A (Sort OF) Love Letter To The Editor Of A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS—Angela James

A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS
Releases December 5th!

Dear Angela,

Well, we made it.  It’s almost release-day for your special project—the steampunk Christmas anthology you and the Carina Press staff entitled A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS! 

 

In case you haven’t already noticed, I’m new to the scene of publishing.  Pfft, who am I kidding?  I’m so new I squeak.  I’ve had two other releases before my novella with you—A CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET—but since they both happened in the last ninety days or so, I’m still learning the ropes. *cough*GinormousUnderstatement*cough*

 

Angela!

One of those ropes had to do with Twitter.  I’d been told by one of my editors at Samhain Publishing that I needed to be on Twitter to be a presence online, so I dutifully made up an account on March 1^st of this year.  On March 6^th, someone retweeted your call for submissions for a holiday Steampunk project, and I immediately had an idea for a story.  I didn’t know anything about you or Carina Press; I just liked the subject.  I didn’t have a long time to get things together, since the deadline was May 15th, but when the characters Cornelia Peabody and Roderick Coddington pushed their way to the fore, I knew the story was going to be all right.  And when I had 15K written in the first week, I REALLY knew it was going to be all right. 

When a story pushes its bossy way out like that, it’s always a fun ride.

 

I was done with CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET by the time May rolled around.  I even had time to send it off to a beta reader for that all-important feedback.  Twice I read the manuscript aloud, until I felt the character of Cornelia so keenly I actually perfected her faint Irish lilt, and I could see impassioned fire hidden beneath the professorial veneer in Roderick’s vengeful eyes.

But as the deadline inched closer, I weenied out.  I just couldn’t make myself send it to you.

 

Did you know I teach figure skating?  As part of that job I was also a gold-level judge in ISI.  I’ve sat on countless competition panels, doing the job I had spent a lifetime perfecting, so that in turn, the people I judged could be made better (you see where I’m going with this?).  The thing about judging a group of ten to fifteen skaters is basic mathematics—three will see the podium.  The others won’t.  And someone will know that terrible pain of coming in dead last.  I know this sounds cold, so please don’t misunderstand.  It wasn’t that I hated them, or that it was anything personal, and you can bet in my heart of hearts I wanted everyone to come out a winner.  But in every competition I have ever judged, there are those whose efforts don't deserve to see the podium.   That doesn't mean they'll never see it.  There’s always another day, as they say, and that’s something I find myself reminding my broken-hearted students when they (inevitably) produce a bad performance.  There’s always another competition down the road, another shot at the podium.  As long as you keep entering, keep trying, there is no failure.

My Dirty Birdies! I'm the dork
in the glasses. :)

Eventually I realized how stupid I was being by not hitting the Send button.  On May 13^th, my birthday, I gave myself the present of courage and sent off CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET.  I did it with the hope that it would podium, but full of understanding if it didn’t.  After all, as you have been trained to be on a judges’ panel of a different type, it’s your job and your duty to make sure the world you love—the publishing world—gets the best efforts from its creative engine, the writers.  And hey, let's face that really big, ugly fact that no one likes to talk about--no matter how awesome it feels to get that podium spot, I don’t know of any writer who would want a project out there that isn’t worthy of an acceptance, if only because one bad novel can sever a thousand reader relationships. 

So this ends my (sort of) love letter to not just you, Angela, but to all editors who sit in their own kind of judge's seat, filled with the hope of being dazzled, and the determination to say no when they're not.  We writers certainly don’t podium on every attempt, but you remind us—there’s always tomorrow.

Speaking of which… it’s tomorrow.  Happy release day, Angela. :)   Love, Stacy

CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET  is available at:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/uU8dXX

Carina Press: http://bit.ly/udtEfX

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/sUOBOm

AReBooks: http://bit.ly/vjNOCb

Let's Shine That Spotlight On The Fabulous JK Coi, Author Of FAR FROM BROKEN!

FAR FROM BROKEN Available
DECEMBER 5th!

FAR FROM BROKEN  by JK Coi was the first novella from A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS that I had the opportunity to read, and as I’ve told just about anyone who will listen to me, it had me crying from the third page.  My antho sister, JK (who also writes dark fantasy for YA under the name Chloe Jacobs for Entangled Publishing) has that rare gift of being able to dig straight down into the raw, agonizing heart of a story to wrench forth the deepest, most private—and totally relatable—human emotions.  Most writers attempt to do this, but compared to JK’s unbelievable writing style and talent, they only scratch the surface (and I include myself in that regard).

