Dani Collins's Blog, page 53

#SadSunday - Leaving Australia

I'm preparing to leave my sister and her adopted home of Brisbane today.

It's bittersweet. I've had such a great time with her family and especially my nephew and niece (three and one.) Oh, they've been so fun and funny.

(But work! I won't kid you. I'm very much looking forward to my teenagers who make their own breakfast, put on their own shoes and don't walk in on me when I'm showering.)

And I can't deny that I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and getting back to work. Writing has been a real challenge with little fingers so eager to help Auntie Dani with her lap top. (Note: We've been coaxing the fourteen-month-old to say "Auntie Dani" and she's shortened it to Dantie.)

Even though I haven't managed to write many new words while I've been away (for an entire month), I have finished copy edits on three books! One Harlequin Presents (The Sheikh's Sinful Seduction, March 2015) and my two upcoming Tule books, Hometown Hero and Blame The Mistletoe.

Want to be notified when these titles become available? Join Dani's newsletter!

I have notes and notes on conference workshops to turn into blog posts and I'm super-excited to say I have a plan for my next several books! That much has been scribbled into a notebook.

I know many of you are waiting for Demitri's story, the fourth and last in the Makricosta series. It's still only about half-completed, but I've outlined how I want the second half to go. It's a matter of planting my butt in my chair at home. I'm as anxious as you are, believe me!

Today (August 17th) is also the end of my Masked Desires contest.

I've had a wonderful response to the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest! I can't wait to announce the winner, but I fear it may not happen until the 19th.

I am packing on Sunday the 17th in Australia, which is stil the 16th back home. Then I travel starting early on the 18th here (still the 17th in North America.) It will be the longest Monday of my life as I fly sixteen hours to Los Angeles then take some hops and skips north and finally--if my husband has not had me declared dead for being gone so long--he will pick me up and drive me another two hours to my very own bed.

So please forgive me if it takes a day or two to post the winner's name on Facebook and here.

You might be able to sneak your entry in if you haven't done so yet. Rafflecopter polices the deadline. Here's the info and links if you want to try getting in at the final hour:

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest then enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

The contest is designed to build my newsletter subscriber list. If you'd like to see a sample of it read Dani's latest newsletter here.

Usually, if I have a book release coming up, I post a sample here and call my post #SampleSunday. I'm in reruns while I'm away so please have a peek here if you haven't seen some of these:

Book Blurbs - for all five of my summer titles
#SampleSunday - An Heir To Bind Them - Six consecutive excerpts from my June Harlequin Presents. Post includes links to the previous five.
#SampleSunday - The Ultimate Seduction - all excerpts from my August Harlequin Presents.
#Thursday13 - The Secret In Room 823 (part of
Mills & Boon's The Chatsfield series).
#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role - from the first book in this Erotic 2in1 Collection. Includes links to previous.

If you've missed the window to enter for the contest, you can still check out some of my guest posts on my blog tour. Several have giveaway copies of The Ultimate Seduction available:

July 31: The Reading Cafe - Review, Interview & Giveaway
August 2: Contemporary Romance Cafe - The Road To Publication
August 3: Savvy Authors - Collaborating on The Ultimate Series
August 5: Crazy Four Books Interview and Giveaway
August 6: A Bluestocking's Place - Feature
August 7: Love Romance Passion - Where lovescenes come from
August 11: Harlequin Junkies - Spotlight and Giveaway
August 14: iHeartPresents - It Begins With a Mask

Would you like to buy my books?

All my Harlequin titles are available on the Mills & Boon UK site. eHarlequin and Mills & Boon Aus have them too.

Prefer Amazon?

US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan | Australia 

These other fine retailers have my books too:

Nook | Kobo | ARe | BooksaMillion | ChaptersIndigo | iBooks

I'll write again later this week once I'm properly home and settled, to announce the contest winners. Have a great weekend!

Working Hard, but Hardly Working

I'm still in Sydney and writing this super fast because my 24 hours of wifi is about to expire. I don't have a fresh sample for #SampleSunday. Honestly, it's the decision of which manuscript, which section? That takes time! (When you're me.)

But if you'd like some behind the scenes peeks at my current releases, or a chance to win a giveaway, please visit one of my recent posts on my August blog tour:

July 31: The Reading Cafe - Review, Interview & Giveaway
August 2: Contemporary Romance Cafe - The Road To Publication
August 3: Savvy Authors - Collaborating on The Ultimate Series
August 5: Crazy Four Books Interview and Giveaway
August 6: A Bluestocking's Place - Feature
August 4: Love Romance Passion - Where lovescenes come from

I have a few more stops next week, and should be able to put up a meatier post as I'll be back on my sister's wifi. Meanwhile, please check out some of my other summer excerpts here:

Book Blurbs - for all five of my summer titles
#SampleSunday - An Heir To Bind Them - Six consecutive excerpts from my June Harlequin Presents. Post includes links to the previous five.
#SampleSunday - The Ultimate Seduction - all excerpts from my August Harlequin Presents.
#Thursday13 - The Secret In Room 823 (part of
Mills & Boon's The Chatsfield series).
#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role - from the first book in this Erotic 2in1 Collection. Includes links to previous.

I've had over 800 entries in the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest! Purchase of my erotic romance collection, or my August Presents, The Ultimate Seduction, counts as ten entries for one of these fabulous prizes. Enter before August 17th.

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest then enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

The contest is designed to build my newsletter subscriber list. If you'd like to see a sample of it read Dani's latest newsletter here.

Want to actually buy my books?

All my August Harlequin titles are available on the Mills & Boon UK site. eHarlequin and Mills & Boon Aus have them too.

Prefer Amazon? US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan | Australia 

These other fine retailers have my books too:

Nook | Kobo | ARe | BooksaMillion | ChaptersIndigo | iBooks

Remember, if you're in Sydney, please come out to the ARRA Literacy Autographing. I'll be there tonight!

#TeaserTuesday - Playing The Master (4)

I'm still in Australia and quite enamored with my niece and nephew, so writing has fallen by the wayside. But it's Tuesday here and my official launch day back home (August 4th) for The Dani Collins Erotic Romance Collection, so I thought I'd offer up a final excerpt from the second book, Playing The Master.

If you missed the first excerpts from this book, links are below. I'm moving into summer reruns for the rest of August, as I'm traveling and don't have another new book until late September, so keep scrolling after this sample to catch up on samples from my backlist:

Ann spies on Eloisa
Ann spies on Eloisa as she talks to Porter
Porter reveals he doesn't want Ann

Here we move onto Chapter Two:

~ * ~

Her life might be on the verge of change. Paris might be a delightful switch of scenery from the arid Arab peninsula, but Ann still felt like the fairy-tale princess locked in the castle.

