Not a hockey blog...

And it's killing me!! WE HAVE AN NHL TEAM AGAIN!!!

But, ahem. I have a print book to promote! And since I have a pile of shiny pretty print books here (see there it is, right there↓) I'm going to give one away.

Lost and Found comes out in print next week. This is a book that takes some risks, incorporating things that aren't usually found in romance novels, like infertility, sex for the sake of procreation, infidelity and, oh yeah, a ménage à trois! It's gotten great reviews and reader feedback! Yay! The blurb is below and you can read an excerpt here. But how about for something different, I talk about the setting of the story?

If you’ve seen the trailer for the book (view it here) you’ll know that the ocean features prominently in the story. Krissa and Derek live in Montecito, California, in a fictional house on the Pacific Ocean. (If you’ve read the book, I encourage you to watch the trailer again, I think it’s much more moving when you know the story!)

Some of the images I used in the trailer are ones taken by my husband, a professional photographer who went to photography school in Santa Barbara, California, which is now one of our favourite places to visit, and which is why I set many of my stories there! Also, I love the ocean which is so exotic and fascinating for a girl from the middle of the prairies.

© Lance Thomson Photographic

The heroine of Lost and Found, Krissa, likes to wander on the beach when she has important things to think about. The vast, seemingly endless ocean helps put her problems into perspective and the ceaseless rhythm of the waves onto shore soothes her.

When Nate arrives in Montecito, he’s a photographer in danger of losing his career. He’s made his fortune photographing water – often the ocean – in calm conditions and using long exposures that make the water smooth and glassy and tranquil. He too, finds comfort in walking on the beach and sitting beside the ocean.

A number of images in the story are symbolic of Krissa, Nate and Derek’s lives –  turbulent, crashing waves; a tangled mass of seaweed, impossible to unravel; a seashell that’s beautiful and perfect on the outside, but empty and lifeless inside.

As well as photographs, here are a couple of poems that provided some inspiration to me when writing Lost and Found:

From Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Sea Shore:

Behold the Sea,
The opaline, the plentiful and strong,
Yet beautiful as is the rose in June,
Fresh as the trickling rainbow of July;
Sea full of food, the nourisher of kinds,
Purger of earth, and medicine of men;
Creating a sweet climate by my breath,
Washing out harms and griefs from memory,
And, in my mathematic ebb and flow,
Giving a hint of that which changes not.

And ‘maggy and milly and molly and may’
by ee cummings:

maggy and milly and molly and may

went down to the beach(to play one day)  

and maggie discovered a shell that sang

so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and  

milly befriended a stranded star

whose rays five languid fingers were;  

and molly was chased by a horrible thing

which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and  

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.  

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)

its always ourselves we find in the sea

I hope the setting adds to the experience of reading the book!

BLURB:
To find happiness, first you have to find yourself.

Krissa has always been the responsible one. Driven to fulfill her mother’s abandoned dreams, to make her husband Derek happy. She’s brought that single-minded determination to the one dream she has for herself—a child. Except she and Derek can’t conceive, and Derek refuses to consider using a stranger’s sperm. The result? Guilt that her desperation is causing their marital rift.

The last thing they need is a long-term houseguest, but Derek’s best friend Nate, a nomadic photographer recovering from a career-threatening eye disorder, has nowhere else to go.

Nate thought his friends’ home would be a temporary haven from the grief that has dogged his heels since his wife died. Instead he’s in the middle of a marriage in meltdown. Soon their friendship develops an underlying hum of forbidden sexual tension. When Krissa proposes a wild idea—that Nate be their sperm donor—Derek has an even wilder proposal: bypass the fertility clinic and accept Nate’s donation straight from the source.

At first, Krissa believes she’s on the fast track to having her dream. But it quickly becomes clear that when the heart gets involved—and secrets are revealed—the simplest of arrangements can become entangled beyond belief. Or repair…

Warning: This title contains a man who’s lost, the woman he finds, sizzling ménage sex, tender romantic sex, love lost and love found.

