trueromance

Something About You by Julie James

Setting: Chicago
Subgenre: Contemporary romance (with a suspense subplot)
Hero: Jack Pallas
Heroine: Cameron Lynde

One sentence summary: When Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde witnesses a high-profile murder in the hotel room next to hers, she is reunited with her former colleague, Special Agent Jack Pallas, and the two of them must put aside their past conflicts and work together to catch the killer… before the killer finds Cameron first.

Scene you like most and would never cut: A love scene between the hero and heroine that takes place at a wedding. I think the dynamics and dialogue in that scene show how much their relationship has changed from the beginning of the book, where they *think* they can’t stand each other.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: “These are lovely, but I already have enough shoes.”

What celebrity is your hero like: Jason Bourne or a taller, darker version of Jack Bauer. (Technically not celebrities, I know, but that’s who I thought of.)

What celebrity is your heroine like: Eva Green’s character in Casino Royale, Vesper Lynd. (Yep, I even borrowed the last name.)

What is your heroine’s occupation: She’s the top Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

What is your hero’s occupation: He’s an FBI Special Agent. And I’m pretty sure he can kill people with his thumb.

What you think readers will like best about this book: The humor and the interplay between the hero and heroine. Jack is basically Jason Bourne dumped into a romantic comedy. He’s all dark and scowling and trying the save the day, while everyone else around him is cracking jokes. As for Cameron, she’s got her act together, and thinks she has her life figured out, until she’s at the wrong place at the wrong time and witnesses a murder that unexpectedly brings Jack back into her life.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet: Jeremy, Jason’s best friend in Just the Sexiest Man Alive. The challenge with writing Jeremy’s story, however, would be in keeping Jason from dominating every scene. As the world’s biggest movie star, Jason tends to think the spotlight should be on him.

What’s next: I’m currently finishing up my fourth book, about a wealthy wine store owner who agrees to pose as the girlfriend of an undercover FBI agent (as part of a sting operation) in exchange for her twin brother’s release from prison.

Question of the Day and giveaway: Oh, the pressure to come up with a challenging, thought-provoking question…. how about this: Do you have different expectations of heroes and heroines in contemporary romances versus other subgenres? Two randomly-chosen people who leave a comment below will win a copy of Something About You. And I’ll be dropping by throughout the day to answer any questions!
More information about Julie James and her books can be found at www.juliejames.com.

Setting: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Subgenre: Women’s Fiction
Hero: Rafael Dunlap
Heroine: Nathalyia Fontaine

One sentence summary: A bet between friends leads to a passionate romance and redemption..

Scene you like most and would never cut: A difficult question, but I think there are two scenes in IF YOU WERE MY MAN that I really like. Both set the tone for the book. The first scene is that of Rafael and Nathalyia’s initial meeting when he tries to entice her to go out with him to discuss the service at Fontaine, her restaurant. He strikes out big time when she hands him a menu and tells him she isn’t on it. Rafael takes her refusal as a challenge. The chase is on, but who will catch whom.

The second scene is when Jake, the bald-headed bartender and confident of Nathalyia, forgets himself and kisses Clarice, the younger, full-figured waitress he secretly yearns for. Jake has a scar on his heart as well as on his face and back-paddles as fast as he can. However, act-before you-think Clarice is not about to let that happen even if she has to resort to some unorthodox methods.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: “If you don’t like the food or the service, there’s the door.” Nathalyia lives and breathes Fontaine. It is her duty and also her pleasure to make sure that Fontaine, the restaurant/bar, left to her by her late husband, succeeds. She’ll bend over backwards to ensure that her customers have an exemplary dining experience. Fontaine is more than a restaurant to her, it is a shining example that, although she came from nothing, she has succeeded beyond her wildest dreams and expectations.

What celebrity is your hero like: I think Rafael is like Denzel Washington. Both are gorgeous with a lean, muscular build, charming and charismatic. When needed, both can be a force to be reckoned with. Both have the ‘it’ factor. As a hostage negotiator, Rafael has the intelligence and steely determination to overcome any obstacle placed in his path - be it a criminal or a reluctant Nathalyia.

What celebrity is your heroine like: Nathalyia is a cross between Vanessa L. Williams, and Angelina Jolie. Like Ms. Williams, Nathalyia is stunning with a keen intelligence and quick smile. She’s been down, but hard work has taken her to the top of her profession. She knows how to win people over, but if pushed, like Angelina Jolie, she pushes back.

What is your heroines occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing:
Nathalyia is sole proprietor of Fontaine, a popular seafood restaurant/bar near the ocean in Myrtle Beach. The restaurant was entrusted to her by her late husband, the only person in her life who gave to her without expecting something in return. She loves Fontaine and takes her responsibility seriously. She wants nothing to interfere, least of all a man who makes her pulse pound and her body want his.

What is your heroes occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing:
Rafael is a hostage negotiator with S.O.R.T. - Special Operations Response Team - with the Myrtle Beach Police Department. He’s very dedicated. Even when he’s off duty he doesn’t drink alcohol because he never knows when he might receive a call from his commander.

What you think readers will like best about this book:
I think readers will enjoy watching playboy Rafael unknowingly fall in love, then have to go all out to win Nathalyia’s love. Women have always come easy to Rafael with his fallen angel looks and easy-going-manner. Not even to himself has he admitted why three weeks is the longest he stays in a relationship. Nathalyia is a woman who makes him forget all the rules he’s lived by when dating - except one - which will test both of them.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
I received Emails almost on a daily basis asking about Rio. Rio was first seen in ONLY YOU, book # 5 in the Grayson Friends series, then again in THE WAY YOU LOVE ME and ONE NIGHT WITH YOU, books # 1 and #3 in the new Grayson Friends Series. Rio is the strong, silent, gorgeous type. You never know what he’s thinking. His unblinking gaze can be as cold as an ice. He’s deadly and anyone who meets him knows it. He solemnly watched his two best friends, Blade Navarone and Shane Elliott, fall in love. But home and hearth aren’t for Rio. He walks alone. Or so he thinks. There’s a woman waiting for Rio and she’s going to turn his orderly world upside down…and make him like it!!!

