Eden Summers's Blog, page 5

Blind Attraction Release Day - Two words will never be enough

Wow. I was just counting back and it was only five months, to the day, that I started writing Blind Attraction. Holy crap.

The men of Reckless Beat feel like they've been a part of my life for so much longer. They are constantly in my mind and yes, that may have something to do with all their yumminess. But I can't remember what it was like to have a brain that wasn't constantly focused on their channel.

But I'm not here to talk about Reckless Beat today. Well, not directly, anyway. Right now I want to spend some time thanking all those who helped to make Blind Attraction a reality.

Two words - thank you - will never, ever, be enough to express how I feel toward the people who have supported me through the start of my first series.

First, and most importantly, I need to thank my husband. This man  means everything to me. He is the reason for all the happiness in my life. Everything. He's given me a family to love, a life to cherish and the freedom to allow me to achieve my goals. His motto for me is "I have faith in you. You can do it." And although at times I think he's just saying it to stop my whinging, I absolutely adore this man to death.

Rachel Firasek, my editor and comma whore. O.o Yep, I just called my editor a whore. I seriously hope our relationship is as strong as I think it is, otherwise I might be in need of a new editor ;)
Rachel's talent has been a huge inspiration throughout my entire writing career. She helped me get my first contract and has never, not even once, lost faith in my voice as an author. She is the reason I have four stories now published - in less than a year, and all the while she has been kicking cancers ass. How is that for Wonder-woman?

The thing that amazes me the most in my writing world, is the support. From everywhere. My four and six year old sons cheer me on. My dad, who isn't the most social person, rings me to congratulate me on a new contract. My mother, Queen of the pimp squad, gives out my cards to random strangers while we're out for dinner. She places my business cards in staff pigeon holes, even though she knows I write steamy romance. I'm almost positive that everyone in her life knows that her daughter is an author. Even when I told her that my publisher wanted me to make one of my stories most steamy, she was there to back me up. I guess it goes to show where I get my dirty mind from.

Then the online community. I have a group of awesome ladies who I call my pimp squad...I realised, a little too late, that the name meant that I was the whore :P In a few words, they are simply awesome. With little, to no reward, they use their own time to spread the word about my books. They are supportive, helpful and simply a group of women that I am extremely thankful to have in my life.

Gosh, there are way too many people to thank. There are the members of RWA Australia. My critique group who listen to me whinge about my writing slumps and read my work without rolling their eyes (I hope). Bianca Sarble, Hazel Gower and Tamara Gill who were the first ladies to read Blind Attraction and gave me such great feedback that I was pumped to get my baby out in the world.

My girls at Riverina Romantics. My proofreaders Tina, Delilah and Kaylyn - their cat fight over Blake brought me to the point of tears in happiness. Megan at Swagmaster Designs who goes out of her way to design swag for me that is absolutely gorgeous.

My cover artist and band go-to guy. Willsin Rowe, you rock \m/

My awesome sister in law, Sheryl, quite simply because her support is awesome.

My cousin Belinda who doesn't even read romance but goes out of her way to tell people about my work!

There is also a woman, who will remain nameless, whose husband is a real life, famous, rock star. Having her willing and able to answer my questions even though I didn't ask many, was great back up.

Author, blogger, and reader friends who comment, like and share my posts. It may not seem like much but seeing all those likes and shares really does mean a lot to me. It only takes one click, but damn, I really, really appreciate it.
Special mention to Kristy from Book Addict Mumma who has spent so much time designing things and helping to promote me.

The support people have provided me through this process has been unimaginable. In a world with so much hate, violence and destruction, I'm surrounded by a hoard of angels.

Two words will never be enough, but please know that everything you have ever done for me has never gone unnoticed or unappreciated.

I love you all.

Thank you for sharing this awesome ride with me. Now lets ROCK!!

Eden xoxo

Blind Attraction Cover Reveal

*Heaves a heavy sigh*

Do you know how long I've been hiding this pretty baby away from public eyes???

So. Damn. Long.

Isn't it gorgeous?

