Veronica Blade ~ Day 20 of 365 Days of Great Authors and Giveaways!

Veronica Blade lives in Southern California with her husband and children. By day she runs the family business, but each night she slips away to spin her tales. She writes stories about young adults to relive her own childhood and to live vicariously through her characters. Except her heroes and heroines lead far more interesting lives — and they are always way hotter.


Would you be interested in donating a book to giveaway? Can be print or ecopy. If ecopy, what format? If print copy, what are shipping restrictions? Print is fine, US only


1) What genres are your favorites to read? How about to write in?

YA all the way! I’ll read grownup books now and then, but it’s rare. As far as writing goes, Blind Date, Checkmate is the only grownup story I’ve written since I got hooked on YA.

2) Who is one of your favorite characters that you have written? 

Hayden from Something Witchy This Way Comes

Please tell us about him/her and what book they are in.

I LOVE the way he’s not afraid to take risks or live on the edge. I think what I love best about him is that he loves Tessa with his whole heart and he wants to be a better person for her. Who doesn’t want to be loved like that?

3) For those who have not read your work yet, what book would you recommend starting with?

It would depend on your mood. If you want a light read with a sweet romance, go for A Bite’s Tale: A Furry Fable. If you’re feeling grown up and want a more mature read (yet still want the sweet romance), read Blind Date, Checkmate. If you love bad-boys and you’re in the mood to dive into a full length book where you can get lost for a while, go with Something Witchy This Way Comes.

4) Where can readers find and connect with you on the web?

I spend waaaay too much time on FaceBook. Pretty much everything you want to know is right there. I visit goodreads a bit and I almost always have a book giveaway going on there. I occasionally tweet…. But I’m horrible at keeping up my blog!

5) What is one thing that you could not live without?

Hairspray. There, I said it. Hey, I like big hair. So sue me

Book Spotlight:



Something Witchy This Way Comes

Brainiac Tessa McClean’s newly discovered magical powers give her an escape from her self-absorbed parents. But the thrill of being a witch fades when she learns of a rival coven and begins to suspect her own coven’s motives. Evidence tells Tessa to trust one side, but instinct drives her toward the other.

When the school’s scrumptious delinquent, Hayden Anders, offers Tessa self-defense lessons in exchange for tutoring, his timing couldn’t be better. Although hanging out with him is a necessary evil in Tessa’s fight to stay alive, resisting a bad-boy she secretly yearns for might be more than she can manage.

Together, Tessa and Hayden work to unravel the mysteries behind the two covens to discover why they’ll stop at nothing to lure Tessa to their side. She must form an alliance with one of the covens before it’s too late. But the wrong decision could cost Tessa the lives of all who she holds dear — including Hayden.

Excerpt:

“All sobered up, are you?” Hayden asked, eyes narrowed. 

“Yes, completely.” I backed up so he didn’t have to worry about hitting me with the car. “I’ll see you guys later.” 

As if waiting for me to say that, he jumped out of the car and slinked toward me like a panther — never taking his eyes off me. The look on his face was anything but mild. Uh-oh. What was up with that? He’d been pretty cool all night, hadn’t flirted and had only touched me to lead me somewhere. 

Hayden didn’t slow down as he passed me. Instead, he gripped my hand again and dragged me along. Leaving the partiers behind, we went back up the driveway, and into the garage. He left the door slightly ajar, letting in a sliver of light so we didn’t have to fumble. He finally stopped in a secluded spot in the far corner of the garage and leaned against a work table. 

“I’m going to kiss you now.” 

Refusing never occurred to me. Like a pliant doll, I lifted my chin and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him to me. He swooped and covered my mouth with his, his hot tongue assaulting mine. 

Oh, crap. It was perfect — like his fantasies had melded with mine. 

Except this was better. 

I drowned in the feel of his lips, and his hands brought shivers as they skated up my back. When his mouth deserted mine, his eyes seemed to absorb the details of my face, his hands planted firmly on my hips. Then, in one swift move, he lifted me up onto the work table and kissed me again. Harder, hungrier… 

I set my purse aside to free my hands. They skimmed his bare arms, moving on to explore his naked chest, my thumb sneaking into the waistband of his jeans. 

What was I doing? 

I couldn’t let him get any more than he’d already gotten from me. With my palms flat against his chest, I shoved him away. “Uh… I have to go.” Jumping off the table, I bolted.

A Bite's Tale: A Furry Fable

A Cinderella who spends her nights as a wolf. A prince with a taste for blood.

Seventeen year old Cydney struggles against her werewolf nature, trying to keep everyone around her safe. No way will she risk exposing the beast at the prince’s ball, no matter how her two cousins try to persuade her. Even as she attempts to get on with her life, Cydney can’t forget the boy she loved three summers ago — or what she did to him after losing control.

Turned into a vampire to save his life, the prince refuses to live up to his royal duties. He just wants to find the girl he loved and lost...the werewolf girl who bit him. But his father, the king, commands him to attend a ball where he must choose a wife. Can he find his Cinderella before he's forced to marry another? He doesn’t even have her real name, much less a glass slipper.

Excerpt:

If I’d known it could be like this and that she’d wanted it too, I would’ve kissed her ages ago. I mentally kicked myself for wasting all those weeks when we could’ve been doing this the entire time. 

Her hand crept up under my shirt and her fingers trailed along my back. Goosebumps danced on my skin. She pressed closer against me and I took the kiss deeper, letting loose my weeks of pent up craving for her. 

I didn’t think life could get any more perfect than being with Cindy. And I no longer yearned for a normal life. I wanted things to stay exactly as they were at that moment. With my Cinderella.

Forever. 

