Anna Snow's Blog

To celebrate the release of The Blonde Before Christmas and Sleighed at Castle Rock, I'm teaming up with the amazing Anne Marie Stoddard and offering this exciting giveaway for two lucky winners: stockings full of goodies from their characters, Barb Jackson and Bronwyn Sinclair!

To enter the giveaway go to the Gemma Halliday Publishing Facebook page and comment the giveaway post.


Two winners will be selected and announced on Monday, December 21st at 8am EST. I'll select the first winner to receive Barb Jackson's stocking stuffer prize pack, and Anne Marie Stoddard will select a second winner to receive Bronwyn Sinclair's stocking stuffer prize pack.

Good luck, and don't forget to grab both The Blonde Before Christmas and Sleighed at Castle Rock, now available!


















                

Here comes Barb Jackson.
Here comes Barb Jackson, riding in a cherry red Beetle!

Sorry, that was kind of cheesy, but hey, it's the spirit that counts, right? :)

It feels like I've been waiting forever to introduce you all to my new heroine Barb Jackson, but the time is finally here!
In just three days The Blonde Before Christmas will be on the shelves! For now, The Blonde Before Christmas is up for preorder at the link below for those of you who like to go that route. 
Barb will available on Amazon the day of release. 

I appreciate all of your love, support, and patience. 
I hope you enjoy Barb and her girls and I can't wait to hear what you all have to say about my new series, The Barb Jackson Mysteries! 

Preorder here!


Available January 25th, 2016!


Preorder here!

Passion Ignites 
(Dark Kings Series, #7)
by Donna Grant 


Blurb:

He consumed her with that kiss, leaving no question that whatever was happening between them was meant to be—that it had always been meant to be…

HE LOVES FOR ETERNITY

Thorn is the bad boy of the Dragon Kings, a gorgeous, reckless warrior whose passions run wild and fury knows no bounds. When he sees the brave, beautiful Lexi being lured into the Dark Fae’s trap, he has no choice but to rescue her from a fate worse than death. But by saving this tempting mortal, he exposes himself to his fiercest enemy—and darkest desires. As the war between Dragons and Fae heats up, so does the passion between Lexi and Thorn. And when love is a battlefield, the heart takes no prisoners…

SHE LIVES FOR VENGEANCE

Lexi is on a mission of justice. Every day, she searches for the monster who murdered her friend. Every night, she hides in the shadows and plots her revenge. But the man she seeks is more dangerous than she ever imagined. He is one of the Dark Fae who preys on human life, who uses his unearthly power to seduce the innocent, and who is setting a trap just for her. Nothing can save Lexi from a creature like this—except the one man who’s been watching her every move…






Available for purchase at 


                           