Buy it here:
Amazon
Samhain
Barnes & Noble

OKAY!! TO WIN A PRINT COPY OF LOST AND FOUND, LEAVE A COMMENT WITH THE NAME OF YOUR FAVOURITE NHL TEAM. OR ANY NHL TEAM.

I know, I know, it has nothing to do with Lost and Found, but humour me, y'all! Leave your email addy if you can, or check back tonight for the winner!

Not a hockey blog...

But it's killing me!! WE HAVE AN NHL TEAM AGAIN!!!


Ahem. I also have a print book to promote, and since I have a pile of shiny, pretty print books (see there it is, right there  ↓) I'm going to give one away!

 

Lost and Found comes out in print next week. Blurb is below and read an excerpt here. This is a book that takes some risks, dealing with subject usually not found in romance novels -- sex for the sake of getting pregnant, infertility, infidelity...and oh yeah, a menage a trois. It's gotten some really great reviews!! Yay!!  But how about today I talk about the setting of the book just for something different?

If you’ve seen the trailer for the book (view it here) you’ll know that the ocean features prominently in the story. Krissa and Derek live in Montecito, California, in a fictional house on the Pacific Ocean. (If you’ve read the book, I encourage you to watch the trailer again, I think it’s much more moving when you know the story!)

Some of the images I used in the trailer are ones taken by my husband, a professional photographer who went to photography school in Santa Barbara, California, which is now one of our favourite places to visit, and which is why I set many of my stories there!

© Lance Thomson Photographic 

The heroine of Lost and Found, Krissa, likes to wander on the beach when she has important things to think about. The vast, seemingly endless ocean helps put her problems into perspective and the ceaseless rhythm of the waves onto shore soothes her.

When Nate arrives in Montecito, he’s a photographer in danger of losing his career. He’s made his fortune photographing water – often the ocean – in calm conditions and using long exposures that make the water smooth and glassy and tranquil. He too, finds comfort in walking on the beach and sitting beside the ocean.

A number of images in the story are symbolic of Krissa, Nate and Derek’s lives –  turbulent, crashing waves; a tangled mass of seaweed, impossible to unravel; a seashell that’s beautiful and perfect on the outside, but empty and lifeless inside.

As well as photographs, here are a couple of poems that provided some inspiration to me when writing Lost and Found:

From Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Sea Shore:

Behold the Sea,
The opaline, the plentiful and strong,
Yet beautiful as is the rose in June,
Fresh as the trickling rainbow of July;
Sea full of food, the nourisher of kinds,
Purger of earth, and medicine of men;
Creating a sweet climate by my breath,
Washing out harms and griefs from memory,
And, in my mathematic ebb and flow,
Giving a hint of that which changes not.

And ‘maggy and milly and molly and may’ by ee cummings:

maggy and milly and molly and may

went down to the beach(to play one day)  

and maggie discovered a shell that sang

so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and  

milly befriended a stranded star

whose rays five languid fingers were;  

and molly was chased by a horrible thing

which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone

as small as a world and as large as alone.  

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)

its always ourselves we find in the sea

I hope the setting adds to the story for you!

BLURB:

 To find happiness, first you have to find yourself.

Krissa has always been the responsible one. Driven to fulfill her mother’s abandoned dreams, to make her husband Derek happy. She’s brought that single-minded determination to the one dream she has for herself—a child. Except she and Derek can’t conceive, and Derek refuses to consider using a stranger’s sperm. The result? Guilt that her desperation is causing their marital rift.

The last thing they need is a long-term houseguest, but Derek’s best friend Nate, a nomadic photographer recovering from a career-threatening eye disorder, has nowhere else to go.
Nate thought his friends’ home would be a temporary haven from the grief that has dogged his heels since his wife died. Instead he’s in the middle of a marriage in meltdown. Soon their friendship develops an underlying hum of forbidden sexual tension. When Krissa proposes a wild idea—that Nate be their sperm donor—Derek has an even wilder proposal: bypass the fertility clinic and accept Nate’s donation straight from the source.

