Friday This and That

So I have some new names from my spammers... Glidewell Allman, Dorkas Lochtkemper, Hannele Kirbach, Armina Brandstaedter, Malenka Barth, Marcelino London, Irmine Berlinsky, Emilio Funk... So what do you think? Are any of them the next hunky hero or spunky heroine? Toss your vote out there if one of the names strikes your fancy. If not, I'm sure I'll have a new crop in a few days.

We're in for an ice storm today. That would be after the snowstorm. And then when it's all finished there will be a rainstorm. Something for everyone that way. At least we'll be receiving precipitation and that's definitely needed in our neck of the woods. Except for travel difficulties, it's all good.

I've been writing pretty steadily for the last few days, aching back and stinging finger not withstanding. Mostly, I'm working on Bishop's book so all of the nagging, nagging can cease.

The dragon, tiger, alien story... well, I just don't know. Don't want anyone to think I have a fetish for dragons or menages or any of that other kinky stuff. Maybe it should have been a vampire, faery, unicorn story. Nope. Then someone would detect a faery fetish. Ummm. I haven't done an elf. Maybe an elf. Have to think about that. In the meantime when I finish Bishop's story, I'll head off in the the angel/shifter territory with the second book about the Jericho family. Cage's story.

Tonight between 7PM and 10PM we'll be having a chat on the Ellora's Cave Chat loop. Drop by and visit with us while we kid around and post some excerpts.

If you're interested in winning a free book, check out the second page at my website--Bio Page--scroll down until you find the Contest Box. There are rules and clues and everything you need to know to submit an entry.

Until tomorrow!

Anny

Drop by Kelly's place for another episode in her travels at www.kkirch.blogspot.com and then hop over to Amarinda's Place where she's discuss blue tongued lizards at www.amarindajones.blogspot.com Blessings on your day!

A little Dancer's Delight

So! Have you sent in your answers to the Eternally Yours Contest?


What could you spend an eternity doing? What is your passion? Your hunger? Your deepest desire? Ten authors will complete the line, "My darling I could spend eternity…" on either their blog or website. Collect all ten answers and e-mail them to anny@annycook.com with Eternally Yours in the subject line to win some hot, romantic books. There will be three lucky Valentine winners.

The prizes –1st prize--5 books

2nd prize--3 books

3rd prize--2 books

Hurry and get your entry in. Entries must be in by February 16 at midnight EST. All books and prize winners will be drawn randomly.





Sandra Cox Silverhills
Mona Risk To Love a Hero
Brynn Paulin Tribute For the Goddess
Bronwyn Green Mystic Circle
Cindy Spencer Pape Stone and Earth
N.J. Walters Seduction of Shamus O’Rourke
Elyssa Edwards Mating Stone
Amarinda Jones Shades of Gray
Kelly Kirch Time for Love
Anny Cook Honeysuckle


A little over a year ago, my first book was accepted at Cerridwen Press. I thought perhaps you might enjoy a little excerpt from Dancer's Delight.

Quiet fell over the concert hall as the orchestra moved into the first notes of the closing composition. Perched on a stool in the center of the stage, the musician known simply as Devereaux calmly waited for his cue before launching into his signature piece, Devereaux’s Dance. The guitar notes seemed to leap into the air, glittering and dancing as his fingers flew across the strings. When the last note shimmered across the hall, a deep moment of silence preceded a storm of applause. Devereaux bowed low, accepting the audience’s acclaim, then strode from the stage, his mind already occupied with the next step in his plan.

In his dressing room, he quickly stripped off his formal clothing and stepped into the small shower stall. His friend and agent, Jake was waiting when he stepped back into the dressing room naked except for a small towel wrapped around his hips. Jake waggled one eyebrow in query. “No encore?”

When he shrugged in reply, the blue and green dragon tattoo that stretched across his left shoulder and biceps rippled. Jerking on the clothing laid out—gray silk boxers, soft faded jeans, plain navy blue t-shirt and polished black cowboy boots—Devereaux nodded once. “I’ll give them one. Two minutes, Jake. After the encore, I’m out of here. No interviews. No autographs.”

