Latest WTF Moment in the Publishing World...

Well, I think the day has finally come where I’ve seen and heard it all. I know, who would’ve thunk it! Oh now, take it easy grammar Nazis. The spelling error and improper English was purposeful and as you read on you’ll see why.

It would seem that an author who I didn’t much care for before has taken his condescension to new levels. For years I’ve considered this man to be arrogant, self absorbed and quite frankly full of himself. But, hey… who am I to judge? Not everyone is going to get along in life and that’s just the way it is. Besides, he and I aren’t neighbors and our paths rarely cross. Especially since I removed his posts from my Facebook newsfeed. Uh oh…did I just admit that out loud?  I won’t even get into the knowledge that my observation has shown he tends to come down on women more than men. Nope, not going to mention that at all. Oops. I think I just did. Anyway, it would appear that this “author” has taken it upon himself to offer up not just a review with comments that seem somewhat irrelevant and prove him to be uninformed. He has gone so far as to send back to the author a copy of her book in .pdf format, fully edited by him. Umm… crazy man does what?! Who does that?! Well, apparently this man does. In his ‘editing’ he goes on to school this author on her failed writing style. Here’s where I, as a fellow author, have a problem. Allow me to explain…

This author has a total of three books published, at least according to his Amazon Author Page. In his two sentence bio there are punctuation errors and sentences that aren’t quite…how shall we say, proper? Failed writing style, perhaps? He has three books released, which all appear to be self published. Out of those three books, he has only one review which is a 4 Star. This is in stark contrast to the author he attempted to school. She also has three books released. All of which are published with Siren Bookstrand, a publisher who knows the erotic romance industry and puts their authors through several rounds of edits. On Amazon her three books have an average rating of 4.6 out of 8 total reviews. So, at first glance it would appear that this author is doing something right, even if her unsolicited editor/reviewer thinks so or not. After I heard about this situation, I decided to take a look at his particular review of her book. And let’s just say I was shocked by what I found….

As you’ll notice, in the very first sentence of his review he points out that he enjoyed the story, but vampires aren’t his cup of tea. Umm…then why’d you buy it? What he neglects to mention in his review is that he purchased book 1 in this series and according to another Goodreads review, he read that one as well. So, if the title and blurb weren’t enough to clue him into it being a vampire story, wouldn’t the first book in the series have cleared up any confusion he had over plotlines? Anyway, let’ also take a look at another part of his review. He mentions the vampire’s bight. Umm… vampire’s what?? No, that’s not a misspelling. He actually wrote it as bight, and not bite. Unless the vampire is also a sailor, or someone who just likes to tie rope, I can only assume that this is an error made by the reviewer. Eeeks! Has the teacher made a boo boo? Now, don’t get me wrong I know we’re all capable of typing a word wrong. However, wouldn’t you think that someone that was arrogant enough to send back a published book to the author complete with his editing notes and suggestions would know the proper use of the words: bite, bight? Well, I guess not. It must be one of those, do as I say, not as I do things.

Some of you may be wondering why I have removed the reviewer/name of this man from the above graphic, or why I have not made one mention of his name or books in this post. The answer to that my friends is quite simple. I flat out refuse to give this man one second of fame for his arrogance and self righteous behavior.

Now, since I’m a big believer in seeing things from a positive perspective I will say that not all bad has come from this experience. You see, not only has his actions solidified my opinion of this man, proving that his arrogance wasn’t just something I suspected, but it is an actual fact. This has also made me want to buy the book in question! And I invite you all to do the same!!! So, go on and pick up any of Lynne St. James’s wonderful books at Bookstrand. You won’t regret it! The girl can really tell a story! *winks* 

Until next time, my friends. And puhhleeeease remember to be kind to one another. The publishing world may seem like a giant sea, but it can become really small pond if you start picking on your own kind. 

Moonlight Masquerade Giveaway

Hello and welcome to the Moonlight Masquerade Giveaway hosted by

My Secret Romance Book Reviews and Day Dreaming Book Reviews. 

So, tell me...Why does one wear a mask? Why do they disguise themselves? For many of us that answer is simple - anonymity. The ability to do something, anything, under the guise of being someone else, if only for a few hours. Masks date back hundreds of years and were used by many people. The rich, the poor, the outgoing and the wallflowers. They all use them for a myriad of reasons, but what I want to know is why YOU would use one? Whether it is something as small as telling your boss off, or something as sinfully delightful as living out your wildest fantasy. Leave your answers below (with email address) and I will choose 2 random winners at the end of the hop. Those 2 winners will be able to choose an eBook from any of my current releases. So come on... don't be shy... tell us what you would do if you were protected by the cover of masquerade.

