Guest Author Beth D. Carter & Giveaway

How to Write a Kiss...

One of the things I have to do as a writer of erotica romance is describe the art of a kiss.  After all, a kiss is everything.  The dictionary defines a kiss as to join lips in respect, affection, love, passion.  How romantic does that sound, eh?  There is a Chinese Proverb that says “kissing is like drinking salted water, you drink and your thirst increases”.  After all, a first kiss represents the spark of love, the hope of the future, quivers in the belly, and tingly sensations all over the body. 

It should be easy, right?  Writing a kiss should be the easiest thing in the world for someone like me.  But capturing the beautiful act of kissing can be extremely difficult to describe.  A written kiss has to be just the right blend of romantic and Oh la la! with no hint of being wet, sloppy or smacking (as I’m sure we’ve all experienced at least once in our lifetime!)

In my first novel, Black Leather Pants, this is how I wrote Kiley and Penny’s first kiss:

“Kiley's tongue slid into her mouth, twined with hers, danced, jolting a salacious moan from her. He explored each hidden corner. In and out he plunged, sweeping aside any doubt that this was exactly where she needed to be at this moment.”

Also, writing such a monumental step as a kiss in the love story of two people has to be stimulating for the reader. It’s my job to not only write a believable love scene, but to bring that love scene to life. So sometimes dragging out that first prolonged moment can be sweet torture. 

In A Silver Lining, my current release, I wrote:   “His hand hit the wall next to her head, trapping her. He leaned in so close that she felt his breath on her face. An answering need rose sharply inside her, and she itched to touch him, to bring his lips down upon hers. Fire ignited her blood. Her heart thumped almost painfully while her pussy creamed for the hard cock that pulsed through his heavy denims, pushing against her thigh. The overwhelming urge to fall to her knees and suck him into her mouth for a feast had her reeling.”

So how does a writer write a kiss?  We close our eyes and jump back to that first moment, when we experienced that soul shattering kiss that changed us forever.  We write them from our heart, from our hopes and wishes, we draw them out from every movie and book that turned us on.  We study kisses, deconstruct them, fantasize about them.  And we read…a lot!

While there are many ways to write a kiss, and many different scenarios to engage in a kiss, perhaps the most rewarding is that kiss when the happily ever after starts.  Love stories start with a kiss, and though they may not end specifically with one, the reader knows that the kiss is there, waiting in our imagination when we turn the last page.

A Silver Lining

Beth D. Carter

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Loose Id

A "Battle of the Sexes" Story!

When Heather Hart was fifteen, her parents brought her to Wyoming to visit her grandfather’s ranch where she met cowboy Tristan Rogers when he helped patch her twisted ankle. Young, sweet, and impressionable, she promptly lost her heart to the young rodeo rider. Twenty years later Heather has been summoned by her dying grandfather to determine if she is worthy, being the last of the Harts, to inherit the ranch.

The man she’ll be competing against for the prize is none other than Tristan Rogers, the ranch's current foreman, who loves the land like no other. Heather has one month to learn five things about the ranch and Tristan is given the task of “showing her the ropes,” so to speak.

Heather recognizes her adversary and uses all the weapons in her arsenal to fight for Hart Ranch, namely sex appeal and attitude aplenty. But Tristan can’t help remembering the sweet young girl who'd had a crush before she became this hellcat on high heels. As Heather tries to transform into a woman worthy of her grandfather’s approval, Tristan works to learn what embittered her and tries to win her heart and trust.

Who Is Author Beth D. Carter

I’ve been pretty fortunate in life to experience some amazing things.  I’ve lived in France, traveled throughout Europe, Australia and New Zealand.  I am a mom to an amazing little boy named Hadrian.  I live in Los Angeles, surrounded by friends and family.  I have a fantastic job and work with people I really care about.  And I’ve managed to fulfill my life long dream of being published.  I can’t imagine not creating stories and becoming obsessed with characters I create.  I am constantly trying to better my craft and each book is something near and dear to my heart.  I love writing characters who are real, complex and full of flaws, heroes and heroines who find redemption through love.  I draw much from my own experiences and journeys and hope that readers find a part of themselves between the pages.  I love to hear from people and can be found on Facebook and www.bethdcarter.com.