Porter, or rather his mother, was organizing the wedding—something Ann didn’t care about. She’d never been to a wedding, had had enough of protocol and tradition in KSA and planned to avoid marrying at all.

Running away was proving challenging, however. Cain had laid the groundwork that she was some kind of sleepwalking mental deficient who needed to be locked in her room at night and turned away from the front door during the day. Of course, Porter had sounded pretty insistent last night that the marriage-merger occur. Perhaps he was as much to blame for her imprisonment as Cain.

She still didn’t know what to think about all she’d seen and heard last night. Despite the possibility of gaining her trust fund, she couldn’t see marrying Porter. He was too big and scary and powerful. And Eloisa obviously didn’t want them to marry, so why hadn’t she exposed her? The perils closing in on her were so great, Ann could think about nothing except running from them, but she couldn’t get away.

At least the castle was wide open to her. Snooping through the upstairs bedrooms of the centuries-old mansion, she’d found a laptop no one was using. She hadn’t had online access since arriving here and was feeling the absence, even though she’d only ever had Cain’s desktop when he was out. Still, she was in the habit of surfing when she was bored, and she was dying to know if sites really were uncensored here in France, as she’d been led to believe.

The laptop was charging in her room right now while she wandered the back garden looking for possible escape routes. A stone wall rose from the rocky foundation of this river island, making the garden as much of a prison as the rest of the house, but the abundance of water here was such a marvel she paused to absorb it.

The wall came to a point where the Seine lazily zipped itself together from flowing down either side of what had to be a billion-euro property. The three-story chateau with its gold fixtures and crystal chandeliers was not the greatest luxury here, despite what the occupants might imagine.

After more than a decade in a country where they’d had to set towels along the door cracks to keep out the dust during a storm, she gloried in the dank scents of algae and wet earth that filled her nostrils. When she rested her hands on the fur of mossy stones, light raindrops landed in gentle pecks against her knuckles. Water even fell from the sky here.

As she looked up, rain speckled her glasses and kissed her lips, making her smile. No wonder writers were so taken with springtime in Paris.

The dogs at the front, sleek pinschers she’d seen from the car when they’d arrived, exploded with vicious barks. The sound made her turn toward the wrought-iron gate she’d half-considered stepping through. It led to the paved stones of the front courtyard, which was fenced to twice her height and guarded by a man in a shack along with the hounds from hell currently lathered into a rabid fury because a toy poodle had dared to trespass. The little creature ran flat out down the side of the house, with the pinschers in manic pursuit.

Ann sucked in a horrified breath and started forward, terrified for the mite.

Her approach only scared the pup as he ducked under the gate. He veered into the shrubbery at the side of the house. The big dogs came up against the bars where they snarled and barked, pawing through the uprights, trying to follow.

Heart pounding, she scanned for the pup. Where would he go from here? Like her, he was trapped in this back garden unless he wanted to take his chances in the river. Trying to ignore the still snarling dogs, she moved to the garden bed and crouched, trying to spy the poodle in the warren of low-swept branches and bobbing tulip heads.

One of the doors onto the veranda opened. Porter Navarro’s long legs descended the wide stone stairs next to her.

She stood, not looking at him. No longer looking for the puppy either.

“Are they scaring you? They shouldn’t be barking at guests.” Walking around her, he spoke sharply and made a hand gesture.

The dogs circled once, offered a final yelp, but a stern word sent them away.

Paralyzed by his dynamic presence, Ann waited for him to go back into the house. Porter hadn’t acted differently last night from before and after the dressing room incident, only finding her once to say, “For what it’s worth, my mother is responsible for this circus. Not only does she make everything about her, she rightly suspects it’s her only chance to play mother of the groom.”

Ann hadn’t known what to say. His mother was a beautiful woman who dressed provocatively, drank excessively and flirted without constraint. Erico Navarro, Ann had observed from a quiet vantage of a recessed window, had taken a blonde into one of the guest rooms and stayed there for an hour. Another knee-trembler, she suspected.

Ann still didn’t know what to say to Porter and silently willed him to go inside so she could look for the puppy.

“It’s raining,” he told her.

Yes I know that, she wanted to counter, but didn’t have Eloisa’s audacity. She felt his gaze on her like another muffling layer over her hijab and abaya. Like last night, a sharp longing rose in her to show him she wasn’t really this plain. Beneath the dull olive powder that flaked on her cheeks and made her look unhealthy was a lovely English complexion. The narrow flatness of her lips was a habit she’d developed to keep her mouth pressed closed around Cain, since she wasn’t allowed to speak unless he asked her a direct question.
Would Porter even care if he saw her as she really was? She couldn’t compete with those leggy supermodels he seemed to prefer. He’d basically said so.

A branch trembled and a black nose poked out from beneath it. Pleading eyes stared up at them for a few seconds. The puppy whined once and worked himself out of his hiding spot, belly on the ground, head low.

“Is that what stirred them up,” Porter said with mild disgust.

Ann’s throat closed over an automatic protest. It wouldn’t be worth arguing with Cain if he wanted to kill the dog then slap her for feeling empathy toward it, but she didn’t know what to expect from Porter.

He crouched and held out a hand, beckoning the dog with a light snap of his fingers.

The poodle crawled forward, badly shorn, filthy and trembling with cold.

Porter picked him up and checked each of his limbs, his handling sure and gentle, but thorough.

“You’ll have to keep him in your room. Mother will have him thrown in the river if she sees him.” He handed her the dog.

His flat statement startled her into glancing up through the rusty-water hue of her glasses. He broke the eye contact as soon as her gaze met his, looking with pity at the dog, but she’d glimpsed into his soul and realized that even though it appeared black and empty, it was merely hidden in a very deep cave.

His mother was not a kind person, something Ann had already guessed, but she hadn’t considered what that would mean for a boy growing up. Now she sensed something not unlike her own adolescence.

Having pain in common was not the sort of connection Raina had meant when she’d assured Ann that she would one day find a man who was her perfect match, but emotional agony was a surprisingly strong and quick binding agent. Recognizing a like soul made her heart burst into a frightened beat like a panicked bird’s wings when it was unexpectedly snared. She didn’t want to feel anything for him. It was a trap, she was sure.

Nevertheless, cradling the wiggling, licking animal, she recognized that her first stirrings of physical attraction had taken a giant step into something more elemental and personal.

Nothing so dramatic happened on his side, though.

“Bathe him. Warm him up,” he said, and walked away.

Watching his economic movements, weakened by yearning and relief, she realized she hadn’t managed to conjure one word from her dry mouth.

