Enchanted (Channie, Book 1) – Charlotte Abel
Taken (Channie, Book 2) – Charlotte Abel
Hot Under the Collar ( Lords of Lancashire, Book 2) – Jackie Barbosa
Whiskey Dreams (Sleepy Hollow, Book 0.5) – Ranae Rose
Freebie Friday #8
5
Tag Archives: fantasy
Saturday Six: Your Hero Should Never…
- Cheat on the heroine/hero(M/M) – You would think this was a given, but apparently it isn’t. While the acts of infidelity are usually small, in a romance novel they’re ALWAYS unforgivable. A hero never comes back from that. NOTHING can erase it. Prime example, Cabal from Bengal’s Heart (Breed Series).
He spends years whoring around while he knows she’s suffering without him. YEARS. Cabal knows Cassie cannot bear anyone else’s touch. But he goes on with his life like she doesn’t exist. He even considers getting serious with another girl. Even worse, he does it because he blames her for the actions of her dead husband. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he’d just abandoned her, but no, he leaves her in PAIN while he spends his days screwing every other woman he meets. - Leave the heroine for her own good – This one really irks me. To make matters worse, it’s usually accompanied by some big misunderstanding. But we’ve already discussed that pitfall.
When the hero abandons the heroine because he wants to protect her or save her from himself, I tune out. My first thought is, Oh no, another soap opera melodrama. I’ve seen this plot scheme a million times. I’m tired of it. It’s lost its appeal—not that it ever had much.
While many authors have used this trite device, I’ll use one that everyone is familiar with, The Twilight Saga. While Edward’s I’m scared I’ll eat you angst was bearable in the first novel, it completely got out of hand in New Moon. Don’t these authors know that heroes who are assertive and go after what they want are so much more appealing?
As much as I love Lora Leigh, she’s really bad about using this one. - Be a bad/virgin lover – While I’ll admit this one can have some exceptions, 98% of the time it should be a law of nature. These are a romancenovels people, and we like our heroes good in bed. If we wanted to be left unsatisfied or be forced to teach our lovers then we wouldn’t need romance novels, reality would do.
Right now, the only author guilty of this that comes to mind is Sherrilyn Kenyon. Although, I really hate to use her because most of the time she fits into the other 2% that actually make it work. Born of Night is one of her novels that she didn’t do as good of a job with making the inexperienced lover thing work out. While Born of Night is one of my all-time favorite novels, I just couldn’t get comfortable with Nik being such an inexperienced lover. And if I’m being honest, when I fantasize about him I always change that about him. (As a side note, Born of Night is also guilty of #2) - Be ugly – Shallow, I know, but it’s a fact. He’s the HERO. This means better than the average man. This means that the heroine should find him attractive. I’m not saying he should supermodel hot, but he should be sexually appealing. Women have to want him.
I’m Sorry Phantom of the Opera fans, but I just can’t jump on board with this. When I read books with these horribly disfigured heroes, I just pretend like they’re good looking. I can’t picture them any other way, and I don’t even want to try. I know that’s awful, but it’s the truth. - Have a small penis – Thankfully, I’ve never seen an author do this, but I don’t want it to become a trend. Heroes should be, at the very least, a millimeter larger than the average man. ALWAYS! NO EXCEPTIONS! They shouldn’t all have monster cocks either, but I’ll take that over the a tinie wenie any day.
- Be perfect – While your hero should be better than the average guy, he shouldn’t be good at everything. He can’t be independently wealthy, good looking, well endowed, extraordinarily fast/strong/intelligent, quick with words, moral, etc. He has to be flawed.
I love paranormal romances. I love my alpha males. But let’s face it, the genre is bad about this. Some of my favorite heroes are guilty of this one—Barrons and Bones. While they may be a little too perfect, they too have their flaws. Bones—jealously. Barrons—lack of morality.
