Alyssa Linn Palmer's Blog, page 16
March 8, 2014
Q&A Today!
Answer my Q&A on The Romance Reviews site today, and you could win a free book!
(And stick around and answer lots more questions…there are hundreds of prizes being given away all month!)
February 27, 2014
Giveaways & more in March on The Romance Reviews site!
For the entirety of March, The Romance Reviews is hosting quizzes, book giveaways (hundreds), and plenty more!
And look for my Q&A quiz on March 8th!
Check them out: TheRomanceReviews.com
February 24, 2014
The LE CHAT ROUGE series now on Google Play!
I’m delighted to announce that my LE CHAT ROUGE series is now available for purchase on Google’s Play store, in most regions of the world.
Buy THE PARIS GAME
Buy MOONLIGHT & LOVE SONGS
Buy THE CHRISTMAS GAME
Take a walk on the darker side of Paris…
A jazz club on the Left Bank, Le Chat Rouge seems stuck in another era. Neglect and crime have left their mark, but the club is a haven for the desperate. Sometimes a singer whose talent is worthy of the world’s greatest stages, or a patron who has wealth to spare, find their way to its smoky interior.
Gangsters, drug dealers, con artists…many occupy Le Chat Rouge’s worn velvet banquettes and tread its creaking parquet floors, but all submit to Royale. The ruthless owner demands loyalty and few earn his favour. Those who do are as brutal as he is, and those who defy him might very well risk their lives.
It’s a dangerous place, but fortune awaits the most daring.
February 7, 2014
Cover reveal! BETTING ON LOVE
Coming in Fall 2014 from Bold Strokes Books, I’m delighted to be able to reveal the cover for my lesbian romance, BETTING ON LOVE, where a quiet country-girl-at-heart and a live-life-to-the-fullest biker take a risk at offering each other their hearts.
Land poor, Elly leaves the family farm and heads to the big city to become something better than a waitress at a small-town diner. Though she’s succumbed to economic necessity and the siren song of her one-time lover, Alex, she can’t bear to give up the farm, which has been in her family for generations. As much as she wants to, she can’t have everything she desires, and she’ll have to decide what is more important: the past or the future.
Alex has always been a daredevil, up for anything, never tying herself down to anyone. When she falls head over heels for quiet Elly, everyone’s surprised, no one more than her best friend and occasional lover, Will. As things heat up between them, Elly must choose between her past and her future, and Alex is faced with a decision that will shake her to the core of all she holds dear.
January 7, 2014
Book Review: Honeymoon in Paris, by Juliette Sobanet, Interview + Giveaway
Leave a comment on this post and you could win an ebook copy of Honeymoon in Paris! (contest open internationally, winner to be drawn after the close of the tour)
About Honeymoon in Paris
The sassy heroine of Sleeping with Paris is back! And this time, chocolate-covered French wedding bells are in the air . . .
It’s only been a month since Charlotte Summers reunited with her sexy French boyfriend, Luc Olivier, and he has already made her the proposal of a lifetime: a mad dash to the altar in the fairytale town of Annecy. Without hesitation, Charlotte says au revoir to single life and oui to a lifetime of chocolate in bed with Luc. She’s madly in love, and Luc is clearly the one, so what could possibly go wrong?
As it turns out, quite a lot…
On the heels of their drama-filled nuptials in the French Alps, Luc whisks Charlotte away to Paris for a luxurious honeymoon. But just as they are settling into a sheet-ripping, chocolate-induced haze, a surprise appearance by Luc’s drop-dead gorgeous ex-wife brings the festivities to a halt. Luc never told Charlotte that his ex was a famous French actress, or that she was still in love with him. Add to that Charlotte’s new role as step-mom to Luc’s tantrum-throwing daughter, a humiliating debacle in the French tabloids, and the threat of losing her coveted position at the language school—and Charlotte fears she may have tied the French knot a little too quickly.
Determined to keep her independence and her sanity, Charlotte seeks out a position at Bella magazine’s new France office while working on a sassy guidebook to French marriage. But when Luc’s secret past threatens Charlotte’s career and their future together, Charlotte must take matters into her own hands. Armed with chocolate, French wine, and a few fabulous girlfriends by her side, Charlotte navigates the tricky waters of marriage, secrets, ex-wives, and a demanding career all in a foreign country where she quickly realizes, she never truly learned the rules.
