Kelly Jamieson's Blog, page 11

NEW RELEASE! CROSS CHECk

It's release day for Cross Check!

So many readers have asked about the next Bayard Hockey book - it's been a year since Shut Out was released and I hate that it took so long to get Cross Check out there. That's the publishing biz for you! I hope you enjoy Ben and Ella's story!

 

A party girl and a clean-cut college hockey player discover that they’re not so different in this sexy, soulful Bayard Hockey novel from the USA Today bestselling author of the Heller Brothers series.

Ella Verran has three goals this semester: get off academic probation, repair her relationship with her friend Skylar, and take some responsibility for her life. All of which are hard enough without hot, snobby hockey player Ben Buckingham around to distract her. Ella can’t stand Ben, and she knows the feeling is mutual. But he’s best friends with Skylar’s boyfriend, so he’s always around—taunting and tempting Ella in ways she never thought possible.

As the star forward of the Bayard College hockey team, Ben has goals too, like playing well enough to land a spot on an NHL roster. Ben is perfectly poised on the ice, so why can’t he keep his cool around Ella? Her wild behavior rubs him in all the wrong ways—and a few of the right ones. But as they skate around each other, Ben learns that there’s more to Ella than her bad reputation. And when the line between love and hate starts to blur, he can’t resist crossing over and sweeping her off her feet.

Amazon: http://bit.ly/crosscheckKin
iBooks: http://bit.ly/crosscheckIB
Nook: http://bit.ly/crosscheckBN
Kobo: http://bit.ly/crosscheckK
Google: http://bit.ly/crosscheckG

June news!

Summer is here! I've been enjoying the warm weather and doing lots of work in the yard, meaning sore muscles, broken nails and a bit of sunburn! But we wait all winter for this so I'm happy!

 

Big news for June RIGHT NOW -- SHUT OUT is on sale for just $.99!! Go grab it now! This book got awesome reviews when it was released so I hope this sale gets Shut Out into more readers' hands!

Amazon

iBooks

Nook

Kobo

Google

The Bayard College hockey team isn’t where Jacob Flass thought he’d be a season ago. He was a rising star in the Canadian major junior league, cruising toward a spot on an NHL roster—until a single disastrous night on the town brought it all crashing down. Now he’s out of options, except for playing well, studying hard, and staying away from girls. He’s not supposed to be flirting with the hottest, sweetest chick he’s ever met. But how could he possibly stay away?
 
Skylar Lynwood knows that Jacob is out of her league. She’s just trying to go with the flow, which isn’t easy when six feet and four inches of total hockey hunkiness is making a play for her one moment, then giving her the cold shoulder the next. Skylar’s head tells her that this rugged athlete isn’t worth her time, but her body says something altogether different. Risking her heart for Jacob may be the craziest thing she’s ever done . . . but she won’t let him shut her out.

 

Join me and my Nine Naughty Novelists friends on Facebook for a Midsummer Madness party! June 20 here in the 9NN Party Cabana -- hot reads, hot book boyfriends, fun and prizes!

Reader question!

Hi Kelly, I loved Dancing in the Rain, it has become my favourite book you've written so far. Where did the idea come from & do see yourself writing another one similar to it in the near future?

The Author Note in Dancing in the Rain basically explains where the idea came from. It was actually my agent and my editor who'd been talking and suggested I write about a retired hockey player. And maybe a secret baby story. And I was all nah, I don't think so....but then I started thinking about Drew and I had to write his story. Only I didn't want it to be the usual secret baby, because these days it's hard to imagine why a woman would keep a child a secret from the father. But in this case there was a good reason. At first I thought the story would start after Sarah's death, but when I started writing it, that wasn't how it went. 

I have an idea for a couple of spin off books involving Peyton's new business that I'm mulling over...nothing definite yet...

Thanks for asking!

I love this video of this dog who feels so bad for taking the baby's toy!

My son gave my a gorgeous gift pack from Lush for Mother's Day and my favorite thing is the Scrubee! It smells so nice, and it makes my skin so soft! It has really gritty stuff in it -- apparently ground almonds and coco shell -- it makes a bit of a mess in the bathtub, but it's worth it!

Buy it

Cover reveal!

★★ COVER REVEAL! ★★
¸.•*´(¸.•*´(¸.•*´★`*•.¸)`*•.¸)`*•.¸

 

Long Shot will be out February 2018!

A haunted beauty inspires a Navy SEAL turned playboy bar owner to change his ways in this tender and sensual novel from the bestselling author of Hot Shot and the Heller Brothers series.
 
