Time for some holiday Hump Day cheer!

Ho, ho, whoa!!!! :-)

Hump Day Hunk and excerpt

Busy week, have to have a medical procedure tomorrow so for today I'm posting a pix for Hump Day Hunk of how I envisioned Raphael from IMMORTAL WOLF. This is my Nocturne that is out Oct. 1.

And here is an excerpt to go along with it! Enjoy.

Also, something cool, TIME magazine did an article on romance, and in the photo of Harlequin titles is my book, ENEMY LOVER. Woot!

Immortal Wolf, copyright 2009 by Bonnie Vanak

He advanced, his body tensing with aggressive need to dominate and claim. Raphael forced himself to move slowly. Must not scare her. All else was forgotten, but this driving sexual need for her. Emily did not retreat.

She remained motionless, her hands in their ugly mustard yellow casing of gloves now shoved behind her back. He drew close enough to see a slight sprinkling of ginger freckles on her delicate, upturned nose. Close enough to count the light gold lashes feathering her large eyes, see the swirls of green in the irises shift to blue, and then deep violet.

Raphael blinked. Her eyes changed color?

And then she parted her lips and lifted her face to him, like a daisy eager for the sun’s caressing rays, and he forgot about everything but fusing his mouth to hers.
His hand gently caressed her soft cheek. Raphael cupped her face and kissed her, feeling the electric shock between them as their lips touched.

Emily sighed into his mouth and closed her eyes. He did as well, tasting her, his blood roaring through his veins, his body humming like a live current. She was of the earth and nature, pure as a crystal stream, and he ached to dive into her, plunder her sweet, innocent depths with his hardened body, let her know a male’s driving passion while awakening her own.

Hump Day Hunk

Because I'll be in DC at RWA's national conference this time next week, and acting very professionally, (yup) here's this week's Hump Day Hunk.

He symbolizes how I'll be looking next week - all tied up. My schedule is very full right now.

Just when I thought I was done with writing and editing Seducing the Vampire, the online HQ serial, I realized that I'm not. I'm promising myself I WILL finish this story tonight and start on the Bite due next month.

Another chance to win MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS

The Midnight Cravings authors are over at Romance B(u)y the Book today, and giving away a copy.

Here's the link.

Good luck!

And since today is Hump Day, here's a hump day hunk. This is how I envisioned Baylor in Broken Souls to look. Sexy, ready to spring into action to protect Katia.

Happy Hump day!

Hump Day Hunk

Yeah, I think Sawyer is cuter than Jack. Plus that bad boy edge that's so appealing. Taping LOST tonight, my new addiction.

Good news about our older dog! Right now he doesn't need very expensive eye surgery. The meds are working. Depending upon what happens at the vet's exam tomorrow with him, I will probably be at RT next month. My plan is to attend only for Friday and Saturday (the booksigning). Since The Lady and the Libertine, my April release, is probably my last Egyptian historical, I think I should do a signing.

Right now I'm buried with the day job, trying to schedule a Haiti trip for the next two weeks, dog health issues, and writing the Nocturne due very very soon.

I have mixed feelings on halting the Egyptian historicals. I love writing them, but I'm exhausted this year and something has to give. Since the day job is my bread and butter, that something had to be romance novels.

In other news, my website is in the process of being updated, and will include an excerpt from The Lady and the Libertine. Also, the Nocturne authors in the April anthology MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS will be doing a book giveaway in April. Lori Devoti, Karen Whiddon, Michele Hauf, Anna Leonard, Vivi Anna and myself all have stories in this trade paperback, and on our respective blogs, we'll be holding a contest. Stay tuned for more details!

Hump Day Hunk

Spent the past couple of days working on a report about the Haiti trip. I needed a diversion, so here's today's Hump Day Hunk.

Sawyer from LOST.

Nice beach, huh? ;-)

Have a great day!

Hump Day Hunk

I chose him for his tattoo. The hero of the proposal I'm writing has a tattoo... actually a couple. One is in a very private place, as the heroine discovers.

:-)

Hurt my back Sunday while riding my bike through the park to see Christmas lights with DH. It was a lot of fun, but I'm paying this week. It's slowly getting better, though.

