Guest Post with Author Donya Lynne and Giveaway

Meet author Donya Lynne.

Donya resides in Indiana, with her husband and a small zoo of cats and dogs. In fact, her writing buddy, Lucky, might become more famous than she is, based on the feedback the ever-present feline receives on her Facebook page.

As a little girl, Donya always had a book in her hand. As she got older, the books became pens and notebooks, which she filled with stories and poetry. For as long as she remembers, she has been writing and dreaming up stories. Seems writing was her destiny.

Donya loves music and often finds inspiration for her stories in the wide range of music she listens to. Nothing like a little Korn to propel the angst in a scene, or Enya to evoke softer and more romantic storylines.

Places to find Donya:

| Site | Blog | Facebook | Twitter |

Hi, everybody. Thanks for having me on Ramblings from This Chick today. It's always a pleasure.

Thanksgiving is only days away, and then the mad dash for Christmas will be on. I don't know about anyone else, but I tend to stay away from the mall from Black Friday to New Year's. I'm not a big crowd person, and the thought of driving around the parking lot for thirty minutes to try and find a parking spot that isn't a mile from the nearest entrance doesn't outweigh my need to have the next big thing in toys or gadgets. But others live for it.

For many, fighting for a parking spot and battling the crowds is part of the Christmas spirit. And all that shopping, and the hours of back-breaking gift wrapping and hanging decorations that will only be up a few weeks, are nothing compared to the joy they feel when they look under the tree on Christmas morning and see the smiles on their kids' faces. For them, seeing the end result is worth the hours of heartache and stress.

I understand the premise. As an author, I toil endlessly and sometimes agonizingly over a manuscript. Some wonder, "Why do you do this to yourself? Why do you endure through edit after edit and even stress over making a story perfect?" Why? Because the end result is worth it. When I publish a book I've spent months working on, sometimes to the point of tears, the end result of seeing my baby up for sale and receiving oooohhhs and aaaahhhs from readers makes the long, almost impossible hours worth every second.

And I don't think I've felt such satisfaction as I did with the release of my last book, Return of the Assassin, which is the fifth installment to my award-winning All the King's Men Series. I spent over a year writing, rewriting, rewriting some more, editing endlessly, and finally proofing this book, and based on initial reader reaction, all the work was worth it. Readers are saying it's the best book of the series yet, and one reviewer even said that it was the next Black Dagger Brotherhood. If that's not a resounding vote of confidence, I don't know what is, because the BDB rocks.

So whether you enjoy the bustle of the holiday season or prefer to sit at home snuggled in a blanket with a hot cup of cocoa, if you feel the need to unwind or relax with a good book, perhaps you'll give Return of the Assassin and the rest of the AKM books a go. Consider it your Christmas gift to yourself.

Happy holidays, everybody.

Assassin Gina Carano doesn't have time for love. In fact, the last thing she wants is a mate. But Gina can't stop thinking about Malek, the handsome AKM enforcer she met in Chicago. And now she's beginning to fear Malek's memory is the reason for her crippling panic attacks, which have assaulted her relentlessly since she left him.

Malek has never dealt with the centuries-old death of his first mate, but now that he's formed a new mating link to Gina, he has no choice. Stuck between the agony of mourning and the despair of being without Gina, his mind fractures as he attempts to reconcile the two halves of himself.

When Gina botches a hit on two vicious vampires in Miami, she reluctantly flees back to Chicago, where Malek must choose between the past and the future before he loses Gina forever.

Warning: This book contains explicit sexual content, sensitive subject matter, references to non-traditional/alternative lifestyles, and profanity.

Purchase: | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance |

Without knocking, he twisted the doorknob to Tristan's—ugh, Micah's—office.

"Okay, you can get the meeting started, asshole. I'm here now, no thanks to—" He cut off as his gaze lifted.