At first, Krissa believes she’s on the fast track to having her dream. But it quickly becomes clear that when the heart gets involved—and secrets are revealed—the simplest of arrangements can become entangled beyond belief. Or repair…

---

Product Warnings

This title contains a man who’s lost, the woman he finds, sizzling ménage sex, tender romantic sex, love lost and love found.

OKAY!! TO WIN A PRINT BOOK ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS LEAVE A COMMENT WITH YOUR FAVOURITE NHL TEAM!! (C'mon y'all can come up with something...Jets, Jets, Jets...)
I know it has nothing to do with Lost and Found  but humour me! Leave your email addy if you can or be sure to check back tonight for the winner!

In the Dark --now in print

When you live forever, you're bound to make a few mistakes...

What can you say about a 1960s hippie chick who died? That she was as beautiful as Ali McGraw playing Jennifer Cavilleri. And possibly braver. That she loved Christmas and chocolate. And the Beatles. And a sexy, eleven hundred year old vampire she met while crashing a party. 

Or that I'm totally ripping off Erich Segal's Love Story with this opening. 

It's fitting, actually, because In the Dark (which was just released in print this week) really is a love story, as opposed to a romance. 

I know. That totally surprised the hell out of me as well. In fact, the book was finished before I realized what I'd done and, by then, with the rest of the series mostly planned out, it was too late to change it even if I'd wanted to. Which I didn't.

I will admit that the final scene between Conrad and Suzanne/Desert Rose was the most difficult I've ever written. I will admit to having become convinced, at one point, that I was channeling the ghost of Nick Spark's evil, dead, gay twin brother (a bitchy and totally fictitious [so far as I know] spirit whom I decided to call Dick). But what can I say? As my malicious muse kept insisting, you really can't write about vampires without writing about death. Besides,  this book opened the way for the sequel, which Samhain has just contracted, which is a romance  So I guess it all worked out after all.

So if you like vampires and tragic love stories with what Holly from Long and Short Reviews has termed "a different kind of happy ending," I hope you'll give it a try. 

Blurb: 1969 San Francisco. World-weary Conrad Quintano should have known better than to fall in love with a human—much less Suzanne Fischer, the barely legal, adventure-seeking hippie beauty known as Desert Rose. And the very last thing he should have agreed to do was to raise her babies and protect them with his life. But even twelve-hundred-year-old master vampires can find it hard to reject a deathbed request—especially when issues of love, guilt and blood are involved.

Present day. Raised in virtual isolation, twins Marc and Julie Fischer have always known they are vampires. But they never knew their parentage—or their unique status in the vampire world—until their “uncle” Damian comes to fetch them home. The family reunion, however, isn’t what they expect. They’re thrust into a world for which they’re totally unprepared. And the father they expected to see, Conrad, is missing.

How to find him…and whom to trust? Solving the mystery of betrayal and vampire family values will prove the Beatles had it right. All you need is love…and an occasional side of blood.

Warning: While reading this book you may experience any of the following, an increased desire to wear flowers in your hair, dress in tie-dye or nap during the day. Other symptoms may include an intolerance to sunlight, an aversion to garlic-flavored tofu and a pronounced urge to bake…or get baked.  

Excerpt:   “This is not what I had in mind for tonight, chérie,” [Conrad] protested but she was already pressing closer, going up on her toes. At the first brush of her lips on his, he was lost.

Mine, his body insisted again, even louder than before. Growling in satisfaction, he caged her in his arms and kissed her back voraciously. Knowing he would never get enough of the taste of her, knowing this would likely be the last night they would ever spend in each other’s arms, he decided to throw caution, common sense and all his scruples to the wind. He would make the most of their time together. He would make love to her as she had never been made love to before.

He’d picked her up and was headed for the bed when she stiffened suddenly, a muffled exclamation bursting from her lips.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, pulling back to look at her.

She pointed over his shoulder. “I can see you. Look, there in the mirror. I thought vampires didn’t have reflections?”

Conrad shook his head. “Don’t believe everything you’ve heard about us, chérie. Very little of it is true.”

“Like what?” she asked as he deposited her on the bed. Curling up on her knees, she gazed at him curiously as he began to undress.