Hump Day Hunk

Today's Hump Day Hunk is none other than the fab. Gerard. Since Halloween is fast approaching, I'm thinking vampires in addition to weres, and Dracula 2000, a very hot movie with an even hotter vamp.

Bite me.

Please.

Hump Day Hunk, reviews for Enemy Lover

For today's Hump Day Hunk, this is how I'd envisioned Damian, the hero of Enemy Lover, my November Nocturne. Not with the lion cub, though he does rescue Jamie's cat in one scene.

Got some cool reviews for Enemy Lover. Yay! And a friend, whom I gave an author's copy to, loves, loves. loves it! It means a lot to me because she adored The Empath and couldn't wait for Damian's story, and liked this one better. She sighed over Damian.

The books are connected, but you don't have to read The Empath before reading Enemy Lover.


CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

"Damian Marcel, Draicon of his pack, is looking for his draicara, his life mate.
After she tried to kill him, it’s a wonder he would want to find her for anything but revenge but he knows she is the one who is the other half of his soul. Now he has tracked her to New Orleans and longs to make his claim.
Jamie Walsh believes Damian killed her brother and fled after her attempt to kill him with a poison kiss spell led her to New Orleans. The last thing she wants is to see Damian again so she is none too pleased when he arrives at her door at the same time she is secretly thrilled.

Trouble is far from over when Damian discovers Jamie has been bespelled with the deadly granite spell. Her body is slowly turning to stone and any use of her magick only speeds up the dark spell. Damian and Jamie have one chance to save her – an ancient book of magick that contains a spell to save her. However, the Morphs want the book also, to put to use the dark black magick spells contained within. Time will tell who reaches the book first but that is the one thing Jamie doesn’t have. Unless the magick of the life mate bond can help her…

Damian and Jamie are perfect complements to one another, which made the enmity Jamie feels for Damian in the beginning so shocking. We all know they are meant for one another, as does Damian, but watching them fight the attraction provided plenty of tension. I love the bits of humor we find throughout which keep the story from becoming too dark. Jamie is a techno-geek who is addicted to gaming and Damian has been around so long he can’ even figure out something as simple as a basic cell phone. This made for some lively moments that bring you to chuckle. Add that to the usual conflicts between a very powerful Alpha male whose protective instincts are in full swing and a strong willed, stubborn and independent female and you know there is going to be more than one explosion.

The sense of impending doom is quite pervasive from the first page. The Morphs are growing stronger and bolder as well as more desperate as they try to stop Damian and Jamie. Of course the ever present stone spell leaching away Jamie’s life adds intensity as well. As if that wasn’t enough, we also find some very dark stories involving Damian’s brothers and Jamie’s distant family from her childhood.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Empath when I read it last year and I was intrigued by Damian’s story from the first moment I met him in the midst of the secrecy surrounding him. So I was quite excited to get his story at last in Enemy Lover and find out what really happened. In fact, I liked Enemy Lover even more than The Empath. The whole premise of Jamie’s plight was fascinating and I love the originality of the stone spell dooming her. When Jamie finally learns the truth about what really happened the day Damian killed her brother her emotions are quite powerful, especially in light of some of the other revelations about Jamie we discover. You will definitely want to pick this one up as soon as it is available. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed one bit by Enemy Lover."
Kelley A. Hartsell


Cataromance, 5 stars!

"The spellbinding interweaving of the supernatural, passion and emotion found throughout ENEMY LOVER bring out the innermost sentiments of the reader.

With compellingly fascinating scenes and numerous appealing characters, ENEMY LOVER delivers a superb story which will touch your heart and keep you totally engrossed. Bonnie Vanak has crafted a paranormal tale with masterful storytelling, where emotions are explosively expressed and desires are never far from the surface.

As the Alpha of a Draicon werewolf pack, Damian Marcel vows Jamie Walsh will be his one day, as he knows she is fated to be his mate even if she is human. Things did not go well for them when they met previously, as Jamie is now hiding from the man she tried to kill after she witnessed him taking part in the murder of her brother.

However, Damian has tracked her to New Orleans, his childhood home, and has learned some very disturbing news about her. It seems in her quest to possess some magick of her own, a stone spell was deliberately cast upon her by an enemy of the Draicons. This dark magic will cause her to physically turn into granite, where her mind will still live eternally.

