Dani Collins's Blog, page 59

Thursday Thirteen – Reviews So Far

A common exercise I was often encouraged to undertake along my journey to publication was to define ‘my’ reader. The idea is to hone in on your ideal audience, eg. A married woman in her thirties or forties, likely with grade school children, enjoys armchair travel… You’re supposed to picture this ideal person reading and loving your book.

It’s a way to visualize your eventual success, but a side benefit of that exercise was to reinforce for me that not everyone is ‘my’ reader. This was extremely helpful when coping with rejections and has served me in good stead as reviews rolled in.

I’ve been trolling my reviews since the release of More Than A Convenient Marriage? and this once again demonstrated to me that not every reader will enjoy every book they read or even every book by the same author. I’ve cut and pasted a few stand-out remarks below, not all of them flattering, so you can see what I mean. A lot of them are from my July book, Proof Of Their Sin, which has had the most exposure.

i couldn’t take it so i skip to the end. don’t get this book because you will be come mad like me at the main guy who is a jackass the whole book. – Proof Of Their Sin [Paolo seemed to get a lot of love him to death or hate him to death reactions.]
…for a first time novel, the grammar and vocabulary were awesome as well as the conversations. – Proof Of Their Sin [My mother-in-law doesn't own a computer so I didn't pay her to post this review (I don't pay anyone) but she gave me a similar compliment on this book. Wordsmiths, this one's for you.]
Loved this fantastic characters with real emotions. A must read, I couldn’t put it down, much to my family’s distress.. – No Longer Forbidden [This would be one of 'my' readers. Every author dreams of their book landing in the hands of someone who is transfixed to the point of neglecting their children. It's sick, but it's really awesome at the same time.]
Pick up this romantic comedy and be on the look out for it in the theaters. I would almost bet it will get picked up. – Hustled To The Altar [I've had a couple of real butt kicks on this book, along with some really stellar praise. I chose to include this quote as I want to reinforce to the Universe that this would be a really cool thing if it happened with this book. (Any of them, really, let's be honest.)]
I think this is the best Dani Collins book I’ve read, which is saying something! – More Than A Convenient Marriage [What I like most about this review is that it tells me this reader has read more than one of my books. Makes me tearful, I'm so awed and delighted.]
I have read Mills and Boon romances for 20+ years and I think this is one of the best so far. – More Than A Convenient Marriage [Okay, now I'm just bragging, but seriously, how nice is that?]
However, Dani Collins sure can write. She has a flow and a power that she doesn’t hesitate to employ. When she reaches the purple prose, she doesn’t hesitate at the brink but hurls herself over the edge with an abandon rarely seen these days. – Proof Of Their Sin, [I just love the image of myself hurling with abandon into the purple prose. It's probably like a ball pit of rose petals in a psychedelic range of hues...]
Usually takes me a bit to get into fantasy romances set in made-up worlds, but there’s some excellent storytelling in this one. – The Healer [I was so thrilled to see this review. Poor Athadia and Vaun have not had much attention, despite making the finals in the Epic eBook Awards.]
I’ve passed by this book for months when I looking for a good romance. I’m so glad I bought it, and gave it a chance. – Proof Of Their Sin [A testament to the powers of a cover, blurb, and central premise. Sometimes readers just have a meh reaction, or feel like they're being told to eat their cultural vegetables. I totally get that.]
BAHAHA, I’ll be honest the last few paragraphs bumped this up to a 3 star for me. – Proof Of Their Sin [The epilogue on this one has received some very nice praise. I remember finishing the manuscript and wondering if my editor would let me keep it , or tell me to cut it because it was too cute. They never said a word.]
“Top Pick! Brava to Collins’ commanding Presents debut, a prime example of the series with a bold, descriptive narrative that will keep pages turning.” – Proof Of Their Sin (RT Book Reviews) [Shameless bragging again, but they've chosen it as a Best First Book in Series. I can't NOT mention something that cool.]
I was waiting for this novel since I saw the summary by chance on goodreads, and it was worth waiting. – Proof Of Their Sin [Thank you Goodreads!]
After an excellent debut novel (No Longer Forbidden?) but a disappointing follow-up (Proof Of Their Sin) Ms Collins is back on form with her third book. – More Than A Convenient Marriage [See what I'm saying about readers responding differently even to books by the same author? Note that this is the same book that her meh reaction was to the same book that the professional reviewers loved.]

