Anya Bast

The winner from yesterday’s contest is Julianne. Congrats, Julianne! Please drop me an email ~ anyabast(at)gmail.com

Today’s book……

A water witch, Isabelle Novak has always led a chaotic, nomadic existence. But her life spins out of control when her sister—her only friend and emotional anchor—is killed by a demon. Driven by grief and a desire for revenge, she turns her back on the Coven and the rede they hold sacred: Harm thee none…

When Isabelle first encounters Thomas Monahan, she’s running on pure rage and sorrow, channeling her pain into power—and trying to freeze the life out of a warlock she holds responsible for her sister’s death. Together, they form an uneasy alliance to hunt and destroy a demon of tremendous power. As head of the Coven, earth witch Thomas must thwart Isabelle’s dark impulses, but his very presence stirs deeper desires she never knew she had…

Read the first chapter and/or watch the book video.

Answer in the comments for a shot at a copy of Witch Blood. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow to see if you won.

Isabelle is definitely a kick ass kind of girl. Are you pretty assertive, or not so much? (I’m pretty type B, just for the record. I’m easy-going until you push me too far, then rawr! How about you?

The winner from yesterday’s contest is Nicole G. Congrats, Nicole! Please drop me an email ~ anyabast(at)gmail.com

Today’s book is Jeweled.

Defined by magic. Ruled by desire.

In the Court of Edaeii, magic-imbued Evangeline is rewarded for her gift in manipulating emotion with a sapphire stone set into the perfect curve of her lower back. Her greatest rival in the royal court is the enigmatic Anatol, instilled with the power of illusion. He may better her in magic, but he is her absolute equal in passion.

They share something else—they’re both targets of low-born revolutionaries bent on overthrowing the palace of the privileged few. Rescued from the mobs by Gregorio, the brilliant revolutionary mastermind, they’re given sanctuary. But in this warm refuge, Evangeline soon finds herself torn between the magic of one man she has always desired, and the excitingly new and radical moves of another. For her, there is only one choice.

Evangeline, Anatol and Gregorio come together as one to explore the possibilities of love beyond reason, and to indulge in pleasure without limits.

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In Jeweled, Evangeline is learning how to feel and deal with emotion after years of complete numbness as a backlash of her magickal gift. As a consequence, Jeweled is a highly emotional book. Do you consider yourself a very emotional person? Do you think with your head…or your heart?

Leave a comment for a chance to win an autographed copy of JEWELED. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow it see if you’ve won. Good luck!

The winner from yesterday’s contest is Michelle K. Congrats, Michelle! Please drop me an email ~ anyabast(at)gmail.com

Today’s book is the first in the Elemental Witches series, Witch Fire.

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

I write and read paranormal romance, but I also love the fantasy genre and tend to read that for entertainment. What other genres besides PNR (paranormal romance) do you enjoy?

Leave a comment for a chance to win an autographed copy of WITCH FIRE. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow it see if you’ve won. Good luck!

Let’s kick it off with an autographed copy of Midnight Enchantment, releasing February 7th.

Order from Amazon.com

Order from Barnes & Noble

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Answer in the comments for a shot at a copy of Midnight Enchantment. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow to see if you won.

Have you read my books before? If so, what’s your favorite title? If you haven’t read any of my books before, which book or series would you most like to try?

****THIS POST IS STICKY. SCROLL DOWN FOR THE BOOK OF THE DAY****

Grand Prize ~ $100 GC to the bookstore of the winner’s choice.

Plus chances to win books every day until February 7th.

Order from Amazon.com

Order from Barnes & Noble

To celebrate the release of Midnight Enchantment on February 7th, I’ll be giving away a book away every day (except Sundays), my books and books from other authors, until the book is officially out. I’m also giving away a $100 gift certificate!

Rules/Directions for the Book-a-Day Contests:

1.) Check back every day to see what book is being given away and who the winner was from the day before.
2.) Enter each day for a chance to win. If you win a book, you’re eligible to win again, so keep trying!
3.) All winners are responsible for checking back to see if they’ve won. They must contact me within two weeks of the announcement to collect their prize — anyabast(at)gmail.com
4.) All contests are open to non-U.S. entrants. I will pay to send the book overseas if you win and don’t reside in the United States.
5.) Contests are void where prohibited.

Rules/Directions for the Grand Prize:

1.) To enter for a chance to win the book store gift certificate, read the question below and answer it in the comments. You have from today until February 7th to enter. I will announce the winners of the book store GC on February 7th.
2.) You can gain a second entry if you tell someone about this contest, post about it on Twitter (or retweet), or post it to Facebook, your blog, or somewhere else. After you’ve done that, come back here and post again, telling me what you’ve done.
3.) Don’t forget to check back on February 7th to see if you won! All winners must contact me within two weeks of the announcement to collect their prize.
4.) This contest is open to non-U.S. residents, BUT PLEASE NOTE that the GC must be purchased for use at a U.S. book store using U.S. currency. If you can work that out, go ahead and enter.