What’s next: Coming March 30 is FOREVER YOURS, a reissue and the first book in the Taggart/Falcon series. FOREVER YOURS is a marriage of convenience story. Victoria Chandler needs to marry or lose her chain of lingerie stores, Lavender and Lace. She wants a malleable man who will sign a pre-nup, then get lost until time for the divorce a year later. She gets Kane Taggart, a man who can be controlled as easily as a twister, a man who will settle for nothing less than a lifetime.

****

Thank to Borders for the opportunity to blog. It’s always a pleasure to connect with readers. To thank those who stop by I’m giving away three (3) books in a random drawing. A winner will be selected from blog posts. First prize: a first edition copy of Fallen Angel, my first book published in 1993. Second prize is a copy of UNTIL THERE WAS YOU - the first book in the Graysons of New Mexico series. Third prize is a copy of ONLY YOU, the book in which Rio makes his first appearance. Winners will be notified by email.

I’m always interested in learning what readers think about characters, especially the hero and heroine. I do my best to write about men we can fall in love with and women we can root for. Since I write contemporary romances, I’d like to know your thoughts on the most endearing or annoying characteristic a hero or heroine can exhibit? In other words, what makes you sigh or makes you want to grit your teeth. LOL. Please do not provide specific names, titles or author’s names in your answer.

Thanks again for allowing me to spend time with each of you and I hope that you will write and let me know what you think of IF YOU WERE MY MAN at www.francisray.com.

Karen Harper: DOWN RIVER (Mira Books) Feb. 2010

Setting: Alaska and Florida–a strange combination!
Subgenre: romantic suspense
Hero: wilderness lodge owner & kayaker Mitch Braxton
Heroine: Ft. Lauderdale lawyer, Lisa Vaughn

One sentence summary: Former fiances with a bad breakup behind them, Mitch and Lisa face a raging river, the Alaska wilds, a killer–and their own passionate past.

Scene you like most and would never cut: The scene where Florida girl Lisa finds the courage to cross a whitewater river and admits she loves Alaska and Mitch.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: “I’d just love winters in Alaska.”

Your hero, is he a boxer or brief kind of guy: When he was a lawyer, briefs, of course. Now in Alaska, boxers–they fit better under wet suits.

Ancillary character you had the most fun with: Christine Tanaka, an Inuit woman who has her own difficult past and her own love story.

Your heroine’s favorite hobby: beach volleyball

Your hero’s favorite hobby: whitewater kayaking

What you think readers will like best about this book: The nonstop adventure and danger in a gorgeous wilderness area of Alaska.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet: More Amish heroines

What’s next: An romantic suspense Amish trilogy.

Question of the Day: Lisa and Mitch face the problem of two vastly different careers, locations and lifestyles. Can such problems be worked out for love? Is it the woman who is often pressured to make the big changes, and is that fair?

GIVEAWAY: 2 copies of DOWN RIVER autographed book

**************************************************************************************************

Exclusive Deleted Scene from DOWN RIVER -
A Romantic-Suspense
by Karen Harper

DOWN RIVER begins a year after Mitch and Lisa’s broken engagement. In the novel, they both refer to their break-up scene, but it does not appear in the novel. So I’ve written that scene exclusively for the True Romance Blog. I hope it adds to your understanding of the characters and their painful past when they are thrust together in the wilds of Alaska and the wilds of their own broken hearts. Also, please visit my webstie at www.karenharperauthor.com

