Author Rosanna Leo is My Guest Today!

174727809It’s my significant pleasure to host author and friend, Rosanna Leo, on my blog today. Rosanna’s here to give us a exciting peek at her latest romance novel, Predator’s Fire! Without further ado – take it away, Rosanna!

“TOP FIVE TRAITS FOR A ROMANCE HERO”

Thanks so much to my lovely friend Jianne for hosting me today! I’m here to discuss my latest paranormal romance Predator’s Fire, Gemini Island Shifters 5. However, I’m also here to wax poetic on my favorite thing ever: romance heroes.

You know the ones I’m talking about. Those dashing dudes who toy with our imagination, making us want, making us compare every other man to them. I love romance heroes. And in my time creating them, I’ve come to learn they need to possess some specific traits.

Now I could go on and on about them having to be handsome and strong, blah, blah, blah. We all know it’s not just about their looks. They need to have oomph. When the reader and the heroine first meet them, it has to feel like a sucker punch to the gut. We need to be winded. So what does a hero need in order to give us this sensation?

1) He must be an enigma. None of us like the man who wears his heart on his sleeve, at least not in a book. We like the man who gives us a sense of mystery. The man who makes us want to learn more. An enigmatic personality draws us in, captures our imagination.

2) He must be smart. Now, a romance hero need not be a super intellect. Perhaps he’s worked with his hands all his life, or had little education. That doesn’t matter, but he does need to demonstrate his natural intelligence. Otherwise, he’ll lose us.

3) He must 100% focused on pleasing the heroine. Now, this may come with time. Not every romance begins happily. Sometimes the hero and heroine hate each other at first. However, once he decides she is the woman for him, she becomes his number one priority. Oh, and if part of that entails panty-melting sex, all the better.

4) At heart, he must be good. Of course, he may not always be good. In fact, we encourage a bit of conflict and naughtiness in our hero. But at the end of the day, he need to be convinced this man has honor and values, no matter what they be. And we need to buy into those values, if only for the duration of the book.

5) Last but not least, our romance hero needs drive. I have never encountered a lacklustre hero. I have never met a hero who is content to hang out on the couch watching football while his heroine goes on an adventure. He wants to share her adventures and give her new ones. He wants to succeed and he wants his heroine to succeed. Sure, they may enjoy quiet moments together, too, but this is a man who will never settle for half-way. He will fight to get what he wants, including his woman.

Thanks for joining me today. What traits do you desire in a romance hero?

predator'sfireoptBlurb:

When Nina Suzuki discovers the body of her best friend Janine, her world turns upside down. Things go from bad to worse when Janine’s corpse seems to transform into that of a large, brown wolf. For the first time, Nina is faced to confront all the clues indicating her BFF was not what she seemed. A letter from the dead woman opens Nina’s eyes to a strange, new world. The same letter warns of a sinister group called the Alpha Brethren, and urges her to find Killian Moon of the Ursa Fishing Lodge and Resort on Gemini Island.

Killian Moon is a jaguar shifter and teen mentor at the Ursa Lodge in Northern Ontario. He may be a comfort and inspiration to confused teen shifters, but he also has a fiery past. His past comes back to haunt him when human Nina arrives at the resort, demanding to speak with him. Demanding answers. Can he trust her with knowledge that will not only change her life, but possibly endanger those around him?

As Killian begrudgingly tutors Nina on all things shifter, their mutual curiosity flares into passionate need. Once they touch, once they succumb to desire, there is no going back. Killian realizes Nina is his mate and they both begin to comprehend the terror threatening those on their shifter-friendly island. He is forced to confront the tragedy in his family and determines to protect Nina at all costs.

But can they protect everyone they love from a cult of dangerous shifters, intent on horror and destruction?

Excerpt from Predator’s Fire:

“How much longer do I have to wait? I want to see Killian Moon. Now.”

The feminine voice, strangely soft despite its insistence, echoed deep in his being, awakening his jaguar. The great cat roared to life, turned toward the office and inhaled deeply. Its eyes flashed in interest.

In…recognition?

Killian breathed in at the same time, catching the scent of cherry blossoms through the door. The sweet perfume, mixed with human outrage, proved a heady distraction, making him forget why he was there. Shaking his head, he tried to dismiss the odd sensation as Ryland opened the door.