Jake soberly studied his friend and client. The hard, honed body usually camouflaged beneath a specially tailored tux was obvious in the soft comfortable jeans and shirt. Devereaux’s golden hip length hair, normally tucked out of site beneath his jacket, slithered across his taut butt, confined in an elaborate French braid. “You’re really coming out of the closet, Dev and going out there like that? Your fans don’t know what a predator you really are.”

“They’ll get over it,” Dev replied shortly while he shoved his wallet into his back pocket and slid a handful of change and his keys in his front pocket. “Next week, there will be a new sensation and they’ll be saying ‘Devereaux who?’ “

Jake snorted in disgust. “Right! How many virtuoso musicians of your caliber play to sell out crowds? Violinists at your level are rare enough, but you play nearly every stringed instrument that exists! I’m not announcing your retirement. Go on this search you’ve planned. Find your damned mystery woman. When you get her out of your system, let me know and I’ll arrange another tour.” Shaking his head, he slammed out the door.

Dev surveyed the small room and pondered how anxious Jake would be to arrange another tour if he knew that it was just a cover for Dev’s day job as an assassin. With the grim black humor he’d developed over the years, he decided that he should have acquired business cards with the legend Troubleshooter for Hire. Maybe print it in blood red ink with a black rifle underscoring the title.

Once Jake was gone, Dev retrieved his personal weapons from their hiding places and swiftly distributed them about his person, before shrugging on his long black leather duster. He strapped on his chrome watch, slipped tiny gold hoops in his ear lobes and slid his passport in his inside coat pocket. As a final touch, before leaving the dressing room, he put on his dark glasses and ducked to survey himself in the mirror. Not many dressing rooms were designed for someone over six four. Grinning, he shook his head, snagged his black cowboy hat and departed.

Stunned silence rippled across the auditorium as he strode confidently to the center of the stage with a sexy loose-hipped motion, took his violin and bow in hand and with no further ado, leaped into his most recent solo composition, never before performed in public. The reviewers the next day raved about the appropriately titled, Dancer’s Delight, while avidly dissecting his changed appearance. What was not reported was the fact that Devereaux vanished when he walked off the stage after his final performance.

Buy here: http://www.cerridwenpress.com/productpage.asp?ISBN=9781419909566


If you would like more information or a chance to read other excerpts from all of my books, then check out the bookshelf at my web page. http://www.annycook.com/ And while you're there stop by the Contest Box and enter one of my February Scavenger Hunts to win free prizes!

There are also maps, family trees, and other information about the Mystic Valley series and the Flowers of Camelot. Feel free to explore all the possibilities.

Anny

Kelly has part two of her Friday story, Family Business at http://www.kkirch.blogspot.com/ and Amarinda will be offering hints for the Eternally Yours contest at http://www.amarindajones.blogspot.com/ Blessings on your day!

Mondo the Moose

"My darling I could spend eternity holding you to my heart, protecting you with my sword, loving you with all my soul."

Meet Mondo, the Moose. Isn't there just something about him that makes you want to take him home and cuddle with him? For all our love of the Alpha, take charge male, we still gravitate toward the shy, just a little goofy guy.

Think about the fellows that made a career out of that "aw shucks, ma'am, t'wern't nothin'" attitude. Jimmy Stewart, Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder all were men that didn't quite fit in that manly man mold. There are no doubt some very modern examples but I no longer watch television or the movies so I don't really have any names just off the top of my head.

If I were to ask each of you to describe your ideal man, chances are you would name a movie star or singer. The occasional reader might name a historical figure or a political figure. But most wouldn't name the geek next door, even though he might be the more accomplished lover and truer friend. If the hunkalicious fellow gets all the girls, then the geeky guy is going to have to hone his people skills and lovemaking skills in order to attract that stray woman or two that somehow escaped from Mr. Hunk.

So next time you look around you for a Valentine, don't overlook Mondo the Moose.

Today is the last day of the Eternally Yours Contest.

Entries must be in by February 16 at midnight EST. All books and prize winners will be drawn randomly.

