Tracey Alvarez's Blog, page 8
December 27, 2015
Playing For Fun Release Day & Giveaway
I admit that on occasion one of my guilty pleasures is watching a season of The Bachelor (or Bachelorette!). While some episodes it’s more for the trainwreck-giggle-cringe factor, the idea of a single person being confronted with so many choices of potential mate, all with completely different personalities, sparked a few fun ideas. How would Ford react to being set up? How would Holly react to the guy she secretly has a ‘thing’ for being set up? I had so much fun writing their Friends-to-lovers story – I hope you enjoy reading it!
Playing For Fun (Due South Book #6)
Contemporary Romance
Print Length: 290 pages
Wanted: A woman for Ford.
Ford Komeke can’t deny he could use an up-skill in the dating arena. It’s a local in-joke that his game, as far as women go, sucks. Thanks to the meddling of New Zealand’s worst octogenarian matchmaker, he’s got an online dating profile, a new wardrobe, and a haircut from Stewart Island’s sexy hairdresser, Holly Parker. But since he’s well and truly mired in the friendzone with Holly, what’s the harm in exploring his options? A little jealousy could work wonders.
Offered: Dream job with a catch.
What do you say when you’re offered an un-turn-downable career opportunity? You say, hell-to-the-yeah! Only there’s a problem. To get the dream job Holly must leave Stewart Island and her two best friends, Shaye and Ford. But if Holly can distract Shaye with wedding planning and set Ford up with a nice girl so she can stop imagining him naked, neither will notice if she exits stage right. Neither will notice if her feelings for Ford stop being strictly platonic.
Warning: One kiss is never enough.
As addictive as the chocolate stash Holly hides in her fridge, one kiss forces them out of the friendzone—way out of the friendzone. Heat and hunger explode, but the ugliness in Ford’s past hold his heart hostage. Playing for fun or playing for keeps? Holly and Ford must decide because the consequences of falling in love means that someone’s heart or someone’s dream will ultimately end up shattered.
Get your e-copy for the special 3 day price of $2.99 (reg. $3.99) at these retailers:
(Open Internationally)
Prize includes:
~ New Zealand black fern tote bag
~ New Zealand Haka tea towel (not sure what you’d call it overseas. Used to dry dishes if you’re so inclined…).
~ New Zealand Rotorua Mud hand cream (don’t worry, it’s a lot nicer than it sounds and feels lovely to apply!)
~ New Zealand Rotorua Mud Facepack and Soap giftset
~ Hand-crafted ‘treble’ symbol earrings for pierced ears
~ Expandable-fit ‘Koru’ bracelet
~ New Zealand emergency poncho
~ New Zealand selection of individually wrapped chocolates with Manuka honey creme, boysenberry & Kiwifruit centers.
~ 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 Playing For Fun and answer this question in the space provided in the rafflecopter. The question is: What is the name of my hairstylist mentioned in the acknowledgements section at the end of the e-book? (Answer is found at the end of Playing For Fun e-book.)
* 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 January 4th and winner will receive a direct e-mail from me shortly after – so please ensure my e-mail address is added to your safe/contacts list. If I haven’t had a reply from the winner in 48 hours, I will redraw a new winner.
December 25, 2015
Two Day Romance & Chick Lit Holiday Sale!
Treat yourself to something sweet during the two-day Romance and Chick Lit Holiday Sale! These feel-good books are guilty pleasures that won’t pack on the pounds. So go ahead and indulge – you deserve it.
Click here to see all the FREE and $.99 romances. But you’d better hurry because these deals won’t last long!
November 1, 2015
Christmas With You excerpt & Giveaway
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.
The Kiwi barbecue isn’t the only thing sizzling this summer…
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 Due South novella.
Grab your $0.99 copy from:
Amazon
iBooks
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Smashwords
Free Excerpt
Chapter 3
The enemy, while not quite four feet tall, were still sly little devils, and he’d deal with them without mercy.
Instead of spending a relaxing morning puttering around the house before his shift, Kip snuck around his parents’ rental property armed with a water gun. Lizzie had texted him at eight, ordering him to get his butt up to the house and entertain his nephews—oh, and to bring Carly, since their mum already needed her for an elf costume fitting.
So, while Carly stayed inside the house, Kip, his dad, Grace, and the boys had been shooed outside. With high-powered water guns.
No complaint about that.
Kip peeled off his soaked tee shirt and dumped it on the stairs as he climbed onto the wraparound veranda. Thirty seconds ago, he’d spotted Logan, darting around the side of the house. The twins were part of a SWAT team—Logan with Kip’s dad, and Lucas teamed with Grace. Kip’d been told he was big enough and ugly enough to go solo.
His lips peeled up into a smile. James Sullivan might be the fastest at applying cups to a cow, but he was no match for Kip in a free-for-all water battle.
Keeping his finger on the plastic trigger, Kip padded across the wooden decking close to the walls of the house. The drapes were still drawn in the master bedroom, which his parents were using, and a skitter of awareness danced down his spine. Carly was in that room, probably in her underwear. Exposing miles of skin…
Perfect, lightly tanned skin the color of barely toasted bread.
Kip shook his head and bit back a laugh. Wasn’t he the romantic? Toast-colored skin—Jesus. Not to mention the fact he shouldn’t be imagining his co-worker in her panties.
He paused at the corner of the house to get his mind back in the game. Lucas was out in the yard somewhere, creeping around with his eye-rolling but secretly enjoying-the-fun, older cousin.
Kip raised the barrel of his rifle and slooowly peered around the corner. Movement came from the shadowy interior of the open front door. He’d have to cross past it in order to get to the other side of the house.
Gotcha, Grandpa.
“No water in the house,” had been his mother’s strict instructions on doling out the water guns. The five of them had nodded solemnly, Kip and his dad exchanging glances of yeah, right, it’s on.
Thankful he’d chosen to play in shorts, tee shirt, and bare feet, Kip eased around the corner, rifle ready for action. He moved silently along the decking.
Carly stepped out onto the veranda, sunlight catching strands of her long hair and transforming them into streams of coppery fire. Kip froze, one foot in front of the other, and then ducked into a defensive crouch. Naively, considering the five armed hunters patrolling the grounds, she looked straight ahead. Her stellar breasts sat high and proud under a white shirt. She stretched her arms to the sky and yawned, some of her smooth, toast-colored skin appearing in a strip above the waistband of her shorts.
His fingers itched, warring with the part of his brain saying: Mate, she’ll kick you in the balls for real.
The smile appeared back on his face. Nah, he’d never been good at ignoring a challenge. He aimed the rifle, pulled the trigger, and watched the arc of water sparkle in the sun until it reached the target.
Bull’s-eye! He shoots, he scores!
Carly’s head whipped toward him, those soft, pale pink lips that had caused him to toss and turn the night before parted in an almost perfect O. Water soaked through her shirt, and dripped off her shorts. Yet his victim hadn’t screamed. She just stood there, wide-eyed and drenched.
So he blasted her again.
