Promo Blitz: Blunder Woman

Blunder Woman - PROMO Blitz

By Tanya Eby

Contemporary Romance / Chick Lit / Women's Fiction / Romantic Comedy

Date Published: 1/15/2014

Chloe Knaggs is a bit of a nerd, a bit of a klutz, and all Blunder Woman, especially when it comes to love. Take the love of her life, Matt M. - or as she calls him - Mmm. He's her consummate unboyfriend, meaning, they have all the intimacy of a dating couple without any of the intimacy. Confused? So is Chloe. When Matt decides to elope with the very beautiful, svelte Amber, Chloe goes a little bit crazy and takes her hippy mom and best friend Megan right along with her.

Blunder Woman is a hilarious romp with bright characters through a series of misadventures including a derby party gone horribly wrong, a night of drinking Flaming Turtles, and a fundraising event where the biggest blunder of all occurs. Blunder Woman is funny, fresh, and above all real...in a truly awkward way.

WARNING: "Blunder Woman" will make you snort out loud so drinking while reading is not recommended.

EXCERPT

Two

A Brief (but not brief enough) History About Matt

I met Matt at a group training camp, you know those places to which companies take their awkward employees--employees who don’t get along and work better on their own. So the Company makes everyone go to a weekend long ‘retreat’ which is really a weekend long house-arrest without the little ankle bracelets.

I’ve done these things before.

You have the group leader and you’re locked in a room with your ‘teammates’ (or office workers who usually you have nothing to say to), and then the group leader leads you in an exercise of trust…usually something like falling backwards from a high perch and hoping to God your coworkers catch you. It’s supposed to teach you about trust and the importance of working as a team, but I don’t think it translates at all. During one of these exercises, I actually spend most of the time obsessing about how much I don’t trust my coworkers and how very little I want to fall into their arms. But I digress.

I didn’t want to go to the stupid Employee Esteem Training but I had to. I’d just been hired part-time at the musical society to write grants and organize fundraisers and I had to show that I was part of the team, a real go-getter, a team player. (More on this musical society later. Work is important, but right now I’m talking about the love of my life.) So the team-building thing was mandatory. No go, no job, end of story. So I was very pleased to walk into the Wedgwood Center (a.k.a. The Happy Place) and see a very handsome and very male individual standing in the center of the room, arms open and smiling. Sex appeal came off of him in waves, the way the scent of Axe deodorant pours off high school boys.

I can tell you what he looks like, but it doesn’t do him justice. Descriptions never do, you just end up envisioning a freakish monster with whatever hair and eye color I’ve described and try to think it’s sexy. So instead of saying he was tall and had dirty blonde hair and a wide smile (words that don’t really describe him at all), I’ll say instead that he was a mixture of Jason Bateman of Arrested Development quirkiness, with a Harrison Ford grin, and a body (I imagine) just like an oiled-up man posing in Glamour’s Hot Guy of the Month. This was Matt: sensitive, sexy, warm, sexy, open, funny, sexy, tall, ripped, sexy, and a smile that made me feel like he was looking just at me, even if he was looking at everyone the same way. And he was sexy. Did I say that? Like the kind of guy that should reproduce because, duh, that’s what we’re designed for, right?

I should have known I was in trouble right there. A man you’re attracted to somehow makes your brain stop working. It’s some kind of alien power, I’m sure of it. Attraction equals instant stupidity.

And when he opened his arms and welcomed us, I was ready to do any stupid trust exercise he asked, including the high wire walk between trees, which I did, all the while screaming, “I hate this! I can’t do this! Get me out of this tree!!!” Then I looked down at Matt and felt, somehow, I could do anything. Blammo. He suddenly became my rock, my force, and the new obsession of my life.

Two days later, I called him at his work. I called at 6:30 on a Sunday, certain he wouldn’t be there, and he wasn’t, thank the Gods, so I left a truly awkward message.

“Hi! Matt! This is Chloe!” My voice was so tight and peppy it sounded like I was on helium. “Oh. Chloe from that group you just had, you know, Mozart fundraiser go-go-go! I was the one with the curly shortish reddish hair, the one who talked a lot, the one who screamed ‘FOR GODDSAKES GET ME OUT OF THIS TREE!!!’ Yeah. So I was wondering if you’d like to go out for coffee with me? Scratch that. I don’t drink coffee, but maybe you do. You could get coffee and I could get something else. Tea maybe. Probably hot chocolate. Or maybe just water. And a scone. I like scones. Do you like scones? Yeah. So. I’d like to meet you. For an un-coffee. Okey-dokey? Okay.”

