Book BIN Tuesday -- At Any Cost

The NASSD Counter-Terrorist Agency 1

At Any Cost

When a NASSD double agent steals the technology for a deadly virus, counter-terrorist agent Dan Weber is more than ready to take on the complex and potentially deadly mission to hunt down the technology he once protected with his life, even if it means babysitting a gorgeous, yet reckless tomboy agent.

Rookie JT Turner is hungry to prove her worth in a profession dominated by men. Even though she can hold her own against a dozen trained agents, she's been labeled a screw up after too many mishaps. JT would do anything to redeem herself, even accept a shady mission to track down a phantom disc NASSD denies ever existed.

Undermanned and unarmed, can they unravel a madman's plot and remove the threat before it is unleashed? In a race against time, the line between desire and destiny will blur, and their true desires will finally be met.

****

I love this cover (Angelina Jolie kick-butt heroine!) and the story sounds fabulous. Why not head over to Siren this week and Buy It Now? I know I will!

MTA Monday -- Meet Allie K. Adams

NAME: Allie K. Adams

WEBSITE: http://www.alliekadams.com

BLOG: http://alliechat.blogspot.com

TITLE OF FIRST BOOK: At Any Cost

RELEASE DATE: July 28th, 2008

FAVORITE WRITING STORY/SAYING/MEMORY: My favorite writing story is when I had a terrible, mean, nasty boss. He would belittle me in front of others and then just smile as I turned red. When I quit, I told him he should have been nicer to me. When he asked why I told him he might just end up in one of my books—and not in a good way. One of the very first books I ever wrote, I cast him as the bad guy. He was terrible, mean, and nasty in the book. He died in a very slow, very unpleasant way. It was extremely therapeutic. He he he.

FAVORITE NON-WRITING STORY/SAYING/MEMORY: Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't. –Eleanor Roosevelt

COMFORT FOOD: Anything covered in chocolate that won't kill me (I'm allergic to nuts)

COMFORT READ: I know this sounds geeky, but I love to read the Dilbert books. When I don't want to have to think, those are perfect.

YOUR PERFECT DAY: Wake early at my leisure, actually jump on my elliptical so I'd stop feeling guilty every time I look at it, be able to eat anything I want and not have to worry about it going right to my hips (which might happen if I actually jumped on the elliptical), and bake out in the sun while the computer automagically (that is totally a word!) types my thoughts. Ah. Sheer bliss!

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW?: I'm working on heating my scenes in Seek and Destroy and Rescue Me to a sizzling rating. After all, as my tag line states, if it doesn't sizzle, it isn't hot enough. I'm also working on a special ménage project for my publisher.

Thanks for stopping by, Allie! Best of luck on your new book!

Guest Blogger -- Title Gods/Goddesses Needed!

A novel by any other name…still wouldn't have a title.

Sometimes a story comes with a title attached. Other times finding a title is like pulling teeth without any anesthetic. In my experience, there is no in-between. Right now, I'm faced with the latter. I have a completed manuscript just aching for a name. I even went so far as to write a tagline, blurb, and warning—a task I usually dread—in an attempt to find a title. So far, no joy. I asked around at Slash & Burn. Now I'm asking you here on Kate Davies Blogs! I want to hear your suggestions based on the aforementioned tagline, blurb, and warning, which I will post below. No suggestion is too silly, too bawdy, too schlocky, too snarky, too purple. Hell, my first novel was named by one of my beta readers with the accompanying statement that "it's better than nothing". Which it was, since it made it to publication. And speaking of that, I'll even sweeten the pot, shall I? When I sell this thing (I'm practicing my positive thinking. Kate's so good at it and I'm trying to learn from her.), if it goes to print with the title you suggested, you'll get a free download. Sound fair? All right. Here's what I've got.

Title: (You tell me...)

Author: Maia Strong

Genre: M/M erotic fantasy romance

When internal conflict is mirrored by civil unrest, Jonas must choose between truth and safety.On the surface, Jonas Vaneau's life is perfectly average. He works at the law courts five days week, spends Sabbath night with his parents and every other night with his cat, and tolerates the unending string of single women his mother invites to Sabbath dinner. But his routine life cannot provide what he most desires—at least not as long as he must continue to pretend to be the person his overbearing parents want him to be.

