Favorite Quote Friday #86

Happy Friday!  What a busy, busy week!  Among other things, I put together and mailed packages to blog tour contest winners.  I did some updating on my website.  I bought a new software to use to design more Immortal Guardians swag.  (Don't you hate having to take the time to learn a new way of doing things when you change softwares?)  I held a contest on my facebook page when I passed the 4,500 Likes mark and will soon hold another when I pass 4,750.  And I got some good writing time in on Immortal Guardians Book 5.  :-)

Have I mentioned that the Darkness Rises Audiobook is now available for pre-order?  It is scheduled to be released by Tantor Audio on October 1, 2013 and will be narrated by Kirsten Potter, who also narrated the first three audiobooks in my series.  Yay!

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In case you missed it, the Bad Boys of Romance Hop is well underway!  It will last through June 17th, so there's still time to enter both the individual contests participating authors and bloggers are holding as well as the grand prize contest.  You have two chances of winning Immortal Guardians goodies.  You can enter to win a signed copy of Phantom Shadows, which features the leading bad boy in my series — Bastien, plus Immortal Guardians swag.  And you can enter the grand prize drawing, which will award one lucky winner a kindle and lots of great ebooks, including a kindle copy of Darkness Dawns.  You can learn more and/or enter both HERE.

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I also wanted to mention that I'll be visiting Tote Bags 'n' Blogs on June 19th.  Stop by to learn more about my Immortal Guardians family — the father figures, the grumpy uncle, the heartbreaker, the black sheep — and enter to win a signed copy of Predatory + Immortal Guardians swag.  :-)

It's time once more for Favorite Quote Friday!  For today's selection, I thought I would choose a quote from my latest release, Predatory, an anthology that contains my Immortal Guardians novella In Still Darkness.  Those of you who are familiar with my series know that the vampires readers will find in it range from totally psychotic monsters who will snap at the drop of a hat to a handful of good guys who —infected with the vampiric virus — are clinging tooth and nail to every last ounce of sanity they possess.  So you just never know what a vampire might say.  In my novella In Still Darkness, a certain vampire says something that inspires the following thought in Jenna, the heroine:

Well, damn.  He made it sound like he was afraid she'd give him the clap or something.

:-)  Have a wonderful weekend!

Dianne

Bad Boys of Romance Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Bad Boys of Romance Giveaway Hop,
hosted by herding cats & burning soup, Rantings of a Reading Addict 
and author Blue Remy!

We all love them — those "bad boys" of romance.  And now we're celebrating them and all of their naughty deliciousness.  :-)

The first bad boy of romance who came to mind for me when I signed up for the hop was Sebastien Newcombe, the hero of Phantom Shadows, Book 3 in my Immortal Guardians series.  He's handsome enough to make hearts flutter.  He's dark and brooding.  And, when my series began, Bastien was the villain.  He even raised an army of psychotic vampires and waged war with the Immortal Guardians (powerful warriors who seek to protect humanity by hunting and destroying vampires).  His actions earned him the hatred of just about everyone — immortals, vampires, and humans alike — except for Dr. Melanie Lipton, who saw in Bastien what the others couldn’t.

Then his world turned upside down and Bastien now must fight alongside the immortals.  To say his entrance into their ranks hasn't gone smoothly would be a colossal understatement.  Neither the immortals, nor the humans who aid them, are willing to let him forget his dark past.  But much is at stake, and Bastien has never backed down from a challenge.  When he refuses to do so now, Melanie raises both her voice and her blades in his defense.  Can her tenderness heal his many scars?  Will the protective barriers he has constructed around his heart crumble beneath the onslaught of her teasing and kindness?   Find out in Phantom Shadows.  :-)

Top Pick

"With a deeply emotional love story, two beautiful, complex main characters and a pulse-pounding adventure that won't let up, this book was haunting and addictive and I loved every page."

The Romance Reviews

"With this excellent entry, rising star Duvall is fast proving to be a major player in paranormal romance!"

4.5 stars, RT Book Reviews

Dr. Melanie Lipton is no stranger to the supernatural.  She knows immortals better than they know themselves, right down to their stubborn little genes.  So although a handsome rogue immortal seems suspicious to her colleagues, Sebastien Newcombe intrigues Melanie.  His history is checkered, his scars are impressive, and his ideas are daring.  But it's not his ideas that have Melanie fighting off surges of desire . . .

Bastien is used to being the bad guy.  In fact, he can't remember the last time he had an ally he could trust.  But Melanie is different - and under her calm, professional exterior he senses a passion beyond anything in his centuries of experience.  Giving in to temptation is out of the question - he can't put her in danger.  But she isn't asking him . . .

