Aimee Duffy's Blog, page 9

I got the call!

I’ve always dreamed of writing a post titled with those four words, and now I can. I’m so excited so please excuse the rambling. Harper Collins’ brand new UK imprint, HarperImpulse, will be publishing my book and not just that, but I have just signed a threebook contract with them. I know, I’m feeling a little faint too.
So you want to know what happened? Most people kick off their call stories from the second that email from the editor pinged in their inbox asking to call, or from when they submitted, and even though those two events were momentous and led me to writing this post, I’m going to start from the second my mobile phone rang at work.
I had been expecting a call, but had convinced myself it wasn’t the call.
“We’d like to buy your book.”
*Cue gibberish*
Now I don’t usually sound like a reject from Braveheart, but you wouldn’t think by my attempt at answering poor Charlotte! She couldn’t understand half of what I said (and I don’t blame her, I couldn’t either). While trying to focus enough not to scream when my boss had an elderly client next door, my brain was tapped out to the point of stupidity. Thankfully they didn’t whip the offer away from the crazy lady who couldn’t string together a coherent sentence.
And the most incoherent, but best call ever, came just two weeks ago. Since then I’ve had to keep my lips zipped (which is the hardest thing I’ve ever done by the way). I told my parents and haven’t shut up about it since. They’ll be glad the news is out now. Means they don’t have to listen to me go on and on and on…and on.
So I’m going to tell anyone who will listen (sorry in advance, can’t help it!). Here’s the cover of my first release with HarperImpulse! What do you all think? I LOVE it. It suits the story (and my heroine) perfectly.


More about Ric and Alexa’s story is coming very soon. If any of you read my SYTYCW entry, Flirting With Trouble, then you’ll all have a rough idea of how it begins with Alexa running around a hotel in her underwear and stumbling into the sexy Enrique Castillo’s penthouse. Not much has changed from that first chapter, so if you loved it then, stick 13th June (release day) in your calendars!
Hope you all have a good weekend. Pop by on Sunday for a sneak peak of Sinfully Summer. I’ll make it a great one ;o)
xoxo

To Pube or Not To Pube

So, we’ve had different variations on sex this week, but what about the decoration? I’m all for bare is better, but my good friend Michelle Smart disagrees. She’s been lovely enough to come share her opinion on the matter and she almost swayed me. Almost, but not quite ;o). Take it away Chellebelle…
Pubic hair. Pubes. Something every adult human on the planet grows a nice thatch of (medical exemptions permitted). Indeed, for most adolescents, the appearance of pubic hair is as much a right-of-passage as the development of breasts and whatever it is that happens to men’s testicles that turns them into dangly things.
But a strange thing is afoot. When I was a teenager, it was normal to shave (or wax depending on personal pain thresholds and bravery) the bikini line. But time moves on. Just like the massive bushes that were beloved of seventies porn stars became passé, now it appears that anypublic hair is considered gross. Perfectly normal body hair is now something to be shaved/waxed/plucked off the second it appears. * Apparently it is normal to want to keep the vagina one had as a child. Hmmm.
And it’s not just the females who are docily removing the evidence that they are adults; men are catching on to it too. I swear, if I ever become ruler of the world, I will make it illegal for men to shave their chests or go anywhere near their cocks with a razor. Take Artem from Strictly Come Dancing. Now, that man has one heck of a manly chest – or he would have if he didn’t keep shaving/waxing it off (and yes, I do know this for a fact because at the beginning of the last series he had his chest out and you could see all the lovely dark hair growing through – within weeks it had gone). Pah!
Is this a permanent trend I wonder? Will humans eventually evolve into hairless wonders (after all, if we can’t be arsed to keep it, why should nature bother?)? Or will we go the other way? Will we go back to our seventies hey-day and grow pubes long enough to plait or create fabulous topiary out of? Will we ever return to the days when a woman thought twice about wearing a white bikini?
And will Artem ever grow his chest hair back for my delectation?
*One good thing about this pubeless trend is that, according to medical experts, cases of pubic lice are at their lowest levels ever.
Michelle’s Links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads 

*Aimee* 
So guys, what do you think? 
Hair...


verses bare...