Not only had I actually said “Okey-dokey”, I also hung up without leaving my number. I had to call back and leave another message that I knew he’d get before the previous message so I basically had to repeat the entire thing. It was terrible.

He called me Monday morning.

We had uncoffee on Tuesday. Followed by unlunch (I was too nervous to eat) and an unwalk (we sat on a park bench and talked). I thought, I’ve found him. He’s the One, and leaned in to kiss him. He answered a call on his phone. It was his mom. At the end of our ‘date’ he hugged me to him, told me he loved spending time with me, that I was unlike anyone he’d ever met.

I’d been in love with him ever since.

I’ve loved him for two years. Two years of incredible conversations and ‘undates’. Of having dinner together, and movies, and celebrating each other’s birthday parties. Two years of meeting him for uncoffees and having unsex (meaning elaborate sex fantasies only in my mind), of being at his beck and call. Two years of celebrating holidays not on the holiday, but near it. Of talking about our daily lives on the phone or while curled up watching a movie. And when I stop to think about it, two years of never meeting his friends, never meeting his family, and never, not ever, meeting his penis.

I’ve loved him for two years. Two! I probably love him still. And I hate his guts for that. Really. I do.

Tanya Eby

Tanya Eby is an audiobook narrator and novelist living in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her tiki-obsessed husband and two quirky kids.

Author Links

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog

Email: Tanya@tanyaeby.com

Buy Links

Amazon | Smashwords | Audio Book

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This Blitz is brought to you by Reading Addiction Book Tours

Cover Reveal: Forever In Bloom By Jennifer Domenico

Forever In Bloom - Cover Reveal

Jennifer Domenico

Contemporary Romance

Date to be Published: 9/16/2013

Synopsis:

A love strong enough to survive even the toughest challenge…or is it?

From the moment he told her, Ava never doubted Enzo’s love for her. How could she? He spent every day of his life making sure she felt it. Through every trial, the couple has only come out stronger for it. She was confident that no matter what challenge life had in store, she and Enzo’s love would endure.

Just as Ava’s dreams for the future fall into place something happens that she never imagined. Still, she knows with Enzo by her side, happiness is always just around the corner. What Ava doesn’t know is a threat she thought was long gone is back and will stop at nothing to take everything that is precious away from her.

A love, even as strong as theirs, can only be tested so much before it breaks. Can Enzo and Ava’s love survive their toughest challenge yet? Will Enzo’s love be enough to keep Ava safe or is she better off away from the only man she’s ever loved? Will they ever get the happily ever after they deserve?

Book three is the final installment of the Sunflower Trilogy.

EXCERPT

I close my eyes and try to calm my rattled nerves. I can’t believe the fucking nerve of this woman. I know I have to talk to Enzo and find out what he knows about this. I can’t imagine that he saw her and would keep that from me.

I dial his cell phone but my hands are shaky. I wait patiently for him to answer, knowing he had meetings at Girasole that morning, and wondering just what I’m going to say if he tells me he saw her.

“Ciao, amore,” Enzo answers, cheerfully.

“Enzo, Anna called me.” I don’t waste any time on pleasantries.

“What?!”

“Anna fucking called me and said she’s already been in contact with you. Tell me she’s lying.”

His sudden silence makes my heart sink. “Are you keeping secrets from me, Enzo?” I ask in utter disbelief.

“We need to talk about this when we both get home.”

“You saw her? You fucking saw her and didn’t tell me?!” I yell into the phone.

“Calm down, Ava.”

“Calm down?! Why the fuck haven’t I heard about it until now. Do you know how fucking humiliating this is to me to hear it from her?”

“Ava, stop swearing at me.”

“Don’t fucking tell me what to do!”

Enzo takes a deep breath. “Ava, this is something I wanted to discuss with you but I was waiting for the right time. I refuse to do this over the phone.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine how you’re going to explain this to me. She’s not even supposed to be anywhere near us. Why haven’t you had her arrested yet?”

