Sarah Mayberry's Blog

By popular demand, here's excerpt #2 of my upcoming release, Anticipation. Direct continuation from the first one! Hope you enjoy!



Anticipation by Sarah Mayberry

Chapter One cont'd:



His hand felt extraordinarily hot against her bare skin and she had to resist the urge to shake him off. He touched her all the time - casually, platonically - and usually she welcomed the easy, casual affection behind his gestures. Tonight, though…

“I have an appointment,” she said, gazing up at him. 

He’d let his dark brown hair grow so long the ends where only an inch from his shoulders. His clear green eyes were steady on her face.

“I thought we’d kick on to Subterrain, or maybe Mojo,” he said. 

“You mean you assumed we would.” 

“Come on, Blue, don’t give me a hard time. I need to dance. And not to this shitty teen crap.”

“I’m busy.” She gestured for him to get out of the way. 

“Cancel whatever it is and come dancing with me.” He gave her his best wicked-naughty smile, the one that had charmed countless women out of their underwear.

“Let me get this straight - you pretty much ignore me for the last two months except for when we’re at work, but now I’m supposed to drop everything because you suddenly want to party?”

Eddie had the grace to look a little shamefaced. “You’re seriously going to give me a hard time over Denise?”

“Yeah, Eddie, I am.” She lifted her chin, daring him to try to sweep his shitty behaviour under the rug.

“She was jealous. You know how it goes,” he said. 

“Of course I know how it goes. Doesn’t mean you being a douche bag is okay.”

Because Eddie’s girlfriends were always either jealous of her, or wanted to be her new best friend, the world’s most obvious neutralise-the-perceived-threat gambit and one she’d long since learned to side-step. 

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I was trying to do the right thing.”

“The right thing by whom?” She could hear the bite beneath her own words and hated herself for it. She wasn’t an abandoned puppy, whining for her master’s attention. Just because she loved Eddie didn’t mean she was his doormat. She had her own life, her own needs and wants and ambitions, and the day she forgot that was the day she took a long walk off a short pier. “You know what? Forget about it. I’m sure the blonde will go to Subterrain with you.”

“Blue. Come on.”

His other hand landed on her opposite shoulder, stopping her from leaving. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. She wasn’t giving in on this. She had her self respect.

“I’m not some toy you can pick up and put down when it suits you. I’m a person. I’m supposed to be your friend.”

“You really want to get into this?”

“No.” 

But she didn’t move, and neither did he. She clenched her jaw, holding back the rush of words suddenly crowding her throat. No way was she telling him how much she’d missed him. How much he’d hurt her with his benign, casual neglect. No freaking way. 

“I’m sorry,” he said after a long beat. “I should have just told her to get over it.”

He was sincere, she could see it in his eyes. She could feel herself wavering, and when he slid his hand from her shoulder around to the back of her neck, she softened even more. 

“I’m a dumb asshole, and I really am sorry. You know I couldn’t live without you,” he said, his voice rough and low with emotion. 

Every inch of her was aware of the place where his palm was pressed to the nape of her neck. He was standing so close, she could smell his deodorant and the warm scent of his skin. 

“Don’t do it again,” she said, her voice just as rough and low as his.

“I won’t. Scout’s honor.”

“Like you were ever a Scout.”

“I like to camp. That counts.”

She aimed a finger at him, stabbing him in the chest with it. “Don’t try to be charming. I’m not one of your women.”

Which was the whole point, really. 

He did his best to look suitably chastened. “So, you want to grab a cab now or hang out here a bit more before we kick on?”

She blinked. Was he serious? Had he not heard a word she’d said?  

“I told you, I have other plans.” And she wasn’t going to drop everything just because he’d crooked his little finger, apology or no apology.

“To do what?”

“To have my brains fucked out.”

His hand slid away from her nape. “Tell me you’re not hooking up with that asshole.”

“Could you be more specific?”

“Reid.” He said the single word with a pronounced, very Brazilian curl of his lip.

“None of your business.”

He frowned. They knew each other too well for him to read her evasion as anything other than assent. 

“The guy is trouble, Blue.”

“I’m not marrying him. There’s no need for you to get your panties in a wad.”

She knew why Eddie was worried - they were both privy to the talk that floated around Brother’s Ink, the tattoo studio Rafel and Eduardo owned together. She’d heard the rumours that Reid was connected to the local biker gang, but what did that matter to her? The only part of him she was interested in was his body, and then only for the next few hours. 

