At Her Service with @Emilia_Mancini and 7 of her Sexiest Friends #boxset #99centreads @HolleyTrent

Guest Post by Emilia Mancini 

I had the absolute honor recently to join in with seven amazing authors and collaborate on a spectacular box set of sexy, steamy, hunky novellas. In At Her Service, each author put their own spin in the term “manservant” and delivered up a ton of fun.

All eight stories provide tons of entertainment—whether you prefer light, intrigue, or a touch of BDSM with your romance, we’ve got it all. And for a limited time, you can get the entire boxset (over 650 pages!) for just .99 cents. Less than a freakin’ dollar for all this?

Yes, indeed.

Check it out!

A good man is easy to find...if you know where to look.

In this hot novella collection, manservants are up for any task and just a click or call away. When these sexy drivers, personal assistants, bodyguards and other hot men on the job make "your wish is my command" their mission, lust--and sometimes love--isn't far behind.

Includes:

LACE FOREVER by Nicole Flockton
None of designer Lily Green's careful lists can prepare her for her meeting with Grayson Warren--a bodyguard desperate to get his business back on track.

EYES OF THE WOLF by Emilia Mancini
Private detective Jake McDonnell has been hired to make sure Maria Rodriguez isn't involved in illegal activities. What he discovers will leave his senses reeling and his body thrumming.

DESIGNATED HITTER by Holley Trent
When Quinn Hathaway arrives on Marina Cassevete's doorstep for a job, her instinct is to send the troublemaker away, but she can't afford to tell the charming hustler "no."

PLAYING PRETEND by Alyse Zaftig
When a romance novelist hires disgraced football player Jude to help her block scenes, business turns to pleasure as the heat slowly turns up.

BOYFRIEND BY THE HOUR by Tara Crescent
Sadie thinks her new neighbor Cole is an escort. He's not. Given his womanizing past, she doesn't believe he can be true. Could playing the part of hired boyfriend be the ticket to changing her mind?

HELEN AND THE MAN FROM TROI by Holle Dolce
Adam is a BDSM slave who, desperate for employment, has become a manservant. Although anxious about his new gig, he's determined that his brand of submission is what lovely, heartbroken Helen requires.

EUROPEAN TOUR by L.V. Lewis
Brody Kent wants to leave his rock star alter ego in the past. Is taking a gig as personal assistant to a pop princess Skylar Samuelson worth the risk of exposing his sordid past?

PERFECT ON PAPER by Kristina Knight
For three weeks, Daisy MacIntosh has been stringing Nick Vega's firm along and they badly need the influx of cash a new contract will bring. Stepping in to become Daisy's ManServant isn't the best idea, but it's the only one he's got.

Buy on Amazon

#VikingsUnleashed #eroticromance #BoxedSet @HolleyTrent

When bestselling author Kate Pearce says, "Filthy Vikings?", her friends get writing. Introducing the Vikings Unleashed box set, with 9 all-new erotic romances about the original alpha bad boys. Featuring new genre-spanning stories by Kate Pearce, Anne Marsh, Crystal Jordan, Dayna Hart, Holley Trent, Loribelle Hunt, Saranna DeWylde, Shawntelle Madison, and Zoe York, there’s a longship heading right your way.

The collection is available for 99¢ for a limited time.

Buy it now at:

All Romance eBooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-vikingsunleashed9bookbundle-1644414-143.htmlAmazon: http://amzn.com/B00NH8G88K
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vikings-unleashed-zoe-york/1120336349?ean=2940046248241
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/vikings-unleashed-9-modern/id917702185?mt=11&uo=4
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/vikings-unleashed

* * *

STORIES INCLUDED:

AT THE VIKING’S COMMAND by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author ANNE MARSH. A werewolf tries to protect her Pack and ends up in the arms of a ruthless Viking. Following her Viking’s orders ignites a fiery passion and fulfills her secret fantasies, but can she claim her Viking for keeps?

VIKING FIRE by award-winning author CRYSTAL JORDAN. Wolf-shifter Erik once betrayed the only woman he ever loved, the shieldmaiden Bryn, and it cost both their lives. Now, they serve the gods as immortal warriors, and an ancient prophecy forces them together to try to stop the coming apocalypse. What they don’t expect is for the fire to burn as hot between them as ever.

HEL’S BELLES by DAYNA HART. Hela’s one-night stand is assigned to mentor her through the creation of her new motorcycle club, but as their relationship starts to develop, the secrets she’s keeping might cost her everything.

THE VIKING QUEEN’S MEN by award-winning author HOLLEY TRENT. As the newly installed queen of an enclave of telepathic Viking descendants, Tess is the final arbiter of conflicts. Unfortunately, the very first one she has to resolve is in her own bedroom. Two men would fight to the death to win her, but to gain full control of her considerable power, she must find a way to keep them both.

VIKING UNBOUND by New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author KATE PEARCE. Encased in ice, traveling through space and thousands of years adrift from his world, Viking Einarr Bloodaxe can’t help but respond to the call of his female and finally break free of his magical entrapment.

VIKING’S HEART by national bestselling author LORIBELLE HUNT. Jolie Hall is ready for her life to change. Being given to a Viking to clear her father’s debts isn’t quite what she had in mind, however. She can’t deny she’s drawn to Stone Ulfson, but can she believe his claim that she is his destined mate?

VIKING’S FURY by award-winning author SARANNA DEWYLDE. Magnus the Destroyer will do anything to escape prison planet Hel and punish his captors, including taking the warden’s innocent daughter Mercy as collateral. Only after they crash on an uninhabited planet, Magnus learns some things are more precious than vengeance.

TAMING THE VIKING’S DRAGON by SHAWNTELLE MADISON. Only two riders can command an ice dragon…Drifa wants nothing more than to complete her training as a Woman of the Frost, but she is called to help destroy an evil force fallen from the stars. Three years ago, she left Steinn behind. To fight this new foe, they must forget their differences and reunite as man and woman. But for two Viking warriors, waging war is easier than forging peace.

A VIKING’S PEACE by NYT Bestselling Author ZOE YORK. Thrown together in an intergalactic diplomatic mission, Reinn and Ashleigh know they must fight the burning attraction between them. But this Viking has finally found his mate, and nothing else matters.

#MondayMunchies - @HolleyTrent's Low-Fuss Summer Salad #recipe

from Holley Trent

Happy summer, everyone!

This easy cold salad is great for potlucks and outdoor parties, and travels well. Combine everything except the dressing the night before to save time the day of your event.

Holley’s Low-fuss Summer Salad

2 cup pearled barley, cooked tender but not mushy
2 small tomatoes, diced
1 large cucumber, diced
2 green onions—whites and greens—sliced thin
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
1/8 tsp. cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. water

Drain cooked barley and allow to cool.

Toss barley with tomatoes, cucumbers, and green onions. If serving the next day, cover and refrigerate.

Half an hour before serving, mix lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and cumin with water in a small jar with lid. Shake well. Pour over salad and mix gently.

Serve salad at room temperature.

Easily serves 8.

*Mix extra dressing if you like a less dry salad.
**Salad can be easily doubled or tripled.

Here's a brief intro of my latest release for your reading pleasure.

The psychic didn't go looking for love, but she should have seen it coming.

Marcia Andrews is a freelance psychic consultant. Sick of living hand to mouth, she accepts a contract with Raleigh Police. A new gang called The Cardinals is terrorizing The Triangle, and Marcia gives the department an edge in tracking them. Help that she is, one cop isn’t so keen on her involvement, and makes sure she knows it.

Detective Nat McCoy would rather see Marcia in his bedroom than the bullpen. The gorgeous Scotsman isn’t the typical chauvinist pig, though. He’s keeping a secret that even the psychic doesn’t anticipate.

A close encounter with a Cardinal’s bullet knocks Marcia off her game when the police need her most. She loses hours to trances and ghosts haunt her sleep. She can hardly function, and everything she thought she knew about playboy McCoy suddenly seems questionable. McCoy thinks he knows the cure for what ails her—him. But can she trust him?

Love by Premonition is available for purchase now at the Musa store and also at third-party vendors such as Amazon.com and All Romance eBooks.

If you’d like to stay up to date on my progress with its spin-off, visit me on my blog or follow me on Twitter.

Holley Trent is the author of Executive Decision, Mrs. Roth’s Merry Christmas, and Her Resident Jester – all available now from Musa Publishing's Calliope Romance Line.

To see all of Holley Trent's Musa Publishing books, please click HERE.

Tuesday Toolbox - Listen to Your Muse @HolleyTrent's Muse Likes #Cowboys

My Muse Like Cowboys
by Holley Trent

Last fall, I was on Colorado’s 287 driving south to a meeting—doing my usual in-car sing-along to…oh, I want to say "Panic! at the Disco." Suddenly, with the mountains of the Front Range in view, my muse plopped her mouthy self into the front passenger seat and said, “Hey, you need write a cowboy romance.”

