Sarina Bowen's Blog, page 23
January 13, 2020
When You Need Help Blocking a Scene in a Romance Novel...
I’m currently working on my next hockey book, SURE SHOT. There’s a really awkward bit in chapter two, and I just interrupted The Husband in his office for a little help with a scene between the hero and heroine!
Sex and Other Shiny Objects (Boyfriend Material Book 2)
By Lauren Blakely
Not that kind of scene. Mind out of the gutter. it was just a bit of physical comedy, and I needed to work out the logistics of a handshake gone wrong.
Research is the best! When I was writing Overnight Sensation I found a YouTube collection of sports mascots fighting each other. And when I had to write a fight scene between the heroine and the villain of Fireworks, I asked my then-thirteen-year-old for some assistance. He’s a black belt in karate, and he gave me some of Skye’s best maneuvers.
It’s a strange job, but someone has to do it!
So I’m so, so envious of Lauren Blakely’s brilliance; she’s written an entire romance based on this premise! I’ve read and loved Sex and other Shiny Objects, and it’s just as fun as it sounds! The heroine needs to write a few sex scenes. So she enlists a male friend to help her figure out if panties can be torn off. And whether buttons fly. OMG, this setup! it’s both adorable and super hot! I wish I’d thought of it.
But you don’t need me to write it, because Lauren already has! Enjoy…
January 9, 2020
January 8, 2020
I stayed up late for both these books and I am not sorry!
Okay, I was a little bit sorry when I had to get up the next morning. But these are both a great time! Angsty goodness all around. Both are standalones! Click the covers to learn more.
Release: A Standalone Friends-to-Lovers Romance
By Aly Martinez
Come Back for Me
By Corinne Michaels
January 6, 2020
The first Heartland excerpt!
I know just where to find Dylan. When I step into the dairy barn, I spot him kneeling on the floor, having a chat with Jacquie the goat.
“Look,” he murmurs. “I need a favor. And I wouldn’t ask, but it’s kind of important.”
Jacquie turns her pointy chin in his direction, ears flopping, and assesses him with her odd brown eyes. Goats have a strange rectangular pupil. And—unlike me—Jacquie seems unmoved by Dylan’s handsome face. She returns her attention back to the alfalfa he’s left for her in the feed holder.
“No, really,” he argues, his big hand rhythmically squeezing her udder, releasing the last few drops of milk into a shiny stainless pail. “You have to do a better job of staying inside the fence, or Griffin is going to make me sell you. Nobody wants that. You might end up down the road at the Mittson place. And I heard there are trolls under their bridge.”
Jacquie snorts, and I nearly do, too. I know that eavesdropping is rude, but he’s so cute that I stand there a moment longer.
With the kind of smooth movement that’s meant to keep an animal calm, Dylan covers the milk pail and then lifts Jacquie’s foot off the floor. She’s still munching away as he lifts the trimming shears and quickly snips the front edge of her overgrown hoof.
“That’s a girl,” he whispers. “You should be so lucky to get a pedicure this early on a Saturday. Other goats would be jealous.”
She turns her head, considering the idea.
“Big plans for your Saturday?” he asks her. “A little foraging, and climbing on tires? Some gossip with Jill, maybe? Stay in the fence, okay? There will be lots of kids here picking apples today. Loud ones, the kind who pull on ears.”
I finally clear my throat, and both Dylan and the goat whip around to spot me. “Sorry to interrupt,” I say. And I chuckle because I can’t help myself.
“Hi,” he says, flashing me the kind of smile that makes me feel melty inside. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to worry about trolls down the road,” I admit. “Which bridge should I avoid?”
“They don’t eat humans,” he says, going back to Jacquie’s hooves. “Only naughty goats. How come you’re up so early?”
“I’m always up this early. I already had breakfast, and I’m ready to sell apples. I’ll drive the pony cart if you want.”
He looks up in surprise. “Really? I hate that job.”
I know that, silly. “I don’t mind helping out.”
“You’re the best.” Dylan stands up and wipes his hands on a rag. “How come you don’t mind driving horses, but it makes you nervous to drive my truck? The horses are a lot more work.”
“Oh, please. The horses have the good sense not to crash into trees. The truck cannot be trusted.”
Dylan laughs. Then he points at my hand. “What do you have there? Is it finally time?”
“Oh, yup!” I was so busy admiring his broad shoulders that I forgot I was holding a generous box of our caramels. “I haven’t tasted them, either. I waited for you.” I lift the lid off the plastic container and show Dylan the arrangement of perfectly rectangular caramels inside. “I cut them up, and it wasn’t too tricky. And, look—the sea salt is adhering without melting. Doesn’t this look great?” I offer him the container.
“Dude, yes.” He lifts a hand and then hesitates. “I’m all goaty. Feed me one.”
“Sure. This one is from the first batch. So it’s a little soft. Ready?”
He opens his mouth and leans down a little.
And because I’m me, and I’m hyperaware of Dylan, I notice every little thing about this moment. When I slip a caramel past his lips, I feel his breath on my hand and the brush of his whiskers against my thumb. It gives me a shiver.
“Mmm,” he says huskily, his eyes lighting up. We’re standing so close together that I could trace his smile with my fingertips.
