Tartan Temptation (Real Men Wear Kilts) by Kayden Claremont

How did Kayden Claremont create her hero for the series "Real Men Wear Kilts"? How did TARTAN TEMPTATION come about? In the author's own words:

I love a man in a Kilt, I mean—who doesn’t.

When The Wild Rose Press asked for stories for their Real Men Wear Kilts series I was in heaven. I went through the usual list of placed you’d find a kilt-wearing hunk, but decided to have Brodie Murdock wear his kilt every day. After all, it would be such a pity to save all the scrumptiousness just for special occasions. 

Since I write paranormal erotic romance, I had to come up with his paranormal quality. I made Brodie Murdock a kilt-wearing, motorcycle-riding hottie with a secret he can only share with his destined mate.

Brodie took over the story so I had to make sure Cora Siegfried was he match in every way. She became a kick-ass heroine who wouldn’t back down from fighting for the man she loves.

With his throne on the line, Brodie Murdock needs to secure his kingdom by taking a bride. When the only woman he's ever wanted, Cora Siegfried, steps right into his path, he knows the legends are true. She is his destiny. But will she agree?

Buy link: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2deP5wS

 Blurb:  

Financial planner Cora Siegfried has returned to her hometown to settle her late father's estate. Get in, get out, that's the plan. When she's almost run over by a kilt-wearing hottie on a motorcycle, all her well-laid plans go up in smoke, and all she can think about is getting well laid by her childhood crush. But after what she hoped would be a one-night stand, leaving him might not be as easy. Talk about a tartan temptation.

With his throne on the line, Brodie Murdock needs to secure his kingdom by taking a bride. When the only woman he's ever wanted steps right into his path, he knows the legends are true. She is his destiny. The feisty female isn't hard to seduce into his bed for the night, but she's proving difficult to convince they are meant for forever. And then there's the secret that could destroy any chance of their future--a secret he's not ready to confess. Not until his stubborn soul mate admits she needs him for more than sex. 

Snippet:

     She rubbed her brow. That’s what she did when she was gathering her thoughts. “I can’t list the house without a stupid piece of paper from the lawyer, and he had to go away on a family emergency. What about my family emergency? My father died. Nobody cares about that.”
     Brodie turned the bike off, set it on its kickstand, and stood. He shouldn’t touch her, but he wrapped his arms around her and drew her against him. “I care.”
     Doubt filled her dark blue eyes. “Why? Why do you care about me?”
     Destiny. She’d think he was crazy, but it was the truth. He’d always understood it. “How could I not care about you?”
     Taking a step back, she shook her head. The startled expression on her face told him he’d gone too far.
     She hesitated then glared at him. “What do you want?”
     He glanced up at the stormy cloud, then back at her. He hadn’t fooled her at all. He was running out of time. He had to win her trust now. “Ice cream. I need ice cream. You need ice cream. We all need ice cream.” He smiled, hoping his charm worked this time.
     Disbelief shone in her eyes. “Now?”

 Kayden Claremont Bio:

     Kayden loves sexy, well-crafted stories of lust and love. Her sensuous style drives the characters in lustful romps. When she is not crafting erotic romantic stories, she can be found crocheting or making jewelry.
     Kayden is a member of Romance Writers of America, Toronto Romance Writers, and Writing Community of Durham Region.
     She hopes you enjoy her other books, HELL’S BOUNTY, TIMELESS PASSION, and RED HOT all published by The Wild Rose Press.

Kayden loves to hear from her readers.
Website: www.kaydenclaremont.com/
Blog: https://kaydenclaremont.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaydenclaremont
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/kayden.claremont/
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/9136748.Kayden_Claremont
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kaydenclaremont/

THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG, "SILVER BELLS"

It's December--and the time when radio stations are belting out Christmas songs in an attempt to get people in the holiday and spending spirit. There are many wonderful old-fashioned songs that have survived the ages and are performed by various artists in a multitude of versions each year. My favorite of all the carols is Silver Bells. It regularly ranks in the top Christmas songs heard on the airwaves

The words, the melody, and the Christmas images it invokes are traditional and unforgettable. This Christmas classic was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the 1951 Bob Hope movie The Lemon Drop Kid. Livingston provided the melody, Evans the words. It was sung by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell; and the first recorded version was sung by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards with John Scott Trotter and his orchestra and was released by Decca Records. 

According the American Songwriter Magazine in its July/August issue, Livingston originally had the title of Tinkle Bell, referring to the tinkly bells you hear at Christmas from the Santa Clauses and the Salvation Army people. But once he took it home and played it for his wife, she informed him that the word had a bathroom connotation.

Livingston then went back to Ray Evans and told him they would have to throw the song out. However, as they continued to work on the Christmas song needed for The Lemon Drop Kid, they found themselves taking many of the lines and part of the melody from their "Tinkle Bell" song. In the end, they used the original song, except for substituting the word silver for tinkle, and the song became Silver Bells. 

The song, now timeless, has been sung by famous artists like Elvis Presley, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Karen Carpenter, Michael Buble, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, to name a few. 

…Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them sing
Soon it will be Christmas day!

Judy's books can be found here!

What is your favorite Christmas carol? Is it a classic or a newly released one?

But no matter which one it might be, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas!

IMMORTAL WINTER by N.R. Larry and Margo Bond Collins

A princess locked away in an ice tower. 

A handsome kidnapper who insists her savior-queen is a liar. 

And a chance to break the curse that binds them all.

