Showing posts with label andrea bolter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label andrea bolter. Show all posts

Mar 3, 2019

Sunday Smooch with Andrea Bolter

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from The Prince's Cinderella but first...

... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Donamae Kutska!

 

Donamae, can you please contact Kandy: kandy (at) kandyshepherd (dot) com to receive your copy of Second Chance with the Single Dad

And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Andrea Bolter.





 From event planner…To belle of the ball!

Organizing a charity gala on the glamorous French Riviera is a dream come true for event planner Marie. And then she realizes she’ll be working with single dad--and handsome prince--Zander! Marie has never felt she truly belonged anywhere, least of all alongside royalty, but Zander soon sweeps her into his world of toddlers and tiaras! Dare Marie believe she’s found her fairy-tale ending--a family of her own?




Scene set-up: In Cannes on the French Riviera, Marie and Zander attend glamorous parties together as they work on a charity gala of their own.


    Zander hadn’t meant to kiss Marie. Hadn’t meant to at all!
     Why had he, why had he? His brain throbbed, and would until it had its answer. Maybe it was after being approached by those two aggressive party girls. Who reminded him of Henriette and the endless parade of awful women that had defined his life thus far. Marie was so definitely not like any of them. And he found himself opening up to her, perhaps actually too much.
     But, in any case, a kiss on the cheek was merely a sociable gesture, right? He hoped that was it, although he wouldn’t swear to that conclusion.
     Unfortunately, his mouth wouldn’t stop vibrating after the feel of his lips against Marie’s cheek. Surely the clouds in the sky weren’t as soft as her delicate skin. His mouth had barely brushed across her face but his body reacted as if a firecracker had exploded inside of him.
    His behavior was dangerous. It was shocking how he hadn’t had any control of himself in the moment after he’d confided in her about the royal gold diggers. His mouth was propelled to Marie’s face as if an outside power had deemed it and there was nothing he could do but obey the command.
     Everyone pecked everyone on the cheek at events like this, he reasoned with himself. It was no big deal. Marie had probably forgotten about a minute after it happened. He would, too.
     As those reassurances ticked across his mind, he knew they were lies. The kiss dilated his eyes with desire, both physical and emotional. It was as if he hadn’t known how hungry he was until someone handed him a crust of bread. He suddenly felt as if he was starving.
     However, this was no time in his life to sate that craving.
     He could surely have physical contact with a woman if he wanted to. After the APCF gala. And with a female other than Marie. He was free to have dalliances that meant nothing to him, and not under the same room as Abella of course. But there’d be no getting serious with anyone for many years to come, if ever.
     Indeed, after Henriette, it had been dawning on him more and more that if he were ever to marry, his wife would effectively become Abella’s mother. Not only would he have to find someone he could trust with his niece’s safety and wellbeing, whoever he was with would have to be able and willing to accept Abella as part of the package. To be a good influence on her and to genuinely love her like her own. Zander would accept nothing less. It was a tall order.
     Frankly, he doubted he’d ever meet someone like that. Which was fine with him. Abella was the one in line for the throne. As Zander was Elise’s younger brother, he was not obliged to produce heirs. If he never married it might appear unconventional but wouldn’t harm the royal family in any way.
     So why was it that everything about Marie had thrown him into a brainstorm of new ideas and new contradictions?




  Zander and Marie are in charge of a huge charity gala. If you had loads of money to spend and resources at your disposal, would you enjoy throwing a lavish party? What aspect would be the most fun to you?




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


Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

Sep 16, 2018

Sunday Smooch with Andrea Bolter

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from Andrea Bolter but first...

... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Veronica at Burgeoning Bookshelf

Can you please contact Bronwyn: bronwynjameson (at) gmail (dot) com to receive your copy of No Place Like Home

And now for today's Sunday Smooch from The Italian's Runaway Princess.


Is life outside the palace walls everything she dreamed of?

When billionaire Gio Grassi rescued a beautiful stranger on the streets of Florence, he never imagined she'd be royalty! Princess Luciana's innocence compels Gio to protect her, and her vivacity intrigues him. But Gio's been betrayed before and he can't let it happen again. With Luciana's arranged royal wedding only three weeks away, can this chance encounter charge the course of these two loves - forever?



Scene set-up: While Gio Grassi only intended to protect Princess Luciana during her short time in Florence, they have grown closer and are unable to deny their feelings for each other.

