WINNER!!! GIVEAWAY!!! WIN ebooks BURN ME by Shelley Watters & FIRE OF STARS AND DRAGONS by Melissa A. Petreshock

***Winner has been announced and notified! Thank you all who entered! Please check back for more giveaways and writing updates! Happy Reading!!!***



UPDATE GIVEAWAY!!!

Because two books are better than one and two releasing from the same amazing house are even better...I'm adding a book to this GIVEAWAY.

Today we have two amazing new books!!!  BURN ME by Shelley Watters and FIRE OF STARS AND DRAGONS by Melissa A Petreshock!

About BURN ME From Goodreads.com:

When Katrina Hale's brother dies in a house fire, she's determined to prove she's stronger than everyone thinks she is. But grief can do strange things to a person and Katrina knows all too well how the death of a loved one can change a person. As the romance in her current relationship fizzles, she focuses on her work and fights the undeniable attraction she has for Greyson Neal.

Firefighter Greyson Neal is the type of guy girls dream about. But Greyson isn't interested in other girls. He wants the one woman he can never have: Katrina. As the two struggle with their feelings, Kat must choose between her career and her heart, and fight to keep them both when an arsonist threatens to take it all away.

About FIRE OF STARS AND DRAGONS From Goodreads.com: 

Following the death of her uncle, twenty-one-year-old CAITRIONA HAYDEN finds herself in the midst of a trio of quintessential alpha male suitors in 22nd century sovereign America where human females should be seen and not heard.

Theo Pendragon claims her as his ward, ordained to guard her through to a long-awaited destiny unbeknownst to Cait, but finds more than he expected when passion ignites within the dragon for the first time. Always drawn to the pursuit of knowledge rather than the heat of desire, powerful demigod Dante cannot deny everything his future holds in Caitriona. America's monarch, ancient vampire Corrin, has no interest in the frivolity of love, yet marrying Cait could be the answer to his continued survival.

Soon, Cait goes from studying for college exams to choosing a husband knowing the consequences are eternal, the love undying, and the bond timeless.

Read a special excerpt from BURN ME here!

Read a special excerpt from FIRE OF STARS AND DRAGONS here! 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS!!! 

Shelley Watters grew up in Tucson, Arizona and currently resides Chandler, Arizona. She graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s in Sociology with a focus on Women’s Health Issues and continued on to get a Master’s certificate in Public Health Epidemiology. After serving many wonderful years in the public health sector as an Epidemiologist, she left the field to raise her family and re-discovered a long-lost passion: writing. While her days are filled with extra-curricular activities, her nights are devoted to slinging words across the page. Her novels sizzle with the heat and passion that only growing up in the southwest can bring.

Find out more about her at these links: 

Shelley Watters on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7761980.Shelley_Watters

Shelley Watters on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shelley_Watters 

Shelley Watters’ blog: http://www.shelleywatters.com/ 

Melissa A. Petreshock is a full-time writer and member of the Romance Writers of America with past experience in the medical and educational fields, though she has primarily devoted her adult life to raising a family. Born and raised in Kentucky, Melissa spent a number of years in Massachusetts, living outside Boston and in Springfield before returning to her home state where she now resides on a small farm. (And secretly hopes to find dragons.) She enjoys quiet married life and the silliness of her three children, indulging hobbies of music, Zumba, and a minor television addiction in what free time she finds. Melissa’s interests include causes demanding social change such as mental health awareness and teen suicide prevention.

FIRE OF STARS AND DRAGONS is her debut NA Fantasy Romance novel and the first book in the Stars and Souls Trilogy.

Find Melissa on these social media sites, or visit her website to follow her blog, learn more about the Stars and Souls Trilogy and FIRE OF STARS AND DRAGONS, join the fan forum, and more:

Melissapetreshock.com

Goodreads.com/melissapetreshock

Twitter.com/macpetreshock

Facebook.com/macpetreshock 

Pinterest.com/macpetreshock 

These sizzling novels from Swoon Romance will release on April 29th and you can win your copies here! Simply enter the rafflecopter below! 

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FIRES OF STARS AND DRAGONS special excerpt by Melissa A. Petreshock

Chapter 2 Excerpt

*Cait*

“No. She. Is. Mine.”

Those words ring in my ears. I want them and fear them. He’s a dragon. What that means in this situation, I’m not even sure. Do dragons marry? I can’t say with certainty his claim implied marriage. He did promise to protect me. It occurs to me my hand is still on his, contact I initiated just before his declaration. I move it to my lap, and his retreats to the back of my chair, but there’s a definitive sense of disconnection, touching him appealing to my body with as much natural ease as breathing.

