Blog Archives
Calisa Rhose presents ~ UnCover Monday ~ #january2016 #MFRWauthor #CoverLove
UnCover Mondays on The Ranch!!!
Osiyo~
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016!!!!!!
I hope you all had a fabulous 2015 and look forward to a bright 2016. Here on the Ranch it’s that time again, the time for gorgeous covers to take the spotlight in the round pen. Things got so busy and hectic around here that I was forced to skip UCM for December. I’m making those up this month, so please, enjoy more awesome cover art and the incredible authors, publishers and artists who made them possible for you to gaze upon each month.
It would be great if you leave a comment letting everyone know what you think about them and maybe even check out a few author links to meet those behind the books. Or just say hi. Don’t forget to tell your friends to stop by so they can appreciate some greatness, or get in on the fun, too!
This feature is only to highlight the authors and artists (though if you see one you want to buy I’m sure the authors won’t mind 😆 ). Enjoy this months’ covers to ogle and explore. If there is one provided, you can follow the artist links by clicking on the name, if there’s an artist link provided, to learn more about the amazing creators of these beautiful covers.
There’s a heat level rating for covers, one through four scale, for your benefit. You should never see a *5* rating on the Ranch since I don’t feature anything erotic in nature. If there’s anything else you’d like to know about covers being revealed here, please don’t hesitate to let me know. You can leave it either in a comment or by my contact page https://calisarhose.com/say-hey/. 🙂
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Title: Beneath the Lake
Author: Casi McLean
Weblink: casimclean.com
Genre: Romantic suspense/
Time Travel/Historical
Heat Level: 2– sensual
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Cover artist: Rae Monet
Release date: August 5, 2015
A ghost town submerged beneath Atlanta’s famous man-made Lake Lanier reportedly traps victims in a watery grave. But when Lacey Montgomery’s car spins out of control and hurtles into the depths of the icy, black lake, she awakens in the arms of a handsome stranger, in a place she’s never heard of—thirty-four years before she was born.
The desperation to find her way home dissolves as Lacey falls in love with a town destined to be erased from the face of the Earth, and Bobby Reynolds, the man who vows to protect it. When Bobby suddenly disappears, Lacey must tangle with treacherous bootleggers and discover the key to the mysterious portal before time runs out and leaves the star-crossed lovers to wander forever through a ghost town buried beneath the lake.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Beautiful girl in a white dress
Title: Cinderella Treasure Trove
Author: The Glass Slipper Sisterhood /15
Weblink: www.facebook.com/groups/482493158588214
Genre: Multi
Heal Level: 1-4- Multi levels
Publisher: Books To Go Now
Cover Art: Rebekah R. Ganiere
Release date: January 1, 2016
A collection of fifteen romance authors have written retellings of the Cinderella story. From tear-jerking heartaches, nail-biting suspense, haunting magic, bubbly chick lit humor and dream-come-true romance, we’ve got something for every reader! We’ve compiled excerpts from each story into one free volume, the upcoming “Cinderella Treasure Trove,” which we’ve filled with recipes and ideas to inspire your next party. We launched this volume on New Year’s Eve. To highlight this treasure trove, as well as our individual titles, we’ve crafted a book trailer which we hope you might enjoy.
*Learn more about these individual books here http://ow.ly/WA1CJ and here http://ow.ly/WA1Fo in a special 2-part blog appearance. The trailer can be found on Youtube at https://youtu.be/9iQeoybSd0o?list=PLMxj85qIUzd9IY9GYRNRXPTgmbcsOYCFE
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Title: Darkness Rising
Chateau Seductions 0.5
Author: Lisa Carlisle
Weblink: www.lisacarlislebooks.com
Genre: paranormal romance
Heat Level: 2- sensual
Publisher: Lisa Carlisle
Cover artist: Lisa Carlisle
Release date: July 9, 2015
Antoine Chevalier harbors a secret. Born a gargoyle shifter, he wants nothing more than to cultivate his art. His hard work pays off the night he completes his greatest sculpture. But the excitement of his accomplishment doesn’t last.