An unusual encounter with a seemingly ordinary client causes Micah Hartshorn considerable consternation. When Jonas inadvertently and inexplicably breezes right past his emotional defenses, Micah finds himself involved in a drama that is far beyond anything for which his professional skills have prepared him. Figuring out this new puzzle isn't in his plans—especially not when he has his own issues to deal with both at home and at work.

All personal problems are swept up in political unrest when new laws change daily life for everyone in the city. Conflict grows among a population divided by new policies. What chance does an ordinary legal journeyman have to fix the city's troubles when he can't even fix his own?

Warning: This book contains drinking, sex, language, politics, and organized religion; nine-year-old civil rights activists; legalized prostitution; and foreign food.

So... Help?

Links! We got links!
http://www.maiastrong.com/

http://maiastrong.blogspot.com/

Buy The Ballad of Jimothy Redwing

Book BIN Tuesday -- Into the Fire

Yeah, yeah, I know. Every July it's the same thing. "Suz Brockmann has a new book! Must buy now!"

Drives my DH 'round the bend, too.

But I can't help it. I love, love, love her books. And I can't wait to read this one. Here's the scoop:

Vinh Murphy -- ex-Marine and onetime operative for the elite security firm Troubleshooters Incorporated -- has been MIA ever since his wife, Angelina, was caught in a crossfire and killed during what should have been a routine bodyguard assignment. Overcome with grief, Murphy blames the neo-Nazi group known as the Freedom Network for her death. Now, years later, Freedom Network leader Tim Ebersole has been murdered -- and the FBI suspects Murphy may have pulled the trigger. To prevent further bloodshed, Murphy's friends at Troubleshooters scramble to find him and convince him to surrender peacefully.

Murphy himself can't be sure what he did or didn't do during the years he spent mourning and lost in an alcohol-induced fog. He does know he occasionally sought solace from Hannah Whitfield, a former police officer and the very friend who'd introduced him to his beloved late wife.

But Hannah, still grappling with the deafness that resulted from an injury sustained while on duty, was fighting her own battles. For years Hannah had feelings for Murphy, and one painful night their suffering brought them together in a way neither expected -- and both regretted.

But finally, Murphy is ready to rejoin the living. As always, he finds himself knocking on Hannah's door, and as always, his longtime friend welcomes him back into her home. Yet even as Murphy slowly rebuilds his splintered life, he continues to fight his growing feelings for Hannah. Then he learned of Ebersole's murder and comes to believe that the Freedom Network has targeted him -- and Hannah -- to avenge their leader's death.

Now Murphy must face the terrifying prospect of losing to violence another woman he loves.
As the Troubleshooters desperately search for him, Murphy races toward a deadly confrontation with the Freedom Network and the ultimate choice: surrender his life in the hopes that Hannah will be spared, or risk everything to salvage whatever future they may have together.

*bouncing up and down* I can't wait!

I just hope I can track down a copy soon so I can Buy It Now!

Book BIN Tuesday -- The Ideal Wife

I'm on a bit of a Mary Balogh kick these days. Nothing like a big, juicy historical to dive into on a lazy summer day. So I'm pretty chuffed that her early books are being re-released, since I missed them the first time around.

I started reading Balogh somewhere in the middle of the Slightly series, and of course had to go back and read them in order, followed by the Simply series. Now, I'm hunting down her other books, so it's very nice to see her earlier works being re-released. Makes the search a bit easier. :)

I just finished The Tangled Web tonight, and have Web of Love on hold at the library, but I'll have to stop at the bookstore and pick up The Ideal Wife this week as well. Here's the blurb:

When Miles Ripley, Earl of Severn, learns that his mother and sisters are about to descend upon him in London, he is in despair. For they have a bride picked out for him and are busy with wedding plans-and he does not know how to say no. They love him, and the trouble is that he loves them too. He vows to his best friend that if only someone would set before him the plainest, dullest, most ordinary female, he would marry her without delay.

