Fantasy v Reality

I've just been having a fun debate both on Twitter and Facebook about whether a snoring hero is sexy. I read one just recently and it kinda squicked me out. I definitely winced when I read it. And I'm not talking about cute snuffly little noises but loud, hear-from-down-the-hallway snoring.

Why did it make me wince? It's not like men don't snore. Or women for that matter. And I like realism in my books. But clearly, there's a line for me. And snoring is it. Snoring just seems a little too much reality intruding into my fantasy world.


One of the people who left a comment said men shouldn't snore and women shouldn't have a period in the pages of a romance. Now, whilst I agreed about the snoring, I'm not so sure about the other. My Ruby nominated book, Risky Business, features a scene where my heroine gets the period from hell and the hero is so horrified by what she's going through he's utterly lovely and attentive. So obviously we all have different squick factors, different triggers that will tweak our reality antenna.







So the question is do we want our heroes to be the sanitised, fantasy guy - everything we don't have in real life? Or do we want him with a few warts? With some touches that ground him in the real world? Do we want heroes that will burp for example?  Or fart? What about nose picking and ball scratching? Is it okay for them to pick their teeth or try and wiggle out of changing a loaded dirty nappy? Do we want ones with real world sized wangs?

Do we really?


Where's the line? Where's your line?

Sunday Smooch from Amy Andrews

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from  Amy Andrews but first 


... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Ruby


Can you please contact Helen Lacy on mail (at) helenlacey (dot) com to receive your prize.


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Risky Business.


* Note from Amy - I posted a smooch from RB last year when it was first released. It can be found here I'm posting another today to celebrate its lovely new cover.  

Samantha Evans’s life is going to hell. Not only has she rage-quit her beloved, high-powered job, but she is suddenly afflicted by hormones, free time, and an unavoidable, unignorable, undeniably gorgeous irritant in the form of Nick Hawke, her extreme sports star neighbour, who has come home to take over the reins of his grandmother's second-hand bookshop. Sam needs something to keep her from begging for her old job back until she's good and sure her boss understands how wrong he was, and taking a low-risk, low-stress job helping Nick at the bookstore might be just the thing.
After all, it's not like Nick is the right guy to help her with her hormones. He'll just be fun to look at while she searches for the one. 

Nick has six months to get over an injury before Everest and a big, fat contract beckon. That means no sports, no danger and, above all else, no risks. It means playing it safe. And Nick Hawke doesn’t do safe. So he’s going to need something to stave off the boredom while selling books he doesn't read to people who wouldn't know a carabineer from a crochet hook. What could be safer than hiring a cranky, unemployed accountant to help run the bookstore? Sam is efficient and methodical and messing up her neat, post-it note world could be a fun way to pass the time….
Risky Business mixes the classic romance of Philadelphia Story, the humour and wit of When Harry Met Sally, and a strong, contemporary Australian setting to create a delightful, irresistible, utterly satisfying treat of a novel.


Scene set-up
It's Samantha's birthday and there's only one kind of present she wants from Nick!

Suddenly everything went dark as the lights went out and Samantha dragged her eyes away from the window to find Nick advancing slowly toward her illuminated by a cake ablaze with candles. He had eyes only for her as he sung her a surprisingly in tune Happy Birthday with a stupid grin.

Samantha stayed rooted to the spot. There was something so intimate about the scene she found it hard to breathe. He finished the song as he drew level with her. The candlelight gave him a mysterious edge and he looked more pirate-like than ever.

‘Blow ‘em out, birthday girl.’

The candles blurred into one as she felt tears prick her eyes, and she dutifully leant forward and puffed them out in one hit. The room became dark again and she was glad for its cover as she blinked away the moisture clouding her eyes.

‘Make a wish,’ he murmured.

She shut her eyes and wished Nick would throw the damn cake against the wall, sweep her up in his arms and take her to his bed. She opened them a few seconds later, disappointingly with both feet still on the floor.

Oh well. Maybe that was a sign. Maybe she should just eat her cake and go.

‘I have a present for you,’ he said, still holding the cake between them. The city lights from outside threw a low gloom over everything now her eyes had adjusted.

There was only one present she wanted from him.

Her gaze flicked over a picture of him in a plane. Samantha knew it was now or never.

Bugger the danger.  Here goes nothing.

