Sunday Smooch with Michelle Douglas

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a *RETRO* smooch from  Michelle Douglas but first 


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


Can you please contact annie (at) annie-west  (dot) com to receive your copy of The Sheikh's Princess Bride


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from First Comes Baby...

Meg always dreamed of having a family, but when she learns her baby-window is closing, there's only one person who can help. For Ben, helping Meg become a mother is an easy decision. But soon he doesn't want to be just their baby's uncle. Can he convince Meg that he can be a real father?

Scene set-up: Meg and Ben have been best friends since they were lonely ten year olds. They're each others family, and they have no intention of risking their relationship to a momentary lust. But as their desire for each other grows, it becomes harder and harder to resist. Especially on a warm summer night, walking along a beach with the scent of salt and frangipani in the air...


He pulled her in close for a hug. She clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth as she forced her arms around him to squeeze him back for a moment. She started to release him, but he didn’t release her. She rested her cheek on his shoulder and bit her lip until she tasted blood. It took all her concentration to keep her hands where they ought to be.

And then his hand slid down her back and it wasn’t a between-friends gesture. It was…

She drew back to glance into his face. The hunger and the need reflected in his eyes made her sway towards him. She planted her hands against his chest to keep her balance, to keep from falling against him. As soon as she regained her footing she meant to push him away.
  
Only, her hands, it seemed, had a different idea altogether. They slid across his shirt, completely ignoring the pleasant sensation of soft cotton to revel in the honed male flesh beneath. Ben’s chest had so much definition. His heat branded her through his shirt and his heart beat against her palm like a dark throbbing promise. The pulse in her throat quivered.
  
She tried to catch her breath. She should move away.
  
But the longer she remained in the circle of Ben’s arms, the more the strength and the will drained from her body and the harder it became to think clearly and logically.
  
And beneath her hands his body continued to beat at her like a wild thing—a tempting and tempestuous primal force, urging her to connect with something wild and elemental within herself.
  
She lifted her gaze to his. A light blazed from his eyes, revealing his need, an unchecked recklessness and his exaltation.
  
‘I’ve been fighting this all night,’ he rasped, ‘but I’m not going to fight it any more.’
  
He tangled his hand in her hair and pulled it back until her lips lifted, angled just so to give him maximum access, and then his mouth came down on hers—hot, hungry, unchecked.
  
His lips laid waste to all her preconceptions. She’d thought he’d taste wickedly illicit and forbidden, but he didn’t taste like whiskey or leather or midnight. He tasted like summer and ripe strawberries and the tang of the ocean breeze. He tasted like freedom.
  
It was more intoxicating than anything she’d ever experienced.
  
Kissing Ben was like flying.
  
A swooping, swirling, tumbling-in-the-surf kind of flying.
  

Do you remember Harry and Sally's argument in When Harry Met Sally? What do you think? Do you believe men and women can be just friends?

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and another smooch from Michelle Douglas--this time from The Millionaire and the Maid--will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

Criticism: Friend or Foe?

This might be an odd thing to say, but I’m a fan of criticism. Now let me clarify that—I do mean criticism of the constructive kind.

I certainly don’t want to read a scathing review that can’t (or refuses) to see any redeeming qualities in one of my stories. That’s just going to bring me down and depress me for days on end, without any reward at the end of it.

However, while glowing reviews are lovely and whatnot—great for the ego—if an element of a story isn’t working for a reader, I’d rather know.

I was pretty lucky on the review front when my stories first started getting published. Romantic Times gave me a mixture of 4 and 4.5 star reviews until Book 5, which got a 3. Now a 3 is more than respectable, but I couldn’t help wondering why hadn’t this book garnered a 4 or 4.5? The reviewer said: “The characters are sympathetic enough, but their angst overshadows what little romance there is in their budding relationship.”

The reviewer not only pinpointed my own niggle of unease with that story but she named it—angst overshadowing my story. Yes! She nailed it! What did I learn—to keep backstory as a motivating force for the characters, not to have it front and centre.

Recently I’ve started to ponder a few reviews I’ve been reading on Amazon. Here is a comment from Karen Hunt who loved the books (First Comes Baby… and The Loner’s Guarded Heart) but said “…in all of her stories they end too suddenly and in these two I feel strongly that a prologue and an epilogue were a must and was disappointed to find them missing.” And from Reading Mom about the same two stories, “…both very good, but both ending rather abruptly.” Several readers found the ending to The Secretary’s Secret too quick and opined the fact there wasn’t an epilogue revealing the sex of the baby. :)

All of this led me to go back and read some earlier reviews on Amazon. From Reviewer Aus for The Loner’s Guarded Heart: “The ending was foreshadowed right from the start of the story, but I found it a little rushed and the happily ever after for Josie and Kent too sudden.” Antdew2 on The Secretary’s Secret: “Very disappointed in the ending.”

Now, I have had a couple of “perfect ending” comments (mainly for The Nanny Who Saved Christmas and The Man Who Saw Her Beauty), so I do understand that in a lot of ways this is merely a taste thing—different strokes and all of that.

But…

Do I have a tendency to rush my endings? Believe me, it’s something I’m going to keep an eye on from hereon. I write these stories with the aim of entertaining and delighting my readers. I want to deliver on every level. I want them closing the pages of my books with a happy sigh. If I’m not doing that, then I need to work harder (and smarter). For those of you who might’ve read one or two of my stories, feel free to weigh in with an opinion here too. :) All thoughts will be gratefully received.

