What is it about that bad boy that attracts women? Oh, you know who I’m talking about… the man that swaggers into Friday night happy hour while you’re having an end of the week margarita with the BFFs. The leather jacket sits just right across those wide shoulders skimming along hips clad in faded jeans. And the two-day scruff doesn’t look unkempt, it just accents the dimple in his chin. He tips his chin at several tables as he moves through the bar and lands on a stool vacated by one of his equally naughty sidekicks. Oh, he is such bad news. You know it, yet you, and every other woman in the bar, is staring at this man who will no doubt break your heart.
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Wow! I had so much fun visiting with everyone this past weekend. Thank you to everyone who took a moment and left a comment on my blog hop post below. The following are the winners of gifts from me (chosen at random from all commenters, grand prize winner chosen at random from all blog hop participants).
ANIMA
$10 Amazon Gift Card
Ebook of A TOUCH OF LILLY
SUSAN
of Oneida, NY
$10 Amazon Gift card
Gift Pack including a print copy of DANGEROUS AFFAIRS
book bag, and various goodies from my prize closet
AND THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER OF 7″ KINDLE FIRE:
DEANA C.
CONGRATULATIONS ONE AND ALL! To keep up with all of my book news and he next blog hop be sure to follow me on Facebook
Thank you to everyone who stopped by this weekend and took part in our Midsummer Night’s Dream-Man blog hop! I had a wonderful time visiting all the other authors participating and hanging out with all of you!
And without further procrastination, I give you the winners:
KIMBERLY M.
Grand-prize winner of
$75 Gift Card
JOWANNA K.
Winner of $10 Gift Card and
Digital copy of A TOUCH OF LILLY
RENEE B.
Winner from this blog of a
$15 Gift Card and
a copy of DANGEROUS AFFAIRS
Congratulations to all of you. And I do hope everyone had a wonderful time. I’ll see you next time around!
A Midsummer Night’s Dream-Man – A JustRomance.me Bloghop
For those of you joining us on our Midsummer Night’s blog hop … Welcome! I hope you’re enjoying yourself as you bump around the internet checking out hot guys and hotter excerpts. *wink* For those of you who have just stumbled here, perhaps you’d like to join in the fun and start HERE (beginning July 19) to find new authors (and all kinds of cool prizes)!
You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about men lately. The heroes of my stories, that is! (Get your naughty minds back here on the blog, ladies. *vbg*) I mean, it’s hard enough finding a name that fits. No one wants a romance hero named Chester or Gerald or Ralph. And names like Raphael and Dominic have a certain ethnic ring to them. The name has to fit who the man is and what he does for a job.
And there’s the rub. It’s tough to find the profession that both fits my hero and my story and is still, well … hero-worthy. In DIVINE DECEPTION, Nicholas Gradin is a chemical engineer. It just seemed to be a natural offshoot of growing up on a vineyard and learning to mix wines. Of course the engineer in and of itself isn’t sexy, so I’ve got him riding a Harley. Yep, that’s a hero I can get behind! *snort*
In SHADOWS OF FIRE Reese Colton is not only a firefighter (How hot is that?), but a vampire as well. *sigh* I love him.
Then there are the professions that just scream I’m an alpha male!. You know those totally take charge men who square off with a feisty heroine and rock her world. Like Aiden the DEA agent in DECEIVE HER WITH DESIRE or my police chief, Cole Takoda in BONDED SOULS. Nothing says don’t worry ladies, I have your back (and your front and …) well, like a man who’s protecting others.
So what about you? How do you feel about a romance hero’s profession? Can they make or break a romance story for you? Any certain professions that just make your knees go weak or have you throwing a book against the wall? Inquiring minds want to know.
**** CONTEST NOW CLOSED ****
One random person commenting on this post between now and 4 PM EDT on SUNDAY, JULY 21 will be chosen to receive a $15 gift card from Amazon and a print copy of DANGEROUS AFFAIRS. (Shipping to US residents only. An international winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card only.)
***************
The hero or should I say heroeS in my newest release A TOUCH OF LILLY, are FBI agents looking to take down a nasty assassin who’s been killing off world leaders.
