Sep 30, 2015

What Are You Celebrating?

I'm in celebration mode because The Finn Factor was released into the world yesterday and I still have all the excitement!


 



I loved writing this book - I loved Scarlett and Finn, and I especially loved their relationship with each other. In fact, I'm enjoying spending time with them again during their release week.




But a celebration shared is a celebration doubled, so I have a glass of champagne here to raise for you too. Tell me, what have you had to celebrate recently? From the small to the large achievements, they're all important and need to be shared!

The Finn Factor is available at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and iTunes.

Sep 28, 2015

Small Things

They say small things amuse small minds, dont they? And so it was a few nights ago when I was in bed with my iPad reading on my Kindle app and discovered I could make it talk to me via the translate feature I stumbled upon quite accidentally. Set it from English to English, highlight some text and hey presto! It reads the highlighted text to you.

So, of course, you know what I did right? Der! I went to the first sex scene and highglighted it :-) Man, it was hysterical! And then I couldn't stop. I had to wake up my husband to show him. He didn't think it was so funny. In fact I think he may have grumbled something like preferring to be woken for actual sex at almost one in the morning but I was undeterred - hours of fun I tell you!

I even recorded a portion of the Sunday Smooch I posted here yesterday as read by my lovely translator voice who I have come to think of as Chuck. But alas...I can't upload as it wont take audio files. Sad Face.

But here's another something silly that amused me recently too!  I got it fom FB via this link http://motleynews.net/2013/06/30/how-to-wash-a-cat/
Facebook is good for that, dont you think? (click on the image to make it larger so you can read)





Is there anything silly out there there that makes you laugh no matter how juvenile?


Sep 27, 2015

Sunday Smooch - Some Girls Do

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!


Today we have a smooch from  Amy Andrews but first 
...... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Grandma Cootie!!


Can you please contact rachel (at) rachelbailey (dot) com to receive your copy of The Finn Factor.




And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Some Girls Do.

Some Girls Do is bk #1 in the brand new Outback Heat series.....

Fashion student Lacey Weston is desperate to leave the city and go home to Jumbuck Springs. Her three older brothers are adamant she’s not. They made a death bed promise to their mother that Lacey would stay the distance at design school and Ethan, the oldest, takes this responsibility very seriously. But Lacey is deeply homesick and determined not to be dissuaded again. She’s also impulsive enough to try anything - even faking a pregnancy.

Ex-cop turned mechanic, Cooper Grainger - one of Ethan’s oldest friends - agrees to watch out for Lacey in the city even though he has a history with her he’d rather forget. How hard could it be, right? But a couple of years later, Coop is over pulling Lacey out of scrapes and cleaning up her messes as she tries to outrun her grief and sense of dislocation. He takes her back to Jumbuck Springs so she can persuade her brothers to let her come home. But things don’t go according to plan. Before Coop knows it Lacey’s pregnant and he’s putting his hand up as the fake baby daddy, filling in for the town mechanic and moving in with her at the local pub.

Lacey is thrilled to have won a reprieve but nothing about the situation sits well with Coop. Least of all having sweet little Lacey Weston as his new roomie…

Scene set-up

This is from the opening scene where Lacey and Coop meet for the first time at a pub. She's lied about her name and age....




