More contests and recommendations!

Hi everyone. I had so much fun with the last contest, I thought I'd do another one for other friends whose book is out this week. In fact, five friends have awesome books out, and I figured, heck, you all love to read (or you wouldn't be subscribed here), and you probably love to win things (I mean, who doesn't?), so more contests would be good! Right?

Last time, I gave away a brand new Kindle + a $50 gift certificate to the first place winner and three surprise "second" place wins of additional gift certificates. You just never know when you enter my contests—I almost always give away more than what is stated. (It's fun and you guys rock.) So I'm going to do it again: give away one e-reader (a Kindle or a Nook Color—winner chooses—plus a $50 gift certificate). Plus there are other, second place prizes, so read on!

(My news? Well, Bobbie Faye is now out in France and will soon be out in Germany, which is very cool. I've finished the first draft of something incredibly dark and different and will be polishing it, and no, I don't have any more specific news that I can share with you right now. :::grin::: So in the mean time... check these great books out.)

BOOKS!

I want to mention all five books, and then, at the bottom of the newsletter, I explain how to enter the contest. Keep reading for details, and I hope you'll consider buying one of these, or passing along the recommendations to friends whom you know might like them. I love my friends, but it is especially great to support them when I know they have written their socks off. ;)

The first book for your consideration:

CJ Lyons and Erin Brockovich's (yep, that Erin Brockovich) have a new book out: Titled ROCK BOTTOM, here's the back cover copy:

CJ Lyons joins forces with Erin Brockovich to create a new suspense series that will leave you breathless and that Lee Child calls, "Everything a great thriller should be—action packed, authentic, and intense."

Ten years ago, Angela Joy Palladino left home as a pregnant seventeen-year-old in trouble. Now, after winning and losing a career as an environmental activist, dubbed by the media as "The People's Champion," she hopes to start over by taking a new job with a lawyer who is fighting to stop mountain top removal mining.

As a single mom of a special needs nine-year-old boy, Angela is happy for any work she can get, even if it means returning to the West Virginia hometown she left in disgrace. But when her new boss turns up dead and his daughter's life is threatened, Angela discovers that her own secrets aren't the only ones her mountain hometown has kept buried.

Hitting rock bottom, Angela must face the betrayal of those once closest to her and confront the harrowing past she thought she had left behind.

Here's an EXCERPT.

AND YOU KNOW IT'S GOOD, because here are some amazing blurbs already:

"A high stakes adventure with dire consequences."
   —New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry

"A compelling new voice in thriller writing...I love how the characters come alive on every page."
   —New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver

"Everything a great thriller should be—action packed, authentic, and intense."
   —#1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child

"A powerful taut thriller"
   —Mystery Gazette

"Top Pick! A fascinating and intense thriller."
   —4 1/2 stars, RT Book Reviews

"An intense, emotional thriller...(that) climbs to the edge of intensity."
   —National Examiner

You can check out CJ's website or follow her on Facebook to learn all sorts of details about the books and her other projects!

The second book I want you to know about is Allison Brennan's brilliant follow-up to January's NYT Best-selling LOVE ME TO DEATH—which is titled: KISS ME, KILL ME. It's the second in the Lucy Kincaid series, and the stakes are even higher. Here's the back cover copy:

KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE
Lucy Kincaid has firsthand experience dealing with deadly criminal predators, and she's fully prepared to share her many talents with the FBI. But when her career plans are derailed, her boyfriend, security expert Sean Rogan, asks for help on his latest private investigation. Using her well-honed cyber-hunting skills, Lucy is soon on the trail of a missing teenage girl with a penchant for disappearing—and a shocking secret life.

FBI Agent Suzanne Madeaux is also tracking someone: a serial killer on the loose in New York City. Dubbed by the press the Cinderella Strangler, he cruises seamy underground sex parties, where drug-fueled women make for easy pickings. As Lucy and Sean's desperate search collides with the FBI's hunt, Lucy isn't about to step aside. Haunted by painful memories of her own harrowing encounters with evil, she's determined to keep any more innocents from meeting the fate she so narrowly escaped. Delving deep into the twisted psyche of a remorseless killer, Lucy must confront her own fears—even if it means risking a future job with the FBI and future happiness with Sean.

You can follow Allison on Twitter, Facebook or check out her website, too, for additional information and her own contests and upcoming projects.

The third book is JT Ellison's SO CLOSE THE HAND OF DEATH. It's the sixth book in the Taylor Jackson series, and the sequel to 14. Note: it's a TOP PICK for Romantic Times!

Talent borrows. Genius steals. Evil delegates.
It's a hideous echo of a violent past. Across America, murders are being committed with all the twisted hallmarks of the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer and Son of Sam. The media frenzy explodes and Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson knows instantly that The Pretender is back...and he's got helpers.

As The Pretender's disciples perpetrate their sick homages—stretching police and FBI dangerously thin—Taylor tries desperately to prepare for their inevitable showdown. And she must do it alone. To be close to her is to be in mortal danger, and she won't risk losing anyone she loves. But the isolation, the self-doubt and the rising body count are taking their toll: she's tripwire-tense and ready to snap.

