Nicola Marsh's Blog, page 45

Reader review: BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD

Because BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD is so special to me, each and every review is precious.



Here's the latest reader review that made me smile:



**WARNING** Do not read this book when hungry!





This was one of those books that when I started reading, I couldn't put down. Ended up finishing it about 4am one morning. Couldn't be helped though!



Busted in Bollywood should be endorsed by the Indian Ministry of Tourism as this book will have you booking flights to India...... or reaching for the phone to place an order with the local Indian takeaway!

 

(thanks Sarah Donald, Goodreads.)

Gentlemen Prefer Nerds

Happy release day to one of my good writing buddies, the lovely Joan Kilby.



GENTLEMEN PREFER NERDS is her first mainstream contemporary romance, out today from Carina Press (Joan also writes for Harlequin SuperRomance.)



I'm reading this fun caper at the moment and have a wee crush on Fabian...



For more info on Joan's books and buy links, check out her website

Cover reveal: My Super Sweet 16th Century

I'm super excited to be involved in the lovely Rachel Harris's cover reveal for MY SUPER SWEET 16TH CENTURY.

Really looking forward to reading this YA when it releases September this year.



Here's the blurb:



On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family's trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits . . . right into Renaissance Firenze.





Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But when the much-older Niccolo starts sniffing around, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore. Can she find her way back to modern times before her Italian adventure turns into an Italian forever?



The book is available for pre-order at Amazon Barnes & Noble and you can add it to your TBR pile at Goodreads



In the meantime, here's an excerpt:



I hear their muffled whispers and understand every Italian word. Every witty comment made at my expense.






It's like my brain is automatically translating.




I bunch the soft fabric of the dress in my hand and then reach up to feel the ribbon in my hair. I lightly skim my fingers over my chin and feel my lack of zit. I take in the costumes of the crowd, the stench of the animals, and the Italian I can now speak and understand. And suddenly it hits me.




Reyna must have pulled some kind of gypsy mojo.




Maybe this is one of those nifty "change your life" magic scenarios like in the movies. I mean, mostly I'm still expecting to blink and be right back in the midst of overpriced, gaudy tourism, but for now, the gypsy-time-warp explanation is infinitely better than thinking I've lost my mind. As I decide to go with that option, I feel my frantic tension melt away.




The growing crowd seems to notice my change in demeanor and begins shooting one another amused looks, but I don't care anymore. A smile stretches across my face. Evidently, I was wrong earlier; Reyna is a psychic mind reader, because if this is her special brand of bibbity-bobbity-boo, then she made my exact daydream from earlier in the courtyard come to life.




The long red gown, the braided hair, the Italian merchant's daughter, the time period. I am in Renaissance Florence.




I stare dumbly at the ground, the words and reality sinking in.




I'm in Renaissance Florence!

WEEKEND BOOK CLUB: Doukakis's Apprentice

I hadn't read a straight Harlequin Presents novel in years and the positive reviews on this book made me want to pick it up.



I'm glad I did!



Here's the blurb:

Wanted: willing apprentice to handle indecently arrogant (but incredibly sexy) tycoon



With her family business in crisis, Polly Prince does her best to keep calm and carry on. But hard work alone can't save her London company from a takeover by the infamously ruthless Damon Doukakis...or her traitorous body from the lethal sensuality of her boss!



As his new apprentice, Polly accompanies Damon to Paris to negotiate the most challenging business deal of her life! Worse still, Polly must at all costs resist Damon in the most dangerously romantic city in the world....

 

What with writing and reading, I rarely get to bed before 1am and, my plans for an early night were shot by this book.

I'm always wary when there's hype about a book in case it doesn't live up to expectations.

This one did, and how!



Polly Prince is a standout heroine: ballsy, funny, quirky.



Damon Doukakis is a typical Presents hero: commanding, arrogant and super sexy.



Together? Fireworks!



Every now and then a book comes along that gives me writer envy. This is one of them.

Brilliant read.

Highly recommended



What are you reading this weekend?

Swedish babe

After the sexy covers for my foreign translations in Italy and Germany this month, here's one that's a little different...cute babe alert!



WIFE AND MOTHER WANTED out in Sweden, in an anthology with Melanie Milburne, Julia James and Caroline Anderson.



That's one of the great things about writing for Harlequin, the opportunity for foreign translations years later.

This was my 6th book (I'm now on my 32nd) so I'm rapt it's getting new life in another country.

Double the fun in Germany!

2 books out in Germany this month!




The first is SEX, GOSSIP & ROCK & ROLL.







The second is GIRL IN A VINTAGE DRESS in an anthology with Jane Porter, Sandra Marton & Maggie Cox.

Great company!

Sex, Gossip and Rock & Roll in Italy

If you're in Italy, SEX, GOSSIP & ROCK & ROLL is out now!



(A Tutto Rock sounds interesting!)



And I'm thrilled to be with my writing bud Natalie Anderson in this duo.