Thank you Ms. Carter for such a wonderful and delicious post! You definitely had fond memories revisiting me today! ;-) 

Ms. Carter is offering one copy of A Silver Lining to one winner that leaves a comment. Winner will be chosen on Sunday June 5th! To enter all you have to do is leave a comment, be a follower of Bookin' It, and be over 18 years of age. 

Giveaway Policy

Book Review: Being by T. R. Mousner

THIS REVIEW WAS WRITTEN FOR: NIGHT OWL REVIEWS

Being by T. R. Mousner

RELEASE DATE: February, 2011

CATEGORY: YA Paranormal Romance

ASIN: B004R9QQ8U

PUBLISHER: Independent

LENGTH: 282 pages in PDF format 

HEAT LEVEL: Sweet/Appropriate for ages 11 and up

BUY THE BOOK:  $5.99 Amazon Kindle

MY RATING: 4.5 STARS

Read my rating scale HERE

*This ebook was provided to me by the author for review

SUMMARY(taken from Amazon) 

For elite extraterrestrial pilot EBN-Reyoz-X, awaiting rescue while hiding out in a trailer park is a grueling nightmare. She’s injured, lacks proper supplies and can’t blend in with the indigenous population because she’s seven feet tall and can’t control the trail of wildflowers blooming in the wake of her footsteps. She’s unprepared to begin sexual maturity in the alien land and when she develops feelings for Shale, the mute teenage boy next door, she’s convinced circumstances can get no worse.
Except rescue never comes and once word spreads that her touch holds miraculous healing abilities, EBN must find a way to fix her ship, evade capture by the United States Air Force and survive long enough to return home.

FAVORITE LINE:

“And when life presses your back against the wall, always remember to stand straight and meet your challenges head on.” ~ EBN-Reyoz-X Guardian of the Sky

TEASER:

“We can never control what is in a person’s mind or heart, but we can hold them accountable for their behavior.” I slowly stood and got into my stance facing Shale. I should have known better standing less than an arm’s length from him. The air between us crackled with electricity and our eyes met and held. Before I knew what was happening, he leaned toward me and I toward him. For a moment, all my cares fell away as our lips brushed in a tender kiss.

PLOT:

Being is my very first YA novel and I want more! I had no idea what to expect going in. Being that I am not a fan of science fiction nor fantasy, I thought I would have a difficult time reading this book at first. However, I knew I wanted to branch out and experience a genre beyond my norm. A decision I am glad I made.

Not only did the author deliver adventure and a unique plot, she also threw in family values and intricate world building that brought her story to life. The book starts off with EBN crashing to Earth, a planet believed to be in chaos and war. Then it quickly cascades into an adventurous story of an alien trying to learn the ways of SENTS or people while waiting for rescue. And to add the the story's depth, the author switches back and forth between EBN and her brother located on her home planet; whom in unknowingly in the middle of uncovering a plot as to why EBN is left cut off from her home world. Which I will leave for you to discover! The excitement of seeing earth through another creatures eyes, rather than my own, was revealing to say the least. EBN's ability to cut through the taboos of our world left the real issues we are facing uncovered and visible to the naked eye. The author's use of real world occurrences brought the matter of our planet's health close to home, making me stop and think each time I might take clean water or air for granted as well as my fellow human beings. EBN represents the opposite of what our world is, I completely understood her ability to leave trails of wild flowers in her wake. Since her touch heals, it only made sense that when her feet hit the earth she would heal the earth with each touch. 

The closer I got to finishing Being, the more I wanted to read. I knew the story would have to come to an end, but I was not prepared for it. The author answered all the important story questions for Being, yet she left just enough of a cliffhanger at the end to have me anxiously awaiting the sequel to come. 