In closing, I should mention that I have actually identified ‘my’ reader. She contacted me off my website and introduced herself after reading Proof Of Their Sin. She sent away special for No Longer Forbidden, which was only available in the UK at the time. Her name is Dottie and she continues to send me lovely emails telling me how much she likes my writing. Here is what I received from her last:

I received my February presents and I had to start with your book…Loved the story and I feel that no matter what you write that story will be wonderful. You have another winner here Congratulations.

I sure hope you are working on another book? Added this one to my keeper shelf your truly gifted.

She’s referring to A Debt Paid In Passion, which I will shamelessly point out is available for pre-order here:

Amazon: US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan

And here: Nook | Kobo | | ARe | BooksaMillion

And very soon it will be available here: eHarlequin | Mills & Boon Aus | Mills & Boon UK

As a reader, what are your thoughts on reviews? Do they affect your decision to purchase? Which authors do you respond to most strongly?

The post Thursday Thirteen – Reviews So Far appeared first on Dani Collins.

Sunday Ramblings

We’re not always told when a book has been translated, so I was THRILLED to discover that More Than A Convenient Marriage is already in Portugese and available on Amazon Brazil under the title WEDDINGS AND PASSION. Here’s the cover:

Google translates the blurb thusly:

WEDDING MORE THAN CONVENIENT

Began with a contract.

Rich, powerful and married to a beautiful woman, the Greek tycoon

Gideon Vozaras has everything. The problem is that this perfect life is but a facade … Adara wants a fresh start, and asks for a divorce, but he is not at all willing to sign the papers. If there is something that Gideon learned in the past was playing dirty to preserve what is yours!

It’s a riot, isn’t it? Here’s the extra fun note: It’s paired with a book by Maya Blake and if you read last week’s blog, you’ll know she is one of my new favourite people, along with the equally awesome Victoria Parker, both of whom were recent collaborators with me.

I’ve been teasing about this continuity and will continue to tease. Gag order. Sorry.

I also promised last week to reveal more about the book I’m due to turn in end of this month/year and shall make good on that promise (as well as I can). I attended the online pow-wow with Harlequin Series Digital First and learned that the manuscript I turned in a while back is essentially waiting for this December book before they release together. (ahem) They are… wait for it, because anticipation that approaches torture is apropos for this genre… erotic romances. VERY sexy. I’ll talk more about how these books came to be once they’re scheduled.

In other news, my blog tour for More Than A Convenient Marriage continues this week. Look for me here:

Dec 9/13 – Heroes & Heartbreakers, Ode To The Convenient Marriage
Dec 9/13 – Romance University, Blog Tour Tips
Dec 10/13 – Romance Reviews Today, Author Interview
Dec 11/13 – eHarlequin Blog, Bucket List Moment
Dec 12/13 – The Other Side Of The Story, Being Okay With What We Can’t Control

Also watch for the eHarlequin Open House on Dec 10th. I’ll be working, but will pop in the morning of and definitely in the evening. Lots of authors will be offering giveaways, including me, so do come by.

After this week, I have a little break from the blog tour, then I start promoting my February title, A Debt Paid In Passion. I’m working on a book signing in Kelowna and have a date mid Feb to be at the Vancouver Public Library. Must put it in my Events page, but I’m still learning how to use that system.

Now I’ve just invited my parents for lunch and haven’t written word one on the WIP. Must get my act together. Oh, but first I’m going to schedule a #ThursdayThirteen post. I haven’t done one in a while, so come back for that if time allows.

Have a great week.

 

 

 

 

The post Sunday Ramblings appeared first on Dani Collins.

Official Launch – More Than A Convenient Marriage?

My blog tour continues! Visit these sites to learn more about me, my process, and More Than A Convenient Marriage?:

Dec 1/13 – LoveRomancePassion, Gideon’s Deep Dark Secret
Dec 2/13 – BookNKisses, Writing Within Genre
Dec 2/13 – Riverina Romantics, How It Feels To Be A Harlequin Author
Dec 3/13 – Addicted to Romance, How My Addiction To Romance Started
Dec 3/13 – Romance Junkies, Author Interview
Dec 9/13 – Heroes & Heartbreakers, Ode To The Convenient Marriage
Dec 9/13 – Romance University, Blog Tour Tips
Dec 10/13 – Romance Reviews Today, Author Interview
Dec 11/13 – eHarlequin Blog, Bucket List Moment
Dec 12/13 – The Other Side Of The Story, Being Okay With What We Can’t Control

Also watch for the eHarlequin Open House on Dec 10th. I’ll be working, but will pop in before I leave and definitely in the evening. Lots of authors will be offering giveaways, including me, so do mark it on your calendar.