Blind Attraction is the first novel in my contemporary rock star series. And didn't my cover artist do the bestest job eva? Willsin Rowe (look his awesomeness up on Facebook) took my vision and made it into a reality.

The two smexy people at the top of all this prettiness is Alana Shelton and Mitchell Davies - lead guitarist of Reckless Beat.

Wanna read the blurb?? Do ya wanna? Do ya wanna?


Book Blurb

He can seduce with a single glance.

Peering down at a sea of fans, rock star, Mitchell Davies can’t deny the innocent beauty of a woman in the front row. He’ll stop at nothing to get to know her. When a public altercation leaves her weak and defenseless, he takes the opportunity to be her savior.

She’s been sheltered from the world.

Alana Shelton wants to spread her wings and experience life away from her restrictive upbringing. But she isn’t prepared for a gorgeous stranger to sweep her off her feet while at her most vulnerable.

Attraction will bring them together, but their pasts will try to tear them apart.

He wants to teach her how to trust, but she’ll show him how to love. In a glamorous world of rock-and-roll, only time will tell if they’re up for the challenge.

Goodreads link

Because I'm so super-dooper excited about the release on the 28th of May, I'm doing a little giveaway.
Up for grabs is a beaded purse charm by Swagmaster Designs and 3 ARC ebook copies of Blind Attraction.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Magic Touch Hop - Camping is awesome...in the most sarcastic way.

This Hop is hosted by the writer-liscious author Kallysten and the book blog I run with my girls over at blog Riverina Romantics. In addition to individual prizes provided on each blog, we are offering assorted swag to the first 100 participants who simply tell us they want some! See all details and sign up here.

Today I'm meant to be celebrating the Magic Touch Hop and pimping out my books. I don't think that is gunna happen.

I've just come home after enduring our first family camping trip.

"We should go camping," my husband said. "It will be fun," he said. "The kids will love it," he said.

Who the hell wants to take a four and a six year old camping? My husband apparently. Oh, and we have to take the dogs too. Yes, because that wouldn't be more annoying.

At the moment I'm trying to type while I crush coffee into a snortable texture just to get through the next few minutes.

I'm going to make this short and sweet. I won't go into detail about how my six year old was tackled into a pile of dog crap, that I then had to clean off his skin and clothes. I won't explain how the wind chill factor was minus five-f*cking-thousand degrees, or that I nearly went para-sailing while trying to set up the tent. I also won't mention that we spent most of the time inside my father-in-laws farm house because it was so cold. The only part I will concentrate on is the time from when we entered the tent to go to sleep, till the moment I exited the tent the following morning.

We ended up going to bed really early, around 8pm. Both children were stuffed from spending most of the day running around on the farm. We gave them torches, let them listen to the noises outside, talked a little, went to the toilet twice, had to get back up to get tissues, etc etc for another hour.

Then the fun began. I laid there, listening to the peaceful silence, squished between my kids because I had to separate them for annoying each other. I watched as my four year old cherub fell asleep, his eyes blinking slowly until they closed for the last time. He laid there with the cutest smile on his face and I couldn't help smile in return and watch for a little longer. What I didn't realise was that he was probably smiling cause he knew what was in store for the next nine hours. All of us were packed into a tiny three person tent after all.

Then silence.

Now, for some background information. My husband is the type of guy who needs to experience something to learn from it. So me telling him that taking the dogs will be a HUGE pain in the ass and that they will be up barking all night, didn't sink in, AT ALL. I've stopped trying to tell him I'm the master of the universe and know all the answers. He simply doesn't listen. So when HIS dog yapped beside the tent, I kinda smiled a little. Minutes passed. More silence. Then YAP, YAP, YAP. My face had the biggest damn grin you've ever seen. Told you so. I didn't put voice to the scream in my head though.

"Shadow, shut up!" My husband tries to yell in a whisper.

A yap every now and again isn't so bag, right? Well picture this in a one hour period. His dog yaps. My dog finds a bone and starts chewing loudly beside the tent. My youngest starts doing the YMCA in his sleep and I have to cover my face to protect my nose. My eldest starts wriggling and kneeing me in the ass. My husband starts snoring. His dog yaps. Husband yells. Etc, etc.
Then my eldest must have started to get the sniffles. Instead of blowing his nose like someone with manners, he has the habit of snorting them back down his throat. It's a delightful trait he learned from listening to his father do it. So every fucking minute he is snorting his boogers, right near my ear.

This enjoyable cycle continued ALL NIGHT.

I even tried to communicate to my husband how fulfilling the hours on non-existent sleep had been by using sign language. I don't know sign language, but the one-fingered gesture seemed to get my point across when he'd yelled at his dog for the fifty-sixth time.

My husbands dog continued to yap and have bursts of rapid barking. And I couldn't help it. I'm a typical female, when I've told my husband that taking the dogs is going to be a bad idea, and it comes to fruition, I can't help but find the humour. Add to that, I never wanted to go camping. I know my kids. I know their sleeping habits. I KNEW they wouldn't sleep.

So with the snorting, the snoring, the yapping, the YMCA, the kneeing in the ass, and then finally my sister-in-law getting up from her own tent in the early morning and growling at the dogs, "Where the hell do you keep getting these bones from," I simply couldn't help myself. I started laughing. Hysterically.
I laughed till my stomach hurt. I laughed as tears ran down my face. I laughed as my eldest son continued to snort boogers and my youngest continued to throw his arms around in his sleep, causing me to protect my face.

Did I end up sleeping at all? Why yes, I think I must have had around thirty minutes. I know this because my brother-in-law rode passed the tent on a horse, on his way to play polo. I'm pretty sure that didn't happen in real life, so I must have had dream time somewhere.

Then the sun started to rise and my youngest decided it was time to get up.

CAMPING IS AWESOME!

And because my husband and I have such a great relationship, I didn't even have to say those four beautiful words - I told you so. As soon as he got up and made eye contact, he smiled and said, "I know, I know."

Now onto the self-pimping.

Buy my books...No, seriously. Go do it. I need money for more coffee. Oh, and please follow my Facebook page. I'm releasing the first sexy contemporary novel (Blind Attraction) in my rock star series  in June and hope you will all check it out.

That is all.

Today I'm giving away two prizes to one lucky winner. First is a Concealed Desire beaded purse charm designed by Swagmaster Designs and valued at $10.

To go along with this beautiful gift I will also gift the winner an ecopy of Sneaking a Peek.

All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blind Attraction book tour is coming...

Here I am again...booking up a heap of promo to celebrate the upcoming release of Blind Attraction.

I can't wait. This is the first novel in my contemporary rock star series and I'm so damn excited.

The 6th-12th of May will be the HUGE cover reveal. I'm organizing a heap of bloggers to promote the oh, so pretty cover and will have a giveaway as well, so make sure you keep an eye out.

The 4th of June is when the fun escalates. Blind Attraction will be released and the book tour starts. At the moment I am still booking dates, but this is what it looks like so far. Loads of great blogs and more prizes to be shared.

If you are a book blogger and have space between the 6th-12th of May for the cover reveal or in late June for the book tour, please let me know.

Book Tour Stops

4th June -     Book Addicted Mumma
                   Bianca Sarble Author Blog
5th June -     Ms Romantic Reads
6th June -     Smexy Books
7th June -     Novel Reflections
8th June -     Reading Between the Wines
9th June -     Book Savvy Babe
10th June -    Fictional Candy
11th June -    Riverina Romantics
12th June -    Hesperia Loves Books
13th June -    Herding Cats & Burning Soup
14th June -    Hotter Than Hades
15th June
16th June
17th June
18th June
19th June -    Book Lovin Mamas
20th June
21st June
22nd June
23rd June
24th June
25th June
26th June
27th June
28th June
29th June
30th June

March Madness Hop

Well I'm a little different from the other authors in this hop. I live in Australia, so we don't follow the basketball playoffs...HOWEVER, I lost my husband a few weeks ago. Sadly he is no longer in the land of fatherhood, or marriage. He is in his happy little land of the Australian Football League (AFL).

He's been obsessed with the sport since he was a child. Not only did he count down the days to the start of the pre-season games, but he had our 6 year old doing the same.

I can't complain though. His dedication to reading and watching EVERYTHING AFL means I get to write without interruption almost every night of the week.

For those of you who aren't familiar with AFL, here are some highlights.
Now onto the FUN part!!

My recent release CONCEALED DESIRE is a contemporary romance set in Melbourne, Australia.

I thought I'd give you a quick introduction to the story then give you the opportunity to win some prizes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A love that breaks all the rules…

Since her first day at work, Beth Graison has been in love with Dean Sutherland—the “Son” in Sutherland & Son. Although he’s an unrepentant player, there’s an unmistakable connection between them, and she knows he feels it too. But she’s not about to risk her career for any man, especially one with an office right down the hall whom she works with every day.

Dean Sutherland doesn’t do love, but he does do women. And he hasn’t felt more than sexual attraction for any woman until Beth. Entirely feminine, smart, and with a natural beauty beyond compare, she makes him think about all kinds of uncomfortable things—like a future and happiness—things he knows from experience are pure fiction.

When his father, the “Sutherland” in Sutherland & Son, propositions Beth to be more than just an employee, Dean can’t keep her at arm’s length any longer. But he doesn’t expect the scorching kiss they share, or the idea that forms when he holds her in his arms. Can he stop his father’s manipulating game by making the first move on Beth? Or will his reputation as a womanizer make him just one more Sutherland she wants to ignore?

Chapter 3  
    Beth shamelessly stared at Dean the entire trip home. She memorized the way taut muscles ticked across his jaw, how his strong, tanned hands gripped the steering wheel, the deep breaths expanding his broad chest, and the major tent action in his pants. His tentage was damn impressive. The elevation alone could shelter a family of five.
    She continued to stare, imagining the size, the taste, the texture… She needed to retrieve her mind from the gutter before she started to drool. Oral sex had never been her forte. Right now, though, the desire to take him in her mouth, to lick and suck and savor until he climaxed down the back of her throat made her core clench. She needed to regroup; she wasn’t that drunk.
    “What number is it?”
    Beth looked up from his crotch and came into immediate eye contact with a frowning, jaw-clenching Dean. 
Busted. Her mouth dried as his eyes narrowed, piercing her with disapproval. She glanced away, occupying herself by trying to find her keys in the bottom of her handbag. The hypocritical action hadn’t been lost on her either. At least she felt remorse, unlike the bartender… Well, OK, she wasn’t entirely remorseful, but she never claimed to be a saint.
    “Are we here already?” Her voice was too chipper as she searched her bag, pretending she hadn’t been caught visually violating him.
    “Yes.” The word contained an aggressive undertone. She wasn’t sure if he was hostile over having to drive her home or because of the eye molesting.

I'm giving away two of the pictured prize packs below which include an ecopy of my first solo release Sneaking a Peek as well as some swag and a beaded phone charm or keychain.

a Rafflecopter giveaway MAJOR PRIZE

If you haven't already entered the HUGE March madness giveaway please make sure you do. There are awesome prizes to be one and many more other authors with fabulous prizes up for grabs.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh so sexy!!

There has always been one scene in Concealed Desire that received the most encouraging feedback. From the first draft people were in love with the intimate shower scene between Beth and Dean.

I can't lie, the scene has always been my favorite too. So when it came to promo I decided to get an image made.

What do you think??

I haven't finalized what I'm going to do with it promotion wise, but I do know that this image will be reserved exclusively for people who have read and loved Concealed Desire.

I already have postcards and magnets. I'm pretty sure there will also be some groovy phone charms and key chains too.

So tell me what you think? If you've read Concealed Desire, is this what you pictured in your mind?

Concealed Desire book tour

I received the cover draft for Concealed Desire today *squee*. Things are coming around fast and my tour is almost finalised. Make sure you stop by in February and follow along to win some great prizes.

