Posts Tagged ‘romantic suspense’

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#1 Contemporary Gothic Suspense Just $1.99. Shattered Witness!

Tuesday, September 1st, 2015

Shattered Witness
is the Kindle Love Stories Weekly Deal!

Grab my #1 Best-Selling
Contemporary Gothic Suspense
for just $1.99.

ONLY this week…

FINAL high res

“Danger and excitement all of the time, and a fabulous tale of past loves rekindled and reunited.”

— Cocktails and Books

A brutal assault leaves high-powered CEO Shaw Cassidy’s memory shattered. Her isolated estate on High Lake Mountain should be her haven, but nightmares and eerie shadows threaten her sanity. A shot in the night sends her running from the creaking Victorian into the arms of a stranger she instinctively trusts. But is he her hero, or her downfall?


Time is running out for special agent Cole Marinos. His undercover assignment: to protect his childhood sweetheart—the lost love who broke his heart. His reality: Shaw is suspected of treason. To uncover the top-secret government leak that will exonerate her, he must trigger her memories of her stalker…and of Cole’s long-ago betrayal.


The evil tracking Shaw closes in, each attack more cruel and personal than the last. And each is designed to implicate Cole. With Shaw’s memory returning and her life on the line, is she trusting a man she once promised to love forever?

Or is Cole the monster who wants her dead?

Grab Shattered Witness while it’s still on sale!


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Pre-Release Guest Blog Winners–more to come!

Wednesday, June 20th, 2012

Everyone loves free books, right? And I love giving stories away, especially to readers who dig what I’m writing. Isn’t that why we do this crazy thing called publishing, to get our words and ideas and characters out there so they can flourish in someone else’s imagination?

My pre-release blog tour is wrapping up (though you can still win a free digital copy of Her Forgotten Betrayal if you hurry and enter at Close Encounters of the Night Kind). Entangled has amazing plans for all the Dead Sexy launch titles, so starting next week look for even more chances to win not just books, but gift certificates and even a Nook!

In the mean time, here are the lucky ladies so far who’ve participated in my guest blogs and won a digital copy of HFB;o) Take a spin around each fun post to see what you might have missed and why my gothic thriller’s getting rave 5 Star Reviews…

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From Close Encountes of the Night Kind: A killer look inside the making of Her Forgoten Betrayal–CONTEST STILL RUNNING!

Don’t forget to enter–maybe you’ll win!

From the lovely Ginger Calem’s blog: What’s at the heart of your fear?

Pamela Mason

From Romance Bandits: A KILLER HFB interview!

Ireanne Chambers

From The Writing Playground: A Dark and stormy night. Happily ever after. What’s your favorite part of a thrilling story?

Laura G.

From Stacy Green’s Twisted Minds and Dark Places: Embrace the things that go bump in your night.

Robena Grant

From the Romance Author Hotspot: A genre-bending interview  ;o)

Natalie Damschroder

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Dream Theories: What do your killer dreams mean?

Sunday, June 17th, 2012

“Are you ever going to stop writing stories about dreams?” my agent asked when I sold my spooky thriller, Her Forgotten Betrayal to Entangled’s Dead Sexy books.

“Um… Not anytime soon,” was my honest response. I just can’t seem to stop buying research books and thinking of new ways to make the inner workings of our sleeping minds part of the stories and lives I create for my characters.

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I’m ridiculously fascinated with dreams. They’ve been my constant companions since I was a child–long before I knew about lucid dreaming or parapsychology or dream interpretation. I’ve always remembered my dreams. More than a few times, my “night life” has given me premonitions of what would be coming in the day. And, yes, for those of you who’ve asked in comments or emails–I DO dream in color…

But what do spooky or even sweet dreams mean? I tend to put the characters in my books into dangerous situations, through some intense dreams or nightmares at them, and force them to connect more intentionally to their subconscious by paying attention to what their minds are telling them through their dreams. In Her Forgotten Betrayal, Shaw Cassidy’s stalker/killer/villain’s identity (along with everything else amnesia’s stolen from her) is right there in her dreams–if she’ll stop running from the truth and face her greatest fears… And her reward for all her hard dream work is the reclaiming the love of her life. Oh, and staying alive ;o)

But that’s fiction. What do dreams mean to you and me in our every day? I talk all the time in my Dream Theories series that dreams are almost never to be taken literally, and I try to back that up in all my novels by using symbol and theme to represent reality, and often by showing my characters being wrong over and over about what their dreams/nightmares mean–until they finally start looking closer and begin to connect the dots on a deeper level. (more…)

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Her Forgotten Betrayal Pre-Launch Interview/Contest!

