Night Owl Romance Review for Black Cat Beauty

Hi, HEA lovers, another wonderful surprise landed in my email box. The exceptionally kind Vivien Dean - viviendean.com, an eppie award winning romance author, let me know about a new review for BLACK CAT BEAUTY.
Given the large numbers of romance books awaiting reviews these days, the I am absolutely grateful for this 4.5 review.

Night Owl Romance Reviews ~ Thank You, Vee

~ Black Cat Beauty is an entertaining, quick read. Its plot is complicated given the length of the book, but Ms. Kougar pulls it off. The erotic scenes were well done and fit in with the rest of the story. ~

For the full review claw-click on the button ~
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~~~ Sable & Devon invite you to read their love story ~ will a black cat girl find happiness with a superhero? ~~~

BLACK CAT BEAUTY ... She has the claws and the cattitude to prove it... He has the super-powered strength and passion she fights, but needs... available from Liquid Silver Books ~ http://liquidsilverbooks.com ~ http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/books/blackcatbeauty.htm ~
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HAVE A WONDERFUL SUMMER

~ MAY ALL YOUR READING DREAMS COME TRUE ~

Savanna Kougar

~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~

Romance Apologetics...

Hey everyone! It’s good to be back here on the HEA blog. At the moment, I’m chewing around the whole question of romance fiction, and the fact that somehow the “world at large” seems to consider it an “inferior” occupation – both the reading and the writing of it…

I find the concept a little contradictory. If you think about it, love is universally recognized (aside from the odd total cynic, of course) as a cornerstone of the human psyche. Libraries are jam-packed with books that deal with this theme – from deep psychological explorations examining it’s absence or scars, to the human being’s instinctive search for it, and to it’s redeeming and healing power. In fact, very few “best book of all time” candidates can be said to totally exclude love as part of the novel’s “workings” – kind of makes you think, doesn’t it?

Okay, so “love” is acceptable as a common theme or catalyst in even the greatest literary works. What, then, is the difference between a “love story” and a “romance story” that makes one okay and the other not okay? I always regarded the one as almost-but-not-quite-synonymous with the other, with romance being the “vehicle” and “love” being the subject. I trotted off to the dictionary, to see what I could find, and hey presto: it’s all their fault! (Well, someone has to be responsible, don’t they?)

I discovered a lot of words like “fantastical”, “exaggerated”, “impractical”, “remote from ordinary life” and “sympathetic imaginativeness”. That’s what I write? Really? Hmmm… So where would War of the Worlds fit in? And Dune? And what about Heart of Darkness? Or Othello? I’m confused. Really confused…

The thing is, I put in a lot of time, effort, thought, re-writing to ground my books in reality. I work hard at making my characters believable, at telling their stories in a way that readers can identify with their emotions, difficulties, passions and fears. I explore the “why” behind the “what”, their layers and complexities, and look for personal growth and character development.

What is even more confusing is that pretty much everyone I know (despite protestations to the contrary) accepts the idea of romance as an expression of love in a relationship. Even our solid SA “rugger buggers” know how to wine and dine a lady, and I’ve been to many a rural shindig where the rugged outdoor man, the sheer fun of the party aside, had no problem holding his lady close and whispering sweet nothings. (My Dad, a pretty wise fellow, always said that dancing was vertical movement with horizontal intent, a kind of foreplay where lovers explored the moment….)

And then there are the women of the Age of Enlightenment, who celebrate their well-deserved new status by looking down their noses at the “romancers” of the world, clutching their hefty intellectual tomes and burning (figuratively, at least) the M & B’s or Harlequins they had stashed away in a dark corner. How sad that we have reached such a point of emancipation that we believe we no longer need romance!

Except, of course, that the statistics say otherwise. And these same denigrators of the romance genre are the first (and often the loudest) whiners and whingers when the man in their life forgets the birthday, anniversary, Valentine’s day… They’ll spend an entire week (and a small fortune) planning a night of seduction, or buying that drop-dead-gorgeous dress to catch someone’s eye… Go figure!

The result? I still haven’t quite found the answer to the anomaly. It remains a decidedly “chewy” subject. Despite all this, “romancers” remain the “inferior species” and somehow have to justify their reading / writing preference to the entire world, including those who should love and respect them for who and what they are. In that respect I’ve been fortunate, my nearest and dearest are very supportive. But mention what you do at a public gathering and you’re almost guaranteed the Awkward Silence in which everyone frantically searches for something nice to say, or a nice way to say the something not so nice they’re really thinking. I have to work hard to not say the “and your book was published where?” that all of us are tempted into at one point or another.