Naturally, I scoffed. I’m a Carolina girl (lapsed, but still). We didn’t have ranchers back east. We just had farmers. What do I know about cowboys (beyond the fact they tend to wear their jeans quite well)?

Muse said, “You’re thinking too literally. You can tell a cowboy story without it being a treatise on ranch management.”

And I said, “Oh yeah? You want to tell me what, precisely, this story should be about? ’Cause I’m plenty busy already.”

Muse said, “Picture it. A single dad workaholic living in the middle of the Wyoming boonies.”

I said: “Wyoming?”

Muse said: “Yeah? Remember that road trip through southeastern Wyoming and that never-ending dirt road that tested the mettle of your marriage?”

I said, “Oh. That. That was…educational.”

Muse said: “Now imagine a community so sparsely populated because of the size of the ranches that most of the kids are home-schooled.”

Me: “Uh…”

Muse said: “And because few people are really qualified to home-school those kids, a couple of those ranchers have to hire a tutor from a service.”

Me: “Ah. I see where you’re going here.”

Muse: “Fish out of water. Carolina beauty queen intellectual versus stubborn Wyoming rancher.”

Me: “Hmm. I might could work it. Can I have a big cast?”

Muse: “The biggest. Grey’s Anatomy didn’t have a cast this big.”

Me: “So I can write in some insane secondaries. Can I make it snarky?”

Muse: “The snarkiest, babe. I’ve got an idea for a sidekick named Phil. He can be this book’s resident misanthrope. Oh! And a bossy mother. You can have one of those, too.”

Me: “Okay. I’m tempted. Maybe after NaNoWriMo.”

Muse: “No. NOW. You don’t want to ignore me. Remember what happened last time?”

Me: *glowers*

Muse: “Oh. Since it’s going to be a doorstopper of a book, anyway, why not just go on ahead and add in a secret baby?”

Me: “Leave.”

Muse: “Fine. Be back next week. I have an idea for a—”

Me: “LALALALALALA.”

And, that’s how the story of Ronnie and John came to be. It’s called Teaching the Cowboy and will be trotting into e-readers sometime this fall. Watch the TtC page my blog to learn more.

Holley Trent writes contemporary and paranormal romances with Southern sass. Her previous Musa releases are the chick-litty Executive Decision and Her Resident Jester. Holley's comedic paranormals Mrs. Roth’s Merry Christmas and Love by Premonition.

Learn more about Holley and her upcoming works on her website and blog. Stay in touch with Twitter.

Friday Friends - Real Place, Fake People by Holley Trent

Real Place, Fake People
by Holley Trent

Love by Premonition is a paranormal-themed book that I wanted to set in a realistic environment, so I constructed a world out of my ancestors’ stomping grounds. The rural setting and deep family roots of North Carolina’s Halifax County make the place ripe for some stranger-than-fiction scenarios. I like strange, so I ran with it! Now, just because a book is fiction (especially campy paranormal romance fiction) doesn’t mean the author didn’t do research. I’ve been studying Enfield’s families for more than a decade trying to unravel my family tree, so I know a bit about the history. Furthermore, I’m a North Carolinian so I know the culture.

Here are few “real” nuggets from the novel.

1 – Surnames. The names I gave my supporting characters are typical of Eastern North Carolina, and Halifax County specifically. The Silvers? Braswells? Bryants? The area is bursting with them. Although the characters aren’t modeled after any specific people, I felt like I couldn’t ignore those famous families. (And by famous, I mean “really freaking big.” If you have ancestry from that area that doesn’t overlap with one of those families, I’d be shocked. [For you genealogists stumbling onto this via Google, let’s chat, huh?])

2 – Overly dramatic locals. That’s not to say everyone in Halifax County are emotionally erratic, but in such a rural place that folks are just more comfortable putting their quirks on display. (You should see my private Facebook stream. Y’ALL. OMG. I see everything from weapon brandishing to communicated threats [e.g. “When you see my car in your yard tomorrow, come on outside and get your beat-down.”] on a daily basis.)

So, brazen tramp showing up at the mayor’s wake with a bogus will? Same audacious hussy being walloped in the street by mayor’s widow? Wish I could say I conjured that sub-plot out of thin air. (That particular subplot is actually a combination of my own family experience and, again, unbelievable Facebook shenanigans.)

3 – Rampant miscegenation. My protagonist—Marcia—explains some local history, including the ripe conditions in Enfield for creation of a tri-racial isolate. That’s a real thing. I swear. It’s a historically accurate inclusion, but the locals may not know it by that fancy phrase. They call that “skeletons in the closet.” More accurately, “skeletons in the family tree.”