Instead, I pick up another caramel and slip it into my mouth. And—wow. It’s nothing like a drugstore candy. A toastier, nuttier sweetness spreads across my tongue.
Dylan lets out an honest-to-God moan, and goosebumps rise on my back. “Damn! That is intense.”
“No kidding.” We end up smiling at each other again.
He licks his lips, and I instantly wonder what it would feel like if he licked mine. “Do I get to taste the second batch?”
“Of course.” I pluck one of those out of the container, and Dylan swoops in, playfully capturing it before I’m ready, along with my fingertips, too. I let out a squeak of surprise at the brief sensation of his tongue on my skin.
He laughs. Of course he does. “Jesus Christ, Chass. These are amazing. We are going to rake in the cash.”
Still chewing, he gives me a caramel-scented kiss on the cheek. But it’s so quick that it’s over before I even realize it’s happening. “Come into the kitchen, okay? Griffin has got to taste this.” He leans down to give Jacquie a friendly pat. “Be good, today. I mean it." Then he gives her a kiss on her floppy ear.
And now I’m jealous of a goat.
He unclips Jacquie so she can run away and hang out with Jill. “Coffee?” he asks me. “There’s still a half an hour before the hoards arrive.” October is a crazy month at the Shipleys. Because who wouldn’t want to spend the afternoon in a sunny orchard with Dylan?
Nobody, that’s who.
I follow him toward the farmhouse.
Preorder at: Amazon | Apple | Kobo | NookJanuary 2, 2020
My last decade... began with a flop!
I’d always wanted to be a novelist. And ten years ago it looked like that would finally happen.
But then my first novel (a humorous work of women's fiction) got great reviews, and then died a fiery death at the bookstore.
Then my publisher said "you're dead to us." So that was fun.
My next book failed to sell to any publisher at all. I still can't read the acknowledgments page of any novel in women's fiction without finding the name of an editor who rejected me. (Hi girls!)
But ten years is a long time. I switched to romance just because I thought I could do a good job at it. I submitted it under a ridiculous pen name that KJ Dell'Antonia picked out. (She said "your stripper name is your first pet plus the street you grew up on.") That pseudonym got thrown away before publication, obviously.
"It sounds really fake," said my editor at HQN. Gosh, really? :)
But that book took off. As did the next one.
So the second half of the decade was completely transformed. I hit the USA Today bestseller's list 13 times. Four of those were last year.
The moral of this story: It takes a while to find your stride. Sparkle on, author friends!
*
P.S. for all of you who are asking! That stripper name was Daisy Belfast.
Only 30 days left!
Time is almost up! Right now my Hello / Goodbye series, as well as the HIM series & Top Secret (co-written with Elle Kennedy) are in Kindle Unlimited, with only 30 days left remaining**! Something else you don’t want to miss: most of these titles are even available for a $1.99 Whispersync deal! Want to check these books out? Keep scrolling!
HIM & US BY SARINA BOWEN & ELLE KENNEDY
The bestselling gay romance of
all time, and it’s follow-up are temporarily free in KU!
And the whispersync audio upgrades are just $1.99!
December 25, 2019
Are the holidays over, yet?
Enough cooking! I’m done. It’s time to read. Who got books for Christmas?
December 18, 2019
Cover Reveal: Heartland
Dylan is my best friend, and the only person in my life who understands me. He doesn’t mind my social awkwardness or my weird history. The only glitch? He doesn’t know that I’ve been hopelessly, desperately in love with him since the first day we picked apples together in his family’s orchard.
But I know better than to confess.
Now that we’re both in college together, I’m seeing a new side of him. College Dylan drinks and has a lot of sex. None of it with me.
Until the night I foolishly ask him to tutor me in more than algebra…and he actually says yes.
But the cool morning light shows me how badly I’ve endangered our friendship. And I don’t know if anything will be the same again.
Add to Goodreads
Photo by David Vance, Design by Sarah Hansen at Okay Creative
Amazon | Apple | Nook | Kobo
Add to Goodreads
I love this cover so much that I want to give some lucky readers the chance to win their very own copy! Find the Goodreads giveaway here. Join my Facebook reader group Sarindipity to discuss this cover & other fun stuff here!
Important Heartland dates:
Release date: January 28, 2020
Review tour: January 29, 30, 31 & February 3, 4
December 12, 2019
Heartland: Cover reveal coming soon!
Only one more week until the cover reveal of HEARTLAND, True North #7! As always, this book can be read without any prior readings and is a complete stand alone.
Expect: a steamy friends-to-lovers story set at a Vermont college.
Chastity fell for Dylan about seven seconds after meeting him on the farm next door. Now they’re both away at college together, and she’s seeing a different side of him. While Farm Dylan is a good guy who milks goats at dawn, College Dylan drinks and smokes and entertains a lot of women.
But not one of them is her. Until circumstances bring them closer together than ever before…
Or add it to your Goodreads TBR
Are you interested in participating in the cover reveal & review tour for Heartland? Fill out this form!
Important Heartland dates:
Cover reveal: December 18, 2019
Release date: January 28, 2020
Review tour: January 29, 30, 31 & February 3, 4
December 9, 2019
Audio alert! Listen to the first chapter of MAN CUFFED right here...
You guys! This narration by Robin Eller is terrific! Is this a “meet cute” or a “meet crazy?” You get to decide…
