We have a very special giveaway today. To celebrate the recent release of Pleasure of a Dark Prince by Kresley Cole, the newest in her Immortal After Dark series, we are proud to announce that Simon and Schuster are giving away TWENTY copies of the novel especially to our readers!

Here is the rundown.

THE BOOK:

Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: February 2010
Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages

Stand alone or series: Installment 9 in the Immortals After Dark series

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole enraptures again with this seductive tale of a fierce werewolf prince who will stop at nothing to protect the lovely archer he covets from afar.

A DANGEROUS BEAUTY…

Lucia the Huntress: as mysterious as she is exquisite, she harbors secrets that threaten to destroy her — and those she loves.

AN UNCONTROLLABLE NEED…

Garreth MacRieve, Prince of the Lykae: the brutal Highland warrior who burns to finally claim this maddeningly sensual creature as his own.

THAT LEAD TO A PLEASURE SO WICKED….

From the shadows, Garreth has long watched over Lucia. Now, the only way to keep the proud huntress safe from harm is to convince her to accept him as her guardian. To do this, Garreth will ruthlessly exploit Lucia’s greatest weakness — her wanton desire for him.

THE AUTHOR:

Before becoming a writer, Kresley Cole was a world-ranked athlete and Master’s grad. Since her first novel was published in 2003, she has sold a total of fifteen books and two novellas in two different subgenres, and has seen her releases translated into ten foreign languages.

She lives in Florida with her husband and far, far too many dogs.

You can read more about the author on her website, where you can also find out more about the IAD series.

THE GIVEAWAY:

We have 20 copies up for grabs! To enter, simply leave a comment here tellings us which Immortal After Dark book is your favorite . Contest is open to all and runs till the end of the day today, March 6th, 11:59 (PST). Only ONE comment per person! Multiple entries will be automatically disqualified. Good luck!

Today we bring you another very special author spotlight on The Book Smugglers – this time with the delightful paranormal/sexy/urban fantasy author Stacia Kane!

Stacia is the author of the Megan Chase books, which follows radio call show host and psychologist Megan Crew as she promises to slay callers’ personal demons. This series encompasses three titles, Personal Demons, Demon Inside, and the newest novel, Demon Possessed. Check out her books:

Megan promises listeners to her new radio call-in show that she’ll “slay their personal demons,” and they believe her. So do the personal demons… although she doesn’t know it, Megan is the only human without a demon on her shoulder! Megan and her allies – a demon lover who both protects and seduces her with devilish intensity, a witch with poor social skills, and three cockney guard demons – have to deal not only with the personal demons, but a soul-sucker, ghosts of Megan’s past, and a reporter who threatens to destroy Megan’s career!

Hanging out with demons can be hell….

It’s been three months since psychologist Megan Chase made the stunning discovery that the world is filled with demons, and once more the situation is too hot to handle. Ironically, Megan — the only person in the world without a little personal demon sitting on her shoulder — has become the leader of a demon “family,” but now some unknown arcane power is offing her demons in a particularly unpleasant fashion. And while her demon lover Greyson Dante is still driving her wild with desire, he’s also acting strangely evasive. Then there’s the truth about Megan’s past — the truth she’s never known. Caught between personal problems and personal demons, Megan is having one hell of a hard time. Will the help of her Cockney guard demons and her witch friend Tera be enough so that Megan can finally resolve the past, survive the present, and face the future?

Excerpt online HERE.

Psychologist and psychic Megan Chase has grown remarkably comfortable hanging out with demons. The demon “family” she leads is happy, her solo practice is stabilizing, and she and her steamy demon lover, Greyson Dante, are closer than ever. But when the couple books a week at a luxury hotel to attend a meeting of demon leaders, some unanticipated problems appear. An FBI agent with an unhealthy interest in less-than-legitimate demon business practices shows up; the demon community is urging Megan to undergo the rite that will make her a real demon; and a slightly shady minister is holding one of his wildly popular “weekend exorcisms” just down the road. And oh, yes, someone with scary magical abilities is attempting to kill her. Then, just when it seems as if things couldn’t possibly get any worse, a secret comes to light that could jeopardize Megan and Greyson’s future — if Megan manages to live that long. With things heating up, it’s becoming difficult for her to keep a cool head…

Excerpt online HERE.

To celebrate the release of Demon Possessed, we are having the lovely Stacia Kane over for an interactive Q&A and a chance to win her books! We have TWO sets of Megan Chase books (Personal Demons, Demon Inside, and Demon Possessed) up for grabs. Entry is easy and simple, per usual – just leave a comment here asking Stacia a question (about her series, her writing process, her favorite demons, etc). The contest is open to all, and will run until Saturday, March 6th at 11:59PM (PST). Good luck, and let the questions begin.

Please and give it up for Stacia Kane!

Thanks so much for having me as a guest here at The Book Smugglers! Hanging out with readers is one of the best things about writing. I write the Megan Chase “Demons” series for Juno/Pocket books, and the upcoming Downside series as well. I’m happy to talk about both of them, or about anything else you can possibly imagine, so please ask as many questions as you like! (Just give me a little extra time if you want to talk about math, because that’s not my best subject.) Fire away!

Stacia Kane has been a phone psychic, a customer service representative, a bartender, and a movie theatre usher. Writing is more fun than all of them combined. She wears a lot of black, still makes great cocktails, likes to play music loud in the car, and thinks Die Hard is one of the greatest movies ever made. She believes in dragons and the divine right of kings, and is a fervent Ricardian. She lives outside Atlanta with her husband and their two little girls.

You can read more about Stacia online at her website HERE, her blog HERE, and on occasion over at The League of Reluctant Adults.