“I said we’ll discuss it in person.”

“Well then you better stop whatever you are doing right now and meet me at the house.”

I slam down the phone, the only time I’ve ever hung up on my husband. My blood is fucking boiling right now. I know in my heart that I am not going to like what I hear. Suddenly his secretive behavior is starting to make a lot more sense.

Jennifer Domenico

Author Bio

Jennifer Domenico is the author of The Sunflower Trilogy: Turn Towards the Sun, Turn Towards the Sun: After the Rain, and Turn Towards the Sun: Forever in Bloom. She is also the author of Have my Heart- A Novella, and Beautifully Twisted. When not writing her next novel, she spends her time devouring the words of other great authors, watching home improvement shows or talent competitions, and sleeping whenever possible.

She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her very Italian husband who provides her with endless material for her next Italian stallion character. She loves connecting with readers so stop by and say hello to her.

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Reading Addiction Blog Tours: Jane Lark - Illict Love

In the beginning – where my story inspiration starts

My stories always begin with a single image in my head. I see a picture, and then as I see that picture I feel the emotion of the scene.

Illicit Love is inspired by the memoirs of a real 19^th Century courtesan. When I read her story, I think it was the emotion expressed in her words which presented a picture in my mind’s eye.

I saw a woman, looking across at a young man, I felt how she was physically drawn to him, his looks attracted her, and she felt a hot, burning longing suddenly, yet there was pain inside her too, and a dead feeling. Edward’s and Ellen’s story unraveled from there.

The image above isn’t even in Harriette Wilson’s memoirs, so it isn’t her story, but then anything can stir the images in my head which go on to become a new plot for a book. The opening image of the book I’ve just begun working on was inspired by a Lady Gaga song. She was even singing about the opposite sex to the image her song suddenly threw into my mind.

Authors all have different inspirations, but I know there are other people who start a story with a single image.

Several years ago, when I’d first begun writing with a determination that one day I would have a novel published, I visited Lyme Regis in the UK. There’s a small museum there, commemorating the author, John Fowles, who wrote, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, and of course, this story was spun from the image he had of a woman standing at the end of the old harbor wall, as the skirt of her dress and her shawl blew sideward on the harsh sea breeze. From that picture, he crafted the story which had led her there.

Oh, I could share with you so many images hanging in my mind’s eyes, just waiting for their story to be written, but I shan’t because that would spoil the surprise when these books come out ;)

In the words of Harriette Wilson, the real 19^th Century courtesan, who inspired Illicit Love, and then - and then - and then…

If you read, Illicit Love, I value feedback, so please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads, or any other site you like. You can also let other readers know what you think on the Illicit Love Book Club page I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you for this chance to speak about how my stories begin.

Best wishes

Jane   

Website http://www.janelark.co.uk/index.html 

Blog http://janelark.wordpress.com/

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Janelarkauthor

Twitter https://twitter.com/JaneLark 

Historical Romance

Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing

Date Published-  5/2/13

Synopsis: 

Ellen Harding longs to be free of the life she is trapped in - her husband died at the battle of Waterloo 

and her family disowned her and now she lives under the reign of a cruel protector. When her eyes are 

drawn to a beautiful man for no other reason than his looks, she imagines escaping her chains for a 

night by giving her body to him – to a man of her choosing – even if only to infuriate her captor. 

But Edward Marlow is kind and gentle when he touches her and her subconscious whispers that this 

man could save her. Yet how can he help her when she has secrets which prevent her ever being free. 

She has too many battles to fight. 

Edward is restless, lonely and a little angry with his lot in life – it is his only excuse for being drawn to 

another man’s mistress. The woman’s dark hair and pale eyes are striking and he cannot take his gaze 

off of her while she watches him over the top of a fan with an illicit intent in her eyes. But once he’s 

known her he cannot forget her - and once he’s seen how brutal her protector is, how can leave her 

with the man? But she will not run anymore than she will speak of her past, so how can he help her…

Cover Reveal: Blue Lines

Blue Lines - Cover Reveal

Toni Aleo

Contemporary Sports Romance

Date to be Published: August 13, 2013

Add to Goodreads

Synopsis: 

Opposites do more than just attract in Toni Aleo’s latest Nashville Assassins novel about a very bad boy and the good girl he can’t resist.