Her hands rose in defense, which didn’t do a hell of a lot to prevent her shirt becoming even wetter. Add in the bonus of two rock-hard nipples poking through the thin cotton, and man, he could keep firing until the chamber went dry.
“You.” She stabbed a finger at him, which caused a delicious wobble of her incredible tits. With her other hand, she swiped water droplets off her face, her whiskey eyes flashing promises of bloody revenge. “You. Are. Dead.”
“Empty threats, sweetheart.”
Voices behind her from inside the house grew louder.
“Ohmigawd. Kip just soaked her!”
“Mum, look what he’s done!”
Lizzie poked her head out of the doorway, and then jerked it back in when Kip fired a warning shot.
“Vee! Where’s the backup artillery? Quick—bring it here!”
Carly grinned at him. “Game on, pretty-boy.”
Kip spun and darted back around the corner, heading down the garden to the outside tap for a reload and then to set up an ambush.
A private ambush.
***
Carly squeezed what moisture she could out of her shirt. She blamed the blast of cold water for her tight, tingling nipples.
Nothing whatsoever to do with Kip’s heated gaze fanning over her. Or the low-in-the-belly sizzle she got at the sight of hard muscles crisscrossing his bared chest and abs. Nope, nuh-uh, impossible.
Yet, she hadn’t stopped thinking about those muscles since she’d found herself squished on top of them two days ago. The belly sizzle indicated at least part of her would like to be squished up against him again.
“Here.” A voice sounded from behind her.
She turned, all sexy thoughts shoved aside as Kip’s mother held out a gigantic water gun.
“It’s locked and loaded. Take it and make for the treeline.” Heather angled her chin toward a grove of pohutukawa trees, their crimson flower-laden branches sweeping down over the beach.
“You saw him headed there?” Carly hefted the sloshing gun, which looked more like a bazooka in her limited experience with water weapons.
“No.” Heather grinned. “But I know my son. He’ll be waiting there to ambush you.”
A shiver worked down her spine. Ambushed by that tall, dark-haired hunk of hotness? That kind of shiver was ninety percent pleasurable anticipation, ten percent girl, this is a bad idea.
“My dad was an Air Force officer. I got this.” Bold words for a woman trembling in her Chuck Taylors.
“Show no mercy.”
Carly laughed and gave Heather a mock salute. “Oh, he’ll pay.”
She ran down the steps to the lawn, scalp prickling at the open exposure until she reached the fence encircling the property. Her back to the wooden posts, she edged along it until she came to the gate closing the yard off from the beach.
Her pulse an endless peal of thunder in her throat, she ducked down and peered at the sandy trail leading to the beach. Man-sized footprints pointed as effectively as an arrow. Well, now—Heather was right. Kip would be waiting for her under the shadowy branches of the pohutukawas.
Carly cracked open the gate, slipped through and then latched it again. The beach was off limit to the twins unless they were accompanied by an adult, which worked well for her plan of humiliating their uncle by emptying her jumbo-sized water tank in his smug face.
Instead of following the short path to the beach, Carly stuck to the grassy bank running alongside it. The ambushee would turn the tables on the ambusher, with any luck. She moved at a low crouch, scanning the glistening ocean, the scents of sea-salt and woodsy vegetation filling her nose, and thigh-high weeds tickling as they brushed against her bare legs. If she focused on the sensory overload, she could pretend this was just a summer vacation and not eight days until her once favorite holiday. Blinding sun streaming over her damp skin did a great job of convincing her body-clock that it was mid-July, not mid-December.
She stepped under the shade of the first huge pohutukawa, blinking as her eyes struggled to adapt.
“Concentrate, zoomie,” she whispered. Her fingers fumbled up the grooved handle to find the trigger. “You got this.”
“Not this time, sweetheart.”
A strong arm wrapped around her body, pinning her arms helplessly to her side. Plastic pressed to the throbbing vein in her throat. Water seeped out of the gun and dripped down her neck. The shivers returned with a vengeance, but this time, they had nothing to do with chilly water and everything to do with the man pressed full length against her.
Warm breath puffed against her ear, and the cradle of his hips butted into her bottom. “Drop your weapon.”
Kip may as well have said, “Drop your panties.” His deep, rough voice affected her the same way.
Never surrender your weapon, zoomie.
Her throat seized, her mouth parched to sticky dryness. “No.”
Plastic squeaked, and more water oozed out of the gun, trickling down her overheated skin. The strong fingers wrapped around her upper arm flexed, not tight enough to hurt, just enough for her to know she couldn’t break free without a struggle—and another soaking.
“Resistance is futile.” Something soft and warm brushed over her earlobe, continued with butterfly lightness down the column of her throat to the very spot where her vein leaped under the skin. “I have you right where I want you. So drop it. I win.”
Her knees filled with wibbly-wobbly Jell-O, and her fingers on the gun handle had all the strength of mini sponge cakes. She was a sweet, hot mess from him grabbing her and breathing on her neck? Double-dammit. She’d underestimated the enemy’s skills at tactical engagement.
The water gun dropped from her hand and thudded to the ground.
“I’d like to negotiate the terms of my surrender.” Her voice sounded breathy and strained, as if she’d just returned from one of her dad’s enforced five-mile runs.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to negotiate anything.”
“How about you take that gun from my throat, and we discuss this like adults?”
Kip chuckled. “If I let you go, will you try some crazy military jiu-jitsu shit on me?”
“I could, you know. I have some moves.”
“Oh, I bet you do.” He released his grip, sliding the hand restraining her slowly around her waist, leaving a trail of heat behind under her wet shirt.
Carly dropped to her knees, scooped up the gun, and rolled onto her back—triggering a blast of water that hit Kip squarely in the groin. He froze as water soaked the front of his board shorts and pitter-pattered to the earth. The thin synthetic fabric, in an unfortunate color choice of white and pale-green plaid, enhanced more than it hid. And what it enhanced was a lack of underwear—Kip Sullivan was fighting dirty by going commando.
Carly blinked, the nozzle of her water pistol still aimed at his crotch. Shouldn’t cold water have the opposite effect on a man? Evidently, they grew them tough here in New Zealand, because the water temperature hadn’t affected his package at all.
Oh, myyyyy.
She licked dry lips and scrambled to her feet, backing up a short distance to get a clearer shot at him should he advance.
A slow smile curled onto his face. “That was pretty damn low.”
“I aimed low.”
And she was kinda regretting it now, because, day-yum—well-endowed, hot guy looking at her as if she were lunch.
Kip shifted his hips, and her gaze tracked the movement like a kitten pouncing after the elusive red dot on a laser. Oh, boy. She needed to stop that, right now. Staring at a co-worker’s private parts was not part of her job description.
Only he didn’t feel like her co-worker any more.
He pointed his weapon, his smile widening. “You seem to have quite the fascination with my junk.”
“In your dreams, pretty-boy.”
He squirted her, the water splattering her shorts, soaking through them to her suitable-for-a-mom-to-see, plain cotton panties.
“You!” she choked.
“Should’ve worn a swim suit like I did.” He shot her again, this time between her boobs.
Her lungs locked tight, the same kind of stunned breathlessness she experienced when diving into Sunshine Bay’s deceptively warm-looking waters. Goosepimples raced up and down her body, her nipples hardening into two little darts, trying to poke a hole through her still-damp shirt.
“But then, wet is a good look for you.”
“I didn’t ask to be part of this fight.” Carly nailed him right in the heart with another long water blast.
He advanced toward her, and she backed up, deeper into the trees’ shadows. Little birds twittered and rustled among the branches, and from the direction of the house, the twins shrieked with excitement. Kip glanced briefly over his shoulder, the smile on his face when he turned back wicked enough to curl her toes inside her sneakers.
“Don’t expect any help from the troops,” he said.
Kip moved forward, so Carly hit him again—a gut shot this time. For her own sanity, she kept her gaze above the dangly laces of his board shorts, which already rode dangerously low on his hips. This time, the blast of water only just reached him. She was running out of ammo.
He laughed and gained two more steps. Carly retreated until her bottom hit the solid resistance of the tree trunk.
The empty water pistol slipped to the ground, and she held up her hands. “You win.”
Kip padded closer, the faint sloshing sound indicating he wasn’t short on firepower.
“No other tricks, Carly?” He stood close to her, his bare feet either side of hers, one arm braced on the branch above her shoulder, the other still holding the water pistol at his side.
Sunlight arrowed through the leaves, and a gentle breeze caused a shower of gold-tipped crimson needles from the overhanging blossoms to drift down on their heads. One caught in his hair, and she plucked it out, her hand hovering for a moment, the crimson needle dropping out of sight. She rubbed the dark strands—one might even call them silky. She hadn’t expected the texture of his hair to be so soft. But then, she hadn’t expected to ever be standing this close to him.
Working together, they maintained a normal, friendly distance. They passed each other bottles, bumped arms or hips when they jostled to make up drinks side by side, and bantered back and forth while they closed up at nights. Normal, friendly stuff.
Kip stood so close, faint streaks of gold surrounding his pupils were visible. Light dappled across his face, highlighting the tiny scar high on his forehead—a flaw she’d never noticed before—and water droplets speckled the stubble on his jaw. His nearness had somehow unhinged her mind. She wanted to touch—badly wanted to touch…and to taste.
Don’t do anything stupid, zoomie.
Okay, but wasn’t Christmas called the Silly Season for a reason?
Carly slid her fingers into the thick, dark hair and tugged Kip’s head slightly forward. Ahhh, the satisfaction of his sharp, indrawn breath. She should draw the moment out longer, torture both of them with the anticipation. But she was the kind of girl who couldn’t resist shaking her presents under the tree.
So she kissed him.
A kiss she’d intended to be a quick, three-second-at-the-most, flirty touch of lips. Just enough to transfer a little of her strawberry flavored lip balm. Except, there must have been a secret ingredient in the balm, as once his mouth, firm and smooth and delicious, fused to hers, she could not, God help her, drag herself away.
The tip of his tongue traced a line of fire along the seam of her mouth, and she opened with a gasp, allowing him to deepen the connection. Delusions of control? Obliterated when his tongue touched hers.
Louder than the surf, Carly’s heartbeat thudded in her ears, a tidal flow of superheated blood drawn to the areas of her body touching him. The sensitive tips of her breasts grazed his chest, and her legs, trapped between rough bark and the damp fabric of his board shorts, trembled.
A low growl rumbled in his chest, and his hand cupped her face, drawing them closer. The touch of his rough palm, and his tongue dancing along hers in the sexiest of tangos, jerked her out of her kiss-drunk stupor.
Hot and intense steamrolled her fun and flirty intention flat. But to Kip, who’d no doubt kissed half the eligible women in Oban, this was likely a casual lip-lock. Fun, flirty…and easily forgotten.
She tore her mouth away, and Kip’s eyes blinked open in shock. She ducked to the side, snatching the water gun from his lax hand. Applying a bogus smile on her mouth—one that said, I’m totally not affected by your smoking-hot-kiss—Carly aimed the pistol at Kip’s face. His gorgeous face, with his hair sexily rumpled from her fingers, lips slightly parted, and his eyes quickly clearing from confusion into their usual sharp intelligence.
He raised both hands in surrender. “That’s one hell of a distraction tactic.”
“Who dares wins, so they say.”
“I’m happy to let you win if this is the kind of game we’re playing.”
The smile that’d charmed so many women before her appeared, flushing another surge of tingly, feel-good-bubbles through her and making the idea of playing with Kip a lot more tempting. Which meant she really, really needed to leave before she changed her mind and jumped him.
“Game’s over, I win.”
“I guess you do. This round.” He leaned back against the tree trunk and crossed his ankles. “Go and announce your victory, sweetheart.”
Lips curving into smirk, she said, “I will.”
Then her gaze dropped past the waistband of his shorts.
Definitely commando. Dear Lord…
Carly shut her mouth, gumming her lips together—easier to keep the ribbon of drool inside. Definitely time to leave.
She turned and hurried out of the trees, the sound of his low and dirty chuckle trailing after her.
Copyright © Tracey Alvarez 2014
**Open Internationally**
$65 VALUE CHRISTMAS WITH YOU GIFT BASKET INCLUDES
~ Signed Paperback copy of Christmas With You
~ 2016 Compact New Zealand calendar
~ Due South hand-crafted paua and dolphin charm earrings
~ Kiwifruit lip balm
~ Kiwifruit soap
~ ‘Wildside’ Pohutukawa coin purse
~ Beautiful Rebecca Shapiro ‘Pohutukawa’ tea towel (dish towel in the US??)
~ Pohutukawa print cotton tote bag
~ Fantail/Pohutukawa Christmas Tree decoration
~Banks & Co Botanicals (made in NZ) Pohutukawa Hand & Nail cream
~ Cute Maori-style flax kete
~ Author bookmark & magnet
~ Due South pen (with old covers, so hey, collectible!)
Free entry! Just for being awesome…
Bonus entry. Leave a review of Christmas With You.
Leave an honest review of Christmas With You on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo or iBooks and as a way of saying ‘Thanks for making my day!’ you’ll get 5 extra entries. Reader reviews are soooo important for an indie author like myself, getting reviews (especially on Amazon) means I can submit my books for advertising and it also helps other potential readers decide if they’d like to take a chance on my books. But to be clear, you don’t have to leave a positive review to enter the prize draw – nor do you need to leave a review at all – you get an entry just for being awesome! Even if you’re feeling Grinchy about Christmas With You and think it merits a minus 500 star review, or if you decide not to leave a review at all, you still qualify (no purchase or further action is required). So please be truthful if you do decide to leave a review.
Entry Conditons.
~ No purchase necessary to enter giveaway.
~ First prize (Gift basket) open internationally. Prize is not exchangeable for cash.