“Can you not be a smart ass for five seconds? The guy is bad news.” His accent was more pronounced, a sure sign he was getting worked up.  

“I can run my own private life, thanks.”

She shouldered past him but knew without looking that he followed her into the street. It was cold out, a typical mid-winter Melbourne night, the wind sharp as a knife. Eddie caught the collar of her denim jacket as she tried to shrug into it, jerking it away from her.

“Will you listen to me?”

She spun toward him, all the hurt of the past few months welling up inside her. “No, I won’t. You’ve been AWOL from my life for three months, Eddie. You don’t get to throw your weight around when you haven’t been around.”

“Fine. Be shitty with me, do whatever you need to do. But stay away from Reid, okay? Promise me.”

There was so much fierce protection in his eyes. If his sister hadn’t died young, Blue imagined he’d have been like this with her, too. Determined to save her from herself. 

For some reason it made her even madder. He was such an infuriating, self-indulgent, lazy, arrogant prick sometimes.

“You worry about your own sex life. God knows it’s enough of a disaster zone.”

“This isn’t about me.”

She pulled her jacket from his grasp and slipped into it. “I can look after myself.”

Eddie knew that better than most, which made this stupid big brother routine even more laughable. 

“Go find that blonde. Odds are good she’ll do anything you tell her to,” she told him before turning away. 

The traffic cleared for a brief moment and she stepped out into the street. She could feel Eddie watching her, could feel the gravitational pull of his disapproval and anger and concern, but she didn’t so much as glance back. She was too pissed with him, for too many reasons to count.  

A car had stopped on the other side of the road, signal blinking as the driver waited for a parking spot to become available. Blue darted over the white line in the centre of the road, aiming to cut in front of the stationary car. She was in the middle of the lane when she heard the loud roar of a motorcycle engine. Instinct snapped her head around. 

A single headlight bore down on her so fast she barely had time to register it.

And then the world went black.

I promised excerpts and tid-bits in the lead up to the release of Anticipation. Here's the very first part of Chapter One. Let me know if you want more. The manuscript is coming along well - not long now, I promise, but I'm still not handing out any dates because there are a couple of things I'm not in control of so I don't want to disappoint again.





Hope you enjoy!





Anticipation 

Chapter One

It would be so much easier if she could hate him. Better yet, feel nothing at all. A lovely, soothing blankness. 

God, that would be good. 

Blue Sullivan knocked back the remainder of her vodka as she watched the man on the dance floor. His dark denim jeans hugged his thighs and a black tank top clung to his chest as his lean, muscular body moved sinuously to the music. No embarrassing foot-to-foot shuffling or fist pumping like the other men who’d been dragged onto the dance floor by their girlfriends. In fact, he was so good that if she didn’t know better, she’d think he was a professional. 

She did know better, though. She knew Eduardo Oliveira better than she knew anyone in the entire world, because she’d been in love with him and worked with him and been his friend for more than ten years now. Most of the time, that was a good thing. Tonight…not so much. 

Tonight, loving Eddie was a curse, a burden, a punishment. 

Tonight, it hurt to watch him flirt with other women. 

The feeling would pass soon enough, she knew - it always did - but that didn’t make it any easier to bear.

Eduardo got up close and personal behind a tall blonde on the dance floor - one of Maggie’s friends, which made sense, since this was Maggie’s birthday party - his hips moving suggestively against hers as he wrapped an arm around the woman’s waist. For a few seconds they did the sexy-grinding-in-unison-thing in time to the pumping bass beat. The woman reached back to splay a hand on Eduardo’s jean-clad thigh, her bright red nails digging into the fabric, and the hot burn of jealousy was a physical pain in Blue’s belly. 

Yeah. Too much fun. 

She turned away. She didn’t need to see more to know what was going to happen. In the very near future - an hour or two, max -  Maggie’s friend would be following in the footsteps of countless other women when she hit the sheets with Eddie. It was as inevitable and predictable as the sun setting and the world turning and other immutable, incontrovertible things. This was what Eddie always did when he broke up with one of his girlfriends: a few weeks of being a complete pants man, sleeping with whichever hot women crossed his path, before once again slipping into a relationship with some poor, deluded idiot who was convinced she could reform a man who freely admitted he was hopeless at relationships and yet kept stumbling into them anyway. 