In our tight-knit anthology family, JK is our efficient, never-frazzled dynamo who gets by on maybe 5-6 hours of sleep a night (as far as I can tell).  Someone will come up with an idea, and before you know it, this amazing Energizer Bunny has found a way to make it happen!  While juggling the roles of wife, mother, working a full-time job, PLUS sewing up a fabulous two-book deal with Entangled Publishing as Chloe Jacobs AND getting ready to promote her novella CAGED in the Agony/Ecstasy erotica anthology, she was making up our Romance Trading Cards for A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS.  I’ve now become secretly convinced that she is, in fact, Wonder Woman (but don’t tell anyone, shhhh).

FAR FROM BROKEN
RTC back

FAR FROM BROKEN
RTC front

 (Don't ask me why I can't make these bigger; I just sorta can't *sigh*)

             

The Lovely JK Coi <3

FAR FROM BROKEN took me two whole days to get over—I simply couldn’t stand the thought of reading anything else, or for that matter, writing anything else.  I needed to absorb the magnificent emotional rollercoaster ride on which JK had taken me.  The story starts from the point of view of Jasper, the hero, and his grinding desperation and soul-deep pain is palpable.  I was almost sick with loss by the second page.  Then Jasper’s anguish, and the tortured screaming of his beloved Callie, brought me to tears.  I couldn’t stand it.  Yet I couldn’t stand to put it down.  So rarely do you have the black moment start out right from the first chapter, but it was NECESSARY.  Right from the beginning, the reader needed to take each and every agonizing step with Callie and Jasper back into the light, so that by the end of the book, you are literally cheering their multi-faceted victory, and believing that love really can conquer ANYTHING.

The HEA that awaits readers at the end of FAR FROM BROKEN will be one of the most satisfying you’ll ever read.  I'm not kidding, y'all.  EVER.  I guarantee you’ll need a couple of days to recover the way I did, but trust me—you’ll enjoy every second of it.  Romance simply doesn’t get any better than this!

Now really, how can you NOT take a look at the blurb from JK Coi’s FAR FROM BROKEN?

BLURB: 

Soldier. Spymaster. Husband.

Colonel Jasper Carlisle was defined by his work until he met his wife. When the prima ballerina swept into his life with her affection, bright laughter and graceful movements, he knew that she was the reason for his existence, and that their love would be forever.

But their world is shattered when Callie is kidnapped and brutally tortured by the foes Jasper has been hunting. Mechanical parts have replaced her legs, her hand, her eye...and possibly her heart. Though she survived, her anger at Jasper consumes her, while Jasper's guilt drives him from the woman he loves. He longs for the chance to show her their love can withstand anything...including her new clockwork parts.

As the holiday season approaches, Jasper realizes he must fight not just for his wife's love and forgiveness...but also her life, as his enemy once again attempts to tear them apart.

27,000 words

Available at:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/usJfK8

Carina Press: http://bit.ly/tqHMqa

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/vf9JfT

AReBooks: http://bit.ly/vlFLPc

So there you have it, the inside look at three amazing, talented, generous women whom I have come to know and love.  Jenny Schwartz, PG Forte and JK Coi will always be my anthology sisters, no matter how far afield we go.  We’ve become each other’s cheerleaders, crit partners and sounding boards, and I am so thankful we were all brought together for this project, known as A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS.

Tomorrow, be prepared for me to get a little gushy over our editor, Angela James of Carina Press.

A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS
Releases Monday, December 5th!

Spotlight on PG Forte (and that Rhymes with Foreplay)!

Believe it or not, how to correctly say PG Forte's surname was my first official introduction to my antho sister.  The moment I popped over to her website, clicked on her blog and saw the "Rhymes with Foreplay" banner, I knew I had found a kindred spirit. :D



If you look at her Amazon Author's Page, you realize just how incredibly talented this woman is.  Steampunk, fantasy, paranormal, M/M, erotica, series romance... there's nothing she can't do!  My current main goal in life is to meet with PG in person so I can 1.) get her autograph, and 2.) buy her lunch and persuade her to let me pick her brain for a couple of hours.  I'm telling y'all, this woman might not know everything, but it's close enough for me. 