While you are waiting you should add it to your tbr *wink wink* Click here for the Goodreads link

This is where I'll be heading:

1st Feb - Riverina Romantics

4th Feb - The Book Pushers
5th Feb - Smexy Books
6th Feb - Hesperia Loves Books
7th Feb - DemonLover's Books
8th Feb - Novel Reflections

11th Feb - Smitten With Bad Boys
12th Feb - The Jeep Diva
13th Feb - Book Sniffers Anonymous
14th Feb - Sugar and Spice Reviews
15th Feb - The Reading Cafe

16th Feb - Book Lovin Mamas

18th Feb - Insightful Minds Reviews
19th Feb - Simply Ali
20th Feb - Herding Cats & Burning Soup
21st Feb - Reading Between the Wines
22nd Feb - Romancing the Book

25th Feb - Cocktails and Books
26th Feb - finalising details
27th Feb - Fictional Candy
28th Feb - finalising details

Sneaking a Peek Book Tour Winners

What a ride!! 

My first online book tour and it was awesome.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the bloggers who hosted me and to those who followed the tour, pimped out Sneaking a Peek and entered the giveaway.


Now that I'm back home from vacation I've had a chance to finalise and email all the winners. And for those of you who are curious to know who the lucky people were you can find the information on the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Opposites Really Do Attract

It's true what they say - opposites do attract.

There's Ying and Yang, Beauty and the Beast...Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. The list goes on.

But my husband and I are another example.

Hubby loves to exercise. He runs to and from work, goes swimming and does all that sweaty sexy stuff on a regular basis...Today I bought five blocks of chocolate and plan to stash them in secret places around the house so nobody else can find them.

Hubby buys chicken breasts so he can grill them for lunch and put them on a salad roll...I only eat if I'm not too lazy to get off my butt and when I do it's something quick like a sandwich, or a plain piece of bread.

Hubby won't drink coffee - I can't live without it.

I'm a clean freak - hubby is not.

My husband needs fifteen hours sleep a night to be able to function - I don't.

Over time we've started to mesh into one another. He's mellowed me out (a little). I've shown him that the sports section isn't the only part in the newspaper - although I don't believe he has ever read the news. He now notices when the house is a complete mess and doesn't spend every single dollar he owns.

I've never hidden the feelings I have for my husband. He is my rock and I think one of the main reasons why we get along so well is because of the growth we've experienced as a couple. The initial years were tough - when we were both trying to get grounding and make things work in our own ways, but now...now we are truly awesome.

And yep, I have absolutely no clue why I wrote this post. I think I just wanted to hear myself speak.

That is all.

The Passing of a Truly Great Man

Sometimes bad things happen.
Sometimes bad things happen to good people.

I was told today that my local vet passed away on Monday. I couldn't tell you his last name. I couldn't tell you where he lived. I can't even tell you about his family. All I know is that his name was Jim and he was a truly great man.

Last year we had to make the devastating decision to put down our beautiful baby girl, Nicki. She was the best dog you could ever ask for and putting her down was hard. Damn hard. But Jim was there with us the whole way.

He made us feel comfortable with the decision. He recognized how hard it was for us and he never wavered in his support.

Before giving Nicki the final injection he was with us. He talked us through what would happen to her body and he held her paw and stroked her fur just like we did. He stayed until she lay their, quiet and at peace, then let us say goodbye before he came back and wrapped her body so we could bury her.

Jim had a big heart for animals. My husband and I were so grateful for the respect he gave us during the awful days leading to Nicki's death. And even when it came time to get a new puppy he was so kind to us.
I called him in a panic on Christmas Eve. Our pup (Shadow) had just been attacked by another dog and her eye was hanging out of the socket - the poor thing screaming for her life. He was away on vacation and couldn't help so we went to another vet who charged us over $900 to fix her. Something Jim would have never done. He never seemed to care about the bottom line.

When Jim came back to work he took over the care of  our pup, barely charging us the cost of the medication he was prescribing, not even charging a consultation fee.

...Ok, I can't write anymore...

I just felt I needed to share how great this man was. In the limited time we spent together I know that his passing will be a huge loss to the community. I hope he is in a better place, maybe looking after out Nicki once again.