Amazon • Kindle • Barnes and Noble • Nook

My Prize

A signed copy of Phantom Shadows + Immortal Guardians swag.

The Grand Prize

A Kindle and lots of awesome ebooks, including a kindle copy of Darkness Dawns, the first book in my Immortal Guardians series.  :-)!

Details

The Bad Boys of Romance Giveaway Hop runs from June 7th 12:00am EST through June 17th 11:59pm EST.  My giveaway is international.

Mandatory entry for my prize

Leave a comment below during the hop, include your email address, and let me know who your favorite bad boy of romance is.  :-)  Also mention extra entries.   

Extra entries for my prize

For extra entries you may do any or all of the following, but be sure to mention them in your comment.

+1  Follow my blog. 

+1  Like My Facebook Page.

+1  Follow me on Twitter.

+1  Mention the hop and my giveaway on Twitter.

+1  Share this post on Facebook.

Selecting a Winner for my prize

I will use random.org to choose my prize winner after verifying all entries and will announce it here by June 21st.  If the winner's email address is included in her comment, I will email her or him, too.  The winner will have one week to contact me.

For Grand Prize entries

(See the rafflecopter below)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!  And have fun!

Dianne Duvall

Favorite Quote Friday #85

Hi, all!  I hope your week was a good one.

I'd like to thanks everyone who bid and participated in Brenda Novak's Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research!  The auction raised $335,000 this year, enabling them to pass the $2 million mark!

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I also thought I'd mention that I'll be posting again shortly.  I'm participating in the Bad Boys of Romance Giveaway Hop, which begins today.  Bastien is such a great bad boy that I thought I would feature him.  :-)  There's a giveaway at every stop + a grand prize that includes a kindle and many ebooks, including a kindle copy of Darkness Dawns.

It's time once more for Favorite Quote Friday!  As many of you know, Darkness Rises, Immortal Guardians Book 4, will be released on October 1st.  :-)  All of the major players from the first three books — Darkness Dawns, Night Reigns, and Phantom Shadows — and the novella (Predatory) are back.  So, for today's selection, I thought I would give you a glimpse of what Bastien and Melanie (hero and heroine of Phantom Shadows), as well as Roland (hero of Darkness Dawns), are up to in Darkness Rises:

Melanie winked at Bastien. “I get to keep my eye on you.”

He grinned.  “You always do.  My ass, that is.”

“Because your ass is hot.”

“I know.”

Roland sighed loudly.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dianne

Favorite Quote Friday #84

Happy Friday!  How was your week?  I finished going over Darkness Rises proofs and sent them off.  Yay!  The only thing I don't like about going over proofs is having to make corrections with a colored pencil.  I don't know why, but colored pencils always seem to transform my handwriting into the scrawl of an elementary school student. *sigh*

Proofs are the last stage of editing, so next come ARCs, then the book's release.  I can't wait!  I know October 1st seems a long way off, but I'm going to have to start spending time on promotion very soon, so this summer will be very busy.  :-)

Winners from my Predatory Blog Tour are steadily being chosen.  I sent off a half dozen packages this week, each one containing a signed Immortal Guardians book and swag.  :-)

Today is the last day you can bid 

on the awesome goodies up for grabs in Brenda Novak's Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research!  I'm offering 4 signed books, 5 cover flats, 4 postcards (including a Darkness Rises postcard that isn't pictured), 3 bookmarks, and 3 trading cards.  You can find my listing HERE.

There are all kinds of great things available, ranging from books and goody bags to vacation getaways to manuscript evaluations for aspiring writers.  There's also a grand prize.  :-)  

It's time once more for Favorite Quote Friday! Since I just finished going over the proofs, I thought I'd give you another taste of Darkness Rises.  In today's selection, Étienne, the telepathic immortal hero, is speaking to Krysta, the heroine:

“There is no reason to feel embarrassed, Krysta.”

“Easy for you to say!  You weren’t caught mentally checking out my package!”

Dating a telepath, Krysta soon learns, has its challenges.  ;-)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dianne

Favorite Quote Friday #83

Happy Friday!  I've been going over Darkness Rises proofs this week, something that always takes longer than I expect it to.  This is my last chance to catch any typos, so I read through it very slowly, checking every punctuation mark, etc.  I also write down favorite quotes as I go to feature here.  There seem to be more than usual in this one.  :-)

Check out the cover of the German translation of Phantom Shadows:  Verfluchte Seelen, which I believe translates as Cursed Souls.  It is now available for pre-order on Amazon.de and will be released on October 17th.  :-)

A big box of Darkness Rises postcards I designed arrived this week.  Woohoo!  I'll be designing some new bookmarks and trading cards soon, too.  

