by Joanne Wadsworth | Jan 3, 2014 | Author Blog
COOKING UP LOVE
Jemima George leads a charmed life as a personal chef and assistant to reality television’s latest darling. But that changes in a New York minute when her Aunt Caro dies under odd circumstances, bequeathing her a small restaurant. Jem plans to sell the café and continue her life in NYC, until a dramatic phone call from her cheating boyfriend convinces her to experiment with the ingredients for happiness and accept her Aunt’s legacy. Throwing herself into remodeling the restaurant with the help of the town’s delicious contractor, Jem revamps the menu and renews her faith in herself.
Jack Kerrigan considered Caro a surrogate mother and hates the idea that the café could be sold. He doesn’t need the remodeling project, but if it means Caro’s beautiful, fascinating niece will stay to run the restaurant, he’s all in. He wouldn’t mind being savory to Jem’s sweet.
Jack’s brassy ex-wife is cooking up a scheme of her own, where Jack tosses Jem like a salad and comes back to her. Fold in a creepy attorney hiding secrets of environmental mayhem, add Jem’s claustrophobia, half-pint niece and nephew twins, one mysterious lockbox, and bring to a boil–a recipe for romance.
A Lyrical Press Contemporary Romance
A huge welcome to Gemma Brocato and her wonderful characters from Cooking Up Love. I’m so glad you’ve dropped by, Gemma, and brought two of your favorite people along with you for a character interview.
Joanne, Thanks so much for inviting me and Jack and Jem over today. We’re all eager to tell you a little bit about ourselves.
Let’s put Jack and Jem in the hot seat then. Jem if I can start with you. Did you ever consider your story would be told?
Jem: *smiling sheepishly* I worked for a reality TV star, and have appeared on camera often. This wasn’t the story I expected Gemma to tell, *sends and adoring glance toward Jack* but I’m so happy with the way it turned out.
What’s your favorite scene, one your writer portrayed just right?
Jack: *Jack grabs Jem’s hand* Can I answer this one, sugar? I found Jem in the café after she’d gotten a devastating phone call. We walked to the waterfront and watched the sunrise together. Gemma thought she was giving that sunrise to Jem. But, I knew the sun brought an exciting new promise for me, too. The promise of a happily ever after. *Jem sighs and blows a kiss at Jack*
Were there any particularly difficult scenes you’d rather your writer have never written?
Jem: I hated every scene where Gemma made me suffer from my fear of small spaces. *Shuddering*
What was your favorite thing to do in your book?
*They smile at each other*
Jem: We love to hang out at Red’s Tavern and play darts. I’m proud to say I usually win.
Are you happy with how everything turned out?
Jem: Oh yes!
Would you care for a sequel?
Jack: I think we’ve been in the spotlight long enough. It’s my sister’s turn to play the lead. Gemma was generous to her and her kids with her next story. That’s all I’ll say.
What was your favorite line?
Jack: It was right after Jem and I got locked in the pantry. She doesn’t like small spaces, you know. Gemma put some awesome words in my mouth. A foretelling of sorts. “We also have moments of glory and brilliance. Distracting you with a kiss was mine. As a matter of fact, kissing you could become one of my weaknesses.”
What’s your favorite time of the day?
Jem and Jack respond at the same time: Dawn
What’s your greatest fear?
Jem: *with a shiver* Small spaces.
Jack: *matter-of-factly* Losing Jem.
What’s your greatest weakness?
Jack: *smiles* Jem’s kisses. They make my heart flip every time.
What’s your strongest quality?
Jem: Can I answer for Jack? He is a kind man. He hates it when I say that, but it’s true. He’d rather I said he was a sexy strong stud with a wicked awesome sense of humor. And he is all of that. But a sweet, sensitive heart beats in his chest.
What makes you proud?
Jem: *A broad smile spreads over Jem’s face* Well, I hate to brag, but I had a role in reuniting a family torn apart by mistakes and pride. I helped a father be proud of his son again, when it seemed they’d never talk again.
Jack: *nod’s then adds his own moment of pride* I helped Jem heal after her aunt died, and her EX-boyfriend betrayed her. Oh, I also helped her find inventive ways to manage her claustrophobia. *He leers at Jem*
I have a couple of questions just for you, Gemma.
