Toni Aleo's Blog, page 14

I’m in the local paper!

Needless to say, I was pretty excited and proud when I saw the article about myself in my local paper!!! I still cant believe it and for it to be said that I am a publishing dream is pretty bad ass!!!

Needless to say, I was pretty excited and proud when I sa...

Needless to say, I was pretty excited and proud when I saw the article about myself in my local paper!!! I still cant believe it and for it to be said that I am a publishing dream is pretty bad ass!!!

Falling for the Backup Release date!

JUNE 24, 2013!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blue Lines Cover Reveal

Here is the long awaited cover of Blue Lines!! It seems so real to me now! I am working hard on edits and the book will be out August 13, 2013!!!! What do y’all think!??!?!



Opposites do more than just attract in Toni Aleo’s latest Nashville Assassins novel about a very bad boy and the good girl he can’t resist.

The instant Piper Allen sees Erik Titov, she wants him—wants his rock-hard body, sure, but the strength and mystery that lies behind that superstar hockey jock demeanor, too. So when he sidles up to her at a bar and slinks his arm around her waist, she’s lost. What follows is the wildest night of her life . . . followed by inevitable heartbreak the next morning. And then, a few weeks later, a very big surprise: two blue lines on a pregnancy test.

Only a check to the head could make Erik fall for a nice girl like Piper. But since their crazy-sexy night together, he’s been trying to forget about her alluring body by falling into bed with every woman in Nashville, and it’s not working. So when Piper shows up at his house with a baby-bomb to drop, it doesn’t take much for Erik to suggest the nuclear option: marriage. While it’s supposed to be all for show, the second they say “I do,” the ice between them starts to melt into sizzling steam.

preorder here:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Lines-Assa...

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blue-...

iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/blue...

Add Blue Lines to your goodreads!

Falling for the Backup Cover Reveal!

Here it is! I dont have a release date yet! But I know it will be end of May, early June!! What do you think?!??!

Toni Aleo’s sexy new eBook original novella featuring the Nashville Assassins will have you believing in the power of love at first sight . . . and second sight . . . and the third.

After serving as a dutiful bridesmaid in the wedding from hell, Aynslee Shaw just wants to slink home to Nashville and forget the whole trip. That is, until the hottest guy she’s ever seen is seated next to her on the flight and dazzles her with his easy laugh and killer smile. But just when she thinks things are getting good, he vanishes, leaving Aynslee wondering, was that guy the one? And did she just let him slip through her fingers?

Former superstar goalie Jordan Ryan is back on the ice—finally. After a crippling knee injury that had him wondering if he’d ever play pro hockey again, he’s got his full attention on rebuilding his career. So a pretty—okay, beautiful—girl on a plane shouldn’t be a distraction. But Jordan is very, very distracted. And when Aynslee crosses his path again, he’s not sure any job in the world is worth missing his second chance with a woman like her.

Make sure to add it to your goodreads!!!!

Blue Lines teaser!!

EEKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!! I am so excited! I am able to give y’all a teaser!! /EKKK! hehehe. No reason to talk about anything else, I know what y’all want! Here you go! Dont forget to preorder BLUE LINES which comes out 8/13/2013!!!!!!!

“I want to run,” Erik whispered.
“Run?” Piper asked as he opened his eyes to see that she was looking at him.
“Yeah.”
He watched as what he was saying became clear. Her eyes became sad as she nodded, “It wasn’t good?”
“It was great, that’s the problem,” he muttered as he looked away. “Piper, I am so fucked up, and I can’t help but feel like running away.”
“Why?”
He shook his head as he closed his eyes. Why couldn’t he tell her? Just say that he loved her and it scared him so bad that he needed to run. What was keeping him in that bed? What was keeping him with her? That he was a cheating jerk that who didn’t deserve someone so beautiful? That it scared him that she was a little flighty and that she could break him in two if she ever left him? What if he wasn’t enough?
“Because I’m scared.
“Of me?” she asked her eyes wide as she leaned back to look at him better. He nodded and she gave him a puzzled look. “Erik, I would never hurt you.”
He nodded again. “I could hurt you.”
She blinked twice before looking down at their naked bodies, “That’s the risk I’m willing to take,” she whispered as she looked back up at him. “You just gotta take that risk on me.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
“Then we have a lot of work ahead of us. Either we can try or go the way we’ve been.”
Erik didn’t know what to say. Why did she want to deal with him? Why did she want to work with him? He hadn’t been the easiest person to deal with. With a shrug he said, “I don’t know, Piper.”
“Okay,” she said with her own shrug, cuddling closer to him, “well I’m not letting go and the least you can do is cuddle back since you gave me three orgasms. Now kiss me.”
A smile came across his face as he looked down at her. “Kiss you?”