One last thing I love about PG... she's not.  PG, I mean.  As in, rated-PG.  She belongs to a group of outstanding, red-hot romance writers called The Nine Naughty Novelists.  PG doesn't know this (because I've never told her), but long before we both wound up working together on Carina's Press's A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS, I had stumbled my way onto the Nine Naughty Novelists' website (I mean, c'mon... with a name like that, you would have taken a peek too, right? :D).  At that time, the nine authors were having a ball posting round-robin chapters on a romance trope-filled spoof called THE ZILLIONAIRE VAMPIRE COWBOY'S SECRET WEREWOLF BABIES.  As I snort-laughed my way through it, I never imagined that I was destined to meet up with none other than one of those amazing authors. *fangirl sigh*



Okay, enough gushing, it's time to get to the good stuff!  And let me tell you, THIS WINTER HEART (available December 5th from Carina Press) is sooooooooo good.  Everyone has different tastes, of course, and I love all the novellas in A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS.  That being said, PG's novella is MY kind of romance.  Like all the others, I read it in one sitting.  Unlike all the others, I was cussing out the hero, Dario, right out of the gate.  Damn, that stubborn man pushed all my buttons from the get-go!  But that's okay, because in my opinion, that's the best possible sign there is.  Feeling passionate about characters means that this story will live on in my memory long after other, less weighty stories have faded away. 

THIS WINTER HEART
By PG Forte
Releases December 5th!

THIS WINTER HEART still hasn't faded for me, thanks to the sexy, stubborn Dario.  Without spoiling things too much, Dario is frozen emotionally at the beginning of the story, to the point where he seems almost inhuman to his estranged wife, Ophelia, and their son.  This apparent lack of human compassion Dario initially displays is the ingenious twist that PG pulls here, because... well, things aren't what they seem with Ophelia.  I'd love to talk more about what defines humanity and the soul's ability to love unconditionally, but then I'd be giving the game away.  Just do me a favor -- go read THIS WINTER HEART.  Then we'll talk about the brilliance of PG Forte, who turns established ideas of the human heart upside down, and proves beyond all doubt that love is the ultimate power when it comes to defining who we are.



Intrigued yet?  You should be, so read on!


Blurb:


Santa Fe, The Republic of New Texacali, 1870


Eight years ago, Ophelia Leonides's husband cast her off when he discovered she was not the woman he thought she was. Now destitute after the death of her father, Ophelia is forced to turn to Dario for help raising the child she never told him about.


Dario is furious that Ophelia has returned, and refuses to believe Arthur is his son—after all, he thought his wife was barren. But to avoid gossip, he agrees to let them spend the holidays at his villa. While he cannot resist the desire he still feels for Ophelia, Dario despises himself for being hopelessly in love with a woman who can never love him back.


But Dario is wrong: Ophelia's emotions are all too human, and she was brokenhearted when he rejected her. Unsure if she can trust the man she desperately loves, she fears for her life, her freedom and her son if anyone else learns of her true nature...


30,000 words

Available at:


Amazon: http://amzn.to/tKeB5W


Carina Press: http://bit.ly/tku1cn


Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/sOMdCJ


AReBooks: http://bit.ly/sjycT7

Tomorrow, I review the novella that took me TWO FREAKING DAYS to recover from -- JK Coi's FAR FROM BROKEN!

A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS
Releases December 5th!

It’s Time To Unveil A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS’S Amazing Jenny Schwartz!

WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL Releases Dec. 5th!

I'm shining the spotlight on my anthology sisters, PG Forte, JK Coi and Jenny Schwartz, three incredibly talented writers who have been published in a myriad of subgenres in the romance field.  First up: Jenny Schwartz!

When I first found out I had been accepted by Carina Press to be a part of A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS, the first thing I did… well, the first thing I did was almost faint.  Heh.  Then when my head cleared, the next thing I did was think, “I wonder who else made it in?”  It wasn’t long before our editor, Angela James, was “introducing” us via email.  Jenny Schwartz, JK Coi, PG Forte and I hit it off so much that even after our steampunk project is officially launched and over with, we’ve decided we’re going to stick together and be critique partners for each other.  There are no words to describe how grateful I am to be included in a project with these multi-published authors.  Just about everything I now know about the book business, I’ve learned from them.

I’ve got to give the nod to Jenny Schwartz for getting the ball rolling on us coming together as a team.  She was the one who sent out the email that basically said, “We only have three months before our release day on December 5th, what are we going to do?”  Jenny has focused us on the art of promo as well as encouraging me to team-think, so it’s Jenny I'm focusing on first.



