And the winners are....

Here the winners of my recent Halloween Spooktacular Blog Hop! Forgive me for taking so long to announce the winners! But here they are.... drum roll, please...

And the winners are....

Sula

Booklovez

Debby


Thanks to everyone who stopped by and commented! Look for a special giveaway on Wednesday, to celebrate my birthday!

I'll be in touch with the three winners to find out what book they'd like!


Have a great day!

A New Story and the Winners of the Howloween Blog Hop!

First, I'd like to mention my story. This is the first time I've been in an anthology. This one came out Thursday, November 1st, from a group I belong to, IRM. It's called Winter Heat, and it's available at Amazon, ARe, and Smashwords. My story is Son of a Preacher Man. Let me tell you a little bit about it.





Blurb: Son of a Preacher Man

Levi Thornton is the closeted gay son of homophobic televangelist Marshall Thornton. So what’s the perfect gift for the father who never cared? Levi’s going to find a yummy young man on Christmas Eve, fuck him all night long and six ways to Sunday. And then he’s going to out himself on live national TV on Christmas Day in front of his father and God and everyone else.  

The problem is he’s having no luck at finding that special someone to share this moment with. Just when he thinks his quest is hopeless, in breezes Darjeeling Crane, and it’s off to the family hideaway for a night of fun. This will be a Christmas to remember, if Levi has anything to say about it.

Here are the inspirations for my characters.

Levi Thornton:  

Darjeeling Crane  

Now here are the blurbs for the other authors:

Daniel B. Johns - Mirrors In The Attic - My name is Stanley Nelson and I am a psychic working with the Boston Police. My notoriety comes from a voice in my head. When evil threatens my life I run to free the only person who can help me, Luchien. Along the way, I meet Deke Bridges, a Nantucket handyman who harbors a secret that ties us together. Will good win out over evil? Can love survive no matter what the cost?

My name is Stanley Nelson...wish me luck.

Kimber Kahn - Fated

Home. Family. To most, those words bring thoughts of safety and joy. To Ryan Daniels, they bring guilt and pain. Returning to the place he grew up, the place he left behind, he finds something he never bargained for and didn't know he was missing until the afternoon he bumped into Stuart Vaughn. Can Stuart be what Ryan needs to rearrange his perceptions? Are some things truly Fated?

CR Guiliano - Unexpected Winter - Abbott Wilson couldn’t believe he’d finally made the trek into the Arctic, above the Arctic Circle, in the dead of winter. A dream come true, a challenge to himself that he finally mastered. What he hadn’t counted on was getting trapped in a deep ravine and the masculine and gorgeous man that saved him.

But Iluak was as quiet as he was beautiful. Abbott was strangely drawn to Iluak, but the closer he tried to get, the stranger Iluak’s behavior became and Abbott wasn’t sure what to make of it. Then, Abbott pushed too hard and found himself in a waking nightmare. Or was he?

 Patricia Logan - Over the Road - When Trace Martin, Kyle Kincaid and Ryan Harris plan to take a winter getaway, they decide to try out RV camping. What better location to go in the dead of winter than Aspen, Colorado to hit the slopes. What they didn't count on was what it would be like to be crammed into a tiny bed with a generator that doesn't work. The boys have to resort to making their own heat and what better way than what works best. Join the lovers for the fun, sex-filled adventure into the snows of the Rockies and all the twists and turns of driving over the road.

Donya Lynne - Snowed In Truth or Dare

Rick's life isn't what he had imagined it would be in his mid-thirties. His wife is cold and resentful, his children treat him like a figurehead instead of a father, and his sex life is nonexistent. A hunting trip with the guys the weekend after Thanksgiving is just what the doctor ordered for him to reclaim his man card and give him back a sense of dignity. But when a blizzard snows in the four men, a game of poker turns into a game of Truth or Dare that's anything but kid stuff. When the dares grow out of hand and the truth comes out about his three companions, will Rick succumb to temptation, as well as to his new feelings for his best friend? Or will he decide that his joyless marriage isn't all that bad, after all?

Ike Rose - December's Dilemma.

