Quick and Quirky Questions for #MFRWauthor Louisa Masters @EllorasCave

MEET Louisa Masters
Louisa lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she has a long-standing love affair with the sensual pleasures of life: wine, bubble baths, ice-cream and books. Nothing gives an illicit thrill like reading a sexy story on the train while those around you are oblivious. Get into a sexy state of mind and feel that thrill with Louisa’s books!

www.louisamasters.com  |  facebook

If money were not an object, where would you most like to live?
Hee hee! If money were not an object, I would have no fixed address. I might have a base of operations in Melbourne, because that's where my family is, but I'd spend most of the year traveling, setting myself up in different but equally amazing cities around the world for months at a time.

What is your secret guilty pleasure? 
Erm - it's not so much a secret, but I have an ongoing love affair with food that's not good for me. I have been known to be secretive about its consumption, because if nobody knows, it never happened!

If you were on a reality show, what one would it be?
I'm going to be boring with this one, and choose something in the home renovations line. I'm not a terribly adventurous person, so anything that involves perilous activity is automatically off the list!

City life or country life?
City, definitely. Although I'd like to have access to the country for the occasional weekend escape.

Zebras or elephants?
If I don't say zebras, my sister-in-law may hurt me. She has a weird thing for them, and she may be tiny, but she's fierce. So, um, zebras. Although I do love the shape of elephants' ears....

Ebook or paperback? 
This is an impossible question! While I love the convenience of ebooks, and the way they've opened the market to so many possibilities, I also love being able to hold a paperback, flip through the pages - and most importantly for me, check the ending is a happy one (I know a lot of people are horrified by that). I also love being able to pick up a paperback and read the blurb. You just can't do that with ebooks. Having said that, I read almost exclusively in ebook format these days, just because I have no room for more paperbacks.

Picture yourself as a store. Considering your personality and lifestyle, what type of products would be sold there? 
Books. Lots of books. Ice cream, chocolate and pastries. Shoes - but only pretty ones.
And probably stationery, because who can resist paperclips in a dozen colors?

Louisa's latest book is Irish Allure: 
a book in the Emerald Isle Fantasies series
Contemporary Erotic Romance
Ellora's Cave

Jillian is planning a wedding for the bride from hell—who suddenly decides to move the event to Ireland with less than a month to go. Lucky for Jillian, the groom’s brother is available to lend a hand.

Sexy, charming Fin clearly has more on his mind than just helping Jillian with the wedding. But she knows Bridezilla will not tolerate the hired help consorting with her future brother-in-law. Jillian can’t risk being blackballed, so it’s seriously hands off Fin, no matter how irresistible he is and how energetically he pursues her. If only Castle Tullamore weren’t so romantic—and if only she could stop tearing off his clothes every time she gets into that antique elevator with him.

BUY LINK

EXCERPT

Someone cleared their throat behind her, and a shudder ran down her spine. Surely she couldn’t be this unlucky?Turning, she smiled weakly. “Hi, Fin.”“Jillian.” He raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t seen you for a while. Were you waiting?” He gestured at the lift, door open, and she flushed. Of course he’d catch her daydreaming about him.“Er.” She stepped into the elevator. “I was—distracted.” He followed her in and pushed the button for his floor, then hers. The door closed.Her fingers started to itch. His hair looked so soft. She wanted to run her hands through it, tug a little, use her grip to guide his head down…Fuck it…

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Just One Friend by #MFRWauthor @juneshaw and Grandkids too!

Just One Friend

June Shaw, Brooke & Caroline Naquin
Mainstream (PG13) Young Adult Dystopian
BUY LINK

After warfare destroyed most of the country, only one area remains where people can survive. Because of limited food and space, the leaders decreed that each person is allowed to have only one friend. 

A teenage girl believes things should be otherwise. 

Sixteen-year-old Alabama Long keeps her head high, even with the heavy metal ball the Guards chained to her back. She feels the eyes of Tellers on her as she’s led down the dirt road to the old stadium, where a scanner checks the device implanted in her heel and wants the name of her friend. Her grandmother who’s raised her is the only person she can speak to freely while inside their dwelling, but why not one or more of those other teen girls she performs with? Or the Teller boy who watches her with a different kind of interest? Soon she’s thrust into realizing that the scruffy mutt who tries to jump hurdles with her will become the catalyst to send her and her friend and maybe one of the two boys who show interest in her to discover a better place—or their cruel deaths. 

BUY LINK

EXCERPT
    “You don’t trust him,” Gram says.
    “How can we have confidence in someone whose job is spying on citizens and reporting infractions of its rules?”
   “Alabama, he has to do some job he’s given.”
   “I can’t believe you’re saying that and suggesting he can be believed.”
   Her eyes soften. “He seems to like you.”
   “Yes, he probably already reported me for escaping This Place.” I find a boulder near a small clearing. “Sit there, Gram. I’ll take this patch of grass.”
   She settles on the rock and I lay Mutt across my legs. The burnt side of his leg looks raw. White inflammation rims the burn’s edges.
   Sad-eyed, she nods. “Is he alive?”
   I was ready to check for his breathing before she asked, but I’d wanted to steel myself.  This raggedy dog across my lap has become even closer than a friend.
   “The rock’s moving!” Gram yells. The boulder she sits on has come to life.
    “Jump away from it!” I scramble, pulling her off the thing.
    Unwrapping itself, the boulder unfolds jagged edges. Its arms stretch out two feet, its legs shorter. It’s dark gray with a flat head and long fat snout. This boulder creature’s eyes are pinpoints without lashes. It snaps razor-like teeth and lunges at me.
    “Alabama, run!” Gram calls, but I can’t leave her and Mutt.
    “I’ll kill it.” I jump aside as the thing comes for me, and I skim the ground for a make-shift weapon. There’s nothing but a tiny rock and small bush.
    Using a branch I break from the bush, I aim for its eye, but they are too small and I miss. The boulder creature’s snout widens and doubles in length while it whips its head toward Gram and releases a roar that shakes the ground.
    “No, come for me.” I’ll leap on its back and with the power and twisting motion I use before tossing the shot put, try to snap its neck. I take a step closer.
    It widens its mouth. Releasing a bellow my ears can barely stand, the thing scrambles at me.
    I’ll have only a second to throw myself on its back.
    Gram screams. I can’t stop to consider consequences.
    The creature’s howls reverberate through the forest. It whips its head back and forth, and I’m surprised to find edges of its neck sharp. The skin on its back feels smooth and almost impossible to hold onto. The muscles beneath me are thick. Rock hard. This devil I’m riding bucks, trying to throw me off. It snarls and twists its head, aiming rows of deadly teeth at me.
    The twisting and bucking throw me off balance, and the creature doesn’t have ears I can grab onto.
I push my hand and slip my fingers up on its head to poke out its eyes. My hand slides back, its head moving too fast for me to reach there.

