Our February contest celebrating the paperback release of Forsaken Talisman has drawn to a close, but with the end, it means it’s time to give out the prizes.

The winner of the autographed paperback copy of the first book in the Talisman Bay series, Lover’s Talisman, a matching ribbon choker and bracelet set and a Talisman Bay tote bag is Melissa Keith!

Congratulations, Melissa!

Thanks to everyone who entered our contest. For those of you who didn’t win, you can pick up your copy of Lover’s Talisman and Forsaken Talisman at most any online book retailer in either digital or paperback. And you can pick up your very own ribbon chokers at Lisa’s Twilight’s Fancy Artfire shop.

Thanks for playing, and keep an eye on the blog. Hopefully we’ll have some writing news for you soon.

Yesterday on the Samhain blog, Lisa and I were invited to talk about Forsaken Talisman’s paperback release. While we’re way beyond excited that Forsaken Talisman is available in paperback again, we wanted to do more than giggle and squee about how happy we are. But apparently our excitement has gotten the best of us, because we couldn’t figure out what to say. (Us, speechless? I know, right?)

So rather than us telling you about Forsaken Talisman, we let the characters speak for us. If you want to know how each of the Shadow Walkers and other Talisman Bay characters feel about the happenings in Forsaken Talisman, head on over to our post on the Samhain blog and hear about it directly from them.

I met Lucy Monroe several years ago at a convention, and she’s one of the nicest, sweetest authors in the industry. She’s giving, she’s friendly, and she’s a huge supporter of romance. I’m proud to call her a friend. So when she mentioned she had a new release, I wanted to mention it here to share the news with all our readers.

Moon Craving
Feb 2010 – Berkley Sensation

ISBN-13: 978-0425233047
Children of the Moon Book 2

If it were up to him, Talorc—laird of the Sinclair clan and leader of his werewolf pack— would never marry. But when the king orders that Talorc wed an Englishwoman, the lone wolf is shocked to find his mate in the strong-willed Abigail. And after an intensely climactic wedding night, the two fiercely independent souls sense an unbreakable bond…

Deaf since childhood, Abigail hopes to keep her affliction from Talorc as long as possible. And for his part, he has no intention of telling her about being a werewolf. But when Abigail learns that the husband she’s begun to love has deceived her, it will take all of his warrior’s strength—and his wolf’s cunning—to win his wife back. And Talorc will have to face his biggest challenge yet: the vulnerability of a man in love…

Read an Excerpt | Buy the Book

Watch the Book Trailer

As a special thank you to readers, Lucy is giving away a prize pack of pamper yourself products and paranormal romance. All you have to do to enter is send an email with Moon Craving Contest in the subject line to moon_craving at yahoo dot com before February 28th, 2010. The drawing will be held March 1st and the winner will be announced on her blog at http://www.lucymonroeblog.blogspot.com.

Forsaken Talisman is available in a pretty new paperback (have you gotten your copy yet?), and we’re celebrating by giving stuff away. That’s the best way to celebrate, right?

We’re giving away an autographed copy of the first book in the Talisman Bay series, Lover’s Talisman, and a matching ribbon choker and bracelet set. All you have to do is head on over to our contest page and answer a few questions on the form for us.

So what are you waiting for? Have fun and good luck!

It’s been out of print for several years. It’s been completely rewritten with approximately 20,000 more words added. It’s got a shiny, gorgeous new cover. And it’s finally available in paperback again. Yay!

Nationally bestselling author Anya Bast gave us a great cover quote for this book, and I can’t thank her enough for it: “Forsaken Talisman is a romantic, action-packed adventure you won’t want to miss, filled with characters the reader will care about from the first paragraph. Ashleigh Raine delivers a thrilling story that will have you turning pages well into the morning hours.”

Forsaken Talisman, book two in the Talisman Bay series, is Dusty and Skylar’s love story, but you also get to spend time with many other characters you met in book one of the series, Lover’s Talisman, as well. More mysteries are unveiled, surprise relationships are evolving. If you haven’t read the series yet and you enjoy paranormal romantic thrillers with hot sex, we hope you’ll give this series a try.

Read the blurb and excerpts.
Buy at Amazon (currently 25% off)
Buy at Borders
Buy at B&N (currently 27% off!)
Buy at Book Depository (15% off and free shipping worldwide!)

As I wrote the title to this post, the song from Staind played through my mind. I love the song–it’s one of my favorites by Staind–but thankfully the only connection between that song and this post is the title. Life is crazy busy, but not bad.

I wish I could say that Lisa and I have been busy writing the last few months, but that would be lying. We’ve been busy working other jobs–putting in lots of extra hours because in this economy, we can’t say no to making much-needed money to pay the bills. Lisa now works at a costume shop where she’s been building costumes for a big-time movie that will be hitting theaters in summer 2011. I’m not sure if she’s allowed to talk about it so I won’t share any details here, but it’s been pretty exciting and we like to think of it as more research for upcoming Hollywood Heat stories we want to write. If you combine Lisa’s and my work hours over the last couple months, on average we’ve been putting in anywhere from 120-160 hours a week. I wish I could say I was exaggerating on that! We get up, go to work, and fall into bed after 12-18 hour shifts, often 7 days a week. But I refuse to see anything but the positive in that. Money is good. Getting out of debt is good. Life is hectic, but good.