What could you spend an eternity doing? What is your passion? Your hunger? Your deepest desire? Each day beginning February 5 and running through February 14 one of the ten authors will complete the line, "My darling I could spend eternity…" on either their blog or website. Collect all ten answers and e-mail them to anny@annycook.com with Eternally Yours in the subject line to win some hot, romantic books. There will be three lucky Valentine winners.

The prizes –1st prize--5 books

2nd prize--3 books

3rd prize--2 books

Sandra Cox Silverhills
Mona Risk To Love a Hero
Brynn Paulin Tribute For the Goddess
Bronwyn Green Mystic Circle
Cindy Spencer Pape Stone and Earth
N.J. Walters Seduction of Shamus O’Rourke
Elyssa Edwards Mating Stone
Amarinda Jones Shades of Gray
Kelly Kirch Time for Love

Anny Cook Honeysuckle

Other announcements: Today is also the last day of Kelly Kirch's contest. Go at once to her blog at http://www.kkirch.blogspot.com/ and find out all the details. Also check out that beautiful necklace that she's giving away as a prize.

Kelly's book, Time for Love is released today from Cerridwen Press at http://www.cerridwenpress.com/index.asp Go. Buy. It's the one with the gorgeous cover.

The entire month of February I will be running a series of scavenger hunts on my website. Trot on over to www.annycook.com and find the Contest Box for all the details if you wanna win free stuff!

Finally, don't miss Amarinda's Place today as she's discussing Valentine "stuff". www.amarindajones.blogspot.com

Anny

Froggie socks and Online Personas

Late yesterday afternoon my friend Jane called and asked if she could come up to see me. She arrived bearing gifts.

She brought me this cute pair of froggie socks. My editor is particularly fond of frogs and her group of authors all belong to the 'frogpond'. We're all called frogs. So these were very appropriate. I love 'em. Check out the neat little bowties and hats. My froggie socks.

I have a ton of socks. Penguins, moose, monkeys, flowers, cows, hallowe'en, christmas, easter, stars, trees, moons, so the frogs will be right at home. Thank you, Jane!

I've been tootling around on the internet, reading blogs and sitting in on chat loops over the weekend. I'm always amazed at the amount of information people blurt out for international consumption. I suspect that information on the internet lives forever. Once sent you can never retrieve it. So this is a list of the things I learned this week.

On woman chose to share the intimate secrets of her sex life. You know the 'other' one--not the one she has at home. I learned enough in the first three sentences to hold me for a long time. TMI!

Another person chose to discuss their shop-lifting escapades. One word. Illegal. Just know that it's hard to get access to a computer when you're in jail.

A man revealed that he loves to be flogged and have other odd stuff inflicted on him. Moving on...

One idiotic woman mentioned that her husband had recently moved on to greener pastures leaving all alone her with three beautiful children. See their pretty pictures? Oh, you want meet them? You say you're a pedophile or a child molester? Well no problem, just click in the little box that says "address and telephone number". Criminal negligence.

Admittedly these are extreme examples, but many people are quite comfortable sharing all sorts of personal information without sparing a thought about who will read it. The internet is a vast faceless ocean of people. I could post a picture of any woman, tell you, my readers that it was my picture and how would you know the difference? I could tell you that I'm a seven foot blue skinned amazon with pointed ears, fangs, and knee length red hair. How will you know that isn't the truth?

Or my name could really be Andrew Black, I could be a short squatty geek with acne scars and greasy hair and a love for Australian Rules Football. And my friend Jane might be a brawny biker dude with a lot of tattoos, named Bubba-Joe. Again, how would you know?

So... Just food for thought. Who's reading your words?

Anny

Want to win free stuff? Stop by my website for my Webpage Scavenger Hunt at www.annycook.com and check the Contest Box for rules and details!

Wanna win more free stuff?

What could you spend an eternity doing? What is your passion? Your hunger? Your deepest desire? Each day beginning February 5 and running through February 14 one of the ten authors will complete the line, "My darling I could spend eternity…" on either their blog or website. Collect all ten answers and e-mail them to anny@annycook.com with Eternally Yours in the subject line to win some hot, romantic books. There will be three lucky Valentine winners.

