Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts

8 June 2017

More Beginnings by Iris Blobel



~~ More Beginnings ~~ by Iris Blobel

 


♥♦♥ BLURB ♥♦♥


Zach Taylor, an escort in Sydney, living in Hobart, enlists the help of Natasha Peterson when his teenage friend, Mia, runs away. He soon finds out that the ‘dragon’ is really more of a kitten. And although Natasha, Mia’s teacher, is attracted to him as well, she has her own problems to deal with, not to mention her initial reaction to Zach’s occupation.

Will Zach’s job keep him from a chance to be with Natasha?

Life is good for teenager Mia Levesque. But when Darren Schuster shows up in Hobart, she knows something is up once Sophie and Mark cut their weekend away short and rush home in the middle of the night. When Sophie won’t answer Mia’s questions, emotions run high, and Zach confirms Darren’s identity to Mia. Disappointed, angry, and feeling alone, Mia runs away.

Will life settle back into a routine for Mia once she finds out about the stranger in her life?

 New Beginnings have given the Levesque girls a new start in life, will More Beginnings be another chance for them?


♥♦♥ EXCERPT ♥♦♥

Zach Taylor’s young neighbour, Mia, let out a long sigh as she joined him on his front porch and sat next to him on the swing. Enjoying a cool lemonade, he invited her to grab a soft drink from the fridge as well. It was a warm summer day, and the air showed no sign of cooling down. A lot of people in Hobart were weary of the unusual hot spell for the very southern Australian city.
With another hefty sigh, Mia raked through her long, blond hair and stared into the distance. “Honestly, Zach, she’s a dragon. I’m sure she does it on purpose. She doesn’t like me. She thinks I’m spoilt.”
The dragon in question was Miss Peterson, Mia’s high school English teacher. There was no doubt that Mia liked school, and she enjoyed her classes. And even though English wasn’t her worst subject, it certainly was the toughest one, with Miss Peterson piling on homework one after the other.
Zach took a sip of his drink before he replied, “Hey, pumpkin, settle down. What’s that supposed to mean you’re ‘spoilt’?”
She lifted her shoulder in a slight shrug. “You know!”
Raising his brows, he replied, “Actually I don’t know! Isn’t she Sophie’s good friend?”
Another shrug. “Kind of, I suppose. They used to do the boxing stuff together, and since Soph’s carrying a baby, they go and enjoy coffee and cake instead every once in a while.”
Ignoring his chuckle, she went inside and helped herself to cold lemonade. She opened the can with a simple click as she returned outside and took a long sip.


♥♦♥ MEET THE AUTHOR ♥♦♥
  
IRIS BLOBEL

Iris Blobel was born and raised in Germany and only immigrated to Australia in the late 1990s. Having had the travel bug most of her life, Iris spent quite some time living in Scotland, London as well as Canada where she met her husband. Her love for putting her stories onto paper has only emerged recently, but now her laptop is a constant companion.
Iris resides west of Melbourne with her husband and her two beautiful daughters.
Next to her job at a private school, she also presents a German Program at the local Community Radio.

Social Media Links:
Click here to subscribe to Iris’ Newsletter Facebook
  ♠ TwitterGoodreadsBookbubInstagram ♠  Bookbub  ♠

17 May 2017

Clelebrating the Release Day of Just For The Holidays

I'm delighted to welcome Sue Moorcroft today for the start of her blog tour to celebrate the release of her latest book Just For The Holidays.
 
Blurb:
In theory, nothing could be better than a summer spent basking in the French sun. That is, until you add in three teenagers, two love interests, one divorcing couple, and a very unexpected pregnancy.

Admittedly, this isn’t exactly the relaxing holiday Leah Beaumont was hoping for – but it’s the one she’s got. With her sister Michele’s family falling apart at the seams, it’s up to Leah to pick up the pieces and try to hold them all together.

