Laura Florand's Blog, page 3
October 21, 2016
Chocolate Cup Giveaway 4! Jennifer Lohmann and Twelve Kisses
Today I am featuring amazing author and friend Jennifer Lohmann, whose wonderful sense of place in this novella sinks us into an Idaho winter road trip and the sweet love story of a woman who risks it all on a stranger as she tries to escape to a better life.
YOU HAD ME AT CHRISTMAS anthology only $0.99! for a limited time only!
My question for the comments: Any good (or hilariously bad) road trip memories?
Excerpt from TWELVE KISSES UNTIL CHRISTMAS, by Jennifer Lohmann (copyright 2016).
When she returned from outside, Marc had scrunched up some clothes into a softer duffel and set it on one end of the bench seat. She climbed in, and for a few seconds, they stared alternately at each other and at the narrow space of the seat. Then he shrugged and scooted around until he was lying on his side, his back against the back of the seats and arms open for her to spoon with him.
Pushing down her competing hesitation and desire, she crawled next to him, fitting her butt against his crotch and her head so that his arm was under her neck. To seal the deal, she pulled the small blanket over them.
“Well.” His breath danced across the back of her neck as he whispered the word. His mouth must be right above her ear. Maybe if he pursed his lips and leaned a little forward, he could nibble on her ear.
She liked when men nibbled on her ear . . .
“This is tight, but it’s not too bad,” he said. “Think we can last the night?”
Between the awkward pillow and his arm, her neck was turned at a strange angle and she’d have the mother of all cricks in the morning. His legs were too long for the seat, and he’d compensated by draping one leg over her. She was completely cocooned in him.
Breathing deeply, she waited for the moment of panic to strike. The moment when she felt trapped, worried that he would take advantage of her, that she wouldn’t be able to escape or stop him.
But the moment never came. Her breath slowed without her even trying to force it. She wasn’t exactly comfortable, but she was warm and safe, which was more than she’d felt in months.
“This will be great,” she said, closing her eyes. “Good night. And thank you.”
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October 20, 2016
Chocolate Giveaway Day 3 + Snow-Kissed Excerpt
Winner of today’s chocolate cup is Robin W! And more chances to win, just like, share, comment. (And of course, we still have that grand prize of chocolate at the end!)
Today I am featuring MYSELF. Yes, indeed, oddly narcissistic of me, but I’m using alphabetical order for the authors in the anthology.
Before I share the excerpt of SNOW-KISSED (in the YOU HAD ME AT CHRISTMAS anthology), can I just share this utterly lovely excerpt from The Romance Dish’s review of it the other day?
“An exquisitely written, heart-wrenching tale of love, loss, grief, hope, forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation. It’s one of the best, if not the best, second-chance love stories I’ve ever read. I was held spellbound by the imagery, the language, the fragility of these characters, the deep anger and feelings of helplessness, the tenuous hope as they cautiously reach out to one another, the gentle care and sensuous desire. The intimacy and emotional depth of this story is incredible. I didn’t so much read it as I absorbed it at a gut level. It was as if I knew these characters, knew their pain, their anguish, and ached with them. In my opinion, “Snow-Kissed” is as close to perfection as a story can get. It has my highest recommendation.” — The Romance Dish
I’m deeply honored by such a lovely tribute to this story. Thank you so much.
Only $0.99! for a limited time only!
Comment to enter! Or hop over to Facebook for more entry possibilities. My question for the comments: When does the snow first fall where you live? (Does it ever?)
Excerpt of SNOW-KISSED, copyright 2013, Laura Florand
The snow fell over the black granite counter in a soft hush of white.
Kai focused on the sieve she shook as she brought a winter of sugar to the dark world, letting the powder slide across her thoughts the way snow on a falling night would, taking all with it, even her, leaving only peace.
That peace lay so cold. She had almost forgotten how cold she felt, until he showed up.
The man who, once upon a time, had always made her so warm and happy.
…
“I don’t think they’re coming,” the man said finally, and she swallowed. It was funny how her whole body ached at his voice. As if her skin had gotten unused to his vibrations running over it. As if she needed to develop tiny calluses at the base of every hair follicle so that those hairs would not want to shiver.