Although she is drawn to the commanding werewolf, Jamie feels she can never give her trust or heart to the one responsible for killing her brother. When Damian says he will do what is needed to save her from this fatal spell, she finds herself closely working with him to find the very old Book of Magick which hopefully contains a healing cure. Unfortunately, the Morphs, former Draicons who use dark magic for self gain, also want the book for their nefarious purposes. As clues to the whereabouts of the book are discovered, Damian and Jamie begin to comprehend what destiny has in story for them.

Regardless of the premise, the stories by Bonnie Vanak capture the reader’s imagination. There is always a memorable cast of characters, and the plot is constantly enthralling. For her second Nocturne book, Ms. Vanak continues with the intriguing saga behind her werewolf stories and brings it convincingly to life. The paranormal elements are smoothly blended in with what is considered normal, and every instant of the story seems entirely conceivable. Werewolves are one of my favorite supernatural beings as I admire their loyalty and the fervor which is shown toward their mates and packs, and this trait is portrayed to its fullest by this skilled author.

The determination of Damian to watch over the members of his pack plus the woman who is his mate is depicted with an unbending resolve, and the reason behind his doggedness is touchingly conveyed through several poignant scenes. As more comes to be known about this powerful werewolf leader and his destined mate, Jamie, their futures became very important to me, and the frequently heart-pounding incidents surrounding these two filled with both physical and emotional anguish made the outlook very uncertain.

Before the gratifying conclusion of this story, readers will be treated to frightening suspense, moments where potent feelings are expressed and even some blazingly hot love scenes. There are quite a few secondary characters who are extremely likable, and I hope they get their own story one day. The vivid imagery in ENEMY LOVER will make you want to believe every mesmerizing detail in this rewarding story." Amelia Richard

Hump Day Hunk

Hooked on Torsos lately. Is that like being hooked on phonics?

This month I'm running a contest to celebrate the November release of my werewolf Nocturne, ENEMY LOVER. Pop on over to Fresh Fiction to enter, and you could win an autographed copy of my first Nocturne, The Empath, which is out of print.

Click here for the Enemy Lover contest.

Happy October!

Hump Day Hunk

The RIGHT kind of pirate...

Yar.

Can't go wrong with Orlando Bloom and Pirates of the Caribbean. Yo, ho, ho. Let me help you hoist your anchor, matey.

Hump Day Hunk

Nocturne author Michele Hauf has a cute blog topic for June. Michele was the launch author for the new Nocturne BITES e-book stories.

Each day she's featuring a guest author and her... toes. I'll be a guest author on her blog, Dusted, and have to figure out what kind of toe pix I'll offer.

IN the meantime, in honor of the month of toes, I offer this Hump Day Hunk. Isn't he precious? I'd rather stare at his, er, appendages ....hmmmm

Hump day hunk

I love this photo of Alain Delon, a famous French actor. Without the cigarette, he's a great model for the hero I'm writing now. Very intense, brooding and filled with inner torment.

I realized today that I am at 26,500 words and still need the 30,000 goal before I can enjoy North & South and DH told me he is working all tomorrow night. So... quality writing time. All alone, with the dogs snoozing, and I can't sleep anyway until he comes home so what else can I do?

Write. And then maybe I can reach the goal and finally treat myself. I need a treat. It's been a challenging week... stressful with the FIL being ill and now out of the hospital... but in rehab. One day at a time.

Which is one reason I'm not doing much promo this month for The Scorpion & the Seducer, which releases April 29. I am mailing a newsletter and hopefully will make RT in Pittsburgh, but that's it. I realized that the most precious asset I have is time, and there is only so much I can do to promo this book. I'm almost at a point where I'm thinking, "Enough." If people buy it, they buy it. If it tanks, it tanks.

You might say I'm adapting a Zen attitude toward my book. It clears the air for me to quit worrying about one item in my life and concentrate on the OTHER things I worry about, lol

The Lady & the Libertine has been a tough book to write so far, and I'm not sure why. Either the interruptions or the book itself, or maybe the characters keep shifting and changing. They're more complex than I originally intended. I did invent a new male character and a new Egyptian tribe in the context of the plot, and I'm curious to see how Kamil develops. He's a sheikh's son and the tribe raids other tribes in the ancient rite of "marriage capture," only it's done with the permission of the raidees. Kamil's tribe lacks marriagable women and he's a sheikh's son who needs to marry.