             'Actually Nick,’ her voice sounded strange stuttering into the semi-darkness, ‘I was wondering how you felt about granting me a birthday wish, instead? This is probably going to shock you but I’m just going to say it anyway. Put it out there.’

‘Okay...’

‘Don’t say anything, okay? Not until I finish because otherwise I'll chicken out or vomit and as you've seen me do that already, I'd rather not go there.’

‘Just say it Sam.’ Nick could feel the slow hard bang of his heart against his ribs. Was this what he thought it was?

She inhaled a ragged breath and looked in the direction of his top shirt button. ‘You told me once that you had a hundred percent success rate...that has kind of stuck in my mind and I know that you're leaving soon and you don’t want babies and even if you did you're not in my demographic but you did tell me to knock on your door when I was sober and so...well here I am...sober and...I was kind of wondering whether you think birthday sex might be...doable.’

Silence filled the room as her speech petered out. It settled between them as Nick gripped the plate hard with both hands.

Doable?

His heart hammered and he licked suddenly dry lips. Doable? He looked into her grey eyes and thought, more than just doable, an absolute requirement.

He glanced at the cake, the smell of the chocolate frosting wafted towards him, making the moment sweeter still. He dipped his index finger in the soft gooey icing, brought it to her lips and almost groaned when she opened her mouth and sucked him in, her tongue devouring every sticky morsel.

‘Is that a yes?’ she asked, nervously licking some icing from her lips.

‘Oh god, yes,’ he muttered, placing the cake gently on the windowsill behind them before yanking her close.

Okay, so they'd kissed before. But not like this. Not full of the promise of what was to come. It took all Nick’s self-control not to rip her clothes off and have her against the wall as she pushed her body closer and moaned against his mouth. It was her birthday and he had a lot to prove. She hadn't believed him when he had told her about his prowess so it was important to pace himself. Hold back. Tonight was about her. Yes, his body ached to be inside her but that wasn’t important.

That would happen soon enough.

And man could she kiss. Every cell in his body was quivering at the exquisite softness of her mouth, the smooth glide of her tongue, the way she moaned and sighed and the way she squirmed against him trying to get closer. The feel of her breasts pushed up against him, the hard pebbles of her nipples rubbing through his shirt to the skin beneath. The sheer unadulterated force of her passion. She was burning up in his arms and he wanted more.

For your chance to win an e-copy of Risky Business, tell me, have you ever had a birthday wish come true?

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and another smooch will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

Gratuitous Holiday Snaps Ahoy! by Amy Andrews

 So, I've been overseas and had the *best* time and instead of doing a full on blog today I thought I'd just share some of my pics - hope that's okay by everybody. If you don't want to see boring pics of Paris and London and Scotland though, I understand perfectly if you want to mosey on to another blog :-)








London First. And the weather was glorious! Also caught up with some KISS buddies, Heidi Rice and Fiona Harper who took me to a great pub nearby for some drinkees. And yes, it is a shocking selfie of all of us!



Oh and my book, Risky Business, released while I was away - trying to do a blog tour while on holiday with unreliable internet is not recommended! Warning: cheeky sales pitch coming up. Have you got yours yet? You can click here and it will take you straight through to Amazon :-)

And I went into Richmond and caught up with the lovely Mills and Boon crew who had champagne for me and then my lovely ed, Kathryn,  took me to lunch at this funky place where the food was way too pretty to eat! Although I did!

 I also found my upcoming KISS/Modern Tempted release, The Heat Of The Night and 2 other of my books on shelf at WH Smith! I had a great conversation with two little old ladies who were browsing in the romance section at the time and even hand sold one of my medicals - score!

Then we had a very relaxing week on a canal boat floating around the waterways of the midlands in mostly gorgeous weather. Its a great way to relax and let the world pass you by! One of the best parts about the canals is the wonderful pubs that line them and then of course that means fabulous English pub food - our favourite! And don't my hips know it! The birdlife was also amazing - lots of little baby birdies everywhere!

After we got off the canal boat my family went off while I spent a day at the RNA conference in Telford. I met up with lots of fab writing buddies (Fiona Harper couldn't resist photo bombing me and Jessica Hart!)  and even my old editor the gorgeous Lucy Gilmour.

Then we took a trip up to Scotland for a few days. This was castle territory for us. Edinburgh castle. Urquhart castle on the banks of Loch Ness and Eilean Donan castle. A mix of weather in Scotland.