Lisa knew the minute Mitch came in the door that something was wrong. They had only been engaged for three months, but she’d studied him covertly long before that, in the office and in the courtroom, on the beach, on his boat and in his arms. Still, she calmly—attorney demeanor just before a hostile witness testified—handed him a goblet of white wine and lifted her own to give his a quick clink. He barely pecked a kiss on her mouth when she was used to so much more.
“Hard day?” she asked. Then, almost afraid to hear he’d been harassed or stalked again because of the money laundering case they were both working on for Carlisle, Bonner and Associates, she added, “Wait ‘til you hear about the state senate hearing I volunteered both of us to testify for. Bright lights! Publicity for the firm and for our future as Litigator Mitchell Braxton and Litigator Lisa Vaughn-Braxton.”
“Not a bad idea, a small law firm with two partners instead of our behemoth one,” he said, frowning, but he surely couldn’t mean that. He’d never leave Carlisle, Bonner and Associates where he was the most powerful partner, the rain-maker and golden boy. He opened the sliding glass door to step out onto her twelfth-floor, open-air lanai. It was August in Ft. Lauderdale, hot and humid even up this high. The AC-cooled air whooshed out behind them as she joined him and he slid the door shut.
Her condo faced the city rather than the preferred blue-green Atlantic where the cruise ships went in and out. No way, after her family tragedy she’d want a view with ships or water even though she could well afford it.
“More trouble on our case?” she asked. “Graham isn’t going to really take us off it, is he? The fact we’ve been wire-tapped and stalked means we’re really onto something.“
Mitch slumped in a patio chair. Ordinarily, she’d just sit in his lap without an invitation, because they were usually great at communicating without a word. But not today. It scared her when she knew something was wrong; it scared her that he’d sat so close to the edge of the lanai and was looking into the distance—downward, until he snapped his dark gaze back to her.
“Sweetheart, there’s no easy way to say this, but—“
Her knees almost buckled. He was going to break up with her? But they’d been so happy, so perfectly, passionately happy. She couldn’t lose him—she couldn’t lose anyone else she loved!
“I got a call today from the lawyer who represents my uncle’s estate in Alaska,” he went on. “When he died, he left me the wilderness lodge in the Talkeetnas I’ve always been raving about and wanted you to see.”
“That’s great, Mitch, about the lodge. We can visit there in the summer, use it as a write-off—“
“I can’t do that,” he said rising and leaning against the lanai glass door as if he had to prop himself up. The sky was reflected behind him; he seemed to be flying. The wind mussed his hair, and she had the worst feeling he was now going to muss up—ruin—the great thing they’d had going, the wedding plans, their new condo half-decorated, her joy at soon being a wife and someday a working mom.
“Lisa, sweetheart—I hope you understand. I may be successful, but I’m so stressed I’m getting distracted—careless—when people’s futures are in my hands. I’m scared I’ll not only ruin someone else’s life, but my own—maybe yours down the line. Carelessness can lead to self-destruction.”
“Don’t say it that way! Not after what happened to my mother and Jani!”
“Sorry—I didn’t mean that. I don’t want to hurt you. I want us to stay together, but it can’t be here.”
“Here? Where we’ve both built good lives, great careers? You don’t mean that.”
“Please, just hear me out. Sometimes I don’t give a damn about things I need to care for, to control. Half the time, all I’ve worked for seems pointless.”
“Including a future with me?” She was nearly shouting. “Our love, our plans, both professional and personal? Mitch we can have everything, that is, if it’s here and not at some remote wild-river lodge in the mountains of Alaska. That’s what you’re leading up to, isn’t it?”
She’d lost control, and it angered her that Mitch Braxton, attorney extraordinaire was so deadly calm. But she knew him all too well. Once he made up his mind, his rational, analytical, male mind…
“Lisa, I want to—need to—move to Alaska. I know you’d love it if you’d just come with me and give it a try. We’ll get married here, then go. You could hang up an attorney shingle in nearby Talkeetna.”
“How could you be so self-centered? You’ve been thinking of this for days, haven’t you—weeks without a hint this was coming?”
“Because I knew you’d lose it and I didn’t want to lose you.”
“You proposed to me under false pretenses!”
“Just listen, will you?” He set his untouched wine down on the table and came toward her. She was so furious that she almost threw her wine in his face, but she snapped her goblet’s slender stem, which dug into her palm. Pain arced; blood flowed. Somehow that helped the other, deeper pain.
Mitch swore under his breath and pulled out his handkerchief.
“Never mind!” she insisted, making a circle around him. “I don’t even feel a thing after this—this betrayal.”
His big hands on her shoulders turned her to him; he held her wrist and wrapped her palm. “I’m going to run you into the ER,” he insisted.
“Don’t bother. Don’t bother with me anymore—again. Mitch, I can’t go to Alaska. You know I’m a Florida girl, and I’ve worked long and hard, as you have, to get where I am.”
“So I come second to your career?”
“Counselor, you don’t have a leg to stand on. I obviously come third or last to your new career of lodge owner, whitewater kayaker, dog sled musher or whatever. It’s always the little woman who has to change her life for her man, isn’t it?” she demanded and pushed past him to open the sliding door with her good hand.
“No. I said we could compromise and practice law there. Lisa, it’s such clean, good living. And…”
“And it isn’t here where we were building a life together. Oh, let’s just pull up stakes,” her voice came mocking now, “and move as far across the country as we possible can. Actually, dear Lisa, I’ve always had this in mind and thought I could get you so enamored of my lovemaking and promises that—“
“Don’t make it worse or harder!”
“It couldn’t possible be worse or harder!” she shouted back and opened the door to the hall for him. If he didn’t go out it, she would have to.
The man actually had tears in his eyes. That stunned and scared her, but was it just another ploy to get her to give in to him and this crazy wilds-of-Alaska scheme? The only moose and bears she wanted to see were in the zoo. The only salmon she hoped to eat came from four-star Las Olas or South Beach restaurants.
Mitch opened his mouth to say more, the great lawyer who could convince a jury of just about anything, the amazing combination of GQ model and rugged Olympic athlete who could convince her to trust him with her very life when she had always been so cautious trusting others.
“I hope we can discuss this later when you have time to reconsider,” he said so calmly she wanted to scream.
“Me again? Of course, when I have time to reconsider, not you.”
“Goodnight, sweetheart. I’m sorry.”
She could tell he wanted to hold or kiss her, but he went out into the hall. Had this really happened, or was it a nightmare and she’d soon wake up?
“We’ll talk about this tomorrow,” he tried again. “And are you sure I can’t take you to the ER?”
“They don’t fix broken hearts,” she said and closed—quietly, calmly—the door on him before collapsing on the couch, choked with sobs. No way was she ever going to wilderness Alaska, not even to live with Mitch, though she was not certain she could ever live without him.

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Setting: My characters travel a lot in this novel, so the setting covers Ft. Worth, St. Louis, New York, England, Las Vegas, Monaco, Bucharest, and Marseille.
Subgenre: Paranormal romance
Hero: Spade, real name Charles, centuries-old Master vampire
Heroine: Denise, 28 year old human

One sentence summary: Denise wants nothing to do with the vampire world and Spade is determined never to fall for a human again, but when a demon shapeshifter targets Denise, Spade is the only person who can help her.

Scene you like most and would never cut: It’s so hard to pick just one scene! I had several wouldn’t-cut-for-the-world favorites in this book. I’ll defer to readers, who’ve most commented about a scene where Denise and Spade are on a boat and the true effects of the demon’s brands on Denise are revealed (readers who’ve gotten an early look at First Drop, no spoilers in the comments, please :).

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: My poor heroine! Her life gets turned upside down in this novel, so whatever she thought she’d never end up doing/saying, happens.

