Rebecca Hunter's Blog, page 7

12 Nights of Christmas - Cover Reveal!

It's cover reveal day! One month (and one day) from today, this project will finally be live!! This collection of novelettes is full of fun, sexy stories that all revolve around an anonymous delivery of...fruitcakes??!!Trust me - you're in for a delicious holiday treat!And thanks to Kate Allenton, both author AND cover designer for this anthology! We went through a lot of versions, including a very classy one with champagne glasses...but then decided that shirtless man was more fun. :)Click here for more links.Here's the official description:AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME! Twelve bestselling and award-winning authors each bring you a sexy night of romance, fun and a little magic. ‘Tis the season for falling for the right guy! Two people stuck in an elevator, snowed in, on an all-night bus trip, locked in a store... Can a magical fruitcake be the special ingredient they're all looking for? **‘Tis the season for giving, too!** 20% of the proceeds will be donated to the hunger relief organization Feeding America December 25: “Scrooge You” by MK Schiller Christmas is nothing but a reminder of Eva’s tragic past. To make matters worse, her boyfriend invites his entire family over…so she goes into Scrooge mode. When three ghosts visit her, will she be able to remember the joy in her heart and the true meaning of Christmas? December 26: “Unexpected Daddy” by Gemma Brocato She let him go to pursue his dreams without telling him she was pregnant. Five years later, he’s back in town and her secret’s out. Can they get over past hurts to seize a future for their small family? December 27: “The Meant to Be Girl” by Tawdra Kandle When Ashley Webbar meets Zane Fletcher, it's insta-lust, but she soon suspects he's already smitten with someone else. Ashley is so busy matchmaking that she might miss out on her own happily-ever-after...if something doesn't intervene first. This just might call for a Christmas miracle. December 28: “For One Night Only” by Carrie Elks When two strangers are stranded at a rest stop in the middle of Nowheresville—thank you, Mr. Bus Driver—they’re forced to spend the night together. But when morning comes, they both find themselves asking one question. Will they see each other again, or was their connection for one night only? December 29: “Best Friends for the Night” by Alice Gaines Every year, Steve has been cheering up his army buddy’s widow with popcorn and zany movies on the anniversary of her husband’s death. Will a little holiday magic make Steve and Hannah more than friends? December 30: “Entwined” by Kristi Rose Donovan survived combat, but can he survive being stranded over Christmas with the girl of his dreams? He swore he’d stay away from his best friend’s kid sister years ago, but after a helicopter crash, this sailor knows second chances don't come around often. Loving Bailey would mean risking not only his friendship but his heart. December 31: “Rekindled” by Stacy Finz Branna and Drex are over…or at least they thought they were. But a little time trapped in an enclosed space with a magical fruitcake might just change that. January 1: “New Year’s Negotiation” by Kate Allenton When Detective Elizabeth Cross’s high school crush and star of her what-ifs shows up at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve ready to take her on a trip down memory lane, she’ll have to decide if this is a second chance at her happily ever after or the start of another broken heart. January 2: “Playing House” by Kim Golden Cassie Delk isn’t having the best holiday season. With her ex-husband about to get remarried, she’s not thrilled about still being single. The last thing she expects is for a second chance at love to turn up on her doorstep. January 3: “Book of Love” by Cd Brennan Nothing infuriates Melanie more than the one-armed, ex-army hunk who chucks her mail at her book shop door. When Nick delivers a special package at the end of the day, a blizzard strands them together, and the fruitcake delivery sparks magic between them instead. Melanie isn't sure what she wants to give him—a piece of her mind or all of her heart. January 4: “A Winter Wonderland” by Rebecca Hunter Coming face to face with Jace after ten years is a reminder of everything Selena left behind when she moved from Delilah’s Cove. It’s even more dangerous when mixed with a little magic. January 5: “Wild Honey” by Sarah Hegger Two people who couldn’t be more different. One elevator, a dark and stormy night, and a magical, bourbon-laced fruitcake. What could go right?

