We have a winner! *Finally you say?*

The winner of my “Happy Halloween” Giveaway is:

JulieL

You will win, MY FAVORITE WITCH by Lisa Plumley, HALLOWEEN HUSBANDS by Lisa Plumley and others, and one book of your choice for $8 or less. You have 72 hrs to contact me at highlandlovesong@yahoo .com with your book choice and snail mail addy. Congrats on winning!!!

hugs,

WendyK

Hey all, I will pick winners tomorrow and post them tomorrow so all giveaways that ended yesterday or today have been extended. DH has been running me ragged!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and I’ll see you all tomorrow, probably the afternoon/evening.

hugs,

WendyK

Iverness on River Ness photo by Sue-Ellen Welfonder

I do so hope Sue-Ellen won’t mind my borrowing her image to use for this post. It fits this giveaway so well. As my title states, this is my “Happy Halloween Giveaway”. This giveaway will run from today until November 2nd at 12PM EST.

For this giveaway I am offering unsigned copies of:

MY FAVORITE WITCH by Lisa Plumley

HALLOWEEN HUSBANDS by Lisa Plumley, Denise Lynn, Christine Merrill

A Book of winners’ choice, book can NOT be more than $8US publisher price.(sorry but I can’t do more than that)

Happy Halloween

This is going to be a quick and short giveaway.

Thank you to everyone for suggestions! I loved them and many I will keep in mind for next year.

In order to be entered in this giveaway all you have to do is post to this post telling me what you love or hate about Halloween.

Happy Halloween!

Good luck to everyone!

hugs,

Today I’m so very honored to Welcome author Elizabeth Hoyt as my guest.

TO DESIRE A DEVIL

Elizabeth Hoyt

November 2009

ISBN: 9780446406949
Legend of the Four Soldiers Series, Book Four

NOTHING IS MORE INTOXICATING-
Reynaud St. Aubyn has spent the last seven years in hellish captivity. Now half mad with fever he bursts into his ancestral home and demands his due. Can this wild-looking man truly be the last earl’s heir, thought murdered by Indians years ago?

OR DANGEROUS-
Beatrice Corning, the niece of the present earl, is a proper English miss. But she has a secret: No real man has ever excited her more than the handsome youth in the portrait in her uncle’s home. Suddenly, that very man is here, in the flesh-and luring her into his bed.

THAN SURRENDERING TO A DEVIL.
Only Beatrice can see past Reynaud’s savagery to the noble man inside. For his part, Reynaud is drawn to this lovely lady, even as he is suspicious of her loyalty to her uncle. But can Beatrice’s love tame a man who will stop at nothing to regain his title-even if it means sacrificing her innocence?

WendyK:  Thank you for being a guest at My Book Addiction and More. For readers who are new to you will you please tell readers who you are, where you are from, etc….(married, kids,)

Elizabeth Hoyt: Thank you for inviting me to your blog, Wendy!

I’m Elizabeth Hoyt. I write historical romance and contemporary romance (under the name Julia Harper.) I live in central Illinois with three untrained dogs, two lovely children, and one long-suffering husband.

WK: Let’s start with your newest release, TO DESIRE A DEVIL, in your own words can you tell us about it, who are the characters, what is their conflict or what must they face?

EH: To Desire a Devil is the fourth and final book in my Legend of the Four Soldiers series. It’s the story of Reynaud St. Aubyn, Viscount Hope. Presumed dead for seven years, he escapes captivity and returns home, ready to resume his life. But the life he left isn’t there anymore. His father, the Earl of Blanchard is dead, another man has claimed the title, and there are rumors that he’s insane. Everyone seems to be against him except the new earl’s niece, a woman named Beatrice Corning. Beatrice for her part is dangerously attracted to Reynaud, but can she make him see that what they have may be more important than the life he’s trying to regain?

WK:  Where did you get the idea for this story?

EH: I started the Legend of the Four Soldiers series at about the time that the war in Iraq began. I was thinking about the soldiers who would be returning home, the troubles they might deal with in coming back to a civilian society. I wondered how it would have been for soldiers coming home over two hundred years ago when psychiatry let alone a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) didn’t exist. I wanted to tell the story of men coming home from war and having to adjust to a society that might not recognize or sympathize with their issues.