He’s drawn the eye of the wrong group—a clan of vampires. Antoine wakes into darkness, changed. Shattered. His dream of becoming a renowned sculptor is destroyed.
One question remains—how will he ever survive an eternity of darkness alone?
Darkness Rising is part 0.5 of the Chateau Seductions series by USA Today Bestselling author Lisa Carlisle. Readers have requested more on the dark and mysterious Antoine. In this short story, Antoine tells his tale, which continues in the series with Dark Velvet. Dark Velvet is written from Savannah’s perspective as a newcomer to an art colony who is intrigued by the proprietor.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Title: Grandma Must Die
Bk #1- A Touch of Magic Series
Author: Maureen L. Bonatch
Weblink: www.maureenbonatch.com
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Heat Level: 3
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Cover artist: DCA Graphics
Release date: October 7, 2015
She’s a witch hunting a spell. He’s hunting witches and falling for her.
Carman has worn out more towns and last names than impractical shoes protecting the secret of her magic blood. But when a friend goes missing, and another is infected with a deadly spell, Carman must choose. Expose her magic blood by curing the spell—or stop the infection from spreading by killing the source…the grandmother.
Magic bounty hunter Dylan has scoured libraries of banned magic paraphernalia seeking a method to distinguish genuine witches from impersonators. He suspects unorthodox librarian Carman might hold this information tighter than the hair he’s dying to unleash from her bun. With a past as hidden as his sleeve of tattoos, Dylan discovers he’s been used to gain Carman’s trust and their passion risks more than mixing mortals and magic.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Title: Leaving the Pack
Silver Nights Trilogy, Bk 1
Author: David J. O’Brien
Weblink: www.davidjmobrien.wordpress.com
Genre: Paranormal
Heat Level: 3
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
Cover artist: EJR Digital Art
Release date: May 2014
Nobody believes in werewolves.
That’s just what Paul McHew and his friends are counting on.
They and their kind roam our city streets: a race of people from whom the terrible legend stems; now living among us invisibly after centuries of persecution through fear and ignorance. Superficially Caucasian but physiologically very different, with lunar rhythms so strong that during the three days of the full moon they are almost completely controlled by their hormonal instincts, you might have cursed them as just another group of brawling youths or drunken gang-bangers. Now at the point of extinction, if they are to survive their existence must remain restricted to mere stories and legend, but, paradoxically, they also must marry outside their society in order to persist.
The responsibility for negotiating this knife-edge is given to Paul, who runs the streets with his friends during the full moon, keeping them out of real trouble and its resultant difficult questions. Having succeeded for years, he finds his real test of leadership comes when he meets Susan, a potential life-mate, to whom he will have to reveal his true identity if he is ever to leave his pack.
10% of the author’s royalties will be donated to WWF,
the World Wildlife Fund.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Title: Staking A Claim
Author: Devon McKay
Weblink: www.devonmckay.weebly.com
Genre: Contemporary
Heat Level: 4
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Cover artist: Debbie Taylor
Release date: September 30, 2015
For most people, seeing Alaska is a dream come true. For Miami Beach resident, Samantha Held, it is merely a job assignment. Creating an advertisement for vacationing in the state gets her one step closer to achieving her career goal—partnership in Kolinsky’s Advertisement Agency.
Blake Langford is not willing to accept any exploitation of his beloved state, no matter how desirable the striking, southern blonde bombshell with fiery green eyes is, and he’s determined to sabotage Sam’s goal in every way. Falling in love with the enemy, however, was never part of the plan.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Title: The Unkindest Cut of All
Author: Sue Barnard
Weblink: www.facebook.com/suebarnardauthor
Genre: Romantic intrigue
Heat Level: 1- sweet
Publisher: Crooked Cat Publishing
Cover artist: Crooked Cat Publishing
Release date: June 9, 2015
Beware the Ides of March…
Brian Wilmer is God’s gift to amateur dramatics – and he knows it. So when the Castlemarsh Players take the ambitious decision to stage Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, there is only one man who can play the title role – even though Brian’s posturing ‘prima donna’ attitude has, over the years, won him few friends and many foes.