~ Only one e-mail address/person per entry. I will check IP addresses and entrants who enter multiple e-mail addresses will be disqualified.
~ To sign up to my newsletter as part of the giveaway, you must activate your subscription by clicking on the link ‘yes subscribe me to this list’ sent to you in a confirmation e-mail, or your entry won’t count.
~ For the Bonus Entry. On the Rafflecopter entry: Please provide the name of the retailer (eg Amazon US, or iBooks UK) that you left the review on PLUS your reviewer name on that retailer. Or copy/paste the first sentence of your review PLUS the name of the retailer it appears on. All bonus entries will be verified, so make it as easy as possible for me to check off your review. 
~ Winner will be contacted by e-mail after the giveaway ends (November 14) and will have 48 hours to reply to that e-mail. A new winner will be drawn in the case of the original winner not responding. Please check your spam mail around this time or add my address tracey@traceyalvarez.com to your safe senders.
~ Prize will be sent to winner via standard post, no guarantee that it will arrive at the winner’s destination before Christmas due to crazy postal times!
Christmas Down Under Boxed Set & Choice NZ gift Giveaway!
Only 56 sleeps until Christmas!
That’s right, only 56 sleeps until the big guy pays you a visit. If you’ve been super good, like Lauren from Hide Your Heart, your Big Guy in red might look something like this:
A girl can dream, right?
But if you’re in Santa’s bad books this year, a $0.99 copy of CHRISTMAS DOWN UNDER is the next best thing. Okay, not quite. But hey, the 6 DOWN UNDER authors can guarantee Hot Boys, Hot Sand, and Hot…stuff! Fill up your e-reader with these bargain priced sexy and sweet stories, and get ready for a scorching hot Christmas.
100% pure Christmas.
It’s hot sun and hotter men, warm sand and crystal-clear water, prawns on the barbecue and cricket on the beach. It’s sweet, slow kisses and long, lazy days. It’s Christmas Down Under.
Warm your heart, and maybe a little bit more, too, with six sweet, sexy stories of Down Under lovin’ from six bestselling authors who know how to do it right, from a little bit steamy all the way up to OMG. Whether it’s the beaches of Australia or New Zealand’s subtropical Far North, it’s nothing but feel-good love for Christmas this year. So if you’re feeling a little chilly? Pour a cold glass of wine or a hot mug of cocoa, curl up on the couch, and enjoy!
· Six standalone books (no cliffhangers!) spanning 1,000+ pages
· Over 95% off retail for the individual books sold separately
· Only available through December–get your copy today!
Six perfect indulgences to get you in the Christmas spirit:
ROSALIND JAMES – Just for Now (Escape to New Zealand) Jenna McKnight has run from heartbreak into a new body, a new city, and a new job. But the gorgeous Auckland villa isn’t really her home, rugby star Finn Douglas and his kids aren’t really her family, and playing house can be a dangerous game
SERENITY WOODS – A Festive Treat (Treats to Tempt You) Haunted Skye Graham only wanted a one-night stand, but Owen Hall’s an expert at finding lost people, and he’s determined to search the whole of the Northland until he tracks her down.
ANNIE SEATON – Christmas with the Boss. Jilly Henderson had been looking forward to five days of bliss at the beach: alone, no work, and with no one to bother her over the Christmas break. The last thing she expects is to find her sexy boss, Dominic, holidaying in the beach shack next door. This surf god looks mighty different from the uptight executive she’s used to–and mighty hard to ignore.
KRIS PEARSON – Christmas Holiday Hearts (Heartlands) Ellie McKenna’s dream job becomes her worst nightmare when she discovers the man she’ll be working for is her long-ago holiday fling. He gave her the hottest memories of her life – and a son he knows nothing about. How will Ellie carry out her Christmas holiday contract now?
JOANNE HILL – Promising Penny. Penny Portman works in her parents’ Auckland cafe and dreams of running her own place one day. When old friend Michael McGuinn shows up, her feelings for him resurface, and she wonders if he will ever think of her as more than an honorary sister, and if this could be the Christmas all her wishes come true.
TRACEY ALVAREZ – Hide Your Heart (Far North) Lauren Taylor has returned to her New Zealand hometown, hiding from her famous past. Nate Fraser plans to fix up the property next door and sell it as a celebrity retreat. As passion ignites between them over the Christmas season, can Lauren trust Nate with her secrets, and her heart?
Click here to buy your $0.99 copy of CHRISTMAS DOWN UNDER
To celebrate the release of CHRISTMAS DOWN UNDER we’re giving away a choice gift basket of Down Under gifts valued at over US$150!
Runner up prize: Massive E-Book Bundle to stuff your Kindle with!
PLUS!! 3 Authors are giving away free e-books just for joining their mailing list – everybody wins!
Here’s a list of what’s in the gift basket:
New Zealand pohutukawa tote bag
Caroline Mitchell hand-beaded pohutukawa change purse
Airborne manuka & wildflower honey
Devonport Chocolates Keith the Kiwi milk & dark chocolate rugby balls
Set of 4 rimu & paua shell coasters
Pewter thimble with inset paua shell kiwis
Wild Farms manuka honey body lotion & soap in flax kete (basket)
Whittaker’s Peanut Slabs (favorite Kiwi chocolate treat)
NZ scenic calendar
Iconic NZ images notebook
Caroline Mitchell Collectibles hand-beaded kokako (forest bird) ornament
NZ birds & flowers tea towel
Here are the 18 E-Books contributed for the Runner Up prize. Valued at over $65!
Just for Fun (Escape to New Zealand Book 4) – Rosalind James
Just My Luck (Escape to New Zealand Book 5) – Rosalind James
Just Not Mine (Escape to New Zealand Book 6) – Rosalind James
Know Your Heart (Far North Book 2) – Tracey Alvarez
Ready To Burn (Due South Book 3) – Tracey Alvarez
Christmas With You (Due South Book 4) – Tracey Alvarez
Marrying Melinda – Joanne Hill
Falling for Jack – Joanne Hill
Blue Creek Bachelor – Joanne Hill
Heartlands Boxed Set (Containing Melting His Heart, Christmas Holiday Hearts, and Cowboy Wants Her Heart) – Kris Pearson
An Uncommon Sense (Sensual Healing Book 1) – Serenity Woods
Making Sense (Sensual Healing Book 2) – Serenity Woods
Talking Sense (Sensual Healing Book 3) – Serenity Woods
Hot Rock – Annie Seaton
Tangling with the CEO – Annie Seaton
Holiday Affair – Annie Seaton
Entry Conditons.
~ First prize (Gift basket) open to US residents only. Prize is not exchangeable for cash.
~ Runner up prize of 18 e-books open internationally. Instructions will be sent by individual author to the runner-up on claiming the e-books donated by that author. Prize is not exchangeable for cash.
~ No purchase necessary to enter giveaway.
~ Only one e-mail address/person per entry. We are able to check IP addresses and entrants who enter multiple e-mail addresses will be disqualified.
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October 15, 2015
A Trip to Jurassic Island. Okay – Kapiti Island, New Zealand.
