Hot Off the Range Contest

The weird and wacky authors at Mischief Corner Books have been at it again. This time we were given the topic of Cowboys, and boy did we run with it. Five stories, over 152,000 words. Hot Off the Range releases Saturday 7th December and will be available from Mischief Corner Books, Amazon, ARe and B&N.

It's currently available for pre-order from ARe HERE

To celebrate its release, I'm giving away two copies to lucky winners, simply comment and let me know what your favourite cowboy story/series is. I think one of my all time favourites (not counting the ones below of course) has got to be Tin Star by J.L Langley .

I'll announce the winners on Friday.

Riding and herding. Those spurs that jingle-jangle-jingle. What is it about cowboys that so doggedly fires the imagination? Join the Mischief Corner authors as they give you their own unique takes on the cowboy mystique and mythos, from the American West, to Australia, to outer space. The cowboy story will never be the same…

Once A Cowboy - Toni Griffin
It's been six years since Jesse Howard has stepped foot on the Western Hills Cattle Station. Now that he's able, Jesse's returned. The problem is, he's not returning alone. Will Logan Kennedy, the love of his life, listen to Jesse's explanations or will Logan close the door on the future Jesse's dreamed about for so long.

Accounting for the Hero - Silvia Violet
Grant longs for a hero to ride up on his valiant steed and revive his failing ranch, but he hires, Miles, a man with a desperate need for a job and no ranch experience. Miles may know a lot more about bookkeeping than calf-roping, but that doesn’t mean he’s incapable of heroics or of capturing Grant’s heart.

Sock Poacher and the Shower Thief: Tall Tales of Hooper's Town 1 - Freddy MacKay
One step at a time, one foot in front of the other. All things are possible when someone steps outside their door. In Namid's case, he meets the town recluse, Dusty, when he gets attacked by Dusty's porch. And that's only the beginning.

BULL: Corralling Nature 1 - Mathilde Watson
Shy, awkward, and overweight, Roland Paulson wasn’t the kind of man who attracted a lot of amorous attention. His romantic life consisted of a series of short lived flings and one night stands with other men who were just as desperate. When propositioned by a charming cowboy with the body of a god, he expected sex. He never imagined the wild ride that would follow.

From the moment Dodge Bramen set eyes on the adorable red-head he wanted him. And Dodge was a man who gets what he wants. He had no trouble luring the guy into his bed, but keeping him there was a different story. Deep kept secrets and unexpected discoveries could either shatter their bond or break it.

Fear of Frogs: Brimstone 2 - Angel Martinez
While Shax recovers from a near fatality, his shipmates have been busy. He's rather proud of them taking the initiative and finding them a lucrative cargo run. His pride turns to outright horror, though, when he finds out what sort of cargo. Unfortunately, he'll soon discover that a healthy fear of frogs doesn't prevent frog-driven disasters. Time travel has never been so messy.

Corey - Winners

Thanks to the fabulous random picking powers of my friend Sheila the two lucky winners of a copy of Corey are:

Yvette & Leona

If you would like to contact me on info@tonigriffin.net and let me know what file format you would like (PDF, PRC or ePub) I'll be happy to send you out your book.

Thanks to everyone who entered. Those that were unable to leave a comment and posted on my FB post, you did go into the running as well.

We'll do this all again in a fortnight for the release of MCB's Hot off the Range cowboy anthology in which my story Once a Cowboy is featured.

Corey - Give Away

Corey - Book 3 in my Atherton Pack series releases this Saturday 23rd November from Silver Publishing.
It will be available from the publisher from that date. Amazon should go live on roughly the 30th and then other 3rd Party sites (ARe, B&N etc.) on 7th December.

So to celebrate its release I'm giving away two copies of the book in the format of your choice. (PDF, ePub or Mobi) The winners will be announced on Friday.

Simply leave a comment below to go into the running.

Blurb:

Ethan Davies grew up in the foster care system, moving from house to house, never having a home of his own. When he meets his mate, Corey Jones, he's overjoyed at the prospect of finally getting the one thing he wants more than anything.

 
Corey's had his heart broken in the past and vowed never to go down that road again, sticking to one-night stands only. It's a lonely way to live but it's better than the soul crushing devastation he's felt previously. When he meets Ethan, Corey does the only thing he can in order to protect his heart; he runs.

