It’s time again to vote for the Hunk of the Month who will grace the Dungeon sidebar throughout the entire month of May.

I know it’s not easy, but please pick only ONE of these delectable hotties as your favorite & vote below.

Ride me, cowboy!

Take me, Tarzan!

Is it hot in this desert, or is it just you?

Why, yes, they are Bugle Boy jeans.

Pop Quiz:  How many of you have noticed some of the subtle changes taking place around here lately?  Updates to both The Dungeon & the main HeidiBetts.com pages.

What you may or may not have noticed from those updates is that I’ve got new artwork! Here is the gorgeous new cover of my October 2011 Kensington Brava title, MUST LOVE VAMPIRES:

So what do you think?

I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed the guy doesn’t look like he’s biting the girl’s neck more.  And my heroes (yes, this is a 2-in-1, so there are two :howyoudoin ) definitely do not have buzz cuts.  But those are small complaints compared to the utter hotness of the cover overall. :sexy

I’ve got back cover copy, too:

LOVE AT FIRST BITE

Nightclub dancer Chloe Lamoureaux just met the man of her dreams: Aidan Raines is charming, considerate, rich, and hot. Of course, he’s a little mysterious about his age. And his favorite drink. And he’s not much for sunlight. But he’s asked her to marry him, and she’s ready to do it. Sure, she has a few secrets too—but they’ll have plenty of time to work things out while they’re living happily ever after. Right?

Her identical twin sister, Chuck, isn’t so sure. Maybe reporting for the local Bigfoot-sighting tabloid doesn’t make her an expert, but to Chuck, Aidan and his brother Sebastian look like honest-to-Dracula vampires. Especially Sebastian: beguiling, seductive, and just a hint of dangerous. Maybe she wouldn’t mind him taking a little taste. But with Chloe’s life in the balance, she has to know—do they want hot love or hot blood? Or maybe…a little of both?

Can you say awe-some?  I’m starting to get really excited about this one!  Hope you are, too! :howyoudoin

And now that the cover has been revealed, it means MUST LOVE VAMPIRES is also available for pre-order!  So if you want your copy as soon as humanly—or inhumanly :eggcrack —possible, be sure to order today:

Pre-Order at Amazon.com

Pre-Order at BN.com

Pre-Order at Book Depository

(The Book Depository offers free shipping worldwide, by the way.  :chick )

Soon, I should also have cover flats to share.  And bookmarks would not be out of the question, either, so stay tuned! :jump

P.S. I’m also doing the Big Reveal of my MUST LOVE VAMPIRES cover over at the Brava Authors blog today.  I hope you’ll drop by to show your support—believe me, I need it LOL.  Just…pretend you’re seeing the cover for the very first time, okay? he he  :bw

Word of the Week:
friend high — The pleasant “high” feeling one acquires around close friends, often compared to being on some sort of drug. Accompanied by lots of laughing, stupidity, excitement, good conversation, and loud obnoxiousness.  i.e. the act of getting “high” off another’s good friendship vibes.

So y’all know I’m working on my “Dynasties:  The Kincaids” story for Harlequin Desire, right?  Set in Charleston, South Carolina.  That would be why I’m so fond of using “y’all” lately. :wink

And things were going really smoothly.  I was moving right along, loving the story, loving the characters, & especially loving the intense sexual tension between them.  Then came the moment when I was supposed to have them go off for a long weekend at the hero’s ocean resort.  And this was going to be fun, too, because he said it was for business, but had much more nefarious plans in mind. :us

Now, this oceanside resort was supposed to be located on the Outer Banks.  And I was all for that.  I’ve never been there, but the Outer Banks sound lovely, & I’m always game for anything that gets me closer to the water, even if only vicariously.  (What can I say?  I’m pretty sure I possess at least a sprinkling of fish DNA. I would live in water, if I could.)  So I get online & begin doing my research.  I wanted pictures of the islands & some of the luxury resorts there, & needed to know the distance between Charleston & the Outer Banks so I’d have an idea of how far my hero & heroine would be traveling.

Anyone who is less geographically challenged than I am can probably see where this is going…  Can you?  Can you see where this is going? :scared

The Outer Banks are eight to ten freaking hours from Charleston!  But Hilton Head Island…not to mention a whole string of other lovely islands, such as Kiawat, Folly, & Seabrook…are right there, like, half an hour from Charleston.  (I might also mention that the Outer Banks are North Carolina islands, while Hilton Head & the others are in South Carolina right along with Charleston, South Carolina, but that seems a bit like beating the proverbial dead horse. )

And while continuing to use the Outer Banks location may work for other authors in this series, it does not work for me.  I simply cannot wrap my mind around the idea of anyone traveling all the way up there to another string of islands on the outskirts of another state just for an island atmosphere when they’ve got a perfectly good string of islands right in their back yard.  Plus, sticking to the South Carolina islands keeps the tone of the Charleston/South Carolina setting better, wouldn’t you agree?  (Yes, I know you would—Mistress Heidi wouldn’t have it any other way. :mistress )

Thankfully, I’ve got a great editor at Harlequin Desire who understands the way my mind works & agreed that it would be best to use Hilton Head & the surrounding islands for my story.  I also happen to have friends who visit Hilton Head quite frequently & responded to my plea for help by positively flooding me with research information.  Newspapers, magazines, websites…even an invitation to go with them next time they visit, if I’d like.  Woot!   It’s almost like being there, but without all the annoying sand in my butt crack. :eggcrack

So as it stands now, my hero’s luxury ocean resort is going to be on Seabrook Island, South Carolina.  He & the heroine are in his shiny black Mercedes as we speak, driving down there.  I just have to figure out how to get them into bed as quickly as humanly possible…  Any ideas? :whichone