The prizes –1st prize--5 books

2nd prize--3 books

3rd prize--2 books
Entries must be in by February 16 at midnight EST. All books and prize winners will be drawn randomly.

Sandra Cox Silverhills
Mona Risk To Love a Hero
Brynn Paulin Tribute For the Goddess
Bronwyn Green Mystic Circle
Cindy Spencer Pape Stone and Earth
N.J. Walters Seduction of Shamus O’Rourke
Elyssa Edwards Mating Stone
Amarinda Jones Shades of Gray
Kelly Kirch Time for Love

Anny Cook Honeysuckle

Don't forget to drop by Kelly's Blog for the details on her contest... prize is a lovely necklace! www.kkirch.blogspot.com And then stop by Amarinda's Place to check out her newly rearranged blog at www.amarindajones.blogspot.com Blessings on your day!

Life

Have you ever started a project only to find that it was a mistake? Something you should have taken more time to consider? More than you could handle? I'm in the middle of a couple of projects like that.

I grew up in the era when the expectation was that you finished whatever you began, whether it was the dishes or a marriage. Walking away wasn't ever an option. You just kept at it until the job was done. So I'm having a hard time admitting that I might have bitten off more than I can chew--or swallow. What to do? I really don't like to leave things unfinished.

On the other hand...

I worked for many years in a job where the expectations were impossible. And when I left that job, I determined that I would never go back to that stressful lifestyle. So it's sheer stupidity if I do it to myself. I suspect that I will have to make a couple of changes and set aside a plan or two or three. I wish that didn't make me feel like I'd failed. After all, these are MY expectations and I can choose to change them, much like I chose to have New Years goals instead of resolutions. Life is basically how we look at it.

Possibly the most difficult part of restructuring is deciding what to keep and what to toss. I'm a keeper of everything. "Someday I might need it..." Well, not today. It's about clearing the decks for those things I truly want/need to do. The rest must go. Time is passing and once gone I can never get it back.

Priorities are a bitch to set, aren't they? Oh, some are simple. Family, spouse, income, outgo, those things are sort of set in stone, right? But after that, things are a tad foggier. Doing the dishes every day? Vacuuming every day? Getting up every day? Decisions, decision. What to do? Tea or coffee? Bikinis or grannies? Get dressed and stay in the jammies?

Exciting and difficult to keep re-inventing myself after forty, fifty,... You would think that I would eventually settle down. Eventually pick something to be. I'm nearly grown up, after all. Shouldn't I know what I want to be when I grow up? Apparently not.

But I'm working on it.

Anny

I have a scavenger hunt all month long on my webpage at http://www.annycook.com/ so check out the contest box for rules and clues.

What could you spend an eternity doing? What is your passion? Your hunger? Your deepest desire? Each day beginning February 5 and running through February 14 one of the ten authors will complete the line, "My darling I could spend eternity…" on either their blog or website. Collect all ten answers and e-mail them to anny@annycook.com with Eternally Yours in the subject line to win some hot, romantic books. There will be three lucky Valentine winners.

The prizes –1st prize--5 books

2nd prize--3 books

3rd prize--2 books
Entries must be in by February 16 at midnight EST. All books and prize winners will be drawn randomly.

Sandra Cox Silverhills
Mona Risk To Love a Hero
Brynn Paulin Tribute For the Goddess
Bronwyn Green Mystic Circle
Cindy Spencer Pape Stone and Earth
N.J. Walters Seduction of Shamus O’Rourke
Elyssa Edwards Mating Stone
Amarinda Jones Shades of Gray
Kelly Kirch Time for Love

Anny Cook Honeysuckle

Check out Amarinda's blog where she's being contentious all week at http://www.amarindajones.blogspot.com/ and then pop over to Kelly's blog where she's reciting poetry at http://www.kkirch.blogspot.com/ Blessings on your day!

Plumbers are too sexy for the pipes...

BLAM! I was sitting in my chair, typing away, minding my own business when the door slammed downstairs hard enough to shake my chair. Well, we do have a couple of residents in this building who don't understand or care that it's not necessary to slam their doors. So with a shrug I went back to my typing.