Title Something About You

Author: Julie James

Genre: Romance / Contemporary Suspense

Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date 2 March 2010
MMP 336 Pages

Stand alone or series Stand alone novel

FATE HAS THROWN TWO SWORN ENEMIES. . .

Of all the hotel rooms rented by all the adulterous politicians in Chicago, female Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde had to choose the one next to 1308, where some hot-and-heavy lovemaking ends in bloodshed. And of all the FBI agents in Illinois, it had to be Special Agent Jack Pallas who gets assigned to this high-profile homicide. The same Jack Pallas who still blames Cameron for a botched crackdown three years ago—and nearly ruining his career…

. . .INTO EACH OTHER’S ARMS

Work with Cameron Lynde? Are they kidding? Maybe, Jack thinks, this is some kind of welcome-back prank after his stint away from Chicago. But it’s no joke: the pair is going to have to put their rocky past behind them and focus on the case at hand. That is, if they can cut back on the razor-sharp jibes—and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sexual tension…

How did I get this book: ARC from Author

Why did I read this book: I am a huge fan of Julie James’ books, especially Practice Makes Perfect which was my favorite Contemporary Romance last year.

Review:

I don’t read a lot of Contemporary Romance and read even less Romance of the Suspense variety. If there is someone who can make me not only wait anxiously to read one and end up enjoying it so much as to ask for an encore!, that person would be: Julie James. Boy, can this woman write fan-tas-tic dialogue and captivating characters. Her previous two books Just the Sexiest Man Alive and Practice Makes Perfect are nearly pitch perfect romantic comedies and I love, love, loooooove them.

So what about this one then?

Of all hotels in the world, Cameron Lynde, Assistant District Attorney, had to pick the one where a murder would be committed, to spend the night whilst her newly finished flooring is drying. Of all the FBI agents in the world, it had to be Jack Pallas, the one to take the case. The same Jack Pallas who three years ago was the head of an investigation she was about to prosecute and which ended up never going ahead – and life-changer case whose fall out was jack being transferred to Nebraska all the while blaming Cameron for the failure. The tension, the animosity they feel for each other needs to be put aside so they can work together on the case as Cameron is both Witness and soon, a victim under protective detail. But all the anger and hostility in the world cannot hide the fact that once, Cameron and Jack were moving towards building something and the attraction is back with a bang (there is one particular scene in a motorcycle that whoa baby, holy guacamoles). And spending time together can prove what they need to bring the past to rest and start again.

This book is excellent when it comes to the romance between Cameron and Jack. The two talk when they have to talk and behave like level-headed adults and professionals who respect each other’s profession. She listens when he tells her what to do and he listens to her opinions as well. The secondary characters are interesting and show the two characters have a life outside work and their budding relationship. Also, Cameron’s best friend Colin is gay and I have to give major kudos to the author for not writing him as the usual stereotypical flamboyant gay –friend.

On the down side, if we can even say that, I have to admit not being a fan of the suspense plot. Which sounds silly since this is after all, a romantic suspense . But seeing as how the culprit is revealed early on to the reader and we are privy to this point of view, it sort of removed the suspense from the suspense; However it made it more interesting from a character’s development point of view because the reader gets to know why the killer committed the act and understand that it was not because he was an Evil!Vilain! and being able to follow the steps he took to ensure he was not found was intriguing to say the least. But in all honesty, I could have skipped all that so that I could read more of Jack and Cameron, Cameron and Jack. I am, it turns out, a bigger fan of her romantic comedies and I thoroughly missed The Funny and the screwball comedy elements present in the previous books –which is of course, a matter of preferential taste.

That is not to say that Something About You is not funny. It is – it has funny moments, and the dialogue sparkles as ever however the tone is more contained because of not only the murder investigation going on, the sense of danger surrounding Cameron but also because Jack is a damaged character with a past. Of all Julie James’ heroes, he is the one with more baggage and the one I end up loving the most. For all that, it could not, should not be any different – a difference in tone would have ruined the book.

One last word: I mentioned screwball comedy elements and this is a known influence in the writing of the author and in her previous books who make a homage and have shout outs to those old Hollywood movies . In an interview with the author, she mentioned that there would be a homage to It Happened One Night by Frank Capra in Something About You . Now, It Happened One Night happens to one my all time favourite movies and one of the reasons why I waited for this book so anxiously. I bet that that the homage would be to the famous Walls of Jericho scene and I was right! Without spoiling it too much, Julie James, takes that scene, makes it funnier and oh boy, sexier and appropriate for this book. Clark Gable/ Peter Warne would approve.

And I lied about the last word. I have something else to say about the book: this is also the hottest of her books– if you have read her previous books you know all sex scenes were fade to black. Not this time. We knew that Julie James can write sexual tension very, very well. We finally learn she can also write sex scenes – they are not very graphic or extremely long but phew do they deliver.

So as Ellie from It Happened One Night would say: Oh, it’s been a lot of fun.

Notable Quotes/ Parts: I loved this scene when Jack was doing protective detail at Cameron’s house and unbeknownst to her, as to not scare her, slept inside her bedroom :

He waited thirty minutes from the time he heard the noises stop, just to be safe.
He got up and walked down the hall. He entered Cameron’s bedroom quietly, pausing just outside the doorway to listen to the soft, steady sounds of her breahting. Satisfied she was sleeing, he moved to the corner of the room and took a seat on the floor next to the boarded-up doors that led out to the balcony and fire escpae. He rested his head against the wall.
He sat there in the darkness and watched.
He knew that sleep would eventually overtake him – he’d certainly slept in more uncomfortable places – but it would be a light, dreamless sleep. He would be ready in an instant, if necessary.
God help the man who tried to get past him.

Additional Thoughts: We have one copy of Something About You to giveaway to one lucky winner. To enter, simply leave a comment here. Contest is open to residents of US, Canada and UK ONLY and runs till Saturday 6th March 11:59 (PST). Only ONE comment per person! Multiple entries will be automatically disqualified. Good luck!

Verdict: Another great Contemporary novel by Julie James, a book which carries her signature: great dialogue and captivating characters. This one is more on the serious (and steamy) side than her previous novels.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Title: NUM8ERS

Author: Rachel Ward

Genre: Speculative Fiction, Young Adult

Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic (US & UK)
Publication Date: January 2009 (UK) / February 2010 (US)
Hardcover: 336 pages (US)

Ever since she was child, Jem has kept a secret: Whenever she meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die. Burdened with such awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. The two plan a trip to the city. But while waiting to ride the Eye ferris wheel, Jem is terrified to see that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today’s number. Today’s date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem’s world is about to explode!

Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel

How did I read this book: Review Copy from the publisher

Why did I read this book: The cover completely caught my eye, and despite the immense cheesiness of the blurb, I was hooked by the premise of the book. Plus, I really loved the last Chicken House title I read (the supremely excellent Raiders’ Ransom by Emily Diamant), and Numbers was a similar competition-winning novella that was turned into a book. I’m a sucker for this kind of thing.

Review:

NUM8ERS is Rachel Ward’s debut novel about a young girl named Jem, and a unique ability. When Jem looks into peoples’ eyes, she can see their number; that is, Jem can see the date of any person’s death. It’s a realization that Jem has made when she was seven after discovering her own mother dead of a heroin overdose. Now, at fifteen years old, Jem has been shuffled to different foster homes, labeled as a problem child for her taciturn behavior and disinterest in school and lack of direction. After cutting class from her latest school, she comes across one of her peers – a lanky, exuberant boy named Spider. And Jem notices immediately that Spider only has a few short weeks left to live. Against her instincts and her own strict rules, Jem begins to spend time with Spider, and the two become friends quickly, bonding in their shared differences. One afternoon on an attempt to impress Jem, Spider takes her on a trip to the London Eye – but Jem soon notices something bizarre and unsettling; everyone at the Eye has the same death date. Freaked out, she drags Spider running from the site, only to see the Eye get blown up a few minutes later. The police hear reports of the two teens fleeing the scene before the blast, and a nationwide search is on for them – and both Jem and Spider fear that they will be thrown into prison forever as scapegoats for the terrorist attack. Both of them know that no one could possibly believe that a screw-up foster kid and stereotyped black, drug dealing teen could have predicted the impossible. Together, Jem and Spider make their way across the English countryside, sleeping in the cold and avoiding towns at all costs. But as the authorities close in on them – and with Spider’s own death date looming – Jem must face a harsh reality.

NUM8ERS is author Rachel Ward’s first novel, which made it to publication after catching the eye of a Chicken House editor at the Frome Festival. And, as a debut novel, NUM8ERS has a lot of good to recommend it, but is not without its unevenness and weaknesses. The strongest thing about Ms. Ward’s debut is in the strength of her characters. As a character study, NUM8ERS soars. I absolutely freaking *loved* how the characters were DIFFERENT from the suburbanite white kids one always reads about in YA novels. Jem is screwed up. Like, really screwed up in the head. But it’s incredibly believable, and compelling. If you saw your mother overdose on heroin and were shipped around from home to home, and could see the impending deaths of everyone around you once you made eye contact with them, you’d be screwed up too. Jem’s not likeable, nor is she “cute” or perky or smart or anything like that – she’s simply Jem. Quiet, sullen, overwhelmingly (yet understandably) negative Jem. And, in spite of her curmudgeonly exterior and at times vitriolic thoughts, she’s an eminently relatable, genuine character. A lot of the time, mainstream YA novels tend to stick with characterizations that safely fall around the same median – though there are variations, most heroines fall under the “safe and normal” category, i.e. pretty white girl, decent home life (besides the odd misunderstanding with family members/daddy or mommy issues), smart in school (or talented in some related arena), etc. Jem and her friend and love interest Spider (who is black, lanky, stinky, energetic and contagiously exuberant) are so real and different. They aren’t cliched – there’s no “outsiders with hearts of gold beneath jagged exterior” blandness here. Both characters have their own issues, and I loved that Ms. Ward doesn’t attempt to romanticize or idealize them in any way. They simply…are. The relationship between these two “misfits” is very distinct from anything I’ve read on the YA market at present; refreshingly so. Take for example this exchange in the classroom between Jem, Spider, and her teacher:

We put our things in our bags or stuffed them into pockets, and waited for the standard bollocking: “Unacceptable behavior…Letting yourselves down…Lack of respect…” But it didn’t happen.

Instead, he waked up and down between the desks, stopping and saying something to each of us before going on to the next one. “Unemployed.” “Checkout girl.” “Garbageman.” When he got to me, he didn’t even pause. “Cleaning lady,” he said and carried on walking. He worked his way back to the front, turned and faced us. “OK, how did that make you feel?”

We stared at our desks or out the window. It had made us feel exactly how he wanted us to feel. Like shit. We all knew what sort of futures were waiting for us after school, didn’t need a puffed-up little tit like him to remind us.

Then Spider blurted out, “I feel fine, sir. It’s just your opinion, isn’t it? It don’t mean shit. I can do anything I want, can’t I? [...] Five years’ time, I’m gonna be cruising the streets in my black BMW, got some vibes on the sound system, got money in my pocket.” The other boys jeered.

McNulty looked at him witheringly. “And how, Dawson, are you going to do that?”

“Bit of this, bit of that, sir. Buying and selling.”

