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Showing posts with label E. Ayers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label E. Ayers. Show all posts

Saturday, January 26, 2013

The Not-So-Sweet Side of E. Ayers! (With Download)


I'm bursting with excitement to have a wonderful person and one of my favourite authors, E. Ayers as my very special Sunday guest. And she comes armed with gifts - a FREE download for your Kindle of her excellent and rather daring latest novel Coming Out of Hiding.  You really should download this book - I've started reading it and think I'll be in for a few very late nights until I finish it.  Here's Elizabeth to tell us a little bit more about it and also her forthcoming release, A Son - which, for River City series fans, is an absolute must.

Author E. Ayers
Hi, Lynette. Thanks so much for having me. I love visiting with you and your blog followers. With Valentine's Day just a few weeks away, it's a perfect time to read a romance.

There's been so much going on since the last time I was here that I almost don't know where to start. But I think I'll start with Coming Out of Hiding. It's not my usual romance as there's a touch of unusual heat to this book. Max was the good son. He attended to the best schools, was a fine athlete, and went into the military just as all the men in his family had done for generations. But he was wounded while serving his country. And before he had chance to learn the family business from his father, his parents died. Scarred on over forty percent of his body, he hides from the world while he attempts to run a small aeronautical company from his home. That is until Tae comes into his life and slowly drags him out of hiding.

Does it sound like the typical wounded hero of a romance novel? It's not. Under the story, is a deeper one of two people who not only love each other, they must learn to cope with Max's erectile dysfunction as a result of scarring. Yes, it's a male problem, but it affects the intimate relationship for both.

I wasn't expecting it to create such a stir, but it has. Maybe if more people are aware of erectile dysfunction, they will be better prepared. As men age, their chances of facing ED increases. But it can happen to any man at any age for any number of reasons. It's not a how-to manual. It's a love story of two people who are willing to try to express their love.

My second bit of news is that my fifth River City novel A Son should be available the first week of February so watch for it. Drop me a note and I'll be sure to add you to my list, so I can let you know exactly when it will be available. It's in its final stages prior to being released. And the fun part about River City novels is they don't need to be read in order. The city is the glue that holds them together.

In A Son, Katie has a big problem. She wanted to spend her life with Joey and have a nice house in the suburbs, but that's not what he wanted. She figured if she were pregnant that he would marry her. Instead, he denied paternity and tossed her out. Dallas and Rick take her in.

Katie has been pulled by her divorced parents her entire life. She's tired of it, and wants to stand on her own two feet to raise her son. She also realizes that being pregnant has given another responsibility, her health and the health of the baby. She needs to learn to eat right, and get more exercise. Both her parents are headed for a heart attack at an early age, and they have passed their lousy eating habits onto her. She has to make some major changes.

Falling in love with Gerald isn't an option when she's carrying another man's baby, but that's not stopping Gerald from falling in love with her. To make matters worse, she likes him more than she should. Especially, after she accepts his offer of being a gym partner for three months.

Gerald is the perfect Mr. Right, tall, blond, and blue-eyed, with plenty of money. But this is her mistake, and her child that she'll raise. Besides, she isn't about to let Gerald ruin his reputation by being seen with a pregnant female.

Joey's intelligent and very handsome. He has his life planned out, and it didn't include Katie or a baby. Yet he refuses to sign the paperwork releasing him from all rights to the child. Plus, there is one more piece to this story. Joey's mom is half Black.

So as you can see, I've been busy this month. I'm also working on a sweet historical western, The Diary of Clare Coleman that is mentioned in A Snowy Christmas in Wyoming. It's not exactly a glamorous life I'm leading when most of the day is spent at the keyboard.

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Coming Out of Hiding is FREE through Jan 27 at Amazon.


Excerpt from Coming Out of Hiding:

"Your hand," Tae said putting her own out to Max. "Take it out."
"No," he said with sadness in his voice. "I’m sorry you had to see it."
"Don’t be that way. Please. I really didn’t see it."
"You don’t need to see it." His eyes narrowed and he shook his head.
"Yes, I do, because if I see it then you won’t have to hide it anymore."
"Ms. Harris, it was badly burned, I try to keep it hidden."
"Please, give me your hand," she said calmly, her eyes now focused on his pocket.
"It’s disgusting."
"Sir, I know all about disgusting. I’ve lived with it all my life. Your hand," she demanded. Slowly, his hand slid out of his pocket. Her heart thumped. Eww! Timidly, she took what was left of the disfigured and color-mottled hand in hers. She studied it for a moment and then gazed into his pretty golden brown eyes. "Does it still hurt?"
"Only the pinky finger on occasion," he countered with a crooked smile.
She glanced at his hand, caught his joke, and giggled. She could see the wide smile spread across his face. Turning his hand over in hers, she asked, "What remains still works?"
"Yes," he said and flexed his remaining fingers.
"Good, so stop hiding it. I really don’t mind that it’s scarred and missing fingers." She ran her other hand over the disfigured one. "It’s amazingly soft." She gave him back his hand. "Is that why you’re a recluse?"
"It plays a part," he said.
"And the limp? Does that have anything to do with what happened to your hand?"