We rounded our trip off in Paris. Brilliant weather in Paris, quite hot actually, but a gorgeous backdrop to famous places! 

Flying home was nerve wracking given what had happened only a few days before but we flew into Brissy safe and sound and the good news is I think, a week later, I'm finally over the last of the jet lag!

Been on a holiday lately?

Sunday Smooch with Amy Andrews

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from  Amy Andrews but first 


... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Lynnlinwill


Can you please contact stefanie(at)stefanie-london  (dot) com to receive your copy of Only The Brave Try Ballet........


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Risky Business.

Samantha Evans’s life is going to hell. Not only has she rage-quit her beloved, high-powered job, but she is suddenly afflicted by hormones, free time, and an unavoidable, unignorable, undeniably gorgeous irritant in the form of Nick Hawke, her extreme sports star neighbour, who has come home to take over the reins of his grandmother's second-hand bookshop. Sam needs something to keep her from begging for her old job back until she's good and sure her boss understands how wrong he was, and taking a low-risk, low-stress job helping Nick at the bookstore might be just the thing.
After all, it's not like Nick is the right guy to help her with her hormones. He'll just be fun to look at while she searches for the one. 
Nick has six months to get over an injury before Everest and a big, fat contract beckon. That means no sports, no danger and, above all else, no risks. It means playing it safe. And Nick Hawke doesn’t do safe. So he’s going to need something to stave off the boredom while selling books he doesn't read to people who wouldn't know a carabineer from a crochet hook. What could be safer than hiring a cranky, unemployed accountant to help run the bookstore? Sam is efficient and methodical and messing up her neat, post-it note world could be a fun way to pass the time….
Risky Business mixes the classic romance of Philadelphia Story, the humour and wit of When Harry Met Sally, and a strong, contemporary Australian setting to create a delightful, irresistible, utterly satisfying treat of a novel.


Scene set-up
Sam and Nick have decided that instead of rushing headlong into bed they're going to take things slowly - just kissing - clothes on, no touching until Sam (who has some body hang-ups) is more comfortable with the situation. The rules slowly go out the window however.....

Another night of frustrated sleeplessness ensued. Samantha walked into the shop the next day one small spark away from complete ignition. She’d taken a few paces towards the back room when Nick's arm appeared from between the bookshelves and yanked her in with him. He gave her a long, deep lingering kiss and before she knew it, the spark had flared and she was on fire.

Wanting him, needing him.

‘I was thinking about the clothed rule,’ said Nick between kisses.

‘Oh yes,’ she said pulling away slightly, ‘do you have another amendment?’

‘I do and it just so happens you've worn the perfect shirt to demonstrate.’

‘I did?’ she said, looking at her black linen Dolce and Gabbano shirt.

‘Hmm,’ he said kissing her neck and slowly undoing the top button. He stopped and admired the view created by popping one little button. He kissed the other side of her neck and undid the next one. ‘I was thinking that I could undo all your buttons and you'd still be fully clothed...right?’

He undid two more. ‘I mean theoretically...’ the last button popped through the hole, ‘your top would still be on.’

Nick could see a glimpse of black lace against soft skin and suppressed the urge to push it open and just stare at her. She needed to be ready for this next step. He could hear his husky breath echo around the confines of the shelves.

Samantha thought it was a very clever way around rule number two. She looked at the buttons on Nick's shirt. ‘So I guess, the same would apply to you,’ she said as she proceeded to undo his buttons. She pressed a little kiss against his chest as each magnificent inch was revealed. When his shirt was finally open she pushed it aside with both hands and licked his chest. From the flat of his dragon-decorated smooth pectoral to the hard ridge of his collarbone.

And that was all the encouragement he needed. He pushed her back against the shelves, kissed her until she was moaning and clinging to him for support and then lowered his head and sucked a hardened nipple through the lacy fabric of her bra. He stroked the other breast in unison, rubbing at its hard centre and muffled her gasp with his mouth.

God. She was killing him! Kissing her, touching her was driving him mad. He wanted to taste her, feel her around him again. Plunge into her. Swallow her cries as she exploded around him.

The door dinged and he pulled his mouth away from her reluctantly. He laid his head in the hollow of her shoulder and tried to regain some control. ‘Next time we do this, I'm going to lock that door,’ he whispered.

Risky Business is up for pre-order now but for your chance to win an e-copy, tell me, have you ever broken a rule that resulted in delightful consequences?

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and another smooch will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver