Guest: Elane Cantrell

Today's guest is Elaine Cantrell and her latest release, Never Trust a Pretty Wolf.

Elaine was born and raised in South Carolina. She holds a Master’s Degree in Personnel Services from Clemson University and is a member of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary sorority for women educators. She is also a member of Romance Writer’s of America and EPIC authors. Her first novel, A New Leaf, was the 2003 winner of the Timeless Love Contest and was published in 2004 by Oak Tree Books. At present she teaches high school social studies.


Where to find her:
Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest

Elaine will be giving away  a $25 Amazon gift certificate to one randomly drawn commenter, so be sure and mention you were here and follow her tour!

My Bucket List

Bucket lists are so interesting. I think they reveal a lot about a person’s life and values. That being said, I hope you think my list is worthy of completion.  I’d love to hear some things from your list. Do leave me a comment and tell me the number one thing on your own bucket list.  I’m truly interested in what you have to say.

 A great many of the items I’d like to put on my list are truly impossible, though.  For example, I have a grandson with autism.  If I could, I’d find out what causes it and how to cure it.  It’s too late for Simon, but I’d give almost anything to spare others from the pain of having a child with autism.  It’s one of the most dreadful things I’ve ever seen.   But I can’t do that.  At present no one can, so my list is going to focus on things that I can do. 

First, and this is really important to me, once I retire I hope to become active in animal rescue.  My own animals are all rescues or strays, which amounts to the same thing.  At present, I use my Facebook page to hopefully educate some thoughtless people about the correct way to treat animals.  I’d tell you what I saw on vacation, but it would break your heart.  No, come to think of it, I will tell you.  There was this woman who had a little dog with her on the beach.  The temperature that day was 103.  People were yelping and running as they crossed the beach to the water because their feet were burning.  My own feet felt like they were on fire from the heat trapped in the blazing sand.  The woman laid out a blanket and put up a tent, but she wouldn’t let the little dog on the blanket.  He whined and shifted from foot to foot and tried to get off the sand, but she made him stand there.  Once I saw what was happening I jumped up to go and probably start a fight, but it was too hot for her, and she left the beach.  What cruelty!  No doubt she didn’t see it that way, but how could she not?  If the heat was too much for her, didn’t she think how it would affect her pet?  See, I’m very passionate about this cause. 

Too cruel! I can't believe she wouldn't let the dog under the shade! As a dog owner myself, I can't understand that. My corgi doesn't like the heat but she does want to be with me wherever I am, so I've had to retrain myself to spend more time indoors with her. I also have a cooling bed for her and always make sure her water is very cold with ice cubes, which she loves!

Second, I want to master my photo editing software.  I’m told it’s a top notch system, but I can’t use it.  I can’t even understand the words in the instructions.  I know some people won’t understand this.  My sons were raised in the computer age, and they seem to instinctively know how to use almost any program.  Well, I was raised in an era where primitive computers took up a gigantic room and people fed them information using punch cards.  I’ve tried to figure the software out on my own, but it’s no use.  I’ve got to go and take a course somewhere.

Youtube. That's where I learned a lot about it! :)

Last, I’d like to see New England in the fall.  I’ve seen so many pictures, calendars, and cards with picturesque churches, Rockwell type villages, and lovely leaves that I want to experience it firsthand.  It seems as though something inside me instinctively yearns toward New England.  Maybe some of my ancestors came to the New World and lived in New England.  Maybe this yearning is some kind of racial memory.  And maybe I’ve just seen a lot of pretty pictures.   

Sounds lovely! 

I’m a fortunate person in that I’ve been able to achieve a lot of my dreams, not the least of which was becoming an author.  I wanted to write from the time I was a little girl, and I’m grateful that I gave it a try even though I had no idea if I could do it or not.  

Isabel, thank you so much for letting me come to your blog.  I’ve enjoyed talking to your readers tremendously, and it was fun to actually nail down my bucket list. I love reading others' lists, I think it helps me add to mine and it shares a bit about the author. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Okay, readers, it’s your turn.  Give me the number one item on your own list.

BLURB:

Liesel Wolf has a secret, a dangerous secret she’ll go to any lengths to conceal. When she’s paired in a charity game with sexy marshal Andy Bryce, a man with secrets of his own, her carefully constructed world comes crashing down, and Liesel’s on a collision course with her past.

Excerpt:
The minute the blue Mustang came to a halt, the valet hurried to open the car door for the newcomer. A pair of long, shapely legs unfolded from the car. Andy’s mouth went dry as his eyes traveled from her legs to her face. He had discovered a goddess. An overworked cliché perhaps, but he knew of no other words to describe her.

