Nicola Marsh's Blog, page 55

WEEKEND BOOK CLUB: Boomerang Bride

This is the book that made me buy an ereader.



Fiona Lowe, a good writing buddy, released her first mainstream contemporary romance with Carina Press in August and I've been dying to read it.



Fiona has teased me relentlessly about being an 'e-dinosaur', because I love my hard and paperbacks too much to tread the e-reading path.



But the waiting for the paperback version of this book (Feb 2012 for Harlequin Direct Reader Service) was too long so I succumbed and bought a Kindle. (and yes, I'm hooked!)



BOOMERANG BRIDE is one of those books you curl up with, knowing you'll smile along with the characters.



It's a heart-warming small town contemporary romance, with an adventurous, displaced bride and a workaholic, emotionally-repressed hero.





Being Australian, I loved the Aussie heroine, Tildy, and her cultural clashes with the American hero Marc. Funny! And loved the sparks between them.



I particularly liked how the secondary characters complimented the story beautifully.



A thoroughly enjoyable read.



What are you reading this weekend?





If you want to win a copy of my current release, SEX, GOSSIP & ROCK & ROLL, pop on over to FANG-TASTIC BOOKS today where I'm being the Halloween grinch!

Critique winners!

I'm thrilled to announce the critique winners from my pitch contest last week.



With an added bonus!



The amazingly generous Liz Pelletier (originally offering to critique the first 5 pages of one winner) has requested the FULL manuscripts of 3 entrants!



-BITERS (the winner) by Sarah Shade

-MR RIGHT NOW by Kristina Knight

-FREEFALLING by Robyn



I'd love to critique all entrants but with time constraints (I barely sleep as it is!) I've had to choose one, and that winner is:



-TOKYO DARE by Anne Van.



If you didn't win this time, please don't be disheartened.

I loved reading all the pitches and I know Liz had a really difficult time narrowing the field too.

I hope to see your books on the shelf real soon, or stay tuned for more pitch contests!



Congrats again to the winners.

COVER REVEAL: Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?

And here's my other new cover, for WHO WANTS TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE? releasing Jan 2011 for Harlequin Romance.



I love the soft sunset and their embrace (the sunset and poignant moment correlates perfectly to a scene in the book, at the end of a 'swim with the dolphins' cruise in Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay).



So, what do you think?



Do you have a favourite out of these 2 new covers?



You can pre-order both these books at 25% off right now! With free worldwide postage. Check it out!

COVER REVEAL: Interview with the Daredevil

I have 2 new covers to reveal and they couldn't be more different!



The first is for my Feb 2012 Presents Extra, INTERVIEW WITH THE DAREDEVIL.



Set in the luxurious Palazzo Versace (and yes, I researched first hand!) it features an extreme sports hero and the PM's daughter fresh from divorce.



As the cover says, 'when opposites attract...sparks fly!'



Tomorrow, the softer, pastel cover for my next Harlequin Romance.

Prize winners

Thanks to everyone who entered my recent book giveaways.

If you didn't win, don't despair. I have LOADS of book giveaways coming up in the next 2 months so stay tuned!



The winner of the GOT GREAT GIVEAWAYS comp is Carrie at In the Hammock blog.



The winner of the CELEBRATING ROMANCE blog hop giveaway is Jodie Riverina Romantics.



Congrats!  You've both won a signed copy of my current release, SEX, GOSSIP & ROCK & ROLL.



Please email me with your details so I can pop your prize in the mail.



Winners of the critiques to be announced this week!

Pitch & win critiques!

As most writers have discovered at some stage, synopses suck.
It's extremely difficult to take your fabulous manuscript and highlight the best bits in a succinct, cohesive way.


It's harder yet to to write a query, a 3 paragraph summary of your book.

The hardest?  A pitch, a one or two sentence summary.



So of course, that's what I'm asking you to do for a chance to win critiques.




I'm doing you a favour, honest. How can you convince someone else to read your story if you can't describe it in a snazzy, short, convincing way?




