Monthly Archives: November 2013
Hoppin The Boxes Blog Tour ~ 11 – 18 November
Welcome to my stop for Hoppin the Boxes Today I’ll be featuring
Sibel Hodge
(see the giveaway tool at the bottom of the post!)
And now.. I present
Romantic Comedy Box Set (Helen Grey Series Books 1 & 2): Purchase Now: Amazon § Barnes § iTunes § Kobo § Smashwords
Two full length romantic comedy novels from bestselling author Sibel Hodge in a special discounted box set.
Think Bridget Jones meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding…
FOURTEEN DAYS LATER ~ Book 1
Fourteen Days Later was short listed for the Harry Bowling Prize 2008 and received a Highly Commended by the Yeovil Literary Prize 2009.
When accident-prone Helen Grey finds a thong stuffed into the pocket of her boyfriend’s best work trousers, it’s time for her to move on. His excuse that he needed to dust the photocopier and just thought that it was a rag sounds like a lame excuse.
Helen’s life is propelled in an unexpected direction after her best friend, Ayshe, sets her a fourteen-day, life-changing challenge. Helen receives a task everyday which she must complete without question. The tasks are designed to build her confidence and boost her self-esteem but all they seem to do is push her closer to Ayshe’s brother, Kalem.
How will Kalem and Helen get together when she’s too foolish to realize that she loves him? How can he fall for her when he is too busy falling prey to her mishaps and too in love with his own perfect girlfriend? How will Kalem’s Turkish Cypriot family react when they find out?
Is it really possible to change your life in fourteen days?
MY PERFECT WEDDING ~ Book 2
Helen Grey is finally getting everything she wants. She’s about to have the perfect dream wedding and begin an exciting new life abroad on the sunny Mediterranean island of Cyprus. But living the dream isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
After a mix-up at the airport, Helen finds herself drawn into the midst of an elaborate plot to steal an ancient statue and assassinate a local businessman. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, her wedding dress is AWOL, the statue seems to be cursed, and Helen is wanted by the police.
With the big day rapidly approaching, a roller-coaster of mishaps, misunderstandings, and disasters threatens to turn the newlyweds into nearlyweds.
Can Helen prevent an assassination, save the statue, and have the perfect wedding? Or will the day to remember turn into one she’d rather forget?
WARNING! These books contains screwball comedy, quirky characters, and farcical situations…
About Sibel Hodge
Sibel Hodge is the Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Author of Fourteen Days Later and Be Careful What You Wish For. She has 8 cats and 1 husband. In her spare time, she’s Wonder Woman! When she’s not out saving the world from dastardly demons she writes an eclectic mix of romantic comedies, mysteries, thrillers, children’s books, and non fiction.
Her other books include My Perfect Wedding, The Baby Trap, Fashion, Lies, and Murder (Amber Fox Mystery #1), Money, Lies, and Murder (Amber Fox Mystery #2) Voodoo, Lies, and Murder (Amber Fox Mystery), The See-Through Leopard, How to Dump Your Boyfriend in the Men’s Room (and other short stories), It’s a Catastrophe, Healing Meditations for Surviving Grief and Loss, A Gluten Free Taste of Turkey, and A Gluten Free Soup Opera.
Her work has been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Prize 2008, Highly Commended by the Yeovil Literary Prize 2009, Runner Up in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Comp 2009, nominated Best Novel with Romantic Elements in 2010 by The Romance Reviews, Runner Up in the Best Indie Books of 2012 by Indie Book Bargains, and Winner of Best Children’s Book by eFestival of Words 2013. Her novella Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave has been listed as one of the Top 40 Books About Human Rights by Accredited Online Colleges.
Follow Sibel: Website § Blog § Facebook § Twitter
Excerpt from FOURTEEN DAYS LATER ~ Book 1
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2) Age? Answer: thirty but look much younger.
3) Occupation address? Answer: anywhere.
4) Occupational position? Answer: standing, but occasionally sitting down.
5) Do you have a heart problem? Answer: probably will in a minute.
6) Do you suffer from breathlessness during exercise? Answer: sometimes during sex, but that was a long time ago.
7) Do you suffer from palpitations or unusual heart flutters? Answer: only when I think about someone special.
8) Do you have any back problems? Answer: only when I did a handstand when I was very drunk.
9) Are you allergic to anything? Answer: men who cheat.
10) Have you had any operations? Answer: I think I had a lobotomy once, but I can’t remember.
11) Do you enjoy a healthy eating programme? Answer: yes, started an hour ago.
12) Have you suffered from any illnesses? Answer: hangovers.
