Here’s an oldie but goodie bit of romance in a rather unconventional workplace. From A LONG, HARD RIDE…

Thursday a.m.

“Whip! I gotta have that torque wrench or I ain’t never gonna get this done.”

“Take a look in the far chest, Sunshine. The second drawer. I got it out of there earlier.”

“Well, it ain’t in there now. It ain’t in any of ‘em. Drawers or chests. I done looked.”

Hunkered down outside the Corley Motors rig, Trey “Whip” Davis straightened from where he’d been securing an extension cord against the race pit flooring, and mentally retraced the day’s steps.

He’d had the torque wrench with him when he’d grabbed for his Blackberry to call Butch Corley, his driver, only to realize he’d left the PDA on a shelf in the hauler’s workshop. He’d obviously set down the tool when he’d picked up the phone, but crap on a cracker.

What was the deal with his head?

This wasn’t like him, being off kilter, disorganized, careless. He was making stupid mistakes. It had to stop. And it had to stop now. He headed for the racing trailer’s open door. “Take a breather, guy. Grab a corndog. Get a cup of coffee. I’ll rustle it up.”

Sunshine got to his feet, twisted and stretched, gave Trey his trademark sunny smile – one that reddened his already ruddy complexion. “Can’t turn down that million dollar offer. See ya in a bit, Boss.”

Trey watched his assistant crew chief hop onto the team’s four-wheeler and make his way toward the concession stands, zigzagging through the haulers, pop-ups and motor homes turning the Dahlia Speedway pits into a virtual campground.

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I’m pretty sure the cover for GOES DOWN EASY is my favorite Blaze cover ever!

What Perry wanted most of all was for Jack to go away. He disturbed her, and she did not like being disturbed. Especially when, after living a rather disturbing life, she was finally feeling the calm of things going her way.

She stood at the register in Sugar Blues, having just rung up a customer. It seemed a good place to stay, what with the long, glass-topped counter between her and Jack. Because now that the two of them were alone, her senses were ringing high and loud.

He closed the book on Reiki training through which he’d been leafing and made his way to the rear of the shop. Of course she had to notice his walk, how he moved, all lanky and long and loose. She wasn’t supposed to notice that about him, and she sure wasn’t supposed to like it.

She sighed, obviously having listened too much to Sugar singing the blues, waxing eloquent about the beautiful men who’d broken her heart. Jack stopped at the counter, picked up a tiny gold incense burner. Funny how he always had to have his hands on something, stroking, fondling.

Perry groaned, catching the forward progression of her thoughts one stroke too late. “If you break it, you’ve bought it.”

“Yeah,” he said, running his thumb over the Buddha’s belly. “I saw the sign on the door. Do you really sell enough of this crap to stay in business?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Do you insult everyone you meet or is this special treatment only for me?”

“I just say what comes to me.”

“Open mouth, insert foot?”

He shrugged. “Guess that’s one way of looking at it.”

She barely managed to keep herself from rolling her eyes. “But not your way.”

“Sorry, no,” he said, returning the burner to the counter and reaching for her blue-plumed pen.

She moved it out of his reach before he grabbed it. “Do you think you could limit your touchy-feely habit to items you’re going to buy?”

He laughed then, the sound deep and resonant like that of bass guitar, one that vibrated through her, tickling, taunting, one she knew she was going to have a problem with if he stayed around for long.

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Because I’ve got several books out there that would love to call your e-reader home! ;)

The City Girl

It is with mixed emotions that Eden Karr has decided to leave her exciting career as a New York City fashion editor behind. Determined to raise her unborn twins alone in a wholesome community, she’s moved to small-town Texas and opened a clothing boutique. Her new surroundings are a far cry from the glamorous life she misses, and she can’thelp but feel she’s made a mistake. That is, until sexy carpenter Jace Morgan strides into her store.

The Country Boy

Jace’s years as a big city architect had denied him the family and peace he’d always longed for. One look at beautiful Eden, and he knew he’d found the woman who could fulfill all of his dreams. The trouble is, she’s still yearning for new York and his roots are now firmly planted in Texas Hill Country. Somehow, he’s got to show Eden that life here with him could be rich and full, and that the growing love they share is strong enough to keep them living happily ever after … wherever they are.