But with a handsome helicopter pilot staying next door, Leah can’t help but think she might have a few distractions of her own to deal with…

A glorious summer read, for you to devour in one sitting - perfect for
fans of Katie Fforde, Carole Matthews and Trisha Ashley.
 
 
Sue has kindly agreed to interview her heroine Leah Beaumont for us....
 
Sue Moorcroft: So, Leah, what’s taking you to France for all of August? It sounds lovely.
Leah Beaumont: My sister Michele said ‘Please’ a lot. She’s just ended her marriage and discovered she’s pregnant so I’m not sure that ‘lovely’ is the right word.
SM: Oh. Inconvenient.
LB: Agree. I’m on gardening leave before taking up a new post at Chocs-a-million in September and she’s feeling weak and weepy so she’s asked me to take Alister’s place. She doesn’t like driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road and she wants me to do the outdoorsy stuff with the kids.
SM: Your kids?
LB: My kids? I don’t have kids. Natasha and Jordan are Michele and Alister’s kids. I love them to bits as their cool auntie and take them karting and stuff but I’m definitely not mother material.
SM: But you don’t mind driving on the continent?
LB: No, I like driving. I was feeling despondent at the idea of driving Michele’s big pink people carrier, ‘The Pig’, but now Alister’s coming with us to Alsace he’ll drive that and I can take my lovely Porsche. It’s a bit middle-aged but it’s a lovely drive. Pretty much everything is, when compared to The Pig.
SM: Back up! Alister’s going on holiday with you? I thought you said he and Michele have split up?
LB: It’s a novel arrangement, isn’t it? Michele asked me to go instead of him but then he said there was room for him and he’d miss the kids too much if they were away for the whole month, so there was no reason for him not to go. Michele knew Jordan and Natasha would hate her if she said ‘no’ so she said ‘yes’.
SM: You don’t need to go then! You’re free.
LB: That’s what I thought. But Michele said, ‘You’re not going to back out on me. Are you?’ To be honest, she’s in a mess and it’s impacting on the kids so it’s probably better if I’m there. I just hope that the weather’s fine so we’re not all cooped up in the gîte.
SM: Tense.
LB: I can entertain the kids for a couple of hours with a bit of a family ‘bake off’ but not for four weeks.
SM: Bake off? Are you a devoteé of the TV programme?
LB: A bit. I’m a chef by profession but I’ve moved into food products. I’m a chocolate taster. And, before you ask, yes it is a real job, and no, it’s not silly, and yes, I do get paid for it, but, no, I don’t sit around munching Mars Bars all day.
SM: Oh, OK. So what do you do?

LB: I assess chocolate and chocolate products for quality and for marketability. Yes, I do taste it, but I also create chocolates for boxed collections and trial other people’s recipes.

SM: Wow. That sounds like one of the world’s coolest jobs.

LB: I think it’s #1 on the cool list. I’m very lucky! I wish Michele would take me a bit more seriously sometimes but, apart from that, I love it.

SM: OK, well, time’s up. Enjoy your holiday in the gîte in France. Bon voyage! Try and defuse the tension between Michele and Alister – finding out she’s pregnant just as she gave Alister his marching orders couldn’t have been much fun.

LB: You’re right. And how bad can it be to live with Michele’s family at this awkward time? It’s just for the holidays.

Just for the Holidays by Sue Moorcroft (Avon) hits the shelves, tomorrow,on 18th May 2017. getBook.at/JustfortheHolidays

Author Bio:
Best-selling author Sue Moorcroft writes contemporary fiction with occasionally unexpected themes. The Christmas Promise rose to #1 in the Amazon Kindle chart; The Wedding Proposal, Dream a Little Dream and Is this Love? were all nominated for Readers’ Best Romantic Read Awards and Darcie’s Dilemma for Readers’ Best Short Romance. Love & Freedom won the Best Romantic Read Award 2011 and Dream a Little Dream was nominated for a RoNA in 2013. Sue’s a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner, a past vice chair of the RNA and editor of its two anthologies.

