Giveaway - Playing with Fire / Interview with author - Tamara Morgan

Today we have the lovely Tamara Morgan, author of Playing with Fire here for an interview and giveaway of her book.

About Tamara:

Tamara Morgan is a romance writer and unabashed lover of historical reenactments—the more elaborate and geeky the costume requirements, the better. In her quest for modern-day history and intrigue, she has taken fencing classes, forced her child into Highland dancing, and, of course, journeyed annually to the local Renaissance Fair. These feats are matched by a universal love of men in tights, of both the superhero and codpiece variety.

Her home is in the Inland Northwest, where she lives with her husband, daughter, and variety of household pets.

Learn more about Tamara Morgan on her website and follow her on Twitter at @Tamara_Morgan.

 

 Fiona is a fun character with a big heart and I liked her from the beginning; she opens Playing with Fire so casually with “I should have opted for the boob job.” You can’t help but enjoy the character. Is Fiona a little bit of you?

 

I think every character I write—male or female or anywhere in between—is a little bit of me. While I can’t lay claim to Fiona’s gorgeous looks or her dependency on men for self-esteem, I like to think we share a bit of a hard edge and a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Ian is an interesting character with a lot of history wrapped up in Fiona. Was their relationship fun to develop or while writing did they snark at each other more than you wrote in the story?

Because Playing with Fire is a novella with quite a bit of action stuffed in, a lot of the development of Fiona’s and Ian’s relationship is either assumed or going on in the subtext. I’m sure they do quite a bit of childish bickering behind closed doors. You know, in between all the kissing.

Will there be more Fiona and Ian in our future?

They have not yet decided if they’d like to make another bow (remember, they’re too busy kissing). I left the ending open enough so that I can create an entire world based around Fiona, Ian, and their friends, and I doubt my love of superheroes is going away any time soon, so it’s a definite possibility!


Where did the idea of conversion serum come from?

In most superhero stories and movies, the characters come by their powers unwillingly, and the struggle is all about them reconciling themselves to the fate being foisted upon them. I’ve always preferred the Iron Man Method, in which the Tony Starks of the world think: a) Being a superhero is awesome, b) I’m awesome, c) Therefore, I need to become a superhero.


Thus the conversion serum was born. Only those who willingly took it have the potential to become superheroes (or not, as the case may be). Their fate resides entirely on their own shoulders.

What power do you think you would get from the conversion serum?

Hmmmm….what I really *want* is the ability to either fly or make myself invisible, but I’d probably be one of the many people in the book who get a useless power. Like the ability to sniff out coffee within a ten mile radius (that might come in handy, actually—I’ll take it!).


Do you have any writing rituals? (If so what are they?)

I’ve recently started doing that whole stand-up-at-your-desk thing to prevent some of the unhealthy side effects of spending so much time sitting down. It takes a little getting used to, but I’ve found I’m a lot more productive when I’m on my feet.


What is your favorite book?

Of all time? That’s a hard question! If I had to pick just one, I’d say it’s The Count of Monte Cristo. It has plot, action, great twists and turns, and stands up to the test of time no matter how many times I bring it down from the shelf for a re-read.


Do you prefer ebooks or hard copies?

I’m an equal opportunity book lover. I was one of the early adopters of ebook readers when I shelled out the money for the very first Kindle dinosaur (which subsequently broke and had to be replaced three times). I also have about 10 bookshelves around my tiny house, all of them overflowing and taking over. eBooks are great for convenience, but I find comfort in the cracked spines and dusty shelves.


What is your favorite treat?

Does coffee count as a treat? Because it’s definitely my favorite.


You like to dress up and do the renaissance fairs. Does that mean you like Halloween?

I love costumes, especially historical ones, but I’m more of a watcher than an active participant. Attending a Renaissance Fair or the Scottish Highland Games is like walking through a scene in one of my favorite period dramas, and I love everything about it.


Halloween is fun, too, but for different reasons. If I dress up, I do it to be funny or make some sort of pop culture reference.


Will you dress up this year and as what?

Alas, as the parent of a six year old, Halloween these days is more about trick or treating than grown up parties and elaborate costumes. I’ll probably be the tired, haggard mother being reluctantly dragged for miles while being forced to carry the bag with all the candy.