Leave your vote in the comments! 
xoxo

Words of Wisdom ... with Warren from Double Trouble

The week of debauchery continues with another man who claims to be quiet but I’ve read his book and in this case appearances are deceiving. Meet Warren from Double Trouble (book three in Melissa Blue’s Modern Fairy Tale Series).


First up, a warning from Melissa…
Author's Note: Warren has a fear of public speaking. I kept telling him what I need and he kept replying with, “You want me to do what?” He's quite stubborn when he wants to be. So, this is what I managed to get him to say. I apologize in advance.
Take it away Warren…
I'm the quiet guy. The guy who gets shelved into the nice guy category because he's not an outright douchebag. Yeah, men are notorious for not being big on talk in the first place, but I live in that quiet place so I hear all the words that aren't spoken. I'm also a writer. Words are my stock and trade so I should be a pro at conversation, communicating and the like. Unfortunately, I'm not and sometimes that means folks notice me and then there eyes sort of skip over to someone who is louder, more present.
But in the quiet you can hear a soft sigh, a moan filled with pleasure and agony and a shyly whispered demand of harder. And that's the thing. I don't have to talk at a woman to hear her tell me exactly what she wants. It's all in the slight rock of her hips, her fingernails digging into my back or doing something she may not even know she wants. You'd be surprised by the reaction one gets from a well-timed and well-place ass smack. And when I do talk it's to tell that woman how good she feels wet and tight around me.
I am by no stretch of the imagination an Alpha male. Not matter what anyone says. I know what I want. I learn what my woman wants. If she does what I ask it's not because I demanded her to.
So, like I said, I'm a quiet guy.
Author's Note: He has Alpha tendencies. Don't believe him. His story isn't out yet, but you can catch up on a Modern Fairy Tale series with the first two books.
Double Dare:

First impressions are lasting impressions...
Pastry baker Emmaline Sharp is one business  connection  away from  turning her bakery into something more  than the dessert shop on the corner. She believes she’s found Mr. Right in café owner Tobias Merchant. His Caff-aholic brand of freshly brewed coffee makes him the perfect partner. When she accepts a dare that thrusts her naked self into Tobias’ waiting arms, she jeopardizes her entire future. Emma will have to convince him to give her another chance, and somehow she'll just have to ignore the unexpected passion he ignites within her.

Tobias needs the connection with Emma’s bakery, Sweet Tooth, in order to liberate himself from the financial and emotional obligations of his past. Unfortunately, Emma's reckless behavior leaves him doubting she can be level-headed and business savvy. Every one of his instincts tells him to walk away, but she’s a temptation he can't seem to deny. He's inexplicably drawn to the lightness in her, especially when he knows just how dark the world can be. Against his better judgment, Tobias ignores his instincts and proceeds to form a partnership with Emma.
When their relationship shifts from business to personal,  will  Emma and Tobias  be able to conquer their  demons  and  find their sweet reward before the deal turns sour?
Twice Smitten:
Abigail Johnson would use three words to describe Drew Carter: lush, loafer and womanizer. When he struts into Adtivity, the advertisement company she works for, her world tilts on its head. He's been hired as a consultant to help her ad account team go to the next level. She’s suddenly faced with a man who is a consummate professional, considerate and kind. It’s must be a farce, because he’s there to decide the fate of her career. When things heat up between them, she refuses to let those brief glimpses convince her to entangle herself in a relationship with him. Her career and heart is on the line.

Drew Carter is fully aware of Abigail's trepidation. There's no denying he hasn’t always been the kind of man a woman should trust, but no one woman has ever made him want the way Abigail has. Her stubbornness, loyalty and honesty appeals to his secret wish—to be open, unguarded and challenged by a woman. Abigail fulfills this unspoken need and he refuses to let her walk out of his life without giving them a chance.