13) Do you suffer from any other problems? Answer: accidents frequently happen around me.
Excerpt from FOURTEEN DAYS LATER ~ Book 1
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‘You are joking, right?’ I arched an eyebrow. ‘Nobody can change their life in fourteen days.’
‘That’s not what it says in here.’ Ayshe held up the magazine she’d been flicking through, her finger underlining one of the articles.
‘“Orgasms or Chocolate? What do women really want?”’ I read the headline aloud.
‘What?’ Ayshe looked at the magazine and adjusted her finger. ‘Not that. This. “Turn Your Life Around. The Simple Fourteen Day Plan Anyone Can Do”.’
‘That’s ridiculous.’ Tucking my legs underneath me on the sofa, I picked at my frayed jogging bottoms.
‘No, what’s ridiculous is you still moping about over Justin. It’s been six months since you split up with him. You need to move on with your life.’ She rose from her chair and flounced down next to me, resting her arm on my knees.
I wriggled away from her. ‘I’m having another iced coffee; want one?’
‘It’s too cold for iced coffee. It’s the middle of November for God’s sake,’ she called out as I clattered around in the kitchen. ‘Anyway, I thought you’d promised to cut down on your caffeine intake.’
When I returned, I sank down onto the sofa. ‘I still haven’t managed to get a plumber out to fix the dishwasher. Either they don’t turn up when they say they will, or they won’t come out for anything less than a total bathroom refurb.’
Ayshe watched me in silence.
I sat it out for a while, her steady gaze drilling into me. ‘What?’
‘Trying to change the subject isn’t going to work. You can’t avoid this much longer.’
‘I’m not, it’s true. You can never get hold of a plumber these–’
She clamped her hand over my mouth. ‘You need to go out and do things – and don’t give me that rubbish about you’ll never meet another man – he was the right one – he was the love of your life. I know four years together is a long time, but everybody always says that when they split up with people. You will get over him, but not if you keep refusing to move on with your life.’ She pushed me on the leg.
I wasn’t expecting the jolt and spilt my coffee all down my attractive jogging bottoms.
My thoughts drifted back to the time I’d discovered a size sixteen Agent Provocateur thong stuffed into the pocket of Justin’s best work trousers during the usual laundry run. I was pretty sure his company hadn’t suddenly changed their dress-code. I mean, smart trousers, shirt, and thong, wouldn’t sound too good in the staff handbook. I was also sure he couldn’t have picked it up innocently – as he’d told me – because he needed to dust the photocopier and thought it was a rag. And I knew it wasn’t mine because I’d never really fancied a piece of dental floss chafing my bits and bobs.
Excerpt from MY PERFECT WEDDING ~ Book 2
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‘Do go on. This is thoroughly enlightening,’ Goodbody said in a voice that clearly meant it wasn’t at all.
‘Well, that was when I noticed that someone had drawn a moustache and beard on the picture of the woman on the front of the box.’ I narrowed my eyes at Kalem, who chuckled under his breath, remembering.
‘Anyway, I was really embarrassed and had to pretend that it must have been like that in the shop when I’d bought it.’
‘Is there a point to this?’ Goodbody asked, glancing at his watch.
‘I wanted to get Kalem back, and I knew he was going to the building society a few days later to get some money out, and he needed to take some ID. He can never find his driving licence, so he always takes his passport,’ I paused. ‘Because I’m a photographer, obviously I’ve got loads of old photos lying around, so I thought it would be really funny to pay him back for all the practical jokes he plays on me. I found this photo, cut it out, then stuck it over his passport photo with removable adhesive and put it back in the drawer. Then, of course, I forgot all about it.’ I tried to swallow, but my throat felt like I’d swallowed a Brillo Pad. ‘Until now.’ I tucked my hair behind my ears with shaky hands.
Kalem coughed. ‘Actually, I managed to find my driving licence and took that to the building society instead.’
I cast him a sheepish look. ‘Yes, I realize that now.’
‘You see! This is all perfectly innocent,’ Kalem said to Dick Head and Goodbody. ‘Can we go now?’
‘Not yet. Are you a Muslim too?’ Goodbody asked me.
‘No, I’m not a Muslim,’ I said.
A confused glance passed between Dick Head and Goodbody. ‘Well you certainly look like one. Can you please explain why you’re wearing a burka if you’re not Muslim,’ Goodbody asked me.
I glanced down at the floor length, head-to-toe black burka that I’d almost forgotten I was wearing. Even if the rest of the stuff sounded slightly odd, there was at least a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.