Blue made her way through the crowd to the bar, signalling for the bartender to hit her with yet another delightfully numbing vodka. Eddie had broken up with his current girlfriend, Denise, during the week, so Blue probably shouldn’t have been surprised that he was diving straight back into his man-whoring ways. She wasn’t privy to the details of the break up, but she could guess what had gone wrong: Denise had wanted more, and Eddie had pushed for maintaining the status quo. Denise had then done one of two things: issued an ultimatum of some description, or tried to manipulate Eddie with tears. Both tactics would have triggered Eddie’s get-the-hell-out-of-Dodge instinct, hence him once again being footloose and fancy free, burning up the dance floor with a tall blonde whose name Blue could never quite hang onto. Chloe? Cleo? Something sexy to match her long, straight hair and legs-up-to-her-armpits.

“Hey. There you are.” Maggie brushed against Blue’s shoulder as she joined her at the bar. “Having a good time?”

“I think I’m supposed to ask you that,” Blue said, taking in her friend’s flushed face and curly blonde hair. “Many happies, birthday girl.”

She raised her glass in a salute. 

“I need to talk to you about this,” Maggie said, thrusting her arm in Blue’s direction. 

A delicate Art Deco era marquisette watch circled Maggie’s wrist, the numerals picked out in curly script. A perfect match for Maggie’s vintage fifties party dress, even if Blue did say so herself.

“If it’s too big, I can get it adjusted,” Blue said.

“I said no presents. I specifically insisted on Rafel adding that to the invitation,” Maggie said.

“I know. I am just a total bitch when it comes to things like acknowledging my friend’s special day. Sorry,” Blue said, utterly unrepentant. 

Maggie was the bee’s knees, and no way was Blue letting her birthday pass unmarked. If life had taught her anything, it was to value the good people around her.

“It’s enough for me that you’re all here,” Maggie said. “I don’t need presents. This is too much, Blue.”

“Okay. I’ll take it back.”

Blue reached for Maggie’s wrist, but Maggie jerked her arm out of reach. 

Blue grinned at her. “Ha. Admit it, you like it.”

“Are you kidding? I freaking love it. It’s so gorgeous, I almost swallowed my own tongue when I opened the box. But you still shouldn’t have.”

Blue looked her friend in the eye solemnly. “It was my pleasure. I saw it, I thought of you, and I knew it had to come home with me. Enjoy.”

Maggie blinked a couple of times, then suddenly she was hugging Blue, her cheek pressed against Blue’s.

“Meeting Rafel is the best thing that ever happened to me, but you and Eddie are the second best. I love you, Blue.”

The unfamiliar sting of tears burned at the back of Blue’s eyes as she returned Maggie’s embrace. The L-word wasn’t something she threw around like confetti at a wedding, never had been, but she didn’t hesitate.

“Love you, too,” she said, her chest tight with emotion. 

She’d only known Maggie for eighteen months, but in that time she’d come to appreciate her friend’s smarts, kindness and generosity. Maggie was a keeper, the sort of friend a woman took to her grave.

“Wait until it’s your birthday. I am going to spoil you rotten in retaliation,” Maggie said. “Once I find out what date it is.”

Blue simply smiled mysteriously. She didn’t do birthdays. Not for a long, long time. Consequently, no one knew her birth date, and she liked it that way. 

“Come on. If you don’t tell me when it is, I’ll just make up a date and make that your birthday.”

“You can try.” 

“Blue.”

“Maggie.”

Their stand-off lasted all of five seconds until Rafel swooped on his woman, wrapping his arms around Maggie from behind and nuzzling her neck by way of greeting. 

Blue glanced down at her leather biker boots. She didn’t begrudge Rafel and Maggie their happiness - just the opposite, in fact - but it was hard to watch two people who were so patently, incandescently in love. A little like staring at the sun - there was definitely the risk you might go blind if you looked too long. 

“Doing your best to blow out the bar tab, I see,” Rafel said when he’d finished mauling Maggie’s neck.  

“You’re the fool who handed over his credit card,” Blue said. 

The truth was she’d been going easy on the vodka until she’d seen Eddie on the dance floor with the blonde. Now, getting drunk seemed like a good plan for the evening. Or maybe getting laid. Or both. 

