More showers...

More, more, more.

More excerpts are now up on the Samhain Spring Shower forum contest,

CoffeeTime Romance Forum
More chances for you to enter and win one of three fabulous prizes.

This weeks prizes:

One print copy of With Nine You Get Vanyr by Jean Marie Ward and Teri Smith
One Beth Williamson ebook download of choice (from Samhain Publishing)
One ebook download of Strip Tease by Kate Davies

So come along and make a comment, any comment (though the nicer ones would be more appreciated :) ) and get your entries into this free draw.

Winners of last's week's draw will be announced here and on the forum, tomorrow.

Come on! How easy can it possibly get? (GGGG) Just comment and you could win!

Is it romance?

I just finished reading a new romantic suspense. Not only was the title just published, but it was written by an author who is new to me.

Now to analyze...

I liked the book. Sort of. :\ Honestly, the plot was a bit more sci-fi than suspense and I'm not a huge, huge fan of the genre. Oh, I like to watch Star Trek in its various forms; I love the Star Wars movies (the original three more-so); I've even enjoyed the occasional Ray Bradbury story from time to time.

So what's my problem? Well, it wasn't just with this current read -- I've had this come up in two other romantic suspense titles (two of a series). But in all three books I'm brought up short by one simple thing:

The hero isn't quite 'heroic'. In all truth, the stories themselves -- particularly this last -- weren't exactly what I'd term 'romantic'.

There was no real falling in love in this last read--more of an obsessive sexual bonding and manipulation. There wasn't any deep emotion. Yes, lots of hot sex; the heroine slowly begins to sneak beneath the tough hero's shell (this revealed only through his inner dialogue); the heroine doesn't even know the hero's identity until the very last page! Yep, you probably guessed it -- there's a sequel coming out later this summer. ***NOTE: Add this to my pet-peeve list.***

But falling in love? Romance? I didn't see it.

Am I just old-fashioned? Maybe. But now I'm wondering is this is simply another take on the bad-boy hero OR if this is the direction our romance novels are headed?

When I say 'bad-boy', I don't mean the classic rebel in leather riding a Harley... or the tom cat who treats all women like sex-objects until he encounters the heroine. I don't even mean the bad-ass Alpha dudes that prowl the pages of such works as Kenyon's DARK-HUNTER series. I'm talking BAD, such as those men who kill for a living (albeit usually under the thumb of some ultra-secret government agency). I'm talking about men who use sex as a weapon -- literally -- even against the heroine herself.

Exciting? Sure, I'll admit, it can be. After all, if they use sex as a tool, we can safely assume they sure know what they're doing between the sheets. We all have our little fantasies -- even ones we don't recognize until we're squirming as we read the book. ;)

But is it healthy? Is it romance?

I'm not so sure. What do you think?

Win an e-book!

The Samhain Spring Shower Contest is OPEN

Free ebooks, free books and excerpts.

The prizes for this week are:

One free ebook download of any title available from Samhain Publishing
One free ebook download of Missing in Action by Amanda Young
One free ebook download of Secrets and Shadows by Meg Allison

So come along and take a peek and make a free entry, or two J


Just follow this link:

Coffee Time Romance forum

Then click on the Samhain Spring Shower content forum.

We're looking forward to seeing you there!

Chat with me!

CHAT with me and authors Sara Reinke & Gloria Wiederhold:

Tuesday, APRIL 17 from 9-11 p.m. (Eastern, US) for Sara's monthly "Worlds of Discovery" live chat series at The Romance Galleria!

We'll be hanging out in Sara's author suite at this interactive, three-dimensional virtual forum, discussing our latest and upcoming projects, plus offering prizes
to chat visitors and more! The Romance Galleria is accessible through a
safe, free download at The Romance Galleria.

Mother Nature plays April Fool's

Do you want to know what I see out my window? Snow. It's not supposed to snow in April, not in this hemisphere!

But Mother Nature seems to be having a grand ole time with this late April Fool gag. It's windy, the temp is below freezing -- has been all day -- and the white stuff has been swirling around like dandelion fluff.

Luckily the fruit trees haven't blossomed yet, or I might be truly miffed at this change in weather. Apparently this last week or so of 60s and 70s, blue skies and intermittent thunder storms were all a big set-up. Lulling us into the preconceived and erroneous idea that Spring, in all its glory, had finally appeared.

I've learned two important lessons in life: Karma does come back to haunt you AND you cannot trust dear Mother Nature.

Contest bloggers ... PLEASE READ!

Well, don't I feel dumb? (yep) I realized that most of those who posted for my LUCKY IN LOVE website contest did not leave enough info for me to contact them! Oy!

While Amelia Elias won the grand prize, everyone else who posted won as well. If you did post regarding authors' websites, PLEASE email me with the following info: your blogger name, real name, and your snail mail address. Once I have this, I can send everyone a prize -- one of over twenty lovely book-thongs.
They're ready! They just need a good home. ;)

Here's the addy: meg_allison_author@yahoo.com

Make sure to mark your email as Book Thong contest, or something similar. Thanks!

The winner is....

I let my youngest dd pick the name out of a bowl -- sorry, we don't have any appropriate 'hats' around here, go figure. ;)

The grand prize winner of the LUCKY IN LOVE contest is ... Amelia Elias! Congrats, Amelia! You'll soon be the proud owner of a one-of-a-kind necklace featuring a heart-shaped, pewter pendant with a green shamrock inlay.

Everyone else who posted will receive a hand-crafted, beaded book-thong, with a Celtic cross charm accent.

I'll be contacting you each by e-mail -- so if you don't hear from me by the end of the week, please drop me a note: meg_allison_author@yahoo.com

Thanks for all the great advice!