The Alpha's Captive: Cover and Blurb

Hope everyone is having an awesome Monday/Presidents day! My kids are out of school so I'm hiding up in my room trying to get some work done. I'm  finishing up on edits for The Alpha's Captive and starting on The Wolf's Runaway Tiger's edits.

As of right now the Nehalem Pack series has four books with release dates and I just submitted book five last week. I'm having a lot of fun writing this series. The characters really did come to life for me. The words flowed like water out of my brain through my fingertips and to my laptop. If you can't already tell I absolutely love these characters and the story line for each one.

The Nehalem Pack series is centered around three brothers, Devon, Viktor, and Erik. They're wolf shifters who are still dealing with the loss of their parents ten years prior. There's action, love, and a good amount of hope within this series for the characters. I haven't decided how many books this series will be but there are quite a few characters who deserve to have their story told.

Here is the cover and blurb for The Alpha's Captive. Its set to release March 16, 2013.

Blurb

Hunters have taken everything from Devon Carsten. First, they murdered his parents, and now they’ve taken his brother. With no other options left, Devon decides an eye for an eye, or in this case a brother for a son, is the best course of action, and he takes the son of the man who kidnapped his brother. But his plan blows up in his face when he realizes the man in question is his mate.

Aiden Stefano never imagined a weekend at home would start off with him being kidnapped by men claiming to be werewolves or that he would fall for one. Now he must find a way to convince Devon what they share is worth fighting for and prove to his father that wolves aren’t the monsters he believes them to be. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Aiden is the only thing Devon has to bargain with, but can he give up his mate to save his brother?

Here is a schedule of release dates for the three upcoming titles.

The Wolf's Runaway Tiger- March 30, 2013

His Dominant Omega- April 13, 2013

The Hunter's Sexy Wolf- April 27, 2013

Hope you've enjoyed this little tid-bit and will fall in love with these characters like I have.

Thanks for stopping by and happy reading!!!

AJ

Six Sentence Sunday

This is a little bittersweet. This is my first participation in Six Sentence Sunday but its also the last one that will be ran. An author friend of mine told me that Six Sentence Sunday was coming to an end and I had to do it just once. 

My six sentence are from an upcoming release that will come out in April of this year. Its titled The Alpha's Captive, book one in the Nehalem Pack. It will be released through Siren. 

“What do you want with my dad?”

The uncertainty and fear in Aiden’s voice tugged at his soul but he trudged on. Daven’s attraction for the younger Stefano couldn’t get in the way of finding his brother.

“I’m looking for him because he’s one of the hunters that took my brother.” Daven couldn’t resist and placed his hand at that nap of Aiden’s neck. “And you will make for a good bargaining chip to get him back.”

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the other participating authors at Six Sentence Sunday.

It was a pleasure to take part in the last Six Sentence Sunday and it will be missed!

AJ Jarrett

Update

Its been a while since I've blogged but I've been quite busy. This is the time of year my kids are the busiest and I'm constantly playing catch up it seems. But I'm going to try and do better. I'll keep my fingers crossed. :-)

My latest release with Siren is Out of the Ashes. Its actually the first story I ever wrote. After a lot of editing Out of the Ashes really came together to be a story I absolutely love and am proud of. Its available at BookStrand.

I'll be participating in the Halloween Blog Hop. It runs from October 26th-29th. I'll be giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Card and any one of my books to one winner. If there are a lot of commenters I'll probably give out a few more copies of any one of my books.

On the writing front, I just finished writing book four of the Warriors of the Light series. I've changed the title to Garrett's Choice and to be honest I'm not a 100% set on that title. It's Lachlan and Garrett's story. The series is moving right along and I've added a few more characters into the fold.

I've had some inquires on who's book is next and its hard to say. I'm only one person and can only write one book at a time. I jump from project to project at times but still I'm only one person. In saying that, Carter and Abner's story will over lap with Lawson and his mate's story and will most likely be followed by Trevor and Quinn's. Certain things need to happen to carry on the story line and I know most people are waiting for Trevor's story but the time frame in the books is close together. Where it might take me months to write, submit, and edit a story its only a few days or weeks in the story. I hope that makes since. I try to say within the story how long its been the last story because I know I like to know those facts when I'm reading a story that's part of a series.

If anyone has any questions about the series feel free to email me or comment below. My thoughts sometimes come out scrambled but I do promise there is a method to my madness.

Hope everyone has a great week and happy reading!!!

AJ

Book Cover for Logan's Rattler

There's nothing better than checking your email and seeing that you have cover art in there. I received the book cover or Logan's Rattler today. It's book three in the Warriors of the light series. This book centers around Finn, a rattlesnake shifter, and Logan a human that isn't as human as he thought.

Here is an unedited blurb for this book. Enjoy!

All Logan ever wanted in life was stability and a place to call home. He thought he found that until he finds himself with the psychic ability to listen in on other people’s inner most thoughts. After hearing the dark desires of his current boyfriend, Logan takes off traipsing through the woods abandoning all hope of every finding true love, when he stumbles upon a man that will change his very existence.

