THE BACKSTORY

From the time we announced the final Red Rock ebook in 2009, people have been asking us when we'd go back to the Sanctuary world and write more about werewolves and their witch rivals.  In the beginning we didn't want to return--we had our four books and our two prequel novellas, and those were the stories we had to tell.  But people kept asking, and we kept saying, "Well, what if...okay, no, but maybe if..."

A watched pot never boils, and I'm starting to think a watched plot is the same way.  The harder we tried to force ourselves to come up with the right story, the more they slipped away.  Finally we set the idea aside for a while, reluctantly admitting that maybe it had been too long in any case.  We'd missed our window.  It was time to work on other--

BOOM!  That was our idea, knocking us head over heels.  It hit us so hard we sat down and wrote Haunted Sanctuary instead of the book we were supposed to be writing.   It wasn't the story we'd originally imagined.  It takes place in a new town, with a new cast of characters, and is set several years after the end of Red Rock Pass.  You don't have to be familiar with any of the previous books to pick up Haunted Sanctuary...

...but hey.  Any excuse to give away books is good for us!

THE BLOG TOUR

Thanks to the generosity of Samhain Publishing--and with the assistance of many awesome bloggers--we get to spend the next twenty days giving away 80 ebooks!  Those of you who haven't read the Red Rock Pass books will have twenty different chances to win the entire set in the ebook format of your choice.

In honor of that, we're going to be revisiting some of our favorite scenes from each of the four books...and maybe showing a few sneaky peeks at the next chapter in the Sanctuary Universe!

TODAY'S SNIPPET

Sanctuary Lost: Power Games
aka A Dominant Wolf & a Newly Turned Beta
Walk Into a Bathroom...

Abby was a quiet woman who found a tremendous inner strength as a wolf.  Brynn is a strong and stubborn woman turned under less than optimal circumstances, one who was shocked to discover that a strong will doesn't necessarily translate to an alpha wolf. 

In the world of Red Rock Pass, there are dominant wolves and subordinates, alphas and betas.  And in all things, there are blurry lines.  Subordinates who find the strength to defy those with stronger magic, and dominants who lack that spark of leadership that makes it so hard to fall into place behind someone.

Sometimes the lines are fuzzy for Brynn and Joe, but sometimes they're very, very clear...

* * *

“Okay.” She turned her face into his neck as he started up the stairs, and he could hear her heartbeat quicken. “You feel different,” she whispered hoarsely.

He knew exactly what she meant, because the awareness burned in him too. Before, his wolf had all but ignored her, taken a calm survey of her and noted that Joe’s attraction to her had nothing to do with him. Now, he could feel that instinctive part of him studying everything about her, the way she moved and breathed. The way she looked at him.

She shuddered in his arms and he felt cracks form in the wall of blankness. “I want things I shouldn’t want. Everything’s so loud and bright and you smell so good.”

The wolf rose up, his interest piqued. “Shower, Brynn.”

“Shower.” Her breath skittered hot against his neck. “I feel weird.”

Having hard, instinct-fueled sex in Keith’s shower wasn’t an option. “Do we need to go home?”

“I don’t know. I don’t—” Her rigid control slipped again, and he got a taste of the tangled mix of emotions just under the surface. She might cling to the numb shock that kept the world in focus, but the wolf paced impatiently inside, waiting for her chance. She was strong, not in the way Abby was, not dominant, but the call of the moon or the brutal way she’d been changed had smothered Brynn’s humanity under something dark and primal.

When he got to the bathroom, he set her down and twisted the knob to turn on the shower. “How warm?”

She didn’t answer. When he glanced back he found her studying her hands as if she didn’t recognize them, both held out in front of her and shaking a little. Her gaze jumped up to meet his, and she closed her hands into fists. “I’m not human.”

Even though his own circumstances had been vastly different, he still remembered the feeling of not belonging in your own skin anymore. “No, sweetheart. You’re not.”

Brynn tilted her head back and screamed, and an overwhelming wave of pain and fear hit him, followed by blinding, uncontrolled rage.

He caught her face between his hands and kissed her hard. It was the only thing he could think of, the only way to distract her from her terrifying loss of control. It was possible to stop her change with his own energy, but he was exhausted after the events of the previous night. “Stay with me, Brynn,” he whispered against her lips. “Fight it.”

The snarl that left her lips raised the hair on the back of his neck. Her teeth caught his lower lip and she bit him as she raked her nails down his chest, a flirtatious challenge from the wolf inside her.

The scratches burned, but he barely noticed it as his instincts took over. Her back hit the tile wall, and he growled low in his throat, his mouth hovering a mere inch over hers.

Her eyes fluttered open. “I want you to do things to me that would have scared me yesterday.” Emotion clogged her voice, made it husky, and because of the bond he knew it was a mixture of confusion and lust.

He knew what she wanted. Strength, domination… All the things she’d only flirted with as a woman would be things the wolf inside her craved. “Not now.” His words were forceful because he knew her wolf would listen. “Right now, we’re taking a shower.”