BLURB:
Ex-Chicago detective LILLY D’ANGELO has a secret she doesn’t share with anyone. A master of the one night stand, she’s given up ever finding a soul mate and thrown herself head first into her career. That is, until she captures the wrong alien. Kidnapped and sold into the sex slave trade, she’s shipped into deep space. Barely escaping with her life, Lilly now travels the galaxy working as a bounty hunter using her secret talents to bring down criminals and seeking revenge on the one male who ruined her life.
Agent DALLAS SAWYER works for deep space’s version of the FBI. After a disastrous mission that left several of his team members murdered, a president executed, and Dallas near death, he’s determined to take down the assassin targeting government officials. When a sexy human female gets between him and his goal, Dallas and his alien partner find themselves on the receiving end of a passionate night they won’t soon forget and a proposition that may very well blow up in their faces.
Because in deep space … true love can happen with just a touch.
EXCERPT:
“I know who Grebetz’s boss is,” Lilly said. Okay, so that might not be the truth. Lilly suspected she’d seen Venair Grebetz’s boss. The hologram of the Braugtot had certainly flustered the otherwise confident Znedu. But if this was a bargaining chip to keep her from QAL headquarters, then she’d go all in.
Dallas walked up to her. “What do you mean you know his boss? Have you been hunting him?”
“She’s lying,” Thaegan said. “The witch is trying to buy some time.”
“Shut up, Thaegan.” Dallas kept his dark eyes focused solely on her. Her stomach did a slow roll that had nothing to do with fear.
“Lilly, tell me exactly what you meant,” Dallas said.
“I haven’t exactly been hunting him.”
“How about if you elaborate.” Dallas dragged the words out slowly.
He reached for the dagger in her hand and she gladly handed it over to him. What Lilly needed was for Dallas to trust her. She no longer wanted to get away from this man, quite the contrary as a matter of fact. It had been so long since a human male had touched her with the passion Dallas had, and Lilly wanted more of that even if Dallas didn’t believe she had control over his desires.
“I’ll tell you only if I still get the bounty for Grebetz,” she said bravely. Even male companionship wouldn’t keep her fed.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to make any kind of deal, Seraphelium,” Thaegan said.
Dallas turned abruptly to his partner. “Damn it, Thaegan, I’m warning you…”
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And if you’re not hot enough already, how about a few more professional men to add to your fantasy list (you’re welcome *g*) …
Okay, winners for the naughty blog hop were drawn weeeeeks ago. But such is my life at the moment. When I went to post them last week wordpress was down and … oookay, I’ll stop making excuses and just let you know …
Winner of a digital book from my backlist
Christine S.
(who chose A Touch of Lilly)
Winner of my romantic suspense anthology “Dangerous Affairs“
Maureen L.
And the grand prize winner of a KINDLE FIRE HD:
JODER!!!
Congratulations ladies. And thank you everyone who stopped by and visited during the blog hop. I hope you join us again for the next one!
It was so much fun visiting with everyone during our Summer Solstice Blog Hop. Nothing like sharing some time with our hubbies on the front porch swing, watching the kids play in the backyard pool, enjoying family bbq’s or just relaxing in the hammock and reading a good book to enjoy the summer season. Thank you everyone who stopped by and shared. I hope you all had a great time visiting the other authors along the blog hop.
Each of us use Random.org to choose our winners. And without further adieu:
The GRAND PRIZE winner of the NOOK Glowlight:
Missy C!
Winner of a $15 Ellora’s Cave Gift Card (from me)
Lisa J!
And the winner from this blog of DANGEROUS AFFAIRS and
a $10 Amazon Gift Card:
Cheryl of
Bangor, Maine
(who was excited to win a book with stories set in Maine 😀 )
Congratulations to all the winners!
Since tomorrow is my weekly Six Sentence Sunday post, I thought I’d give a shout out to my mom and all mom’s out there a day early!
Can a get a w00t! w00t! for anyone who grew up with a most awesome Mom?
I’m one of 5 children and we’re all a YEAR apart. Yes, my mother has a direct ladder to heaven for surviving 5 teenagers in her home! A lot of people blame the problems of their lives on their mothers. Ya know … I can’t say that. I’m sure my mom yelled. I’m sure she lost her patience with us. But truly … I don’t remember any of that. All I can remember from my childhood is her laughing. Mom giggles at everything.
