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text 2014-09-06 12:17

Stomp vs Romp: Results and Winners!

Rabid Reads

Another year of Stomp vs Romp has come and gone; I’m sure that you’re all anxious to find out the results, and whether you won any of the giveaways. But first, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated and who helped make this event such a huge success! I hope you had fun, and that you’ll join The Book Nympho and I in 2015 for our FOURTH year of Stomp vs Romp! We’ll most likely be switching sides again, so it’ll be my turn to bat for Team ROMP—prepare yourselves because I’m a complainer, and I don’t wanna read Romance for a whole month. *cries*

We promote this event as being an epic battle, but in reality it’s more of friendly rivalry, because for the past two years Stomp vs Romp has ended in a tie, and I expected more of the same in 2014. Let’s face it, whether you are an Urban Fantasy reader or a Paranormal Romance junkie, we all like there to be a little of both in our books. However, if you’re REALLY competitive—Team ROMP won by 0.1% (2 votes). I personally think that that is too close to call… Ok, enough of my blabbing, here are the dets:

Now for the moment you’ve REALLY all been away for…
The giveaway winners!

Winner	Prize
✓Rhianna Walker	$15 Amazon.com GC – Kick Off Giveaway
Stephanie Fredrick	Print copy of POISON PROMISE by Jennifer Estep (US-only)
Ada Hui	eCopy of VAMPIRE TROUBLE by Sara Humphreys (INTL)
✓Angie F.	eBook of Cursed by Angela Addams + goodies (US/CAN)
*Winner selected by author	eCopy of FREE AGENT by JC Nelson
✓Jo Lacey-Wood	eCopy of DIRTY MAGIC by Jaye Wells (INTL)
✓Linda Townsend	eCopy of WICKED MISERY or DIRTY LITTLE MISERY by Tracey Martin + swag (US)
✓Elaine Geight	CAGED audiobook by Amber Lynn Natusch (US/CAN)
*Winners selected by author	3x copies of VAMPIRE CODE by Celia Breslin + $5 Amazon.com GC
eBook: Stephanie Fredrick, ✓Linda Townsend, Stephanie Sandefur, Danielle Romero & ✓Aimee Youts Keel / Print: ✓Rhianna Walker, ✓Susan, ✓Donna Simmonds, Winter Topaz & Mary Kirkland / Photo: ✓Victoria Zumbrum, ✓Melissa, Helen Wawrejko, Ali & Kimberly / Acknowledgements: ✓Gaby Iliramirex, Linda Akerman, ✓Mary Preston, Viki Sloboda, Kassandra Appel, bn100, Joy Flynn, Daniela Pagnotta Alis, Natalie Cleary & ✓Jess	10x ANGEL KIN (5 eBooks / 5 print), 5x prints, 10 acknowledgements
Chelsea	$15 Amazon.com GC from Yasmine Galenorn (INTL)
Judith Cauthan	CHARMING (US/CAN/Europe) or DARING ARC (US/CAN) from Elliott James

✓ = Prize has been claimed. Participants have 48 hrs to respond to e-mail, or another winner will be selected.

Congrats to all the winners!

Carmel Signature

StompvsRomp

Source: rabidreads.ca/2014/09/stomp-vs-romp-results-and-winners-2.html

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text 2014-08-29 12:36

When Push Comes to Love by Elliott James + Giveaway #StompvsRomp

Rabid Reads

When I told my girlfriend that I had agreed to write about why I prefer action to romance in fiction, she was very supportive: “WTF?!? NO! How can you do that?” So in the interests of sanity and moderation – or at least the pretense of them – let me just say right now that I like both. I live in a small mountain town in Southwest Virginia (where we don’t have much action OR romance) and at least once a year I get snowed in for a couple of days. When that happens, I get out the cider and the kettle corn, bundle up under a blanket and watch Love Actually along with more traditional Christmas movies like Die Hard. But the truth is, my idea of the perfect date movie is Speed. Two likable leads, Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, come to respect each other while a homicidal madman does his best to blow them up for money and fun. They’re smart, strong, good, capable people who lean on each other, learn about each other, and fall in love or something like it amid explosions and high speed decapitations. What could be more romantic than that?

That said, I wasn’t invited here to be moderate, so I wrote a 750 word short story (which is a lot harder than it sounds) where my urban fantasy character, John Charming, meets a paranormal romance trope gone bad. I really do hope that this literary cage match between urban fantasy and paranormal romance that I’ve signed up for is good natured fun though.