     All Gio could concentrate on was the two kinds of comfort invading his senses. One was the calm presence of the morning sun through the bedroom windows, letting him know that he’d slept later than usual.
    The other lay next to him in his king-sized bed. Her Royal Highness Princess Luciana de la Isla de Izerote slept facing him, her exquisite features in repose without flaw. The blonde hair that bathed her face in gold. If only he was an artist so he could capture her beauty this morning and preserve it for all eternity. Or if Michelangelo was still alive, Gio would commission him to carve Luciana’s likeness into marble.
     Actually, he might not need anything to help him remember this morning, as the recesses of his mind had already snapped pictures he’d treasure forever.
     Gently, Gio brushed away a strand of hair that fell from Luciana’s forehead across her eye. She stirred the tiniest bit from his touch. The ever so small curl of her lips affected every inch of Gio’s body, forcing his loins into an involuntary stretch.
     With the mild temperature, he didn’t perceive the need to pull the blanket over Luciana’s alabaster shoulders. Instead, his eyes traced slowly downward to appreciate the curve of her breasts. He’d luxuriated for as long as he’d wanted to last night with the perfection of them in his hands, in his mouth. With his lips, his tongue, his teeth, he’d taken her entire bod…
     He’d done what?
     Gio scratched his beard stubble as reality blew in the window. Late last night, after the disastrous attempt at cooking pasta and after they’d settled for tomato on toast and a humble table wine, the evening ended here. In his bedroom.
     Where he took the virginity of a princess.
     One who was engaged to be married.
     Who was leaving Florence in a few weeks.
     And whom he’d never see again.
     It was hard to decide which of those truths was more disturbing.
     Last night. With their laughter over their culinary foibles. Her cute yawn and outstretched arms as the evening got later. Finally her, no doubt, impulsive move to lean in and kiss him. He was unable to deny her. The faint voices in the back of his mind that had told him to be careful, to keep his distance, to remember that Luciana was to be a fleeting memory, had no strength last night. They went down without a fight.

In the beginning of this story, Princess Luciana doesn't immediately reveal herself to be royalty. Are there ways in which you conceal something about yourself because you're concerned with how people will view you? I'll out myself - I'm a crazed K-Pop music fangirl!

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a new smooch from Amy Andrews will be posted!


Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

Mar 18, 2018

Sunday Smooch with Andrea Bolter

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from Andrea Bolter but first... 

The winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Quinn Fforde



Congratulations, Quinn! Can you please contact amy (at) amyandews (dot) com (dot) au to receive your prize.




 And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Her Las Vegas Wedding.

From a convenient fiancé …To an inconvenient attraction!

When hotel heiress Audrey Girard’s safe, convenient wedding to a business partner is called off, she’d left to contend with her ex-fiancé’s brother – wild, brooding chef Shane Murphy. And there’s certainly nothing safe about Audrey’s attraction to Shane – every day they work together is even more dangerously tempting! Could there be a Las Vegas wedding in the cards after all?

