Once again it’s time for the weekly Sunday Brunch with ZA Maxfield! This week, we have one awesome friend joining us! Please welcome Vicktor Alexander!

This week’s question is: “A genie grants you one wish, what is it? (Not more wishes)“

***BIG NEWS*** From now on, instead of the ebooks we’ve been awarding as prizes, I’ll be giving out a $5.00 Amazon gift card so readers can use it for the ebook (or other Amazon purchase) of their choice. All you have to do is comment below for your chance to win!

Last week’s winner is Alishea! Congrats! You should be receiving an email from me shortly.

Let’s hear from Vicktor!

Well, damn. I’d love to ask for more wishes but since that’s off the table… and I’d love to say “World Peace” but really, the world is filled with humans and humans are inherently flawed, and if we’re being realistic, we’d have to change the hearts and minds of men to be able to have world peace. “End world hunger” would be nice too but then so would “Clean water.” Ugh! So many things I’d ask for! Is there a time limit? Is the genie growing impatient with me because I can’t make up my mind?

I know me, I wouldn’t give a sexy answer like, “To be able to have sex with Shemar Moore and John Barrowman whenever I wanted to” even though “Little Big Vic” would be DEMANDING that I asked for that. I would ask for the power to change the world for the better, the ability to help everyone. It’s the one thing that I want to do (help everyone) and the one thing that I know that I cannot because I’m human and even though I tease that I’m a robot, I’m not, and I just can’t help everyone. So, if I were to find a genie and he granted me one wish, that would probably be my one wish, to have the ability to help everyone, because in essence I found loophole in the system. I was just given the gift of more wishes.

Buy Links for The Alpha King: Amazon | All Romance eBooks | Bookstrand | Kobo | Rooster and Pig (Use coupon code: TAK2014 to receive 40% off from now until Nov. 30th)

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Thank you to  Vicktor Alexander for joining us this week!

Once again it’s time for the weekly Sunday Brunch with ZA Maxfield! This week, we have one awesome friend joining us! Please welcome A Morell!

This week’s question is: “You have to cook the perfect meal for a first date, what do you choose and why?”

***BIG NEWS*** From now on, instead of the ebooks we’ve been awarding as prizes, I’ll be giving out a $5.00 Amazon gift card so readers can use it for the ebook (or other Amazon purchase) of their choice. All you have to do is comment below for your chance to win!

Last week’s winner is Neene! Congrats! You should be receiving an email from me shortly.

Let’s hear from A!

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t cook a damn thing. Not for a first date! I’ve got to really like a person to cook for them, and there are just too many variables surrounding first dates to worry about without adding all that extra work.

For instance, let’s say you’re on a first date with someone you don’t know too well. Maybe you met in a bar somewhere and had a connection, or maybe you were matched up online. Whichever it is, you’re not familiar enough with them yet to tell whether or not they’re a serial killer. Extreme example, perhaps, but hey, it is an important distinction to be able to make. Until you can make it you should probably hesitate to give the stranger your home address. (Unless the night goes really well, in which case hopefully it’s worth the risk.)

On the other hand, let’s say you know the person. You’ve been friends or acquaintances for a while, maybe have even been dancing circles around each other for years and are now, at long last, both finally free to pursue each other to your hearts’ content. If that’s the case, it makes sense to think that a romantic dinner for two at home is the way to go, right?

Maybe. But think about it—you spend all day fussing over getting your outfit and look just right, still not quite able to believe you two are really thinking of taking things to a romantic level, wondering if you’re crazy or stupid or making a mistake or if any of your friends think so. Do you really need to add the stress of creating a perfect meal with the timing and flavors just right, all while avoiding getting a single splatter of sauce on that carefully selected outfit of yours? Shoot, maybe you’ll be so distracted you wind up cutting yourself or setting the kitchen ablaze. You don’t know.

Why do all that to yourself when you could just grab a reservation at a restaurant you both agree on? Have a good time and enjoy those butterflies in your stomach, and if things go well invite them back home for some privacy. If you really want to cook for them, save it for breakfast the next day. And if things don’t make it that far, well, at least you don’t have all those extra dishes to do while you wallow.

