Howlin' for you… a look at Coyote Home by Rhian Cahill

Shifters, baby. Today we’re talking raunchy beasty rut-on-you shifters. Coyote shifters in particular. Six years ago Rowan left her home and pack following a nasty situation with a madman, but now she’s back and no longer anyone’s victim. She’s stronger, older, wiser and more than ready to tackle her mate Quinn and her coyote within. And boy does she tackle him, the lucky thing. This time she is taking her place in the pack and brooking no sh*t from anyone, bless her. She done got her kicking boots on. Don’t you love a woman who’s willing to set things straight with a firm hand? But things are never easy. If they were we wouldn’t have a hot, action packed adventure romance on our hands, would we? No. We wouldn’t. Quinn is 6’4 worth of studly sure goodness with a dash of humour and a pinch of knowing when to back off and let his woman lead the way. So yes, he has a brain. And pecs. And the rest. And occasionally even a bushy tail. Our hero is swoon worthy for sure.

I really enjoyed this book. It had a bit of everything rounding it out to a rollicking good read. Plus there are sequels. Isn’t that a wonderful feeling knowing there’s more booky goodness all ready for you to curl up to and enjoy? Ms Cahill writes hot and she writes darn good. Her writing style is easy to read and imminently enjoyable. I really had fun with the world she created and her sexy shifters too. In my head. Not in real life because that would me crazy and in need of medication. The characters are well rounded and very likeable. And the sex. Aaahhh… the rumpy pumpy plentiful sex. Buy it for the smexy times and stay for the story. And you know what else? You’ll be supporting an Australian Woman Writer and an Erotic one at that. Bonus points! Awesome! 

You can find out more about Ms Cahill and her wonderful stories right here... http://rhiancahill.com/

This has been another Australian Women Writers 2012 Challenge Review. To find out more about this most excellent endeavour please bang on the button to you right. 

Six Sentence Sunday...

Welcome one and all. A quick point of interest up front, some friends and I have started a Romance Writers of the Apocalypse Blog. You can find it here... http://romancewritersoftheapocalypse.blogspot.com.au/ If you’d like to join us posting about Post-Apoc books, fitness, survival and anything else regarding the downfall of civilisation that takes our fancy, please let me know. The more the merrier.

 This morning the possible Post-Zombie-Apocalypse romance continues as our hero and heroine face each other down the length of their guns. Troubled times indeed. I'm trying to be strict and stick to the story here serving you up the next six lines, no excuses. Which makes this week a quickie.

To recap, our heroine just commented to the tall dark mysterious stranger that Mexican Stand-Off’s don't tend to end well in movies...

“No,” he agreed in a deep voice with a hint of an accent.

“English?”

“Mm.”

“Nice.” Oh, how she loved a man with an accent, pity about the gun. “So… what’s your name?”

http://www.sixsunday.com/ 

Why you want to drag the Alpha Male back to your cave...

Biologically down through the ages, heterosexual women have leant towards certain men in the tribe. Certain barrel chested, brawny, wide shouldered, rugged looking men. Yeah. Well. Fact is, if another tribe was coming at you with spears? You’d want Conan to hide behind too (Jason Mamoa that is, not Arnie).  You’d want a man who can hunt and throw spears and beat his chest and sh*t. A man who is going to make other men think twice before asking you what you’ve got on underneath your furs, babe. Breed with a big strong guy and you’re more likely to have big strong baby’s who are in turn more likely to survive. So that’s the sheer body type side of things. But what about leadership and a bunch of those traits? That steely look in his eye. The ability to think clearly and quickly in emergencies. His ability to make others trust him with his low gravelly commanding tone of voice. Human beings survive or not in societies and leadership traits establish the pecking order in said societies (duly noted that in said tribe, if you’re mated to the Kennedy of the tribe then that makes you the Jacki, doesn’t it?).

So that’s size and pecking order in the tribe covered but there’s also a third element to the alpha male’s allure. And that is the random elusive something special that is found to be desirable in that society at that point in time. Something that makes other people envious. Money? Access to resources? The size of his tackle? Body hair? Back then in the tribal days body hair was certainly important(ever heard of the Silverback Guerilla?). Is a beard attractive? The classic picture of the alpha male is a bearded male in both of the above circumstances (give or take the Guerilla). In tests done, women give more respect to a bearded man and yet our society does not prize beards. Conundrum indeed.