It doesn’t take long for Abigail to suspect Drew just might be the one—the one. But can she trust him with her heart? The more she lets doubt rule her it just might be Drew’s heart that ends up broken.
Links to where Double Dare andTwice Smitten can be purchased:
You can purchase Double Dare here:Amazon
B&N
Smashwords
All Romance eBooks
Kobo
You can purchase Twice Smitten here:Smashwords
ARe
Barnes and Noble
Amazon

Words of Widsom ... Captain Flint

Yesterday I had the lovely Incy Black sharing her wisdom on those love scenes, and it’s fantastic. I did wonder though, what about sex way back when it wasn’t as forward and out there as it is now. What was it like for a woman, or a man, who didn’t have sex slapped in their face whenever they walked down the street and saw a billboard, or flicked on the TV and saw an advertisement? Did they see it as a duty, a necessity to creating a child, or for the simple (albeit dangerous since there was no protection) pleasure of the act.
So today Shehanne Moore has been kind enough to lend me her Captain James Flint from The Unraveling of Lady Fury to shed some light on the matter. I do appreciate him popping over, but I’m going to keep it zipped because Fury scares me a little.  
Take it away Flint...
While I can’t tell you the nice change it is being asked along here today in place of my worst half Fury—it was bound to happen, that you’d prefer me eventually—first up I want to thank Aimee here for thinking of me.  And not just for the blog either.
But, being as I want her keeping that pretty little face of hers, I’m not going to say.  No, what I’m going to do, to try to anyway this being sex week here’n all, is to answer that age-old question... How to please a woman in bed?
See, this probably sounds easy for me, when you get described like as having hands of velvet and a body of silk. ‘He knew how to please and he enjoyed being pleased.’  And I suppose I really should have taken it as a compliment that I got all these rules slapped on me cos a certain someone didn’t want pleased. And I guess I am kind of naturally hot and horny. So I just bet you’re thinking all the dirty things I can get up to. And now I’m going to list fifteen of them.

Well I could. I could give you this tip and that little tip too. Sexy ways to move and all. Particular levels of lighting, aphrodisiac foods, how you should smell good too. Way I see it though is that you want to satisfy a woman in bed, you got to pamper her a little.  Even if it’s a quickie she has to know she’s so desirable, you just can’t help yourself. Okay, so that sounds little sexist. Maybe even a little selfish, which really, you want to know how to really satisfy a woman, you should never be. 
See, a woman is fundamentally different from a man that way. We can get aroused faster. In fact we can get aroused over damn near anything. So a woman needs to know from the outset, she’s not getting all lathered up for nothing.  This is going to be worth the ride, that she is going to be taken complete care of.  Nothing rushed. Nothing fumbled.  Just pure enjoyment for her.
Now, which of you sexy ladies out there is gonna disagree with that?
About the author:  Captain James Flint Blackmoore is the son of a midwife-whore from Savannah. Despite the fact he never had a father, bastard is not the word Lady Fury would use to describe him. Skunk neither.
He spent years sailing the Caribbean, where he was a much feared privateer who once offered the chance of walking the plank or getting into his bed, an action his creator, Shehanne Moore almost had trouble getting past the copy editors, although he did at least let Lady Fury eat supper first. .  As an indentured servant, Flint spent some time in Genoa, masquerading as his own cabin boy.  He loves boats, sailing, plundering, rum, callaloo and despite it all, a certain woman. He is the fictional creation of author Shehanne Moore.
Contact links https://shehannemoore.wordpress.com/ .wordpress.com/ http://furiousunravelings .wordpress.comhttps://twitter.com/ShehanneMoorehttps://pinterest.com/shehannehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaTv5I170o0 http://shehannemooreweebly com.weebly.com/books.htmlhttp://www.facebook.com/.../Shehanne-Moore/163736780417433
Rule One: There will be no kissing. Rule two: There will be no touching…
Widowed Lady Fury Shelton hasn’t lost everything—yet. As long as she produces the heir to the Beaumont dukedom, she just might be able to keep her position. And her secrets. But when the callously irresistible Captain James “Flint” Blackmoore sails back into her life, Lady Fury panics. She must find a way to protect herself—and her future—from the man she’d rather see rotting in hell than sleeping in her bed. If she must bed him to keep her secrets, so be it. But she doesn’t have to like it. A set of firm rules for the bedroom will ensure that nothing goes awry. Because above all else, she must stop herself from wanting the one thing that Flint can never give her. His heart.
Ex-privateer Flint Blackmoore has never been good at following the rules. Now, once again embroiled in a situation with the aptly named Lady Fury, he has no idea why he doesn’t simply do the wise thing and walk away. He knows he’s playing with fire, and that getting involved with her again is more dangerous than anything on the high seas. But he can’t understand why she’s so determined to hate him. He isn’t sure if the secret she keeps will make things harder—or easier—for him, but as the battle in the bedroom heats up, he knows at least one thing. Those silly rules of hers will have to go…
Buy links Amazon
Barnes and Noble
All Romance Ebooks

Words of Wisdom ... Incy Black.

