Ally Blake's Blog, page 13

happy birthday to my man!

So Friday was my husband's "significant birthday", and in the lead up I'd set him up with a list of things he'd been wanting to do for ages but never found the time.

One day he went fishing.  Another he took our daughter for a daddy daughter day to his work.  On the night I'd organised an awesome surprise party and along came lots of friends we haven't seen in ages.  I'm a terrible liar so the fact that I was able to pull it off was amazing to us both!

Also, on the morning of, he went off to get himself two new tattoos.  (Before that he had one, a small magpie on his ankle for his beloved footy team, the Collingwood Magpies.  He was 25 when he got the first and at the time I'd joked he'd have to wait another 25 years before I let him get another.  Excellent wife that I am he didn't have to wait that long ;).)

Anyhoo, here is the pic I sent all our friends of Mark getting a tattoo.  It's a total fake, made from a simple photo app on my phone.  Yet most of our friends actually believed he was getting a huge tattoo of me on his arm!!!

The funniest part?  The only ones who "liked" it on Facebook were women ;).

I'm reading...Robin Covington

A NIGHT OF SOUTHERN COMFORT
First - the title. It just sizzles right off the bat.  Dive into the book and it does not disappoint.

With a single title feel and situation - small town cop protecting the Governor's daughter - the heroine is layered and strong, the hero gorgeous and damaged...and all man.  This story gets five flames on the heat scale.  Phew!  It should honestly come with a fan.

The fact that this is a first book blows my mind.  From the opening moment til the last it's so accomplished a story.  Richly detailed, full, exciting, and sexy.  Every time I had to put it down - a girl has to sleep, stock the fridge, feed her kids etc. - I did so with a whimper.

Add to that the fact that there are a handful of the hero's besties out there getting their own stories written and Robin Covington with A Night of Southern Comfort has made me one happy reader!


THE BLURB:

One night of passion...

Detective Jackson Cantrell never imagined that one night with an irresistible stranger would turn his life upside down. He’s spent years living in the shadows, but Dr. Michaela Roarke awakened a passion inside him he'd buried years ago.

He never expected the woman would turn out to be the governor's daughter...and his next assignment. The governor blackmails Jackson to secretly watch over Michaela and protect her from a stalker, or kiss his dream job at the FBI good-bye. Swearing to keep things strictly professional, Jackson moves in with Michaela. Too bad his heart can't keep the same promise.

But when the stalker's attacks quickly escalate beyond mere photographs to bodily harm, Jackson must race to save Michaela's life. And he’ll have to figure out how to keep her once she discovers his lie.
More about the author here.  Buy the book here.

Next I’m reading...The Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry.

What are you reading?  Which book MUST I read this year?    Find the other books I've enjoyed in my "I'm reading..." series this year here!  Or join me at GoodReads.

talking romance

Off to the Romance Writers of Australia conference today for 4 days of fun, sun, chatter about books, signing of books, food galore, fancy dress, awards dinners, and meeting up with more than 350 delegates who all love romantic fiction.  Caaan't waaait!

And for anyone who missed The Project interview on Monday night, you can watch it here now.

See you in a few days!

Ally
xXx

I'm reading...barbara hannay

ZOE'S MUSTER
I love Barbara Hannay's stuff. No wonder; she's a multiple RITA nominee, a RITA winner, and an all around gorgeous lady.  And add to all that she writes the most warm, rich, evocative, delightful books!  Her Playboy Challenge is still one of my all-time fave Mills and Boon books EVER.  So when her first single title novel - the outback romance ZOE'S MUSTER hit the shelves, I grabbed a copy quick smart!

Zoe is just gorgeous.  Stuck between a rock and a hard place when she discovers her father is not her father, she promises her devastated mother she won't tell a soul.  And yet she goes off in secret search of her real dad, a North Queensland cattleman.  The hero, Mac, lives on a neighbouring property, and the man is just heavenly - beautiful, damaged, and with that long and loose with the lazy strides of any good 'cowboy'.  Every time he came onto the page the excitement level just lifts.

With multiple stories drawing you through Zoe's journey you'll be thoroughly entertained by this one.  It's warm, gentle, romantic, with a good dose of the rugged Aussie outback.

THE BLURB:

Three women … two families … one secret …   When Zoe, restless black sheep of the Porter family, discovers that her biological father is a North Queensland cattleman, Peter Fairburn, her deep desire to meet him takes her from inner city Brisbane to a job as a stockcamp cook.
Zoe’s mother, Claire, is wrestling with guilt and shock over Zoe’s discovery. She swears Zoe to secrecy, fearing that the truth could ruin the career of her high profile politician husband. When she is forced to confront her past, Claire also reassesses her marriage.
Virginia Fairburn is happily married to Peter, but she’s always lived with the shadow of the other woman her husband loved and lost.
On the muster at Mullinjim, Zoe meets brooding cattleman Mac McKinnon, who knows from painful experience that city girls can’t cope in the bush. Every instinct tells Mac that Zoe is hiding something. As the pressure to reveal her mother’s secret builds, Zoe fears she must confide in him or burst. 
The truth has the potential to destroy two families. Or can it clear the way for new beginnings?


