Sneak Peek Sunday

PJ here!  Juliana Stone is one of my favorite paranormal romance authors.  Her jaguar shapeshifter heroes rev my engine and the taut suspense in her novels keeps me on the edge of my seat.  But we're not here today to talk about the paranormal.  The sneak peek we're bringing you today is from Juliana's new contemporary romance (color me excited!) and it brings readers one of my favorites:  a strong and sexy hockey playing hero.  Only, this time, not only does the hero play hockey but so does the heroine!   Take a peek...

When hockey phenom Billie-Jo Barker returns home and decides to play in the local Friday night hockey league, all hell breaks loose. Not because Billie's talent is in question, but because Billie is a woman. And though these are modern times, some of the local guys still have a problem letting a girl into their 'men's club.'

Soon, Billie is at the center of a small town battle of the sexes, with everyone choosing sides. Her sisters. The townsfolk. Her friends. And yet, the only person whose opinion she cares about doesn't seem to care much at all. Logan Forest, the man who broke her heart when she was eighteen and the man she now shares the bench with every Friday night.

She's got a lot to prove and though Billie Jo Barker scores on the ice, will this girl ever score with the man of her dreams?

“I’m just trying to look out for you, kid.”

            Kid.

            Something unraveled inside Billie. Something hot and urgent and big.  It swooshed through her like a tornado, filling her up until there was nothing to do but let it out.

            She took a step toward Logan and glared at him. The air crackled between them.  She felt it like an electric shot that went right through her.

Billie was Indignant.  Annoyed.  Pissed.

Aroused.

Kid?  Really?

            “I don’t need anyone to look out for me.  I’ve been doing just fine on my own for a long time now.”  She paused and tried to grab hold of the emotion inside her.  “I’ve dealt with sexism and small minds for most of my life.  They may have loosened their restrictions in the pro league in Sweden, but that doesn’t mean any of the women who played were welcomed with open arms.” 

            She ran an agitated hand through the tangled hair at her nape.  “I just,” it took a bit of effort to keep her voice calm.  “I just didn’t expect that kind of crap here.” She shook her head.  “I really didn’t, but if that’s the way the guys want to play, they’re stupid if they think it’s enough to stop me.”

            “Billie—“

            “I’m not done.”

            Logan arched a brow—one that Billie missed—but she was roaring ahead like a freight-train and nothing could stop her now.

            “I’m a big girl.”

            His brow arched a little higher and if she was paying attention she would have seen the slight lift to the edge of his mouth.  It was a sexy lift.

            A dangerous lift.

            “I can see that,” he replied softly.

            “I don’t need someone like you looking out for me.  Not on the ice or off of it either.”

            Her temper boiled over as everything from the night before hit her.  The damage to her car.  The Neanderthal attitudes.  Ed’s smirk from less than an hour ago.

            She leaned forward, so close she could count the long lashes that fringed his eyes.  Her heart sped up and the butterflies in her stomach kicked into overdrive.

            “And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a damn, kid!”

            “You said that.”

            Chest heaving, Billie’s eyes dropped to the pulse that beat at the base of Logan’s neck, and then her gaze drifted upward until she settled on his mouth.

            His incredible, sexy, wanton mouth.  An image of his lips sliding across her body brought a new batch of heat to her skin, but it was a heavy heat, one that settled between her legs in a slow, torturous throb.

            Was she insane?  Probably.  What other reason was there for what she did next?

            Billie took another step forward and Logan took one back, but the truck didn’t allow him to move further.  She stood on her toes, and sank her hands into the thick hair at his neck.  His subtle, clean scent filled her nostrils and it was the sexiest thing ever.  She leaned into him, her eyes never leaving his.

            And then she kissed him.

            Not a soft butterfly kiss. Not a tentative, getting-to-know-you kind of kiss either. But an aggressive, no-holds-barred kind of kiss.  Her mouth was open and she moved against him like she was starving. As if he was the only thing in the world that could feed her.

            His mouth was warm and he did nothing to stop her as her tongue plunged inside.  Her lips skated over his—she massaged his skull and held him in place.  God, he tasted like heaven—sweeter, hotter, and better than she remembered.

Kid?  No effing way. Billie withdrew her tongue and suckled on his bottom lip, her eyes open once more so she could watch him.  So he would know she was playing with him. 

So he would know that she was in control.

Offside will be available in digital format on October 1st from all major e-book retailers.

You can find more information about Juliana, her paranormal books, her indie contemporary, Offside and her upcoming (2013)  contemporary trilogy, The Bad Boys of Crystal Lake at her website.  Readers can also find Juliana at Facebook and Twitter.

Are you a fan of romances with sports heroes - or heroines?  What are some of your favorites?

Such a Deal!

Do you own an e-reader?  Have a Kindle or Nook app on your computer?  If so, have we got a deal for you!  Here are a few of the great books available today at special low prices for your reading pleasure.  It's a perfect opportunity to try a new author or pick up an old favorite!

THE PERILS OF PLEASURE by Julie Anne Long - The book that kicked off Long's Pennyroyal Green series, one of my all-time favorite romance series.  $1.99 at Amazon and  Barnes & Noble.

