Leesa Bow's Blog, page 4
September 3, 2014
Charming the Outback Release Day
My second book Charming the Outback is live!
August 25, 2014
Cover Reveal - Hope Series by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle
Cover Reveal
Hope Series by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Cover Designer: © Arijana Karčić, Cover It! Designs
Book #1
Title: Hope For Her
Author: Sydney Aaliyah Michelle
Series: Hope Series, Book #1
Publication Date: October 1st
Hope for Her (Hope Series Book #1)
What do you hope for?
No one ever expected much from him.
Joshua Elijah Griffin, IV is on his last chance. A stint in rehab and a transfer to a new school has scared him into putting his life on track. He’s determined to live up to his family’s expectations, but on the first day of class, Josh meets a girl. He knows his father won’t approve, but in Carrington, he sees a kindred spirit. He’s willing to give up everything to be with her.
No one ever thought much of her.
Carrington Olivia Butler is ready to shine. Always in the background, she goes away to college to break out of her shell. Carrington wants to feel special. Josh’s attention is exactly what she craves, but their intense and sometimes volatile relationship is more than she bargained for.
As their relationship progresses, Josh’s demons return, and Carrington’s feelings fade, but they aren’t ready to give up hope. They give their love one last shot to survive, but hope, may not be enough.
**This book contains adult subject matter. Not intended for young readers.**
Hope For Her on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/HopeForher-Goodreads
Pre-Order Hope For Her:
Itunes-
Hope For Him ( Hope Series, Book #2 ): What do you hope for, now?
- Available December 2014
Hope For Us ( Hope Series #3 ): What do you hope for, still?
- Available February 2015
About The Author
Sydney Aaliyah Michelle is a New Adult Contemporary Romance writer, a voracious reader and movie fanatic who Sydney has been blogging at sydneyaaliyah.com for three years, where she interviews people about their tattoos, discusses her favorite movie quotes, reviews books (New Adult & only the ones she loves) and journals about her writing and editing process. Hails from Texas. After surviving 5 1/2 years living in China, she had the courage to finally pursue her passion and become a writer. Sydney’s self-published debut New Adult Novel Another New Life released June 2014. An active tweeter, she is also a JuNoWriMo (2x) and NaNoWriMo (2x) winners who notes the sci-fi action flick “The Matrix” as the best representation of her life in the past. She is blessed to be awake now and doing what she loves.
August 21, 2014
Heartbreaking New Adult Novel!
I just supported Heartbreaking New Adult Novel! on @ThunderclapIt
August 16, 2014
Q&A with Penguin Australia
My Q&A interview is up on the Penguin page. You can check out my answers on the link, and would love a ‘like’ on Penguin Australia
Q & A with Leesa Bow
Penguin Q & A with Leesa Bow, author of Charming the Outback
What is your new book about?
A second chance at love and the risks a girl takes to make it happen.
What or who inspired it?
While writing Winning the Player I fell in love with Maddy and knew then I wanted to write a book on her character. I never planned on the setting being my hometown of Broken Hill but as ideas came to me, I just went with it.
What was the biggest challenge, writing it?
Considering some of the scenes take place on a sheep station I needed to paint a picture of the lifestyle. So I spent time on the phone talking to a property owner and many hours on YouTube watching clips of rodeos and of men shearing sheep.
What did you want to achieve with your book?
For the reader to enjoy my story. At the end of a day most women are exhausted and often want an easy read when they need to relax. I hope my books whisk readers away to a different place and into characters lives they love being part of.
Are there any parts of it that have special personal significance to you?
Yes. Charming the Outback is set in Broken Hill and is the town where I grew up and I have fond memories. Many of my relatives and friends still reside there so it was important to get facts right and write scenes locals can relate to. I’m nervous about their reaction.
What do you see as the major themes in your book?
Second chances.
Taking risks to make dreams happen.
Self-acceptance.
Fish out of water.
Love triangle.
Rural/outback
To whom have you dedicated the book and why?
To my family for their continued support and allowing me to realise my dream. My father grew up on a poultry farm with his five brothers and I enjoyed listening to his stories of the Hockley brother’s antics, some of which I wrote into Charming the Outback.
Do you have a special ‘spot’ for writing at home? (If so, describe it)
I have a large bedroom/office and the only upstairs room of my home. I have a book shelf, writing desk and table next to my desk covered in books and notes. I use an Apple Mac laptop for all my writing and connect it to another larger screen so I have two screens to work from.