Huge thanks to Incy for coming onto my blog today and chatting about those dreaded love scenes. Okay, I’m less embarrassed to write them now, but I hate to say not only is her advice hilarious, but very true and helpful too. Hence Wisdom.
For those of you who don’t know, Incy is a lovely lady who has contracted a few amazing books with Entangled. Can’t wait to read the finished versions. Her links are below and you must head over to her Pinterest page. It really is a work of art. (Yes, it has lots of hot men).
Take it away Incy…
Clinical Accuracy sucks. Euphemisms blow.


Did you know there are only 64 standard sex positions listed in the Kama Sutra but in reality, there are hundreds, many hundreds, more…and they have names? You’ve got the good old traditional Missionary position, the Cuban Cradle, the Butterfly, the Cowgirl, the Reverse Cowgirl, the Eiffel Tower (ouch), the Slider, the Bicycle, the Cat (seriously?), the Corkscrew, the Moon over Miami (that one has got to be a joke) to name but a few.   So, given a half decent eye for detail and a wide enough vocabulary, writing sex scenes must be easy, right?
Nope,  it’s a bloody minefield, fraught with all the prejudice and sanctimony to be found in a society where ‘to fuck’ means something exquisitely pleasurable whilst also being a curse/swear word of the strongest order, and where everyday words innocently referencing genitals are just as likely to be used to insult or describe disaster—you dick, what a cock-up.Furthermore, describing sex is not easy. The physical act itself is ugly. On a purely biological level, it involves sharing body fluids, (sweat, spit, semen, vaginal fluid)—yuk! Also, in reality, you’ve got random arms, legs, even noses to accommodate, weight to distribute if severe injury is to be avoided, and imaginative angles to contort because human bodies are not jigsaw pieces of an automatic, natural fit.  