“Yes, because you need one and I like doing it.”

PREORDER LINKS!

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Lines-Assassins-Contemporary-ebook/dp/B00BH0VTUW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364839011&sr=1-1
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blue-lines-toni-aleo/1114852590?ean=9780345547330&itm=1&usri=9780345547330
iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/blue-lines-assassins-series/id622294923?mt=11



NOW COMMENT! Let me know what you think!!! Thanks so much guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

What is Falling for the Backup?

So I know everyone has been asking me what Falling for the Backup is. First, yes I know that thing says Backup, but we all know the name has changed, but anyways, I dont have the official blurb yet for FFTB but when I do I’ll make sure to post it. For now though, here is the unofficial blurb.

Falling for the Backup

An Assassins novella by Toni Aleo

Sometimes having an unknown future is the best thing to have.

After an injury, Jordan Ryan, finds himself backup to the Assassin starring goalie Tate Odder. He hates not being in between the two pipes, hates warming the bench and only playing when Tate needs a break. He is bitter and he is angry, ready for his chance to shine again but he finds that he wont get that chance on the Assassins. With his confidence in the dumpster, Jordan looks for another team. He is ready to start his life with another team, what he is not ready for is to meet Aynslee Shaw before he gets there.

Aynslee Shaw is coming home from a horrible wedding when she meets Jordan. She is stunned by his gorgeous eyes and sexy body and is convinced that it is love at first sight. After moving to Nashville after breaking up with her long term boyfriend, Aynslee is ready to start dating again. She has a great life in the heart of Nashville, teaching at the best school in the state and soon thinks that Jordan will be the final piece she has been looking for her whole adult life but what she isnt ready for is the roller coaster that Jordan puts her on. She thinks it should be easy, they are great together but Jordan is holding back. When Aynslee finds out the reason why, even though she knows she should turn away, she cant.

This story is about love (of course) and how even though you may not know what will happen in the next six months, as long as you have that person you love more than anything, everything will work out.

God, I suck at those things ! lol. Oh well, thats what FFTB is about, if that even tells you anything. I am hoping for a end of May, early June release but as soon as I know for sure when this will happen, I’ll let y’all know! Thanks so much! Comment below to let me know what you think!!!!!!

Writing Sports Romances for Female Sports Fans by Jami Davenport!!

Little note from Toni: I love Jami! She writes great books and I love this series! Everyone please check it out and enjoy her post below! Her new book Down By Contact is out now! GO GET IT!

 

Writing Sports Romances for Female Sports Fans

Toni and I met because her books kept popping up on my books’ “Also Bought” lists on Amazon. So I contacted her, and we started a friendship formed from our mutual love of books and sports.

She loves hockey, I love football.

I’ve loved football since I was a little kid and my much older sister took me to high school football games. I grew up in a family of women, but we were all sports fans, even my mom. To this day, I never miss a Seahawk game and am a life-long fan.

When Seattle gets an NHL team, I’ll definitely be a hockey fan. In fact, I’m waiting for the day, which seems to be getting closer and closer with the Seattle arena deal approved a few months ago. I grew up three miles from the Canadian border so I’m no stranger to hockey. Even so, my experience is confined to watching high school games across the border when I was a teenager (because the guys were hot) and a few Seattle Thunderbird games. Someday I’m going to write a spin-off series with a fictional Seattle hockey team. In fact, I wrote a short Christmas romance with an NHL hero.

For the near future, I’ll continue to write my football romance series set in Seattle. Down by Contact, my third book in the Seattle Lumberjacks series, was just released in the past twenty-four hours. Writing sports romance presents special challenges for a writer, especially if the sport plays an integral part in the story, and not just a background prop.

When I wrote my first Lumberjacks book, I needed it to be a book that didn’t insult the intelligence of female fans. I wanted it to be as realistic as a woman who’s never played a down of football can make it. I’d read so many sports romances written by authors who aren’t fans. The players never practice, they never put much thought into the game, and they could be in any other profession and nothing in the story would change.