Ethan won't give up his chance at love and a home that easily though, but will a costly mistake cause the entire pack to be put in danger?

Excerpt:


As he walked across the hall, he heard the doorbell chime and swore softly. The last thing he wanted to do was be late. Ben and Tommy had explained about their poker nights to him and he'd been invited along to last week's, which had been held at one of Ben's friend's houses. Seeing as how Ethan had only arrived late the night before, after several long days of driving, and then starting the new job the next day, he'd begged off, stating all he wanted to do was collapse on his bed and sleep for a week.

Now though, he didn't have any excuses and both Ben and Tommy were expecting him downstairs. To tell the truth, Ethan was kind of looking forward to meeting some new people. He'd met several over the course of the last week as pack members came for meetings with Ben on different subjects. He'd also spoken with a great number on the phone but it was always nice to put a face to the name.

Apparently the guys downstairs were Ben's closest friends. Ethan would meet the rest of the pack at the next group get-together, which was scheduled in a few weeks—on the night of the full moon. He'd just missed the last one.

Ethan was looking forward to running with the pack. He had been on a couple of little solo jaunts since he'd been here, but there was no better feeling to Ethan than running with your pack.

Feeling a little grungy after being stuck in his office for most of the day, Ethan decided to take a quick shower and clean up. He stripped off his clothes, threw them in the basket in the corner of his room, and walked into the attached bathroom. The bathroom wasn't huge, just enough space for a decent size shower, toilet, and washbasin. The walls were a light green colour and the large rectangular tiles a nice shade of cream.

What Ethan really liked about the shower was the way the showerhead came down from the ceiling instead of being attached to the wall. He stepped under the spray and let the water flow over his head and down his body. Ethan stood there for several minutes, just letting the water wash away his day before he stepped back and picked up the body wash. He soaped himself up, and contemplated stroking off a quick one but doubted he had the time. Ethan knew he was already late and didn't think taking time to have a quick wank was entirely appropriate.

Ethan quickly rinsed giving his half hard dick a couple of strokes before he turned off the tap and ran his hands down his body, trying to remove some of the excess water.

He dried off and dressed in a pair of old, comfortable jeans that had moulded perfectly to his body over many years of wear. Ethan picked out one of his favourite shirts and pulled it on. It was black and soft with use; the slogan 'Shhhhh, no one knows I'm gay' was written in white across the front.

Ethan didn't bother with shoes, as he was inside and had no plans on leaving. He ran his fingers through his strawberry blond hair, trying to get it into some sort of order.

Finally ready, Ethan left his room and started down the hall. Halfway down the stairs, the most amazing scents wafted up to him. He stopped when the sexiest voice he'd ever heard, bar none, drifted through the house.

"Has Declan been cooking again? Because if he has then I want me some of that." the male voice asked.

Ethan could hear both Ben and Tommy laugh, along with someone else that he didn't recognise. He started moving again, almost as if he was in slow motion. As Ethan got closer to the group gathered in the other room, his body started to take notice. The scent was becoming stronger and his dick, which had started to harden at the sound of the voice, was now trying to break out of his jeans. Even Ethan's wolf was getting in on the act; the damn beast felt like it was clawing at him from the inside. His heartbeat also increased to the point Ethan was scared he might have a heart attack, when suddenly everything clicked all at once in his mind and Ethan knew exactly what was happening.

"What is that intoxicating smell?" the male voice asked again.

Ethan rounded the corner to the room.

"That would be me," he announced, as he stepped inside. Ethan briefly noticed the shit-eating grins on both Ben's and Tommy's faces, along with a couple he had met the night of his interview. He ignored the puzzled looks from the men he'd never met. His gaze zeroed in on the man who would hopefully change Ethan's life for the better.

"And who the hell are you?"

My Journey

 

So, as some of you might be aware I've been posting random weight loss updates every now and then on my Facebook page. Well, as of this morning, according to my scales (Which I love lots today) I've lost a total of 70.80kg or 156.08lbs or 11.14 stone. Which ever way you look at it, it's a great deal of weight and I have to say I'm proud of myself for being able to stick with it and see this through. I haven't reached my goal yet. Still have another 2.2kg to go, but hopefully I'll get there soon.