Thursday, June 14th, 2012

A Her Forgotten Betrayal pre-launch interview is up with Close Encounters of the Night Kind. Link over to read, catch up, and WIN a free digital copy of HFB.

Dead Sexy Books goes live tomorrow, so stay tuned ;o) Entangled Publishing’s promo plans for their new romantic suspense imprint are off the hook–including a FREE Nook give away!

Sign up for email notices of my blog updates, so you don’t miss a single chance to win ;o) Or follow me on Facebook and Twitter, and I’ll keep you up-to-date there… This is starting to get exciting, folks…

Gothic rose

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Cover Copy!!! And LOVELY Author Quotes–

Saturday, May 19th, 2012

Nope. No Her Forgotten Betrayal cover yet. Entangled’s got big plans for the Dead Sexy launch book cover reveals… But, I have the official cover copy, and it ROCKS! Plus killer cover quotes from some of your favorite authors. And an excerpt’s up on my homepage, so check out all the yummy gothic goodness of my June release and report back. Whatcha think?

gothic trees mountain

Here you go. Nina Bruhns’ amazing cover copy. That smile you’re feeling even though you’re not smiling yet? It’s me, projecting happiness into the universe, hoping some of the excitement I’m feeling finds you and makes this a kicking Saturday for you, too ;o)

***

Remembering will save her life. But will the truth destroy their love forever?

When the CEO of a global technology empire retreats to her ancestral mountain mansion to heal from a brutal shooting, she discovers the danger has just begun. Suffering from amnesia, she is at the mercy of nightmares that soon morph into something much more real…as well as a menacing stalker determined to toy with her sanity.

The FBI suspects her of illegally selling top-secret research, and has sent an agent to find evidence of her treason. She doesn’t realize the man who sweeps in from the cold claiming to be her protector, and her former love, is keeping dangerous secrets from her. She begins to trust him, unaware that he is about to repeat the most painful betrayal of her past–a past she doesn’t remember…a past that may kill her.

“Dark danger and lush romance, Anna DeStefano mysteries deliver!” —Catherine Mann, USA Today Bestselling Author

“DeStefano crafts a tense and touching suspense about forgotten pasts and reunited lovers.” —Caridad Pineiro, NYT and USA Today Bestselling Author

“Intrigue, danger, and a hero to die for make DeStefano’s Her Forgotten Betrayal a page-turner!” —Rita Herron, Award-Winning Harlequin Intrigue Author

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Dream Theories: Premonitions, Schemonitions?

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

Do you dream events before they occur? Do you believe the things you dream to the point where you look  for links to your waking life? While dream symbols and imagery shouldn’t be taken literally, there are many who believe, as I do, that our subconscious, sleepings minds work hard to learn from our experiences and teach us when they can, how to better deal with our “real” lives.

Unforeseen events, warnings, daja vu, illogical or irrational outcomes that somehow manage to come true…do you have to be psychic to believe that dreams can share things like this? I don’t think so. I’ve had my own premonitions for years, sometimes not realizing that’s what they were until the unforeseen event begins to play out, reminding me that I’ve “seen” something like this before. Scary, right?

dream purpose

Wrong!

That kind of heightened awareness can be spooky at first, but it can also be reassuring as you find your way through whatever event or potential conflict you face. It’s not so much about accuracy as it is about learning that your instincts talk to you in a lot of different ways, and they tend to keep talking until you pay attention ;o) Even if your subconscious has to weave stories within your dreams, in order for you to “see” what you need to see.

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No, I’m not saying this sort of thing happens all the time, though I keep working premonition dreams into the fiction I write on a frequent enough basis that interviewers and book bloggers always ask when I’m going to do it again, LOL! I’m not saying everything you experience in a dream will come true. In fact, most dreams are about things that have already happened and what you should learn from the experience that your sleeping mind is storing away in your memory.