This post will remain sticky for the grand prize/runner-up entrants. Scroll down for the book-a-day giveaways. The book-a-day giveaways will begin on January, 17th. Tomorrow! Don’t forget to come back and enter. Good luck!

Question to answer to be entered for a shot at the Grand Prize:

The overall theme Midnight Enchantment is doing something you know is wrong for a noble reason–love.

What’s the craziest (or worst) thing you’ve done for love?

Let me know in the comments for a shot at winning one of the gift certificates!

Release date: February 7th
Pre-order at Amazon
Preorder at Barnes & Noble

“Full of action, excitement, and sexy fun.” —Bitten by Books

“Smart, dangerous, and sexy as hell…Always an exhilarating read.” —Fresh Fiction

A quest for freedom may be derailed by their intense attraction…

Niall Quinn, mage and the finest thief in the Black Tower, is the fae’s best hope for freedom. Only he stands a chance of tracking down and retrieving the missing bosca fadbh pieces from the Summer Queen. But he meets his match in Elizabeth Cely Saintjohn, who has taken control of the pieces on the Summer Queen’s behalf—and has refused to give them up.

Elizabeth is an asrai, a rare English water fae, and she may be the only fae in Piefferburg stealthier than Niall. She has her own reasons for guarding the two pieces and wanting the walls of Piefferburg to remain intact—even if it means denying her fae sisters and brothers their freedom. Her mother’s life depends on it.

Torn between his duty to obtain the pieces at any cost—and the shocking lust Elizabeth has stirred in him—Niall must convince Elizabeth to surrender the pieces, or else he may have no choice but to destroy her and all she holds dear…

Read an excerpt

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Comment for a chance to win your choice of one of the first three books in the Dark Enchantment series! I’ll pick a winner at noon on Friday, January 6th.

The winner of my quickie contest is BETTY. Please drop me an email ~ anyabast(at)gmail.com with your choice. 🙂 This contest is now concluded.

Cross-posted from Fire and Ice

So, it’s another year…
…I don’t usually make resolutions at the beginning of the year. I guess I’ve made too many and broken them for me to take them seriously. Now if I want to do something or change something, I just do it any old time. Sometimes I succeed at doing or changing that thing, sometimes not.

Last year was a year of ups and downs for me and for my family, but although not everything went smoothly, nothing truly awful happened. Everyone is healthy and happy. I won’t ask for anything more than that and be thankful for every small (and large) blessing we have.

In 2012 I’m looking forward to writing, an occupation I never seem grow tired of. It’s an addiction for me. If I don’t write for a week, I get itchy and depressed. I believe I will always write, no matter what, as I have always written since about the age of twenty or so.

I do have a couple goals, though I don’t consider them resolutions because these goals are constant. One is to always find joy and peace in what I do and in my daily life. If you can’t find joy and peace in what you do every day, life gets pretty monotonous. If ever I stop enjoying writing (really don’t see that happening), I’ll move on to something else.

The other is to live in the moment, a constant challenge for me. I don’t mean this in a “stop to smell the roses” kind of way, although that is important. I mean to live in a mindful state, to always be completely present in everything I do, even if it’s only tying my shoe laces. It’s harder than it sounds.

How about you? Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Or do you have any goals-to-live-by, like me?

(Cross-posted from Between Fire and Ice)

Time seems to be picking up speed lately. I guess it must be the holidays.

I’ve spent the last week sick, mostly. My little girl is in Kindergarten and is, like all Kindergarteners, a germ magnet. It usually goes like this…girl gets a little cough, a bit pink about the cheeks and that’s it. Then mama gets hits with the force of a freight train and is down and out for four to five days. I’m glad my girl has such a strong immune system. Mine, on the other hand, pretty much sucks.

The last week also brought with it a couple sick kitties. One is dealing with some fantastic allergies. The other, sadly, is in congestive heart failure. Wiggle is in the final stages of this and we are managing the symptoms. We know we will not have him for much longer, so we are kissing him and cuddling him every day, appreciating him while he’s with us. It’s hard. Wiggle is an awesome cat, a total purr machine lap cat. He gives love twenty-four, seven. Seems wrong a cat with such a big heart should be suffering from heart failure. We’re going to miss him very much when he’s gone.

Wow, seems I wrote about a lot of downer stuff. I don’t feel down. I’m sad about Wiggle, but I’m glad we caught his illness early on. That means we can manage these final days for him, as far as symptoms go, and we won’t be surprised by his sudden death. I guess I’m saying I’m thankful we’re able to say our goodbyes to him. That’s a blessing. I’ve had precious kitties die suddenly when we haven’t had that opportunity. So there’s a bit of good mixed in with the bad.