The Master of My Passion series. started in the story A Midsummer's Night Pickup in the Hot Summer Fun anthology, continues. On their first Thanksgiving together as a couple, actor and singer Hans Rath discovers that complications can result from his being of a different faith than his older lover, world-famous playwright and author Theodore (Teddy) Behr. Pappa Bear is very proud of his Jewish heritage, and reluctant to celebrate Christmas in his home - the one he's told his beloved Goldilocks is their home. Can they compromise?

T.A. Webb - His Name was Harley Manfield - They were the Three Musketeers and friends for almost twenty years. But when tragedy strikes the group, how will they be able to move forward this Christmas?

  A.J. Llewellyn and Serena Yates - Cat vs Dog

C.A. Tallus has gone to Gay Ski Week in Aspen in search of snow, sex and...a dog? No. No. No.

C.A., or Cory to his friends, hates dogs. Hates them. Especially little ones, which are usually smarter than big dogs and know there's something...unusual about Cory. And of course there is. He's a cat shifter longing to get back into his natural state and run with the wind on top of the Aspen peaks.

When he meets Bryan Braun he senses something different about him, as well. Bryan's no ordinary ski fanatic who's been working too hard and in need of a break. Cory is certain Bryan is a werewolf. His natural enemy! Can a cat and a dog get along? Can they have fun in the snow? And beyond?

And what about the mysterious, big dumb dog accompanying one of the skiers for the raunchy week in the western slopes of the Rockies? What, or more to the point, who is Tank the dog and how did he and his human companion James become involved with deadly Scrimpers?

Sara York - Changing Currency

When Max put's on his evening gowns and high heels, stripping away his masculine identity, changing into the gorgeous drag queen, Maxine the Devilicious, the fun begins. When he runs into his boss from the bank the game changes. Max has a secret and it's about to come out, changing his life, changing his work, changing his everything.

And now for the winners of the Howloween Blog Hop!

Three winners will receive a copy of anything from m backlist. Those winners are:

Lasha, Emily and Shadow.

The winner of the $10 Amazon gift certificate is...

Mystichawker!

Congratulations to everyone and thanks to those who stopped by my blog during the hop! I'll be participating in the Christmas hop, so keep on coming back! I love to see you here!

And now for the winner

Sarah, hand me the envelope please, if you will. *Insert sound of paper tearing, followed by a drum roll*

Ahem... the winner of my Hoppy Easter blog hop contest is....

Lisa!

Lisa, I'll be emailing  you shortly. Thanks to everyone who entered, and come back often. You never know when I'll have a new contest, just because I like to give books away!

Hope everyone had a great Easter!

But wait, I promised three winners, didn't I? Sarah, where are the other two envelopes?

Ah, here they are.

Crissy and Midia!  Yay and congratulations to everyone, I'll be contacting you via email soon!

And the winner is...

Yes, I'm late in declaring a winner in my No Place Like Home contest, and for that I do apologize. But I have a winner now, and will be announcing that person in just a few.

First, I'd just like to do a mini-rant. A reviewer, who shall be nameless, went on a rant in her review of a book about the book's anti-infringement/copyright policy! Seriously? You let this upset you? How many people even look at that. Not even the pirates they're aimed at do that. And yet someone who claims to have gotten a legitimate copy of a book gets all hot and bothered about the warning by the publisher against theft? What the hell? She ranted on it in the review and at her blog, and I have to say that I think it colored her review. That is some seriously irrational shit, I'm here to tell you. Can we all say anal?

Anyway, nuff said about that.

Tomorrow, the fourth part of my Forbidden series will be released. It's called Fugitive.  So let me share a little bit of that, if I may. It can be pre-ordered at ARe now.

Blurb:

A jubilant Jerico James has just given Father Sergio the slip in the barn, and he’s feeling rather fine. All he has to do now is find a phone, call one of his friends, and prepare to leave the sticks behind. But that’s far from a done deal when he finds himself unexpectedly engaged in a struggle against nature. Is this city boy prepared to rough it in the wild until he can reach civilization again?  What’s lurking in the woods?

Excerpt:

He hesitated for a moment, gazing intently at where Sergio lay, barely able to make out his form in the darkness. A twinge of regret suffused him—regret for what might have been, if he only had time. The fun they could have had together… But that fun would have come at the cost of his continued incarceration, and that was a price he was unwilling to pay.

