Romancing the Hop!



What can I say about romance? Quite a bit, actually, but I’ll spare you most of it. One of my most romantic notions is a man who loves enough to protect his woman from the harshness of life – a shelter. I think of the word “husband” – literally, house band (band around the house). He is first into battle, the protector, provider, willing to sacrifice himself for the woman he loves. Now that’s romantic! The beauty of it is that when that love is reciprocated, his woman wants to protect him, too. The last thing she wants is to lose him in battle or in life, even if he is adamant about protecting her. Ah, but it’s his intent – his willingness that makes me love him. Truth is, it's a partnership in which two people want to look out for each other.

 A few years back, prompted by a writing contest, I envisioned a race of beings spawned by Mother Nature Herself, solely to protect the defenseless – endangered animals, the environment. What would they be like? This race of beings would have to be able to walk among man, yet possess qualities and characteristics of majestic animals – rules based on fairness instead of greed and selfishness. Harsh by our standards, yet necessary to maintain order and balance.

My heroes are called “Dark Sentinels.” The blurb for book one is below. The trailer is up and to the right. Book one is available now, and Book two will be released early November, 2012.
Sable, a sentinel wolf shifter, is captured and locked in his wolf form until Akila, a veterinarian, tries to tame him and unleashes a 6'5" baby blue-eyed surprise.
Dr. Akila Marshall is a veterinarian with a calling – save as many stray animals as possible. The only child of wealthy, yet distant parents, she’s convinced that love is not for her. Until…

Sable’s search for his twin sister leads him to Akila. Born into a rare species of wolf shifters whose main purpose is protecting others, he has always been forced to fend for himself, but Akila’s loving, protective nature draws him – and not a moment too soon. Together, they must learn to trust each other enough to overcome a new, deadly enemy.


 Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of "Dark Sentinels Book One: Sable," and a Bath and Body Works gift card. You could also win one of the mega prizes below! Make sure you leave your e-mail address so we can find you!
We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win.  Yep, you can enter over 100 times! Scroll to the bottom of the page for the entire list of "Romancing the Hop" bloggers, and remember to leave your e-mail address and a comment on each site you visit, including this one :-) Happy reading and commenting!

Now what are those prizes?

My Prizes: Free copy of "Dark Sentinels Bk. 1: Sable" + Bath & Body Works gift card
1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand Prize: A $130 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand Prize: The following Swag Pack!






Comments

Dariel Raye said…
Hi! Welcome to "Romancing the Hop!" Make sure to leave your e-mail address with your comments. It's valuable - counts towards a prize :-)
Sharon Clare said…
I love the sound of your book. Nothing wrong with a hero hell-bent on protection. Very sexy.

sclare@sharonclare.com
Dariel Raye said…
Thanks, Sharon! I love a protective man as long as he doesn't get too controlling :-)
Unknown said…
I love how she turns him into his human form. Thanks for sharing

fencingromein at hotmail dot com
Anonymous said…
Hi Dariel! :) Great post. I completely agree his protective streak is a must.

Loved the book. :)

Thanks for being part of the hop.

bidelia78@yahoo.com
Dariel Raye said…
Thanks, Kitty! I'm glad you liked it :-) Hi, Shannon! Thanks for stopping by.
Gaele said…
now I am intrigued.. as a pre-vet major in university - and mother of a newly created veterinarian..animals were very important to us. This series looks amazing and now I have more to add to my list

thank you..

glhince@gmail.com
Unknown said…
Oh I so hope I win your book! I love escaping into a book. What a fun hop! delphinareadstoomuch at yahoo
Dariel Raye said…
Hi, Gaele and Delphina! Everyone always thought I'd become a vet, but the fact that I couldn't save them all would have haunted me. Thanks, Gaele for helping make lives better everyday! Love your e-mail address, Delphina. Thanks for stopping by, ladies :-)
JeanMP said…
Your book sounds great. Love reading about protective men. Adding this one to my list.
skpetal at hotmail dot com
Dariel Raye said…
Hi, Jean! Yeah, nothing like a man who realizes that no matter how independent and capable we are, we still want to be taken care of sometimes :-)
I love your cover! Thanks for the chance to win!
Jesse
jesse.kimmelfreeman@gmail.com
mariehahn13 said…
A man who is willing to risk himself to protect the woman he loves gets a major vote in my book! :) So sexy :)

Thank you so much for the giveaway! I look forward to reading the book and your future posts!

songbird1613 at yahoo dot com
Dariel Raye said…
Hi, Jesse and Marie! Thanks for stopping by, and good luck with all the giveaways :-)
Foretta said…
Great post!!!

thanks for the contest!!
forettarose@yahoo.com
Dariel Raye said…
Hi, Foretta! Thanks for stopping by Musings :-)
Dariel Raye said…
Hope someone from my site wins one of the Grand prizes!!
Cassandra said…
Thanks for the awesome and amazing giveaway!
cassandrahicks1989@yahoo.com
Liese2 said…
The book sounds great! Thanks for the chance to win!
sqwalker2@hotmail.com
Veronika said…
Great post! The book sounds great!
verusbognar (at) gmail (dot) com
Cryscringle said…
I'm definitely putting that book on my to read list, haha. :) Thank you so much for your post and your giveaway!

