Top Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Fred Venturini, Author of The Heart Does Not Grow Back + Giveaway! (US/Can only)

The Heart Does Not Grow Back
Fred Venturini

Every superhero needs to start somewhere...

Dale Sampson is used to being a nonperson at his small-town Midwestern high school, picking up the scraps of his charismatic lothario of a best friend, Mack. He comforts himself with the certainty that his stellar academic record and brains will bring him the adulation that has evaded him in high school. But when an unthinkable catastrophe tears away the one girl he ever had a chance with, his life takes a bizarre turn as he discovers an inexplicable power: He can regenerate his organs and limbs.

When a chance encounter brings him face to face with a girl from his past, he decides that he must use his gift to save her from a violent husband and dismal future. His quest takes him to the glitz and greed of Hollywood, and into the crosshairs of shadowy forces bent on using and abusing his gift. Can Dale use his power to redeem himself and those he loves, or will the one thing that finally makes him special be his demise? The Heart Does Not Grow Back is a darkly comic, starkly original take on the superhero tale, introducing an exceptional new literary voice in Fred Venturini.

Buy the book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | iTunes | Kobo | Google Play | Publisher

Frankly, My Dear, I Do Give a Damn by Sarah Rayner, Author of Getting Even + Giveaway! (US/Can only)

Getting Even
Sarah Rayner

Revenge has never been such fun

How would you feel if your best friend at work betrayed you? Was secretly having an affair with an influential colleague? Won a coveted promotion, then teamed you up with a mere junior, leaving you feeling completely demoted? What would you do? For Ivy there's no choice. The only person she has ever trusted, Orianna, has blown it big time. So there's only one way forward: revenge.

Ivy's campaign is brilliant, if horribly destructive, and she's determined to get even with the woman who has dared to cross her. But is Ivy really the innocent party? Or is she hiding secrets of her own?

From Sarah Rayner, the international bestselling author of One Moment, One Morning, comes Getting Even, an unputdownable story of jealousy, sex, friendship and backstabbing set in the heart of London's Soho adland.

Buy the book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | iTunes | Kobo | Google Play | Publisher

The Top 10 Novels that Influenced My Writing by Megan Chance, Author of Inamorata + Giveaway! (US/Can only)

Inamorata
Megan Chance

American artist Joseph Hannigan and his alluring sister, Sophie, have arrived in enchanting nineteenth-century Venice with a single-minded goal. The twins, who have fled scandal in New York, are determined to break into Venice’s expatriate set and find a wealthy patron to support Joseph’s work.

But the enigmatic Hannigans are not the only ones with a secret agenda. Joseph’s talent soon attracts the attention of the magnificent Odilé Leon, a celebrated courtesan and muse who has inspired many artists to greatness. But her inspiration comes with a devastatingly steep price.

As Joseph falls under the courtesan’s spell, Sophie joins forces with Nicholas Dane, the one man who knows Odilé’s dark secret, and her sworn enemy. When the seductive muse offers Joseph the path to eternal fame, the twins must decide who to believe—and just how much they are willing to sacrifice for fame.

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Top 5 Random Sources of Inspiration for Love & Treasure by Ayelet Waldman + Giveaway! (US)

Love & Treasure
Ayelet Waldman

A spellbinding new novel of contraband masterpieces, tragic love, and the unexpected legacies of forgotten crimes, Ayelet Waldman’s Love & Treasure weaves a tale around the fascinating, true history of the Hungarian Gold Train in the Second World War.

In 1945 on the outskirts of Salzburg, victorious American soldiers capture a train filled with unspeakable riches: piles of fine gold watches; mountains of fur coats; crates filled with wedding rings, silver picture frames, family heirlooms, and Shabbat candlesticks passed down through generations. Jack Wiseman, a tough, smart New York Jew, is the lieutenant charged with guarding this treasure—a responsibility that grows more complicated when he meets Ilona, a fierce, beautiful Hungarian who has lost everything in the ravages of the Holocaust. Seventy years later, amid the shadowy world of art dealers who profit off the sins of previous generations, Jack gives a necklace to his granddaughter, Natalie Stein, and charges her with searching for an unknown woman—a woman whose portrait and fate come to haunt Natalie, a woman whose secret may help Natalie to understand the guilt her grandfather will take to his grave and to find a way out of the mess she has made of her own life.

