• Body of Work,  Sunday Snippets

    Sunday Snippet – BODY OF WORK – Goner

    Welcome and thanks for checking out my Sunday Snippet. For more bite-sized excerpts from authors, head over to Weekend Writing Warriors.

    Today’s eight sentences are from BODY OF WORK, and follow very closely after last week’s snippet. Time to find out if Brian knocked on Cassie’s door…


    bodyofworkHe swallowed hard at the muted sound of the chime.

    The outside lamp came on. Cassie’s eyes popped into view in the lower portion of the window. They locked with his, instantly changing from a cautious squint to wide with surprise. The tip of her nose appeared, then her top lip. She had to be standing on her toes now. The rest of her mouth followed, curled in a smile. That’s all it took—he was a goner for the thousandth time.


    Blurb

    Cassie has fantasized about the ginger-haired personal trainer for months. Brian is friendly, but never more—until he appears on her doorstep and shows her how much her flirting has affected him. The more she’s with him, the more Cassie wants the fairytale, not just hot sex with the six-two hunk. She can give Brian full access to her body, but after her ex’s reaction to her explicit photography business, sharing her secrets, and her heart, isn’t an option.

    Brian knows better than to break the rules. Don’t date gym members. Keep his inner beast on a leash during sex. Cassie tested his resolve on number one her first day in the gym. Shattered the second rule when he touched her. The petite pixie shares his preferences in the bedroom. She makes him laugh and love—but past mistakes haunt him, emotionally and tangibly. Cassie’s worth the price he’ll pay for breaking the rules. Now he must convince her to give him her heart.

    Buy it now from Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ Kobo ♥ More

    Read Chapter One here!

  • Body of Work,  Sunday Snippets

    Sunday Snippet – BODY OF WORK – Decision

    Welcome back for another Sunday Snippet, part of the Weekend Writing Warriors meme.

    This week’s eight-sentence excerpt is from early in the first chapter of BODY OF WORK. I loved writing this book! If you like a bossy-yet-sweet alpha male — Brian Black is your man. A heroine who embraces her sexuality, and a forbidden romance — check and check. Lots of hot sex — oh hell yeah. So let’s get started. 😉

    bodyofworkBrian rolled to a stop on Sloane Street. He killed the engine and stared through the rain-covered window of his Jeep at the white bungalow. If he did this, if he knocked on Cassie’s door at a quarter to one in the morning, there’d be no going back.

    A man could only take so much. The petite brunette had caught his eye from day one. She’d been torturing him for months—chatting, teasing him with comments that made her blush, openly flirting with him while she exercised. He’d have made his move immediately if not for his stupid contract.

    Which led him back to the decision at hand—to knock on her door or drive away?


    Blurb

    Cassie has fantasized about the ginger-haired personal trainer for months. Brian is friendly, but never more—until he appears on her doorstep and shows her how much her flirting has affected him. The more she’s with him, the more Cassie wants the fairytale, not just hot sex with the six-two hunk. She can give Brian full access to her body, but after her ex’s reaction to her explicit photography business, sharing her secrets, and her heart, isn’t an option.

    Brian knows better than to break the rules. Don’t date gym members. Keep his inner beast on a leash during sex. Cassie tested his resolve on number one her first day in the gym. Shattered the second rule when he touched her. The petite pixie shares his preferences in the bedroom. She makes him laugh and love—but past mistakes haunt him, emotionally and tangibly. Cassie’s worth the price he’ll pay for breaking the rules. Now he must convince her to give him her heart.

    Read Chapter One online, right here!

    Available now from Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ Kobo ♥ All Romance ♥ More

  • News,  Random,  Reviews

    Some Ginger Love from Scandalicous Book Reviews

    It’s not unusual for my cell phone to start dinging with messages the second I drop my kids at school, but today I got one from Mandy, the awesome blogger/reviewer behind Straight Shootin’ Book Reviews, congratulating me on making it on to Scandalicious Book Reviews. I had no idea what she was talking about until I clicked over and saw this totally awesome shout-out and review of BODY OF WORK. What a woohoo! way to start the day!

    scandalicious-review-bodyofwork

     

    I love Brian Black pretty hard myself, so it makes me all giddy when other people do, too.