The instant Piper Allen sees Erik Titov, she wants him—wants his rock-hard body, sure, but the strength and mystery that lies behind that superstar hockey jock demeanor, too. So when he sidles up to her at a bar and slinks his arm around her waist, she’s lost. What follows is the wildest night of her life . . . followed by inevitable heartbreak the next morning. And then, a few weeks later, a very big surprise: two blue lines on a pregnancy test.

Only a check to the head could make Erik fall for a nice girl like Piper. But since their crazy-sexy night together, he’s been trying to forget about her alluring body by falling into bed with every woman in Nashville, and it’s not working. So when Piper shows up at his house with a baby-bomb to drop, it doesn’t take much for Erik to suggest the nuclear option: marriage. While it’s supposed to be all for show, the second they say “I do,” the ice between them starts to melt into sizzling steam.

About the Author:

My name is Toni Aleo!
I am a wife, mother, and hopeless romantic.
I have been told I have anger issues, but I think it's cause of my intense love for hockey!
I am the biggest Shea Weber fan ever, and can be found during hockey season with my nose pressed against the Bridgestone Arena's glass, watching my Nashville Predators play!
When my nose isn't pressed against the glass, I enjoy going to my husband and son's hockey games, my daughters dance competition, hanging with my best friends, taking pictures, and reading the latest romance novel.
I love things that sparkle, I love the color pink, and did I mention I love hockey?

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Get the first 3 books in the series:

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Reading Addiction Book Tours Book Promo: Welcome To Paradise

Welcome to Paradise

By Rosalind James

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: 4/12/13

Synopsis:

By the bestselling author of the Escape to New Zealand series—They’re going to party like it’s 1885.
Mira Walker is hoping that competing on a “living history” reality show will give her what’s missing from her real life. Maybe she’ll get closer to her boyfriend, who hasn’t been all that nice to her lately. Get fired up about her job again. Who knows, she might even win a million dollars.
Gabe Kincaid and his brother Alec are after that million too, though. Mira and Scott are no threat at all, not when everybody involved is going to want to kill Scott after the first day. And there’s no bond stronger than a twin’s. What could possibly go wrong?

EXCERPT

Gabe began to haul out suitcases, then stopped in his tracks.

A couple spaces beyond, a young woman stood next to a glossy black BMW with its door open, her gaze turned up to the eastern skyline. Gabe could see why. The view was tinted with a rose pink that lay softly over the mountains, giving them an almost ethereal glow.

She sensed his presence behind him, turned with a warm smile that was a perfect complement to the light bathing the landscape behind her. “Alpenglow,” she told him happily.

“What?” he asked stupidly.

“That’s what they call that pink thing. Alpenglow. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yeah,” he smiled slowly. “It sure is.”

She nodded, looked back at the mountains with a sigh, leaving Gabe free to take in the view that interested him most. She wasn’t especially slim—in fact, she was downright . . .rounded. Arms, breasts, hips, it was all there, all the good stuff. A nicely defined waist, too, in a slightly crumpled short-sleeved summer dress that flared out at the hem. Long, shiny brown hair caught on the side of her head in a simple braid that reached nearly to her hips, ended in a curly tail. All right, she was attractive. A pretty face, nice hair, a beautiful smile, but she certainly wasn’t gorgeous. So why was he staring at her?

“Cute,” Alec said quietly beside him.

“Yeah.” Gabe gave himself a shake and began to turn away.

“Hey.” The man was striding quickly across the parking lot. Light brown hair, parted neatly. Slim and tall, somewhere between Gabe’s six foot and Alec’s six-two. And, Gabe realized, the same asshole who’d flipped them off earlier, at the light. Frowning, now, as he came to join the woman. “What are you doing? I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I was just looking at the view.”

“Did you get the car cleaned out?”

“Not yet.”

He sighed impatiently. “I’ve got all our stuff inside already, and unpacked, while you’ve been standing here. Could you get a move on, please? I want to go to dinner.”

“Sorry,” she said again. “It’s just so beautiful.”

The man smiled tightly, still not acknowledging Gabe or Alec, who had come up to stand beside his brother and watch the pair. “All I’m asking for is a bit of focus here, sweetie. Eyes on the prize, remember? Can you do that for me?”