   Lacey didn’t ask him his age — she figured it started with a three — because there was just something about the man that drew her. Besides his broad shoulders, blond hair and crooked nose. Something sad and broken in his light blue eyes and that she could relate to.
   She took another swallow of her beer, conscious of those eyes fixed on the bob of her throat. “So what’s a guy like you doing in a place like this?” she asked.
   He raised his gaze to her face and laughed. “I think that’s my line.”
   Lacey shrugged. “Told you I was forward. And besides, if you don’t mind me saying, you’re kind of sucking at the pick-up lines.”
   “You want a line?” His mouth quirked up at one side. “How about this? You have impressive ball skills.”
   Lacey hadn’t been expecting something so blatant and she was stunned for a moment before she laughed. “Play your cards right and I’ll give you a personal demonstration.”
   He laughed too and it vibrated through her belly with all the subtlety, finesse and potency of a jackhammer. Lacey squirmed against the stool as heat flooded her abdomen.
   She’d never been this hot for a guy.
   “Seriously,” he said, sobering and his intense blue gaze caught and held hers. “Where’d you learn to shoot a combo?”
   The laughter from earlier dried up from the inside out. She shrugged. “A girl with brothers learns a lot of useless things. How to hook a worm and gut a fish … how to make cricket stumps out of just about anything … how to skip stones … light a fire …”
   How to never ever cry lest they get that stricken helpless look and send you away.
   “I imagine a girl with brothers would also learn not to let some guy pick her up in a bar,” he murmured.
   Hell yeah, she’d learned that one too. It’d been drummed into her—by Ethan particularly—just before he’d driven her two hundred kilometres from the only home she’d ever known to the college they’d insisted she still attend, despite her overwhelming grief.
   But they couldn’t have it both ways. They couldn’t send her away and expect her to still live by their rules.
   “Hey,” he said as he pushed a stray lock of hair off her forehead with his index finger. “Where’d you go?”
   Lacey blinked as his blue eyes searched hers, frightened he could see everything—her hurt, her pain, the nagging homesickness that never seemed to go away.
   No.
   She would not think about home tonight. Quickly, she tipped her head back and drained her beer in three swallows. “You want to get out of here?”
   Lacey could tell Coop was deciding whether or not to push her further on the subject. When he, too, drained his beer Lacey she almost sagged in relief. “My place is three blocks away.”
   She smiled at him. “Perfect.”




   He was ushering her through the entrance doors to his apartment complex ten minutes later. Lacey had no recollection of the trip. Not with his hand in the small of her back, his thumb stroking a lazy pattern through her shirt, streaking heat like a fork of lightning up her spine.
   He pushed the lift button and Lacey glanced at him. The urge to kiss him pulsed inside her.
   “If you keep looking at me like that,” he said, his voice full of gravel, his gaze firmly fixed on her mouth, “we’re not going to make to the apartment.”
   Lacey’s gut clenched as the rumble in his tone abraded the hairs at the back of her neck, rubbed like sandpaper against her nipples and tingled between her thighs. It was only the ding of the lift that saved them from making out on the parquetry floor.
   But the second the doors closed and they were alone, he was pushing her against the wall and she was grabbing his shirt and nothing could have stopped her from accepting the full-frontal assault of his mouth as it slammed hot and hard onto hers.
   Lacey moaned as his fingers tangled in her hair and his tongue tangoed with hers. He groaned against her mouth and her belly tightened.
   Crap, if the man screwed like he kissed she was a goner.
   The lift dinged again and Lacey whimpered as Coop dragged his lips away and pressed his forehead to hers. Their heavy breathing filled the lift as the door slid open. “Don’t plan on getting any sleep tonight.” 


For a chance to win a digital copy (must have an Amazon account) of Some Girls Do talk to me about age differences. Lacey is 19 and Coop 32 when they first sleep together in the scene you' ve just read. Does that age difference squick you out? Is it something that makes you want to throw the book against the wall or not even buy it to begin with? What is an acceptable age difference - what's your limit? (I know you have one! :-)





Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a new smooch will be posted!


Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

Sep 25, 2015

Coming soon....

We have some very exciting news here on Lovecats Downunder!

A bunch of us have got together to bring you some new and never-before released novellas just in time for Christmas- and we wanted you to be the first to hear about them!

We've covered many of our favourite tropes and have wonderful hot and steamy settings across Australia and New Zealand. Because no-one does a hot and sexy Christmas box set better than us downunder!

Here are a few teasers...

Michelle Douglas
Christmas Wishes, New Year Kisses
When Josh Halliday drags his best friend and business partner Erin Timms to a tropical beach in Far North Queensland for some much needed R & R, he finds things heating up in a totally unexpected way. Fantasizing about his best friend is one thing. Falling in love with her is quite another.

Louisa George
Baby, It's Hot Outside
Daniel Wade is allergic to festive fuss, so being best man at a Christmas wedding is proving to be a double whammy of a challenge- especially as it means his estranged wife will be back on Waiheke Island for the celebrations.
Emma Neale is returning to Waiheke- and her husband- after 2 years and a lot of heart searching. She has divorce papers in her luggage and a job in Brisbane waiting for her. But seeing Danny again and sharing a kiss under the mistletoe has her questioning her decisions. Is it time to let him go, or is he the christmas gift she's been waiting for?


