Great prize packages thanks to Gena Showalter and Kait Ballenger!

The AFTER DARK Anthology featuring Gena Showalter's The Darkest Angel and Kait Ballenger's Shadow Hunter is being released in mass market paperback on December 31 and to celebrate we are giving away lots of goodies.

ENTRY RULES:

PLEASE BE SURE TO READ ENTRY RULES COMPLETELY!

In order to enter, you must email a picture, screen shot or attach a copy of your receipt from your purchase of either the MASS MARKET PAPERBACK or MASS MARKET EBOOK version of After Dark. 

PLEASE NOTE:   It MUST be the MASS MARKET format to be eligible for the giveaway.

Email your receipts to kaitballengergiveaway@gmail.com

PRIZE PACKAGES:

GRAND PRIZE:

Two (2) random entrants will each receive a $100.00 gift card to Amazon.

FIRST 10 ENTRANTS:

will receive a giant SWAG pack that contains a signed bookplate plus bookmarks from Gena along with SWAG from 50+ authors, courtesy of Book Monster Promotions.

FIRST 50 ENTRANTS:

will receive a goodie bag from Kait that includes bookmarks, magnets, pens and other goodies.

FIRST 500 ENTRANTS:

will receive the first chapter of Immortal Hunter, Book #2 in Kait's Execution Underground series for an exclusive peek. 

You have until 1/10/14 to purchase your Mass Market edition and submit your receipt.  Winners will be announced by 1/15/14.

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AFTER DARK

Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages

Publisher: Harlequin HQN (December 31, 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 037377852X

ISBN-13: 978-0373778522

A Timeless Seduction

A Unique Temptation

And a Whole World of Dark Desires…

From New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter….

The Darkest Angel

Winged warrior Lysander has been alive for centuries, and yet he's never known desire—until he meets Bianka. Spawned from the bloodline of his enemy, the beautiful but deadly Harpy is determined to lead the untouched Lysander into temptation. He may try to evade her attempts, but even the most iron-willed demon assassin can resist for only so long….

And from debut author Kait Ballenger….

Shadow Hunter

Vampire hunter Damon Brock's newest assignment with the Execution Underground is Rochester, New York, a city crawling with the undead. But he isn't the only hunter in town gunning for vamp blood. Tiffany Solow is fierce and ruthless when it comes to slaying the monsters that destroyed her family—and she works solo. But being alone is no longer an option when she meets the mysterious hunter who wants more than just her turf. Forced to unite against the local covens, the line between good and evil blurs when they must decide between their lifelong beliefs…and their newfound desires.

Review: "Twilight Hunter" by Kait Ballenger

Jace McCannon is a member of the execution underground, an elite government force that protects humanity from things that go bump in the night.  Working along side his fellow teammates, it becomes almost impossible to hide the fact that he harbors the DNA of the very creatures he's sworn to kill. When he captures a very sexy alpha female he finds he may not be able to fight off his animal instinct when the time to mate catches him by surprise.

Frankie Amato will stop at nothing to stop a rogue wolf that is killing her kind. Thrown into the role of alpha of her pack has been a challenge considering some of the males are threatening to challenge her new position. Promised to another, when she is captured by Jace and restrained in his apartment she can only warn him of what's to come when 3 am hits on the eve of a full moon.




Warning..this books contains:
Hot chemistry
Alpha dominance - holy Hell
Claiming
And a 3am mating call..that honestly sent me outside for a cigarette!

Twilight Hunter is the first book in Kait Ballenger's Execution Underground series.  You can read a prequel to the series in After Dark, which also includes a Lords of the Underworld novella by Gena Showalter. 

Kait Ballenger Guest Post, Giveaway and "Shadow Hunter" Review

Shadow Hunter Playlist by Kait Ballenger:

 A question I frequently hear from readers is ‘do I listen to music while I write?’, and ‘if so, what songs do I listen to?’ I find that silence works best for me while I'm actually writing, but in order to get my inspiration flowing and get into the mood of writing a particular scene or character, I do listen to music before I begin typing. I thought I would share some of the songs that influenced me while writing Shadow Hunter, a prequel novella to the Execution Underground series, which releases in the After Dark anthology with Gena Showalter on June 25th. This is an unofficial playlist for the book and is not endorsed by any of the musicians or artists mentioned in the post. 