~ * ~

I will post about the two conferences (RWA in San Antonio and the RWAustralia in Sydney), but I seriously over-estimated my ability to write around children. Now I know why it took me 25 years to sell a book. When did I write when my own kids were little?

Here's the roundup of my summer excerpts:

Book Blurbs - for all five of my summer titles
#SampleSunday - An Heir To Bind Them - Six consecutive excerpts from my June Harlequin Presents. Post includes links to the previous five.
#SampleSunday - The Ultimate Seduction - all excerpts from my August Harlequin Presents.
#Thursday13 - The Secret In Room 823 (part of
Mills & Boon's The Chatsfield series).
#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role - from the first book in this Erotic 2in1 Collection. Includes links to previous.

I'm up to almost 700 entries in the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest! Purchase of my erotic romance collection, or my August Presents, The Ultimate Seduction, counts as ten entries for one of these fabulous prizes. Enter before August 17th.

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest then enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

My intention with the contest is to build my newsletter subscriber list. My intention is to move toward exclusive content, but for now you can read Dani's latest newsletter here.

Like giveaways? Check in with these guest blogs for a chance to win The Ultimate Seduction:

July 31: The Reading Cafe - Review, Interview & Giveaway
August 2: Contemporary Romance Cafe - The Road To Publication
August 3: Savvy Authors - Collaborating on The Ultimate Series
August 4: Riverina Romantics - Collaborating on The Ultimate Series
August 5: Crazy Four Books

Want to buy? My books are everywhere!

All my August Harlequin titles are available on the Mills & Boon UK site. eHarlequin and Mills & Boon Aus have them too.

Prefer Amazon? US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan | Australia 

These other fine retailers have my books too:

Nook | Kobo | ARe | BooksaMillion | ChaptersIndigo | iBooks

If you're in Sydney, please come out to the ARRA Literacy Autographing. Otherwise, I'll try to post as often as possible here. Have a great week!

Launch Day! - The Ultimate Seduction

The official launch day for The Ultimate Seduction is August 1st. I'm writing this on the 1st in Brisbane, Australia, hoping it will bridge the gap between the #Thursday13 post I missed and the #SampleSunday I probably won't manage.

Would you like to hear my excuse for slacking on my posts? I wish I'd thought to record my nephew's adorable aussie-accented, three-year-old voice asking me to help him with his shoes, reach down his drink, inviting me to make a puzzle with him, asking if he can draw on my paper, and generally engaging me at every turn.

I'm visiting my sister, reacquainting with my nephew and meeting my one-year-old niece. They are a riot. Today we turned a corner with my niece. She heard her brother coming and ran to me, wanting up before he came into the room and grabbed my attention from her.

Meanwhile, a couple of days ago, we happened to be in Target so I looked for my August book. There was Ryzard!

That's almost all the writing related activities I've managed to accomplish. I keep promising posts on the RWA conference in San Antonio and I fear that I'll be trying to write them in Sydney, while I'm at the Romance Writers of Australia conference next weekend.

If I don't get to them then, it'll be when I'm on the plane flying home because life is very busy with wee ones underfoot and little fingers that are magnetically drawn to buttons on keyboards.

I did manage to push out my newsletter. If you haven't signed up yet, do it now! You might win a signed copy of The Ultimate Seduction. If you sign up through the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest, you'll double your chances of winning!

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest then enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

I'll also dig up and post my blog schedule for August. I have a number of guest posts offering Giveaway copies of The Ultimate Seduction. Here are a couple that I have the links for:

July 31: The Reading Cafe - Review, Interview & Giveaway
August 3: Savvy Authors - Collaborating on The Ultimate Series

The Ultimate Seduction is part of a three book series from Harlequin Presents. Read more about the 21st Century Gentleman's Club:

Have you read all my #SampleSunday posts for The Ultimate Seduction? I've also posted a number of snippets and excerpts from all my summer books here:

Book Blurbs - for all five of my summer titles
#SampleSunday - An Heir To Bind Them - My June Harlequin Presents. This post links to the previous five.
#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role - This is all the excerpts from the first book in my Erotic Romance Collection.
#Thursday13 - The Secret In Room 823 - This is the third instalment from this novella in
Mills & Boon's The Chatsfield series.
#TeaserTuesday - Playing The Master - the second book in this Erotic 2in1 Collection.

Want to buy? My books are everywhere!

In the UK, you can pick up The Secret In Room 823 as a stand alone title, or as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2. In North America, preorder it as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2.

All my current and August Harlequin titles are available on the Mills & Boon UK site. eHarlequin and Mills & Boon Aus have them too.

Prefer Amazon? US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan | Australia 

These other fine retailers have my books too:

Nook | Kobo | ARe | BooksaMillion | ChaptersIndigo | iBooks

If you're in Sydney, please come out to the literacy autographing for a chat! Otherwise, I'll try to keep posting as often as possible here. Have a great week!

#TeaserTuesday - Playing The Master (3)

I'm posting from Australia and think this will come out on Tuesday back home. If I'm off by a day one way or another, kindly forgive.

This is the third instalment from Book Two, Playing The Master in The Dani Collins Erotic Romance Collection, my 2in1 with HarlequinE releasing August 4th.

If you missed the first one from this book, links to the previous two scenes are below. After this sample, keep scrolling for more links to excerpts from my other summer titles:

Ann spies on Eloisa
Ann spies on Eloisa as she talks to Porter

Ann is still literally--not figuratively--in the closet, watching and listening.

~ * ~

“That’s another thing that has me curious.” Eloisa came toward the closet again and fussed with her hair. “You can’t need money. Why are you marrying for it?”

“I’m not,” Porter dismissed with a negligent shrug. “Cain wants to cash out, and if I don’t take this opportunity to absorb his company, someone else will. I like being on top, so I’ll take the steps necessary to stay there.”

“And consume a virgin along the way? Such a sacrifice.”

“Hell, no. She can save that for her next husband. Her stepfather has been living in Saudi Arabia so long he thought her virginity would make a sweetener for the deal. It drew interest from others, I’ll admit, but deflowering innocents doesn’t do it for me.”

“Overdosed in the early years, I imagine. When are you coming to the club? You know people started asking for you the minute you arrived in the city.”

He swept that away with a flick of his hand. “I won’t be there this trip.”

“What?” She spun around. “Why?”

“Reasons that are my own.”

“Something to do with your brother?”

He didn’t move, but he seemed to solidify into a hardened substance in a way that made Ann lean her weight back and hold her breath, gaze fixed on Eloisa, waiting to see if she reacted to his subtle descent into dangerous.

“I’m closing a business deal,” he said in a quiet voice that was deadly enough to lift the hairs on Ann’s arms. “It’s complex and requires a lot of my attention.”

