Tuesday, October 29, 2013

#TeaserTuesday Snippet from The Billionaire Princess

It is Teaser Tuesday again. Here is a snippet from The Billionaire Princess book 3 in my series.  From now until the end of the month I am donating the proceeds from the sale of this book to Dog Orphans a no kill animal shelter.

Countless men had called her beautiful, yet coming from him it sounded different, more sincere perhaps. Running her tongue over her lips to moisten them, she met his gaze. Then they both took a step forward at the same instant. A tiny part of her brain went on autopilot when she felt her body come into contact with his. Slowly, he lowered his head toward hers and she found herself craving the taste of his lips more than she craved her next breath.

When his lips settled on hers he placed his hands on her shoulders, warmth seeping though her body. Their kiss remained gentle and sweet, but Sara allowed herself to learn the taste and texture of his lips, something she'd wanted to do since he climbed into the limo that afternoon.

The desire to increase the intensity of the kiss soon exploded. Sara wrapped her arms around Christopher's waist and anchored him against her as they continued to kiss. When the need for air became so great she feared his lungs would explode, Christopher pulled his mouth away from hers and began to leave a trail of kisses from the corner of her mouth across her jaw and down her neck.

In response Sara tilted her neck to the side to give him better access. Christopher continued his trail of kisses as his hands slid up and down the skin of her uncovered back causing her to tingle at his touch.

“Maybe we should go inside,” he whispered near her ear.


http://bit.ly/12wi0Ul AllRomance Ebooks

Lots of authors on Facebook are posting snippets today. Use the hash tag #TeaserTuesday to find them.

Today's Book Feature: Weak at the Knees #GF_WeakAtKnees


We got so busy living life that we forgot to live our dreams.”

Danni Lewis has been playing it safe for twenty-six years, but her sheltered existence is making her feel old ahead of time. When a sudden death plunges her into a spiral of grief, she throws caution to the wind and runs away to France in search of a new beginning.


The moment ski instructor Olivier du Pape enters her shattered world she falls hard, in more ways than one.



Their mutual desire is as powerful and seductive as the mountains around them. His dark gypsy looks and piercing blue eyes are irresistible.



Only she must resist, because he has a wife – and she’d made a pact to never get involved with a married man.



But how do you choose between keeping your word and being true to your soul?






Weak at the Knees is Jo’s debut novel in the new adult, contemporary romance genre – a story about love, loss and relationships, set between London and the heart of the French Alps. It received a 4 out of 5 rating from the UK national paper The Sun! The Sun newspaper is the UK's most popular paper (2 million readers daily).


 
 
 
 
Excerpt
 
Olivier sits next to me on the piano stool. We’re even closer than that day up the mountain and it’s even more intoxicating. His body is so close to mine that the slightest adjustment would have us touching. I can feel his heat, an electrical charge which makes the side of my leg that’s almost brushing his tingle all the way down. He pulls up his woolly, navy sleeves. “Shall we?” I note the gold wedding band on his dark, manly hands as his fingers hover above the keyboard. I nod, not trusting myself to speak, thinking the sooner he starts playing piano the better, to distract me from this powerful attraction. He crashes both hands down with flair and starts playing his version of the Boogie Woogie. It’s slightly jazzier and more sophisticated than mine. I let him play by himself for a while, enjoying watching him, surprised by how good he is.





The rhythm gets to me, my upper torso unconsciously pulsing forward, toes tapping in my shoes. I put my mug down on top of the piano and start trying to improvise a Gerswhin-esque melody line, fluttering my right hand up and down the keyboard in syncopation to Olivier’s beat. For about ten minutes we thump away, cheesy grins on our faces, occasionally catching each others’ eye. We play whatever comes into our heads, changing the mood and key from time to time. Sometimes it works and sometimes it’s a discordant mess, but it doesn’t matter. By the time Olivier eventually tires and crashes a final chord, our bodies are touching all the way from our shoulders to our knees. I don’t want to move, which is exactly why I do. I stand up, to recover my senses and my drink.