A soft moan erupted from my throat when she angled her face to take the kiss still deeper. I slid my arms around her waist and the tips of my fingers inched up underneath her tank top.

She shivered. 

But it wasn’t a usual shiver. Her whole body began to tremble and I nearly lost my hold on her. I pulled back. Cindy’s eyes grew huge and her pupils dilated. 

She threw her head back, her limbs vibrating as she growled. No, not a growl. It was more like a dull roar, full of pain and anguish. Was she… was my Cindy about to turn into a werewolf? Or was it something else? Maybe if I held her again, whatever was happening to her might stop. I lunged for her. 

“Get away from me!” Sobbing, she shoved me back, but in the process, one of her claws raked across my chest. 

I flinched, as blood beaded on my skin. A little scratch wasn’t going to stop me though. Not when Cindy needed my help. I stepped forward again. 

Her lips curled up, exposing long, growing teeth and she shrieked. Yeah, she’d hit werewolf maturity all right. But she hadn’t completely morphed. Just her teeth and nails. Maybe if I calmed her, she could prevent it from progressing. I wrapped my arms around her waist, as I’d done just moments ago, and pulled her close.

She shrieked again, then searing pain shot through my arm. 

Werewolf bite. Oh, crap. My dad was going to kill me… unless the werewolf virus beat him to it.

The forest spun around me and I couldn’t keep my eyelids up. My muscles went lax and when the ground rose to slam against me, I didn’t feel a thing.

Blind Date, Checkmate

Should a woman who’s unable to forget her first love give “happily ever after” one more try?

Shelby Winters’ one great love went sour. If she can’t feel that way about a guy again, why bother? When Shelby’s best friend sets her up on a blind date with Logan, the guy who broke her heart, he pursues her relentlessly, forcing her to make a choice: give her heart what it’s always desired and risk total devastation or shut Logan out and lose her only shot at happiness. To Shelby, it’s a lose-lose situation. Or is it?

Excerpt:

“I never stopped loving you,” he said as we both got to the door.

 Liar. I whirled around and glared. “I was seventeen and it’s been nine years. We’ve both grown up. I’m not the same stupid kid and I won’t be so gullible this time.” Why did he keep drawing me into these conversations? “So far, Logan, you’re all talk and no action. The story of your life. No follow-through.”

I tried to get past him but he blocked the door. I backed up when I noticed his eyes ablaze, thinking maybe I’d pushed him too far. As if I were his prey, he caged me against the wall with his arms. I pressed my back into cold plaster so I wouldn’t feel his thighs brushing mine. He only moved closer, a breath away, the friction of our bodies sending an inferno through me. 

Oh, yes, that had definitely been missing in my life.

“You want me to follow through, I’m ready right now,” he growled softly. 

Me too. But Logan was the last guy I’d go there with. Although it wouldn’t exactly be a hardship re-enacting certain moments with someone that gorgeous, deep down I was still bruised by his past rejection.

But I couldn’t deny I was tempted.

I’d never had a relationship that lasted. If I was doomed to a life of loneliness, it almost seemed justifiable to take happiness where I could find it, even if only temporarily.

Logan inched toward me, his lips at my temple. My pulse spiked as he sucked my earlobe between his lips and I shuddered. 

“I knew you still loved me,” he whispered in my ear. 

His words slapped me back to reality. A temporary fling with him would only bring me a lifetime of more pain. No. Way.

“Oh, honey, you’re confusing love with lust.” I patted his cheek a little harder than necessary and pushed on his chest. “A guy like you should know better. Let’s go eat. I’m hungry.”

I sailed past him knowing I’d thrown him a nice curve. I’d just taken his bishop. Score one point for me.

My Wolf’s Bane (Shapes of Autumn, book one) – coming soon

Caught in a centuries old battle between her kind and werewolves, a teenage multi-shifter risks revealing herself when she chooses to fight for the boy she loves — her only ally but natural enemy, a werewolf.

Autumn’s strengths as a mere shape shifter mean little against her boyfriend-turned-werewolf ex. As if the lying cheat wasn't menacing enough as a human. The new boy at school, Zack de Luca, rushes to her defense and Autumn winds up trapped somewhere between normal teenage life and an inter-species battle. But she has no intention of letting a little thing like potential death come between her and Zack, the werewolf boy she loves.

Excerpt:

With my heightened senses, I drew in the scent of pine and earth. Stars glowed and twinkled in the dark above as I reveled in the crisp night air. My ears picked up the chirps of crickets and a small animal rustling in the nearby brush. 

What undiscovered abilities might I have? With my body’s ability to heal rapidly, could I be killed? Would I require a stake through the heart like a vampire or a silver bullet like a werewolf? Werewolves, vampires and leprechauns… They were probably in the forest right now, watching me. 

I laughed. Sure, Autumn. 

But Zack was real and he’d been unusually agreeable earlier. Why the sudden change? How long would it last? 

Racing between trees, I worked off my frustration at him and the events of the past week. Like lightening, I charged through the forest, furry little animals scampering in my wake. As my lungs effortlessly took in air, a familiar scent met me and I slid to a halt, bits of dirt spraying the nearby shrubs. 

Wolf. 

He came into view beyond a clump of trees, black and magnificent. A few yards away, he hesitated, almost as though he didn’t want to scare me. I can’t explain why I suddenly felt so comfortable with this wild beast, but I did.

Giveaway!!

Okay, I have read each of the first 3 books and can guarantee you that they are all awesome!!  With that in mind, I am so excited to let you know that Veronica is giving away one print copy of Something Witchy This Way Comes!  US addresses only, please.  To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below!  Contest ends Midnight, January 28th!

Good Luck, Everyone!



a Rafflecopter giveaway