In my case, whatever the situation, I’ll be making sure we both agree on the restaurant (no Italian or French, please) and that they have a good wine and beer list. Dessert optional.

Love is a dangerous undertaking. There are risks at every turn, no matter what level you’re dealing with. Put your heart up on the chopping block all you want—just try to avoid the serial killers and let love do its thing.

Buy Links for Puncture Wounds: Dreamspinner Press

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Thank you to  A Morell for joining us this week!

Once again it’s time for the weekly Sunday Brunch with ZA Maxfield! This week, we have two awesome friends joining us! Please welcome Michael Kudo and Megan Slayer!

This week’s question is: “Looking back, which book would you counsel yourself NOT to read, and why?”

***BIG NEWS*** From now on, instead of the ebooks we’ve been awarding as prizes, I’ll be giving out a $5.00 Amazon gift card so readers can use it for the ebook (or other Amazon purchase) of their choice. All you have to do is comment below for your chance to win!

Last week’s winner is Jbst! You should receive an email from ZAM about your prize. Congrats! =)

First, let’s hear from Michael!

One book I would counsel myself not to read and why…hmm. I actually have a few novels in mind. Now I know what the mother from The Good Son felt like.

I’d have to say Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It’s probably a controversial answer as most fans I know of the series really enjoyed it. It was bittersweet because it was long awaited and it was the end of a wonderful series. My issue with the novel is as soon as you turned to the first page you were subjecting yourself to hours and hours of tension and sorrow, leaving the reader an emotional husk of their former self.

Without spoiling too much, I was really upset when a specific major character died and I felt like some of the deaths were random and just icing on the already messed up cake – except icing is delicious, so not icing on the cake…maybe diarrhea. We’ll go with that. It was a brilliant novel, I just wish I could have told myself to not read it and just imagine Voldemort had a stroke and everyone lived happily ever after with no death or sadness.

I like that ending better.

Purchase Red Rose (Blood) from Wilde City Press on September 10.

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Now on to Megan’s answer!

Over the course of my life, I’ve read plenty of books. Most of them stuck with me and I’ve cherished them. Honestly, I can’t remember the ones I really disliked, but there are a few I’d rather not read again. Two immediately come to mind.

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World is one and Marley and Me is the other. Why? Seems like those two books would be sweet, lovable books that would touch the heart. In some ways, both books delivered. I’m a cat person from way back. I want to rescue all of them and will probably end up being the crazy cat lady when I get older. I’m cool with that. I’m also a dog person. Let’s just say in my house I live in a tidal wave of fur–three dogs and three cats. The fur adds up.

Each book was moving and sweet in their own ways. In Marley, I got to see this goofy dog show his true colors while being a crazy, yet perfect dog for the family. He won them over with slobber and devotion. In Dewey, I read about the cat who nobody wanted, but ended up becoming beloved by an entire community. There were moments of tears and laughter. One of my own dogs, a black lab mix, could give Marley a run for his money with his antics, so in that respect, the book hit close to home. Dewey hit close to home because I’ve got an orange cat who has his moments of being a real pistol, but still owns my heart.

So why not want to read these books again? Simple. I know the outcome. Most books about animals don’t have a happy clappy ending. The inevitable must happen. I had a friend once tell me she refused to get another dog because dogs become part of the family and if they are part of the family, then you love them. When you love something that’s alive, at some point it will die and you’ll be left wanting more time with that person or animal. She’s right. It’s a risk. A kitten won’t stay a kitten forever and that kitten, who is now a cat will eventually get old. I don’t like thinking about the getting old part. With Dewey and Marley, I got emotionally invested in both stories. I didn’t have these animals, but it sure felt like I knew them by the time I finished the book.

I can’t read either book again. I hate reading through tears, even when I know that’s what’s going to happen and should prepare myself. I can’t do it. Maybe it’s selfish, maybe it doesn’t make much sense, but I’d rather not read those books again in favor of spending time with my own fur babies. That old line about if I knew then what I know now… I wouldn’t have read them. I respect the writers and love the books, but I won’t read them–not again.

Think I’ll nab one of my cats and hug him. He won’t like being hugged, but it’ll make me feel better.

Buy Links for Complication: Resplendence Publishing | All Romance eBooks | Amazon

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Thank you to Michael and Megan for joining us this week!