I thought I would share my journey with you all and show you a few pics of before, during and now...If you don't want to see them that's fine, but I thought I would show them anyway :)

Christmas of 2010 My entire family was in Darwin to celebrate the holidays together. My father turned to me one day while we were driving and told me just how worried he and my mum were by my weight. I cried, but I wasn't ready to deal with it, or do anything about it at that time.

It wasn't until 12 September of 2011 that I decided something needed to be done. See, I was planning a trip to the State the following year, and having been to Europe in April of 2010 I knew just how uncomfortable the long-ass flights could be for someone of my size. So my husband and I both set out to loose some weight.


This is me and the Ex at a Ball in 2008
 

Ripley's Believe it or Not -London- May 2010 

Stupid me didn't take a photo when I started to lose weight. As you can see from the above pics, I was a large girl and absolutely hated having my picture taken.

6 weeks after we started the diet, my husband walked out the door. Instead of using this as an excuse to binge eat and just stop caring I said 'fuck him' and I resolved to keep to my goal. When All this started I didn't have a final goal in mind. I was so heavy that for me to have actually set myself a goal weight I don't think I would have made it. Instead I set myself smaller goals. 'lets see if I can loose 10kg, then 20kg, then 30kg and so on.'

Picture taken 17/02/2012

Approx weight loss 24kg

Taken 18/03/2012 weight loss 28kg

 

I lost the fist 27.5kg by myself with nothing more then diet and will power. However, after losing that much weight I thought I should get some exercise in and try to tone up some of my body. My wonderful brother told me to go and see one of his friends who happened to be a Personal Trainer. I see Vern twice a fortnight and he seriously puts me through it. I call him all the names under the sun, but really I love him. He has helped me so much to become the person that I am today and I will forever be grateful for the help he has given me and the encouragement he shows every time I see him. 

I thought it was time to clean out my wardrobe on the 2/06/2012. Weight loss 37kg. I wish I had kept these pants now instead on throwing them away.

Me in the States Sep 2012 - Total weight loss 50kg

 

Myself, my younger brother Jonathan and his wife Kara - Bali June 2013 for our Brother's wedding
Total weight loss 65kg 

My daughter and I at the wedding

Beach day in Bali. I cannot tell you how amazing it was to have a regular sized lifejacket fit me easily.

Me in Sydney at the OzMMMeet October 2013 - Total weight loss 68kg 

While in Sydney I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I wanted to do this purely because I could. There was no way I would have been able to complete the climb before losing all my weight.

Me yesterday



Total weight loss 70.8kgs

So there you have it. My journey. Let me tell you it's been bloody expensive replacing my entire wardrobe a couple of times over. I've gone from an Aussie size 26/28 down to a 14/16 I even have a size 12 shirt that I'm so proud of.

My family has been the best over the last two years and two months. They never stopped supporting or encouraging me. Even though the weight loss has slowed to almost a bloody crawl in the last six months I'm determined to reach my goal.

Thanks also to all my friends on FB who send me encouraging messages every time I post an update.

Love you all. xx



Determined Mate Now available

Determined Mate is back on the shelves again. YAY

You can purchase it for the special price of $3.99 until the 16th November.

DM can be purchased from the following places:
Amazon - Buy Link
All Romance - Buy Link
B&N - Buy Link

BLURB:

Jason Matthew's is a broken man. He's lived through hell and barely come out the other side. All he can thing about is getting to his best friend, Brian, after that he has no idea. Jason's scared out of his mind when he's met by not only Brian but two large men as well, he does the only thing he can think to do. He tries to run. One of the men, though, turns out to be his mate. A mate he is in no condition to have or want, a mate that won't allow him to flee.

Alex Holland is forced to stand by and watch as Jason is taken to the safest place they know, too scared to be around him. He knows something bad has happened to Jason and he's going to need every ounce of his Alpha control to give his mate the time he needs to heal and start living again.

NOTE: DM has been re-edited, and expanded by about 19 K.

Show more

Show less

Determined Mate Winners

Thanks to everyone who entered. I wish I could give you all free copies, but alas I cannot.

The winners of a copy of Determined Mate are Susan and Ashley E

If you could please e-mail me at info@tonigriffin.net and let me know what file format you would like I'll happily send you out your copy. You can choose from PDF, ePub or Mobi.

For those that didn't win Determined Mate will be available for purchase from Amazon and Are on the 9th and shortly thereafter from B&N as well.

Once again, thanks to all and We'll be doing this again in a couple of weeks for Corey, which releases on the 23rd.

Determined Mate contest

As some of you might be aware Determined Mate is being re released on Saturday 9th November. Just like the first in the series, Determined Mate, has been extensively added to by roughly 19k.

To celebrate the re release I'm giving away two copies of the book in either mobi, epub or PDF format. Simply comment and you will go into the draw. The winners will be announced on Thursday.

I hope you all enjoy the additions I made to the story.

 

 



Blurb:

Jason Matthew's is a broken man. He's lived through hell and barely come out the other side. All he can thing about is getting to his best friend, Brian, after that he has no idea. Jason's scared out of his mind when he's met by not only Brian but two large men as well, he does the only thing he can think to do. He tries to run. One of the men, though, turns out to be his mate. A mate he is in no condition to have or want, a mate that won't allow him to flee.

Alex Holland is forced to stand by and watch as Jason is taken to the safest place they know, too scared to be around him. He knows something bad has happened to Jason and he's going to need every ounce of his Alpha control to give his mate the time he needs to heal and start living again.

NOTE: DM has been re-edited, and expanded by about 19 K.

Excerpt:

Jason sat in his idling car on the side of the road staring at the sign in front of him. Welcome to Leyburn. Population 8653. How had his life managed to turn upside down in so short a time? Jason had been sitting here for so long the tightness in the muscles of his healing body reminded him of that fateful night not even a week ago, causing him to cringe in pain. Thanks to his werewolf genetics, most of the bruises and cuts had healed while he was on the road. Jason knew it would take a lot more than the fading of his bruises for him to be able to live any kind of normal life again, and he hoped coming here was the first step.

Brian had sounded so happy in his new life when he'd talked to him, and Jason hoped his friend might be able to help him heal. Jason missed his friend and could really use his help at the moment.

Running his shaking hands through his hair, Jason tried to pull himself together enough to make the phone call he knew he had to. Taking a deep breath, he picked up his phone and hit the button for Brian's speed dial. Jason listened as the phone rang in his ear.

"Jase. How are ya, man?" came the voice of his best friend as soon as the phone connected.

"Bri." Jason couldn't get anything else to come out of his mouth. He knew Brian would start to worry if he didn't pull himself together soon.

"Hey, what's wrong? You okay?" Brian knew him so well. Even after not seeing each other for weeks, he could tell when there was something wrong with Jason. Jason quickly gathered his nerves and plunged on with the reason for his call.

"Yeah, man, I'm okay. Hey, look, is that offer to visit still open?" Jason asked. He knew it was a lot to ask, but he had nowhere else to go.

"Hang on. I'll just make sure it's okay with the guys." Fuck. Jason had forgotten that Brian was living with Marcus and his three brothers. He started to shake, thinking about being around so many men. Jason could hear Brian's muffled voice in the background talking to the other guys. What seemed like forever later, Brian came back to him. "Sure, man. When can you be here?"

"Umm. I'm sort of at the town limits now," Jason replied hesitantly.

"What! Shit, Jase, what the hell happened?" Brian was going to flip when he found out, and Jason wasn't really ready to talk about everything that had happened to him yet. Maybe he never would be, at the moment he felt broken and damaged and what he wanted to do most in the world at that moment was curl in a ball and cry, but he knew he couldn't do that yet.

"I'll tell you when I get there." He knew it probably wasn't what Brian wanted to hear, but it was all he could do for now; he was already on the verge of tears, and it took everything he had not to break down.

"Okay," Brian replied. After Brian had given him the directions on how to get to his and Marcus's place, Jason hung up. Taking deep breaths, he could feel the tears start to gather in the corner of his eyes.

"Shit! Get it together, man. You can fall apart later." Jason sat there on the side of the road, trying to gather his courage to start the short drive that would take him to his best friend. The tears came anyway.

Five minutes later, finally ready to head out, he wiped his face to try and remove all evidence of his crying. Jason knew he probably wasn't completely successful but that couldn't be helped. He needed to get on the road and get to Brian, everything else would have to wait until then. Jason clicked his indicator on and pulled out onto the road.