If you’ve missed some of the previous dates on my tour, they’re here:

Oct 19/13 – Nice Girls Reading Naughty Books, Blogtalk Radio interview with Bernadette Walsh
Nov 15/13 – Eclectic Writer, How She Does It author interview with Janet Walters
Nov 20/13 – Potpourri Parlour, author interview with Chelle Cordero
Nov 19/13 – Savvy Author, article on Writing Around A Day Job
Nov 21/13 – Harlequin Junkies, author interview with excerpt and giveaway
Nov 22/13 – MangaManiac Cafe, author interview and giveaway (closes Nov 24th)
Nov 23/13 – Just Contemporary Romance, Location, Location, Location and giveaway (closes Nov 24th)

It seems a bit funny to make a splash about the official launch day of More Than A Convenient Marriage? when it’s been out for over a month. The Mills & Boon site has already moved on to offering their January titles and Amazon has been shipping it since the 19th of November. Bernadette Walsh of Nice Girls Reading Naughty Books saw it at Penn Station a good two weeks ago and I had another friend stop me in town the other day to say she had bought it while shopping across the line a few days ago.

I’m not even having a personal party with Champagne to celebrate. My son is at a surprise birthday party for his girlfriend so I have to be sober to drive when he needs picking up. My husband was called in for overtime tomorrow so he’ll be going to bed early to be up at 4am. At the moment he is no fun at all. We spent the day starting the junker and getting it off our lawn before the snow plows it in for the winter. In his words, “It’s using this last chance to tick me off.” (He didn’t say, ‘tick’.)

Such is the glamour of a modern writer’s book launch. Ironically, I bought a pair of champagne glasses today. MrC wants nice tequila glasses for Christmas and the online community agrees that you want a glass with a narrow rim to hold in the scent. Champagne glasses are ideal. Don’t worry. He never reads my blog. He STILL hasn’t accepted my Friend Request on Facebook.

I did watch Shag while I made supper, but I actually have too many deadlines to really goof off and enjoy myself. I just received revisions for a book I haven’t talked about yet. It’s a continuity with lovely fellow Presents authors Maya Blake and Victoria Parker. More on that as things develop, but I’ll tease you by saying it’s a very fun concept. It will be out in August.

I also have a book due by the end of the year. I promise, after Dec 3rd, I’ll tell you more about this pair of books. Right now I don’t have concrete details like when it will be published, title, cover… It’s all very new, which is exciting, but it means we all have to be patient. I’m not happy about the wait, either.

I just this second remembered that I need to send out my newsletter–at least it’s mostly written. I do need to choose a winner, however. (Done. Just hit random.org. Congratulations j.kitzmiller from VA.)

Okay, it’s nine p.m. and I still have to finalize my newsletter and do my stretches. Sheesh, I’m ready for bed! Would it look bad if I barged into a party of sixteen year olds and pulled my son out at nine because I’m tired? I’m sure he’d understand.

 

The post Official Launch – More Than A Convenient Marriage? appeared first on Dani Collins.

Playing Catch Up

This is what I’ve been doing rather than writing your #SampleSunday posts. Yes, you have a right to shake your head and tsk tsk me.

But no, I’m working. See my books? I was signing at a recent Champagne & Chocolate event held by our local art gallery. Quite a crush and loads of fun.

Besides, I think I was entitled to celebrate a little. That week I had learned that Proof Of Their Sin is a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice nominee.

When I’m not swanning at high brow events, I’ve been writing guest posts for my blog tour for More Than A Convenient Marriage. I almost wish this was a #SampleSunday post. Tracking where I’ve been and where I’m going is a lot of work. This blog would be way easier to prepare if I only had to cut and paste a chunk of my manuscript into it.

However, a lot of my posts offer a bit more insight into my life, my process and the backstory of the characters and other inspirations, so you might be interested in chasing me around the internet. If so, here are the dates and links posted so far:

Oct 19/13 – Nice Girls Reading Naughty Books, Blogtalk Radio interview with Bernadette Walsh
Nov 15/13 – Eclectic Writer, How She Does It author interview with Janet Walters
Nov 20/13 – Potpourri Parlour, author interview with Chelle Cordero
Nov 19/13 – Savvy Author, article on Writing Around A Day Job
 Nov 21/13 – Harlequin Junkies, author interview with excerpt and giveaway
Nov 22/13 – MangaManiac Cafe, author interview and giveaway (closes Nov 24th)
Nov 23/13 – Just Contemporary Romance, Location, Location, Location and giveaway (closes Nov 24th)

I have a little break for the rest of this week to work on the book due end of December. Next weekend I’ll round up the December blog dates which will include an Open House chat at eHarlequin on December 10th. I have written seven of the ten posts due by December 12th. You see how there is no rest for those wicked enough to enjoy chocolate and champagne?