A story of brilliantly drawn characters—a suave and shady art historian, a delusive and infatuated Freudian, a family of singing circus dwarfs fallen into the clutches of Josef Mengele, and desperate lovers facing choices that will tear them apart—Love & Treasure is Ayelet Waldman’s finest novel to date: a sad, funny, richly detailed work that poses hard questions about the value of precious things in a time when life itself has no value, and about the slenderest of chains that can bind us to the griefs and passions of the past.

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Top Five Things You Didn’t Know About Chasing the Sun by Natalia Sylvester + Giveaway! (US/Can only)

Chasing the Sun
Natalia Sylvester

Partially inspired by her grandfather’s kidnapping in Peru, Chasing the Sun is Natalia Sylvester’s suspenseful debut about a man whose wife is kidnapped just as their marriage is falling apart. After going out for an errand, Marabela Jimenez doesn’t return home and her husband suspects she has left him—again.

Only, the next day a letter arrives in the mail that reads:

Querido Andres,
I’m being held by three men who say they’ll keep me safe as long as you cooperate. They say that means no cops and no media. They say they’ll call when they’re ready to talk to you. Kiss our children for me and tell them not to worry. Keep me in your thoughts as I will be keeping you in mine.
Marabela

Despite their crumbling relationship, Andres quickly realizes he must do whatever it takes to get Marabela home. He can’t possibly afford the ransom the kidnappers demand or handle this threat to his family alone so he hires a consultant to help negotiate with the terrorists. He also reaches out to his estranged mother, who has never cared for Marabela and even reconnects with an old friend who may hold the key to his past and his wife’s future. As each day passes without the return of his wife, Andres is forced to come to terms with whether or not what he and Marabela have left is worth saving and how far he’ll go to bring her home.

Set against the backdrop of the political turmoil and terrorist threats of 1992 Peru, Chasing the Sun is a story of how trauma has a way of exposing our most difficult truths and healing past wounds and regrets.

Buy the book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | Autographed Copies

Top Ten Life Lessons Found in The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee + Giveaway! (US only)

The Glass Kitchen
Linda Francis Lee

With The Glass Kitchen, Linda Francis Lee has served up a novel that is about the courage it takes to follow your heart and be yourself.

A true recipe for life.

Portia Cuthcart never intended to leave Texas. Her dream was to run the Glass Kitchen restaurant her grandmother built decades ago. But after a string of betrayals and the loss of her legacy, Portia is determined to start a new life with her sisters in Manhattan . . . and never cook again. But when she moves into a dilapidated brownstone on the Upper West Side, she meets twelve-year-old Ariel and her widowed father Gabriel, a man with his hands full trying to raise two daughters on his own. Soon, a promise made to her sisters forces Portia back into a world of magical food and swirling emotions, where she must confront everything she has been running from. What seems so simple on the surface is anything but when long-held secrets are revealed, rivalries exposed, and the promise of new love stirs to life like chocolate mixing with cream.

The Glass Kitchen is a delicious novel, a tempestuous story of a woman washed up on the shores of Manhattan who discovers that a kitchen—like an island—can be a refuge, if only she has the courage to give in to the pull of love, the power of forgiveness, and accept the complications of what it means to be family.

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Top "Ten" Novel Passages That Influenced My Writing by Alison Tyler + Giveaway! (US)

The Delicious Torment
by Alison Tyler

The second in a series of novels by bondage connoisseur Alison Tyler features heroine Samantha progressing with her predilections and exploring the deepest recesses of her master's dungeon and her heart.

The Delicious Torment is a Story of O-meets-9 1/2 Weeks coming-of-age tale fueled by lust, longing, and based on the author's personal diaries. The Delicious Torment takes readers to Sunset Strip, way up in the sky in a penthouse apartment overlooking Los Angeles with a love affair ensconced in an S&M relationship filled with corsets, crops, and plenty of kink.

In the introduction, Tyler notes, "This is a novel with me at the center. That is, my heroine is based on me. I’ve sketched her with broad strokes, but at our core we are the same. She’s gotten herself entwined with an older man—nothing new there. But now she has to learn how to maneuver a 24/7 relationship."

Buy the book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | Google Play | iTunes | Kobo | Publisher

Novels I'd Take with Me on a Desert Island (and Most Influenced My Writing!)

Start with the fact that I am in love with this topic. I am a voracious reader and an even more obsessive re-reader. To the point where I have entire passages of books memorized verbatim. I roll the words around in my mouth at odd times—in bed, in traffic, while standing in line. This morning, my husband said, “You’re scaring me, you know that,” when I started to quote The Walrus and the Carpenter. (I guess you had to be there.) I’ve had the entire piece memorized for too many years to name. But ten. Let’s go with ten. Ten backwards to my favorite? I think that’s the way to play.

10. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. Nonfiction and memoirs are one of my guilty little pleasures. The writing in N&D is so sleek and smooth. Ehrenreich paints a picture easily with only a few key descriptors. This is a book I have two copies of. (I didn’t realize that until I looked at the shelf.)

I leave. I don’t walk out, I just leave. I don’t finish my side work or pick up my credit card tips, if any, at the cash register or, of course, ask Joy’s permission to go. And the surprising thing is that you can walk out without permission, that the door opens, that the thick tropical night air parts to let me pass, that my car is still parked where I left it.

9. Wrecking Crew by John Albert. Another memoir. One of my friends pointed out that I like when people in stories talk to me. Directly to me. House of Cards—when Kevin Spacey addresses the camera, breaking the fourth wall, I go weak. Wrecking Crew begins:

You never know what’s going to save you.

I swoon from the first sentence.

8. Just Another Love Story by R.R. Knudson. I first read this book decades ago, and somehow I knew to keep the copy. Battered. Beloved. There is something shadowy in the writing. The description isn’t fully there. You have to fill in the missing parts. I adore this book.

Before he could respond by turning, he smelled Je Reviens. He felt arms stealing around his deltoids and an earring against his traps. He couldn’t look. This was California, wasn’t it? Dream state?

7. The Godfather by Mario Puzo. True story: I once read a well-worn copy on an airplane to somewhere. Each time I turned the page, the paper fell out in my hand and I stuffed the crisp page into the pocket in front of me. A fellow passenger stopped me at our destination to ask what book was so powerful that I was tearing out the pages as I read them. But I’d simply read the story so many times, the spine had given up the ghost. Some make fun of the purple prose. But the scenes stick with you. Where Just Another Love Story gives you less, The Godfather gives you more:

Then he did something he always did, something that had never yet failed to arouse him. Delicately and as lightly as it was possible to do so and still feel something, he brushed the tip of his middle finger deep down between her thighs. Some girls never even felt that initial move toward lovemaking. Some were distracted by it, not sure it was a physical touch because at the same time he always kissed them deeply on the mouth.

7. Legs by William Kennedy. This man is a god to me. I actually considered applying to Albany because he was a professor there. Can you see me? California chicklet in chilly New York state? But that’s how hard I fell for his words. (I love Ironweed and Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, as well.) Kennedy taught me about mystical realism, weaving fantasy into a hard-hitting novel:

Jack (Legs) Diamond, aged thirty-four years, five months, seven days, and several hours, sat up in bed in his underwear and stared into the mirror at his new condition: incipiently dead.

“Those simple bastards,” he said, “they finally did it right.”

He moved without being able to move, thought out of his dead brain, smiled with an immobile mouth.

6. Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway. I’m not a Hemingway harlot. I don’t go gooey for Papa. But I can remember reading this novel in the sculpture garden and not noticing twilight had fallen. Not realizing I was bringing the book closer and closer in order to make out the words in the lavender dusk. This book affected me two ways: the words, yes of course, but also the twisted plot line. I find Catherine’s transformation addictive:

The young man put his arms around the girl and held her very tight to him and felt her lovely breasts against his chest and kissed her on her dear mouth. He held her close and hard and inside himself he said goodbye and then goodbye and goodbye.

“Let’s lie very still and quiet and hold each other and not think at all,” he said and his heart said goodbye Catherine goodbye my lovely girl goodbye and good luck and goodbye.

5. Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson. Sexing the Cherry, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, and The Passion also live on my keeper shelf. But this one is a new story to me every time. (Plus, she talks to me. Or rather, she talks to you.)

You had no choice, you were swept away. Forces took you and possessed you and you did it but now that’s all in the past, you can’t understand etc etc. You want to start again etc etc. Forgive me. In the late twentieth century we still look to ancient daemons to explain our commonest action. Adultery is very common.

4. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. This is the first novel that I stayed up all night to read. We were visiting a friend in New York, and she had a waterbed for a sofa. I spent all night ebbing and flowing on the waterbed, soaking up each page. I wanted then to be able to write a book that would keep a reader up all night.

“Hold your tongue, woman,” shouted her husband unexpectedly. “I’m sick and tired of hearing about Prudence being bewitched. All these years you been telling me our child was half-witted. Why, she’s smart as a whip. I bet it warn’t much of a trick to teach her to read.”

3. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. I got in trouble in school for reading noir while I was supposed to be learning the classics. Why Hammett and Chandler are not taught alongside Melville and Wharton is baffling to me. This is hard-boiled detective writing, but people often forget about the precision of the descriptions:

Samuel Spade’s jaw was long and bony, his chin a jutting v under the more flexible v of his mouth. His nostrils curved back to make another, smaller, v. His yellow- grey eyes were horizontal. The v motif was picked up again by thickish brows rising outward from twin creases about a hooked nose, and his pale brown hair grew down—from high flat temples—in a point on his forehead. He looked rather pleasantly like a blond Satan.

2. The Lone Pilgrim by Laurie Colwin. Hands-down, this is my favorite book of shorts. I remember being shocked when I first read the stories. Characters are often cheating on their partners—and happily so. There is a lustiness to the words, a richness to the prose. The tale that calls out to me the loudest is The Achieve of, the Mastery of the Thing (which is from a line from a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins who is one of the writers whose words I roll around on my tongue).

Once upon a time, I was Professor Thorne Speizer’s stoned wife, and what a time that was. My drug of choice was plain, old-fashioned marijuana—these were the early days when that was what an ordinary person could get.

1. Getting It Right by Elizabeth Jane Howard. He’s not your typical hero, Gavin isn’t. He’s a 31-year-old virgin who lives at home and imagines perfect sublime girls who don’t exist. Gavin’s sensibilities are so spot-on. I think of him as a friend. I first read the book when I was eighteen, and I’ve owned numerous copies over the years. Elizabeth Jane Howard showed me you could write off-beat, untraditional love stories, and that was acceptable.

There was a silence between them during which Gavin became conscious of his total absence of fear. He could look at the figure before him— at the orange hair and orange mouth painted on to a dead white face, the plate-glass diamante spectacles, the corseted bulk of the silver lamé—simply as part of the pieces of declared truth about her which neither of them felt the need to judge or disclaim.

This book also features a poem by Sir Thomas Wyatt that I have now known word for word for more than half my life.

Did you catch my mistake? Yes, there are two number 7s! And then when I went to drop a book, I couldn’t choose which one to remove. So my top 10 list goes to 11!

About the Author

Called "a trollop with a laptop" by East Bay Express, "a literary siren" by Good Vibrations, and "the mistress of literary erotica" by Violet Blue, Alison Tyler is naughty and she knows it.

Over the past two decades, Ms. Tyler has written more than twenty-five explicit novels, including Tiffany Twisted, Melt with You, and The ESP Affair. Her novels and short stories have been translated into Japanese, Dutch, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, and Greek. When not writing sultry short stories, she edits erotic anthologies, including Alison's Wonderland, Kiss My Ass, Skirting the Issue, and Torn. She is also the author of several novellas including Cuffing Kate, Giving In, and A Taste of Chi.

Ms. Tyler is loyal to coffee (black), lipstick (red), and tequila (straight). She has tattoos, but no piercings; a wicked tongue, but a quick smile; and bittersweet memories, but no regrets. She believes it won't rain if she doesn't bring an umbrella, prefers hot and dry to cold and wet, and loves to spout her favorite motto: You can sleep when you're dead. She chooses Led Zeppelin over the Beatles, the Cure over Nine Inch Nails, and the Stones over everyone. Yet although she appreciates good rock, she has a pitiful weakness for '80s hair bands.

In all things important, she remains faithful to her partner of seventeen years, but she still can't choose just one perfume.

Website | Blog | Goodreads | Twitter | My Alison Tyler Reviews 

Giveaway!

Books à la Mode is giving away a print copy of The Delicious Torment—yay!!

To enter, all you have to do is tell me:

What three books influenced your life (and/or your writing) and how?

PLEASE remember to include your email address or Twitter handle in your comment so that I know who to contact when I select winners. Don't make me track you down! No email = no entry!

Don't forget the entry eligibility terms and conditions!

Sponsored wholly by the publisher—a huge thank you to Cleis Press!
Giveaway ends May 22nd at 11.59 PM (your time).

Open to US readers only—sorry everyone else! Check my sidebar for a list of currently running giveaways that are open worldwide.
Void where prohibited.
Although I do randomly select winners, I am in no way responsible for shipping and handling, or for the prizes themselves.

As a reminder, you do not have to follow my blog to enter, though it is always very much appreciated ❤

Good luck!

Top Three Tips for Watching Sugar in Your Diet from The 3-Day Reset by Pooja Mottl + Giveaway! (US/Can only)

The 3-Day Reset
Pooja Mottl

Eating healthy can be a struggle. It’s hard to choose broccoli and brown rice instead of hot, cheesy pizza. And diets often ask you to cut out different foods all at once, leaving you feeling deprived.

In The 3-Day Reset, Pooja Mottl outlines 10 simple ways you can change your cravings and start eating whole, healthy, delicious foods—three days at a time. Each reset takes only 72 hours to complete, which means you’ll be able to stay focused on healthy eating from start to finish.

Resets include: sugar, wheat, salt, chocolate, yogurt, chicken, beverages, breakfast, salad, and takeout.

Packed with delicious recipes and nutritional information to support why you should eat whole foods like quinoa instead of processed, frozen, or packaged foods, The 3-Day Reset will set you on the path to healthy eating... and help you stay there for good.

Buy the book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | iTunes | Kobo | Publisher

Top Seven Exciting Differences Between England and New York by Christopher J. Yates + Giveaway! (International)

Black Chalk
Christopher J. Yates

Page Count: 352
Release Date: April 1st 2014 (US release)
Publisher: Harvill Secker (Random House UK)
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, England

One game. Six students. Five survivors.

It was only ever meant to be a game.

A game of consequences, of silly forfeits, childish dares. A game to be played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University. But then the game changed: the stakes grew higher and the dares more personal, more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results.

Now, fourteen years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round.

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Top 10 Beginnings and Challenges of My Publishing Journey by Holly Peterson + Giveaway! (US/Can only)

The Idea of Him
Holly Peterson

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Manny—a vibrant novel of love, life lessons, and learning to trust yourself

Allie Crawford has the life she always dreamed of—she's number two at a high-profile P.R. firm; she has two kids she adores; and her husband is a blend of handsome and heroic. Wade is everything she thought a man was supposed to be—he's running a successful newsmagazine and, best of all, he provides the stable yet exciting New York City life Allie believes she needs in order to feel secure and happy.

But when Allie finds Wade locked in their laundry room with a stunning blonde in snakeskin sandals, a scandal ensues that flips her life on its head. And when the woman wants to befriend Allie, an old flame calls, and a new guy gets a little too close for comfort, she starts to think her marriage is more of a facade than something real. Maybe she's fallen in love not with Wade—but with the idea of him.

Captivating and seductive, told in the whip-smart voice of a woman who is working hard to keep her parenting and career on track, The Idea of Him is a novel of conspiracy, intrigue, and intense passion—and discovering your greatest strength through your deepest fears.

Buy the book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | iTunes | Kobo | Publisher

Top 5 Things You Didn't Know About Violet Kupersmith and Giveaway! (US only)

The Frangipani Hotel
Violet Kupersmith

Follow the Tour!

An extraordinarily compelling debut—ghost stories that grapple with the legacy of the Vietnam War

A beautiful young woman appears fully dressed in an overflowing bathtub at the Frangipani Hotel in Hanoi. A jaded teenage girl in Houston befriends an older Vietnamese gentleman she discovers naked behind a dumpster. A trucker in Saigon is asked to drive a dying young man home to his village. A plump Vietnamese-American teenager is sent to her elderly grandmother in Ho Chi Minh City to lose weight, only to be lured out of the house by the wafting aroma of freshly baked bread. In these evocative and always surprising stories, the supernatural coexists with the mundane lives of characters who struggle against the burdens of the past.

Based on traditional Vietnamese folk tales told to Kupersmith by her grandmother, these fantastical, chilling, and thoroughly contemporary stories are a boldly original exploration of Vietnamese culture, addressing both the immigrant experience and the lives of those who remained behind. Lurking in the background of them all is a larger ghost—that of the Vietnam War, whose legacy continues to haunt us.

Violet Kupersmith’s voice is an exciting addition to the landscape of American fiction. With tremendous depth and range, her stories transcend their genre to make a wholly original statement about the postwar experience.

Buy the book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | Publisher

Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Lindy Dale and Giveaway! (International)

Storm in a B Cup
Lindy Dale

"It’s my funeral. If I want you to play Bon Jovi as they wheel my body away to be cremated you’ll do it."

The horrified look on Brendan's face says he'll do anything but. "People will laugh."

"I want them to. I want a funeral where everyone stands around and remembers the funny things I did, and then they get really pissed."

Sophie Molloy has breast cancer. She didn’t think it was cancer to begin with, she thought it was another cyst. She also didn’t think it would be the catalyst for a series of life changing events, none of which involved chemotherapy. Within months of her diagnosis, Sophie loses not only her right breast but her boyfriend of three years, her house and her best friend. Her life spirals from great to bad, then ugly. Nothing can make it better, not even the crazy care packages her mother keeps sending from Melbourne.