Finn has every reason to dislike witches after being turned into a rattlesnake shifter without any knowledge of the paranormal world until meeting the Warriors of the Light. Finn, like most, has waited patiently to find his mate and now that he’s found Logan he has no intentions of ever letting him go even if Logan is part witch.

An unforeseen enemy is after Logan’s body to host another’s soul. Will Finn be able to prevent this evil plot or will Logan be lost to him forever?

I'm going through edits on this little gem right now. Still looking to release in September at Siren-Bookstrand. I'll post more info as it comes in. 

Thanks for stopping by and happy reading!

AJ

Hop Against Homophobia

Hello to everyone and welcome to the Hop Against Homophobia. This the first time I’ve written a blog posting like this and I really didn’t know what I should discuss. Over 250 authors are participating in this hop and you’ll probably read a variety of postings. I just hope my can compare.

ho·mo·pho·bia noun \ˌhō-mə-ˈfō-bē-ə\

Definition of HOMOPHOBIA:

Irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals

I felt it was important to put the definition as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary at the beginning of my post. Some people aren’t aware of the extent of the definition and a small reminder never hurt. I’m sure at one point or another we ourselves or someone we know has displayed homophobic behavior and it was probably unwittingly done. But today is a new day and a fresh start. We as a whole can spread the word and put an end to this irrational fear, aversion, discrimination against homosexuality. The GLBT community cant to it alone. We’re all a part of the human race and should be treated as such.

I’m a strong believer in everything starts at home. How we we’re raised and how we raise are children are a big factor on the adults our children will turn out to be. I’m the proud mother four very energetic children who I’ve been raising to not look at others differences. Be it the color of their skin, if they wear glasses, have a speech problem, brown hair versus blond hair, learning disability, and even who a person chooses to love. My response to my children when they question another individual for being different is always the same. If we were all the same the world would be an extremely boring place.

Here’s a little story about my ten year old daughter Tatum. My little girl is very perceptive and as she gets older her father and I encourage her to ask questions if she doesn’t understand something and it led to this discussion at our local movie theater. I took my two oldest to see the Bully documentary and when it was over as we walked back to our car Tatum asked why the girl in the documentary was being bullied. I had to stop and explain to her that the young lady featured in the film was a lesbian. She told me she understood that but couldn't comprehended why the young lady was being picked on for that reason alone. Tatum told me the girl was just being herself and why should that bother anyone else. Part of me was proud that it didn't faze Tatum to even think for a second that someone should be treated differently for something like that. But with that came the heartbreak that I had to tell her that these are the hard truths of the world we live in. Discrimination is everywhere and we can’t protect our children from it all the time but we can teach them how to overcome it and to stand up to the bigots of the world who try to shove those hateful beliefs in our faces.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a woman and no, I’m not gay. So I can’t possibly understand the daily struggles the GLBT community goes through. And as a writer in the M/M genre I’ve been asked how can I possibly know what I’m talking about? Simple answer to that is love is love. Be between a man and a woman, man and a man, or woman and a woman. Being gay doesn’t make a person any different than a straight person. We’re all people in this big world just trying to live our lives and find love along the way without judgment from others.

I don’t have a solution for this problem but I wished I did. Compassion and understanding is what this world needs more of and I truly do believe each and every person can make a difference. There are organizations out there to give support and help to those in need. I do believe it all does get better and as a parent I wholeheartedly stand by that belief. Never give up hope!

This is a blog hop so I will be having a giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment with a valid email address so I can contact you. I’ll be selecting three winners and they can have their pick of any of my books. The hop runs from May 17th-20th. Now run off and read my fellow authors postings. Understanding and knowledge is what will make us stronger as a community!

The TREVOR Project

Erica Pike: An Author Worth Reading

Hello! I hope everyone’s having a great Tuesday. I'll be spending mine at the zoo with child number three for his kindergarten field trip. Spring in Missouri is as fickle as ever. But according to he weather man the storms should be moved out by the morning and sun shiny skies. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Okay, on to more important things than the weather. Just recently I discovered a new to me author. Her books are so well thought out with characters you can’t help but fall for. She writes a vulnerability to the men in her stories that had me feeling their pain when times weren’t so good for them. That spark of emotion she adds to her writing hooked me from the first page.

I bet you’re all wonder who this author is that I’ve gone all fan girl on. That would be Ms. Erica Pike. We belong to some of the same yahoo groups and one day I landed on an excerpt for Hot Hands. That was it! Not soon after I went and bought Grade-A-Sex Deal and The Walls Have Ears. These books are part of her College Fun and Gays series.

The stories are short in length and I know how some people complain about that. Not me. Quite frankly I prefer stories that aren’t super long. Because folks, I’m a mother of four children under the age of ten, I work my regular job from home, plus I’m a writer as well. My time is always being stretched in so many different directions its saying a lot when a find an author I consider a must read and Erica Pike has become one of those.