The door swung open and the first person he glimpsed was one of the clerks from reception, trying his hardest to placate the unexpected guest. “I’m sure Mr. Snow and Mr. Moon will be right back.”

And then his gaze landed on the petite human. Tapered Asian eyes, so dark and mysterious, but rimmed with circles of exhaustion. Smooth, cinnamon skin hinted at a mixed background. Wearing no makeup, she appeared younger than she must be, but her presence and keen eyes pegged her at around thirty years old. She had a riot of curly, black hair and feminine curves that ought to come with a warning. He could see it now. Beware: this woman’s body will cause insanity in men. Even as she gesticulated at the clerk, her boobs jiggled in such a way his throat went dry.

He pictured her in a corset, her breasts spilling over delicate lace edging, and almost forgot his name.

This Nina Suzuki was damn hot and his jaguar seemed to agree. The animal licked its lips, its golden gaze assessing and appreciating every detail, from her rounded hips to her come-hither rack.

Yes, the creature uttered on a frenzied breath.

Buy link: Predator’s Fire, Gemini Island Shifters 5, is available at http://www.lsbooks.com/predator-s-fire-p946.php

as well as Amazon, Kobo, ARE, B&N and other outlets.

Thanks so much for giving us this delicious taste of Predator’s Fire, Rosanna!

Cheers,

Jianne

Author Rosanna Leo’s Latest – Predator’s Claim!

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RLeo pic - 12957_(167x250)Today, I’m thrilled to have my fellow Love, Lust, and Laptops author and buddy, Rosanna Leo, as my guest.

Rosanna’s dishing one hot excerpt for her latest paranormal release Predator’s Claim.

Trust me, you won’t be able to put Predator’s Claim down (*fanning myself*)!

Over to you, Rosanna…

Thanks to the lovely Jianne for hosting me. I could not be happier to be here (*looks around, hoping to spot one of Jianne’s dishy Vikings*)

I’m here today as part of my blog tour for Predator’s Claim, Gemini Island Shifters 4. My paranormal shape shifter series has been such a fun one to write, and one of the reasons has been being able to pit gruff animalistic heroes with vulnerable, yet feisty, human heroines.

Book 4 is a little different. In this case, we also have a wonderful shifter hero, wolf shifter Bart Cairo, a security specialist at the Ursa Fishing Lodge and Resort.  However, his heroine is also a wolf shifter, Charlotte Moffatt, someone Bart has secretly adored from afar. They are colleagues and friends, but Bart is dying to make their relationship a closer one.

The dynamic changes a little in these books when both the main characters are shifters. In cases where the heroine is human, and mortal, the heroes can get a little worried for their well-being…to say the least. Now, even though Charlotte is a tougher wolf woman, Bart still gets Alpha with her. However, for the author, it makes for a slightly different story.

Both characters come from similar backgrounds. They understand what it is to shift, so one loses some of the awe you find in a human heroine. So how do I bring the awe to my shifter heroine? Well, by showing how the hero affects her. She may not be surprised at his unique talents, but his character and presence still wow her.

And it’s so much fun getting wowed along with her! I hope you’ll check out Predator’s Claim.

LSB Cover Art Template for PhotoShopBlurb:

For years, wolf shifter Bart Cairo has harbored secret feelings for his co-worker, Charlotte Moffatt. Even though he thinks he’s been discreet with his affections, everyone at Gemini Island’s Ursa Fishing Lodge knows he and Charlotte, a fellow wolf shifter, are meant to be mates. Everyone but Charlotte.

Charlotte couldn’t be less interested in mating. A free spirit, she wants nothing more than to succeed at her new career in the big city and leave small-town Gemini Island behind. However, she can’t deny Bart stirs up unwanted emotions inside her. Emotions she swore she’d never feel again.

The occasion of Bart’s family reunion compels him to assume new responsibilities, and to consider a role he never envisioned for himself. Family tensions rise to the surface as a new Alpha is proclaimed in his pack. And when old grudges escalate, Bart must stake his claim.

Charlotte resists as he stakes a claim on her as well. But when he begins to employ sexual tactics of temptation, she wonders if the only solution is submission to the enticing wolf man. Can she trust her heart again? And can they find their happy ending before an enemy cuts their story short?