What celebrity is your hero like: Hmm. I’d say he looks like a cross between actor Hugh Jackman and model Christopher Douglas (haven’t heard of him? Click here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v351/Kailyn/Models/Christopher%20Douglas/)

What celebrity is your heroine like: I picture her as a cross between Kate Beckinsale and Natalie Portman. And yes, as you can tell, I can never just pick one person in my comparisons.

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing:
When the novel starts, Denise works in customer service at a bank. But circumstances soon require her to quit that job and plunge herself into the last place she wants to be – the vampire world.

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing: Vampire society operates like a pyramid scheme, with the Master of the line responsible for the protection and well-being of everyone under him. Spade is a Master, so if someone killed a member of his line, Spade would have to avenge that death and provide for any of the deceased’s family/significant other/children. If someone stole a member of his line, Spade would be required to fight or bargain for their return. But there’s compensation for all that responsibility. Master vampires get ten percent of all their people’s income. If only our government took that small of a slice in taxes, right? *wink*

What you think readers will like best about this book: From early reviews, readers seem to love the heat between Spade and Denise, the deeper look at the vampire world, and the twist at the end (side note: I love it when readers say they couldn’t guess the ending in advance!)

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
This is easy – Vlad. I get more “please write a Vlad book!” emails from readers than any other character. I’m thrilled by this, because I’d love to write a few books featuring Vlad. We’ll see at the next contract time if I can convince my publisher to love the idea of Vlad books, too. Cross your fingers for me, readers!

What’s next:
Eternal Kiss of Darknesss, book two in the Night Huntress World novels, comes out July 27th. This features the mega-powerful vampire Mencheres as the hero, plus a new character named Kira as the heroine. In October, Cat and Bones have a short story in Death’s Excellent Vacation, an anthology edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner. And in early 2011, the as-yet-unnamed fifth book in the Night Huntress series featuring Cat and Bones comes out.

Thanks so much for having me on the blog! I’m very excited about First Drop of Crimson and can’t wait to share Spade and Denise’s story with everyone.
Since one of the events in this novel centers around an unexpected supernatural ability, readers – if you could suddenly have one superpower, anything at all, what would it be? Comment to be entered in a random drawing giving away three copies of First Drop of Crimson.

Sneak Peak - click here: (http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061583223

Happy Birthday, Lady Jane’s Salon!
New York City’s First and Only Romance Reading Series Turns One

By Hope Tarr, Co-Founder

Imagine a smoky, bookish bar in New York’s West Greenwich Village, smoky because it’s a cigar lounge and bookish because well, there are actual books on the actual bookshelves lining the back room walls.

Imagine scotch, good scotch, as in single-malt served “neat” in respectably solid glasses.

Now add to the picture three romance writers—Maya Rodale, Leanna Renee Hieber, and Hope Tarr—and one book blogger, Ron Hogan tucked into a round table and whetting their respective whistles after returning from the ubiquitous Manhattan literary reading. As stogies are passed and glasses clinked, the four find themselves lamenting the lack of any forum anywhere in the city for reading the romance fiction they so dearly love.

Imagine one of the authors, Maya Rodale, hoisting her tiny hand heavenward and exclaiming, “Jeepers, why don’t we start a reading series for romance on our own?”

Okay, maybe Maya didn’t exactly say “Jeepers”—I did mention there was scotch involved—but the rest of the story is well, pretty much on the mark in terms of accuracy.

And so was born Lady Jane’s Salon, New York City’s first and so far only monthly reading series devoted to celebrating romance fiction in all its glorious diversity—traditional historical- and contemporary-set relationship stories as well as urban fantasy, paranormal, steampunk, military, gay & lesbian, you name it.

Since we launched Lady Jane’s in February 2009, we’ve been thrilled and at times humbled by the tremendous outpouring of enthusiasm from the romance community and beyond; the latter has brought us feature articles in THE NEW YORK POST and TIME OUT NEW YORK. Each Salon event is a mix of familiar faces and new friends—editors and agents, media professionals and publicists, authors both published and still-to-be-discovered, and readers, the back bone of our industry without whom none of us would exist.

Sponsored by Beatrice.com, the Salon meets on the first Monday of the month from 7 to 9 PM at Madame X (94 West Houston Street). Madame X bills itself as New York’s sexiest lounge and the décor doesn’t disappoint. Think Victorian antiques, fringed lampshades, and erotic art mounted on deliciously deep red walls, the perfect venue for a genre dedicated to l’amour.

Each Salon night features two to four guest authors reading from their latest releases, bestsellers such as Marjorie M. Lui, Lauren Willig, and Andrea Pickens AKA Cara Elliott as well as midlist and debut authors. Occasionally taking over the microphone from Ron as guest emcees are “Smart Bitch” Sarah Wendell, “Scandalous Women” blogger, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon, and historical nonfiction author, Leslie Carroll. Specially themed salons include a tribute to Harlequin Enterprise’s 60th Anniversary, the winter holidays, an historical night in honor of Lady Jane’s First Birthday this month, and, upcoming, a spec fiction/fantasy night to coincide with Thriller Fest.

For the past year proceeds from the Salon, $5 or one gently-used paperback romance novel, have benefitted Share-the-Love.org, a women’s charity co-founded by Maya Rodale and fellow author, Ann Bleakley. With authors booked through early 2011, Lady Jane will continue to support charitable organizations dedicated to bringing the pleasure of a good book—and the promise of Happily Ever After—to women in need.

Maya, Leanna Renee, Ron and I will be taking Lady Jane on the road this April-May to the Romantic Times BOOK Lovers Convention in Columbus, Ohio. With both an Author Workshop and a Special Lady Jane’s Salon Event on the program, we’re looking forward to sharing the Lady Jane’s love with authors around the country who may wish to start up satellite salons of their own.

It’s been an amazing first year for Lady Jane and like a fine wine we fully expect Her Ladyship to improve with age. To keep abreast of the latest Salon doings, visit our web site at www.ladyjanesalon.com or “friend” Lady Jane on Facebook.