The final guest posts of the year will likely be devoted to A Debt Paid In Passion, my February book. You can start watching for excerpts from that one by late December. Meanwhile, if you haven’t read all the excerpts from More Than A Convenient Marriage, they’re here:

Gideon thinks Adara is cheating
Adara thinks Gideon is cheating
Adara thinks about divorce
Gideon thinks about Adara
Adara says they don’t talk
Gideon thinks he prefers it that way
Adara thinks there’s no hope

Please do visit my guest blog posts. I often giveaway a copy to those who comment. Or you can always sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page here. I also draw for a signed copy from among my subscribers. The newsletter only comes out when I have a new book so you won’t get spammed every week from me. Unless, of course, I learn to write very very fast.

Have a great week.

 

 

 

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#SampleSunday – More Than A Convenient Marriage?

This will be the last excerpt from More Than A Convenient Marriage? I have about a dozen blog tour posts to write over the next few weeks, all behind the scenes stuff about the book. I’ll post the links here so you can check them out.

This week I’m scheduled to visit:

Nov 21 – Harlequin Junkies
Nov 22 – MangaManiac
Nov 23/24 – JustContemporaryRomance

By mid-December you can start looking for #SampleSundays for A Debt Paid In Passion, my February Presents/Modern.

Meanwhile, let’s recap where we are with More Than A Convenient Marriage?:

Gideon thinks Adara is cheating
Adara thinks Gideon is cheating
Adara thinks about divorce
Gideon thinks about Adara
Adara says they don’t talk
Gideon thinks he prefers it that way

Let’s see what Adara thinks:

~ * ~

Another slicing glance repeated the obvious. We don’t talk.

His guts turned to water. No, they didn’t and because of that he’d let her down. If there was one thing his wife had never asked of Gideon, but that he’d regarded as his sacred duty, it was his responsibility to protect her. Adara was average height and kept herself toned and in good shape, but she was undeniably female. Her bones were smaller, her muscles not as thick as a man’s. She was preordained by nature to be vulnerable to a male’s greater strength. Given what had happened to his own mother, he’d lay down his life for any woman, especially one who depended on him.

“At any time since I’ve known you,” he forced himself to ask, “Did he—”

“No,” she answered bluntly, but her tone was tired. “I learned, Gideon.”

It wasn’t any sort of comfort.

How had he not seen this? He’d always assumed she was reserved because she was raised by strict parents. She was ambitious and focused on material gain because most immigrant families to America were. He was.

And compliant? Well, it was just her nature.

But no, it was because she had been abused.

He couldn’t help staring at her, reeling in disbelief. Not disbelieving she had been mistreated, but that he hadn’t known. What else did he not know about her, he wondered uneasily.

Adara forced herself to eat as though nothing was wrong, even though Gideon’s x-ray stare made her so nervous she felt like her bones were developing radiation blisters. Why had she told him? And why did it upset her that he knew what she’d taken such pains to hide from the entire world? She had nothing to be ashamed of. Her father’s abuse wasn’t her fault.

Sharing her past made her squirm all the same. It was such a dark secret. So close to the heart. Shameful because she had never taken action against her father, trying instead to do everything in her power to keep what remained of her family in tact. And she’d been so young.

Her eyebrows were trying to pull into a worried frown. She habitually noted the tension and concentrated on relaxing her facial muscles, hiding her turmoil. Taking a subtle breath, she begged the constriction in her throat to ease.

“He went by his father’s name,” she told Gideon, taking up the subject of her brother as the less volatile one and using it to distract his intense focus from her. “I found his blogs at one point, but since he had never tried to contact us I didn’t know if he’d want to hear from me. I couldn’t reach out anyway,” she dismissed with a shrug. “Not while my father was alive.” She had feared, quite genuinely, that he would kill her. “But as soon as Papa died, I started thinking about coming here.”

“But never told me.”

She flinched, always sensitive to censure.

Her reaction earned a short sigh.

~ * ~

The brother that Adara is looking for, Nic, is the hero in No Longer Forbidden?, the second title in December’s 2in1. I just sent in my line edits for the third book in this series, An Heir To Bind Them, which is scheduled for June 2014 and I’m working on the proposal for Adara’s youngest brother, Demitri. (He’s a rake!)

This book is already available at: eHarlequin | Mills & Boon Aus | Mills & Boon UK and will be available on Amazon this week. Order here:

Amazon: US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan

You can also get it on: Nook | Kobo | | ARe | BooksaMillion

If you want to hear more about my writing and upcoming books, listen to my interview from Oct 17th with Bernadette Walsh at Nice Girls Reading Naughty Books.