SETTING:

EBN's adventures starts out with her navigating her ship, Surety, through earth's atmosphere for simple routine data collection.  Which result in her crash landing and seeking refuge in a trailer park outside of Los Angeles. Being also shifted to EBN's home world, Pharralax. The intricate detail provided through Aix's thoughts and actions were so intriguing I completely forgot I do not read science fiction. I simply could not get enough!   

WRITING:

I admire Ms. Mousner's ability to show so much detail within her writing. Her writing style pulled me in without me even noticing just how invested I was in the story. Her sense of creativity and ability to weave together wonderful characters and plot delivered a well written and entertaining story. I also enjoyed the variety of narratives she used in telling the story. I normally do not enjoy switching in and out of third person, yet for this book and story it worked well.

CHARACTERS:

It was EBN's character and not the story plot that made me want to read Being. She is an alien yes, yet her thoughts and feelings on many subjects paralleled to that of my own. Her kindness towards others is unmeasurable, even when it would do harm to her own health. She also showed a deep rooted determination to reach her goals which is something that we all could use a reminder of every once in a while. But the one thing that she reinforced in myself and had me connecting to her was her belief in respect. Not only to her elders and her responsibility as a Guardian of the Sky, but also to those around her and the planet to which sustained her life. When EBN's family was introduced I was amazed by the connection they shared.  The author includes a strong family theme in Being, something I consider to be a wonderful thing to include within a YA novel. The secondary characters served to only make the the story richer and more engrossing. I loved running across Mrs. Perkins' character. It's always fun reading a book with a character that shares your name!

LAST THOUGHTS:

T.R. Mousner's debut YA novel is a must read. The story is filled with adventures and characters that should not be missed! Whether you like the science fiction angle or sense of family and connections made in life, there is something for everyone in this book. I will definitely be on the look out for the sequel from Ms. Mousner! 

WHO IS AUTHOR T. R. MOUSNER:

To find out more about author T. R. Mousner you can... 

Visit her author site HERE

Visit her facebook HERE

Visit her GoodReads HERE

MY RATING: 4.5 STARS

Read my rating scale HERE

Until next Time...Happy Reading!

Sunday Winner

Sorry I am a little late in posting the winner today. I spent the whole day in the pool and chatting with the fabulous Deborah Blake and all my fellow workshop attendees at SavvyAuthors. It was a blast! :-)

I hope everyone is having a nice and relaxing Memorial Day weekend. What better way to spend the long weekend than with a good book, right! Well, this past week we had Ms. Chickie Brown, a new to me and self published author, guest spot here on Bookin' It. She also graciously agreed to giving away a kindle copy of her latest release, Hollywood Swinging! Although my review queue was full and I couldn't accept Hollywood Swinging for review, I couldn't resist picking up my own copy of the book after reading the really good reviews it is receiving over on Amazon. I think we are in for a pretty good read and you all know how I love finding new authors! ;-)

The winner of Chickie Brown's Hollywood Swinging is:
Delaney Diamond!!!

Congratulations Delaney! Here's to having a great time reading your new book! I will email Ms. Brown with your email addy so that she can get your prize out to you.

I want to send a huge thank you to Ms. Chickie Brown for stopping in on Bookin' It and spending some time with us this past week. 

COMING THIS WEEK...

Author Beth D. Carter will be stopping in on Tuesday and will be offering a giveaway of her book, A Silver Lining so come back to visit!!! You can see the cover on the right hand side to get a peek of the cover for 

A Silver Lining  ;-)

18 & OVER COUPLES BOOK BLOG HOP GIVEAWAY 

THIS JUNE STARTING 2ND - JUNE 5TH.

You can find the goodie basket on the right hand side. There will be 18 winners in all thanks to the contributing authors Roz Lee, Stacey Kennedy, H.P Mallory, Em Petrova and Felicity Heaton! You can click the blog hop badge to see all the other blog that will be participating in the blog hop giveaway.