Hope Tarr is the author of more than a dozen historical and contemporary romance novels. Visit Hope online at www.hopetarr.com where you can read her blog on life in the Big Apple including, of course, Lady Jane’s.

What do you think? Would you like a Lady Jane’s Salon in your neighborhood?

Video’s brought to you by Reader’s Entertainment Group - CEO Sheila Clover English:

Circle of Seven Productions (aka COS Productions) created the Book Trailer market in 2002. Since then the company has been the leader of book trailer production in the US, winning several prestigious awards for both broadband and broadcast videos.

COS Productions is a specialty company. We do book video. We not only endeavor to create quality, entertaining book video, but we are constantly looking for innovative ways to bring in new readers. COS is about the publishing industry, not just about a book, a client or a video. If what we do brings in new readers the publishing industry will benefit. If the publishing industry benefits then we have more work. COS has a symbiotic relationship with the industry we serve which makes COS Productions a good investment on many levels.

Originally created by an aspiring author and an amateur production company, COS Productions has grown to encompass an entire network of experienced, professional productions partners. These partners have won awards, created commercials for high profile companies and created music videos for well known celebrities.

COS Productions is a great blend of the publishing industry and production industry. Our script writers are published or aspiring authors, our customer service providers are individuals with experience in the publishing industry and our production partners are trained to create video that inspires readers to buy books, yet entertains the public enough to create an atmosphere that says “Books are entertainment.”

Question for you, as a reader, do you enjoy viewing booktrailers? Do they help you in your purchasing decisions? What do you like about them & what don’t you like about them — comment below!

Happy Romance,
SueG

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What makes a family?

One of my favorite themes in romance is the concept of family and what that word really means to us. I ascribe to the idea that family is both born and made. You see that theme in romance quite a bit, especially in the gay subgenre. I am lucky to have some wonderful siblings and a terrific mom, but my dad was a drug addict who died young. I never really found a replacement, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get the idea of “making” a family. And I don’t mean just popping kids out.

[Family Pic]We adopted our oldest daughter when she was a teenager, and it was because of her that we brought two Korean exchange students into our home. They lived with us for three years and are both very much our sons, though they have wonderful family back in South Korea. One lives in our “sattelite” house with our oldest and her family while he attends college locally. The other won a scholorship to Ohio State and we’re going to visit him the week of RT. They’re both part of our youngest’s wedding on January 31st as they were for our oldest daugther last March, just as our biological son is and was. We’ve had other teens and not-so-teens live with us as part of our family for short and long stretches of time. My sibs and I have adopted other adults into our family as well. My husband and I are considering foster parenting or adopting older children once the final teen finishes college and moves out. Not sure if it’ll work with all the grandkids on the way, but my mom always taught us that love given away grows. We agree!

Which makes it unsurprising that In my current release, Moon Craving, the concept of family is an important theme. Just like my own daughters, the heroine Abigail is closer to her sister Emily than anyone else, despite the fact they share no parental genes. She finds a place where she belongs amdist Talorc’s clan, when the best she thinks she can hope for is to somehow be reunited with her stepsister.

Share your thoughts: what is your favorite family concept from a book? Is your personal family born, or made, or both?

My giveaway: a bookbag filled with romance and pamper yourself goodies.

Hugs and happy reading,
Lucy

Check out Jill’s Exclusive - click here

Strip Tease
She told herself not to stare, but he truly had the most
glorious physique. His back was all sleek, smooth, bronzed
flesh, sinew rippling as he moved— “Hey!” she said as his
pants dropped. He kicked free and kept walking, in nothing
but black knit boxers. “What are you doing?” she
squeaked, even as her gaze soaked up the fact that he had
a tan line, and that the waistband of his boxers had slipped
past it, revealing a tantalizing strip of paler, smooth, tight
skin. “We’re not doing this, Wade O’Riley. Do you hear
me? This is all pretend, remember?”
“I remember. The question is, do you?” He sent her a
cheeky grin over his shoulder.
Praise for Jill Shalvis and Her Romances
“Witty, fun, and sexy—the perfect romance!”
—New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster
“Humor, intrigue, and scintillating sex. Jill Shalvis is a
total original.”
—New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Forster
“Fast-paced and deliciously fun . . . Jill Shalvis sweeps you
away.” —USA Today bestselling author Cherry Adair
“A fun, sexy story of the redemptive powers of love . . .
Red-hot!” —New York Times bestselling author JoAnn Ross

Dear Reader,

There’s nothing more wildly sexy and appealing than a professional athlete, someone willing to put life and limb on the line for the win, someone so used to doing whatever it takes to save the game, that they don’t realize that they themselves need saving.

I love torturing my heroes with love. Not sure what that says about me, but there’s something about a watching a guy suffer before getting his happily ever after. Slow Heat begins with a big, bad sexy-as-hell major league baseball catcher for the Santa Barbara Heat. Wade O’Riley is a walk on the wild side, and doesn’t see a problem with that. Unfortunately for him, management does.

When the Powers-That-Be decide Wade needs a public make-over, they task the Heat’s publicist with pretending to be his girlfriend at a celebrity wedding. They figure this will ward off both women and trouble. Problem – putting Sam and Wade together any amount of time equals trouble all on its own. Trouble, and a crazy sexual heat neither can seem to resist to save their lives . . .

Wade doesn’t have a problem with what’s happening between them. He might be the Good Time Guy, but he knows a good thing when it hits him. Sam, however, isn’t as easy to convince. She’s known Wade for a long time, and has never seen him stick. Care. Open his heart.

And since hers has been open to him since that one long ago night they’d shared, she’s doubly cautious. But risking when it comes to love is what it’s all about, and before their story is over, each will have to risk far more than they bargained for, including their hearts and souls.