As the writer, is there anything you’d like to say in response to your characters’ interview?
Just that I’m pleased that they are happy with the end of the story. Although, it really isn’t an end, rather, it’s a delicious beginning for the rest of their lives.
Are you working on anything new and if so when can we expect to see it?
As Jack mentioned, his sister Pippa’s story, Hearts In Harmony, is due out in May 2014. That story tugged at my heart from the very moment I was introduced to her. Currently I’m working on finishing Sam Kerrigan’s story. He was one of my favorite characters in Cooking Up Love, so I’m delighted to be working on that. Since the story is based on the five senses, there are two more yet to come.
Here’s an excerpt to whet your appetite:
Jack smiled sadly and shifted on the hard rock. “That’s when I really got to know Caroline. She gave me a job and helped me figure out up from down. I’m ashamed to say I sort of lost myself in the bottle. Knowing how much I’d disappoint Caroline if I didn’t show up to work the breakfast shift kept me from drinking until dawn. My dad’s a patient man, but after putting me to bed drunk a few times, he got fed up. So the next time it happened, he poured me a strong cup of coffee, shoved me in the car and brought me here. He marched me down the pier and pointed toward the sunrise.”
Jack lost himself in thoughts of a long ago morning, as Jem stared at the horizon, waiting for him to go on.
“Dad doesn’t talk much. It’s just his way. He shocked me that morning by stringing a whole lot of words together. Said his heart was breaking for me. What I was going through was breaking my mother’s heart, too. He told me it was time to move on with my life, not stay buried in what I couldn’t change. Dad told me each sunrise offers a new promise. As bad as yesterday was, there’s new opportunity, new hope every day. He told me I was the only roadblock to happiness. I shouldn’t let Tessa destroy my essence. Yep, my dad talked about my essence.” Jack chuckled; the memory of the moment still amazed him. “Said I deserved more than the next guy to wallow in the misery. But I’d be better off accepting the new chance each dawning sun provided.”
He turned to face Jem and put his finger under her chin, turning her face his direction. Cupping his hand over her cheek, he rubbed his thumb along the smooth skin he found there. He prayed she’d lift her head enough to let him press a kiss to her lips, but she remained still, her eyes searching his. “That sun, right there, is your new opportunity. If you stay unhappy for a few days, or even years, it’s okay. Tomorrow, and every day after, the sun will come back with the same offer. And one day, you’ll be ready to accept it.”
He dropped his hand to her shoulder and scooted closer to her, easing his arm around her. Jem didn’t shift away from him, but didn’t lean into his solid warmth, either. Her sigh was audible as she turned her face back toward the brilliant orange globe on the horizon. Side by side, they watched the new sun rising over the water, brightening the day first with a rosy glow, then a fiery glare that made them squint. Bathed in an otherworldly glow, Clooney played in the surf as the rising sun painted vivid colors on the sea and sky.
“Thank you,” Jem said softly as Clooney finally wore himself out and trotted back to Jack’s side.
Jack rubbed his hands across the dog’s wet coat, slicking water off his back. “You’re welcome.”
How can readers find you and your book, Gemma?
Connect with Gemma on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gemma.brocato
Twitter: @gemmabrocato
Website: www.Gemmabrocato.com
Buy Links:
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Up-Love-Gemma-Brocato-ebook/dp/B00G36CD0K/ Kobo http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/cooking-up-love-3
Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cooking-up-love-gemma-brocato/1117213296
iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/cooking-up-love/id688219548?mt=11
BIO:
Gemma’s favorite desk accessories for many years were a circular wooden token, better known as a ’round tuit,’ and a fortune from a fortune cookie that said she was a lover of words; some day she’d write a book. All it took was a transfer to the United Kingdom, the lovely English springtime, and a huge dose of homesickness to write her first novel. Once it was completed and sent off with a kiss even the rejections, addressed to ‘Dear Author’, were gratifying.
After returning to America, she spent a number of years as a copywriter, dedicating her skills to making insurance and the agents who sell them sound sexy. Eventually, her full-time job as a writer interfered with her desire to be a writer full-time and she left the world of financial products behind to pursue an avocation as a romance author.