To make matters worse, Sophie fears she’s developing a crush on the plastic surgeon that will be reconstructing her breast. Dr. Hanson has the bedside manner of an angel and the looks to match. He’s so caring and compassionate, Sophie begins to believe he cares about her in a most non-doctor-patient kind of way. But he doesn’t, of course. He’s merely her doctor. Or does he?

A fictional tale, based on the author's medical journey with the disease, Storm in a B Cup is a warm-hearted glimpse into the world of a breast cancer sufferer that will have you laughing out loud.

Buy the book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | Kobo | CreateSpace | Smashwords

Things You Didn't Know About Lindy Dale and Storm in a B Cup

1. A lot of the novel was actually written in various hospital rooms around Perth. I spent much of 2012/13 in hospital and because it was so boring, I wrote a lot. The plastic surgeon used to laugh when he came in because I was always cross-legged on the bed, with a laptop and numerous drains/drips dangling about the place. He said I looked like human spaghetti.
2. I am addicted to coffee and chocolate (not as badly as the main character Sophie, though. I’ve never eaten an entire carton). Visitors to my hospital room knew better than to bring grapes. I got champagne and sweet things.
3. Most of my female lead characters have names ending in an ‘e’ sound: Sophie, Millie, Lily, Georgie, Daisy. And my daughter, Darcey, has one too! I think they sound ‘girly.’
4. During my treatment for cancer, I developed a little crush on one of the medical team (Shhh, don’t tell my husband). He features quite prominently in Storm in a B Cup. Of course, the man in the story is completely hot and irresistible.
5. Like Sophie, a guy actually felt up my prosthesis at a party. Poor fellow was a tad embarrassed when I pointed out it was fake.
6. I went to a rugby match (huuuge fan) while in hospital. I got special leave for the night from the doctor. The security guys at the ground searched me because they thought I was smuggling alcohol in but it was only the fluid drain from under my arm. Slightly awkward. For them. I thought it was funny, though.
7. All the places mentioned in Storm in a B Cup are real suburbs of Perth. You can Google pictures of King’s Park. It’s very pretty.
8. In the story, Sophie makes a list of funeral requests in case she dies. That scene actually happened but it was a discussion with my children (who are adults). My husband always said he wanted to play this maudlin Nick Cave song when I died so I put the kids in charge and told them if they didn’t play U2 I would come back to haunt them.
9. Sophie owns a hats and bags shop. I’m more of a shoes and bags girl, though I don’t get much use for them now I live in the country. But you’d better believe when I go to the city for appointments that Spencer and Rutherford is coming out.
10. Earlier this year one of our sheep gave birth to the cutest little black and white lambs but she had no milk to feed them so we had to. I’ve named them Greg and Marsha, after the lambs in Daisy Darling.

About the Author

I live on an acreage in country Western Australia where I spend my days writing, walking and looking after orphan lambs.

On a typical day—when not at my day job—you can find me lurking around Twitter and Facebook so stop by and say hello. I love to hear from readers.

I'm a hopeless U2 and Bon Jovi fan—as judged by my collection of tour t-shirts. I'm also rugby union fanatic, coffee and champagne lover, chocoholic, over-exaggerator, trashy TV, music and iPhone addict. If you can't Google it then it's not worth knowing!

I've been writing in the genre of Chick Lit and Women's Fiction for the past ten years and have recently tried my hand at a paranormal romance too! But Chick Lit is my main love. There's nothing like a dose of humor when you're feeling low.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Follow the Tour!

Giveaway!

Books à la Mode is giving away TWO print copies of Storm in a B Cup—yay!! This giveaway is open to everybody, an international giveaway!!! Winners who would prefer an electronic copy may receive a substitution upon request.

To enter, all you have to do is tell me:

Do you have a breast cancer story? It can be anything, whether it has ever affected you or a loved one, is a health cause you're passionate about, or just something different you'd love to read about—tell me why Storm in a B Cup intrigues you!

PLEASE remember to include your email address or Twitter handle in your comment so that I know who to contact when I select winners. Don't make me track you down! No email = no entry!

Don't forget the entry eligibility terms and conditions!

Sponsored wholly by the author—a huge thank you to Lindy!
Giveaway ends March 20th at 11.59 PM (your time).