Excerpt:

He pushed aside one of the suitcases in his way and backed her up against the sitting room wall. He put his hands on either side of her head, closing her in, and leaned toward her. Soaking up the scent of her talc-scented skin and her womanly heat, he inhaled deeply, knowing she was hot for him. “Did our kiss mean nothing to you?”

She blinked. As she stared at him, tears threatened, pooling at the corners of her eyes, but she banished them with another punishing series of blinks. “Nothing.”

Oh, she was good, but he was better. No kidding a kidder, after all. He wet his lips and pinned his gaze on hers, which were now trembling ever so slightly. “You’re fooling yourself.”

“I’m not,” she said on a gulp. “I’m not…”

“Oh yes, you are,” he warned, his voice low and deep. “But that’s gonna stop here and now, Charles.” He moved his face closer to hers, bent his head, and dragged his tongue up the length of her neck. When she gasped, he felt her hold her breath and moved his tongue as slowly as possible. He ground his hips against her, and his cock thumped violently against her belly.

She slammed her hands against the wall behind her, clearly trying to get purchase on anything but him. Even still, her hips rolled against his in obvious invitation. “I want you to stop,” she cried. Her chest jerked as the plaint escaped her, and her tears finally tumbled down her cheeks.

He moved away, just millimeters so she could breathe. Cupping her face, he stared her right in the eyes. “Say it again, and maybe I’ll believe you this time.”

“I want you to…” she squeaked.

“What was that? I can’t quite hear you, princess.”

Her lips wobbled and her eyes crinkled in what could only be agony of the worst kind. “I want…Oh God! I want you”

You can purchase Predator’s Claim here:

http://www.lsbooks.com/predators-claim-p889.php

http://amzn.to/ON1HzA

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/predators-claim-rosanna-leo/1118850470?ean=9781622100910

Here are the fabulous covers of the other books in Rosanna’s Predators series:

RLeo - PredatorsSerencade_600x800

Thanks for visiting my blog today, Rosanna.

Cheers,

 

Jianne

Love in The Cards – Free!

Love in The Cards (small) (2)The Love, Lust, and Laptops Love in the Cards Anthology is finally FREE on Amazon! Yay! Here’s the link:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Cards-Becca-Jameson-ebook/dp/B00GCRF61I

It’s also available at All About Romance, Smashwords, and iTunes:

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-loveinthecards-1333531-166.html 

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/372611

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/love-in-the-cards/id737524179?mt=11

So  here’s some teasers from each tale to titillate your Saturday – and it’s free – go download it and write us reviews!!

Three of Cups by Becca Jameson:

Ellen stood outside the old mansion and stared at the façade. With a deep breath, she took in the beauty of the tall pillars and shutters worn from years of neglect. It looked haunted, but she knew better.

Hell, she knew lots of things. More than she ever wanted to know.

Ellen opened her palms in front of her and closed her eyes, her face lifted to the highest peak of the mansion. She centered herself. A breeze blew by and ruffled her hair as she smiled. The mansion was exactly as she had always pictured it would be.

There was more magic in the air than any place she’d ever been. She wasn’t the only person with something at stake tonight. The mansion was filled with mystery.

When she’d calmed herself, she opened her eyes. A man stood on the top step in front of her. “You coming in?”

She nodded and scurried up the steps behind him. He held the door open. She’d never seen him before, but that didn’t matter. He wasn’t the one she was here to meet. Or … the ones…

The invitation to the Halloween party at Dacre House had come a month ago. To the best of her knowledge, she knew no one at the party. That didn’t matter either. She would know someone very well when she left. Two someones.

Empress by Cherie Nicholls

Lucy looked down at the invitation in her hands.
There was a man sitting in the chair on the other side of the room, waiting for her.
So far, this night hadn’t been like anything she’d expected. First, she’d managed to get herself fired from a job she loved. Second, she sort of crashed a Halloween party. But hey, she’d been invited when she’d worked in the Michaelson’s office; the party’s hosts didn’t need to know that technically she wasn’t a Michaelson employee anymore.
Finally, she’d made the mistake of turning over the invitation and looking at the back. Printed on the reverse side was the image of half of a tarot card. The Empress card. Lucy didn’t know much about the mystical element, but doubted the picture had much to do with reading peoples futures at this party.
There were also some instructions printed on the card. Basically, someone would have the other half of her card; her mission was to find that person. Lucy had almost rolled her eyes, but something about the image pulled at her and here she was … a party-crasher.
Upon arrival, she’d headed to the bar and ordered a soda. Lucy had barely taken a sip before a man in a scarlet suit approached her.