As always, I’d love to hear what you think. You can find me on the web, along with my daily blog about my own adventures at http://www.jillshalvis.com.

Oh, and be sure to look for Double Play, featuring Pace’s and Holly’s story, out now as well!

Happy Reading!
Jill Shalvis

Jill is giving away 10 FREE books - comment below - tell us why you deserve to win

Chapter 1
Confucius say: “Baseball wrong—man with four balls cannot walk.”
~Author Unknown
She’d read somewhere that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, but Samantha McNead knew better than that—in certain men the stomach was aiming just a bit too high.
Wade O’Riley was one of them.
The best defensive catcher in major league baseball, he had women lining up to meet him wherever he went. And it wasn’t home cooking that they wanted to give him either.
Not that Wade seemed to mind. Nope, even with all the constraints that went with the new big, fat, multimillion dollar contract he’d just signed for Santa Barbara’s expansion team The Heat, the guy seemed oblivious to pressure. Laid-back and easygoing, he took everything as it came, with a grain of salt and a slow, knowing smile that let everyone in on the joke.
Because life was one big funny to Wade.
Sam appreciated that, she just didn’t live it the way he did. Didn’t know how. As the publicist for the Heat, as one of the few females in a man’s world, her life tended to be more work than fun lately. Hence her mission today.
The limo pulled up in front of Wade’s big, cottage-style beach house, perched on a bluff over the ocean. From the backseat she could see the waves froth and pitch.
Much like her stomach.
In the work aspect of her life, she was extremely comfortable. That was a given. She’d been raised by men: her father, her uncle, her brother, and her cousins were all tough, implacable, unforgiving alpha males. Failure had never been an option, which translated to being very good at whatever she tackled. Unfortunately for her more womanly parts, all she’d tackled lately was the job.
A job she loved with all her heart, but sometimes she yearned for more. Maybe one of these days a man would sweep her off her feet and then into bed, but it wouldn’t be today, and it wouldn’t be with the guy she’d been tasked with babysitting.
The Heat had played last night. It was the first week of April, and it’d been an exhibition game, a prelude to their season opener on Sunday. They’d played the Padres, and it’d turned out to be surprisingly down and dirty. Wade had hit a homer in the second inning, then been harshly walked in the third when the pitcher had hit him in the thigh with a throwaway pitch. The game had gone two extra innings, until past midnight, when the Heat had finally won on Wade’s double, so Sam expected him to be exhausted and probably sore as hell. Maybe she’d even have to pull him out of bed.
The thought brought concern, and a secret tingle to those womanly parts she’d been neglecting.
Nice to know they still worked.
As she reached for the limo door handle, Wade’s front door opened, and six feet of rugged, lean muscled male stepped out in Levi’s and an untucked blue and white striped button-down. A gust of wind molded his clothes against the body that tended to make Sam’s tongue stick to the roof of her mouth.
Wade stopped to slide on his sunglasses, the picture of a California surfer, all easygoing, laid-back charm.
He’d been a rock star in another life, Sam was convinced, and she purposely let out a breath and leaned back, reminding herself he was just a guy. A flawed guy at that, though certainly none of his flaws happened to be showing at the moment.
He moved across the lawn in an unhurried, sexy stride, all scruffy gorgeousness, and opened the limo door, letting in the chilly April afternoon air. With one hand on the roof, the other on the door, he bent down, peering in through his Prada sunglasses, merely arching a brow when he saw her.
Couldn’t blame him. They weren’t exactly on speaking terms.
His sun-kissed light brown hair was either styled messy today on purpose, or he hadn’t bothered with a comb. His face sported at least a day-old beard so she was going with the no comb theory. He should have looked sloppy and unkempt but nothing about him ever looked anything less than God’s gift. She’d seen him in uniform, in designer suits, in workout gear, in all sorts of things including absolutely nothing, and he always looked perfect.
Especially in the nothing.
“Hey,” he said in that low, slightly raspy voice of his, the one that never failed to immediately put her back up.
And/or turn her on.
“Hey yourself.” He hadn’t limped, and he sure as hell didn’t look exhausted. The opposite, she thought a little breathlessly as his deceptively lazy gaze raked her in from head to toe. Deceptively, because behind that beach bum front of his lay a sharp-as-hell wit.
Given their . . . tense relationship at the moment, she didn’t smile.
And though he usually smiled at anything female, neither did he.
“Are you okay after last night’s game?” she asked.
“Always. How about you, Princess?
She’d asked him a million times not to call her that. It drove her crazy, which was of course why he did it. “I’m fine. We need to talk.”
“Sorry,” he said with mock regret. “But we don’t talk. We fight. And I’m not in the mood.”
He hadn’t been “in the mood” since what she called The Mishap.
The Mishap Never To Be Talked About.
Except . . . except Wade got along with the entire world, and she had to admit it was disturbing that they didn’t. Couldn’t. But there was nothing to be done about that now.
Nothing.
She had a job to do. They had a job to do. “I realize you probably don’t want to go over the plan,” she said, feeling at a disadvantage sitting while Wade still stood. “But I really think we should.”
“I know the plan,” he said. “One of the corporations endorsing the Heat has a new, conservative CEO who has high family values, and is upset with our PR troubles—”
“Your PR troubles,” she corrected.
He let out a tight breath and bowed his head in agreement. “And you, the Skiper, the owners—hell everyone but me—believes that the world cares about one more ridiculous baseball scandal involving some woman claiming I’ve gotten her pregnant.”
“You can’t blame people for believing it; you do have a bit of a playboy reputation.”
“I never slept with Tia.”
“She produced pictures of you and her on the beach by your house.”
He just looked at her.
“See,” she pointed out. “This is why we have to talk about it.”
“Look, I get what the powers-that-be want from me. From us. We pretend to be a couple in the eyes of the press so I look like a good boy, and our endorsements won’t be pulled. How hard can it be?”
“I don’t know,” she replied cautiously. “How hard?”
His eyes heated. And a matching heat seared through her belly at the inadvertent double entrendre. “You know what I mean, Wade. The plan—”
“The plan is that I have to behave. And you’re supposed to make me.” He paused. “Though I am looking forward to the make me part.”
Oh, God. “You know what? This isn’t going to work.” She was fun, dammit. Even lighthearted at times. Why the hell he made her sound so uptight and stuffy, she had no idea.
Wait. She did have an idea. An exact idea.
She’d slept him.
Once.
On the one single night in her entire life when she’d had too much to drink. Except there’d been no sleeping involved. To make matters worse, it’d been one of the most erotic, sensual nights of her life. “Listen, I realize we’ve had our differences, but—”
“Differences?” He laughed, then shook his head, still amused.
“Fine, so differences doesn’t quite cut it. We have to get a move on.” A friend of his was getting married. A close friend who just happened to be a big-time Hollywood producer, and Wade was one of the groomsmen. The wedding was an entire weekend extravaganza, where there was sure to be tons of press. If he attracted any of it—and just by being Wade, he most definitely would—he needed to attract good press.
By the end of the two-hour trip to the famed Orange County, specifically Laguna Beach, they needed to be in sync and looking like lovers. Willing to do her part, she practiced a smile on him, the smile that usually got her exactly what she wanted, which in this case was Wade’s cooperation. Thing was, he didn’t often feel the need to cooperate. “You getting in?”
He looked at her for a long beat, all big and built and completely inscrutable, during which time she held her breath. For as kick-back as he was, he was also tough as steel. He had to be. Catchers were known for their courage and toughness, having what was arguably the hardest position in baseball. And Wade was the best catcher behind the plate, period. He had to command the respect of all the players, make the calls on the field, have good sequences in those calls, and the ability to change it up and keep the hitters off balance. All of which meant he had to be smart, sharp, and strong in both mind and body.
Wade was all of those things and more, and clearly one of those things was decisive. He tossed his overnight bag into the limo and followed it in, dropping down next to her even though he could have had the opposite seat all to himself. Leaning back, he stretched out his long, long legs and looked around. “So. We have any food in here?”