Sue also writes short stories, serials, articles and writing ‘how to’. 


Sue’s book: Just for the Holidays,
is available from tomorrow ~the 18th May
 
 
You can find Sue Moorcroft at:-

Blog: https://suemoorcroft.wordpress.com/
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/sue.moorcroft.3
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/SueMoorcroftAuthor
Twitter @suemoorcroft
Google+: google.com/+Suemoorcroftauthor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suemoorcroft
Instagram: suemoorcroftauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/862993.Sue_Moorcroft
Take Five Authors: https://takefiveauthors.wordpress.com




29 April 2017

Healing Seas ~ New Release


I'm delighted to share in fellow author and good friend Christina Lorenzen's release of her latest book Healing Seas.


In just a matter of days, Addie Mayfield’s life is upended. Through an arrangement her father makes, she sets sail on the RMS Titanic as governess to the two young Fairchild children. When tragedy strikes, she finds herself rescued alongside strangers on the RMS Carpathia, headed for New York City. Far from home, she is taken in by the O’Reilly family to wait for her family to send for her. With no money for her passage home, she’s brought to the small hamlet of Montauk to become a caretaker for a great aunt she has never met.

Captain Frank Shea is a man without a ship. Removed from duty as captain of the RMS Morrow, he’s come to Montauk to recover from a leg injury. More painful than the injury is his fall from grace after spending his entire life at sea. The ocean was his home and he has never needed anyone. Now faced with an uncertain future, he’s desperate for a way back to the sea. Until he meets Addie Mayfield, a woman who is just as lost as he is.
Can these two people find hope for the future after all they’ve lost? Can an unexpected
love heal two broken souls?

Interview of heroine, Addie Mayfield.
CL: Tell me how you came to be traveling on the Titanic’s maiden voyage.

AM: It’s something I would never have dreamed of. My family doesn’t have a lot of money so a trip like that would be something we wouldn’t even think about. My parents have always wanted a better life for my sister Emma and I. When my father was introduced to Aesop Hancock, the owner of the Bedford Wake, which is a very fancy hotel, Mr. Hancock told him how the Fairchild family was looking for a governess to join them on a trip to the America. The family was sailing on the Titanic and eventually would head to Boston. My father thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for me to work for this family.
CL:  How did you feel about becoming a governess for the Fairchild family?
AM: Well, it wasn’t my dream. I’ve always loved art. Drawing to be exact. I thought maybe working for Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild might help me with my art career. So in that way I was excited. And the Fairchild children were just lovely.
CL: Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out as planned as the Titanic sank during the voyage. The Fairchild family did not survive, but you did.
AM: Yes. I still can’t believe it. I can’t get the images out of my head. I can’t forget what I saw. I can’t bare to think about all those people. And the Fairchilds.
CL:  You were one of over a hundred people brought to New York City on the RMS Carpathia. What happened when you arrived?
AM: I was in shock. I didn’t know what to do. I was alone. I don’t even remember all the details, but I did end up with a lovely family, the O’Reillys. If it weren’t for them I don’t know what might have happened to me.
CL: How did you come to the small fishing hamlet of Montauk after being with the O’Reilly family?
AM: I had been waiting for word from my family back in England. I thought I might be going home, when I realized they would never have that kind of money for the passage back home. An arrangement was made for me to go to Montauk to be a caretaker for my Great Aunt Tillie.
CL: You had never met Great Aunt Tillie? Had you ever heard of her?
AM: No, I never knew I had an aunt in America. She’s my father’s aunt.
CL:  Tell us about meeting Captain Frank Shea.
AM: Well, he came to my aunt’s door on the first day I had gotten there. He was quite…quite fall of himself I felt. Rather abrupt and rude. He was looking for money from Aunt Tillie.
CL:  And finally, what was it about Frank Shea that led you to fall in love with him?
AM: <blushes profusely> He just seemed to understand what I’d been through with so very few words. I didn’t have to tell him everything. He just seemed to understand. And while I thought he was rude I began to realize that he had his own wounds that he was hiding behind. He’s really quite a tender, sensitive man. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but since I have to stay on here in Montauk at Aunt Tillie’s I want to spend time getting to know more about Frank. I’m beginning to feel hopeful about the future – for us both.
To Buy Links:-
  