* * *

THE CONTEST

Leave a comment to if you'd like to be entered to win a set of the Red Rock Pass ebooks!  And keep an eye open for the new book, Haunted Sanctuary, on sale January 22nd from Samhain Publishing and available to pre-order at Samhain, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, iTunes & Books on Board!

Hello there!  I’m Bree, one half of the paranormal romance writing duo of Moira Rogers, and I’m on a wild and crazy blog tour talking about dangerous men and the women who love them. And I’m not just talking about their heroines—I mean all the women who love them, including those of us who read & write about them!  That’s why I’m here with an excerpt from Keeping Company With Bloodhounds, a book that gives all the dirty details about those dangerous warriors. (Even if it only exists in the fictional world of the Bloodhounds.)

As our blog tour adventure draws to a close, I thought it would be fun to end where we started--with gossip.  While Leatrice Kettering is only a figment of our imaginations, it has been fun to send her on tour, and I'm hoping that some day we'll find a way to sneak her into a future story about the Bloodhounds. 

After all, she seems pretty on top of all the latest gossip.  You have to figure she's around somewhere...or has a very good source.  ;)

Chapter 18 - The Latest News

As our time together draws to a close, dear reader, it seems only natural to leave you with some of the most recent stories that have come to my attention, many of which came to pass during the time I spent penning this book.  

Whispers run wild along the border that one popular bloodhound has not only taken a mate, but has gone so far as to all but hold the Inventor’s Guild hostage to force them to recognize her among their ranks.  If the rumor is true, it serves only to underscore what I have claimed from the start--a mated hound will defend his love against any obstacle.

A reliable source has confided that at least one bloodhound has taken his mission so much to heart that he continues to live in the town he once protected as Sheriff--even though the townsfolk fled to safer homes many years ago. 

One bloodhound hero of considerable repute has disappeared from public view.  He's said to be on an important mission, protecting a secret outpost deep in vampire territory.  Perhaps the Guild has not abandoned as much of the frontier as we'd feared.

* * *

Read more about Moira Rogers & the Bloodhounds series at http://www.moirarogers.com/bloodhounds  Book #3 in the series, Archer’s Lady, is available on July 3^rd, 2012.

* * *

Crux
(Southern Arcana #1)

Author:  Moira Rogers

Publisher:  Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

Release Date: 3/4/09

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Source: Author Provided Ebook

Buy: Amazon and Barnes & Noble

On the run from a crazy man claiming they are destined to have magical babies that will save their shape shifting race from extinction, Mackenzie finds herself in New Orleans, working in a bar owned by a wolf shifter.

Jackson was asked by his shape shifter friend, Mackenzie’s boss, to follow her home so she could make sure she has a safe place to stay. When it’s clear to Jackson that not only does she not have a safe place to stay but she’s in the worst neighborhood in town, he offers her his help. But things aren't as they seem and just keep getting stranger and stranger the more answers they get.

Now facing an incredibly powerful enemy and an incredible attraction to each other they must decide how much they trust each other and how far they are willing to go to be together.

I really enjoyed this book, it was quite the page turner for me. Moira Rogers gives us a slightly different take on shifters and magic in this first book in the Southern Arcana series. It's well written and the characters were very well thought out entertaining. I fell in love with this world they've built for us and I couldn't help but love the characters too. I was very drawn to Kenzie and Jackson, I so badly wanted things to work out for them. And I felt so bad for Kenzie in what she had to go through, talk about a shock to find out that you were never who you thought you were. Jackson is great for her too, if you ask me. He just fit so well with her. 

I've seen people say this is Urban Fantasy and some have said it's paranormal romance, I think it's both. It's full of mystery and darkness, even a bit of horror but it's also go the sexy romance and action you would expect in a romance. Very enjoyable. I'm very much looking forward to reading more from this series and even this author (or authors). I give this book 4 moons and I would recommend it to any lovers of PNR and Urban Fantasy. 

Author:  Moira Rogers

Publisher:  Samhain Publishing, Ltd

Release Date:  6/21/2011

Genre:  Paranormal Erotic Romance

Source: Amazon (Bought)

Buy: Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Kisri is the second novella in the ...and the Beast series and I have to say the best so far! In the first one we met the leader of the wolves and his mate Sabine. In this second one we meet Kisri a royal blooded Lion shifter who finds her mate in her uncles First warlord Ennon.

The war between species is now over and Ennon, being the High lord's First Warlord holds the task of seeing to the disbandment and journey home of the soldiers. While still at camp Ennon's soldiers find a woman hidden among them and immediately bring her to him. To his surprise it's his High lord's niece and he now holds the responsibility of returning her safely to her uncles care.

Kisri has been running from men who want to conquer her to gain all of the power and riches that come with being her mate but she refuses to take a mate that only wants to control her. When she's brought to Ennon and left in his care she finds she feels safe with him and from there grows something she's never known before...love.

I love short reads like this! I have days where I need to read something fast just because I need a happy ending to make my day feel better. This definitely did that for me. I managed to read it within a couple of hours, which was exactly what I had wanted. There was love and conflict and the sex was pretty good too! The characters were well thought out and there was enough action to keep me interested. I'll definitely be looking forward to another story in this series and I very much hope there will be more!