 Excerpt



For two weeks Thorn had been in Edinburgh with Darius hunting the Dark Fae. He wasn’t exactly thrilled that the Dragon Kings were spread so thin throughout Scotland to kill the bastards.
Then again, he was killing Dark Fae, which made him extremely happy.
He liked Darius, even if he had his own demons to battle. Darius wasn’t the issue. It was Con.
Thorn halted his thoughts as he jumped from the roof he had been on and landed silently behind two Dark. He came up to them and smashed their heads together. Then, with his knife, he slashed their throats.
Both Fae fell without a sound. Damn, did he ever like his job. Thorn threw both Dark Fae over his shoulder and hurried to the warehouse where he and Darius were stashing the bodies.
He did most of his killing at night when the Dark came out to prey on the mortals, but Thorn never passed up an opportunity to kill the buggers.
There were half a dozen Dark laying dead in the warehouse. With merely a thought, he shifted, letting his body return to its rightful form—a dragon.
His long talons clicked on the concrete floor as he looked down at the Dark. Thorn inhaled deeply, fire rumbling in his throat. Then he released it, aiming at the bodies.
Dragon fire was the hottest thing on the realm. It disintegrated the Dark Fae bodies instantly. When there was nothing left but ash, Thorn shifted back into his human form.
He clothed himself and returned to the streets that were overrun with Dark. The humans had no idea who they were walking beside or having drinks with. Many mortals he and Darius had saved from being killed by the Dark, but there were so many more that they couldn’t reach in time.
With just two Dragon Kings in the city against hundreds of Dark Fae, the odds were stacked against the humans.
Thorn didn’t understand why the mortals couldn’t sense how dangerous the Dark were. Or perhaps that’s exactly what drew them to the Dark—that and their sexual vibes the humans couldn’t ignore.
The Dark weren’t as confident as they were a few weeks ago. Their ranks were dwindling, and though they suspected Dragon Kings were involved, they had yet to find him or Darius.
If two Dragon Kings could do so much damage, imagine what twelve could do? That brought a smile to Thorn’s face. The Dark thought they were being smart, but they had begun the war a second time. And Thorn knew it would be impossible for the humans not to learn just what inhabited their realm with them.
His smile faded when his gaze snagged on a woman he had seen daily for the past week. She kept hidden, but it was obvious she was following the Dark.
She had a determined look on her face, one that had anger and revenge mixed together. Thorn knew that expression. It was the one that got mortals killed.
Her pale brown locks hung thick and straight to her shoulders. She tucked her hair behind her ear and peered around the corner of a store.
Thorn slid his gaze to the three Dark she was trailing. They were toying with her. They knew she was there.
“Damn,” Thorn mumbled.
He and the other Dragon Kings vowed to protect the humans millions of years ago. They fought wars and sent their own dragons away to do just that. He couldn’t stand there and let the Dark kill her.
Nor could he let them know he was there.
He flattened his lips when she stepped from her hiding spot and followed the Dark down the street. They were leading her to a secluded section.
Thorn didn’t waste any time climbing to the roof of the building. He kept to the shadows and jumped from roof to roof as he tracked them.
He let out a thankful sigh when she ducked into an alley. Thorn jumped over the street to the opposite building before landing behind her.
“Not this time,” he heard her say.
An American. Southern by her accent. He reached to tap her on the shoulder when his enhanced hearing picked up the Darks’ conversation. They were coming for her.








The Dark Kings Series










About the Author








Donna Grant  is the New York Timesand USA Today bestselling author of the sizzling Dark King series featuring dragons, immortal Highlanders, and the Fae.

She was born and raised in Texas but loves to travel. Her adventures have taken her throughout the United States as well as to Jamaica, Mexico, and Scotland. Growing up on the Texas/Louisiana border, Donna’s Cajun side of the family taught her the “spicy” side of life while her Texas roots gave her two-steppin’ and bareback riding.

Despite deadlines and voracious reading, Donna still manages to keep up with her two children, four cats, and one long haired Chihuahua.





You can find Donna at 


                   


   












Presented By

A few hours ago, Sherry Carne would have sworn that vampires didn’t exist. That’s before rogue immortals rampage through her store, leaving bloody chaos (literally) in their wake. The kicker comes when Sherry learns that one of the vamps on the bad guys’ trail may be her life mate. Her head says it’s impossible. The rest of her takes one look at Basileios Argeneau and has much more interesting ideas.

Whatever Basil expected in a life mate, funny, outspoken Sherry isn’t it. But mind-blowing chemistry and instinct don’t lie. They tell him something else, too—that Sherry’s connection to the immortal world goes deeper than she knows. And that she’s in the kind of danger only Basil can save her from—if she’ll just trust him, now and forever . . .

Amazon
Nook


Anna's Review-

I've read, and enjoyed, every single book in the Argeneau series. 
I have to say that I loved this one just as much as I did the previous 20. 
No, this isn't a big, twisted, convoluted mystery, but it is still an enjoyable mystery with plenty of twists and turns. 
Sherry is a great, strong, female character with her own mind and intelligence, and Basil is quite refreshing as he's an alpha male, but so domineering that he's unbearable. I have to admit that Basil is one of my favorite male characters in the series. 
The story moves along steadily, and all the loose ends of this story are tied up nicely. 
I'm eager to get started on the next book in the series, as I'm sure Ms. Sands has knocked that one out of the park as well. 