BLAM! Okay... Perhaps the buggers forgot something. Glad that's over.

BLAM! BLAM! All right. Now I'm getting a tad annoyed. Maybe someone is moving out. Maybe someone's having an argument, but dagnabit, don't slam the door!

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Fine. Time to call my neighbor, Jane and find out what's going on downstairs. I'm sure she'll know the scoop. So I called Jane.

"Hi, Anny!" she hollered in my ear. She had to shout because it sounded like she was standing on a runway down at BMI. Directly under a jet engine.

"What's going on?" I bellowed. Why did I need to bellow? So she could hear of course.

"The plumbers are here! My sink's overflowing!"

Well now. BLAM! That explained things. Now Jane had baked a cake that afternoon and I happened to have a hankering for something sweet so I went down to "keep her company". Naturally, while I was there, I also had a piece of cake. Sweet tooth satisfied.

In the meantime, we sat at her dining room table and watched the plumbers at their work. BLAM! Whinnnnnnnne. BLAM! After a while I began to get seriously irritated so I casually mentioned that Jane's room mate was trying to sleep and that he'd only been home from the hospital a couple of days after undergoing heart surgery.

Furthermore, I added, I live upstairs. I was trying to write until y'all started slamming the doors! Things got quiet. The next maintenance man that went out the door shut it very quietly. One of the guys asked me what kind of books I wrote.

Jane hauled out the March issue of Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine and showed them the ad on the back page where my book cover was one of the featured books. Well now. Suddenly, it was an entirely different ball game. Jane--always my most loyal fan--dug around in her trinkets bowl and found several of my cards, which she then handed out.

So while the guys worked on Jane's plumbing woes, we talked about the books. The younger guy--aged 28--solemnly informed me that plumbing was a very sexual occupation. And he proceeded to reel off a string of plumbing terms to demonstrate. And I certainly have to agree that he was correct. He offered to give me a complete list in case I ever need to use them in my writing. Thoughtful of him, don't you think?

The fellas switched places under the sink and the older guy--a youngish 41--showed us pictures of his daughters and wife. Girls were cute. Wife was gorgeous. He wanted to know if I had consulted the Kama Sutra as part of my research. Jane and I began laughing as the name of the last book I contracted is Kama Sutra Lovers. I explained that the love scenes in the book were orchestrated by choosing a random card from a Kama Sutra deck of cards. He found that a very intriguing idea--so intriguing that he asked where I had purchased the deck of cards. Obviously, the gorgeous wife was in for a surprise.

The guys switched places again. The plumber's snake whined and groaned. And the sink was still stopped up. Seventy-five feet of plumber's snake hadn't been able to do the job. So after consulting the maintenance men, they all went outside to have a look see at the man hole where this particular pipe emptied out. After some more discussion, they came inside and announced that they would be back at 8 AM.

Jane and I looked at each other and then looked at the clock. Fifteen minutes to midnight. I said my goodnights and came back upstairs. In a few minutes the phone rang. After I left, the guys came back to inform her that the maintenance guys would be there at 7AM with a shop vac to suck up the water that they anticipated would be flooding her kitchen and counter tops when they worked on the pipes with a "bigger" machine. They informed her that everything had to be removed from the kitchen counters and floor.

And oh, yeah. Nobody in the entire building could use the showers or sinks until they finished repairs the next day. The maintenance guys went from door to door, waking people up to inform them that they had no water.

Well, I knew how tired she was and many hands make for faster work, although, two people in our tiny kitchens is pretty much the limit, if you know what I mean. So I went back downstairs and we moved "stuff" until the kitchen was empty. It didn't actually take too long. And when we finished both of us were tired, but satisfied that if was the best we could do.

Yesterday morning the guys showed up. Used the "bigger" machine to good effect. And we all have running water and sinks that drain swiftly. Go plumber guys! You rock!

And y'all also have good taste in reading material!

Anny

"My darling I could spend eternity holding you to my heart, protecting you with my sword, loving you with all my soul."