Jurassic Park Island, er, Kapiti Island!
As an author of five (nearly 6) books about couples who fall in love on an island at the bottom of New Zealand, it may surprise you to know I’ve mixed feelings about islands. It’s weighted more toward love (hence, 6 books with more on the way!) but the not-so-keen part is there. You see, to get to an island (unless it’s a big island like Stewart Island in the Due South series which has an airstrip) you have to travel there via boat. And like Piper in IN TOO DEEP, I get major-league seasickness.
The tractor backed waaaay out into the surf and the ferry drove onto it. A new experience for me!
So great idea of mine, huh? Booking DH and I an overnight trip to Kapiti Island (about an hour or so North of Wellington the capital city) to try and catch a glimpse of the elusive Little Spotted Kiwi in its natural habitat. True to form, we had a beautiful Kapiti day on the morning we left, but the sea between the mainland and the island? Uh-oh. Lots of whitecaps. And it was not a pleasant twenty minute trip for me with the little ferry/water taxi roiling and rolling and lurching and oh God… Yeah. And having a poor kid puking halfway there didn’t help either!
Maori carvings outside the public shelter on the island.
Anyhoo…I made it there without tossing my cookies and Kapiti Island is just beautiful. Unspoiled, wild, and just rife with birdlife. OMG, the birds. For many years I lived in New Zealand’s Far North surrounded by native bush (where the FAR NORTH series is set!) but I’ve never heard bird sound like on Kapiti. Mainly because Kapiti is a Department Of Conservation protected bird sanctuary, so there are no nasty predators to kill the birds/bird’s eggs. All the different calls were just so fascinating to listen to as we walked around a teeny bit of the island. Some brave souls made it to the top—not me I’m afraid—but we still got some amazing views.
Looking over to the mainland.
Later, while the remaining 12 people were down on the beach waiting for the ferry, DH and I found a quiet picnic table to rest and saw our first Takahe. They are a critically endangered bird, so we felt very privileged to observe it pecking away in the long grass.
The Takahe.
The ferry transported us further along the island where we were going to spend the night and most of the next day. Kapiti Island Nature Tours is run by a Maori whanau (family) whose ancestors have been living there since the 1820’s. Their claim of genuine Maori hospitality on their website is well earned – we were welcomed like part of their extended whanau and were extremely well cared for.
Our cosy little cabin!
After being shown to our accommodation – perhaps the cutest little cabin ever, we had nibbles and drinks on the lodge’s deck and were introduced to some of the island’s shadier occupants. The Kaka. I confess, when writing about BirdBrain the Kaka in READY TO BURN I hadn’t actually ever seen a real Kaka before, just researched them. But claims that they are the feathered gang members of the bird world are not wrong.
Kaka looking like butter wouldn’t melt in its beak…
They are incredibly adorable, but oh, so naughty! As soon as someone left the inside of the lodge and went out onto the deck, beware if they had food in their hand. Even though our lovely guides warned us about these cheeky parrots, our group of 14 overnighters still managed to lose a substantial amount of cookies/crackers to the Kaka. They would swoop down from the trees and land on your shoulder, and BAM! Your cookie/cracker was gone. Sometimes they would tag team with other Kakas playing Look at me do my cute Kaka drunken-wobbly-walk while his mate would dart in from the other side and BAM! Lost cookie/cracker. Not to mention them sneaking into the lodge if someone left a door/window open, creeping around like feathered cat burglars and getting into the fruit bowl or whatever else they could find.
The real Kaka…scoping out DH’s coffee and biscuit, preparing to steal.
But the highlight of the evening had to be the night walk we went on to try and catch a glimpse of Kiwi. With over 1200 Kiwi on Kapiti Island, you’d think this wouldn’t be hard, right? Not so much! We split our group of 14 in half and two guides took us out. With an amazing star studded sky above and the sounds of Morepork, Weka (another very cheeky thief of a bird) and other birds I couldn’t identify, our group moved ninja-quiet through the bush. Kiwi are very shy, so we had to keep the torches to a minimum, and speak in whispers, if at all. After about 20 minutes walking our guide identified the call of a male Kiwi nearby, and tracked the sounds to the edge of a path where we finally caught a quick glimpse of a chubby kiwi poking his long nose into the undergrowth. Once Mr. Kiwi discovered he had company that wasn’t of the desirable female Kiwi kind, he scampered/waddled off along the path leaving us with a nice, retreating view of Kiwi butt.
The Weka – another cheeky scrounger that you have to watch your lunch with.
The Kereru, native pigeon.
Shhhh! Little Blue Penguins are nesting!
Fortunately, the ferry ride back to the mainland wasn’t quite so rough the next day. We had an amazing night away and if you’re coming to the lower North Island of New Zealand, I highly recommend this tour of Kapiti Island. Here’s their website: Kapiti Island Nature Tours
September 17, 2015
From Boys To Men…and Dads…
I saw this meme on Facebook today and it inspired me to share with you a little excerpt from my WIP, Playing For Fun. This is Ford and Holly’s story, and while Ford never knew his biological father, Rob Komeke is his dad – in every way that matters.
This is only a rough draft excerpt, but I hope you like it.
Rob leaned against the workbench that ran the length of the workshop, took a sip of the long black that Ford had brought back with him. Smacked his lips and struggled to keep a straight face.
“Those mean girls picking on your again? Want me to go tell them to lay off?” His dad drained the last of his coffee.
After spending the last twenty-four years growing up in Oban, it shouldn’t surprise him how fast news travelled.
“Which one?”
“Del texted first. Shaye blabbed the moment she hit the kitchen.” Rob tossed his disposable cup in the trash. “Followed by West. Expect there’ll be another from Ben once Kez gets hold of him after school.”
“Shit.” Ford rubbed the back of his wrist across his forehead. “I’m a bloody laughing stock.”
“You’re a public service. Giving people something to focus on other than their own boring little lives.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“My life’s not boring, son. Not while I’ve got your mother keeping me entertained every night.”
“Not touching that. So not touching that.”
His dad chuckled, and some of the tension oozed out of Ford’s tense muscles. His parent’s rock-solid marriage gave him hope. Their strength both separately and together had forged him through the fire of his childhood into the man he was today.
His dad circled around the car and plonked a stool beside the back door. Sat on it and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, his grease-smeared fingers laced together. Something on Ford’s face must’ve clued him in to the dark current eddying under the surface. Rob Komeke had a bullshit detector that was finally tuned to his two adopted sons.
“Isn’t Graham coming in for the Honda at two?” Ford jerked his chin behind him to the ute his dad was refitting new brake pads on
“Yep. And it can wait. Time for a little man to man korero.”
“Since when have one of your man to man talks ever been little?” Ford muttered and shook his head so that his dreads covered the smile itching in the corner of his mouth.
His dad’s koreros were known to go on a while, especially if he or Harley had been caught pulling some dumb shit they couldn’t weasel out of. Less of that now he and his brother were more mature…and that Harley only came home once or twice a year. But still. When Rob Komeke wanted to talk, all joking aside, there was only one acceptable response.