Wait... the fun doesn't stop there!!! Click on any of the names below and be sure to visit the many other stops on this hop to increase your chance to win some awesome prizes!!!

Chocolate and Roses Blog Hop

I'm so excited to be a part of the Chocolate and Roses Blog Hop and smiling at the timing of when this blog was scheduled for. It just so happens that I was the recent recipient of the two very romantic gestures from a secret admirer. 

On April 26th I received a knock at the door with a polite delivery man from Veldekamp flowers. In his one hand he held a clipboard and in the other the beautiful vase of roses you see below. 

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Then on the following day I received a box of chocolates. Not just any box of chocolates mind you, it was a box filled with Harry of London chocolates. 

For those of you who haven't had these before, these chocolates are where the phrase "better than sex" is derived from. LOL. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but OMG they are sooooo good! While I may not know who sent these beautiful and delicious gifts, very few have my address and my list of 'suspects' is dwindling. 

So, in an effort of paying it forward, I would like to pass on the smiles to 2 lucky winners of my blog. All you have to do is look at my current releases HERE and leave a comment below telling me which book you would like to win. This contest ends on 11:59pm MST on May 9th. 

Please stop by the other blogs on this hop HERE or by clicking the picture below and increase your chances to win.

First pages of Sweet Affliction

Sweet Awakenings Book 4 (Navy SEALs Series)

Chapter 1

He dove in the water as bullets sprayed against the waves. Applying pressure to his side, he kicked and tried to achieve more distance than depth between him and the men firing at him. He swam under the boat and to the other side so they wouldn’t have a chance to hit him again. What the fuck had just happened? How had he gone from enjoying a cold beer with a former teammate to watching a trail of blood drip from his forehead and nearly two dozen men carrying an arsenal of weapons boarding the small yacht? He ignored the gut-wrenching realization that his friend of nearly twenty years was dead. The cold stare of shock in Tom’s face as he fell forward told him he was killed instantly. A single shot from a sniper had taken out a man who served his country for over twenty years while managing to live to tell about it.

The whizzing sound of bullets hitting the water was becoming more distant. Despite being hit he was still a strong swimmer. His training had saved his life more than once, and this time proved to be no different. If his bearings were right and he wasn’t disoriented from blood loss, he’d estimate that he was about two miles from shore. If he swam around the south peninsula of the island, that would put him far out of the sights of whomever the hell was shooting at him. It would mean at least a three-mile swim. With blood loss and pain it wasn’t going to be easy, but he’d survived worse than this before so he had no doubts that this time would be no different.

Exhausted and starting to feel light-headed, he tried not to panic. He had to remain focused. One thing he learned was that if he rested to float for even a moment he would tire even more so and never continue on. While he hoped the men firing at him assumed they were successful in their attempts to kill him as well, he couldn’t be too careful. They could be scouring the dark waters with a spotlight looking for any sign of him.

The shore was in his sights now. He kept on, kicking with everything that he had despite the burn in his muscles. If he was able to use his full strength it probably wouldn’t be so strenuous on him, but having to hold his side in an effort to diminish some of the pain left him somewhat handicapped.

When he was so close to the shore his kicks met with more sand than distance he finally rested, allowing the surf to carry him the rest of the way. His mouth filled with sand as his body swept up to the soft beach. He laid there for a moment, breathless and physically spent. The pain from his right side where the bullet hit was radiating to his arm, rendering it useless. It took all his will to use his other arm, the muscles still burning from his several-mile swim. He crawled farther up the beach, not wanting to chance the waves that carried him in to safety pulling him right back out again. There was a small opening against the cliff. It was only a few yards away but seemed to be so much farther.

He crawled to what would be his shelter for the night. Echoes of his BUD/S instructors shouting at him for being a pussy swam in his mind. He was a United States Navy SEAL for Christ’s sake. Well at least for another month until he retired, that is. He was trained to never give up. What would they tell him in training? Take off your girlie panties and swim like a man with your balls swaying free in the water. It was a dumb-ass analogy, but it served the purpose at the time when he’d heard it. He had survived BUD/S training and twenty years in Naval Special Warfare. A measly bullet wound in his right side wouldn’t be the death of him.

Somehow he managed to pull his shirt off. He couldn’t remember a time when he was this tired. Everything he’d ever experienced seemed like a drop in the bucket compared to this.

The events of the past several hours flashed through his head. He arrived in town by small plane to meet up with Tom who had just begun to celebrate his retirement. Living large on the open sea he had called it. They ate some steaks that Tom’s onboard cook had managed to charbroil to near perfection while enjoying a couple of cold Coronas. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He still had two days on his leave, so the two had planned to fish and do nothing much of anything else.