Arrivederci, bella. Touching his fingers to his lips, he blew a kiss in Sergio’s general direction, then headed for the door. He reached for the door handle, but there was none.  Instead he found a vertical pull and an intricate latching mechanism, neither of which he was familiar with in any way. He spent a good five minutes standing in the darkness, his fingers feeling their way around the latch. The doors were on rollers suspended from above. He hadn’t paid any attention to them the night before during the mad dash through the storm, but he remembered Sergio sliding the door closed.

Finally he found the latch release and sighed in relief. A snort from the darkness froze him in place. He held his breath. Any moment he expected the priest’s hand to clinch around his neck and a sexy voice to ask where he thought he was going. Another snort was followed by a soft whinny. He released his pent-up breath feeling very foolish.  He had to get out of here.

 The latch unfastened with a click, the hardware creaking as the heavy door sprung free. He glanced up at the sky—no rain. Thank heaven for small favors; maybe there really was a God.  Clouds concealed the moon in layers of dark cotton. He hesitated in the doorway, thinking how useful it would be to have the lantern.  Then he decided against it. Let the poor people keep it. They had little enough as it was, and none of it was worth taking.

Jerico glanced over his shoulder, and then rolled the wooden door open until he could just slip through. He squeezed through the narrow aperture and took a deep breath. He was free, but he wasn’t gone. Not yet. Pulling the door closed, he allowed some positive thoughts to creep into his brain. Things might just be going his way at last. Is that a sign, Father Sergio? Is your God on my side for once?

The sun wasn’t up, but he figured he didn’t have long before hayseeds would pop out of every house, barn and field for fifty miles. He wished he had his cell phone.  Any of his friends would be willing to rescue him from Backwater America.  It didn’t matter. He’d get another phone once he got back to civilization and away from this rural nightmare

And now for the winner...

Congratulations goes to Mel B!  You get your choice of my books, I'll be emailing you shortly! Thanks to everyone who entered, and keep trying. There'll be another contest soon, as well as blog hops!

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

Winners and a new release!

As promised, here are the winners of my Backlist Friday contest. I decided to pick two. Congratulations to Debby and PaParanormal Fan! I'll be getting in touch with you both!

Yesterday, the third installment of my Forbidden series released. Let me tell you a bit about it.

Blurb:   Jerico’s wish to be alone with sexy Father Sergio comes true when an unexpected storm traps them in a farm on their journey to Sanctum. Jerico lays his plans for a night of seduction, while Sergio’s assistant, Valencia, is left to explain to a very wealthy and influential man why his son isn’t where he should be.

Things are heating up out on the farm, and they promise to get even hotter…

Excerpt:

“How will you see where you’re going?” Sergio asked. The question was practical, but Jerico was way ahead of the priest.

“Couldn’t you guide me?”  Jerico tried to make the request guileless but figured by the look on Sergio’s face that he hadn’t been successful. Oh well.

“Come on, let’s do this.” Sergio took Jerico’s wrist in a strong grip. Jerico practically lit up inside at his touch.

“Let’s go,” he agreed, and followed the priest from the house. He heard Sergio shut the door behind them. Keeping his head down as instructed, he held the blankets tightly against his body. Sergio led him down the steps and across the yard. The rain fell in a steady deluge.

“God’s wrath,” Jerico murmured.

The listing van loomed in the darkness.  Head down and eyes focused on the muddy ground, he caught a glimpse of the ruined tires outlined in silhouette when a streak of lightning lit the area. He blessed Mother Nature and the priest’s apparent inability to perform routine vehicle repairs. Jerico had never had that problem. Not like he knew one end of a wrench from the other, or anything else having to do with his car.  The James Family employed a mechanic, and when that gentleman asked a few too many questions, Jerico found a mechanic of his own. Hopefully, he’d be back behind the wheel and home before he needed to learn any new skills.

Sergio’s grip was firm and comforting, despite the drizzle that engulfed them. All too soon, they quickly traversed the distance between the house and the barn. One moment they were in the rain, the next they were inside the darkened structure. It smelled suspiciously like wet wood. Jerico sneezed. Sergio released his hand to his disappointment and closed the door.

