The Alpha Male Blog Hop!
In days past, he was 
a grunter. Alpha = hair pulling, head clubbing and lair dragging. We’ve managed to civilize our heroes somewhat since then, but I, for one, still want a man who’s just a little bit masterful. Who might take me by surprise occasionally and sweep me off to his lair (no dragging!)
Nathan Powell is a modern alpha male. No hair pulling, but lots of sweeping off feet!
Social misfit Jessamy James pays the bills with a cleaning job so she can do what she really loves: tell stories to children. She meets NFL superstar Nathan Powell when she cleans his house. He’s intrigued by her reclusive attitude, and she’s drawn to his open personality and lack of defensive walls. It doesn’t take long for attraction to set in, and for a relationship to blossom.
When Nathan is accused of dealing drugs, Jess is caught up in the media storm and finds her own vocation slipping through her fingers. They struggle together to clear his name and rescue both their careers.
Buy it now!
And now…the prizes! Comment below to go into the draw for a Catch a Shooting Star swag pack, AND for the blog hop grand prizes!
We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!
1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand Prize: A $130 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand Prize: The following Swag Pack!
Find the other participating blogs at http://carrieannbloghops.blogspot.com/
Louisa’s latest release On Sale Today!
Diving in Deep, Louisa Masters’ latest erotic romance, went on sale today! 
Cameron is sick of being a stereotypical nerd. In an attempt to “reinvent” himself, he takes three months off for a holiday in Australia–something the old Cameron would never do.
Troy and Jake are in a committed relationship. Co-owners of Sail Away, a water sport and cruising company, their life is about sun, sea and each other.
Neither Troy nor Jake have ever participated in a ménage, but after a day on the water with Cameron, both are fantasizing about sandwiching him between them. Cameron has never been with a man but can’t stop thinking about the hot couple, and how they’d look, naked and entwined. When he walks in on them having sex in the underwater observatory, he can’t look away–and then they invite him to join in.
Will the old Cameron sink in uncharted territory? Or will the new Cameron find himself diving in deep?
Review for Catch a Shooting Star!
Yay! My first review for Catch a Shooting Star, from Romancing the Book!
“Olivia Ventura did a beautiful job and can’t wait for more of her talent.”
Meli has given me a Lovely Rose – I’ve included their rating system so you can see how awesome that is! You can read the full review here.
Going Visiting!
Louisa and I have decided to visit some of our fellow authors! Louisa has a release in late June, so she’s booked herself pretty heavily. Our schedules so far:
Olivia:
May 30th Dena Garson
June 11th Marie Tuhart
June 15th Marie Sexton
June 22nd G.B Miller
July 3rd James Hatch
Louisa:
May 23rd Seven Sexy Sins
June 5th Rachel Leigh
June 25th Maggie Nash
June 26th S. Dora
June 27th Jennifer Jakes
June 28th Virginia Cavanaugh
June 29th Sarah Grimm
We’ll be making updates and planning July soon! If you’d like one or both of us to visit you, email me on liv@oliviaventura.net
To Tattoo, or not to…?
Lately I’ve been thinking about getting some ink. Nothing major, just a small gesture toward creative freedom and expression. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and never had the nerve to. Mostly because it hurts.
The other thing that held me back for a long time was my upbringing. Both my parents are anti-tattoo. Not for cultural or political reasons, but because a tattoo is permanent. As my mother pointed out, “what if you change your mind?” Plus, she’s terrified that I’ll fall victim to bacterial infection.
However, the loudest anti-tattoo factions seemed to be motivated by prejudice. In the course of my research – because, let’s face it, there’s no way I’d make a decision so permanent without extensive research into the history, process and benefits of tattooing, not to mention the best places to go – I’ve found a lot of negative press. The sad part is people who go to tattoo forums specifically to rant against tattoos. Two of the comments that came up most often were “tattoos are dirty” and “people with tattoos are criminals.”
I don’t understand why a practice that has existed for millennia, often conferred as an honor upon the best and brightest, is now regarded by many to be abhorrent.
Can anybody shed any light on this for me? Why do so many people hate tattoos and look down upon those who have them?
Why writers need to keep a pen handy…
My fellow romance authors are probably familiar with the phrase “you write porn.” And, like me, it probably annoys the living daylight out of you. Here are some of the other frequent comments about writing and the E-publishing industry that make me want to stab people with a pen. Comments in brackets are the things I’d like to say in response.
It’s not really work (and yet, while you spend Saturday afternoon watching football/shopping, I’m hunched over my keyboard)
E-publishing isn’t real publishing (there are global sales figures that disagree with you)
E-books aren’t of the same standard as physical books (#%$^*&$@ speechless with rage – the people who say this know that I’m a writer AND editor)
I could write a book (so why don’t you?)
My job just doesn’t give me time to write (yes, because working ten-hour-plus days in the corporate world, being on call on weekends, and two hours per day commuting left me with oodles of time)
And now, on to the romance specific insults…
You write porn (have you even read a romance novel?)
Men can’t write romance (This is like saying women can’t play sports. I take offense on several levels, but mostly because I edit some male authors, and they rock!)
Only lonely women with a hundred cats read romance (will all the men and women with families and fulfilled lives please raise their hands)
Romance novels aren’t real books (seriously? And yet so many romance novels make the NYT list)
Anyone can write a romance (please, go ahead. I dare you)
Romance novels are just sex with a pretty cover (again, ever read one? no? hmm…)
Mommy porn (My teeth itch every time I hear this. Really, could you sound any more like an uneducated, close-minded fool?)
Anybody got any others to add? I’ve been practicing my deep breathing exercises to prevent myself from plunging that pen into someone’s chest, but I’ll gladly share my outpouring of angst!
Nostalgia
When I was thirteen, and then again when I was fifteen, my parents took my brother and me to the Gold Coast for a holiday. For those of you unfamiliar with Australian geography, that’s approximately two days drive from where I live in Melbourne. Mum and Dad, wisely, planned the trip with lots of bathroom and leg-stretching breaks, but there were still some loooooong periods in that car, all four of us together. The only thing that prevented arguments? Music.
I was born in the ‘eighties, so Elvis Presley and the girl groups of the sixties were not my normal listening fare. Until those trips. Mum bought a double CD of Elvis’s Greatest Hits, and during those drives, my brother and I became extremely intimate with over forty of the King’s songs. I can now sing many of those, and more, word perfect, and I can honestly say that I’m an Elvis fan. To the point that I visited Graceland while I was in the States. Anyone who has ever heard an Elvis song should make the trip. The man was so much more than just a singer, and his home and the museums were a revelation to me.
But between the wonderful Rock’n'Roll hits that I so love to belt out, there are some truly beautiful ballads. One of my favorite songs, full stop, no questions, is If I can Dream. Look it up on YouTube – the lyrics are wonderful, and the music so powerful. Sad songs, the ones that make me tear up? In the Ghetto, Don’t Cry Daddy, and An American Trilogy. Songs that made me laugh? Anything with a high note that my brother tried and failed to hit 
Anyone else out there an Elvis fan? Or, who was the unexpected musical influence in your life?