He shook his head as he replayed the events in his mind. None of it made sense. He was damn good at sensing danger. Hell, they both were. One minute they were laughing about some señorita who would hit on Tom every time he went to town, and the next the slow trail of crimson drew a line down his forehead, his eyes wide and surprised as they stared back at him.

“Fuck!”

Tom had given twenty-two years of his life to the navy. Why the hell did this have to happen a mere two weeks after his retirement? What in God’s name was going on?

Once again, playing everything back through his mind over and over, he kept looking for some sort of a sign. Something he may have missed. Still he could find nothing.

He had only known that type of surprise killing capable of three types of men—military, mercenaries, or the mob. None of those possibilities made any sense. Tom was a decorated war hero. He had saved countless lives in leading men on various missions. The military would have no reason to want him dead, except maybe the Taliban, but these men weren’t Taliban. He couldn’t see their faces behind their grease paint, but they moved much too disciplined to be a part of that sect. That ruled out his possibility of the mob as well. Aside from the cool, calculated methods of killing, they didn’t have the physical skill to move like a trained soldier.

That was it.

A trained soldier. These men moved like military, but something was off. A military force, even Special Forces for any country, would’ve been identifiable to him in one way or another, but they weren’t. These men were former military. Mercenaries, no doubt.

The question was, why would mercenaries be after Tom? His friend had led a clean, by-the-book military career, only killing when it was required and the only means necessary. Tom never stepped on toes or used anyone to his advantage. Everyone on the teams looked up to and respected him.

Those conclusions left him with only one possibility. These were foreign mercenaries, sent from another country to shut Tom up. Why would anyone want or need a former Navy SEAL dead when he was no longer a threat to them?

Something wasn’t adding up, and he was becoming more and more tired. The blood loss was taking its toll. He needed to get medical attention, get the bullet removed and get stitched up. He was surprised he hadn’t gone into shock yet. Adrenaline had no doubt kept him going. Pushing up with his one good arm he tried to steady himself to stand. He was nearly on his feet when he collapsed from fatigue. If he just closed his eyes for a few minutes then maybe it would reenergize him. At least he hoped it would. He knew if he stayed here any longer he would either die of blood loss or those men would find him to finish the job.

It was his last thought before he saw the barrel of a gun pointing down at him and his eyes closed.

PURCHASE LINK

Welcome 2012...

2011 has been a year of learning, transformation and growth for me. I think I’ve learned more in this past year about myself than I knew in the past five. With every pitfall I’ve endured I’ve found joy and happiness in the little things in life. Our world is filled with chaos, yet if you stop amidst all the craziness you might just find something to smile about.

In 2012 I hope you all live life to its fullest. Every day we draw breath is an amazing gift. We know it won’t last forever, but we can sure enjoy it and never take it for granted while we have it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

I wish you all love, happiness and so many successes in the New Year!

Bewitching Trick-or-Treat Blog Hop

It's that time of year again... Halloween! That one day a year when we get to dress up and pretend we're someone else.  Some of us may dress up as political figures, movie stars, singers or even super heroes. Then there are the ones who love to scare others and find the creepiest of costumes to scare the bejesus out of us. My favorite type of costume though is the sexy and naughty kind. Where the daring few will dress up as naughty nurses, lucious librarians, cute cops, tempting teachers or sexy sirens.

So I thought it would be fun to have a contest which centered on our MOST ____ Halloween costumes. Tell me what your MOST ____ Halloween costume was and what made it the MOST.

Was it the...
* Most scary
* Most sexy
* Most expensive
* Most accessories
* Most daring
* Most _______ (you tell me, the possibilities are limitless)

Leave me a comment below with your answer...I can't wait to read what your MOST is.

I'll be choosing 3 winners on November 1st.

1st Prize - $5 Amazon Gift Card
2nd Prize - $5 Strand Bucks (redeemable at sirenbookstrand.com)
3rd Prize - eBook (winner's choice - 1 book from any of my current releases)

As fun as my contest is, can you believe I'm only one of a HUGE Blog Hop going on with over 100 prizes available? So big, we're talking...multi-author…multi-publisher…multi-prizes...multi-FUN!

So click on the image below to get a listing of all those participating and increase

your chance of winning some AWESOME PRIZES

HAPPY HOPPING EVERYONE...

✧ Happy Birthday ✧

Yay! It's my birthday! It's finally here. Time for presents and all sorts of fun! Plus, I've been dating this gorgeous guy from the football team...I've got tickets to see Def Leppard and Motley Crue in concert soon...Homecoming is right around the corner and....ohhhhh....*sigh*...that's right...I am NOT 17 anymore. Hmm...