WHAT I DID FOR A DUKE by Julie Anne Long - The fifth book in Long's Pennyroyal Green series and one of our top books of 2011!  This is one book you don't want to miss!  $0.99 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

SPACE IN HIS HEART by Roxanne St. Claire - In honor of Space Shuttle Endeavor leaving its home on Florida's Space Coast for the final time, St. Claire is offering her astronaut hero's story to readers for just $0.99 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

A WELL PLEASURED LADY by Christina Dodd - If you like spicy historical romance, give this Dodd classic a try for only $1.99 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  

HEART'S DESIRE, a historical novella from Jacquie D'Alessandro is FREE today and tomorrow only at Amazon.

Check out MY BIG OLD TEXAS HEARTACHE, a small town contemporary from Geralyn Dawson (a/k/a Emily March) for only $2.99 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE by Jill Shalvis, her first Lucky Harbor novel, is available through Friday from Barnes & Noble and Amazon for only $0.99!









What are you reading today?  Any great book deals to share?  

Guest Review - - His Very Own Girl

His Very Own Girl

By Carrie Lofty

Publisher: Pocket Star (ebook)

Release Date: September 4, 2012

The story opens January 1944 in Leicestershire, England. Louise “Lulu” Davies is a pilot for the English Air Transport Auxiliary. She has her own, very personal reasons for doing her part in the war. Her parents were shot down five years earlier by the Italians. Her fiancé was so emotionally damaged by war that he killed himself after he survived Dunkirk. Lulu sees her flights as the only means available to her for avenging these deaths. Her goals are to fly bigger planes and to protect her heart from another devastating loss.

Joe Weber is a guy from North Shore, Indiana, who spent three years in prison for assaulting the man who raped his sister. He joined the Army wanting to be a paratrooper and a clean break with his past. Instead, he’s a medic, and a piece of his past is in England with him. His company is awaiting orders, and Joe is nervous about his medical skills which have yet to be tested in battle.  He is a man who sees his role as keeping people safe. That’s how he looks at his job in the war; that’s how he sees his future as a mechanic and family man he dreams of becoming someday.

Lulu and Joe first meet when something goes wrong with the Hurricane (a British fighter plane) Lulu is flying, and she is forced to crash land it. Joe is the first one on the scene, giving him a chance to use some elementary medic’s skills and offer comfort to Lulu, who is more shaken by the experience than she is willing to admit. Later, when Lulu and her friends set out for a few beers and some dancing, she meets Joe at a club. The attraction between them is quick and intense, but their differences are great. Not the least of them is Joe’s attitude toward Lulu’s role in the war. When he calls her “disarming,” she makes a joke about jumping with him into Berlin to disarm the enemy. Joe sees no humor in her comment.

 The idea of Lulu Davies or any woman making a combat jump pushed ice chips through his veins. Bad enough she was a civilian pilot, ferrying planes all over Britain—dangerous work that women shouldn’t need to do. Her crack wasn’t funny because it hit too close to home.

Despite their differences, they fall in love. The conflict between their views of women’s roles and of what they want out of life makes their love difficult. Joe is lost after their first kiss. “All he knew for certain was that he wasn’t kissing her anymore. And any moment that he wasn’t kissing her was a moment wasted.”  Lulu is more cautious, determined to guard her heart no matter how hard Joe makes it pound.

She missed silly jokes and bumbled talks and those embarrassing moments of intimacy one only shared with a trusted partner.

But what she missed was also what hurt the most when it ended.

They are soon separated by the war. Joe is part of the Normandy D-Day invasion. Although a noncombatant as a medic, his life is constantly in danger. Every day he sees horrors beyond imagination. The next moment carries no guarantees. Cold, hunger, and terror are his daily companions, and yet he finds satisfaction in the work he does and in his relationship with the men who call him “Doc.” Letters from Lulu are a lifeline to another world, the future he hopes they will share.

Meanwhile, Lulu’s wish to fly bigger planes comes true, but with the bigger planes come more dangerous missions. Her fears for Joe are constant. She fears he won’t return, and experience has taught her that even returning doesn’t mean he’s come back safe and whole. Her friendship with another man holds the promise of a saner, less complicated life, but this woman who once never let herself think of the future is beginning to hope for a future with Joe.

When I finished this book and prepared to move on to something else, I felt disoriented, as if I had returned from a long journey and had to allow myself time to feel at ease again in the place I belong. From the large details to the smallest ones, Lofty immerses her reader in the World War II setting. The mindsets of the characters, the rationing of food, gas, and soap, the music that plays as clearly as a soundtrack in the reader’s head, the language in all its variety, the physical and emotional brutality of war—all of it is true to the period. There’s one scene in which Lulu asks Joe to draw lines like stocking seams with an eye pencil on her bare legs. It’s a small scene, but it reveals much about what these two people feel for each other and about the world they live in, a world where laddered stockings and kohl pencils can’t easily be replaced and every dance might be the last one.