 1. A Perfect Circle. When I wrote the opening to Shadow Hunter, in which Damon is hunting for a sadistic vampire in Rochester, New York, I imagined this being the song playing as Damon walks into Club Fantasy for the first time. Club Fantasy is a vampire club run by Caius Agyros Dermokaites, the master vampire at the top of Damon’s hit list. “Damon was going to kill him. He’d make sure of it this time.”

2. Rest in Pieces by Saliva. I listened to this song frequently before writing Shadow Hunter, particularly in any scenes with emotional and romantic conflict between Damon and Tiffany. Over their years of writing one another, Tiffany got much closer to Damon than he ever would have expected. Losing her after his hunting partner, Mark Solow’s (Tiffany’s older brother), tragic death destroyed him. All those feelings are drudged up all over again when Damon unexpectedly encounters Tiffany in Club Fantasy. “Tiffany Solow... Mark’s baby sister. His own Achilles’ heel.”
 

 3. Hate Me by Blue October. Anyone who has read the novel knows that Damon fears Tiffany hating him, but at the same time, he thinks she’s better off without him. When I was writing scenes related to those feelings Damon had, I liked to listen to this song. “How could he look her in the face when he held the blame for her brother’s death?”

4. Dust in the Wind by Kansas. Kansas is Damon's favorite rock band and this song is one that he uses to remind himself that he is just a small part of the greater scheme of this universe to them. Somehow, it’s comforting to him. Hunters are not known for having the longest of life spans. “...you’d lost so much blood. I managed to get you out of the restaurant, but then...”

 5. Bother by Stone Sour. This song is very influential in all my work. Anyone who has read more than one of my novels knows that I really like to torture my characters, particularly my heroes. I’ve used this song for emotional inspiration for Damon, Jace, and the hero of my YA work as well. “If he’d been a weaker man, he would’ve eaten his gun right then.”

6. Broken by Seether featuring Amy Lee. Tiffany is a big fan of Evanescence. When I was trying to get into the emotional state of her character, in particular in regard to her feelings about “B,” this song was a perfect fit. “You know how difficult it is for me to admit this to you, but I’m not okay. I can never be okay.”
 

 7. My Immortal by Evanescence. This is another song for Tiffany. This song was very influential as I wrote the scene where Tiffany really mourns the loss of her brother, Mark, and the role Damon played in his death within the middle of the novel. Tiffany’s life is also very consumed by the feelings of loss for her brother and the anger she feels, which is what drives her need to avenge his death. “He trusted you and you let him down, and now he’s dead because of it.”

8. Going Under by Evanescence. Yet another Tiffany related song by Evanescence. Are you noticing a theme here? ;-) In Shadow Hunter Tiffany is forced to play nice with the vampire responsible for her brother’s death. She even has to pose as his potential Host all in an attempt to give her the right moment to kill him. This is more emotionally grueling for her than she lets on to. “...because she was going after Caius and she wanted to get to him before morning”

 9. Carry On My Wayward Son. Another favorite song of Damon’s. In general, this song is one I would choose for the series as a whole. This is in part because this song reminds me of my favorite T.V show, Supernatural, which was a big influence on my drive to write the Execution Underground series and the hunters who are a part of the organization, along with the kickass females at their side. “Happy to oblige, she pulled her Smith & Wesson from her lower back, aimed and fired.”

10. Your Body is a Wonderland by John Mayor. I listened to this song frequently before writing the first sexy scene between Damon and Tiffany in the novel ;-) Hubba hubba lol. “If he’d told her then that he loved her, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her in his arms, he wouldn’t have been lying...”

11. Claire de Lune by Debussy. Little did you know, Damon has an extremely soft spot for classical music and jazz. Debussy is one of his favorite composers. 