There's a moving scene in which he goes to choose Karida, the heroine in Lady & the Libertine and at the last minute, turns away, leaving her standing there with her hand outstretched. It's going to be a metaphor for other key moments in the book... her hand outstretched, always reaching for what she can't have, and then finally, grasping the one thing she finally realizes she can have and she does need.

Anyway, I'll see if I can make some progress on this book tomorrow night. It's very challenging to concentrate lately, but if I'm to make this deadline I have to keep up with my writing goals. Life always has interruptions and emergencies and a mini-crisis, but the writing must go on. All I can do is try.

Hump Day Hunk

Looks like the cover to a romance novel, huh?

Speaking of cover models, there will be plenty at the Romantic Times convention next month in Pittsburgh. RT asked me to join their blogging team to liveblog my observations/experiences from the convention.

Adrian Paul will be there. I've drooled over him ever since watching him in The Highlander. Kilts, sigh...

Hump Day Hunk

Love a man in uniform. This is Ben Barnes, who plays Prince Caspian in the upcoming CHRONICLES OF NARNIA this May. Can't wait for that movie.

Speaking of knights in heavy amour, er, armor, DH and I went to the Renaissance Festival. We actually went out and took time to enjoy ourselves. As I'm looking over the map, this guy on stilts bends over and asks, "May I help you, my lady? Are you looking for something?"

I glance up and say, "Yeah. My virginity. I lost it a long time ago and can't find it. Any ideas?"

He stares, grins and laughs. DH shakes his head. He is used to me, after all, after 12 years of marriage and me blurting out things like that to complete strangers in public places. I love that man. Happy VD day tomorrow, honey.

I'm tied up now and can't get to the phone

But if you leave your name and number, I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Hump Day Hunk

Haven't done one of these in a while. I've fallen behind in blogging, as I'm trying to get things done before I leave for Nicaragua next week for a work trip. This is Victor Webster, who played Phoebe's (I think) boyfriend on Charmed the last season. Definitely hunk material.

I'm crushed about Heath Ledger. What a talented, vibrant young actor. I loved his role in The Patriot, and the scene where he rides off with ink on his teeth was just too sweet for words. Too young. Too damn young. :-(

Hump Day Hunk

Everyone join with me now in chanting, DROP THE TOWEL, DROP THE TOWEL, DROP IT!

Hee hee. Have a great Hump Day!

Hump Day Hunk

Getting down to the wire with the book due Dec. 1. It's almost done. So close, so close. My brain is functioning on Cheerios and 4 hours sleep. But it's Wed and I need to do a hump day hunk. So here's Christian, Portrait of Man In Tub. Sometimes showing no body can be very sexy.

Doesn't it look like he's saying, "Get in the tub now before I come out and get you?" I just wanna play with his rubber ducky. Hee.

Hump Day Hunk

"A large shadow detached itself from a tree and approached. She smelled forest, pine. Nicolas. A band of moonlight caressed his naked body.

Her hungry gaze roved over his powerful chest, the sculpted muscles banding his arms and legs.

“What are you doing out here?”

His deep voice seemed thick and husky. Maggie stood and faced him.

“Waiting for you.”

She knew what would happen. Though she was a little afraid, her instincts urged her forward.

“Are you ready for me?” she whispered.

The dark hunger on his face gave her the answer.

Nicolas held out a hand. “Come inside, Maggie,” he softly ordered. “It’s time. It’s long past time.”

He waited, his palm outstretched. Maggie took his hand as he led her inside. Nicolas closed the door behind her. Turned around, an intent expression marking his face. Dark, hungry. His body taut, coiled energy ready to spring.

A little shiver went through her. He meant to take her. Tonight. Here. Now. He would not be denied his mate any longer. " From my Dec. Nocturne, THE EMPATH. Saw it last night at Books-a-Million. It's out! Also available on e harlequin and Barnes and Noble.