HelenKay Dimon's Blog, page 23
October 17, 2012
Blog Tour!
You probably know I have a new book – LEAN ONE ME – coming out on October 22nd. By this point you might be tired of hearing about it. If so, I apologize for this: I have a blog tour coming up for it. I’ll be hanging out on other blogs, talking about the book (and series) and giving away copies of the book. In case you want to try to win or want to know more about the book, here’s the schedule (note that some days I’m on two blogs):
October 17th: Under The Cover Book Blog
October 18th: Queen of the Nights
Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
October 19th: Ramblings From A Chaotic Mind
October 22nd: Book Lovers Inc
October 23rd: The Romance Dish
Books-n-Kisses
October 24th: Read Our Lips!
Pearl’s World of Romance
October 25th: Book Binge
Fiction Vixen
October 26th: Happily Ever After
October 29th: Cocktails & Books
October 30th: Romance Reviews Today
October 31st: Hanging With Bells
Tracy’s Place
November 1st: Book Lovin’ Mamas
November 2nd: Mimmi’s Musings
November 3rd: Reading Between The Wines
November 5th: The Good, The Bad & The Unread
November 6th: Swept Away by Romance
Red Hot Books
November 7th: Delighted Reader
November 8th: Day Dreaming Book Reviews
November 9th: The Bookpushers
November 12th: Smexybooks
November 13th: Scorching Book Reviews
November 14th: Novel Thoughts
Whew!
October 13, 2012
Saturday Snippet
Today’s topic is rain on me. I’m taking that to mean an emotional scene. Thought this might be a good time to give you an early look at NO TURNING BACK, the start of a new contemporary series that comes out in March 2013. This is an unedited excerpt. It drops you in on Declan, the son of a con man, and Leah, the daughter of a victim of one of dear old dad’s first cons. Needless to say Declan and Leah have some family baggage to wade through.
“Do you really not understand?” she asked. “There are people in this town who will make it impossible for you to stay.”
“You mean your father.”
“For one, but your dad screwed a lot of people here. He was the favored hometown boy who promised them a financial wonderland and then ripped them all off. He broke their trust in the most fundamental way.”
“I’m aware of his sins.”
“He came up with a scheme, got people to invest, got my father to invest town funds. Then Charlie took off.” She held up a finger as the words kept rolling out of her. “But not before cleaning up the tracks behind him. He destroyed people and some families lost everything.”
Declan’s blank expression never wavered. “Noted.”
“The police chief is itching to get his hands on you. I wouldn’t go even one mile per hour over the speed limit, if I were you.” Lounging against the bar with his ankles crossed and his lips flat, Declan refused to get it. No matter what argument she used, he discounted it and her fury spewed. “Wake up. You can’t be this nonchalant about all of this.”
“You know what I am, Leah?” His voice was so soft, so deadly flat as he pushed off from the bar and came to stand next to her. His hand rested inches from hers on the back of the chair. “Tired to being judged by Charlie’s actions.”
The brakes slammed somewhere in the back of her head. Declan was furious. She could see it in the line of his mouth and boiling fire in his eyes.
She backed up until the curtains brushed against her hair. “I didn’t-”
“You did.” A nerve ticked in is cheek. “The man abandoned my mom. After the first few years, Charlie didn’t even bother to come around for visits and he never sent money. He left a legacy of shit and I’ve been shoveling it ever since. So, when you crawl up on your high horse and look down on me, I don’t exactly get worried about it because, you see, I’ve lived with that kind of condescending bullshit my whole fucking life.”
His voice shook as he spoke, low and subtle, but she heard it. When he stopped talking, his anger continued to shake the room. Tension rolled off his stiff shoulders and slammed into her, stealing her breath with its force.
“You want me to feel guilty.” She whispered the phrase because he was right there, just inches away, leaning over her and closing in without moving.
“I want you to understand you weren’t the only one who’s lived with Charlie’s mess.”
“I get that you’re a victim.” One of the hundred, possibly thousands, Charlie left in his wake.
“I refuse to accept the label and all the dysfunction that goes with it.”