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Use Smashwords coupon code AA92H through 12/31/2010 and save 60%!

From their very first kiss . . .

Seventeen years ago, America’s premier young model, Eva Channing, ran from the glamourous world of New York fashion to small-town Texas, where she could forget her passionate, doomed affair with photographer Carson Brandt. Today, a single mom with a successful nursery business, Eva is content . . . until a magazine piece on former models brings the intensely sensual Carson tumbling back into her life.

. . . to a second chance at love

Carson has always been most comfortable expressing his emotions through a camera. The only person who ever broke through the armor around his heart was Eva. Now he’s determined to uncover the reason she left without saying goodbye, and the secret behind the son who bears a strong resemblance to Carson. One look at Eva’s beautiful face starts a fire deep within him that he hasn’t felt in years.

Buy the Kindle Edition

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Buy the Smashwords Edition (Sony Reader, etc.)

Use Smashwords coupon code YM93F through 12/31/2010 and save 60%!

And I’ve got more! Here’s a sampling with quick links to the Kindle and Nook pages!

I actually ran this poll January 15, 2008 and got 105 responses, but I can’t find the post, only the logs in my polls plug-in. Weird. Anyhow, my epiphany happened after writing Monday’s 1860 words and realizing that word count is excellent, that eventually all those projects will be done, but that my crazy writer’s brain needs focus.

So . . . for the remainder of my 50K Words in 30 Days Challenge (my version of NaNoWriMo) I’m going to divide my time between three very specific spec projects that need to have strong skeletons built because I won’t be doing anything with them until they’re finished. And none of these are the projects I added words to on Monday!

Those Monday projects were ones more in the vein of what I’ve been writing over the last few years, the stories published by Blaze and Brava. And I love them all. And it’s very hard not to play with all of them, but I’m going to set them aside until December.

When I get back to them, I need to know which you would most want to read! I’ve got two in the tone of Blaze, one action adventure similar to the SG-5 stories, and one that’s also sexy Brava styled sans the suspense. So take the poll and tell me!

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This last week I’ve received at least four boxes of foreign copies – all for Kiss & Tell. Italian, German, and this anthology from Mills & Boon with three full Blazes novels included for a whopping 700 pages of good steamy reading! In English even!

The best one was for the Swedish copy; isn’t that gorgeous? I have no idea what the title means . . . Double Life, maybe? I seriously think Sweden does the best covers I’ve ever seen. Every single one I’ve received has been really artistic and evocative.

To win both copies – the English version with 3 full stories, and the Swedish version for fun – leave a comment here telling me if you have a favorite Easter candy or a favorite Easter dinner dish or a favorite Easter tradition. Me? I shall be writing. I’ll draw a name from those who comment by Monday, April 5, 2010, 8:00 p.m. CDT.

I’m happy to announce that GOES DOWN EASY is now available in electronic format. You can get it for the Kindle here, and in a Mobipocket edition here. Though having written as many books as I have I can’t be sure, but I think this is the only one with a ghost’s viewpoint. I’m not a fan of ghosts in books, especially when they interact with humans, but this ghost didn’t do that, and I liked her story, so I let her tell it. If you missed this one but read FOUR MEN & A LADY, this is Jack Montgomery’s book.

Earlier this week, RT Bookclub Magazine released their 2009 Reviewer’s Choice Award nominees. I heard through the grapevine that A LONG, HARD RIDE was in the running for Best Blaze, along with MAKE ME YOURS by Betina Krahn, SHE’S GOT IT BAD by Sarah Mayberry, LETTERS FROM HOME by Rhonda Nelson, and HOT UNDER PRESSURE by Kathleen O’Reilly. How the reviewers settle on five with all the awesome books penned by the Blaze Babes, I’ll never know, but yay!

I’m going to give away a set of the five books to one lucky person who leaves a comment here telling me what you love most about the Blaze line. You must comment by Saturday, December 12, 2009, 9:00 a.m. CST. I’ll send you a copy of A LONG, HARD RIDE myself since being the earliest of the five books it’s no longer available new on Amazon, but the rest I’ll send to you using Amazon Prime’s free shipping, woot!

. . . this may be my favorite tweet EVAH! ;) Thanks, Shan!

