Danaus Plexippus

A new Squigglefly challenge starts today and it's Holley's Hobbyists turn to be your host and provide inspiration. The challenge, Follow the Recipe, requires the use of a paper or shaped clip. a flower(s) and printed paper. For my card I used the newly released Danaus Plexippus, commonly known as a monarch butterfly, by Squigglefly's artist, Fawn Palmer.  Please visit my fellow Hobbyists for more inspiration and then it's your turn to play along! 

Man Candy Monday: Boxers, Briefs and Beefcake

Good Monday morning to y'all. We think you'll love this week's theme and the eye candy that goes along with it. The age old question: boxers or briefs won't be answered in this post but hey, you get to ogle men in boxers and briefs. Nothing is sexier than a man in his birthday suit but boxers or briefs comes in second.

Commence the oglage in 3... 2... 1... annnnd GO!

Ah yes. The ever sexy Kellan Lutz in his tighty whiteys one-upping the original Calvin Klein model Marky Mark.

Becks looks amazing with and without clothes. These briefs showcase his sexy thighs and The Magic Bulge. Good thing he's giving us the smolder because once he opens his mouth, the magic is gone. Seriously, have you heard the man talk? Not the voice we would have thought he would have.

Hellllooooo Cristiano Ronaldo! 3 pictures of this futbol hottie in boxers and briefs. Plus he's such a total beefcake. Now if he'd just ease up on the self tanner, he would be totes gorgeous. Crissy, back awayyy from the tanner.

 Mr. Romance Himself is wearing some blue briefs and um, they so accentuate his assets. Now if he could just lose those we'd be grinning from ear to ear.

Um, he was wearing boxer briefs at one point and well it looks like he may have spent too much time in the sun wearing them. Good call Saddle Dude. You lost the underthings. Now lose the saddle and boots and we'll come to some agreement. :)

Heyyy, Jedi and Pony Boy match with their blue briefs. This guy right here is all sorts of beefcake. Seriously, have you seen him? He looks like he lives at the gym and then some.

We'd love to share all the pictures we've got but then what would Man Candy Monday on Twitter be if there weren't anymore boxer, briefs or beefcakes to share? Boring. That's what. Join us tonight at 8PM Central Time (6,7 & 9 for the rest of us) and for the love of all that is coccyx, put a warning on the NSFW ones. Look for the #mancandymonday hashtag and jump in.

Did we miss any? Of course we did. We'd love to hear from you on who looks good in their tighty whiteys. :)

ARC Review: Deadly Dance by Dee Davis

DEADLY DANCE by Dee Davis
FORMAT: ARC
GENRE: Romantic Suspense
LENGTH: 400 pages
PUBLISHER: Forever (April 1,2012)

As the intelligence specialist for A-Tac, a black-ops CIA unit masquerading as Ivy League faculty, Hannah Marshall is used to working behind the scenes. But when a brutal murder hits too close to home, Hannah finds herself in the middle of the action, falling in love while racing to outwit a sadistic mastermind.

A KILLER CLOSES IN
After the death of her A-Tac partner, Hannah doubts everything she thought she knew about love and loyalty. When handsome Harrison Blake joins the team, she’s reluctant to trust him—or to act on her intense attraction to him. Then Hannah receives a podcast of a gruesome murder, and the only person who can help her find the killer is Harrison.

Harrison has spent years trying to hunt down the cunning monster who killed his sister. Now investigating with Hannah, he faces a shocking possibility—his sister’s murderer has resurfaced. As the danger escalates, Hannah and Harrison grow closer, and the desire simmering between them ignites. After Hannah disappears, Harrison has only one chance to save the woman he loves.

Connect with Dee: Author Site | Twitter | Facebook
Pre-Order: Amazon(pb) | Kindle | B&N(pb) | Nook | Book Depository
Book Extras: Read an Excerpt

I loved it.

Other Books in Series(click on covers for excerpts):


REVIEW:
This book is not for the feint of heart. It's a large dose of Criminal Minds where there's a profiler, gruesome murder scenes and some serious jailable for life psycho killer that could be ripped from the headlines. There's so much I want to say about this book but don't want to give away any spoilers so let's see what I can do.

It goes like this:
Hannah Marshall lost her partner Jason and still misses him. Harrison Blake, resident Techie is still trying to fit into the overall scheme of things at A-Tac. With the resurfacing of a crazed serial killer who gets off on slowly bleeding out and torturing his victims, Hannah and Harrison must try to catch the killer before the people closest to them end up mock-crucified and bleeding to death. Gruesome right?

Harrison realizes that this psycho might be the same guy who killed his twin sister years ago and so the recent string of murders hits close to home. Only problem is, the killer is deviating from the behavior and tactics of the original cyber killer.

Hannah's TA receives video of a female student getting tortured by an unidentified man and is kept under lock down to keep her safe. How many female students have to die before A-Tac catches the killer? Bringing in some of Harrison's trusted members of his old organization, they partner up to profile and canvas the scenes looking for any clues to point out whether it's the original cyber killer back doing what he does best or a copycat following a script only to change tactics when specific results are not reached.