When Push Comes to Love

by Elliott James

              Once Upon a Time, the thing calling himself Liam Summers let himself into Samantha Hale’s tower (or at least her eighteenth floor apartment). He was short and slender, smoothly muscled in skinny jeans and a form fitting maroon shirt of some expensive looking material. His bright sea green eyes were framed by wavy brown hair and sharp cheekbones, and he smelled of rich pipe tobacco.
              “Samantha?” Liam’s voice dripped velvet. His hearing was as sharp as mine and his vision better, but a radio was playing in the background while I waited around a corner. He closed the door, walked in, and saw me straddling a wooden chair backwards.
              “Samantha’s in the hospital.” I told him, holding up her cell phone. “And she never got that money from her grandmother for you either. I wrote that text.”
              He finally smelled me and wrinkled his nose. “What is this?”
              “Samantha threw herself off a bridge,” I explained. “I saw it and jumped after her, but hitting the water gave her a concussion. When I found her purse, I smelled your elf stink all over it.”
              Well, half-elf stink technically. The Fae left our world centuries ago. They’d made a kind of mutual and magical non-aggression pact with the earth, and most natural elements wouldn’t harm them. Then mankind began synthesizing elements into new alloys and chemical agents. The Fae’s wards couldn’t recognize all of these new combinations of old elements fast enough to shield against them effectively, so the Fae did what tourists always do when a vacation spot becomes dangerous; they packed their bags and went home. But they left all kinds of half-breed bastards behind.
              This particular bastard smiled naughtily. “You stole her keys.”
              “I borrowed them.” I held up a small journal. “I’ve been sitting here reading Samantha’s diary.”
              Those rose petal lips twisted. How many women had wanted to soften that cruel mouth with kisses? “Her diary?”
              “You’ve been careless, Liam. You really should have bothered to know her,” I said. “Samantha writes beautifully. Or at least she did before she met you. Then her entries become increasingly obsessive and repetitive.”
              His mouth tightened angrily. “Why is this your concern?”
              I ignored the question. The answer…that my name is John Charming…that I come from a long line of monster hunters and have fallen under a curse that can’t be lifted by any kiss… is too complicated. “Think of me as her fairy godfather. The kind of godfather who breaks legs and doesn’t like disrespect. And you’re a gancanagh, right?”
              He laughed disbelievingly. “What does some werewolf mutt know about gancanaghs?”
              “I know you’re love pushers,” I growled. “You turn women into addicts. You use your magic to make them love you. You isolate them from their friends and family. You take their money, their pride, their strength. And when there’s nothing left to take, you leave them, and they die.”
              “All humans die,” he scoffed. “I gave Samantha everything she wanted. Mystery. Danger. Sex. A little taste of wickedness. She has a thing for the bad boys, you see.”
              “The last thing Samantha wrote before she tried to kill herself was that she wished you would love her,” I observed. “And that you would suffer from it the same way she’s suffered.”
              “Poor Samantha,” he smirked. “Such a romantic.”
              I regarded him steadily. There was only one way to break a gancanagh’s spell, and we both knew it. “Your kind like riddles, right? Tell me something, Liam. What happens when a bad boy meets a dangerous man?”
              Inhumanly quick, he whipped a silver knife at me. I’d had my hands draped over the back of the chair while I sat in it reversed, and I slid off, tilted the chair, and lifted the seat in a crude shield. The knife went halfway through the wood and stopped.
              He tried to kick through the chair, but I rotated it and caught his foot between the leg supports instead, then kept twisting. The wood broke before his knee did, but he was hopping awkwardly when I rose up with a backhand that sent him reeling, nothing but his uncanny grace keeping him upright. I charged him then, him and the patio window that I’d purposefully left open, and the industrial asphalt far below.
              I guess I’m not much of a fairy godfather. I couldn’t grant Samantha s wish; Liam never did love her.
              But he did fall for her hard.

Author Bio
An army brat and gypsy scholar, ELLIOTT JAMES is currently living in the Blue Ridge mountains of southwest Virginia. An avid reader since the age of three (or that’s what his family swears anyhow), he has an abiding interest in mythology, martial arts, live music, hiking, and used bookstores. Irrationally convinced that cellphone technology was inserted into human culture by aliens who want to turn us into easily tracked herd beasts, Elliott has one anyhow but keeps it in a locked tinfoil covered box which he will sometimes sit and stare at mistrustfully for hours. Okay, that was a lie. Elliott lies a lot; in fact, he decided to become a writer so that he could get paid for it.

Website | Facebook | GoodReads

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THE WEREWOLVES HAVE A NEW LEADER…AND HE CANNOT BE STOPPED.

Something is rotten in the state of Wisconsin.