October 19, 2016
Giveaway Day 2! Stephanie Doyle and One Naughty Little Christmas
Winner of yesterday’s chocolate cup is Megan B! More chances to win today, just comment on this post or hop over to Facebook for more chances. And of course everyone is entered into the grand prize drawing of John and Kira’s chocolate at the end of the week (which ends Monday for the purposes of this giveaway.)
Today I’m featuring author Stephanie Doyle’s sexy and emotional ONE NAUGHTY LITTLE CHRISTMAS. John and Kate have never met…but they both need a second chance. And they find it one Christmas Eve…
Here are some buy links for the anthology (introductory price is only 0.99 for all 5 novellas!).
AMZ: http://amzn.to/2e8k0RK?utm_source=rss...
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/you-h...
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/e…/ebook/...
iBooks: https://itun.es/us/0W1Oeb.l?utm_sourc...
And here’s a tantalizing excerpt. Like, comment, share to win!
Excerpt from One Naughty Little Christmas, by Stephanie Doyle, copyright 2016.
Kate stared at the glass of wine in front of her. Deep red, a robust flavor. She’d paid too much money for it, but hey, it was Christmas.
She looked at her phone and wondered if she was really going to do this. Then she glanced over at the clock on the wall. Eight-oh-three. Hours until she could go to bed. Hours until it would be tomorrow. The harmless, meaningless twenty-sixth of December.
She took another sip of wine and reached for the phone.
The other day, her assistant had downloaded a dating app specifically for people over forty. A more serious, more mature group of single people looking to find each other.
“You’re hot, you own a company and you’re a total catch,” Sally had said. “You just need to get out there, and this is how you do it in 2016. Welcome to the new world of romance.”
It was the perfect distraction from her thoughts—and a way to kill the night without having to watch It’s a Wonderful Life for the thousandth time.
Tentatively, like it might bite her, Kate tapped the screen.
“Green for yes, you like his picture, red for you’re not worthy of me and I never want to see you again,” Sally had laughed as she showed Kate how to play.
So ridiculous, Kate thought. As if you could just look at a picture and know that you were interested in him without knowing anything about him. Of course, she imagined it wasn’t much different than going to a bar and making eye contact.
Attraction. It was the first step in the dance, really.
Keeping an open mind, Kate opened the app and waited a second before a picture popped up on her phone.
It was as simple as that. She was to look at the picture and make an instant judgment. Was she attracted to him or wasn’t she?
No.
Kate tapped the red button and tried not to feel guilty for rejecting someone for a completely superficial reason. The truth was, she thought he didn’t look very well-kept in his picture. She thought someone trying to make a first impression should have tried a little harder. The next man had a nice face, and she instantly went to green. The app told her that he had also seen her picture and liked it.
Awesome. Someone in the world found her attractive. See, Kate told herself, forty was the new thirty.
Now she had a choice. Keep playing or send him a message. Not really having any idea what to say, she chose to keep playing.
Five pictures later, two no’s and three yeses, and suddenly there was a blinking orb on her screen which, when she tapped, told her that someone had sent her a message.
“Geesh. That was fast,” Kate said to the empty room as she took another sip of wine. It was clearly best to play this game a little tipsy. She read the message.
Yum, me likee.
“Not exactly poetry,” Kate chuckled, and instantly swiped on the picture in order to delete it from her view.
While deleting someone over one sentence seemed harsh, Kate was very sure that if a man walked up to her in a bar and said such a ridiculous thing, she would have turned her back to him. The equivalent of delete.
Kate played on, acknowledging that the satisfaction she got when she got a hit was way better than wallowing in self-pity on Christmas night.
Then his picture came up. She had no idea why it struck her, but it seemed to go right through to her very core. Nothing like the pictures of men with their cars, or their dogs, or their kids. Or her least favorite: standing in the bathroom with the toilet seat in the background, trying to take a picture in front of what must be the only mirror in the house.