Eloisa made a huffing noise, affecting disinterest as she checked inside her pocketbook, but Ann sensed the charge of hostility between them. “You said she’s from KSA? Saudi Arabia? That explains the lab coat, but they’re not Muslim, are they? Not the way he drinks. Where is she from originally? I heard England.”

“I have no idea. Why does it matter?”

Eloisa offered a smile that held her cheek in a tense bump against her profile. “Just curious.”

He folded his arms. “The marriage is a formality, Eloisa. Don’t feel threatened.”

“By whom? You?”

He lifted a weary brow.

“Of course I wouldn’t. We have no hard feelings between us,” she declared. Her hand pressed into the small of her back, fingers crossed against her spine.

Her cheeky signal made Ann smile despite how awful this was. She liked how Eloisa was standing up to Porter. She’d never had the nerve to stand up to anyone, especially a man who exuded so much power.

Her heart took a little swoop as she regarded him again. He was a quietly dangerous animal, like a panther or a raptor. The kind you wanted to look at through the glass at the zoo, because face-to-face, if he decided to make a move, you’d be gone before you knew what had happened.

And Eloisa was baiting him, treating this like a joke. Bringing Ann in on the secret as if they were conspirators. In a way it made her feel less lonely, just for second, but she was alarmed. She didn’t want Porter to discover her and think she was aligning with this woman. He didn’t seem very pleased with Eloisa.

“I can see your hand in the mirror,” he drawled. “This isn’t a love match. I wanted to buy the company outright and forego the marriage. Cain has made it a condition, because marriage will unlock her trust fund. It’s pure greed on their part, since the compensation for the rigs and drilling rights should be generous enough to hold them for a few years, but he won’t budge. So I’ll marry her to secure the merger and divorce her as soon as everything finalizes. You have no reason to feel slighted, Eloisa,” he finished in a condescending tone.

Interesting information to process later. Ann tucked it away and watched Eloisa drop her loose fingers to her side.

“Why would I feel slighted? We had a lovely affair and went our separate ways. We’re still friends.”

“That’s the way I remember it.” He strolled laconically across the roses in the area rug, becoming more threatening with each step.
Ann drew a slow, awe-filled breath at Eloisa’s strength in standing undaunted as he approached to loom over her.

“And even though I continue to like and respect you—” he began.

“Do you? Perhaps we have different definitions of that word,” Eloisa cut in with a hint of hardening frost.

“—I’m concerned about your motives.” He took hold of her chin.

Ann’s heart raced like a caught bird, fearful for Eloisa. She didn’t want to watch violence, but Eloisa didn’t so much as twinge with apprehension.

“Rather than calling me and asking for an invite, you fucked your way in here—”

“Would you have allowed me to come?” she interrupted again. Such insolence.

“No,” he stated implacably.

“There you go.” Eloisa jerked her chin from his grip and half turned away. “But how else could I see if she’s worthy of you? I failed to capture your heart and wanted to know who could,” she stated breezily. “That’s understandable, isn’t it?”

Ann thought she heard genuine heartache beneath. That was bad. If Eloisa regarded her as a rival, it would be very, very bad.

“Jealousy is a wasted emotion, especially on me. You’ve always known that, and in this case it’s even more misplaced.”

Eloisa turned to look up at him, lips widening in a flat, tight smile against her still profile. “The mighty will never fall?” she challenged, a rasp of bitterness threaded through her tone.

“No,” he assured her. “Not for you or any other woman. So there’s nothing to see here. You can leave. Now. As discreetly as possible.”

“Afraid if I stay, she’ll find out what kind of man you really are and refuse to marry you?”

He released an impatient sigh, but the way he briefly averted his gaze suggested there might be some truth to Eloisa’s accusation. “This deal has to happen. I won’t let you or anyone else jeopardize it.”

Warnings seemed to crackle in Ann’s ears at his determination, but before she could fully examine why, Eloisa distracted her, saying, “Promise to come by the club and I’ll leave without a fuss.”

“You’ll leave because I told you to,” he said with an arrogant look down his nose. “I’ll drop in for a drink if I’m bored,” he allowed with a flicker of patronizing indulgence.

“Oh, I can tell you’re bored,” she said sweetly. “I’ll ensure suitable entertainment is provided,” she added as further enticement.

When he said nothing and the silence drew out, she glanced very briefly toward the closet, then cocked her head at him, voice almost leaving a cloud of chill in the air. “No? Not interested in other women? Saving it all for your fiancée? What do you really know about her?”

This was it. The doors would be flung open. Curdles of dread soured Ann’s stomach as she held her breath again.

“I don’t need to know anything about her and neither do you. That’s the point I’ve been hammering since I walked in here.” He opened the door to the hall. “Now go. Down the back stairs and out through the kitchen.”

Eloisa’s response, something about not being his bitch, faded into the noise of conversation from below as they left the door open.

Ann released a slow exhale and waited a full three minutes, bemused, one hand over the sick knot lingering in her stomach. Porter and Eloisa had speculated on her virginity—which was intact. That only meant she was inexperienced, much as she was with all the ways of the world, but she wasn’t naive. As much as she’d like to believe there would be no repercussions from the unpredictable Eloisa, instinct told her that would be wishful thinking.

The real question, however, wasn’t what action Eloisa would take, or when, but how her betrothed would react. Porter didn’t have much of an opinion of her to start with, obviously, and he held her fate in his wide hand. Would he care that she had watched his lover coupling, or that she’d eavesdropped on his conversation? Would he tell her stepfather?

Despite years of wishing she could see her future, she’d learned that things had to play out in their own time. She could only respond when it happened, and then always in a limited way. Unless she made changes.

She trembled in a kind of shock as she stepped from the closet and slid the other side of the closet open, where wraps and overcoats had been hung by the servants. Fingering through the pockets of one damp raincoat, she found nothing and slid it across to the ones she’d searched before the approaching voices of Eloisa and her suitor had prompted her to step behind the bent door.

Paris was becoming less interesting and more dangereux. Perhaps not the best place to run away after all, but when would she have another opportunity?

This isn’t a love match.

If she bided her time and allowed the marriage, would she gain the trust fund that was rightfully hers and finally be free? She didn’t bother thinking about the greater fortune, the oil company. It might have been started by her father and inherited by her mother, but it had gone to Cain on her mother’s death and Ann had no interest in fighting him for it. Ridding herself of him was worth whatever he may or may not be stealing from her.

Skimming half of the notes from a cologne-scented pocket—a trick of subtle theft, she’d observed, was slower to be discovered—she tucked her find with the rest up the sleeve of the dress she wore beneath her abaya. A few minutes later, she used the back stairs and the pantry entrance to the dining room to rejoin the reception.

The band was on intermission. Perched on the piano bench, she hid behind the piano’s raised lid, skirt and slippers blocked by a potted fern. If she had the ability to buy stocks, she would have made a fortune on what she overheard undetected.

~ * ~

This book releases August 4th. I've been posting that it's available from Mills and Boon now. A friend in Australia, however, had to pre-order so it might be that I'm reading things wrong and this link only allows you to pre-order.

You can definitely pre-order from Amazon.com until it releases in North America on August 4th.

Here's a quick roundup of the rest of my summer excerpts:

Book Blurbs - for all five of my summer titles
#SampleSunday - An Heir To Bind Them - Six consecutive excerpts from my June Harlequin Presents. Post includes links to the previous five.
#SampleSunday - The Ultimate Seduction - all excerpts from my August Harlequin Presents.
#Thursday13 - The Secret In Room 823 (part of
Mills & Boon's The Chatsfield series).
#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role - from the first book in this Erotic 2in1 Collection. Includes links to previous.

And please enter the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest! Purchase of my erotic romance collection, or my August Presents, The Ultimate Seduction, counts as ten entries for one of these fabulous prizes.

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest then enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

I have a few blog stops to promote both the Erotic Collection and The Ultimate Seduction. Check in for giveaways:

July 11 - iBooks

If you read my previous post, #SleepySunday, you'll know that I am planning to write some posts on the recent RWA conference in San Antonio. I made this wild promise before I was here with my niece and nephew. Now I may have other priorities--like reading Robert Munsch aloud and giving raspberries to cheeks and tummies. I will try, however. I want to review my notes before I forget all the brilliant things I learned.

Cheers,

#SleepySunday

Yeah, I slept in this morning after all the late nights at conference. Now I'm sitting in the airport and since I've run out of pre-written posts, I thought I'd share a few photos from the last week as a sort of Proof Of Life. First, from Seattle:

My vacation actually started with a lovely drive to our old home town outside Vancouver where my husband and I attended our thirtieth high school reunion.

My editor asked me over lunch if reunions are common in Canada. Yes. We usually have reunions every 5, 10, 15, years etc. Turnout was excellent and I talked so much my throat ached. Did I take notes? No. Too busy talking.

Most people don't bring spouses, but since MrC and I graduated together, we both went, separated and worked the room independantly. This gave us lots of gossip to exchange on our drive to Seattle the next day. You have no secrets, Class of '84!

I'm so glad we gave ourselves lots of time to get into Seattle and poke around. The marina above was so pretty and they had a live band playing for a small crowd. It was one of those things we old married couples would do more of if we had the time and fortunately, in this instance, we did.

I flew to San Antonio the next morning for the Romance Writers of America Conference. Here I am having dinner that first night with three other Presents authors: Victoria Parker, Jennifer Hayward, and Tara Pammi.

You'll recall that my collaboration for the Ultimate Series was with Maya Blake and Victoria so it was so nice to meet Victoria in person. I'd met Jen before--good Canadian girl!--and Tara shared my room as she only had time to stay the one night. (Sadness! We missed her and really hope she'll join us in New York!)

Here's the view from my room:

I'm always astonished by flat landscapes. No such thing in the part of Canada I call home. I love the big sky when I visit, and I'll admit that mountains can make you feel claustrophobic, but it still looks strange to me.

The Wednesday night was the Literacy Autographing. Here I am, getting ready for the hordes.

See that dress? My editor helped pick it out. I actually wound up buying two dresses. Apparently she has a reputation for being a bad influence, but I can't fault her taste. I love both of the dresses I picked up and she wore some that I covet. I'm adding, "Shop with Laurie in London" to my bucket list.

After the literacy signing, I went out with Jen and Victoria again. Here we are at Bohana's Steak House, a very posh joint.

We had an amazing dinner. Our pre-dinner cocktails were authentic pre-prohibition era drinks. Mine is a gin rickie, Victoria's was something with muddled raspberries. Yes, the meal was pricey. We said we really ought to have a Presents alpha-male there to buy dinner for us. Then we realized that our Presents heroes kind of were paying for it, which made it all the more of a delicious celebration.

Okay, I've used up half my battery charge writing this so I'll wrap up. Through the week, you can probably expect a few more conference-related posts once I'm settled at my sister's. My expectation is that my nephew will say something cute at least once a day, so watch for the #nephew posts on my Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Also, I'll be sending out my newsletter when my August books launch so if you haven't signed up yet, do it now! You might win a signed copy of The Ultimate Seduction. If you sign up through the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest, you'll double your chances of winning!

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest then enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

I'm forgetting stuff, but it would be just like me to miss my flight because I was writing a blog post. Time to get my head in the game. Please check in through the week for conference posts, especially if you're a writer. I'll have some tips from various workshops.

Have a great week!

#Thursday13 - Lines from The Chatsfield (4)

Thank goodness I pre-wrote these blogs. Conference is crazy busy and so fun. I've definitely got some stories for next week once I find time to write the posts. Writers, you'll want to tune in for the gems I've picked up from my favorite workshops - although I'll admit that thus far I've been socializing more than learning. But that's where you often pick up the juiciest industry gossip! Which is where I'm off to soon as I hit publish on this so here goes:

This is likely the last excerpt from, The Secret In Room 823, available in the UK as a lone title and up for preorder here in N.America as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set, Vol 2.

Be sure to scroll down for links to excerpts on my blog from my other summer titles and information on how to win a signed copy of my print books.

For #Thursday13, I've been doing thirteen sentences from this novella. Here are the links to previous:

Gwen arrives at the Chatsfield
Hayes says 'No' to the wig
Gwen and Hayes play chicken over the case

If you want to know more about this interactive world visit Mills & Boon's The Chatsfield here. And here's a little blog post I wrote about my 'stay' in The Chatsfield.

Gwen and Hayes continue their stand-off:

~ * ~

The paparazzi were on her badly enough as it was. If they got hold of that secret, she’d be destroyed.

‘We’re not doing this then?’ she asked testily, fighting panic as she heard herself issue an ultimatum she couldn’t live with. She needed this.

Him.

Oh God, what a lowering admission. She prayed he didn’t realise how much.

His eyes narrowed in a small flinch and she thought he stopped breathing a moment as he debated his response.

‘Take off the wig,’ he finally said, and folded his arms.

A flood of relief went through her. His demand for payment before he’d fetch her case told her he didn’t want to end this either. That was good, but she didn’t obey him. Her attention was splintered, half of it screaming with urgency that the case be brought inside the locked door for safety, but she refused to give in to any sort of weakness in herself.