Thanks to Underworld Love Addiction for allowing me to guest post on their site! 

 BIO: Kait Ballenger is a full-time paranormal romance author, wife, bellydancer, graduate student, and soon-to-be-professor. She is the multi-published, award-winning author of the Execution Underground paranormal romance series. With a B.A in English from Stetson University, Kait is currently earning an M.F.A in Writing. Kait believes anything is possible with hard work and dedication. One day, she hopes to be a bestseller and to see her novels on the big screen. Look for the next two books in her page-turning Execution Underground series: Twilight Hunter, book one (August 2013) and Immortal Hunter, book two (January 2014).




For more information, please visit www.kaitballenger.com
Follow her on Twitter, Facebook or Goodreads. 


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Vampire hunter Damon Brock’s first assignment with the Execution Underground is Rochester, New York, a city crawling with the undead.  But he isn’t the only hunter in town gunning for vamp blood. Tiffany Solow is fierce and ruthless when it comes to slaying the monsters that destroyed her family-and she works solo. But being alone is no longer so desirable when she meets the mysterious hunter who wants more than just her turf. As they work to massacre the local covens, the line between good and evil blurs when they are forced to decide between their lifelong beliefs… and their newfound hearts.





Shadow Hunter is the prequel to Kait Ballenger's Execution Underground series.  It is currently being released along with Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld novella, The Darkest Angel, under the title After Dark.  It is scheduled to be released June 25th, 2013.


After witnessing the death of a fellow comrade and his best friend, Mark Solow, operative Damon Brock returns to his friend's hometown tracking the ancient vampire responsible for his death. What he doesn't expect is running into Mark's baby sister, Tiffany, cozying up to the vampire who killed her brother then finding out she's out for revenge too and she's not a baby anymore.

I really enjoyed this novella. The author keeps it exciting and had me wanting to keep turning the page until the end. I am anxious to see what happens with Damon and Tiffany.

The book has a Buffy the Vampire Slayer feel with the elite government slayer organization, (aka Riley Finn from Buffy) and the altered DNA. Although some parts were a little predictable, the ending of this novel actually surprised me. I'm looking forward to the next installment, Twilight Hunter. This author is definitely one for the watch list!

Rating 5/5

For more information about Kait Ballenger and her Execution Underground series, visit her website at http://kaitballenger.com/. 

http://kaitballenger.com/events/shadow-hunter-blog-tour/

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An advance copy of this book has been provided by the author/publisher for an honest and fair review.

June

Here are some of the most anticipated books being released in June.  Do you know of some other great ones coming this month?  If so, feel free to share in the comments section.

Week #1:
Entwined With You by Sylvia Day  (Bared to You - book #3)
Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh  (Psy-Changeling - book #12)
Phantom Wolf by Bonnie Vanak  
Hunting the Jackal by Seressia Glass
Seducing the Demon Huntress by Victoria Davies
The Darkest Embrace by Megan Hart
Darkest Desire of the Vampire by Rhyannon Byrd and Lauren Hawkeye
Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead  (Age of X - book #1)
Darkness Unmasked by Keri Arthur  (Dark Angels - book #5)
Tiger Magic by Jennifer Ashley  (Shifters Unbound)
Midnight's Kiss by Donna Grant  (Dark Warriors - book #5)
Phoenix by Elizabeth Richards  (Black City - book #2)
Beauty and the Wolf by Marina Myles  (The Cursed Prince - book #1)


Week #2:
Being Me by Lisa Renee Jones  (Inside Out Trilogy - book #2)


Week #3:
Rapture's Edge by J.T. Geissinger  (Night Prowler - book #3)


Week #4:
After Dark by Gena Showalter and Kait Ballenger  (LOTU #4.5/ Execution Underground #0.5)
Witch Bound by Eleri Stone  (Twilight of the Gods - book #2)
Spartan Frost by Jennifer Estep  (Mythos Academy #4.5)
A Kiss of Blood by Pamela Palmer (Vamp City - book #2)

Hunted by Kevin Hearne  (The Iron Druid Chonicles - book #6)