Shut up and listen.
Copyright © Tracey Alvarez 2015
July 24, 2015
On Holiday Homes & Critters…
This weekend DH and I are at opposite ends of the North Island. He’s doing some computer work up near where my second series is set, while I remain home with two bored teens and an endless supply of Glee and Supernatural DVDs to watch. Am I complaining that DH gets to spend a weekend in our beautiful holiday home with this view here:
No, I am not. And this is why.
Last night DH texted me. Simple, huh? Not when there are only a couple of spots in the house where you can get a cellphone signal. Other choices include leaning out in a death-defying angle out over the deck. Fun times.
Anyway, the text let me know that a) he’d survived the four-wheel-drive only road to our house, and b) a weta had fallen on his head. Inside the house. Don’t know what a weta is? Check out this photo:
Trust me. You don’t want this guy anywhere on your body. While wetas don’t generally bite (though they can), let’s just say the experience of having one scrambling over your scalp is not as pleasant as say, oh, a root canal without a numbing agent.
Then this morning another text from DH, straight and to the point.
“Morning darling. I found a live rat in the bathroom.”
Super.
I’m sure this is what DH discovered, some poor wee ratty just going about his ratty life, on the way home to the wife and kids after a hard night running around our house:
Awwww. Isn’t he adorbs?
But that wasn’t what sprung into my mind. Nope. This is what I pictured after shuddering through DHs text:
That’s right, a PLAGUE of rats, or whatever the plural of a single rat is. Hang on while I Google…oh hey, a group of rats is a plague (or a colony, pack or swam). I’m sticking with plague.
So while I adore our little holiday home, I’m kinda glad that I don’t have to deal with the critters who like to move in and have wild orgies during our absence. Having two teens are critters enough for me.
If you’re interested in reading about the gorgeous sub-tropical Far North, check out Hide Your Heart (where our holiday home is cleverly disguised as Lauren & Drew Taylor’s little home) and Know Your Heart (where there may be a critter interaction between the squeamish heroine and an indignant arachnid.)
Have a great weekend, everyone!
June 15, 2015
Know Your Heart Release Day!
I’m really excited to introduce you to my latest book, Know Your Heart.
When I first came up with the idea of Savannah and Glen’s story, I wondered how on earth I was going to write about a Golden Globe nominated actress. If you’ve read any of my Due South books, you’ll know that I write about normal, everyday, relatable people. And at first glance Savannah was the kind of woman I couldn’t relate to – famous, ambitious, determined to get her own way come hell or high water. I started to dig, peeling back the layers to find the real woman underneath, the flawed, fragile core that felt like nobody truly knew her, and if they did, they wouldn’t love her enough to stick around. That was a woman I could identify with.
Then there was Glen. Part of Glen’s character was mined from my own experience of high school and as a young adult. Feeling invisible hurts, and when it’s someone you have strong feelings for making you feel that way, it leaves scars. The other thing I stole from my teen years and gave to Glen is a love for the sport of fencing. Yes, I was in the fencing team in high school, and although my motives for joining weren’t pure (cute guy on the fencing team, hello, where can I sign up!) I did enjoy my years learning the sport. Have to admit I sucked pretty badly at it – unlike Glen!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy Glen and Savannah’s rocky path to love.
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway, details below.
Click here to read Chapter One of Know Your Heart free!
Know Your Heart (Far North Book 2)
By Tracey Alvarez
Cover by Book Cover By Design
Contemporary Romance
He is the one she couldn’t remember. She is the one he couldn’t forget…
After being unexpectedly kicked off a movie set, her part given to a younger actress, Savannah Payne flees to her holiday house in Bounty Bay. There, in her little hideaway managed for her by her older cousin, she’ll be able to lick her wounds privately, and prepare for an audition of a lifetime in L.A. Only her cousin has rented the place out to an old friend for the next month. A friend whose knowledge of the law means she has no easy way to evict her stop-the-heart sexy tenant. He tempts her, challenges her, and sees to the heart of who she is with knowing ice-blue eyes.
Glen Cooper has woken up and smelled the decaying roses. Working in his father’s law firm is murder on his creative heart. A month in New Zealand’s sub-tropical Far North without the distraction of family and work is what he needs to finally complete writing the book he’s worked on for years. He hadn’t anticipated the woman who’d haunted his university days arriving on his doorstep, demanding her house back. But the distraction of her close by must stop. With a literary agent’s deadline approaching, he has to ignore his growing attraction to Savannah or his dream may never become a reality.
Something about Glen stirs Savannah’s blood and the slippery memories of a quiet young man she glimpsed in the background of her tumultuous teenage years begin to return. But how can they make the sacrifice love requires when she has one foot out the door—ready to walk away from him a second time?
Excerpt from Know Your Heart (Far North Book 2)
Expecting the man in question to come storming out onto the deck, she practiced her widest smile as her house came into view. Since the sun decided to shine this afternoon, he’d get a good view of her crimson lipstick-ed grin and cheery wave as she parked. Her smile slipped a notch. The upcoming parking bit caused her shoulder muscles to knot together. She swiped a sweaty palm down her red capri pants, which looked adorable with her cherry-red and white striped gumboots. She’d been wise enough to choose sensible footwear for Phase 1 of her plan.
Unfortunately, as she turned in to park beside his SUV, Glen wasn’t on-board with the plan. Rock music blared out of the open slider doors—the kind with screeching guitars and rhythm usually accompanied by long-haired dudes bobbing their heads like their necks were on springs.
Sav leaned forward and peered into her wing mirror.
Okay. I can do this. One perfectly executed maneuver, coming right up. She slotted the shifter into reverse and gave it a little gas, turning the wheel to the left. More creaks and groans. She jabbed her foot on the brake then coasted forward to try again. Probably just as well Glen wasn’t witnessing her first attempt. Second attempt, she hauled the wheel in the opposite direction and eureka! Success.
She flicked a glance at the opposite wing mirror as the car trundled slowly backward. Her mouth flew open a second before her gumboot slammed down on the brake. The car shuddered, a cacophony of creaks, groans and metallic squeaks erupting behind her.
Glen stood fists-on-hips in the center of the grassy area, only a few feet away from where she’d nearly backed over him. She buzzed down the window, her stomach looping into little knots as all six-foot-something of scowling male got bigger and bigger in her wing mirror.
He stopped by her open window, giving her an up-close and personal view of his leather belt and low-slung blue jeans, before he wrenched open her door.
Blue eyes flashing fire, Glen jabbed a thumb over his shoulder and growled, “What in God’s name is that?”
Savannah hauled on the parking brake and unclipped her safety belt.
“That,” she said, shoving one palm against his broad chest to push him out the way. “Is Daisy.”
The warm, hard muscle underneath the thin cotton of his tee shirt had her jerking her hand back. She covered the reaction by tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.
He didn’t move, continuing to glower. “Daisy? You named a butt-ugly orange caravan Daisy?”