~ * ~

You can buy The Secret In Room 823 as a stand alone title (in the UK), or as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2. In North America, it's part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2.

If you've missed any of my other excerpts, here are some handy links so you can catch up:

Book Blurbs - for all five of my summer titles
#SampleSunday - An Heir To Bind Them - My June Harlequin Presents. This post links to the previous five.
#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role - This is all the excerpts from the first book in my Erotic Romance Collection.
#TeaserTuesday - Playing The Master - second instalment in the second book in this Erotic 2in1 Collection.

If you haven't entered the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest yet, there's still time! Purchase of my erotic romance collection, or my August Presents, The Ultimate Seduction, counts as ten entries for one of these fabulous prizes.

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest then enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

I have a few blog stops to promote both the Erotic Collection and The Ultimate Seduction. Check in for giveaways:

July 11 - iBooks

Thank you so much for continuing to visit. If my posts are eratic right now, it's because I'm traveling. I will try to post this coming Sunday, but as yet have not thought of a topic. Plus I'll be on an airplane to Australia. Have a great weekend.

#TeaserTuesday - Playing The Master (2)

Hopefully I'm posting this on Tuesday. I'm traveling and have prewritten several posts and made arrangements to schedule, but you just never know. If I'm off by a day one way or another, kindly forgive and check back as you can through the summer because I will try to post often if not predictably.

If you tuned in last week, you know this series is from my 2in1 collection wit HarlequinE, a digital first publisher, meaning print copies may happen in the future, but right now it's only available electronically.

And when I say, "right now" I might be lying. The book releases August 4th, but I've been posting that it's available from Mills and Boon now. A friend in Australia, however, had to pre-order so it might be that I'm reading things wrong and this link only allows you to pre-order.

You can definitely only pre-order from Amazon.com until it releases in North America on August 4th.

Here's a quick roundup of the rest of my summer excerpts:

Book Blurbs - for all five of my summer titles
#SampleSunday - An Heir To Bind Them - Six consecutive excerpts from my June Harlequin Presents. Post includes links to the previous five.
#SampleSunday - The Ultimate Seduction - all excerpts from my August Harlequin Presents.
#Thursday13 - The Secret In Room 823 (part of
Mills & Boon's The Chatsfield series).
#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role - from the first book in this Erotic 2in1 Collection. Includes links to previous.

If you missed the first one from this book, the opening scene is here, where Ann spies on a couple 'doing it.'

#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role - the second book in this Erotic 2in1 Collection.

~ * ~

Ann’s stomach plummeted into her knees. She dropped her gaze and fumbled her glasses onto her face. The lenses were greased by her clammy grip and caught, refusing to slide against the spackle of her face powder. She left them smudged and crooked.

Did she recognize her? Ann had made only the briefest of appearances downstairs when the guests had first arrived. Since then she’d been sidling into alcoves and stairwells, not comfortable being the focus of interest after so many years of being locked away and ignored. She definitely had not wanted to be noticed climbing the back stairs to this room.

“Quelle surprise,” Eloisa said in a facetious undertone.

Ann didn’t dare look into her eyes. People who were angry were cruel. You didn’t provoke them by being defiant.

A noise at the door lifted her startled gaze, but the bi-fold doors unexpectedly blocked her vision as they were thrown back into their rails. Enclosed in darkness once again, she had the barest sliver to view who entered the room.

Oh. Porter Navarro.

Her heart took a further tumbling drop to somewhere in the foyer two stories below. This would be bad. Now her stepfather would find out. If Porter backed out of marrying her, Cain would kill her. Literally. He’d told her so.

Her entire body quivered with an urge to flee, but as usual, she was trapped.

Porter said nothing as he stared at Eloisa.

She placed insolent hands on her hips and tossed her wild curls with bravado.

Ann hadn’t done anything so bold when introduced to him. She’d been too terrified, too conscious she was being sold to a man who looked more wicked and dangerous than her stepfather—which was saying something.

Thankfully, he hadn’t bothered to let his dark gaze linger on her the way he did with Eloisa. If he had, she hadn’t seen it while she’d stared at his shoes. How did Eloisa stand his scrutiny? He was intimidating, tall and ropey with muscle.

And yet, as Ann stole her first opportunity to study him without being observed, the sexy slithery feeling in her abdomen returned. He was even more good looking in person than in the photos she’d looked up online.

His father was Spanish, but Porter had been born in South America, which leant warm Latin swarthiness to his skin. His brows weren’t too heavy, but they were intense over smoky gray eyes. He wore a precision thin moustache with an equally ruthless narrow line of hair that started below his bottom lip and ran into a curving anchor that followed the edge of his strong jaw.

His mother was French, which accounted for the sensual lips, she supposed, but he was more worldly than that, having grown up around the globe as his father expanded the family oil interests. His accent had held a British boarding school clip. His clothes were tailored either here or Milan because his tuxedo fit his flawless build to perfection.

Everything about his appearance was excruciatingly perfect, from his shiny black hair swooped to the left to his polished black shoes. Even his companions, women of various ethnicities who’d been photographed by online gossip sites sprawled upon him in barely there bikinis, were utterly flawless.

But when Ann had looked past his brutal handsomeness and money and power, and read ‘Sexual Adventurer’, ‘Master of Kink,’ and ‘Lady Killer’, taking her chances with defying Cain and making a run for it looked like the safer option.

Not that she had much say in the matter now. She curled her sweaty palms into fists, holding her breath, waiting for Eloisa to expose her. Waiting for Porter to speak.

They only confronted each other in silence.

Eloisa softened her posture first. She moved toward him with a swish of her hips.

“Mon bijou, this evening is full of the unexpected.” She sounded amused.

Ann dug her teeth into her lip so hard she expected to taste blood. Her nerves frayed as she felt the noose drawn a fraction tighter. A damp chill sat on her skin.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting to see you here.” He glanced toward the closet where Ann was hiding. “Find anything interesting in there?”

“Only your fiancée.”

Ann’s inner being drained from her eyebrows to her ankles in a sucking plunge.

“Is that where she got to?” Porter asked with disinterest, implying he thought she was joking. “People have been asking.”

Ann’s throat locked around a burst of hysterical amusement. Her stomach flip flopped and all she could do was stand there motionless, waiting for Eloisa to release the blade on the guillotine.

“They want to see what kind of woman could leash the infamous Porter Navarro. From the brief glimpse I had, she seems intriguing.” Eloisa slid a familiar hand over Porter’s arm, lifting onto her tiptoes to attempt a kiss on his cheek. Her gaze cut sideways toward the closet from the corner of her swooped lashes. It was a teasing acknowledgment of Ann’s presence.