Waitressing at a tequila bar on the beach in sunny San Diego may not be what Reece Kirkwell wants to do forever, but for now it’s perfect—other than the flashbacks to the tragedy she caused in Boston. And the fact that one of her bosses is a domineering, first-class manwhore who’s as stubborn as he is sexy. If he’d just listen to her, she could double his business. But it would also mean getting close to someone, and that’s a risk she can’t afford.
 
Cade Hardy’s partners at Conquistadors are like his brothers, but he’s the money man trying to keep them all afloat. To blow off steam, he’s been sleeping around a little. The last thing he needs is business advice from their crazy-hot new waitress. Cade can’t figure Reece out. She’s smarter than she lets on, and she doesn’t hide her disgust for his active sex life. But after he recognizes her PTSD symptoms, Cade is determined to save her . . . unless she saves him first.
 
Kelly Jamieson’s intoxicating Last Shot novels can be read together or separately:
BODY SHOT | HOT SHOT | LONG SHOT
 
“Kelly Jamieson is an auto-buy for me. A sexy, sultry, page-turning read.”—New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips, on Body Shot
 
 

How to Write a Hot Sports Hero

Last week at the RT Convention I had an opportunity to participate in a panel discussion with authors Brenda Rothert and Toni Aleo — our topic was “How to Write a Hot Sports Hero”. Too bad the session wasn’t recorded but I thought I’d share some of the discussion. I don’t remember everything that was said, so this is mostly my thoughts.

 

We talked about why we like to write sports romance and for me it’s obvious —it’s because I love hockey. I have since I was a little girl watching Hockey Night in Canada. My high school boyfriend played hockey, so I went to his games, and he taught me a lot about hockey watching our town’s major junior team. Then I moved to the big city of Winnipeg where there was an NHL team—so exciting! Then we lost our team. Boo. Then we got it back. Yay! Go Jets go!

One thing I like about writing hockey is the players and their personalities. I talked about how hockey players are some of the most humble professional athletes there are. Sure, there are some guys who are full of themselves and have a cocky attitude, but generally the culture of hockey is to be very modest and respectful of the team. When players are interviewed after games, you don’t hear hockey players boasting about themselves. Even if they just won the Stanley Cup with a breakaway all by themselves, they’ll still give credit to the team. I love the juxtaposition of a tough, physical game on the ice and often quiet, modest players off the ice.

I think that professional athletes make good romance heroes because they have all the qualities that you want in a hero—they’re good at what they do, they’re dedicated and determined, they're willing to make sacrifices, they’re honorable because they play by the rules… and they have muscles :-) 

We talked about how much sports action we put into our stories. For me, that depends on the story. Some of us have had readers say there’s too much hockey, others say there’s not enough, and you can’t please everyone, so it has to work with the story. I think the on-ice action (because I’m a hockey writer I mostly referred to hockey) has to move the story forward in some way or show us something about our hero’s character. Some of my Aces books feature a story line where the team is desperately trying to make the playoffs, so the games are an important part of the book and add tension to the story because if they lose, they’re out.

Other authors write sports romances where the game isn’t such a big part of the story, and it’s just the hero’s career and is kind of in the background.

Another thing that came up was how much knowledge you have to have of your sport. We talked about the importance of research and how each of us have done different research and gotten to know the sport.  One thing I would say though is that just because someone knows the sport doesn’t mean they can write a romance about it — I believe you have to hone your writing craft and learn how to write well before writing any kind of romance, even if it's about a sport of which you have a lot of knowledge.

I love talking about hockey and hockey romance, so it was a great discussion! Thanks to Toni for arranging the panel and to her assistant Lisa for doing a great job moderating the discussion!

 

 

April Updates!

Well, it's finally done!

It was a big project and thankfully I had lots of help, but all my books that were previously published with Samhain Publishing are back up for sale!

They have new prices, some of them have sexy new covers, and some of them have updated content. I added an Epilogue to One Wicked Night and How to Love, and added an extra chapter to Jilted.

You can check them all out here...

https://www.kellyjamieson.com/all-books/

In other news...I recently signed a new contract with Loveswept Publishing for 4 more books! These won't be out until 2018 and 2019, and the books aren't written yet but expect at least some of those to be more Aces Hockey books. 

And....I'm getting ready for RT! I leave on May 1 and I'm getting excited to see author friends, reader friends and for meetings with my agent and editor. If you're in Atlanta I hope we can connect! How many pairs of shoes should I take...hmmm...

 

DANCING IN THE RAIN now available!

So thrilled for this release! I wrote this book last summer and it's one I'm super proud of. It's a little different for me, but rest assured there are smiles and smexy times and of course a satisfying happy ending!