So why doesn’t it just work that way in real life? We don’t all desire the Alpha male. He can be a stubborn, over-opinionated, interfering type of guy when it comes right down to it. There is documented proof that men with more upper body strength are more likely to believe that force is the way to solve dilemmas and also have a greater sense of self-entitlement. And yet we continue to moon over them in Romancelandia. I know I do. Love a masterful male. Tell me what to do you sexy beast. No - wait - stop! Respect my rights and make me coffee and cup cakes! And drop the kids at school while you're at it! Hurry on you big hairy thing! Damn it. It's all so confusing.

The other interesting thing to notice is that it looks like human beings are wired to fall in love with diversity as well. So some particular traits just don’t do it for some people and there is no deeper reason except that we are predisposed to fall for the girl with the green eyes or the guy with the smexy times voice. And that is one of the features that normally presses back in real life against our desire for the alpha male or the perfecto girlfriend. She actually just doesn’t have those special traits that make that one person stop dead in their tracks. Survival of the species maybe?

While the overwhelming amount of romance novels offer the audience an alpha male, do you need to give them something more? That secretive third element again our reader is hopefully pining for. A tortured hero with a complicated past? A man willing to put others before himself? A brave soul who can love with his whole heart and isn’t adverse to the odd bit of kinky f**kery behind closed doors? A long coat and a cheeky smile (you know I'm thinking Tardis but not mentioning it, right)? What sexy trait draws you in? Come on, share with me. I won’t judge. Much.

P.S. This has been part of another inebriated discussion with my Husband. If I choose to deny any and all parts of it in the morning then that is my legally wedded right.

Rachael Johns makes people cry... or, a look at Jilted.

 

I don’t like to speak bad of people, or at least not publicly. There’s enough of that out there without me adding to it. And whilst I have no actual proof that Rachael Johns kicks puppies in her spare time (In fact I’m 110% sure she doesn’t. From my interactions with her on twitter she’s always come across as an intelligent, generous human being who probably stoops down low to tickle their plump little bellies.) But the fact remains, Rachael Johns does in fact make people cry and she doesn’t even feel bad about it. And I quote here:

*evil laugh*

Yes. That’s what she tweeted me when I told her of my intent to out her in this review. Can you believe the audacity? There was actually more to it but context is rarely important.

On to the book... Ellie Hughes left our small-town hero, Flynn Quartermaine, standing at the altar a decade back. She scurried off to the city and became a big deal on a soapie, breaking our poor boy's heart in two. Now she’s back to nurse her injured godmother and a whole lotta people are not so happy about it. Why did she break Flynn’s heart? They were the ultimate teenage sweethearts, making out here, there and everywhere, so what the heck happened? Does it even matter anymore? Flynn is more than willing to let it all be water under the bridge and get on with life but small town gossip is not so kind.  When circumstances throw the two back together again all those smouldering, smoky embers roar back to life. Can the ill-fated lovers make it work or will secrets get the better of them?

Jilted is, in a word, ‘charming’. Rural Lit is making waves of late, gaining popularity fast. If you haven’t read any before but are a fan of the happy ever after then  you should definitely give this book a go. It’s very Australian in a really fun way. I found myself chuckling (when not weeping bitterly and shaking my fist at the sky) over the various characters. A lot of them felt like familiar territory which I really enjoyed. Ms Johns has a lovely way about her and tells the story beautifully. The smexy times scenes do pretty much end at the bedroom door but we’re left with absolutely no doubts as to our couples loved up state. There's a definite, satisfying happy ending but you'll shed a couple of tears along the way. Buy it. Be charmed. You won’t regret it. 

To find out more about Rachael Johns and her charming book... http://www.rachaeljohns.com/books.html#jilted 

This has been another Australian Women Writers 2012 Challenge Book Review. To find out more about this most excellent endeavour please bang the button to the side.

Six Sentence Sunday...

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday! Some happy time news today, my book has been given a release date and a new title. 1^st of October and ‘Flesh’, respectively. This one is my novel length tale of life after the Zombie apocalypse as opposed to the short and novella I’ve been sharing with you. You can find the first chapter on the tab just above if you’d like a taste. One day I’ll get back to writing about things non-zombie, but that day is not today.

So, back to the standoff from last week as our hero and heroine face each other down the length of their guns. She just commented that it looked like they had a failure to communicate...

   “I’d say it was closer to a Mexican standoff.” A neatly trimmed beard covered half his face making reading him a problem. He was tall, well built; she couldn’t have over-powered him in days of yore. Today it was right out.

   No way was she putting down the gun.

   “Those don’t tend to end well in movies,” she said.

http://www.sixsunday.com/