“No, the guy I bought her from named her Daisy. And don’t be rude; she’s a classic piece of Kiwi history.”
Glen’s jaw clenched hard enough to crack walnuts. She’d bet ten bucks that if the rock music wasn’t so damn loud, she’d hear his molars grinding.
She swung her rubber-booted feet out of the car, but he still hadn’t moved. Meaning she was almost nose-to-nipple with him. It was quite a nice nipple, too, outlined under his tee shirt like it was, but if the man didn’t back up in the next thirty seconds, she would pincer it as if her fingers were long-nosed pliers and twist.
“Would you mind, terribly much, to move out of the way?”
His nostrils flared once and he stepped aside.
“Thank you,” she said, extra sweetly, and climbed out.
©2015 Tracey Alvarez
1 week special price of $2.99
Print copies available from:
Haven’t read Lauren & Nate’s story?
While Hide Your Heart and Know Your Heart are stand-alone books in the Far North series, you’ll enjoy Know Your Heart so much more if you’ve read Lauren and Nate’s story first – plus Drew is totally adorbs – you’ll love him. Here’s your chance for the bargain price of $0.99!
(Open Internationally)
Prize includes:
~ Signed copy of Hide Your Heart (Far North Book 1)
~ New Zealand design retro caravan tea towel (not sure what you’d call it overseas. Used to dry dishes if you’re so inclined…).
~ New Zealand hand-crafted wood caravan key chain.
~ Gorgeous hand-crafted for the Far North series pewter Koru pendant with Pounamu – Greenstone (nephrite jade) beads.
~ Hand-crafted for the Far North series pewter and jade earrings.
~ Author magnet.
~ Author bookmark.
Note: Treasured, valuable and with spiritual significance, Pounamu is used by Māori to show status and authority, for adornment, and for making peace. The Koru shape is based on a new unfurling silver fern frond and symbolizes new life, growth, strength and peace.
To Enter: Just click on the below Rafflecopter giveaway links below.
To qualify for the bonus 5 entries, you’ll need to purchase Know Your Heart and answer this question in the space provided in the rafflecopter. The question is: What do I thank my son for in the acknowledgements section? (Answer is found at the end of the Know Your Heart e-book.)
* 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 23rd and winner will receive a direct e-mail from me soon after – so please ensure my e-mail address is added to your safe/contacts list. If I haven’t had a reply from the winner in 48 hours, I will redraw a new winner.
April 30, 2015
Never Judge a Book by its Cover…Yeah, Right.
Everybody secretly loves a makeover, right? There’s nothing quite like seeing an ugly duckling transform into a swan. Actually, this isn’t a great analogy, as my first Due South covers were gorgeous, but they weren’t quite right for the new, updated look of my Far North series. So, since we all know that we DO judge books by their covers, I got the amazing Kellie from Book Cover By Design to rework the Due South series. The books are still exactly the same (so you don’t need to buy another copy), but I thought you’d like to see some before and after shots!
In Too Deep (Before)
In Too Deep (After)
Melting Into You (Before)
Melting Into You (After)
Ready To Burn (Before)
Ready To Burn (After)
Christmas With You (Before)
Christmas With You (After)
My Forever Valentine (Before)
My Forever Valentine (After)
I’d love to hear what you think of the new covers, and also what you like/dislike about romance covers in general. What it is about a cover that attracts you? Do you like your romance covers with bare-chested hotties? Couples? How important to you is it that the couple/model on the cover looks like the book’s characters? Do tell and leave a comment below!
April 16, 2015
Hide Your Heart Release Day!
Every author has a book of their heart, and this, Hide Your Heart, is mine.
Hide Your Heart’s roots lie in that story, growing and maturing over the years, but never really burgeoning to life until one day in either 2010 or 2011, when Lauren and Nate refused to be shut up any longer. It wasn’t the first full length book I’d written (the first will likely never see the light of day) but it was one I was proud of. One I still fall in love with over and over. It carries a taste of my husband’s beautiful Māori heritage, a taste of the best parts of my adorable kids, and a taste of what it finally means to find home—both with a place and that one special person.
I hope you’ll travel with me to New Zealand’s subtropical Far North, and spend some time getting to know Lauren, Nate, and little Drew.
Click here to read Chapter One of Hide Your Heart free!
Hide Your Heart (Far North Book 1)
By Tracey Alvarez
Cover by Book Cover By Design
Contemporary Romance
Love will bring them together. Distrust will tear them apart…
Alexandra Lauren Knight has reinvented herself in the safety of her rural New Zealand hometown to become Lauren Taylor. She’s cut all ties with her past as a former model whose ex-husband turned out to be ruthless in both the boardroom and the bedroom. While Alexandra allowed other’s expectations to propel her into the spotlight, Lauren prefers the safety of anonymity; restoring classic cars with her brother, and snuggling with her four-year-old son.
Nate Fraser, a burned-out photojournalist, plans to fix up the property next door to Lauren and sell it as a celebrity retreat. Always on the move, Nate is only comfortable with short-term assignments and even shorter-term relationships. But it’s not just his buyer’s tight deadline or that the restoration is far beyond his expertise which turns a short-term project into an ordeal. Nate’s plan of travelling the globe is in jeopardy—created by the intensity of his growing feelings for Lauren and her little boy.
As the sparks of passion ignite between them it reawakens Nate’s long forgotten dream of having a home and family. Lauren must find a way to trust Nate not only with her secrets, but with her heart—before her safe haven is exposed and she can no longer hide in the shadows.
Excerpt from Hide Your Heart (Far North Book 1)
With Drew in preschool and her ear buds blaring Lady Antebellum at a teeth-rattling volume, Lauren tightened mounting bolts in the Impala’s engine bay. She couldn’t carry a tune if her life was in jeopardy, but that didn’t stop her shaking her tail feather as she attempted to harmonize with Charles Kelley’s sex-on-a-stick voice.
The tap on her shoulder catapulted her heart past her vocal chords, and she narrowly missed clunking her head on the hood as she whirled around. Nate stood in sawdust-speckled blue jeans with one hand still raised, green eyes twinkling.
“Sorry.” The flash of white teeth behind his firm lips translated the word as Lady A. continued to blare.
Tugging out the ear buds, she sucked in a deep breath and tried to slow her heartbeat by shoving a fist against her chest.
“Sorry,” he repeated. “I did knock, but you were, ah, kind of engrossed under there.”
His gaze flicked to her coveralls. Her unsexy, grease-smeared coveralls that sometimes rode up her rear end when she bent over.
Heat speared through her, and she half turned aside, switching off the music and stuffing the ear buds into her pocket. “Not your fault; I was in the zone, and I didn’t hear you arrive.”
Nate moved to stand next to her, ducking a little to peer under the Impala’s hood. Chrome gleamed, the V-8 engine so clean she’d bet a month’s wages Nate couldn’t find a speck of dirt on it—or anywhere else in her workshop.
“Nice car. Are you almost done?”
