the Wolf, the latest book in her sexy miniseries The Pack from Silhouette Nocturne…

by Karen Whiddon, author of Dance of the Wolf

Shape-shifters being murdered. An upscale male strip club, for women clientele only (even though some of those women might be shape-shifters or vampires). A doctor on forced medical leave due to the drug addiction he’s recovering from, who also happens to be a shape-shifter looking for his best friend, who’s disappeared from this very same club, where he was working on the side.

Interested?

I sure as heck was. When the story for DANCE OF THE WOLF occurred to me, I was understandably confused. I didn’t see how any of this fit in the world I’d created for my Pack. But Elena was insistent, as was Dr. Jared Gies, and as I wrote their story, they managed to surprise even me. Fun, for both the author and the reader. I hope you enjoy reading it.

I’ve written 8 Pack stories for Silhouette now and the people in The Pack continually take the stories in new directions. My Nocturne Bites MATE OF THE WOLF had a vampire hero. DANCE OF THE WOLF features the female owner of a male strip club and a wounded shape-shifter hero who’s more animal than he realizes.

The next book, tentatively titled WILD WOLF, is written and will be out in 2009. The heroine of this books is a feral shifter, and the hero has been sent to either rehabilitate her or exterminate her.

`Til next time!

–Karen Whiddon