Maybe survivor was the right word. This could be the greatest, most convincing con of his life, and part of her wanted to believe that he was just like his dad so she wouldn’t care, but she couldn’t muster the skepticism. A piece of the hate wall she’d erected against Declan slipped and shattered.
“Why are you really here? Tonight, in my house.” She could smell the soap in his skin, something with a hint of lime, and see the way his dark hair curled at the ends. His mouth was so close. His body next to hers until it blocked her view of the kitchen beyond.
His gaze traveled over her face and landed on her mouth. “I don’t know.”
“At least that’s honest.” Her voice sounded breathy. She tried to inhale deeply through her nose to keep from gulping for air.
“You didn’t know I could be honest?” There was no anger in his voice but there was something else. The
slightest shift until his breath blew across her cheek.
The air crackled and whatever was jumping back and forth between them had her head pounding. She had to move.
“Okay, stop. Let’s back up a second.” She slipped around the chair and kept walking around the table. The man had her literally running around in circles in her own dining room. “I get it. I don’t know how much to believe or what to trust, but I can see that being Charlie Hanover’s kid would suck.”
“Just a little, yeah.”
“So, let me help. Let’s work out a reasonable solution.”
She was so busy noticing his sudden smile that she missed the following. The goal was to get to the kitchen, maybe keep her hands busy with drinks or something else, but he stood in front of her, hovering over her with her back against the wall and his hand balanced right next to her head. She couldn’t sneak around the corner to the bedroom, which was probably a good thing because that room needed to be off-limits. But she couldn’t run either because she’d lost feeling in her legs.
“What if what I want from you has nothing to do with the house?” He was close enough for her to see the faint white outline of a scar along his jawline.
She balled her hand into a fist to keep from touching it. “You don’t-”
“Don’t tell me what I want or think. Every time I’m near you, you tick me off.”
“Well, that’s lovely, isn’t it? We could resolve that problem by staying away from each other.” She put her hand against his chest to push him away. His heart hammered under her palm.
“Not going to happen.”
“I get a say in this.” Not that she intended to use a veto right now.
He leaned in with his entire body. Only her hand separated them as his mouth brushed up the line separating her cheek and her ear. “Then tell me to stop.”
___________
Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:
Rhian Cahill
Leah Braemel
Mari Carr
Shiloh Walker
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
Lauren Dane
TJ Michaels
October 11, 2012
Excerpt Time
In case you missed it, I have an excerpt of LEAN ON ME up at Genreality today. You can check it out HERE.
Less than two weeks to release!
October 9, 2012
Oregon
We just got back from Oregon. It was my first time there. The hubby lived there when he was very young but didn’t remember it at all. Getting back home was a bit touchy thanks to a system-wide comptuer problem at Alaskan Airlines, but we’re back…and both sick. Oh joy! But the trip was pretty awesome and I even managed to take a photo or two, which I usually fail to do.
The view from our balcony at the Surf Sand Resort in Cannon Beach:
Sunset from the balcony:
View overlooking Portland from the Pittock Mansion:
I’m ready to go back.
October 7, 2012
October 6, 2012
Saturday Snippet
Today’s topic is best friends. Seems like the perfect time to give you an early look at WE’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. This is part of my Holloway series. Spence and Austin are friends as well as brothers. Our hero Spence had a naughty weekend at a hotel outside of town and, for reasons that are explained later in the book, pretended he was Austin. That’s fine until his weekend fling shows up in town thinking Spence is Austin. Did I mention Austin is married? Yeah, he’s not pleased his brother used his name. This scene is right after Austin finds out.
“I’m off my game. I clearly wasn’t expecting the visit.” Reality sucker punched Spence. “I can explain.”
“You have a minute before I slam you through that window. People in town can call it The Scene or The Fight or whatever they want. I prefer to think of it as The Day I Kicked Your Ass.”
Spence exhaled but the anxiety revving inside him didn’t lessen. “I wasn’t supposed to see her ever again.”
“Obviously that plan failed.”
“She was at the hotel then supposed to take off for some management job.” He searched his mind for details but could only call up the naked parts of their time together. No way was he talking about that. “I don’t know. Some sort of resort thing.”