Coming January 2016!

Expect the unexpected has been Barb Jackson’s motto since the day she became a private investigator, but when a blast from the past in the form of her cheating ex-boyfriend shows up in her office and begs her to help him clear his name in an ongoing murder investigation, she fears this time she might have bitten off more than she can chew.
She's in a race against the clock to clear his name and keep herself alive as it becomes obvious someone is now out to get her, and to make matters worse, hunky detective Tyler Black is nipping at her heels… in more ways than one.If anyone can get to the bottom of this mystery it’sBarb, but can she keep herself alive long enough to do so?

Coming December 3rd! 

When a last minute shopping excursion leads Barb and her best friend Kelly to a dead Santa beneath the shopping mall Christmas tree, it’s up to her and her friends to find the killer and save Christmas before the Santa Claus killer claims another victim.

I've been a writer all of my life, but I've only been writing professionally for around eight years.
During my time as a writer, I've met countless authors, readers, bloggers, editors, publishers, and cover models, ninety-nine percent of whom have been absolutely amazing and supportive. Artists, and lovers of art, are a fairly generous, kind bunch of individuals as a whole, but then, like in all other aspects of life, there's always that one self serving person who pops up like a weed in your garden of prize winning roses. Just a couple of days ago I discovered a "starving artist" in the form of "writer" Payne Hawthorne. Why the parenthesis around the word writer, you ask?Well, I'll tell you why.
You see, Payne has decided that she wants to quit her day job and be a full-time writer. There's nothing wrong with that decision, every writer in the world wants to make enough money from their writing alone to live a comfortable life, what IS wrong with this decision is the fact that Ms. Hawthorn has also decided that we should pay her bills while she sits at home and "writes".The GoFundMe page she's created is absolutely ridiculous.Now, let me elaborate with some direct quotes from her GoFundMe page.
I've spent the last 5 years struggling to become a full time author. I've been working odd and part time jobs and writing at night. I'm tired, but I've managed to produce 4 series, 9 individual titles, (All big/real books). 
I've also produced 4 of these as audio books. (Invested $3500.00 just in the audio books). I'm getting noticed and I'm getting awesome reviews on all of my books. I'm not, however making enough to sit and write full time, (which would allow me to also sleep). 
My goal is simple. I need to generate a $1000.00 a month. I do have partial support from my family. It's not a full-time living by any means.
Guess what? Every single writer, painter, sculptor, model, actor, etc, has held down a day job to support their family while honing their craft. It's called doing our job.
$100-$200 a month? Well, congratulations, Ms. Hawthorne! You make more than most indie authors make in a single YEAR!
Have you ever stopped to think that everyone has problems? Be they financially, and/or health wise? Why should we give you our hard-earned money so you can sit at home?Also, by her own admission, she had the $3500 to spend producing her Audiobooks. So why, if she had that to spare, is she asking us for money?But wait, there's more!
Most E-books sell for under $3.00, or less than a cup of coffee, and I get one dollar from that sale. Said E-book took me about 6 months to produce and roughly $1000.00 after paying for cover designers and editors.
Most readers are unaware it takes 20-30 hours of writing/editing/polishing time to produce 1 hour of readable/publishable material. 
Any and all help would be immensely appreciated and I am happy to gift my books to supporters. 
