Today, July 27th, my sixth book Three Nights with a Scoundrel, hits the shelves--exactly 364 days after the release of my 2009 debut, Goddess of the Hunt. To say it's been a whirlwind year would be a vast understatement! I fly out today to cap it with a wonderful week at the Romance Writers of America conference in Orlando, where Surrender of a Siren is a finalist for the RITA award. Unbelievable. I feel blessed and so grateful to all my family, friends, and readers. Thank you!
Hooray! Three Nights with a Scoundrel, the final installment in the Stud Club trilogy, is in stores today! I wish I could be online more, but I'm traveling today from California to Florida for the RWA conference, so I'll be in transit for most of the day. But I want to say thank you to everyone who has been reading this trilogy and looking forward to Julian and Lily's story--I hope you enjoy it!
If you want to read an early review, check out this one at . Reviewer PJ was a Julian skeptic, and she's now one of his biggest fans.
I'll be tweeting and updating Facebook from conference, so if you follow me on either of those social networks, look out for news and pics!
Congrats to Babs, lucky #15 as drawn by Random.org. You win the prize package of three autographed Silhouette Desires! Please use the contact form to send me your mailing address. Congratulations!
I'm packing my bags for RWA as I type... well, okay. Not exactly as I type, because I am not that good at multitasking. Let's just say the room is a mess.
As always, I am so excited to be attending National Conference - this year in Orlando, Florida! Conference means getting to see old friends and make new ones. It means business lunches and publisher parties and inspiring keynote addresses and informative presentations and ...eek, high heels.
If you're in the neighborhood but not attending the conference, the Readers for Life literacy signing is open to the public. It's Wednesday evening from 5:30-7:30 PM, and it'll be me and .... oh, like 500 other authors of romance! For anyone registered for the conference, I'll also be signing books at the Ballantine Bantam Dell signing, Saturday morning at 9:00 AM.
I'm also excited to be speaking on two panels during the conference. On Wednesday, aka "Librarian Day", and I (but mostly SuperLibrarian Wendy) will be expounding on the topic of Romance Collection Development to a group of our peers - librarians!
Then on Saturday, from 3:15-4:15 PM, I'll be on a panel entitled "Digital Publishing for the Print Published Author", along with authors Kristen Painter and Shiloh Walker, and Samhain Editor Lindsey Faber.
On both of these panels, I expect to do a lot of smiling and sagely nodding in agreement while the REAL experts talk. But I also expect to have a great time!
Of course, the major excitement of my week will be all the festivities surrounding the RITA awards. I am so honored to be a finalist in the Regency Historical Romance category for Surrender of a Siren. I know people always say, "It's an honor just to be nominated" ... but I seriously mean it. My plan is to enjoy that finalist status for all it's worth. I have a sparkly dress, and I am ready to par-tay!
Omigosh. I just remembered I haven't packed my RITA pin! Going to go dig it out right now before I forget.
Last week was my local RWA chapter meeting, and I had the pleasure of signing books with several of our chapter's published authors. What struck me was that three of them all had Silhouette Desire books out this month!
If you've read books from the Desire line (or even looked at the titles), you know the heroes are usually super high-powered businessmen. They have wealth, power, and of course, good looks...everything but the right woman in their lives. I don't know about you, but I can never get enough of that storyline: the strong, uncompromising Alpha hero who won't be ruled by anything or anyone, until love turns his world on its head. (Spencer of One Dance with a Duke being a case in point!) Evidently I'm not alone, because these books sell like deep-fried hotcakes at the State Fair.
Here are OCC's home-grown Desires for the month of July:
, by
The CEO of Duke Development had been on guard since he discovered his mother's diabolical plot to marry him off. Him and his brothers. And when his desirable new assistant, Trish James, hinted she wanted more than just a business relationship, Adam figured she was in on the scheme. So the boss decided to play along and seduce the secretary...then put a stop to his mother's meddling marriage plans once and for all. But even Adam could not have guessed Trish's true agenda for wanting him in her bed....
, by
The revelation turned Erica Prentice's world upside down—by birth, she belonged to a wealthy Colorado dynasty and her real father had left her a fortune. And the Jarrod family attorney, Christian Hanford, was there to show her the ropes. As Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome escorted her around Aspen, Erica was in for a second shock—her fiery attraction to the strictly off-limits attorney. Fraternizing with the Jarrod heiress could get Christian fired.
Which would she choose: duty to her family dynasty…or desire for a dynamic bachelor?
, by
He’d returned to Napa Valley strictly to help run the family winery…not be distracted by a
beauty on the staff. CEO Joe Carlino had made the mistake of indulging in an office romance once before, and everything about Ali Pendrake practically screamed “make me your woman!”
Frustrated that her boss was judging her solely by her looks, Ali committed to a total reverse makeover. Ironically, when she transformed from glittery Cinderella to mousey plain-Jane, she really caught the wealthy bachelor’s eye. Yet as they moved from boardroom to bedroom, she wondered if Joe would ever see—or love—the real Ali.
This is Kate Carlisle's very first Desire, and she landed the coveted "Man of the Month" label! (Shouldn't exactly come as a surprise, given that her first mystery novel made the New York Times list. She is on fire.) How much do I love that in Maureen Child's book, the heroine is the billionaire, and that Charlene Sands has a reverse Cinderella tale...?
Also, I have to say, all three of these women are such inspirations. Not only are they immensely talented bestselling authors--they're also whip-smart, generous, sincere, and gorgeous. (Okay, and a just little intimidating at times. At one of my very first OCC meetings, the chapter celebrated Maureen's 100th book. Her name was emblazoned across this positively enormous cake. And I, having come in during a break, accidentally took her chair. *facepalm* But she still speaks to me!)
Last Saturday, I asked each of these authors to sign a copy of their latest Desire, and happily they agreed. And I'm going to give away all three to one lucky winner. Just leave a comment to enter, telling me about your favorite alpha hero! I'll close entries on Friday at 5PM Pacific Time. Good luck!
Or maybe I should just say, longer excerpt posted?
Anyhow, I can't believe it's just one week until the release of ! I previously had part of posted as an excerpt, but this morning I've expanded it to all of Chapter One. So a few more pages to tease you. Click here to read it!
Summer has been keeping me so busy, but I'm going to make up for my lack of blogging with some great giveaways. Look for a particularly desirable contest tomorrow. (That's a hint. Admittedly a very nonspecific one, but it will make sense tomorrow.)
, by 
, by 