“Of course,” she said. Gabe could see the flush spreading up her cheeks, her embarrassment at the reproof in front of strangers. Not his business, he reminded himself.

None of his business at all.

Author Bio:

Rosalind James is the author of the bestselling “Escape to New Zealand” series.“Welcome to Paradise” is her first book set in the United States. A former marketing executive, Rosalind divides her time between California and New Zealand.

Author Links

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Reading Addiction Book Tours Book Promo: Crazy Dumplings

Crazy Dumplings Cook Book

By Amanda Roberts

Hi! My name is Amanda and I am an American who has been living, writing, and cooking in China for nearly three years. China’s favored dish, the dumpling (or jiaozi in Chinese), can be found on every street corner, in every restaurant, and in every kitchen in China, but they are all pretty much prepared the same way: a bit of meat, some garlic and ginger, and a bit of vegetables if you’re lucky. Even a visit to the freezer section at any grocery store displays hundreds of packages of dumplings that all look and taste the same.  

But the dumpling is so versatile! Have you ever tried stuffing a dumpling with chicken? Refried beans? Cheesecake filling? No? Hardly anyone has! My cookbook, Crazy Dumplings, takes this simple staple food and prepares it in ways you never thought possible! From buffalo chicken dumplings to pizza dumplings to apple pie dumplings, a world of foods is available to you in an easy dumpling wrapper with Crazy Dumplings.

EXCERPT/SAMPLE

Basic Dumpling Wrapper

3/4 cups flour

1/3 cup boiling water

Dash of salt

Flour for dusting

1) Mix flour and salt together in a mixing bowl.

2) Drizzle in water, mixing with a chopstick or fork.

3) Leave in bowl, covered with plastic wrap for 15 minutes.

4) Gather dough up into a ball and kneed on counter for a minute or two (until the dough is smooth)

5) Pinch off small portion of dough and roll into a ball (about 1 inch in diameter). Roll out into a flat circle on the counter, dusting with flour to keep dough from sticking.

6) Put small amount of preferred dumpling stuffing mixture into the middle of the flat dumpling wrapper. Pinch the dumpling closed.

7) Cook dumplings.

a. To fry dumpling, preheat oil for 30 second then lower heat. Cook dumpling on each side for only about one minute or until golden brown.

b. To steam dumplings, place in a steamer or on an elevated plate in a wok over water for about 10 minutes.

c. To boil dumplings, place in boiling water for about 5 minutes.

8) Always cut a dumpling open to make sure it cooked through.

9)Serve!

Taco Dumplings

½ lb ground meat (beef, pork, or turkey)

½ cup shredded cheese

1 tablespoon chili seasoning

1 tablespoon ground cumin

½ tablespoon garlic powder

¼ cup chopped cilantro (optional)

12 dumpling wrappers

Salsa, guacamole, cheese sauce, sour cream (as optional dip options)

1. Mix ground meat, shredded cheese, spices, and cilantro together in mixing bowl.

2. Spoon mixture into dumpling wrappers.

3. Fry dumplings for about 1 minute on each side or until golden brown (be sure to open one to make sure the meat is thoroughly cooked).

4. Serve hot with sauces for dipping.

Guacamole

2 avocados

1 small tomato, finely chopped

¼ of an onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, pressed

a few sprigs of cilantro, finely chopped

1 lime or lemon, halved

Dash of salt

1) With a spoon remove the avocado meat from the rind and remove the seeds. Mash the avocado meat with a spoon and fork.

2) Mix in tomato, onion, garlic, and cilantro

3) Squeeze in lemon juice (watch out for seeds!)

4) Add salt to taste

5) Enjoy!

About the Author

Amanda Roberts received her master’s degree in English from the University of Central Missouri in 2009. In 2010, she and her husband moved to rural Hunan, China to teach English. Amanda has been

chronicling their adventures on her blog Two Americans in China for nearly 3 years.

One of her biggest obstacles to overcome was learning how to cook all over again. She discovered that this is a major frustration for most expats living abroad. Crazy Dumplings is her first book in what will hopefully become a full line of cookbooks for expats and people living at home who want to learn fun and more natural ways of cooking.