Werewolf packs are being united and absorbed into an army of super soldiers by a mysterious figure who speaks like an angel and fights like a demon. And every Knight Templar—keepers of the magical peace between mankind and magickind—who tries to get close to this big bad wolf winds up dead. No knight can infiltrate a group whose members can smell a human from a mile away…no knight except one.

John Charming. Ex knight. Current werewolf. Hunted by the men who trained him, he now might be their only salvation. But animal instincts are rising up to claim John more powerfully than ever before, and he must decide if this new leader of wolves is a madman…or a messiah.

DARING is the second novel in an urban fantasy series which gives a new twist to the Prince Charming tale.

The Pax Arcana Series

Giveaway

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Visit The Book Nympho to read today’s ROMP post by Bec McMaster, then VOTE for your fav!

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Source: rabidreads.ca/2014/08/when-push-comes-to-love-by-elliott-james-giveaway-stompvsromp.html

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text 2014-08-27 12:56

Stomp or be Stomped by Yasmine Galenorn + Giveaway #StompvsRomp

Rabid Reads

Stomp or be Stomped!

Now, make no mistake—I love writing good sex scenes. They’re fun and spicy and all sorts of ooey-gooey goodness. Hell, one of my heroines has three husbands and yes, they romp together, all at the same time. Explicitly. I don’t close the bedroom door.

BUT…ya know, my books? More about the action scenes! Action is supercharged and a good adrenaline junkie just loves to put that energy to good use. A great heroine must be able to hold her own in a fight, as well as holding her partner in bed. I mean, just look at the covers I get—you can SEE what kind of characters I write. They aren’t about to cower away when it comes to standing their ground and saving the day.

I maintain that writing a great fight scene is even more complicated than writing a good sex scene. For one thing, in my books, the fights usually have a number of participants (well, so do some of my sex scenes, but I’m not doing the Romp part here). So there are more hands, arms, legs, and body parts to choreograph. For another—fights usually involve extremely heightened emotions, so there’s more than just a physical component going on, contrary to what some people would like to believe.

I agree that it’s damned hard to beat good sex, but let’s face it. We’ve all had those moments when we want to pound somebody into the ground. And what better way to take out your aggressions safely than either writing or reading a good bitch-slap, knock-down, drag-out fight? Where else can you grab somebody’s hair and toss them around the room? Or show off all that work you put in at the gym building muscle and toning your abs? Action scenes give you the freedom to express yourself in ways that—in real life—would get you thrown in jail or carted off to the hospital.

I admit it. I put my characters to the test—they’ve been slammed against walls by ghosts, they’ve been swimming around inside the mind of a freaky-assed god, they’ve been up against a host of demons wielding chains. They’ve fought Supes and humans, they’ve fought demons and ghosts, they’ve mowed down zombies and torched oozing flesh-eating globby masses!

Yet, through it all? They’ve saved their friends, they’ve saved themselves, and they’ve helped stave off the end of the world! You can’t tell me a sex scene can save the world!

I mean, again—sex? Hot damn, thank you ma’am hit the floor and give me more…BUT…unless your character has one hell of a set of genitals, I don’t think her ladybits are capable of stopping a demon horde from breaking through into the world. And without the action-packed heroine there to save the day? Well, there won’t be any more great sex scenes if the demons break through and destroy the world. Therefore, by this line of reasoning, action scenes make it possible for great sex scenes to happen! (Just go with me here, okay?). And after the battle? All that sweaty adrenaline, THAT goes into the romping side of things.

So pick the STOMP side of the battle this time, because without our characters out there stomping on the enemy, there won’t be a safe world in which to get your romp on.

Author Bio
New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes two bestselling urban fantasy series: the Otherworld Series (Sisters of the Moon Series), and the Indigo Court Series, both for Berkley. She will soon be adding an Otherworld spinoff–the Fly By Night Series. She’s also written a paranormal mystery series (the Chintz ‘n China Series) for Berkley Prime Crime, a short-lived mystery series (the Bath & Body Series) under the name of India Ink, again for Berkley Prime Crime, and eight metaphysical nonfiction books (Llewellyn Publications and Crossing Press).

Yasmine is a shamanic witch, and walks an eclectic path. She considers her life a blend of teacups and tattoos–the former in her china closet, the latter on her skin. She’s a theatre major, a graduate of the Evergreen State College (Olympia WA). She lives in the Seattle WA area with her husband and is the mother of four cats.

Website | Twitter | Blog | GoodReads

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New York Times bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn returns with another thrilling foray into Otherworld—introducing a new cast of heroes alongside the D’Artigo sisters…

When the half-demon Carter approaches Menolly and her sisters desperately asking for their help, they think he’s just had a tiff with Shimmer, his blue dragon girlfriend.