Helen Lacey
Her Christmas Cowboy
When her 18 year old sister rocks up on her doorstep with a baby on her hip four days out from Christmas, Sydney lawyer Elyse Prescott is forced to take her back home - to the tiny town of Denary, Queensland. But going back to Denary means facing every reason why she left - including Brett McCrane. Ten years ago the sexy cowboy had broken her heart and she'd never quite forgiven him. Now, with her wayward sister, her forgetful father, an adorable baby and a farm on the brink of foreclosure, all she wants to do is hightail it back to the city. Only...it's Christmas...and her family need her. And since Brett's eyes are still as blue and the chemistry between them is as combustable as ever, Elyse has to make a choice - to go back to the city and her old life...or take a chance on love...

Stefanie London
Sleigh Bells In The Sand
After spending a year chasing information about the mother who abandoned her, Neve Ritter has done the unthinkable. Instead of going home for Christmas, she’s agreed to house sit a beach cottage in Sorrento. But her idea of a reflective holiday is rudely interrupted when she realizes she not alone in the house. 
Damien Alessio is a passionate class action lawyer, best known for taking on greedy corporate giants. Only Damian is burned out and an embarrassing mistake has caused him the biggest loss of his career. When a severe hail storm strands them together, leaving them without power or phones, they find comfort - and a little Christmas magic - in each other's arms.

Make sure you pop back regularly and we'll give you more teasers from our other box set authors, Rachel Bailey, Jennifer St George and Kandy Shepherd

Release date is 1st December- so set the date in your diary! We will post more information as we get it.

Sep 23, 2015

London calling with Kandy Shepherd

I’m in England on my last day of an amazing holiday in Greece and the UK.

Last Friday, I spent the entire day in London with Harlequin Mills & Boon editors and authors. Looking back, I realize I talked pretty much non-stop from 9.30 a.m until 7.30 p.m!

The day kicked off with coffee and croissants with both my Mills & Boon editors in a charming café near Trafalgar Square. I’m privileged to work with the most delightful, talented editors and time passed only too quickly.

Next was the annual lunch of the Association of Mills & Boon Authors. How fortunate I was to be in London at that time and able to attend! A delicious meal—and, of course, more chatting! I loved catching up with both my fellow Harlequin Romance (Mills & Boon Cherish; Australian Forever Romance) and authors from other lines too.

From left: Kate Hardy, Christy McKellan, Liz Fielding, Nina Milne, Fiona Harper, Kandy Shepherd and Scarlet Wilson
Afternoon tea followed with the Romance authors. (I just realized I also ate yummy food from 9.30 to 7.30!) Fabulous to be able to represent the Aussie authors and spend time with Kate Hardy, Christy McKellen, Liz Fielding, Caroline Anderson, Nina Milne, Fiona Harper, Jessica Gilmore and Susan Wilson.

Then we moved on to the UK Author Party at the new Harlequin Mills & Boon offices in London Bridge. All the editors and staff were there and it was fabulous to meet people I knew only by email. What a view of London from the seventeenth floor!





“You’re living the dream,” said one non-writer friend. Of course I am!

London is a special place for me. My late father and stepmother lived there and my daughter was born there. I spent time remembering some very happy occasions.

I also remembered how encouraging my adored stepmother and father were in my dream to be a romance writer many years ago.

My stepmother was Swiss and loved literary fiction. But to help me she subscribed to Mills & Boon and had a box of “little books” delivered to their London flat each month. She manfully read through every one and gave me her opinions. (Her favourite author became Janet Dailey, BTW.)

My father even bravely read my early manuscripts. “Why don’t you put all the passion and drama and emotion of your love life into these stories?” he asked. (I was single then!) Of course he pinpointed exactly what was missing those early attempts!

Yesterday, walking around where they used to live (location for a new book!) I missed them so much and wished they could be sharing the thrill of me achieving my dream of being a romance writer.

Has anyone special encouraged you to achieve an ambition of some kind? I’d love to hear about it. I’ll be in the air heading back to Australia but will reply as soon as I can.