WK:  This story has a plotline that I don’t want to get into for fear of it being a spoiler, but I’d like to know if you had to do a lot of research for it and what made you use this point in the story?

EH: I did quite a lot of research into American Indians during this time period and some on PTSD. For Reynaud I wanted to write a story about the soldier who gets left behind, the soldier who has been a prisoner of war, and how they feel when they return home.

WK:  How do you pick the names for your characters for this story as well as others?

EH: It’s pretty organic. I try to pick names that are historically appropriate, so I might look up real people during this time and check out all their relatives to see what names were being uses. Of course a lot of names are used over and over again. If I were very true to the time period, most of my heroes would be named George, Edward, Samuel, and William!

WK:  Is this story related to any others? If so how, and must we read them in order?

EH: This is the final book in a four-book series: To Taste Temptation, To Seduce a Sinner, To Beguile a Beast, and To Desire a Devil. I try to write my books so anyone can pick them up and enjoy them without having read the others, but I do think a reader gets more out of the story if they’ve read the others—certainly there was a bit of a build up to Reynaud appearing again!

WK:  How has your life change since becoming published?

EH: My day-to-day life hasn’t changed much—no one stops me in the street and exclaims, “Aren’t you Elizabeth Hoyt?!” But I think there’s a certain self-confidence in being published and in doing well in your chosen profession. Also, I can now afford braces for my children’s teeth!

WK: What has been your biggest challenge in your writing career?

EH: Believing in myself. A writer has to have a core of iron when they first start out. They spend years writing merely on the hope that they will be good enough and lucky enough to be published. Once published the writer has to continue to believe that she can write—that her work is good and that she’ll finish the book she’s now contracted for. That may seem easy, but I know of many writers who stopped writing or who self-destructed. The wonder is that so many writers do make a living at this.

WK:  How do you choose the settings for your stories?

EH: Well, English historicals are about the only game in town these days, so that’s pretty much a given. But I chose city or country, winter or summer, poor area or wealthy based on what my characters are doing and where they live. I think, for instance, that if someone likes living in the countryside that’s a definite part of their character and the story should reflect that.

WK: How do you go about researching for your stories, are there any sources that you use for everything?

EH: Hmm. I suppose Wikipedia is a default source for looking things up. But I like to have an eclectic mix of research materials. For instance, I always have a book by my bedside table that I’m reading for background research (The Diary of Samuel Pepys right now.) Then I have various books on the English countryside, historical homes, furniture, kings and queens of Britain, etc. I like to visit museums and study portraits from the era (Pan, Lottie’s dog in To Desire a Devil is based on several small, white, fluffy dogs I saw in portraits of ladies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.) And I just received some wonderful books on dress patterns and embroidery of the eighteenth century.

WK: What is your favorite reading material for pleasure?

EH: I read mostly romance and mystery.

WK:  Can you tell us about your current work in progress and what’s next to hit the shelves?

EH: Right now I’m working on Wicked Intentions, the first of a new series called the Maiden Lane series. Wicked Intentions is set in Georgian London during the time when gin was very cheap and sold everywhere, creating a terrible addiction problem for the poor of London. The hero, Lazarus Huntington, Lord Caire, is a rake searching in the East End for the man who murdered his mistress. But he needs the help of Temperance Dews, a widow running a foundling home in St. Giles. Temperance agrees to help Lazarus if in exchange he’ll take her to society balls so she can find a patron for her home. But both Lazarus and Temperance are hiding secrets. Wicked Intentions will be out in Summer of 2010.

WK:  What one thing at the check-out counter do you look at but hope no one notices you are looking?

EH: I guess I don’t worry about what people think about what I’m looking at.

WK: What is your favorite Holiday recipe? Can you share it with us?

EH: Pecans in Dates: Take whole dates and whole pecan halves. Stick the pecan halves in the dates. Roll in powdered sugar. Ta da! This is a great activity for preschoolers who want to “help” with holiday preparations.

WK:  If you could meet one person, real or fictional, who would it be and why?