Her gamble paid off when she was a 2012 Finalist in the prestigious Golden Pen contest for Romantic Suspense and she received contracts for her first and second book.
www.Gemmabrocato.com
by Joanne Wadsworth | Dec 27, 2013 | Author Blog
GHOST LOVER
By Liza O’Connor
Contemporary Romance with a touch of paranormal
Two sexy English brothers. One irresistible ghost. Who would you choose as your lover?
Completely broke and with a criminal record to boot, Senna Smith is one day from eviction from her apartment when Brendon, her promiscuous roommate from London, suggests she go to England, marry him, and manage his fortune. With few other options, she agrees to an open marriage. But she’ll never, ever, have sex with him, knowing if she falls in love with him, he’ll break her heart.
As trustee of Brendon’s family fortune, there is no way Brendon’s older brother, Garrison Durran, is going to let him marry a self-professed American gold-digger. As Senna tries to embrace castle life and English society for Brendon’s sake, Gar discovers Senna is the perfect woman for him–beautiful and intelligent, kind and caring. Now, if she wasn’t already engaged to his brother…
The ancestral ghost of Durran Castle has to intervene if the Durran brothers have any chance of an heir. He can’t leave them to fix matters on their own. They are useless buggers when it comes to love. As counselor to Gar, matchmaker for Brendon, and lover to Senna, a ghost’s work is never done.
CONTENT WARNING: Allergy warning: Ghost cat in book.
A huge welcome to Liza O’Connor and her wonderful characters from Ghost Lover. I love this cover. I’m so glad you’ve dropped by, Liza, and brought your characters along with you for an interview. And thanks so much for offering a giveaway. Check it out at the end, everyone. Liza’s going to take it away here, while I head over to her blog. My characters from Witness Pursuit are going to answer the hard questions at her place.
Today, Joanne and I are swapping locations. I’m interviewing my unruly herd at her site in beautiful and warm New Zealand, and she’s interviewing her characters on my site in a cold castle set in England.
Liza: I’m glad to see everyone is here, because I want you all to contribute to this interview.
Gar: I’m not discussing the ghosts.
Liza: Not a problem. Today’s topic is about when one door closes, another one opens. I believe all you have experienced this.
Brendon: I thought the saying was: When a door is locked, break a window.
Senna: No, it’s: Don’t cry ‘why me?’ when a door closes, because the door was actually a portal to hell.
Liza: *grips head* Why did I think this would be easy? Okay, who would like to begin?
Brendon: I’ll go. About a year ago, I lost the only person who had ever loved me. The cook attempted to console me, but then declared I’d gotten her pregnant. Attempting to fix matters, I convinced the trustee of my fund to give me a million pounds, which I purposely lost on a single roll of the roulette table. I thought if the cook believed I’d lost all my money, she’d remember someone else who might be the father of her child.
Gar: The cook held firm and demanded I give her a million to go away. In a fit of anger over both the blackmailing cook and the roulette fiasco I sent Brendon to the states, instead of realizing what he needed was a brother who loved him. I will forever regret that.
Brendon: I forgive you, since in the states I discovered a fabulous woman who liked me.
Cat: What? Who?
Brendon: *grips Cat’s hand* I found Senna, broke a window and crawled into her one-room flat —
Senna: Several nights in a row. I couldn’t afford to replace anymore windows, so I gave him a key. Then after I fed and sheltered him for six months, he steals $400 from my bank account so my rent check bounces and the landlord evicts me.
Liza: Yeah, Brendon, I had to drop the first two chapters of my book because of you. My readers seriously hated you for stealing her money.
Brendon: I had to save her. No matter how hard Senna tried, she couldn’t get ahead. I was certain if she came to England where she’d never have to worry about money again, she’d be so much better off.
Liza: Then why didn’t you just ask her?
Brendon: Because she would’ve never accepted my offer of marriage until I made her really desperate. As in rock bottom. Otherwise, she would’ve kept living on the edge, miserable and one step from starvation every day, with no friends to help her in times of trouble.
Senna: He’s right. No one likes a convicted felon. I was destined for a hard and miserable life before Brendon stole my money, then offered me a way out of the disaster he’d created.
