Tracey Alvarez's Blog
June 14, 2018
Break Your Heart Release Day!
[image error]
Break Your Heart (Bounty Bay #5)
Contemporary Small Town Romance
[image error]
Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AU / Amazon DE / iBooks / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Smashwords / Google Play
[image error]
Fake girlfriend. Real sizzle. What could possibly go wrong?
Sam Ngata has the talent of creating something out of almost nothing in his successful wood carving business, Kauri Whare. That talent doesn’t extend to producing a serious girlfriend out of nowhere when he implies to a huge overseas investor that he’s a one-woman kind of man. Big on domestic bliss and honesty, the investor is due to arrive in less than ten days time with a deal that’d provide Sam’s family-operated business with invaluable future security. Now Sam just has to find a woman willing to fake it until they make it — the deal, that is — with no strings attached.
Single mum Vee Sullivan needs a man in her life like a flightless kiwi bird needs wings to soar. She has a precocious little girl to provide for and she’s in the middle of expanding her clothing business — with an eye on Kauri Whare’s newest retail space. Unfortunately, it’d take a small miracle for her to afford the lease. So when childhood crush, Sam, offers her a one week only role of pretending to be his ‘serious’ girlfriend in exchange for three months waived lease, Vee is sorely tempted. But saying yes to fake girlfriend means she might not be able to say no to real passion. Someone’s going to get their heart broken…
[image error]
[image error]
(Open Internationally)
Prize includes:
~ Mend Your Heart (Bounty Bay Book #4) signed paperback
~ Whare Sweet Whare (Maori for Home Sweet Home) flag/sign
~ Whittaker’s special super-yummy NZ chocolate
~ Paua shell eyed Tiki key chain. Carved in Rotorua New Zealand.
~ Author magnet
~ Author bookmark
To Enter: Just click on the below Rafflecopter giveaway links below.
To qualify for the bonus 5 entries, you’ll need to purchase Break Your Heart and answer this question in the space provided in the rafflecopter. The question is: What is the last sentence (4 words) of Chapter 7?
* Prizes are not exchangeable for cash or anything else.
* All due care will be made in ensuring the prize arrives at the winner’s address, but I am unable to refund prize value in any way should it not arrive due to postal disaster.
* Entries close on June 22nd and winner will receive a direct e-mail from my assistant shortly after – so please ensure admin@traceyalvarez.com is added to your safe/contacts list. If my assistant hasn’t a reply from the winner in 48 hours, she will redraw a new winner.
March 16, 2018
QUAKE Bonus Scene
As a little bonus (and thanks) to all of you who bought a copy of Quake, I’ve decided to post a scene written from Ana’s son Theo’s point of view. This didn’t make it into the final book, but I still love this scene so much that I want to share it with you. (Please note: This scene hasn’t been through my editor or proofreaders, so it may have some typos. Hope you enjoy it anyway!)
Amazon / iBooks / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google Play
Bonus Scene
Theo’s limbs trembled.
He remained on his hands and knees, head bowed, shaking in the sudden stillness. Closing his eyes, the winter sunshine slowly warmed his shoulders, and a sea breeze teased his scalp and tiptoed down his partially exposed spine. The day felt normal—if he kept his eyes shut tight. If he closed his ears to the screams, crashes, and rumble of falling masonry.
But this day wasn’t normal, not even for a kid born and raised in the earthquake-prone capital city. That’s what had happened.
The big one.
And what often followed massive earthquakes? The answer emblazoned across his eyelids in neon letters.
Tsunami.
Disaster knowledge 101.
Theo staggered to his feet, gingerly testing his weight on shivery legs. He patted the mobile phone dangling under his tee-shirt on a lanyard. The phone didn’t feel broken and he tried it. No signal. He expected as much, and shoved it back under his shirt.
Shading his eyes, he saw his mate Malcolm sitting on the grass nearby, head hunkered down between his knees. He jogged over toward him and the small cluster of other dazed boys hanging around.
“Get up. We gotta go. A tsunami could come after a quake like that.”
Stretch, the tallest boy in his class, blinked owlishly at him. “Year nines aren’t supposed to leave school grounds without permission.”
“As if that matters now.”
Theo turned at the sound of Brandon’s voice. Brandon and Caleb hung out together and would make his life hell on a daily basis if he gave them any opportunity. Sure enough, Caleb hovered beside Brandon, his arm draped over his mate’s shoulders. Theo glanced down—Caleb’s left ankle had puffed up like a kid’s water wings under the white sports sock.
He met Brandon’s eyes. The other boy’s sneer remained conspicuously absent, a sure sign he was scared shitless like the rest of them.
“Could there really be a tsunami, Theo?” Caleb said.
“Yeah, and I don’t wanna be on this field if there is.”
“What about them?” Malcolm pointed back toward the crumbled remains of the old brick wing and the new wing next to it.
Faint shouts and louder screams arrowed out across the grassy field. Their PE teacher had gone back into the old wing to take a phone call after ordering their class to keep running laps. Theo didn’t want to think too closely about what had happened to their teacher.
“We can’t help them if a tsunami wipes us out. If we get up to the lookout and after thirty minutes nothing happens, we’ll come back down.” He turned to Brandon. “We haven’t got time for Caleb to hobble. Grab my wrist and make a hammock.”
They carried Caleb in a fast lope to join the largest group of boys, gathered in the field corner by the maintenance gate.
Malcolm reached the group first. “Dudes. Theo reckons the quake may’ve caused a Tsunami, says we need to head to higher ground.”
A few boys muttered, others argued pros and cons, and the remaining few looked at Theo with wide, shocked eyes.
“Your leadership skills suck, man,” Brendon said behind Caleb’s back.
Theo jerked his head away, swallowing hard. Who made him the leader? He hadn’t asked for this and he didn’t want to be the one responsible. Adults were supposed to be the leaders, the responsible ones. Adults were supposed to tell you what to do in an emergency.
So why should he say something? Suddenly it was all on him to get a bunch of terrified kids off their butts and moving?
All the other adults were trapped inside the school, so no one else would. He couldn’t stand by and just do nothing.
Theo clenched his teeth together, took a deep breath and bellowed, “Shut the hell up.”
Caleb and Brandon twitched in surprise. The others gaped at him.