EH: Ooo! Shakespeare. Trite, but true, I love Shakespeare!

WK:  How do you handle rejections and the negative people who try to bring your joy to a halt?

EH: Rejections are a part of a writer’s job so unfortunately you have to learn to handle them or you don’t get very far. Usually they don’t bother me too much. If they do, though, I have a special candle that I burn to get rid of the bad juju. LOL! As for people who try and destroy your joy, what is up with that? You’ve got to be pretty unhappy yourself to want to go out and make everyone else unhappy, too. Sadly some “reviewers” fall under this category so in general I simply don’t read reviews and negative blogs. Then I don’t have to get out my juju candle.

WK: Do you have one passage, quote, saying, phrase or anything else that you feel best describes you and your way of living?

EH: Um…how about “Don’t sweat the small stuff”?

WK: Do you put yourself or people you know in characters within your stories?

EH: Nope.

WK:  Is there anything else you’d like readers to know or remember about you, your work, or what you’d hope they’d get from reading your stories?
EH: Well, I’m in the midst of writing a free novella for readers on my website this year. The Ice Princess is Coral Smythe’s story—Coral was the Aphrodite from The Raven Prince. Each month I’ve been posting a new chapter. You can go here to check it out: http://www.elizabethhoyt.com/books/iceprincess.php

Thank you for Ms. Hoyt for being my guest today. If you’d like to know more about Ms. Hoyt’s work please visit her website.

Thanks to the great and very generous people at Grand Central Publishing, I am thrilled to be able to offer 5 lucky commenters a copy of TO DESIRE A DEVIL by Elizabeth Hoyt. That’s right there are 5 copies up for grabs. This giveaway is open to the US and Canada only. No P.O. Boxes please. In order to win please post a comment to this post. Be sure to check out my review for another chance in the giveaway.

This giveaway is open from today until November 5th at 12pm EST. Please check back to see if you are a winner, do NOT leave your email address! Good luck to everyone.

TO DESIRE A DEVIL

Elizabeth Hoyt

ISBN: 9780446406949
November 2009

Grand Central Publishing

Legend of the Four Soldiers, Book 4

From the Publisher

NOTHING IS MORE INTOXICATING-
Reynaud St. Aubyn has spent the last seven years in hellish captivity. Now half mad with fever he bursts into his ancestral home and demands his due. Can this wild-looking man truly be the last earl’s heir, thought murdered by Indians years ago?

OR DANGEROUS-
Beatrice Corning, the niece of the present earl, is a proper English miss. But she has a secret: No real man has ever excited her more than the handsome youth in the portrait in her uncle’s home. Suddenly, that very man is here, in the flesh-and luring her into his bed.

THAN SURRENDERING TO A DEVIL.
Only Beatrice can see past Reynaud’s savagery to the noble man inside. For his part, Reynaud is drawn to this lovely lady, even as he is suspicious of her loyalty to her uncle. But can Beatrice’s love tame a man who will stop at nothing to regain his title-even if it means sacrificing her innocence?

TO DESIRE A DEVIL is a historical romance that has such a fascinating plot you’ll be eagerly turning pages. I will admit that while this is part of a series and I do think readers will benefit from reading the first 3 stories, I missed at least one of them and still found TO DESIRE A DEVIL amazingly enjoyable. There is a touch of mystery, but the main focus is more on Reynaud and his struggle to regain his life after being captured and left for dead during a military campaign. There are a few moments I’d suggest you have a tissue handy, but there is also plenty of heat. I truly hate for this series to end. I’d love to revisit all of these characters in the future, maybe stories about their children. Fans of great historical romances need to add TO DESIRE A DEVIL to their to buy list today! It’s a story you don’t want to miss. I’d highly recommend TO DESIRE A DEVIL, you will certainly understand that desire after reading this story!

Reviewed by Wendy Keel

Rating: 4 1/2

Steamy Romance

Please visit Ms. Hoyt’s website for more information on this book as well as an excerpt and other great things. 

