New Year's Giveaway: Day 15, Elisabeth Naughton

How do you describe someone who is like the other half of your brain? 

Elisabeth Naughton and I have been critique partners for about five years now.  We met through another writer who we also critiqued with.  Elisabeth and I have both grown and changed over those years, yet we've grown closer and changed in similar ways. 

Aside from writing in similar genres, we share common values such as work-ethic, professionalism, commitment and karma.  Outside publishing we share a love of family, dedication to our long-time marriages, support of true friendship and acceptance of individual quirks and styles -- even though my plotting and planning makes her want to pull out her eyelashes and her writing into the mist makes me want to jump off a cliff.

Elisabeth has an amazing ability to understand story structure and visualize the big picture, something I struggle with even after taking courses, reading books and applying it in my work.  She has mentored me along the path of writing a series and all that entails. 

In fact, it was Elisabeth who emailed me during her Hawaiian vacation because she had an epiphany--that FEVER, my debut novel with Kensington, was perfect for both a series of connected books and a paranormal element.  She was convinced that the only reason it hadn't sold was because the RS market had slowed.

Because I trust her opinion and her vision of my work (and because I have learned she's often right about most things) I rewrote FEVER, was subsequently offered representation by two well-known agents, and thereafter offered a two book contract.

I have myriad of reasons to be grateful for Elisabeth's role in my life as mentor and friend, and I'm thrilled to have this opportunity to share her fabulous work with all of you! 

She has an amazing voice, sarcastic wit that never fails to have me laughing out loud and kick-ass characters who take no shit.  Her stories move fast, twist, turn and flip upside down.  So if you're looking for an author who delivers on the promises they offer at the beginning of a novel (as described in my recent blog post at Brava Authors) Elisabeth is that author.

Up For Win Today:

2 copies of STOLEN FURY, the first in her STOLEN trilogy and double RWA RITA nominee for Best First Book and Best Romantic Suspense.

3 copies of MARKED, the first book in her ETERNAL GUARDIAN series.

3 copies of ENTWINED, the second book in her ETERNAL GUARDIAN series.

To enter:
Follow me on Twitter: @joanswan & send me a tweet with #newyear in the message. (Tweet Here)

Book Summary:
STOLEN FURY:
To unearth a centuries-old secret, an archaeologist must team up with the rakish thief who’s stolen both an ancient relic and her heart…

Oh, is he handsome. And charming. And sexy as all get out. Dr. Lisa Maxwell isn’t the type to go home with a guy she barely knows. But, hey, this is Italy and the red-blooded Rafe Sullivan seems much more enticing than cataloging a bunch of dusty artifacts.

After being fully seduced, Lisa wakes to an empty bed and, worse yet, an empty safe. She’s staked her career as an archaeologist on collecting the three Furies, a priceless set of ancient Greek reliefs. Now the one she had is gone. But Lisa won’t just get mad. She’ll get even.

She tracks Rafe to Florida, and finds the sparks between them blaze hotter than the Miami sun. He may still have her relic, but he’ll never find all three without her. And they’re not the only ones on the hunt. To beat the other treasure seekers, they’ll have to partner up—because suddenly Lisa and Rafe are in a race just to stay alive.

Read an excerpt: HERE.

MARKED:
THERON – Dark haired, duty bound and deceptively deadly. He’s the leader of the Argonauts, an elite group of guardians that defends the immortal realm from threats of the Underworld.

From the moment he walked into the club, Casey knew this guy was different. Men like that just didn’t exist in real life—silky shoulder-length hair, chest impossibly broad, and a predatory manner that just screamed dark and dangerous. He was looking for something. Her.

She was the one. She had the mark. Casey had to die so his kind could live, and it was Theron’s duty to bring her in. But even as a 200-year-old descendent of Hercules, he wasn’t strong enough to resist the pull in her fathomless eyes, to tear himself away from the heat of her body.

As war with the Underworld nears, someone will have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Read and excerpt: HERE.


ENTWINED:
ZANDER — The most feared of all the Eternal Guardians. It’s rumored he can’t be killed, and he always fights like he has nothing to lose. But as a descendant of the famed hero Achilles, he’s got to have a vulnerability… somewhere.

Forces of daemons are gathering and have broken through the barriers of the Underworld. Now more than ever the Eternal Guardians are needed to protect both their own realm and the humans’. Zander can’t afford to think about what might have been with the bewitching physician he once regarded as his soul mate. But with eternity stretching before him, he also can’t fathom spending his life without the one woman who makes him feel most alive. Perhaps he’s found his weakness, after all…

Read an excerpt: HERE.

Upcoming Releases:

• TEMPTED, the highly anticipated release of Elisabeth's third book in the ETERNAL GUARDIAN series,  October, 2011.
• BODYGUARDS IN BED, an anthology of romantic suspense with a bodyguard theme, co-authors Lucy Monroe and Jamie Denton.  May, 2011.
• ENRAPTURED, the forth book in the ETERNAL GUARDIAN series, April 2012.

Works In Progress:

• ENRAPTURED, the forth book in the ETERNAL GUARDIAN series, April 2012.

Contact Info:
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Have a great weekend! Check back next week for more awesome giveaways!