“No. Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
He was always starving. Probably because he burned God knew how many calories a day between his five-mile runs, weight training, and the game itself. “We can stop and get something to go. Rosa’s?” she asked, naming the closest café. Look at that, she was getting the hang of taking care of him already.
“DQ is good.”
She’d never met a grown man with such a love for fast food before. But whatever he wanted, she’d get. It would make him happy, and a happy Wade was a hopefully compliant one. With a nod from her, the driver started the engine and they began their trek, heading through town toward Dairy Queen.
Santa Barbara was a colorful blend of the Spanish history of California and beach living. Wade was looking out the window, taking it in, giving her his profile as they turned onto Highway 1, heading south. The sparkling Pacific was on their right, the green, craggily Santa Ynez peaks on their left, both breathtaking.
They stopped at Dairy Queen and quickly got back on the road. Wade was quiet as he ate, watching as they left the affluent homes and ranches, heading into the outlying county and the less privileged areas. She knew he’d been underprivileged himself. Despite his many faults, he was surprisingly humble and quick to laugh at himself, and often joked he’d grown up so far from the proverbial train tracks that he hadn’t even been able to see the tracks.
And her?
Well, she’d grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth and everyone knew it. It was certainly all Wade knew about her, because it’d been the only thing she’d ever let him see. He had no idea that the two of them had a hell of a lot more in common that he’d ever guess.
He polished off two burgers and went to work on his fries. “So . . .” His green eyes were relaxed but assessing as they met hers. “When were you going to tell me they want us to do this boyfriend/girlfriend thing for a whole month?”
“You heard?” she asked in surprise. She’d been asked to talk him into it.
“I work with a bunch of women, Sam. They tell all.”
“You work with a group of professional athletes, male.”
“Who gossip more than a bunch of teenage girls after cheerleading practice. Pace heard it from Henry, who overheard Gage talking to you.”
Pace being Wade’s best friend and the Heat’s pitcher. Henry was their shortstop. Gage, their team manager. And yes, the supposedly professional clubhouse really was similar in nature to a high school locker room.
Sprawled out, relaxed, Wade watched her with a half smile, looking far too appealing. She took a careful breath. “A month shows stability. It’s more impressive than just a weekend wedding fling.”
“So you’re okay with being joined at the hip for a month?”
“If you are.”
He considered this. “Are there benefits?”
“No.”
He sighed. “So much for fun.”
“Hey, I’m fun.” He didn’t say a word, which burned. “I am! And I just realized, there are benefits.”
He cocked his head.
“Well . . . I can be a pretty convincing bitch when I want to be.”
“Noooo,” he said with feigned shock. “But how exactly is that a benefit?”
“I can scare away all the crazy women that chase you around, thereby giving you a break. And in return, you can relax knowing you won’t have to take care of me like your usual fan-girl, clingy type who bores you within the span of one date.”
He arched a brow.
“Just calling ’em like I see ’em.”
He didn’t say anything to that as he finished his fries, then tossed all the trash into the bag and set it aside. He rubbed a hand over his jaw and said another entire boatload of nothing.
“It’s just a role, Wade. And it could have been worse. We could have lost the endorsement entirely, or they could have traded you.”
“They’re that desperate for good press?” He shook his head in disbelief.
“Hey, baseball isn’t exactly showing its best foot to the public lately. We need this. The Heat needs this.”
“And your father’s okay with it?” he asked carefully.
With good reason. Her father was one of the owners of the Heat. Her uncle owned their sister team, the South Carolina Charleston Bucks. The McNead brothers were famous for getting their way, or more accurately, infamous.
And they were baseball royalty.
Or had been until Samantha’s brother Jeremy—her PR equivalent at the Bucks—had stepped over the ethics line, the moral line, and several other lines as well, and brought the wrath of the press down on the McNeads. It hadn’t gone over well, and damage control was required. Gee, guess who was in charge of damage control? “Yes,” she said quietly. “My father thinks it’s a good idea.”
“So they’re willing to pimp out their princess when it suits them.”
Ouch. But the answer was yes, a McNead was expected to stick to the pack. She’d known that by the time she could talk in full sentences. “It’s just an illusion.”
“It’s an entire month.”
The reminder made her stomach quiver. An entire month of being his girlfriend. “We’re grown-ups.”
“Really?” His stark green gaze was more genuine curiosity than sarcasm. “Because we’ve not spent more than two minutes together without snarling at each other.”
God. So true.
“Well, except for the elevator,” he said.
Also true, and her stomach executed a double gainer with a twist as the memory flew back, hot and sexy, resurrected by nothing more than the sound of his voice and the sudden sleepy look in his eyes.
It’d happened last season. The Heat had just lost, bad. The press had been ruthless, and her father had been pissed at her for somehow not being Super Woman. She’d been in desperate need of some alone time.
What she’d gotten instead was stuck in an elevator on the way to her hotel room with Wade and a couple little bottles of airplane Scotch, and her pity party for one had turned into a naked party for two. The erotic, alcohol-tinged memories came to her in slow-mo and as always, always, sent her spinning between total and complete humiliation and an even more devastating aching hunger and desire.
If she could just erase from her memory banks the picture of Wade taking her straight to heaven in under five minutes she would, but the pictures in her brain only seemed to only strengthen with time instead of lessen. She darted a quick glance at their driver, who was currently sipping a seventy-two-ounce DQ soda and rocking his head to the radio as he beat the steering wheel like a drum. “I don’t want to discuss that night.”
Wade shrugged. No skin off his nose. Hell, he’d probably had lots of nights like that since. She concentrated on the view. Not a hardship. Santa Barbara wasn’t called the American Riviera for nothing, and she watched as they passed four-thousand-foot peaks covered in unique and beautiful chaparral and sandstone outcrops. “So we’re good?” she asked quietly.
Wade smiled. It was his professional smile, the one that could melt a woman’s panties at fifty paces and make men wish that they had half his athletic prowess, and it was a charmer. She knew its potency, braced herself for it, and still felt her panties begin to melt. “What the hell.” He stretched out even further, his leg sliding to hers. “We’re good. Girlfriend.”
“Fake girlfriend,” she corrected, shoving him over, telling herself she was absolutely not noticing the heat of him, the feel of his rock hard thigh . . .
He stretched some more, straightening his arms above him, briefly exposing a flash of washboard abs between the hem of his shirt and the waistband of his jeans. Jeans that were faded at all the stress points. He had some very fine stress points . . .
She saw more men in a day than the average woman dreamed of. Many of those men—if she was in the clubhouse before a game—in various stages of nakedness, leaving her utterly immune to tantalizing glimpses of male skin.
Which didn’t explain why her mouth went dry.
“Maybe we should kiss on it,” Wade suggested. “Seal the deal.”
Her tummy quivered, a fact she firmly ignored. “What? No!”
“Spoil sport.”
He’d probably have fallen over if she’d said yes, which she absolutely wouldn’t do. Even if he was the kiss master.
Which he was . . .
His leg was touching hers again. He was hogging the backseat, albeit unintentionally. He was a big guy and he needed space. He also smelled good. He looked good, too, which really didn’t seem fair at all. But he was here, not pitching a diva fit, and she owed him for that. “Thank you,” she said. “For agreeing to this.”
“You’re welcome.”
Well, that seemed surprisingly genuine, and she had to wonder if maybe she’d anticipated trouble with him simply because of their past. Maybe . . . maybe deep down he really was a good guy.
It was possible.
Maybe they could laugh about this, her having to keep up the pretense of being his lover, when they’d already done the deed.
That could possibly be fun. Maybe.
Sort of.
And maybe they could even become friends. It would be nice—
“You packing any Scotch today?” he asked, looking around the limo. “Should I be bracing myself for you to tear my clothes off again?”
With a sigh, she leaned back and closed her eyes. She could safely check both fun and friends off the list.