For tips, check out:

Rachelle Gardner's post on One-Sentence Summary

Nathan Bransford's post on How to Write a One Sentence Pitch




So, what's the prize?




-A critique of the first 5 pages of your manuscript by LIZ PELLETIER, senior editor & co-founder of ENTANGLED PUBLISHING (What they've achieved in a short space of time is truly phenomenal. I love working with them!)






-A critique of the first 5 pages of your manuscript by a USA TODAY, Waldenbooks & Bookscan bestseller with 30+ books under her belt. (Yeah, that'd be me!)




So here are the rules:




-As this is a blog contest, it's only open to followers of my blog (feel free to follow now to participate.)




-Your pitch must be 1 or 2 sentences max.




-Post your entry in the comments section here.  Your entry must include:




1. Title, genre, word count

2. Your polished 1-2 sentence pitch
3. your email address



-Entries must be for a completed manuscript (novellas included.)

-Contest open to unpublished writers only.



This contest will run for 1 week, entries closing 11.59pm Monday 16th October.



FYI

Entangled Publishing submissions: We are seeking novels and novellas in the following subgenres of romantic fiction for publication in Summer 2012 and beyond:





•Contemporary (including category series romance.)

•Upper YA/New Adult (17-22 yo protags) that will appeal to crossover audiences


•Historical


•Romantic Thrillers


•Science Fiction

•Paranormal and Urban Fantasy

•Fantasy



Their latest October 2011 wishlist is here.



Good luck!

And please spread the word: on your blog, Facebook, Twitter.

Thanks!



(Don't forget the chance to win my latest release all week here !)

SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY: Busted in Bollywood

There's a huge movie theme running through BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD (as you probably guessed from Bollywood in the title! I also managed to squeeze loads of my favourite movies into the book, Dirty Dancing being one of them.)



Here's when Rakesh and Amrita meet for the first time, at JFK.



Rakesh hadn't lost his smarts or his sense of humor. "Another Dirty Dancing fan, huh? Great. I thought Shari was the only one on the planet."

"She is. I hate that film. Her way of playing a trick on us." Another scathing glare directed at me before she turned her smiling attention to Rakesh. "She's sick, posing as me, traveling all the way to India."

"We should discuss the state of your friend's mental health." Rakesh held out his arm and Rita slipped her hand through it, smiling up at him like she'd been handed George Clooney on a plate. Naked.



Check out other SSS here.



**Want to win a Kindle? Come help me cast my next hero over at ROMANCING THE NAKED HERO where I'm blogging today!**



And don't forget my book giveaways in yesterday's blog hop post!

Got Great Giveaways?

If you're like me, there's nothing better than seeing your To Be Read pile grow with loads of fabulous books just waiting to be snapped up.



Here's your chance to add to it!



Check out the long list of adult and Young Adult book giveaways here.



And if you want to win a signed copy of my current release, SEX, GOSSIP AND ROCK & ROLL, leave a comment at the end of this post.





This giveaway ends October 12th.



But don't forget my other book giveaway in the Celebrating Romance post below.



Yeah, 2 posts in one day, 2 signed copies to win.



Go for it!

Celebrating Romance blog hop

As part of the Celebrating Romance blog hop, I'm giving away a signed copy of my current release,

SEX, GOSSIP AND ROCK & ROLL.





To be in the running to win:



-Be a follower on my blog



For bonus entries:



-Like my Facebook page (link in sidebar)

-Follow me on Twitter (link in sidebar)

-Subscribe to my bi-annual newsletter (yep, you guessed it, in the sidebar!)



However you choose to enter, leave me a comment specifying what you've done.



And don't forget to check out the rest of the blogs to win more book prizes!

Hot nights

Just released in Germany, WILD NIGHTS WITH HER WICKED BOSS.



Taking a stab at the translation...Hot Nights in Alaska?



Love the cover, very steamy!



Now, a heads up.

Tomorrow I have a book giveaway of my current release, SEX, GOSSIP & ROCK & ROLL right here.



And next week, I'm giving away critiques!

One from a fab mystery guest, the other from yours truly.



Stay tuned!