More info here

COVER REVEAL: Pretty Amy

I'm thrilled to take part in fellow Entangled Publishing author Lisa Burnstein's cover reveal for her upcoming YA novel, PRETTY AMY.



Here's a bit about her and the book:



Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She wrote her first story when she was in second grade. It was a Thanksgiving tale from the point of view of the turkey from freezer to oven to plate. It was scandalous.





She was a lot like Amy when she was in high school.

She is still a lot like Amy.



Blurb:



Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she's somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when their dates stand them up for prom, and the girls take matters into their own hands—earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx—Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating "rehabilitation techniques" now filling up her summer. Worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing—like she is nothing.




Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it's worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy. Bringing readers along on an often hilarious and heartwarming journey, Amy finds that maybe getting a life only happens once you think your life is over.



PRETTY AMY Links:





Goodreads

Amazon pre-order

Barnes and Noble pre-order



Twitter

Facebook

Website



I can't wait to read this one!

In addition, Lisa will be hosting a Worst Prom Photo contest in the weeks leading up to AMY's release on May 15. So make sure to dust off your old prom photos—the more tulle, bows, and big hair the better!—and watch Lisa's site for details on how to submit/enter to win a beauty package.



Lisa already has my photo...oh dear...think pastel pink satin...frizzy bob...with matching bow in hair!



Now here's an excerpt:



I was just about to put out my cigarette and go back inside when I heard a skateboard coming down the street. It sounded like waves, like a conch shell against your ear. That full, empty sound.





Maybe it was Aaron. I conjured up my stupid daydream, the one I used to fill my head when I couldn't deal with any of the other stuff in there—that he would find me, that he would apologize, that he would tell me that prom night hadn't been his fault.



The difference this time was that when I looked toward the sound, he really was there.



It was him.




Aaron.




He was skateboarding down the sidewalk like it was made of water, wearing the same loose, worn jeans from his Facebook picture. He carried a backpack, like he might have been coming from the library, but I doubted he ever went to the library.




I lit another cigarette with the end of my last one; any excuse to stay put. Then I remembered I was wearing a suit.




"You got another one of those?" he asked. His eyes were blue. I hadn't noticed that in his picture.




My hands shook as I gave him a cigarette. He brought a silver-and-black Zippo to his mouth, flipped it open with one hand, lit his cigarette, and slapped it shut. The whole thing took seconds, but it felt like he was doing it in slow motion. "Thanks," he said.




Maybe he had just stopped to get a cigarette. Maybe it had nothing to do with me.




It probably had nothing to do with me.




"I know you," he said. "Where do I know you from?"




I couldn't tell him. Telling him that he'd stood me up for my own prom would have been way too embarrassing. It would tell him that I still cared enough to remember.




"I'm friends with Lila and Cassie," I said, wishing that my hair wasn't pulled back in a headband like I was a nun.




"What are you all dressed up for?" he asked.




Of course he didn't know me. If he had, he would have known that I'd just come from court and that I was trying to do everything I could to forget it.




"I work here," I said, thinking fast. "I'm supposed to be a librarian."




"You don't have to lie," he said, laughing. "I'm Aaron."




"Amy," I said, waving hello with the cigarette in my hand.




He smiled. "Though you do make a cute librarian."




I tried to keep myself from coughing. "This suit sucks," I said. It seemed cooler than saying thank you. It seemed cooler than getting all squishy over what he said, even though that was how I felt.




I looked at his skateboard. "You wanna try it out?" he asked.




The deck had a mural of blue sky and white-capped mountains hand-painted on it. The wheels were covered with stop-motion birds, so that when they spun it must have looked like the birds were flying.




There was more to this boy. More that I wanted to know.




"I guess I could," I said, but then I remembered my mother. She would come looking for me soon.




I shook my head. "I should go."




"You got a cell phone?" he asked.




"Not that I'm allowed to use anymore."




"Parents," he said. He pulled a sketchbook from his backpack. Maybe he had painted that beautiful mural. He ripped out a piece of paper, wrote something down, and handed it to me.




It was his phone number.




I tried not to act surprised, tried to act like boys gave me their numbers all the time, especially when I hadn't asked for them.




"See you around, Amy," he said. He dropped the skateboard next to him. It landed perfectly on its wheels like a cat would on its legs.




As he skated away, I looked at his number; the paper was as soft as fabric. I folded it smaller and smaller and hid it in my bra. Maybe he hadn't said what I wanted him to say, but he had found me.




He had found me.

Tag Team an Amazon bestseller!

TAG TEAM has hit the Top 100 bestseller list for contemporary romance on Amazon, woo hoo!



And you can go grab it free right now!



Check it out.

Pretty cover!

The Ultimate Hero: Passionate Playboys, may be my favourite Harlequin cover ever!

That guy is completely HOT!



This anthology features HOT NIGHTS WITH A PLAYBOY , set in the glorious Whitsunday Islands.



(and yes, this anthology was released last May so I'm thrilled it's having another release, with a new cover!)



If you can't grab it off shelves in OZ/NZ, you can order online in an ebundle here 

3 romances for $9.99, bargain!