Summer Vacation 2018

Our summer travels this year were much closer to home than usual. This year, the Hunters went road-tripping.As some of you know, I grew up in Michigan, which means I’m much more familiar with the East Coast. And Mr. Hunter is a native Swede, so most U.S. destinations are new adventures for him, too.We planned to start our journey north and head for some of Oregon’s glories (Crater Lake!!), but the California wildfires changed our course. Instead, we started through Nevada--hours of it--and then turned north toward Idaho. Okay, I admit that my knowledge of Idaho was lacking--potatoes, Sun Valley, and, um...mountains? But, wow! Check out this volcanic landscape.Our final destination was a beautiful lodge-like house in West Yellowstone, which served as our home base for two weeks in Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons. Of course, as is usually the case in my family, as soon as my sister told everyone she and her husband were flying in from Australia to join us, the crowd to quickly grew to eleven. We piled into the enormous house, ate good food, took lots of walks, and saw plenty of wildlife. It was amazing.Best/Most ListMost anticipated/discussed feature in a hotel: The breakfast buffetBest road name: Chicken Dinner Road (spotted in a suburb outside Boise, ID)Best road trip find: The Ashton, ID Thrift Store (ack--I think that’s the name of it!) had a fantastic used romance book section. The owner and I talked romance until my family tugged me out of there.Best road food: The Darth Tater pizza at Main Street Fountain and Pizzeria, also in Aston, ID. Ready for this? It’s pizza topped with white sauce, bacon, red onions, scallions, and cheddar. Seriously.Most fun new word: Butte. This new word, intentionally mispronounced, got solid laughs for two weeks. Robert’s Butte, Little Butte, Red Butte… the list goes on.Best new family saying: “Hot spring, hot springs!” Started by Mr. Hunter in a ironically chipper voice as we drove through Yellowstone. After a few days, the kids were using it whenever we pointed out a landmark of any sorts.Best family game: Pinocle. We had three generations around the table and played every possible version, ranging from three to six players (more = two separate games). The next generation has officially been inducted into this family tradition.Most surprising license place sighting: Hawaii. The three states we never spotted? Delaware, Connecticut, and South Carolina.Happy end of the summer. Hope you had wonderful adventures, too!xo,RebeccaP.S. Want to see more photos from the trip? Check out my (new!) Instagram feed here:https://www.instagram.com/rebeccahunterwriter/

Cameron + Jackson

Best Laid Plans is Available in Australia!

It's finally happening! Best Laid Plans is coming to life!! How do you like the Australia cover? I've had so much fun writing this hot, fun, and a little dirty series, and I hope you love it, too.Want a (NSFW) peek at the story? You can read the beginning of Chapter 2 here onBook+Main. The site requires that you create a no-strings, no-fee account, in part because there are a lot of authors posting 18+ material. Enjoy!If you see this book out in the wild, please send me a photo--email me, post the photo on my Facebook page, or send it any other way.xoxo,Rebecca

Romantic Times Convention Highlights

As you may already know, this year marked the very last Romantic Times convention—you can read more about that in this article—and it was really fun week in Reno. Some of the many highlights were the great parties I participated in.The first was the Bad Romance Pitch Party, with some hilarious authors and readers (see photo). This was a kind of dirty MadLibs/Apples-to-Apples game where we took a plot summery (like you’d find on the back of a book) and plugged in crazy words, some from cards and some from our (dirty) minds.Ready for a little of my group’s very wacky creation? It got smuttier from here, so in the interest of keeping this blog clean-ish, I'm only giving you the first sentence, with inserted words underlined:Genre: Paranormal Erotic SleazeDeep in the butt of the forest, inside the hairy caves of the North Pole, lived an ancient shapeshifter tribe of unicorns, known for big drumsticks and the unusual ability to get into crippling debt with only boogers...Would you buy this book?? (*ahem*)The second party I participated in was Speed Dating with Harlequin Authors. This one was a lot less wacky but just as fantastic. We read short excerpts from our books, and readers answered questions about the heroes to find the bachelors of their dreams!For me, one of the highlights was seeing Best Laid Plans in paperback form for the first time!Below I’ve posted the Speed Dating excerpt. The passage below gives you a hint at Cameron and Jackson’s sexy relationship…****A door clicked farther down, and low male voices sounded through the hallway. Jackson looked up in time to see a glimpse of ripped ab muscles and a jagged scar before they were covered in a T-shirt. She didn’t even have to look up to see who they belonged to. Heat flooded through her, cutting off all rational thought.“…Afraid I’ve fucked it all up—” Cameron stopped midsentence as his head came through the neck of his shirt.“You still have time to fix it—” Derek Latu followed Cameron through the door and came to a stop. He looked at Jackson, at Cameron and back at Jackson again. “Ms. McAllister. This is…unexpected.” Derek’s face betrayed only mild surprise, but Jackson could tell he was taking her in with new eyes.“I’ll catch you later, bro,” he said and headed down the hall.Jackson waited for the sound of the door closing behind Derek before she let out her breath. “Were you ladies gossiping about your exploits?” she hissed.Cameron blinked. “No,” he said flatly.“You didn’t tell him about…” She waved her hand between them, searching for a good ending to this sentence. Nothing came.Cameron gave a bark of laughter. “Hell, no.”“Then why was he looking at me like that?”The corners of Cameron’s mouth turned up. “Um. Well, you were staring at me, and you looked…” His eyes danced with amusement. “Let’s just say you might have tipped him off.”Jackson leaned back against the wall. She closed her eyes as heat crept up her neck and into her cheeks. Shit. “Really?” she whispered.“Mmm, really.”His voice was closer, and when she opened her eyes he was standing right in front of her. Not business distance. He was approaching lean-down-and-kiss-the-hell-out-of-her distance.“No glasses today,” he murmured. “Gonna pretend you didn’t recognize me again?”She put up her hand. “Stop right there.”Cameron furrowed his brow.“I’ve been known to do really stupid things when you get that close,” she said. “I can feel my IQ dropping as we speak.”Cameron stayed put, smiling down at her. “Can I say something?”She rolled her eyes at him. “Like I could stop you.”“Look, I messed up last night,” he said softly. “I was a little thrown off by how things went, and—”“No.” She shook her head to stop this exchange before it got worse. “It’s over.”Cameron frowned.“I know I said the same thing yesterday, but this time I really mean it,” she added quickly. “We’ll just get through the next two weeks, and when I leave this goes, too.”Cameron shook his head. “It won’t be gone.”Jackson put a hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows. “How do you know? How many times have you done this before?”“Enough to know that it doesn’t usually feel like this.” He paused. When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “Look, it’s good between us, really good, and whether or not we act on it doesn’t reverse that. I’m already an ass for not keeping my pants on when I told my team to. If you want me to stay away, I will. Probably better that way, but I wouldn't say no if you change your mind. There’s a lot we haven’t even explored.”****