Now, this is where I got really pissed off.Seriously, who out there thinks a book gets written, edited, a cover made, and published in a matter of days?That's right, no one! Yet she's on about how long it takes to produce a book like the people she's begging for money from are complete morons. I know writers who have day jobs and families who write 80,000 words in a single month. I myself have a family and a 20,000 word deadline to reach by this Friday. 
And what's even worse is, she says if you donate to her, that she'll send you her books for free. Well, now, I see your little scam here, hon. Someone sends you $10, $20, $100+ and you send them some books? Wow, you're raking in a little extra there compared to just selling the books now aren't you? 
You want to make enough money off of your books to sit at home and write, well, SELLING BOOKS IS HOW YOU DO THAT, GENIUS! Not giving them away, then asking for a handout.
Yes, it's the most thankless, time consuming non-job on the planet.
 And this is where my inner loudmouth, southern girl rebel busts out and offends some people.The most thankless, time consuming non-job on the planet? Oh, go fuck yourself!Writing is a JOB whether you get a big, fat check or not, and if you feel that it's a "non-job" then it's a HOBBY, a fucking PAST-TIME and you should move along to something that you're better at doing and that makes you happy.
Thankless? No. Every compliment a reader gives you, every smile you put on a reader's face, is your thanks, and in my opinion, that's thanks enough. Money is just unexpected icing on the cake. 
On her personal Facebook page Hawthorne also went on the call people who disagreed with her GoFundMe "Cock-juggling thunder-cunts". 
I am now blocked from said page, simply because I agreed with someone who disagreed with her GFM. 
(Cock-juggling thunder-cunts? Nice ripoff from the movie Blade-Trinity. Yeah, I'm a nerd so I know this shit.) 
She's not as creative as she thinks, obviously.
If there's one thing that I've learned in this business, it's that word spreads like wildfire across the sea in a George R.R. Martin novel. We all talk to each other and the best way to alienate yourself is to call readers/authors/bloggers crude names simply because they don't agree with you expecting a handout.
Ernest Hemmingway once said, "There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."He didn't say that to be dramatic. He said it because it's the absolute truth.
We all have day jobs and/or families that we have to spend the majority of the time taking care of and dealing with. 
REAL WRITERS make time to write because it's important to them, even if that time is ten minutes while you wait to pick up your kids from school, or in the dead of night.Why? Because it's our passion, our dream, not our "Thankless non-job". 
Pay your dues. Write when you have time. Even if it's one page a day. One page a day for 365 days equals 365 pages which is, you guessed it, a book! Write queries, synopsis', submit to every reputable publisher you can find, accept the rejections, and move on to start the routine all over again. 
I understand helping those in need. Those losing their homes. Those with massive medical bill. Those who've lost a loved one. Wanting to sit on your ass at home while you work on your "non-job" is not acceptable and I can't imagine any intelligent, sane person wanting to donate to such a cause. Thanks, but no thanks. I'll stick with donating to the homeless, the ill, the deserving. 
I'm not sure why Ms. Hawthorn feels that she's entitled to our hard earned money, but she isn't, and her approach isn't the way to achieve her dream or attract readers.Hard work, dedication, and a passionate desire to succeed are the only way to get anywhere in this life.Not handouts.
I'm thankful for each and every single reader, blogger, publisher, editor and cover model who supports my dream of writing. 