Jenny Schwartz, Author/Amazing Person

Jenny Schwartz, the author of WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL, is a fabulously inventive writer whose narrative “voice” drew me into her world from the first page.  This sweet, romantic steampunk story involves a strong-minded heroine (Esme) who would have fit in nicely with the women of my own family, a suffragette who knows more about the ways of the world than most men.  I cheered Esme on right away, but what kept me reading through to the end (in one sitting, no less) was the mystery surrounding the yummy hero, Jed Reeve.  There’s just something that doesn’t quite add up with this apparent scoundrel, and it was a twist at the end that made me chuckle.

For more of WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL, read on:

Blurb:

All suffragette Esme Smith wants is a man. A scoundrel to be precise. Someone who can be persuaded to represent her political views at men-only clubs. As the daughter of the richest man in Australia, Esme can afford to make it worth the right man's while.

Fresh off the boat, American inventor Jed Reeve is intrigued by Esme's proposal, but even more interested in the beauty herself. Amused that she takes him for a man who lives by his wits, he accepts the job—made easier by the fact that he already shares her ideals. Soon, he finds himself caught up in political intrigue, kidnapping and blackmail, and trying to convince his employer he's more than just a scoundrel...

26,000 words

Wanna know where to pick up WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL, releasing December 5th?  Of course you do!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/v1UPwV

Carina Press: http://bit.ly/s9y32L

B&N: http://bit.ly/ucMrPE

AReBooks: http://bit.ly/vLosw7

A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS Releases Dec. 5th!

Tomorrow, look for a sneak peek at PG Forte and THIS WINTER HEART!

Seven Days And Counting Before A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS/CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET Releases!

Yippee, I have my newly uncrashed laptop back from the Geek Squad (how I love thee and your awesome warranties ^_^).  That means I’m now ready to share a couple insights and one more excerpt from my Christmas novella, A CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET! (P.S., you might need this for TRR’s YES! Party)

First off, I’m THRILLED that People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive 2011 is none other than Bradley Cooper.  Why?  Because my hero, Roderick Coddington, was fashioned after Bradley Cooper (do I have AWESOME taste when it comes to spotting a good man-morsel, or what?).  Those eyes, that tousled, golden brown hair, that elegant, rangy bod… Seriously, I have no idea where I was going with this, but who cares?  We’re talking about Bradley Cooper/Roderick Coddington.

Second thing… for several years I’ve had to push aside this insistent Christmassy-type idea about some sort of thieving anti-heroine who had to learn that giving—especially the gift of her closely guarded heart—was so much more satisfying than the taking that’s usually involved in a high-stakes heist (though if there was a heist involved as well, so much the better).  The problem was I couldn’t find the right background for it.  Then there was the submission call for a Steampunk Christmas from Carina Press.  Hello, perfect fit.   Heh.

Now you’re interested, right?  Of course, right!  Take a gander at the blurb for CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET:

Roderick Coddington is on a mission to make Cornelia Peabody pay. After identifying her as the thief who stole a priceless Fabergé egg from his dying sister, he finds her and shackles a deadly timepiece to her arm. If she doesn't return the egg by Christmas morning, she will die.

Normally seven days is more than enough time for Cornelia to carry out the perfect crime, but Roderick's intrusion into her life is beyond distracting. He challenges her mind, and ignites her body with desire she's never felt before. But worst of all, he threatens the independence she values above all else...

As Roderick spends time with Cornelia, he realizes there's a lonely soul hidden beneath her beautiful but criminal veneer. Falling for a thief wasn't part of Roderick's plan, but plans can change and he has no intention of letting another priceless treasure get away from him.

And here’s one last little peek at CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET's official excerpt before it releases next Monday, December 5^th! (And if you’re playing TRR’s game, your hint is in this excerpt!):

EXCERPT:

“What is it you wanted to show me?”

“This.” With a dark enthusiasm that unnerved her, he led the way to a workbench and turned on an overhead light. “It took me five months to perfect this prototype’s design. I finally had success when I read about Edison’s more stable bamboo filament in his latest electric bulb. Once I had that final piece to the puzzle I was able to create this beauty, as well as its twin now locked to your wrist. What do you think?”

Cornelia moved in for a closer look. It was a tiny clockwork, with an odd configuration of twin miniature pendulums on either side of the filament he had mentioned. Behind the swinging pendulums was a copper backing that seemed to glow with a strange bluish light. “What am I looking at?”

“It’s a type of battery that gets its charge from perpetual motion.”

“Perpetual motion is a myth. Rudolf Clausius’s laws of thermodynamics prove that categorically.”

He shot her a quick glance before he latched the clockwork around the dummy’s waist. “While it’s true that nothing stays in motion forever and does, in fact, need an outward impetus to keep going, the mere beat of your heart and the flow of blood through your veins is enough kinetic energy to keep your timepiece going for seven days, while at the same time accumulating an electrical charge within its battery casing. Where did you get your education?”

“I thought you claimed a guttersnipe like me didn’t have one. Whatever are you doing?”

“Demonstrating what will happen to you if you don’t agree to steal back what you took from me and mine.”

Her quick intake was audible, but she couldn’t help it. In a night full of surprises, that was a lulu. “You want me to steal something for you?”

“Steal something back,” he stressed, his tone so cold it would have made the North Pole seem balmy. “An egg, to be precise. A very special, very rare egg. Now do you remember?”

Of course she did. It wasn’t every day she came across a magnificent Fabergé egg with a surprise of a solid gold cherub hidden inside. It had been so heart-stoppingly beautiful she had almost kept it for herself.

He made a sound of impatience. “No need to answer, I can see you do. Which means we’re making progress.” With brisk efficiency he did something with the clockwork, then turned to pull her back. “Now that you know what I want, you need to understand what will happen to you if I don’t have the egg back by midnight, Christmas morning.”

Before she could ask what he meant, a sickening odor of ozone and smoke billowed out along with a harsh electric buzzing that made her eardrums quiver in protest. Right before her horrified eyes, the dressmaker’s dummy shuddered and jived while sparks flew in every direction. It toppled over even as it burst into flame before the buzzing slowly growled to a sullen end. Roderick was there in an instant with a pail of water, dousing it with motions both unsurprised and repetitive, and in the part of her brain that still worked Cornelia now grasped why the dummy was so scorched. Before locking his timepiece on her wrist, the ever-meticulous Roderick Coddington had tested his electrocution device over and over, just to make sure it worked. Just to make sure it could kill.

Just to make sure it could kill her.

“So there you have it.” Roderick turned to her with a vicious simile of a smile while smoke hung about them in a poisonous haze. “Tick-tock goes the clock, Peabody. You have seven days to right a terrible wrong. Or barring that, seven days to live. Either way I’ll be satisfied.”

I’m so excited this story is being told at last.  Christmas, love, and one tiny, little killer timepiece.  What’s not to love? ;)

ZERO FACTOR IS UP FOR BOOK OF THE WEEK! So, um... vote for me? Please?

A truly spectacular email was waiting in my inbox from Long and Short Reviews (LASR) this week--a 4.5-star review for ZERO FACTOR!   (To check out this review from Orchid at LASR, please click here)



This novella is part of a three-story anthology called CYBERSHOCK, published by the ever-amazing Samhain Publishing.  The novellas have been separately released in ebook format, and will be published in print in July, 2012 (I'm so looking forward to that!).


But what's really fabulous about this review is that I now have an opportunity to win the Book of the Week on LASR's website.  It's an honor just to be nominated, so I'm thrilled with this already.  But I'd really like to win, so I need your vote!  Just click here and vote for ZERO FACTOR, and I'll give you a cookie.  Or at least a picture of a cookie.  Or maybe a donut.  Your choice.


Thanks!

 

Welcome! If You're Looking for Clues to The Romance Reviews Year End Splash, Read On!

Hey there!  The authors of A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS are proud to be a part of TRR's Year End Splash (YES!) Party.  Jenny Schwartz, PG Forte, JK Coi and I have some pretty obvious clues placed in our blurbs and excerpts, so if you're playing TRR's game, read on (and don't forget to enjoy the excerpts while you're at it, mkay? ;) ).  Good luck!

CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET

Title: Crime Wave In a Corset

Published By: Carina Press

Category: Steampunk, Holiday, Caper, Anthology

ebook/Audio Book Release Date: December 5, 2011

Coming Soon To: Amazon, Carina Press

Length: Novella, 34K
Type: Ebook, audio book

Blurb:

Roderick Coddington is on a mission to make Cornelia Peabody pay. After identifying her as the thief who stole a priceless Faberge egg from his dying sister, he finds her and shackles a deadly timepiece to her arm. If she doesn’t return the egg by Christmas morning, she will die.