So how do you write a half decent sex scene? Frankly, I haven’t got a clue, (thanks for the invite, Aimee), but here are a few Don’ts that might help.
1.       Don’t be too clinical. There is nothing sexy about the sentence: ‘He penetrated her vagina with his penis. Ejaculation followed.’ Your aim should be to engage. Cold commentary, however accurate, ain’t gonna do it.  Inject emotion!  Similarly, accuracy isn’t always to be applauded. Maybe he does slurp whilst lapping away with his tongue, but slurp is not a sexy word, nor is dribble.
2.      Avoid purple euphemisms. Frankly, I wouldn’t be turned on by the approach of ‘manmeat’, a ‘pulsing wand’ (however magical), a ‘hooded warrior’ or ‘rod of lightning’, I’d be bloody terrified! And it sure as hell wouldn’t be getting anywhere near my ‘love tunnel’, ‘secret lady garden’ or ‘pleasure folds’.  There would be no ‘ploughing’, ‘hoeing’ or gardening of any kind. And I have nipples that simple resemble nipples. Not cherries, not cherry pips, pink bullet tips or juicy pickled currants. Just nipples. We all know what they are, we all get the picture.
3.     Don’t sell falsehoods. Trust me, if you can wrap both hands round his ‘girth’ and your fingers still don’t meet, it’s not gonna fit. No way, not anywhere.  Also, and maybe I’m deficient here, but orgasms are not like spontaneous combustion, there’s no ‘poof and you’re there’. They have to be worked for, so include the reader in a little bit of foreplay.  Oh, and a current pet hate of mine: ‘He tore through her panties. With his teeth.’  Um, you ever tried gnawing through cotton/silk. It’s gotta take time and surely you’d have to grind those back teeth. Images like this can toss the reader out of the moment.
4.     Don’t provide clichéd, running dialogue. Frankly, if either party is sufficiently coherent to hold a half sensible conversation, they’re not doing it right. Furthermore, and I’ll take correction here if necessary, but I can’t see any man chanting chorus after chorus of ‘yeah, baby, suck it. Suck it harder. Deeper. Deeper. More. More. Yeah, baby, yeah baby, all the way down. Harder. Harder.’ My experience may be limited, but I just don’t believe men/woman talk like this. (I’ll have to ask around).
5.     Don’t skip the foreplay.  Use foreplay to tease the reader, your aim should be to arouse but don’t bang (pun intended) on and on and on…and on.  Personally, I think if you’re still mid-description without a finish in sight after 10 pages, there is every chance your reader is now running cold and yawning widely. Better to increase the number of sex scenes and spread them out, than bore the reader into impotency.
6.     Don’t traumatise your reader. If targeting YA and exploring young love avoid hard core sex.  If writing ‘sweet and tender’, shut the door. Avoid the gratuitous. A bad sex scene is not going to be saved by the strapping on of a plastic penis or sudden introduction of an extreme fetish. Shock is never a good tactic.
7.     Only use humour if you are very, very, very, very, very good at it and the timing is perfect.
So what does work? ·     Even sex scenes have a purpose. Reveal something about a character or the plot, the reader didn’t know before. Drive the story forward. Use sex to alter the relationship.
·        For every action, there should be a reaction. (He strokes, nibbles, licks etc, what’s her reaction?)
·         You’ve got 5+ senses to play with – use at least 3 of them. Touch and texture can be powerful, taste and smell keep it real, sex isn’t known to make one deaf.
·     Make each sex scene different. And I don’t just mean location (on/under the kitchen table, backseat of a car, in the shower) or position (on top, beneath, against the wall).  Explore a different emotion each time. There’s certainly a raft to choose from—resentful sex, tender sex, shy sex, hot furious sex, happy sex, sad sex. Repetition of the same old, same old, is as boring on the page as it is in real life. In fact, a sex scene without emotion is little more than porn! (Fine, if that’s what you write, but in a romance it’s all about the emotion.)
·     Despite what I said above, use dialogue. Just keep it real and in character.  A little encouragement can go a long way.
·       If you hit a brick wall and you can’t picture the scene, search for sensual images, we all need a little stimulation from time to time.  Google is the obvious choice, but Pinterest can provide a feast for the eyes across any number of subjects.
Finally, I’d like to ‘thank’ Aimee for inviting me to post on this oh-so-easy topic. Bottom line, power up the act (sex) with emotion and you can’t go too far wrong, (unless you slip into the purple, in which case, cut the scene all together. 
Thanks for stopping by, it has been very enlightening! :o)
You can find Incy here: website / blog / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest 

Once Upon a … Winner!

Huge thank you to everyone who voted for their favourite title on both our blogs! Lots of great suggestions, but there was only one title on my blog with the most votes and that was…
Drumroll please…
Reunited With Red!
And, as you all know, Michelle put all the entries into a hat and her kidlets got to pick a winner from each of our blogs. Little Zak picked my winner who is…
Desere Steenberg!
Congratulations Desere. I believe you now have the book. Enjoy.
And for everyone else, guess what? You don’t have that long to wait. Really. Once Upon a Twist will be live on Amazon on 3rd June. So, only a few weeks. We promise we will tease you plenty before then ;o)
Now pop over to Michelle’s blog here to see what her winning title is.
Reunited With Red
Many, many years later…
When Ruby visits her grandmother in the deep, dark forest, she stumbles into a nightmare. Her grandma’s been attacked by a wolf-like creature, and an ancient disease that turned people into monsters is back… and so is the cold-hearted ex she walked out on a year ago.
Now she has to either accept Jeremy’s help or face becoming a monster herself. Fighting alongside the man she once loved isn’t easy, especially when she discovers there’s more to Jeremy than the cheating bastard she took him for.
As they fight to survive the disease and save those they love, can they keep from falling for each other all over again?

xoxo

Her Knight in Black Leather

I’ve yet to have the pleasure of reading J.M Stewart’s Her Knight in Black Leather, but I can assure you, if it’s like her other stories you’re all in for a treat. Spicy, very emotional and I hear this one’s hot. Perfect weekend read, don’t you think? And the author has given me a never before seen excerpt (unless you've already read the book, that is!)