When did you start writing?
Late 2009, when my daughter was diagnosed with cancer.
Tell us a bit about your childhood?
As a child, I had a lot of freedom and I remember bike riding in the outskirts of town finding obstacles in the bush to make it exciting. We played street cricket, and hung out at the local pool. I played sport and also loved highland dancing. My father owned greyhounds and I remember going with him to the races every weekend. I had many cousins and family visits were important, and sometimes daily.
During my teens I played a variety of sports, and since there were limited things to do back then, sport played an important role during my upbringing.
I was a very social person and loved to be surrounded by friends, and since it was a small town, we could walk to most friends’ houses.
If you’ve had other jobs outside of writing, what were they?
I trained as nurse at the Broken Hill Base Hospital and practiced as a nurse for 19 years and more recently worked as a merchandiser for Nestle.
What star sign are you and are you typical of it?
Leo and oh my Lord I am very typical. For instance I am generous, helpful, and rarely moody. I don’t hold a grudge.
Besides being independent I like success and excitement in my life, and like to be in control.
Oh and I’m never wrong. :)
I’m loyal, and mindful of other people’s feelings.
I like to be admired and appreciated. I am encouraging and have a warm spirit.
I love an audience.
And most of all I prefer not to be alone.
What three things do you dislike?
Beer, spiders and stretched ear lobes from piercings.
What three things do you like?
Wine, good company, and travelling.
Have you a family, partner or are you single?
Married to a fantastic husband who I adore and we have four lovely daughters.
What made you want to write Charming the Outback ?
Maddy needed a new adventure as a teacher fresh out of university. Considering many teachers make the move to the country, I thought Charming the Outback would be perfect set in my hometown. So the story was inspired by my upbringing in a small country town.
Do you feel more of a sense of “community” amongst like-minded people as yourself since the advent of blogging?
I find taking part in blogging has opened up new channels and there is a strong sense of togetherness, where people come together who have a common interest.
What would you like to think people can get from reading your book?
It is an easy read where people can escape to a place that they can connect with to bring enjoyment and a sense of romance.
What do you like to read? And what are you currently reading?
I like to read romance, especially New Adult, and I am currently reading Adams’s Listby Jennifer Ann.
What do you think your life will be like 20 years from now?
I will be surrounded by family and babysitting my inquisitive grandchildren.
When did you first realise you wanted to be a writer?
While my daughter was sick I started to write down emotions and then dreams, eventually these thoughts turned into a story. When my daughter was given the all clear I decide to take writing more seriously.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Tone of voice, and the use of social media by characters in the story.
Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
Life experiences, music, inspirations from friends and family, the Internet, and reading other books.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Spend time with family and friends.
Beach walks, watching sport, discovering different cafes with friends, and going to the cinema.
What does your family think of your writing?
They are very supportive and like to help with names of characters and titles for books. My daughters offer feedback on plot and dialogue. My husband also designed and maintains my web site.
What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
That I am able to make a connection with my readers and bring them enjoyment. That makes me feel very satisfied.
What do you think makes a good story?
Tension, chemistry, fast paced story line and intrigue.
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I wanted to be a PE teacher, and be in ABBA.
If I were for sale the ad would say…
Buyer beware.
What is your most memorable moment?
Beside my wedding day and giving birth to my four daughters, it would be meeting Natalie Portman.
How did you feel when you finished writing Charming the Outback?
Mixed emotions – sad and happy.
Sad that the story came to an end and the characters were no longer part of my daily life. Happy that I finished writing another novel.
What is your advice to budding authors?
Never give up, believe in yourself, and read, read and read.
Join a writing group and take courses at a Writer’s Centre to improve your craft.
What inspired you to set your book in Broken Hill?
Apart from the fact I grew up there and I am familiar with the area, I needed a small nearby country town as the setting, as my hero worked on a sheep station.
What inspired you to make Maddy a teacher?
One of my daughters is a teacher and in the previous book Maddy was studying education, so this flowed onto her character in Charming the Outback.
July 20, 2014
***NEWSFLASH: Winning the Player on sale now ***
Winning the Player is out at a hot price for a limited time - $0.99AUD
Get your copy at Amazon - iTunes - KOBO
July 15, 2014
***NEWSFLASH: Winning the Player on sale now ***
Winning the Player is out at a hot price for a...