But after talking to Alex Radcliffe, the owner of the Fly By Night Magical Investigations Agency where Shimmer works, they suspect that she has been kidnapped by an old enemy of Alex’s.

Now, Alex must join forces with the D’Artigo sisters in a desperate race to find Shimmer before Julian, a powerful vampire from Alex’s past with a grudge to settle, can use the dragon to wreak havoc on Seattle as revenge.

INCLUDES A PREVIEW OF THE OTHERWORLD NOVEL PRIESTESS DREAMING.

The Otherworld Series

Giveaway

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Visit The Book Nympho to read today’s ROMP post by Mandy Baxter, then VOTE for your fav!

StompvsRomp Giveaway

Source: rabidreads.ca/2014/08/stomp-or-be-stomped-by-yasmine-galenorn-giveaway-stompvsromp.html

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text 2014-08-25 13:58

A Stompin’ Good Excerpt From Tricia Skinner + Giveaway #StompvsRomp

Rabid Reads

The lovely Tricia Skinner is knee deep in edits at the moment working on the next installment in her ANGEL ASSASSINS series that’s due out later this fall from Entangled Publishing. So, she opted to share an action-y excerpt from her latest book, ANGEL KIN, instead. Enjoy!

Angel Kin Excerpt from Chapter 10

               Abel stared into the cold, unreadable eyes. Rahab shoved him away and clasped his hands behind his back.
               “Select two weapons.” The angel’s eyes narrowed with his dangerous invitation. “Prove that my brethren have not miscalculated in keeping you alive.”
               Bloody fucking hell. A challenge. Abel stomped to the rack and grabbed the closest swords. He extended his arms, testing each weapon’s balance. Rahab’s angelic gifts were unknown to him, but he brushed the fact aside and tossed a sword to his opponent. As soon as the Renegade touched the hilt, the blade burst into flame.
               Well, shit.
               Abel swung his sword on an arc. The blade’s descent should catch the angel’s left arm, but Rahab dematerialized in an implosion of smoke and light and Abel struck empty air.
               Double shit.
               A pop was the only warning he received a split second before the Renegade’s blade thrust forward. The damned fallen asshole had rematerialized behind him. Abel spun, deflecting the blow, but a lick of flame singed the skin near his kidney.
               Dravyn cackled off to the side, obviously enjoying the show. Bastard. Abel locked that away in his mental torture file. One day soon, the dark elf would die swallowing his tongue.

Author Bio
I’m Tricia Skinner and I write Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements. I’m a former journalist who discovered my inspiration to write fiction as an escape from “real life.” My reading tastes are all over the place, but I’m mainly drawn to fantasy (and its subgenres), paranormal, sci-fi, and history.

When I’m not writing, I’m a newbie “green” practitioner, fitness procrastinator, and a technology geek. I’m a mother and a wife. My family includes two Great Danes. I’m also a gamer. I enjoy interacting with my fellow geeks and helping other writers, especially through the Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter of Romance Writers of America where I’ve served as Newsletter Editor.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Pinterest

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While channeling Robin Hood’s “steal from the rich and give to the poor” attitude at a local politician’s house, ex-con Katie Logan witnesses a forced suicide. Dirty or not, supernatural or not, he didn’t deserve to die, especially not by his own hand. But with her record, stepping forward as a witness isn’t an option. On the run from the police and the murderer, she turns to The Bound Ones for help.

When a beautiful woman comes to The Bound Ones, half-angel assassin Cain is immediately drawn to her. But when she fingers him as the killer, he can come to only one conclusion. The twin he thought was dead is very much alive…and trying to send him a message. Unfortunately, that message is: “You’re next.”

It’s a race against time as Cain fights to save the woman he’s falling in love with before his brother Abel destroys them both.

Giveaway

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Visit The Book Nympho to read today’s ROMP post by AC Arthur, then VOTE for your fav!

Excerpt Giveaway StompvsRomp

Source: rabidreads.ca/2014/08/a-stompin-good-excerpt-from-tricia-skinner-giveaway-stompvsromp.html

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text 2014-08-22 12:07

Stompin’ To The Beat with Celia Breslin + Giveaway #StompvsRomp

Rabid Reads

Stompin’ To The Beat

Greetings from Team Stomp!

Writing a good Stomp is one of my favorite parts of creating urban fantasy goodness. And music most definitely feeds my Muse.

