Friday, February 24, 2012

Favorite Quote Friday #23

Happy Friday!  How did your week go?  I had some frustrating internet issues that I hope have been resolved now.  (At least I was able to sign on today.)  I finally began to make some progress with regards to correspondence.  I got pretty far behind on emails during my blog tour (and in the hectic months leading up to the tour) and am trying hard to catch up.  
contest winner packages
I also sent some more books and swag out to contest winners.  Yay!  I love contests!  I answered interview questions, wrote the rough draft of a guest post, and worked on Book 4 of my series.  It was a busy week.  :-) 
Darkness Dawns
Best Book of 2011 at Long and Short Reviews
I thought I might mention that today is the last day you can vote for Best Book of 2011 at Long and Short ReviewsDarkness Dawns has been nominated after being given a Best Book rating when reviewed:
Best Book at Long and Short Reviews
"Action-packed world building and a hero daring all
for love makes Darkness Dawns one of the most
fascinating romances I’ve read this year."
– Long and Short Reviews 
Favorite Quote Friday
And now on to Favorite Quote Friday.  Today's quote is taken from Night Reigns, Book 2 in my Immortal Guardians series, and is spoken by the heroine to the hero:

“You either lean down or I clothesline you with it.  Your choice.”  
~ Ami ~

Hope you like it!  Have a fantastic weekend!

Dianne

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

And the Winner is . . .

Hi, all!  I hope you enjoyed the weekend and that your week has started off well!
Vampires for Valentines Giveaway Hop
I've chosen a winner for the Vampires for Valentines Giveaway Hop and wanted to share the news.

The winner is

Desiree B.!
Congratulations!  Desiree has already let me know which book she would like to receive, so a signed copy of Night Reigns + Immortal Guardians swag will soon be headed her way!

I had such fun on the hop!  Thank you, everyone who joined me!

I hope you all will have a wonderful week!

Dianne

Friday, February 17, 2012

Favorite Quote Friday #22 - Excerpt

Happy Friday!  I am so ready for the weekend.  LOL!  I hope your week was a good one.  I had fun on the Vampires for Valentine's Giveaway Hop and am sorry to see it end.  But, I'm excited about sending goodies to the winner.  I'll use random.org to choose the winner this weekend (I can't choose myself because I want everyone to win) and will announce it by the 22nd at the latest.  If the winner included her email in her post, I'll notify her via email first.  :-)

Favorite Quote Friday
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I thought, instead of a quote, I would post a brief excerpt for today's Favorite Quote Friday segment.  It's taken from Darkness Dawns, Book 1 in my Immortal Guardians series, and is told from Roland's point of view while he tends Sarah's injured hand shortly after she discovers he isn't your ordinary, everyday guy.  ;-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her heart began to race, the sound easily detected by his immortal ears.

He raised his eyes, met hers.  “Am I hurting you?”

“No,” she answered, her voice a little breathless.

Not pain.  “Am I scaring you?” he asked, still stroking.

“No.”

Not fear.  “Your pulse is racing.”

“It is?”  She licked her lips. 

His eyes followed the motion, the sight of that small pink tongue moistening her full lower lip speeding his own pulse until it nearly matched hers.  “My senses are heightened.  I can hear it.”

Her eyes widened.  “You can’t read my thoughts, can you?”

“No.”

“Thank goodness,” she whispered and his interest spiked.

“Why?  What would they tell me if I could?”  Something naughty, he hoped.

“Nothing.”  Yet she blushed as she said it.

Gently extracting her hand from his, she pressed it to his muscled chest above his heart.

Roland sucked in a sharp breath.

“You have a heartbeat.”

He nodded, caught off guard by her tender touch.  “I’m not dead.  Or undead as I believe much of the vampire lore claims.”

She slid her hand up his chest, over his collarbone, and splayed her fingers on his neck.

The strength of the desire that small caress inspired shocked him.

“Your pulse is racing, too,” she said softly.

And it certainly wasn’t because he was afraid of her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Dianne

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Latest

Hi, all!   I hope your week is going well and passing quickly.  (Can't wait 'til the weekend!)

