My Valentine's party is in full swing and my special guests, Sophia Knightly, Meg Bellamy and Linda Andrews are nicely relaxed and seem willing to talk all night, which suits me fine as I still have questions to ask. But before we continue, I'd like to announce the winner of Sophia's prize draw. It was far from easy for her to choose from amongst the mouth-watering desserts everyone put forward (tee hee - I'm glad I left it to her!) so she put all the names through Random.org and the winner was ♪ ♫ ♪ Donna Cummings - probably the only person who didn't mention chocolate! Clever Donna - a copy of Grill Me Baby is sizzling its way over to you right now.Anyway, with so much talk of chocolate, it seems to me we need a bit of a diversion before the dessert is served, so I also ask Linda and Meg about the most desirable characteristic they've given to their hero. I'm secretly wondering if they match up to the sizzling Paolo in Grill Me Baby who has me completely enthralled following Sophia's description of him during the last post.
Linda is another one who has modelled her hero on her husband. She tells us: "The most desirable characteristic I gave Sloan Dugan is a sense of humor. Frankly, laughter is sexy. Very sexy and appealing. I love to laugh and let's face it, raising kids, working full time and living life isn't always a laugh riot. As for who it resembles, my husband is the guilty party. He always makes me laugh. And that's why all my heroes have a sense of humor in one form or another." I'm in complete agreement there - a sense of humour in a man is a must-have quality for me too.
Meg agrees. "My hero's most desirable characteristic is that he's intelligent, warm-hearted and has a great sense of humor. I guess that's three. All are bottom-line, minimum requirements for any hero in my stories. Also for my real life heroes, such as my DH." I'm beginning to recognise a theme here, and I'm feeling just a tad jealous...
Meg has a slightly wicked gleam in her eye as she answers: "Melinda, the villain of Divorce by Chocolate." I'm all ears - I love a good villain. "The reason why is that she deserves Valentine's Day and every other day to be miserable. She's manipulative, nasty, self-absorbed and has no sense of humor. Her plans always go awry because her motives are always selfish and hurtful to others." It's no coincidence that Meg's villains are often called Melinda as we discover when she regales us with an account of two real-life Melindas who would make great villains in any story. "
Linda doesn't have to think too long about this questions. "Alessa Lombard (the heroine in That's Amores) is most likely to have a disastrous day. She thinks love is fine for other people but not for her. And as one of Cupid's most successful archers, she knows all the tricks. Or she thinks she does. She doesn't know it but she's about to outsmart herself and Sloan is there to take advantage of it." Intriguing. It seems to me it's time to find out more about Alessa and Sloane from That's Amores.
Here's the blurb:
How's a girl supposed to stay single with the entire town wants her married? Alessa Lombard has a plan to avoid the marriage trap. It's not that she's opposed to marriage. Wedded bliss if fine for other people. Now all she needs is the help of the town's newest bachelor to help pull off a fake romance.
Determined to fall in love, Sloan Dugan immigrates to the magical town of Amores. Surely in the town devoted to love, he'll find a woman who doesn't use trickery and deceit.
But Cupid has other plans. Soon Alessa and Sloan will find themselves playing the game of love. Will winner take all?
That's Amores will be released on Valentine's Day, February 14th. Check out Linda's Amazon Author Page for details of all her titles:
A free prequel is also available from:
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/love-lottery-paranormal-romance/id543176057?mt=11
Excerpt from That's Amores
"What in Charles Dickens is going on?"
She clamped her free hand over her mouth. Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes before she doubled over and unleashed the full measure of her mirth.
"Christmas cookies," she snickered. "Charles Dickens."
"You can blame my sister-in-law." Sloan crossed his arms over his chest. "She insisted on the no swearing rule."
Which was all fine and dandy in Holly, where the rest of his family lived. But it was downright sissified in the real world. Especially when he was aroused and the object of his lust thought it was funny.
Alessa swallowed her last chuckle.
"It's cute."
"Cute." He winced. The female equivalent of let's just be friends and the verbal shafting of I don't love you that way. Guess he didn't have to worry about a romance leaving him homeless.
He bent to pick up his Stetson. Of course, he did love a challenge. What would it take to turn the glow of friendship to the fire of desire?
"But you may want to come up with something more Valentine's Day, like ‘splintered arrows’ or ‘broken bows.’ That way, folks will know you're a resident." Alessa Lombard stepped on the hat's brim, pinning it to the floor.
"I'll keep that in mind." Sloan reached for her trim, jean-encased calf. Should he lift her foot for her? His hand curled into a fist. Touching probably wasn't the best course of action. For all he knew, contact with the teacher of love archery was what had brought the tsunami of lust crashing down on him.
"Look, I'm sorry you were scared."
He raked his hand through his hair, felt the burn along his scalp as a few curls came free. And the day just kept getting better. First, he was a sissy, and now, he's a coward. He crouched by his hat, waiting for his chance to grab it. He’d had enough humiliation stuffing for a month of holidays.
"I wasn't scared. I was concerned." There was a difference. A big difference. "An appropriate response, given that you had an arrow sticking out of your chest."
"I am truly sorry that, for even one moment, you believed I had suffered an injury." Balancing on the balls of her feet, she dropped down next to him. Her warm hand closed over his, and her thumb stroked his fingers. She had nice hands, long, tapered fingers. He pictured them nimbly undoing the button of his jeans, slowly lowering the zipper and dipping--No. No. No!
He yanked his hand free and overbalanced. His butt landed on the cold marble, and the impact rattled up his spine and out his head. Yeah, he was making real headway dispelling that bad first impression. He rubbed his hand on his pant leg. The thoughts still lingered.
Why hadn't anyone warned him that Amores's citizens had an erotic potion infused in their skin?
About Linda Andrews:
Linda Andrews lives with her husband and three children in Phoenix, Arizona. When she announced to her family that her paranormal romance was to be published, her sister pronounce: "What else would she write? She’s never been normal."
Sisters!
You can connect with Linda at any of the following sites:
website: http://www.lindaandrews.netTwitter: https://twitter.com/LindaAndrews
Let's put Linda on the spot:
Quickfire:
Q: Chocolates or red roses? A: Chocolates with caramel filing
Q: Champagne or cocktails? A: Since I'm allergic to alcohol, I'll say strawberries and whipped cream
Q: Puppies or kittens? A: Puppies
Q: Spa hotel or country cottage? A: cottage
Q: Log fire or moonlit beach? A: Beach
Well my party isn't over yet, but my blog post is, so I'd like to thank my three lovely guests, Linda, Meg and Sophia for taking the time to come and talk to me. I hope you've enjoyed reading about them and that you'll rush out and buy their great new releases. Here's a quick reminder of them:
   |
.jpg)
