Donna Michaels with the STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES BLOG BOUQUET

Hello everyone!

I hope you're enjoying your trip around the 'rose garden' today! There is a lot of talent blooming and I'm happy to participate in this fun 'bouquet'!

My name is Donna Michaels and I'm grateful to The Wild Rose Press for publishing THANKS FOR GIVING back in 2006, which gave me my first sale! Since then, I've signed twelve more contracts with them.

Today I'd like to talk about my latest TWRP release: LEGEND OF THE FOURTH MOON/THE MARK OF GOREN. My first sci-fi romance and it's garnering great feedback! Phew! It's a relief when your 'baby' is as well received by others as it has been by you. lol

Here's the cover, blurb and an excerpt:




Legend of the Fourth Moon/The Mark of Goren
ISBN 1-60154-452-9
384 Pages /Sci-Fi Romance-Hot
Available Now in e-Book and Print
from The Wild Rose Press
Purchase
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Blurb

In the Andromeda Galaxy, XANDRA MONOCERROS, Princess of Lacerta, dreads the coming of the Fourth Moon. Every five years it appears, drawing death to someone dear. First her mother then her husband. Will this cycle take another loved one? Even worse, Lacerta is heading for the same implosion disaster as their ancestral planet Earth.

Seeking a solution, Xandra crosses paths with DARIUS VAN LAARS—the dangerous outlaw from her visions. Will their intense attraction dissuade Darius from carrying out personal revenge on the man key to saving Xandra’s planet? Can she save Lacerta or will she fall victim to the Legend of the Fourth Moon?

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Excerpt

“Sit, Princess,” he repeated. “Don’t think I won’t take off with you standing.”

Her gaze shot to the seats along the back wall, but she dismissed them. They’d make her feel like…royalty. The ship lurched. Bugger. He wasn’t kidding. She hopped into the chair next to him and barely had her belt fastened when he punched the thrusters and they shot from the planet.

Once they leveled out, her fingers loosened their grip to caress the arms of her chair. She smiled. They were safely in outer space. In a half hour, she’d be on Alshain and finally able to search for answers.

She glanced sideways at Darius. “Nice take-off.”

He kept his face averted.

“Don’t tell me you’re still mad?” Silence. “Come on. All I wanted was a ride to the planet where you were already heading.” Xandra sighed. “Jeez. Whoever claimed women are moody obviously never met you.”

A string of curses assaulted her ears before a large fist pounded a switch. The sound of metal scraping metal registered in her brain a moment before cold, hard shackles clamped her wrists and ankles to her seat. Tight.

“W-what are you doing?” She tugged and then tugged again, steel restraints biting into her skin. It was no use. She was immobile.

Darius remained silent.

She tried to lift her fingers to shock the metal and short the system, but there wasn’t enough room. Her throat dried. What now?

Autopilot button flicked on, he unstrapped himself and stood. Alarm raced down her spine. Why was he standing? There was no need for him to stand. Stay calm. Don’t panic. When he stopped in front of her and folded those massive arms across his chest her pulse didn’t understand calm. She looked up and gasped. Okay, now you can panic. An icy gray gaze squeezed her heart like a royal corset to her ribs.

Her fingers sought the knives sheathed at her wrists. No good. The shackles prevented access to them, too. What about magic? She chewed her lip. No. That would only render him unconscious and she would still be stuck in the chair.

“Give it up, Princess.” His cold tone frosted the air and tripped her heart. “You’re at my mercy now.”

Void of all emotion, the face of an outlaw stared down at her. She swallowed. Had she misjudged him?

“That’s right, Princess, you should fear me.” He grasped her wrist restraints and leaned in.

Heart hammering, she shrank back, but not from fright. His scent and warmth washed over her, bringing her to life with a delicious shiver. Gray eyes narrowed. He missed nothing.

Darn her body for betraying her mind. It responded to his nearness like an animal in heat. What was wrong with her? The stranger could be about to kill her and all she could think about was pressing into his hard muscles.

She closed her eyes. If she hadn’t witnessed him softening when Braedon spoke of Halo, Xandra would’ve sworn Darius only cared about Darius. But he had softened. Her eyes flew open. He won’t harm me.

Hot breath tingled her face. She gripped the arms of the chair and stared, mesmerized. He was so virile, so dangerous, so...sexy. Awareness ripped through her, peaking her nipples while her underlace dampened. Never had she experienced such a physical rush. She was losing control…fast.