Award Nomination
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Darkness Dawns has been nominated for Best Book of 2011 by Long and Short Reviews!   Voting begins today and ends at midnight Eastern time on February 29th.  You can see the other nominees and cast your vote here.
Giveaway
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There's still time to enter to win your choice of either a singed copy of Darkness Dawns or a signed copy of Night Reigns + Immortal Guardians swag in the Vampires for Valentine's Giveaway Hop.  If you've missed the fun, you can join in here.  Good luck!  :-)  And thank you, everyone who has already entered!

Contest Winners
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I mailed out signed copies of Darkness Dawns and Night Reigns and some Immortal Guardians swag to more contest winners this week.  If I haven't already congratulated you:  
Congratulations!
Tamara H.  (Full Moon Bites contest winner)
Darline S.  (EBookObsessed contest winner)
Andrea K.  (Vampire Book Club contest winner)
&
Velvet H.  (My Book Boyfriend Giveaway Hop winner)
I love sending out goodies!  I'm getting ready to order more swag for future contests.  Yay!
Thanks for joining me!  Have a great day!
Dianne

Friday, February 10, 2012

Favorite Quote Friday #21

It's Friday again!  Woohoo!  It's a cool, dreary, rainy day – just like I like it – and the weekend is mere hours away.  Can't wait!

It's also time for Favorite Quote Friday.  Today's selection is taken from Darkness Dawns, the first book in my Immortal Guardians series.  It's spoken by Marcus, a secondary character (who goes on to become the hero in Night Reigns), to Roland, the hero:

“You’re apologizing?  Seriously, what happened to you?
Have you been taken over by a pod person?”
~ Marcus ~

:-)  Have a wonderful weekend! 

Dianne

Vampires for Valentines Giveaway Hop

Today is the first day of the Vampires for Valentines Giveaway Hop!

Vampires for Valentines Giveaway Hop

Vampires For Valentines Giveaway Hop runs from 12:01am February 10th through to 11:59pm February 16th 2012, and is hosted by Felicity Heaton (Paranormal Romance Author) and Bitten by Paranormal Romance.  I happen to love both giveaways and vampires, so I thought this would be a fun way to celebrate Valentine's Day!

While preparing this post, I couldn't help but wonder what my Immortal Guardians would do for Valentine's Day.  Neither Roland, the hero from Darkness Dawns, nor Marcus, the hero from Night Reigns, have ever celebrated the holiday.  Love treated both unkindly in the past.  (In Roland's case, that's a major understatement.)  But I'm thinking they would go all out for Valentine's Day now that they've surrendered their hearts.  :-)  Both are alpha-male warriors with undeniable soft spots for their heroines.  Roland would no doubt spend a surprising amount of time pondering exactly what gift would please Sarah the most, choosing something unique and particularly meaningful to her.  And Marcus would do the same for Ami.  But I suspect their plans would include so much more.

Since I'm hoping you'd like to find out just how passionate and romantic the heroes in my Immortal Guardians paranormal romance series can be, I'm giving away your choice of a signed copy of Darkness Dawns or a signed copy of Night Reigns, the first two books in the series.  I'll also throw in some Immortal Guardians swag.  :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Once, Sarah Bingham's biggest challenge was making her students pay attention in class. Now, after rescuing a wounded stranger, she's landed in the middle of a battle between corrupt vampires and powerful immortals who also need blood to survive. Roland Warbrook is the most compelling man Sarah has ever laid hands on. But his desire for her is mingled with a hunger he can barely control . . .

In his nine centuries of immortal existence, no woman has tempted Roland as much as Sarah. But asking her to love him is impossible -- when it mean forfeiting the world she's always known, and the life he would do anything to protect.


Ami isn't much for trusting strangers.  She has a hard time trusting anyone.  But she's no coward, and she's no pushover in the protection department either.  So when she comes across a mysterious warrior taking on eight deranged vampires on his own, she doesn't hesitate to save his bacon.  Of course, that was before she realized what one little rescue would get her into . . .

