Favorite Quote Friday #88

Happy Friday!  This week fairly flew past, didn't it?  I can't believe it's already time for Favorite Quote Friday again!

I admit most of my favorite quotes from my Immortal Guardians series are the humorous ones.  What can I say?  I like to laugh and always hope readers will laugh at them, too.  And those tend to be the kinds of quotes I post here.  But today I thought I'd go with something darker, taken from Phantom Shadows, Immortal Guardians Book 3.   If you aren't familiar with my series, Bastien (the hero of Phantom Shadows) is the immortal black sheep and is untrusted, if not hated, by an overwhelming majority of the other Immortal Guardians.  In this scene, Richart (the hero of "In Still Darkness," Predatory, Book 3.5) has asked his twin brother Étienne (the hero of Darkness Rises, Book 4) to help him reign Bastien in after Bastien . . . loses it . . . just a little bit.  ;-)

The narrative quote, told from Étienne's POV, opens with the two brothers teleporting:

They appeared in the shadows of  UNC Chapel Hill’s Peabody Hall.


Étienne — and all of the other immortals who were stationed in the area — was well-acquainted with the quiet campus.  


The stench of blood and death and fear that traveled on the wind tonight staggered him.


Holy hell.  What had happened here?


A quick examination of his brother’s thoughts revealed that Richart had only aided in killing a party of vampires.


But eight destroyed vampires wouldn’t create this stench.


Something moved behind them.


Étienne and Richart both swung around, ready to attack.


Bastien stepped from the deeper darkness, eyes glowing, hair loose and disheveled and sticky with blood.  Nearly every inch of him was coated with the liquid.  His face was crimson with it.  His expression . . .

His expression was as feral as the most insane vampire Étienne had ever fought. 

I loved writing this series of scenes.  Bastien is such a ferocious fighter.  But then, he would have to be, having spent a majority of his existence surrounded by psychotic vampires.  :-)  Don't let the violence fool you, however.  As Melanie (the heroine) once said in a character interview, Bastien has a heart of gold.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Dianne

Favorite Quote Friday #87

Happy Friday!  Thank you, everyone who joined me on the Bad Boys of Romance Giveaway Hop!  What a fun week and a half!

The winner of my contest for the hop is . . .

Stephanie Frederick

Congratulations!!!  I've emailed Stephanie and will soon be sending her a signed copy of Phantom Shadows + Immortal Guardians swag, including one of my new Darkness Rises postcards.  :-)

I guest posted at Tote Bags 'n' Blogs this week.  Drop by, learn more about my Immortal Guardians family (Who is the grumpy uncle?  Who is the weird cousin?  Who is the heartbreaker?), check out quotes and micro-excerpts from the series, and enter to WIN a signed copy of Predatory + Immortal Guardians swag.  You can find my post HERE.

It's time once more for Favorite Quote Friday!  For today's selection, I've chosen a quote from "In Still Darkness", my novella in the Predatory anthology that was released in May.  It's spoken by Jenna (the heroine) to Richart (the hero):

“It’s kind of hard to be afraid of a vampire who apologizes for using harsh language in front of a lady.”

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dianne

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