Liza: So this is an excellent example of when one door closes, another opens. Senna was a day from being homeless and look at her fabulous life now. Now Gar, I know you hate participating in my interviews but–
Gar: I’m not discussing ghosts.
Liza: Could you give us an example how something you perceived as a terrible event turned out to bring you great happiness?
Gar: Brendon calls and says I have to pay for him and his fiancée to return to England or he’ll sell the family teacups he’d stolen when he left. The idea of having my life disrupted with Brendon’s antics again gave me an ulcer, but I had to save the teacups, so I bought the tickets.
*grips Senna’s hand*
And once I stopped being a jerk, I discovered Senna to be the finest woman of my acquaintance. My life became so much brighter with her in it.
Liza: And you, Cat. I believe you had a major ‘one door shuts, another one opens’ moment?
Cat: I did. I had just met a really nice English dude who had bought three of my paintings, only two hadn’t been for sale and I wanted them back. When he told me he’d already shipped them to England, I kind of got violent.
Gar: Kind of? She knocked me to floor and was seconds away from stomping me to death. I got up and assured her I’d send all three pieces back to her and stormed off. I intended to return to England alone the next day.
Cat: Only the monster who claimed to be my father sent a bunch a goons to my apartment and took everything I possessed…even the toilet paper. I had three new paintings I’d done…that still upsets me. But his message was clear. Come home and be an obedient daughter or die on the streets.
Gar: Fortunately, she knew where I was staying and came there. When I washed her face clean of her Goth makeup, she looked incredibly like Senna, leaving me no choice but to bring her home.
Cat: *hugs Brendon.* And there I met my soul mate.
Lassier the ghost: *materializes* And finally I had the proper cast to set matters straight. But still, you would not believe how difficult they made it. Keeping this family line going is nearly impossible. How I long for the old days when women had no say in the matter of marriage and children.
Cat: If I kick Lassier in the balls while he’s materialized, will it hurt him?
Lassier: I’m out of here. *disappears*
Cat: *grins* I take that as a yes.
Brendon: I don’t think you should test your theory. Ghosts have long memories and excel at pranks.
Liza: Once again I have lost control of the interview. I know inviting only one or two would be easier, but then the rest would have been at the castle where Joanne Wadsworth is interviewing her characters on my site. Anyone want to lay odds her characters are better behaved?
*Everyone stares at their shoes, plucks lint, or stares out windows*
Liza stands: I’m calling this interview done. It’s a gorgeous day in New Zealand. I’m going rafting down a 21 foot waterfall. Who’s with me?
And now a short excerpt for those who didn’t fit in the raft:
Senna woke to her breast beeping. Trying to make sense of the oddity, she pushed herself up to rest on her elbows and discovered the noise came from Brendon’s wristwatch. Somehow, his hand had found its way beneath her bra during the night, and now chirped like a baby chick.
She contemplated tearing his hand off at the wrist, but he looked so angelic with his curly dark hair framing his handsome face. With a heavy sigh, she unlatched her bra and eased his hand out, then gently shook him until his face scrunched into a pained grimace.
He groaned and frowned at his noisy watch. “This is a god-awful hour to be woken up,” he said in his sexy British accent. “Never bothers me when I’m coming home at this hour.”
Senna rolled her eyes. “Speak for yourself.”
Pushing himself up, he shook his head. “Remember the second night I came around? You kept yelling at me, ‘Did I realize it was four in the morning?’ At the time, I couldn’t understand your fuss.” He groaned and scratched his scalp. “Well, I certainly understand it now. It’s bloody hell to be woken at this ungodly hour.”
BUY LINKS
Amazon ebook Amazon print
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About Liza O’Connor:
Liza lives in Denville, NJ with her dog, Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels. She loves to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.
Liza’s Blog and Website Facebook Twitter
Click Here for More Information
About Ghost Lover
–ooOoo–
FREEBIE!!!!
To One Lucky Commenter, I’ll give away one copy of Worst Week Ever
What do you get when you put a hardworking, can-do middle-class young woman together with an egoistical, outrageous, billionaire boss, then throw in the worst week of disasters imaginable?