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time...happy reading!!!

Book Flick Reading (9) Ascension by Felicity Heaton

The week has flown by and it's Friday once again and it's Book Flick Reading time! Please remember, you are welcome to share your link below in the comment section if you have a vlog reading of your own. My Book Flick Reading is just for fun, no matter how nervous or shy I may be. For those that are new to the blog, the idea behind my Book Flick Reading is to share a small snippet from a book I am reading or want to share here with you. I hope you enjoy my videos!

Today's feature reading will be Ascension by Felicity Heaton which is coming up in my review queue in a couple of weeks. Felicity designed the gorgeous cover for her latest release which is what sold me on the idea of reviewing the book. Yeah, I hold no shame, I am a cover girl! It drew me in and intrigued me to say the least! Not to mention there is not a book I don't like from this author. After reading the short snippet from Ascension today,  I can already see the wild ride Taig and Lealandra are going to take us on. You can find all the author and book info below the video...ENJOY!!

Ascension

Felicity Heaton

Buy at:

Author Site (multiple formats available)

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

A witch on the verge of achieving phenomenal power, Lealandra must turn to her half-breed demon ex-lover Taig for protection from the dark force that is after her and also from her own magic.

With her Counter-Balance dead and her coven against her, Taig’s blood and power is the only thing that can help her control her magic and survive the ascension and gain the strength to defeat her enemy.

Old feelings come flooding back as Taig allows her into his world and Lealandra finds herself fighting not only for survival but to win his broken heart again and heal the pain in their past. Can he forgive her for walking out on him all those years ago and will he ever believe her when she tells him that he’s not a monster but the man that she loves?

To find out more about author Felicity Heaton go to:Website: 

Website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk

Blog: http://www.indieparanormalromancebooks.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/feheaton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/felicityheaton

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/felicityheaton

Blog Hoppin' It Around! (24)

IF YOU ARE A NEW FOLLOWER PLEASE LET ME KNOW! 

I WILL RETURN THE FAVOR!

This is my twenty-fourth blog hop hosted by Crazy-For-Books and Parajunkee's View 

Join in on the fun or click here to visit book bloggers to meet new friends, discover great books and just have some fun! 

This weeks questions for Crazy-For-Books:

"What book-to-movie adaption have you most liked?  Which have you disliked?"

I always like to see Nora Robert's books turned into movies for TV. Jurassic Park was also a great adaption. Here recently there has not been any good movies that I've liked that originated from a book. Twilight and the movie saga didn't quiet compete with the books. How about you? 

This weeks question for Parajunkee's:

Q. How many books do you read in a week? And in what format do you read them, or listen to them?

I am slowing down a bit from my normal of three - five books a week to only...drum roll please...ONE BOOK A WEEK!! That is scary for me because I read books for review and have a HUGE list. However, I am taking my personal career in writing up a couple of notches and need to pay close attention to my future as a writer. I still can't live without my reviewing though. I love what I do, just had to slow down a bit. Since I live abroad and can't get print books as easily, I am sticking to ebooks for now. I also enjoy an audio book about once a month. Right now I am listening to Jeaniene Frost's First Drop Of Crimson. How about you?

AUTHOR CHICKIE BROWN GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY

If you have a  minute please leave a comment by clicking the line above for Ms. Brown and the winner will be chosen this Sunday.

18 & OVER COUPLES BOOK BLOG HOP GIVEAWAY THIS JUNE STARTING 2ND - JUNE 5TH.

You can find the goodie basket on the right hand side. There will be 18 winners in all thanks to the contributing authors Roz Lee, Stacey Kennedy, H.P Mallory, Em Petrova and Felicity Heaton! You can click the blog hop badge to see all the other blog that will be participating in the blog hop giveaway.

Thanks for stopping by and following! I will be by shortly to visit you and to return the favor ;-)!