‘Well, there’s an ancient tradition with Turkish Cypriot families. When a new bride-to-be arrives in North Cyprus to get married, it’s good luck for her to be wearing a burka, isn’t it?’ I glanced at Kalem, willing him to explain this peculiar custom further. Instead, he kind of gave me a small shake of his head, and his jaw dropped.
Oh, God. I recognized that look. There was no such custom. This was another one of his wind-Helen-up practical jokes. If they could’ve seen my face, which of course they couldn’t because I only had a two inch rectangular slit for my eyes, they would’ve seen it completely drain of colour. Luckily, they accepted this explanation, and neither of the customs officers seemed to notice that my eyelids had just pinged open in surprise or that Kalem’s face had turned a scorching-hot shade of pink.
Dick Head picked at the adhesive on Kalem’s passport photo and pulled it off, examining the official picture of Kalem underneath. ‘What do you think?’ He handed the passport to Goodbody.
‘Mmm.’ Goodbody scrutinized it. ‘It looks legitimate.’ He sounded disappointed.
‘That’s a shame,’ Dick Head huffed and turned to Officer Goodbody, frowning. ‘Seems like we’ll miss out on our CAT bonus.’
Excerpt From MY PERFECT WEDDING ~ Book 2
Purchase Now: Amazon § Barnes § iTunes § Kobo § Smashwords
‘Ha-ha.’ I let out a nervous laugh.
Officer Head gave me a narrow-eyed stare, then turned back to Kalem. ‘Is that your real name?’
‘Er…excuse me. Is that a trick question? It’s obvious what his name is. It’s in his passport,’ I said, not wanting to state the obvious, but someone had to do it.
Oh, I get it now. It must be a dream. Yes, that was it. Recently, I’d been having a few of those pre-wedding jittery dreams – well, more like nightmares, actually – where I turned up at the venue in front of all our guests, and my wedding dress had suddenly turned see-through. And, even worse, I’d somehow decided to have my bikini area waxed into the shape of a dartboard, complete with bullseye. This was just one of those nightmares, that was all.
I leaped off the chair. ‘Come on Kalem, let’s go.’
‘You can’t go until I say you can go,’ Officer Head insisted.
‘I can do whatever I want. It’s my dream,’ I said to him with a haughty gleam in my eye.
‘SIT DOWN,’ he shouted back at me.
I heard a loud ringing in my ear. Surely you didn’t hear ear-ringing in a dream? I pinched myself. Ow! Shit. I was still awake. I slumped back in the chair. Uh-oh. This was for real.
The door swung open and another customs official with a toilet brush crew cut walked in.
‘Richard,’ the second officer acknowledged his colleague with a tilt of his head and then turned to us. ‘I’m officer Goodbody.’ He sat down, and I heard a noise like a whoopee cushion exploding. I couldn’t tell if it was him or the chair, though.
‘Let’s start again, shall we?’ Officer Head leaned forward. ‘Is that your realname?’
Kalem swallowed. ‘Of course it’s my real name.’
I looked between the customs men with suspicion. Richard Head? Was this for real? The light bulb was back on full power now. ‘Ha! I know what’s going on.’
They both raised an intrigued eyebrow and waited for me to enlighten them.
‘No one could be called Dick Head and Officer Goodbody. It sounds like something out of a bad Seventies porn movie. This is one of those TV shows, isn’t it?’ My eyes darted around the room like a maniac, looking for any signs of hidden cameras and cabling. ‘It’s like Candid Camera, or You’ve Been Punk’d, or something. Or…I know.’ I squinted at them. ‘Are you Ant and Dec in disguise? Are we going to be on their Saturday Night Takeaway show where they’re always playing practical jokes on people?’ I leaped up and leaned over the desk, so I was inches away from their faces, examining them for signs of false noses and excessive, disguising make-up.
Kalem shot me a horrified look.
‘Give me your passport.’ Goodbody ignored my outburst and held his hand out to me.
OK then, maybe not.
Please be sure to check the other tour stops where you will see ….
Barbara Silkstone with the Wendy Darlin Tomb Raider Boxed Set
Cheryl Bradshaw with the Sloan Monroe Boxed Set
Christy Hayes and the Golden Rule Bundle
Donna Fasano and the Single Daddy Club Boxed Set
Faith Mortimer and the Diana Rivers Mystery Set
M.P. McDonald and the Mark Taylor Omnibus
Melissa F. Miller and the Sasha McCandless Series
Giveaways!
Follow the HOP – Using THIS LINK
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Manday Hotties Blog Hop ~ 11/11/13
Hi girls, welcome to another Manday Hotties blog post.