No, this wasn’t a selfie. This was a picture someone had taken of this man, who was looking at something in the distance. Something that made him profoundly sad. Or maybe it wasn’t what he was looking at that made him sad, maybe it was just how he’d been feeling at the time.
Sad. Or lonely.
Kate couldn’t help herself. She imagined a million stories that made up the lines in this man’s face. Around his eyes, his mouth. His actual age wasn’t listed. It didn’t matter. He could have been older than her, or younger than her, but either way she realized he’d lived more in the years he’d been on this planet. That’s what his face said. She had this crazy idea maybe he could show her how to do that.
How to really live.
Kate hit the green button and held her breath.
October 18, 2016
Giveaway time! A week of chocolate cups and chocolate!
Giveaway time! Chocolate and chocolate cups galore.
This week and Monday I will be sharing an excerpt from each author in YOU HAD ME AT CHRISTMAS, and you can WIN!! Just comment on each post to be entered for that day’s chocolate cup, either here or on Facebook. And Monday night, I’ll choose on additional name from the whole week for the GRAND PRIZE of a box of chocolates from John & Kira’s. (Either their 9 piece box of pumpkin caramels in honor of Halloween or a 12-piece box of their chocolate figs in honor of the all-round deliciousness of those figs.)
If you are overseas or in some other way inaccessible to these chocolate shipments, I will swap out the chocolate prize for 2 print books, one from me and one from the anthology author of your choosing.
TODAY, I’m featuring author Karina Bliss, whose lovely novella PLAY is a true gem about marriage-in-trouble. (You know I am a sucker for those.) I just love the way she blends sweetness, humor, romance, and authenticity in this novella, and it’s a great intro to her Rock Stars series.
Only $0.99! for a limited time only! Amazon / Nook / Kobo / iBooks
And here’s a tantalizing excerpt. Comment to be entered to win! (Or go like etc on Facebook.)
***
PLAY: Excerpt from Chapter 1
Karina Bliss, © 2016
“Take off the coat…Betty.” He used the fake name they’d agreed on. “You look like you’re about to run away and it’s making me nervous.”
Kayla undid the top button. “The dress you had delivered is skin-tight…” She inched the coat up her leg to show how the red jersey-silk clung. “I might need alcohol first.”
His dark gaze caressed her thigh. “Or we could forget drinks and get a room.”
“Without even buying me dinner?” She refastened the top button. “Shame on you.”
“Bob” tried to look chastened, but his eyes gave him away. Like the woods in the Robert Frost poem, they were “lovely, dark and deep.” But there were shadows there, sharp-edged. Her beta mate had turned wolf. Every time Jared returned from touring it took him longer to re-assimilate into real life.
He’d become more confident but less patient, more passionate but less tender, more self-centered and less considerate. Less hers.
Except he wasn’t hers, she reminded herself, not tonight. Tonight, he was a sexy stranger called Bob. And she was Betty.
“We could get room service,” he encouraged. “I’ll buy you filet mignon, lobster, anything you want. And then we’ll order apple pie”—her favorite—“and see where we can get the cream.”
Kayla fell out of character. “God, no. Too messy.”
Getting her four-year-old to decorate home-made Christmas cards with paint, glue and glitter had seemed liked a good idea, until Madison’s baby brother had gotten involved.
The red paint and glitter all over the kitchen floor made it look as though Tinkerbell had been murdered there. But they weren’t here to talk about mommy’s day.
“Then how about a long soak in the spa bath instead?” His gaze dipped to the swell of her breasts under their woolen covering. “Imagine the luxury of uninterrupted leisure, Betty. Luxury bath oil instead of a budget gallon of banana-scented bubble bath. Not having to share with toys and kids…”
She unfastened two buttons. “Keep talking, Bob.”
“It’s a simple plan. I’m going to seduce you into leaving your husband for me.”
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You Had Me at Christmas is Here!