    BODY OF WORK was one of three Ellora’s Cave books mentioned as Nikki’s favorites, so I’m extra honored to be included in the post. Head over to Scandalicious to see her other picks.

  • Body of Work,  Sunday Snippets

    Sunday Snippet – Body of Work – Fresh Meat

    Welcome. It’s Sunday snippet time, part of the Weekend Writing Warriors meme. Click that link to read all of the weekly offerings. 🙂

    Today’s snippet is from BODY OF WORK, and it’s the beginning of one of my favorite parts of the book — I fell head over heels for Brian’s brother, Ian, the moment he appeared on the page. I would love to write a book for him one day.

    bb-jeep-at-homedepot“Hey, pretty boy,” Brian called to his brother as he leaned out of the Jeep. “Got any meat here?” It was a running joke. Two years Ian had lived here and he’d never bothered to take down the old meat packer’s sign. At least once a week, somebody banged on his door looking to buy a side of beef or a pig for spit-roasting.

    “You’re in luck, you ugly bastard.” Ian flicked a cigarette butt to the pavement while sauntering to the Jeep. “Fresh meat just rolled in.”

    BODY OF WORK is available now:

    Amazon  ο  B&N  ο  Kobo  ο  More E-tailers

  • Body of Work,  Sunday Snippets

    Sunday Snippet–Want vs. Need

    bodyofworkToday’s Sunday Snippet is from BODY OF WORK (because, hey, it got a 4.5 star “Top Pick” review this week! woohoo!) and comes to you as part of the Weekend Writing Warriors meme.

    The last time I posted from this book, Brian and Cassie were at his parents’ house for dinner, and Cassie had sampled a wee bit too much of Angus’ whisky. Something pretty big happened after that — but I’m not sharing that part, it’s too important to the book. This little excerpt comes from the early hours of the morning after, at Cassie’s house.


    She turned on the pillow to face him. Tried to look through him, rather than at him. Even in the dim lighting, she could see the warmth in his eyes and smile — the love.

    “I’d like to be alone…I’m a mess.”

    “I’ll take care of you.”

    “I don’t need you to take care of me.” The need part of that statement was true. What she wanted was another story, and no longer mattered.


    Intrigued, maybe a little? I can fix that…here are some links to buy the book! 😉

    Amazon  ♥  B&N  ♥  Kobo  ♥  More Retailers

    And here’s a link to that awesome “Top Pick” review that still has me smiling. NOR-reviewertoppick2

    Thanks for stopping by — your visits make my day. 🙂

  • Body of Work,  Random,  Reviews

    Body of Work Receives a Night Owl Reviews Top Pick!

    When I started writing BODY OF WORK, I intended it to be a 15k word quickie novella. Yeah, that plan didn’t happen. It finished at 69,864 words, and only because I reined it in to keep it from jumping into the next price bracket with my publisher. (Anything over 70k retails $1 higher.) In truth, I would like to have added another 10k, namely a couple more scenes with secondary characters. Anyway, I’ve ventured way off track here.

    My point was, I loved writing this book. These characters. The secondary characters. As happy as I was to be finished so I could publish it, it was like crashing from a really big sugar-rush. So, when I found a notice in my email, pointing me to a 4.5 star, TOP PICK review, I was thrilled. The reviewer totally “got” everything I poured into the book. That’s an awesome feeling.

    Thank you, M. Harvey and Night Owl Reviews! You made my day! 🙂

    NOR-reviewertoppick2

    ←Click that fancy badge to go to the review site.

    Here’s my favorite part of the review…

    “Body of Work” is a wonderful story about how two people wary of trusting the wrong person again can’t help but keep coming back to each other, first for lust and then for love. 


  • Body of Work,  Sunday Snippets

    Sunday Snippet-Watch Out for the Whisky

    Sunday Snippet time! Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check out all the offerings on the Weekend Writing Warriors page.

    Here’s eight sentences from BODY OF WORK. Cassie and Brian are having dinner at his parents’ house — her first time meeting his very Scottish family. (This section of the book is one of my favorites. 🙂 )


    “You okay?” he asked, his close, softly spoken words tickling her ear. “Dad’s whisky’s strong stuff, careful it doesn’t sneak up on you.”

    “Too late,” she said on a giggle. “You’re going to have to drive.”