“If a tsunami doesn’t come, you can say I told you so later. But I’m getting off this field and up to the lookout. If you want to stay alive, stop pissing around and come with me!”
They came.
Only a few people staggered along the footpath behind the school. The grounds were situated in a popular family-oriented area, a flat expanse of middle-class houses leading to a calm sweep of beach and the city harbour. Bush-covered hills lined Seatoun’s invisible rear boundaries and a two traffic lane tunnel cut through them to the neighbouring suburbs.
Theo and the boys headed toward the tunnel and the nearest high ground.
Caleb noticed it first. “Uh, guys? What’s that sound?”
Both Brandon and Theo stopped, nearly tipping Caleb out of his human litter. Theo didn’t need to cup his ear and he certainly didn’t require a neon sign to tell him what the approaching roar meant.
“Run!” Theo’s voice cracked, straining over the wall of noise.
Ahead some boys bolted, while others stopped and frowned.
Theo tightened his grip on Brandon’s arm and said, “Hold on tight, Caleb.”
Brandon’s eyes met his, stark and full of dread.
“Leave him,” he mouthed.
Theo shook his head. Brandon yanked his hands from Theo’s and Caleb fell sideways to the sidewalk, dragging Theo with him.
“Every man for himself.” Brandon spun around and galloped off.
Theo scrambled to his feet and tugged Caleb upright.
Caleb gaped at Brandon’s back as he fled, jumping over cracks and leaping up onto the bank near the tunnel. “He dropped me, the bastard drop—”
“Shut it, man—we gotta run.”
Theo risked a glance behind him. Holy crap. Bad, bad idea. The swiftly advancing grey line boiled and foamed—blocking the horizon in its churning mass.
“Now!” Theo hooked his arm around Caleb’s waist, and together they lurched forward at a shambling trot. Behind him echoed a cacophony of screeches, hollow booms, and sibilant hissing, like milk boiling over in an unwatched pot. The stench of sea brine and feral sweat clogged his nostrils, and bitter copper coated his tongue.
Caleb twisted around mid-stride. “Hurry!” He tightened his grip on Theo’s shoulder, almost whinnying with fear.
Theo tucked his chin into his chest and gave it all he had. He sensed, rather than saw, other people racing close by. Footsteps smacking on the sidewalk, unintelligible shouts and screams, Caleb’s rasping breath—all flickered across his eardrums, but he didn’t acknowledge anything. He ran.
Voices shouted his name. Theo spotted Malcolm’s ginger hair tucked into the branches of an ancient pine, off to the side of the tunnel entrance. A steep and unfriendly track wound through the grove of trees and up alongside the tunnel—a well-trodden short cut kids used to reach the houses above.
They dashed across the deserted street, and for the first time since age six Theo didn’t check for traffic. He figured God owed him a break after this morning. “I’ll go first. Pull you up.”
Theo leaped onto the bank and whipped around to Caleb, who stretched out his arms to him in a little-kid-pick-me-up motion. Yanking Caleb’s hands, he hauled backwards, and Caleb stumbled up the easiest part of the steep incline.
Glancing over Caleb’s shoulder was a mistake. It didn’t look like a wave. It didn’t even look like the white-capped ocean that surrounded Wellington’s coastal suburbs. A brownish grey monster of foam with teeth of crumpled metal and chunks of masonry surged up the road. Nothing resisted it—houses, cars, trees, screaming pedestrians—everything fell under its sweeping path.
The tsunami was all but on them.
Theo wanted to run. The stuff of nightmares wouldn’t get him, if he let go and ran. His mother and sister and poppa’s face flashed into his mind. He wouldn’t hesitate to save them, but did he want to die for a kid that made his life hell on a regular basis?
Screw it. He lunged, caught hold of a protruding tree root and pulled Caleb up with his other hand, every single arm muscle about to split and ping away like snapped guywires.
The wave slammed into the bank as they clawed and scrabbled higher up to where the dirt gave way to trampled grass. Relief, sweet and sharp, as hands hauled them further away from the churning, sucking vortex below.
Caleb touched his arm, his eyes shiny, his lips trembling. “Thanks…mate.”
No energy to reply, Theo nodded and scrubbed his palms over his face.
Minutes later, slumped in a tree fork with his bleeding and torn fingernails tucked under his armpits, he allowed a moment to squeeze his eyes shut. The water roared and thundered, the wind sifted through his sweat-damp hair and the sun hammered indifferently down on his scratched arms.
Right now he didn’t want to plan what to do next. Right now he was just a scared thirteen-year-old kid—weary, sore, and most of all, desperately wanting his mother.
[image error]
Amazon / iBooks / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google Play
Bonus Scene
Theo’s limbs trembled.
He remained on his hands and knees, head bowed, shaking in the sudden stillness. Closing his eyes, the winter sunshine slowly warmed his shoulders, and a sea breeze teased his scalp and tiptoed down his partially exposed spine. The day felt normal—if he kept his eyes shut tight. If he closed his ears to the screams, crashes, and rumble of falling masonry.
But this day wasn’t normal, not even for a kid born and raised in the earthquake-prone capital city. That’s what had happened.
The big one.
And what often followed massive earthquakes? The answer emblazoned across his eyelids in neon letters.
Tsunami.
Disaster knowledge 101.
Theo staggered to his feet, gingerly testing his weight on shivery legs. He patted the mobile phone dangling under his tee-shirt on a lanyard. The phone didn’t feel broken and he tried it. No signal. He expected as much, and shoved it back under his shirt.
Shading his eyes, he saw his mate Malcolm sitting on the grass nearby, head hunkered down between his knees. He jogged over toward him and the small cluster of other dazed boys hanging around.
“Get up. We gotta go. A tsunami could come after a quake like that.”
Stretch, the tallest boy in his class, blinked owlishly at him. “Year nines aren’t supposed to leave school grounds without permission.”
“As if that matters now.”
Theo turned at the sound of Brandon’s voice. Brandon and Caleb hung out together and would make his life hell on a daily basis if he gave them any opportunity. Sure enough, Caleb hovered beside Brandon, his arm draped over his mate’s shoulders. Theo glanced down—Caleb’s left ankle had puffed up like a kid’s water wings under the white sports sock.
He met Brandon’s eyes. The other boy’s sneer remained conspicuously absent, a sure sign he was scared shitless like the rest of them.