“Mountain View, Spence. She is running the campground fifteen miles from here. Fifteen miles from where I live part of the year with my wife.” Austin stepped up until only a foot or two separated them. “You remember Carrie? The same woman who will smack the shit out of both of us once she hears about this.”
Spence guessed he’d be lucky if she stopped there. He’d known Carrie since they were kids, had been friends with her brother Mitch forever. She was smart and when it came to protecting Austin she was downright scary. Spence loved that about her.
“I’ll tell her it’s my fault,” he said.
Austin’s eyes bulged. “It is your fault.”
Time to change the subject. It was either that or risk watching his brother’s brain spew all over the glass.
“Lila is really staying at Mountain View? That place is a wreck.” The idea didn’t make sense to Spence. She’d been at a high-end hotel when he met her. Switching to a campground with cabins that provided less protection than a sleeping bag seemed like an odd choice.
“She’s running it.”
Spence’s few remaining brain cells misfired. “But she…why would…”
“I see you’re finally getting this.” Austin threw him a knowing look. The kind that said you-are-in-deep-shit.
No kidding. “You mean she’s going to live nearby?”
“Yes, big brother.”
“And she thinks I lied to her.”
“Because you did.” Austin sat next to Spence on the desk, joining him in facing out the windows and staring out into the main floor area. “Have I mentioned you’re an idiot?”
“That probably goes without saying.” As Spence watched, the crowd outside the glass disbursed. Most people scurried back into the aisles while a few others lingered, clearly hoping to hear a stray sentence through the wall.
Austin exhaled loud enough to shatter the window. “You want to tell me why you used my name in this scam? Since when do you need me to play wingman in your dating life? I thought that shit stopped when we were in our early twenties.”
“It wasn’t—” Spence searched for the right words, for just the right sentence to say something and nothing at the same time. When he couldn’t find an excuse that made sense, he stopped trying to duck the truth. His brother deserved that much. “Sorry.”
Austin’s head pushed back as his eyes went wide. “Man, didn’t see that coming. I expected denial and excuses.”
So did Spence. Those qualified as his go-to responses but he didn’t have the energy for all of that right now. “Yeah, not this time.”
“You’re kind of ruining this for me. Hard to be ticked off when you immediately concede.”
Spence laughed, wondering why he hadn’t come up with this plan a decade ago. “I thought I’d try a new strategy.”
___________
Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:
Rhian Cahill
Jody Wallace
Leah Braemel
Mari Carr
Shiloh Walker
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
Shelli Stevens
Lauren Dane
TJ Michaels
October 4, 2012
Good News!
I have two bits of good news to share…
First, LEAN ON ME was named a Recomended Read by Dear Author, which is awesome. Thank you to reviewer Sunita!
Second, the holiday anthology HOLIDAY KISSES originally came out in digital last Christmas. It will now be released in print in November 2013. You can still get it as an ebook but soon you’ll be able to have it in print as well. The other stories in the anthology are by awesome authors Alison Kent, Jaci Burton and Shannon Stacey.
October 1, 2012
Kindle/Nook Contest!!
Author friend Alison Kent and I both have releases in October. So…we’re launching a BIG contest! Her book, UNDENIABLE, comes out on Tuesday October 2nd. Mine, LEAN ON ME, comes out on Monday October 22nd.
Now the good stuff. We’re giving away either a Kindle Paperwhite OR a Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, winner’s choice. The giveaway will run between October 1st, 2012 and October 31st, 2012, all times EST. NOTE: Only entries made through the RaffleCopter widget will be accepted. Neither of us are responsible for any widget downtime. You cannot email us your entries. Login to the widget with your Facebook account, or using your email address. ONE EMAIL ADDRESS PER PERSON. You can enter at either site, but not both. Wherever you enter, you have 6 chances to win by following the instructions. (Visit Alison’s blog at: http://www.alisonkent.com/blog/)
The device will be sent directly to the winner, chosen randomly through RaffleCopter. Neither Alison, HelenKay, or RaffleCopter are responsible for any damage to the device (contact Amazon or Barnes & Noble) or for explaining how to operate the device.
