Monthly Archives: May 2013

Welcome to Hot Summer Nights Blog Hop

Join over 80 authors sharing their hot reads and giving away exciting prizes. Wait! It gets even better. There will be two grand prizes awarded to two randomly drawn winners: a Kindle Fire and a $100 Amazon Gift Card. To be eligible to win the grand prize, you MUST leave a comment with a valid email address on the main hop page.

 

Here’s what readers say about exotic romantic adventure, MESSAGE FROM VIOLA MARI 



...surprising twists and turns make it difficult to put it down. –Kathleen Huebner

Her beautifully descriptive style with the delicious splashes of witty humour throughout, are a delight for the senses.–Ellen Cross

Investigating ancient underwater meteorite impact sites with Justin, Marissa becomes involved in life-threatening intrigues in a conflict that leads to an action-packed climax.–Dean McMillin

Description
World-renowned oceanographer and meteorite specialist Marissa Jones uncovers evidence that a comet cloud will soon destroy Earth. When aspiring writer and her best friend Jennifer begs her to take a Saturday morning sci-fi writing class, Marissa reluctantly agrees. Writing her real-life story as fiction gives her an astonishing new perspective on the anomalous set of craters she discovered off the La Jolla Coast.
But this favor for her friend stirs up more than scientific results…writing teacher Justin Lincoln goads her constantly and taunts her with his irresistible curly blond locks and steely physique he knows only too well make women drool. Marissa teeters on the edge of anger and raging attraction for this irritating man. But it’s a terrible time to let lust call the shots when the world’s about to end and Marissa’s the only one who can save everyone.
Excerpt
Men in my life, in La Jolla and elsewhere, had been few and far between. I spent most of my waking hours working alongside male coworkers who cocooned themselves in polyester and bathed infrequently. My mother suggested taking up tennis and golf to meet eligible bachelors, so I dutifully joined the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club.

On the tennis and golf course, the closest I ever came to a romantic encounter was when a Kevin Costner look-alike handed me a golf ball that had hit him in the head and glared at me. Then there was the titillating conversation I had with a dark-haired police officer after I sent a golf ball reeling through the window of someone’s BMW.

It’s not that I’m out of shape. I’m proficient at running and swimming. But engaging in any sport that requires swinging, balancing or hitting any kind of target—other than an unintended one—is a high-risk endeavor for me.

People often romanticize the typical day-in-the-life of a female oceanographer. They imagine that I stand with windblown hair on the bow of a majestic ocean vessel, my makeup undisturbed after photographing underwater scenes from the safe cocoon of my submersible. But no, I am the woman every mother prays her daughter won’t become. Once a tomboy who petted amphibians and reptiles and collected rows of muddy rocks, rather than dolls, I’m now an employed adult who rarely dons cosmetic products and spends most of my waking hours in a windowless laboratory.

I was completely content with my dirty fingernails, make-up free face, and solitary weekend nights in the lab until one of Jennifer’s schemes landed me face-to-face with a man who transformed my ordered universe into chaos.

Buy Links
As part of this blog hop, I’m giving away:  2 eBook copies of MESSAGE FROM VIOLA MARI and a signed paperback copy of THE OPEN WATER SWIMMER. Just leave a comment with an email address below this post to be entered to win. Winners will be randomly selected and announced May 30th. Thanks!
  
Click here to visit other authors’ blog posts and for more chances to win!

Hump Day Hook – Day 15


I am one of many talented authors who share excerpts from their books and/or works-in-progress every Wednesday on Hump Day Hook. If you’d like to read some more enticing author hooks, please follow this link.

My hump day hook for the day comes from my soon-to-be-released (July 1) contemporary romantic adventure, Dangerous Descents (first book in the LOVE IN THE LABYRINTHS series). Extasy Books just finished designing my cover last weekend – this beauty was done by Carmen Waters!

In this scene, the depressed Rebecca, who has overslept yet again, tells her best friend, Amanda, that she’s got a different destination in mind other than her normal day job…

Amanda furrowed her brow and shook her head. “What am I going to do with you? You’re not even dressed. If you don’t hurry, we’ll be late for work. I’ll still wait if you’ll get moving.”

“No, you go on ahead. I’m going to call in sick. I might quit anyway…or go to Vietnam.”

Hump Day Hook – Day 14

I am one of many talented authors who share excerpts from their books and/or works-in-progress every Wednesday on Hump Day Hook. If you’d like to read some more enticing author hooks, please follow this link.

My hump day hook for the day comes from my contemporary romantic adventure, MESSAGE FROM VIOLA MARI. When her friend, Jennifer coerces her into taking a sci-fi novel writing class, meteorite scientist, Marissa, gets immersed in much more than the text…After a date with instructor Justin ends badly and the next morning, Melissa’s venting her frustration with him in class.

First Editon Copies of THE OPEN WATER SWIMMER

I have about 20 copies of THE OPEN WATER SWIMMER I’d like to sell off that have only minor print errors. Enjoy this fun read for only $5. Here’s your chance to get a copy for less than the Kindle edition price!