“Could there really be a tsunami, Theo?” Caleb said.
“Yeah, and I don’t wanna be on this field if there is.”
“What about them?” Malcolm pointed back toward the crumbled remains of the old brick wing and the new wing next to it.
Faint shouts and louder screams arrowed out across the grassy field. Their PE teacher had gone back into the old wing to take a phone call after ordering their class to keep running laps. Theo didn’t want to think too closely about what had happened to their teacher.
“We can’t help them if a tsunami wipes us out. If we get up to the lookout and after thirty minutes nothing happens, we’ll come back down.” He turned to Brandon. “We haven’t got time for Caleb to hobble. Grab my wrist and make a hammock.”
They carried Caleb in a fast lope to join the largest group of boys, gathered in the field corner by the maintenance gate.
Malcolm reached the group first. “Dudes. Theo reckons the quake may’ve caused a Tsunami, says we need to head to higher ground.”
A few boys muttered, others argued pros and cons, and the remaining few looked at Theo with wide, shocked eyes.
“Your leadership skills suck, man,” Brendon said behind Caleb’s back.
Theo jerked his head away, swallowing hard. Who made him the leader? He hadn’t asked for this and he didn’t want to be the one responsible. Adults were supposed to be the leaders, the responsible ones. Adults were supposed to tell you what to do in an emergency.
So why should he say something? Suddenly it was all on him to get a bunch of terrified kids off their butts and moving?
All the other adults were trapped inside the school, so no one else would. He couldn’t stand by and just do nothing.
Theo clenched his teeth together, took a deep breath and bellowed, “Shut the hell up.”
Caleb and Brandon twitched in surprise. The others gaped at him.
“If a tsunami doesn’t come, you can say I told you so later. But I’m getting off this field and up to the lookout. If you want to stay alive, stop pissing around and come with me!”
They came.
Only a few people staggered along the footpath behind the school. The grounds were situated in a popular family-oriented area, a flat expanse of middle-class houses leading to a calm sweep of beach and the city harbour. Bush-covered hills lined Seatoun’s invisible rear boundaries and a two traffic lane tunnel cut through them to the neighbouring suburbs.
Theo and the boys headed toward the tunnel and the nearest high ground.
Caleb noticed it first. “Uh, guys? What’s that sound?”
Both Brandon and Theo stopped, nearly tipping Caleb out of his human litter. Theo didn’t need to cup his ear and he certainly didn’t require a neon sign to tell him what the approaching roar meant.
“Run!” Theo’s voice cracked, straining over the wall of noise.
Ahead some boys bolted, while others stopped and frowned.
Theo tightened his grip on Brandon’s arm and said, “Hold on tight, Caleb.”
Brandon’s eyes met his, stark and full of dread.
“Leave him,” he mouthed.
Theo shook his head. Brandon yanked his hands from Theo’s and Caleb fell sideways to the sidewalk, dragging Theo with him.
“Every man for himself.” Brandon spun around and galloped off.
Theo scrambled to his feet and tugged Caleb upright.
Caleb gaped at Brandon’s back as he fled, jumping over cracks and leaping up onto the bank near the tunnel. “He dropped me, the bastard drop—”
“Shut it, man—we gotta run.”
Theo risked a glance behind him. Holy crap. Bad, bad idea. The swiftly advancing grey line boiled and foamed—blocking the horizon in its churning mass.
“Now!” Theo hooked his arm around Caleb’s waist, and together they lurched forward at a shambling trot. Behind him echoed a cacophony of screeches, hollow booms, and sibilant hissing, like milk boiling over in an unwatched pot. The stench of sea brine and feral sweat clogged his nostrils, and bitter copper coated his tongue.
Caleb twisted around mid-stride. “Hurry!” He tightened his grip on Theo’s shoulder, almost whinnying with fear.
Theo tucked his chin into his chest and gave it all he had. He sensed, rather than saw, other people racing close by. Footsteps smacking on the sidewalk, unintelligible shouts and screams, Caleb’s rasping breath—all flickered across his eardrums, but he didn’t acknowledge anything. He ran.
Voices shouted his name. Theo spotted Malcolm’s ginger hair tucked into the branches of an ancient pine, off to the side of the tunnel entrance. A steep and unfriendly track wound through the grove of trees and up alongside the tunnel—a well-trodden short cut kids used to reach the houses above.
They dashed across the deserted street, and for the first time since age six Theo didn’t check for traffic. He figured God owed him a break after this morning. “I’ll go first. Pull you up.”
Theo leaped onto the bank and whipped around to Caleb, who stretched out his arms to him in a little-kid-pick-me-up motion. Yanking Caleb’s hands, he hauled backwards, and Caleb stumbled up the easiest part of the steep incline.
Glancing over Caleb’s shoulder was a mistake. It didn’t look like a wave. It didn’t even look like the white-capped ocean that surrounded Wellington’s coastal suburbs. A brownish grey monster of foam with teeth of crumpled metal and chunks of masonry surged up the road. Nothing resisted it—houses, cars, trees, screaming pedestrians—everything fell under its sweeping path.
The tsunami was all but on them.
Theo wanted to run. The stuff of nightmares wouldn’t get him, if he let go and ran. His mother and sister and poppa’s face flashed into his mind. He wouldn’t hesitate to save them, but did he want to die for a kid that made his life hell on a regular basis?
Screw it. He lunged, caught hold of a protruding tree root and pulled Caleb up with his other hand, every single arm muscle about to split and ping away like snapped guywires.
The wave slammed into the bank as they clawed and scrabbled higher up to where the dirt gave way to trampled grass. Relief, sweet and sharp, as hands hauled them further away from the churning, sucking vortex below.
Caleb touched his arm, his eyes shiny, his lips trembling. “Thanks…mate.”
No energy to reply, Theo nodded and scrubbed his palms over his face.
Minutes later, slumped in a tree fork with his bleeding and torn fingernails tucked under his armpits, he allowed a moment to squeeze his eyes shut. The water roared and thundered, the wind sifted through his sweat-damp hair and the sun hammered indifferently down on his scratched arms.
Right now he didn’t want to plan what to do next. Right now he was just a scared thirteen-year-old kid—weary, sore, and most of all, desperately wanting his mother.