The contest widget:
Note: this will take place of my usual monthly contest. The winner of the September contest is Judy F for her comment on the September 29th blog. Congratulations! Email me so I can get your digital book out to you.
September 29, 2012
Saturday Snippet
Today’s topic is an author’s choice. I thought I’d go ahead and give you a peek of SWITCHED, my November Intrigue. This one takes place around Christmas and actually takes place at an office holiday party. It might just make you appreciate yours because I bet no one tries to kill you at your office party right? See.
Aaron stared at the woman he’d last seen across the table at an Italian restaurant. Same honey-brown hair. Pretty face, intelligent dark eyes. Only this time the smile had been replaced with flat-lined lips. Wariness and more than a touch of female indignation now played across her face.Risa clearly thought their biggest problem was his late post-date call. Little did she know that was flowers and chocolates territory compared to what they were facing now.
He thought about reaching for her but decided to hold up his hands instead since she looked about two seconds away from hitting something, namely him. “Listen to me.”
She crossed her arms over her stomach until every muscle in her body practically dared him to make another mistake. “Go ahead.”
He waded in even though he knew the smartest thing was to knock her out with the gentlest tap possible, drag her out the door and rush her to safety. But if his dating etiquette ticked her off, he could only guess how she’d react to a physical solution to their current problem.He’d already dumped a few sins at her feet. Lying to her had seemed like the safest bet at the time. Now, not so much.
Then there was the problem of Royal listening in through their private communication circuit. He’d ride Aaron about the date-gone-wrong for years unless Aaron took the focus off the personal conversation and put it back on the mess swirling around them.
“Not a word.” He whispered the command and knew Royal understood when he chuckled over the comm, then mumbled something about Angie wanting him. Right, as if that woman was even on his radar at the moment. “I mean it. Silence.”
Risa’s eyebrow shot up in a perfect angry teacher glare. “Did you just tell me to shut up?”
“Definitely not.” Hard to explain he was talking to the guy at the other end of a listening device. Better to look like a total jerk than expose every aspect of the operation at this tenuous stage. “I specifically did not use those words. I’m not a total idiot.”
“Are you sure?”
It was time to calm the situation down before she went into ballistic mode. Aaron went with the simple truth. “It’s dangerous here.”
“In the hallway?”
“You need to see the bigger picture here.”
She exhaled in that you-are-annoying way women telegraphed so well. “I have no idea what that means.”
“The danger is in every inch of this building.”
“This is the strangest excuse for a non-call ever. If you didn’t want to go out again, you could have just said—” Her words cut off at the sound of the sharp whack against the outside wall.
One of his hands went to her mouth, and the other cradled her head from behind. “Quiet.”
This time she followed his direction. Her big eyes popped open even wider as she nodded.
“Someone is out there.” He stalled by stating the obvious. It gave his mind a second to run through the memory of the building’s floor plans.
She held up two fingers.
“What?” He eased his hand away from her mouth.
Her bottom lip trembled. Other than that, her mouth barely moved as she whispered. “They’re huge.”
“What are we talking about?”
“On the elevator. Two men and they’re big. Like the size of a small shed. And pretty scary. Did I mention that?”
Tension rolled across his shoulders and cramped the nerve at the back of his neck. “Did they threaten you?”
“Didn’t say a word. Didn’t really have to. These guys are imposing. I’m thinking any woman alone and without a gun or a massive boyfriend would run.”
___________
Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:
Rhian Cahill
Shelli Stevens
Anne Rainey
Jody Wallace
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
Lauren Dane
Shiloh Walker
TJ Michaels
Leah Braemel
September 28, 2012
Hello!
I’m writing and…ignoring my blog. I’ve been really bad but I will try to get better. Where does the time go??? In the meantime, I do post almost every day on my Facebook Page and would love to talk with you there.
Also wanted to post this link for an amazing article by wendy The Superlibrarian about my Intrigues. It’s called The Not-So-Simple Genius Of HelenKay Dimon’s Intrigues and it made my entire week. Thank you, Wendy!
