Z.A. Maxfield

Happily. Ever. After.

Very Special Guest, Tara Lain!

by

iStock_000027538366XSmallI do love my friends from the Orange County Chapter of the RWA. These ladies laugh with me, they cry with me. The worry about me as I worry about them. I love them dearly and I don’t know what I’d do without them. One of them, Tara Lain, has a brand new release, and she’s making a blog tour stop at my place, to talk about it. I just read this, it’s so nice! Without further ado, the awesome Tara Lain—>

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Hi everyone! I’m Tara Lain and I write The Beautiful Boys of Romance. I’m so excited to be here on ZAM’s blog to introduce my new paranormal romance, The Pack or the Panther. This is my first werewolf book and, like most paranormals, it has a fair amount of plot, but the story is really about the characters. My hunky, tongue-tied werewolf and the solitary, snarky panther he falls in love with. Truly, that’s what all my books are about –characters.  One of the places I learned that — was from ZAM!

You see, ZAM is my inspiration. One of three actually including Lynn Lorenz and Jet Mykles who I so admired as a reader that I wanted to write as well as they do. I still aspire to do that every day. Here are some of the things that I learned from ZAM —

  • • No matter how simple or complex the story may be, the books that stay with you and ring your heart are all about the characters. If the people are deeply memorable, readers will forgive almost anything else.
  • • Great stories don’t have to be angst ridden. They may be — and many super books do rip your heart out — but often the stories that are the most popular are romantic and what ZAM calls “swoony” with only enough angst to keep you interested, but not so much as to get in the way of the HEA.
  • • Expect the unexpected! ZAM always surprises. A guy so beautiful, the hero thinks he’s a girl and follows him across the country. A human so audacious, he’s not even scared of the most bad-ass vampire on earth. Romance that springs up in the midst of crime scene cleanup.

And so much more! Thank you ZAM for everything you have taught me by example and face-to-face. I’m honored to be your friend. And delighted to be here with my new book, The Pack or the Panther — #20 on my list of published works that you helped inspire!

The Pack or the Panther

(Tales of the Harker Pack Series)
By Tara Lain

Blurb:

Cole Harker, son of an alpha werewolf, is bigger and more powerful than most wolves, tongue-tied in groups, and gay. For twenty-four years, he’s lived to please his family and pack—even letting them promise him in marriage to female werewolf Analiese to secure a pack alliance and help save them from a powerful gangster who wants their land. Then Cole meets Analiese’s half-brother, panther shifter Paris Marketo, and for the first time, Cole wants something for himself.

When Analiese runs off to marry a human, Cole finally has a chance with Paris, but the solitary cat rejects him, the pack, and everything it represents. Then Cole discovers the gangster wants Paris too and won’t rest until he has him. What started as a land dispute turns into World War Wolf! But the bigger fight is the battle between cats and dogs.

 

Available for purchase at 
EXCERPT
Cole’s lips turned up just a smidge. “Uh, you look good. I
wasn’t expecting to see you.”
“What the fuck?” He threw his hands in the air and collapsed
in a wing-back chair.
“You came to my show. Of course you expected to see me.”
“Uh, I mean I didn’t expect to see you off stage.”
Paris frowned. What kind of game was this? “What in the hell
are you talking about? You came here to get me.”
“No.”
“What do you mean ‘no’?”
“I didn’t come here for you at all. I remembered that you
said Eliazer came here to see you, and it was the only place I knew to look for
him. That’s why I came.”
“Not for me?” He wanted to scream and he wanted to cry.
Which one would win?
“No. You said to leave you alone.”
“You son of a bitch!” Paris leaped out of the chair and
hurled himself across the room at Cole with his fingers extended like claws. He
hit the wolf like a missile and scratched at his face. “You bastard. You sucked
me in and got me involved with your ridiculous pack crap.”
“Wait. Hold on.” Cole wrapped a huge arm around his middle,
pulled Paris’s back against his chest, and held him with his feet off the
floor. The big, dumb, bastard!
Paris kicked his feet, which was humiliating. “Let me go.”
“And let you scratch me? No way.”
Paris shook his head wildly. Frustration. “Why did you—? Why
didn’t you—? Shit!”
 “Uh-uh. You’re just a
confused kitty.”
He had to stop this. Heat pushed behind his eyes. Damn. What
was going on? The words flew out. “You didn’t come for me.”
For a second Cole said nothing. “You said you didn’t want
me. Hell, you practically tore down your parents’ office door proving it.”
Paris frowned. “That’s right. I don’t.”
Cole loosened his grip just a little and let Paris’s feet
hit the floor, though his strong arms still held Paris’s body tight. It felt
way too good. “So why should I come looking for you?”
“Because you want me?”
“What gave you your first clue?” His voice held laughter.
“The nine-inch steel rod sticking in my butt?”
A big hand slid down the front of Paris’s robe. “Oh, like
the tentpole I see you’re sporting?”
Cole’s fingers brushed the silk robe aside and closed around
Paris’s erection. “Tell me you don’t want me.”
“I don’t.” But his hips were thrusting his cock into Cole’s
hand. Liar hips.
Cole pressed tight against Paris’s butt. That big cock
nestled between his ass cheeks. More!
Oh hell. He was burning up! He turned in Cole’s loosened
embrace and grabbed his face, pushing his mouth hard against those carved lips.
He reached down, managed to pull Cole’s zipper past that hard-on from heaven,
and stood on tiptoe so he could rub their dicks together.
 Cole pulled back,
gasping. “I don’t have long. Lindsey is outside waiting for me.”
A low growl trembled past Paris’s lips. Shit, where did that
come from?
Cole’s eyes widened. “Linds? He’s just my friend. But
Eliazer is out there. I don’t want to put Lindsey in danger.”

 

Paris heard his own breath, hot and hard. “Fuck me quick. I
can’t stand it if you don’t.”
About the Author
Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 23. Her best­selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. She lives with her soul­mate husband and her soul­mate dog in Laguna Beach, California, a pretty seaside town where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!

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Comments

  2. love shifters especially wolves now add a panther *drools* lol, if i don’t win im soooooo getting it on my own *hehehe*

  3. I haven’t read Pack or Panther yet, but I have it waiting on my TBR list.

    I don’t mind a little angst in my reading, but I read to escape and I want to be able to loose myself in the story. It is the characters that really make the story for me (and the authors who bring them to life).

  9. “If the people are deeply memorable, readers will forgive almost anything else.”
    This is so true. If I love the characters enough I can ignore plot holes the size of Lake Erie just to see how they’re going to make it through. Of course, I save my five stars for great characters and great plot. But just a great plot won’t keep me interested if I couldn’t care less about the characters.

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