McNulty’s face changed. “Theft, Dawson? Drug dealing?” he said coldly. He shook his head. “I’m almost speechless, Dawson. Breaking the law, peddling in misery. Is that all you can aspire to?”

“It’s the only way any of us are going to get any cash, man. What do you drive, sir? That little red Astra in the parking lot? Teaching? Working for twenty years? I’m tellin’ you, I ain’t driving no Astra.”

“Sit down on your chair, Dawson, and shut up. Someone else, please. Jem, what about you?”

How could I possibly know what was going to happen to me? I didn’t even know where I was going to be living in a year’s time. Why was this man torturing us, making us squirm like this? I took a deep breath and said, as sweet as I could manage, “Me, sir? I know what I want.”

“Oh, good. Carry on.”

I made myself look him right in the eye. 12252023. How old was he now? Forty-eight? Forty-nine? He’d go just around the time he retired, then. On Christmas Day, too. Life’s cruel, isn’t it? Christmas spoiled for his family for the rest of their lives. Serve him right, the cruel bastard.

“Sir,” I said, “I want to be exactly…like…you.”

He brightened for a second, a half smile forming, then realized I was taking the mick. His face shut down, and he shook his head.

Jem’s voice as a narrator, and Spider’s too, are the strongest parts of this book. Also, stylistically, I loved that Jem would “break the fourth wall” – that is, directly address the reader.

But characters aside, on the plotting side, things were unfortunately weaker. The main conflict in the story, revolving around Spider and Jem’s fleeing from the police and taking refuge wherever they can makes NUM8ERS a thriller and a love story. While both of these genre elements are well written, it also meant there was little time (actually, no time) to explore the actually SF elements of the story. While I loved the premise and concept of seeing someone’s deathdate (which totally reminds me of Shinigami eyes from the epic Death Note manga. I love Death Note. Seriously.), NUM8ERS felt significantly lacking in the development of Jem’s particular “gift.” In contrast to another debut YA novelist, Jen Nadol, Ms. Ward does not explore the more interesting, philosophical implications of Jem’s capability – whereas in The Mark, Cassie’s ability to see a person’s impending death is explored to varying degrees (can you change someone’s death date, the ages-old question of fate versus free will, etc).

And, most egregiously, the ending of NUM8ERS was melodramatic, rushed, and contrived. Not a fan. BUT, that said, NUM8ERS has enough to recommend it, based on its characters alone. Ms. Ward has a forthcoming sequel next year, and I’m hoping that it will improve on the regretful low-note the first book left me with.

Notable Quotes/Parts: You can read the first chapter of NUM8ERS online via its Scholastic website HERE.

Additional Thoughts: Make sure to check out the official NUM8ERS website HERE. Also, you can see the book trailer below:

Rating: 7 – Very Good. In spite of its disappointing ending and lack of SF development, NUM8ERS has a lot going for it, especially if you’re looking for well-rounded characters outside the norm.

THE GIVEAWAY:

As promised, we have a giveaway! Up for grabs we have one GRAND PRIZE and two RUNNER-UP prizes!

The contest is open to addresses in the U.S. ONLY, and will run until Saturday, March 20th at 11:59 PM (PST). To enter, simply leave a comment here. Only ONE comment per person! Multiple entries will be automatically disqualified. Good luck!

Happy Saturday to you all!!!

We have a very special giveaway today: courtesy of Simon and Schuster UK, we have three Advanced Reading Copies of Dark Life by Kat Falls. The book is not out until April but you can get your hands on one copy here, today.

The Book:

Dark Life by Kat Falls

Genre: Young Adult, Sci Fi

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Publication Date: April 2010
Paperback: 304 pages

Ty has lived under the ocean for his entire life. Following global warming and the rise of the seas, his family joined an underwater community in hopes of living in the new frontier of the ocean floor. But When Ty meets Gemma, a girl from “topside”, who is searching the seas for her brother, she quickly makes his life very complicated. Together Ty and Gemma face dangerous sea creatures and venture into the frontier town’s rough underworld as they search for her missing brother. But the deeper they dig, the more attention they attract, and soon Ty and Gemma find themselves being hunted by a gang of outlaws who roam the underwater territories causing havoc, and who seem to have eerie abilities. But Ty has a secret of his own, living underwater for his entire life has meant he has also developed a “special” power. Can he keep it a secret from Gemma and his family or is it time for him to finally tell everyone the truth?

The Widget:

The Author:

Kat Falls grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and now teaches at NU, where she is continually inspired by her students’ creativity. She started writing DARK LIFE as a writing exercise. Knowing that her 12-year-old son loved reading about the ocean, Wild West pioneers and, of course, the X-Men, she combined his interests and created the premise for a story that kept her up nights plotting and world-building. Kat lives in Evanston, Illinois with her husband, theatre director Robert Falls, their three lively children, two cats, two guinea pigs and a snake named Poncho.

THE GIVEAWAY:

We are giving away THREE ARC copies of Dark Life ! The contest is open to US and UK ONLY and will run today Saturday 27th, for 24 hours only, until 11:59pm (PST). In order to enter, all you have to do is leave a comment here. Only ONE comment per person, please! Multiple entries and/or duplicate comments will be automatically disqualified. Good luck!

“Inspirations and Influences” is a new series of articles in which we invite authors to write guest posts talking about their…well, Inspirations and Influences. The cool thing is that the writers are given free reign so they can go wild and write about anything they want. It can be about their new book, series or about their career as a whole.

We are delighted to welcome Sean Cummings, Canadian UF writer as our guest for the day. His debut novel Shade Fright is coming out next week and it features a female protagonist who can see the preternatural world and whose job is to locate other people who can too, for the Government. She will do that with the help of her best (zombie) friend and the ghost of former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. Sean is here today to talk about his inspirations for writing the novel.