 
 
 
* * * * *  
About the author...
Christina started writing as a young teen, jotting stories in wire ring composition notebooks. Her 
first typewriter made it faster to get all those stories out of her head and down on paper. Her love of writing has sustained her through a myriad of jobs that included hairdresser, legal secretary, waitress and door-­to-‑door saleswoman. 

Luckily for her, writing proved to be successful and a lot less walking than going door to door. Healing Seas, her first historical romance, is Christina's fifth book. She is also the author of A Husband for Danna, its sequel, A Wife for Humphrey, Snow Globe Reunion and Harvest Blessings. She is busy working on a modern retelling of the classic tale, Rapunzel. When she isn't writing or reading, she can be found walking her dog, talking to her herd of cats and spending time with her family.
 
Social Media links:
 
 
 

8 February 2017

R. E. Mullins shares It’s A Wonderful Undead Life In Books Revisited

Today please welcome R. E. Mullins who is telling us about...

It’s A Wonderful Undead Life

First in the Blautsaugers of Amber Heights series

by R. E. Mullins

How my very first book came to be…
Working as a phlebotomist in a busy medical laboratory, I spent my days sticking needles into patients collecting blood. A couple of nights a week, I helped train budding phlebotomists at a local tech college. I was surrounded by blood. So it seems perfectly natural I would begin to wonder…What would happen if a phlebotomist was turned into a vampire?
A plot began to slowly weave its way through my mind. Since it was right around Thanksgiving several co-workers were already pulling out Christmas decorations. Everywhere I went or looked I felt bombarded by Christmas—and not always in a good way.
I noticed a commercial for the holiday classic, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, and for some reason it lingered in my mind. I started amusing myself with the question: What would happen if a down on her luck phlebotomist prayed for an angel and got a vampire instead?
Blurb:
It's been a rough couple of years for Cailey Kantor. Facing her first Christmas alone and bad financial news, she prays for an angel to fix her problems. Instead, a sadistic, sociopathic vampire, with the goal of starting a vampire war, attacks her and forces her to drink blood stolen from the Nosferatu Gabriel Blautsauger.
Gabe must complete Cailey's turning or she will die. In doing so he risks losing his yet unfound soulmate. But something about the lovely mortal speaks to his heart. Once her transformation is complete, he and Cailey find themselves embroiled in a battle that could cost them all they hold dear.
Faced with lies, abduction, and betrayal Cailey wonders if the vampire she is falling fangs over heart for is in it for love or if she's just a means to stop a war.
Excerpt:
     Cailey’s scrub top was gone, exposing her lacy bra, and she was in the process of stepping out of the drawstring pants. She glanced up, her gaze a bit wild. “Hurry. Hurry. I think I might explode from all this energy inside me. I feel like a popcorn maker and all the kernels are popping at once. So much pressure in here.” She dropped a hand to the juncture of her thighs and pressed it against her.

     “Cailey?” Gabe’s tone was an octave higher than normal. When she straightened up, clad only in her underwear, he gulped for air. “What are you doing?”

    “Getting ready, of course.” Holding her wadded up pants in front of her, she frowned at him. “I thought you said you knew what you were doing.”

     “I thought I did…” His voice trailed off, his gaze locked on Cailey’s tight body. How had he missed just how beautiful she was? Hidden beneath the baggy scrubs was a living miracle. He took in the slight swell of flesh above the lucky bra cupping her breasts, and his fingers itched to run down the indentation of her waist.

     She dropped the pants to the floor. “Come on. Come on, Gabe the Babe. I know all about when you were at university and all the female vamps used to chase you around and gloat if they made time with you.”

