New Releases: April 24, 2012

Today’s a big release day! I’ve probably missed a few but here’s a sample of what’s out today. Clicking on the cover or covers will take you to Amazon to read blurbs if you want. 🙂

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Stefanie Sloane Q&A

 

NT: Hi Stefanie! Thank you for being my guest today.

Hi Fatin! It is so lovely to be back with you here at Romance Reader at Heart. Thank you so much for the invite.

 

NT: When did you know you wanted to be a writer? How long did it take for you to make your first sale?

In my mid-twenties to early thirties I worked as the Amazon.com Romance editor. It was while working there that I began to play around with the idea of writing a book. Add in the fact that my best friend is a romance writer as is my mom, and, well, I think fate did its thing.

 

The first book I wrote, back in 2003, did not sell. I took some time off to lick my wounds, raise my girls, and pretend to do housework. I started work on The Devil in Disguise in January 2008 and sold it in October of that same year. Apparently, the second time, not the third, is a charm!

 

NT: You have a new release this month, THE SAINT WHO STOLE MY HEART. Can you tell us about it?

Thank you so much for asking! Here’s a quick description:

Possessed of a brilliant mind and a love for puzzles, Dashiell Matthews, Viscount Carrington, is a crucial member of the elite Young Corinthians spy league. Assuming the façade of an addle-brained Adonis, he hunts for a notorious London murderer known as the Bishop. When fate causes him to cross paths with Miss Elena Barnes, Dash discovers an enigma that will prove delightfully intoxicating to unravel: a voluptuous beauty as intelligent as she is fearless.

Only the lure of a collection of rare books bequeathed to her family by Dash’s late father could tempt Elena from her cozy rural life to the crush and vanity of London. But if Elena finds his lordship to be the most impossibly beautiful man she’s ever seen, he also seems to be the stupidest. Which made her body’s shameless response to his masterful seduction all the more unfathomable. Yet when she discovers Dash’s mission to track the dangerous Bishop, she willingly risks everything—her trust, her heart, her very life—to join him.

I have to say that this is my favorite book I’ve written so far. I learned a lot about myself as a writer during the process and am inordinately proud of the finished story.

 

NT: Do you have a writing routine? What is your average writing day like?

I tend to do my work around others—in some cases, literally, if the dogs are trying to block me from reaching my desk. I grab a couple hours in the morning then a few more in the evening to do the bulk of my work. And when I’m under deadline? I lock myself in the bathroom with my laptop and pretend not to hear the knocking.

 

NT: Is there anyone you use as a sounding board when you’re stuck on a scene?

I could not write without my mom, Harlequin author Lois Faye Dyer. She’s good at, well, everything when it comes to writing a book. And she’s helped me out of plenty of stuck scenes—and stuck plots, and stuck characters. I’m so lucky to have her in my corner.

 

NT: When not busy writing, what do you like to do in your spare time? (If there is such a thing *G*)

I’d really like to say exercise, but that would be a lie. I spend most of my free time with two ill-behaved dogs, two fiercely strong-willed children, and only one husband. Together, we attempt many family activities with moderate success, including biking, game nights, and cheering on the Seattle Sounders.

 

NT: What are the latest additions to your TBR? What are you most eager to read?

Gah, there are too many to count! But a few are Taming an Impossible Rogue by Suzanne Enoch, Monica McCarty’s The Saint, and Elizabeth Boyle’s Brazen trilogy.

 

NT: Any advice to aspiring authors?

My advice to aspiring writers is to write. You can think about writing a book. Talk about writing a book. But if you want to be published, you have to, you know, write and allow your voice and skill to grow. Practice makes perfect, after all.

 

NT: What can your fans look forward to from you in the near future? What are you working on now?

Right now I am working on revisions for the fifth installment in the Regency Rogues series, entitled The Scoundrel Takes a Bride. It features a somewhat tortured hero and the fascinating woman who saves him. I can’t wait for readers to meet Nicholas and Sophia!

 

NT: If someone has not read any of your books, which would be the one you’d recommend they try first?

I would start with either The Devil in Disguise or The Saint Who Stole My Heart. Both are Regency Rogues books, so they are set within the world of the Young Corinthians. But each is the first of three with a closely tied story that carries throughout.

 

NT: How can readers contact you?

Good question! Here are some helpful links:

http://www.stefaniesloane.com
http://www.facebook.com/stefaniesloane
https://twitter.com/#!/stefaniesloane
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4480304.Stefanie_Sloane

 

NT: Thanks for being our guest today!

The pleasure was all mine! And I would like to offer your readers a parting gift: simply comment below and you’ll be automatically entered to win all four of my Regency Rogues books!

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Teaser Tuesday – Office Affair by Jess Dee

The Book

 

 

The Tease

 

“Ben—” Melissa spluttered. Fury darkened her eyes. Fury and desire. “I refuse to discuss this further.”

“And I refuse to talk about work after what just happened between us.”

“Fine, then we won’t talk. I didn’t want to talk in the first place. I didn’t even want to walk outside with you.”

“That’s a lie, Mel, and you know it. You want to be with me. You just don’t want anyone to be aware of it.”

She turned and marched off. He fell into step beside her.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why won’t you be seen in public with me?”

“I’ve already told you.”

They exited the building, jogged down the stairs and hit the footpath, both of them taking a right towards the car park. “And I’ve already told you that excuse doesn’t cut it. Do I embarrass you? Scare you, maybe?”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Hardly ridiculous when you won’t acknowledge my existence outside of my office.”