 
Meet The Author
 


When Jo was ten years old she wrote a short story about losing a loved one. Her mother and big sister were so moved by the tale that it made them cry. Having reduced them to tears she vowed that the next time she wrote a story it would make them smile instead. Happily she succeeded and with this success grew an addiction for wanting to reach out and touch people with words. Jo lives in London with her husband and three children where she works as a TV and print journalist. She tells life stories and can often be found travelling the globe researching the next big holiday hotspots for readers to enjoy. Since becoming a mother anything even remotely sad makes her cry. She’s a sucker for a good romance and tear-jerker movies are the worst. She’s that woman in the cinema, struggling to muffle audible wails as everyone else turns round to stare.


P.S Jo’s pretty certain one of her daughters has inherited this gene.
 
 
Jo loves to hear from readers.  She can be found:
 
Before you leave be sure to leave enter Jo's giveaway.  During this tour she is giving away a $50 Gift Card to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  To increase your chances of winning, visit the other stops on her tour. Her other stops can be found here:  http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/08/virtual-book-tour-weak-at-knees-by-jo.html
 
 
 

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Saturday, October 26, 2013

Traumatic and Life Changing Events

Like all of you, I have experienced life changing events in my life.  I originally started thinking about this because four years ago today my family's home burned down.  At the time I was home with my three children ages 2 years and 4 months.  Also with me that afternoon was my sister in law, her two children and my two small dogs.  My husband was away on business at the time. Thankfully everyone got out safe.

This event as well as other major events in my life have shaped who I am and how I conduct my life.  Perhaps this is why I like to write and read romance novels.  I am able to shape my characters and the life events that make them who they are.  At the same time, I am able to assure that my characters reach their happily ever after by the end of the novel.

In real life not everything results in a happy ending. Yet, no matter what events we face, we all have two choices.  We can either let them weaken us or we can overcome them and become stronger.  I hope all of you are like me and use what ever obstacles that fall in our path to become stronger people.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Deciding On What Genre To Write

Over the weekend I attended a wonderful RWA conference in New Jersey.  It is one of the things I look forward to every year.  As usual there were workshops on all aspects of writing as well as the business of being a writer.  I tried to take a few of each.  Several of the workshops were genre specific which got me thinking.  I read across a few different romance genres but for now only write contemporary.

Someday I would love to try writing a historical, but to be honest I am a little scared.  Not only will it require research, which I can handle, but what it I get it wrong?  I know there are some readers who would never forgive me if I am writing a Regency era romance but have my characters using terms not introduced until say the late 19th century.

At the same time I would love to write a paranormal.  The nice thing about this is I can build my own world with my own rules.  The bad part is I have to build my own world with my own rules.  From the outside that sounds easy, but once you do it you must keep things consistent.

So for now I think I will stick with my writing contemporary romances.  They are my comfort zone for now.  Maybe once the girls are all in school full time I will take more risks.


Sunday, October 20, 2013

The Fear of Writing Stage

As some of you may know last week I released the 3rd book in my contemporary romance series.  Seeing the book for sale and receiving feedback is wonderful, however it also means that I have now entered my "fear of writing stage".  I experienced the exact same thing after book 1 was released and then again after book 2 came out.  I had hoped to avoid it this time, but it is here in all its raging glory. 

Now this stage is not the same as experiencing writers' block.  The general ideas are there and I am writing.  Instead, it is a gut wrenching fear that I will not be able to complete the book or if I do that it will terrible.

Like many authors, I write from the seat of my pants for the most part. I have a general idea of what I want to occur in the story and the characters involved, but the rest just comes to me as I write.  Maybe if I did more plotting this awful stage would not pop up, but that's just not how I write.

What about everyone else?  Do other writers ever experience a similar fear or is it just me?  And if you do how do you go about handling it?  I would love to know because so far I have not found a secret weapon to overcome it.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Teaser Tuesday Again

Today is Teaser Tuesday. Here is a snippet from The Billionaire Playboy book 2 in The Sherbrookes of Newport Series which is now available as an audio book as well as ebook.

“Let me,” she whispered against his lips. She heard a deep intake of breath and couldn't contain her smile.