For my part, I love romance. I believe in it. I love reading it and I love writing it, and I know I’m not the only one. So I’ve decided to throw it “out there” for the rest of the romance world to grab hold of. Welcome to my Bloghogger Challenge! Pop across to my home blog at: http://judahraine.com/romancewriteup/?p=638 and read the “I read Romance – and I love it!” post, then take up the challenge. Okay, so maybe it won’t change the course of the known universe overnight, but it could be a lot of fun trying…

Thanks for having me, and I’ll see you on the blog!
Jude

Judah Raine
http://www.judahraine.com
http://www.classicromancerevival.com

A Very Special Man

Fathers Day Comments



It took a few years from the time the idea of Father’s Day came about before it was made official. While Mother’s Day was believed to be honorable, many laughed at the idea of honoring the fathers.


I’m saddened to know this.


Down the generations, father’s were every bit a part of raising the children, especially the son’s, as the women were. They went out and worked the fields, the mills and so on. Many even fought wars to protect the land their families lived on.


Alas in 1924 it was proclaimed to have Father’s Day. I’ve read variances in who actually made it an official holiday, so I’m not going to bother. A history lesson isn’t what’s important here. In many countries around the world, Father’s Day is observed the third Sunday in June. Others are spread through year.



My father has always been special to me. He’s funny, caring, loving despite all the hardships life has brought him. He’s youngest of seven children, the son of a man who I loved every bit as much. My grandfather was half American and half Blackfoot Indian. So, you know the prejudice’s they must have faced.


By the time I came along, Grandpa was ceiling high deep in television repair and my dad did it part time. I used to sit in the shop in the garage and watch them, go on calls with them. I know at times I drove them both up a wall with all my questions and curiosity – they had much patience.


Others times, I’d go off with my dad’s next oldest brother. He’s still my favorite uncle and he has cancer. He had a girlfriend back then and she adored me as I did her. I’d often be invited to movies with them or to dinner at her parent’s house. Later this perfect couple had a son who became my protector as well as a father himself.


This poem I wrote about my dad, but I suppose it could apply to everyone’s dad.



A VERY SPECIAL MAN




He should never be an afterthought

Only thought of when times are rough

Or just on special occasions

No matter what you do, he always loves you


Phone calls are nice, cards are sweet

But to sit and visit is the best

Even if it's on a riverbank, or in a boat

Maybe walking through the timber


He gave me life, I can give him time

Life's too precious to be selfish

Consumed with my own pleasures

Tied up with my own family


Time isn't forever, love is

Give him the time he doesn't demand

Let him know you can be counted on

That he does hold a special place in your heart





Roses are the flower of Father’s Day. I didn’t know that. Red for the living - White for the gone but not forgotten. I’ll be able to cut a red one from my own rose garden.


I’ve loved many men in my life and I honor them all on this day because they all had a hand in raising me, but my dad knows I’ll always be his little girl. He is every bit my Happily Ever After as my husband is. It’s just different, you know. He and I can spend hours talking on the phone. We go fishing, have our special secret lunches we tell no one about. At Christmas, when the rest of the family has left and it’s just my immediate family left. He puts on classic country music – Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, etc. And we have our Christmas dance. I’ve come along way from needing to stand on his shoes to dance with him.


Happy Father’s Day to all of the dad’s, and the mom’s who have had to be both.


Bekki

Contemporary romance with sizzling sensuality

LOVE, Stalker of the Heart – available now

A Psychic Hitch available now

Last Glass of Wine available now

Servin' It Up available now at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

http://www.bekkilynn.com/

www.myspace.com/bekki_lynn

www.zazzle.com/bekki_lynn

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Romancing my Stallion of Ash and Flame

Excitement down to my toesies, everyone, and some happy dancing or in my case, just bouncing up and down. My erotic romance novel, STALLION OF ASH AND FLAME is being published by Siren-BookStrand with an e-pub date of November 2009 and a print date of April 2010.
This is my very first story written only from the male POV. I so hope readers enjoy it.

Here’s the rough blurbie ~

Drojovv Zyan of the V’Trailuc Realm is a man-stallion of ash and flame on a mission to save his world’s crucial Earth portal from the fires ravaging the National Forest surrounding it. Pretending to be the tracker, Trail, he settles in a small southeastern Arizona town. When he gets an eyeful of the beautiful ranch owner, Seneca, he stud lusts after the Earth human, a woman he’s not supposed to take as his Mate.
Trail leaves her alone until her brother is in a bad motorcycle accident and she needs a hired hand. Soon both of them are threatened by a whole horde of enemies. At all costs Trail must protect her. His world depends on it, her world depends on it. And his heart comes to depend on it.