     He came around to her side of the car and helped her out. There were no other cars anywhere. They were miles away from town under the sunset and the hush of nightfall.
     With no warning whatsoever, Shane rested one hand on each of Audrey’s shoulders. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips. His mouth pressed against hers in a closed-mouth but adamant kiss.
     Her neck flushed instantly. Having him close to her was a little bit familiar now after their bodies had writhed together with their sexy dancing at Big Top. But he hadn’t kissed her that night, and this new intimacy was an alarm to her system.
     A shock that she missed with all of her might when he took his lips away. Her lungs ceased functioning. They were furious at him for having taken his lips from her. All she could seem to want was for him to kiss her again. Oxygen in, carbon dioxide out, she reminded herself of the basic breathing process.
     “Come here,” he said, filling her with the hope that his mouth would graze hers again. Her eyelids fluttered uncontrollably.
     But no. He lifted her up and sat her on the hood of his jeep. Then hoisted himself onto it as well. He maneuvered backward so that he could lean back against the glass of the windshield with his legs outstretched on the hood. Then he helped shimmy Audrey backwards so that she could do the same.
     She somehow didn’t care that she was wearing a business dress and heels. His spontaneity was liberating.
     Now they were able to continue to watch nature’s spectacle with a warm breeze gliding across their faces.
     Audrey had to settle herself down. He’d obviously kissed her by mistake. Out of some kind of urge that probably had nothing to do with her. She shouldn’t read anything into it.
     Maybe sensing Audrey’s discomfort, Shane thankfully broke the quiet. “What was Josefina saying to you about tragedies?”
     Audrey creased her brow, not sure what or how much was appropriate to tell Shane. “I told her that my mother had died three years ago. Josefina thought that loss was a similarity to share.”
     Shane chuckled wistfully, “Does it work that way?”
     Audrey shook her head. “I was wondering the same thing.”
     They took in the majesty of the sunset again. The sides of their bodies pressed into each other.
      Then Shane turned himself until he was facing her.
     “So soft,” he murmured as he dotted kisses all over her face.
     His beard stubble felt exactly as she imagined it would, rasping across her cheeks with a welcome harshness. Filling her with the need for contact that was wholly male, wholly biological. Something that she’d dared not think of in years.
     When his mouth inched down her neck, her head fell backward.
     With a flattened palm, he caressed the length of her throat from behind her ear to the swerve of her shoulder. His lips moved under the collar of her dress. In a beat, her back arched to meet him.
     Flowering with anticipation, her parted lips waited for him to return upward. As if he knew she couldn’t delay a moment longer, his open mouth rejoined hers. A quick succession of kisses was followed by a longer one that melded them into each other.
     Her arms reached around his neck. His mouth possessed hers, communicating what she had to hear. She met his every sensation, the kisses swirling deeper, further, quaking both of them at their epicenters.
     “What are we doing?” she muttered, with no idea of the answer to the question.
     He whispered, “Sharing loss.”

 



To go into the draw to win a copy of Her Las Vegas Wedding just leave a comment. Question: I'm drawn to stories about powerful yet damaged men. I'm fascinated by the man who rises to success even though demons haunt him in the quiet moments. Do you like that kind of hero in a story? Why?


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



Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

Sep 4, 2017

Andrea's winner

The winner of Andrea's signed book is...

Drumroll please!!!

... Sara Land!

Congratulations, Sara! I'm sure you'll love the book. :-)



Please send an email to me: michelle (at) michelle - douglas (dot) com with your postal details and I'll pass them onto Andrea


Congratulations again, Sara! And many thanks to everyone who came over and joined in the conversation and made Andrea's debut release celebrations so special.

Aug 30, 2017

Interview with Andrea Bolter

Today we're chatting with debut author, Andrea Bolter.

A big LoveCat welcome to you Andrea, it’s fabulous to have you join us here today. Grab a glass of something lovely and bubbly, help yourself to a delicious cyber snack, and pull up a banana lounge. We’re always so excited to chat to a brand new author. Can you tell us a little about your journey to publication with Harlequin Mills & Boon?

Hi Michelle and LoveCats! I’m so happy to be joining you. And so excited for my debut with Harlequin Mills & Boon. To tell you about me, my background is in journalism. After about 250 articles and a couple of awards, I decided the time was now or never to fulfil my lifelong dream of publishing fiction. Back in my 20s, I had written an “artsy” literary novel that agents and publishers loved, yet no one bought! I wrote a screenplay that “we enjoyed but have no interest in pursuing.” I did publish a couple of short romance stories in a women’s magazine. When I firmly decided that I wanted to write series romance novels, I read at least 100 Mills & Boons in a row, and then felt ready to try my hand at one. I got very lucky because HER NEW YORK BILLIONAIRE was my first manuscript, and it sold on my first submission.

With all of that "homework" behind you, I doubt luck had anything to do with it! So...Her New York Billionaire is your debut romance. It’s no secret that I love the Romance line (Forever in Australia/New Zealand, Cherish in the UK), but can you tell us what drew you to write for this particular line, and what it is that you love about it?

Although I’d read Mills & Boon along with other romances for years, when I did that concentrated reading of all those books in a row, those in the Romance series were always the ones that I enjoyed the most. So it was only natural to write one. I think what I love is the zoomed-in lens on the hero and heroine. They are together on almost every page, and all of my attention is focused on their journey to each other. Their need for one another is so obvious it’s almost desperate, and I get swept up in that emotional intensity.


Is there a particular incident or inspiration that led to the writing of Her New York Billionaire? And what’s your favourite scene in the book? Would you like to share a (shortish) snippet?