Before the kiss landed, Porter set a firm hand on her collarbone and pressed her to flat feet. “What are you doing here, Eloisa?”

“Ever the dominant.” She tsked as he brushed her hand from his belt buckle. “I just told you. Like everyone else, I wanted a look at this paragon you’re planning to marry. Is she really a virgin?”

“According to Cain. Given how plain she is, I can’t imagine any man would touch her without other incentives.”

As Eloisa tittered, indignant heat crept into Ann’s cheeks. She didn’t know where it came from. Having witnessed how her stepfather had treated her mother, she had little interest in catching men’s attention. In fact, she’d spent the last nine years ensuring Cain found her less than interesting. Repulsive. Raina had helped her disguise the fact she’d grown into the body that had only been starting to blossom when her mother had been killed.

Ann couldn’t peel back the layers at this point and reveal that, actually, she wasn’t half bad. Not with Cain watching her every second, determined to get rid of her and her mother’s oil company in one ruthlessly lucrative stroke of his pen.

Still, it bothered her to know Porter thought she was unattractive. She feared it meant he’d be callous at best, harsh and vicious as her stepfather at his worst. That closed a door on her. Part of her had wondered if this marriage could be a turn of fortune, but apparently not..

~ * ~

More next week, mon bijou.

Now, Goodreads will only let me do giveaways for print books, but I've decided that I'll draw for some copies of this book if you send me a photo of my books on vacation. It can be an older book and it can be print or a screenshot from your e-reader, but please include some background like the beach or wherever you're reading it. When I've collected ten or so, I'll draw for a few free books. Tell me which one you'd like to win when you send me your snapshot.

And please enter the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest! Purchase of my erotic romance collection, or my August Presents, The Ultimate Seduction, counts as ten entries for one of these fabulous prizes.

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest then enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

I have a few blog stops to promote both the Erotic Collection and The Ultimate Seduction. Check in for giveaways:

July 11 - iBooks

Please check back for #Thursday13. I'm going to set up a post for another 13 lines from The Secret In Room 823 right now.

#SampleSunday - The Ultimate Seduction (6)

I pre-wrote this then came this close to forgetting to hit publish. This is the kind of reliability you're in for over the next month. I'm literally all over the place and will be a bit eratic in my posting habits. Here goes...

I wound up starting this series a bit early, so it's ending a bit early. In another week, you should start seeing this book on shelves. If you don't want to wait, you can buy The Ultimate Seduction from Amazon now!

The reason(s) I jumped the gun were many.

I'm on the move as of two days ago, so I'm pre-writing this post.
I have several books to promote for August.
I can't count. Especially backward from August 1st.

So here we are, having our last visit with Ryzard and Tiffany before they go on sale. If you've missed any of the previous posts in this series, they're here:

Tiffany receives her invitation to QVirtus
Ryzard arrives at QVirtus
Tiffany joins the party
Ryzard joins Tiffany on the dance floor
Their dancing turns into something more

Remember to scroll down for more samples and snippets from the rest of my summer books.

~ * ~

A strong male hand stroked down her abdomen and skimmed off to the top of her thigh, making her mewl in disappointment. Then he fingered beneath the slit of her skirt and she had to pull away from his kiss to draw in a gasp as he followed bare skin into the sensitive flesh at the top of her leg.

She stilled.

His arm across her torso tensed and the hand on her breast hesitated briefly before he continued caressing her, lightly and persuasively, both hands teasing her with the promise of continued pleasure.

A moan of craving left her and she shuddered in acceptance.

A streak of light shot skyward and his touch moved into her center, exploring satin and lace that were damp with anticipation. She couldn’t help covering his hand with her own, pinning his touch where she ached for pressure.

He seemed to know what she needed more than she did. As he fondled her, her eyes drifted closed and her head fell back to rest against his shoulder. She bit her lip, ripples of delight dancing through her. Was she really doing this? Rubbing her behind into his erection, not caring they were in public, that she didn’t know him, that this was all about her pleasure?

He started to draw his hand away and she turned her face to the side, a cry of disappointment escaping her, but he was only hooking her panties down her hip and returning to trace and part and seek and find.

She released a moan of pure joy.

He caught her chin in his other hand and tilted her face up for his kiss while his touch on her mound became deliberate and intimate and determined.

She let it happen. She held very still and kissed him back with naked passion, aware of the light breeze caressing where she was exposed to the shadows of the rampart and the velvety night air. She let him stroke her into delirious intensity, her awareness dimmed at the edges so she was focused on the pleasure he was delivering, plucking and teasing and bringing her closer.

Over the water, the biggest rockets exploded like thunder, sending shock waves through her that made her quiver in stunned reaction. The reverberations echoed inside her, sparking where he stroked, sending a wild release upward and out to the ends of her limbs. He pinched her nipple, and like a flashpoint, she was blind to everything but white light and astonishing pleasure. Glorious waves of joy crashed in, submerging her in tumultuous ripples that he seemed to control, pressing one after another through her with the rub of his fingertip.

As the fireworks dimmed to puffs of smoke surrounding a barge in the bay, her climax receded, leaving her a puddle of lassitude in his steely arms.

He adjusted her panties and started to turn her. She obeyed the command in his hands, wanting to kiss him, to thank him—

Without a word, he drew her across the balcony to a set of shallow stairs leading to the beach. She wobbled, partly because her legs were wet noodles, partly because her heels couldn’t find solid purchase in the sand. He scooped her up, carrying her along with easy strength into a cabana encircled by heavy curtains.

Inside he set her on her feet and steadied her with one hand while he raked the cloth door closed behind them. Without a word, he scraped the mask off his face and yanked his shirt open, peeling it off his shoulders and throwing it aside.

She couldn’t see his face, not really. It was barely a shade above pitch-black in here, but the glow of satin skin increased as he toed off his shoes and opened his fly, stripping without ceremony.

Sweet Lord, what a man. He stepped closer and she couldn’t help reaching out to test the flat muscles of his abdomen, learning them by feel more than sight. Hot and damp, he reacted to her touch with a tense of muscles and a muffled curse, making her smile in the dark, pleased she had an effect on him.

Her hand bumped into his. He was applying a condom.

Curious, she lightly explored his latex-covered shape. As she did, the pressure of her mask shifted.

She knocked his touch away before she thought about what she was doing.

Stillness came over him.

She tried to penetrate the dark and read his face—which was what he was likely doing. He probably thought she was having second thoughts.

Hell no. She might never have another chance to lose her virginity. Not like this, so caught up in desire she was shaking with it.

“Leave it on,” she whispered.

His hands lowered to her shoulders, one skimming down the edge of her bodice under her arm. She knew what he was looking for.