Driving through the centre of town, Jason thought it looked to be a nice little place. He made note of a couple of the shops lining the main road. The local supermarket looked to be a decent size. There was a kids' arcade that was filled with teenagers, as it was the weekend, and what looked to be a tattoo parlour with the words 'Eternal Ink' in flowing script across the top of the building.

Jason followed the directions Brian had given, and less than ten minutes later, he pulled to a stop outside the address he'd written down. Jason double-checked the paper to make sure he was at the right place. The house was huge, two stories. Jason thought it couldn't have been more than a couple of years old as the place still had that newly built look about it. The walls were painted a light cream colour with a deep blue trim running the length of the roof. There was a dark chestnut door with what looked to be a frosted glass centrepiece, allowing the afternoon light through but still maintaining privacy.

Taking a deep breath to settle his raging nerves, Jason got out of the car. As soon as he closed the door, he looked up and saw Brian standing in the doorway leading into the house. Jason didn't know what came over him, but at the sight of his best friend, he started running towards him. Brian engulfed him in his arms and gave Jason the hug he so desperately needed. He held his best friend in his arms, the familiar, safe scent settling his body. Jason broke down in tears. He knew Brian was worried about him and would have questions, but he just couldn't pull himself together.

Brian tightened his hold on him and whispered in his ear, "Shhh, Jase. It's going to be okay. Whatever the problem is, we can get through it together."

Jason couldn't reply. A lump had found its way into his throat and had decided to take up permanent residence there. This. He had needed this, for just a moment Jason could forget about what had happened knowing he was finally safe with Brian, his friend would never let anything happen to him. He just needed to hold his friend. Eventually, the sound of twin growls broke through the fog in his brain, and he started to pull back.

Brian looked back towards to house. "Marcus, cut it out. You know I love you. This is my best friend, Jason. Now give it a rest."

"I know you love me," Marcus said, "but could you please loosen your hold on your friend? I don't want to hurt him, and my wolf doesn't like the sight of you in another man's arms."

Jason pulled back and looked at his friend. Brian gave him an apologetic look, and Jason smiled at him to let him know it was okay.

"Jason, this big brute here is my obviously overprotective mate, Marcus."

Jason noticed Marcus had stopped growling almost as soon as he had let go of his friend. He smiled at Brian's description of his mate and turned to say hello when he realised he could still hear someone else growling.

Brian rolled his eyes. "And the even bigger guy behind him is his elder brother and the Leyburn pack Alpha, Alex. Alex, what's your problem?"

When Alex didn't respond, Jason glanced towards the man and gaped at the sheer size of him. Jason was not comfortable around big men after what he'd been through, and this guy was huge. Coming in at five foot six, Jason was short by werewolf standards, and anyone over six feet looked huge to him. This guy must have been at least six foot five.

Jason instinctively shrank bank, not wanting to get hurt again. He'd been thought hell once already; a second time would more than likely kill him. His brain was telling him to run; telling him he couldn't do this, he couldn't be here. Jason hadn't realised just how big Brian's mate was, and he'd completely forgotten he lived with his mate's brothers when he'd set out wanting to get Brian.

Brian must have noticed his reaction and reached out to touch him, even knowing it was his friend, Jason still shied away from the touch. He couldn't help it; his body seemed to be reacting automatically without any input from him.

Brian frowned. "Jason? It's okay, no one is going to hurt you."

"What the fuck?" the angry outburst from Alex caused a whimper to escape Jason.

"Back the fuck off, Alex," Jason heard his friend tell the much larger man. He wanted to reach out and grab Brian and make a run for it, but he didn't want Brain to get hurt because of him. His body refused to cooperate.

Jason tried to get his emotions under control and took a deep breath. This didn't help at all, as the most stunning scent he'd ever come across hit him. It was wild and masculine with a slight hint of sandalwood. Jason's eyes widened as realization hit. No, no, no, no, no… This couldn't be happening to him. Why did he have to meet his mate now, and why in god's name did fate have to match him with someone so large? Jason didn't know what to do. He knew he couldn't deal with being mated to someone so big after what he'd gone through, so he did the only thing that made sense to him.

He turned and ran.