Website

Reading Addiction Book Tours Book Review: Playing The Maestro

Author: Aubrie Dionne
Title: Playing The Maestro
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Date Published: 2/11/13
Blurb: She’ll have to play her boss to come out on a high note…

Melody Mires has sworn off dating musicians, but when the sexy European conductor Wolf Braun takes over her struggling symphony, her hesitation almost flies out the window with the notes of her flute—until he opens his mouth. Wolf is arrogant, haughty, and seems to have a personal vendetta against Melody. Oh, and he’s her boss. If she wants to keep her job as principal flutist, she’ll have to impress Wolf while simultaneously keeping her undeniable attraction to herself.

Wolf came to America to get as far away from his past as possible, and to recover some of the swagger he had as one of the world’s best maestros. He never imagined being forced to reassess the entire orchestra’s talent—and potentially fire anyone who doesn't make his cut. Dating the attractive flutist is out of the question, but as their feelings reach a fever pitch, can they risk both their careers for a chance at love?

Review: This is a sweet romance and it was exceptionally good. It isn't often that you get a romance novel where the lead characters have such unique careers. Melody is a flutist in a symphony orchestra and Wolf is a German conductor.

I have to say that even in Wolf's worst moments toward the beginning of the book, when he comes off the most arrogant, I loved him. I could actually hear his German accent when I read his dialogue. Not the sexiest of European accents but still very sexy. And you had to feel bad for him once you realized what an evil witch his ex-girlfriend was.

Melody was a fun heroine too. She was real and down to earth and her character really helped show that though you might think being a key member of a symphony might be glamorous, it really isn't, especially it isn't in a huge city.

I loved her passion for the music.

The other thing that was fantastic about this book were the two characters interactions with children, Melody with her niece Violet and Wolf with the children at the hospital where he performed as Mozart. I have to say that part of the story was what really won me over with him. Wolf was perfect!

Melody's ex was the only downside to this great read. From the opening scene, you know that Blake's a baddie, and you have a clue that he's out to sabotage Melody, you just have to wait to see what it is, and that left me anxious as I read on. I mean this guy was a total jerk and when he's confronted with his jerkyness, the outcome isn't satisfying.

This was a great book that had some really good subplots that kept you interested, especially since the romance in this book is very light. It could pretty much be read by teens on up.

Playing the Maestro was a wonderfully musical read.

Rating: 4 flowers

Author Info: Aubrie grew up watching the original Star Wars movies over and over until she could recite and reenact every single scene in her backyard. She also loved The Goonies, Star Trek the Next Generation--favorite character was Data by far--and Indiana Jones. But, her all time favorite movie was The Last Unicorn. She still wonders why the unicorn decided to change back to a unicorn in the end.

Aubrie wrote in her junior high yearbook that she wanted to be "a concert flutist" when she grew up. She majored in flute performance at the University of New Hampshire on a full scholarship, then secured two teaching jobs at a University and a local community music school. While playing in orchestras and teaching, stories popped into her head, and she used them to make the music come alive for her flute students. Her students said they were so good, she had to write them down! Maybe they were right, who knows? Two careers seems to keep her busy. For now. She is represented by Dawn Dowdle and writes sweet and adventurous fantasy, science fiction, and contemporary romance.

www.authoraubrie.net
http://authoraubrie.blogspot.com
@authoraubrie

BUY LINKS

Amazon

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Entangled Publishing

Reading Addiction Blog Tours Promo Spot: Conflicting Hearts

Conflicting Hearts

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: November 2012

Synopsis:

Rachel Hayward hoped to have a quiet thirtieth birthday alone. Instead, fate had different plans.
Caught in traffic and late for work, she can do nothing except wait for the freeway gridlock to ease. A three-car pileup has caused the snarl. Just as cars begin to move at a faster clip, Rachel takes her eyes off the road to gawk at the accident and rear-ends the car in front of her.
Sick over having ruined her day, she lowers her head onto the steering wheel and waits for the driver to begin a tirade over her stupidity. Instead, a kind man taps on her window showing genuine concern about her welfare. The brief colliding encounter suddenly starts a relationship between two strangers that takes off under odd circumstances.
When the couple becomes intimate, their relationship turns into a conflicting set of desires and needs. Rachel is bound by a shameful, dark childhood. After she falls in love with the handsome Ian Richards, she is faced with the decision to leave him or finally confront her demons to obtain the one thing in life she's always needed--healing from the sexual abuse she endured as a little girl.

