Showing posts with label Romance Excerpt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romance Excerpt. Show all posts

Monday, August 15, 2011

Special Guest Erin Nicholas

This week our special guest over on our Tiki Hut Blog, is Samhain Publishing author Erin Nicholas. 

Erin has been reading romance since her mom first let her into her book cupboard when Erin was about fourteen. LaVyrle Spencer, Julie Garwood, Debbie Macomber... they took Erin's 'happily ever after' ideas from animated princesses to real people in the real world.

She's been writing romance almost as long. Many a family car trip was spent with her head bent over a spiral notebook in the back seat. She'll confess that her very first attempts at fiction were fantasy and paranormals, influenced by her father's love of the Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the original Alice in Wonderland. If Harry Potter had been around, Erin's sure he would have been on the bedtime story shelf as well.

But it wasn't long until Erin started writing about true love and that's where she's been ever since.

She's so thrilled to be able to share these stories with you and hopes that they make you smile, sigh, maybe even choke up a little. Most of all, She hopes that they help you believe in magical things like first kisses, the spark of passion, and the power of true love.

Erin loves to hear from readers! Please write her at Erin@ErinNicholas.com

WEBSITE   ***   BLOG   ***   FACEBOOK   ***   TWITTER 


The End

I’ve made no secret of the fact that the Dark Moment (the moment when all seems lost) is my least favorite part of a book to write. It takes me forever and I’m usually way too nice the first time (and the 2nd. At least.) My second least favorite part to write is the end. It’s hard because I want it to be good, to linger in the reader’s mind, to be true to the characters. But it’s bittersweet. The End means the book is done, in my books it means they’re together and starting their happily ever after. But it also means the book is done. The characters don’t need me anymore. They’ve figured it out. We say goodbye.

Especially Sara and Mac’s book, Just My Type. This is the third book in the Bradford series. There are three Bradford siblings. So I knew going in that it was the last book of the series.

Needless to say, it took me forever to write that ending. And I never was totally happy with it. I think because I didn’t want it to end. I’m like that as a reader too. I love when the couple gets together but I also hate that it’s all over with. As an author it’s almost worse. Usually I have my next project ready to go. It helps with the pain of the end of my relationship with these characters to start getting someone else together. But I still miss them.

Especially at times like this. It’s been well over a year since I typed that The End but now I get to revisit those characters with blurbs and interviews and blog posts for the print release (August 2). Sigh. I really think I need to write some more of these guys…

Until then, though, here’s how the whole thing starts (I like beginnings… not endings ). And I’d love to give an e-copy of any of the Bradford books to one lucky commenter this week!


JUST MY TYPE - Book 3 in The Bradfords Series by Erin Nicholas

Secretly wanting her—no problem. Her not-so-secretly wanting him—big trouble.

There's only one problem with the woman Jason "Mac" Gordon wants: his best friend's little sister is off limits. Way off limits, and too young and innocent for the likes of him. From past experience, he's learned to hide his not-so-nice preferences from the nice girls he seems to attract. That definitely includes the woman he's always thought of as a sister. At least until recently.

Sara Bradford always gets what she wants - which is partly Mac's fault. After all, he helped spoil her. So she has no intention of taking his no for an answer on anything - least of all his refusal to sleep with her. He thinks she's too innocent? Fine. She'll simply get un-innocent and show Mac that she wants him - the good, the bad and the nipple clamps.

When Mac's plan to drive her away works too well, he's forced to follow her to a tropical paradise, determined to make sure she doesn't find her wild side with anyone but him. Once she gets a real taste of what he likes, he's sure everything will go back to normal.

That's until he discovers a slight kink, er, flaw in his logic...

Warning: Contains hot sex at the beach, kinky online shopping - and yes, cotton-candy-flavored body powder does exist.

BUY THE BOOK   ***   BUY THE eBOOK ***   BUY IN KINDLE   ***  READ THE EXCERPT


Excerpt:

Mac settled down into his chair and pushed the chair next to him out for her. “Want me to stay over and answer the phone until Tuesday?”

She swiveled on her chair seat to look at him, gauging the motivation behind the offer. She knew he didn’t mean it like that. He’d slept on her couch before.

“Yes,” she said simply.

“I will,” he told her lifting his glass. “But you have to buy Twinkies.”

Mac’s favorite food. Normally, she would roll her eyes and joke about his propensity for junk food. But she was in a mood tonight. She leaned over and put her hand on his hard, flat stomach.

“How do you keep these so tight with all those Twinkies?” She rubbed her hand back and forth over the warm, white linen of his shirt.

Mac seemed to freeze. And stop breathing. His eyes were locked on hers and she felt a current zing between them. She’d never touched him like that. They’d held hands, even hugged before and she’d touched his arms, back, shoulder, even face once, but never his chest, or stomach, or lower.

“Sara?” His voice was definitely hoarse.

“Mac.”

“Move your hand.”

She slid it downward and Mac shot back, tipping his chair onto its back legs and throwing him off balance enough that he stumbled to his feet, knocking the chair over.