A humorous disaster romance of epic proportions.
Just leave an email address in your comment and tell me you want Worst Week Ever.
–ooOoo–
Hey everyone, I’m back. My characters from Witness Pursuit are answering the hard questions over at Liza’s blog. If anyone wants to drop by, here’s the link-> http://www.lizaoconnor.com/2013/12/joanne-wadsworth-brings-her-witness.html
Don’t forget to leave a comment for Liza’s giveaway right here, along with your email address. Have a wonderful week. 🙂
by Joanne Wadsworth | Oct 18, 2013 | Author Blog
A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL.
A witch in training, a hunter on the prowl, and a world in jeopardy.
Learning the rules of being a witch takes years, but Parris McCall needs to master them in only weeks. Ty Wallace is going mad with his desire for Parris, but she’s a distraction in his quest to find Coven X before they take The Council and everyone he knows down.
The couple searches for Ty’s mentor, but he’s disappeared. Their only clue comes from a banished witch. When they return, not only are their own lives threatened, but a new life hangs in the balance.
Available at Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Return-of-the-Fae-ebook/dp/B00DJVH8V6
A huge welcome to Lynn Cahoon and her wonderful characters from A Member of the Council. I love the tagline. A witch in training, a hunter on the prowl, and a world in jeopardy. I can’t wait to read this book. I’m so glad you’ve dropped by, Lynn, and brought Parris and Ty along with you for a character interview.
–o–
How did you manage to meet your writer?
Ty – She says she wanted to try something new. I meet a lot of women that way.
Parris – Brag much?
Ty – Okay, I used to meet a lot of women that way.
Did you ever consider your story would be told?
Parris – No. I didn’t even want to know my story. My life was perfect before Lynn started writing these books and brought Ty to the Alibi.
Ty – I wouldn’t say perfect. You just didn’t know people wanted you dead. I think Lynn probably saved your life. And of course, you got to meet me…
Parris – Whatever. Next question.
Were there any particularly difficult scenes you’d rather your writer have never written?
Parris – I don’t get why each book has to detail our love life. I mean, aren’t some things better left behind closed doors?
Ty – It’s a romance, dear. She has to be true to the genre. Besides, we’re rarely behind closed doors.
What was your favorite thing to do in your book?
Parris and Ty in unison – Darts.
Would you care for a sequel?
Parris – Definitely. We have a baby on the way and…
Ty – Wait, what?
Parris – Calm down big guy, I’m talking about our friend, not us. Anyway, I’m wondering what’s going to come of the gang once The Council gets what they want.
What’s your current occupation?
Ty – I’m a trial lawyer in the human world. Of course, The Council has other duties for me.
Parris – And of course, I manage my bar, The Alibi.
What’s your favorite food?
Parris – Oh My God. I can’t choose. I love everything. Except beans. I don’t like beans.
Ty – Not even in chili? I love a good chili.
Parris – Then you’re going to have to cook it yourself. Sorry, no beans.
What’s one thing no one knows about you and might be shocked if they found out?
Ty – You’re talking about humans right? I’m not sure there’s anything in my life that could shock a fellow witch or warlock.
Parris – I’m thinking you’re wrong there, but we’ll let it slide. I guess I’ve been keeping the other world I live in a secret from everyone. But I’d love to tell them I have a personal fairy. And I’ve met a troll. He’s very sweet, by the way.
Where would you like to be in five years’ time?
Parris – Done studying these stupid academy books. I know I’m starting late, but seriously, I’m ready to move on.
Ty – You haven’t even scratched the surface yet. I’m still learning about my power and those around me. Face it dear, you’re on the ride of your life.
I have a couple of questions just for you, Lynn.
As the writer, is there anything you’d like to say in response to your characters’ interview?
I love how well they’re getting along right now. It’s not always the case. Like most men, Ty can be broody and secretive. Then when he does spill what he’s worried about, it can tick Parris off. Which sets up another problem. My novella has turned into an entire world that I love visiting.
Are you working on anything new and if so when can we expect to see it?