One More Night is a Booksellers' Best Finalist!

Today was supposed to be dedicated to last-minute errands for the Romantic Times Conference in Reno. Since I'm always giddy and nervous the day before I leave for events, it's usually not a good day to dedicate to writing. But maybe I could squeeze a few hundred words in at some point, right?So there I was, standing in the middle of the freezer aisle of Trader Joe's when I got a phone call from the Greater Detroit Area RWA chapter with this news: One More Night is a finalist for the 2018 Booksellers' Best contest in the Erotic Romance category! I'm so thrilled that the first round of judges enjoyed this book.But there went any hope of writing focus for the day.:)If you haven't met Jonas and Alice yet, you can check out a few excerpts from the book on Book+Main:The first night: "Can I sit on your lap?"The second night: French LessonsThe third night: Goodbye for Real?The fourth night: Jonas's bedroomAlso, you can watch the video trailer for the first night here.Hurrah!!!

My Harlequin Primer, Part One

As you may already know, I've been reading TONS of Harlequin series romances recently. Presents, Kimani, Dare - you name it, I've read it. Not only is this a lot of fun, but I'm getting to see what other authors are doing well. These books are short, so the books make for intense, focused romance journeys that can be read in one evening.Wondering where to start on your Harlequin journey? Here are a few fun recommendations, and post more soon.Undone by her Tender Touch by Maya BanksWait - Maya Banks got her start writing Harlequin series? I had no idea. This story was fun and sexy, exactly what I'd hope for when I pick up a HQ Desire book. The dilemmas and emotional ups and downs for both characters felt real. I read three books in Blake's "Pregnancy and Passion" miniseries, and I think this one's the best.A Baby to Bind His Bride by Caitlin CrewsReady for this crazy plot? The hero is a cult leader when the heroinediscovers him. Oh, and a billionaire who deserted his bride. Who was a sheltered nineteen-year-old. Plus, there's a secret-ish baby in the mix. And guess what? Caitlin Crews totally pulls this zany idea off in a funny, sexy, perfectly Presents story. I loved it.Seduced in San Diego by Reese RyanSweet, sexy romance with a metal sculptor and a PR wiz. They hold out on the sexy for all the right reasons, making this slow-burn relationship all the more rewarding. Great read.Her Secret Spy by Cindy DeesCompelling story, great tension between the Lissa and Max. Max was what I like in a hero: dark and brooding, very capable and always treats Lissa well. It sounds a little funny to call this book believable since Lissa is a psychic, and a lot of the plot solutions depend on her psychic abilities, but the world Dees creates really drew me in. Her writing is strong enough to make me believe in this story--plus, it takes place in New Orleans, which helps.