“Well, as you can see, I have yet to explode in sunlight, for one thing. I don’t die again each day at dawn. Crucifixes bother me not in the slightest, nor does holy water.”

“How about things like wooden stakes?” she inquired, bringing a teasing smile to his lips as he dropped his pants to the floor.

“I do not believe that I am the one who needs to worry about being impaled here tonight, mignonne.”

She blushed and dropped her gaze. “Stop it. I’m being serious.”

“So am I.” Climbing into bed beside her, he took her hand and wrapped it around his erection. “Very serious.”

Her fingers trembled as she tightened her hand on him and shyly stroked up and down the length of his shaft. “So, you’re saying things like that really don’t hurt you either?”

Sighing, he leaned into her and softly kissed her lips. “Yes, my curious one, I’m sure it would hurt to be stabbed through the heart, or to be set on fire, or any of the many other equally unpleasant things you can, no doubt, imagine. Many things can hurt me. For the most part, however, only something that destroys my heart, severs my head, or leaves me drained of blood would likely be fatal. Other than that…” He shrugged dismissively. He’d been wounded on numerous occasions over the course of his lifetime. To live at all was to know pain, in one form or another. But pain, like pleasure, was a transitory thing. One endured and moved on.

“Will you really live forever?” she asked as he drew her down beside him. “And never grow old?”

“Forever is a long time, chérie, and there are always accidents waiting to happen. I suspect that, sooner or later, something will occur to put an end to my life. But, it will not be tonight.” He rolled on top of her then, settling himself between her thighs, wrapping her legs around his hips. “Tonight we are both safe and the only ‘death’ either of us need worry about is la petite mort, the little death.”

“What’s that mean?” she asked, pushing at his shoulders until he’d raised his head. Her eyes were wide with dismay.

Conrad grinned wickedly, enchanted anew by her innocence. “Have you really never heard the term? Then relax, my sweet, and I will show you.”

Link to reviews:  http://pgforte.com/reviews_for_In_the_Dark.html

Link to buy book: http://samhainpublishing.com/print/in-the-dark-print

No Matter What in Print!

You know what's cool and dorky at the same time?


Me putting a print copy of No Matter What on my keeper shelf between Susan Elizabeth Phillip's Ain't She Sweet and Erin McCarthy's Date With the Other Side.


This is my first print book! I love, love, love e-books and honestly read electronically on my Kindle 90% of the time but... well, I have shelves and stacks of print books and okay, it's pretty neat to have one of my own!


It's also a little weird to talk about this book because for me it's actually been out for almost a year! :) It came out as an e-book in last November. But I love talking about it. This is a special book for a lot of reasons so I don't mind going on and on about it again!


Here's a little intro (or reminder?) for ya'!

Oh, and I'm giving away a copy!! All comments get entered-- include your e-mail-- and I'll choose a winner Saturday!


No Matter What
Erin Nicholas

The best doesn’t come cheap…and this time it could cost him his heart.

Adam Steele is good. Good at using his money to get his way. Money always works—until he realizes he can’t buy his daughter’s way out of her new wheelchair. Three private physical therapists later, he’s almost given up on Emily walking again. Then he meets Dr. Jaden Monroe. And his match.

Jaden doesn’t know the meaning of the word “quit”. But she knows a lot about “fired” after a public blowout with her ex jeopardizes the donation her hospital was counting on. Now the most tempting man she’s ever met has made her just the offer she needs to save the new children’s rehab wing—one million dollars to rehabilitate his daughter. In return she finds herself making Adam rash promises: that his daughter will walk in time to take the lead in the school play. And that he won’t entice her into his bed. No matter what.

But Jaden didn’t anticipate a teen whose injuries are more than physical. Or a man so passionate and devoted—and as tenacious as she is. As Adam wears down her defenses with kiss after kiss, the only thing harder than keeping her promise will be keeping a hold on her heart.

Warning: Contains heated arguments that erupt only slightly more often than hot kissing, a new perspective on kitchen appliances, and sizzling sex occurring everywhere BUT the bedroom (though they eventually make it there).