Plus! I’m also participating in a summer scavenger hunt contest.

Big Cats, Hunt up some Sexy Summer Reading!
It’s that contest time of year, my lusciously lovely KitKats... 33 authors have joined together to hand out 33 prizes!!! Simply find the Sexy Summer Reading button on each of their sites and paste it into the entry form found at ~ http://contestlove.com/ssreadingentry ~
More details, links to the authors home pages and rules for the contest are all listed at ~ http://contestlove.com/ssreadingentry ~

So go on the prowl and pounce on some Sexy Summer Reading!

Purrs... BLACK CAT BEAUTY is one of the prizes.
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Blurb ~

A private Halloween party in a gothic mansion hidden in the Hollywood Hills. Add one party crasher, Sable Kiki, a naughty black cat with a sexy wild human side.
Her covert assignment from her devious, always-cunning father: use her seductive wiles to find out the truth from Devon Zant, a movie star on the rise to super stardom.
Posing as the superhero actor, Devon Zant, D’Torr has arrived on Earth seeking revenge for the capture of his younger brother, and to assist in stopping a powerful enemy.
The leviathan warfleet of the Altirrux wants rule of all intergalactic trade routes to Earth, endangering the survival of D’Torr’s race, and all the inhabitants of the rare blue jewel, Earth.
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HAVE A WONDERFUL SUMMER

~ MAY ALL YOUR READING DREAMS COME TRUE ~

Savanna Kougar

~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~

Author of ~
All Shades of Blue Paradise
Red Lioness Tamed
When a Good Angel Falls
Tangerine Carnal Dreams
Murder by Hair Spray in Gardenia, New Atlantis
Black Cat Beauty

Summer Long Contest for U.S. Military Wives!

This summer from 6/1/09-8/31/09 I will donate a portion of the proceeds from my Book Sales to the ASMBA STAR Foundation, a charity for Veterans and their families.

Below is the letter that the ASMBASTAR Foundation sent out to their members. I hope you'll pass this information on to anyone you know.

As a special thank you to our service members and their families, Sara Taney Humphreys, author of "The Amoveo Legacy", the first published novel in "The Amoveo Series", is running a very special contest for Military Wives ONLY. This contest will run from June 1st - August 31st and during the contest months a portion of the proceeds from ALL of her book sales will be donated to the ASMBA STAR Foundation. The mission of the ASMBA STAR Foundation, located in Nashville, Tennessee, is to improve the quality of life of the military service member, veterans and their families by contributing to the financial, educational, social, employment and medical needs unmet by the U.S. Government. The Foundation has awarded grants to organizations such as the National Military Family Associaton, Helping our Veterans, Operation Stand Down, and many others.
About Sara:
She is a graduate of Marist College, with a B.A. Degree in English Literature & Theater. Her initial career path after college was as a professional actress. Some of her television credits include, “A&E Biography”, “Guiding Light”, “Another World”, “As the World Turns” and “Rescue Me”. For the past several years, Sara has been a professional Public Speaker and Speaker Trainer. Her speaking career began with Monster’s “Making It Count” programs, speaking to thousands of students in high schools and colleges throughout the United States. Sara has also worked with The College of Weschester in New York as the Director of High School and Community Relations. Read more about Sara at: sarataneyhumphreys.com
How to enter:
Send an email to mailto:info@novelromance.net
Include a picture of you with your spouse in uniform and a little bit about what branch he serves in, where you've been stationed, challenges you've been presented, etc., for 2 entries into the contest. If you purchase "The Amoveo Legacy", email the receipt along with your photo and story for 8 more entries in the contest!
Please put "Military Wives Contest" in the subject line.
Prizes:
Once a week, one entrant will be chosen and featured on her blog. These weekly entrants are the semi-finalists. Over the Labor Day weekend, one winner will be selected by Sara from the semi-finalists.

The Grand Prize Winner is to have her name used as a character in one of Sara's books and a $100 Amazon Gift Certificate.

First Prize is a $50 Amazon Gift Certificate

Second Prize is a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate

Purchase "The Amoveo Legacy" in Paperback : http://www.amazon.com/Amoveo-Legacy-Sara-Taney-Humphreys/dp/1554872774/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244992191&sr=8-2

Check out the first 2 Semi Finalists on Sara's Blog: http://amoveoromanceseries.blogspot.com/

Thank you to all of our military for their service!

