Thursday, December 5, 2013

Today's Special - - Tracy Solheim


Today, we welcome back Tracy Solheim and her Foolish Games Blog Tour.  Tracy has written her share of best sellers and note-worthy books. Unfortunately most of them line the shelves of dusty government offices around the world never to see the light of day. She hopes to change that with her series of contemporary romantic fiction novels published by Berkley Books.

“I guess you could say I’m a frustrated sports writer at heart, but I love writing—and reading—books centered around sports. I can thank my dad for that. He introduced me to Dick Francis novels when I was a teenager and I was hooked. I am also a big fan of the happily ever after endings of romance novels, so it was only natural that I combined the two elements in my fiction debut.”

To find out more about Tracy Solheim, visit her at:




Five Fun Facts about Foolish Games

          I’m a journalist in my real life, so I try to ensure that my books are factually correct.  Here are some of the fun facts associated with my latest release, Foolish Games:

5.         The town of Second Chances, North Carolina is based on the real town of Southport, North Carolina.  Yep, it’s the same one where Nicholas Sparks based Safe Haven.  But I saw it first, Nick!  My family and I have vacationed in Southport for nearly twenty years and my mom is a permanent resident there.  Stop by and visit sometime.  Just don’t look for any of the shops or inns I mention in the book.  I made them all up.  It’s what I do.

4.         The real Bountygate was an incident in which several defensive players on the NFL's New Orleans Saints were accused of operating a slush fund that paid out bonuses, or "bounties", for in-game performance in violation of NFL rules. It marked the first time in modern NFL history that a head coach (Saints coach, Sean Payton) has been suspended for any reason. 

3.         Gwen Stefani really does have a line of clothes for kids.  It’s called Harajuku Mini and the pants are decorated with french fries and cheeseburgers.  It’s true although I don’t think the clothes are meant to be edible.

2.         Bald Head Island was where Weekend at Bernie’s (1989) was filmed, as well as The Butcher’s Wife (1991), and Pirate Kids II: The Search for the Silver Skull (2006).  I haven’t seen the other two, but Weekend at Bernie’s is classic in my house.

1.         Yes, Brody Janik gets his own story!  It’s called Risky Game and it will be released May 6, 2014.


Readers, do you enjoy sports-themed romances?  What are some of your favorites? Has reading a romance ever caused you to visit a certain place such as the town of Second Chances a/k/a Southport, North Carolina?

Tracy is giving away a $50 Amazon gift card and signed copies of GAME ON and FOOLISH GAMES to one random blog tour winner.







SOMETIMES THE BEST DEFENSE IS A STRONG OFFENSE….


Bridal gown designer, Julianne Marchione knows better than to lose her head at a client’s wedding.  But much to her embarrassment, a mix of migraine medication and a smoking hot football player lead to a steamy one night stand resulting in a surprise pregnancy. Julianne has every intention of leaving her NFL hookup far in the past until her son, Owen, is born with a life-threatening blood disorder that requires a transfusion—and Julianne is not a match.

Will “William the Conqueror” Connelly grew up tough shouldering the stigma of being a bastard child born on the wrong side of the tracks.  He refuses to let any child face the same discrimination. When he finds out about Owen, he’s furious that Julianne kept his son a secret. But when he sees her again at the hospital, he realizes that his feelings for her go far beyond anger.

Will insists that Owen recuperate at his home in North Carolina, and he’s adamant that Julianne become his wife—even if it’s only a temporary marriage in name only. But will their simmering attraction ever lead to a real connection?  Or are they just playing foolish games?