***NEWSFLASH: Winning the Player on sale now ***
Winning the Player is out at a hot price for a limited time - $0.99AUD
***NEWSFLASH: Winning the Player on sale now ***
Winning the Player is out at a hot price for a limited time - $0.99AUD
Get your copy at Amazon - iTunes - KOBO - Google Play
July 12, 2014
CHARMING THE OUTBACK available for preorder
It’s official! My second book in a series, Charming the Outback is available for preorder on Amazon and iTunes.
It is Maddy’s story and set in Broken Hill. Although Charming the Outback can be read as a stand alone book, it is second in a series and Maddy is better understood by reading Winning the Player first. I hope you guys enjoy my story.
July 10, 2014
World Cup fan and author Liz Crowe
Please welcome Amazon best-selling author, beer blogger and beer marketing expert, mom of three, and soccer fan, Liz Crowe lives Ann Arbor. She has decades of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as a three-continent, ex-pat trailing spouse.
Her early forays into the publishing world led to a groundbreaking fiction subgenre, “Romance for Real Life,” which has gained thousands of fans and followers interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”). More recently she is garnering even more fans across genres with her latest novels, which are more character-driven fiction, while remaining very much “real life.”
With stories set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch, in successful real estate offices and at times in exotic locales like Istanbul, Turkey, her books are unique and told with a fresh voice. The Liz Crowe backlist has something for any reader seeking complex storylines with humor and complete casts of characters that will delight, frustrate and linger in the imagination long after the book is finished.
You can find out more about Liz on the links below:
www.facebook.com/lizcroweauthor
www.facebook.com/groups/lizcrowefans
www.amazon.com/Liz-Crowe/e/B00573TC7M
Liz writes hot romance about football players, soccer to us Aussies. Here’s a bit about her books.
The Black Jack Gentlemen
A SOCCER SERIES ON SALE DURING WORLD CUP 2014!
A city and a sport with something to prove—Meet the men who take that challenge.
The Black Jack Gentlemen—Detroit’s expansion soccer team.
They play hard. And live harder.
Book 1: Man On
Book 2: Red Card
Book 3: Shut Out
And coming soon…
Book 4: Set Piece
Book 5: Hat Trick
MAN ON ….. .99 during the 2014 World Cup!
Bad boy of European football, Nicolas Garza is about to hit American shores with a vengeance. Signed by the Detroit Black Jack Gentlemen as lynch pin for their expansion club, Nicco only half believes he’s making the right move. But with a past full of ghosts and rotten behavior chasing him from his homeland, he has no real choice.
Parker Rollings is a college soccer superstar, but his parents’ plans for their only son do not include professional athletics. When the Black Jacks approach him to finalize their roster, Parker leaps at the chance to keep playing, leaving behind medical school, stability and his first and only college sweetheart.
Nicco and Parker face off as bitter rivals for a coveted starting spot at midfield and are forced to channel their negative energy into something positive for the sake of the group—and themselves.
All eyes are on the fledgling team in its debut season. It’s crucial that the Black Jacks prove all the doubters wrong. They must make a good showing in the league and with new fans. But player drama, club dynamics, and misplaced priorities may tear it apart before it even begins.
RED CARD….. FREE during the 2014 World Cup!
Free will makes us human.
Choice makes us individuals.
Love makes us unique.
Metin Sevim has it all. At the pinnacle of international soccer playing success, he has managed to craft a perfect world for himself along the way.
When fate strips him of free will and the ability to choose his own path, he retreats from everyone and everything, destroying his hard-won career in the process.
Dragged back from the brink by his desperate family, Metin reluctantly agrees to coach the Black Jack Gentlemen Detroit soccer team but remains debilitated by memories and loss. When a surprising friendship emerges, it renews his passion for life, providing much needed solace… and extreme complications.
A saga of family dynamics and gender politics that cuts across cultures and circumstance, Red Card illustrates the human capacity for forgiveness through the life of one man as he attempts to rebuild his shattered existence.
SHUT OUT….. .99 during the 2014 World Cup!
A submissive once, a submissive forever?
A man on the run from the only life he’s ever known, Brody Vaughn is poised to accept the Black Jack Gentleman’s newly vacant goalkeeper’s position. It’s a desperate move, but one he must take to regain his emotional equilibrium. Reeling from his Mistress’s rejection and on the ragged edge of a total breakdown, he arrives in Detroit. Numb with thinly veiled grief, he walks into the club’s front office completely unaware that an encounter with true destiny awaits him.