ABOUT June Shaw, Brooke & Caroline Naquin
June Shaw has written humorous mysteries and books in other genres. She represents Louisiana on the board of Mystery Writers of America's Southwest Chapter and is the Published Author Liaison for Romance Writers of America's South Louisiana chapter.

Her teen granddaughters are avid readers who wanted to write a book with her. All three of them loved Hunger Games, so it was easy for them to decide on a genre.

READ June's Blog!

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Her Immortal Viking by #MFRWauthor @Adele_Downs

Her Immortal Viking

Adele Downs
Boroughs Publishing Group

Divine intervention. That’s all Penny asks. Freedom from overwork and mountainous debt. She sings songs of praise, chants like a yogi, and rubs her belly like Buddha until the crystal charm on her navel shimmers, all hoping to draw the attention of someone—anyone—“up there.”

In the west, beyond the seas, from the place between Heaven and Earth, an immortal hears Penny’s cries. Once a renowned Viking warrior, Gunnar has been cast into eternal servitude by an angry god. Now, while Penny sleeps, he comes to Earth to grant her wishes. But Penny is about to wake up, and so is every desire she’s ever known. To claim their fairy-tale ending, Gunnar must find a way to clear his name. Not only must his sword arm and courage stay strong, but their powerful love must cross the divide of a thousand years.

BUY LINK

REVIEWS
""Once again, Adele Downs creates the perfect love story."" 5 Stars!
~Girl With Pen

""Downs' clever mashup of Viking elements and contemporary romance (and oh, the hot, hot Viking!) make this novella an absolute winner."" ~5 Stars! Words, Words, Words

EXCERPT

He smoothed her hair and rubbed a thick tendril between his thumb and forefinger. “I am Gunnar.” He pronounced the name Goo-nar.
An emblem of the sun, surrounded by a circle, had been branded on the back of his powerful hand. Penny touched the scar while he held a length of her hair, recognizing Freyr’s sacred insignia from her textbooks. “The pain must have been excruciating.” Without thinking, she lifted the old wound to her mouth and laid kisses along its perimeter before pressing a kiss to the icon inside.
Tremors vibrated across her lips when they touched the ancient symbol and her body tingled with the contact. The brand grew warm and then hot against her mouth, though it did not burn. She ran her tongue over the thick scars to erase the heat, and then licked the center, finishing with a tiny swirl.
Gunnar’s gasp of surprise was the last thing she expected when she lifted her head. He released her hair and drew away. 
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. Have I offended you?” 
She’d always been popular with men, and comfortable around them, but her behavior with Gunnar was bold, even for her. She sat up. “Am I under some kind of spell?”
Gunnar shook his head. “I used my powers to heal you, but your free will remains intact.”
She searched his face for clues about what to do next, because desire shone behind the wary expression in his eyes. Something else shone there, too. Gratitude. Penny waited for Gunnar’s reply without letting go of his disfigured hand. 
He said, “Kindness isn’t something I’m used to finding. Perhaps you’d be less inclined toward compassion if you knew what I’d done to deserve this brand of servitude.”
She reached out and draped an arm around his neck to bring him closer. Their gazes locked and held. Gunnar’s eyes were like pools of ice blue water that pulled her in and down.
Her breathing slowed while the sound of her heartbeat rushed blood through her ears. “I am Penelope. And if you’re from Alfheim, I know who and what you are. I just don’t understand why you’re here.” How could she deserve his rare, benevolent gifts? She was just an ordinary woman from an ordinary town, barely scraping by. 
His warm breath grazed her cheek in shallow rushes, lifting goose bumps across her skin. His wide, firm mouth smelled of sweet ground parsley and fresh-picked mint. “Sometimes we get what we need, simply because we ask. That’s the beauty and power of the unexpected.”

ABOUT The Author
Adele Downs writes best-selling contemporary romance inside the office of her rural Pennsylvania home. She is a former journalist, published in newspapers and magazines inside the USA, UK, and Caribbean.

Adele is an active member of Romance Writers of America and her local RWA chapter where she serves as a past-president. She has written several articles for RWR magazine (Romance Writers Report) and has presented workshops for writers.

When Adele isn’t working on her current project, she can be found riding in her convertible or reading a book on the nearest beach.

Find Adele Downs’ Books on Amazon!
Visit Adele Downs at http://adeledowns.wordpress.comLike Adele Downs on Facebook!
Friend Adele on Tsu!
Find Adele Downs on GoodreadsJoin Adele Downs’ Convertible Crew Street Team!