A Thick Black Line - negotiating life to reach the HEA

Happily Ever After… having just walked with yet another couple on their journey as they search for everything summed up in these three little words, I’m quite astonished at what our characters have to go through to get there! And my hero and heroine in A Thick Black Line have their own fair share of “stuff” to get through, and around, and past. But they made release day (yay!!) and I’m sure they’re celebrating today along with me – though they’re laying low, having been bullied, cajoled and rewritten any number of times over the last month or so!

It never ceases to amaze me how many variations, convolutions, twists and turns have to be negotiated, and how often the characters themselves seem to get in their own way. I suppose book are like life – complicated, most of the time, with any number of the things that we’d have happily written out of the script if we’d had a say in it…

Still, it’s having “life” in books that brings them to life (no pun intended!) and helps us as readers to relate. And not just life as we see it either – I found it fascinating to discover the “life” beneath the surface, the sinister undertones in the storyline that added the suspense factor and gave the outward life a new dimension altogether. New conflicts, new questions, new catalysts… it was a wholly intriguing journey…

Here’s the blurb and a short excerpt, and you can view more at: http://www.bookstrand.com/product-athickblackline-13953-330.html

Blurb:
Bo Carmichael has drawn a thick black line around her heart, and with good reason. She has worked hard to overcome the anguish of betrayal and the devastation it wreaked in her family's lives, and she's now close to realizing her dreams. There simply isn't place in this equation for emotional entanglements, especially not with Nic Sinclaire, the only man who has the ability to breach her defenses.
From their first encounter, an impossible chemistry rages between them – a crackling heat that threatens to melt the ice surrounding her.
A bizarre twist makes Nic a constant companion and self-appointed protector. As Bo's barriers shift and crumble, she can no longer ignore the powerful emotions his proximity evokes…


“Don’t do it,” he said. Instinct told somehow him that she had started to shut down, that this might be his only chance, and though he didn’t want to push he knew that he had to.
Bo rounded on him, defensive, oddly pleading. “Don’t do what?”
“Walk away.”
Her laugh broke, short and infinitely bitter. “As if I could. Today was a case in point, wasn’t it? There are some things we just can’t seem to walk away from, no matter how hard we try.”
The enormity of it, the truth of it, hit home and she sagged, so visibly defeated that something inside him was stirred to anger. At himself. At Dario. Even at life.
“So face it.” It seemed inadequate, but was the only thing he could think of to say.
“Do you really think it’s that simple?” Bo realised that she’d raised her voice. She hadn’t meant to. She turned and moved towards the patio.
“No, it’s not.” He paced the stone terrace, his voice laced with frustration. “I know that I don’t know the whole story, but some things at least are beginning to make sense.”
“Nothing makes sense. I’ve lived it. Lived with it. Don’t you think I’ve done everything I can to actually lay this whole ugly mess to rest?” There was a faint note of desperation underlying the words, an edge of something huge and almost out of control.
“That’s maybe the problem,” he said, trying to be reasonable but somehow managing to sound harsh. He backtracked, took a slow breath. “You lived with it. Inside. Shut away. Along with that other side of you that you’re so determined not to let out. Well, like you said, today was proof that it hasn’t worked.”
He was right, but she didn’t want to admit it. But it stood out, clear and unavoidable, that he also had no intention of backing off. Weary, the fight all drained out of her, she accepted the inevitable.


Have fun everyone, and I’ll see you soon. I’m off to celebrate!
Jude
http://www.judahraine.com

Romantic Paranormal Radio

Yep, I admit it. Once upon time, I did my best to get George Noory, the main host of the nighttime paranormal radio show, Coast to Coast am, to have one, just one loveline show for all us merely human women who want a love connection with that dark ultra-sexy wolf shapeshifter, or perhaps a vampire... or the fantasy alien man of your choice.
After all, why not? Who cares if the nut cases call in? Or the pretenders who want to live their own secret love fantasies. Talk about entertainment paranormal-romance style.
Heck, I can’t even talk George Noory into doing a Time Traveler call-in show like Art Bell used to do. Talk about phenomenal and riveting radio. One man claimed to be from an alternate future where the Confederacy won the Civil War and had joined with Mexico in a Union. Let me tell you he sounded absolutely authentic. Was he? Shrug... I don’t know. But he sure had that southern gentleman’s accent and he answered every question with a logic that made it plausible.
So, what if? *What if*is often the writer’s best friend. So, what if my heroine started her own radio show, a paranormal loveline?
Yeppers, I had fun penning this imagination-gone-wild novella. Maybe someday, it will find a publishing home. For now... here’s the opening ~