 

Happily ever afters aren’t just for fairy tales. In this heartfelt novel, a retired athlete must become a father to the daughter he never knew—just as he discovers the power of love with a woman who reignites his passions.

Drew Sellers is drowning in broken dreams and empty beer bottles. Hockey was his world, until a bum knee reduced him from superstar to has-been. Then he learns that, thanks to a one-night-stand back in college, he’s the father of a preteen girl with major issues. Her protective aunt sees right through Drew’s BS, but “Auntie P” is no stereotypical spinster. With her slender curves, toned legs, and luscious lips, she has Drew indulging in fantasies that aren’t exactly family-friendly.

At another point in her life, Peyton Watt would have been all over a cocky alpha male who pushes all her buttons like Drew. Right now, though, she needs to focus on taking care of her niece during her sister’s health crisis, all while holding down a job and keeping her own head above water. Besides, Drew’s clearly no father of the year. He’s unemployed. He drinks too much. And he’s living in the past. But after Peyton gets a glimpse of the genuine man behind his tough-guy façade, she’s hooked—and there’s no going back.
 

Amazon: http://bit.ly/dancingrainKIN

iBooks: http://bit.ly/dancingrainIB

Nook: http://bit.ly/dancingrainBN

Kobo: http://bit.ly/dancingrainK

Google: http://bit.ly/dancingrainG

 

March updates!

My big news this month involves one of my publishers, Samhain Publishing. They have announced they are going out of business and starting this month they will begin reverting rights to all books to authors.

I do want to say that I'm very, very grateful to Samhain, for a few reasons. They published my first ever published book - Love Me. I still remember the excitement of getting that first contract offer! Samhain helped me grow my writing career and was always professional and above board. I may have wished some of their business decisions were different, but I wasn't running that business and those weren't my decisions to make. And as they wind down operations, they continue to be helpful and professional - giving us back final files for our books which saves a huge amount of time, and allowing us to purchase cover art.

This is a pretty big thing for me because I’m getting the rights to 20 books back. BUT that also means there will be a period of time where those books are down from all retailers and won’t be available for sale. This scares the crap out of me; although my Samhain books haven’t sold huge numbers lately, they still sold some and this means NO money coming in from them while I work on getting them reformatted, new covers made for some and uploaded at retailers. 

I really hope to get them out quickly but this is time consuming, so please be patient and watch for news when I do get them back up for sale. Some of my best-selling books ever like Rule of Three and One Wicked Night are in these books and I really want to have those available to readers. And those books will keep their same beautiful covers. 

I’m also hopeful that I can do this without interfering too much in my writing schedule. I’m all set for releases this year and a couple in 2018 but I need to keep working to have books out later in 2018.

Other news…

Getting ready for RT in Atlanta!

I’ve rebranded my swag to match my new website…isn’t it pretty?

 

SALE ALERT!

Body Shot, Book 1 in my Last Shot series, will be on sale for .99 starting March 7! If you haven’t picked this one up yet, now’s the time!

Release day!

ICING is now available!








Duncan Armstrong may be an NHL star, but he’s a country boy at heart. His ultimate fantasy is going home with the Stanley Cup, not a gold-digging airhead who aspires to be a trophy wife and nothing more. Newly single and hoping to enjoy a night out with his teammates, he ends up hitting it off with a down-to-earth waitress who’s a complete breath of fresh air—until Duncan learns that she’s a part-time model. He tries to forget about her, but their sizzling chemistry has him coming back for more.
Amber is working hard to put herself through school, and has zero interest in dating a professional athlete. She’s seen firsthand how fame and fortune can mess with their heads—her father’s brilliant football career ended in a firestorm of addiction and infidelity. So Duncan’s attentions immediately have her on the defensive. Still, there’s something different about him. And once she stops trying to freeze him out, irresistible temptation turns into all-consuming passion.


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Thank you!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the fabulous reader events at RT, who came by the Giant Book Fair and the Loveswept signing, or who stopped to say hi while I was resting my feet LOL - I love having a chance to say hi in person!

RT BOOKLOVERS CONVENTION

 

It's only a few days away! Here's my agenda of scheduled events - if you're in  Vegas, I hope you'll find me to say hi! 
Thursday April 14 10:00  First Base with an Author - grand prize is an iPad!
Thursday April 14  11:15 Frisky Family Feud
Thursday April 14   2:45 Sports Romance Jeopardy
Thursday April 14   7:00 Martinis, Desserts and Authors!! 
(  Yes I too am wondering why all the things got scheduled on Thursday...)  
Saturday  April 16  10:30 Giant Book Fair
Saturday April 16  4:30  FAN-tastic Day at 4:30
And of course I'll be at various parties and events and hanging out in the bar!
Hope to see you there!