Book Banner Ads: Placing Them Effectively

The title says it all! Almost all authors use them so let's go over a few things to learn how to effectively place book banner ads on book sites as well as other sites.

Placing book banner ads can be a highly effective way to promote your new release on the Internet. Book Banner ads are essentially advertisements which appear on a website, usually in the form of a combination of graphics and text, to encourage internet book fans to click through these advertisements to your buy page or website. The most common form of book banner ads is an advertisement which appears on the top of a website and spans the width of the webpage. These advertisements derived their name from the similarity to a banner but technically book banner ads can come in a variety of shapes and sizes. This article will take a look at the effectiveness of book banners as well as methods for placing these banner ads.

Book banner ads can be highly effective in promoting your book if used properly. However, placing your book banner ad all over the Internet with very little consideration to whether or not the location is likely to be beneficial to your book promotion is not a good idea and can be a tremendous waste of money as well as other resources such as time and effort. Therefore, authors who are considering using book banner ads to promote their releases should spend some time learning how to use book banner ads effectively and to find ideal locations for placing their banner ads.

The most ideal location for a book banner ad is prominently displayed on a website which receives a great deal of website traffic and also complements your genre well without providing direct competition for your books. As an example, consider an author who specializes in the romance writing genre specifically for romance readers. Buying a banner ad space on a website which offers advice on romantic ideas or romantic getaways, poetry and love letters and provides information on upcoming romantic events would be an excellent idea. This website attracts visitors who have an interest in everything romantic and are likely to purchase romance novels, but does not sell romance novels directly. This means the website attracts members of your target audience but does not compete for your business.

There are general guidelines and studies that show tendencies that can be used as a starting point for consideration. Ask yourself the following questions:

    1. What is the user trying to accomplish by visiting my site?

    2. What do they do when viewing a particular page?

    3. Where is their attention likely to be focused?

    4. How can I integrate ads into this area without getting in the users' way?

    5. How can I keep the page looking clean, uncluttered and inviting? 

Answering each of these questions can be a great starting place to help determine where to place your ads and which sizes to use for each page. Be sure to consider each page of your site with your evaluations and yes, do takes notes.

Remember: Book readers are protective of their time, so be simple in your message, but dynamic in your design. Animated ads are more eye-catching than static ones, and ads with eye-popping color will do much better than bland ones. Select your design and size appropriately. If it takes a long time to load, most visitors won't bother waiting and they will move on.

In addition to purchasing banner ad space, promoting authors can opt to join banner ad exchange groups. This is an alternative in which a promoting author does not pay for their book banner ad to be placed on another website but in exchange they agree to post one or more advertisements on their own website. This is a very affordable option for placing your book banner ads, but it is not always the best strategy. This is because the promoting author often has little input as to where their book banner ad appears and has limited input into the banner ads which appear on their website in return. In most cases, promoting authors have the ability to decline to host advertisements which they deem to be offensive but cannot specifically choose the banner ads they must post.

Finally, when posting your book banner ads, promoting authors should be aware of the effectiveness of the ads they place. They may choose to post different designs for their banner ad on different websites but more important they should monitor the results of their advertising to determine if one style is more effective than another. This information should not be underestimated. If one style is enjoying a great deal of success while the other style is not, the promoting author may wish to use the more successful style for all of their book banner ads or to redesign the less successful style to make it more appealing to Internet book fans.

While all stats do indeed show trends, it's helpful and important to research all this before implementing book banner ads on your own site. It's so important to evaluate your own site's specific needs to determine the best ad sizes, formats, placements, and colors as these general trends may or may not be the best performers for your own site and visitors. In addition, it can often take a bit of experimenting, and you might need to make changes from time to time to avoid banner blindness, and thus help improve click rate to see which combination is the best banner ad for your book promotion.

'Till next time here’s to your book promoting success!!! Remember, leave a comment if you have any questions or have any suggestions to share on book banner ads. 