EXCERPT

Ian slowly turns me around so that I’m facing him. We’re nose to nose. Our bodies are touching front to front. This is not good, or maybe it is good. He doesn’t say a thing, except to look at me with a smoldering gaze. A second later, he lazily moves his eyes toward my lips.

I’m frozen. I look at him with half anticipation and half panic. He’s going to kiss me; I know it. His intentions are clearly expressed in his blue eyes, which have turned a shade darker. I’m losing it. Hurriedly, I remind him of his words to fend off the advance.

“Uh, I thought you wanted to be just friends?”

A look of admiration sweeps across his face. He gently brings his hand up to my forehead and brushes a few strands of hair out of my eyes. Ian is silent, but it’s obvious he is thinking this through. It’s driving me crazy being close to his body.

“You want more?” I whisper, trying to get him to say something.

“Do you?”

He answers with a question. It’s annoying. “I asked you first,” I reply, not cracking a smile or giving away my heart pounding in my chest. I can’t look at him any longer. I close my eyes, and silently ask God, who I’ve ignored for years, to help me.

Then I feel the warmth of his breath approach. He circles my lips with his and gives me a long, tender kiss. Sweet Jesus. He tastes so delicious! I hope the breath mint I popped in my mouth a half hour ago is still working. Eventually, he pulls away, and I open my eyes.

“Does that answer your question?”

Read Chapter 1 Online via a Flip Book:

Here

Author Bio:

J. D. Burrows is a pen named used for contemporary romance written by Vicki Hopkins. She has authored four other historical fiction/romance novels. Her recent historical (Dark Persuasion) won the 2012 USA Best Book Awards Finalist for Fiction Romance.The author lives in the rainy Pacific Northwest with a pesky cat who refuses to let her sleep in. She enjoys traveling to England, researching her English ancestry, finding long-lost relatives from the Holland lineage, and creating stories that touch the hearts of women.For information about her historical romance, visit http://vickihopkins.com

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Purchase Links

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Reading Addiction Book Tours: Rosalind James - Just For Fun

Creating Your Book Cover

By Rosalind James

You can judge a book by its cover—and people do it all the time. Your cover has to convince YOUR target buyer that this is her type of book, and that it’s a good one. The tips below, gleaned from ten years in marketing for the publishing industry, helped me create my own covers. I pass them along in hopes that they help you too.

1.      Hire a professional. It isn’t as expensive as you may think. Three eBook covers cost me less than $100 per book: A small investment that has already paid for itself many times over in book sales.

2.      Choose the right professional. I did a web search to find designers in my genre (Romance), then looked at their websites and portfolios. Who designs covers that appeal to you and make you want to buy the book? When you’ve found somebody whose work you like, ask for a quote.

3.      Know your market. Think about authors whose books resemble yours. Those authors have succeeded in attracting your market. Look at the covers of their books, and you’ll see trends. (Shirtless heroes? Flowers? An ornate font, or a simple one? Big, bold block letters on a red background, for a thriller?) Copy the links to your favorite covers. You’ll want to share them with your designer.

4.      Define the effect you want to achieve. Your cover is your brand. Even if you only have one book out there now, you’ll want a “look” that people identify with your style. A good designer excels in translating “feelings” into art. This is the direction I gave my own designer: “I want a simple, tasteful, intelligent cover (no half-naked heroes!) Something that still says ‘romance,’ but not ‘embarrassing.’ The books are funny, playful, sexy, and occasionally tearjerking. Not completely frothy, a serious story in there too. I want to convey that--plus ‘exotic New Zealand locale.’”

I also had three books, with a fourth to come, so I needed to tie the covers together. The designer achieved that with the use of color and layout.

5.      Research stock art. You’ll get better results and help your designer if you take the time to find stock imagery that conveys the look you’re going for. I used Dreamstime. The designer used the image I found for my first book, Just This Once, but found different (better!) images for the other books, Just Good Friends and Just For Now.

6.      Work the design, and get feedback. After you get the designer’s first pass, ask people who have read your book for their reactions, then evaluate the feedback and give ONE response to the designer. If it isn’t quite right, keep working. (It took me three or four rounds.) Don’t give the designer specific direction (“could you put the title under the picture?”) Instead, try to explain the “feeling” that isn’t quite right (“It doesn’t look playful enough”).