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Excerpt from A Son:

“Gerald has been trying to reach you all afternoon,” Dallas said.
“He’s so nice to me. I’m going to really miss him.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He’s not going to want to be my friend in a couple of months. Guys like that don’t want to hang around with someone who is pregnant.”
“You still haven’t told him?” Dallas loaded the grocery items onto the conveyer belt.
“No. We’re just friends. Don’t try to read something into the relationship. I promised him I’d be his gym partner for three months. I figure by then I’ll probably be showing, so that will end whatever we have in the way of a relationship.”
Dallas shook her head. “Gerald doesn’t sound as though he just wants a gym partner. Gym partners don’t panic when they can’t reach one another. I think he really likes you.”
Katie nodded. “I like him, maybe too much.”
Dallas frowned and said, “Then don’t keep this pregnancy from him. Secrets and half-truths will do more to ruin a relationship than anything else.”
“It’s not like it’s his baby. My relationship with Joey might have been a big mistake, but I can’t dismiss this baby as one. Selena raised her son, and I’m going to raise this child. There’s a daycare on campus, and I’ve already registered. Now really, what do you think is going to happen when Gerald finds out I’m having another guy’s baby?”
“I don’t know, but you do need to tell him before it becomes obvious. If he really is your friend, he’s going to stick by you. If he’s not, then it isn’t worth wasting the time to be with him.”

About the Author: 

Born and raised with wealth, E. Ayers turned her back on all of it and married her prince charming a few days after her eighteenth birthday. Her family disowned her, and her friends were shocked. A firm believer in love conquering everything, she never looked back. The love she and her husband shared became the springboard for her novels.

Fascinated with the way people deal with everyday problems, E Ayers has always been an observer and a listener. A simple problem for one person is a mountain for another. She utilizes those common predicaments, which is why her books touch so many lives.

Today, she spends most of her free time writing while living in a pre-Civil War home with her two dogs and a cat. Rattling around in an old money pit gives her muse plenty of freedom. Her idea of a perfect day is to spend it at the keyboard of her computer, coffee in hand, and everything in the house actually working as it should. She's the official matchmaker for all the characters who wander through her brain, and she likes finding just the right ones to create a story.

She adores hearing from her fans and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and at her website.

@ayersbooks  (Twitter)


Thanks, Elizabeth.  It's always a huge pleasure to welcome you to my blog and to hear about your excellent books. 

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Three Christmas Writers and a Party Gift for You - The Party Continues


'Tis the season…♫♪ and all that.  I love Christmas, don't you?  I'm especially loving it this year because I have several parties organised and some great guests to mingle with and chat to.  Take my three lovely writers, Marie Higgins, Debra Holland and Elizabeth Ayers, for example.  They're very different people but they have one thing in common - they all have really great stories out for you to enjoy this Christmas.  Marie's story is called Dreaming of You and we're going to find out a bit more about it shortly. 


Before that, however, I have my own little Christmas gift for you - a free copy of my Christmas fairy tale, Wishful Thinking. To claim this, just go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/177240 and enter coupon code: LU54Y at the checkout.  Hurry though; it's only valid for a week.  I hope you enjoy it!


Marie Higgins
Now to my lovely writers, I was curious to know how my guest authors felt they had best encapsulated the spirit of Christmas in any one of their novels.  This was especially difficult for Marie with over twenty to choose from but she felt that Love Me Always came closest because "Christmas means having a loving heart and the kindness to give without expecting to receive.  Nicholas Fielding is my hero, and to make his dying uncle happy, he goes along with his uncle’s last wish—to marry. Unfortunately, the woman Nick’s uncle has chosen to marry is the woman Nick gave his heart to years ago. It breaks him to see his uncle planning to marry Catherine, but Nick wants to make his uncle happy and so gives up his happiness and hopes for the future."  Sounds like I'll need a full box of Kleenex to go with that one!