“Hell, Sara!” he swore. Straightening to his full height and glaring down at her he demanded. “What the hell was that?”

She blinked at him, trying for innocence. “You said…”

“I didn’t mean that!” he snapped.

“Well, why not? I certainly wouldn’t mind doing it.”

He gaped at her and she almost laughed. She’d never seen Mac flabbergasted like this.

“You wouldn’t mind doing what exactly?”

Maybe he thought—or hoped—she was talking about something else. She had to make this clear.

“Putting my hand on your…”

“Okay,” he interrupted, throwing up his hands. “Enough. You’re obviously drunk.”

Instead of looking up and arguing his statement, Sara’s eyes found the object of conversation almost right in front of her. And he looked interested in what she was proposing.

Mac had an erection. Right there. Front and center. Unmistakable.

“You sure you’re not interested?” She looked directly at the tent in his pants.

He quickly righted the chair, sat and dropped his napkin in his lap. “Knock it off.”

“What? You’re telling me you’ve never thought of it? Ever?”

“Of having your hand down my pants at your brother’s wedding? No, I can honestly say I haven’t.” He wouldn’t look at her.

“So when have you thought about having my hand down your pants?”

He opened his mouth, shut it again, shifted in his chair, frowned. “Stop it.”

She scooted her chair closer. “Mac, honestly. Have you ever thought of us together?”

“Sure. We’re together all the time at Sam’s, at the Center and the hospital.” He still wasn’t making eye contact.

Sara touched his knee and he nearly jumped out of his chair again. She smiled. She was no dummy. She had a Master’s degree in psychology and was a licensed Social Worker in Nebraska. She studied people. She’d watched the two people she knew best—her sister Jessica and her brother Sam— fall in love with their spouses. She’d seen the effect that intense attraction had on people and how they acted until they admitted the attraction and did something about it.

“I’m talking about naked, you and me.”

“Of course not,” he answered quickly. Too quickly. He was scowling again. “You’re a kid, like a sister to me.”

He was lying. He had to be lying. Before she could think it out any further and potentially chicken out, Sara slid from her chair to Mac’s lap, cupped the back of his head in both hands and kissed him with all she had.

Monday, April 25, 2011

This Week's Special Guest - Sandra K. Marshall


This week at the AuthorIsland Tiki Hut, we welcome author Sandra K. Marshall as she talks about her story in the new anthology FOOL ME TWICE.

Sandra grew up in the mid-west in a small farming community where she belonged to 4-H. When she was thirteen, her family moved to, Lawrence, Kansas, the town where the University of Kansas thrived. After high school, she traveled to California to live with a friend and to find a job. She became very homesick and returned home.

She worked for a major airline for thirty-six years and during this period she furthered her education. It was a lovely time in her life working for a wonderful company. She traveled to many countries such as Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Australia, Egypt and Hong Kong just to name a few.

While at the airline, she started writing due to her husband's influence, and in 1999 she retired to write full time and worked seriously toward publication. In 2008, she had her first book published, and then her second one in 2009. Shortly after her publisher closed their doors, and she immediately moved to a new publisher. She is still with the publisher and has had three books and a short story published with them.

She's now working on another one hoping to finish it before the end of summer. It's a romantic suspense set at an airline maintenance overhaul base, and it's the one she was writing when she retired. She's doing a complete overhaul of this book and it's not the easiest thing she has ever done. :)

WEBSITE *** BLOG *** MYSPACE


The book I want to tell you about is an anthology titled, Fool Me Twice. My story is A Fool's Fool. The blurb and excerpt are posted below.

Blurb
Pranks are carried too far.


Kathy O'Reilly, a strong-willed woman doesn't allow men to walk over her or anyone else. When one of the co-owner's of Gagsters, Norm Jokes, is allowed to get away with playing pranks, she speaks up to her boss.

Jason Barrone, co-owner of Gagsters is attracted to his assistant and will not allow his best friend to cause him to lose her. Jason wants them to be friends because he doesn't want to have to make a choice of who goes and who stays.

Excerpt

Kathy O'Reilly walked softly behind Norm Jokes as he crept up the aisle between the cubicles, making sure he didn't know she was near. It was obvious he was planning to sneak up on someone to either scare or do something worse.

Norm was as obnoxious as any guy she'd ever met, but for some reason her friend, Allyson Metzl, thought the joker just needed attention.

Uh oh—Norm sped up, and she saw the reason why.

Allyson stood just a few feet away, waving her hands as she leaned in a cubicle to talk to a co-worker. Her friend’s back was to him; Allyson's long dark hair covered the derrière of her diminutive figure.

Her pal had just gone through a divorce, and was feeling frail. There was no way Kathy would let anyone hurt her friend again. Kathy called out, "Allyson."

Allyson wheeled around, her mouth opened in a big O when she almost smacked into Norm.

He put his hands on Allyson’s shoulders. “Don’t move so suddenly. You almost knocked me down, and I would’ve fell on top of you.” He glanced over his shoulder at Kathy.

With an inward laugh, she joined them. "Stopped you from being an obnoxious ass.” She watched him, knowing by his grin that he’d enjoyed himself. "You're going to get into big trouble one day." His right eye ticked knowing he'd been caught in the act. Too bad fellow.

"Did someone want me?" Allyson asked; her black lashes fluttered as she glanced between Kathy and Norm.

His face reddening, Norm stuttered, "I wanted to tell you how pretty you look in your outfit."

"Thank you for noticing, Norm." Allyson peeked up at him. "It's new."

The skunk, he hadn't even noticed her friend's lime green outfit until he needed to get his ass out of a jam. "Allyson, I wanted to talk to you a moment."

"Uh, I'll leave you two to it," Norm muttered.

Kathy glared after him as he slinked toward his office. He had nerve pretending to have noticed Allyson other than her butt. She hoped her friend didn't fall for his Mr. Nice Guy act.

Allyson's cherry red lips turned up, laughing she showed perfect white teeth and her milk chocolate gaze focused on Kathy. "The way you're scowling at Norm he must've been up to no good."

"He almost got you, but I managed to save you."

Allyson laughed, her eyes sparkling. She shook her head, her long straight hair swaying from side to side. "Thanks, but who knows? Maybe I would have liked it.”

Her friend hadn’t dated since her divorce, and she constantly defended Norm to the other girls in the building. Why? Kathy couldn’t understand unless Allyson secretly had a crush on him. Kathy hoped not, because in truth, the man terrorized all of them. They were afraid to say anything for fear of losing their jobs. Luckily, she wasn’t in the same circumstance since she worked for the head boss.

"Next time I’ll let him get you.” She grimaced. “You need to get out more if that guy interests you.” He almost pinched her friend’s bottom. He liked to pinch the other girls and play pranks on them.

“Now you’re just being mean.” Allyson’s perfect white teeth chewed her bottom lip. “I think he’s cute.”

"To each their own, but something has to be done to stop him from picking on all the women."

Allyson giggled. “I might be able to help. We could play a trick on him. April Fool’s Day will be here soon and it would be an appropriate time to do something to him.”

"Great. I would like nothing better than to get revenge on the skinny runt."

Her dark brows rose and Allyson asked, “Has he done anything to you?”

“He better not or I’ll make his life miserable.” If Norm ever pinched her, she would bring a harassment lawsuit against him and the company, Gagsters, Incorporated.

"You won't do anything to hurt his feelings, will you Kath?" Allyson’s brows knit together slightly.

Well, on second thought not against Gagsters, just Norm. She didn't want to hurt her boss, Jason Barrone. As his administrative assistant, Kathy was treated courteously and as an equal. Not only was he a perfect gentleman, he was a very handsome one. She liked his cleft chin and green brown-flecked eyes. Besides, he often told her he couldn't do without her— she was his right arm.

For some reason, she was drawn to Jason even though normally, she went for the tall, dark, and dangerous bad boys. Jason was the exact opposite with his light brown hair streaked blond from the sun. The one time she accidentally bumped into him he was solid as a rock and just as dependable.

A veil lifted from Allyson’s face and a light shone in her eyes. Her friend’s hound dog nose twitched on the scent of a mystery. She’d better say something quick.

"Feelings. I doubt if Norm has any, he's such a dope. His antics have to be stopped."

She leaned toward Allyson with her hands fisted, but at the widening of her friends eyes, Kathy drew back, took a deep breath, and relaxed her hands. "You know the other girls won't step out of their cubicles when he's around, and when they go to the lunchroom or bathroom they're constantly looking for him over their shoulders."

Allyson nodded. "I know. Some of the younger girls have even talked to me about it."

"Then you’re completely with me on this?"

“I have an idea of something we can do that would get the message across without hurting him.”

“What?” Kathy watched excitement build on her friend’s face.

“I’m an artist. I could make a poster to put in his office or hang overhead somewhere.”

Smiling, Kathy said, “Okay.”

"Later. My phone is ringing." Allyson hurried away to answer the call.

Kathy wondered what kind of drawing Ally would come up with. She hoped Norm could take a joke. After all, he dished out plenty of them. It was time for him to have some pranks pulled on him. Besides, it was going to be April Fool’s Day in a week.

Buy Links for Fool Me Twice:

">http://www.eirelander-publishing.com/
">http://allromanceebooks.com/product-foolmetwice-525509-149.html
">http://1placeforromance.com/romantic-fiction/foolmetwice/prod_3885.html

Also, can be found on Smashswords.com, B&N and Amazon

If anyone wants to learn more about me visit me at these URL's:

">http://www.skaymarshall.com/
">http://www.sandramarshallblog.blogspot.com/
Facebook - ">http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1496954556
My Space - ">http://www.myspace.com/s_zinn_marshall
Twitter - SandraKMarshall
LinkedIn - ">http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sandy-marshall/1a/851/a04
Good Reads - http://www.goodreads.com/skmarshall

I hope everyone has a great week.

WIN - Leave Sandra a question or comment this week at the Tiki Hut and your name goes in the hat for a $15 iTunes Gift Card!  Please leave your email address so we can contact you if you are this week's winner - Good Luck!