Freebie Friday #6
Freebie Friday #5
I usually only showcase 1 to 3 free novels on Friday, but today when I was searching I found so many that looked good that I decided to post them all. Below is a list of titles and their links.
Beauty Dominates the Beast – Hannah Hale
Once Bitten, Forever Burned – Eve Langlais, Stacey Kennedy
The Princess’ Dragon Lord – Mandy Rosko
She’s Gotta be Mine (Cottonmouth Series, Book 1) – Jennifer Skully
Once Bitten (Alexa O’Brien Huntress, Book 1) – Trina M. Lee
Sunrise at Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 1) – Jaz Primo
Wereslave (Were Legends, Book 1) – Lia Slater
Initiation (Xylon Warriors, Book 1) – Ruth D. Kerce
Vampire Cursed (Vampires Destined, Book 1) – Rachel Carrington
Ties That Bind is Now Available
Everyone please slide on over to T.A. Grey’s blog and congratulate her on the release of her third Bellum Sister’s novel, Ties That Bind. It’s available now at Amazon, and other retailers I’m sure.
Freebie Friday #4
Cover Love: Inkspell Publishing
Writers’ Toolbox: Show Me the Money!
We need to thank Brenda Hiatt for this fabulous resource! Show Me the Money! is survey Hiatt manages to keep readers informed of the average payout with certain romance and young adult publishers. The list includes most of the prominent publishers out there. It’s a good resource for authors looking around for place to submit their manuscripts.
Also, for those of you who are published and don’t mind confidentially sharing your figures, please contact Haitt so that she can keep her survey updated and as close to accurate as possible.
Cover Love: Carina Press
Freebie Friday: Alexandra’s Legacy
Writers’ Toolbox: Show Off Your Best at the Sandbox
I’ve said this before and I’ll keep saying it, networking is important! I know you hate it. It’s tedious, frustrating, and it takes practice if you want to get good at it. One of the most important things for struggling networkers is to educate themselves on the different mediums out there.
When someone says network, most people think of the obvious opportunities to gain an audience (blogging, facebook, twitter, linkedin, etc.), and not of the rare, unique opportunities like writers competitions. Today’s find is a monthly genre contest called Show Off Your Best at the Sandbox. It’s a short story contest that probably won’t gain you international recognition, but you will make connections. Even if you only come away from it with one reader, that is one reader that will buy and advertise your product.
Freebie Friday on Saturday
Hey y’all,
I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long! My sister finally had her baby, but she lives just across the street, so one stress has just been replaced with another. Her husband crushed his pointer finger, so he’s out of work for the week. My mother got in an altercation with the garage door and she lost. She can hardly walk on her ankle because the tendon was grazed. My dad is retiring, and my brothers custody hearing is Tuesday. Yes, things are crazy here!
I want to promise that I’ll be posting regularly again very soon, but I’m not sure fate is going to allow that. In the meantime, check out these free reads.
Six Sentence Sunday #5
This week’s Six Sentence Sunday is from Let Me Lie.
Brannon would be the one to kill me, of that, I was always certain. What I hadn’t expected was to want it. He strode towards me, covered in Michael’s blood. I stood my ground, ready to face his wrath. His hand came at my face and I flinched, but his touch was gentle.
“I don’t blame you,” he said, “but you should have told me.”
Six Sentence Sunday #4
Six sentences from Let Me lie.
“What do you have against vampires?”
“It’s not personal,” Brannon answered without turning away from his computer.
“Then why do you kill them without a trial?”
“They’re a walking disease. If we let them live they’d infect the whole damn planet.” He shrugged as though damning all my kind to eternal suffering was nothing.
Writers’ Toolbox: How not to Yank Your Readers Out of the Story!
We all make mistakes, but too many can kill your chance of getting published. The problem is that no one can write a perfect manuscript. The article, How not to Yank Your Readers Out of the Story, points out some pretty massive flaws that even some NYT Bestselling authors have made. Check it out, you do not want to repeat these.
Heavenly Designs & Photography 