Copyright Tracey Alvarez 2018
March 7, 2018
Quake Release Day!
I’m so excited to tell you about my latest release, a single title romantic suspense, Quake – a book that cuts very close to one of my biggest fears.
You see, I’m a Wellingtonian, born and bred in the capital city of New Zealand. I’ve lived here most of my life and experienced some very scary earthquakes. None, **knocking on wood** that have been on the scale of what Daniel and Ana experience in Quake, though. Wellington lies on a massive fault line, and anyone who’s lived here for any length of time has probably felt a few small earthquakes. I often joke that I won’t get out of bed for less than a 5.0 on the Richter Scale, but every time I hear that deep, low rumble (which is indescribable but the closest I can get to is an underground train barreling toward you) my heart gives a little jolt and I tense, relying on the fight-or-flight instinct to head for cover, or to ride it out.
New Zealand has been hit by some major earthquakes in the past ten years. Wellington has had two bad shakes – the last one was on November 2016, a 7.8 earthquake that centered in Kaikoura in the South Island, an area known for it’s incredible marine life. It hit just after midnight, and almost literally shook many people out of bed, including my family. I can’t tell you how scary it is to be woken by your house starting to shake, or what it feels like to huddle under your door-frame, looking into the eyes of your 19-year-old son who’s trying not to show his fear as photos and a vase of flowers fly off the hallway table, or that your 16-year-old daughter’s room is separated from yours by a closed door and a kitchen and that even though you want so desperately to get to her, the house is now slamming back and forth so violently that you can barely stand upright, or that your elderly father is alone in his bedroom and there’s no way you can get to him either, or the sounds of glass breaking and my much-loved late mother’s china smashing…
You get the picture, it is terrifying.
Quake is actually the first book I wrote after a long hiatus of writing while I concentrated on raising my kids. The first draft was completed in mid 2010 (back before I even thought of self-publishing) but then in February 2011, the devastating Christchurch earthquake killed 185 people. I couldn’t in good conscience even consider doing anything with this book back then, even though I loved Ana’s and Daniel’s story. Like the rest of New Zealand I was ‘gutted’ as we say about the tragedy, so Quake was relegated to my hard-drive and I kinda forgot about it. During the past 8 years I’d tried on and off to edit it, but lost interest and put it in the ‘too hard’ basket. But the story just wouldn’t leave me alone, because it does play on one of my worst fears – being separated from my kids during a natural disaster. So finally at the end of 2017, I whipped it into shape, sent it to my Beta readers to ask if they thought it was a story worth sharing (luckily they all LOVED it and said HELL YEAH or words to that affect) so here it is.
I do hope you love this story as much as I do.
[image error]
He’ll shake her foundations…
Ana Grace is living a single mother’s worst nightmare. Separated from her two kids by a catastrophic earthquake, she’s trapped in her office building with a man she’s only just met. He’s a sexy former soldier, and possibly the only man able to help her navigate the dangerous landscape home.
Daniel Calder is tired of failing people he’s tried to help, but since Ana is his younger sister’s boss, he’s caught between a rock and a hard place. That rock keeps shifting under his feet, shaking his determination not to become emotionally involved with another damsel in distress.
But when an unforeseen enemy rises from a city in chaos, Ana Grace and her family are in the crosshairs. There’s so much more at stake than just their hearts, and the clock is ticking.
Amazon / iBooks / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Smashwords / Google Play
Once on the second floor ledge, Daniel followed her directions to descend another story, where he dropped the last six feet to land catlike on the ground. He brushed a smattering of dust from his shoulder and stalked toward her, a tawny panther of a man.
It was a moment that slashed a line in the sand. On one side was Nadia’s brother and the perfect guy to have around in an emergency. On the other side of the line, the one she’d inadvertently stepped over, was simply Daniel. Ana could no longer deny her awareness of him, how he made her blood thrum and heat wash through her body.
He stopped close enough that she could count each individual flake of brick that dotted his shirt. Heat blistered off him, carrying his unique scent and the raw sting of fresh male sweat. Her mouth went dry, as if the warmth of his body sucked out all the moisture.
“Could’ve done it blindfolded, huh?” The tip of her tongue swept out to dampen lips that trembled under his fierce contemplation. “You might’ve been killed.”
Daniel didn’t reply. Instead, he slid a hand along the curve of her jaw. She shivered as his long fingers cradled the back of her head and used them as gentle leverage to pull her off balance. Her hands splayed against his chest, her palms soaking up the heat released from taut muscle.
“I didn’t need to see. I had you.”
“Daniel, I don’t think we, I mean I—” Her voice contained a huskiness she didn’t recognize. It was like eavesdropping on a stranger. A stranger who wasted her breath by protesting the inevitable.
Copyright © Tracey Alvarez 2018
(Open Internationally)
Prize includes:
~ In Too Deep (Stewart Island Book #1) signed paperback
~ Tracey Alvarez tote bag
~ Whittaker’s special super-yummy NZ chocolate
~ NZ magnetic shopping list
~ Fine merino wool/possum blend fingerless gloves. I have a pair of these and they are the softest, warmest gloves I’ve ever owned!
~ Author magnet
~ Author bookmark
To Enter: Just click on the below Rafflecopter giveaway links below.
To qualify for the bonus 5 entries, you’ll need to purchase Quake and answer this question in the space provided in the rafflecopter. The question is: What are the names of Ana’s two neighbors? (Hint: Check out Chapter 27)
* Prizes are not exchangeable for cash or anything else.
* All due care will be made in ensuring the prize arrives at the winner’s address, but I am unable to refund prize value in any way should it not arrive due to postal disaster.
* Entries close on March 16th and winner will receive a direct e-mail from my assistant shortly after – so please ensure admin@traceyalvarez.com is added to your safe/contacts list. If my assistant hasn’t a reply from the winner in 48 hours, she will redraw a new winner.
You see, I’m a Wellingtonian, born and bred in the capital city of New Zealand. I’ve lived here most of my life and experienced some very scary earthquakes. None, **knocking on wood** that have been on the scale of what Daniel and Ana experience in Quake, though. Wellington lies on a massive fault line, and anyone who’s lived here for any length of time has probably felt a few small earthquakes. I often joke that I won’t get out of bed for less than a 5.0 on the Richter Scale, but every time I hear that deep, low rumble (which is indescribable but the closest I can get to is an underground train barreling toward you) my heart gives a little jolt and I tense, relying on the fight-or-flight instinct to head for cover, or to ride it out.
