Tuesday, December 30, 2014

FREE - RAVEN'S BLOOD by Cassandra Lawson

Synopsis
        Following the death of her wood nymph mother at the hands of vampires, Raven worked hard to build a life for herself in one of the few remaining human settlements. Her life takes a frightening turn when she finds herself an unwilling guest in a vampire settlement, but things are not anything like she expected them to be. Still, she cannot help but feel that her attraction to the vampire leader is a betrayal to her mother’s memory and her human friends.
        From the moment Connor first laid eyes on Raven she has thrown his entire world off-balance. In order to prove his strength as a leader, he has no choice but to take her up on her offer to trade her freedom for that of her human friends. Having begun his life as a slave, he has no interest in keeping the wood nymph captive. As a man, he has no desire to feel this overwhelming attraction to a woman who hates him and his kind.
        As Raven spends more time with the vampires, her feelings for Connor grow even stronger and Connor finds that she may be the one thing he cannot live without. Unfortunately, a new danger emerges that could threaten the survival of vampires and humans alike. As Connor struggles to unravel the mystery of the attacks from a new species of vampire, a madman will go to any lengths to get Raven’s blood.

No Cliffhangers. While this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone novel.
Free for a limited time !

Sunday, December 28, 2014

The Vampire Will See You Now Release Day Blitz


Title: The Vampire Will See You Now
Series: Psy-Vamp Book 4
Author: Cassandra Lawson
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Date of Publication: 12/29/2014
ISBN: 978-1503239883
ASIN: B00PO0J4DK
Number of pages: 148

Where to Buy

Amazon.com   Amazon UK   Amazon AU
iTunes            Barnes & Noble



Synopsis

        For more than three years Justin pursued Caitlin with a single-minded purpose, knowing she was the one woman he would do anything for. That resolve was tested when a member of his own family nearly destroyed Caitlin. Now, faced with the realization that she would be better off without him, Justin will do the hardest thing he has done in two hundred years of living and walk away from the woman he loves.
        Surviving the most traumatic experience of her life unlocked abilities Caitlin wasn’t sure she could handle and created a memory she wasn’t sure she could live with. Aided by a powerful empath, Caitlin has learned to control her own abilities and discovered that she is even stronger than she ever imagined. The only problem now is that the man she loves has decided she would be better off without him. Never one to let others control her life, Caitlin will do whatever it takes to prove to Justin how wrong he is.

***No Cliffhangers.

Excerpt

        It felt like someone had shoved a bunch of cotton in his mouth. That was Justin’s first thought after regaining consciousness. Second, he thought about all the ways he could kill Aiden for drugging him, Okay, maybe not kill Aiden, but he intended to cause his cousin a serious amount of pain. As his mind became more focused, he realized he was tied to a bed. Not just any bed; this was his old bed in Nathaniel’s house. The room was still his since he stayed here if he had a lot of work to do. Most of his stuff was still here.
        “What the hell?” he asked no one in particular. Being tied to a bed was more of an annoyance than anything else. He could easily snap the bed posts, which Aiden would know. Meaning this had to be a sick joke.
        “Glad to see you finally decided to wake up.” Those words came out as a sexy purr from the corner of the room. In the darkness he couldn’t make out her features, but he easily recognized Caitlin’s voice.
        “Care to explain why I’m tied to a bed?” he asked with mild curiosity. “While you’re at it, you can explain why I’m naked.”
       “Call it an intervention,” she said and sauntered across the room wearing sexy black boots, skinny jeans and a slinky black top that rode up over her flat belly. Justin flinched and looked away from her scars.
        “Why do I need an intervention? The only addiction I ever had was you,” he said with a sad smile. “I’ve done a pretty good job of giving that up.”
        Justin was assaulted with lust so strong he felt it to his toes. His hips came up off of the bed and his erection stood tall. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Caitlin was responsible for his sudden arousal. The satisfied look in her eyes and the way the corners of her lips turned up ever so slightly proved he was right. Keeping himself from snapping the bedposts and throwing Caitlin onto the bed was a struggle. The only thing that kept his desire to dominate her in check was his concern for her.
        “You need to stop pitying me. Stop looking at me like I’m a victim. Look at my scars,” she demanded.
        Justin looked at her. His breathing was shallow. “Untie me Caitlin,” he demanded, sounding more like his old self than he had in a long time.