Jayla Storm woke up next to a dead body, with no memory of how it got there. Then Kip Stanton blew up her ice tower—the only home she’s ever known—and kidnapped her, insisting it was for her own good. 

 ow she's stuck with a group of rebels hell-bent on usurping the queen who saved Jayla's life. As her memories resurface, she's afraid to trust anyone, even while her feelings for Kip grow stronger. 

But wherever Jayla goes, the monstrous ravagers follow. If she's going to survive, and perhaps save Kip and the others, she'll have to learn to trust someone—maybe especially herself.

Immortal Winter, a stand-alone dystopian paranormal romance  

by New York Times bestselling authors N.R. Larry and Margo Bond Collins

Excerpt:

I woke in my ice tower, covered in a coating of sweat, lying next to a dead body.

With a gasp, I scrambled back against the headboard of my own bed. Other than the motionless figure beside me, nothing around me had changed, though it was tinted yellow from the flickering lanterns.

Arina’s dead body?

I’d never seen a corpse. Not a real one. I eyed the spike sticking out of her forehead and the odd snarl twisting her open mouth. My head swam and I swallowed convulsively.

I knew I needed to act, but all I could manage to do was let Arina continue to bleed out—onto the sheets and onto me. I should have been screaming. I should have been throwing myself off the bed and toward the window. But I didn’t, anchored in place by fire and sweat and blood.

I tried to connect the scene in front of me to some memory, something that swam barely out of reach. I stretched after it, catching a fragment: yesterday was Arina's day. The day I wouldn't be alone.

A pain day.

I looked forward to those. That much I knew.

Forcing myself to sit up, I scooted away from her still form, my jaw clenched with the memory of pain. I would have laughed at what lingered but there was a body to attend to. Stumbling out of bed, I stepped out of my clothes and limped toward my ivory dresser. On the way, my feet grazed against something rough. Some imperfection in the ice. Something that wasn’t there before.

I backed up and stared down at the message scratched into the ice, blood swiped across it to highlight the letters, like ink rubbed on a seal impression to darken the image.

She found me. She knows. Went to warn them. Don’t take the infusions. Watch out for Kip.

My body began to tremble, even before my mind caught up.

Yesterday.

***

FORBIDDEN COLOURS by Nicole Fitton

                                    Forbidden Colours by Nicole Fitton

                      https://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Colours-Nicole-Fitton-ebook/dp/B01N0BXSYV/

Forbidden Colours was the evolution of a question that had been rattling around in my brain. You know, those annoying questions that wake you at 4am and won’t let you rest until you’ve written something. Well, that’s how it was for me. I had read a newspaper article about the complexity of the human brain and well, it all started from there. Forbidden Colours is a gripping love story which contains elements of psychological suspense. It contains enough adrenaline fuelled drama to power the national grid! Once I had the protagonist Midori Yates firmly fixed in my mind's eye she took charge and dictated the direction of travel. I have a passion for science and being able to incorporate that into a book is very exciting. The story centres around a new drug being brought to market that does not quite do what it is supposed to…. I shall leave it at that. As I said earlier I started Forbidden Colours with a question and everything flowed from there. So, I know you want to know, what was the question? It’s a question I often ask myself but seldom has it led me in such an unusual direction…... ‘ What if?’ 

Blurb:

What if your memories were not your memories? What if the drug hailed as a cure became a curse and ultimately your destruction?

Midori Yates works for pharmaceutical giant KLD. The launch of new drug Centoria has revolutionised the treatment of amnesia, with outstanding results. Trials exploring its use in the treatment of Alzheimer’s are on the horizon. But is it really as good as the data suggests?

Neurologist Dr. Nick Campbell has seen amazing results with his patients and is ready to believe in Centoria’s transformational abilities…that is until his patients start displaying strange and worrying symptoms with drastic results. Determined to uncover the truth, Midori and Nick find a conspiracy that is to have devastating consequences for both of them. A dark world threatens to engulf them. Can they survive?

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Colours-Nicole-Fitton-ebook/dp/B01N0BXSYV

URL for Cover: https://www.nicolefittonauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Forbidden-Colours-High-Resolution-Version-2-945x1512.jpg

Snippet:

Katzuko Yates eyed her daughter thoughtfully. A sense of apprehension gripped her. Those years in Japan were long ago; she wondered if she could be clear with her explanation. Even though buried, her memories continued to breathe under the mountain of life she'd lived. Dare she even speak of them? Could she speak of them? Their place of residence had become an unmarked grave in her history. Her family had a right to know, after everything that had happened. His world was dark and full of shadows; where would she begin? For over 25 years she had told no one. Now she was being drawn back into his world. It was a time she wanted to forget. The tie that had been bound to her so tightly was about to be broken.

Author Bio:

Nicole Fitton is an author and freelance writer who has lived in such glamorous locations as London, New York and Croydon! She currently reside in Devon, UK with her family. Forbidden Colours is her second novel. Her career has spanned over 3 decades working in PR and marketing within the music industry. She currently works within healthcare in the UK.

Alongside her novels Nicole has a passion for writing short stories.This year has seen her short ‘Soaring’ featured in an anthology by the Black Pear Press. Her stories always have a happy ending, but, the way in which they get there will keep you guessing right up until the last page! She admits she gets bored easily and can often be found enjoying new adventures!

Links:

Website address: https://www.nicolefittonauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolefittonauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MisoMiss

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/fitton3818/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nicole-Fitton/e/B01A3NSIL6/