Ladies and Gents, Sean:

*********

First off, I’m really very grateful to The Book Smugglers for joining my blog tour and doing a giveaway, good luck to everyone who enters.

What inspired me to write Shade Fright ?

1. Comic books

From an early age, I developed a passionate love affair with comic books and in particular, a series of comics Marvel put out in the 70’s called “Werewolf by Night”. It was, and still is the starting point for urban fantasy in my eyes. Think about it for minute – it’s 1977, you’re ten years old and there’s a second hand comic book store on the way home from school. I collected pop bottles and delivered flyers to make enough to replenish my supply of comics and while I loved Batman and Spidey, I was completely blown away by a character named Jack Russell who could turn into a werewolf any freaking time he wanted – forget about the full moon. He lived in an urban setting and he battled all kinds of supernatural baddies, so you can imagine, I was hooked! Voila! Urban Fantasy!!

2. Canada, eh? Why the heck not?

A second inspiration for Shade Fright and one that is featured throughout the novel is that it takes place in Calgary Alberta Canada as opposed to Chicago or New York or Paris or some other world class city. (Not that Calgary isn’t world class – I mean we did have a winter Olympics there twenty-two years ago. Holy crap! Has it really been that long?)

I wanted to write an urban fantasy that was uniquely Canadian because I think hey, why the heck shouldn’t there be a Canadian ass-kicking female protagonist who throws magic at supernatural bad guys? Shade Fright is inspired by Jim Butcher’s bestselling series, The Dresden Files. There’s a splash of Simon R. Green, a sprinkle of Tanya Huff and a smattering of Kelley Armstrong. It’s a uniquely Canadian take on urban fantasy and it’s chock-full of little known facts about Canada and how we look at the world.

3. My final inspiration: Writing a book in three days! What are you nuts?

I wrote the first draft for Shade Fright on Labour Day weekend 2007. I’d entered the 3-Day Novel Contest to see if I could actually pull it off and after 72 hours of coffee, typing, retyping, swearing and banging my head against the desk, Valerie Stevens emerged as my main character and the ghost of Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (who in life was a big time occultist) showed up to help Valerie solve a mystery that threatened to kill everyone in the city. After revising the crap out of the story, and doing a full rewrite, I started submitting it to publishers and agents in the fall of 2008. In May 2009 I received an offer from award winning independent publisher Snowbooks so I decided to jump at the opportunity.

Since then I’ve completed the second volume in the series, Funeral Pallor, and I’ve introduced some new characters not to mention a few surprises that speak to the entire story arc. (I have six books outlined.)

I’m kind of pinching myself because I’ve been writing for more than twenty years with the goal of one day getting a book in print. Some of the stuff I put out two decades ago should have been burned and buried instead of submitted to publishers in a self addressed stamped envelope – oh those poor editors! My writing was so bad it probably made their eyes bleed! But you know what? I kept at it because I believed in myself – that’s really my advice to any fledgling author. Keep at it, learn the craft, make mistakes, take your lumps, take NOTHING personally because writing is entirely subjective.

I do hope readers get a kick out of my debut novel. Oh – and if you’re wondering whether it was difficult for me to write a female protagonist in first person POV given that I’m a guy, all I can say is that Valerie is an amalgam of all the women I served with in the military. She’s not overly feminine, she’s definitely not butch. She’s got a soft spot for Greek food and she has a hate-on for evildoers.

Enjoy!

About the author: Sean Cummings is a comic book geek of the highest order and self-described nerd. He’s been writing since 1978 (as a means of liberating his “inner nerd”) He’s a huge fan of the television series Being Human and asserts that if urban fantasy happened in the real world, Being Human is as close to real as you can get. His interests include speculative and science fiction, the borg, cats with extra toes, east Indian cuisine and quality sci-fi movies/television. He lives in Saskatoon, Canada. You can read a great review of Shade Fright here.

*********

Thank you, Sean!!!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

“I fell into this job quite by accident, when I discovered that I possessed the ability to see the preternatural world. There are a handful of people with similar abilities, and part of my job is to locate them, since Government Services and Infrastructure Canada likes to keep track of these things. Don’t ask me why.”

There’s a malevolent force in town, and it’s quite literally Valerie Stevens’ job to determine who’s behind it and why they want to destroy the world, starting with Calgary.

She’ll have help, in the form of her best friend (now more or less a zombie, unfortunately), a powerful dwarf troll, and the ghost of former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (but he goes by ‘Bill’ these days). But that’s not all – Valerie has some tricks up her sleeve and, she hopes, luck on her side. Oh, and her boyfriend, Dave. He drives a dump truck.

We have one copy of Shade Fright courtesy of the author to giveaway. In order to enter, leave a comment on this post telling us which is your favorite movie or book set in Canada. Contest is open for residents of UK, US and Canada ONLY and will run till Saturday February 27th 11:59pm (PST). We will announce the winner next Sunday in our weekly stash! Good luck!

Wherever Nina Lies is the debut novel from the young and extremely talented Lynn Weingarten. In order to celebrate the paperback release of the novel, we are offering up a giveaway for THREE lucky readers!

The Book:

Wherever Nina Lies by Lynn Weingarten

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

Publisher: Point (Scholastic)
Publication Date: February 2010
Paperback: 320 pages

Nina was beautiful, wild, and adored by her younger sister, Ellie. But, one day, Nina disappeared. Two years later, everyone has given up home that Nina will return, but Ellie knows her sister is out there. If only Ellie had a clue where to look. Then she gets one, in the form of a mysterious drawing. Determined to find Nina, Ellie takes off on a crazy, sexy, cross-country road trip with the only person who believes she’s got a chance—her hot, adventurous new crush. Along the way, Ellie finds a few things she wasn’t planning on. Like love. Lies. And the most shocking thing of all: the truth.