(But since you asked…here’s a picture of me a few years ago as a Renaissance wench.)

Banned Books Week starts this weekend. Do you have an opinion on the subject or your own favorite Banned Book?

I love banned books! In college, I made it my personal goal to go through and read every book that had ever been banned for whatever reason. (It’s a looooong list. I didn’t make it.)

In the romance community, I think we’re exceptionally good at being understanding of other people’s reading choices. I mean, we’ve all gotten that look or that shake of the head telling us we could do so much better. Bah! Read what you want. Love what you want. There are too many incredible stories out there to waste time telling other people what to read.

Thank you Tamara for doing an interview today. It was a lot of fun getting to know you!

Giveaway time! This contest is for one e book/PDF of Playing with Fire by Tamara Morgan. Contest is international and there are many ways to enter by filling out the Rafflecopter form.

Thank you Entangled Publishing for providing this giveaway.

Playing with Fire

by Tamara Morgan

Fiona Nelson has always been one hot ticket—even before she took the conversion serum that gave her superhuman abilities. Fiona’s powers come at a price: lack of human contact, or she won’t be the only thing burning. When she loses control of her emotions, her fire powers run rampant…and she’s hurt enough people already.

Including herself.

But when the man behind her conversion returns to blackmail her into helping him gain power, the only person she can turn to is Ian Jones, the man who broke her teenage heart. The man determined to expose the criminal known as Fireball, whose explosive escapades are just a little too close to Fiona’s M.O.

Ian is convinced Fiona’s dangerous, convinced she’s Fireball, and convinced he’ll damn himself if he doesn’t resist a heat that’s always drawn him to Fiona like a moth to a flame—but Ian has his own secrets.

And he’ll learn far too soon what happens when you play with fire.

Information:

Title: Playing with Fire

Anthology: Holding Out for a Hero

Author: Tamara Morgan

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: 140 pages
Release Date: September 2012
Imprint: Ever Afters

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Book Review: Contract for Marriage by Barbara DeLeo

 

Pregnant and alone after her ex-lover’s death, magazine editor Ruby Fleming’s not about to give up her home to the man who broke her heart—until she discovers her mother left half of the estate to somebody else, and she realizes she’s trapped.

Property tycoon Christo Mantazis wants the one thing his riches can’t buy—the villa where his mother has lived and worked as housekeeper for forty years. That it’s the same house he was banished from after being caught making love to the owner’s irresistible daughter stirs up old memories and now he wants her more than ever.

When Christo offers a marriage of convenience, Ruby knows it’s the only way for them to get what they want. Ruby needs her baby to have the link to its past, Christo needs his mother to retain her home, and for him to have the child he could never father.

But it’s another need—to have Christo again—that Ruby must resist at all costs.

     

Product Details

BN ID: 2940015674774
Publisher: Entangled Publishing (Indulgence)

Publication date: 9/14/2012

Sold by: Barnes & Noble, Amazon

Format: eBook

Sales rank: 65,462

File size: 417 KB

My copy: from Entangled Pubishing

My thoughts:
Christo is the son of an immigrant who built himself a successful business from the ground up. He is truly a good man with his primary goal of making his sweet mother happy. He will stop at nothing to make that happen. Christo wants to own the home in which his mother worked for many years taking care of Ruby and her family. Unfortunately owning the home means he has to reach an agreement with Ruby Fleming, a woman he once shared a teenage romance with.

Thrust into a calculating situation by Ruby’s deceased mother, Ruby and Christo must work together for a means to an end – an agreement on the home Ruby grew up in. Each of them has inherited half of the home and each wants all of it for themselves. Ruby feels it is her birth right to inherit the home. Little does Christo know how much Ruby wants and needs to retain the home for her unborn baby.

After finding out that Ruby is pregnant with her deceased lover’s child Christo see’s an opportunity to get everything he wants. He offers to marry Ruby so they can share the home while he will get to be a father to the baby he could never have and a provider to Ruby. His mother would even get to live in the home with them where she wants to be and have a grandchild too. Everyone would benefit from the contract.

At first Ruby is against the marriage contract. After debating with Christo she reluctantly agrees with his logic, it would be good for everyone. She would have a provider, a home and a father for her baby. But marriage is more than just a logical solution for Ruby, it has to do with her heart and emotions too.