So, for the writers among you—have you ever learned something from a review? And for the readers out there (yes, I know that’s all of you)—are you a fan of long, luxurious endings…or do you like it all to wrap up fast. And if I’ve just written a duet, should I write an epilogue to show my 2 couples living the happy-ever-after dream?

Friends to Lovers

by Michelle Douglas

I’ve always loved a friends-to-lovers story. And I’ve loved them for a very long time. Oh my how I held my breath when Anne (of Green Gables) realised she’d fallen in love with Gilbert Blythe. When Harry Met Sally is one of my all-time favourite films ever. And some of my favourite authors have written friends-to-lovers stories too. Anyone for Jennifer Crusie’s Anyone But You or The Ugly Duchess by Eloisa James? And if you haven’t read Sarah Mayberry’s Her Best Friend, do yourself a favour and go get a copy NOW!

So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that my May release -- First Comes Baby… -- is a friend-to-lovers story. When Ben agrees to be Meg’s sperm donor he doesn’t think anything will change (I have to say I’m rather partial to a clueless hero too), but as soon as she’s pregnant he starts to see her in a different light. A very different light. And being the focus of Ben’s undivided attention is suddenly making Meg’s pulse-rate quicken in the most disconcerting way. Cue a comfortable relationship suddenly turned on its head and being tested to its limits. The thing is, though, it’s not just a comfortable relationship. It’s the most important relationship of their lives. To lose that friendship would mean losing a part of themselves.

I’ve been lucky with the title on this one. It reverberates on more than one level. Until Meg is pregnant, Meg and Ben’s relationship is stable. Once there’s a baby on the way, though, everything changes. And at the heart of the story is the idea of “first.” Till now, Meg has always put Ben first—his needs, his desires and his well-being. Now with a baby on the way, she has to put the baby’s needs first. He, of course, finds that unbelievably confronting. While she is torn.

And that, my friends, is why I love this theme so much. There is so much at stake. Lovers can come and go, but your best friend can anchor your whole world. To mess with that friendship could mean destroying and losing one of the most important relationships you will ever have.

So, do you like a friends-to-lovers story? Does this theme call to you? Or is there a different kind of story that speaks to you more?

Sunday Smooch with Michelle Douglas

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from  First Comes Baby..., but first ...

the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is -- BN100!

Congratulations, BN100. Can you please contact Alison Stuart at: alison (at) alisonstuart (dot) com to receive your copy of By The Sword.

And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Michelle Douglas's First Comes Baby...

Meg has always dreamed of having the perfect family, and when she learns her baby window is closing there's only one person who can help...

Ben has been Meg's best friend since childhood. Their relationship is strictly platonic--except for that one unforgettable kiss. Helping her to become a mother is the easiest decision Ben has ever made. Only, soon he wants to be more than just their baby's "uncle." Can he convince Meg that he's ready to do the unthinkable and settle down to be a real father?

Scene set-up: Meg and Ben have just had a heart to heart about their childhood and are now paddling on the beach...on a warm summer evening.

He pulled her in close for a hug. She clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth as she forced her arms around him to squeeze him back for a moment. She started to release him, but he didn’t release her. She rested her cheek on his shoulder and bit her lip until she tasted blood. It took all her concentration to keep her hands where they ought to be.

And then his hand slid down her back and it wasn’t a between-friends gesture. It was…

She drew back to glance into his face. The hunger and the need reflected in his eyes made her sway towards him. She planted her hands against his chest to keep her balance, to keep from falling against him. As soon as she regained her footing she meant to push him away. 

Only, her hands, it seemed, had a different idea altogether. They slid across his shirt, completely ignoring the pleasant sensation of soft cotton to revel in the honed male flesh beneath. Ben’s chest had so much definition. And he was hot! His heat branded her through his shirt and his heart beat against her palm like a dark throbbing promise. The pulse in her throat quivered.

She swallowed and tried to catch her breath. She should move away.

But the longer she remained in the circle of Ben’s arms, the more the strength and the will drained from her body and the harder it became to think clearly and logically.

And beneath her hands his body continued to beat at her like a wild thing—a tempting and tempestuous primal force, urging her to connect with something wild and elemental within herself.

She lifted her gaze to his. A light blazed from his eyes, revealing his need, an unchecked recklessness and his exaltation. 

‘I’ve been fighting this all night,’ he rasped, ‘but I’m not going to fight it any more.’

He tangled his hand in her hair and pulled it back until her lips had lifted, angled just so to give him maximum access, and then his mouth came down on hers—hot, hungry, unchecked.

His lips laid waste to all her preconceptions. She’d thought he’d taste wickedly illicit and forbidden, but he didn’t taste like whisky or leather or midnight. He tasted like summer and ripe strawberries and the tang of the ocean breeze. He tasted like freedom.

It was more intoxicating than anything she’d ever experienced. 

Kissing Ben was like flying.

A swooping, swirling, tumbling-in-the-surf kind of flying.

 I really do think the beach is a romantic place for a kiss. Where's the most romantic place you've ever snuck a kiss? 

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from Fish Out of Water by Ros Baxter will be posted!