It had been a month or so since she’d called Reid, her current friend-with-benefits, but she was pretty sure he’d be up for a booty call if she dropped him a line. She thought about his big, highly developed body. The man had muscles on his muscles, and he knew how his way around the bedroom. A few hours of sweaty, mindless sex would surely cure what ailed her. Then she could wake up tomorrow morning and tonight’s ridiculous jealousy and sensitivity would be a thing of the past, and everything would be back to normal.

Amen. 

“Scuse me a sec, just need to make a call,” she said, easing away from the bar and pulling out her phone. 

Reid was a former client who had never made a secret of his admiration for her while she was working on the full back tattoo he’d commissioned. All the same, she’d allowed a respectable six months to pass before she took him up on his offer of a good time, and they’d hooked up half a dozen times since then on a completely random basis. Fortunately for her sanity, he answered on the second ring, and his “come on over” was gratifyingly unhesitating and eager.

And why wouldn’t it be? She was a hot tamale. A pocket rocket. A bona fide hottie. 

“When are you going to get here?” Reid asked, and she glanced over her shoulder at the dance floor where Eddie was still dirty dancing with the blonde. 

“Give me twenty,” she said. 

She’d had enough to drink that she’d have to get a cab, but Reid’s place wasn’t far, and there was no reason to stay here and perpetuate the torture. She wasn’t into self flagellation. She turned back to offer her apologies to Maggie for bailing while the party was still going strong, but she and Rafel had disappeared into the crowd. Deciding she could make her excuses on Monday, Blue grabbed her denim jacket and headed for the front door. 

She smiled at familiar faces as she wove through the crowd, but she didn’t let anyone waylay her. She wanted out of here, wanted her equilibrium back. Wanted it to once more be perfectly fine with her that she would only ever be Eddie’s friend and nothing more. Something Reid was going to fuck back into her if it killed her.

She was mere feet from her goal when she found her path blocked by six-foot one of lean, hard male. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Eddie asked, one hand reaching out to catch her shoulder. 

So, I promised I'd start posting little snippets related to my upcoming release, Anticipation. Here's the first set. One of the things I wanted for Eddie and Blue, my hero and heroine, is that they do this wild, crazy-sexy dancing together. They love to party together, and they tear up the dance floor. So, naturally, I went looking for some inspiration on Youtube. Cue many hours of me staring at people doing things my body will never be able to do. But these few videos captured best the kind of dancing I imagine Eddie and Blue doing in my book. I hope you think they're as hot as I do! The first dance is the Kizomba, a dance that comes out of Angola. The second is Reggaeton or Sandungueo, a style of dance that originated in Puerto Rico and is the fore-runner of grinding. The third is another version of Kizomba. Is it just me, or is it hot in here...?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IelPNwvLQcs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGJPfWE55Vw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of3SbJqQ16U

This is tough to announce. I'm going to miss my promised pre-Christmas pub date with Anticipation. Being sick for over a week with a hideous head cold has knocked my schedule so far out that I have now lost my windows with the various people who make the manuscript into a book. Confronting that reality has made me face up to another one - the concern that in rushing to get this book to readers who have been so patiently waiting, I am not going to be able to give this book the polish I very much want to before I release it. If I was writing for a traditional publisher still, I would be begging my editor for more time to take another pass. I'm not, though - I'm writing for you and me now, and that means I have to make the tough call to sit tight on this manuscript until it feels as good as it can be. I love Eddie and Blue so much (particularly Blue, she's so feisty!) and I want their story to be as good on the page as it feels in my head. If that makes sense. 

So, here's what I am going to do: no promises on delivery for this book. It will be early next year, but I'm not promising anything specific because I want to get this RIGHT. That is always my first priority with anything I put out there with my name on it. I want to give readers my best. I'm going to post some excerpts and other material I've been looking at and listening to here and on my blog over at my website in the meantime, to hopefully tide you over and get you in the mood. 

I'm so sorry if this announcement disappoints anyone. I have been so thrilled that I've had so many messages from readers asking for Blue and Eddie's story. It's kept me toiling at the keyboard even when parts of this story have had me absolutely pulling my hair out. I love that you love these two as much as I do. Please just bear with me for a few more weeks and I promise you'll have it in your hot little hands!