Normally seven days is more than enough time for Cornelia to carry out the perfect crime, but Roderick’s intrusion into her life is beyond distracting. He challenges her mind, and ignites her body with desire she’s never felt before. But worst of all, he threatens the independence she values above all else…

As Roderick spends time with Cornelia, he realizes there’s a lonely soul hidden beneath her beautiful but criminal veneer. Falling for a thief wasn’t part of Roderick’s plan, but plans can change and he has no intention of letting another priceless treasure get away from him.

EXCERPT FROM CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET:

Her quick intake of breath was audible, but she couldn’t help it. In a night full of surprises, that was a lulu. “You want me to steal something for you?”

“Steal something back,” he stressed, his tone so cold it would have made the North Pole seem balmy. “An egg, to be precise. A very special, very rare egg. Now do you remember?”

Of course she did. It wasn’t every day she came across a magnificent Fabergé egg with a surprise of a solid gold cherub hidden inside. It had been so heart-stoppingly beautiful she had almost kept it for herself.

He made a sound of impatience. “No need to answer, I can see you do. Which means we’re making progress.” With brisk efficiency he did something with the clockwork, then turned to pull her back. “Now that you know what I want, you need to understand what will happen to you if I don’t have the egg back by midnight, Christmas morning.”

Before she could ask what he meant, a sickening odor of ozone and smoke billowed out along with a harsh electric buzzing that made her eardrums quiver in protest. Right before her horrified eyes, the dressmaker’s dummy shuddered and jived while sparks flew in every direction. It toppled over even as it burst into flame before the buzzing slowly growled to a sullen end. Roderick was there in an instant with a pail of water, dousing it with motions both unsurprised and repetitive, and in the part of her brain that still worked Cornelia now grasped why the dummy was so scorched. Before locking his timepiece on her wrist, the ever-meticulous Roderick Coddington had tested his electrocution device over and over, just to make sure it worked. Just to make sure it could kill.

Just to make sure it could kill her.

“So there you have it.” Roderick turned to her with a vicious simile of a smile while smoke hung about them in a poisonous haze. “Tick-tock goes the clock, Peabody. You have seven days to right a terrible wrong. Or barring that, seven days to live. Either way I’ll be satisfied.”

It's Review Round-Up!

Well, it's that time again.  It's Sunday night, the last weekend before the release of my too-spicy-to-be-sweet contemporary romance, BEST MAN, WORST MAN from Samhain Publishing, and I have another review to share on it!


From SensualReads:

Wedding coordinator Claire Pomeroy has seen it all, when planning events, and ready with a remedy for every problem until she meets Best Man Ryder Price who is trying to derail the groom into calling off the wedding she is working on. Not only does the man not believe in true love or marriage, the chemistry between them is off the charts. Claire tries to convince Ryder that there is more to marriage than just sex, while Ryder is trying to prove to her that you can have all of that without marriage and be just as happy.
Entertaining quick read, Ryder is a handful as he comes up with a few plans to knock Claire off her game, but Claire is equally determined to prove him wrong. You could easily imagine this story with the descriptive details Stacy Gail has brought to life in Best Man, Worst Man.


I'm so excited to share Ryder and Claire's bumpy road to romance with people who believe that opposite do attract -- and wow, do they ever attract here!  I'm so thankful my editor, Imogen Howson, plucked this story out of the slush pile and gave it a chance.  Immi, you were right to get rid of the opening "car crash and groping" scene! :D  (Fellow writers, please remember to ALWAYS trust your editors -- they really do know best.)


And in other news...

Remember how Harlequin Books put A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS up on NetGalley for early review?  Believe it or not, two reviews have already come in!  The first one shook my antho sister, JK Coi and me up in exactly the same way -- we couldn't look.  We had to wait until someone else read the review on Twitter to let us know we were "safe".

Thoughts Of A Scot was the first reviewer across the finish line, and this was what she had to say about my contribution to this steampunk anthology, CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET:

First thing's first, I loved the title of this story. Don't know why, but I did.
The story was interesting and the characters likeable. And, as for any Carina Press story, the sex scenes are always heat inducing!

Here's what she said about JK Coi's FAR FROM BROKEN:

Instant pity for Callie and love for Jasper. A slightly different take on other steampunks I've read in that the woman is the one given all the power.


And Jenny Schwartz's WANTED: ONE SCOUNDREL:

Again, a good story with likeable characters. This time I loved the male lead first, he was sexy! Esme was strong hearted and independent, a must (I think) for any steampunk book.