The Website:

The Excerpt:

The guy walking toward me is good-looking in an obnoxious way, like he’d play the hot jerk in a TV movie about why drunk driving is bad or how it doesn’t pay to cheat on the SATs. He’s got these big wrap-around sunglasses on and a shiny black short-sleeved button-up shirt filled out with the kind of insanely sculpted arm muscles a person only gets when they spend most of their time lifting weights in the mirror and grunting at themselves.

You can read the full first chapter online HERE.

The Author:

Lynn Weingarten spends a lot of time writing in coffee shops while occasionally reading strangers’ laptops over their shoulders. In the past she has been a book editor, a barista, a counter girl at a bakery in Ireland, a waitress at a bar, and a seller of tiny homemade clay animals. She lives in New York City. Wherever Nina Lies was her first novel. Please visit her online at www.lynnweingarten.com.

THE GIVEAWAY:

We are giving away THREE copies of Wherever Nina Lies! The contest is open to participants with a United States mailing address only (international readers can enter if they have a friend in the States who can accept their prizes by mail) and will run until Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 11:59 PM (PST). In order to enter, all you have to do is leave a comment here. Only ONE comment per person, please! Multiple entries and/or duplicate comments will be automatically disqualified. Good luck!

Howdy folks, and Happy Monday! Today we bring you a very special author spotlight on The Book Smugglers – none other than the uber-talented Jeri Smith-Ready.

Jeri is the author of traditional fantasy (the Aspect of the Crow trilogy), young adult (upcoming title Shade), and urban fantasy – and her WVMP Radio series, Wicked Game and Bad to the Bone, are some of the most awesome, memorable vampire Urban Fantasy books out there. Check them out:

Late-night radio you can sink your teeth into

Recovering con artist Ciara Griffin is trying to live the straight life, even if it means finding a (shudder!) real job. She takes an internship at a local radio station, whose late-night time-warp format features 1940s blues, 60s psychedelia, 80s Goth, and more, all with an uncannily authentic flair. Ciara soon discovers how the DJs maintain their cred: they’re vampires, stuck forever in the eras in which they were turned.

Ciara’s first instinct, as always, is to cut and run. But communications giant Skywave wants to buy WMMP and turn it into just another hit-playing clone. Without the station—and the link it provides to their original Life Times—the vampires would “fade,” becoming little more than mindless ghosts of the past. Suddenly a routine corporate takeover becomes a matter of life and un-death.

To boost ratings and save the lives of her strange new friends, Ciara re-brands the station as “WVMP, the Lifeblood of Rock ’n’ Roll.” In the ultimate con, she hides the DJs’ vampire nature in plain sight, disguising the bloody truth as a marketing gimmick. WVMP becomes the hottest thing around—next to Ciara’s complicated affair with grunge vamp Shane McAllister. But the “gimmick” enrages a posse of ancient and powerful vampires who aren’t so eager to be brought into the light. Soon the stakes are higher—and the perils graver—than any con game Ciara’s ever played…

Excerpt online HERE.

TURN ON. TUNE IN. DROP DEAD.

Welcome to WVMP, “The Lifeblood of Rock ’n’ Roll,” where conartist-turned-station-owner Ciara Griffin manages an on-air staffof off-the-wall DJs—including new boyfriend Shane McAllister—who really sink their teeth into the music of their “Life Time” (theera in which they became vampires). Ciara keeps the undeadrocking, the ratings rolling, and the fan base alive—withoutmissing a beat.

For Halloween, WVMP is throwing a bash. With cool tunes, hotcostumes, killer cocktails—what could go wrong? To start, areligious firebrand ranting against the evils of the occultpreempts the station’s midnight broadcast. Then, when Ciaratracks down the transmission, the broadcast tower is guarded bywhat appears to be . . . a canine vampire? Behind it all is a groupof self-righteous radicals who think vampires suck (and arewilling to stake their lives on it). Ciara must protect the stationwhile struggling with her own complicated relationship, her bestfriend’s romance with a fledgling vampire, and the nature of hermysterious anti-holy powers. To make it to New Year’s in one piece,she’ll need to learn a few new tricks. . . .

Excerpt online HERE.

Totally awesome music of WVMP Radio online HERE.

In celebration of the mass market paperback release of Bad to the Bone, we’re having an awesome interactive Q&A opportunity with the esteemed Jeri Smith-Ready! Here’s how it works: Jeri will be popping in all day long to answer YOUR burning questions about her WVMP Radio books. But wait, it gets even cooler – courtesy of publisher Simon & Schuster, we’ve got TWO sets of WVMP Radio books up for grabs (Wicked Game and Bad to the Bone). Entry is easy and simple – just leave a comment here asking Jeri a question (about her UF series, her writing process, her favorite authors, music, tv shows, etc). The contest is open to all, and will run until Saturday, February 27th at 11:59PM (PST). Good luck, and let the questions begin.

We give the floor up to Jeri Smith-Ready!

Hey, thanks so much for having me as a guest on The Book Smugglers! I write the WVMP RADIO vampire series and the upcoming SHADE ghost series for teens. I love answering readers’ questions, so ask me anything. (Yes, anything. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll make something up–it’s what I do. For example, where I got the idea for vampire DJs, what it’s like to write for both adults and teens, and what I do in my nearly nonexistent spare time (right now I’m mesmerized by Olympic curling). You can even ask my characters questions, though Shane and Regina tend to keep nighttime hours. As Pat Benatar once said, hit me with your best shot!

Award-winning author Jeri Smith-Ready lives in Maryland with her husband, two cats, and the world’s goofiest greyhound.