Marcus Grayden has been an immortal protector of humanity for eight hundred years, and at the moment he's not interested in backup.  From the moment Ami arrives in his life, he can't deny that she's strong, smart, and extremely skilled at watching his back.  But she's also destroying his protective solitude and stirring desires he can't bear to awaken.  After all, whatever her secrets -- how can she defeat death itself? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contest Details

The contest lasts from 12:01am February 10th through to 11:59pm February 16th 2012.

International entries are welcome.  

Mandatory entry
Leave a comment below and let me know who your favorite vampire is from books, film, or television.  :-)  Also mention extra entries.  If you don't include your email address in your comment (feel free to write it out), you will have to check back here to see if you've won.  I'll announce it by February 20th.

Extra entries
For extra entries you may do any or all of the following, but be sure to mention them in your comment.  

+1  Follow my blog. 

+1  Like My Facebook Page. 

+1  Follow me on Twitter.

Selecting a Winner
I will use random.org to choose a winner after verifying all entries and will announce it here by February 22nd.  If the winner's email address is included in her comment, I will email her, too.  The winner will have one week to contact me.

There are many prizes up for grabs by other authors and bloggers.  Good luck!  And Happy Valentine's Day!

Dianne Duvall

Vampires for Valentines Giveaway Hop Participants

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

News

I hope your week began well yesterday!  Mine did, because I chose a winner (with the help of Random.org) for the contest I held for the My Book Boyfriend Giveaway HopWoohoo!

And the Winner is . . .

Velvet Hubler! 

Congratulations!

And thank you, everyone who joined me on the hop!  I had such a great time and found quite a few new-to-me books to add to my TBR pile.  :-)

New Contest

 

I'm guest posting on The Book Vixen today!  Drop by for a taste of Vampires, Immortals, and Ghosts, Oh My!, which includes a haunting excerpt from Night Reigns, and enter for a chance to win a signed copy of Night Reigns + some Immortal Guardians swag.  ;-)

Miscellany

I've joined Google+, but have no idea what I'm doing on it.  :-)  I'm also still trying to catch up on everything I fell behind on during my blog tour, working on promo stuff for the RT Convention, and, of course, writing.  On the home front, I'm going to try to find some time to go ahead and plant the seeds for my summer garden.  I saw the whole six more weeks of winter thing on the news and thought, "What happened to the six weeks of winter we were supposed to have already had?  I've been walking around in shorts!"  *sigh*  At least we've been getting more rain.  I do love gray days and the rumble of thunder.  :-)

Anyway, I hope the rest of your week will be a good one!  Take care!

Dianne

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Book of the Month


Hi, all!  I just wanted to let you know that Night Reigns has been nominated for Book of the Month at Long and Short Reviews.  Voting is now open and will last through midnight on Sunday. 

I hope you're enjoying the weekend!  Have a fantastic day!

Dianne

Friday, February 3, 2012

Favorite Quote Friday #20

Happy Friday!  This has been such a fun week!  I've been participating in the My Book Boyfriend Giveaway Hop and it has pretty much obliterated my determination not to add any more books to my TBR pile.  :-)  I'm giving away the winner's choice of either a signed copy of Darkness Dawns or a signed copy of Night Reigns + Immortal Guardians swag for it.  And there are many other prizes up for grabs at the other Giveaway Hop stops, so – if you join the fun – I hope you'll win lots of goodies!

There is also still time to enter my contests at EBookObsessed and Vampire Book Club.  The first is open through today.  The second is open through the 6th.  I'm giving away a singed book and swag at each.

News
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I received some fabulous news this week.  Night Reigns, the second book in my Immortal Guardians series, has been nominated for Book of the Month by Long and Short Reviews.  The poll goes live at Midnight on Saturday, February 4th and ends at Midnight on Sunday, February 5th.  You can cast your vote here.


The good news didn't stop there.  :-)  Darkness Dawns, the first book in my Immortal Guardians series, has been nominated for Best Book of 2011 or Book of the Year by Long and Short Reviews.  It received a Best Book review just before its release in February 2011: 

"Action-packed world building and a hero daring all for 
love makes Darkness Dawns one of the most fascinating 
romances I’ve read this year.  I am so enthusiastic about 
this story because of its humor, passion and an 
interesting take on the vampire myth."