And, no,  you don’t have to be psychic to get something tangible out of your dream life.. (more…)

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Her Forgotten Betrayal Pre-Release Tour Continues with FAQ!

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

The fabulous Romance Author Hotspot had invited me to Guest Blog about my creepy, psychological thriller, Her Forgotten Betrayal (availabe in June!).

I’m bringing Gothic overtones to the Dead Sexy suspense line launch for Entangled Publishing. And I’m getting lots of questions about my writing background, how it plays into what I’m doing with Dead Sexy, and about Shaw Cassidy’s story. Click over to learn more. Leave a comment for your chance to WIN a free download of Her Forgotten Betrayal, once it goes up for sale. And, basically, enjoy a few minutes of “Dark and stormy night…” in the midst of your beautiful, sunny Wednesday ;o)

Don’t forget to follow/favorite HFB’s Pinterest Page, to catch all the cool, pre-release surprises I’ll share. And sign up to your right, for email alerts for new blog posts–so you don’t  miss a chance to win a free download of my June release!

gothic forest

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Her Forgotten Betrayal Pinterest Book Page!

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

To capture all the goodness of my Her Forgotten Betrayal’s pre-release blog tour, my Gothic thriller’s Pinterest Page  is growing with each tour stop, blog post, character portrait, plot summary, video, soundtrack update, and startling image I share.

Save HFB’s board to your favorites and check back often for updates about my June release! Visit my blog and sign up for email alerts about contests, when the novel goes live, and for you chance to win a FREE download at each guest blog tour stop. Join in the dark and creepy, thrilling fun! I’d love to hear from you ;o)

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Her Forgotten Betrayal: What’s at the Heart of Your Fear?

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Today’s Soul of the Matter installmentis a very, very early guest blog for Her Forgotten Betrayal: What’s at the Heart of Your Fear?

My psychological thriller is an Entangled Publishing  launch book, for their Deady Sexy suspense line–due to be released in June. Stop over and chat about my amnesiac herione, and how fear can either destroy your dreams or challenge you to fight even harder for your heart’s desire. A free digital download of Her Forgotten Betrayal goes to one lucky commenter ;o)

Follow the link. Don’t miss out…

http://bit.ly/IkyRQy

fear the heart of

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Dream Theories: What’s chasing you?

Monday, April 16th, 2012

I haven’t been blogging about dreams lately. Folks have been complaining. A lot. Honestly, I’ve been negligent for a good reason. Promise. I’ve been WRITING about dreams again, instead. And then revising. A lot. Particularly, about  nightmares again, this time of being chased. Bwahahaha… I’ve been digging deeper into all the levels of meaning that dreams like this present, doing my best to capture them for both my heroine and my readers. So, as we snap back to weekly Dream Theories posts, let’s see what I found out as I researched and created my latest novel…

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Remember, dreams are about your subconscious telling you things, and processing things, you don’t typically see in your waking world. DON”T take dream images literally, no matter how disturbing they can be. Look deeper for the what the images could represent (about both others and yourself). Feel the emotions associated with what’s happening, rather than worrying about how even the most disturbing dream situations might actually come to be. Normally, they won’t. But, your mind is trying to tell you something, and our emotions are a direct conduit to what that might be.

Chasing/running dreams, as in my newest, nightmare-based gothic suspense Her Forgotten Betrayal, are about things or issues or people that you’re avoiding. In my Dead Sexy series launch book (from Entangled Publishing), the heroine’s an amnesiac, and the question is, why? Her mind is shutting her memory down completely in order to avoid something. What? Or, in my protagonist’s situation, who is she refusing to remember? Shaw knows it’s a man, or does she? The guy has no face, and she recognizes his voice, but she can’t remember why. In fact, in the dream, everything makes sense. When she wakes, it all goes away. Hmmmm…

chasing dreams legs

In reality, and my heroine Shaw Cassiday’s case, maybe what we’re running from (avoiding) in our chasing dreams is more of an idea. A situation. A long-held belief. (more…)

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