The Star by Christy Gissendaner:

The party was already in full swing.

Teetering on hooker heels, Eve Montgomery pushed her way through the crowd. Several partygoers stopped to gape at her costume … or lack thereof. A mix-up at the costume shop forced her to make do. Instead of the leafy bikini she’d ordered, she’d ended up with only a fake plastic snake and a shiny red plastic apple. Not very much of a costume.

Luckily she was an artist, if a bit of an underpaid one, and a stroke of ingenuity led her to paint on her costume. It was a very Playboy bunny thing to do. Although she’d sworn never to take her clothes off again to make a buck, five hundred dollars for a few hours of dancing was an offer she couldn’t refuse.

Unfortunately it was hard as hell to paint one’s own backside, so she’d had to call in a favor from a friend. Shazzer was a decent painter, more than capable of slapping on some green paint and glitter to cover Eve’s ass.

“Knock ’em dead, girl.” With a wave, Shaz headed for her own cage.

Eve gazed at the other three cages, seeking the one she was supposed to dance in. With a groan, she caught sight of a very familiar male body cavorting a few feet above her head.

The Lovers by Emilia Mancini:

Lea looked up at the Dacre House and smiled as anticipation coursed through her veins and settled in a tingling ball of fire between her legs. Some lucky son of a bitch in there would be thoroughly fucked by the time she got done with him.

She looked down and made sure the red corset she wore was aptly pushing her plump breasts up and out. It was tight around her abdomen, thinning her waist and emphasizing her hips, which were covered in a red latex miniskirt. Her red stiletto boots, which zipped from ankle to thigh, clicked as she sashayed her way toward the front steps.

The man at the door moaned in appreciation as she stopped in front of him. He gestured her in before she even showed him her invitation. “You can have whatever you want, baby,” he mumbled.

Her grin widened. She planned on having whatever she wanted. In whatever way she wanted it.

Lea paused in the foyer to glance in the tall mirror. Her golden locks were still perfectly curled and the little horns on her head were in the right place. It was early, but the ballroom was already abuzz with chatter and activity. There were four cages with dancers hanging high off the floor.

The Jack of Hearts by Jianne Carlo:

Ricco stared out the open window and willed Kata to walk through the gate.

He wouldn’t lose his mate twice.

Seth had won Kata once, but he was long dead and buried, and all bets and rules were off.

The gas lamp hanging from an iron post just inside the award-winning front garden of Dacre House highlighted the raven-blue woven into the fibers on the black hood and long cloak Kata wore. The cape swirled around her ankles, and the ancient iron creaked in a drawn out protest when she shoved the gate open.

He tracked her steps and inhaled the musk of her desire mingled with the night-blooming jasmine. He hadn’t been certain she’d come after their confrontation earlier today.

Kata climbed the stairs, her feet dragging as if she was about to put her neck on the guillotine block.

Ricco’s mouth watered. His canines tingled and his gums ached with the need to claim.

The door opened and the doorman said, “Card.”

Her graceful fingers reached under the cloak, and she opened her hand to display half of a torn tarot card. The half that matched his, the Jack of Hearts.

Strength of a Lion by Lynn Lorenz – Excerpt:

Leon Manx stood in the corner of the large front parlor of the Ducre mansion and watched the Halloween partygoers. In front of him, costumed couples danced to the pounding music, dressed in everything from a nun in a mini-skirted habit and black fishnet stockings to a Mexican wrestler including the skeleton lycra mask.

His own costume, a big game hunter, was a last minute decision and a bit ironic, like his sense of humor. He’d enjoyed the joke, but now he was here, Leon might have made a deadly mistake coming to the party.

Perhaps for him and perhaps for whoever thought he or she could f**k with Leon.

He’d received the invite, one half of a Tarot card, three days ago, not in the mail, but in an envelope slipped under the door of his uptown shotgun house. The torn card and a business card with the date, time and address of the party.