     “Ahem.” Gabe realized he had his sister to thank for this new conundrum. More than a bit leery, he asked, “What else did Metta tell you?”

     “That we’re both kind of like virgins.”

     “I beg your pardon?”

Print ISBN 978-1-61217-584-3 Digital ISBN 978-1-61217-585-0
 
Bio~ About Me
Born and raised in Joplin, Missouri, I've also resided in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mt. Clemens, Michigan, Springfield, Missouri, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. Though I have loved each area, the Ozarks will always hold a special place in my heart and that’s why I set my fictional town of Amber Heights there.

Author side note: I gave my vampires the Blautsauger surname as it is an old Bavarian word for bloodsucker.

Buy links:  TheWildRosePress    Amazon   Kobo

Contact info: remullins.com
However, every once in a Christmas moon a rare and exciting thing happens - the gift that you didn't expect but is absolutely perfect. Finding R E Mullins was my unexpected Christmas gift this year!

It's a Wonderful Undead Life takes the best concepts and themes of the beloved Frank Capra holiday classic and completely reworks them for a creative and captivating read. Yes Virginia, it is another paranormal vampire series but happily one with truly unique features - it's own mythos and rules and an action packed story that the reader doesn't see coming
Grab yourself a cup of your favorite holiday cheer, a cozy chair and settle in for a not-too-long winter's read with It's a Wonderful Undead Life! May it be the surprise gift under your tree this year as well!
Review from Guilty Indulgence bookclub by J C Shanks

I loved this book. And I am not one to say that lightly. Fiona Tate

I purchased this book out of curiosity, I had never read a Paranormal Romance Novel before or for that matter anything Paranormal. I loved it! I couldn't put it down until it was finished and I purchased the next volume before I had finished the first.
Verified Amazon Purchaser

12 August 2016

New Beginings by Iris Blobel



The story is set in Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, the most southern state in Australia. A most beautiful place. I went there a few years back and imagined how it would be to live in this city, how to adapt as a "non-local", and bit by bit I wrote the story of two sisters moving there.
Obviously, I added a little romance into the story as well – so I added Mark and Zach.
This is the second edition of NEW BEGINNINGS.
The story is now a bit sexier and has also received another edit.

Literary Chanteuse's review: "This author has a way of endearing her characters and it is easy to fall in love with them. An intriguing story with emotion, love and hope."
Sharon's review:"This was a very enjoyable read and it left me wanting just a little bit more. I highly recommend it."

"Other people have to fight battles in their life as well."

~~  New Beginnings ~~
(2nd Edition)
by Iris Blobel




♥♦♥  SYNOPSIS ♥♦♥


The chance to start life all over with the help of a stranger.

Twenty-two-year-old Sophie Levesque has been guardian to her eight-year-old sister Mia since their mother's death a few years ago, and it hasn't been easy. Luck comes their way when they inherit a small house in Hobart. Problem is, though, they don't know and have never heard of Clara Bellinger, the testator. Settling into their new life, Sophie is still afraid it's all a mistake.

Mark O'Connor, attorney in Hobart and the bearer of the good news for Sophie and Mia, curses himself for the lack of information about the testator. However, researching the questions gives him an opportunity to see Sophie again, and the more time he spends with the two, the more he realises that his life is missing something. And it's not his casual lover Linda.

But then there's Zach, Sophie's sexy neighbour from across the road… and a very good friend of Clara's.

Will unravelling the mystery unravel Sophie and Mark's promise of a future?



♥♦♥ MEET THE AUTHOR ♥♦♥
IRIS BLOBEL

Iris Blobel was born and raised in Germany and only immigrated to Australia in the late 1990s. Having had the travel bug most of her life, Iris spent quite some time living in Scotland, London as well as Canada where she met her husband. Her love for putting her stories onto paper has only emerged recently, but now her laptop is a constant companion.

Iris resides west of Melbourne with her husband and her two beautiful daughters.

Next to her job at a private school, she also presents a German Program at the local Community Radio.


