Blog Stats

I just noticed that I’ve hit the 100,000 blog visits mark in the past few days and didn’t even know it. Which is pretty surprising since I never thought, when I started this blog for RR@H, that I’d ever reach that milestone. Thank you all who have helped me reached that milestone! 🙂 To celebrate this event, I’ve got two copies of Maya Banks’ THE TYCOON’S PREGNANT MISTRESS to give away. Just leave a comment letting me know what you’d like to see more of (or less of) on the blog and you’re in the running to win one. Winners will be announced on Sunday, February 22, at midnight.

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Dee Tenorio

Yesterday Dee Tenorio was supposed to be one of my guests here on the blog. I had emailed her a few days ago to remind her and she let me know that we had to postpone her blogging for another day because her sister had unexpectedly passed away. I’ve been thinking about her ever since and emailed her last night checking in to see how she’s doing. I don’t know if I’d be semi-coherent if it had been one of my sisters but Dee is amazing. I just read this post she wrote about her sister and I’m sniffling like a baby here. Please go read it and give Dee your love in this hard time she and her family are going through. Thoughts and prayers going out to Dee and her family!

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DARK MASTER Book Winner!

We have a winner! The winner of Tawny’s post is………….

Susan!!

Congrats Susan!

Please email Tawny at tawny @ tawnytaylor.com (without the spaces) so she can get the book out to you.

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THE COMMANDER’S DESIRE Book Winner!

We have a winner! The winner of Jennette’s post is………….

PamP.!!

Congrats Pam!

Please email me your address at mad @ romancereaderatheart.com (without the spaces) so we can get the book out to you.

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UNDER THE INFLUENCE by Nancy Warren

Sexy bartender Johnny Santini mixes one wicked martini. Or so efficiency expert Natalie Fanshaw discovers when she takes a seat at his beachfront bar one lonely night. It’s Valentine’s Day, and they’re the only single people in the heart-strewn place!

Natalie knows she spends too much time with her spreadsheets—she’s forgotten what it’s like to be between the sheets. Johnny is such a charmer, mixing his signature cocktails while making her feel s-o-o-o very special. And when he asks her to help him create a fab new drink for the town’s upcoming martini contest, Natalie can’t say no.

A fantasy fling with Johnny could be a recipe for disaster. But hey, she could always claim to be under the influence!

Hi all, thanks for having me today.

So, I’m in that cynical post VD week. And by that I do mean Valentine’s Day, not the other thing. You know what I mean? Last week romance was in the air like one of those obnoxious room deodorants that you plug in, there were flowers and hearts everywhere, restaurants were all but making you pay in advance to secure a reservation for that romantic dinner for two on the big night. Movies (especially chick flicks) were packed so tight that even those whiplash seats in front were full.

Now? Half price red heart chocolates anyone? The ridiculously overprized red silk undies you wore on the big night are in the wash, the empty champagne bottle is in the recycling bin and romance seems less sparkly. Oddly, I’m currently working on a Valentine’s novella which was all but writing itself last week. This week I can’t seem to work up the enthusiasm, which just goes to show that we writers really do pick up on what people are feeling. It’s a strange thing.

Under the Influence, my Blaze which is on the shelves now is all about the mix of unabashed romance and cynicism around Valentine’s Day. I thought it would be fun to write about a woman so clueless that she walks in to one of those restaurants where lovebirds go while she’s on a business trip and is so far from the dating scene she doesn’t even realize it’s Valentine’s Day.

The set up of the novel is based on something that really happened to me. I have a wonderful friend Kathleen who is a liquor rep. Kath is also a writer.
Last year she invited me to go with her to a Martini contest she was organizing in a funky touristy surfing town. We spent a few days at the beach, with me mostly writing and her mostly organizing the event. While we were in town we went out for dinner with some industry women and they referred to the bartender as Hot Johnny. Really. How could I resist?

Hot Johnny turned out to be definitely hot, but also an absolute sweetheart and we talked for a long time about the business, how he invents drinks, and some of the wild things that happen when it’s late at night and a few drinks have been consumed…

While the book is fiction, of course, it does revolve around a martini competition, the hero’s nickname is Hot Johnny and a few drinks may have been consumed in the writing of this book. Purely for research, naturally. I had to experiment, you see, since I put drink recipes throughout.

Well, I’d love to stay and chat but I’ve got to take out the recycling and throw on a load of wash.

Come visit me anytime at http://www.nancywarren.net

*****Leave a comment for the chance to win a copy of UNDER THE INFLUENCE! Good Luck! 🙂

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