I’m knee deep in writing (which means my deadline is approaching fast) the third book in The Tourist Trap Mystery series. Book 1- Guidebook to Murder, will be released in April 2014. Book 2-July. And this third book, November. Set in a coastal California tourist town, Jill Gardner runs Coffee, Books, and More, when she’s not trying to figure out who’s killing the town’s residents.
How can readers find you and your book, Lynn?
Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5857424.Lynn_Cahoon
Twitter – https://twitter.com/LynnCahoon
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LynnCahoonAuthor
Amazon author page – http://www.amazon.com/Lynn-Cahoon/e/B0082PWOAO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL is available for purchase wherever ebooks are sold:
Available at Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Return-of-the-Fae-ebook/dp/B00DJVH8V6
BIO:
Lynn Cahoon is a contemporary romance author with a love of hot, sexy men, real and imagined. Her alpha heroes range from rogue witch hunters, modern cowboys, or hot doctors, sexy in scrubs. And her heroines all have one thing in common, their strong need for independence. Or at least that’s what they think they want.
She blogs at her website www.lynncahoon.wordpress.com
by Joanne Wadsworth | Sep 13, 2013 | Author Blog
TWELFTH SUN
The hunky young PhD knows all about seduction, but what does he know about love?
Reagan Cassidy is settled in her life. She has a thriving interior design firm, an upscale condo, two cats, and a goldfish. As a favor to her uncle, she agrees to team up with his marine archeologist friend to validate and retrieve a nineteenth-century journal, reputedly that of a passenger aboard the doomed schooner Twelfth Sun. Finding a hunky twenty-five-year-old coming out of the shower in her hotel room wasn’t part of the deal, but it’s hard to complain…
Dr. Elijah Cross is cocky and he knows it. He enjoys trading barbs with the lovely Reagan. Barbs, and some innuendo. He can tell she’d rather get back home to her business than stick around for the extended treasure hunt they’ve been talked into, but he’s fine with the situation. At least, until the “clues” start getting personal.
Reagan finds Dr. Gorgeous is as skilled in matters of the heart as he is behind the lectern. Throw in a series of clues which mean more to Elijah than he’ll explain, several odd-ball competitors out to win the journal, a saboteur, and a lavish seaside mansion, and Reagan has enough trouble keeping her head straight, let alone her heart.
WARNING: Younger man, older woman, nautical riddles and romance.
A huge welcome to Mae Clair and her wonderful characters from Twelfth Sun. I love this blurb. A treasure hunt, along with all things mysterious and nautical. I’m so glad you’ve dropped by, Mae, and brought Elijah and Reagan along with you for a character interview.
How did you manage to meet your writer?
Elijah: Through a book. Mae always has her nose buried in one. This time she was reading about marine archaeology and started imagining the kind of guy who’d go poking around old shipwrecks. Naturally, I came to mind. I’d been rattling around in her head for a while, but the book opened the door for me to take center stage.
What’s your current occupation?
Reagan: I have an interior design firm called Winning Concepts. My Uncle Gavin stepped in as a financial backer when I was just getting started. He’s done so much for me through the years, especially since losing my father when I was fourteen. It’s one of the reasons I couldn’t say no when Uncle Gavin asked me to hook-up with Elijah to track down a nineteenth century ship’s journal. At the time, I thought I was meeting a stodgy old professor not a hot young guy with a PhD.
What has you ducking for cover?
Elijah: *shifting uncomfortably* I hate social situations. I have no problem giving an academic lecture to a packed hall, but I cringe when I have to make small talk at dinner parties. Especially stuffy affairs like the ones Pellar was always foisting on us. He’s the staff manager for Eric Sothern — the rich recluse who invited us to his mansion for a treasure hunt. The social thing is a throwback to when I was a kid taking college classes. Everyone else was so much older, out of my league socially. I felt like a fish out of water.
Reagan: It turns him into a smart-ass and makes him run at the mouth. Usually at Pellar. *giggles*
What’s your favorite scene, one your writer portrayed just right?
Reagan: How about one that mortified me? The very first time I saw Elijah, I walked into his hotel room thinking it was mine.
Elijah: She caught me coming out of the bathroom completely nude.
Reagan: I’ve never been so embarrassed. After I got over the initial shock and fright, I wanted to sink through the floor.