Cat Edwards has spent her life playing the wallflower in an effort to escape the repressive weight of her mother’s tarnished name. Dragged to a bar by her best friend in an effort to forget a broken heart, the shy bookworm is determined to be someone else for the night, but quickly gets in over her head. She discovers chivalry isn’t dead after all when a mysterious stranger comes to her rescue. He’s wearing black leather and a mischievous smile that promises to be exactly what she needs. When his terminally ill father suffers a setback, Michael Brant returns to the town he swore ten years ago he’d never return to. He’s come home this time determined to make peace with the past, but being home brings up memories he doesn’t want to remember anymore. His first night in town, he’s captured by a damsel in distress. Cat’s beauty is made all the more alluring when he realizes she has no idea who he is. He can’t resist spending a single night in her arms. With her, he’s only a man, disconnected from his family’s name and the past that haunts him here.  As the town erupts with the news of his return, Michael’s dark past comes back to haunt him, putting Cat in danger. Someone is threatening her life and the life of her family. Desperate to keep history from repeating itself, Michael offers her his family’s name in order to keep her safe. When the lie spirals beyond their control, can they stop their hearts from becoming entangled as well?
Never before seen excerpt:
Whatever happened between them left him caught. Kaylee’s death cut a hole in him he hadn’t patched. Ten years of trying to forget the unbearable guilt of his role in her death. He’d set boundaries on all of his relationships, liked them simple and uncomplicated. What he felt for Cat went beyond complex. He liked the idea of wrapping his life around her. To see what she clearly felt for him shining back at him in the depths of her eyes made the idea all the more tempting. The question was, did he even have the right to happiness when his selfish needs had gotten not one but three people killed?
He left Cat’s mouth to trail kisses down her long neck and across her shoulder, relishing the sweet, velvety feel of her skin. She clung to his shoulders like she needed him every bit as much as he needed her. He shut his mind off. He didn’t want to think anymore. He wanted to drink her in, lose himself in her.
He drew his lips up the side of her neck and scraped his teeth over her earlobe. “You know, nobody can see us back here.”
She pulled back, her heavy-lidded eyes searching his with uncertainty, unease. “Here?”
He drew her bottom lip in between his and sucked gently, lifted his hands and cupped her breasts in his palms, let his thumbs drag across the hardening tips. Her eyes fluttered closed, a soft moan escaping her as she dropped her head back.
“I need you.” He whispered against her skin as he bent his head to taste the exposed column of her throat. “Now.”
It was all the explanation he could muster. All he knew was he wanted her. Needed her. Needed to feel her body joined with his, to feel the intense connection between them. He wanted to lay claim to her body, her heart, her soul, and he wanted it with a fierceness that shook him. He needed to be a part of her, to take a part of her with him when he left.
Buy links:Amazon / Barnes and Noble / iTunes / Kobo / All Romance ebooks
About the author:
J.M. Stewart writes sweet and heartwarming contemporary romance with a touch of passion. She’s a wife, a mother, a spiritualist, and lover of puppies, and happily addicted to coffee and chocolate. She lives in the Great Rainy Northwest with her husband of sixteen years and their two sons. She’s a hopeless romantic who believe everybody should have their happily-ever-after and has been devouring romance novels for as long as she can remember. Writing them has become her passion.
Where you can find me on the web:
Website / Blog / Twitter / Facebook

New Release! Your Room or Mine? by Charlotte Phillips

Charlotte is one of HarperImpulse’s first authors and her book, Your Room or Mine? is out today! Here’s a little more about it. . .
1 cheating ex, 3 bottles of white wine, an emergency pep talk from the girls… and this seemed like a good idea at the time:
Izzy Shaw’s Getting-Over-Him Action List
1. eBay his entire collection of football memorabilia and spend all profits on treating myself to fabulous new wardrobe.
2. Turn plans for ‘Loved-Up Mini-Break’ at exclusive boutique hotel into a weekend of spa pampering, me-time and shopping at Harvey Nics.
3. Don’t get even, get even better. Have one night stand with drop-dead gorgeous stranger – Mr Tall, Dark & Handsome in the hotel lobby is just what I need!
Your room or mine? Go on Izzy…
You can buy Your Room or Mine? at the following retailers:
Amazon: iBooks:  
Read the first chapter here: http://issuu.com/harperfiction/docs/your_room_or_mine