I didn’t want that for my books because a professional athlete lives and breathes his sport, so my guys needed to be dedicated and driven. On top of that, I wanted my heroines to be fans, too. I did tons of research, including reading a very good book written by an NFL wife. I attended two Football 101 workshops held at the Seahawks training facility on Lake Washington and absorbed everything I could absorb.

Even after all that research, Down by Contact was a challenge for me as a writer. My books include on-the-field scenes. Offensive players are easier to write about because they’re always in the spotlight, but my hero, Zach, is a linebacker—a defensive player. I found it difficult to get into the head of my linebacker as he roamed behind the line waiting for the snap. My solution was to add more locker room scenes, which I think worked pretty well.

Another thing I had to do in this book since it spanned an entire season was to design a game schedule and stick to it. Not as easy as it might sound.

All in all, I’m proud and happy of the result. Have any of you considered writing a sports romance? What sport would you pick? What would be the special challenges for you?

Leave a comment on Toni’s blog, and I’ll give away a copy of Fourth and Goal (Book 1) to a winner picked at random.

Also, check my blog on for my Release/Reader Appreciation Party on April 6-7. I’ll be giving away a $100 gift certificate to Amazon/ARe/Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) and many other prizes.

 

* * * * *

Down by Contact

 

It’s showtime.

 

After twelve years in the league, all Zach Murphy wants is a Super Bowl ring. He’s been about hard hits not smooth manners, about breaking quarterbacks not making small talk at cocktail parties. But now he’s shattered something else. After dumping a tray of drinks on the team owner’s snooty daughter and accidentally feeling up the Governor’s wife, his tenure with his team looks perilously short. And things are getting worse.

 

Life is looking up for Kelsie Carrington-Richmond. A onetime beauty pageant star and mean girl, she only recently stopped living out of her car. But both those times have passed. Her Finishing School for Real Men has a real shot, and the Seattle Lumberjacks have hired her to polish up their roughest player. Except…it’s Zach. Long ago she broke his heart. He’s just the beast she remembers—gruff, protective—but she’s nothing like the beauty from his past.

 

Yet, getting knocked down happens, and getting back up makes a contender. And they both have the hearts of champions.

 

* * * * *

 

An advocate of happy endings, Jami Davenport writes sexy romantic comedy, sports hero romances, and equestrian fiction. Jami lives on a small farm near Puget Sound with her Green Beret-turned-plumber husband, a Newfoundland cross with a tennis ball fetish, a prince disguised as an orange tabby cat, and an opinionated Hanoverian mare.

 

Jami works in IT for her day job and is a former high school business teacher and dressage rider. In her spare time, she maintains her small farm and socializes whenever the opportunity presents itself. An avid boater, Jami has spent countless hours in the San Juan Islands, a common setting in her books. In her opinion, it is the most beautiful place on earth.

 

Website Address:

http://www.jamidavenport.com

 

Blog Address:

http://jamidavenport.blogspot.com

http://www.romancingthejock.com

 

Twitter Address:

@jamidavenport

 

Facebook Address:

http://www.facebook.com/jamidavenport

 

My Favorite Things: Baseball Edition by Elley Arden!

Hi, Everyone!

First of all, thank you to the amazing Toni for allowing me to be here with all of you today. She’s such an inspiration to a new writer like me, and her love of hockey is infectious, something I can appreciate as the daughter of a retired high school hockey coach. But I’m not here to gush about Toni or talk about hockey. I’m here to talk about baseball, and I hope some of you are fans like me. If you’re not, I’m going to convince you to give it a try by listing some of my favorite things about the sport. At the end, I’d love it if you’d add your favorite things about baseball, too, and if you do, you’ll have a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card and be entered into my grand prize drawing, celebrating the release of Save My Soul, my debut novel, and the first book in the Kemmons Brothers Baseball Series!

So here we go…the first part is sung to the tune of “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music. No, no, I’m kidding. I couldn’t figure out how to make that work.  It’s just a list of my favorite things about baseball in no particular order:

1. Homeruns: I’m a sucker for the anticipation, the “will it” or “won’t it” clear the wall? And I love when the crowd jumps to their feet as though they’re tethered at the waist. It’s the only time you will ever hear me whoop.

2. Hot dogs: They taste better at the ballpark. And if you can catch one that’s been shot by the mascot from a high-powered, handheld cannon into the crowd, it’s guaranteed to taste even better.

3. Rundowns: When a base runner gets trapped between first and second or second and third with opposing players guarding each bag and attempting to get the runner out, I’m on the edge of my seat. More often than not, I end up laughing. It’s the ultimate game of tag.

4. Leaping or sliding catches in the outfield: I swear these guys must have been gymnasts or ballerinas in past lives. I’ve seen literal summersaults, and the ball somehow manages to hit and stick to the mitt. Crazy!

5. Oversized, ice-cold beer served in plastic bottles with twist tops: I don’t know why, but beer tastes better this way.

6. 6-4-3 Double Plays: These are so common, but when the short stop fields a ball and tosses it to the second baseman for an out, and then the second baseman guns the ball to first for that out, resulting in two outs on one play, it’s poetry in motion.

7. Watching a pitcher’s facial expressions: At home games, I’m lucky to sit very close to the field with a head-on view of the pitcher. Unless we’re at bat, I’m watching the pitcher. It fascinates me how calm and cool most of these guys remain even in the face of poor performances. When they can’t keep their composure, it’s equally fascinating and sometimes sad. I’ve been known to cry a time or two for a pitcher who’s having a bad day.

8. The grounds crew: When I catch a ride to the stadium with Hubby, I arrive earlier than most fans, and I stay later. Usually this is when I pull out my Kindle and pass the time productively, but I read in between watching the grounds crew prep the field. It’s crazy how much work goes into keeping the dirt and grass pristine. And they’re all dressed alike and move as a unit when it comes to unrolling tarps. Talk about teamwork.

9. Little kids who bring their mitts and desperately want a foul ball: I love watching their faces when a player or the batboy tosses a ball into the rows behind the dugout. It’s pure magic, like the prize isn’t a scuffed up ball of cork and leather at all, like it’s the world’s biggest diamond.

10. The players: What kind of romance writer would I be if I couldn’t appreciate an athlete worthy of a little ogling? On occasion, I haul a girlfriend to the park with me, and it’s one big giggle fest while we pay closer attention to who’s on deck than what’s happening on the field.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? If you’re a baseball fan like me, leave a comment sharing your favorite thing about the game. And if you’re not yet a fan, leave a comment telling me which one of my favorite things is most likely to get you to the ball park. The winner of a $25 Amazon.com gift card will be chosen from the commenters. (The winner will also be entered into my grand prize drawing for a choice between ONE of the following: $100 gift card to Sundance Catalog OR $100 gift card to Cabela’s OR $100 gift card to BRAVO! Cucina Italiana. You don’t have to win here to enter, though, just hop over to my site for more information.)

Elley Arden is the wife of a baseball team physician, the mother of three kids, including a high school pitcher, and the author of Save My Soul: Book One in the Kemmons Brothers Baseball Series. She’s considering changing her middle name to Baseball to reflect the familial obsession. You can learn more at ElleyArden.com, on Twitter or Facebook.

Things you need to know!!

Hello all!! Hope everyone is well! I am great! Getting ready for some traveling and for book releases! I’m so excited!!! Make sure to check my news and events page to find out if I’m coming to a town near you! Hope to see all your beautiful faces! Make sure to let me know if you are coming because if you wear your favorite hockey jersey, I’ll wear mine! Plus, I will have special gifts for my first 25 fans at each signing! hehe.

Okay, so on to the reason for this post:

As a lot of you know, Crossing the Line replaced the name of Blue Lines and y’all know how upset I was about that. I didnt care for it, but I trust that my amazing publisher know what they are doing. Well, I just got word back that it was has been changed BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH! so freaking happy, I think I screamed, almost peed myself and then screamed some more! So happy that its back to Blue Lines. It makes me so happy. Another thing is that Backup has been changed, and the awesome thing is that I picked this title and I flipping LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEE it! So now Backup which is the Assassins’ novella, will now be titled: Falling for the Backup. Which will be out at the end of May, early June. When I know, I’ll let y’all know. I am very happy with these changes and oh my gosh, the publisher has something in the works for y’all! I’m so excited.

So thats it! I look forward to meeting all of you and man, this is going to be an awesome year!!! Hope y’all are ready!!!!