Elijah: *laughing* Needless to say, I made a lasting first impression. She got an eyeful.
Reagan: He’s completely uninhibited. Most of the time. I told him once that for someone who has no qualms about sex, he has a lot of walls when it comes to intimacy.
Elijah: We won’t go there. *clears throat* Next question.
Are you happy with how everything turned out?
Reagan: Oh, most definitely! I’m glad Mae worked things out for us, even if she did make us jump through multiple hurdles to get there.
Elijah: The ending was a shock for me. Mae had several surprises tucked up her sleeve, but I can’t complain. That’s part of being front and center in a romantic mystery, I guess. The way everything came together rocked my world, but the icing on the cake was, Reagan. *takes her hand and grins* Now, if I could just get her to drink grape soda!
I have a question just for you, Mae.
Are you working on anything new and if so when can we expect to see it?
I just finished a romantic adventure novella called SOLSTICE ISLAND that will be included in an anthology of romance stories with three other authors. It should be available this year.
I also have a sweet romantic mystery involving a fifteen-year-old missing person’s case called ECLIPSE LAKE that should publish in April-May of 2014.
Here’s an excerpt to whet your appetite:
Reagan glanced at her watch. She’d dragged herself from bed hours before any civilized person should be up, for the sole purpose of meeting Elijah Cross. The marine archeologist was already ten minutes late–not a brilliant way to begin a working relationship. She’d learned through firsthand experience many of her uncle’s friends were as unreliable as they were eccentric. Foolishly, she had hoped Dr. Cross wouldn’t fall into the same category.
Resigned to passing the time, she added hot water to her tea. From the corner of her eye she spied movement at the door of the cafe. A man stepped inside, shaking rain from his jacket. The door banged shut behind him, ensnaring her full attention. He wore a battered black fedora and worn jeans with scuffed dock shoes. There was something oddly familiar about him. He turned slightly and she caught his profile, realizing he was the man from room ten. Self-conscious, she looked away, hoping to sink through the floor. He spoke briefly with the hostess and then headed in her direction.
She tensed. What were the odds of encountering him now when she was scheduled to meet Dr. Cross, a highly-respected and, no doubt critical, academic? How would it look to her uncle’s friend if he walked in on a conversation revolving around naked men and the color of her undergarments?
Chagrined, she bowed her head over her teacup. Her hair spilled forward, concealing her face behind curtains of red-gold. With any luck he’d go away. With any luck, he’d leave her alone.
“Hi.”
Reagan raised her head fully convinced mischievous imps had tracked her to Shipwright Landing and were even now performing rituals of bad luck. “Hi.” She pressed her lips together. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m expecting someone.”
“Yeah, I know.” He grinned. “You’re Reagan Cassidy.”
She blinked. She’d given the hostess her name only because she was expecting Dr. Cross and neither had any idea what the other looked like. She certainly hadn’t expected the woman to share her name with any longhaired Lothario who asked for it. “The hostess told you.”
He nodded. Removing his hat by the crown, he dropped it on the table. “Some storm.” He shrugged out of his jacket and hooked it over the back of the nearest chair. “Good thing it’ll be over soon.”
Reagan watched flabbergasted as he sat across from her and picked up a menu. “Excuse me.” Her voice rose sharply, edged like a knife. “I didn’t invite you to sit. I told you I’m expecting someone.”
“Yeah, I know.” He flashed that same irritating grin. “I’m Elijah Cross.”
How can readers find you and your book, Mae?
I’m thrilled to connect with readers and other authors at:
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BIO:
Mae Clair opened a Pandora’s Box of characters when she was a child and never looked back. Her father, an artist who tinkered with writing, encouraged her to create make-believe worlds by spinning tales of far-off places on summer nights beneath the stars. She snagged the tail of a comet, hitched a ride, and discovered her writer’s Muse on the journey.
Mae loves creating character-driven fiction in settings that vary from contemporary to mythical. Wherever her pen takes her, she flavors her stories with conflict, romance and elements of mystery. Married to her high school sweetheart, she lives in Pennsylvania and is passionate about writing, old photographs, a good Maine lobster tail and cats.
Discover more about Mae on her website and blog at www.MaeClair.com