And Juliette has come to visit the blog and answer a few burning questions!
What is your favourite place to visit in France?
I have many, but my top favorite and the place closest to my heart will always be Lyon. It’s a gorgeous city two hours south of Paris by train, and I was fortunate enough to study abroad there in college. I’ve been back many times since to visit my host family and friends, and each time I set foot in that beautiful city, I feel like I’m home. It’s a smaller, more manageable city than Paris (don’t get me wrong though, I love Paris!), and the food is to die for. I definitely recommend making a stop in Lyon if you travel to France. Charlotte and Luc just happen to call Lyon home in Honeymoon in Paris as well!
What was your first inspiration for Charlotte?
My initial inspiration for Charlotte’s character stemmed from my year living and studying in Paris. I thought it would be fun to take a girl who’d been burned one too many times in love and make her dead set on not falling in love in the most romantic city in the world. I did use inspiration from some of my own personal relationship disasters of course, and from those of my girlfriends as well, to come up with a few of the debacles that happen to Charlotte along her journey.
Do you have a favourite character in the book?
I always love writing Lexi’s character because she’s so sassy and funny, and she’s never afraid to share a piece of her mind! She’s also kind of a mess in her love life, and I think for that, we can all relate to her to some extent.
Without giving away too much, had you planned for Luc’s story arc from the beginning of the first book?
No, I hadn’t ever planned on a sequel when I began writing Sleeping with Paris, so it wasn’t until I was plotting out Honeymoon in Paris that I decided where Luc’s story arc would go. I realized that in the first book, we didn’t actually learn a ton about Luc, so that gave me a lot of room to play with his storyline in the second book. This of course opened up to many exciting secrets and disasters for Charlotte to deal with!
What are you working on right now, and what’s next to be released?
I’m currently writing a series of novellas called Confessions of a City Girl which will begin releasing in early 2014. I also have a novella coming out with Amazon’s new StoryFront program on January 22nd. It’s called One Night in Paris, and here’s a little bit about the story:
When Manhattan attorney Ella Carlyle gets a call that her beloved grandmother is dying, she rushes to Paris to be by her side, against the wishes of her overbearing boyfriend. Ella would do anything for her grandmother and jumps at the chance to fulfill her dying wish. But things take a mystical turn when Ella is transported to a swinging Parisian jazz club full of alluring strangers…in the year 1927! As the clock runs out on her one night in the City of Lights, Ella will attempt to rewrite the past—and perhaps her own destiny as well.
Thank you so much for having me, Alyssa!
And thank you for being with us! I can’t wait to read all that you have coming out soon!
And now, for my review!
I read Sleeping With Paris sometime last year (or perhaps earlier, I can’t quite recall, as I’ve read it several times now), and when I heard there was a sequel, I was delighted. I wanted to know more about Charlotte, and her handsome man Luc. And I was not disappointed by Honeymoon in Paris. In fact, I devoured the book.
This time around, Charlotte is married, but Luc is not all that he’s seemed to be. He’s keeping secrets, being evasive, and I started to wonder if perhaps she’d made a poor choice in marrying so quickly. The book was a whirlwind of drama: young actresses, corrupt businessmen, handsome actors, paparazzi, devoted and determined friends, and a dark secret that Charlotte stumbles into. It definitely kept me reading.
I also loved the return of some of the secondary characters from the first book, especially Fiona and Lexi, Charlotte’s best friends. They’re each so different from Charlotte, and bring their own colour to the book.
I’m hoping that Ms. Sobanet will continue on with this series, and perhaps write a book about the handsome Nicolas? Pretty please? 
About the Author
Juliette Sobanet earned a B.A. from Georgetown University and an M.A. from New York University in France, living and studying in both Lyon and Paris. She worked as a French professor before turning a new page in her career, penning romantic women’s fiction with a French twist. She is the author of Sleeping with Paris, Kissed in Paris, Midnight Train to Paris, Dancing with Paris, and Honeymoon in Paris. Today she lives in San Diego, where she devotes her time to writing and dreaming about her next trip to France.
January 6, 2014
The Lesbian Fiction Appreciation Event!
I’m a part of the Lesbian Fiction Appreciation Event taking place over at KT Grant’s blog. Check out my post comparing the film and graphic novel versions of ‘Blue is the Warmest Color’, and have a chance to win a copy of my ebook ‘The Artist’s Muse’.