She could use her magic on him, but didn’t. She wanted to break eye contact, but couldn’t. After what seemed like an eternity, he looked away. That brought no relief. Her chest warmed under his gaze and nipples hardened further. She had to end this.

But when he looked up, all thoughts of stopping flew into space like dust off the second moon. Eyes no longer frosty blazed with desire and ravaged her face. No man had ever looked at her with so much hunger. Saliva pooled in her mouth.

He was going to kiss her.

Xandra’s last coherent thought was if this was a dream—Natalia had better not wake her.

A grunt rumbled from deep in his throat as his lips came down on hers, swallowing her moan and the last of her inhibitions.

This was no vision. This was real.

Hot and demanding, his kiss rocked her core. They didn’t know each other in life or their dreams, but the second their flesh met, they knew heat. She wanted more, needed more and opened up to him. He accepted the invitation by cupping her face and deepening the kiss with a thrust of his tongue. A delicious scorching consumed her mouth and the burning flowed through her body, stinging a path to her middle. Intense sensations ravaged, and when he tipped his head for a better angle, she nearly lost it. Dark, needy sounds filled the cabin as she journeyed through unchartered erotic territory.

Xandra trembled.

Pulled in—taken over, hot liquid replaced her blood, growing hotter the longer they kissed. Her fingers curled into fists and she yanked, longing to hold his face and return his kiss with equal fervor. But steel restraints bit into her wrists. She couldn’t break free.

Darius didn’t seem to mind. His grip tightened and delicious assault continued.

Want guided her actions. Leaning forward, Xandra plundered his scalding mouth and devoured his answering groan. Empowered, she swept her tongue over his and sucked him further inside. A hot-icy tingling besieged her body as she rode the flow of stinging lava.

But something was wrong. Pleasure swiftly turned to pain.

Head aching, ears ringing, she tried to pull away but couldn’t break the flow. Intense pricking gripped her body like a swarm of bees. She clutched the chair, about to cry out when Darius tore his mouth from hers, taking away the severe prickling.

The unbearable sting remained.

“Damn it!” His faint words filtered through her foggy mind. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

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~Thanks for reading!

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Now comes the contest part!

I saved the debut of my LOTFM/TMOG trailer specially for today's fun blog roll so I could encorporate it into my contest. All you have to do is watch the trailer (I promise it's much easier to watch the short video (1:39 seconds) than it was to match the pictures with the beat. lol) when you're done, just follow the instructions below.




To win one free download of your choice from any of my titles, including LOTFM/TMOG, email the answer to this question:

What color eyes does the evil entity have?

See? Simple. Now, just email your answer to:
donna _michaels @ msn. com (minus spaces) with Rose Blog Bouquet Contest in the Subject line. Tomorrow morning (June23), I'll draw a random winner and post the name here so be sure to check back.

Before I send you on your merry way, I want to give you a heads up about the official LOTFM/TMOG Contest I'm holding in July with a designer handbag as the prize. In order for a chance to win, you'll need to read the story. Keep an eye on my website next month for all the details.

Speaking of websites, if you'd like to check out more of my titles and excerpts, please visit http://www.donnamichaelsauthor.com/

Okay, go have fun with the rest of the roses!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and good luck!

~Donna

Stop and Smell the Roses Blog Bouquet

All Day – Monday – June 22, 2009

A blog tour hosted by the authors of the Wild Rose Press.
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/

Visit one of the participating author's blogs, and then visit the rest. At every stop, leave a comment and be entered to win a prize from that author.

Participating Blogs

http://www.annwhitaker.blogspot.com/
http://www.bethcaudill.blogspot.com/
http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com/
http://www.catemasters.blogspot.com/
http://www.christinecolumbus.blogspot.com/
http://www.donnamichaelsauthor.blogspot.com/--Me
http://www.happyendingsblog.com/
http://www.kyannwaters.blogspot.com/
http://www.laurirobinson.blogspot.com/
http://www.lindabanche.blogspot.com/
http://www.lynnreynolds.blogspot.com/
http://www.marywritesromance.blogspot.com/
http://www.melanieatkins.wordpress.com/
http://www.missmaesite.blogspot.com/
http://www.nicolemccaffrey.blogspot.com/
http://www.plparker.blogspot.com/
http://romanticcravings.blogspot.com/
http://www.roniadams.blogspot.com/
http://www.sherilewiswohl.wordpress.com/
http://skypuringtonwrites.blogspot.com/