After a number of attempts to contact the previously chosen winner, I have had no choice but to choose a new winner from those who commented on the Chapman Files blog tour post. The new winner is…

Teresa, you’ve won your choice of either a paperback or ebook copy of The First Wife, book one in Tara’s new series, The Chapman Files. I hope you enjoy the book!

You were randomly selected from amongst those who commented on Monday’s guest post! You’ve won your choice of either a paperback or ebook copy of The First Wife, book one in Tara’s new series, The Chapman Files. I hope you enjoy the book!

Thanks once again go out to Tara Taylor Quinn for visiting us here at I Heart Paperbacks and for so kindly offering her book in a giveaway.

Remember to follow along with the rest of the blog tour for more fun and prizes!

We have a few visitors on the blog today! Psychologist Kelly Chapman is here with author Tara Taylor Quinn. They are here as a part of Tara’s International Blog Tour, so please take a moment to welcome them to I Heart Paperbacks!

Hello! Expert Witness Psychologist Kelly Chapman here. I’m traveling on The Chapman File International Blog Tour with author Tara Taylor Quinn, who so graciously agreed to write my stories for me. First and foremost we want to thank Anesthezea for inviting us to visit with her. She’s offered us absolutely lovely hospitality. Tara and I are promoting our books, The Chapman Files. And we’re also doing something much more important than that. We’re trying to raise awareness and support for the fight against domestic abuse. Thankfully I have no first hand experience with abuse. But Tara does. And so do many of my clients. Our first book, The First Wife, tells the story of another woman struggling with the possibility of having been abused. If you can help us in our quest, please see the links below or just comment, to show your support.

I have to jump in here every so often to relieve Tara of some of the burden inherent in leading a three month long tour. She doesn’t agree with that assessment. But I know that I’m right on this one. It’s my job to care for people. Tara included. And one thing I’ve learned – people who most need my help, are often those least likely to seek it. Take my friend, Sam, for instance. She’s a cop. A damned good one, excuse my language. She’s the star of The Second Lie, not that she knows that. I’ve known Sam my whole life. We grew up in the same small town. We both still live there, too. My upbringing was not anything worth talking about, but Sam – she grew up in a family of cops. Her father was killed while on duty when Sam and I were about ten. I’ll never forget the first day she came back to school after that. I just wanted to hug her. But Sam wasn’t the type of girl you went up and hugged. She was tough. Even then. She wanted everyone to think that she was just fine but I knew she wasn’t. She didn’t let people get close to her, but I hung around. Just hung there. Keeping close. I talked to her a lot, even when she gave me dirty looks. And when I needed help with a science project, she was the one I went to. She grumbled a bit, but she did a fine job getting the volcano to erupt. I saw her struggling with Math one time, and I butted in and helped. She didn’t thank me for it. At least not then. She did years later.

We played high school basketball together. We were both pretty good.

I was there when Sam and Kyle broke up, too. She insisted that she was fine. That the choice was hers. That it was for the best. But I stuck around anyway. I had her help me put in a new faucet at the house. And dragged her car shopping with me. Sam knows a lot about cars. She and her grandfather restored an old Mustang that Sam still drives. I think she loves that car as much as I love Camy. (Camy’s my four pound poodle princess.)

Tara’s not as much of a tomboy as Sam was, although she can shoot a pretty accurate basketball, but Tara’s like Sam in that she always wants everyone to think she’s just fine. Even when she’s not. I’ve been working with her on that. And we’ve had some small successes. Twice this week she’s picked up the phone to call someone when she was bothered. That’s huge. Used to be she’d just go off on her own and get lost deeper inside herself. I can’t take all the credit for the change, of course. I can’t really even take much of it. Tim, Tara’s hunk on the tour with us, is really responsible for most of the change in her.

Tim’s a case, too. He intrigues me. He’s not your average guy. He’s not your average anything. Now there is a man who is confident enough in himself to walk his walk no matter what other people have to say about it. Or him. I’ve seen the trait get him into trouble a time or two, but mostly, it serves him well. It serves them well. I’m not going to tell stories out of turn, but I will tell you the one thing I love most about watching Tim and Tara together. She’s so serious so much of the time. Comes with telling the types of stories she tells. She spends so much time rescuing good people from dark worlds that she often struggles to come up for air. And then Tim appears and takes her about his business and starts talking about inane things and out of the blue there’s this burst. This complete change in the atmosphere – and in Tara. The burst is from her. It’s laughter. Full-bodied genuine laughter.

Priceless.

I am very very thankful for Tim. He is good for my dear friend. And she’s good for him.

Okay, I’ve probably landed myself in trouble. As soon as Tara sees this post, she’s going to start in on me. But that’s okay. I’m used to pissing people off. Just ask Sam. I piss her off a lot. And in the end, she thanks me for it.

Now, before I go, I need to tell you that over the next three months, as we celebrate The Chapman Files, Tara  and I are going to be asking for help. If you can, join us in our fight against Domestic Abuse. Since February of this year, the United States’ first battered women’s shelter, Strengthen Our Sisters is down $400,000.00 in donations. Some of the staff members are working without pay as they struggle to pay mortgages on ten houses filled to capacity and keep their women and children housed and safe. If you’d like to help, click here to go directly to a secure paypal sight.

There’s an item from our new book, The First Wife, hidden on the tour with us. Guess the item to enter the drawing to win it! Today’s clue: It generally only comes in one size.  Send all guesses to staff@tarataylorquinn.com. To see previous clues visit the blog sites listed at www.tarataylorquinn.com.  We have correct guesses!!!  Keep them coming!

Don’t miss The Chapman Files tour party on December 4th at www.eharlequin.com! Tour prize winners will be announced!

E-books of all of The Chapman Files stories are available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

Next tour stop: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 @ Storybroads. We hope to see you there! The more blogs you visit with us, the more chances you have to win! Every time you comment your name is dropped in the bag for the prize drawings.

For weekly blog tour dates, visit www.tarataylorquinn.com. Or to have the weekly schedule sent directly to your email, send request to staff@tarataylorquinn.com.

Tara is offering a copy of The First Wife to one lucky winner, so please leave a comment on this post to enter to win. The giveaway is open to all entrants and a winner will be chosen on September 23rd.

The Blurb:
Jane’s rule about marriage: if at first you don’t succeed, don’t try again.

A bigamist ex-husband, an anonymous stalker, a murder inquiry. Magazine editor Jane Hamilton is not having a good month. But with the support of her best friend, Brad Manchester, she’s coping—until they become lovers and Brad complicates things even more by proposing marriage.

Brad understands Jane’s fears, but he’s ready for a wife and family, ready to move forward. Especially when he finds out she’s pregnant with his child.

Thank you, Tara and Kelly, for being with us today!

Authors Anya Bast and Lauren Dane are hosting a contest to win a Nook eReader from Barnes and Noble.

Click here to enter the Curl Up with a Book…and a Nook Contest.

Happy Reading,

The winner of the first M/M Romance Challenge giveaway is

Daalmonette!

You’ve won a copy of the M/M ebook of your choice by collaborating authors Barbara Sheridan and Anne Cain. Congratulations! Please send me (anesthezea @ gmail . com) your email address and the title of the ebook you’ve chosen so Barbara can forward your book.

Many thanks to Barbara and Anne for so kindly contributing to the challenge!