New Zealand has been hit by some major earthquakes in the past ten years. Wellington has had two bad shakes – the last one was on November 2016, a 7.8 earthquake that centered in Kaikoura in the South Island, an area known for it’s incredible marine life. It hit just after midnight, and almost literally shook many people out of bed, including my family. I can’t tell you how scary it is to be woken by your house starting to shake, or what it feels like to huddle under your door-frame, looking into the eyes of your 19-year-old son who’s trying not to show his fear as photos and a vase of flowers fly off the hallway table, or that your 16-year-old daughter’s room is separated from yours by a closed door and a kitchen and that even though you want so desperately to get to her, the house is now slamming back and forth so violently that you can barely stand upright, or that your elderly father is alone in his bedroom and there’s no way you can get to him either, or the sounds of glass breaking and my much-loved late mother’s china smashing…
You get the picture, it is terrifying.
Quake is actually the first book I wrote after a long hiatus of writing while I concentrated on raising my kids. The first draft was completed in mid 2010 (back before I even thought of self-publishing) but then in February 2011, the devastating Christchurch earthquake killed 185 people. I couldn’t in good conscience even consider doing anything with this book back then, even though I loved Ana’s and Daniel’s story. Like the rest of New Zealand I was ‘gutted’ as we say about the tragedy, so Quake was relegated to my hard-drive and I kinda forgot about it. During the past 8 years I’d tried on and off to edit it, but lost interest and put it in the ‘too hard’ basket. But the story just wouldn’t leave me alone, because it does play on one of my worst fears – being separated from my kids during a natural disaster. So finally at the end of 2017, I whipped it into shape, sent it to my Beta readers to ask if they thought it was a story worth sharing (luckily they all LOVED it and said HELL YEAH or words to that affect) so here it is.
I do hope you love this story as much as I do.
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
He’ll shake her foundations…
Ana Grace is living a single mother’s worst nightmare. Separated from her two kids by a catastrophic earthquake, she’s trapped in her office building with a man she’s only just met. He’s a sexy former soldier, and possibly the only man able to help her navigate the dangerous landscape home.
Daniel Calder is tired of failing people he’s tried to help, but since Ana is his younger sister’s boss, he’s caught between a rock and a hard place. That rock keeps shifting under his feet, shaking his determination not to become emotionally involved with another damsel in distress.
But when an unforeseen enemy rises from a city in chaos, Ana Grace and her family are in the crosshairs. There’s so much more at stake than just their hearts, and the clock is ticking.
[image error]
Amazon / iBooks / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Smashwords / Google Play
[image error]
Once on the second floor ledge, Daniel followed her directions to descend another story, where he dropped the last six feet to land catlike on the ground. He brushed a smattering of dust from his shoulder and stalked toward her, a tawny panther of a man.
It was a moment that slashed a line in the sand. On one side was Nadia’s brother and the perfect guy to have around in an emergency. On the other side of the line, the one she’d inadvertently stepped over, was simply Daniel. Ana could no longer deny her awareness of him, how he made her blood thrum and heat wash through her body.
He stopped close enough that she could count each individual flake of brick that dotted his shirt. Heat blistered off him, carrying his unique scent and the raw sting of fresh male sweat. Her mouth went dry, as if the warmth of his body sucked out all the moisture.
“Could’ve done it blindfolded, huh?” The tip of her tongue swept out to dampen lips that trembled under his fierce contemplation. “You might’ve been killed.”
Daniel didn’t reply. Instead, he slid a hand along the curve of her jaw. She shivered as his long fingers cradled the back of her head and used them as gentle leverage to pull her off balance. Her hands splayed against his chest, her palms soaking up the heat released from taut muscle.
“I didn’t need to see. I had you.”
“Daniel, I don’t think we, I mean I—” Her voice contained a huskiness she didn’t recognize. It was like eavesdropping on a stranger. A stranger who wasted her breath by protesting the inevitable.
Copyright © Tracey Alvarez 2018
[image error]
[image error]
(Open Internationally)
Prize includes:
~ In Too Deep (Stewart Island Book #1) signed paperback
~ Tracey Alvarez tote bag
~ Whittaker’s special super-yummy NZ chocolate
~ NZ magnetic shopping list
~ Fine merino wool/possum blend fingerless gloves. I have a pair of these and they are the softest, warmest gloves I’ve ever owned!
~ Author magnet
~ Author bookmark
To Enter: Just click on the below Rafflecopter giveaway links below.
To qualify for the bonus 5 entries, you’ll need to purchase Quake and answer this question in the space provided in the rafflecopter. The question is: What are the names of Ana’s two neighbors? (Hint: Check out Chapter 27)
* Prizes are not exchangeable for cash or anything else.
* All due care will be made in ensuring the prize arrives at the winner’s address, but I am unable to refund prize value in any way should it not arrive due to postal disaster.
* Entries close on March 16th and winner will receive a direct e-mail from my assistant shortly after – so please ensure admin@traceyalvarez.com is added to your safe/contacts list. If my assistant hasn’t a reply from the winner in 48 hours, she will redraw a new winner.
February 23, 2018
Sunday Small Town Romance Series Starter ~ Feb 25th
[image error]
*** Shameless Plug ***
[image error]
Don’t forget you can get Romance Down Under (containing two of my small town romance first in series books – In Too Deep & Hide Your Heart) for FREE!
Amazon / iBooks / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google Play
Three happy endings in the 3 Happy Endings Book Club Boxed set from USA TODAY bestselling author, Kylie Gilmore. You’ll want to snap this up right now because it’ll be returning to full price VERY soon.
$0.99!
Happy Endings Book Club books 1-3
~ Kylie Gilmore
[image error]
Join the club and get your Happy Ending!
The Happy Endings Book Club Boxed Set includes three full-length novels: Hidden Hollywood, Inviting Trouble, and So Revealing.
Book 1: Hidden Hollywood
She’s on top…
When superstar actress Claire Jordan researched her role for the Fierce Trilogy movies, she never expected the bond she feels with the author and her romance book club aka The Happy Endings Book Club. Soon Claire finds herself confessing her secret longing for a regular guy—no more egocentric wealthy players—and the book club is all too ready to help. In disguise as a regular girl, she’s all set for a date with book-club-approved Josh Campbell.