Charlie took her time undoing each tiny pearl button. Between each one she placed a gentle kiss on his lips or caressed his arm or back. The change in his breathing let her know her actions excited him. As she trailed a hand down his chest she wondered just how long she could tease him before he turned the tables. Jake didn't give her the opportunity to do anything else before tearing his arms out of the shirt as soon as she slipped the final button from its hole. The white t-shirt he wore underneath immediately followed, both of them quickly landing in a pile on the floor....


Jake with clothes on was gorgeous, but half-naked he was simply a sight to behold. Unable to stop herself, she ran a hand over his powerful chest then down his sculptured abs. She felt his abs contract and a new feeling of empowerment flowed through her.
 
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 Lots of other authors are posting snippets today. Use the hash tag #TeaserTuesday on Facebook to discover more.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Ever Changing Schedules


Like most of you there always seems to be a million things I need to do and just not enough time to get them all done.  So for me anyway, my schedule seems to be constantly changing.  Just when I think I have a handle on things, it changes again.  This fall has been no different.  When I wrote most of book 1 The Teacher's Billionaire, my oldest was in preschool so I got up every morning before I had to wake her and wrote.  Then while I worked on book 2, 3, and 4 in The Sherbrookes series I found that no longer worked.  Instead I started writing at night when the girls went to bed and on Sundays during football season.  The girls got in the habit of watching the New England Patriots play football with dad so I took that time and headed up to the café at Barnes and Noble.

My oldest is in first grade now and my twins are in preschool 3 mornings a week.  As a result my schedule has changed again.  Now I head up to the café after I drop the twins off at school and write a little at night when everyone goes to bed.  I am hoping this new schedule will allow me to get more work done in the same amount of time.  Who knows though.  I am sure once I get settled in my new schedule it will change again.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

My Thoughts On Romance Novels




Whether a sweet contemporary or a steamy historical, romance is in my opinion the best genre out there. By why is that, you may be wondering?


Romance novels unlike other types offer you a chance to fall in love with the characters while they fall in love with each other. Despite whatever events occur during the novel, you the reader, know that in the end there will be a happy ending. And everyone loves a happy ending. Didn't all of our favorite Fairy Tales end with “And They Lived Happily Ever After”.


I also believe that romance novels are so spectacular and popular because there are so many types of romance novels available. Readers can find everything from sweeping historicals, to sweet contemporaries and paranormals to steamy eroticas.


Every romance readers journey and tastes are different so I am going to take a minute and tell you a little about mine.


An avid reader and writer since about the age of 10, I discovered the world of romance novels a little late. I picked up my first romance novel A Gentle Rogue by one of my all time favorite authors, Johanna Lindsey during my freshman year of college. And I was immediately hooked. Soon I found myself scouring the book shelves at Walden Books and Walmart looking for another great romance. In no time I fell in love with other historical romance authors like Julie Garwood, Stephanie Laurens, Julia Quinn, and Hannah Howell. Not long after that I discovered great contemporary romances by authors like Jessica Bird, Kristan Higgans, and Christine Flynn. Next I found the whole paranormal world of romance by authors like Lynn Kurland and Jessica Andersen.


Today I read almost entirely romance romance novels from various sub-genres depending on my mood.


In addition to reading romance, I began writing them around the time I got married. For me it was just a natural progression. Besides what could be better than writing about two people meeting, falling in love and living happily ever after? Nothing, right? My first romance, The Teacher's Billionaire came out in March of 2012 and is Free for all ereaders.


While getting published was always a dream of mine, it never would have happened with out the support of my family and OTHER ROMANCE AUTHORS. I don't know about authors from other genres, but those who write romance are the best. They are supportive and giving. They are always willing to offer helpful advice or a kind word. And I am thankful to every romance author I have worked with along the way.


Thanks to all the support and great friends I have made along the way I published the 4th book in my series The Sherbrookes of Newport last week titled The Billionaire's Best Friend. In my latest book we again see Lauren McDonald who we first saw in The Teacher's Billionaire. In book 4 the one man Lauren never stopped loving returns to town and she must decide between the man who promises her the world and the man who has the power to crush her heart again.


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What are your thoughts on Romance Novels?  Why do you like to read them?  What type do you like to read?