Sheila Seabrook's Blog, page 14
November 1, 2012
Breaking Love’s Curse by Kreseda Kaine
Book 29 in the Bandit Creek series is the contemporary romance BREAKING LOVE’S CURSE by Kreseda Kaine.
Kreseda’s small-town-girl roots collided with her big-city imagination and created a passion for writing steamy romance novels. Her motto – The Steamier The Better! Kresdea loves to curl up in a big chair in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine and a good book.
Chance Guiley has left the Marines and returned home to Bandit Creek to keep his end of the contract he signed years ago with his biological father, Zeke Guilley. However, it’s not what Zeke expects. Chance found a loophole in the contract and hired his best friend’s baby sister, Nikki Sayors, to take his place at the firm flaming Zeke’s ire. The arrangement does allow Chance to keep his promise to his best friend and watch out for Nikki. He now also has the time to take over his aging grandparent’s ranch – the only thing he has ever wanted to do since the first time he pulled on a pair of cowboy boots. But Chance’s perfectly crafted plan backfires when Nikki comes to town. She’s always been attractive, but now she’s grown into a full-blown bombshell turning every man’s head. If he doesn’t make a move – and soon – someone else will. Chance must choose between his loyalty to his best friend and his attraction to the one woman he has never been able to get out of his head.
Nikki’s loved Chance from the moment she met him years ago and has always wished he would see her as a woman instead of his good friend’s kid sister. Since her brother’s death in Iraq, Chance has played the part of fill-in-brother, constantly calling to make sure she is doing okay but always careful to keep a physical distance. She’s out to annihilate the distance in every way and make him understand she doesn’t need a protector – she needs a man and her sights are set on him. Time isn’t on Nikki’s side though. Like the legends of Lost Lake, the Guiley name is cursed and Nikki is the only one who can change the past. If she doesn’t set things straight between father and son, she loses everything, including Chance.
Read an excerpt from TEMPT ME TWICE and buy the book at Amazon.
On the first and fifteenth of the month, check back for more new Bandit Creek books. There’s something at Bandit Creek for everybody!
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October 31, 2012
Screaming into the Night
Recently, the Bandit Creek authors had a discussion about our parents reading our books which led to – of course – their reactions to the sex scenes each of us had written. There were reports of no reaction at all to parents ignoring the sex scenes in favor of discussing character development. Even an “I thought they were never going to have sex!”
This discussion reminded me of the very first book I ever completed. It was a romance titled No Way Out which was targeted toward the Harlequin Superromance line.
No Way Out contained two or three sex scenes. Before I sent it off to the publisher, I wanted to ensure it was edited, so I asked my mom if she would edit it for me. She said yes, of course.
When she was done, I picked up the manuscript and asked my dad if he’d read it too. He answered with a resounding “No!” and wouldn’t look me in the eye.
His reaction has always puzzled me. You see, my dad loved to read and back then, he read everything. Sweet romance, steamy romance, mysteries, thrillers. The only genres he didn’t read were science fiction and horror.
It was during the aforementioned Bandit Creek author discussion that I finally came up with an answer to his perplexing reaction to reading my book. This is my theory and I’m sticking to it…
So I gave my mom the book to edit. She read the first sex scene, got a little turned on, but couldn’t put down the book and continued to read. By the time she reached the next sex scene, she decides to spice up her sex life and read the sex scene to my dad.
My dad was so horrified by the thought of his baby girl and sex that he not only refused to read this book – and anything else I might happen to write in the future – but he turned down my mom’s overtures and ran screaming into the night.
Yeah, it all makes logical sense now. And that’s my 2012 Halloween horror story.
Happy Halloween everyone!
October 24, 2012
Happy Anniversary To My Beautiful Husband
You may have noticed the revamped logo at the top of my website … or not. This week, we’re celebrating our 37th wedding anniversary. It makes me sound old, doesn’t it? But we were young when we got married, practically babies, and because of that, we had to grow up together. I’ve learned a lot from my husband:
1) How to wash clothes: The washing machine was THE ONE THING my mother didn’t let me touch. So when I moved out of the house, I didn’t have a clue how to wash clothes. Fortunately, my husband – at the time he was my boyfriend – knew a thing or two. He taught me how to wash clothes, mixing colors all together so I can run through as few loads as possible. It was years later that I discovered this wasn’t how women washed clothes but it was too late. I was hooked on the fast, easy method. Yes, sometimes all of the white socks in the house are pink but at least they’re clean.
2) How to cook a roast: Although I could bake anything, my pre-marriage cooking skills were limited. My specialty was chili, fire hot chili. My brother used to say we could eat my leftover chili without bothering to heat it up. Needless to say, the first time I wanted to cook a roast, my husband had to show me how. For years I struggled. My roasts were so tough, they were like chewing leather. I resorted to cooking them twice and our kids actually grew up believing everyone cooked their roasts twice. Eventually, I left the roasts for my husband to cook and every time, he would patiently instruct me on his method. Frozen roast in the pan, a little water in the bottom, 300 degrees for 3 hours. How hard could it be, right? I finally caught on that it’s all in the direction you cut the roast. My roasts still aren’t as tender as his and I still have to confirm with someone that I’m cutting it the right direction, but at least I no longer have to cook them twice.
3) How to build almost anything: Okay, so I’d never actually build anything on my own because it would be terribly crooked but my knowledge now covers a wide area. After building two houses on our own, after years of always living in a house that’s under construction, I’ve learned enough to get me by. In a pinch, I can even change the bathroom taps, although they might leak a little … I’m just saying.
4) How to commit to one person: When we got engaged, his father told us that there were a thousand and one people out there who were right for us, but it was our responsibility to make sure we found THE RIGHT ONE. Years later, I finally understood what he meant. Our dreams, desires, and values mesh. My husband may have a trait that I can’t tolerate in another person but in him, it makes up the whole of who he is and I love all of his good qualities and bad.
Happy anniversary, babe! May the next 37 years be as wonderful as the first 37!