 

The post #SampleSunday – More Than A Convenient Marriage? appeared first on Dani Collins.

#SampleSunday – More Than A Convenient Marriage

I very nearly forgot to set up my post. I’ve had a wonderfully productive day and was about to knock off for the night and realized I was forgetting something. First I wanted to remind my Goodreads friends to enter my giveaway.

Goodreads Book Giveaway


More than a Convenient Marriage?
by Dani Collins

Giveaway ends November 15, 2013.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

If you’re not a Goodreads member, you can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page. I drawn from my subscriber list for a signed copy. I’ll also be starting my blog tour shortly and will be giving away at least one copy on a lot of those. Oh, and there’s an all day chat on the Harlequin forum… Lots of opportunities to win a book.

Or you could just buy one, lol!

Let’s recap where we are with the excerpts from More Than A Convenient Marriage?:

Gideon thinks Adara is cheating
Adara thinks Gideon is cheating
Adara thinks about divorce
Gideon thinks about Adara
Adara says they don’t talk (Gideon thinks he prefers it that way)

~ * ~

Their server arrived with their meals. Gideon asked for Adara’s wine to be changed out. With much bowing and apologies, a fresh glass was produced. Adara tried it and stated it was fine.

As the server walked away, Adara set down her glass with another grimace.

“Still no good?” Gideon tried it. It was fine, perhaps not as dry as she usually liked, but he asked, “Try again?”

“No. I feel foolish that you sent back the first one.”

That was so like her to not want to make a fuss, but he considered calling back the waiter all the same. Stating that they didn’t talk was an acknowledgment of an elephant. It was the first knock on a door he didn’t want opened.

At the same time, he wanted to know more about this supposed brother of hers. Sharing was a two-way street though and hypocrite that he was, he’d prefer backstory flow only one way. He glanced at the offending wine, ready to seize it as an excuse to keep things inconsequential between them.

And yet, as Adara picked up her fork and hovered it over her rice, she gave him an impression of being utterly without hope. Forlorn. The hairs rose all over his body as he picked up signals of sadness that he’d never caught an inkling of before.

“Do you want to talk about him?” he asked carefully.

She lifted her shoulder. “I’ve never been allowed to before so I don’t suppose one more day of silence matters.” It was her conciliatory tone, the one that put everything right and allowed them to move past the slightest hiccup in their marriage.

What marriage? She wanted a divorce, he reminded himself.

Instinct warned him this was dangerous ground, but he also sensed he’d never have another chance to understand if he didn’t seize this one. “Who wouldn’t let you talk about him?” he asked gruffly.

A swift glance gave him the answer. Her father, of course. He’d been a hard man of strong opinions and ancient views. His daughter could run a household, but her husband would control the hotels. Her share of the family fortune wasn’t hers to squander as her brothers might, but left in a trust doled out by tightly worded language, the bulk of the money to be held for her children. The male ones.

Gideon frowned, refusing to let himself be sidetracked by the painful subject of heirs.

“I assume this brother was the product of an affair? Something your father didn’t want to be reminded of?”

“He was my mother’s indiscretion.” Adara frowned at her plate, her voice very soft, her expression disturbingly young and bewildered. “He lived with us until he left for school.” She lifted anxious eyes, words pouring out of her in a rush like she’d held onto them for decades. “My aunt explained years later that my father didn’t know at first that Nico wasn’t his. When he found out, he had him sent to boarding school. It was awful. That’s all they’d tell me, that he’d gone to school. I knew I was starting the next year and I was terrified I’d be forgotten the same way.”

A stitch pulled in his chest. His childhood predisposed him to hate the thought of any child frightened by anything. He felt her confusion and fear at losing her brother mixed with the terror of not knowing what would happen to her own self. It made him nauseous.

Her expression eased into something poignant. “But then we saw him at my Aunt’s in Katarini over the summer. He was fine. He told me about his school and I couldn’t wait to go myself, to be away from the angry man my father had turned into, make new friends…” Her gaze faded to somewhere in the distance. “But I was sent to day school in New York and we only saw Nico a few more times after that. One day I asked if we would see him and my father—”

Gideon wouldn’t have known what she failed to say aloud if he hadn’t been watching her so intently, reading her lips because he could barely hear her. Her tongue touched the corner of her mouth where a hairline scar was sometimes visible between her morning shower and her daily application of makeup. She’d told him it had come from a childhood mishap.