He’s on top…
Billionaire tech CEO Jake Campbell is weary of gold-digging women, especially the glamorous superficial types. So when his identical twin, Josh, calls in a favor, asking Jake to step in as him on a date, Jake figures one of Josh’s cute girl-next-door types might be just what he needs. One night of passion with the sweet girl next door leaves Jake wanting more, except she seems to have vanished.
Sometimes a Happy Ending is just the beginning.
Book 2: Inviting Trouble
Madison Campbell has worshipped her older brother’s best friend, Parker Shaw, for as long as she can remember. So the night before he leaves for the Air Force, she decides he’s leaving town with her virginity. All she has to do is transform her tomboy self into a sexy woman with a bit of borrowed makeup and some creative fashion choices. The results? One drunken kiss that Park doesn’t even remember.
Ten years later, no man has ever gotten close to her heart the way Park did. And now that he’s back, the very unfeminine Madison refuses to blow her second chance. But when her bold attempts to snag his attention (“Oops! Dropped my towel.”) fail miserably, she does something completely insane—she caves to a makeover from the meddling matchmaker in charge of The Happy Endings Book Club. Hey, Park, you want some of this? Madison is about to find out.
Book 3: So Revealing
The last thing Charlotte Vega needs is a cocky HOT stuntman like Ty Campbell in her life. But when he pulls the ultimate stunt—a sexy romantic gesture that ends with a charming invitation to a sunset dinner cruise—she finds him impossible to resist. Cue disaster.
Their rocky first date goes from bad to worse when his yacht (okay, it’s actually borrowed) gets stranded in deep mud. Turns out there’s nothing Ty can do but wait hours and hours for high tide with no power, no way to cook dinner, and a hangry sexy-as-hell woman.
But Ty is determined to salvage the date so he starts a game to pass the time. Only what Ty learns makes him realize he may have just botched a date with the perfect woman. How will he ever win her now?
Last chance to grab this set at $0.99!
Amazon / iBooks / B&N / Kobo / Google Play
February 18, 2018
Sunday Small Town Romance Series Starter ~ Feb 18th
[image error]
*** Shameless Plug ***
[image error]
Don’t forget you can get Romance Down Under (containing two of my small town romance first in series books – In Too Deep & Hide Your Heart) for FREE!
Amazon / iBooks / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google Play
Kris Pearson writes sexy romances (as do I) and as well as being a talented author, she’s a lovely lady and I consider her a good friend. If you haven’t tried Kris’s books, you’re in for a treat!
The Boat Builder’s Bed (The Wellington Series #1)
~ Kris Pearson
[image error]
A single mom and a billionaire. A beautiful house that needs her touch, and a beautiful man who needs her love even more.
Superyacht tycoon Rafe Severino wants a woman. Desperately. Someone who can decorate his lonely new mansion with its million-dollar views over Wellington harbor and return his life to normality. Rafe yearns to marry again and start a better family than the one he came from. He gets more than he bargains for with Sophie Calhoun.
Newly established decorator Sophie seeks to make her mark on the city, but to concentrate on her design studio she has been parted from her adored daughter for the last several years. When Rafe confesses the ugly truth of his upbringing, Sophie sees disaster ahead. Rafe was also hidden away, and it tore him apart. Will he ever forgive Sophie if he discovers she’s done the same?
A heart-warming story of family, love, loss, and dangerous currents.
WARNING: contains one determined golden-skinned man who knows his way around boats, bodies and bed-sheets.
Amazon / iBooks / B&N / Kobo / Google Play
February 10, 2018
Sunday Small Town Romance Series Starter ~ Feb 11th
[image error]
*** Shameless Plug ***
[image error]
Don’t forget you can get Romance Down Under (containing two of my small town romance first in series books – In Too Deep & Hide Your Heart) for FREE!
Amazon / iBooks / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google Play
Get ready for Valentines Day with a gorgeous book from one of my Sugar and Spice Book Club authors, USA TODAY bestselling author, Suzie O’Connell writing as Maren Ferguson. P.S If you haven’t heard of the Sugar and Spice Book Club which’ll get you a completely different FREE book every month from authors who specialize in sweet & sexy small town romances, check out our website here.
The Abalone Shell
~ Maren Ferguson
[image error]
The message was undeniable… Fight for her.
Six months after her divorce, Hope St. Cloud is struggling with her guilt over leaving her daughter’s father. She needs a fresh perspective, and she knows exactly how to find it—by spending the summer at her family’s cottage in Sea Glass Cove. Surrounded by abundant peace and fond childhood memories, Hope and her daughter will be able to find a new rhythm with just the two of them.
Nothing could’ve prepared her for the immediate and tantalizing attraction to local gallery owner Owen McKinney. Or for his instant connection with her shy daughter.
It’s been three years since the accident that stole everything Owen held dear. That’s more than enough time to mourn and move on, but he can’t seem to let go… until Hope and her adorable daughter stroll into his gallery. In them, he finds everything he lost—all the joy and adventure that comes with being a family. But Hope’s divorce is still fresh, and he’s afraid she might’ve made a mistake divorcing her husband.
Then a sign straight from his past makes it clear he can’t let them walk away.
Don’t miss the next book in the Sea Glass Cove series, The Driftwood Promise—now available!
Amazon / iBooks / B&N / Kobo / Google Play
February 3, 2018
Sunday Small Town Romance Series Starter ~ Feb 4th
[image error]
*** Shameless Plug ***
[image error]
Don’t forget you can get Romance Down Under (containing two of my small town romance first in series books – In Too Deep & Hide Your Heart) for FREE!
Amazon / iBooks / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google Play
Let’s start February with a free boxed set from one of my Sugar and Spice Book Club authors, USA TODAY bestselling author Serenity Woods. P.S If you haven’t heard of the Sugar and Spice Book Club which’ll get you a completely different FREE book every month from authors who specialize in sweet & sexy small town romances, check out our website here.
Treats to Tempt You Boxed Set
~ Serenity Woods
[image error]
Treat yourself to an exotic holiday romance… or three.
Begin your romantic adventure with sexy photographer Kole Graham, the hero of Treat with Caution, the first in the Treats to Tempt You series of sexy romances.
