RELEASE DAY! Quinn's Resolution is Available TODAY!

***** Cue the confetti and champagne!!***** 

QUINN'S RESOLUTION 

is now available on AMAZON for your Kindle!

And while I love all the stories in this collection (8 standalone romances by 8 talented authors) I have to admit I'm kind of partial to Quinn's story and his tale of tragedy and redemption.

Here's the short blurb:

Quinn MacDonald had it made. With a record label deal and their first single skyrocketing up the charts, his indie punk band is finally getting a taste of rock and roll fame. Bikini-clad women and bottomless bottles of booze fill endless days… until their hotel collapses during a hurricane. He’s still under contract but as far as he’s concerned, the music died along with the rest of his band.

Life has never been easy for Phoebe Snow. Working three minimum wage jobs barely keeps a roof over her head while she and her band struggle to get noticed. But on stage, nothing matters but the music in her heart. When her band plays a cover of one of his hits, Quinn is blown away. Can Phoebe be the inspiration he needs for more than just writing songs? 

 I'm excited to share Quinn's story with my readers - and hope you fall in love with him as much as I did! My beta readers said great things, and I'm hoping reviewers will as well. I'd keep my fingers crossed but that's hard to do while pouring champagne... don't want to spill any more than I already will!

Just know that I can't stop smiling! 

Monday Book Review: After Hurricane Nina: Nolan's Resolution, by Angela Stevens

After Hurricane Nina: Nolan's Resolution, by Angela Stevens
Hot Hunks-Steamy Romance Collection, Book 2
Published January 15, 2019

About the Book:

Eight Strangers. Eight Unique Stories. All Stand-alone Novels.

On November 30, 2016, Hurricane Nina hit Bali, Indonesia. In the aftermath of death and destruction, eight strong sexy men will realize it’s time for a change in their lives. A resolution of sorts. A contractor, personal trainer, a millionaire, a stuntman, a rock star, a thrill-seeker, an army veteran, and a trust fund prodigal will all find a way to conquer their loss and learn to love. This is Nolan’s story.

Resolution: Give up Tinder for a year… 6 months… Month… week and get the hell over Lenny.

After the tragedy of losing his best friend, Nolan Carmichael submerged himself in work and found that his inability to commit to women reached a whole new level. Two years on, Nolan is a Tinder addict that has put his life on hold while he supports Lenny’s widow.

Olivia, devastated at losing the only man she ever loved is gradually learning to live without Lenny but, despite putting her toe in the water and dating another guy, she still can’t bring herself to sleep with anyone else. After spending the anniversary of Lenny’s death together, Nolan hatches a plan to turn them both around– Nolan will give up meaningless sex until Olivia has some. 

My Take:
Fast-paced, steamy and engrossing, this book takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions from the prologue which takes place in the middle of an intense hurricane straight through to the end, with a number of twists and turns along the way.

Nolan loses his best friend Lenny when he's literally swept out to sea by the Hurricane Nina. He and Lenny's wife Olivia are left to grieve and pull together the pieces of their shattered lives a best they can. The first chapter skips two years into the future, and we see how people deal with their grief in different ways - Nolan's preferred method is meaningless sex, but Olivia can't even think about sex with anyone but her husband, even though he's been gone all this time. The only constant in either of their lives is each other, their bond formed by years of friendship and their mutual love for Lenny. The author does a great job of showing how the characters grow closer over time, with emotions too powerful to contain. Warning: take the "steamy romance" of the series title seriously as there is a lot of sex in this story.

Grab a copy on AMAZON

Friday Feature: COVER REVEAL for J.C.McKenzie and The Night House

What would you pay for your freedom?

Caught by a powerful lord from the alternate realm of Arkavia, Taya’s offered the chance to avenge the dead, save her home world, and win her freedom.

Her days of stealing supplies and surviving among the remnants of Earth are over, but can she afford the price of Lord Thane’s deal?

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

Oh. My. God. I'm in love with J.C. McKenzie's new cover and her new story! An avid fan of her Carus series, I can't wait to get my hand on this new paranormal tale! The release date is March 22, but it's on pre-order now. To go along with the Cover Reveal, J.C. sent a teaser excerpt...