Open internationally. That means anyone in the world can enter—woohoo!!
Void where prohibited.
Although I do randomly select winners, I am in no way responsible for shipping and handling, or for the prizes themselves.

As a reminder, you do not have to follow my blog to enter, though it is always very much appreciated ❤

Good luck!

The Top Five Romance Authors Who Influenced My Writing by Cynthia Woolf and Giveaway!

Redeemed by a Rebel (Destiny in Deadwood #1)
by Cynthia Woolf
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Follow the Tour!

Page Count: 284
Release Date: February 7th 2014
Publisher: self-published
Genres: Romance, Western, Historical

Jake Anderson killed a man defending his fiancée from a brutal attack, but lost her and his freedom in the process. Now he's on the run, hunted by one of her murderers and tormented by the need for vengeance.

Becky Finnegan will do anything to escape her drunken father's fists, including slave away at their mine. Her only hope is to strike gold and make a new life for herself somewhere far, far away from Deadwood. But then Jake arrives and does the unthinkable: forces her to feel, to hope... and to love.

Jake would give his life to protect Becky, but all he can offer her is a broken heart, a criminal's life, and a past haunted by failure. How can he save her when he's already lost himself? When the devil catches up to him, will he destroy everything, or can the beautiful rebel redeem Jake's lost soul?

Buy the book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Romance Authors Who Influenced My Writing

1. Johanna Lindsey, especially her westerns, Savage Thunder, Angel, and, of course, the entire Mallory series
2. Julie Garwood, especially her historicals Lyon’s Lady, Honor’s Splendor, and Gentle Warrior
3. Amanda Quick, before she got into the paranormal stuff. Specifically her early historicals Mistress, Seduction, Scandal, and Ravished
4. Catherine Coulter, who wrote the Song trilogy, the Night Fire trilogy, the Bride series, and the Magic series
5. Victoria Holt, expecially On the Night of the Seventh Moon, Pride of the Peacock, and The Lord of Far Island

About the Author

Cynthia Woolf was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in the mountains west of Golden. She spent her early years running wild around the mountain side with her friends.

Cynthia was and is an avid reader. Her mother was a librarian and brought new books home each week. This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug. She wrote her first story at the age of ten. A romance about a little boy she liked at the time.

She worked her way through college and went to work full time straight after graduation and there was little time to write. Then in 1990 she and two friends started a round robin writing a story about pirates. She found that she missed the writing and kept on with other stories. In 1992 she joined Colorado Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America. Unfortunately, the loss of her job demanded she not renew her memberships and her writing stagnated for many years.

In 2001, she saw an ad in the paper for a writers conference being put on by CRW and decided she'd attend. One of her favorite authors, Catherine Coulter, was the keynote speaker. Cynthia was lucky enough to have a seat at Ms. Coulter's table at the luncheon and after talking with her, decided she needed to get back to her writing. She rejoined both CRW and RWA that day and hasn't looked back.

Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she's made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.

Giveaway!

The tour is raffling off a $100 Amazon gift card—yay!! To enter, all you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget the entry eligibility terms and conditions!

Sponsored wholly by the tour publicist and author—a huge thank you to Black Lion VBT and Cynthia Woolf!
Giveaway ends February 28th at 11.59 PM (your time).

Open internationally (provided you can accept Amazon US gift cards). That means anyone in the world can enter—woohoo!!
Void where prohibited.
Please bear in mind this is NOT a giveaway Books à la Mode is hosting; I am merely a participant in the tour and have included the shared Rafflecopter code in my tour stop. If you have any questions about the giveaway, you need to contact one of the sponsors. I have no liability or control over the winners and prizes.

As a reminder, you do not have to follow my blog to enter, though it is always very much appreciated ❤

Good luck!

Top 10 Reasons to Read Erotica with Your Partner by Kristina Wright and Giveaway!

Best Erotic Romance 2014
edited by Kristina Wright
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The Heat and the Sweet 

Desire, love and realism are the heartbeat of Kristina Wright’s Best Erotic Romance 2014. From first crushes to new lovers, to married couples who have withstood the tests of time and parenting, these are luscious, heartfelt tales layered with eroticism and emotion.

A happily married woman dresses to thrill and discovers how fun it is to break the “Rules” in Emerald’s sizzling story. A devoted couple finds time for lovemaking while juggling the busy whirl of childcare in “The Shortest Day,” by Nikki Magennis. Walking the dog leads to sparks and a red-hot flame in Lucy Felthouse’s “Going It Alone.”

This decidedly blissful and deeply romantic anthology is filled with couples in every stage of love and lust who simply can’t get enough of each other.