“Bless you.”

Jerico sneezed again and sniffled. What was that smell? He glanced warily about him, but that didn’t help. The lantern had its limits, one of them being a small range of visibility, but it was better than complete darkness. Noises outside the circle of light startled him so badly he almost ran right back out into the storm. What the hell was in here with them?

As if reading his mind, Sergio supplied the answer. “Their animals.”

“They have animals?”

Sergio’s laughter traveled straight down Jerico’s spine to his cock.

If you want to read more, Unexpected Storm: Forbidden 3 is now available!

Follow Friday and the Winners of the With Love VDay contest

Happy Friday to you all! Before I ask this week's question, I'd like to announce that I chose two winners of the With Love Valentine's Day Blog Hop. Thanks to all who entered, and be sure to come back for Hoppy Easter! And now, drum roll if you please...... the winners are:  Norma and Lisa! I will be contacting both of you to choose which book from my backlist you'd like!  Congratulations to you both!  Now, on to this week's question!

Q:   I like unique names for characters and am looking forward to coming up with some when I start writing. What’s the most unique character name you’ve come across?

A:  I've seen a lot of unusual names, and I have to agree that Renesmee from Twilight is one of those. Horrible, horrible name. Sookie Stackhouse is unique and memorable, and I like that - especially the way Bill says it. It's hard to define unique, though, because constant usage takes something that was unique and makes it commonplace. Everyone and their brother jumps on the bandwagon and there you go. These days, romance writers are overusing names like Jayden so that you get tired of seeing them. Real people have common names too. 

Congratulations!

I'd like to thank everyone who participated in my Christmas Blog Hop! Look for more of those in the future! It's time now to announce the winner. Drum roll, if you please!


And the winner is..... Eva's Flowers! Congratulations to Eva! And because it's Christmas, I'm going to pick a second winner, and that winner is.... Lily Sawyer. I'll be contacting both of you to see which selection you'd like. Thank my son - he chose the winning numbers lol

Secondly, I'd like to congratulate Chef Geoffrey Zakarian - the newest Iron Chef!  Well done, Chef! I'm going to start watching Iron Chef on a regular basis now!  Team Zakarian rules!

And it's time to announce the Back List winner1

Drum roll, if you please!


The winner of my Back List contest is.....

Jen B!

Congrats, Jen! I'll be contacting you shortly about picking your choice from my back list! Thanks to everyone who entered, and keep watching this space for more contests!

Bewitched Blog Hop Contest - and the winner is.....

Congratulations go to Jean P, who is the winner of a copy of My Fair Vampire!

Thanks to everyone who entered, and don't forget you have another chance to win with Back List Friday!

And the winners are...

Congratulations to my winners from the Love Romance Cafe Halloween Party contest!

They are:  Paula L has won a copy of My Fair Vampire, and Beatrice has won A Special Christmas!

Let's give a big cheer for the winners. I'll be announcing the winner in the Halloween blog contest a little later today, stay tuned!

Winner of The Wishing Cup contest!

So, JM Gryffyn is pleased to announce that the winner of the PDF copy of The Wishing Cup goes to none other than...(drumroll, please) Trekfan!   The copy of the novella will be winging its way over to her in a day or so.  Thanks so much to everyone who gave the contest a go.  Happy reading!  ~JM 


There you have it, folks! Thanks to everyone that entered and congratulations to Trekfan! Keep stopping by, you never know when there'll be another contest!

And the winner is...

I'm proud to announce the winner of my What Would  You Do For Love contest is.....

drum roll, please...

CARRIE!  I'll be in contact with you soon! Congratulations and thanks to everyone who entered!

I'll be holding another contest before you know it!

And the winner is...

Using a very scientific method, my daughter Sarah picked the winners of my Captivations 7: The Storm Rages   contest. Yes, you heard right - winners, as in plural!  I decided to expand the contest and have two winners!

The winners are:

Heather and Sui!  Let me know what format you prefer, and which chapter of Captivations you would like!

Congratulations to you both and for those who did not win, I will run another contest soon, I promise!