What I liked:
Even though I do not view marriage as a means to an end or some sort of contractual agreement, Christo honored it. He promised fidelity and devotion and that is what he gave.

Christo and Ruby are good together; they handle each other and compliment each other. A seemingly perfect combination if they could only trust each other after the painful past they have suffered.

I liked that Christo was full of surprises and in his own way has been there for Ruby for the many years they were separated. He is able to offer closure and knowledge on her painful family past and is truly a modern day knight in shining armor.

I like that Ruby stood firm in her convictions and challenged Christo.

What I didn’t like:
I felt like Christo and Ruby, as strong willed, passionate and determined individuals, would have had at least one volatile moment. After years of regret, anger and mourning some spark of ignitable passion and starvation for their lovers touch would have caused an argument. Instead they were polite. Yes there were heated conversations but I wanted more and I myself felt restrained while reading these moments. Don’t get me wrong there was plenty of physical response that left no question on the attraction between the two – but the emotional connection is what I wanted.

I suppose it’s the mark of a good author to leave me wanting more of the characters they brilliantly create. But I really felt Contract for Marriage could have been longer.

I wanted more of Christo and Ruby just being them, talking and getting to know each other again.

Would I buy this book? Yes, even though I wanted more, Contract for Marriage satisfied, entertained and moved me.

Who do I recommend this book to? Lovers of contemporary romance and fans of an unlikely knight in shining armor would enjoy this book.

This is an adult book with adult situations, suitable for ages 18 and up.

I give Barbara DeLeo’s Contract for Marriage four skulls’, it is a definite read and worth the 2.99 to buy it. While the story was complete and finished, I wanted and felt that the characters had more stories to tell.

*****   Learn more about author Barbara DeLeo on her website and  blog.  

*UPDATED* Utah Author Events - September 26-30, 2012

   *****     September 26 , 7:00 PM @ Provo City Library Ballroom Author's Brandon Mull and LIsa McMann will speak, question and answer and sign books. Tickets are available to anyone after September 15th. Books will be available to purchase at the event.   *****   September 26, 2012 6:30 PM @ Sugarhouse Barnes and Noble Bruce Gamble will be signing his book Sawshbucklers and Black Sheep: A Pictorial History of Marine Fighting Suadron 214 in World War II.     *****   Sep 26 2012 7:00 pm  @ The Kings English Bookshop   Meet children's book author, illustrator and pop-up book maker Robert Sabuda! He will visit the King's English for a special book-signing only appearance. His recent books re-tell our favorite tales, including The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Peter Pan.

Pre order your autographed copy by calling
The Kings English Bookshop at 801-484-9100.

      

*****

Sep 27 2012 7:00 pm @ The Kings English Bookshop

An Evening with Pulitzer Prize–winner Mark Strand. Strand is recognized as one of the premier contemporary American poets. He is the author of twelve earlier books of poems. He is also the author of a book of stories, three volumes of translations, a number of anthologies (most recently 100 Great Poems of the Twentieth Century), and monographs on the artists William Bailey and Edward Hopper. Named the U.S. Poet Laureate in 1990, Strand’s career has spanned nearly four decades, and he has won numerous accolades from critics and a loyal following among readers. In 1999 he was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his collection Blizzard of One.



     
   

Pre order your autographed copy by calling
The Kings English Bookshop at 801-484-9100.
***** Sep 27 2012 7:00 pm @ The Kings English Bookshop   Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis, the husband-and-wife team behind the Wildwood Chronicles, will read from and sign Under Wildwood, the second book in their middle-grade fantasy-adventure series.

     

Pre order your autographed copy by calling
The Kings English Bookshop at 801-484-9100.

*****   September 29, 2012 1:00 PM @ Sugarhouse Barnes and Noble Teri Leigh Thomas from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. She will be sharing her book, Mending Broken Wings, which is based on a true story.      *****   September 29, 2012 1:00 PM@ Sugarhouse Barnes and Noble Judy Byington will besigning her book Twenty-Two Faces.     *****   September 29, 2012 2:00 PM @ Sugarhouse Barnes and Noble Timothy Ballard will be discusssing and signing his book The Covenant. Speaking times 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00 with Q&A to follow.     *****   September 28, 7-9 PM @ Ft. Union Barnes and Noble   September 29, 9-11 AM @ Seagull Book on Redwood Road   September 29, 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM @ Seagull Book–Family Center, Murray Utah Lisa Mangum book signing.         *****
 

What I'm Reading

 

         

A dangerous journey.