She swiped a finger across her lips, hoping she didn’t have the remains of this morning’s muesli bar snack smeared around her mouth. “Todd’s mostly finished the bodywork and I’m just working on the last of the mechanical stuff.”
Hands well away from her handiwork, Nate stepped back, glancing toward the organized benches loaded with her dad’s tools, then looking across to the small, sectioned-off area with a fold-out futon couch where Drew often played with his toy cars while she worked.
“You’ve got quite a setup here. Your dad must be proud of the work you’re both doing. Does he live nearby too?”
“No.” And because she didn’t want to field any more awkward questions, she added, “He died when I was a teenager.”
“I’m sorry. Todd mentioned the Caddy was yours and your dad’s…” His voice trailed off.
“It’s okay,” she said, even though it wasn’t. How different might her life be if David Taylor, her biggest supporter and cheerleader when it came to her following her own path, hadn’t collapsed in his workshop?
Nate’s gaze skimmed over her, warm and sympathetic. Most people broke eye contact when faced with another’s grief, but not him. He studied each line of her face as though through his camera lens. Very unsettling.
She ducked back under the hood and picked up her dropped socket wrench. “How’s Todd working out?”
Nate cleared his throat and leaned against the side of her station wagon. “He’s doing great. We’ve made a plan of attack, and tomorrow morning we’re ripping off the roof.”
“Progress.”
“Yeah, which is why I stopped by—Todd said you have a chainsaw I could hire instead of mucking around with getting one from town.”
Her fingers tightened around the socket wrench. “You need a chainsaw?”
“I’ve got to clear the road back before I get the new roofing iron and timber shipped up. It’s crazy overgrown.”
“And you’ve used a chainsaw before?”
“Nope, but I’ve used a skill-saw, so how hard can it be?”
That startled a laugh out of her, and she cut him a glance, drinking in the tee shirt taut against his chest but a little loose over his flat stomach, and his long legs crossed at the ankles, the only parts of him she could see. “Such a guy thing to say, usually right before someone hacks off a limb.”
“Ah.”
One hand disappeared from view followed by a raspy sound she identified as fingertips scratching stubble.
“Hadn’t thought of that.”
“No offence, but you don’t look like the chain-sawing type.”
“Not much call for chainsaw skills in my usual working day. My Auckland apartment only has a balcony, so the last time I even used a lawn-mower was as a teenager, when I helped pay my way through university by doing yard work.”
With the last radiator bolt tightened, Lauren backed out from under the hood. “Mac’s place must feel strange to you.”
He flashed a crooked grin. “So much solitude and fresh air, it’s kind of spooky when you’re used to the city or being around crowds of people living in third-world conditions.”
“It does take some getting used to.”
“But you enjoy it?” Pushing away from her station wagon, he shoved his hands into his pockets and wandered over.
“It’s home.” As soon as he moved into her little hemisphere of safe space, her skin started to prickle, so she grabbed the first rubber radiator hose off the bench. This was an opening, a chance to put her change-Nate’s-mind-by-being-nice plan into action. “Listen, since you were kind enough to help with the whole stuck car thing, I’ll chainsaw for you a couple of mornings to clear the road.”
“You know how to chainsaw?”
She shot a glance at his incredulous tone, found him shaking his head, fists on his hips. “Don’t look so stunned—you’ve already witnessed how I can outdrive you in your own car.”
“Going to make me eat humble pie?”
“Double helping, now that you’ve called my chain-sawing skills into question.”
She returned with the radiator hose and he moved aside, but leaned over the Impala to watch her work. Having him this close made her fingers function like ten fat sausages, and she nearly dropped the hose as she ducked under the hood.
“You sure you can spare the time?”
“I can spare it. The Impala can wait until the afternoons. Besides, I don’t want to feel responsible if you accidentally amputate something.”
He chuckled, low and husky. “I appreciate your concern for my body parts remaining intact.”
Underneath the baggy cotton coveralls, the fine hairs on her arms stood to attention, but she managed a droll tone as she said, “It’s the neighborly thing to do.”
“We’re not big on neighbors and community in the suburb where I live—not that I’m there much.”
“Well, it’s a little different up here. When a neighbor needs help, we pitch in and get the job done.” Lauren popped each end of the radiator hose in the clamps and wriggled them into place. “Can you pass me the screwdriver from my tool-box before you go?” Rude, but his concentrated focus propelled her blood pressure higher and higher.
“I’m happy to be your tool bitch if you need me.” Metal clanked as he rummaged through her tool-box.
She didn’t dare look up from the hose clenched in her hands. “You’ve got more than enough work to do.” A screwdriver, held in long, tanned fingers, appeared in front of her face, and she grasped the metal shank and slid it from his grasp so their hands wouldn’t touch. “Thanks. I’ll see you at about half nine tomorrow morning.”
“Okay then, Lauren.”
The sound of her name, so rich and deep in his sinfully smooth voice, sent a shiver down her spine as he left the garage.
She held tight to the screwdriver. In only a matter of days, her new neighbor had gate-crashed her safe little world, turning everything topsy-turvy. She had to take control and remember who he was—before it was too late.
###
©2015 Tracey Alvarez
3 Day only special price of $2.99
Buy Print
(Open Internationally)
Prize includes:
~ New Zealand design Paua tea towel (not sure what you’d call it overseas. Used to dry dishes if you’re so inclined…). Gorgeous colours in this, photo doesn’t do it justice.
~ New Zealand printed tote bag with super-cute kiwis!
~ Oh So Pretty soap. A luxurious handmade soap infused with the goodness of goat’s milk, cocoa butter, aloe vera, and kaolin clay, and is fragranced with notes of sea salt, ocean mist, fresh air, and soft musk. Pacific Breeze’s clean ocean scent will remind you of a day at a wind swept beach.
~ Hand-crafted Hide Your Heart bead bookmark with camera & heart charm.
~ Gorgeous hand-crafted for the Far North series pewter Koru pendant with Pounamu – Greenstone (nephrite jade) beads.
~ Hand-crafted for the Far North series pewter and jade earrings.
~ Author magnet.
~ Author pen.
Note: Treasured, valuable and with spiritual significance, Pounamu is used by Māori to show status and authority, for adornment, and for making peace. The Koru shape is based on a new unfurling silver fern frond and symbolizes new life, growth, strength and peace.
To Enter: Just click on the below Rafflecopter giveaway link.
To qualify for the bonus 5 entries, you’ll need to purchase Hide Your Heart and answer this question in the space provided in the rafflecopter. The question is: Tell me the first sentence from the Chapter 1 excerpt of Book 2, Know Your Heart. (Excerpt is found at the very end of the Hide Your Heart e-book.) Please note – this is not the excerpt from Book 1 shown above in this blog post, or the first line of Book 2’s blurb.
* 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 April 25th and winner will receive a direct e-mail from me soon after – so please ensure my e-mail address is added to your safe/contacts list. If I haven’t had a reply from the winner in 48 hours, I will redraw a new winner.