There’s a phrase I had in my head, “There are eight million stories in the naked city tonight. This has been one of them.” (I looked it up and it’s from a 1950s television show called Naked City.) That made me think about how you can walk down a street in Manhattan and point up to any apartment window, and wonder what drama is taking place within those walls. That inspired me to create a story that begins when two strangers both think they have use of the same apartment for the night. I live in Los Angeles, also a populated place, but for some reason the image of peering into a New York apartment window sparked this tale (maybe because I’m nosy)! Here’s a snoop into Holly and Ethan’s first evening together:
     Surely Ethan wouldn’t mind if she took one shiny red apple.
     Holly hoisted herself up to sit on the countertop. Let her legs and bare feet dangle. She smiled remembering the apple’s symbolism here in New York. Like so many others, she was here to take her bite.
     With one satisfying chomp after the next, her mind wandered about what might be.
     “Miss Motta!” Ethan looked startled to find her sitting on the kitchen counter after he finished his call. “Must you always make yourself so...so comfortable?”
     Holly shrugged her shoulders and slid off the countertop. Whatever. If her sitting on the counter was a big deal to him, she wouldn’t do it.
     She jutted out her chin. “I bet you haven’t eaten.”
     “Not since early this afternoon on the flight,” he confessed. “Is there food?”
     “Looks like there’s eggs and some things for breakfast.”
     “We will have something delivered.”
     “Sounds good to me.”
     “What would you like?”
     “You know what? I haven’t been to New York in years. Want to get some famous New York pizza?”
     “Pizza it is.” He swiped on his tablet. “Yes, Giuseppe’s. I ordered from there quite a bit when I was last in New York, working on a project. What type of pizza do you like?”
     It was nice of him to let her choose. This man was a bundle of contradictions. Scolding one minute, courteous in the next.
     “Everything,” she answered, without having to think twice.
     “Everything?”
     “You know—pepperoni, sausage, salami, mushrooms, onions, peppers, olives. The whole shebang.”
     “Everything...” he repeated. “Why not?”
     “I’ll pay for my half.”
     His mouth twitched.
     “Twenty minutes,” he read out the online confirmation.
     She eyed the kitchen clock.
     “I guess I’m staying tonight.” She crunched on her big apple.
     A bolt of lightning struck, flashing bright light through the window.



 
Who are your favourite contemporary romance writers (we’re all devout romance readers here so I’m just going to take it for granted that like the majority of us you love Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and Georgette Heyer :))?

Well, I’m going to break romance ranks and tell you that it was actually the Stephanie Plum mysteries by Janet Evanovich that changed my life. Something about the experience of those books…so fun and funny and fast and vivid, with crazy secondary characters and wild situations and two yummy men all in the mix. I’ll admit that I eventually moved on, but I found the first dozen or so in that series so entertaining, they are what inspired me to write a so-called “genre” novel. Also, I feel that I’ve been deeply influenced by romantic comedy movies. Is there a more exquisitely drawn romance than “When Harry Met Sally” or “Four Weddings and a Funeral” or “It Happened One Night?” And I’ll just say two more words on the topic of favourite writers. Nora. Roberts.

And finally, we love pets of all shapes and sizes here at the LoveCats. Do any furred or feathered friends share your life…or maybe you have plans for one to grace the pages of an upcoming book?

I don’t know if this is true where all of you readers are, but it’s great to be a dog in L.A. at this particular moment in time. It’s really only in the past couple of years that I’ve started to notice dogs EVERYWHERE. Inside restaurants, markets, hospitals and even offices, no longer left in a hot car while the driver is off having all the fun. I don’t know if something “officially” changed, but lately bow wows have just about the same rights as all citizens in my wonderful melting pot of a city. As to including animals in future romances, much like a man with a baby, a hero who is good to his pet is hard to resist!

Andrea is giving away a signed copy of Her New York Billionaire to one lucky reader (winner's choice of either the North American edition or the 2-in-1 UK edition that also features The Waitress's Secret by Kathy Douglass). To go into the draw just tell us if, given the chance, you'd like to spend a week in New York.
 



Andrea's debut Romance is a September release! But it's on the shelves now in Australia (so you can go and grab the two-in-one with me! :-) ).


Amazon Australia
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble