Anne Marsh's Blog, page 7

Love for the Holidays Boxing Day Bonanza!

I’m giving away a book as part of the Love for the Holidays Boxing Day Bonanza! Join me and a ton of other authors as we help readers with their to-read lists for 2014! Giveaways can be entered until midnight on Friday, December 27.

 

Merry Christmas!

The smoke jumpers of Strong, California would like to wish you a very merry Christmas

Teaser Tuesday!

Sometimes, it’s time to face the fire…

“Get down,” Rio ordered and Gia promptly did, hitting the ground like a gigantic silver inchworm. He ran his eyes over her shelter, checking for gaps or problems, but she’d deployed textbook perfect. Thank God. Resting his hand on her where her shoulder should be, he squeezed gently. There would be no one to check him but she was the one who mattered here.

He eyeballed her one last time before dropping to the ground between her and the oncoming fire. She could kick his ass later. He was bigger. Hopefully, his body would give her one more buttress against the heat. His heart gave an unexpected leap. She’d be okay. He refused to imagine any other ending to this jump.

The fire roared towards them now like an out-of-control semi. Less than a hundred yards, he guessed, but now he was running blind, unable to see what was coming. Pulling his shelter into place, he tamped the edges down under his gloved fingers. If the fire didn’t blow over, if his escape fire hadn’t done its job and chewed up the available fuel… well, what happened next wouldn’t be pretty. And it might not even be fast. The shelter’s glue would melt and then he’d be next. Working fast, he followed out the ground beneath his face and turned his nose and mouth into the shallow space because in seconds he’d want that cooler air. Badly.

Christ.

Had he done enough?

Had he missed something?

The fire hit and he stopped thinking and just reacted. Held on and held on…

 

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Cover Reveal!

Cover reveal! I’ve got a hot new cover for SWEET BURN, the fourth Smoke Jumper book… this guy’s abs are out of the world! SWEET BURN will be a March 2014 release.

Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesday! Now that Gia’s having her wicked way with Rio in BURNS SO BAD…

Having Rio as her secret was fun.

Sexy as hell.

And yet… something was missing. She wasn’t sure what it was, but maybe dirty secrets took more than two nights to mature. Whatever. Rio came to her or she went to him—she wanted to keep their relationship even—and the sex was great. Keeping her hands off him when they were at work was a challenge, but she figured she’d get used to it. Or they’d burn themselves out and go back to being just jump partners. Option B was far more likely than that first one.

The third morning, when she opened her cabin door, she discovered Rio had been playing Secret Santa. He bought her a prickly cactus with a fleshy red flower smack on top of the spiny barrel. Jesus. She didn’t want to know why he thought of her when he saw that thing, but not only had he, but he’d transplanted the poor thing from the florist’s shop to her front porch. The small card announced Made me think of you in a dark, slashing stroke. He had beautiful handwriting.

If he wanted to swap bouquets, she’d play. She’d whacked down armloads of goldenrod with her machete and dumped them between the sheets of his bed. For my golden boy she’d scrawled in magic marker on his pillow.

Her handwriting was nowhere near as precise as his.

He got the message, though, or maybe he just believed thank yous should be said in person, because she woke up and she definitely wasn’t alone. Rio’s weight pressed her deep into the mattress. Shifting, she curled her legs around his hips. Hello. Something soft stroked over her skin. He’d brought flowers to share. How very nice.

Firefighter Friday: Stripping Down for a Good Cause…

Here’s a cause I can certainly get behind The Tucson fire department (and the paramedics!) stripped down for a charity calendar. Seventeen shirtless guys taking it off to benefit the Huntington’s Disease Society of America… what could be better?

 

Win a Print Copy of REBURN!

I’m giving away five print copies of REBURN over at Goodreads… and, hint hint, this is the only place that you can score a print copy as this is an eKensington digital title.

To enter, go to: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/72726-reburn

Teaser Tuesday – Meet Rio Donovan!

Jump thousand.

The familiar summer anthem of the smoke jumpers exploded through his head. Adrenaline flooded Rio Donovan’s body as he anticipated the exhilaration of dropping through the air as he threw himself out of the DC-3’s cabin and streaked towards Rail Mountain.  His pulse beat a drumbeat of anticipation against his skin. Sixty seconds and two thousand feet.

God, he loved his job.

The plane pulled away with a roar, only half-drowning the whoops of his boys jumping out of the cabin behind him. Rio Donovan shot a sideways glance at his jump partner, angling his body away from hers. Christ, she was a cool customer. She watched the ground rushing up to meet them without so much as cracking a smile. He’d bet she’d already cataloged the burn area and mentally marked a half-dozen hot spots she’d rush to knock down as soon as they were on the ground. Gia Jackson was good. There was no doubt about that. She’d earned her place on Strong’s jump team. So he had absolutely no business noticing how the jump harness separated her breasts into two teasing mounds. She was one of his boys too and… not going there. Fifteen hundred feet to the ground and his next job. Focus, Donovan.

 Look thousand.

The forest fire beneath belched a big ass plume of dark smoke on his right, the sideways drift half-obscuring the small speck of burned over meadow he was aiming for.  The drift streamers had to be down there somewhere, the red ribbons an X-marks-the-spot he wouldn’t see for at least another thousand feet. The meadow swung crazily as the wind buffets him hard, twisting him in a circle before he got the spin under control and his boots down because he needed to get horizontal, fast. Feet first, straight up-and-down. A holler tore from his throat. Fuck, yeah. This was living.

Straightening his legs, he dropped below Gia. He weighed more than she did and he’d bet it killed her that he’d make the LZ first. He loved how competitive she was. Beating her was fun.

Reach thousand.

Still mentally counting down, he tightened his grip on the rip cord.

  Pull thousand.

And yanked hard.

And nothing. Not a goddamned thing. The lines tangled around the drag chute, turning his backup into a mess of flapping nylon and rope. Cursing, he took his eyes off the ground rushing up to meet him and eyeballed the chute. The lines were tangled. That was okay, he thought, his hands already reaching for the utility knife strapped to his thigh. Cut it away and pull the reserve chute. Plenty of time. Still, he didn’t waste any seconds, sawing the sharp edge hard and fast through the mess of ropes, because panicking was a luxury he couldn’t afford. Every second closed the distance between himself and the ground and dying hadn’t been part of his plans for today.

December 2013

Goodreads Book Giveaway ...

Goodreads Book Giveaway







Burning Up



by Anne Marsh

Giveaway ends November 30, 2013.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Goodreads Book Giveaway







Slow Burn



by Anne Marsh

Giveaway ends November 30, 2013.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I met the fire department the hard way…

So we had an electrical short in our backyard last night that caused a fairly impressive fire. Fortunately, our next-door neighbor spotted it, called the fire department and came running over to let us know. I was asleep and, since we’re keeping all the windows shut and the shades down because it’s still running in the nineties during the daytime, no one in our house had noticed.

Yeah.

Eight-foot sheet of flame and we had no idea.

Cue the fire department, who showed right up and took care of the fire.

Part of the night was flat-out frightening (who wants out-of-control flames two feet from their house?), part of it was gratitude-inspiring (we lost a lovely BBQ island, a fence, and our backyard looks like a charcoal pit), and part of it was actually funny. There were quite a few book-worthy moments, although, as my editor pointed out, no one would believe they were true.

When the fire department shows up and your husband is trying to douse the flames with your hose that is shaped like a cute little green watering can? The firemen laugh and then talk about the really, really big hoses they have. Who knew.
Firefighters really are a good-looking, funny bunch. I kind of assumed that only happened in books, but these guys were hotties. And one of them was a dead ringer for the guy on the cover of REBURN.
Men and power tools… axes. Chainsaws. Really, really big hoses. They’re happy to use them, particularly as they’re crunching over your Lilies of the Nile plants. And you’re going to have restrain your twelve year-old son and forty-two-year old husband from “volunteering” to “help out” with said tools.
Firefighters are surprisingly tidy. With all the hosing and chopping and chainsawing (because anything that was on fire has to be reduced to rubble to make sure there is no reburn… and I was apparently the first house call to know that term.. thank you book research!), all the debris is neatly stacked in my yard and none of it is in the pool. Although apparently at least two firefighters came really close to falling in and going for a midnight swim.
All of your pajama-clad neighbors will come outside to see what’s up. All of the guys will be wearing jeans and T-shirts. All of the women will be wearing pajamas. I am also apparently the only woman on my block who doesn’t invest in satin and who doesn’t own a bathrobe.
Which may explain why, when the firefighter banged on our door and told us to evacuate, he took one look at me and asked: “Ma’am, would you like to grab a shirt?” I’d been sound asleep and was wearing a polka-dot pajama bottoms, a white tank top, and glitter flip-flops. Fortunately, since I telecommute three days a week, I have absolutely no problem with the entire neighborhood seeing me in my pajamas. Next time there’s a fire, I’ll know the dress code.
At least one firefighter spent a considerable amount of time consoling my husband on losing his “sweet” BBQ set-up in the backyard. Then swapping notes on the BBQ island the firefighter wants to build.
All of your female neighbors will come up to you and ask if this is research for your next book. No. Not really. After all, when I’m writing paranormal romance, I don’t unleash werewolves in my front yard either.
When fireman hottie emerges from your backyard and proceeds to strip off his gear on the sidewalk in front of your house? Every woman on the block will come over to “commiserate” with you… and stare. And then ask about the books again (why yes… there ARE nekkid firefighters in my books, thank you for asking).

So this morning I have a whole new appreciation for the fire department!