A wrecking ball hit him in the middle of his chest. “He hit you?”

Her silence and embarrassed bite of her lip spoke volumes.

His torso felt like it split open and his teeth clenched so hard he thought they’d crack. His scalp prickled and his blood turned to battery acid.

“I didn’t ask again,” she said in her quick, sweep it under the rug way. “I didn’t let the boys say his name. I let it go. I learned to let a lot of things go.”

Like equal rights. Like bad decisions with the hotel chain that were only now being repaired after her father was dead. Like the fact that her brothers were still boys because they’d been raised by a child: her.

Gideon had seen the dysfunction, the alcoholic mother and the overbearing father, the youngest son who earned his father’s criticism, and the older children who hadn’t but received plenty of it anyway. Adara had always managed the volatile dynamics with equanimity so Gideon hadn’t tried to stir up change. If he had suspected physical abuse was the underbelly of it all…

His fist clenched. “You should have told me,” he said.

Another slicing glance repeated the obvious. We don’t talk.

~ * ~

If you haven’t read the first in this series, and you live in North America, you’re in luck! The brother that Adara is talking about above, Nic, is the hero in No Longer Forbidden?, the second title in this 2in1. I just sent in my line edits for the third book in this series, An Heir To Bind Them, which is scheduled for June 2014 and I’m working on the proposal for Adara’s youngest brother, Demitri. (He’s a rake!)

This book is already available at: eHarlequin | Mills & Boon Aus | Mills & Boon UK and will be available on Amazon in another week or so. Order here:

Amazon: US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan

You can also get it on: Nook | Kobo | | ARe | BooksaMillion

If you want to hear more about my writing and upcoming books, listen to my interview from Oct 17th with Bernadette Walsh at Nice Girls Reading Naughty Books.

The post #SampleSunday – More Than A Convenient Marriage appeared first on Dani Collins.

CLAAS Book signing

6:30 Nov 16th Christina Lake Living Arts Center, Champagne & Chocolate Event.

The post CLAAS Book signing appeared first on Dani Collins.

#SampleSunday – More Than A Convenient Marriage?

I just discovered this book will be released as part of a Summer Blockbuster collection in Australia. I hadn’t seen my Mills & Boon Sexy cover yet, but once I caught a glimpse of it, I had to share. See bottom left below.

Ready to place an order for that guy? Me too. Whew!

If you’d like to get to know him first, here are the links to previous excerpts from More Than A Convenient Marriage?:

Gideon thinks Adara is cheating
Adara thinks Gideon is cheating
Adara thinks about divorce
Gideon thinks about Adara

I just sent in my line edits for the third book in this series, An Heir To Bind Them, which is scheduled for June 2014. If you haven’t read the first in this series, and you like to read series books in order, you’ll want to pick up No Longer Forbidden?

On to the excerpt. When we last left Gideon and Adara, they’d met in the patio restaurant in the Greek hotel where she’s staying while trying to find her brother. Gideon still thinks she’s here to cheat with another man.

~ * ~

“The rooms aren’t ready,” he told her.

“So they’ve just informed me again.” Adara’s mouth firmed to a resistant angle, but she moved forward. If there was one thing he could say about her, it was that she wasn’t a coward. She met confrontation with a quiet dignity that disconcerted him every time, somehow making him feel like an executioner of an innocent even though he’d never so much as raised his voice at her.

She’d never given him reason to. Until today.

With the collected poise he found both admirable and frustrating, she set her pocketbook to the side and lowered herself gracefully into the chair he held. He had learned early that passionate women were scene-makers and he didn’t care to draw attention to himself. Adara had been a wallflower with a ton of potential, blooming with subtle brilliance as they had made their mark on the social scene in New York, London, and Athens, always keeping things understated.

Which meant she didn’t wear short-shorts or low-cut tops, but the way her denim cut-offs clung all the way down her toned thighs and the way the crisp cotton of her loose shirt angled over the thrust of her firm breasts was erotic in its own way.

Unwanted male hunger paced with purpose inside him. How could he still want her? He was furious with her.

Without removing her sunglasses or even looking at him as he took his seat, she opened the menu he’d been given. She didn’t put it down until the server arrived, then ordered a souvlaki with salad and a glass of the house white.

“The same,” Gideon said dismissively.

“You won’t speak Greek even to a native in his own country?” Adara murmured in an askance tone as the man walked away.

“Did I use English? I didn’t notice,” Gideon lied and sensed her gaze staying on him even though she didn’t challenge his assertion. Another thing he could count on with his wife: she never pushed for answers he wouldn’t give.