What could you spend an eternity doing? What is your passion? Your hunger? Your deepest desire? Each day beginning February 5 and running through February 14 one of the ten authors will complete the line, "My darling I could spend eternity…" on either their blog or website. Collect all ten answers and e-mail them to anny@annycook.com with Eternally Yours in the subject line to win some hot, romantic books. There will be three lucky Valentine winners.

The prizes –1st prize--5 books

2nd prize--3 books

3rd prize--2 books
Entries must be in by February 16 at midnight EST. All books and prize winners will be drawn randomly.

Sandra Cox Silverhills
Mona Risk To Love a Hero
Brynn Paulin Tribute For the Goddess
Bronwyn Green Mystic Circle
Cindy Spencer Pape Stone and Earth
N.J. Walters Seduction of Shamus O’Rourke
Elyssa Edwards Mating Stone
Amarinda Jones Shades of Gray
Kelly Kirch Time for Love
Anny Cook Honeysuckle

What a wonderful collection of books! Stop by Kelly's blog to see what she's up to this fine Saturday at www.kkirch.blogspot.com and then pop over to Amarinda's Place for her take on life in Australia at www.amarindajones.blogspot.com Blessings on your day!

PS: New weekly scavenger hunt begins this morning. Check the contest box www.annycook.com

Can You Get Here From There?

"My darling I could spend eternity holding you to my heart, protecting you with my sword, loving you with all my soul."

What do you suppose the following terms have in common?

how to dress like a gunslinger
hot kinky laundry
scared to play piano in church
over forty hunks
anny horny traveler
synonym for very best
funny dragon stories
camelot herald mirror
ellora's cave merlin

All of them are search terms which led people to my blog. I have a sitemeter counter on my blog that not only tells me how many people are visiting my blog, but how long they stayed, what search terms they used to arrive there, and what town, state, and country they're from. If they "surf" to my blog from another website, it gives me that information, too.

So thank you very much Molly Daniels, Kelly Kirch, Amarinda Jones, NJ Walters, Sandra Cox, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, and babynteensmom for posting my link on your blogs!

There are other points of arrival. Several have arrived via the RT Convention booksigning data base. Three have arrived via contest postings on review sites. And a bunch have arrived via the Ellora's Cave bio page. Every time I post excerpts on review sites I see an upsurge of visits originating from those posts.

What you ask is the point? Simply this. Everywhere your name is posted is a potential contact for your work. And the more varied your blog subjects the greater the number of potential subjects that will bring visitors to your sites.

Frequently new writers put off blogging as an unnecessary evil. "I don't know what to say." Ummm, would you like to take another look at that list? Apparently, you could write about almost anything. In my experience, the more you write, the more you have to say. Write about your day (that's tomorrow's blog--all about plumbing!) Or write about your dreams. Or write about the writing experience. There are all sorts of things to write about. Life experience is a treasure trove of things to write about.

Every time the writer puts words to paper (or computer) he or she is honing the craft of writing. All practice is good. All writing offers the reader the opportunity to sample your writing style. Frankly, writing style doesn't change much whether you're writing a letter or a book. That's your voice that your displaying. A blog is a perfect way to display that voice for as many people as possible. So you tell me--how many people can you attract? How many do you want to get here from there?

Anny

What could you spend an eternity doing? What is your passion? Your hunger? Your deepest desire? Each day beginning February 5 and running through February 14 one of the ten authors will complete the line, "My darling I could spend eternity…" on either their blog or website. Collect all ten answers and e-mail them to anny@annycook.com with Eternally Yours in the subject line to win some hot, romantic books. There will be three lucky Valentine winners.

The prizes –1st prize--5 books

2nd prize--3 books

3rd prize--2 books
Entries must be in by February 16 at midnight EST. All books and prize winners will be drawn randomly.

Sandra Cox Silverhills
Mona Risk To Love a Hero
Brynn Paulin Tribute For the Goddess
Bronwyn Green Mystic Circle
Cindy Spencer Pape Stone and Earth
N.J. Walters Seduction of Shamus O’Rourke
Elyssa Edwards Mating Stone
Amarinda Jones Shades of Gray
Kelly Kirch Time for Love
Anny Cook Honeysuckle


Tonight at midnight is the deadline for the first week of the February Scavenger Hunt on my website at http://www.annycook.com/ New clues for next week will be posted Saturday Morning.