About Cassandra Lawson

        Cassandra Lawson is an author and homeschooling mother of three from the San Francisco Bay area. She has always had a very active imagination and loves making up stories. When she is not writing she enjoys baking, spending time with her family, listening to music, or curling up with a good book.

Connect With Cassandra Lawson

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Saturday, December 20, 2014

Prologue - THE VAMPIRE WILL SEE YOU NOW by Cassandra Lawson

     Justin was in his own personal Hell; the crowded hallway of a college campus. One of the things that sucked about being the Draksel family doctor was the need to attend medical school again with a bunch of humans. Still, saying he hated everything about it would be a lie. Learning about new advancements in medicine and doing research was exciting. Since it had been over one‑hundred and fifty years since he’d become a doctor, a lot had changed. Each time he went through medical school he learned something new.
     Despite the fact that he preferred to avoid humans, he even enjoyed his time as an intern. Part of that time could be avoided, but he kind of got off on the long hours and stress. There weren’t many patients to see in his day to day life because his kind didn’t get sick and injuries severe enough to need medical intervention were pretty rare. Most of what he did was fang removals and prenatal care. Working in emergency rooms gave him a chance to actually practice medicine. There was a thrill involved with saving a life, and the humans working alongside him experienced the same rush. For a short period of time, they had something in common.
     What he hated was pretending to be a human in his twenties, which often meant pretending to respect doctors who were well over a hundred years younger than him. He might look that age, but at around two‑hundred years old he hated trying to act it. At least he didn’t have to deal with the undergrad crap again. As he looked around the crowded college campus, he was thankful for his hacker brother. Isaiah would make sure he had the stellar transcripts to get into the medical school of his choice. Before computers, that had been a lot harder to do. While it had been nothing a little mind control and breaking and entering couldn’t solve, it had still been a pain in the ass.
     The only thing he had to do was get recommendation letters from professors and Isaiah would handle the rest. He’d already picked the professors. Now, all he needed to do was head to their offices, add a little compulsion to his voice and they’d believe they knew him well.
     Walking through the crowds of humans barely old enough to be called adults was annoying at best. He was working his way toward the exit that led to the courtyard when a blonde brushed her ample breasts against his chest and smiled coyly at him. With so many people around them it might have been an accident, but he doubted it.
     Batting her eyes, she didn’t move back at all. “I’m so sorry.”
     “No problem,” he said and put his hands on her shoulders to keep some distance between them when he stepped back.
     “Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” she asked. Her breasts pressed against him again and sex was obviously among the things she’d do to make it up to him.
     There’d been a time when Justin might have taken her up on that offer, but that had been many years ago. Humans gave him energy and nothing more. The drama wasn’t worth it, and there was always a lot of drama involved with humans.
     “Not interested,” he said.
     She huffed and stormed off with her ass shaking back and forth.
     Justin had checked the schedule for the instructor he wanted to visit today before heading to the campus so he could avoid those types of encounters. Unfortunately, the professor had car trouble and wasn’t on campus yet. That left him contemplating his options. Was it worth it to wait, or should he just come back another day? In an ideal world, he could visit all of the professors in one day, but it took a lot of energy to create the memories he needed in the minds of the professors. Even two in one day was too much.
     With nothing to do but wait, he headed toward the courtyard, slipping his sunglasses on before he walked out of the enclosed hallway. As he scanned the courtyard a hot looking human with a very determined stride caught his attention. A hundred years ago he wouldn’t have looked at her twice. Back then he’d liked his women curvy and soft, like the little piece of fluff who’d rubbed against him.
     Justin shoved his hands in his front pockets and leaned against the wall to watch her approach. Dressed in shorts and a tank top, the woman’s lithe well‑toned body was on display. She was tall for a woman. With her high‑heeled strappy sandals, she was probably almost as tall as him. The way those straps wrapped around her ankles made him think about how sexy she’d look tied to his bed. He shook his head to clear it.   He’d never been the type to go for that sort of thing before, but something about this woman made him want to do all sorts of things to her body. She had an olive complexion and sexy amber eyes that had a catlike quality to them. She wasn’t wearing a lot of makeup or one of those annoying pushup bras women seemed to go for. If she wasn’t so young, he’d be tempted to take her home for a few hours and experiment with that bondage fantasy. Then he let out a sigh. Hot or not, she was way too young. The girl couldn’t be much older than eighteen.