Meet your mate had been printed on a small card included in the envelope.

Some would look at it as just an invitation to a Halloween party. Leon took it as a warning, a threat, to his very existence.

The Wheel of Fortune by Monette Michaels

Brendan Cooper adjusted the gaudy vest across his chest and the saber in his belt for what had to be the hundredth time that evening. Yes, he represented The Sultan’s Favorites Sex Toys. Yes, he’d been asked to host a sex toy party at this exclusive Halloween party at Dacre House. And, yes, the sheik costume was appropriate … but he didn’t have to like it―any of it.

If he hadn’t been the classic starving, deeply-in-debt, just-out-of-the-military graduate student, then he wouldn’t be here. But he was … so he was.

The best part of this gig was all the sales he’d made tonight; the worst was he’d been as horny as hell the whole evening from observing―and listening to―his clientele testing toys and then using the ones they’d purchased.

The party host had thoughtfully provided tented chaises in the library for sex play. And Brendan had had a front row seat for every single second of the evening’s sexual activities. While he’d “scened” in BDSM clubs, he really wasn’t into being a voyeur; he liked his sex games to be private. But a job was a job, and he needed the money this one provided.

Two of Cups by Parker Kincade:

Mason hated the desert.

Other than being hot as the devil’s ass crack, he swore he’d never be rid of the sand that had worked its way into his skin. From the tiny grains that snuck into his boots each day to the dusting he swallowed off his coated lips each time he’d managed to stop long enough to eat. Hell, cut him and he’d probably bleed the shit.

One thing was for sure―he’d never long for a vacation on the beach again.

Under the cover of darkness, Mason dug in his heels and pushed himself up and over the jutted rock formation. He rolled to his belly and snaked around until he could see the roof of the compound below.

It had all come down to this.

He’d given up his life, his future, the woman he loved beyond measure—all because of the evil f**k bedded down in the building below.

Omar Travinskov was the scum of the earth as far as Mason was concerned. He traded in drugs, women, and children, and used all three at his leisure. Each time Mason, and the team of special operatives he’d been assigned to, had caught up to Omar, the bastard would slip through their fingers. Over and over.

Judgment Day by Rosanna Leo

Even from behind the closed salon door, Verity sensed him coming. Despite the party atmosphere in Dacre House, and the sounds of lusty revelers, she remained attuned to his particular footsteps. The determined thump of his footfall made her as excited now as it had three hundred odd years ago.

She perched on the edge of a velvet settee, crossing her leather-clad legs. And then, as she heard him reach the salon door, she decided against her pose and stood to reposition herself behind a scrolled chest of drawers. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she stood up straight and gazed toward the door, her heart heavy with anticipation. As much as she wanted to present a brave face, standing behind the bulky piece of furniture made her feel safe. In her hand, she gripped half of a tarot card as if it were a map leading to buried treasure. She glanced at the card.

Judgment Day. How appropriate.

So long. So very long. How had she existed all this time without him? Of course, she thought bitterly, it wasn’t as if she’d ever had a choice. He’d turned her away every time she’d pleaded with him over the past three centuries, a victim to his all-consuming guilt.

Two of Wands by Vanessa North:

When I say my best friend Pierre is “not my type,” I don’t mean I’m not interested in completely hot, slightly-fem, Creole twinks with lips for days and the roundest perkiest little asses on the planet. ’Cause that’s kind of exactly my type.

When I say Pierre is “not my type,” I don’t mean I’m not interested in the kind of guys who bring you coffee just because and also sometimes fold your underwear because you left it in the dryer. ’Cause that’s kind of also my type.

When I say Pierre is “not my type,” it’s not because I don’t love it when he comes over a week before Halloween with a bag of feathers, a million yards of tulle, and a sewing machine, strips down to skivvies and says, “Cher, I need you.”

It’s one hundred percent self-preservation. Pierre is not my type.

So, since I’ve known him since grade school and we were the only two out queers at our high school and we roomed on the same hall at Tulane—and not because he’s my type—I let him set up his sewing machine on my kitchen table and I get him a cup of coffee, and bless my own rotten heart, I ask him what’s the matter.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the FREE read!

Cheers,

Jianne