And PG Forte's THIS WINTER HEART:

An enjoyable story with a very likeable female lead and a bastard-come-nice-guy of a male lead. I liked Ophelia from the get go and Dario was a meanie to start but soon realised how much he loved his wife.


Please look into what else she had to say about the stories from the amazing JK Coi, Jenny Schwartz, and PG Forte.  I'm crazy about my anthology sisters, and honored beyond words to be included amongst them.  They're extraordinary! <3


The second review comes from Paula at The Phantom Paragrapher, who gave us her equivalent of a 5-star review -- in this case, 5 P's!  For the full story, feel free to visit Paula's review here.  Thank you for reading, Paula!


So, the countdown continues for the releases of BEST MAN, WORST MAN this October 25th, and CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET on December 5th.  Let the excitement begin!

TOO SPICY TO BE SWEET -- Yup, that's Best Man, Worst Man

Guess what?  BEST MAN, WORST MAN from SamhainPublishing has been reviewed.  Guess what again?  People LIKE it! *faints*

*revives*

 

Confession time—I’ll admit I was concerned about how this project was going to be received, since the powers-that-be at Samhain decided to market this fun little project as a “contemporary” romance, rather than a “sweet” romance.  What’s the difference?  As I’ve mentioned in earlier blogs, a sweet romance is one without sex–the story focuses on the true romance of romance, rather than, erm, getting busy in the bedroom.  Or shower.  Or trampoline.  Whatever.

A contemporary romance, though, definitely lets the inhibitions drop, right along with the panties.  So when they labeled BEST MAN, WORST MAN as a contemporary romance, I was a tad worried.  Would people get it, even if the main characters weren’t, y’know, getting any?

This is was what Library Journal had to say:

Claire Pomeroy is a highly sought-after wedding planner with a reputation for professionalism and going above and beyond the call of duty. She is well on the way to sending her latest couple on to wedded bliss when a blip in the form of a best man comes onto her radar. Ryder Price is dead set on stopping his best friend from walking down the aisle, and a wedding planner is not about to mess up his plan-no matter how perfect she appears. Claire must convince Ryder that a lifetime of happiness is possible in order to keep the wedding on and her heart intact.

Verdict Gail's (Zero Factor) latest novella moves quickly, with only a few uneven parts, and is a fun, sexy read. Although the action never moves beyond some ultra-heavy petting, romance is everywhere as wedding planning abounds. Fans of Nora Roberts's "Bride Quartet" will find alluring the blending of intense passion with detailed discussions of wedded bliss.—Kellie Tilton, Univ. of Alaska–Fairbanks Lib.

So… YIPPEEEEEEEE!!!!  I. Am. SO. Happy!  My ultimate goal for BEST MAN, WORST MAN was to focus on the purest form of romance—the magic of falling in love.  This story is a bit too passionate to be labeled as “sweet”, but what can I say?  Even when it comes to the sweetness of romance, I do like things spicy. *wink*

Where to buy BEST MAN, WORST MAN: Samhain,  Amazon,  Barnes and Noble

In Other News...

Harlequin Books gave the authors of "A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS" a wonderful surprise the week of New York ComicCon (which is what next week's blog is all about).  From @HarlequinBooks on Twitter:

In honor of #NYCC, we've put @CarinaPress's Steampunk holiday anthology A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS is on @NetGalley early! http://bit.ly/pLfLtA

That's right, folks!  CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET, my holiday steampunk sensual romance for Carina Press's A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS is now available for review on NetGalley.  So if you're a reviewer, please consider giving it a look -- thanks!

Take A Peek At BEST MAN, WORST MAN, Coming October 25th!

My Chocolate-Covered Cover! <3

It's getting to be that time again -- release day for BEST MAN, WORST MAN is almost here!


Oh, what to say about this fun little project...  BEST MAN, WORST MAN was the first project to be published, despite the fact that it is now my second release from Samhain.  (Confused yet?:) ) BEST MAN, WORST MAN was pushed back thanks to my publisher's release schedule of the cyberpunk anthology, of which my novella ZERO FACTOR was a part.

Is this too sexy to be sweet? Hmmm.