We have a release this week–the new and improved, revised version of Forsaken Talisman is coming out in paperback. The official release date is tomorrow, so I’ll chatter more about it then, although you can find it shipping now on several online bookstores if you just can’t wait another day. The book looks absolutely stunning. I’m really impressed with the quality and the cover is beautiful on the print edition. Yes, I will fully admit I’ve hugged my copies more than once.

If you want an autographed bookplate for any of our print books, drop me an email. You can find the link to my email address on the About the Author page on our website. In the email let me know which print books you have and who you want the book autographed to and we’ll personalize it and mail it off. A lot of emails end up in spam, though, so if you don’t hear back from me, try again. We got hundreds upon hundreds of spam email a week, and I don’t want anyone to think they’re being ignored.

And since we’re talking about Talisman Bay…our workload is lightening up a little bit so this week we’re easing back into writing. Our editor, the amazing Anne Scott, has read the first 25,000 words of Eternal Talisman and she loves what she’s read so far. Getting that type of feedback is invaluable and lights the fire under us to get this book done. It’s been too long since we’ve had a new book out, and we know that readers have been waiting for-friggin’-ever for Eternal Talisman to release. It’s a guilt Lisa and I live with daily that we haven’t been able to write fast enough to get the stories to you that all of you have been demanding. Thank you to all the readers and fans who email us all the time letting us know that you’re excited about Eternal Talisman and our other future releases. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you for telling your friends and fellow readers about our books. Thank you for spending your money on our stories. We can’t do this without you. And we want to keep doing this for years to come.

If all goes well, Lisa and I will be back to a semi-regular blogging schedule within the next few weeks. If Lisa’s allowed, maybe she’ll talk about some of her experiences working in the costume shop, and the work she’s done as a background extra on several shows (including House, Big Love and others) over the last few months. I’ve been harassing her to type up her stories and post them because I love hearing about her experiences, so if you want to hear them, join in my harassing in the comments below. And next time she’s not working a 12-18 hour day maybe she’ll start posting them.

We’ll talk soon…and please, don’t be a stranger. Leave a comment or drop us an email. We love hearing from you! (And don’t forget to leave your comments harassing Lisa to tell her recent stories of her behind-the-scenes Hollywood life!)

The winner of the Twofold Desires contest never stepped forward and claimed her prize, so BAM, time to draw another winner’s name. You snooze, you lose. You wait patiently, maybe you’ll be the winner!

The second chance winner of the Twilight’s Fancy necklace is…

Nyla Thompson!

Okay, Nyla, don’t be like Cherie and not email me and claim your prize. Email us with your postal address and we’ll send this gorgeous necklace your way ASAP. You have until Tuesday, November 17 to claim this necklace.

This was probably one of our most fun contests. We loved reading all of the creative entries–all the fun things people wanted to dress up as for Halloween. Our readers are a creative bunch!

Now, before I announce the winner, I want to remind everyone that the winner has to email us within seven days–by next Monday, November 9–to claim your prize. If you don’t, your prize is forfeit and a new winner will be drawn. There were a ton of entries into this contest, so I know those folks who don’t win the first time won’t mind getting a second chance if you don’t claim your prize. It’s a good idea to pay attention if you want to win.

Now, without further ado, the winner of the Twilight’s Fancy necklace is…

…Cherie Corey!

Cherie, drop us an email with your postal address and we’ll send this gorgeous necklace your way ASAP. You have until Monday, November 9 to claim this necklace. If Cherie doesn’t email us in the allotted time, we’ll draw another name next week, so if you didn’t win now, check back after November 9.

Thanks for playing our contest, and keep an eye on our website. You never know when we’ll throw another contest or have news to share.

Hurray, today’s release day. Twofold Desires, previously only available in the anthology Things That Go Bump in the Night IV, is now available on its own from Ellora’s Cave. It’s sexy, it’s hot, it’s emotional, it’s fun…we hope you enjoy our shapeshifter menage with a twist.

For those of you who enjoy reading series (and we’ll happily admit, we’re series junkies), Twofold Desires is based in our Talisman Bay world. Watch for a cameo appearance from one of our Shadow Walkers early on in the story. Although Twofold Desires can be read as a standalone story, for those of you who keep close track of the stories and the world and want to read everything in exact order, this story takes place after Lover’s Talisman and Forsaken Talisman (both of which are now available at Samhain Publishing), and prior to Eternal Talisman–which we’re writing now.

And don’t forget to enter our contest celebrating the release of Twofold Desires for a chance to win a Twilight’s Fancy necklace.

Have fun and good luck!

We’re celebrating. Our story, Twofold Desires, which was previously released by Ellora’s Cave as part of the Things That Go Bump in the Night IV anthology, is being re-released on October 21 as a standalone novella. Isn’t the new cover sexy? My fingers got singed when I opened the file for the first time. I wouldn’t mind being Jill in the middle of that Leo/Arden sandwich.

To celebrate the re-release of Twofold Desires, we’re having a contest. Head on over to our contest page for details on how to enter and what you can win. This is a quick, fun contest, where you can let your imagination run wild.

Have fun and good luck!