*This book was sent to me from Grand Central Publishing, however recieving the book, I in no way felt I had to give this book a good review. These are my true feelings for this story*

Thanks to the wonderful people at Grand Central Publisher, 5 people will recieve a copy of TO DESIRE A DEVIL by Elizabeth Hoyt.  If you would like to be in this giveaway please read my Q&A with Elizabeth Hoyt post. If you leave a comment to this review your name will be entered in the drawing as well. Giveaway is open to the US and Canada only. No P.O. Boxes please. Giveaway runs from today until November 5th at 12pm EST. Good luck to everyone.

LOVE YOU TO DEATH

Shannon K. Butcher

• Pub. Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• ISBN-13: 9780446510295
• ISBN: 0446510297

It’s been days since reporter Elise McBride has heard from her sister, Ashley. She’s convinced Ashley has met with some kind of foul play, especially when she learns that bodies of other missing women have surfaced in and around Chicago–all victims of a brutal serial killer. Convinced her sister is still alive, Elise vows to risk everything to save her…

The last thing ex-cop Trent Brady needs is more blood on his hands. Yet when he catches Elise breaking into her sister’s house, full of reckless determination and fear, he knows she needs his help. But just as desire ignites between them, a twisted madman sets his sights on Elise. Hell-bent on possessing her for himself, this psychopath won’t rest until he has his perfect woman.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at Grand Central Publishing I’m able to offer 5 copies of LOVE YOU TO DEATH by Shannon K. Butcher!  If you’d like to win a copy of LOVE YOU TO DEATH please leave a comment to this post. I will be posting a review at a later date. This giveaway is only open to the US and Canada. No P.O. Boxes please. This giveaway will run from today until November 5th at 12pm EST. You will need to check back to find out if you win.

Good luck to everyone!

Hugs,

WendyK

CHOSEN BY DESIRE

Kate Perry

• Pub. Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Series: Guardians of Destiny Series
• ISBN-13: 9780446541015
• ISBN: 044654101X

It’s down to the wire and Carrie Woods is leaving China without the proof she needs for her thesis: Wei Lin’s journal. While on a final tour of the monastery, Carrie finally locates the scrolls and attempts to photograph the documents. Caught in a sticky situation, Carrie takes the scrolls, only to notice a mysterious monk watching her–the same monk that she’s seen each time she’s taken a tour. Unable to return the scrolls, she travels back to California and isn’t too thrilled when she notices the monk at the airport.

Maximillian Prescott first came to the monastery as an orphaned teenager when he inherited the Book of Metal from a distant uncle he hardly knew. After spotting a woman stealing from the monastery, he follows her to get back the documents he knows she’s stolen. Max is further intrigued when he finds out that the chatty woman is friends with his archrival, Rhys Llewellyn, and he will stop at nothing to get back everything he’s lost.

This will be a short giveaway. Thanks to the great people at Grand Central Publishing I am so honored to be able to offer 5 copies of CHOSEN BY DESIRE by Kate Perry to 5 lucky commenters. I will be posting a review soon of this book, so keep a look out for it. If you’d like to win a copy of CHOSEN BY DESIRE please leave a comment to this post. This giveaway will run from today until November 5th at 12pm. EST. This giveaway is open to the US and Canada only. No P.O. Boxes please.

Good Luck!

hugs,

WendyK

Because I need these addresses NOW in order for the books to be delivered I have to cut the time to respond down. For this post only you will have 24hrs to contact me with your snail mail addy in order for you to get the book. If these winners do NOT respond these books will be forfeited.

I had to pick two new winners for Sue-Ellen Welfonder’s A HIGHLANDER’S TEMPTATION

And they are: VirginiaC and SharonM

I’ve picked two new winners for LUCAN by Susan Kearney

And they are: MELISSA and QUILT LADY

PLEASE, PLEASE email me with your snail mail addys or at least let me know if you want the book or not.

Thanks so much!

WendyK

The Peruke Maker: A Wigmaker

–Guest Blogger Ruby Dominguez, author of THE PERUKE MAKER

The Peruke Maker played an important role in keeping society supplied with the latest in hair fashions like wigs and queues (hair pieces usually worn hanging in the back of the head) for men, and curls, braids and knots for women and barbering services as well.

A wig or queue was a fashion necessity for men of the gentry and successful businessmen, especially during public times when the courts were in session.  Being able to afford a wig, or sometimes several wigs, was a means of showing one’s social status.  Even the lesser sort (those with little money to spend) wanted to own a wig or queue.

The Peruke Maker’s loving and patient traits in my book were based on my own father’s character and further developed through Internet searches.

A point of no return, he begins the heartbreaking journey of his life and that of a man’s vindictive soul, down Ipswich Road towards his shop with his daughter’s dead body in an oxcart which he had taken down from a locust tree where she was hung. 

In his shop, he starts the painstaking, creative process of making a wig of his daughter’s mutilated scalp and ripped-off red, long hair.

With surgical precision, he stitches his daughter’s scalp, vein by vein, skin by skin with a fishhook-like needle and sews it through a weft to hold it secure.

He meticulously weaves a few straws of hair at a time and pulls each back into a tight knot.

Many hours pass and finally, he sets the wig on his daughter’s bloody, grotesque head and as he bows his head in meditation, he recites an incantation with tears streaming down his old and sad, yet vengeful face.

An unsettling waft of cold breeze passes through the room and makes the wig sway and a spell is cast upon the wig and takes a life of its own.He had lost his wife Kate who was hanged in Gallows Hill prior to losing his daughter Bridget to the same horrifying fate.

Blood starts to trickle down Bridget’s lifeless, tortured looking face amidst the Banshee’s forlorn wails echoing over Gallows Hill.

The Peruke Maker’s vengeful curse hastens chase for the innocent and is carried off by a whirl of ill-omened wind that transgresses all natural laws of time and space.

The Salem Witch Hunt Curse unearthed from necromancy, violates the course of natural events in a modern day world, relentlessly in quest for the avenger of innocent blood.

The author, Ruby Dominguez is challenged by the conflicting complexities of the past and future. Undeterred, she strokes with pen the somber and bright hues of her visions. She currently resides in San Francisco and works in the field of property management/leasing. She has been a recipient of the “Editor’s Choice Award,” by the National Library of Poetry in 1999 and 2007 for her published poems in the SHELTER OF SHADE. Visit her website at: www.outskirtspress.com/theperukemaker, and blog at www.salemcurse.wordpress.com 

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OMG have you all seen this? This is Caridad Pineiro’s SINS OF THE FLESH the first book in her new series and it’s a great book. I will have a review up soon. Be sure to visit Caridad’s blog for the launch party and your chance to win some great prizes and just have fun! http://www.caridad.com/blog

SINS OF THE FLESH

Caridad Pineiro

October 27, 2009

Grand Central Publishing

ISBN 9780446543835

Visit Caridad’s website!

Caterina Shaw’s days are numbered. Her only chance for survival is a highly experimental gene treatment-a risk she willingly takes. But now Caterina barely recognizes herself. She has new, terrifying powers, an exotic, arresting body-and she’s been accused of a savage murder, sending her on the run.

Mick Carrera is a mercenary and an expert at capturing elusive, clever prey. Yet the woman he’s hunting down is far from the vicious killer he’s been told to expect: Caterina is wounded, vulnerable, and a startling mystery of medical science. Even more, she’s a beautiful woman whose innocent sensuality tempts Mick to show her exactly how thrilling pleasure can be. The heat that builds between them is irresistible, but surrendering to it could kill them both . . . for a dangerous group is plotting its next move using Caterina as its deadly pawn.

GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to the great people at Grand Central Publishing I am thrilled to be able to offer 5 copies of SINS OF THE FLESH by Caridad Pineiro to my readers. This giveaway is open to the US and Canada only. NO P.O. Boxes please!  If you’d like to have your name in the drawing for this giveaway please comment on this post and let me know what you think would most appeal to your about this book, and come back on November 9th when Caridad will be my guest and comment on her blog post. You MUST comment on both posts to be entered.

GIVEAWAY WILL RUN FROM TODAY, OCTOBER 27TH, UNTIL NOVEMBER 10TH 12 PM est.

Good Luck!!! And thanks for visiting my blog.

hugs,

WendyK