Buy the book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | Kobo | iTunes | Publisher

Check out my review and giveaway of Kristina's latest anthology, xoxo: Sweet and Sexy Romance, here!

Reasons to Read Erotica with Your Partner

1. Everything is better when you do it together.
   The couple that plays together, stays together. Reading out loud to each other can be a very intense form of intimacy.
2. It gives you an opportunity to introduce a new fantasy you've been too shy to bring up.
   We all have one. Something we'd like to try—but are afraid to mention, for whatever reason. Erotica is a great way to bring up a favorite fantasy without embarrassment. If someone wrote about it, it must be a good idea!
3. You might discover something new to try.
   My anthology xoxo: Sweet and Sexy Romance has 38 stories. You're bound to find a new technique, position or location to try together. Erotica is like a travel book of pleasure. "Let's go here!"
4. Reading a sexy story out loud is like foreplay.
   Talking dirty is sexy. Reading dirty is even sexier. You get to take on the persona of other characters and explore a whole new world of pleasure.
5. When your friends ask if you're in a book club, you can enthusiastically say yes!
   Reading erotica together is the best kind of book club. You can drink your wine and eat your cheese and crackers—naked!
6. It's something you can do together even if one of you is traveling. (Or on a road trip!)
   Phone sex is for amateurs. Read a sexy story to your partner instead. Don't like to read in the car? Pop in the audio version of an erotica anthology and let someone else read to you.
7. You're almost certain to discover a kink you didn't know your partner had.
   Just like you have a fantasy or two you haven't shared, so does your partner. How exciting is it to discover something new about your lover—especially if it's something you'd also like to try?
8. Reading sparks the imagination.
   Maybe you think you've done it all. Reading a collection of erotica might make you change your mind as you find yourself taking a scenario from a story and applying it to your own sex life.
9. Pushing boundaries is exciting.
   We all have our limits and deal breakers. Even if it's something you would never, ever do in real life (bondage, a threesome, sex in front of an audience), it can still be fun, and safe, to read about it together.
10. Reading erotica can lead to writing erotica.
    Reading erotica with your partner might inspire you to write your own personalized lusty stories. What better way to memorialize your very sexy love life together?

About the Author

Described by The Romance Reader as “a budding force to be reckoned with” and as one of the “legendary erotica heavy-hitters” by Violet Blue, Kristina Wright is the author of the ground-breaking cross-genre relationship guide Bedded Bliss: A Couple’s Guide to Lust Ever After. She is also an award-winning author and the editor of a over dozen Cleis Press anthologies, including Fairy Tale Lust, Dream Lover, Lustfully Ever After, Duty and Desire, the Best Erotic Romance series, and most recently, xoxo: Sweet and Sexy Romance.

Her short fiction has appeared in over one hundred anthologies and her nonfiction has appeared in publications as diverse as USA Today, Good Vibes Magazine, The Sun, and Brain, Child.

She holds degrees in English and humanities from Charleston Southern University and Old Dominion University and has taught English and world mythology at the college level. She lives in Hampton Roads, Virginia with her husband, a lieutenant commander in the Navy, and their two young sons.

Giveaway!

Books à la Mode is giving away a print copy of Best Erotic Romance 2014—yay!! To enter, all you have to do is tell me:

What's the most romantic thing someone has done for you? Or, what's the most romantic thing you've done for someone else? Let's dish!

Don't forget to include your email address in your comment so I know who to contact when I randomly select winner. Don't make me track you down!!!!

Please make your comment MEANINGFUL. Comments solely consisting of stock responses or irrelevant fluff like "Thanks for the giveaway!" will not be considered for entry. Kristina and I really want to hear from you guys! :)

Additionally, I reviewed her erotic romance anthology, xoxo, yesterday, and am giving away copy of that as well. Head on over to my review to enter that giveaway too!

Don't forget the entry eligibility terms and conditions!

Sponsored wholly by the publisher—a huge thank you to Cleis Press!
Giveaway ends March 2nd at 11.59 PM (your time).

Open to US readers only. Sorry, international folks! Please check my sidebar for a list of currently-running giveaways that are open worldwide. There are still plenty you can enter!
Void where prohibited.

Winners have 48 hours to claim their prize once they are chosen, or else their winnings will be forfeited.
Although I do randomly select winners, I am in no way responsible for prizes, nor for shipping and handling.

As a reminder, you do not have to follow my blog to enter, though it is always very much appreciated ❤

Good luck!