Social Media Links:


19 February 2016

Love Finds a Way, The Album Book #2

Love Finds a Way
The Album Book 2 - Pauline’s Story 
Contemporary, Fantasy Romance 
By
Kathy Bosman
 
Blurb: 
When Ella hands over The Album to Pauline, the young food blogger is about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime—she’s been chosen as a contestant in The Culinary Dream, a TV cooking competition. Pauline takes The Album with her to Italy where the filming is to take place and meets food photographer, Xaden, the brother of the man who ripped out her heart and put her off relationships for a long time. 
To her dismay, she gets eliminated from the competition on the first round. Humiliated and determined not to be pitied by her friends and family, she decides to stay behind in Italy for a holiday as well as blog about her restaurant experiences in the exotic European country. 
Xaden won't leave her alone and proves to be a friend in a time of need but when he kisses her, she pushes him away, afraid he’ll hurt her like his brother did. The TV series offers her a job as the editor of the food magazine and she is to work alongside the very man she wishes to avoid. Forced to be with the man she can't resist but whom her instincts tell her she can't trust, Pauline is in for an emotional roller-coaster ride with The Album as her companion and guide.
 
Excerpt 1
Five taxis awaited them outside. She bit her lip, certain the crew would take their own taxi, but Caren ferried them to disperse and “get to know one another.”
Much to her distress, Xaden followed her and plonked himself right next to her in the taxi. Once the vehicle chugged out the airport, he placed his camera down at his side, took her hand, shook it roughly, and grinned. “Xaden Zander. And you?”
Zander.
Her mind frantically tried to place the very familiar surname while he stared at her, his face only a foot from hers, so smooth, so confident, and so easy-going. Tingles ran up her arm and she didn’t hold her suitcase with The Album. No magic this time. Pure, breath-robbing attraction.
“Zander. Um…Zander. Are you? You can’t be…?” Icy showers cascaded over her in one heart-rending second. Roan’s brother did have an unusual name. He’d mentioned him at times.
Xaden is Roan’s brother?
“I’m…?” Once again, he seemed amused at her expense.
“You’re Roan’s brother, aren’t you?”
He narrowed his eyes at her, the first sign of any emotion except for upbeat and exuberant. “I prefer not to be judged through the eyes of any woman who’s come into contact with Roan.”
Oh, so he was aware of his brother’s sins?
“It’s hard not to…” His dark eyes became black holes. “…well, you do resemble him, come to think of it.”
Could explain the immediate attraction. Why couldn’t she get away from Roan and the memories he’d branded on her brain? Other women had many partners and got over them all. She’d slept with one guy who messed her around and she still drowned in the raging waters of his indiscretions.
Xaden gave off such a big presence. It filled the taxi, making the driver and the other contestant seated in front seem like an insipid spice that didn’t change anything about the taste of the meal. Xaden, instead, was the garlic, the onions, the bacon, or the rosemary.
But no, he measured up to ghost pepper in danger and heat level. Anyone only vaguely related to Roan should never touch her, even her knee or her back, but never, ever, her heart. She remained way too vulnerable for the likes of them.
 
You've read the blurb, scrutinised the excerpt, now click on the link to enter Kathy's rafflecopter giveaway...
 

rafflecopter giveaway:

Author Bio:
Kathy lives in South Africa, where the summers are hot, the winters cool and bugs thrive. She writes romance in many forms, most of the time with women who feel deeply, men who care strongly and characters who learn lessons along the way. Every so often, she sprinkles a little magic in her stories. When she’s not writing, she makes sure her kids work hard as they do school at home, tries not to get too distracted by dust bunnies and cooks up a storm to keep the tummies full. When she’s not hectically busy, she loves reading romance and fantasy novels, watching movies, and dabbling in different crafty things, depending on her mood.
 
Buy Links:
 
Online Links for Kathy:
Website and blog: http://www.kathybosman.com/
Newsletter Subscription: http://eepurl.com/NokET