What an honor!  Voting begins on February 16th and will continue through February 29th.

Favorite Quote Friday
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now on to Favorite Quote Friday.  Today's selection is taken from Darkness Dawns.  It is a narrative quote plucked from the thoughts of Roland, the hero:

She wouldn’t let him?  She, a five-foot-one inch, ninety-five
pound mortal female, wouldn’t let him, a six-foot-two inch 
immortal sporting two hundred pounds of muscle--
Ah, screw it.
~ Roland ~

For a supposedly surly, antisocial immortal, Roland sure has made me smile a lot while writing and editing the series.  :-)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dianne

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

My Book Boyfriend Giveaway Hop!

Today is the first day of the My Book Boyfriend Giveaway Hop!



My Book Boyfriend Giveaway Hop is hosted is by Reading Between the Wines Book Club & As the Pages Turn.  The hop will run from 12:01 AM February 1st through to 11:59 PM February 5th, 2012:

What better way to celebrate the month of LOVE then with your favorite book boyfriend? Whether you have a valentine or not, the swoon worthy heroes we find in romances can’t be matched anyway! So why not put on those naughty underwear and curl up with one of these steamy reads this year instead? Make you Valentine’s Day perfect by joining the My Book Boyfriend Giveaway Hop where fellow bloggers offer you the chance to win some of their favorite book boyfriends!


Since I'm hoping you will find the heroes in my Immortal Guardians paranormal romance series swoon worthy, I'm giving away your choice of a signed copy of Darkness Dawns or a signed copy of Night Reigns, the first two books in the series.  I'll also throw in some Immortal Guardians swag.  :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Once, Sarah Bingham's biggest challenge was making her students pay attention in class. Now, after rescuing a wounded stranger, she's landed in the middle of a battle between corrupt vampires and powerful immortals who also need blood to survive. Roland Warbrook is the most compelling man Sarah has ever laid hands on. But his desire for her is mingled with a hunger he can barely control . . .

In his nine centuries of immortal existence, no woman has tempted Roland as much as Sarah. But asking her to love him is impossible -- when it mean forfeiting the world she's always known, and the life he would do anything to protect.


Ami isn't much for trusting strangers.  She has a hard time trusting anyone.  But she's no coward, and she's no pushover in the protection department either.  So when she comes across a mysterious warrior taking on eight deranged vampires on his own, she doesn't hesitate to save his bacon.  Of course, that was before she realized what one little rescue would get her into . . .

Marcus Grayden has been an immortal protector of humanity for eight hundred years, and at the moment he's not interested in backup.  From the moment Ami arrives in his life, he can't deny that she's strong, smart, and extremely skilled at watching his back.  But she's also destroying his protective solitude and stirring desires he can't bear to awaken.  After all, whatever her secrets -- how can she defeat death itself? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contest Details

The contest lasts from February 1st through February 5th.  International entries are welcomed.  

Mandatory entry
Leave a comment below and let me know who your current book boyfriend is.  :-)  Also mention extra entries.  If you don't include your email address in your comment (feel free to write it out), you will have to check back here on February 10th to see if you won.

Extra entries
For extra entries you may do any or all of the following, but be sure to mention them in your comment.  

+1  Follow my blog. 

+1  Like My Facebook Page. 

+1  Follow me on Twitter.

+1 Tweet this message:  Win an autographed copy of Dianne Duvall's DARKNESS DAWNS or NIGHT REIGNS + Immortal Guardians swag http://dianneduvall.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-book-boyfriend-giveaway-hop.html

Selecting a Winner
I will use random.org to choose a winner after verifying all entries and will announce it here by February 10th.  If the winner's email address is included in her comment, I will email her, too.  The winner will have one week to contact me.

There are many prizes up for grabs by other authors and bloggers.  Good luck!  And Happy Valentine's Day!

Dianne Duvall