On my drive home this evening I was listening to An Echo in the Bone, & started thinking, wow, his voice reminds me of Liam Neeson & Liam reminds me of Jamie’s character too. Of course, then my mind wandered & I started thinking of other characters & what actor resembles them (glad you weren’t on the same highway with me right? & they think cell phones are dangerous!)

Sam, from Suzanne Brockmann’s, Gone Too Far, reminds me of Mel Gibson.

Acheron, reminds me of Keneau Reeves with longer hair.

& of course,

A young, Brad Pitt reminded me of Stephen in Mary Balogh’s, Seducing An Angel (look for Constantine’s story on May 25,2010, Secret Affair).

Julia Quinn always has such yummy heroes . . . .Benedict from Julia’s, An Offer From A Gentleman, reminds me of Tom Selleck.

Devil Cynster, from Devil’s Bride by Stephanie Laurens, reminds me of . . . I’m not sure who he reminds me of, someone very dark I guess . . .

Ben Affleck could be any rake in ton, as Robert Downey Jr, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, etc.

So, you tell me . . . some of your favorite characters & who do they remind you of? If your not sure, comment on some of my comparisons, do you agree? & now let’s match up these hero favorites:

Zadist, Black Dagger Brotherhood

Julian, Fantasy Lover

Sabian

Julian Savage

Alec Buchanan

Cal Bonner, Chicago Stars series

Luc Martineau

Have a great day! HAPPY ROMANCE!!

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At last, “We all have to make it, Beyond the Night”