I'm a little late with this announcement, but I'm going to blame it on the fact that I'm still pretty stunned that both of the books that were finalists in the Romance Writers of Australia Romantic Book of the Year and Ella Award (for romantic novella of the year) WON!!! There I was, sitting in the ballroom at the Romance Writer's conference in Sydney, and they called my name out not once, but twice. It still feels surreal, three weeks on. [image error]

The two stories nominated were Her Favourite Rival, and Worth The Risk. Her Favourite Rival is a Super Romance, and you can find an excerpt and some background information on the book here. Worth The Risk started life as a free on-line read for Harlequin, and Mills and Boon Australia released it as a bonus. The good news is that it's still available as a free on-line read here. All ten chapters are there - you simply need to click through to each new instalment to keep reading. 

I can't tell you how chuffed, excited, honoured, humbled and delighted I am that these two stories struck such a chord with readers. As I often tell people, writing can be a lonely profession sometimes, which makes letters and other contacts from readers incredibly precious and rewarding, and awards like this so encouraging and wonderful. It is AWESOME that people enjoy my stories, and I have the BEST job in the world, hands down. 

As I did on the night, I want to acknowledge again that I wouldn't be writing any of this and there would be no books for readers to enjoy if it wasn't for my wonderful editor, Wanda Ottewell. I have been incredibly fortunate to have Wanda as my editor through every book I wrote for Super Romance and Blaze, a run of 30 odd books. I know from talking to other Harlequin authors - and just authors in general - that it's rare to have the one editor for so many books, but what makes me extra, super-duper lucky is that not only did I have that continuity, the person I told all those stories with is Wanda. [image error]

Wanda is amazing with story. She remembers my characters from past books better than I do sometimes. She knows when to push me, when to pull me back. She says all the right things when I ring to tell her my hard drive has failed and that I haven't backed up for 50,000 words. She is the best coach, friend, counsellor, co-conspirator a writer ever had, and I absolutely acknowledge the powerful contribution she has made to my work and my career. 

The other person I need to acknowledge is my husband, Chris. We have been together for more than 20 years now, and he has kept me laughing, kept challenging me, kept supporting me and loving me and feeding me and being kind to me through thick and thin. He is a brilliant writer and storyteller in his own right, and some of my best story ideas and scenes have been inspired by his words or advice. He is my secret weapon, and I would not be the writer I am today without him by my side.  I love you so much, Chris, and your support means the world to me. Thank you for being as excited about these awards as I am. 

Right. I will get off my podium now, but before I go I'd liked to acknowledge all the lovely readers out there who have taken the time to write to me or send me things via my publisher or make contact in some other way to let me know that my books have touched them. Your kind words are a gift beyond measure, and your demand for more keeps me at my keyboard. Thank you! 

I wrote a novella!  More specifically, I wrote a fun, heartfelt, sexy little story of 40,000 words for Montana Born Books, and it's out (officially)  on Kindle on the 14th of April. For those of you who are quick off the mark, Almost a Bride will be at the special introductory preview price of 0.99 cents for two days only - that's the 13th and 14th of April, US time, I've been told. After that, it will revert to its normal price of $2.99. I'll post buy links here they moment I have them, so keep checking back if they're not here yet. 

[image error]Here's the book blurb so you know what I'm rambling on about:

Tara Buck has always been the good sister, level-headed by comparison to Scarlett, her flaky, impulsive twin. But when Tara learns her fiancé has been cheating on her with one of his school students, the orderly world she’s created for herself suddenly feels as if it’s falling apart. For years she chose the safe option, but from now on she’s going to live a little, stretch her wings…be a little daring. And if that means acting on the long-suppressed feelings she’s always had for Reid Dalton, then so be it!

Reid has wanted Tara from the moment he met her, but she’s always been out of bounds. Not only is she his patrol partner at the Bozeman PD, she’s also engaged. But then her relationship blows up, and Reid finds himself battling his own instinct to stake his claim with the finest, hottest woman he’s ever known. 

Even if anything did happen between them, it would only ever be temporary – Reid’s a born wanderer, while Tara’s roots run deep in Marietta. So even if things are good between them, it seems their romance is destined to be short and sweet…

This book is set in Marietta, Montana, the fictional town in which all the Montana Born books are located. Surrounded by ranches, mountains, lakes, this is a small town of 10,000 souls, and over the coming months, many, many stories will be told about its residents. Tara and Reid, the heroine and hero of my book, were both born and bred in Marietta, and while Reid has always had a severe case of wanderlust, Tara is deeply attached to her home. 