Shattered bonds.

Undying passion.

 

Jacinda was supposed to bond with Cassian, the "prince" of their pride. But she resisted her fate long before she fell in love with Will—a human and, worse, a hunter. When she ran away with Will, it ended in disaster, with Cassian's sister, Miram, captured. Weighed down by guilt, Jacinda knows she must rescue her to set things right. Yet to do so she will have to venture deep into the heart of enemy territory.

The only way Jacinda can reach Miram is by posing as a prisoner herself, though once she assumes that disguise, things quickly spiral out of her control. As she learns more about her captors, she realizes that even if Will and Cassian can carry out their part of the plan, there's no guarantee they'll all make it out alive. But what Jacinda never could have foreseen is that escaping would be only the beginning. . . .

Loyalties are tested and sacrifices made in the explosive conclusion to Sophie Jordan's Firelight trilogy.

Winner & Book Review - No Flowers Required by Cari Quinn

Flower shop owner Alexa Conroy had it all before the recession hit and her customers fled to cheaper shopping grounds. Desperate to make ends meet, she sells her dream home and moves into the rundown apartments above her shop. When she spots six feet of sexy distraction—complete with muscles, piercings, and tattoos—ripping up flooring, Alexa knows the karmic windfall she’s due just landed on her doorstep.

And the attraction’s definitely not one-sided.

Dillon James, reluctant heir to the corporation about to foreclose on Alexa’s shop, is not about to jeopardize their scorching chemistry by admitting he’s not the building’s handyman. But with only weeks until her business goes under and his identity is revealed, Dillon must find a way to convince Alexa cooperation isn’t a dirty word, help her save the shop from his brother’s greed, and persuade her that he’s not the enemy…or risk losing the only woman who’s seen the real him.

My thoughts:

Alexa isn’t a damsel in distress, but it’s true, she could use some help saving her flower shop - maybe even a miracle at this point. She’s doing everything she can to survive the slow business - including selling her home to save it. If only the she had a bit more time before the impending foreclosure.

When she meets Dillon James a seemingly hard working handyman, she realizes that she could use a little more in her life than just work. The attraction is palpable between them and soon, her desires for a non committed fling turns into more.
Dillon enjoys Alexa’s company and wants her to succeed. He enjoys getting to know her and fears that if Alexa find’s out he is her nemesis heir, she will kick him out of her life for good.
Can Dillon hide who his family is and help Alexa in every way possible? Will he be able to win her heart and then tell her truth of his identity?

While reading No Flowers Required, it played like a Movie in my head. The scenes were easy to follow, the dialogue fun and sometime surprising. When I finished the book I smiled, I felt like I had read a modern day fairytale with both the prince and princess on equal playing grounds and rescuing each other in their own way.

I thoroughly enjoyed No Flowers Required. Both Dillon and Alexa have good hearts and intentions. They worked well together and helped each other grow. Even though Romance is technically a new genre for me, I had no problems adjusting to it with this light hearted, fun read full of physical and emotional chemistry. I appreciated that the story did not follow the stereotypical couple tantrums that I seem to be reading more of. Rather than stomping feet and running off - refusing to communicate - the couple, although heated and reluctant - tried communicating and LISTENING to each other.

Because of this maturity and openness as well as an excellent story, I feel that No Flowers Required is a cut above the average book bouquet. Earning itself five skullies - a must buy book!

Recommended audience: Adult book (18 and up) with adult situations. The sex scenes are tastefully written.

Would I read it again? Yes

Buy No Flowers Required by Cari Quinn from Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.

Learn more about Cari Quinn on her website.

And now for the Winner of the No Flowers Required by Cari Quinn Contest!

Maria Voulelis Malaveci!

Congratulations Maria, I will forward your email to Entangled Publishing to get your copy of No Flowers Required. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

A big thank you to

for sponsoring this giveaway.