    “Not a problem, I’ll even put the doors on so you don’t fall out.”

    She leaned into his shoulder and whispered, “I wasn’t referring to the Jeep.”

    Brian’s dad snorted and pushed back from the table.

    Okay, so maybe she hadn’t quite whispered…oops.

    bodyofworkBODY OF WORK

    Amazon ♥  EC  ♥  B&N  ♥  Kobo

    Goodreads

  • Body of Work,  Sunday Snippets

    Sunday Snippet-Body of Work

    It’s Sunday Snippet time, part of the Weekend Writing Warriors meme. (It’s also a day where I beg for your help in a contest, so please read the bottom of the post.)

    Today’s eight sentences are from BODY OF WORK. Cassie and Brian are at his parents’ home for dinner, and he’s taken her up to his childhood bedroom to ‘show her his trophies’. Ahem.


    bodyofwork“Wow, this room is all bed.” She pushed down on the mattress, a cheeky smile tipping her lips. “Ever sneak girls up here to try it out?”

    “Don’t I wish. You met the people downstairs, right? Even if I’d managed to get somebody past the guards,” he tossed a nod toward the door, “there’s no lock. They’re all about full disclosure. Made jerking off an adventure, never knowing who might open the damn door.”


    If you liked that snippet, there’s a larger excerpt from that scene on the Scorching Book Reviews site. It’s part of Nix’s “Sex Scene Championship” and if you have a couple minutes to pop over there and vote for Brian & Cassie, I know they’d appreciate it! (So would I!)

    Thanks for stopping by. I hope to see you next week. 🙂

  • Sunday Snippets

    Sunday Snippet – WIP – Sam’s Book

    wewriwa_square_4It’s Sunday Snippet time, part of the Weekend Writing Warriors meme. Thanks for stopping here, and make sure you click that pic to see the full list of this week’s participating writers.

    This week, I’m posting from one of my WIPs. I’ve been bouncing around between a few of them this summer, and this week I’m back to working on Sam & Leigh’s story. Sam is the hero’s best buddy in BODY OF WORK, a 28-year-old personal trainer at his friend’s brand-new gym. Leigh is a 42-year-old former client from his previous workplace.

    In this snippet from the opening pages, they’ve bumped into each other in a downtown coffee shop. It’s been a couple months since Sam changed jobs and they haven’t seen each other since. Leigh has succumbed to his charm and joined him at a table. (The first line of dialogue is hers, and this excerpt is in her POV.)


    “Are you trying to lure me away from Iron Works to Focus Fitness…is that ethical?”

    Strong yet gentle fingers removed one of her hands from its death-grip on the cup and pulled it toward him, halfway across the table. He pressed a card to her palm. Continued holding her hand, stroking his thumb over her skin while smiling. “If it works, I don’t give a shit about ethics.”

    “Anything to snag a client?” Oh god, her voice — hopefully he’d missed the breathy quality so evident to her ears, simply from his hand touching hers.

    “I don’t need another client, Leigh.”


    And that’s it for now. (Remember, that’s an unpolished snippet up there!) I’m enjoying spending more time with Sam (the charmer, who wouldn’t?), and Leigh is turning out to be a really strong heroine. She’s going to have to be… I have some twists in store for these two. 😉

  • Body of Work,  My Sexy Saturday

    My Sexy Saturday – Body of Work

    MySexySaturday_buttonWelcome, and thanks for visiting! This is my first contribution to My Sexy Saturday. Click that picture to visit the website for a full list of this week’s participating writers.

    bodyofworkThe rules say I can post 7 words or 7 sentences or 7 paragraphs. Today I’m going with 7 sentences from my May release, BODY OF WORK, a very hot gym romance.

    A little bit of setup here…the hero and heroine are in a pavilion in a public park, after a boot camp workout. 😉


    She attempted to scootch away from his advancing mouth. “I’m sweaty from the workout.”

    “I’ve licked your pussy after it had a much harder workout than this morning’s boot camp, remember?” The fingers in his hair said yes, she did. “You tasted like heaven then, just like you will now.”

    “What about other people?”

    “They’ll have to find their own piece of heaven, I’m not sharing mine.”


    Click here for more info about BODY OF WORK, or head over to Goodreads to see what readers are saying. I hope to see you next week for more Sexy Saturday goodness!