Excerpt from The Night House:

The Tarka held perfectly still, gray gaze flashing, white-blond hair shining under the setting sun. He looked like a warrior angel sent to Earth to smite the pest-like humans.

She clutched her staff and brought it up with numb fingers.
 

He raised a dark eyebrow. “You plan to fight me with a stick?”
 

“I can hand it over and tell you what to do with it, if you promise to follow directions.” She moved the stick slowly. Not fast enough to give away her skill, but enough to warm her wrists and get blood flowing back into her limbs.
 

“I’ll take option number one, thank you,” he said.
 

“Fine with me. I’d prefer anything to becoming your next sacrifice.” They’d never confirmed the Arkavians were responsible for the bloody sacrifice they’d stumbled on, but no crazy magical beasts had roamed the forest since the portal opened, so they made an assumption. She glanced behind her at the trees and George’s exposed foot. What the hell had the Tarka done to him?
 

“He’s incapacitated. You won’t find any help from him.”
 

Taya snarled while her mind raced. The man hadn’t used any magic yet. Maybe he didn’t have any. Maybe only some of the blondes had power. Could she outrun him? She wasn’t fast, but he was bulky with muscle, and wore lightweight armour and a heavy cloak to stave off the damp cold.
 

Where would she run to? She couldn’t lead him to the others, and she couldn’t survive long in the woods without supplies.
 

The man cocked his head, studying her and probably reading every thought screaming through her head. “Sacrifice? Exactly what kind of fantasies have your kind concocted about us?”
 

“I would hardly call them fantasies.”
 

“What would you call them, then?”
 

“Nightmares.” Duh.
 

He nodded. “Is this where you tell me my evil ways are done?”
 

“I’m not sure. Is this where you make some grand speech about ridding the world of my kind or do you plan to preach about the superiority of your race and how you deserve to leach off our planet?”
 

“I’m waiting for you to finish warming up so we can get on with it.”
 

She fumbled and almost dropped the staff.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo

About the Author:
J. C. McKenzie is a book-loving, gumboot-wearing, unapologetic science geek. She's the author of the Carus Series, an urban fantasy five-book saga published by the Wild Rose Press. Born and raised on the West Coast, J. C. sets the majority of her books in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance with sassy heroines and brutish, alpha-type men.

 

Writing Wednesday: The Power of Deadlines

Greetings and Happy Writing to all!

I'm in a much better mood having recently met my writing deadline on my latest book project, going down to the wire but crossing the finish line with time to spare. Not much time, mind you, but days instead of hours so I'm counting that as a huge win.

And it got me thinking how deadlines are like a double-edged sword - they motivate you to get the job done while simultaneously inducing stress that can at times be so paralyzing as to prevent you from reaching your goal.

In January, my editor friend and I joined a local gym as a New Years Resolution to be healthier. We spent several hours on treadmills and recumbent bicycles discussing our projects and deadlines - mine for the upcoming book and hers for a manuscript she's editing for another writer. Our initial conversation motivated us each to count the number of days we had left to finish.

The countdown motivated me to buckle down and write... I put aside extra time, wrote out a game plan, put dates on the calendar for the remaining steps left to accomplish, and made it happen.

Counting down the remaining days had the opposite effect on her. She focused too hard on the number and how impossible the looming deadline would be to reach. She stressed out, mentally and physically, and caught the flu and got bogged down in unrelated (and unnecessary) time-sucks.

And she missed her deadline.

In her case, she seemed to be humming along at a fine pace - until she realized how close the finish line was. If she'd just kept going, head down and working, she would've made it in plenty of time to present to the client. As it is, she had to make excuses and rearrange, and yes, things worked out for her, but with a whole boatload of stress loaded on top.

It's important to understand what kind of motivation works for you and your work style. If you're the type who's motivated by a red date circled on the calendar, use it. Count it out, plan, and figure out the steps in between to make it happen.

If you're the type who sees a drop-dead date and panics... you may need to rethink how you deal with deadlines. And as much as I've tried to counsel my friend over the years (this isn't the first time I've seen it happen to her) I don't know what the answer is. I'm totally open to suggestions - if anyone has experienced that sort of "fear of success" before and figured out a way to overcome it, please share!

Now that I understand this about myself, I need to rethink my own writing habits. Setting calendar dates for milestones is positive thing for my writing style and would probably help stave off a lot of future stress. And again, if anyone has methods to help follow through with this goal, please share! I've already signed up for my next release date (in November for a holiday-themed story) and plan to go about this next endeavor more logically (LOL - as if my writer brain can work in a logical manner!)

So tell me - how do you deal with deadlines? What motivates you to finish a project?

And in the meantime, Happy Writing to ALL!

Monday Book Review: After Hurricane Nina: Reed's Resolution, by Natalie Ann

After Hurricane Nina: Reed's Resolution, by Natalie Ann
Hot Hunks-Steamy Romance Collection, Book 1
Published January 1, 2019

About the Book:

Eight Strangers. Eight Unique Stories. All Stand-alone Novels.

On November 30, 2016, Hurricane Nina hit Bali, Indonesia. In the aftermath of death and destruction, eight strong sexy men will realize it’s time for a change in their lives. A resolution of sorts. A contractor, personal trainer, a millionaire, a stuntman, a rock star, a thrill-seeker, an army veteran, and a trust fund prodigal will all find a way to conquer their loss and learn to love. This is Reed’s story.

Resolution: To be the man he used to be. To find a way to be happy once again.

Reed Chapman thought he had the perfect life. A beautiful fiancée and a successful business. When tragedy struck, his perfect world imploded like the Titanic hitting the iceberg, making him realize his life had been anything but wonderful. Though his business is still thriving, his personal life and outlook on women are still sinking deep to the ocean floor with no life vests in sight.

Taylor Winston never had much in life so when prince charming entered her life, she figured she had it made. She thought wrong. Now she’s a single mother relocating so that she doesn’t lose custody of her daughter. The last thing she has time for in her life is a man. Then why is her new sexy boss popping into her dreams so frequently and unexpectedly, making her wonder why she’d even consider accepting the proposition he so neatly laid out for her?

My Take:

Hunky contractor Reed is disillusioned by love, after finding out in a publicly humiliating way that his fiance cheated on him. The result? Women are not to be trusted for anything more than a one-night stand.

Except... now there's a new woman in his office stirring all kinds of feelings he's not sure he can ignore. Luckily, she's as jaded as he is to the idea of relationships. The pair slowly become friends, then friends with benefit, but as things progress they both want more. Can they let down the walls they've built around their hearts to let each other in? Learning to trust again might be the hardest thing to do....

Fast-paced, fun read that kept me turning pages as fast as my iPad would go. Will be looking for more books from this author.

Grab a Copy on AMAZON 

Taking TIme Away ~ and then the "Jiggitty Jig" part of the song...

Hey there, it's me.

Yeah, it's been over a month since I last updated this blog.

I'd like to say I was away doing fabulous things and having marvelous adventures, but the reality was nowhere near as exciting. I knew the holidays would be hectic and filled to the brim with chaos and company and craziness... so I set up everything (posts, guests, promo) well in advance. And then pressed the "GO" button. And the blog chugged along through November and December so smoothly... ending with Peggy Jaeger's beautiful post on the theme of forgiveness on December 26th.

And then things ground to a halt.

For the last month and a half, I've felt like that little dog in the photograph - barely keeping my head above the waterline. And I'm not sure why except that I've been busy with work and on deadline for my next book.

And last night I typed those magical words, THE END. And suddenly there is light again and I can ee the path ahead.

So bear with me as I get my writing life better sorted and into a groove, and start posting reviews again and writing rants and excerpts and guest spots... and maybe next year I'll tell you before going on hiatus so you don't worry as much.

In the meantime, my latest story releases in 16 days (!!!!!) It's on preorder now for 99 cents, and is part of a series by 8 authors about 8 hunks whose lives were touched by tragedy, and each has to find their way past their grief. My story is about Quinn MacDonald, a rock musician who loses the rest of his band in the disaster. He thinks the music in his soul died with his band, but can a sassy NYC bartender help him find his way back? I'm really excited about this story -- it's a little different than my past books in that the characters are slightly younger (mid-twenties) and both musicians (I've never written a rock-n-roll character before.) And there's a bit more sex than my previous romances... we'll have to see what readers think!

 Available exclusively on AMAZON