The scent of tension throttled him, as well as the smell of some new guy he had never seen before standing beside Lakota. Huh? What was Lakota doing here? Oh yeah, he was on the team now. How lovely. But who was the new guy with the short, dark hair? And—

His balls locked up as his gaze swept to the left and landed on Gina. She stood behind Severin, partially blocked by his large body and wide shoulders. As if in a tunnel, he honed in on her. His senses catapulted into the stratosphere, and his breath hitched so violently that he had to take a step back to keep his balance.

Micah backed up and took Lakota and the new guy with him as if he was clearing a path. Severin even seemed to feel the coming storm, because he stepped away and left Gina exposed. Her gaze met his, and she took a heavy, shaky breath. In an instant, he flew up on her with the speed of a bullet, so fast he hadn't even felt the floor beneath his feet. One moment, he was across the room, and the next his body was pressed against hers. He pulled to her as if she were the center of the universe and had a gravitational pull more powerful than the sun's.

Her breath caught as he pushed her back against the wall and dragged his nose up the side of her throat to her ear and inhaled. Pure Gina. Perfect and provocatively fragrant. She smelled faintly of vanilla and cloves. He pinned her between his arms and planted his palms against the wall on either side of her shoulders.

She trembled, and her shaky hands rose and pressed against his chest as she took several rapid breaths, as if she was terrified of him.

"Ssshh." He circled her ear with his nose and wrapped one arm loosely around her back. "Sssshhh."

She calmed and relaxed against him.

Everyone fell away but the two of them. Her palms on his chest felt like the touch of an angel, and the warmth of her body enveloped him like a cloud.

Gina, Gina, Gina. God, her beauty captivated him, and the sound of her breathy sigh was a siren's song.

"You're here. God, you're really here," he whispered against her ear. His lips played over her smooth, scintillating skin as he spoke.

He was drugged, intoxicated by her, hungry to feel her beneath him, holding him. She was his, now and forever. She had returned to make him whole. He couldn't get enough of her scent and dragged his nose across the front of her neck to the other side as he inhaled deeply so he could capture her aroma and hold it. Perfect…she was so perfect…her scent was unbelievable and—

Wait!

Malek's eyes burst open as his back straightened. What was that smell? Another male? Another male's venom tainted Gina's blood. When had another male fed from her? Who—? Malek growled low in his chest, and his hold on Gina tightened.

His dark, narrowed eyes turned on the unknown male who stood next to Micah and Lakota.

It was his scent inside Gina. His venom. He had taken blood from his female.

With another low growl, he pressed more firmly against Gina as if shielding her. Then he bared his fangs and hissed at that fucker as he pulled her farther back along the wall, into the corner of the room. He wanted distance between her and that incubus who had sampled her. He hissed again, making it clear whom Gina belonged to. How dare that asshole partake of what belonged to him.

"Malek…" Gina's voice brought his gaze back around, and he instantly softened, under her command. Whatever she had been about to say caught in her throat, and her brown eyes locked to his, full of surprise.

Still, the simple passing of his name through her lips soothed him, and he gazed drunkenly at her delicate mouth before leaning in and rubbing the side of his face against hers with a sigh.

"Gina…"

She was here. She was his. And whoever that other male was, he held no claim on her. Malek's gaze steered back around, and he bared his fangs again in a silent snarl as he hid Gina from the other male's view. How dare he defile what belonged to him. Gina was his to feed from…his to hold…his to savor against his tongue and body. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist—the wrist that still bore the faint mark of a bite—and this time when he bared his fangs, it was to issue a lethal, low snarl of warning. No one was permitted to take from his mate, or they would answer to him. To make that point clear to her other suitor, he lifted her wrist to his mouth, and, while fixing the male in his gaze once more, sank his fangs in where the other had obviously bitten her. The message was clear: This one is mine.

Check out what's up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:

• 1 Coach bag and a $50 Amazon Gift Card
• 1 Kindle Paper White, leather cover (winner's choice of color), and an AKM blanket

To Enter: 

• Leave a comment or question for Donya.
• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

Good Luck! 

Special thanks to Donya Lynee for sponsoring this tour-wide giveaway.

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