With short stories people tend to question whether or not there was enough information given to become invested in the characters. I must say with Erica’s creativity in her writing she was able to paint the picture of the setting and characters flawlessly. And all the emotions came through loud and clear. I must say within such few pages Erica had me drawn into these men’s lives and I was rooting for them to get that happy ever after.

 

Each story is different but all have the same underlying theme and that is one character wanting love and never thinking they’re going to find it. And when they do find that love it comes from a person they never would have expected. Definitely gets your heart racing with that will they or won’t they type anticipation.

I highly recommend her books to any lover of M/M romances. Each story can be read as a standalone but I’d recommend reading them all. You’ll be happy you did!

 

Hot Hands  

This story is about a college student who is trying to overcome the fear he suffered through by the hands of fellow classmates when he was younger. Casper is a likable character who is just trying to live his life but gets sidetracked by a secret admirer with a case of grabby hands. This story is extremely fast paced. I was glued to my laptop until the very end. I found the whole mystery behind Casper’s admirer intriguing and then when I found out who the culprit was I was happy and a little outraged on Casper’s behalf. I don’t want to give away the story but a shocking ending.

Grade-A-Sex Deal 

Who hasn’t had an attraction to a teacher during their youth? Well this takes it one step further and shows the other side of when the teacher is more than willing to accept sex for a grade change. Mr. Corrigan is a heart breaking character whose life has changed all because he decided to be honest with himself and to the people who he thought cared for him. This story is actually pretty sad at times but hit on so many levels of what some people have probably actually gone through in their lives. What I liked about this story is just when you think you know what is going on, bam you get a very pleasant surprise. This is a story about love and hope. A very sweet and touching read.

The Walls Have Ears 

A case of mistaken identity is the theme in this installment. Harley is a young gay man with the hope of maybe just maybe finding a boyfriend and experiencing the things other men his age are. His infatuation with his neighbor goes from bad to worse when said neighbor falls for his roommate. It was saddening at first the pain poor Harley was going through but his crushes roommate, Tasha, swoops in to ease the heartache. As the reader I knew where this story was leading and at times I wanted to reach into my computer screen and slap a clue into Harley’s head. The ending is predictable but that’s not a bad thing in this story because what we as the reader know isn’t what the characters know. So when the truth and feelings come to light it’s a relief.

I’ve given just a smidge of how great this series is. By no means am I doing justice to Ms. Pike’s books. But I have become a fan and feel that any reader who loves M/M romance these books should definitely be on your TBR list. Like I said they are short but that’s the beauty of it. Yes the length is not super long but Ms. Pike writes so well you get the fulfillment as if you just read a six hundred page novel. Strong characters, believable conflicts, equal a series of books that will stay with this reader long after I finished the stories.

Thank you to Erica Pike for bringing these stories to life and I can’t wait to see where this series goes next!

Where you can find Erica Pike:

Twitter

Facebook  

Blog 

Good Reads 

Buy Links:

No Boundaries Press  

Amazon 

All Romance Ebooks 

Barnes and Noble

My Blogging Dilemma

I've come to the conclusion I'm the worst blogger ever. If I'm not forgetting to blog something, I'm not out gaining followers. But it all works out in the end without a ton of followers I have no one to disappoint so there you go.

Anyway off to what I've been pondering lately. I just read a  really good book, Who Better Than Canyon by DC Juris. Very entertaining read not riddled with sex scenes. Now I for one do love the sex scenes and many if possible, but it impresses me when an author can right a gripping love story without all that filler. This story had a few kisses between the leads but that was it. My point is the book was really good and I enjoyed it immensely.

Now the site I reviewed the book for had it in the erotic section. So naturally I asked if it should be put in the romance sections since their wasn't one single sex scene. I was told no because all GLBT books are put in the erotic section. Not a big deal and I totally respect how they place their books to be reviewed. It boils down to that some readers are still offended by gay couplings. I don't get it because a love story is a love story be it two women, two men, or a man and a woman.

Its funny that in this day and age people still have to walk on egg shells as to not offend anyone. Sex is sex and everyone is having one form of it, or at least I hope so. I looked up the definition of erotica and basically means to arouse sexual desire. Now I have read some books no matter what genre or pairing that are just a love story that didn't arouse any sexual thoughts in my mind.

All this is just my opinion and doesn't reflect anything on the web site I review for. I absolutely love the site and through them I get to read books by authors I wouldn't have been introduce to otherwise. I love to read and now I can write down what I thought of a certain book. Its fun but a struggle at times. Sometimes my creativity isn't always up to par and that just really sucks. To be a writer you need to keep those creative juices flowing sometimes easier said than done.

On my writing news I just submitted the second installment for the Twist of Fate series, Fate's Fortunate Mistake. Just waiting to hear back on that. I also submitted a Christmas story called The Christmas Elf. Its a short story only about eight thousand words. And I just have to say writing a short story is a lot harder to write than a thirty-five thousand piece of work, at least for me.

I'm constantly reading, writing, and spending time with my family. So in others words busy, busy, busy. But me being me I wouldn't have it any other way.