The brilliant psychopath who both adores and despises her is drawing close. Close enough to touch....

"Ellison's sixth novel featuring homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson is arguably her best book to date. A tense thrill ride filled with secrets, raw emotion and death, newcomers will love it as much as her longtime fans. After completing this one, you will scream for the next book."
   —Romantic Times, 4 1/2 Stars TOP PICK!

Read an EXCERPT!

You can check out more from JT by visiting her website, or following her on Twitter or Facebook!

Now, here's a completely different kind of book—AFTERTIME, by Edgar nominated Sophie Littlefield! In fact, Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review and described it as:

Littlefield (A Bad Day for Pretty) turns what could be just another zombie apocalypse into a thoughtful and entertaining exploration of many themes, including genetic engineering, social collapse, and motherhood. Cass, a young mother and recovering alcoholic, awakens filthy and gashed in the California wilderness, with no memory of the past several weeks. She believes she's eaten a plant that turns its victims into Beaters, or zombies; her recovery is inexplicable. An enigmatic, charismatic man named Smoke agrees to escort her for the last stretch of her journey home to find her daughter, and what begins as a four-mile hike through Beater-infested terrain becomes an odyssey through fragments of civilization devastated by war, plague, and anarchy. Littlefield has a gift for pacing, her adroit and detailed world-building going down easy amid page-turning action and evocative, sensual, harrowing descriptions that bring every paragraph of this thriller to life.

Read an EXCERPT!

Sophie's been racking up great blurbs and kudos and nominations like nobody's business, so you'll really want to give this one a try! You can find out more about Sophie on her website, or follow her on Twitter or Facebook!

And last, but certainly not least, check out J.D. (Dusty) Rhoades' latest thriller, titled, LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY. Here's the summary:

Andy Cole, small town criminal lawyer and general go-along guy, has built a successful practice defending criminal offenders—and making sure he is paid in advance. But this easy, lucrative professional life changes forever when Danny Fairgreen, the white sheep of the notorious Fairgreen clan, is arrested for murdering a barmaid, and Andy agrees to represent him. An unknown someone wants Danny convicted—bad—and starts putting the screws to Andy. At first, the pressure is subtle, but it grows ever more ever more intense until Andy is faced with an unspeakable choice: Go along once again and send an innocent man to death row, or step up to the plate and risk losing everything—including his own life and the life of the woman he loves.

J.D. has a talent for creating characters you feel like you know, deeply, from your own life, and showing you the tensions that they're under that threaten to crack and break them wide open—and like the ladies above, he'll have you turning pages until the wee hours of the morning, because you won't want to put it down until you get to the end.

You can follow J.D. via Facebook, or check out his website!

SO NOW, THE CONTEST!

If you're on Twitter, this one's for you. Contest starts on MARCH 3 (THURSDAY), 2011, and continues through midnight SUNDAY, MARCH 6TH, central standard time. All you have to do is tweet or RT this exact tweet:

RT with #CJLYONS & b eligible to win ereader: Can't wait to read CJ Lyon's new thrillerROCK BOTTOM:
http://tinyurl.com/4ssmfd6

BE SURE THE HASHTAG #CJLYONS IS ON YOUR TWEET SO I CAN SEE IT.

ONE TWEET PER DAY = ENTRY, AND YOU CAN ENTER ALL FOUR DAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES.

If you're on FACEBOOK only and want to enter, put the next statement below (what you see in blue boldface) in your status line (ONE ENTRY PER DAY) and be sure to TAG ME (http://facebook.com/ToniMcGeeCausey) SO I SEE YOUR ENTRY. [If you cannot TAG ME FROM YOUR STATUS LINE, CREATE A NOTE AND TAG ME FROM THERE. EITHER WAY WILL WORK TO ENTER THE CONTEST.]

Can't wait to read CJ Lyon's new thriller ROCK BOTTOM: http://tinyurl.com/4ssmfd6

One entry per TWITTER name / FACEBOOK name per day makes you eligible to win either a Kindle or a Nook Color—whichever one you choose (see the links for the specific model) if your name is drawn in the random drawing. Plus, the winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to the ebook store their reader came from in order to help get a jump start on purchasing books for their new ereader!

If there are more than 1,000 entries (remember, one entry per person PER DAY)—there will be TWO prizes given away, so spread the word, but let them know they have to tweet that exact tweet, or put that exact line in their FACEBOOK STATUS, okay?

Contest void where prohibited. Any winner who happens to be outside of the US may opt for the cash equivalent (via Paypal) of the Kindle ($189 USD) + the $50 cash (also via Paypal—for a total of $239 USD) if they cannot use the Kindle or the Nook in their country.

Winner(s) will be announced on my Facebook page, as well as on my blog on Monday, MARCH 7TH, by 5 p.m. (CST) and on Twitter—so follow me there if you want to see it there. (I'll post it to Twitter first.)

And...... THERE WILL BE SECOND PRIZES. Probably some gift certificates to online bookstores of the winners' choice, but I have not decided how many yet. The more entries... the greater the number. ;)

So y'all go spread the word about these great books.

toni