All the while, Hannah and Harrison are getting closer and trying to remain friends. Everyone knows that there's something there between them even if they both deny it. Friends with benefits? *scoff* Not gonna work guys. Seriously!

Will the cover of A-Tac as professors at Sunderland College be blown thanks to the crazy killer or is the killer part of something larger that A-Tac and the FBI haven't thought of? *dun dun dunnn*

FAVORITE QUOTE:

The leaves rustled in the wind, and she shivered, the vibration running through them like an electric current. She pressed closer, feeling his arousal hard against her thigh. There was power in knowing that the seduction was mutual, her strength matching his.

OVERALL: Dee Davis knows how to tug at my heart, get my adrenaline pumping and make me want to break out the DVDs of all crime show dramas, especially Criminal Minds. Like the rest of the A-Tac series, it's heart pounding, plot twisting, "omg I did not see that coming so I should have my Nancy Drew sleuth card revoked" wrapped in "I will never look at my professors the same way ever again". Harrison and Hannah have been through a lot and with a crazy killer on the loose, it adds to their ghosts. I kept rooting for them to be together and find a way to capture the killer as well as help each other heal. I'm looking forward to what happens next.

***review copy provided by publisher***

Winner, Winner...

CONGRATS TO:

Barbara Elness

Phoenix Carvelli

The_Book_Queen

They've each won a copy of KISS OF A VAMPIRE by Cynthia Garner and DARKNESS BOUND by Stella Cameron.

Winners have been contacted via email. Winners have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

A huge thank you to Forever for the opportunity to host Cynthia and Stella as well as providing the giveaway and review copies.

If you missed this giveaway, don't be sad. We've got more giveaways here. 

Schmoozer

Now doesn't he just think he's special? Schmoozer by Squigglefly's artist Chesney Young, loves to talk, talk about himself that is! So when you see him coming, excuse yourself and head for the hills or be prepared to be bored to tears and pick up the tab! 

XOXO, Romance Girl Links

Hello lovelies! We apologize for the delay of this week's XOXO. The 2nd Annual March Madness Blog Bash is in full swing and there are authors, bloggers and prizes galore. We found a lot of fun book deals so your pocketbook might be crying after you're done looking at this post. But seriously, you don't want to miss out on the March Madness Bash.

Spotted... The lovely Robyn DeHart's backlist is on sale for Kindle. Like $0.99 for each book. You know you're squeeing over Robyn's backlist. Click on the covers to learn more. Click on the buy links to buy for your Kindle or Kindle app. Happy reading!

Buy

Buy

Buy

Buy

March Madness... Forget basketball! Elise Rome (Ashley March) is hosting the 2nd Annual March Madness Blog Party. 130 + of your favorite authors, bloggers and readers are hanging out every day and there's lots and lots and lots of prizes. Books, swag, gift cards. You know you want to go hang out. Seriously. Free stuff!!!! Click on the lovely Elise to be taken to the rules. (Play nice)

The lovely Elise

Spanning across sub-genre: Indie | Paranormal | Historical | Contemporary | Bloggers

3's NOT A Crowd... We heart Vicky Dreiling and we heart her books. Like crazy. She's offering one(1) lucky reader ALL 3 of her 'How-To' historical romances. That's right. The whole trilogy could be yours for the price of a... comment! Yay! Click the covers to read excerpts.




Mammoth Books... Hey paperback readers! Are you looking for some short stories to pass your time? Check out the Mammoth Book Romances. 20+ short, fun, witty, suspenseful, heart pounding stories from some of your favorite authors all brought together in a giant book.




Free Kindle Deals... Stock up for your weekend reads. Click on the covers for buy links. Please note: prices subject to change and some of these are novellas. Of course there's more awesome free reads but here's a taste...




Goodreads Giveaways... We like to post our reviews on Goodreads and share what we're currently reading on there. Kati likes to look at giveaways and there's some fabulous ones going on right now.



There's a whole lot more wonderful book giveways for Goodreads members. This is just a sampling of them. Don't worry, we are sharing link to the ones that still have days, weeks and months left to enter.

Sh*t Writers Say... Okay so we're borrowing from Vicky's blog and totally LOL'd about this.

Strangulation=Pleasure? One of our favorite author bffs (Er, we're taking creative liberties with that title, please don't take out a restraining order on us) Delilah Marvelle does a monthly blog post and this month's post: The Art of Strangulation...for Pleasure. Delilah always has interesting tidbits that would make the normal person blush. Us? We're totally inappropriate. We hardly blink or bat an eyelash anymore. De-sensitized, more like.

Click for post

Previous Posts: Sexual Repression | Whore vs. Wife | Brothels | Museum of Sex

1st Anniversary Party... The ladies over at The Romance Reviews has 300+ participating authors and publishers rocking out. Lots of giveaways and $100 gift card goes to the grand prize winner. Play every day, get a better chance at the grand prize. Answer questions, play a memory game, discover new authors, explore the Romance Reviews site.

Boxer, Briefs and Beefcake... That's Monday's man candy theme. So get to researching ladies. We'll give you a little preview... Hey! It's got all 3 :)

Until next time,

P.S. If you have any links you'd like us to post during next week's Romance Girl post, shoot us an email.