Nevertheless, he found himself waiting for her to speak, willing her almost, which wasn’t like him. He liked their quiet meals that didn’t beleaguer him with small talk.

He wasn’t waiting for, How’s the weather, however. He wanted answers.

Her attention lifted to the greenery forming the canopy above them, providing shade against the persistent sun. Blue pots of pink flowers and feathery palms offered a privacy barrier between their table and the empty one next to them. A colorful mosaic on the exterior wall of the restaurant held her attention for a very long time.

He realized she didn’t intend to speak at all.

“Adara,” he said with quiet warning.

“Yes?” Her voice was steady and thick with calm reason, but he could see her pulse racing in her throat.

She wasn’t comfortable and that was a much needed satisfaction for him since he was having a hard time keeping his balance. Maybe the comfortable routine of their marriage had grown a bit stale for both of them, but that didn’t mean you threw it away and ran off to meet another man. None of this gelled with the woman he’d always seen as ethical, cool-headed, and highly averse to risk.

“Tell me why,” he ground out, resenting the instability of this storm she’d thrown him into and the fact he wasn’t weathering it up to his usual standard.

Her mouth pursed in distaste. “From the outset I made it clear that I would rather be divorced than put up with infidelity.”

“And yet you snuck away to have an affair,” he charged, angry because he’d been blindsided.

“That’s not—” A convulsive flinch contracted her features, half hidden by her bug-eyed glasses, but the flash of great pain was unmistakable before she smoothed her expression and tone, appearing unaffected in a familiar way that he suddenly realized was completely fake.

His fury shorted out into confusion. What else did she hide behind that serene expression of hers?

“I’m not having an affair,” she said without inflection.

“No?” Gideon pressed, sitting forward, more disturbed by his stunning insight and her revelation of deep emotion than by her claim. Her anguish lifted a host of unexpected feelings in him. It roused an immediate masculine need in him to shield and protect. Something like concern or threat roiled in him, but not combat ready threat. Something he wasn’t sure how to interpret. Adara was like him, unaffected by life. If something was piercing her shell, it had to be bad and that filled him with apprehensive tension.

“Who did you come to see then?” he prodded, unconsciously bracing.

A slight hesitation, then, with her chin still tucked into her neck, she admitted, “My brother.”

His tension bled away in a drain of caustic disappointment. As he fell back in his chair, he laced his Greek endearment with sarcasm. “Nice try, matia mou. Your brothers don’t earn enough to build a castle like the one we saw today.”

Her head came up and her shoulders went back. With the no nonsense civility he so valued in her, she removed her sunglasses, folded the arms and set them beside her pocket book before looking him in the eye.

The golden brown irises were practically a stranger’s, he realized with a kick of unease. When was the last time she’d looked right at him, he wondered distantly, while at the same time feeling the tightening inside him that drew on the eye contact as a sexual signal. Like the rest of her, her eyes were understated, yet surprisingly attractive when a man took the time to notice. Almond-shaped. Clear. Flecked with sparks of heat.

“I’m referring to my older brother.”

Her words left a discordant ring in his ears, dragging him from the dangerous precipice of falling into her eyes.

The server brought their wine. Gideon kept his attention fully focused on Adara’s composed expression and contentiously set chin.

“You’re the eldest,” he stated.

She only lifted her wine to sip while a hollow shadow drifted behind her gaze, giving him a thump of uncertainty even though he knew she only had two brothers, both younger than her twenty-eight. One was an anti-social accountant who traveled the circuit of their father’s hotel chain auditing ledgers, the other a hellion with a taste for big engines and fast women, chasing skirt the way their father had.

Given her father’s peccadilloes, he shouldn’t be surprised a half-sibling had turned up, but older? It didn’t make sense and he wasn’t ready to let go of his suspicions about an affair.

“How did you find out about him? Was there something in the estate papers after your father passed?”

“I’ve always known about him.” She set aside her wine with a frown of distaste. “I think that’s off.”

“Always?” Gideon repeated. “You’ve never mentioned him.”

“We don’t talk, do we?” Golden orbs came back, charged with electric energy that made him jolt as though she’d touched a cattle prod to his internal organs.

No. They didn’t talk. He preferred it that way.

~ * ~

Ready to read the whole thing? Order links are here:

Amazon: US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan

Nook | Kobo | eHarlequin | Mills & Boon Aus | Mills & Boon UK | ARe | BooksaMillion

If you want to hear more about my writing and upcoming books, listen to my interview from Oct 17th with Bernadette Walsh at Nice Girls Reading Naughty Books.

 

The post #SampleSunday – More Than A Convenient Marriage? appeared first on Dani Collins.