Crystal Craig
craigcrystal(at)ymail(dot)com
Kaylyn D said…
Sable looks great. Not to mention it is a HOT cover! lol Thanks for the giveaway.
kaylyndavis1986@yahoo.com
Kelly said…
Your book sounds great...Thank you for the chance to win..

ronnkelly3@aol.com
Shadow said…
Thanks for the awesome hop and giveaways! This is so much fun! Thank you! My favorite thing about romance is the romance. lol I love the characters, the plots, the HEA's, the love. I love it all!
shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com
Nay Nay said…
What a great hop! Grand prizes, old friends to visit and new ones to meet… and chances to win at each stop too. I’m in Blog heaven! :-}

I’m a sucker for the HEA. All my favorite authors give me a great story line, characters I can identify with, HOT love scenes and a perfect HEA! <^_^>

I want this book. I LOVE shifter romance books.

Thanks for being part of the hop and for the chance to win.
reneebennett35(at)yahoo(dot)com
Kim D said…
Thanks tons for the hop! I only read romance. My fav is Lora Leigh! Going to parade Monday with brothers and sisters! Should be FUN!
swkimbell@yahoo.com
Krystal Shannan said…
Thanks for sharing. Love the blog, great hop!
krystalshannan@yahoo(dot)com
booklover0226 said…
Sable sounds interesting. I am adding it to my wish list.

Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com
Dariel Raye said…
Thanks for dropping by! Good luck with ALL the prizes!Come back to see me :-)
donnas said…
Sounds great. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for being in the hop!

bacchus76 at myself dot com
Qwillia Rain said…
This sounds like a wonderful series.
For me, romance is all about the trust and respect built between the characters. Since I write BDSM, these elements are very important.
Thank you for participating in the blog hop!
qwilliarain(at)gmail(dot)com
Dariel Raye said…
Qwillia, I definitely agree. Respect and trust are always important in love, period, and even more with BDSM. One of my favorite series is about a sub who enjoys pain, and she always had a particular word that, if uttered, meant for the dom to stop whatever he or she was doing to her. Of course, she seldom uttered the word, but her lovers respected her rule.
Michele said…
Love the escape of a romance novel!
Thanks for the giveaway

shermie40 at yahoo dot com
rubyswan said…
ThanQ 4 allowing me into ur world..I 2 love & adore Bks..! All the best 2 U!!
redz041@yahoo.com
Barbara B. said…
I love a strong alpha hero! Yours sounds yummy! Thanks for being part of the hop!

Barbara
bbsbooknook@aol.com
Unknown said…
I love romance because I get to fall in love over and over. Just such a wonderful feeling.
Mel
bournmelissa at hotmail dot com
I am so glad I decided to enter this hop. I have found some amazing authors. I have put Sable on my Amazon wish list to buy because I like the sound of the story line.
Thanks for joining the hop.

koonie2888 at yahoo dot com
Rita Wray said…
Love romance and happy endings.
Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Dariel Raye said…
Hi! Thanks for hopping with me :-) All of your names are in a random drawing and I'll announce the winner late tonight!
Yazmin said…
Thank you for being part of the blog hop. :)

yazmin.z.rangel(at)gmail(dot)com
Lindsay Avalon said…
Thank you so much for your giveaway. I absolutely love the blurb for your book and will def be checking it out!!

lindsayavalon (at) gmail (dot) com
Sherry said…
Your books sounds great. Thanks for the giveaway.
sstrode at scrtc dot com
mcv said…
I enjoy reading your kind of books. I like the idea of a protective male.
mcv111 at hotmail dot com
Jo said…
Very cool - I like the idea of a shifter and a vet together.

jochibi AT yahoo DOT com
Dariel Raye said…
Thanks to everyone for stopping by. Please come back and see me as I talk about books, writing, and of course, join other hops! The individual prize winner for this "Romancing the Hop" site is Nay Nay. Congratulations, Nay Nay! You've won a free copy of "Dark Sentinels Book One: Sable" and a Bath and Body Works gift card!
Shan said…
thanks for the giveaway
sam1slim1@gmail.com
jessica said…
did you design the cover? Thanks for being a part of the hop. I hope that you had a great Labor day weekend!
jessangil at gmail dot com
Dariel Raye said…
Hi, Jessica! My cover artist is Elise Trissel. I just told her what I envisioned and she created it for me!
Dariel Raye said…
Hi, Shan! You're very welcome. Thank you for stopping by :-)