     A skinny blonde approached his hot woman. Logical or not, he was feeling possessive.
     “Where the hell are all of your books, Caitlin? Don’t tell me you’ve given up on your plans to become Dr. Mendoza,” the blonde said in a raspy voice.
     Justin was even more intrigued after hearing that his fantasy girl wanted to be a doctor.
     “Hardly,” she said with a haughty snort. “Three of my classes have an eBook option this semester. Thankfully, one of them is my anatomy class because I would hate to have to carry that one around. I bought the print textbook to use at home, but it’s huge. I can already tell that class is going to be stressful enough.”
     The blonde shuddered. “Stressful and gross. I’d hate dealing with dead bodies.”
     Caitlin waved off her comment. “I love dissections. What annoys me are the idiots in the class. Half of the giggling bimbos in there should be singing If I Only Had a Brain.”
     “Hey! I resent you insulting us bimbos,” the blonde said with a flip of her hair.
     “Oh please,” Caitlin said with a dismissive wave of her hand, “I was referring to the real bimbos, not the wanna be bimbos like you.”
     “Bitch,” the blonde said with a smile. “So what’s up with the clothes? You look like a streetwalker.”
     Caitlin looked the blonde up and down, obviously taking in her skimpy attire. “Nah, too easy,” she said.   “Some little twit spilled her juice all over me in class, and I had to go change.” She gestured to her clothes. “This is not what I want to wear to impress my professors.”
     The blonde snorted. “Please, you wear jeans most days. I was just teasing about you looking like a streetwalker. Nobody will notice the shorts.”
     Justin almost laughed. How could anyone miss those impossibly long legs? People would be staring at them all day.
     “I gotta run,” the blonde said. “I have a creative writing class in a few minutes.”
     “Is that the new major?” Caitlin asked.
     The blonde shrugged. “Who knows? I’ll catch you later,” she said over her shoulder as she sashayed across the courtyard.
     Justin pushed himself off of the wall he’d been leaning against and followed Caitlin. Yes, she was too young, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. She made her way over to the soda machine and bought a Cherry Coke. Justin couldn’t remember the last time he’d had one of those, and it sounded really good. Then he looked at the machine and saw the red light next to that button was on. She’d taken the last one. Well, convincing her to give it to him would be easy, and it would give him an excuse to talk to her.
     “Hi, Caitlin,” he said from a few feet behind her.
     She looked startled when she spun around but quickly masked her reaction into one of utter disdain. One perfectly arched eyebrow rose, and she eyed him from head to toe, clearly finding him lacking. “Do I know you?” she asked in a bored tone.
     His lips twitched. Damn she was full of fire, and it was testing his self‑control, making him want to do something impulsive and stupid. “That Cherry Coke looks good,” he said.
     “Was there a point to this conversation? Or were you just trying to be the creepy guy on campus?” she asked with no emotion.
     Knowing she wasn’t affected by his looks made her even more fascinating to him. It’s not that he was arrogant, but he knew women found him attractive all the time. With his dark brown hair, bronzed skin, and muscular frame, he was confident in his looks.
     Even though he had no intention of seeing Caitlin after that day, he felt a driving need to spend a little time with her. Sex was still off limits, but he wanted to talk to her. Justin looked at her and pushed the compulsion into his words. “You want to give me that Coke and then sit down and talk to me.”
     He watched as her eyes narrowed. Something was definitely off.
     She opened the can and took a long drink while he watched her swallow. Staring at her long neck, he was suddenly so hard that he hoped she wouldn’t look down. “I don’t think so, prick,” she said. “Hopefully we won’t have this conversation again. Come to think of it, hopefully we won’t have any conversation ever again.”
     Justin watched in stunned silence as she walked away, her ass swaying back and forth.
     He was so aroused he thought he might embarrass himself. Excitement like he hadn’t felt in decades hummed through his body. This was even better than he’d expected. She was still too young, but that was the woman he could see spending the rest of his life with.
     Once he’d made his way back to his car, he dialed Isaiah’s number.
     “Change of plans,” he said. “I need you to get me registered as a student here, and I need to be in every class with a student named Caitlin Mendoza.”