More about the author here.  Buy the book here.
Next I’m reading... A Night of Southern Comfort by Robin Covington.


What are you reading?  Which book MUST I read this year?    Find the other books I've enjoyed in my "I'm reading..." series this year here!  Or join me at GoodReads.

three more sleeps...til conference!

Three more sleeps til I head off to the the Romance Writes of Australia conference on the Gold Coast!

This is inside the hotel - the QT Gold Coast.  OMG right?!?!?!?   The website will make you drool ever worse.

With a jam-packed schedule, including a workshop I myself me am giving on the Saturday it's gonna be full on.

My hubby - who's a hero and a half, having the kids all to himself for three nights - has some strange idea I'm going to come home refreshed.  Bwahahahahaha!

six sentence sunday: the rules of engagement

THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Caitlyn's having momentary issues with her BFF: 

Caitlyn looked away to frown at her shoes.  She wanted to smack Franny.  She really did.  If only Franny hadn’t already gone home with one of the billionaire tech nerds Caitlyn would have found a way to shake her friend til her teeth rattled.  Of course Franny might have hooked up with both tech billionaires.  The thought of Franny’s disappointment when she discovered they only spoke Klingon at home was small consolation. 

More Six Sentence Sunday fun here!


THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
Read more ::  Buy now!
M&B Sexy - August, Aus/NZ.  Harlequin Presents Extra - December, North America

I'm reading... Nicola Marsh

NOT THE MARRYING KIND Nicola Marsh is a must read for me.  I've loved her sassy, sexy, romantic romps from day dot.  So it was with a big smile that I sat down to read her first ever Entangled Indulgence NOT THE MARRYING KIND.

And what great fun it was!  with an Alpha+ hero and a truly zingy heroine it's sharp, sexy, and spicy with a delicious smattering of glitzy Vegas and its ruggedly beautiful  surrounds.  And boy does the girl know how to make your mouth water when she gets onto food?!?!? (For more of that read Busted in Bollywood - your appetite will never be the same again!!!)

THE BLURB:

Who said marriage had to be convenient?

LA party planner Poppy Collins has kept her side business—planning divorce parties as the Divorce Diva—under wraps, but keeping her sister's company afloat is proving tougher by the day. When a new divorce party prospect gives Poppy the opportunity to save the day and boost her bottom line, she can't pass it up. But this time, she's about to get way more than she bargained for…




More about the author here.  Buy the book here.
Next I’m reading... Zoe's Muster by Barbara Hannay.


What are you reading?  Which book MUST I read this year?    Find the other books I've enjoyed in my "I'm reading..." series this year here!  Or join me at GoodReads.

the project

Here are some pics of yesterday afternoon as I spent a few hours being interviewed by Channel 10's fun and fabulous The Project for a profile piece about Mills and Boon authors.

We chatted about heaps of fun stuff like being published all over the world, how I write, and of course 50 Shades of Grey.  Can't talk romance right now without touching on that phenomenon!

I hear my husband talked about our wedding in Las Vegas, though I was outside keeping the kids entertained at the time so didn't get to nudge him in the ribs if he said anything I didn't like ;). Whatever ends up in the show about him will be new to me too!

For the Aussies among you it's meant to air this Sunday.

my RWA roomie, folks!

I know I'm a few days late but I had to come here and rave about how excited I am that my friend -  and RWAustralia conference roommate no less! - Fiona Lowe won the RITA!

The book BOOMERANG BRIDE is a ripper, so I reckon she was more shocked than I was ;).  And the award was for Best Contemporary Single Title Romance which is pretty much the Oscar for romance novelists. 

Past winners of that category have been Jennifer Crusie, Rachel Gibson, Kristan Higgins, Susan Wiggs, Nora Roberts, Barbara Samuel, Susan Elizabeth Phillips...  Them's romance writing royalty people!

Can't wait to meet the lady herself when we catch up on the Gold Coast later this month - by lady I mean RITA! Looks heavy enough Fiona might need people to help her cart it around ;).

Check out Fiona's site for her faaaabulous Medical romances.  Grab a copy of Boomerang Bride here.

six sentence sunday

THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Poor Caitlyn. She's in such big trouble!

Aah! If only Dax weren't so exceedingly irresistible. Those intense eyes, those insistent lips, those unholy hands. When he kissed her, touched her, whispered devilish promises of what was to come against the soft spot below her ear, she turned to marshmallow. And not the spongy, sweet, soft kind. The slowly melting-to-liquid heat-over-an-open-fire kind.

THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
Read more ::  Buy now!
M&B RIVA - July, UK. M&B Sexy - August, Aus/NZ.  Harlequin Presents Extra - December, North America