Rehearsals progress apace, and the production draws ever closer. But when another member of the cast has to drop out due to illness, local journalist Sarah Carmichael (a stalwart of the Players’ backstage crew) suddenly finds herself called upon to step into the breach at the eleventh hour.
Not surprisingly, Sarah finds that Brian is in his egotistical element playing the mighty Caesar. The fact that the final performance of the play takes place on the infamous Ides of March – the day when, according to tradition, Caesar was fatally stabbed – only adds to the excitement.
But tragedy is waiting in the wings. And when it strikes, it falls to Sarah – with the help of Brian’s personable, and fascinating, nephew Martin Burns – to uncover the incredible truth about what really happened…
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
I want to thank all the authors who submit their covers
and make this a special place to share!
To see YOUR cover here visit my
UnCover Monday
page for detailed instructions.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Smoldering Nights…with Pee Wee Herman?
Osiyo~
I have one hot book to share today! My guest has brought her new Ellora’s Cave release for us to drool over. *Calisa hands out towels as she remembers the need for one last week*
Welcome Lisa Carlisle!!
What is your writing routine?
I put on some music, grab a coffee if it’s morning or something stronger if it’s late, and sit down with my Netbook with a slow Internet connection. It keeps me from going online and getting distracted because it’s painfully slow. I love to write at cafes, but after a day at work, I usually end up writing on the sofa in the living room.
Who are some of your must-read authors and why?
I loved Robert B. Parker’s Spenser books and have read every one. I also loved Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and The Witching Hour. Today, I’m reading Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series and P.C. and Kristin Cast’s House of Night series. For short, hot stories to escape into for a little while, I check out my publisher’s site, Ellora’s Cave.
I’ve read most of the House of Night series and got behind when my own debut book sold last year. I need to catch up again. 🙂
Where in the world would you want to visit (all in the name of research, of course) and why?
I lived in Paris in my early 20s and thought I would write all these stories there. Every time I tried, I turned to my journal or a letter instead as there were so many things I wanted to share about what I saw and experienced. I’d love to go back to Paris and London to write. Now that I’m more grounded (I hope), maybe I won’t be so distracted. 😉
Oh to go to Paris and write… *sigh*
What obstacles have you overcome to get where you are, and what advice do you have for anyone in a similar situation?
Well, I served in the Marines when I was younger, which I joke trained me to become a writer! You might be rejected or attacked many times, but don’t take it personally. Believe in yourself and never give up. It takes a lot of persistence and a little luck.
True and sound advice, Lisa.
What did you enjoy most about writing your latest work?
Although I’ve struggled with finishing some stories, writing my last book, Fiery Nights, was so much fun I didn’t want it to end. I LOVED the characters and kept going back to write new scenes. I’d be riding on my bike and certain lines would come to me and I couldn’t wait to get home to work on the book. The final manuscript was over twice as long as I originally intended as the characters took shape. I was on the edge of my seat rereading the manuscript, feeling for my characters—even though I knew what was going to happen since I wrote it!
Some optional fun:
Favorite movie and why?
Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Great story, great characters, and so entertaining.
Who or what would you walk over hot coals, climb a mountain, or swim an ocean to get to and why?
My husband. Because he possesses every characteristic I’ve ever wanted in a partner.
Salty, sweet, or both?
Salty. My weakness is tortilla chips with guacamole. I hate having them around because I’ll eat them. But then I’ll curse when we don’t have them because I want them. 😉
Smoldering Nights
Nike loves visiting the goth club Vamps—she can exchange her firefighter uniform for a slinky fantasy outfit. There she runs into the man she’d been admiring from afar at a rock climbing gym. He’s been the star of all her sexual fantasies, so is it any wonder they end up in his private room upstairs? Just when things begin to heat up, Michel’s enemies appear.