[image error]

Once they get past the other things keeping them apart, this fundamental difference in how they see the world causes some issues for their burgeoning relationship. I'm not going to blab more in case I ruin the read for you, but I hope you get a kick out of these two people - I loved finding their happy ever after.

Her Kind of Trouble, my last Super Romance for a while, also came out at the beginning of April. This book was a dream to write. I had such a clear image of Vivian and Seth in my head, and I loved writing their provocative banter so much... Viv and Seth's story has some sadness in it, as well as some seriously hot steamy bits. I've been getting some truly lovely and touching feedback from readers about this one, and am over the moon that people are loving it so much. 

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Finally we come to Satisfaction. I have been so, so excited that so many people have had good - no, great! - things to say about this book, and that so many people are excited about the sequel, Anticipation, which I am hoping to have out by August. I can't wait to stretch my wings some more in the world of self publishing. Please keep writing to me and making contact via Facebook andTwitter - I love hearing from you, love hearing what you're excited about and what you want more of. 

And in case you haven't noticed it, I have a new SUBSCRIBE button at the bottom of the navigation menu on my site (to your right, top corner). Click on that yellow button and fill in your email address, and I will make sure you always know when I have special deals going and new books coming out. Nothing horrible or spamm-y, I promise! 

Okay. Off to write some words for the day. Happy reading, everyone. 

Thank you so much for your patience! Satisfaction is finally here. Yahooooooo.

After a busy week of sending files back and forth to formatters and copy editors and finalising the cover, I finally got Satisfaction uploaded to Smashwords and Amazon this weekend. For those of you who read in epub via Kobo or iBookstore, please bear with me a little longer as it always takes longer for those retailers to upload books with saucy content. And Satisfaction has got the saucy going on, I promise! 

If you can't wait, Smashwords provides epub files that you should be able to read in both ibooks and on your Kobo reader. I promise I will post the moment I know that the book is live at Barnes and Noble Nook, Kobo and iBookstore. 

Now, without further ado, please find the blurb, cover and buy links for Satisfaction:

[image error]Maggie Hendricks loves her life. Great job, amazing friends. Everything just how she likes it. There's just one small problem. When it comes to sex, Maggie can’t quite get there. No fireworks, no screaming orgasms. And while she tells herself she’s fine with that, she can’t help wanting more. 

When her friend shares the intimate details of a one night only fling with an extremely talented lover, Maggie makes a desperate pact with herself. She will seduce this man and if he can’t get her there...well, then she’ll hand herself over to medical science. A simple enough plan. What could possibly go wrong? 

Within minutes of meeting Rafel Oliveira, Maggie knows the answer to that one: plenty. Rafel turns out to be far more than simply talented in the bedroom. As he takes her on a journey toward the ultimate pleasure, Maggie finds herself craving a lot more than his beautiful body.  But can she win the one thing that will leave her truly satisfied...his heart?

Buy links:

Please note, you can sample up to 30% of the book at both sites if you'd like to try before you buy. 

Kindle 

Smashwords - offering epub, pdf, mobi

Dear Reader, this blog post is to apologise to you and humbly request your patience. You see, I was so sure that I would have my next self published book, Satisfaction, locked and loaded and ready to go in January that I came on here and talked about it. So cocky, Ms Mayberry, so cocky. The book was but a bee's dick away from being completed, and I was confident that that cockiness was not unwarranted. 

Well. 

As any writer will tell  you, sometimes when you take a break from the work (Christmas, I'm looking at you) and come back to it, you can see things that you couldn't see before. And what I saw was a bunch of stuff I didn't like. Somehow, I had lost my way in telling Rafel and Georgie's story, and it has taken me the best part of a week to woman up and face the fact that I am going to have to do some serious pruning and rewriting to make this little puppy fly.  I have a plan, and I am currently rewriting as fast as I can, but this means that there is no chance that I will have the book out this month. I'm aiming for late February, the stars being aligned. 

I'm so sorry if I got anyone excited or expectant (and also extremely flattered if you were in either state), but I simply couldn't keep writing forward when my gut was screaming at me that I had gone wrong. My promise to you is that when this book does come out, it will be the best version of this story that I know how to tell. So if you'll just bear with me a little longer, Satisfaction will be with shortly. Ish. 

[image error]It's not all bad news, though. 