Laurie G asked:

What has been your best seller to date?
Favorite book of yours? Favorite book ever?

(She also asked about 1) promotion, 2) genres, 3) ebooks, 4) piracy, and 5) pricing, to which I say 1) promotion’s out of hand, and it’s hard to be original anymore or to know what works, 2) genres are cyclical, 3) ebook’s day will come but I’m a print reader all the way, 4) pirates will roam the Internet as long as there’s an Internet to roam, 5) no real clue except everything seems to go up and once there it rarely comes down.)

My favorite book ever. Hmm. I’m going to have to go with THE THORN BIRDS. I’m not a re-reader, and I’ve read that one three times, and just bought a copy to read again. I’ve seen the mini-series at least twice. Plus, I named No. 1 Daughter after the main female protagonist, so it made that much of an impression on me!

My favorite book of my own is probably BEYOND A SHADOW, and if you’re interested in reading it, watch for it at a remainder table near you! Or support your struggling author and head to Amazon where you can get a brand new copy for the cost of three Starbucks lattes! Of course, if you hold the same opinion as this Amazon “reviewer” (a review I saw for the first time today) then spend your money at Starbucks instead!

If I had known this was a biracial romance, I never would have bought it. That is so not my thing! Didn’t even finish it.

My best seller to date is without a doubt THE SWEETEST TABOO. Yep, my fourth Harlequin Blaze (Dec ’02) has out sold everything I’ve ever written. I can’t find my June ’09 royalty statement (been cleaning, you know), but the November ’08 statement shows it earning $22,475.38 in the US and twelve foreign countries, some which have printed it more than once, hello Germany, 3x! Even though THE BANE AFFAIR runs a close second with $22.5K approximate net earnings (I say second because TST had more earnings showing on the statement that I can’t find), followed by CALL ME, my very first Temptation at $21.5K, THE SWEETEST TABOO has seen more action, and was even reissued in the UNDRESSED anthology two and a half years after its initial release. This little book has had legs in a huge way, and I’m not sure why. I wrote it during one of life’s hell times. The writing itself was fun as “Men To Do” was a joint project with Jo Leigh and Isabel Sharpe, but it never felt any different than my other books as it poured onto the page. The only unique thing is that my hero, Sebastian Gallo, was a horror novelist, and I wrote pieces of his book inside mine.

Here’s a snippet. Oh, and Sebastian’s cat was named Redum. *g*

Raleigh Slater needed to catch up on his shut-eye. The catnaps and midday siestas he’d been surviving on weren’t cuttin’ it anymore. He needed eight hours. He needed ten. Hell, combine the two and make it an even eighteen. He was running ragged and it was beginning to show.

Not in his work. That wasn’t going to happen. He hadn’t busted his ass for the biggest part of his his life only to turn around and fuck it up by falling asleep on the job. But it was beginning to show in his face.

He dragged a hand down his jaw, needing a shave, afraid as dog-tired as he was that he’d slip and slice through his jugular if he put as much as an electric razor to his skin. He stared at his mirrored reflection, realizing the thought actually held a measure of appeal.

One nice clean slash and it would all be over. His career. His life. And the godforsaken wait for the end he’d seen coming since turning down a devil’s bargain with the prince of darkness himself. A decision Raleigh was living to regret.

Yep, one good slash and he’d be done with this nightmare. And wasn’t that exactly what HE was waiting for Raleigh to do. To take himself out. To realize the monumental mistake he’d made when he’d “just said no.”

That was why HE had sent the woman. Raleigh should’ve been faster on the uptake. He’d taken way too long to figure it out.

Every time he turned around. she was there, crossing his line of sight while he sat holed up on a stakeout, distracting him from the subject at hand with her long-as-the-Mississippi legs and amazingly fair skin – considering she lived in a city where the sun ate and burned flesh with abandon – and her copper colored hair swinging . . .

This is the most recent German edition (10/07) put out by Mira Taschenbuch in their Mira Erotik line. Germany seems to like ‘em hot. And on the right is a drawing sent to me by a fan of the book who was doing his/her own manga version of the book. You can click for the larger version. For some reason, this book hit with readers. I’d love to know the secret so I could recreate it every time, but I’m guessing it’s a secret for a reason, so I’ll give each book my full attention and not rely on pixie dust!