When children’s mystery writer Dana Thomas has recurring nightmares about a swimmer drowning during an open water race, she aims to change his fate. Dana’s plan to remain objective makes a serious splashdown when she meets her “mission,” a towering blue-eyed man with the best cut set of pectorals she’s ever seen. Going incognito as a feeding station volunteer for FINA World Cup series races, she travels to Greece, Portugal, Honduras, and Tunisia to protect him. When heat between the pair sizzles, she falls hopelessly in love with this man destined to die.

Elite swimmer and former Navy fighter pilot Jeff Dickson keeps dreaming he’s drowning. Recently dumped by long-time girlfriend who found him too competitive, Jeff believes his driven personality and international travel schedule can’t mix with love. When Jeff meets Dana, he’s instantly attracted to her voluptuous body and mysterious personality. When Jeff learns she’s been stalking him for weeks at swimming races, he decides she must be psycho.

A series of fateful events before the final race lead Dana to believe her nightmare is about to unfold. Anticipating a dive-in and rescue scenario, Dana is shocked to discover that’s only the beginning. Can she change the fate of the man she loves and survive?

Hump Day Hook – Post 13

I am one of many talented authors who share excerpts from their books and/or works-in-progress every Wednesday on Hump Day Hook. If you’d like to read some more enticing author hooks, please follow this link.

My hump day hook for the day comes from my contemporary sports romance, THE OPEN WATER SWIMMER. After meeting the man from her dreams who she believes is going to drown during an ocean race, she decides to go undercover as a race official. The only problem is, she doesn’t know how to swim. Last week, she bought her first real racing suit. Now she’s taking her first swimming lesson In Greece…

The bronze statue who stood by the lagoon-shaped pool looked her up and down as she approached. “You must be Miss Dana. I am Takis.”

“Nice to meet you,” Dana said, shaking his hand. Shoulder length dark curls framed a face a sculptor couldn’t improve on and enormous lashes decorated brown eyes. His face held her eyes captive for a moment before they veered down the rest of his body and her mouth fell open in an O.

“Maybe we should start in the pool,” she said. “I’m afraid of the ocean.”

“Oh, that is very unique problem,” he said. He scratched his chin for a minute and waved a hand up in the air as if he’d experienced an aha moment. “In that case I give you the Greek swimming introduction.”

“Okay. And what does that involve?” she asked.

“I will explain to you very soon.” He kept his gaze focused on the sand.

Once she tugged up the back of the suit just in case, Dana said, “Okay, I’m set.” He’ll recite romantic Greek poetry about the sea, which will lure me into the lapping waves. She curled her toes, relishing the warmth of the snowy white sand.

He stared at her waist, then leaned into her and tossed her like a potato sack over his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” she yelled. People turned away from cocktails and conversation to stare. Just let me drown already before I have to face them at dinner.

“Greek swimming introduction,” he said as he waded several feet out and dropped her into the water.


 Will she ever actually learn to swim? Download the this contemporary sports romance to find out!

 

Hump Day Hook – Post 12

I am one of many talented authors who share excerpts from their books and/or works-in-progress every Wednesday on Hump Day Hook. If you’d like to read some more enticing author hooks, please follow this link.

My hump day hook for the day comes from my contemporary sports romance, THE OPEN WATER SWIMMER. After meeting the man from her dreams who she believes is going to drown during an ocean race, she decides to go undercover as a race official. The only problem is, she doesn’t know how to swim. So she’s ordering up the “right” suit and taking lessons.

Dana had spent several hours online browsing for competitive swimsuits. So many styles, so little time. Fly back, extreme back, V2, racing back, cut out, and lingerie tank. Olympian Natalie Coughlin had looked good in the cut out back, so Dana had ordered it. I now own a training suit like the professionals, she thought with pride until she tried wiggling into it.

The thin straps cut into her burned flesh, which still hurt like the dickens, despite the aloe. To make matters worse, she looked over her shoulder in the mirror to see that the ultra-low back barely covered her rounder-than-Natalie’s derriere. Sweet. I’ll have to tug it up from time to time to make sure an unintended moon doesn’t rise.

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When children’s mystery writer Dana Thomas has recurring nightmares about a swimmer drowning during an open water race, she aims to change his fate. Dana’s plan to remain objective makes a serious splashdown when she meets her “mission,” a towering blue-eyed man with the best cut set of pectorals she’s ever seen. Going incognito as a feeding station volunteer for FINA World Cup series races, she travels to Greece, Portugal, Honduras, and Tunisia to protect him. When heat between the pair sizzles, she falls hopelessly in love with this man destined to die.

Elite swimmer and former Navy fighter pilot Jeff Dickson keeps dreaming he’s drowning. Recently dumped by long-time girlfriend who found him too competitive, Jeff believes his driven personality and international travel schedule can’t mix with love. When Jeff meets Dana, he’s instantly attracted to her voluptuous body and mysterious personality. When Jeff learns she’s been stalking him for weeks at swimming races, he decides she must be psycho.

A series of fateful events before the final race lead Dana to believe her nightmare is about to unfold. Anticipating a dive-in and rescue scenario, Dana is shocked to discover that’s only the beginning. Can she change the fate of the man she loves and survive?