I got the cover for my April release today, and I'm going to share it with you now because it's rather gorgeous. I know it's winter in large parts of the world, but doesn't that water just make you want to swim ?(I'm writing this on a 40 degree + day in Melbourne, so go with me on this!) I had an enormous amount of fun writing about Vivian and Seth, and I cannot wait to share them with everyone. Roll on April, I say. 

Until next time, happy reading!

I cannot believe we are staring down the barrel of Christmas yet again. The days have flown by this year, which is why I have been tardy with updating my site. My humble apologies. For those of you who are still talking to me, I have a novella out at the moment in The Christmas Wedding Quilt anthology. Emilie Richards and Janice Kay Johnson (I know, I really lucked out there) wrote the first two stories, and I wrapped things up in this great set of stories centred around a quilt that a dying mother didn't quite finish and four cousins who have lost contact over the years. My story,  Nine Ladies Dancing, is about Rachel, a librarian in the small bayside town of Sorrento, and Leo, a fire fighter who is recovering from an injury and mourning the death of a close friend and colleague. I loved writing this story, especially researching quilting techniques, and I adored working with Emilie and Janice. If you're wondering, my novella sits at the sweet end of the steamy spectrum, but there's plenty of romance and tension (well, I hope there is, anyway!) and the anthology is getting strong reviews from readers.

My other news for you is that I am almost ready to hit the "go" button for my next self-published digital book. Satisfaction has a cover, but I am holding off on sharing it because I want to make a splash. I will say, however, that my cover designer has thanked me several times for giving her such good material to work with! In case you hadn't worked it out from the title, Satisfaction is a very steamy read. Very. Steamy. The story follows Georgie, a small independent bookstore owner, and her quest to resolve an intimate problem that has cast a shadow over her personal life for years. In short, Georgie can't get there, not with a man, not by herself, and she's pretty much at the end of her tether and ready to seek the help of modern medicine when she learns about the incredibly sexy Brazilian-Australian tattooist working just up the road. According to reliable word, he is The Business in the bedroom, and in  a moment of slightly drunken desperation Georgie forms the plan to seduce him and let him work his magic on her. If he can't make the earth move, she will hand herself over to people in white coats and a raft of tests. As we all know, women plan and God laughs, and of course Georgie's not-very-well-thought-out plan goes astray - but in a very delicious way. What follows is a frustrating, compelling seduction that becomes the centre of Georgie's world. It's not until she's knee deep in the best sex of her life that Georgie realises that the man responsible for her satisfaction has become far more than a cure for her frustration. But she's not convinced that Rafele has ever seen her as more than a challenge, or that their lives will mesh outside of the bedroom. Plus there's the very real chance that he's still in love with his ex-girlfriend...

I don't want to ruin all the surprises, so I will stop typing now, but I am hoping to get this out to readers in mid January. In the meantime, any book bloggers or readers who would like to receive early copies for review, please contact me via the contact me button on my website and I will pop your name down and hook you up when the manuscript is ready to rock and roll. 

Until then, happy reading everyone!

I am thrilled to announce that my e-only novella Her Favorite Temptation is FREE right now on Kindle, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, ibookstore, Harlequin, etc, etc.  It's available to Australian and New Zealand readers, as well as Canadian and US readers. I'm not sure about UK and Europe, but my best guess until I hear from readers up that way is that Harlequin might be the best source for the freebie as they tend to sell e-books to anyone from anywhere. Fingers crossed, and if you know any differently, I'd love to hear from you. 

So, here are the buy links for Australia. Unfortunately, I cannot get the buy links for the US from Down Under - ah, technology, isn't it awesome? - but there is a list of them over at Dear Author, so here's a link to that post. 

It's worth noting that the Australian and New Zealand version of the title reflects Australian spelling, and therefore "Favorite" has become "Favourite". If, for whatever reason my links don't work, Australian and New Zealand readers need to search for "Her Favourite Temptation", while US and Canadian readers should search for "Her Favorite Temptation". Make sense? I hope so.

Now, onto the links for Australian and New Zealand readers:

Kindle






iBookstore






Kobo      






Harlequin.com

I hope everyone enjoys this book. It's a long novella - 65000 words, about the length of one of my Blazes - and it's a prequel/parallel story to my September Super Romance, Her Favorite Rival.  To find out more books, scroll down to my previous blog post, where I posted quite a bit of info about each book. 



Happy reading!