My mom’s gone through some tough times, but she’s always been there for me. I love her and appreciate her so much. Unfortunately she lives really far from me. Last month Mr. Nina and I went south to visit her for a week. We had a wonderful visit. But it was waaaay too short. I can’t spend tomorrow with her, but she will be in my heart all day! And these flowers are for her (because she LOVES tulips):
So give a shout out to your Mom. What’s so special about her? How about a print copy of Dangerous Affairs to a random visitor who comments on this post between now and SUNDAY, MAY 13 at 8:00 pm EDT. (Shipping to US only … international winner will receive a $15.00 Amazon Gift Card) So what do you have to say special about your mom?
You know, it occurred to me I’ve never shouted out about my print book Dangerous Affairs. It’s a print anthology of BLIND HER WITH BLISS, DECEIVE HER WITH DESIRE and CHEAT HER WITH CHARM.
I thought I’d share some of my favorite lines from these stories:
BLIND HER WITH BLISS:
1. The loss of her best friend had ripped away a piece of her heart and Julie doubted the ache it left in its wake would ever subside.
2. Wind whistled past the tinted visor of Damon Corey’s helmet, but it couldn’t muffle the roar of the chrome dual exhaust. Noise equaled power, and at the moment, he had both.
3. If you’re looking for the person I was last night, well, you’re in for a big surprise. He’s as fake as Santa Claus.”
The tip of her tongue darted out to wet her full lips. “I still believe in Santa Claus.”
She would.
4. Until she understood how Damon, Jason and Elvis were connected—-and Julie did believe they all knew each other—-she would troll the waters of Damon’s sexual past with caution. No sense baiting a shark without the right equipment to catch him.
DECEIVE HER WITH DESIRE:
5. “I did a nice job? Me? You were the one sneaking up like some pirate looking for lost treasure.”
The woman had no idea how close to the truth she was.
6. “We’ll get the drug arrest straightened out, Dee. Don’t worry,” said Julie.
And just like that the family unit solidified as the Tilling clan circled the wagons.
7. “Too much vending machine coffee and not enough sleep.” He popped a couple of tablets. Yeah, not even close to the truth. The fact was, when the Jameson deal went down, there was no way Ayden was going to be able to walk away from the sexy redhead who’d crawled into his bed and wrapped herself around his heart.
CHEAT HER WITH CHARM:
8. Meghan Tilling’s body quaked with fear and the bone-chilling thirty-eight degrees of the cooler where she was trapped. She pressed her forehead against the icy metal of the door, her palm caressing its pebbled surface, trying to fight the panic lurking like a sinister shadow and threatening to overwhelm her in despair.
9. Peter had lied to Meghan about staying put in a hotel today. He’d lied to the guy at the rental counter at the airport about a family emergency just to get one of the last four wheel drive vehicles left in the lot. More importantly, he’d lied to himself that this whole damn catastrophe-waiting-to-happen wasn’t going to derail his relationship with his fiancée.
10. She wasn’t sure how it sounded, but Peter’s own embarrassment and hurt added to the confusion clouding their discussion. “I didn’t say that. I—”
“No, you didn’t say anything. Your expression says it all.”
“Peter, if it’s something you want to try, I’m willing to—”
“Forget it.” Peter held up his hands as if to shield himself from her judgment. “I just thought it might be fun to try something different.” He backed away from her. “You’re right. It’s not something normal couples do. Seriously, just forget I mentioned it.”
11. And though Peter loved his fiancée with a fierceness that clawed at his soul, lately even Meghan’s love couldn’t fill the growing chasm in his heart. He wanted it to. God, how he’d tried to ignore the gnawing in his gut–the cold emptiness that was sated only when Meghan was in his arms.
BUY from Amazon
BUY from Barnes & Noble
I didn’t know I was going to be an author. It wasn’t really on my radar despite the fact that my muse entertained me from a very young age, encouraging me to develop my story telling skills.
But here I am. And I’m loving it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard … really hard. But there’s nothing like the kick-in-the-pants feeling of joy you get when a book has your name on it. Even more when readers email to tell you how much they love your story.
Wellll, okay, some people.
There are members of my family who just can’t wrap their heads around the sexuality of my books. Mostly I don’t care. It is what it is. But my new print book Dangerous Affairs has been edited down from an erotic suspense to what I call a “sexy” romantic suspense. I’m very proud of the book. I worked really hard to get it out into the world.