A steamy collection of scandalous novellas exploring women’s secret, naughty desires and the amazing men who bring those fantasies to life. The short stories Captive Fantasy and For Her Eyes Only can only be found in this anthology.

Captive Fantasy

Mary has always had a fantasy about a dangerous escaped prisoner kidnapping her and forcing her to sate his brutal, pent up desires. When she receives an invitation from the IWSS to live that fantasy out in one of their research facilities she jumps at the chance. Now she just has to convince her gentle giant of a husband to take control and make her his willing love slave.

Sensation Play

Retired German cage fighter, Jonas Becker, has a chance meeting with his dream woman at a charity ball. Unfortunately she leaves before he can get her contact information. When he sees her again at a coffee shop he overhears her talk about the perfect, kinky, opportunity for Jonas to win her over. Erica signs up with the Collette's List dating service, a dating site that specializes in pairing up sexually adventurous couples. Her request is simple. She wants a dangerous, rough, intimidating man to fake break into her hotel room and force her to submit to his wicked demands while giving her multiple orgasms. Using every ounce of his skill as an experienced Dom, Jonas hopes to win Erica over before the night ends. He can only hope that the pleasure he can bring her would make the beautiful woman look past his scarred and battered exterior to the man within who can give her sensations like no other.

Peppermint Passion

Shyla has dreamt about, lusted after, and fallen in love with her to hot as hell bosses over the past year that she's for them. With only a few months left before she graduates and earns her teaching degree, Shyla decides to make her move at the company Christmas Party. Trent and Jack have been fighting a losing battle to keep their hands off of their beautiful and innocent waitress, Shyla, until she graduates. When she surprises them by arriving at their Christmas party dressed like a wet fetish dream, and they learn she plans on being part of the submissive auction, the men quickly decide that the time to show Shyla who she belongs to, and who truly loves, her has arrived.

For Her Eyes Only

Amanda accepts an invitation from the prestigious Institute for Women’s Sexual Satisfaction. Volunteering for their study means she must divulge her deepest, naughtiest fantasies and then act on them. But one wicked fantasy involves watching her boyfriend do something so intimate, so forbidden that she’s afraid he’ll refuse and may even break off their relationship. Jared can’t believe his gorgeous girlfriend wants to see another woman don a strap-on and take his anal virginity. But he wants to make her wildest fantasies come true -- and maybe finally indulge some secret fantasies of his own.

Bound for Her Pleasure

Football star Tycen Preston has everything he could ever want, everything except the healing release of subspace that he desperately craves. After four years of searching for the right Domme, he finally has the opportunity to indulge in all the dark, forbidden desires that would ruin his carefully crafted image if they anyone every found out. Lara Perez is tired of the weak submissive men that offer her no challenge. She yearns for a strong Alpha male to tame and call her own. A blind date seems to be the perfect arrangement for fulfilling both of their decadent cravings. Unfortunately a scheming paparazzi photographer is hot on their trail, and will do anything he can to get a scandalous picture of Tycen that would destroy his career.

AMAZON US I AMAZON UK I NOOK I KOBO I iBOOKS

With over forty published books, Ann is Queen of the Castle to her husband and three sons in the mountains of West Virginia. In her past lives she's been an Import Broker, a Communications Specialist, a US Navy Civilian Contractor, a Bartender/Waitress, and an actor at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. She also spent a summer touring with the Grateful Dead-though she will deny to her children that it ever happened. From a young Ann has had a love affair with books would read everything she could get her hands on. As Ann grew older, and her hormones kicked in, she discovered bodice ripping Fabio-esque romance novels. They were great at first, but she soon grew tired of the endless stories with a big wonderful emotional buildup to really short and crappy sex. Never a big fan of purple prose, throbbing spears of fleshy pleasure and wet honey pots make her giggle, she sought out books that gave the sex scenes in the story just as much detail and plot as everything else-without using cringe worthy euphemisms. This led her to the wonderful world of Erotic Romance, and she's never looked back. Now Ann spends her days trying to tune out cartoons playing in the background to get into her 'sexy space' and has accepted that her Muse has a severe case of ADD.

WEBSITE I FACEBOOK I TWITTER

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Barb Jackson has arrived! 


It's release day, and that means that for those of you waiting to get your hands on the first short story in my all new Barb Jackson Mysteries Series, today is the day you've all been waiting for! Killer Beach Reads includes my new Barb Jackson short story Blondes' Night Out, and 21 more summer themed short stories by bestselling mystery and romance authors! The perfect quick reads for vacation lounging or sipping frosty drinks poolside! 

Links:Amazon: http://amzn.com/B011IYLRV2
Nook:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/killer-beach-reads-gemma-halliday/1122097818?ean=2940151959551&cm_mmc=AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-_-kRKIOhaaRAc-_-10:1
iBooks:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/killer-beach-reads-short-story/id1003931130?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Kobo:  https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/killer-beach-reads-short-story-collection
Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/546108
Coming soon in the Barb Jackson Mysteries Series: The Blonde Before ChristmasBubblegum Blonde