Dani Collins's Blog, page 41
August 13, 2016
#SampleSunday - The Secret Beneath The Veil (2)
Hold your breath! Chapter Two of The Secret Beneath The Veil is a doozy!
Available now on Mills & Boon!
Amazon: US | CA | UK | Aus | Nook | Kobo | iBooks | GooglePlay
Sample Sunday
Fun fact: I was going through some scraps of paper on my desk, clearing away little messes to make room to tackle bigger ones, when I saw that the working title for this book was 'Runaway Bride.' I had completely forgotten that.
If you saw last week's post, you'll know why I called it that. It becomes even more appropriate in Chapter Two. There's a sneak peek below.
Did you miss last week's post? Read Chapter One Here.
~ * ~
VIVEKA RAN EVERY day. She was fit and adrenaline pulsed through her arteries, giving her the ability to move fast and light as she fled Grigor and his fury.
The dress and the heels and the spaces between planks and the floating wharf were another story. Bloody hell.
She made it down the swaying ramp in one piece, thanks to the rails on either side, but then she was racing down the unsteady platform between the slips, scanning for the flag of her vessel—
The train of her dress caught. She didn’t even see on what. She was yanked back and that was all it took for her to lose her footing completely. Stupid heels.
She turned her ankle, stumbled, tried to catch herself, hooked her toe in a pile of coiled rope, and threw out an arm to snatch at the rail of the yacht in the slip beside her.
She missed, only crashing into the side of the boat with her shoulder. The impact made her, “Oof!” Her grasp was too little, too late. She slid sideways and would have screamed, but had the sense to suck in a big breath before she fell.
Cold, murky salt water closed over her.
Don’t panic, she told herself, splaying out her limbs and only getting tangled in her dress and veil.
Mom. This was what it must have been like for her on that night far from shore, suddenly finding herself under cold, swirling water, tangled in an evening dress.
Don’t panic.
Viveka’s eyes stung as she tried to shift the veil enough to see which way the bubbles were going. Her dress hadn’t stayed caught. It had come all the way in with her and floated all around her, obscuring her vision, growing heavier. The chill of the water penetrated to her skin. The weight of the dress dragged her down.
She kicked, but the layers of the gown were in the way. Her spiked heels caught in the fabric. This was futile. She was going to drown within swimming distance to shore. Grigor would stand above her and applaud.
The back of her hand scraped barnacles and her foot touched something. The seabed? Her hand burned where she’d scuffed it, but that told her there was a pillar somewhere here. She tried to scrabble her grip against it, desperately thinking she had never held her breath this long and couldn’t hold it any longer.
Don’t panic.
She clawed at her veil with her other hand, tried to pull it off her hair. She would never get all these buttons open and the dress off in time to kick herself to the surface—
Don’t panic!
The compulsion to gasp for air was growing unstoppable.
A hand grabbed her forearm and tugged her.
Yes, please. Oh, God, please!
Viveka blew out what little air she still had, fighting not to inhale, fighting to kick and help bring herself to the blur of light above her, fighting to reach it…
As she broke through, she gasped in a lungful of life-giving oxygen, panting with exertion, thrusting back her veil to stare at her rescuer.
Mikolas.
He looked murderous.
~ * ~
Did you hold your breath the whole time? I did when I wrote it.
Amazon: US | CA | UK | Aus | Nook | Kobo | iBooks | GooglePlay
Goodreads Giveaway
This Goodreads Giveaway for The Secret Beneath The Veil is still open. Enter before Aug 22. Good luck!
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Secret Beneath the Veil
by Dani Collins
Giveaway ends August 22, 2016.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway
Other News
I recently sent a cover reveal in my newsletter for my Christmas book, along with a peek at Chapter one. I'm working on getting that posted here, but if you like to get these things sooner, please join my reader group.
Also, I gave Hustled To The Altar a new cover and you can now read all of it on Wattpad.
~ * ~
Off to tackle some revisions. Hope you're having a great weekend!
Hugs,
August 7, 2016
#SampleSunday - The Secret Beneath The Veil
For once I'm actually doing a #SampleSunday on a Sunday, mostly because my blog was down all day yesterday. Not sure what happened, but I'm back now so let's get on with it! This is from my upcoming September release, The Secret Beneath The Veil. Available now on Mills & Boon!