“That too.” Catching his hand away from her zipper, she drew him toward the bed.

In the same way he’d taken her over on the dance floor, he took the lead. A tip of his weight, a knee in the bed and she was lifted and placed half under him in one smooth motion. Her startled exhale clouded between them as a hand sought beneath her skirt, catching at her panties then pausing.

She couldn’t help chuckling, understanding the implicit question. Lifting her hips, she invited him to strip them off her.

~ * ~

And then more stuff happens. I'm a brat, I know. Here are the buy links if you'd like to read more:

All my current Harlequin titles are available on the Mills & Boon UK site. eHarlequin and Mills & Boon Aus have them too.

Prefer Amazon? US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan | Australia 

These other fine retailers have my books too:

Nook | Kobo | ARe | BooksaMillion | ChaptersIndigo | iBooks

Did you know that purchase of this book counts as ten entries in the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest?

Read the rules for the Dani Collins Masked Desires Contest then enter here:

Dani's Masked Desires Rafflecopter Entry Form

Want some behind-the-scenes info and more chances to win signed copies of my books? Check out some of my upcoming guest blogs:

July 11 - Romance Beckons on Writing Erotic Romance
July 14 - Harlequin Blog
July #TemptationThursday - Caribbean Accent Book Reviews
July 31 - The Reading Cafe

Also, this book is part of a three book series from Harlequin Presents. Read more about the 21st Century Gentleman's Club:

Finally, if you've missed any of my other excerpts, here are some handy links so you can catch up:

Book Blurbs - for all five of my summer titles
#SampleSunday - An Heir To Bind Them - My June Harlequin Presents. This post links to the previous five.
#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role - This is all the excerpts from the first book in my Erotic Romance Collection.
#Thursday13 - The Secret In Room 823 - This is the third instalment from this novella in
Mills & Boon's The Chatsfield series.
#TeaserTuesday - Playing The Master - the second book in this Erotic 2in1 Collection.

Whew! Thanks for all your support! I'm going to prep a few more posts, but please forgive me if they don't post on time. It will depend on access to wifi and my ability to remember what day it is. Hope you're having a great weekend.

#Thursday13 - Things I Have To Do Today

All that stuff I was supposed to do yesterday? Here's what I did:

Why? It's not even great. It's merely okay. But I was in the mood to muck around. As a result, I am making myself a To Do list today and have to stick to it. I leave tomorrow. No choice. So...

Mess around online: This is what I do while I have my tea each morning. I'm not swaying from that. It's my thing. But I'm including writing and posting this #Thursday13. I should also plan my posts while I'm gone. I should, but we'll see. I'm only one person.

Tame email. Really should have done this yesterday. Was busy making a cool new banner that I will unveil someday in the future when I've had time to master Photoshop. For today you get the lame one.

Run into town. This is the last minute freak out that we all do where we buy weird items like gravol and quinoa and something impulsive that we think we'll need but really don't. Like a new pair of shoes that we don't love, but could wear if we do that thing and then we do that thing and we hate the shoes and make do with something more comfortable. My freak out also includes: work out at gym, pedicure, buy groceries for family so they don't starve while I'm gone, visit my parents for last minute hugs and kisses, fill the tank and, if I'm so inclined, wash the vehicle, but I'm pretty sure that one will fall into Bonus Points category. Like the Yahtzee that you hope for but never get.

Swim. It has to happen in this heat or someone will be seriously injured.

Get the mail. Then I must delegate the key to the most responsible family member. I shall spend all morning thinking about this and probably leave it with my husband despite the fact that all two of my children work in the same building as the post office.

Clean my desk. This is about excavating the vital papers I will very likely need as I travel, like itineraries and directions to that lunch I'm supposed to go to and, oh yeah, my sister's home address so I know what to tell the cab driver when I get off the plane at 5am in Brisbane. Looking at my desk makes me whimper.

Clean my bathroom. I'd say the whole house, but heat. I should have done this a few days ago, but heat.

Laundry. This one comes very obviously before:

Finish packing. 'nuff said and won't truly be complete until tomorrow morning.

Make supper. Mother Of The Year is a sarcastic title in our house. I often win it for my stellar skills like forgetting to pick up my son or getting him up for school on a day that's a holiday. Being a winner of this trophy going on nineteen years running, I will make supper tonight and I bet it will include one of those chickens from the grocery store. (heat)

Photocopy my itinerary for the family. They don't care until they care, like I fully expect this text: "Mom, why didn't you pick me up from work." Me: Because I'm in Australia. Look at the thing on the fridge. Where is your sister? Fun fact: She wanted to stay in Calgary this summer and I asked her to come home and take a local job for the express purpose of being her brother's personal chauffeur. So far it's working out great for all of us.

Swim. Seriously, this needs to happen near bedtime or sleep doesn't happen. It's 7:08 am as I write this and I already feel like the sweatiest sweat hog.

Try to sleep. It's not just the heat. My brain will be going non-stop, trying to figure out what I've forgotten, and also plotting my next three books. That's kept me awake for the last few nights. Good grief, the couple from the photographer story won't leave me alone! I can't officially start it until I've consulted my horoscope, but no, they're all up in my grill with their dialogue and conflict and angst. Also, I have a book to finish while I'm away so they just have to wait until I get back. Puh-leeze.

I will have a #SampleSunday this weekend and a #TeaserTuesday along with a new #Thursday13 from The Chatsfield next week. I haven't planned all my posts, but this weekend is the last #SampleSunday from The Ultimate Seduction. I'll continue the #TeaserTuesday from Playing The Master until August 4th.

Given that I'm traveling, they might not post exactly on time. I'll do my best. Please check back if it's not up yet.

Meanwhile, if you came here looking for The Secret Room in 823, here's a little blog post I wrote about my 'stay' in The Chatsfield.

You can buy The Secret In Room 823 as a stand alone title (in the UK), or as part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2. In North America, it's part of The Chatsfield Boxed Set Vol.2.

If you've missed any of my other excerpts, here are some handy links so you can catch up:

Book Blurbs - for all five of my summer titles
#SampleSunday - An Heir To Bind Them - My June Harlequin Presents. This post links to the previous five.
#TeaserTuesday - Mastering Her Role - This is all the excerpts from the first book in my Erotic Romance Collection.
#TeaserTuesday - Playing The Master - second instalment in the second book in this Erotic 2in1 Collection.

I have a few blog stops with some behind the scenes stuff on the Erotic Collection and The Ultimate Seduction. Check in for giveaways, too:

July 11 - iBooks

Tea is gone. That means I have to get along to the next items on the list. Thank you for continuing to visit. I'll get that #SampleSunday up on Saturday morning if the hotel has decent wifi. Cheers!