Pre-Order The Vampire Will See You Now

Amazon.com    Amazon UK   Amazon AU   Barnes & Noble    iTunes


Friday, December 12, 2014

Tips For Writing Book Reviews

      I recently posed a question on my Facebook page. I wanted to know what would encourage people to write more reviews. The more reviews a book has, the more likely it is to sell. Reviews are so important that we authors will beg for them. A responder to my question said it would be easier if there was a form to use because writing a review is hard. That is what inspired me to write this blog post.
     If you follow my blog, you already know I write some book reviews on here. I also review books for another blog. You’ll often see these longer reviews on Amazon from book bloggers, and they can make it seem like the process of writing a review is on par with writing an essay. In reality, a simple review is fine and can be extremely helpful to authors and other readers.
     If you said you’d only post a review to one site I believe most authors would ask you to post that review on Amazon. For that reason, I’m going to focus on writing a review for Amazon. The basic principles are the same for Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, etc. In fact, I generally use the same review for each of those sites.
     When reviewing a book you first need to decide how many stars to give the book. This is very personal and one reason the written review is more useful than the star rating. I might love a book that you hate. Potential readers are better able to make an informed decision if they know why people gave the book a particular rating. You can find out what each star rating means when you scroll over it on Amazon’s review page.
     5 Stars – I love it.
     4 Stars – I like it.
     3 Stars – It’s okay.
     2 Stars – I don’t like it
     1 Star –  I hate it
     So, your first step is to decide which of these describe how you felt about the book. Now you may even have your first line of your review. If you gave it 5 stars you could say, “I loved this book!” Let’s stop for a minute to discuss whether you should write a one star review. If you hated the book, then yes you should write the review and explain your reasons. These reasons may help potential readers decide if it is the right book for them. Remember that something that would cause you to hate a book may be something I love in a book. Even best-selling authors get 1 star reviews. The hard part about these reviews is writing them without emotion. I suggest giving yourself a couple of days before writing any one star review. By that point you may even realize you don’t hate the book, you merely hated one small aspect of the book. For me, the 3 star reviews are hardest to write because I need to explain the parts of the book I liked and what prevented me from liking the book overall.
     Next, you need to decide why you had this reaction. Did you like the characters? Did the story move at a good pace? Did you feel engaged? How did you feel about the dialogue? If you wanted, you could even make a form with the questions you want to answer about every book you read, and then use those answers to write your reviews. Remember each of us find different things important in a good book. Below are some common words and phrases used in reviews: Feel free to use any of them word for word when writing your own review.














     The last piece of the review is the title. Okay, I’m an author so I can spend forever trying to come up with something clever. This is not necessary and don’t skip writing reviews because you can’t come up with a fun title. You can even title it “My Review of XYZ Book,” and you won’t be the only one who has done that. The content of your review is what is most important.
     What should you avoid in your review? Don’t promote other books in the review. Avoid using profanity, even if the book does. Don’t insult the author. Don’t insult other readers. I have seen reviews that said only an idiot would enjoy a book.
     Finally, if the author gave you a copy of their book in exchange for reading it and writing a review, this should be disclosed in your review. You don’t need to disclose winning a book in a contest.
     How long does your review need to be? Amazon used to require reviews to have 20 words. I have recently seen one word reviews which are not terribly useful, but if your point is just to post a star rating, it can be done. Here is a sample of a very simple review.

     I really liked this book. It started off slow, but pulled me into the story later. The romance between Jack and Leah made me laugh and cry. I can’t wait to see what happens with them in the next book.

     Too simple? Absolutely not. Remember that your review isn’t going to be graded and doesn’t have to be long.
     Hopefully this has helped give you guidance in the review writing process. Now, go out and make you opinions known! Remember that the best way to tell an author you care is to write a review.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

A Birthday Gift From Cassandra Lawson

Yesterday I took a vote to decide which of my books I should offer a 100% off coupon for on my birthday. So, here it is. Today only, you can get Vampires and Vixens from Smashwords for free.

Head on over and use the coupon code to pick up your copy: Vampires and Vixens




Thursday, December 4, 2014

Teaser - The Vampire Will See You Now by Cassandra Lawson

Synopsis
       For more than three years Justin pursued Caitlin with a single-minded purpose, knowing she was the one woman he would do anything for. That resolve was tested when a member of his own family nearly destroyed Caitlin. Now, faced with the realization that she would be better off without him, Justin will do the hardest thing he has done in two hundred years of living and walk away from the woman he loves.
       Surviving the most traumatic experience of her life unlocked abilities Caitlin wasn’t sure she could handle and created a memory she wasn’t sure she could live with. Aided by a powerful empath, Caitlin has learned to control her own abilities and discovered that she is even stronger than she ever imagined. The only problem now is that the man she loves has decided she would be better off without him. Never one to let others control her life, Caitlin will do whatever it takes to prove to Justin how wrong he is.

***No cliffhangers
Pre-Order Your Copy Today