Get Ready to ROAR

   

Welcome to autumn, 2014. It’s a time for pumpkin spice lattes, cooling days, and kids heading back to school. I swear it feels like just yesterday that we were doing this last year. You know, I have a deep and abiding love for paranormal romance. I actually fell in love with urban fantasy and by extension paranormals thanks to two authors: Anne Rice and Emma Bull. If you’ve never checked them out, you should.

   Fortunately, in the years since I read those the genre of paranormal romance has grown by leaps, shifts, fangs, and fur. I’ve always had a soft spot for shifter romance, and if you told me a book had wolves or cats or bears in it—well, I was so there. This hasn’t changed, not one bit. I don’t think there’s enough shifter romance in the world, but I did want to see more—what happens when young shifters leave their packs? What if they go off to school? How do they start over? How does a young wolf or cat or bear or any young person really make that final leap to adulthood?

   I am thrilled to introduce Decadent ROAR as an answer to those questions. The line is dedicated to featuring stories about young weres and shifters who have come of age but now must determine the path of the rest of their lives. It's an exciting time of making your own decisions and not having to seek permission, but freedom always comes with a cost. Fortunately for these burgeoning adults, they have the ROAR hotline to reach out to.

Run by the mysterious siblings Hui and Min, 555-ROAR is a line shifters can text or call for help, whether it’s, What’s the best spot to hunt, or I’m in danger. What should I do? It’s a helpline, and a lifeline in some cases. Growing up is hard—being an adult is harder.

So what do we have to kick you off as ROAR launches a new school year? How about a mongrel attending college close to home who must contend with a sexy Alpha and his pride moving into her region? That’s the problem Mischief “Missy” Jones faces in Mischief,     Mongrels & Mayhem by Heather Long.

   Pledging a sorority can be hell, but is it so bad when you have a demon on your side? Werewolf Alexandra will have to decide when Kieran promises to turn over heaven and hell to help her out in Sorority Wolf by Rebecca Royce.

   Not everyone gets encouragement when they head off into the big, bad world on their own. This couldn’t be more true for fragile and abused Riletta who’s dumped at school with no options, no fallback, and no hope—that is until delicious Macen intervenes in the hot ride that is Phoenix Rising by Cara Carnes.

   Choosing college can be a grueling experience, but, then again, so can diving into adulthood and taking responsibility for your actions. Samira faces s a lot of hard choices, none tougher than accepting human Gavin might be her mate in Lia Davis’ Imperfect Mates.

   Life is what happens when you’re not paying attention, and the best things don’t always occur in the order you expect. They sure don’t for Avery and Declan. Both are busy setting up their lives but the allure of mating throws them for a loop in Brandy Walker’s Shifted Plans.

   Attracting attention from the male species is a hard job, even more so when that male is a shifter. Some lines, though, are hard to cross, and

Jordan will fight his attraction to his best friend’s sister, Stacia, with everything he has in Tempting her Tiger by Virginia Cavanaugh.

Ultimately, the question these six stories must answer is not who will they be as adults, but who are they? How do they reconcile everything they've ever known with what can be? It's a new type of shifter romance, with all the love and passion required to achieve a happily ever after....

   Thank you for joining us as we launch a hot new series—we’ll do our best to make every single tale memorable.

The True Meaning of Memorial Day

Available HERE

By Heather Long

   It’s easy to forget to about the true meaning of Memorial Day. So many of us spend the three-day weekend at picnics, camping, barbecues or the swimming pool. It’s the first full weekend of summer. For kids, it’s also so close to the beginning of summer vacation they either spend their time wishing school were already over or planning their vacations. In truth, this isn’t what Memorial Day is all about—and at the same time, yes it is. 

   Memorial Day honors those who have given their lives for our country—no matter what service or what war. We honor our ancestors, great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, siblings, spouses, and friends. They who serve and lose their lives have paid the ultimate price for our freedom. That same freedom that lets us plan barbecues, trips to the beach, long movies, or simply sleeping later on Memorial Day Weekend. 

   On Facebook, memes are floating around to remind people that Memorial Day isn’t about your barbecue or picnic, and for some families, it’s always Memorial Day as they mourn someone they have lost. But I think spending this weekend with friends or family, indoors or out, through shopping or sleeping in, is a celebration of personal freedom. 

   Take a moment to reflect on those who have given their lives. Pay forward a kindness to someone in the military or to the family of someone who serves. Then go out and enjoy your life. The sacrifices of our Armed Forces are why we are able to celebrate this weekend in the first place. 

   All of these thoughts are going through my head as I sit at Comicpalooza this weekend. With visitors expected to number over 50,000, not including the vendors, artists, exhibitors, and media guests, the carefully dressed chaos is easy to lose yourself in. From mid-grade to middle aged, visitors come in jeans, t-shirts, costumes (both elaborate and simple). They shop, listen to panels, stand in lines to meet television stars, comic book artists, authors and more…but do you know what they all have in common? 

   Freedom of expression. Freedom to play. Freedom. This is the benefit of living in our society, I don’t think anyone should ever be shamed for exercising the freedom so hard-earned by our Armed Forces, nor should anyone be made to feel less because they like to have fun. 

   There’s a line in my most recent book, Her Marine Bodyguard, where Brody ruminates on what his life had been missing: playfulness, arguments, and make up sex. Remembering those who died for us is important, but equally important is celebrating the lives we have thanks to their sacrifice. 

   So take your moment. Remember those who gave their lives, the families who lost their mother, father, son, brother, sister, daughter…and to those who still live, who still serve, and the families who still wait. Remember them, and be grateful when you are out playing this weekend. Say a thank you when you sleep late or turn on the grill. Remembering doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have fun, and you shouldn’t enjoy yourself. 

   It means don’t forget.

   Happy Memorial Day!

Someone is watching her…

Shannon Fabray’s career in the art world is on the rise thanks in no small part to her signature sculpture Her Marine. But with fame, comes fans and some like to get closer than others. Coping with the notoriety, Shannon doesn’t let the constant contact get under her skin until one night, it goes to far and to Shannon’s horror, one of them is making it very clear he wants the artist for himself and sees her as a possession that should be added to his collection.

He’s coming home…

After dozen years in service to his country, Lieutenant Brody Essex has lost count of the missions he’s run, the hours he’s spent in the field and the number of days he’s been out of the country. Budgetary issues freeze his promotion, and his unit is left on the ground in Afghanistan, but he makes it work because the only countdown that matters to him is the one that will bring him home.  Home to the artist that carved a niche in his heart. When bureaucratic snafus hold up his paperwork, he sucks it up until a phone call alerts him that Shannon’s loft has been broken into, and she was nearly kidnapped. 

Breaking all the rules…

Now Brody will break the rules and go AWOL, heading home without permission because his girl is in danger and she needs her Marine bodyguard….

#decadentpub, #HVLong, #AlwaysaMarine