Excerpt:

“I didn’t realize I was under house arrest. I have things I have to do. And I did not ‘slip out’.”

“A million dollars is a lot to pay for an eight hour work day.” He lifted the coffee cup that she had not noticed until that moment.

She felt a wave of indignation wash over her but she held her expression stoically. “This is not exactly a typical business arrangement.”

A long silence followed her statement.

“You’re right.” His words took Jaden by surprise. “For instance, any other time I hire someone, I ask a lot of questions about them personally as well as professionally. I like to know about their families, their interests and hobbies. Their habits. I should have asked more questions about you. My primary concern at the time was that I hire the best therapist there was for Emily.”

“You did.”

“Yes, but I didn’t think beyond the therapy sessions. I didn’t fully consider all of the things you would mean to Emily besides being her therapist.”

Jaden frowned, wishing she could see his face more clearly. “What do you mean? And what did you mean by ‘their habits’?” She wasn’t sure why but she felt offended by the comment now that she replayed it in her head.

“I expect Emily will get very attached to you. You are a young, intelligent, successful woman and Emily will likely look up to you.”

“And that concerns you.”

“Frankly, yes.”

“Why?”

He came to his feet in one quick, fluid movement. “Because it’s one in the morning and you’re just getting home.”

Let him guess and assume about what you were doing. Make him a little crazy for a change.
“I don’t like that you’re assuming the worst about me. I have given you no reason not to trust me.”

He took a deep breath. “Okay, then, I have only one question for you. Where were you?”

She swallowed hard and tried to get a grip on the thoughts and responses that were stumbling over one another in their haste to make it to her mouth first.

“I was out, Adam. That’s all you need to know.” She added a flip of her hair to emphasize how casual she was about the whole thing.

“Jaden…” He took a deep breath and she saw him consciously work to unclench his fists. It struck her how personal her name sounded from his lips even when he was frustrated. That only increased her aggravation.

His voice slightly calmer, he spoke again. “It is important to me. At least tell me that you weren’t…”

“What? That I wasn’t… doing drugs? Drinking all night at the bars? That I’m not a call girl in the evenings when I’m not at the hospital? Smell my breath, Adam, if you don’t believe me. Diet cola was the strongest thing I had tonight.”

He came toward her quickly and she tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. He leaned in, braced his hands on the counter behind her on either side of her hips, and took a deep breath.

She held hers. Having him suddenly this close was overwhelming and she fought to remember what they had been talking about.

He reminded her quickly. “How about all of the above?” His voice was lower now, huskier, and his eyes studied hers closely. “How about reassuring me that you wouldn’t dream of doing any of those things?”

She didn’t like that he doubted her. She wanted to stomp and yell and demand that he believe in her. But, at the same time, this might just be perfect. She’d been off balance since meeting him. He shook her up, as much as she hated it. Clearly her conduct during off-duty hours interested him, and worried him. So, this might be her chance to turn the tables a bit. Not that getting a man like Adam off balance would be easy. But it would, very likely, be fun.

“I’ll tell you this much. Drugs and prostitution aren’t my thing.”

He pressed closer and she felt the edge of the counter against her low back. Perhaps it was her decision to try to overwhelm him for a change, but for the first time, when he got close to her, dropped his voice low and looked at her like he wanted to make all of her fantasies come true, she reveled in it.

She found the scent of his cologne and the warmth of the arm braced on the counter beside her appealing rather than aggressive. In fact, this close, she found that his blue eyes, swirling with emotion, were impossible to resist. He was a passionate man. He cared about his daughter, his household and stood firm in his convictions. It was his unflinching devotion that made her want to know more about him. For instance, what else stirred Adam Steele’s passions?

“So tell me, what is your kind of thing?”

The huskiness in his voice made her nerve endings dance.

She studied his full lips for a long moment before her eyes traced his strong jaw shadowed with dark stubble. Eventually, she moved up slowly to again meet the midnight blue eyes that seemed to pierce straight through to her soul.

“Arrogant millionaires evidently.”

As his lips met hers, she momentarily stopped disliking anything about him.


Another excerpt here or here
Buy here