This is the last week of my Predatory Blog Tour.  Quite a few of the contests are still going on, so if you'd like to visit the stops, you can find a schedule HERE.

It's time once more for Favorite Quote Friday!  Since I've been consumed by Darkness Rises proofs this week, I thought I'd choose a quote from it for today's selection.  For those who haven't heard, Darkness Rises is the fourth book in my Immortal Guardians series and will be released on October 1, 2013.  The hero is Étienne d'Alençon, a two-hundred-and-thirty-year-old telepathic immortal.  The heroine is Krysta, whom I will leave a mystery for a bit longer.  :-)  Today's quote is spoken by Krysta's brother, Sean:

"Great.  There goes our security deposit."

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dianne

More Tour Stops

Hi, all!  I hope you had a fantastic weekend!  I thought I'd list this week's tour stops for you so you can join me and enter to win Immortal Guardians books and swag.  :-)

May 20, 2013

Author Interview

Reading Between the Wines

May 21, 2013

15 Things You'll Overhear in My Immortal Guardians Series

A Life Bound by Books

May 23, 2013

An Interview With Richart

Rabid Reads

May 24, 2013

Spotlight

All Things Urban Fantasy

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Fresh Fiction gave Predatory a fabulous review.  Here's a snippet:

"This is one of the best collections of novellas I've read. All are highly entertaining, and even those with ties to the author's previous series books were easy to follow, and more importantly, enthralling. . . Most impressive, despite the shortened form each read as satisfyingly as a full-length novel."

You can read the full review HERE.

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I hope you'll have a great week!  I'll be spending mine going over proofs of Darkness Rises.  Can't wait until its release in October!  :-)  

Dianne

Favorite Quote Friday #82

Happy Friday!  Reviews for Predatory continue to roll in.  I know I've said this before, but I'm so excited by the responses my Immortal Guardians novella "In Still Darkness" has been getting!!!

Beyond the Squee Book Reviews gave Predatory a wonderful 5-star/bookmark review.  Here's a snippet:

"These are not the vampires you've come to know from past books.  Each of these authors have made them their own.  And I'm not sure which one I love the most.  Too hard to choose!  There's just something about a man (or woman) with fangs.  Thankfully, you can enjoy each of them in their own right."

Here's what she thought of "In Still Darkness":

"I think this one was my favorite. Richart d'Alençon was a joy. He is an Immortal, dressed all in black with a long coat, ridding the world of crazed vamps. His knees are made weak by one kiss from a woman he rescues from the nutters. She doesn't remember that kiss, so he has to give her another. Yes, and please! Again, a lovely start to a series that I'm going to be searching out ASAP."

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Book Lovin' Mamas gave Predatory a nice review, too, recommending that the vampire lovers out there all give it a try.  :-)  Here's what she said about "In Still Darkness":

"I LOVED this story!  I've been following this series since the beginning and it was such a treat to finally get Richart's story and I couldn't have picked a better woman for him either!  I love the world that Dianne has built with these Guardians.  Her characters are always interesting, the men are supremely hot and the women kick ass!  This one was no different!  I can't wait for the next book in the series to release because I need more!!!"

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Books and Things gave Predatory a great 4-star review, calling it "an entertaining book.  Great for introductions to other PNR worlds which is what I think this book was all about.  It pulled it off nicely." 

Here's what she thought of "In Still Darkness":

"In Still Darkness is part of an established series (Immortal Guardians) which I have read and reviewed.  I love this world and the stories and this one was just so much fun going back to that world and learning about another character.  You don't have to have read the others to get it, but it makes it just that much more fun if you had.  If you love this series (like me) then you will really love this short."

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The Jeep Diva thrilled me with her review of "In Still Darkness":

"First of all I am a HUGE Immortal Guardians fan.  I liked how this story seems to run in the background of Night Reigns and Phantom Shadows.  Readers have known that Richart has had a human girlfriend.  He spent much time on the phone with her during the last book.  That was all readers got though.  Now Dianne lets her reader know what Richart has been up to.

I just loved this story!  Richart saves a damsel in distress from the vampires attacking her.  This is what he does.  The new twist is that this damsel kisses him in gratitude and he can't forget her.  Jenna on the other hand has no problem forgetting her rescuer.  Little does she know that the sexy Frenchman that keeps popping up at her work has already had a taste of her and now he wants more."

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It's time once more for Favorite Quote Friday!  I thought I'd offer up another quote from "In Still Darkness" today.  It's a narrative quote that takes place during Richart and Jenna's first encounter:

The woman turned her head to meet Richart's gaze.

And the oddest little tingle danced through his chest.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dianne