Both Tasha and Kole are confident their attraction is only physical. Both are going to get into trouble. But who will win the bet on Midsummer night?
Then immerse yourself in a deeply passionate affair with gorgeous Dr. Joss Heaven in Treat Her Right.
Maisey does her best to resist the best-looking guy in the whole of New Zealand. But when the chocolate starts to melt on Joss’s warm body, it seems only polite to offer to lick it off… And that’s where the problems start.
Finish off your holiday fling with Stuart Casey, a passionate teacher with a dark secret.
Elle is more than happy to spend a few days showing gorgeous English teacher Stuart a few tricks of the trade to help him move on from his grief. But once she’s let the tiger out of his cage, it proves impossible to get him back in. And the new and improved Stuart isn’t letting her go without a fight.
These sexy romances are set in Doubtless Bay in the sub-tropical Northland of New Zealand. If you like chocolate, you’ll love Treats to Tempt You!
It’s not only the weather that’s hot and sultry in these contemporary romances. Be warned.
Amazon / iBooks / B&N / Kobo / Google Play
January 23, 2018
Sunday Small Town Romance Series Starter ~ Jan 28th
[image error]
If you asked me what my favorite subgenre of romance is, I’d say romances set in small towns or other rural areas. Although I live in a city (New Zealand’s capital, no less) and I love my vibrant and coastal city, I have a soft spot for less populated places. I write them (small town romance) and I love to read them. And I’m always on the lookout for new-to-me authors who write amazing books in this subgenre. So for a while – I don’t know how long! – I’m going to post some free and bargain priced small town romances that I know are professional, well reviewed, and likely right up your reading alley.
*** Shameless Plug ***
[image error]
Don’t forget you can get Romance Down Under (containing two of my small town romance first in series books – In Too Deep & Hide Your Heart) for FREE!
Amazon / iBooks / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google Play
To kick this Sunday off, here’s a new release by the lovely Erin Wright, one of my Sugar and Spice Book Club authors. P.S If you haven’t heard of the Sugar and Spice Book Club which’ll get you a completely different FREE book every month from authors who specialize in sweet & sexy small town romances, check out our website here.
Flames of Love
~Erin Wright
[image error]
A Wounded Hero
As a firefighter, Jaxson Anderson is well acquainted with danger. He’s charged into burning buildings to rescue men and women, young and old. He’s scaled ladders that towered over blistering infernos, and defied blazes that terrified lesser men.
Fire? He understands. Women? Not so much. Now there’s some real danger. He should know. He’s been burned before.
He’s not interested in romance, or the perils that come with it. His priority is caring for his two small boys, and making his mark as the new fire chief of Sawyer, but everything changes the day he catches sight of Sugar, the pretty girl who works at the local bakery. Sugar is exactly what he wants: A fun, no-strings distraction. A friends-with-benefits arrangement that won’t break what’s left of his heart.
A Battered Heart
On the heels of an abusive marriage, Sugar Stonemyer is done with men. But when Jaxson Anderson strolls into the bakery with a very wicked offer, she can’t resist. One look at the fireman, and Sugar knows the Sawyer rumor mills haven’t exaggerated. Jaxson’s tall, dark, and smokin’ hot. He wants an arrangement, nothing more, and that’s perfect.
Or so she thought.
With each slow seduction, Sugar falls a little more. She has only herself to blame. She didn’t want either of them to have feelings, but that’s not how the game is played…
Flames of Love is the first novel in the Firefighters of Long Valley world, although all books in the Long Valley world can be read as standalones. It has some strong language, and oh my, sexy times. If you would prefer the sweet version, it is also available. Either way, enjoy!
Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon Australia / iBooks / B&N / Kobo / Google Play
December 18, 2017
Coastal Christmas Blog Hop
[image error]
In my not so humble opinion, New Zealand’s adopted Christmas tree, the Pohutukawa, is the most beautiful tree in the world. It’s certainly my favourite, and every time I see one covered in gorgeous crimson bristles I know Christmas is only weeks away. This photo was taken by my husband on a beach in the very Far North of New Zealand, the place where my Bounty Bay series books are set. You can read the first book in the Bounty Bay series for free here if you haven’t already. All of these books heavily feature the pristine coastline of the subtropical beaches near the top of the North Island.
But back to the Pohutukawa trees. Every December, I’m treated to this view on my street:
[image error]
That’s right, I live in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, and many of Wellington’s coastal suburbs like mine have these stunning trees planted around them which flower every year. They are the epitome of Christmas to New Zealanders with their dark green leaves and bright red flowers. Their image has become very stylized and iconic (with good reason) and appears on everything from souvenirs to Christmas decorations to artworks and fabric. Recently a friend of mine made some adorable Pohutukawa themed bunting which I bought from her Etsy store to hang around my living room. Super cute, right?
[image error]
Yep, I love them so much you can imagine how thrilled I was when my cover designer showed me her ideas for my 4th Stewart Island book, Christmas With You.
[image error]
The Kiwi barbecue isn’t the only thing sizzling this summer…
She’s a Holiday Grinch…
Carly Gatlin doesn’t want to spend another Christmas alone. With her beloved father gone, she’s desperate to be part of a family—so she’s spending the holidays with her step-brothers on Stewart Island. But even with sand, sun, and not a snowflake in sight, everything reminds her of what she’s lost. So no tree trimming, cookie baking, or kisses under the mistletoe for her, thanks. Especially not from Due South’s sexy bartender, Kip.
He’s a too-hot-for-his-Santa-suit killjoy…
Kip Sullivan’s moved hundreds of miles away from his family who’d like to see him married off before his next birthday—on Christmas Eve. Then ten days before the big event, his meddling relatives arrive en masse, and dear God, they’re planning to stay. With match-makers breathing down his neck, it’s becoming harder to ignore the temptation to unwrap Carly like a present under the tree. Kip agrees to help make Carly’s first New Zealand Christmas special. He’s got five holiday missions to complete—one involving a frisky fake reindeer—before he hopes to claim a mistletoe kiss…and maybe even Carly’s heart.
Christmas just isn’t Christmas without this spicy yet sweet Stewart Island novella.