Sophie Harrison has seen it all—as Domme, sub, and victim. Now that her complicated circumstances have landed her as legal counsel for the expansion Black Jacks team, she holds herself aloof in body and spirit. Nothing and no one gets past her fiercely guarded walls. Until the day she looks up to greet the new goalie standing in her doorway, his raw combination of vulnerability and strength making her breathless.
Two people, horribly scarred by the excesses of the BDSM lifestyle and hiding from their true selves, meet across a desk over a simple contract. All bets are off.
Sounds great Liz! Just to tease you all Liz has given us a a short excerpt from each book of The Black Jack Gentleman series.
MAN ON
A handful of fresh-faced young Americans interspersed in the group, which made Nicco feel old. Which totally pissed him off. What was Inez thinking anyway? There were two players per position in the room, two strong contenders for each spot—except his. He sipped his water bottle and glared at the Germans. Nervous tension gnawed at his gut but he kept his face calm. Finally when their temporary coach showed up and flipped the blinds closed, he relaxed.
So everyone in the room has to fight for their spot except me? That works.
He dropped his feet to the floor at Rafe’s pointed glance and propped his elbows on the table prepared to ignore the forthcoming pep talk.
He’d already made plans for the night and wanted to rest up beforehand. This
goofy welcome pep talk would be as good a time as any. Letting his thoughts wander to
the nightclub promising full discretion, he made himself stop obsessing over the recent failed therapy session.
The door clicked open and all eyes landed on the tall, blond man who walked in,
backpack on his shoulder, dressed to play. Nicco’s scalp tingled at the sight of him—
strong torso, long legs, firm jaw covered with several days’ worth of fuzz.
Good Christ but he was a perfect specimen.
Nicco kept his casual stance but startled when the guy’s bright blue eyes and huge white smile landed on him. He resisted the urge to smile back. Something about the man made Nicco distinctly uncomfortable but horny at the same time. He suddenly wished he’d held onto the shrink’s business card.
“And Parker will be working with you, Nicco.”
He sat up, knocking his water to the floor as Rafe’s words got his immediate attention. He stared at the polite hand the kid stuck in his face then over at Rafe. His throat closed up between the proximity of the impossibly handsome man and realization of the fact that the vision of masculine perfection he’d lusted after for the last few seconds wanted to take his spot on the field.
Oh hell no.
He leaned back again and ignored his inner polite self. Instead, he smirked, ignored the punk, and turned to face their coach as if suddenly fascinated by what the guy had to say. Parker stood a minute, and Nicco watched his face turn red before he sat in the one empty chair nearest the door.
Rafe passed out new phones, reminded them of their obligation to “tweet” and “post profile updates” on Facebook at least three times a day. All shit Nicco already knew. Rafe’s hot young lady assistant issued key cards to the ones who’d just arrived,
including the kid Nicco studiously ignored but whose very presence was making the front
of his jeans uncomfortable.
RED CARD
“It’s your hips that are the problem.”
Alicia started at the sound of his now-familiar, sing-song accent. She’d been kicking a line of balls into the net, one after the other for about fifteen minutes since she’d been early in her haste to get the hell out of her house and away from her sister’s violent disapproval.
Taking a breath, she crossed her arms and studied him. Metin wore a pair of dark blue soccer shorts, plain heather-gray shirt, and cleats as easily as he’d worn the dress pants and crisp cotton shirt the night she’d met him—the night you fucked him, you mean.
He stood, loose-limbed, at ease in his element. His teeth glowed against his dark skin. The eyes she had melted into not forty-eight hours ago shone with something she couldn’t identify—happiness? Sarcasm? Lust? Who knew? Hoping to hide her frustration, she bent down to tie her laces tighter so he couldn’t see her face flush when her gaze hit the front of his shorts.
She rose, determined to resist the take-me-now aura the guy threw her way. He probably didn’t even realize he did it. Not anymore. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s wrong with my hips?”
“Come at me.”
She blinked, confused. “Um, huh?”
“Attack, make like you want to score. You know? Like you do in games?”
“Oh, right.” Dropping the ball tucked under her arm, she glanced over his shoulder at her target. He let her, trotting backward a few steps, then made for the ball. She feinted, maintaining possession before dribbling a few more feet.
He came out of nowhere as she was about to make her final scoring charge, stripping her of the ball and sending her crashing to the turf.
“Ow. Shit,” she muttered, getting to her feet, a familiar, angry competitiveness stripping all the horniness right out of her head. “I still don’t get what….”