RADIO FOR THE STAR-CROSSED LOVER

CHAPTER ONE

“Midnight. The witching hour. From now on the bewitching hour...ladies...gentleman. Love is in the universe. Love is in the stars.
“This is Sylfann...and this is radio for the star crossed lover.
“On this talk radio program we are beginning a brave new experiment. Intergalactic love. Intergalactic dating. Maybe just intergalactic sex. A lust romp among the stars. A one night stand on Venus or Mars.
“Richard C. Hoagland of Enterprise Mission, are you listening? You and Robin. Just the face on Mars. It’s a lovely warm night – the stars are blaze-twinkling – no light pollution on Mars...never mind. I get carried away easily.
“I’d like to get carried away – but that’s not a fantasy for your ears, dear listeners. Remember the FCC. But, maybe a fantasy for the ears of my new intergalactic lover – that is, if my wildest fantasy comes true.
“What is your wildest fantasy...ladies? What do you desire from your lover? What do you passionately desire in a lover? Or a husband?
“What do you want him to do to you?
“The whole passion truth, and nothing but the erotic truth, ladies.
“Or – what do you want to do to him?
“Well, ladies, truth be told, for several decades now, I haven’t found my heart’s true passion – or true love – from any man on good ole’ lovely Earth – sorry gentleman.
“Consider, ladies, what if there is a whole galaxy of men, real men – and we’ll include the dark, dangerous supernatural world of men – just take a peek, if you’re not already voraciously reading, then fantasizing – at the romance novel market – werewolves, vampires, shape shifters – all sorts of delicious creature men – werecats...
“Werelion or wereleopard? Which one would fantasy-wild please me the most?
“You, ladies?
“What if there are men – not of this Earth – out there. Somewhere out there who want you? Who want to give you what you fantasy desire. What you fantasy crave to the depths of your woman soul.
~~~~~~

Savanna

Savanna Kougar
~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~

Author of ~
All Shades of Blue Paradise
Red Lioness Tamed
When a Good Angel Falls
Tangerine Carnal Dreams
Murder by Hair Spray in Gardenia, New Atlantis
Black Cat Beauty

The Romance of Prince Zrejovv

Painting by Claire Innes ~ http://claireinnes.co.uk/a1-gallery3.asp?roomID=421&pictureID=3306 ~

Hey, Happily Ever After folk. I was feeling down so I treated myself to writing the next part of Romance’s Red Ribbon. I hope you enjoy. For the first part see my post titled, Escape to Romance.

Regional Prince Zrejovv

THREE

Regional Prince Zrejovv raised his leather-bound forearm meeting the curious eyes of his hawk, a large species with black-tipped feathers. The hawk’s coloring ranged from buff to the browns of tree bark. “What do you think, my friend?” The Prince roved a resigned eye over the inches-high pile of delivered parchment messages, covering most of the grand desk. “Which one would you choose first?” Zrejovv observed the scanning motion of Terrut’s majestic head. Moments later, his hawk reared back, seeming to recoil from the weighty responsibility. “Yes, you may have your freedom while I my tediousness. Is it not fair?”

Zrejovv smiled at the comedy against himself, carrying Terrut to his window perch. He pressed a kiss to one of his hawk’s wings before lifting his forearm to the wide stone that served as a launch point. The morning rise of the sun warmed the manor house, the white-gold rays brightening his personal rooms in a manner he always enjoyed. With a high short squawk of thanks, Terrut leapt to the window stone. Zrejovv stepped back several paces, watching for his hawk’s winging dive into the freedom of the sky. Instead, Terrut turned toward him and jumped into the air.

Puzzled, Zrejovv spun on his heel, his eye following the hawk’s flight inward. Spreading his wings wide, Terrut slowed swooping over the mound of ribbon-tied scrolls. With a spread of his talons he sank lower, adeptly gripping one of the tiny parchments that lay near the top. On the beating strength of his magnificent wings he rose higher again and circled the enormous room. Streamlining his form, Terrut soared for the window. On impulse Zrejovv extended his arm and opened his hand, waiting. The message scroll dropped into his palm as Terrut arrowed past him, flying into the blue sky.

Savanna

Savanna Kougar
~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~