Amazon: US | CA | UK | Aus | Nook | Kobo | iBooks | GooglePlay
Blurb - The Secret Beneath The Veil:
“You may kiss the bride”
With five little words, Mikolas Petrides secures a vital business merger, and finally repays his grandfather for rescuing him from the horrors of his childhood. But when he lifts his new bride’s veil, it’s not the woman he is expecting!
Viveka Brice will do anything to protect her little sister, even pretend to marry a stranger. Her deception revealed, she flees the wedding, but is soon confronted by Mikolas. He is a man who always get what he wants, and if the marriage is off, Viveka will have to compensate him – by becoming his mistress!
~ * ~
If you belong to my newsletter, you will have seen this ages ago. (Feel free to subscribe now for other sneak peeks and your free download of Cruel Summer!)
If you're just stopping by on a whim, welcome! Please enjoy the first chapter of The Secret Beneath The Veil. I'll have a few more excerpts over the next few weeks and please read all the way to the bottom for a chance to enter my Goodreads giveaway. There are three signed copies of this book up for grabs.
SampleSunday
Fun Fact: I keep referring to it as The Secret Under The Veil. Shhh.
CHAPTER ONE
THE AFTERNOON SUN came straight through the windows, blinding Viveka Brice as she walked down the makeshift aisle of the wedding she was preventing—not that anyone knew that yet.
The interior of the yacht club, situated on this remote yet exclusive island in the Aegean, was all marble and brass, adding more bounces of white light. Coupled with the layers of her veil, she could hardly see and had to reluctantly cling to the arm of her reviled stepfather.
He probably couldn’t see any better than she could. Otherwise he would have called her out for ruining his plan. He certainly hadn’t noticed she wasn’t Trina.
She was getting away with hiding the fact her sister had left the building. It made her stomach both churn with nerves and flutter with excitement.
She squinted, trying to focus past the standing guests and the wedding party arranged before the robed minister. She deliberately avoided looking at the tall, imposing form of the unsuspecting groom, staring instead through the windows and the forest of masts bobbing on the water. Her sister was safe from this forced marriage to a stranger, she reminded herself, trying to calm her racing heart.
Forty minutes ago, Trina had let her father into the room where she was dressing. She’d still been wearing this gown, but hadn’t yet put on the veil. She had promised Grigor she would be ready on time while Viveka had kept well out of sight. Grigor didn’t even know Viveka was back on the island.
The moment he’d left the room, Viveka had helped Trina out of the gown and Trina had helped her into it. They had hugged hard then Trina had disappeared down a service elevator and onto the seaplane her true love had chartered. They were making for one of the bigger islands to the north where arrangements were in place to marry them the moment they touched land. Viveka was buying them time by allaying suspicion, letting the ceremony continue as long as possible before she revealed herself and made her own escape.
She searched the horizon again, looking for the flag of the boat she’d hired. It was impossible to spot and that made her even more anxious than the idea of getting onto the perfectly serviceable craft. She hated boats, but she wasn’t in the class that could afford private helicopters to take her to and fro. She’d given a sizable chunk of her savings to Stephanos, to help him spirit Trina away in that small plane. Spending the rest on crossing the Aegean in a speedboat was pretty close to her worst nightmare, but the ferry made only one trip per day and had left her here this morning.
She knew which slip the boat was using, though. She’d paid the captain to wait and Stephanos had assured her she could safely leave her bags on board. Once she was exposed, she wouldn’t even change. She would seek out that wretched boat, grit her teeth and sail into the sunset, content that she had finally prevailed over Grigor.
Her heart took a list and roll as they reached the top of the aisle, and Grigor handed her icy fingers to Trina’s groom, the very daunting Mikolas Petrides.
His touch caused a zing of something to go through her. She told herself it was alarm. Nervous tension.
His grip faltered almost imperceptibly. Had he felt that static shock? His fingers shifted to enfold hers, pressing warmth through her whole body. Not comfort. She didn’t fool herself into believing he would bother with that. He was even more intimidating in person than in his photos, exactly as Trina had said.
Viveka was taken aback by the quiet force he emanated, all chest and broad shoulders. He was definitely too much masculine energy for Viveka’s little sister. He was too much for her.
She peeked into his face and found his gaze trying to penetrate the layers of her veil, brows lowered into sharp angles, almost as if he suspected the wrong woman stood before him.
Lord, he was handsome with those long clean-shaven plains below his carved cheekbones and the small cleft in his chin. His eyes were a smoky gray, outlined in black spiky lashes that didn’t waver as he looked down his blade of a nose.
We could have blue-eyed children, she had thought when she’d first clicked on his photo. It was one of those silly facts of genetics that had caught her imagination when she had been young enough to believe in perfect matches. To this day it was an attribute she thought made a man more attractive.
She had been tempted to linger over his image and speculate about a future with him, but she’d been on a mission from the moment Trina had tearfully told her she was being sold off in a business merger like sixteenth-century chattel. All Viveka had had to see were the headlines that tagged Trina’s groom as the son of a murdered Greek gangster. No way would she let her sister marry this man.
Trina had begged Grigor to let her wait until March, when she turned eighteen, and to keep the wedding small and in Greece. That had been as much concession as he’d granted. Trina, legally allowed to marry whomever she wanted as of this morning, had not chosen Mikolas Petrides, wealth, power and looks notwithstanding.
Viveka swallowed. The eye contact seemed to be holding despite the ivory organza between them, creating a sense of connection that sent a fresh thrum of nervous energy through her system.
She and Trina both took after their mother in build, but Trina was definitely the darker of the two, with a rounder face and warm, brown eyes, whereas Viveka had these icy blue orbs and natural blond streaks she’d covered with the veil.
Did he know she wasn’t Trina? She shielded her eyes with a drop of her lashes.
The shuffle of people sitting and the music halting sent a wash of perspiration over her skin. Could he hear her pulse slamming? Feel her trembles?
It’s just a play, she reminded herself. Nothing about this was real or valid. It would be over soon and she could move on with her life.
At one time she had imagined acting for a living. All her early career ambitions had leaned toward starving artist of one kind or another, but she’d had to grow up fast and become more practical once her mother died. She had worked here at this yacht club, lying about her age so they’d hire her, washing dishes and scrubbing floors.
She had wanted to be independent of Grigor as soon as possible, away from his disparaging remarks that had begun turning into outright abuse. He had helped her along by kicking her out of the house before she’d turned fifteen. He’d kicked her off this island, really. Out of Greece and away from her sister because once he realized she had been working, that she had the means to support herself and wouldn’t buckle to his will when he threatened to expel her from his home, he had ensured she was fired and couldn’t get work anywhere within his reach.
Trina, just nine, had been the one to whisper, Go. I’ll be okay. You should go.
Viveka had reached out to her mother’s elderly aunt in London. She had known Hildy only from Christmas cards, but the woman had taken her in. It hadn’t been ideal. Viveka got through it by dreaming of bringing her sister to live with her there. As recently as a few months ago, she had pictured them as two carefree young women, twenty-three and eighteen, figuring out their futures in the big city—
“I, Mikolas Petrides…”
He had an arresting voice. As he repeated his name and spoke his vows, the velvet-and-steel cadence of his tone held her. He smelled good, like fine clothes and spicy aftershave and something unique and masculine that she knew would imprint on her forever.
She didn’t want to remember this for the rest of her life. It was a ceremony that wasn’t even supposed to be happening. She was just a placeholder.
Silence made her realize it was her turn.
She cleared her throat and searched for a suitably meek tone. Trina had never been a target for Grigor. Not just because she was his biological daughter, but also because she was on the timid side—probably because her father was such a mean, loudmouthed, sexist bastard in the first place.
Viveka had learned the hard way to be terrified of Grigor. Even in London his cloud of intolerance had hung like a poison cloud, making her careful about when she contacted Trina, never setting Trina against him by confiding her suspicions, always aware he could hurt Viveka through her sister.
She had sworn she wouldn’t return to Greece, certainly not with plans that would make Grigor hate her more than he already did, but she was confident he wouldn’t do more than yell in front of all these wedding guests. There were media moguls in the assemblage and paparazzi circling the air and water. The risk in coming here was a tall round of embarrassed confusion, nothing more.
She sincerely hoped.
The moment of truth approached. Her voice thinned and cracked, making her vows a credible imitation of Trina’s as she spoke fraudulently in her sister’s place, nullifying the marriage—and merger—that Grigor wanted so badly. It wasn’t anything that could truly balance the loss of her mother, but it was a small retribution. Viveka wore a grim inner smile as she did it.
Her bouquet shook as she handed it off and her fingers felt clumsy and nerveless as she exchanged rings with Mikolas, keeping up the ruse right to the last minute. She wouldn’t sign any papers of course, and she would have to return these rings. Darn, she hadn’t thought about that.
Even his hands were compelling, so well shaped and strong, so sure. One of his nails looked… She wasn’t sure. Like he’d injured it once. If this was a real wedding, she would know that intimate detail about him.
Silly tears struck behind her eyes. She had the same girlish dreams for a fairy-tale wedding as any woman. She wished this were the beginning of her life with the man she loved. But it wasn’t. Nothing about this was legal or real.
Everyone was about to realize that.
“You may kiss the bride.”
*
Mikolas Petrides had agreed to this marriage for one reason only: his grandfather. He wasn’t a sentimental man or one who allowed himself to be manipulated. He sure as hell wasn’t marrying for love. That word was an immature excuse for sex and didn’t exist in the real world.
No, he felt nothing toward his bride. He felt nothing toward anyone, quite by conscious decision.
Even his loyalty to his grandfather was provisional. Pappoús had saved his life. He’d given Mikolas this life once their blood connection had been verified. He had recognized Mikolas as his grandson, pulling him from the powerless side of a brutal world to the powerful one.
Mikolas repaid him with duty and legitimacy. His grandfather had been born into a good family during hard times. Erebus Petrides hadn’t stayed on the right side of the law as he’d done what he’d seen as necessary to survive. Living a corrupt life had cost the old man his son and Mikolas had been Erebus’s second chance at an heir. He had given his grandson full rein with his ill-gotten empire on the condition Mikolas turn it into a legal—yet still lucrative—enterprise.
No small task, but this marriage merger was the final step. To the outside observer, Grigor’s world-renowned conglomerate was absorbing a second-tier corporation with a questionable pedigree. In reality, Grigor was being paid well for a company logo. Mikolas would eventually run the entire operation.
Was it irony that his mother had been a laundress? Or appropriate?
Either way, this marriage had been Grigor’s condition. He wanted his own blood to inherit his wealth. Mikolas had accepted to make good on his debt to his grandfather. Marriage would work for him in other ways and it was only another type of contract. This ceremony was more elaborate than most business meetings, but it was still just a date to fix signatures upon dotted lines followed by the requisite photo op.
Mikolas had met his bride—a girl really—twice. She was young and extremely shy. Pretty enough, but no sparks of attraction had flared in him. He’d resigned himself to affairs while she grew up and they got to know one another. Therein might be another advantage to marriage, he had been thinking distantly, while he waited for her to walk down the aisle. Other women wouldn’t wheedle for marriage if he already wore a ring.
Then her approach had transfixed him. Something happened. Lust.
He was never comfortable when things happened outside his control. This was hardly the time or place for a spike of naked hunger for a woman. But it happened.
She arrived before him veiled in a waterfall mist that he should have dismissed as an irritating affectation. For some reason he found the mystery deeply erotic. He recognized her perfume as the same scent she’d worn those other times, but rather than sweet and innocent, it now struck him as womanly and heady.
Her lissome figure wasn’t as childish as he’d first judged, either. She moved as though she owned her body, and how had he not noticed before that her eyes were such a startling shade of blue, the kind that sat as a pool of water against a glacier? He could barely see her face, but the intensity of blue couldn’t be dimmed by a few scraps of lace.
His heart began to thud with an old, painful beat. Want. The real kind. The kind that was more like basic necessity.
A flicker of panic threatened, but he clamped down on the memories of deprivation. Of denial. Terror. Searing pain.
He got what he wanted these days. Always. He was getting her.
Satisfaction rolled through him, filling him with anticipation for this pomp and circumstance to end.
The ceremony progressed at a glacial pace. Juvenile eagerness struck him when he was finally able to lift her veil. He didn’t celebrate Christmas, yet felt it had arrived early, just for him.
He told himself it was gratification at accomplishing the goal his grandfather had assigned him. With this kiss, the balance sheets would come out of the rinse cycle, clean and pressed like new. Too bad the old man hadn’t been well enough to travel here and enjoy this moment himself.
Mikolas revealed his bride’s face and froze.
She was beautiful. Her mouth was eye-catching with a lush upper lip and a bashful bottom one tucked beneath it. Her chin was strong and came up a notch in a hint of challenge while her blue, blue irises blinked at him.
This was no girl on the brink of legal age. She was a woman, one who was mature enough to look him straight in the eye without flinching.
She was not Trina Stamos.
“Who the hell are you?”
Gasps went through the crowd.
The woman lifted a hand to brush her veil free of his dumbfounded fingers.
Behind her, Grigor shot to his feet with an ugly curse. “What are you doing here? Where’s Trina?”
Yes. Where was his bride? Without the right woman here to speak her vows and sign her name, this marriage—the merger—was at a standstill. No.
As though she had anticipated Grigor’s reaction, the bride zipped behind Mikolas, using him like a shield as the older man bore down on them.
“You little bitch!” Grigor hissed. Trina’s father was not as shocked by the switch as he was incensed. He clearly knew this woman. A vein pulsed on his forehead beneath his flushed skin. “Where is she?”
Mikolas put up a hand, warding off the old man from grabbing the woman behind him. He would have his explanation from her before Grigor unleashed his temper.
Or maybe he wouldn’t.
Another round of surprised gasps went through the crowd, punctuated by the clack of the fire door and a loud, repetitive ring of its alarm.
His bride had bolted out the emergency exit.
What the hell?
~ * ~
Amazon: US | CA | UK | Aus | Nook | Kobo | iBooks | GooglePlay
Goodreads Giveaway
As promised, here is the Goodreads form. Enter before Aug 22. Good luck!
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Secret Beneath the Veil
by Dani Collins
Giveaway ends August 22, 2016.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway
I finally got back into my garden for a few hours today. It was a cloudy day and I couldn't stand the sad peas. I had to pull them out and give the beets a chance to take over that little bed.
Now I'm going to put on dinner while I watch some Olympics. Are you watching any of it?
July 31, 2016
Quick Catch Up - End Of July
Well, that's half the summer gone! I've spent July finishing up a Presents and a Christmas book for Montana Born. And jumping in the lake, of course! It's been blistering here.
I'm cutting this short to work on my newsletter due to go out tomorrow. You'll get the full scoop there on the books I've just sent in and what's coming up.
Join my newsletter here and you'll auto-magically receive a link to download Cruel Summer, a short story ebook romance I wrote exclusively for my subscribers.
Goodreads Giveaway
Are you on Goodreads? This giveaway is open until Aug 22nd. Good luck!
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Secret Beneath the Veil
by Dani Collins
Giveaway ends August 22, 2016.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway
It'a long weekend here for us in Canada. I hope you're also enjoying some vacation time. Take care,
Dani
July 24, 2016
Playing The Master - Free One More Day
Morning all. I missed posting yesterday because we ran to Calgary on Friday and moved my daughter back here with her boyfriend yesterday. They're staying with us a few weeks on the way to moving to the coast. Which means I wasn't here to post about Playing The Master going free on Kindle.
I'm sorry, but it's exclusive to Amazon right now and probably will be until later this year. It's free until Monday, I think. My brain is still fried from all that driving. I don't know what's up or down right now.
Here's the blurb:
Ann Parker has been at the mercy of her vicious stepfather for years. Now he’s forcing her to marry a stranger, the coldly handsome Porter Navarro, in a week. She’s led a sheltered existence and had to develop a submissive attitude out of self-protection, but when she’s secretly made over and presented to Porter as “Violet,” she finally begins to taste liberation.
Porter Navarro is a renowned Master in some of the darkest sex clubs around the world. Initiating the fresh submissive, Violet, is an exquisite pleasure—especially when her streak of rebellion shows itself, challenging his ability to control her. The more he sees of her, the more fascinated he becomes, but she has already told him she won’t see him after he marries at the end of the week.
As the clock ticks down, the stakes heat up, and their deepest desires are exposed. Ann hopes Porter will throw over their marriage in favor of pursuing Violet, proving he has feelings for her, but what happens if her secret is exposed before then? She longs for true freedom, but it could cost not only her sensual teacher, but the man she’s grown to love…
~ * ~
I've finished my latest Presents and I'm working on revisions for my Christmas book this week. Then I'm looking forward to spending August taking stock and planning my next few months. I do a couple of times a year and it always makes me happy to scribble on white boards and make lists.
If you'd like the inside scoop on all my writing plans and news, please join my newsletter here. As a welcome gift, you'll auto-magically get a link to download Cruel Summer, a short story ebook romance I wrote exclusively for my subscribers.
More soon! Enjoy your weekend,
Dani
July 16, 2016
Goodreads Giveaway - The Secret Beneath The Veil
Hi all,
I had a rough night. Massive case of insomnia so I've had about three hours of sleep and I'm only at my computer because I'm bored with trying to sleep. I figured I might as well get something done, but I'm not feeling very chatty.
Fortunately, I can post this giveaway. It started today and runs until mid-August. The book comes out September 1st.
Good luck and Happy Saturday,
d
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Secret Beneath the Veil
by Dani Collins
Giveaway ends August 22, 2016.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway
July 9, 2016
Did You Know - Proof and Bought are linked
The hero of Bought By Her Italian Boss, Vito, first showed up as Paolo's cousin Vittorio, in my very first Harlequin Presents, Proof Of Their Sin. It came out exactly three years before Bought By Her Italian Boss, on July 1st of 2013. They were both July books. It's kind of fun to see how they've changed up the covers in the last couple of years, isn't it?
Amazon US | CA | UK | Aus | Nook | Kobo | iBooks | GooglePlay | BAM | Harlequin | Mills & Boon
I personally love linked books. As an author, I also like the fact that I waited a couple of years to revisit Paolo and Lauren. It meant I was able to show they really are living happily ever after with their young family.
Now I'm already receiving notes from fans asking if Travis will have his own story. He's Gwyn's stepbrother in Bought By Her Italian Boss. The short answer is: YES. The longer answer is, But not for at least four or five books. * Ducks and runs*
If you haven't read Proof Of Their Sin, it's my Featured Backlist Title this month. Click over to my contest page and enter for a chance to win. (Good news, if you're a newsletter subscriber, you're already entered!)
Here's the blurb:
A beautiful mistake…
Pregnant. Lauren Bradley’s heart stops-there’s only one man who can be the father and it’s not her late husband, the man everyone thinks is a celebrated war hero….
Ravaged with guilt at sleeping with his best friend’s wife, Paolo Donatelli closes his heart to Lauren forever. But in nine months’ time, the proof of their incredible night together will be there for the world to see.
Marriage is Paolo’s answer to avoiding more scandal, but it’s Lauren’s worst fear-she still bears the scars from the first time she said I do. Can she trust Paolo enough to reveal the truth?
~ * ~
Fresh Look, Same Great Stories!
The covers for my Montana Born series, Love In Montana, have been refreshed so they're more consistent looking. What do you think? I would like to witness and verify that the background is actually Montana. I took this photo along with a billion others when we drove the Going-To-The-Sun-Road last fall.
FYI, Scorch is linked to this series, even though it takes place in a new town, Glacier Creek. Piper and Bastian come for a visit. I go back to Marietta for another Christmas book, which will come out in the fall.
The title and release date for the Christmas book are still to be confirmed, but I'm hoping to have a fun little Christmas craft to offer my readers in conjunction with it. If you'd like the inside scoop on all my writing news and giveaways, please join my newsletter here. (Hint: I just set up a giveaway for my September book. It goes live next week.) By joining, you'll also get a link to download Cruel Summer, a short story ebook romance I wrote exclusively for my subscribers.
Back To Work
My sister has arrived safely back in Australia with her little ones. The weather cooled right off and the clouds moved in, as if Canada itself is pouting about their departure. I sure am.
But I let a lot of things slide last month so I'm playing catch up--particularly on word count. I'm not sweating my deadline, but I am eyeing it nervously. Fortunately I spent all of yesterday catching up on some other tasks and now I can (hopefully!) sprint to The End. Wish me luck!
I hope you're enjoying your summer,
Dani
July 1, 2016
New Release - Bought By Her Italian Boss
Gwyn pretends an affair with her boss to cool a scandal, but it soon turns real! What happens when the attention dies down and they no longer have a reason to stay together? Scroll to read a #SampleSunday below.
Amazon
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Happy Canada Day!
Fun fact: Three years ago today, my very first Harlequin Presents released. It featured Lauren, a Canadian from Montreal, and Paolo, a banker from Italy. Paolo had a cousin, Vittorio (Vito) who is now the hero of BOUGHT BY HER ITALIAN BOSS. If I had known they would release it on Canada Day, I would have made Gwyn Canadian. Instead, she's American. It's still a great beach read if you happen to be celebrating either of these national holidays this weekend. (Or if you're just going to the beach. Or sitting at the bus stop going to work...)
SampleSunday
I have seriously fallen down on my #SampleSunday duties! I won't bore you with excuses. I'll just set up this excerpt.
The book opens with Gwyn discovering someone has leaked nude photos of her online. Vito comes along to fire her, she pleads innocent, and they start to see that a client is setting her up. Vito has a look through her phone and discovers she took a photo of his headshot in the lobby a few days ago. Now they're in his private helicopter off the roof of the bank, escaping the melee of reporters.
~ * ~
“This isn’t a kidnapping,” he said dryly. “We’re going to Paolo’s home on Lake Como. It’s in his wife’s name and not on the paparazzi’s radar.”
“What? No,” she insisted, reaching to open her seatbelt. “My passport is in my apartment. I need it to get home.”
“To America? The press there is more relentless than ours. Even if you managed to drop out of sight, I would still have an ugly smudge on the bank’s reputation to erase.”
“I care as much about the bank as it does about me,” she informed him coldly.
“Please stay seated, Gwyn. We’re lifting off.” He pointed to where the horizon lowered beneath them. “Let’s talk about your photo of me.”
A fresh blush rose hotly from the middle of her chest into her neck. “Let’s not,” she said, squishing herself into her seat and fixing her gaze out the window.
“You’re attracted to me, sì?”
She sealed her lips, silently letting him know he couldn’t make her talk.
Nevertheless, he had her trapped and demonstrated his patience with an unhurried sip of his own drink and a brief glance at the face of his phone.
“You smiled at me one day,” he said absently. “The way a woman does when she is inviting a man to speak to her.”
And he hadn’t bothered to respond.
“I play a game with a friend back home,” she muttered. “It’s silly. Man Wars. We send each other photos of attractive men. That’s all it was,” she lied. “If it makes you feel objectified, well, you have a glimpse into how I feel right now.”
Her insides were churning like a cement mixer.
“You’re embarrassed by how strong the attraction is,” he deduced after watching her a moment. He sounded amused.
Her stomach cramped with self-consciousness. Could her face get any hotter?
“This releasing of compromising photos is very shrewd,” he said in an abrupt shift. His tone suggested it was an item in political news, not a gross defilement of her personal self. His finger rested across his lips in contemplation.
“Jensen has very cleverly made himself appear a victim,” he said. “The moment we accuse him of wrongdoing, he’ll claim he only took advice from you and Fabrizio. Fabrizio may eventually implicate him, trying to save his own skin, but Jensen has this excellent diversion. He can say you came on to him, maybe that you were working with Fabrizio, that you sent those photos to ruin his marriage. Perhaps they were cooked up by the two of you to blackmail him into skimming funds. Whatever story he comes up with, it will point all the scandal back to you and Fabrizio and the bank.”
“I’m aware that my life is over, thanks,” she bit out.
“Nothing is over,” he said with a coldblooded smile. “Jensen landed a punch, but I will hit back. Hard. If he and Fabrizio were in fact using you, you must also want to set things straight? You’ll help me make it clear you had zero romantic interest in Jensen.”
“How?” she choked, wondering what was in his drink that he thought he could accomplish that.
“By going public with our own affair.”
If you'd like to read the first chapter, it's included in the welcome email from my newsletter. Join here and you'll also get Cruel Summer, a short story ebook romance I wrote exclusively for my subscribers.
Other News
I've mentioned my family reunion this month. This weekend is my sister's last one in Canada before she heads back to Oz. I have had SO MUCH FUN with my niece and nephew. There's a conference on the Gold Coast next year and I'm starting to think I MUST attend so I'll be able to see them again soon.
Enjoy your weekend!
Dani
June 14, 2016
New Release - Scorch
Amazon US | CA | UK | Aus | iBooks | Nook | Kobo
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Thank you to everyone who pre-ordered Scorch to help raise funds for the Red Cross Alberta Fires Appeal. The book is out today and the pre-order period is closed.
If you'd like to read the first two chapters, I just sent out a newsletter with a preview. I often include these so feel free to subscribe if you like what you see. You'll get a free download short story called Cruel Summer as a welcome gift.
Read the first two chapters of Scorch here.
We had our own small wildfire a few miles from here last week. I have to say, it's quite disconcerting to hear of something like this on the news after driving for nearly eight hours to pick up my sister and bring her back here. Thankfully it was contained very quickly and stayed mostly in the grass, not getting into the trees too badly.
I'm so grateful for our local fire departments and the rain that has fallen the last few days. The fire closed the highway for a few hours, but for now we're in the clear.
