Author EMILY BRYAN March Contest
A Note From Emily:
I’m running a quarterly contest in conjunction with my free online
novella A DUKE FOR ALL SEASONS. Each month my readers vote for the
direction the story should take and I write the next chapter. March is
the last month a vote will enter readers in my March 31st drawing for a
$100 gift card. The link to the contest is:
http://www.emilybryan.com/contest.htm
Coming soon from Ellora’s Cave!
DO ME GOOD by Adele Dubois
A rebellious Nordic warrior, cast into eternal servitude by an angry god to teach him humility, tests immortality to fight dark forces set to destroy the mortal woman he loves.
*****
Introducing Gunnar, the inspiration for the sexy celestial hero of my upcoming fantasy novella DO ME GOOD. Isn’t he gorgeous?
*****
(Photograph of model Arnaud Lemaire used with permission of photographer Felix Lemmer.)
I don’t know a crocus from a daffodil unless they’re in bloom, but I know signs of spring when I see them. Found these lovely flower tips poking from the melting snow in my garden. After enduring the hardest winter in my state’s recorded history, I’m thrilled that spring is almost here!
It’s only the first day of March, but I’m already spring-cleaning. I’m in a rush to see the end of the harshest winter in my state’s recorded history.
One of the rooms I cleaned was my office, lined with hundreds of paperback books. Some are my out-of-print and treasured favorites; others already read or to-be-read. After lugging box after backbreaking box of books to donation centers and the library, I’ve developed a new appreciation for digital publishing.
I’ve always been proud of my career as an e-published author, and I’m equally proud of my trade paperback release. As a reader, I also enjoy having choices.
As I add more books to my digital library the living space in my office will increase. There will be less to dust and more ways for sunshine to brighten the room. Next spring I’ll have less back-wrenching boxes to haul.
What’s your purchase ratio of e-books to print books? Where do you predict the industry will be in five years?
Happy almost-Spring!
Since the Fox premiere of “Human Target,” called James Bond on adrenaline, starring Mark Valley as Christopher Chance, I’ve been wedged on the sofa Wednesday nights like a lime slice to tequila. I’ve been a Mark Valley fan through his television series’ ups and downs, and though I loved him on “Boston Legal,” I think he’s found his niche with “Human Target.”
Not just another pretty face, Mark Valley was a math major at West Point. He served his country for five years, was stationed in Germany where he became fluent in the language, and took part in Operation Desert Storm.
His acting career began after being discovered by a casting agent in Berlin. European films followed until he returned to the USA, where he appeared in soap operas.
Mark Valley played the villain in “Fringe,” surprising audiences with the story twist.
This all-American guy might play Captain America in an upcoming feature film. Fans voted him the #1 choice for the role. Whether or not he plays the part, I think Mark Valley is a fabulous CLASSIC HUNK. Don’t you agree?
Examiner.com reporter Fran Lee posted an online interview with me and did a fabulous job presenting my selection of books. Thank you, Fran! Please visit Examiner.com and post a comment.
Crazy Heart –Screenplay written and directed by Scott Cooper, based on the novel by Thomas Cobb. Starring Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Jean. (Photo by Lorey Sebastian.)
*****
I’m sure you’ve read enough great reviews about CRAZY HEART to know you don’t need another, but I agree the movie and music were terrific. At times, though, this was a tough film to watch. The storyline haunted me for days and stirred a bevy of emotions.
Crazy Heart is no girly romance.
I came to a sad realization during the first kiss scene between 57 year-old broken-down hero Bad Blake and twenty-something heroine Jean. This novel would never have been published, nor this movie made, had the 57 year-old protagonist been a woman.
Though we romance novelists are finding publishers for older women/younger men stories like my award-winning novel DESERT FEVER, I’d bet my next royalty check there’s no publisher willing to print a flip-side version of Crazy Heart.
Bad Blake vomits, sweats, is poorly groomed, overweight, alcoholic, and dead broke. He wheezes, snorts, passes out, and falls on his ass–yet wins the heart of a girl young enough to be his daughter. When Bad kisses Jean for the first time, my reaction was UGH. Doesn’t she know the guy pukes his guts out?