I wrote BEST MAN, WORST MAN for one of Samhain's anthology calls.  This particular call was for a contemporary "sweet" romance -- focusing on the falling-in-love magic of romance without actual sex scenes.  Since I grew up reading this type of romance, I thought this sounded like a great opportunity to get my foot in the door.  BEST MAN, WORST MAN took less than a month to write, almost like my brain had just been waiting for me to tell Ryder and Claire's story.  Eighteen days after sending it in, I received an email from Imogen Howson, the editor in charge of the sweet romance anthology call, and informed me that while my project wasn't being accepted for the anthology, they were interested in publishing it as a stand-alone book. YAY!  (Only much later I found out that despite my characters not having sex, my work was way too hot for it to be categorized as a "sweet" romance.  Apparently I don't know how to write those *is baffled but happy*)



So, without further ado, here's the blurb for BEST MAN, WORST MAN, the steamiest-but-no-sex-scenes novella around!

*     *     *

He’s the one problem she can’t solve.

From hysterical bridezillas to grooms with sub-zero feet, renowned wedding planner Claire Pomeroy has never met a disaster she couldn’t handle. Then she runs afoul of her client’s not-so-best man, a devilishly flirtatious rogue with a killer smile and a chest as solid as a concrete roadblock. Yet their sparks of attraction only highlight his obvious quest—to make sure this wedding knot never gets tied.

Confirmed bachelor Ryder Price knows one unshakable truth: marriage is nothing but a fairy tale. No way is he going to stand idly by while his wingman face-plants into the dreaded marital trap. But there’s a problem. A dark-eyed, dangerously curvaceous problem who’s bound and determined to pull this wedding off.

As her suddenly skittish clients teeter on the edge of cancellation, Claire challenges her nemesis to imagine long-term as something more than a quickie and a vague promise to call. Ryder counters with a challenge of his own. Let him give her a taste of just how fulfilling a little no-strings-attached passion can be.





And hey, since we're at it, why not a teeny excerpt of when Claire and Ryder meet? :)

EXCERPT:

Claire sighed and followed Rachel into the living room, only to have her vision filled with Rachel’s houseguest sitting on a sofa, coffee mug in hand as he chatted with Matt. He was impossible to miss. Even though he was seated it was obvious the man was built like a warrior of old, with wide shoulders and a chest you could play handball on, narrow hips and long legs that filled out his jeans in all the right places. His dark hair was as black as a raven’s wing, and the sweep of his shoulders was so breathtaking she couldn’t help but suffer the innately feminine desire to explore the muscular terrain with curious, wanting-to-squeeze fingers. The smile he gave Matt was a devilish white slash against bronzed, sun-kissed skin, made that much darker with a hint of a five-o’clock shadow. Then he looked up at their approach, and Claire found herself freezing solid, from the tips of her toes all the way to the orderly movement of her lungs.

He had silver eyes. God help her, silver eyes.

Wow.

“Ryder, I’d like you to meet wedding planner extraordinaire, Claire Pomeroy. Claire, this is Matt’s best friend, Ryder Price. Since he and Matt are settled in so nicely here, why don’t you and I have our consult in the kitchen while the boys do whatever it is they do?”

Matt shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

“Absolutely not.” To Claire’s surprise, the man named Ryder pushed to his feet and crossed to them, and for no fathomable reason Claire’s heart decided to do its best impersonation of an 808 drum machine. “Please Rachel, I insist you go about your usual routine and just pretend I’m not even here. Remember, you swore I wouldn’t be a bother, so don’t let me get in your way now.”

“My goodness,” Rachel said through a tight smile that made her look like she wanted to bite something. “How considerate of you, Ryder.”

“And I wouldn’t want to inconvenience your wedding planner.” Ryder turned the full brunt of his smile on Claire as he took her hand in his. “Claire, is it?”

It took most of her strength to get her tongue unglued from the roof of her mouth, mainly because the heat of his hand was branding her nerve endings with the glorious feel of him. “That’s correct.” What wasn’t correct was how her brain slipped its gears to plunge her into the heart of fantasyland the moment he touched her. With shocking ease she imagined how the glide of his hands, as big as baseball mitts, might feel against other, more intimate parts of her body. With one glance at his made-for-sin lips, she could almost feel them molding against hers, seducing her with the promise of dark pleasures. She had no doubt he would be a reckless lover. This modern-day gladiator looked as though he lived to conquer his intended target inch by tantalizing inch, unveiling her as he would a piece of fine art to revel in a slow, sensual exploration first by his gaze, then his hands, then his mouth…

A flush of heat rolled through Claire until she thought she glowed with it, and to her dismay sensual warmth bloomed between her thighs. Way to be professional, she thought, horrified. Apparently her little voice of reason was suffering an epic case of laryngitis. And the worst part of it—all he’d done was touch her hand.

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