Lulu and Joe are rich characters, but so are the secondary characters. Some of them are likeable; some are not. But they all feel real. They are changed by their war experiences. They connect and disconnect with one another. The war itself is real: blood is red, human bodies are fragile when facing the machinery of war. Some people live; some people die.

His Very Own Girl is on my list of the best of 2012. I’ve loved other Carrie Lofty books I’ve read. I’ve ranked them high on the power of the story, the complexity of the characters, and the grace of the prose, but even among an impressive volume of work, this one is special. I highly recommend it. If you don’t have an ereader, download one of the programs that will allow you to read the book on your computer. It’s that good. But be prepared to lose yourself in a world your parents or your grandparents knew, and be prepared with a box of tissues.

~Janga
http://justjanga.blogspot.com

Today's Special - - Christi Barth

Today, we welcome contemporary romance author Christi Barth to The Romance Dish!  Christi's newest book, Planning for Love was released August 1st by Carina Press and is available in digital format.  Before her writing career, Christi earned a Masters degree in vocal performance and embarked upon a career on the stage. A love of romance then drew her to wedding planning. Ultimately she succumbed to her lifelong love of books and now writes contemporary romance. Christi lives in Maryland with her husband. Please vist her on: Twitter or Pinterest or her Website


Authors dread the question where do you come up with your ideas?  There is no magic idea vault.  If we knew how to manufacture ideas, we’d all be millionaires, churning out bestsellers every month. (But if there is a secret idea vault that people are hiding from me, I’d really like to bribe my way in – spread the word!).

My Aisle Bound trilogy—centered around a wedding company--is an exception.  After I’d been a wedding planner in Chicago for, oh, all of a month, people started telling me that I should write a book.  They wanted the dish on tempermental bridezillas, overbearing mothers, and drunken bridesmaid/groomsmen hook-ups.  Well, if I did that I’d have about fifty lawsuits pending against me.  My guilty pleasure was watching Whose Wedding Is It Anyway, which follows harried wedding planners all around the country.  And one night, those two things clicked for me.  The idea for Planning for Love popped right into my head.

I’m a sucker for romance.  That’s why I love weddings so much.  And yes, just like my heroine Ivy, I would well up every single time one of my brides walked down the aisle.  Weddings are full of passion and love and, yes, occasionally hysterically funny drama (well, funny if it isn’t your wedding).  Here’s a quote from my hero, Ben talking about his assistant cameraman:  

“Sorry. The kid’s young, and is sure every gig we do has the potential for major drama. Instead of paying his dues, he plans to catapult to stardom on a clip of the bride falling off a chair during the Hora.”  Did I ever have that happen at one of my weddings?  No.  Did some other things go haywire?  You bet.  Three real events even made it into the book (although all the names were changed to protect the happily married).  Once you read Planning for Love, I’d love to hear your guesses about what wacky antics I made up, and what really happened.

So weddings mixed with the harsh spotlight of reality television sparked a plot for me.  How would a perfectly organized, detail oriented planner deal with being shadowed by cameras?  Why would she even agree to it in the first place?  No spoilers, but after she’s accidentally railroaded into being on one show, the network manages to talk her into starring in another one.  They think she’s a star.  Ivy disagrees.

“I can’t take all the credit,” Ivy said. “Aside from the excitement before the ceremony, everything ran according to plan.” Yes, aside from rolling around naked with the videographer after the wedding ended. Because really, no matter how ruthlessly a wedding coordinator organized the day’s itinerary, it never included three orgasms before dawn.

Of course, the story of where I got the idea for Planning for Love is exactly that – one story.  Somehow I convinced myself the wedding world provided enough inspiration for three books.  I started sorting through vendors in my mind.  Could I make anything funny and romantic about a DJ?  A caterer?  Nope.  But I do have a sexy baker/chocolatier doing unmentionably naughty things with melted chocolate in book two, and a florist hooking up with a hotel manager in a bed of rose petals in book three.  Oh, and of course another reality show to stir the pot by putting my characters under a different live spotlight.

Here’s what I want to know from all of you (because I’m still in the middle of writing book #3 in the trilogy – call it research):  What went hopelessly, and hysterically, wrong at a wedding you attended?

One randomly selected person leaving a comment on today's blog will receive a digital copy of Planning for Love!

Blurb: 

Hopeless romantic Ivy Rhodes

and

anti-Cupid Bennett Westcott

request the pleasure of your company for

their disaster of a courtship

Wedding planner Ivy Rhodes is the best in the business, and she’s not about to let a personal problem stop her from getting ahead. So when she gets an offer to star in the reality TV show Planning for Love, it doesn’t matter that the show’s videographer happens to be a recent—and heartbreaking—one-night stand.

Bennett Westcott can admit that he didn’t handle his encounter with Ivy very well. But looking at her beautiful smile—and, okay, great body—through the lens of a camera every day? He can’t be faulted for suggesting they have a little no-strings fun.

The more time Bennett and Ivy spend together, the more he realizes that Ivy isn’t the wedding-crazed bridezilla he’d imagined. But if he doesn’t trust himself to make a relationship last, how can he convince Ivy to give him another chance?

Purchase at Carina Press