It’s here! And for a limited time only 0.99! Amazon / Nook / Kobo / iBooks
An extraordinary collection by five talented authors of contemporary romance. – The Romance Dish
Beautifully enlightening, romantic and heartfelt! This captivating anthology packs an emotional punch and reminds us what commitment and true love is all about. – Craves the Angst
YOU HAD ME AT CHRISTMAS – A Holiday Anthology
Snowbound friends become lovers. Enemies discover they mean far more to each other than they ever dreamed. A marriage in trouble is saved, and strangers find connection in delicious encounters… It’s Christmas, and everything is possible.
PLAY by Karina Bliss
Rock star Jared Walker is within reach of career glory…but his marriage is in the pits. Determined to save it, he talks his wife into holiday dates with only one rule: they must pretend they are strangers.
But when he discovers what Kayla really wants for Christmas, will he be able to give it to her?
ONE NAUGHTY CHRISTMAS NIGHT by Stephanie Doyle
Workaholic Kate never expected to find herself looking for love online on Christmas night. Then John appeared on her screen and her whim to escape loneliness turned into the hottest texting of her life. John knew Kate was too classy for his ex-con ass, but he was about to learn that Kate knew how to fight for what she wanted. And she wanted more of him.
TWELVE KISSES UNTIL CHRISTMAS by Jennifer Lohmann
Escaping her abusive father and small hometown to follow her dreams takes money Selina Lumina doesn’t have. After a millionaire software developer offers her a ride out of town, she has to decide whether to follow her aspirations or take a chance at love. Could a snowbound night on the road turn into a Christmas miracle?
SNOW-KISSED by Laura Florand
(previously published as part of the Snow Queen Series)
After the utter destruction of her marriage and her happiness, Kai knew it was better to shut herself away from the world than to hurt and be hurt.
Holed up in her mountain cabin, Kai plans to spend her Christmas alone. Until her not-quite-ex-husband shows up as the first flakes start to fall. Now should she send him back out into the cold? Or can she be brave enough to let this winter snow bind them back together?
CHRISTMAS EVE: A LOVE STORY by Molly O’Keefe
(previously published in the Sweet Dreams Anthology benefiting Diabetes research)
Growing up in the mountains of Wyoming Trina and Dean had been childhood friends until the bitter feud between their families drove them apart. When the magic of Christmas Eve tips the star-crossed lovers together year after year, will they be able to make sure this holiday is not their last?
October 4, 2016
You Had Me at Christmas: New Anthology
My “October surprise”! (Dare I use that expression? 
September 22, 2016
Chocolate Cup Giveaway and Throwback Thursday!
Giveaway time? Fall is here! And it even kind of feels like fall here, by which I mean it’s raining and the temperature is down to 87.
Still much too hot for chocolate shipping, but I think we need to start breaking out the chocolate cups, don’t we? I mean…you have to be prepared. Plus, I hear in some austere climes some of you have had freezing temperatures already.
I’ll give away TWO–one drawn from entries here and on my blog and one drawn from my newsletter. (So you could be entered twice, if you want.)
To enter, tell me a favorite quote or moment from one of the books, any series and like/share.
Because 1) I have trouble coming up with favorite quotes and moments myself from my books!, and…
2) I need the moral support. I have been so tempted the whole year to just take an indefinite sabbatical from writing, although I’m kind of glad I didn’t now that Tristan’s book is coming together. But…yeah…
Time for hot chocolate, that’s what I say!
Here’s my Throwback Thursday quote from Patrick’s book to start things off.
(If you’ve forgotten the chocolate cups, I will put an image in the comments. My artist husband says, “You have NO sense of aesthetics! No, I will not insert an image of them into the quote graphic.”
The no sense of aesthetics may be true. 
September 19, 2016
Real World Math
As a middle child out of 7, my daughter’s math word problems always manage to strike me as hilarious.
You have 4 chocolate bars that you have to share with your two sisters. What equation shows how this would work out?
You have 7 donuts you must share with your four brothers. What equation shows how this would work out?
“Mommy, what’s so funny?”
“Well…do they want to know the *actual* answer to either of those questions or just what they wished it would work out like in a mathematical la-la land?”
How would that work out in YOUR family?
September 14, 2016
Tiny First Glimpse of Vie en Roses 3
It is very tiny, I warned you, just the opening paragraph. But it does tell you some things you have been wanting to know.