For the first time, Dante speaks, his voice smooth, a softened Scottish lilt dripping off his every word. “Perhaps this would be an excellent time to offer a relatively neutral solution to our conundrum over Caitriona’s situation.” He said nothing during court, sitting, absorbing everything, a picturesque view on the dais with flawless fair complexion, dark-as-night hair, and striking blue eyes.

Dante is every bit his goddess mother’s son, the epitome of beauty.

Cedric leans forward in his chair, hands folded together on the table. “What did you have in mind?” If I had to guess, I would say he sounds relieved Dante offers another option. I suppose a dragon eating his son isn’t a pleasant idea.

The demigod stands and paces in a small circle, brows knit together in contemplative focus, then comes to an abrupt halt, turning and meeting my eyes. He says nothing, staring, and the entire room buzzes, a strange electricity in the air.

His gaze rises, beyond me. “I will marry her, Theo.” And I’m certain my heart stops. “You trust me, do you not?”

“Are you all insane?” I scream, slamming my hands on the table, jumping out of my seat. So much for remaining quiet. “I refuse to sit here feeling like I’m being auctioned off to the highest bidder.” I sure as Hades do not want to deal with Neglected Dependent Services, but this is ridiculous. Why the king involves himself on a personal level in my situation is beyond comprehension.

King Corrin glares daggers at me, or past me to Theo, but I’m damned sure he’s not happy about a woman rebuking anything he says. However, Dante smirks as he watches my outburst. Behind me, the dragon clears his throat.

“I do believe Miss Hayden makes a valid point to be considered.” He places his hand on my shoulder, encouraging me to sit again, and I do so, grudgingly. Across the table, the king’s brother buries his face in his hands, but he’s not laughing. “While it is understandable the monarchy cannot abide by the breaking of sovereign laws, Miss Hayden is indeed a woman of means. At our ages, it is quite conceivable to liken her wealth and social stature to noble ladies of eras past, one whose suitors would vie for her affections, for the right to win her hand in marriage.”

While I’m somehow seeing this whole situation going in reverse, dragging me into the damned dark ages worse than society already, there might be a light at the end of the tunnel this dragon walks through. Choices. Women of means had choices back then. I, for one, would like them back.

“A duel?” The monarch’s eyes brighten, displaying his fangs in a Cheshire grin.

Sir Oliver grimaces. “I doubt a duel is quite the answer, Sire. Regardless of your expertise as a swordsman, even my skill is negligible over Theo’s.”

The room quiets until Evan sits back in his chair, its squeaking breaking the silence. “I suggest vying for her affections in the most literal sense. I’ve said before I disagree with arranged marriages, but if she must choose amongst you then at the very least, allow she find the most happiness.” He plays with the wedding band on his finger. “Is it asking too much she have the opportunity to perhaps marry out of some measure of love?”

Whether his concerns fall to his brother trapped in a loveless marriage or to my best interests, I don’t venture guesses, but I appreciate his disapproval.

“Would it most please Miss Hayden, I am agreeable to such a compromise,” states Theo, though his tone declares him anything other than agreeable.

Dante nods, remaining in his apparent standard state of existence, thoughtful and contemplative. “As am I.”

With an irritated huff, King Corrin drops back into his chair. “Fine. It is agreed.” His icy stare stays on me as he speaks. “But she must be moved to a secure location where she remains of equal accessibility. Aside from her safety quite lacking, from this point forward, regardless of who ultimately gains victory, I declare her status as betrothed and under the protection of the clan. Should Miss Hayden be incapable of making this decision for herself within seven days, sovereign law prevails, and I shall either choose her husband or relinquish her to NDS.”

“Seven days! What? And you expect me to leave my home? No! Not in Hades’s name will I do any such thing.” Refraining from calling the king insane, out of his mind, or gone mad, I’m adamant in this, but Theo rests one hand on my shoulder calming me, his touch desirable in its soothing effect. 

My request to live as an independent woman was a long shot, to say the least. And NDS is a worst-case scenario for someone in my position. This … I release a quiet exhale and nod in compliance. This is better than the alternatives. None of these men need the wealth or power of Hayden Holdings. I’m not a rung in their social ladder. Choosing between the king, Dante, and Theo Pendragon … I should be thankful, not insolent. Most women would kill to be in my designer shoes.

BURN ME special excerpt by Shelley Watters!