4 – Hinky supernatural stuff. Hang with a born Southerner of a certain age long enough, and you’ll hear the stories. You may even start to witness some pretty wild stuff yourself. I have personally been anointed with holy oil (in my sleep) as a defense against demons. (Ahem.) So…Marcia’s grandma Sophia? I didn’t just conjure her from thin air.

Here's a brief intro of my just released novel for you;

The psychic didn't go looking for love, but she should have seen it coming.

Marcia Andrews is a freelance psychic consultant. Sick of living hand to mouth, she accepts a contract with Raleigh Police. A new gang called The Cardinals is terrorizing The Triangle, and Marcia gives the department an edge in tracking them. Help that she is, one cop isn’t so keen on her involvement, and makes sure she knows it.

Detective Nat McCoy would rather see Marcia in his bedroom than the bullpen. The gorgeous Scotsman isn’t the typical chauvinist pig, though. He’s keeping a secret that even the psychic doesn’t anticipate.

A close encounter with a Cardinal’s bullet knocks Marcia off her game when the police need her most. She loses hours to trances and ghosts haunt her sleep. She can hardly function, and everything she thought she knew about playboy McCoy suddenly seems questionable. McCoy thinks he knows the cure for what ails her—him. But can she trust him?

Love by Premonition is available for purchase now at the Musa store and also at third-party vendors such as Amazon.com and All Romance eBooks.

If you’d like to stay up to date on my progress with its spin-off, visit me on my blog or follow me on Twitter.

Holley Trent is the author of Executive Decision, Mrs. Roth’s Merry Christmas, and Her Resident Jester – all available now from Musa Publishing's Calliope Romance Line.

To see all of Holley Trent's Musa Publishing books, please click HERE.

Friday Friends - Holley Trent Talks Science and Fiction, but Not Combined

Science and Fiction, but Not Combined
by Holley Trent

Truth: a lot of what I know about the setting of my upcoming paranormal romance Love by Premonition—Enfield, North Carolina—is based on my own family tree research. I grew up a couple of counties east, but my maternal grandfather, Frank, was born in Halifax County and left as soon as he could.

I know that sounds bad, but he was a man with a Big-Fish-Small-Pond type of personality. He was also prone to telling tall tales, and I could never tell which of his stories were truth and which were fiction. He was particularly mystifying when it came to his ethnic background. Kinda like Marcia, my LbP heroine. But, unlike Gramps, Marcia is capable of itemizing her heritage. She had a little supernatural help at it. Gramps could only guess based on best available information.

Because miscegenation was illegal around the time Gramp’s grand- and great-grandparents were doing it, there’s very little legal evidence that can be used to establish several of his ancestors’ paternities. Death records may list a father, but depending on who provided the information, those reports may be false. Gramps may have been told the names of his mysterious grandfathers, but he likely didn’t know much about them.

And that’s how I came to setting a book in contemporary Enfield. The more I researched my holey family tree, the more befuddled and intrigued I became about the citizens. I’ve even toyed around with the idea of writing a historical romance set there, but I can’t come up with single darned plot that would have a happily-ever-after ending. (Maybe Gramp’s Enfield sentiments rub off on me in that way.)

My sister and I always thought it’d be a hoot to take one of those ancestry composition tests so we could have a better idea of which of Gramp’s “facts” were grounded in reality. I had forgotten all about that until I got a letter in the mail from the national blood marrow donor registry. In it, they told me I have an uncommon HLA type. (That happens when your components are like fruit punch—melded together and unidentifiable.) Means I’ll probably never be a marrow match for anyone.

Anyhow, that letter reminded me about that test and a couple of weeks ago I sent a spit sample to the lab. They’re gonna analyze my DNA and tell me what I am…more or less. There may be enough information there to separate Gramp’s facts from rumors, or the results may raise even more questions. I know where, more or less, my father’s parents came from, so any wildcards will come from Enfield Gramps.

I’m supposed to get results in 4-6 weeks—just in time for Love by Premonition’s debut. Marcia knows exactly what she is ’cause that’s the way I made her, but I’ve got to rely on science for the same info about myself.

It’ll be interesting to see how similar I am to a fictional character of my own creation.

Holley Trent is the author of Executive Decision, Mrs. Roth’s Merry Christmas, and Her Resident Jester – all available now from Calliope Romance. Marcia’s story Love by Premonition will be available May 3.

To see all of Holley Trent's Musa Publishing books, please click HERE.

If you want to learn the results of Holley’s 23 and Me test and how far off her guess they were, check her blog in late April or early May.