“Do it again.” He kicked the ball toward her, harder than necessary, but she stopped it and placed her cleat on top contemplating a different strategy.
Shifting to the side, she danced past him, using all the speed she could muster, and made straight for the goal. And there he was again, taking the damn ball away from her as if she were a rookie.
She tried to shield it, putting her back to him and sensing every inch of his warm, perfect physique against her skin. Forcing herself to focus, she landed a hard elbow to his midsection and escaped his trap then traveled down the field alone, turning on all her motors, no longer hearing anything, way into her zone.
And then, the damn man appeared in front of her again, batting the ball between her legs and taking off in the other direction, hand to his side where she’d nailed him.
“God damn it, Metin. What is your point? You’re a pro. I’m an unemployed college graduate. You’re a man. I’m not. You make money at this, and I never will. What the hell are you trying to prove?” Her legs hurt from her workout the day before and she could barely catch her breath. She was, in a word, miserable. But the sight of him a few yards away, messing with the soccer ball while he stared at her, brought visions of tackling him, holding him down, and kissing him right to the front of her overheated brain.
“Once more.” The soccer ball smacked the back of her legs so hard she yelped. “That’s your fucking yellow card for the elbow. One more and you’ll sit.”
SHUT OUT
“Vaughn! Goddamn it.”
Brody sat, staring at his feet, ignoring the usual post-match noise and bustle around him. Most especially he hoped to hide from the voice of Rafael Inez, the club’s manager. Reminders of how poorly he’d performed today were not going to help him. He’d been playing soccer in some capacity since he walked, since he had memories of anything. And today had been among his worst, ever.
Since his days on the streets of Nashville and the hills of East Tennessee, he’d been on teams, in clubs, trained by himself, trained by pros, you name it. He’d seen every sort of match condition, coaching, officiating misstep, and parental overreaction. He realized what it meant to suck serious ass—he’d done today. And he understood why, too—hence the dark clouds draping his consciousness
“Fucking… shit.” The team manager drew closer, his deep voice joined by another, as a sort of bonus, really. He leaned against the dark wood lining the walls in the over-the-top, fancy locker room.
Metin Sevim, their Turkish coach, once a Spanish league phenom, had had the world at his feet until a horrific tragedy struck, leaving him drunk and useless for years. He was now recovered. And he had a look on his face Brody Vaughn read loud and clear—the we lost and it is pretty much your fucking fault glare that coaches the world over affected while trying to remain “supportive” of a new player.
Exhausted in mind and spirit, sick of the chewing out before it even started, Brody gazed at both men. Rafe’s snapping eyes reflected the same expression as Metin’s. He opened his mouth first, but the Turk put a hand on his arm. The men regarded each other as the swirl of post-match activity came to a loud peak.
Players in various stages of undress wandered in and out of the main locker room, grabbing towels, pulling on the dress pants, shirts, and ties the club required of them when entering and leaving the facility. One thing Brody would say about the former-hot-headed, player-turned-failure-turned-coach, Metin knew when not to talk. He tilted his head, still pinning Brody with something that faded from this is your fault to what the hell is wrong with you because you are too expensive for me to drop from the roster?
Then he sighed and, to Brody’s surprise, sat down in the chair next to him, leaned forward, elbows on knees, and seemed to examine the expensive, rubberized floor. Brody hadn’t even made it to the shower yet. He felt so weighed down and lethargic, just lifting his arms to put his head in his hands took more energy than existed on the planet. He understood why, along with the fact that there wasn’t a thing to be done about it.
How would he even begin to describe his… issue? Heart pounding, legs aching, shoulder screaming where he’d landed on it, hard, then waved away the trainer at the sixty-fifth minute. By that time all of the players were pretty gassed from the late summer heat, but held on, toe-to-toe, with the Canadian national team in a friendly. The sneaky forward had seen him wincing, favoring his left shoulder, and drove the ball right in on his newly-weakened side. It had been a simple fifty-fifty ball; face to face. He had blown it, him and his overpaid, lame ass, wobbly self.
Thanks to his one quick encounter with the front office legal woman, he’d been left in a quivering, useless, uncertain heap of need. Fuck that. He had to get a grip.
Thanks Liz! To purchase any of Liz Crowe’s books just click on the link below.
Black Jacks links
Amazon (to the series):
B&N (series):
Smashwords (series link)
All Romance Ebooks (separate links for each book):
You can check out my interview with Liz Crowe on her blog The Brewing Passion where we talk about my book Winning the Player and the World Cup.