For an excerpt visit HarperImpulse's Facebook page by clicking here.
Author links:Twitter: @charlieflipsFacebook: www.facebook.com/charlotte.phillips.39589Website: www.charlottephillipsbooks.com

New release - Waking up in Vegas by Romy Summer

Today is a busy day on the blog. I've nabbed HarperImpulse's first two authors to find out a little more about their books. First up, I have the lovely Romy Sommer chatting about her book, Waking up in Vegas. Take it away Romy...
It’s a well known fact that Germanic heroes don’t sell. I was told this often when I first started writing. Italian, Spanish, Greek, with the occasional Australian thrown in – those were the books that sold.
I’m not good at following rules, and so I wrote a Germanic hero.
From the beginning I knew Max was going to be different in more than just his background. No brooding, tortured hero this. Max is cheeky, irreverent and good-humoured – and unlike the vast majority of heroes, he believes in fairy tales, true love and destiny.
There was one picture of the late Heath Ledger that stuck with me as I wrote Waking up in Vegas, and since a picture really can say a thousand words, I’ll keep this blog post short and let the picture say it all.
I’d like to introduce you to Max von Waldburg...
I'm sold already
Please help me prove the rulebook wrong and show your support for my Germanic hero by downloading Waking up in Vegas. Better yet, read the book and tell me what you think of Max.
What happens in Vegas…Waking up to the bright lights of Vegas in an unfamiliar penthouse suite, cocktail waitress Phoenix Montgomery finds she’s covered from head to foot in gold glitter and not alone – aside from the empty bottle of champagne, there’s a mystery man in the shower and a huge sparkly ring on her finger!
Stays in Vegas?There’s no denying Max Waldburg’s demi-god sex appeal but commitment-phobic Phoenix doesn’t do relationships. Only it seems her new husband (agh!) has other ideas…he’s trying to keep that ring on her finger and his wife firmly back in his bed. The only question on her lips is – why? Or maybe, why not?


Waking up in Vegas is available NOW from the following eBook stores:Amazon: Amazon UK: Barnes & Noble: All Romance eBooks: 
For an excerpt visit HarperImpulse's Facebook page by clicking here. 
Pop by later to find out more about Charlotte Phillips' book, Your Room or Mine? 
xoxo

Southern Embrace by Tamaria Soana

I have Tamaria Soana on my blog today chatting about her new release. Take it away Tamaria...

Hello, and thank you for stopping by. I’m Tamaria Soana a contemporary romance author. My stories tend to be on the steamy side and always end with a happily ever after.
Southern Embrace my newest release was a very different story line for me to tackle. The story opens with Savannah my heroine trying to pick up the pieces of the broken heart her high school sweetheart Lance left her with when his family moves away the summer after graduation and he cuts her out of his life.
With some prompting for her best friend Nikki, Van (Savannah) goes out with the girls to a club and meets the handsome older Stephan. He sweeps her off her feet and she begins to heal. The stories over and they live happily ever after right? WRONG. The story is just beginning. In chapter 1 we learn that Stephan was killed in a car accident (I hated doing that). Savannah is twenty-three and the grief consumes her. Nikki her best friends steps in once again and arranges for Lance to run into her at the mall. Will Savannah give Lance a chance to explain and let him back into her life?
Southern Embrace is an emotional story about overcoming grief, forgiveness, and second chances.I hope you’ll fall in love with Savannah and Lance as much as I have. Southern Embrace is from Savannah’s POV. I’m currently writing Southern Desire, the story from Lance’s POV. Southern EmbraceCan a long lost love mend a grieving heart?
Widowed at twenty-three, Savannah Grant is devastated and consumed with grief, a grief that she can't seem to move past. When her high school sweetheart, Lance Peterson, re-enters her life, Savannah struggles with the feeling that she would be betraying her deceased husband by moving on. Plus, she can't forget the way Lance broke her heart all those years ago.
Lance never stopped loving Savannah. He wants a second chance, and he's willing to do anything it takes to convince her to give him one. Will she give in and let Lance love her, showing her a passion beyond anything she thought possible?