Only Michel isn’t an ordinary mortal. And someone from his past is on the hunt for vengeance. Michel and Nike are forced on the run and hide out in a coastal cottage in Maine. They can’t resist their attraction and spend the nights exploring each others’ bodies while trying to sort out how they feel about each other. Can they overcome their differences to be together? And how will they evade the predators who are chasing them?
Excerpt From: SMOLDERING NIGHTS
We squeezed through dancers to make our way to the darkly lit bar guarded by more stone gargoyles on each end. Just as we made it to the other side of the dance floor, I felt someone watching me.
It was him.
Oh my God. He was here.
In all the times I’d come here, dressed in all kinds of tight, miniscule outfits, never had I felt so exposed. I wished I wasn’t wearing a laced-up black leather dress that exposed a lot of cleavage and was tight enough to show a pimple on my ass.
He was sitting on one of the dark-red leather stools, facing the crowd. I looked up at him twice and caught his eye quickly both times before I looked away. Those ice-blue eyes were so penetrating. Each time I’d caught his eye at the rock climbing gym, I’d have the same reaction—I’d look away quickly.
Why didn’t I have the guts to say hi? He was just another guy. So why did he have that effect upon me? There were tons of hot guys with jacked bodies at the gym. This one—only this one—made me react this way, like a zombie unable to speak.
My palms were beginning to heat up and I was painfully aware of the sound of my heartbeat despite the reverberation of the pounding bass around us.
“I know you from the gym, don’t I?”
Oh God. He was speaking to me. Whenever I heard that sultry voice and the French accent, I trembled slightly inside. Was there anything sexier than a French accent? During my brief semester in the south of France my junior year of college, I was in a constant state of sexual arousal with sounds of the French language all around me. Especially when purred by hot French men.
I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Maya elbowed me.
“Ye-yes,” I stammered, trying to sound nonchalant. “I go to Rock Hard Climbing.” That’s where he worked. “I’ve-uh-seen you there.”
Maya said, “I’ll catch up with you later.”
He nodded at her before she moved down to an empty spot at the other end of the red and black marbled bar.
Damn it. How could she leave me alone with him? She must have figured out he was the guy I often drooled about, when she saw me clam up like an idiot.
I stared at Maya as she scanned the crowd on the dance floor, shooting invisible daggers at her back. I’m going to kill her later.
In all those months fantasizing about this guy, never did I think it would start as awkward as this. Perhaps he’d smile at me first or nod hello at the gym. Then one day he’d ask if I needed a hand with something. Maybe compliment me somehow. I would appear a bit aloof. Each time I went to the gym after that, things would progress nice and slow. We’d gradually talk a bit more until he finally asked me out.
He snapped me out of my thoughts when he said, “I thought I recognized you. You look—” he paused, “different.”
Never, NEVER, did I think our first conversation would be in some underground club with my breasts pushed up against a leather laced up bodice, accentuated by a brooch with a silhouetted skull.
* * *
About Lisa Carlisle
I’ve loved the vampire myth since I was in third grade and had a crush on Dracula (rivaled only by my eternal love for Darth Vader). When I was younger, I served in the Marine Corps and backpacked around Europe on my own, which has provided me enough settings and characters for a lifetime of writing. Now I live in the Boston area with my fantastic, supportive husband and two kids. I’m very happy to be a multi-published, award-winning author writing in different genres.
Disclaimer: I go bat-shit crazy before Halloween and start decorating my house on October 1st. You can never have enough gargoyles.
Author site: Lisacarlislebooks.com
Buy links~
Ellora’s Cave: http://www.jasminejade.com/p-10271-smoldering-nights.aspx
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Smoldering-Nights-Underground-Encounters-ebook/dp/B008VS645I/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_4
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lisacarlisleauthor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/LisaCBooks
Blog: www.lisacarlislebooks.com
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lcbooks/
Thank you for bringing two awesome books to the Ranch, Lisa!
So what about ya’ll? Do you go bat-shit crazy over Halloween?
Dodadagohvi~
I write contemporary and paranormal romance, with sensuality as the key ingredient and spice for kick.
Pen of The Dreamer 