Q

For more information about Benefits of Marketing Online, please refer to my Internet Business and Marketing Books at http://websiteseotechniques.weebly.com/

Win E-books, Signed Paperback, and Swag Swag Swag!!!

I am here to help author friend, Felicity Heaton spread the word about her 500 Blog Follower International Giveaway!

Felicity Heaton is in the midst of a Blog Follower International Giveaway, where you can get your hands on some serious goodies by signing up as a follower of my blog on Google Friend Connect and Networked Blogs. You don't need a blog to follow her either. You can follow using your gmail, yahoo, etc email address too and receiving a digest of posts.

At the moment, we're in the 300 followers prize tier, which is e-books and swag, but we're 50 followers away from reaching a better level of prizes.

If you want to enter, or see the prizes on offer for each tier we hit, then go over to her blog:

http://www.indieparanormalromancebooks.com/p/blog-follower-giveaway.html

If you have friends who might be interested in this, please share it with them!

Remember, the more the people the better the prizes!!! So let's get cracking people! Felicity Heaton's books swag is a must have and she is giving it away with signed books, key rings, coasters, and so much more!!!!

Go on! Sign up and let's get the prizes flowing! ;-)

Hollywood through Author Chickie Brown's Eyes

Today we have author Chicki Brown with us to celebrate her latest release, Hollywood Swinging! Please help me welcome her to Bookin' It! She has some eye candy ready for us today! 

My first Hollywood crush was at the age of eight when I fell in love with actor Steve Reeves who played Hercules. 

In my early adult years I had a thing for gorgeous Billy Dee Williams. 

More recently I’m not ashamed to say that Vin Diesel and Dwayne Williams have caught my attention.

In my mind Hollywood is a very strange place, and Americans tend to be fascinated with the city and its inhabitants. Just look at the number of magazine shows dedicated to exploring their lives and loves. Entertainment Tonight, Extra, TMZ, Inside Edition, Access Hollywood, and The Insider all compete to garner the attention of the public with the details of how the stars live (and die.)

To be honest, I’ve often wondered what it might be like to be married to a big screen star. In reality, I know that the average Hollywood marriage is challenging to say the least and has the life span of a fruit fly. Hollywood Swinging is about a Tinseltown couple that is madly in love and find themselves faced with an external threat, which begins to take a toll on their happy marriage.  The story tells how they defeat this threat and get their happily ever after.

Hollywood Swinging takes a look at the pleasures and perils Shontae and Devon Burke face as a newlywed couple in the motion picture capital. I had a ball writing it.

I am pleased to announce the release of my third novel, HOLLYWOOD SWINGING, sequel to Hot Fun in the Summertime, is available on Kindle, Nook and Smashwords in all e-formats for only $2.99.

HOLLYWOOD SWINGING

CHICKIE BROWN

BUY BOOK

AMAZON

BARNES AND NOBLE

SMASHWORDS

Newlywed author Shontae Nichols Burke is trying to adjust to her life in Hollywood as the wife of actor Devon Burke, one of the film industry’s brightest upcoming stars. She’s left her home and her friends and moved to Los Angeles.

They both have blossoming careers.  She’s attending movie premieres and living a life she only dreamed of.

Unknown to Shontae, someone else also believes Devon Burke is the love of her life. When this disturbed woman insinuates herself into their lives, Shontae learns that all Hollywood drama isn’t scripted and finds herself in a fight for her marriage that’s worthy of the big screen.

To discover more about author Chickie Brown and all her releases please you can visit her at:

Website:  http://www.chicki663.webs.com
Personal Blog: http://sisterscribbler.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Chicki663
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chicki.brown

Ms. Brown is offering one Kindle copy of Hollywood Swinging to one winner that leaves a comment. Winner will be chosen on Sunday May 29th! 

To enter all you have to do is be a follower of Bookin' It and be over 18 years of age. 

Giveaway Policy