7.      Admire your beautiful book cover! I hope it sells great!

Contemporary Romance
Title: Just For Fun (Escape to New Zealand #4)
Author - Rosalind James
Date Published: 12/8/12
Synopsis: What if the person who broke your heart turned out to be the only one who could mend it?

Nic Wilkinson is a responsible, organized, disciplined rugby player at the top of his game. Emma Martens is a sometimes-scattered, often-emotional, and always-broke would-be designer with a big chip on her shoulder where Nic’s concerned.

They have no history together, except one perfect week. Nothing in common anymore, except the most important thing of all.

Getting together again would be messy. Complicated. Scary. And, just maybe, worth every risk.

Excerpt:

“Mum!” Zack burst in through the front door. “It was brilliant!” He kicked his shoes off impatiently, dropped his rugby boots next to them before struggling out of his jacket. Nic followed him in, grabbed the jacket and hung it on the brightly painted rack next to the door when Zack would have dropped it on the floor.

Emma reached out for a hug that, Nic saw, the boy was still willing to give his mother, at least here at home. Her eyes met Nic’s as she looked over her son’s head. How did she always look so soft? So . . . pettable? She was wearing another sweater, that was all, he told his troublesome libido. Another light, lacy one, prettily trimmed once again. A pale pink cardigan with pearly shell buttons, edged in cream, over a long stretchy top and leggings. She looked like an invitation to cuddle. Like the best blankie ever.

“Can Nic stay for dinner, Mum?” Zack asked excitedly, offering a welcome distraction from his wayward train of thought. “He could help me tell you all the things we did. We’re having spaghetti!” he told Nic. “It’s really good.”

“Can’t, mate. Sorry,” Nic put in hastily at Emma’s instinctive shake of the head. “But I’ll have a glass of water, if one’s on offer.”

“Sit down,” Emma told him. “Please.”

Nic slipped off his own shoes before heading to the couch with Zack. “Cheers,” he said as she came back from the kitchen to hand each of them a glass, then took her own seat in a small armchair next to the couch, the only other option the little room offered.

“You look tired,” she said abruptly. “And bruised. Are you OK?”

“Just a bit confused on the sleep schedule, still,” Nic admitted. “I took a wee pill on the flight home, but it never works that well.”

“It’s a long way, Mum,” Zack put in. “South Africa’s really far.”

Nic took a long drink of the cold water, looked around for something to set the glass on. “Coaster?”

“Just put it down,” Emma told him.

“Don’t want to spoil this,” he said, looking more closely at the coffee table. The simple rectangle had been transformed into a forest of ferns, with native birds peeping out from underneath fronds, perched in trees. The parson-throated tui making a meal of red fruit, the colorful, stumpy takahe on the forest floor, tiny fantails darting overhead.

“You can’t,” Emma assured him. “It’s all enamels. Everything in this house is pretty indestructible.”

“Did you find the ruru yet?” Zack asked him, leaning forward.

“Don’t tell me,” Nic said. “Let me look.” Zack watched him eagerly as he searched and finally pointed triumphantly to a notch in a tree where the owl blended into the bark. “There.”

“You did this too, eh,” he asked Emma. “Nice.”

“I did everything. That’s my decorating theme. Things I made.”

“I like it,” he assured her. The warm colors of the lounge seemed to cocoon them. Two walls were a rich caramel, the others a warm yellow. She didn’t even paint every wall in a room the same color, he realized. Well, at least in the kitchen it was all the same. Purple. He wondered what color her bedroom was. How it looked. And found himself wishing, against every better impulse, that he could see it.

Author Bio:

Rosalind James is the author of the Kindle bestseller Just This Once and the three subsequent books in the Escape to New Zealand series. She is a former marketing executive who has lived all over the United States and in a number of other countries, traveling with her civil engineer husband. Most recently, she spent several years in Australia and New Zealand, where she fell in love with the people, the landscape, and the culture of both countries. Visit www.rosalindjames.com to listen to the songs from the books, follow the characters on their travels, watch funny and fascinating New Zealand and rugby videos, and learn about what's new! Contact Links Author website
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