Women can be soft-hearted to a crazy-hearted fault.
I understand why Jean’s character has to be young, and why she needs to have a young son, in order for Bad to find his fresh start. The winter/spring romance is crucial to the plot, and it works. We root for Bad Blake and hope for his redemption.
Yet, even in the age of cougars and their sexual conquests with eager cubs, a fictional 57 year-old burned-out female celebrity who vomits, sweats, has a pot belly and not a penny to her name would be hard-pressed to find a young, virile hero willing to give his heart to lift her up and help her out. For free. Older women usually have to tough things out on their own when their beauty fades.
Will this double standard ever change?
Have you seen the movie? What do you think?
–Adele Dubois
Valentine’s Day is the perfect girly holiday. When else can women expect sex and romance, chocolate, flowers and maybe a little bling from our men–all on the same day–either in real life or between the pages of a hot romance novel?
Books by Adele Dubois promise erotic escape. Sometimes the adventure of a lifetime takes place on the back of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, when a Good Girl takes a chance and rides off with a handsome stranger.
Others can be found on a desert road while driving a red, Retro Ford Thunderbird convertible with a magical GPS system, able to locate what a woman with a broken heart needs most.
Or on a jet to a mystical tropical island promising restored youth and the fulfillment of every secret sexual desire.
Don’t want to travel far? Visit the house in a small town whose ghost protects a lover’s lifelong secret.
Read more on my Books Page:
http://www.adeledubois.com/bookshelf.shtml
If you’re reading my blog and website for the first time, welcome! If you’ve been here before, welcome back! We have lively discussions here.
What does your heart desire for Valentine’s Day? Tell us in the comments section. Believe me, we want to know!
Best—Adele Dubois
BE MY VALENTINE BLOG TOUR
http://booknibbles.com/blogtour
I’m hanging out with a fabulous group of erotic romance authors, hosted by Michelle Polaris, where our sexy story heroines display the jewels given to them as gifts by their lovers for Valentine’s Day.
We’re giving away a cool prize, so stop by Michelle’s blog after you finish reading mine.
http://michellepolarisblog.wordpress.com/
Sexy REV ME UP hero Antonio buys Lisa a crystal-studded bellybutton ring, and a bottle of Dom Perignon to share, after he sips from her lovely navel.
REV ME UP by Adele Dubois
Reviewer TOP PICK! Five Hearts!
http://www.adeledubois.com/bookshelf.shtml
http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-7639-50-rev-me-up.aspx
REV ME UP
Summary:
Lisa has always been a Good Girl. When she flashes her breasts at the hunk riding by on his Harley, her wild impulse seems like harmless fun. How could she know he’d hit the curb and land at her feet? To make amends with the cop from Santa Fe, Lisa agrees to have a cocktail with him. When she slides on the bike’s rear leather seat and wraps her arms around Antonio’s buff body, they take off on the ultimate ride.
Antonio’s in town for his brother’s graduation before heading to FBI training. Lisa is there to break up with her cheating midshipman boyfriend. Revenge sex with a hot cop may be the perfect way to unleash her inner Bad Girl. But can she keep her feelings casual?
With sexy Antonio by her side and the lust blazing between them, this Bad Girl may have a chance to have it all. As long as an ex-boyfriend out for revenge doesn’t destroy her new happiness.
*****
“I love Adele’s books!” Night Owl Romance
It’s our 22nd wedding anniversary and my husband and I are snowbound. What could be more romantic than celebrating our special day by a crackling fire? We’ll have chilled wine and broiled lobster tails for dinner and recall the night twenty-two years ago when we pledged our love and commitment by candlelight in an historic Philadelphia church.
While a blizzard rages outside I’m thankful my husband and I are content inside the home we’ve made. After twenty-two years our love is deeper and stronger than it’s ever been. We still enjoy being alone.
If you ask me, contentment is the secret of a successful, long-term marriage. After nearly a quarter century, not even a blizzard could change that.