Dr Debra Holland
When I asked Debra, she chose A Christmas Pageant, from the Christmas book "because the whole town comes together to celebrate the holiday. I have a little German girl who is homesick and doesn't speak English, yet she sings Silent Night in German during the Christmas pageant and brings everyone to tears."  Another tear-jerker for sure!  On a more practical note though, Debra wouldn't need to play Santa to any of her heroes or heroines because each one receives a special gift that leaves them wanting nothing.  Except sidewalks, that is!  Laughing at our puzzled faces, she explained: "The town [Montana] could use sidewalks [it's 1894], and characters often complain about not having them. Maybe I'll write a story and give them sidewalks for Christmas."  Well that beats socks and scarves any day, Debra!

Elizabeth Ayers
Elizabeth chose A Snowy Christmas in Wyoming, explaining "Andy couldn't afford much, so he made his little daughter a set of blocks that he'd cut from scrap wood and sanded smooth. He gave her a little part of him, and it was filled with love."  How sweet!  She also said if she could give a special Christmas gift to one of her characters it would be an e-reader for Andy, "because of the audio capabilities. He's terribly dyslexic, and he'd be thrilled to be able to enjoy a book."  Now I would say Elizabeth has a bit of a soft spot for her hero - and who can blame her - I confess I fell a little bit in love with him myself when I read this great book.


Time to find out a bit more about Marie's lovely Christmas book, so here's an excerpt:


Katelyn Palmer never believed any harm could come from using her college crush as the hero in her first romance novel—the novel that jumpstarted her writing career. However, when Shane Hunter storms into town, demanding to meet the writer who used his identity Katelyn is confronted with more than her long, silent emotions. If Shane takes her to court for invasion of privacy, her career would be over.
Here's an Excerpt from Dreaming of You
Katelyn took a step toward a booth when a familiar face caught her attention. She took a double take at the patron sitting closest to the aisle. He had his eyes turned toward her, and she came to a stop. When recognition struck, she gasped.

What is he doing here?

Of all the days she chose not to apply make-up or style her hair, why did she have to run into Shane Hunter—the man of her dreams?

More specifically, the dreams she’d had seven years ago.

She gawked at him, knowing a dog on a hot day would probably drool less than she was, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away. Shane Hunter—in the flesh—sat in the booth with his gaze directly on her.

He hadn’t changed that much from when she knew him in college. Still gorgeous as ever, his dark brown hair was slightly longer than she remembered and waved gently against his neck. Much broader shoulders filled his blue cotton shirt perfectly, and just as before, his brown eyes made her heart flutter.

The last Katelyn had heard he was out of the state expanding his very successful lumber business. So what was he doing in this small hometown diner when his wealth could have him sitting at home eating breakfast in bed while a servant catered to his every whim?

Did he recognize her? Probably not. She hadn’t been popular on campus, except maybe in the library. Guys back then didn’t notice the girl with thick glasses and freckles, and who always wore their hair wound up in a tight bun that nearly had her eyes popping out of her head.

Moisture coated her palms, and she fisted her hands. He must think her crazy for gawking the way she did, but heaven help her, she couldn’t look away.

Seven years ago, she’d fallen hard for his knee-buckling grin and sparkling charisma. Being shy in college, there wasn’t anything she could do about her secret crush. Before graduation, he left town and within a few years had become successful.

Shane’s eyebrows lifted as his gaze slid over her gray sweats down to her worn athletic white shoes with old grass stains on the toes. When his focus met hers again, a different look accompanied his expression. Did he recognize her?

Holding her breath, she waited for him to say something. She prayed he didn’t know what she’d done. He couldn’t possibly know, could he?

Katelyn swallowed hard, wondering why he still stared at her. From the gossip circles, she’d heard he was now divorced. Her heart hammered quicker.

Finally, he gave her a friendly smile, breaking their staring competition. She wanted to sigh dreamily, but refrained. Her knees threatened to give way and let gravity bring her down.

“Hello,” he said in a deep voice.

Inwardly, she quivered. That reaction hadn’t changed since college, either. Silently, she scolded herself. Why was she acting like a love-struck teenager? Not only did he have a new life, so did she. After he’d left California to start his family, she had reached her goal of becoming a romance writer. He’d helped her whether he knew it or not.

Now there's a heroine we can empathise with in more ways than one!

More About Marie Higgins


Marie Higgins is a multi-published author of romance; from refined bad-boy heroes who makes your heart melt to the feisty heroines who somehow manage to love them regardless of their faults. Visit her website / blog to discover more about her – http://mariehiggins84302.blogspot.com

Buy Links:
Print $10.79 – http://amzn.com/1480234087

Quickfire:

Who interests you more - your heroes or your heroines? Heroes!
E-books or print? Print
Dogs or cats? Definitely dogs!
Sunshine or snow? Snow!
Christmas or Thanksgiving? Hands down – Christmas!
Favourite party drink? I don’t drink…so I’ll say Coke.