An excerpt from BURN ME by Shelley Watters, out April 29^th 2014 from Swoon Romance:

“What the f—” He tried to shield himself from the spray with his hands, which ricocheted some back toward her. She turned to avoid getting hit in the face with the overspray but kept up the attack. That’d teach him to brush her off when she was trying to tell him something important!

The surprise on his face made her laugh so hard it brought tears to her eyes. But she couldn’t drop the attack or she’d be in for it.

“Stop that!” he growled and lunged for her.

She ducked to the side and swung the nozzle of the hose back in his direction.

“Kat!” He dove for her again.

Her heel caught the curb behind her and she lost her balance. His thick arms wrapped around her waist as they tumbled onto the grass.

Kat laughed and tried to roll away. But his arms stayed firmly planted around her, his face a few inches away. His hot breath puffed against her lips.

“That wasn’t very nice.” The rumble of his deep voice vibrated against her chest.

“You deserved it.” She tried to wriggle free, but the friction of her body against his only succeeded in making an ache deep in the pit of her stomach flare.

“Did I?” He smiled a mischievous half-smile. His chocolate eyes darkened.

“Yes.” Her heartbeat quickened at the way he watched her tongue dart out of her mouth to wet her lips.

“Well you deserve this … ” 

Kat opened her mouth to protest when he captured her mouth with his. The heat simmering deep in her body roared to life. His lips were soft against hers and she could sense his hesitation.

Editing, Agent and CP Love

I’m finally coming out of the editing cave and am here to gush! 

After months of revamping my YA paranormal romance novel JUDGES I can finally say with confidence that I'm done! Well, that is, until (if I get lucky) it finds an editor and then the process will most likely start all over again. But today I’m reveling in the fact that for now, my mind can rest at ease--where as the past three months (and really two years) have been dedicated to this novel. 

The amount of work that went into JUDGES this time around shocked me at first, but throughout my writing career I’ve learned there is always room for improvement. And after some incredible guidance from my awesomesauce agent, we dug down and found the room. With fresh eyes and a determined heart, I dove back into editing mode and ended up chopping over 20 thousand words: 

From the above gif you can tell how I felt about that. It wasn’t easy, but no one held a literary gun to my head either. 

It simply needed to happen. The book didn’t need everything I had in it, but in the cutting process I discovered it did happen to need a few new scenes. And while writing and implementing these new scenes I still needed to keep the word count at the number I’d achieved after cutting so much...

So, I pushed aside the sheer overwhelmingness of the task and pulled my writer pants on. I dove head first into the book, into my characters, and I said, bring it:

But in reality my process more likely looked like this: 

And yet, I worked. And pushed it out. And got happy with it. 

Then the real test came. Sending it off to a whole new set of betas and critique partners.

And honestly if they had found more wrong with the MS I was going to lose it (privately, of course) because after all the edits...I just wouldn’t have known what else to do with it. 

Luckily I have some of the most amazing betas and critique partners in the world. And they helped me bring home the MS to it’s now finalized and sparkly version.

I couldn’t have done it without them. Honestly. My CP’s have gone above and beyond for me and through their eyes I’ve learned so much more about myself as an author. 

And for every writer reading this...if you don’t have a close group of writerly types you can trust, you need to find some! They encourage, inspire, and give you the honest criticism you need in this business. It is a crucial part of any writer’s career...we need others like us to survive. People who understand the trials of cutting scenes you love, of killing characters you would never want to part with, and getting rejected over and over again. They’re the ones who will pull you from the edge when you’re about to lose it and hit the delete button on any sentence with a ‘to be’ verb in it. I wouldn’t be as strong a writer as I am today without their help. I wouldn’t have an agent today without the guidance and help of one in particular. 

And if you don't know where to look, start with your social media outlets! Twitter and Facebook are invaluable tools in this business and I've met my amazing group through these outlets. I'm as close to some of these people as if we saw each other at the office on a daily basis. And I've found that (for the most part) many writers want to help each other! Reach out and see if you'd be a good fit with each other...do a test run of just a couple pages or chapters, whatever the two of you are comfortable with, and see if your styles match up. It may take a few tries (much like the dating world) but if you keep looking you'll find a group of people that fit you and your writing needs. And gaining confidants and professional criticism can make all the difference with a novel searching for a home with an agent or editor.  

So, as I sit back and take a break to revive my writing mind--to switch from editing to raw drafting again--I'd like to take this time to say THANK YOU to my team of critique partners, betas, and my amazing agent. The guidance each of you has offered me has enhanced my skills as a writer and you inspire me every day. I couldn't do any of this without you and hope all of you know how crucial a role you play in each of my works. 

Now...on to the next WIP...