Other News
I've mentioned my family reunion this month. We're just immediate family as I write this, with a shared birthday party happening today, mostly for my now three year old niece. If I can manage a Peppa Pig cake, I'll post a snap here or over on Facebook. She wants one so bad. Meanwhile, her brother, who is five, is very concerned with the contents of the goodie bags. We have very high expectations to live up to here.
As the week goes on, we'll have more friends and family in town. You probably won't hear from me much at all so enjoy your week and I'll be back when I can.
Cheers,
Dani
June 4, 2016
Family Reunion (It's gonna be a good one!)
I expect to be offline a lot through June so I thought I would post my excuses now. The main one is this:
My parents are celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary this year so my youngest sister (she's the cheeky looking one in yellow and green) is flying home from Australia (which she dares to call home these days, but let's not start any fights this early in the game.)
My middle sister, in blue, has recently moved to Winnipeg (Why, you ask? So does everyone. wink. Short answer: good job, cheap(er) real estate.) Me, I disappeared into my writing cave a long time ago and they are coaxing me out with promises of food, wine, and the adorable Aussie accents on my niece and nephew. Dad is growing out some mutton chops so we can recreate this photo and Mom figures she can still get into that Kate Jackson jump suit.
We also have a plethora, a gaggle, a murder of extended family and friends coming into town for a weekend party and, as if that's not enough fun to be had by all, my son is graduating, which will bring my husband's side into town as well.
If you've been following my newsletter--if you haven't, scroll down and join!--you know I've been gearing up for this. I have already sent in my March and June books to Presents (and had them accepted.) I'm finishing up my Christmas book for Tule, and I have a nice stretch before my next Presents is due. (I'm still hoping to write a thousand words a day. We'll see.)
I have books coming out on June 14th and July 1st, but I'm keeping promo activities light. I do have some great offers for you, though, so keep reading.
Scorch,
June 14th, Montana Born Firefighters
Amazon US | CA | UK | Aus | iBooks | Nook | Kobo
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I'm donating my author proceeds from pre-order sales of Scorch to the Red Cross Alberta Fires Appeal to help the tens of thousands of evacuees who fled the wildfire in Fort McMurray May 3rd. Many were asking for the Nook and Kobo links. They're below the image. Buy before June 14th to be included in the donation.
Learn more about the Fort McMurray fire and read the first two chapters of Scorch here.
Boxed Set - Sexy Summer Reads
I'm super stoked to see Taken By The Raider in this hot, fun boxed set of summer reading. Enjoy!
Amazon: US | CA | UK |
Nook | Kobo | iBooks
Goodreads Giveaway
I just set up a giveaway for Bought By Her Italian Boss, but it doesn't start until June 10th. They wouldn't let me choose an earlier date. It will run until the 20th. I'm pasting the widget below for anyone who happens by between June 10-20...
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
Bought by Her Italian Boss
by Dani Collins
Giveaway ends June 20, 2016.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway
Want to read the first chapter of Bought By Her Italian Boss? Sign up for my newsletter! It will auto-magically deliver in the welcome email.
Newsletter - Subscription Disruption
I found out mid-May that the sign up forms for my newsletter weren't working properly. A whole bunch of people signed up then didn't get the free download of Cruel Summer. I don't blame you for unsubscribing. I would have, too!
But if that was you and you still want Cruel Summer, it's working now! Please sign up again here. If you don't get a welcome email right away with the link to download, please email me off my contact page and I'll get it to you. Thanks!
I will check in regularly with email and with all of my social media sites. Do contact me if you have a question at any time. I will hopefully post photos through the month, but if I go silent, it means I'm playing with family (on the beach, if the weather holds!)
Take care and have a happy June!
Dani
May 28, 2016
Summer Is Upon Us
I totally ripped off this photo from my husband. He drives a mountain pass to work every day and he took this the other morning. The weather and wildlife make every day different, but it's dangerous so I thought this was a good caption. Also, this is a sunrise, not a sunset, but it could be either. I'm so profound, right? Feel free to share it if you like it.
Many of you are probably enjoying a long weekend. We had our May long weekend last week and that means summer is definitely upon us. The grocery store parking lot was full and I had to wait to turn onto the highway. Both are Sure Signs. Also, after some hot, dry spells, we now have rain--and I'm not complaining. With the wildfire season so bad here last year, I'm glad to see everything green, green, green.
Here's a shot off our back deck toward the storm that rolled through last night off the lake.
I'm keeping this super short today, hoping to get my word count in and get out to the garden if the sun makes an appearance later.
Enjoy your weekend!
Dani