Well, I’m back in a cold and bleak Edinburgh this week. I had a blast in Texas – finally got a chance to meet up with my DDD Book Club girls…… what a fantastic group of people they were….. Looking forward to our next meet in Vegas!!! 😀
This week I’ve gone for some b&w pics and my body part of choice is the chest/abs……
Hope you like what I’ve chosed for your viewing pleasure today! 😉
So, what do you think? Personally I’m torn between 2 & 4….. hard to choose. I’ll keep looking for a while, see if it helps me decide!!! 😉 LOL…..
Have you popped over to the other blogs taking part in Felicity’s Hop?
There’s some other fab mancandy at the following stops:
LINKS:
http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/blog/
http://victoriaembers.wordpress.com/
http://www.amandajgreene.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.carisroane.com/journal/
http://www.hdthomson.com/
Enjoy all of those gorgeous guys. Have a great week and I’ll catch you all next Monday!!
T xx
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COVER REVEAL – Kissed by a Dark Prince by Felicity Heaton
Kissed by a Dark Prince (Eternal Mates Romance Series Book 1)
Felicity Heaton
Olivia thinks it’s her lucky night when a dangerously handsome unconscious fae ends up on her inspection table. He’s her chance to redeem herself with her employer, the demon-hunting organisation, Archangel. But when the tall, dark and deadly immortal warrior awakes, she gets much more than she bargained for…
Attacked by his enemy in the elf kingdom, the last thing Prince Loren expects when he comes around is a beautiful angel watching over him and medical technology of the mortal realm. Hazy from his injuries, all he can focus on is the pulse ticking in her throat and the sweet allure of her blood.
One single bite reveals she is his eternal mate, triggering a bond between them that will leave him weakened until it is completed… or broken, and pulling Olivia into the crossfire of his ancient feud.
To protect his people and his mate from the machinations of a madman, Loren must risk everything by working with Olivia at Archangel to find a way to break the bond blossoming between them.
But will Loren be strong enough to place duty before desire and give up the one thing he has waited millennia for and craves above all others—his eternal mate? And will Olivia be able to resist the incredible heat that burns between them and the temptation of her dark prince’s kiss?
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Kissed by a Dark Prince is due for release in ebook and paperback on November 30th 2013 and will be available from all major online book retailers
Join Felicity’s mailing list to receive a notification when Kissed by a Dark Prince is released, plus a sneak preview of the first 6 chapters of the book and chances to win a signed copy: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/newsletter.php
Add the book to your Goodreads shelf at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18710035-kissed-by-a-dark-prince
About Felicity Heaton:
Felicity Heaton is a USA Today best-selling author who writes passionate paranormal romance books as Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. In her books she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!
If you’re a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter, Larissa Ione and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, Felicity Heaton’s best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series she writes as F E Heaton or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books she writes as Felicity Heaton. Or if you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try Felicity Heaton’s new Vampire Erotic Theatre series.
In 2011, five of her six paranormal romance books received Top Pick awards from Night Owl Reviews, Forbidden Blood was nominated as Best PNR Vampire Romance 2011 at The Romance Reviews, and many of her releases received five star reviews from numerous websites. In 2013, Heart of Darkness was a finalist in the paranormal romance category at the Epic Ebook Awards, and she became a USA Today best-selling author.
If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:
Website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk
Blog: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/blog/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/felicityheaton
Twitter: http://twitter.com/felicityheaton
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/felicityheaton
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Manday Hotties Blog Hop – 04/11/13
Howdy partners!!!! This week I am over in Galveston, Texas….. Meeting up with some fantastic girls from the Book Club I’m in – it’s been a whole lot of fun so far!!
I’ve chosen some sexy cowboys for this weeks post as a ‘tip of the hat’ to my trip!!!
Hope you like what I’ve picked for you!!! 😉
These guys are all very easy on the eye – I had to post #4, I just ❤ Channing Tatum!! 😉
Have you got a favourite of these? I’m going with #1, he’s definitely my pick of this week…..
Have you checked out the other blogs taking part in the Hop today?
Links:
http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/blog/
http://alexandraanthony.wordpress.com/
http://blog.danitaminnis.com/
http://ceblackbooks.weebly.com/blog.html
http://www.amandajgreene.blogspot.co.uk/
http://deenar116.wordpress.com/
http://www.carisroane.com/journal/
The girls have got some eyecatching pics for you to check out!!! Enjoy!! 😀
Have a fantastic week. I’ll be back home in what I’m sure will be a cold, wet & windy Edinburgh next Monday!!! 😦
T xx
Book Loving Pixies 