Drop by Amarinda's blog to see what she's up to at http://www.amarindajones.blogspot.com/ and then pop over to Kelly's blog where she's starting a new serial at http://www.kkirch.blogspot.com/ Blessings on your day!

Mid-week News AND Pryderi the Precious Part 3

Pryderi swayed in shock. The King quickly offered her his arm in support even as he stared down at his former vassel with a pleased smile. Taranis had just sworn not a vow of service as the little Precious had requested, but a vow of the heart that bound him to her as long as he lived. "This is your wish, Taranis?"

"With all my heart." Taranis still knelt before his King and Pryderi, head bowed as he waited for Pryderi to say the words required by tradition if she would accept his vow.

Drawing a deep cleansing breath, she straightened her spine, standing as tall as she could. With a tremble in her soft voice she said, "My darling I could spend eternity holding you to my heart, protecting you with my sword, loving you with all my soul." She plucked the Precious Amulet of Power from around her neck and carefully slid it over his head until it rested in the hollow of his throat. "I place my heart in your hands."

Immediately, he jumped to his feet. Solemnly, he regarded his new partner and mate, unable to realize the powerful changes she had wrought in his heart and soul. He drew his second sword and offered it to her, supporting it on his open palms. When she lifted it from his hands, he said, "I place my heart in your hands."

She sheathed the sword on her back in her scarred and battered battle harness where it slid home, as though created for her. Taranis slipped a gentle finger beneath her chin and tilted her head back. With a tiny smile, he bent his head and kissed her soft pink lips, thinking to afford her a new pleasure. To his enduring astonishment, she flung her arms around his neck and introduced him to an entirely different picture of Pryderi the Precious.

She tasted him with a tongue that flickered from one point of interest to the next, always just ahead of him, savoring the firm lips, the silken curve of his ears, the high ruddy cheekbones. With lazy humor Taranis enjoyed her wandering explorations. Then he captured her lips in a kiss that demonstrated his possessive feelings quite clearly.

Not bothering to hide his amusement, the King inquired, "Will you be staying for the feast? Or will you take Pryderi to the Sanctuary?"

Taranis reluctantly released Pryderi and lifted his head. With a deep sigh, he said, "It would seem best to ask what service we are to perform for you, my King. It was at your request that I fetched Pryderi. How may we serve you now?"

"Oh, I think you've served me very well indeed," the King said. "I hoped that you might find a bond that would make both of your happy. And I see that my hopes were met." He nodded. "Go. Take what time I can spare you. Too soon I will send you into battle."

To be continued...

What could you spend an eternity doing? What is your passion? Your hunger? Your deepest desire? Each day beginning February 5 and running through February 14 one of the ten authors will complete the line, "My darling I could spend eternity…" on either their blog or website. Collect all ten answers and e-mail them to anny@annycook.com with Eternally Yours in the subject line to win some hot, romantic books. There will be three lucky Valentine winners.

The prizes –1st prize--5 books

2nd prize--3 books

3rd prize--2 books
Entries must be in by February 16 at midnight EST. All books and prize winners will be drawn randomly.

Sandra Cox Silverhills
Mona Risk To Love a Hero
Brynn Paulin Tribute For the Goddess
Bronwyn Green Mystic Circle
Cindy Spencer Pape Stone and Earth
N.J. Walters Seduction of Shamus O’Rourke
Elyssa Edwards Mating Stone
Amarinda Jones Shades of Gray
Kelly Kirch Time for Love
Anny Cook Honeysuckle

Don't forget to stop by my website at www.annycook.com and check out the February Scavenger Hunt at the contest box. The deadline for this week is Friday night at midnight EST. Details are in the box!

Anny

Congratulations to Amarinda on her release of Shades of Gray! Excellent, excellent book. Loved her vampires! And Temperance was a wonderful, fiesty heroine. Stop by her blog at www.amarindajones.blogspot.com to read a great excerpt. Then pop over to Kelly's blog at www.kkirch.blogspot.com to see what she might be up to on this cold and snowy Thursday. As always, Blessings on your day!