Content Warning: adult language, explicit sexual situations, anal play
  Excerpt:
It was a beautiful Friday afternoon. Van grabbed her purse and headed out to the mall. Nikki's shower was the following weekend, and Nikki had been on her to get a new dress for days, threatening to drag her shopping kicking and screaming if she didn't go herself.
Once at the mall, Van picked up some last minute gifts for Nikki. After trying on a few dresses, she found a knee-length, strapless coral dress. She purchased it and was off in search of a pair of shoes. When she found the perfect pair of coral and silver heels, Van concluded the trip to the mall a complete success.
Her cellphone rang as she was leaving the shoe store. She dug around in her bag to find it. With her head down and her steps brisk, she ran right into someone.
"I'm so sorry. I'm such a klutz," she said as she looked up into the brown eyes of her first love. She gasped and took a step back, surveying him. His light brown hair was a little shorter and he was built like a man now, not the boy she used to know. She stood frozen in place, staring at him. This can't be happening. A tidal wave of emotions rushed through her at once. Anger, resentment, hatred, but mainly pain…so much pain.
"Van."
"Lance? Oh my God!" She took another step back. "How?"
"I-I talked to Nikki. She told me you would be here. I needed to see you. When I heard what happened…" He paused. "I knew I couldn't stay away any longer. I'm so sorry."
The more he talked, the more Van's anger flared. Who does he think he is? He left me! Turned his back on me when he cut all ties!
"What exactly are you sorry for, Lance? That my husband died or that you broke my heart all those years ago?" The words she spoke were full of acid. "You have a lot of nerve just showing up here like nothing ever happened. Go away." She turned to leave.
"Please, Van, just talk to me. Give me a chance to explain," he begged as he reached for her hand.
"Don't you dare touch me," she said through gritted teeth, yanking her hand away. "What do you want from me?" She stared at him while plotting all the ways she was going to torture Nikki for her betrayal.
She seethed as he looked around. "Calm down, Van. People are starting to stare. Please, can we go somewhere more private and talk? There is so much I need to tell you."
"What could you possibly have to say to me that would make up for what you did? I mean, I know you had to move, but you cut all ties with me. Like the three years we spent together meant nothing to you, like I meant nothing to you. Damn you, Lance, you didn't even try to make it work."
"Please, Savannah. Give me a chance to explain."
"Give me one reason why I should."
"Because I still love you. I. Never. Stopped. I cut all ties with you because I had to. Long distance relationships never work out. I was afraid you would wake up one day and resent me. Being apart from you was killing me. I thought this way we would both be able to move on. But I was wrong, I never was able to move on. I let the love I have for you consume me. I wanted to come back sooner, but then I heard you'd gotten married. When I found out what had happened, I wanted to rush here and be by your side, but I figured you would need some time."
His words shocked and confused her. After she took a few moments to process everything, she shook her head. "I can't do this." She turned and walked away, then stopped. "Go back to wherever it was you came from and leave me alone."
"I won't give up on you. I won't stop trying, and I most definitely won't ever leave you again."
"Just go away, Lance. You're good at that," she snarled before she walked away. She didn't dare turn around because looking at him as he begged her to give him a chance to explain would certainly weaken her. Van needed to focus on how she was going to kill her so-called best friend.

Buy links:   Beachwalk  Press         Barnes & Noble        Amazon

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About the Author:
Tamaria Soana is middle aged, but just feels her life has begun. She writes sexy contemporary romance stories that always end with a ‘happily ever after’. Growing up she loved to read and make up new places in her head to escape to. In her late teens she began writing short stories and poetry; it wasn’t until her late thirties before she began to spin a full story.

She’s married and a stay-at-home-mom of two beautiful young girls, they reside in Western New York. Cuddling up with a good book under an electric throw is her way to escape the cold Buffalo nights. 

Besides writing, she co-owns Shades of Rose Marketing and hosts a talk show on Talkshoe called Live with Tamaria ~ Giving authors a voice.
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