Of course there’s one member of my family who wanted to read it. (Mistake #1 … I should have talked her out of it.) Even after I offered to get her a copy, she insisted she wanted to buy it. (Mistake #2) I didn’t really tell her anything about the book and exactly what “less sex” meant (Mistake #3). So of course when I saw her this past weekend she had to give me a critique. The conversation went something like this: (I’ll use MIL for the family member to keep her identity hidden 😉 )
MIL says, “speaking of books I have a little critique.”
Forcing a smile, Nina sweetly replies “oh, you read my book?”
“Do you have any idea how expensive it is?”
With an eyeroll behind MIL’s back, Nina happily says, “it has to do with distribution channels. It’s as low as I can get it.”
“Well, most people can’t pay that much with shipping and all … can’t you do free shipping?”
“That’s Amazon, not me. But thanks for supporting me. What’s for dinner?”
“Well, I had a few other things I wanted to share with you. You messed up some facts.”
I did lots of research, what did I miss?, Nina thinks.
MIL turns, hand on hip, “withdrawal is not a form of birth control. You shouldn’t let people think it is.”
“It’s a story.”
“And that paranormal stuff. You told me it was one woman and one man”
“It is. And there’s nothing paranormal…”
“There were people everwhere doing things! That’s not normal, it’s paranormal.”
“No, that would be vampires, ghosts and werewolves, these are contemporary stories.”
“Well whatever. I just know everyone seemed to be having sex with everyone. Though the second story seemed like it had a good mystery.”
“They’re all mysteries.”
“I wouldn’t know, I couldn’t read them all the way through. There was too much paranormal sex.”
ARRRRRRG! Like I said. Most of the time I can let this stuff go. But then she went on to say there can’t possibly be a market for those kind of books (again with this discussion) and why can’t I use my writing talent to write something she would enjoy. It’s just getting old, ya know? I’m proud of my stories. I have readers who enjoy them. I wish this unidentified family member would stop trying to “enjoy” my books.
So I’m curious, do you get grief for writing/reading romance? Does it get to you or do you just let it go? Do you have a couple of one liners that get the point across to your critics?
I’m hanging out today on the beach with Jane Ormerod talking about favorite authors and drinking Mai Tais.
You can also visit me at a new Logline Blog. Where they’re featuring BLIND HER WITH BLISS (which is still FREE at Amazon and Barnes & Noble)
And I don’t know if you’ve been having trouble accessing my blog and website, but there seems to be something amiss in the coding somewhere. My webmistress (whom I absolutely adore) thinks the problem is somewhere in the blog files on GoDaddy. Unfortunately she doesn’t work with WordPress and the wonderful person who did the original coding is no longer in the business. I’m working hard to find a new blogmistress. In the meantime, be patient if you can’t seem to find me. I’m still here and hopefully will have the problem corrected soon!
And in other promotional news:
DANGEROUS AFFAIRS, the Tilling Passions anthology is now available in PRINT!
Back Cover Information:
BLIND HER WITH BLISS
She’s trying to find herself. He’s attempting to hide. Together they’ll discover a truth that threatens them both…
Investigating the death of her best friend, uptight accountant, JULIE TILLING, discovers an erotic world of adult nightclubs and Internet intrigue. When shock jock DAMON COREY rocks her world in a wild night of lust, she wonders if she’s found love…or the key to solving a murder.
DECEIVE HER WITH DESIRE
A woman determined to protect her heart. An agent hell bent on proving himself. One night that will change their lives forever…
Landscaper, DEIRDRE TILLING had no way of knowing that attending her friend’s party would throw her into a dangerous world of corrupt businessmen and police stings. Of course her sexual romp with undercover DEA agent, AYDEN SCOTT only pushes her deeper into the drug smuggling ring running up the Maine coast. As the heat rises between Deirdre and Ayden, one thing becomes painfully obvious…their relationship has jeopardized his mission and now someone wants them both dead.
CHEAT HER WITH CHARM
He’s got a secret past. She has dreams for their future. Together they have a problem that may just kill them both…
Floral designer, MEGHAN TILLING, has been in love with her fiancé since college. With her business, his promotion and a family illness, she’s finding the demands on her time are keeping them apart. PETER MADDOCK loves his fiancée with a fierceness that claws at his soul, but finding answers to his past becomes an obsession he can’t ignore. When bizarre accidents threaten Meghan’s life, he wonders if his secrets have finally caught up with him. Can they both discover the truth without paying the ultimate price …their lives?
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I hope you’ll check it out. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
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