December Book Available in UK!

More Than A Convenient Marriage went live on the Mills & Boon UK site today. Check it out here.

In other news, I’m wrestling the final eight pages–which will likely turn into sixteen– of a Presents/Modern due to be turned in on Friday.

Therefore, no more stalking myself on the interweb. Time to get back to work!

The post December Book Available in UK! appeared first on Dani Collins.

#SampleSunday – No Longer Forbidden

It occurred to me today that my North American readers might also be interested in the book that accompanies More Than A Convenient Marriage? when it comes out in December.

Is it too cruel to switch up the story lines? Did you come here in search of the next excerpt in Adara and Gideon’s crumbling marriage?

Well, as I’ve mentioned before, Adara is in Greece to look for her brother, Nic. He’s the hero of No Longer Forbidden? This was my First Sale book and came out in the UK and Australia in January. I am sooo thrilled they’ve been paired up here in Canada and the US. Nic is your average tortured alpha billionaire (i.e. #PresentsHero) He really, really deserves a family and Rowan is determined to give him one.

I only put up two #SampleSundays for No Longer Forbidden? and one of them is a scene I wrote as a bonus scene when the book was released. You can read The Kiss That Change Everything here.

This sets up why Nic thinks Rowan is such a terribly spoiled brat. That kiss had consequences that leave him pretty hostile, as you’ll start to see from the excerpt below:

~ * ~

Nicodemus Marcussen rose to shake hands with his lawyer, muscles aching with tension as he kept his reaction to all they’d discussed very much to himself.

“I know this is a difficult topic,” his lawyer tried.

Nic shook off the empathy with a cool blink and a private, No you don’t. Nic trusted Sebastyen, but only within the framework of the media conglomerate Nic had fought to run after Olief Marcussen’s disappearance. Sebastyen had been one of Nic’s first supporters, believing in Nic’s leadership skills despite his inexperience. Nic was grateful, but they weren’t friends. Nic eschewed close relationships of every kind.

“I appreciate your advice,” Nic said with aloof sincerity. Everything Sebastyen had presented was the height of practicality, outweighing any sentiment that might have held Nic back. “It’s definitely time to consider it as the anniversary approaches. I’ll let you know how I’d like to proceed,” he concluded in dismissal.

Sebastyen hovered, appearing to want to add something, but Nic glanced at his watch. His days were busy enough without social chit-chat.

“I only wanted to reiterate, it would be helpful if both next of kin agreed,” Sebastyen blurted.

“I understand,” Nic drawled, keeping the patronizing tone muted but heard. It was enough of a butt-out to have the lawyer nodding apologetically and making haste to leave.

Nic was quite sure the entire corporation along with the rest of the world followed the escapades of the other next of kin, but he wouldn’t abide open speculation about how he’d gain her cooperation.

The fact was, he already had an idea how he’d accomplish it. He’d been putting things together in his mind even as Sebastyen had been stating his case.

As Sebastyen closed the office door, Nic went back to his desk and the courier envelope he’d received this morning. Bills of every description came out by the handful, their disarray as fluttery and frivolous as the woman who’d racked them up. The forget-me-not notepaper was a particularly incongruous touch. He reread the swooping script:

Nic,

My bank cards aren’t working. Kindly sort it out and send the new ones to Rosedale. I’m moving in this weekend for some downtime.

Ro.

His initial reaction had been Downtime from what?! But for once Rowan’s self-serving behavior was a convenience to him. Since she hadn’t got the message when he’d stopped her credit cards two months ago, he’d confront her and do what Olief should have done years ago. Make her grow up and act responsibly for a change.

~ * ~

You can read a longer excerpt from Chapter Five here. They’re making progress on learning to communicate and it’s getting flirty.

If you’ve missed the More Than A Convenient Marriage? posts, they’re here:

Gideon thinks Adara is cheating
Adara thinks Gideon is cheating
Adara thinks about divorce
Gideon thinks about Adara

Which book would you like me to post from next week?

Ready to read the whole thing? Preorder links are here:

Amazon: US | Canada | UK | India | Germany | Brazil | Spain | Italy | Japan

Nook | Kobo | eHarlequin | Mills & Boon Aus | Mills & Boon UK | ARe | BooksaMillion

An Heir To Bind Them, Book Three in this series has been accepted and will come out mid 2014. If you want to hear more about my writing and upcoming books, listen to my interview from Oct 17th with Bernadette Walsh at Nice Girls  Reading Naughty Books.

 

 

The post #SampleSunday – No Longer Forbidden appeared first on Dani Collins.