Friday Friends - Holley Trent's Melting Pot

Guest post by Holley Trent

There’s this bit in my new release Her Resident Jester where my protagonist, Shane, waxes poetic about her identity:

I’d almost forgotten about that ultrasound. I didn’t generally volunteer for medical studies, but one of my coworkers’ kids was on the investigative team and I got strong-armed into it because I’m from an underrepresented ethnic group. That is to say no particular ethnic group. I’m more mixed up than Vin Diesel, but far less coy about it. I leave that to Marcia. She’s really uptight about that sh*t.

Shane and Marcia are sisters (you’ll meet Marcia formally in April in Love by Premonition), and constituents of the Great American Melting Pot. They can’t simply itemize what they are, because at some point in the family tree the colors blur. They’re sort of a lot of things and nothing in particular.

Shane’s fine with that. She’s okay with her ambiguity and having people ask her about it. Culturally, she’s North Carolinian, Southern, and American. Marcia is far more sensitive about her perceived identity. She’s not self-hating, exactly, but as a lapsed physicist, she sort of likes being able to put things into neat little boxes. So, when people question her on what she is (and isn’t), she dances around the subject and deflects. It’s not easy for her to answer, and she doesn’t like other people guessing about it, either. She could hedge and say “I’m black,” but she isn’t. Bi-racial wouldn’t be accurate, either. Tri-racial would work, but it’d be imprecise.

Shane doesn’t mind imprecision so much, but it makes Marcia twitchy.

I made this a “thing” with Marcia because I think people should sometimes come in shades of gray (even if they don’t have cool names for themselves like Cablinasian)…and I think sometimes they should be sensitive about not having a tidy label.

Although I identify very well with characters like Shane and Marcia (good luck trying to itemize all my components), they make requesting cover art extremely tedious. I could spend an hour scanning through stock art depositories looking for models who are suitably ambiguous and only come up with one or two.

For Her Resident Jester, we stepped around that casting issue and put the hot doctor Derek on the cover instead of Shane or a couple. (Isn’t he pretty?) We’ll see what happens with Marcia’s story.

Here’s the gist of Her Resident Jester:

Marketing executive Shane Andrews’s reluctant participation in a research study leads to the stunning discovery she needs immediate surgery.

Out of sorts, and in a moment of spectacular tactlessness, she insults a man wearing a red rubber nose and big floppy shoes. He turns out to be Derek Palmer: Edenton’s hottest young surgeon…and the resident observing her operation.

With her body and pride both on the mend, Shane hides out to prevent further humiliation. She can’t avoid the gorgeous clown too long, however. Edenton is a small town, and Derek isn’t content with letting her wallow. What kind of clown would he be if he did?

Her Resident Jester is available for purchase in most major eBook formats at the Musa store and also at third-party retailers like Amazon and All Romance eBooks.

To learn more about Holley Trent, visit her website or watch her navel gaze on Twitter.

Friday Friends - Holley Trent & Lizzie T. Leaf

Here are two books that will get you in the holiday spirit and liven up your Christmas!

Today is release day for...

Mrs. Roth's Merry Christmas
by Holley Trent

Santa gets more than he bargains for in his marriage of convenience to the queen of snark.

All Gillian wanted was to pick up a third job so she could buy her preschool students Christmas gifts. She didn’t think she’d be the one getting picked up instead.

Her new boss, Nicholas Roth, is the big man in charge at Santa Incorporated—what Gillian thought was a seasonal staffing agency. But the sexy CEO has a holly jolly secret; he’s an equal opportunity employer and most of his staff are elves.

Santa has another secret. When he’s not delivering toys for his charity, he’s contending with political unease in the magic realm. To take his father’s throne as king of the elves, he has to get married…and only magic-proof Gillian will do. Gillian agrees thinking Nick will cut her loose after the busy Christmas rush, but he has other ideas.

Nick wants a permanent Mrs. Roth, but Gillian doesn’t think she’s it.

Forget the Misteltoe

by Lizzie T. Leaf

Marta's cold on the retail holiday season, but warming to the hot hunk from home office, even if he loves Christmas.

Marta Holt hates Christmas and all the fuss that goes with it, which isn’t a good way to feel about the biggest money making season in her chosen career field, retail management.

Linc Blanchard’s family owns the chain of retail stores and shows up in Denver to make sure that Marta, the temporary manager, doesn’t affect the bottom line of that store’s Christmas season with her lack of appreciation of his favorite holiday.

Mix in Claude, an elf with attitude that has been sent into the human world to help Santa correct the mistake he made with Marta when she was a little girl and you have a hot, humorous fantasy to relieve the stress of your holidays.