January 2, 2014
It’s Official! My new lesbian romance, ‘Betting on Love’ coming in 2014!
I’m delighted to announce that Bold Strokes Books will be releasing a new, full-length contemporary lesbian romance of mine, entitled BETTING ON LOVE, in Fall 2014. It’ll be available in paperback and ebook.
Here’s the blurb, to whet your appetite…
Land poor, Elly leaves the family farm and heads to the big city to become something better than a waitress at a small-town diner. Though she’s succumbed to economic necessity and the siren song of her one-time lover, Alex, she can’t bear to give up the farm, which has been in her family for generations. As much as she wants to, she can’t have everything she desires, and she’ll have to decide what is more important: the past or the future.
Alex has always been a daredevil, up for anything, never tying herself down to anyone. When she falls head over heels for quiet Elly, everyone’s surprised, no one more than her best friend and occasional lover, Will. As things heat up between them, Elly must choose between her past and her future, and Alex is faced with a decision that will shake her to the core of all she holds dear.
December 31, 2013
Free Fiction: A Vee Christmas (Part 3 – Final!)
Check out the final part of A Vee Christmas, and see the excerpt below…
Vee nudges me awake. The weak winter sun is streaming into her room, but even its feeble light makes my eyes hurt. I groan.
“C’mon Alex, it’s Christmas!” Vee nudges me again.
“Not without water or aspirin,” I mutter, wishing I’d not had that last glass of wine. But the evening had been so much fun, and I’d enjoyed myself.
Vee lifts a glass from the night stand. “I thought of that,” she says. “Take your aspirin and then let’s go. Rob’s probably already down there.”
“What time is it?” I ask, sitting up in bed and taking the glass from her. She hands me two aspirin, and I knock them back.
“Seven thirty.”
“That’s too early.”
“Not at my house,” Vee replies. She’s dressed in her blue polka-dot footie pyjamas and her hair is sticking out at all angles. My pyjamas are much more sensible, a warm, modest plaid flannel. “Let’s go.”
December 28, 2013
New Free Fiction! A Vee Christmas (Part 2)
Read it here, and check out the excerpt below:
Three weeks later, I find myself in front of a modest clapboard house, my stomach churning with nerves. Vee’s parents. And her brother, but mostly, it’s her parents that worry me. I know I’m not their age, not quite, but I’m closer to their age than to their daughter’s. If it had been my mom, she would have tsked at me and asked why I couldn’t find someone a little older. She would have done it gently, but still…
“Ready?” Vee asks, practically bouncing on her toes. Her nose is red in the chill breeze. The snow out here in New Jersey is cleaner than in the city; there’s an expanse of pristine whiteness on the front lawn, marred only by the sidewalk down one side, leading to the front door. She takes my hand and we head towards the house. I’ve worn my nicer knee-high black boots, but I’m sliding on the cement, thanks to their lack of grip on the thin soles. I clutch at Vee, and she steadies me. Rarely have I been so glad of her wearing sensible combat boots.
We make it to the door without falling, and Vee doesn’t wait on ceremony. She yanks open the metal screen door and twists the knob of the heavier inner door, pushing inside.
“Mom! We’re here!” she calls, slinging her backpack from her shoulder to the linoleum floor. I press in behind her and close the doors, pausing to sniff the cinnamon-scented air. My stomach grumbles. I haven’t eaten much all day; I’ve been too nervous.
December 26, 2013
Vee (Vol. 1) is free on Kindle until the 28th!
“Sylvia, my brightest star, my desire. My lust, my soul.
“She was Lia to her co-workers at the bookstore, Sylvia to her mother, who clicked her tongue disapprovingly at her bright blue and hair and her Monroe stud. But to me, she was simply Vee.”
In Alex’s notebooks, the story of Vee unfolds, from their first kiss, their first date, and the moments in between. It’s a May-December romance between a former punk girl gone con
servative, and a gamine young woman in combat boots and fishnets. They find each other on the streets of New York City and it’s love at first sight.
These are short collections of stories. Along with the free reads from this site, there are new, unreleased stories, and occasionally short fiction that was first available in various anthologies.
Volume 1:
Vee (from FELT TIPS)
Heart of Glass
Birdland (I)
Birdland (II)
Vee’s Notebook (from ANYTHING SHE WANTS)
ISBN-13 (Kindle): 978-0-9920065-5-6