“Of course I acknowledge your existence. We work together.”

“We don’t have to just work together. We could actually be—” he clutched his heart dramatically and gasped, “—friends.”

Melissa almost tripped but righted herself just in time. She shrugged off Ben’s steadying hand. “I don’t want friends. I’ve already told you that. I want to make partner. I don’t have time for a social life.”

“Partner or not, we all need friends. Life’s too short and too lonely to go without.” Man, had he ever learned that lesson from experience.

“I’m doing just fine without, thank you very much.”

Melissa wouldn’t look at him.

“Are you? Really? You’re reduced to fucking a colleague in an office when the rest of the company has gone home. Is that what you want? Emotionless sex to tide you over until you make partner? And then what? Socially, your life is going to be perfect all of a sudden? Because you’ve succeeded in your business goals, you’ll miraculously have a life?”

She turned to glare at him, but anger was not the only emotion he saw on her face. Hurt and pain framed her ire. It made Ben want to take her in his arms and hold her. Hug her. Protect her. Make everything better.

“Making partner is my life, Cowley. Sex with you is a…fringe benefit.”

Ouch! “Ah, so now I’m a fringe benefit. Nice.”

“I never gave you any reason to think you would be more.” No, she hadn’t, had she? And yet there’d been moments, several of them, when they’d connected on a level that hadn’t been purely sexual. Or purely professional. And it was those moments that gave him reason to want more from her.

“You never gave me reason to believe you wanted to fuck me either, until you stripped naked in my office.”

 

The Blurb

 

All work and no play? Not for this girl. Not anymore.

Melissa Sparks has had enough. Enough of being the high achiever, enough of ignoring her social life in favor of her job and enough of being lonely. Just this once she wants a change. Something different. Something that looks very much like her business associate, Ben Cowley.

Ben Cowley is all alone in the deserted offices of Preston Elks. He’s gorgeous, he’s single and he’s been her secret fantasy for the last two years. It’s a split-second decision, but there’s no going back.

When Ben looks up from his desk, the last thing he expects to see is his too-serious, straight-laced colleague stripping naked. It’s been a year since his last relationship ended, and though he’s still picking up the pieces, Melissa throws his carefully balanced world off its axis. So does her offer: a brief affair, no strings attached.

Right about the time he realizes a simple affair will never be enough, she’s back in professional mode—and clearly as distant as ever. Now it’s up to him to show her that what they have is no fluke…and he’ll do whatever it takes to convince her. Even if it means inviting another man into their bed.

Warning: This book contains a man haunted by his past decisions, a woman determined to succeed, sex hot enough to steam up every office window on the block, and a voyeur who gets off watching those windows steam up.

www.jessdee.com

Office Affair will be available on May 1^st from Samhain Publishing or your favorite online ebookstore

Buy Links:

Samhain

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

 

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Welcome to my Virgin River…. by Robyn Carr

Former marine Tom Cavanaugh’s come home to Virgin River, ready to take over his family’s apple orchard and settle down. He knows just what the perfect woman will be like: sweet, decent, maybe a little naive. The marrying kind.

Nothing like Nora Crane. So why can’t he keep his eyes off the striking single mother?

Nora may not have a formal education, but she graduated with honors from the school of hard knocks. She’s been through tough times and she’ll do whatever it takes to support her family, including helping with harvest time at the Cavanaugh’s orchard. She’s always kept a single-minded focus on staying afloat…but suddenly her thoughts keep drifting back to rugged, opinionated Tom Cavanaugh.

Both Nora and Tom have their own ideas of what family means. But they’re about to prove each other completely wrong…

 

~~~*~~~*~~~

A lot of readers have written to ask if Virgin River is based on an actual town, because they’d like to move there.  Unpack those boxes – the town lives only in my mind.

 

It didn’t take long for readers to reach out to me, to let me know what appealed to them about the series.  They have naturally enjoyed the strong, handsome, virile men of Virgin River; they’ve admired the beauty, inner strength and intelligence of the women.  But what I hear about most is a place where commitment is law – and not just romantic commitment, but the bonding of brotherhood, the fealty of neighbors, the loyalty in friendship.  It seems the number of people who have ties to the military is simply huge – and the fact that the Virgin River men have served their country in times of war has lent greatly to their appeal.  Not their sex appeal nearly as much as their emotional appeal.  They seem to embody those values that readers hold as admirable.  Honorable.

 

My readers like to watch the Virgin River characters work out their problems, cope with their challenges, get their lives on track again.  It begs the question – can we find answers and role models in fiction?  Well, considering one of the reasons we read fiction is for entertainment and we’re not very entertained unless the characters are up against a lot, must overcome great odds and evolve, I think it’s possible.

 

Virgin River is a town that not only exists in my mind, but can be created in any heart – it’s a place where the glass is half full, where burdens and challenges give us strength rather than break us, where fealty and friendship have more value than money, commitment is honored, and people do the right thing simply because it’s the right thing to do.  And there’s lots more to come from Virgin River.

 

Want to live in Virgin River?  Close your eyes….  Open your heart….

 

~~~*~~~*~~~

To find our more about Robyn Carr and the Virgin River series, visit www.robyncarr.com. And for a chance to win a print copy of Sunrise Point, leave a comment below. Open to US contestants only. Good luck!

 

 

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