Christmas with You is available FREE for a limited time at these retailers:
Amazon / iBooks / Nook / Kobo / Google Play
[image error]
Don’t forget to enter the rafflecopter below to go in the draw to win a $150 gift card or 30 free e-books! I’m giving away 3 copies of my Due South Boxed set which contains the first 5 books of the Stewart Island series. Just comment below for a chance to win!
And oh – wishing you a wonderful festive season wherever you live in this big, beautiful world of ours!
If you missed any of the early blogs you can find them here – just scroll down and click on any of the names on the list. Next up is Leesa Bow! Don’t forget to check out yesterday’s post by Nikki LeClair.
December 3, 2017
12 Days of Down Under Christmas
[image error]
It’s no secret that I’m a bit of a Christmas fiend. This can partly be blamed on the fact that I was born on December 24th, and partly blamed on my love of sparkly things. I’m a bit of a magpie that way – oooh, shiny! As I’m typing up this blog post at my desk, I have tinsel draped around my computer monitor, a tree-topper star blu-tacked to the top of the monitor, a Santa doll thingy tacked to my desk (he’s a little creepy but he was my mum’s so he gets to stay), fake bells strung along the wall, a tiny Christmas tree on my bookshelf, and a Mr & Mrs Santa salt & pepper set (also my mum’s) next to it.
Being that I came up with the idea and organised this 12 Days of Down Under Christmas promotion, you’d think I’d have something really profound to write about in this blog. Or at least, some amazing recipe for the classic Down Under pavlova which is a staple part of Christmas lunches in both Australia and New Zealand. Hah! Those of you who know me, know I can’t cook my way out of a proverbial paper bag. The one thing I can do, however, is to decorate the heck out of a Christmas tree! While it may not be a real tree (and this year because we’re in the middle of house renovations we’ve put up a fake tree instead of the normal fresh pine), and it may not be showroom perfect (as Kip from Christmas With You would insist on), it’s still the centerpiece of the Alvarez Christmas traditions.
[image error]
So instead of waxing lyrical about a Down Under Christmas, I thought I’d show you my 3 favourite tree ornaments.
The Elvis ornament – bought this year from our USA holiday. I can never resist picking up cute tree ornaments while on holiday! [image error]The reindeer ornament – I remember hanging this on Christmas trees as a little girl. Even though he’s a little bit tatty now, my sentimental side can’t bear to part with him.
[image error]
The Santa ornament – made by my then pre-school daughter who is now 17. She’s still a rebel who colors outside of the lines and I couldn’t be more proud!
[image error]
So, there you have it. My take on Christmas and why quite of my books have Christmassy themes. The first book I wrote that takes place over Christmas, but isn’t, per se, a Christmas romance, is Hide Your Heart. Set in the far north of New Zealand, Christmas there is traditionally HOT. Lots of sand, surf, and sunburn while you BBQ at the beach – or share a Hangi (traditional Maori earth oven way of cooking) with friends and family. You can read about Nate and Lauren’s semi-Christmas story for free at the below retailers, and I hope you enjoy the little excerpt of finding the perfect Christmas tree, also below.
[image error]
Available FREE from:
Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon AU / Amazon DE / Amazon CA / iBooks / Nook / Kobo / Google Play / Smashwords
Also available as an audiobook from:
Audible / Amazon / iTunes
[image error]
And that’s how, thirty minutes later, he found himself following Drew and Lauren up an overgrown bush path at the back of Todd’s property, lugging the chainsaw and trying desperately to keep his gaze away from the woman’s curvy, denim-clad ass.
Java padded at his side, chuffing out a deep bark as Nate stumbled over a snarled root.
“A warning to watch my step or to keep my eyes to myself?” he muttered.
The dog plopped down to scratch his ear, his black eyes never leaving Nate’s face.
“Yeah, thought so.”
The path opened up ahead into a field that had been cleared for Kathy’s fruit trees and a smattering of head-high pruned pines. Sweet, tangy, Christmas scent wafted over him. Drew darted between pine trees, running from one to another.
“This one, no—this one, this one!” Drew hopped from foot to foot. “C’mon guys, hurry up!”
It struck him then, as Lauren’s laughter spilled into the breeze, that a real family would do this kind of thing. Hike out to a field together a few days before Christmas, the dad carrying the chainsaw, the dog peeing on every other clump of grass, the kid vibrating with excitement, and the mum so damn sexy in her blue jeans and Jingle-Bell-Rocker tee shirt that the dad thought all his Christmas wishes had been granted already.
Except Nate wasn’t the dad in this cozy family outing; he was just some guy. The neighbor.
So get it together, man. Because that’s how he wanted it. That’s how it had to be.
Lauren pointed at the chainsaw and tipped her chin at the tree Drew finally selected. “Knock yourself out.”
Her brown hair blew across her face, and she brushed the strands aside with a grin. “I figure a baby pine shouldn’t tax you too much.”
Handling the chainsaw was harder than it looked when the woman’s shapely behind and endlessly long legs kept distracting him. But he sawed through the tree trunk without evisceration, so bonus points for him.
The pine conquered, Drew and Java raced back along the path.
“Front or back?” Lauren said as he slipped the chainsaw guard on.
Like he’d let her carry the heaviest part of the tree while he took the spindly top. “Back.”
She shrugged. “I can carry the chainsaw then.”
Snorting out a laugh, he picked up the chainsaw and wrapped the fingers of his other hand around the tree trunk.
“Do I look like a ninety-pound weakling?”
Nate glanced up, and her cheeks were stained pink, almost as if she’d been staring at his ass as he’d bent over. Well, hell. Maybe she had been.
“Suit yourself.” She stalked over to the other end of the pine and tugged it up, shooting him an arched look over her shoulder.
He grinned, and her flush deepened. Being at the back would certainly afford him an entertaining view.
“Lead the way.”
From Hide Your Heart – Copyright 2015 Tracey Alvarez
[image error]
[image error]
Amazon / iBooks / Barnes & Noble
[image error]
Amazon / iBooks / Barnes & Noble
[image error]
Amazon
[image error]
[image error]
I’m giving away a 2018 New Zealand Firefighters Calendar to one lucky winner (open internationally) plus an e-copy of the Due South Boxed set which contains the first 5 Stewart Island books. Three more runners up will each win an e-copy of the Due South Boxed set.
To enter: Tell me in the comments what your favorite tree decoration is.