Tour Schedule:

November 24- Ramblings From This Chick http://ramblingsfromthischick.blogspot.com/

November 26- Herding Cats and Burning Soup http://www.herdingcats-burningsoup.com

November 27- SOS Aloha  http://www.sosaloha.blogspot.com/

November 29- The Book Pushers  http://thebookpushers.com/

November 30- Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance http://romancingrakes4theluvofromance.blogspot.com/

December 2- What I’m Reading http://sillymelody.blogspot.com/

December 3- Book Binge http://bookbinge.com/

December 5- The Romance Dish  http://www.theromancedish.com/

December 6- Stitch Read Cook  http://www.stitchreadcook.com/
(STOP 2) - Seductive Musings http://seductivemusings.blogspot.com/

December 7- Give Me Books http://givemebooksblog.blogspot.com.au/

December 8- Eclectic Passions http://eclecticpassionsbc.blogspot.com/

December 10- The Book Queen’s Palace  http://tbqspersonalbookpalace.blogspot.com/

December 11- Ms Romantic Reads http://msromanticreads.wordpress.com/

December 12- Cocktails and Books http://www.cocktailsandbooks.com/

December 13- Rookie Romance  http://rookieromance.blogspot.com/

December 14- Miss Ivy’s Book Nook http://seawitchreviewsfromthebookshelf.wordpress.com/

20 comments:

  1. I love sport themed romances!! I love having two of my favorite things together, especially if it ends up being about hockey although I'm entirely ok with all sports. Some of my favorites are Rachel Gibson's Chinook series and SEP's Chicago Stars series.

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  2. Yes, I enjoy sports themes in my romances. I thought that I would only enjoy reading about the sports I enjoyed watching/participating in, but no. Depending on how well the story is written, I also enjoy "new to me" sports - as long as the author doesn't go on and on and on with details of no relevance to me, as I am reading it for the romance more specifically.
    A sports-themed romance I recently read was Cathryn Parry's OUT OF HIS LEAGUE. Thankfully, I didn't feel inundated with baseball lingo, but I DID feel like I knew what they were talking about throughout the story. More importantly to me, I simply enjoyed how well the actual romance was written....

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  3. I love sports related books: Some that I have read: SEP's Chicago Stars, Jaci Burton's, Rachel Gibson's and Deirdre Matin's Hockey books.

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  4. I enjoy them as well. Bella Andre has 3 which I really liked as well.

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    1. Bella Andre's books are on my TBR list--as soon as I get off the writing roller coaster!

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  5. Thank you PJ and Andrea for hosting my blog tour stop today!

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  6. I love sports series like Lauren
    Dane's and SEP.

    Donna

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  7. Congratulations on the new release. I haven't read your book yet, but I do like sports romances. I've enjoyed the sports books written by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Rachel Gibson and Deidre Martin

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  8. I like sports romances. Toni Aleo has a hockey player series, The Assassins.

    Marcy Shuler
    bmndshuler(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  9. Tracy, Congratulations on your new release. Looking forward to reading Foolish Games.

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  10. Congrats on your new release! I have not read a lot of sport themed romances. I guess because I am just not into sports that much. Entering under the name of Virginia

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  11. congrats on the new release. I admit I don't read much in the way of sports romances but do like those covers :)

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  12. Thank you, Tracy and everyone who stopped by today!

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  13. I love sports themed/related romances but have not visited any sites based on them yet!

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  14. I also enjoy sport's themed books. Love SEP's Chicago Stars football team series. Carly Phillips had the HOT ZONE series of agents who represent sport's stars, Victoria Dahl had a retired baseball pitcher. Susan Mallery also had a retired baseball player. Pamela Britton has a lot of NASCAR books featuring drivers and employees. Jill Shalvis and Joanne Rock also have baseball stars. Love Rachel Gibson and Deidre Martin's hockey players too.

    I've never visited a specific city because of a book.
    I have been to Port Angeles, Washington where part of the TWILIGHT series took place. I have been to New Orleans where several suspense books take place. Finally I've been to Chicago.

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  15. I've enjoyed some sports themed romances, but it was the romance, not the sports theme. I enjoy some sports casually, but I'm not a big fan of any, so it's not the sports theme that drew me in. I've been to some places that some of my favorite romances are set, but I love to travel, and I've not yet traveled somewhere because of a romance novel.

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