You can read more about Jeri online at her website, and at her blog.

“Inspirations and Influences” is a new series of articles in which we invite authors to write guest posts talking about their…well, Inspirations and Influences. The cool thing is that the writers are given free reign so they can go wild and write about anything they want. It can be about their new book, series or about their career as a whole.

Today’s guest is debut author Rose Lerner, whose Historical Romance novel In For A Penny is about to be released next week. The book, about a marriage of convenience based on companioship and mutual respect between a ruined lordling and a rich Cit, shook Ana’s world and brought back her love for the genre with a vengeance. And we are delighted to have the author here today to talk about her Inspirations and Influences behind the book:

Please give it up for Rose Lerner:

*********

There are plenty of things that show up in In for a Penny that I love wholeheartedly: making lists, men who speak foreign languages, and ballads about girls who run away to sea, for example. But the influences at the heart of the book are all things that make me angry, and matter to me a lot.

1. A Civil Contract, by Georgette Heyer.

I adore Georgette Heyer. I envy her prose style to the soles of my shoes. And A Civil Contract makes me want to throw it at the wall every time I read it.

It’s about a penniless lord who marries the daughter of a self-made man for her money. Jenny is “too commonplace and matter-of-fact to inspire…passionate adoration,” unlike the woman Adam loves, a high-strung aristocratic girl with beautiful eyes. So far, so good. Except at the end of the book, Jenny’s in love with Adam and he is still not in love with her. Instead, they discover that a marriage of quiet content can be more enduring than passion.

I’m not opposed to that sentiment, and I know a lot of readers love the book for that very reason. But why Jenny? Why is Jenny denied what every other Heyer heroine gets: the passionate adoration of her hero? What if , I thought, I wrote a marriage of convenience between a penniless lord and the daughter of a self-made man where he’s the one who feels inadequate, and she’s the one with the ex-boyfriend?

Until his father’s death, my hero Nev has never had to deal with either responsibility or business management. And my heroine, Penelope, grew up helping with the books in her father’s brewery. Nev is impressed and a little turned on by her accounting skills, but he can’t shake the lingering fear that she’d be better off with sensible, ultra-competent Edward…

2. Jane Austen, especially Sense and Sensibility.

Jane Austen is another writer who remains a huge influence not just on me, but on the entire romance genre. She writes the best comedy of manners ever. She does amazing banter. She writes strong female characters (mostly) and charming heroes (mostly).

And yet, Sense and Sensibility makes me angry. Jane Austen sets up her world so that a girl can be an Elinor, and be sensible and level-headed and live up to her responsibilities, or be a Marianne and be enthusiastic and talkative and willing to take emotional risks. By dividing those traits up into two characters and then making Marianne silly and kind of obnoxious, Austen says that you can’t be both.

I don’t want to choose between being a girl worthy of respect and being a girl who says out loud how she feels. In order to become an Elinor, I’d have to lop off entire parts of myself, lock them away and be ashamed of them and never look at them again. Which is, I think, a thing that people do to themselves. It’s something my heroine Penelope, who wants desperately to be an Elinor, has done to herself. (Luckily, Nev comes along to help her find those bits of herself again…) This brings me to Influence #3:

3. Trying to be taken seriously.

I think we’ve all had the experience of not being taken seriously, of being treated like someone whose thoughts don’t actually count for whatever reason. It’s an awful feeling.

Penelope’s whole life has been shaped by that feeling. Her nouveau-riche parents started out as working-class Londoners, but they sent their daughter to a finishing school for young ladies. The other girls all made fun of her–for the way she ate, the way she talked, the way she dressed. So she watched everything she did, trying to prove that she wasn’t vulgar, that a working-class girl could be just as good as the daughters of lords. That’s something I haven’t experienced personally, of course. But I drew on personal experiences and family history to help me figure out how to write about it.

As a teenager I struggled to present my opinions in a level-headed manner, so that my dad would take me seriously. (Alas, I frequently ended up crying in the bathroom and/or yelling…) As a girl majoring in math in college, I tried to seem confident and smart, and always wore my most serious clothes to seminar. There were whole years of my life when I wouldn’t wear pink. And I love pink!

My grandmother (whose parents came to the U.S. from Poland) made the transition from being very poor as a child to being middle-class as an adult. She remembered showing up to her first day of school speaking only Yiddish, so she didn’t teach her children Yiddish at all. She was very proud of her education. She tried not to speak with a Brooklyn accent. She wanted my mother to be a doctor even though my mother was one of the most squeamish people I’ve ever met.

Don’t get me wrong, my grandmother loved her family and was proud of where she came from. And she really did like opera, it wasn’t just an affectation. But she also censored herself and her kids, and had some bizarre blind spots. For example, she believed that she had a more classy taste in clothes than her own mother, and was always complaining that my mother looked schleppy and giving her fashion advice. Let’s look at some family photos.

My great-grandmother (in the middle):

My grandmother with her mother, and one of my grandparents together (making a joke with their Old-Timey Married People pose):

My mother. On the left she’s in a dress my grandmother bought for her (with her two brothers), and in the right she’s in a dress she bought for herself (with her youngest brother):

To find out if the trend continues into my generation, all you have to do is look at my author photo:

Clearly bright, busy patterns run in the family. Is that because we’re peasants at heart? Maybe, maybe not–but who cares? Of course, I can say that. I can really not care, because I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. My grandmother did.

I tried to show that with Penelope. I tried to show that she’s playing a losing game, but at the same time I didn’t want to criticize her for playing. Because in her situation, I think it’s impossible not to want approval, and not to feel like you should be a credit to where you came from.

So there you have it, three of my inspirations and influences! Thanks Book Smugglers for having me!