Don't you love it when life catches up to you and you realize your youth is completely and utterly gone? Yep...me neither. LOL. The thing is, I'm not sure where mine went, or when it left. I mean for all intents and purposes I'm a grown up now. And the fact that, that doesn't scare me tells me that I think I've been one for awhile. Wow. Epiphany's come out of nowhere and just smack you in the face don't they? 

So, I'm not 17 anymore, and I have adult responsibilities now just like my parents used to go on about.  My days of  making sure my black Mustang was clean and shiny before the weekend festivities are gone.  They've now been replaced with dreading going to fill up the gas tank.  I no longer am having to choose between which party I should go to on Friday night and which boy is cuter. Instead the parties are fewer and fewer as friends old and new are also no longer 17.  And boys are no longer of interest, but MEN...well...they are a quite a delight. :) 

Now...before all of you start trying to do the math between Def Leppard and Motley Crue's hay day of success and try to figure out how old I am, FORGET IT! I will never tell. Because its not how old I am that matters but how young I feel. So that pesky number means nada, zilch, nothing. In my mind, I am still young at heart. And as long as the young guys at the liquor store keep carding me with a smile and wink I feel confident that my way of thinking isn't so far off. :)

Now...everyone always says, "What do you want for your birthday?" And I'm supposed to come up with an answer that not only is reasonable but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Really the question is pointless then because I'm a woman and don't we all want it all? LOL. Seriously though, my wishes would be more for others. An end to war would be nice. World peace with no more hurt or wounded, not to mention those that are dying. Or perhaps an end to world suffering. No more hunger or disease. An end to violence. No more murderers, rapists or predators. Wouldn't we all want for so much less if we lived in a world so full of peace?

But since I don't think any of you can make those things happen I figured I'd conjure up a little contest.  So here goes...

If you were lucky enough to stumble upon a genie in a bottle who said whatever 3 wishes you wanted he would grant, WHAT would you wish for? 

Leave me a comment telling me what your 3 wishes would be. On Monday morning, 9/12/11 I will use my highly sophisticated and scientific method of writing your names down and throwing them all in a hat and drawing 2 names from random.  If you want to play but aren't much of a reader, simply put below your comment I needn't throw your name in the hat. :)

1st name drawn will win an eBook copy of Beck and Call, my newest release.
2nd name drawn will win an eBook of your choice from my back list.

*¨` BOOK TRAILER *¨`*

Take a look at the Book Trailer for
Sweet Salvation ~ Sweet Awakenings Book 2

WATCH VIDEO

*¨` NOW AVAILABLE *¨`*

Sweet Vengeance
Sweet Awakenings 3

[Siren Classic: Erotic Contemporary Romantic Suspense]

Adam Collins was just beginning to put his life back together when he meets Chelsea, his sweet and beautiful next door neighbor from next door. As the two spend more time together an attraction between them builds.

A nightmare from Adam’s past, that he thought was long ago dead and buried comes back to life and places him and Chelsea in danger. Enlisting the help of two of his former Navy SEALS team members Adam must find a way to keep them both safe.

As the danger mounts and passions ignite one question will remain. Who will be left standing after Sweet Vengeance is served?

Click here for excerpt & purchase link

*¨` NOW AVAILABLE *¨`*

Sweet Salvation
Sweet Awakenings 2

[Siren Allure: Erotic Contemporary Romantic Suspense]

Falling in love with his best friend wasn’t what Rex had intended, but it seemed that when it came to Shelby all bets were off. After a rocky start the two fall in love, completely unaware of the danger that lurks in the distance.

Plagued with nightmares, Shelby begins to remember memories of abuse she suffered as a teenager, which were long ago buried and forgotten. Dealing with the pain of her past brings her and Rex closer together.

Someone else wants Shelby for himself though and is determined to get her by any means necessary. As he sets his plan into motion the question of who will survive and who will be destroyed remains unanswered as a surprise from Shelby’s past may be the key to finding Sweet Salvation.

Click here for excerpt & purchase link

NEW REVIEW IN FROM...

Rating: 4.75

Reviewed by: Teagan S. Boyd

 READ THE WHOLE REVIEW HERE

Coming August 12th...

Siren Allure

LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES

by Nicole Morgan

[Erotic Contemporary Romance] Faced with a forbidden love and overwhelming obstacles, Sean and Isabelle finally find a way to be together. Justin, an ex-boyfriend, refuses to let Isabelle go. After an unspeakable act, Sean and Isabelle’s love is tested. Will they be able to overcome and discover whether Love Knows No Boundaries?