The goddess had Titian hair which begged him to run his fingers through it, freeing those glorious curls. Even from where he stood, her eyes glowed with an emerald fire. Her skin looked as if it would put satin to shame. As he stared at her mouth, a bolt of fire stabbed him right below his belt. He could only imagine how it might feel to kiss and taste those lush, red lips.

She sashayed up to the porch and held out her hand to Melton. “Good evening, Thomas.”

Melton was having a hard time getting his voice under control, but he finally stuttered, “Welcome, L… Li… Liesel. It’s great to finally meet you in person. This is your partner, Andy Bryce. Andy’s a United States Marshal.”

The light left her face. She shot Andy a look of what he swore was dislike, even though they’d never met. “Oh, but I thought you said the mayor was my partner.”

Melton nodded. “He was. But something came up, and his brother’s filling in for him.”

She didn’t want to be his partner. Andy knew it as surely as he knew his own name. He wondered if she had heard about… Yeah, she could have. The story made most of the big papers. The Marshals had trained him to read people, so he knew Ms. Wolf didn’t like him.

Where to buy:
All Romance
Amazon
Astraea Press
Barnes and Noble

Monday Excerpt: Shadow State

Shadow StateOriginally from The Wild Rose Press anthology Taming of the Wolf, Shadow State is now available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and All Romance eBooks. A free sample is available for download from Smashwords.

Fighting to prevent the Nazi’s from gaining a wehrwölfe army, Christoph and Elsa tread a serpentine path between an ambitious party man and their primal need for each other.

Hidden for centuries in the German countryside, the Arminius Clan has amassed power, wealth, and respect. All that changes when the Nazis come to power. Christoph von Berangar, Alpha, makes his way to Berlin to claim his mate. But then one of his wölfes is captured, and experimented on by the Nazis.

Elsa von Skyler, leader of one of the Arminius Packs, is forced to experiment on the captured wölfe. Along with her father, an esteemed doctor at the Charité Hospital, they do this only to facilitate the wölfe’s escape. Together, she and Christoph form a plan to rescue their fellow wölfe, but when things go awry, will Elsa survive? Or will Christoph’s fervor to protect his mate compromise them all?

Excerpt:

Dinner was barely a half hour off, and Christoph hadn’t seen Elsa since she’d told him of Erik. After putting the fate of their captured member into his hands, she’d waited for his response.

He had no answer for her, not until he learned from Gerard what Strasser believed. Though he wanted to speak with her of personal matters, he’d needed to get the business of the Clan out of the way first. She’d left him to see to the other guests, without his answer.

 Now, he set out to find Elsa in the large townhouse. It was an eclectic mix of old and new, but the art deco suited her well. The unique style matched her personality. Efficient, sleek, sensual.

Following her scent into the library, he stumbled upon a far corner she’d clearly marked as hers. Lancet Medical Journal lay open on the window seat, with several more journals in various languages stacked in a corner. He sat by the window, letting the late afternoon sun warm him.

A fresh whiff of her reached him a heartbeat before the clatter of her rushed footsteps. Standing, he moved into one of the shadowed archways. Elsa scanned the shelves nearest her window, oblivious to his presence. Christoph took the opportunity to study her.

The sunlight glinted off her golden hair, neatly coiffed despite her rush. Her hands were delicate as they skimmed over the spines of her books, taking one from the shelves and stepping to the side, she skimmed it. He knew from her letters, and the diplomas lining the walls, that she was adept in her field of biochemistry. Her skirt accented her curved figure, and he wondered how she’d look with the material bunch around her hips as he took her.

Stealing out of the shadows, he stepped behind her with a growl. She startled, dropped the book and tried to turn, but he held her arms at her sides, trapping her between him and the diploma-lined wall. His lips tasted the side of her neck, the smooth, fragrant skin there. The feel of her body against his told him everything he needed to know.

My woman.

“We are creatures of instinct, are we not?” he asked in a low rumble. “Mine are very clear.”

Her heart pounded, he could feel it jump where his fingers brushed the sensitive underside of her wrists. Her scent intensified, an added undercurrent of muskiness, and he knew she was as aroused as he.

Her head turned, but she didn’t struggle. She leaned further into him, pressing her arse against his throbbing erection.

“I wondered what your instincts would tell you,” she whispered. “You were inscrutable this afternoon.”

“That was not the moment for us.”

“Have you decided this is our moment?” she asked.

He pulled away just enough to see the eyebrow raised in amused question. But he could also see how her blue eyes darkened, could feel her breath coming in gasps. Could smell the change in her scent.

Trailing his lips along the back of her neck, he breathed her in. Another growl escaped him, louder and stronger, establishing his dominance over her. When Elsa growled back, his cock hardened further.

Yes, mine.