He is not really serious, of course, but the very next day a woman who resembles the one he described to an uncanny degree appears in the visitors' salon of his home, claiming a distant kinship and begging for a reference so that she can seek employment. Suddenly Miles becomes very serious indeed and offers her something quite different from what she expects.

The only problem is that Abigail Gardiner is not at all the woman Miles judges her to be during that first encounter. Because she has just been dismissed from her employment for insubordination and is feeling rather desperate, she has come to the earl-a very distant relation indeed-with a deliberately plain, demure mien.

The drastic mistake Miles has made does not bode well for the future!

Now, this book was originally released in 1991, so I may discover that what I love about Mary Balogh books has evolved since her earliest works. But that's part of the fun of reading, isn't it? So, I'm off to the bookstore this week to Buy It Now. If you like Mary Balogh (or are a fan of regency romance), why not join me?

Travel Travails

I'm back!

And very, very tired. After a long day in the car, the DH and I are back from a just-the-two-of-us vacation. We had a great time, except for the hotel room saga.

Now, if you're a reader of Lucy Monroe's blog, you know that she has stories to tell about all of her trips, with at least one thing going wrong on every vacation. Our room saga fits right in with that theme.

We had a nice room to start with. About halfway up the tower, with a nice view and decent accommodations. But the second day we noticed that the door wasn't latching consistently.

Door that won't shut or lock? Um, no. We called and asked for someone to come fix it. The maintenance guy showed up right away, took a look at it, and said it'd take a while to fix, so we should probably be moved to another room.

Five minutes later, we're shoving things in suitcases while a bellman stands outside the door ready to take us to our next room. We get there, tip the bellman, unpack, and discover that 1) the toilet is close to overflowing and 2) there's no hot water. At all.

Another phone call, another fast pack job, and the same bellman is waiting to move us yet again. Room three, another tip, we unpack, and there's a knock on the door. It's the same maintenance guy, clearly confused to find us in a different room than the one he'd set up for us earlier. We explain the problems with room number two, and he shakes his head. He'd been sent to THIS room on a work order for the air conditioning, which is spewing water all over the carpet. We, of course, hadn't noticed this yet. Nor had we noticed the missing night lock, which the maintenance guy pointed out as well.

"That's it," he said. "You guys deserve a suite." He sets it up, get us our room keys (the fourth set of the day), and helps us carry the luggage up to the top floor so we don't have to call the bellman yet again. Which was a good thing, because I was out of cash for the tip.

Oh, and did I mention that I'd left a library book in the first room and had to run back there to get it, luckily running into the housekeeper who'd just put it in the storage room?

Or the fact that during this time frame the elevator was out of service for almost an hour while the fire department investigated an alarm, which turned out to be two wires touching accidentally?

On the bright side, we got a huge two-room suite with a fabulous view and lots of space, for the same price as our original hotel room. And all it cost us was three moves, several panicky pack jobs, and a handful of tips.

What's your favorite (or funniest) vacation story?

Beach Blanket Blog Party Winners!

Well, it's Freebie Friday here at Kate Davies Blogs!, so what better day to announce the winners of the Beach Blanket Blog Party contest?

Every comment between Monday the 23rd and Monday the 30th earned an entry into this prize drawing, and the random integer generator picked the following winners. Congratulations!

Winner of the Chesapeake Bay Candle three-pack, featuring Tropical Drink-scented tealights (Mango Mojito, Berry Sangria, and Papaya Spritz):

Jean P.

Winner of the Very Cherry flip-flop-shaped manicure set (which is so cute I was tempted to keep it for myself):

Michelle

Winner of a beach-ball-topped bottle stopper and a margarita-shaped notepad:

Kimmy L.

And winner of a free download of HOOKED:

Robyn L.

Congrats to all the winners! Please contact me off-blog with your address or, in Robyn's case, your preferred e-book format, and I'll get those prizes out to you as soon as possible. Note: I'll be away from my home computer for a few days, so if you don't get your prizes right away, don't worry! They'll be in the mail (or e-mail) soon.

And thanks to everyone who posted during the blog party. You made the week so much fun!