When working on my Tranquilli Bloodline series, a lot of thumping tunes rock my writer’s cave. For action scenes, I usually crank up some industrial rock, techno (big beat and minimal), electro, breakbeat, and house. Sounds loud, right? Well, my kickass heroine Carina IS a dance club owner. And she shakes things up both on and off the dance floor. :-)

Here’s a taste of Carina in action. Some pesky vampires from Team Evil interrupt her first date with Alexander…

HAVEN Excerpt

(For this excerpt, I was listening to The Prodigy, Live World’s On Fire)

               Alexander stiffened and his head snapped up. His eyes glinted black as night, wild with lust and…aggression? He bared his teeth in a snarl, canines morphing into fangs. Long, sharp, lethal.
               On instinct, I pushed against his chest to get some distance between those teeth and my neck. He ignored me, head whipping around to survey the room. A feral growl erupted from his throat and he shoved me under the table.
               My cries of protest were drowned out by animalistic roars and breaking furniture. From my spot under the table, I felt around on the bench for my coat, all the while keeping an eye on the room. Dark blurs flitted back and forth, pieces of table and chair flew by…Bingo. My coat. I searched the pocket for my phone. Once in hand, I hit the button for my boys.
               The fighting around me stopped. The familiar techno ring tone of Mark’s phone broke the sudden silence. He’s here?
               The table above me was tossed away. Steel hands grabbed my legs and dragged me, face down. I dropped the phone and flattened my palms on the floor, trying to resist. One hand bumped into a steak knife and I grabbed it. My assailant flipped me over and lunged. I aimed for his heart but the knife plunged into his throat.

Haven Soundtrack on Spotify: Featuring songs by NIN, The Prodigy, Meat Beat Manifesto, and more…

My vampires on Team Good are passionate, fiercely protective, possessive and loyal. Here’s a look at Jonas, aka The Executioner, in action. He gets a tad upset when someone hurts Carina…

VAMPIRE CODE Excerpt

(For this excerpt, I was listening to Front Line Assembly, Echogenetic)

               “You touched her.”
               Jonas’s sword whistled through the air and sliced off the cowering vampire’s hand in one clean blow. It plopped into the mud. The hatchling howled in agony. Clutching his bleeding arm to his chest, he trembled at Jonas’s feet.
               “You kicked her.”
               The sword sang down again, lopping off one leg just below the knee. The lifeless limb joined the other in the mud.
The vampire peon passed out.
               Jonas shoved his sword into the ground and grabbed the vampire by the hair, holding him aloft with ease. He summoned his power and pushed it into the wounded man, forcing him back to consciousness.
               Awakened once again, the vampire screamed, eyes wide with horror.
               Jonas bared his fangs. “You bit her.”
               He plunged them into the weakling’s neck. He tore a flap of flesh from the front then spat it onto the growing pile of body parts at his feet.
               “No more.” With one practiced twist, he wrenched the vampire’s head from his body.
               The headless corpse crumpled to the ground. Jonas tossed the head onto the bloody heap, collected his sword and stalked into the night.

Vampire Code Soundtrack on Spotify: Featuring songs by Front Line Assembly, Ministry, Skinny Puppy…

Author Bio
Celia lives in California with her husband, daughter, and two feisty cats. She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and has a particular fondness for vampires and the Fae. When not writing, you’ll find her exercising, reading a good book or indulging her addiction to Joss Whedon’s TV shows and movies.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

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San Francisco nightclub owner Carina Tranquilli works hard, plays hard, and never allows the death of her parents and her twelve-year memory gap to get her down. But her life takes a left turn when a witch attacks her on her twenty-fifth birthday.

Three hauntingly familiar vampires emerge to reveal she possesses a latent power. To protect her from their enemies, they admit to wiping her memories clean and abandoning her as a child, but now they need her help. As she struggles to evade her new protectors and even newer enemies, she meets Alexander, an enigmatic, undead musician. Insta-lust flares, leaving her wanting more.

With evil’s minions hounding her every move, and everything she thought she knew turned on its axis, Carina must harness her burgeoning power, unravel her vampire family’s web of deceit, and fight to have a love life… without getting killed in the process.

Giveaway

Thanks for visiting Team Stomp today! Before you go, please vote for Action, Action, and more Action! And enter my giveaway, too. In keeping with our Stomp theme, I’m giving away three e-book copies of my urban fantasy short story, Vampire Code (a Haven prequel). See the Rafflecopter to enter! (p.s. there’s an e-gift card up for grabs, too!).

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Visit The Book Nympho to read today’s ROMP post by Jenn Bennett, then VOTE for your fav!

StompvsRomp Guest Post Giveaway Excerpt

Source: rabidreads.ca/2014/08/stomp-vs-romp-stompin-to-the-beat-with-celia-breslin-giveaway.html