My daughter is very excited about Christmas and her spirit is helping to raise mine. I have all my shopping done, I’ve had it done for a while now. I’m not a fan of crowded stores or busy mall parking lots, so I plan ahead and just take it easy the weeks before Christmas. I’m taking my girl to the Nutcracker, to Pancakes with Santa, baking cookies, all that good stuff. They’re only little so long, gotta take advantage of this time. I’d rather spend time with her than fighting traffic and jostling hordes of shoppers.

And, of course, I’ve been writing. I’m working on an experimental book right now, something that’s purely urban fantasy. It took me awhile to hit my stride with this one. Not because it was a new genre–urban fantasy is close enough to paranormal romance that it doesn’t feel strange–but more because I’m afraid I can’t do it. It’s the same sensation I had when I sat down to write my very first book, this fear that I might not be able to pull it off.

But that’s dumb because I know I can. I’ve written something like twenty full-length novels and about a ton and half novellas. So, I finally got over myself, put the stupid fear away, and now it’s going pretty smoothly.

So, I’ve rambled on about my week long enough. How’s yours going? Getting ready for the holidays?

P.S. I have a release in late January (The Twisted Kiss) and another in early February (Midnight Enchantment), so look for details soon on a blog contest at my web site! I’ll start it after the craziness of the holidays, in early January.

I have a new release coming out from Samhain at the end of January and got the go ahead yesterday to show the cover, which I think is pretty awesome. This book is part of a new series. I really love this world, (post-apocalyptic though it may be). 🙂

Read an excerpt

Sometimes it takes just one kiss…

Doomsyear, Book 1

Kylie Mitchell lives in a world of monsters. Thanks to a military experiment gone viral, over half the population is gone and most of what remains has mutated into storybook werewolves and vampires. In this new Earth, only the tough survive, and Kylie has more than enough reason to want to be left alone.

When the Council of the Wise decrees that she must mate with a potent vampire and a powerful werewolf, Kylie resents their intrusion into her self-imposed exile. As one of the last humans on Earth, she always assumed she’d be safe from the super-psychics’ machinations, and she’s not ready to trust her heart to anyone.

Michael and Christian share no great love for each other, but they have one thing in common—their long-time desire for Kylie. Determined to ensure she doesn’t spend the rest of her lonely life wallowing in needless guilt, they choose to put aside their differences and work together, never allowing her time to think as they seduce her body and mind, hoping their love will tempt her heart to open to them.

Yet just as she begins to bloom under their fiercely protective attention, a twisted and monstrous figure from the past rises up, threatening to destroy everything…

Product Warnings:
Features a sexy werewolf, a motorcycle-riding vamp, and one very lucky woman who is tough enough to take care of herself. Watch out for sizzling hot sex scenes, two alpha males, undeniable love, and a twisted monster that might end it all.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday. My daughter was off for five straight days, so I didn’t do much writing. She’s five and it’s possible to get work done with her around, but I wanted to spend some quality time with my girl, so I took the time off.

We saw Arthur Christmas in 3d (super cute, btw), had Thanksgiving at my aunt’s house (first time in eight years I didn’t host/cook…and it was SUBLIME), baked snickerdoodle cookies (our fav), and took her ice skating for the first time.

Growing up in Minnesota, back before global warming caused temps there to grow milder, my life was filled with ice and snow. I was on my high school figure skating team and can remember getting up at five in the morning in the dead of winter, temperature fifteen below zero, and heading into the rink for practice before school. These are good memories from good times.

So I was excited to share the joy of skating with my daughter and a bit scared too. I hadn’t strapped on a pair of skates in years and my daughter…well, she’d never worn a pair. Together we hobbled out onto the ice. My daughter turned to me immediately and said in an accusing voice, “You didn’t tell me ice was so cold and slippery!” Erm, yeah, I guess I just assumed she’d know, but she is only five.

We clung to the boards the first two times around, my daughter learning how to balance on the skates and me trying to remember. When she fell on her butt the first time and exclaimed about how the ice wasn’t only cold and slippery, it was !!!hard!!! too, I thought it was over. I thought she’d say she’d want to quit, but instead she pulled herself up (okay, I helped) and continued on.

Slowly I got my legs back under me. Muscle memory is an incredible thing. And, slowly, my daughter figured out how to keep her balance and move forward. She fell. A LOT. Over and over. Hard thumps onto her butt, sometimes onto her knees. Every time she fell, I thought, this is it. She’ll want to quit now. But every time, she pulled herself up, more determined than ever to learn how to skate.

By the end of the session, she could skate all around the rink by herself, completely unafraid of falling. I was so proud of her. It’s important to learn how to fall, important to be okay with falling. It’s even more important to be able to pick yourself up after a fall and move on. She showed an incredible amount of perseverance on the ice that day, and she loved skating. She’s already bugging me to go back. 🙂

So, what did you do on your Thanksgiving holiday? (…if, of course, you celebrated it.)