About the author: I discovered Georgette Heyer when I was thirteen, and wrote my first historical romance a few years later. My writing has improved since then, but my fascination with all things Regency hasn’t changed. When not reading, writing, or researching, I enjoy cooking and marathoning old TV shows. I live in Seattle with two roommates, four cats, and too many books and DVDs to count. You can learn more about the author on her website, where you can find an awesome excerpt of the book, cool characters’ interviews and a contest to win not only her book but also a package of 10 of her favorite Regency-themed books.

Thank you, Rose!!!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

IN FOR A PENNY

No more drinking. No more gambling. And definitely no more mistress. Now that he’s inherited a mountain of debts and responsibility, Lord Nevinstoke has no choice but to start acting respectable. Especially if he wants to find a wife-better yet, a rich wife. Penelope Brown, a manufacturing heiress, seems the perfect choice. She’s pretty, rational, ladylike, and looking for a marriage based on companionship and mutual esteem.

IN FOR A POUND

But when they actually get to Nev’s family estate, all the respectability and reason in the world won’t be enough to deal with tenants on the edge of revolt, a menacing neighbor, and Nev’s family’s propensity for scandal. Overwhelmed but determined to set things right, Nev and Penelope have no one to turn to but each other. And to their surprise, that just might be enough.

We have one signed copy of In For A Penny to giveaway. In order to enter, leave a comment on this post. Contest is open for residents of US and Canada ONLY and will run till Saturday February 20th 11:59pm (PST). We will announce the winner next Sunday in our weekly stash! Good luck!

Hey, hey, hey folks! It’s time for another, really spiffy Flash Giveaway! This time, it’s the luuuuuuuuurve edition.

Today, we have a few prize packages up for grabs – three basic prize packages, and then ONE truly awesome Grand Prize!

In Batch 1: Historical Romance

This batch includes:
- Revenge Wears Rubies by Renee Bernard
- In Bed With the Duke by Christina Dodd
- Ladies Prefer Rogues anthology
- Promise Me Tonight by Sara Lindsey
- Most Eagerly Yours by Allison Chase
- The Irish Duke by Virginia Henley

In Batch 2: Contemporary Romance

This batch includes:
- Knock Me for a Loop by Heidi Betts
- Some Like it Kilted by Allie Mackay
- Mad, Bad and Blonde by Cathie Linz
- Divorced, Desperate and Decieved by Christie Craig
- Blonde with a Wand by Vicki Lewis Thompson
- Chick with a Charm by Vicki Lewis Thompson
- Johnny Be Good by Paige Toon

In Batch 3: Paranormal Romance

This batch includes:
- Warrior Ascended by Addison Fox
- Succubi Like it Hot by Jill Myles
- Naked Dragon by Annette Blair
- Dark Desires After Dusk by Kresley Cole
- Atlantis Redeemed by Alyssa Day
- Time for Eternity by Susan Squires

AND THE GRAND PRIZE:

As part of the marketing push behind the thirtieth book in J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts)’s “In Death” series, the good folks at Penguin have put together a truly AWESOME promotional package for the release of Fantasy In Death.

Bart Minnock, founder of the computer-gaming giant U-Play, enters his private playroom, and eagerly can’t wait to lose himself in an imaginary world, to play the role of a sword-wielding warrior king, in his company’s latest top-secret project, Fantastical.

The next morning, he is found in the same locked room, in a pool of blood, his head separated from his body. It is the most puzzling case Eve Dallas has ever faced, and it is not a game. . . .

NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas is having as much trouble figuring out how Bart Minnock was murdered as who did the murdering. The victim’s girlfriend seems sincerely grief-stricken, and his quirky-but-brilliant partners at U-Play appear equally shocked. No one seemed to have a prob lem with the enthusiastic, high-spirited millionaire. Of course, success can attract jealousy, and gaming, like any business, has its fierce rivalries and dirty tricks-as Eve’s husband, Roarke, one of U- Play’s competitors, knows well. But Minnock was not naive, and quite capable of fighting back in the real world as well as the virtual one.

Eve and her team are about to enter the next level of police work, in a world where fantasy is the ultimate seduction-and the price of defeat is death. . . .

You may or may not have seen others (such as KB of Babbling About Books, and More! and the folks over at Dear Author) that have been posting about these wicked cool packages – and, with full permission from the publicity group at Penguin, we’ve decided to give put our own package up for grabs.

As the Grand Prize in our Valentine’s Day Giveaway, we are offering up a copy of Fantasy In Death and the wicked cool Evidence Bag that contains Vengeance in Death, a departmental memo from Eve, and a little token of evidence from the Vengeance in Death case.

You can find more about Fantasy In Death and all of the great evidence bags put together by the publisher at the official In Death website, HERE.

THE RULES:

In order to enter the contest, we have a few simple rules.

To enter the competition, you must leave a comment after this post, letting us know in order of preference which of the three prize packages you want (for example: 1. Historical Romance; 2. Paranormal Romance; 3. Contemporary Romance).

If you want to enter yourself in the GRAND PRIZE drawing (for Fantasy in Death and the Evidence Bag containing goodies and Vengeance in Death), in your comment make sure to tell us which In Death book is your favorite! (If you do not wish to be considered in the giveaway for the other prize packages, make sure to state that in your comment too) If you do not say which In Death book is your favorite, you will NOT be eligible to win the Grand Prize.

And this is an important one! ONLY ONE COMMENT PER PERSON. Any duplicate comments, clarification comments, multiple comments will be automatically disqualified.

The competition is open to residents of the United States and Canada ONLY.

Those are the rules! Make sure you adhere to them, or you might lose your chance at a truly awesome giveaway. The contest will run until Saturday February 13th at 11:59PM. Good luck!

And Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!