Darkness by Karen Robards

My author buddy Stacy Finz told me about this book months ago when I was thinking through a romantic suspense set in the woods of northern Michigan. But, like many books, I mentally filed it away under the “someday” tab, when I actually got around to writing that romantic suspense. Well, that’s not happening yet, but I stumbled on Darkness at the library this week, so I decided to give it a try.I started this book yesterday evening and read straight through, into the late night. It has all the elements I love in romantic suspense:A remote location. In this case, it’s an island on the Alaskan coast.Two very different people, both experts in their own ways. He’s an ex-military contractor, and she’s an ornithologist. They both have great survival skills for different reasons.A heavy dose of the elements: snow, sleet, a surly ocean and a rocky, mountainous landscape. A good portion of the story is them figuring out how to stay warm. Just let your mind wander on that one. :)Lots of forced time together. This is not a love-at-first-sight book, but these two have lots of time to get to know each other as they battle the elements as well as outside forces in a struggle to get off the island.Oh, yeah—and the hero is super-hot in that ex-military, bad-ass way. Stacy warned me that he was an alpha-hole, but I liked him like that because, um, he’s being hunted. Of course he wouldn’t trust her at first, just because she’s a woman. In fact, I wouldn’t have been able to buy into the book if he did.

Best Laid Plans - UK Cover Reveal

The UK cover for my first Harlequin DARE book, Best Laid Plans, is here! Folks, I love it. It's hot (as is the book) but not racy/revealing, which is perfect for the bookshelves.An author friend found it for me here on Amazon UK, and it came with this description:A case of mistaken identity Leads to disaster…or exquisite temptation?CEO Cameron Blackmore assumes the PR expert sent from New York to clean up his reputation will be a man. But Jackson McAllister is all woman—as evidenced during their no-names, strangers-in-lust, incredibly sexy one-night stand! Now Cameron and Jackson must keep their hands off each other. But with Jackson shadowing his every move in the boardroom can they forget their time in the bedroom?I like it, though I also want to add something about this being a high-end security firm because, you know, the hot body guard thing?This book introduces you to the whole Blackmore Inc. world and the characters in it, and the story actually has only one guard scene. The second book in this series, Behind Closed Doors, is all on-the-job bodyguard sexiness! That one is coming out in November/December.

Top 5 Reads of 2017

Yep, it’s really December. Our (eclectic) Christmas tree is up, and we had an advent brunch last weekend with candles and pumpkin muffins and presents for the kids – books, of course ;). But despite this description, I assure you that our house is far from catalog-worthy. My desk, for example, is a mess, with to-do post-its scattered around my work space – more than one with the words, “clean desk” on it. I’m feeling a New Year’s resolution coming on…Instead of doing any of that pesky organizing, I’ve been writing and reading. We went to Sweden for an extended Thanksgiving holiday, and the looong plane ride gave me plenty of time to read. I started with Ain’t She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (loved this heroine) and kicked off my holiday reading with Katee Roberts’ His to Take (Roberts is a fellow Harlequin Dare author), among other things.I try to read as much as possible in the genres I write in, hot contemporary romance and erotic romance, so it’ll come as no surprise that the first three books on my Top 5 list fall into those categories. The fourth is literary fiction, and the last one is women’s fiction. As with previous years, the books on my list don’t have to be 2017 publications; I’m pulling from the books I read this year.Loving the White Liar by Kate Stewart – I’m going to be honest here, though this might be an unpopular opinion: I liked this book even better than Stewart’s Drive, which is getting a lot of press this fall. This story, though imperfect, spoke to me more clearly. Stewart paints of very realistic picture of some of the more painful issues and stumbling blocks a person with ADHD might have when falling in love.Edge of Obsession by Megan Crane – I’m a little embarrassed to write this one on my list because of its over-the-top sex scenes that border on raunchy… but it’s oh-so-fun. It takes place in a world where the icebergs have melted, flooding all low-lying parts of the world, destroying the infrastructure and creating a new world order… which includes Viking “raiders” with their own agendas. Doesn’t sound “oh-so-fun”? Oh yeah, and these Vikings seem to have a monopoly on good sex. :) It’s dirty. P.S. She's also writing for Dare. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne – This is clever, with plenty of laugh-aloud fun. Like most romance, some of the scenarios take a little suspension of belief, but I’m all for that if the book keeps me laughing – and this one does. You can read more about it in this blog post. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller – You may have a hard time believing that I don’t like dystopian books in general, considering the fact that two of five books on this list fall into this category. While Crane’s book is more fantasy-dystopian with a heavy emphasis on the sexy, this one is devastatingly gritty. Disturbing. I cried at the mid-point, and not just a few tears – and I rarely cry. But, ultimately, impossibly, this beautiful story is uplifting. Anything else I say will be a spoiler. You just have to read it. If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins – Higgins is a wonderful writer, a master at witty, sparkling dialogue, so it’s no surprise that this book was really good. It’s the story of two sisters, one with a romance story and another with a more women’s fiction plot about a marriage on the rocks. I can’t say that I loved the opening scene, but after that, it got really good.Any more books you think I’d love? Let me know. I still have a few more weeks to read them!xoxo, Rebecca